closed starter elijah x aj || @warriorstranded
he couldn't sleep. there were plenty of reasons for him to be restless, just look outside and you could see them ambling down the street every now and then looking for any lingering signs of life to snuff out, but oddly it wasn't them that were keeping him up; not technically. he kept having dreams about being bitten, and about elijah's quick thinking and quick acting that ultimately saved his life. more specifically, he kept thinking about the fact he never actually thanked the man.
sitting beside where the man slept, practically perched against the wall, aj waited. he couldn't sleep, and everyone else was, so what was he supposed to do? wander around aimlessly like a lost puppy or pace the stairs until grant came to fuss at him again? he just... waited.
"huh, so," he grunted, his voice a bit hoarse from lack of sleep and hours of silence, as he saw movement; as elijah woke up. "seen you training people, as best as you can anyway..." he mumbled as he looked up at elijah with pursed lips and a furrowed brow. "you're-- you're not replacing are ya? i thought we bonded... you're not benching me, right sir?"
no good morning, no thank you, just immediately jumping into accusations. though, in aj's defense, it was meant to be a joke. he'd seen elijah trying to teach some of the other survivors how to shoot or how to, at least, be comfortable enough holding a gun that they wouldn't go down immediately if shit went to hell, but his humor was once again lost in his monotone.