Closed not my choice

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli really couldn’t believe how neither of them could see it. Playing on his weakness? No hard feelings? He didn’t get to decide that. Playing it off like he didn’t care that Eli liked Lili? Well he couldn’t read his mind, for all he knew Eoghan was seething the whole time. That cobversation in the dorm had been okay, but then this? Maybe he’d been hiding it the whole time. Maybe the reason Eoghan didn’t trust people was that he had that part of him hidden inside. Made sense why he was friends with Tori then, since she was also a nutcase. Still, he somehow had friends, and Eli wasn’t sure how that happened either. He’d sort of considered Eoghan a friend before, and Lili was a friend, well, he wasn’t sure he coudl trust her judgment anymore if he was honest. And she was friends with Tori too. How? That was one of the things he didn’t understand. Tori had punched Demi, and he might not have liked Demi all that much, well he didn’t know her, but he was in the habit of backing his house like Professor Josephs said. And he liked Professor Josephs.

He was surpised when he came upon Jonah, who seemed to be standing a little off to the side right where Eli was to come out from the duel. He sighed when he approached him and shrugged, the questions on Jonah’s face currently going unanswered. “I don’t even know, to be honest,” he said, leaning against the wall beside Jonah. “Eoghan thinks he’s not a bully, but you saw him, right? That’s bully behaviour.”​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

As soon as Jonah saw Eli turn his back, Jonah knew the duel was done and he'd left his post quickly so he could get to the path his brother was likely to take going out of the Dungeons. Despite having ran there, he was perhaps a little confused that he'd gotten there before the Ravenclaw. "O-otsukaresama," he said, just a little hesitantly. After having stuck to English for... he didn't want to think about it... speaking Nihongo was just a little... he didn't know. But that wasn't important for now. "Sports and tournaments... they're about respect. I... It didn't... I don't think he respected you at all," he said. He didn't have many interactions with Eoghan. He was friends with Tori who Jonah had no fondness for and was together with Lilith who wasn't on Jonah's extensive list of friends either. In fact he and Lilith had two interactions between just the two of them, neither of which helped in painting a good image of the girl either. And Eoghan's article... he wasn't sure if the rose was meant to be an apology or if it was meant to be as condescending as it felt when he'd read it. He had hesitations about agreeing that Eoghan was a bully because it meant agreeing that Jonah was perhaps being bullied. But the lack of respect for conduct in a duel... "He's a bully."​

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli let out a slow breath, nodding as Jonah spoke. At least he wasn’t the only one who saw it, it was obvious, right? “Yeah,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair. “That’s what I’m saying, he acts likes he’s above it all, like he’s got this whole code, but then he pulls that and says it’s just an act? What was it for? He didn’t have to do that, did he think I was better than him so he felt like he had to lower himself to beat me? How does that work?” Honestly what did Lilith see in him? He supposed he should have assumed he was a manipulative ******* because he had all these friends somehow and yet that was his personality? Red flag alert.

He shook his head. “It’s not about losing - I don’t care about that, but it’s supposed to be fair, you know? Not whatever the f*ck that was” he glanced at Jonah, taking in the hesitation in his voice. “This is about respect and if he doesn’t even have that, what’s the point honestly?” His jaw clenched. “I thought we were past all of this, but maybe I was wrong.” He pushed off the wall, “guess that’s on me for thinking I could trust any of them.”​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

Jonah didn't know what to say. He didn't even know if he should say anything. There was probably a time when he would have launched into a whole speech in Eli's defense and he was definitely right and the other person was totally wrong. But that was a different time. He definitely still agreed with what Eli was saying, he just wasn't sure if Jonah speaking was something he needed right now. And so Jonah watched, listened, and nodded as the Ravenclaw went on his rant. Besides it wasn't like Jonah could chime in much aside from he thought Eoghan was awful. He nodded, agreeing that it wasn't about losing. How could it be when Eli had decided to forfeit the match because his opponent wouldn't even respect him. Jonah could have chimed that he didn't trust Eoghan and Lilith but he didn't do that either, he didn't want to add to whatever conflict Eli had going on in his head with his housemates and his friends. Instead, all he could do was hesitantly, very hesitantly, reach out and give Eli an awkward pat on his back, right on his shoulder blade. Once upon a time, Jonah would have probably hugged him but he didn't think he was ready to be rejected of any sort by Eli again.​

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

He leaned against the wall, the weight of everything that happened in the duel moments ago still pressing on his shoulders. He glanced at Jonah, his face a twist of frustration and confusion. He didn’t understand what Eoghan had been trying to do, honestly. It didn’t make any sense to him. “I just don’t get it…” he said, his disbelief at the whole thing shining through. “Eoghan acts like he’s above it all, like he’s not a bully. But did you see the way he handled that duel?” He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “I thought Lili had better judgement, but then she’s still friends with Tori after the whole Demi incident, so, I suppose that makes sense too,” he shook his head. “Maybe I’ve been too naive, thinking people are who they seem to be, I need better judgement.” he said, his gaze drifting to the floor. “I had considered Eoghan a friend, but now I really couldn’t say.” As Jonah gave him an awkward pat on the back, he smiled at his brother and nodded his thanks. He was a little surprised Jonah wasn’t hugging him as it felt like that was what it should have been, but then what did he know anymore?​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

There was certainly a lot to take in, and Jonah didn't know how to start dealing with it. It was probably his fault. If he'd been sorted properly, like be smart enough like Eli and not dumb, then he could have ended up in Ravenclaw and they could have been figuring things out together like they'd been doing in Mahoutokuro. Or if he'd just gotten re-sorted into Gryffindor then maybe Rose would always have company. But he wasn't smart or brave and so he ended up in Hufflepuff and now he knew nothing about his siblings and nothing about himself. He can't even comment on Eli's friends because Jonah didn't like Eoghan or Lilith and he didn't want to add or colour whatever Eli's thoughts on his friends were. Jonah didn't want to seem stupid either by commenting only for Eli to be friends with them again later on. He'd already told Eli that he thought Eoghan was a bully, saying anything more seemed like pushing it. Eli had to decide for himself, Jonah supposed. "You'll figure it out," he finally settled on saying as he continued to pat Eli's back. Whether figuring it out meant ending his friendship with Eoghan and Lilith or continuing it, Jonah would just have to stand by his brother's decision.​

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli laughed a little quietly, sort of under his breath, but loud enough that Jonah would hear it, and probably interpret it for the self deprecating nature it was. He wasn’t exactly amused by the situation, but he supposed he wasn’t surprised either. The silence stretched a little, he wasn’t sure what to say honestly but he was at least a little calmer with Jonah by his side, especially since he agreed with him mostly. “Yeah, I just hate feeling like I’ve been the idiot in all of it,“ he added, sighing. “Like… like I missed something obvious that everyone else already knew. That hurts more than the duel or whatever he said.” Still, everything was still really new, and sort of raw. He’d thought this was a battle of spells, not whatever he’d turned it into whatever he’d turned it into. “But thanks. For waiting for me. For not trying to tell me how I should feel about it.” He didn’t know how to think about it, but he looked at Jonah. “Do you wanna get out of here? The inside is starting to feel really stuffy.” Jonah nodded at him and Eli lead them out of the hall and somewhere vaguely outside. he didn’t care where, just as long as he could get into some fresh air.

Gm approved.​