More Complicated Than That (Slugterra Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

Eli was awakened by the pitter patter of the rain. He heard the drops, trying to listen to them one by one. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. As his eyes opened, they were welcomed to his pitch black ceiling. The air in his room felt cold and unpleasant. He grabbed his blanket nearby and covered himself up. Snuggling into the somewhat warmth of his bed, Eli pondered on some thoughts that were racing through his mind.

What time is it? Why is it raining all of the sudden? Where are my slugs? What day is it? Did Pronto pay me back? Is Kord over competing with Trixie? Why is it so cold in my room?

And on and on the list went. Eli couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to get up and out of the comfort and warmth his bed had to offer.

"Nah," he thought aloud to himself. Eli just lay there in his bed, millions of things running through his mind. It was one of those lazy days where you feel tired and just lie in your bed and think about life. Only Eli wasn't thinking about life. He was thinking about Riley.

Although he had only known Riley for what seemed like 24 hours, Eli knew that she was... interesting. Like the Gang. Riley is probably one of those people who don't freak out. Or get scared easily. She must have a good sense of humour. Her smiles were slightly contagious, only making the corners of your lips curve upwards, not allowing your entire lip to move. She was definitely artistic and talented. She was caring. And her connection with slugs was amazing.

This is Riley, Eli summed up. He groaned and lay in bed, shifting his position so he lay on his side. The sound of rain pelting against the window died down a bit. All that could be heard were the soft drops of rain on the roof.

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Riley was almost finished drawing out the Gang. She went over the rough edges with her pencil and erased some unwanted lines.

"What're you drawing Riley?" Trixie asked, walking over to Riley with a plate in her hand.

"Hold on..." With a few more lines and a bit of erasing, Riley unveiled her masterpiece. "Ta-da! What do you think?" Trixie stood there, jaw slacked open, gawking at the picture.

"I-it's amazing Riley! It looks just like the real picture!" Riley smiled shyly.

"Thanks Trixie. Do you want a copy?" Trixie shook her head and grabbed her camera. She took a quick shot and headed to the computer.

"I'll just edit it a little bit." Her keyboard clicked as she typed away. "Then I'll print a few copies and give them to everyone." Trixie's head disappeared under her computer's table for a minute and emerged with four copies of Riley's drawing.

"Wow. That was easy." Trixie nodded in agreement then began to walk away with the copies. "Hey Trixie. Could I give it to the Gang personally?"

"Oh yeah. Oops. Here you go." Riley thanked her and gave one to Kord, left Trixie's on her computer, and slid Pronto's under the washroom door. Before she headed to Eli's room, she remembered that she came downstairs because she was hungry.

Riley ran to the kitchen and whipped herself up some salad and crunched on it hungrily. After washing her bowl and putting it away, she headed to Eli's room. Her hand hovered over the door, knuckles about to rap against the door. But then, wasn't Eli taking a nap?

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On the other side of Eli's door, he shivered as he tried to wrap himself tighter in the sheets. The sheets were cold and of no help.

When Eli heard some rustling, he flipped his body so that he faced the door. He saw a paper slide under his door and heard some footsteps walk downstairs. The Gang seemed to still be awake, seeing as the light was peeking out from underneath his door.

Eli wanted to know what was on the paper. He wanted to know what it was for. He forced himself to get out from under his partially warm sheets and swung his legs over the side of his bed. When his bare feet hit the floor, he could feel that chill run up his spine. Eli shivered and placed both feet on the ground. His body felt tingly and his feet were frozen. He stiffly walked over to the door, really wanting to just stay in bed and embrace the warmth. Or, embrace the warmth he could feel. The key word is feel.

Eli's fingertips touched the cold floor as he picked up the sheet of paper. As he laid his eyes on the paper, he forgot that his room was dark. He flicked the light switch and let his eyes adjust to the brightness of his room. He blinked his eyes a few times, raised his eyebrows and glanced at the paper.

"Wow," was all Eli could muster. It was a picture of the Gang all together. It was that same picture in the living room. It had defined all of the small details well. Eli looked at the picture that had been taken weeks ago. He saw everyone's smile. Everyone's smile looked familiar to him. Except his own. Eli looked at himself from his mirror and smiled. His smile faltered slightly and didn't look the same as the one drawn in the picture. Why doesn't it? he thought.

Eli searched the drawing for a signature or initial or something. There had to be a squiggly line somewhere. As Eli's eyes roamed the wide expanse of pencil lines, he came across a particularly squiggly one. The first letter was... an 'R'. Following the 'R' were a few other letters and then to finish it off, a 'u' or 'v' or 'y', it was hard to tell. The letters in between looked like small mountains. Except for a specific mountain that was a little taller than the rest. Maybe an 'l', thought Eli. So the name was 'Ralay'. 'Relay'? 'Relav'? 'Rilau'? 'Riloy'? 'Riley'?

"Riley! Of course it was Riley." Eli face palmed himself and studied the picture. It was beautifully drawn, Eli could give Riley that.

He flipped the page and saw a quick scribbled note and read it out loud. "Dear Eli, I hope you like the drawing I drew for you and the Gang. I set up some food for you in case your hungry. Just go downstairs. Have a good meal, and sweet dreams. Riley." Eli's lips perked upwards slightly. She's too nice.

Eli turned off the lights to his room and tiptoed downstairs. No one seemed to be there. The lights were off, and the curtains were closed. Eli flicked the lights on and saw a small plate of spaghetti and meatballs set up for him on the table. He sat down on the couch and ate the pasta quietly. It was a dead sort of quiet. So quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

He washed the pasta down with a quick sip of water, put his plate in the sink, then headed to his bathroom. Eli brushed his teeth and changed into his T-shirt and shorts. As he slipped into his covers, sleep took over his eyes almost immediately.

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Riley ran back down to the kitchen and whipped up a quick dinner for Eli. You can't say something and not deliver. You have to say it, mean it, and deliver it. The Gang sleepily said goodnight to Riley and went to their rooms, even her slugs went to bed. Riley herself yawned then plated up Eli's dinner and left it on the coffee table.

A loud yawn escaped her mouth as she stretched her arms. Riley blinked a few times to make sure that she was still awake. Unfortunately, she wasn't. She nearly fell face first into Eli's pasta, if it wasn't for the hot steam in her face.

She shook her head, trying to focus on... brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, changing, saying goodnight to her slugs, and not forgetting to turn off the lights. It was just her list of 'things to do before bed'.

Riley remembered to turn off the lights, then walked up to the bathroom, in a zombie like way. After painting and moving boxes all day, her limbs hurt like crazy. She brushed her teeth, brushed her hair and quickly changed into her black tank top and black and white plaid pyjama pants.

As Riley walked to her room holding her clothes, she realized and remembered that this was her slug slinging outfit. She had told her slugs the day before that they were to go and practise a little slug slinging. They must have been so disappointed, Riley thought. At least they're happy we're living in a safe environment.

Riley put her clothes away then whispered a goodnight to each of her slugs. She slipped into her sheets as her world around her became a daze.

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Fell-o der! How are you holding up? Yet again another short chapter that was boring. But trust me, the good parts should be coming up within the next few chapters :) I just needed a filler, because I don't think I'm ready for when the Gang... oops. I've said too much already.

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