Lion (manxboy)

Chapter 5

Lion sat nervously at his computer, his eyes moving frantically over the large screen as he answered forms and questionnaires. He was alone in the large condo, so with every little sound he would hear, his body would tick, and he would get distracted from his duty. Lion wasn't usually the type to get spooked, but when he knew no one was around, something itched at the back of his mind. A few more answers, and Lion closed the tabs, looking over at the ticking clock.

A few minutes and Elijah should be walking through that door.

He tried his best to keep calm and hold it together, his armpits sweaty and breathing ragged as he sat like a puppy waiting for his master to arrive. The chair rocked him back and forth, his teeth nagging at his plump lip, palms pressed against his small thighs, he waited.

It had been all day that Lion worked on finding a job, answering phone calls that made him boil in anxiety. He was tired, exhausted from all the speaking he had to do. Lion was never the type to speak more than two or three words. But now that he had started working, Lion needed to socialize more.

Lion observed a painting on his wall, his eyes glued to it as he continued pacing in his mind, waiting for Elijah to walk in. Or maybe he wasn't going to walk in. Lion was nervous; his overthinking brought to thoughts that maybe Elijah had set him up, Elijah had perhaps forgotten about him. But no, Elijah lives here. Elijah doesn't seem like the type of person to hurt someone. Lion had tried his best for the past few days to think a little more upbeat. Seeing the look on Elijah's face the other day made him a bit nervous. That's when he realized not to upset Elijah.

Lion's eyes snapped away from the picture as his ears caught the sound of movement on the other side of his door, hearing the clinging of keys hit against a counter. Lion stood from his seat, slowly padding towards the door and opening it to the slightest crevice, peeking through it and seeing Elijah sit down at the kitchen counter. Lion walked out of his room after opening the door wide, tip-toeing his way towards the tired man, a gentle smile on his face as he placed his small hand against the man's back, feeling the hard skin roll under his clothing.

"Hey Lion, how was your day?" Elijah sighed, watching Lion sit in front of him, smiling back at the boy.

Lion huffed, crossing his arms, "went well, but I felt very lonely all day," he explained, rubbing his slightly bruised cheek against his shoulder, "how was yours?" He questioned back, earning an even more enormous sigh from Elijah.

"Shawn gave me a bit more information on the men, so tomorrow I'm heading out into town to check it out." His eyes caught sight of the sink, not seeing a single piece of dishes lying around, "you didn't eat, did you?" He looked back over at Lion, watching his face change into guilt.

Lion wanted to explain himself but had no valid words to come back. His hands fell to his lap, thumbs twiddling together as he leaned his head down.

Elijah observed the boy, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at the boy's expression, "you don't know how to cook, do you?" He spoke softly, Lion's head moving to the side as he sighed deeply.

Elijah held a reassuring smile, standing to his feet and walking around the kitchen island, pulling out some utensils and placing them on the counter, "wh-what, are you doing?" Lion looked at him with a curious expression, his upper-half leaning over the counter as he watched Elijah.

"I'm making us food for tonight and tomorrow." Elijah leaned over and reached a hand inside the refrigerator, picking out different vegetables and placing them near the sink, "I'm making you food every day, but I want you to eat it." Lion swallowed down air, keeping his dark eyes locked onto Elijah's, watching as the man cleaned the greens and cut them into edible bites.