The Inceptive Flame⎪✓

❨23❩

♀︎

"Elijaaaaah," A feminine voice abruptly sings, cutting me off in my ideas of what the project should be about. Elijah grimaces and appears panicked as he searches for the source. He zeroes in on someone and before I get the chance to look, a little figure runs into his body and hugs him tightly. "Where have you been?"

He sits down and places the younger girl on his lap, her eyes are so similar to his and I'm shocked. Her brown hair is a nest of unruly curls and I can't help but smile when she looks at me. "Who are you?" She questions with a huge grin. 

"I'm Dakota, a friend of Elijah's," I explain in a warm tone. 

"You're pretty," She declares and I hide my cheeks with my hands. "I'm Matilda, you can call me Tilly, Elijah's little sister."

"Yes," He suddenly pipes up. "And I'm actually still here, now where did you come from, Tilly?"

"I didn't want to be at home and you have been looking forward to this date for a long time, I just wanted to introduce myself," She smiles in innocence. 

"You know I hate it when you are roaming the streets alone."

She rolls her eyes at him, giving him an attitude, "I'm 12 years old, Elijah. It's not like I'm a child."

"In fact, you're very much a child and I would rather have you text me than walk alone. That is the agreement we have," The scolding tone shocks me a little, but I don't show it on my face. I'm the last person to judge anyone else's family dynamic. 

"I didn't come here to argue, I came here to get to know your girlfriend," She turns towards me and raises an eyebrow, the playful glint in her eyes is just like her brother. Their similarities are insane. 

"I'm not his gir-"

"She is not my girlfriend, Tilly. You basically barged in on us doing school work," The annoyance is clear in his voice. He looks at me with a sheepish smile, "Sorry for cutting you off."

I wave him off as she turns around in his lap clearly shocked, "Elijah Black! What has gotten into you? I never thought I would live to see the day where you apologized for literally anything."

He groans at her and I laugh at the two, "Okay, listen, you can stay if you find a chair, be quiet, and don't ask Dakota stupid and intrusive questions. Deal?"

She seems satisfied with his answer and pulls a chair away from the table next to us, sitting down by my side, she smiles up at me and I reciprocate. Her energy is completely different from Elijah's, but the intense green eyes can't be mistaken. Clearly it's a lucky family trait and I wish I had such a trait. 

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?" She suddenly speaks, there is no judgment in her voice, it's pure curiosity. 

"Matilda! I thought we had a deal," He exasperates and I laugh. 

She's obviously ignoring him and staring up at me, "I'm trying out this new vibe, do you like it?"

"Well, yeah. But now I'm curious as to what eye color you have," She answers, smiling. 

"Her eyes are grey," Elijah suddenly speaks and I'm shocked that he remembers so easily, most people would say either green or blue, because no one can pinpoint the exact color. He clears his throat after seeing my shocked expression and his sister's raised eyebrows, "Now can we work on the project?" 

I nod my head yes and smile at him, we get to work and manage to complete some of our tasks. Tilly throws in a few comments, but Elijah is quick to guide us back to the assignment. Surprisingly enough, we get a few pages down, with the help of his little sister and her take on what chemistry is. I'm sure the principal will love us for asking a third person, simply so we have more diversity in the assignment. 

My head starts pounding after an hour and I know it's time to put it away, or else I'll go absolutely insane. My mind can't focus on the words anymore, they're slurring together and I blink a couple of times to make it sharper, it doesn't work. 

"You look tired," Tilly peeps and I nod at her.

"Yeah, homework isn't really my favorite hobby."

She laughs at me, "Nope, can agree with you on that, sis! You've been working for a while anyway, maybe it is fine if you stop for today."

My eyes find Elijah's, he's smiling at me and it seems as if he's trying to look through my sunglasses. Luckily for me, he doesn't have some ridiculous superpower with his sight, so I'm good. I close my laptop and lean against the chair, "I think we're done for the day, don't you?"

He nods at me with a smirk, "Surely, we can work on it some more next weekend maybe?"

"It's a date," I say before I can stop myself. "I mean, it isn't a date. It's a plan, that's what it is because you and I are not dating. Not that there's anything wrong with you, nor is there anything wrong with me, but that doesn't mean that we should da-"

"Dakota," He laughs, the smile making his eyes glint with happiness. "You're good, I got it."

Tilly nudges me lightly, "Maybe you could come home to us next weekend, then we can play some Playstation when you're done studying."

"Tilly," Elijah warns and I immediately feel like I am treading where I shouldn't.

"It's fine, we can find a common ground next time as well," I ensure Elijah before looking at his sister with a smile. "If Elijah isn't too offended you could join us next time if anything, I will change my style then and you'll be able to see my eye color."

She nods eagerly, smiling, "The mysterious vibe, you're pretty cool."

I can't help but laugh at her, I'm anything but mysterious. Won't want to meddle with her impression of me though, therefore choosing not to correct her. I scramble to get my stuff and stand up from the chair, smiling at both of them. 

"It's a date then," Elijah smirks at me with a wink, and my cheeks heat up. 

"It was so nice to meet you, Tilly," I say to her when I muster up the courage, she smiles at me in return and I look at her brother. "I'll probably see you at school, Elijah."

Turning around I wave at them over my shoulder and hurry home, it's insufferable how I always have to embarrass myself before leaving him. But it's fine, everything is fine. Hopefully, this week will go by fast, then I can breathe again by Friday afternoon. A girl can only hope.