debut: Elphaba

[no_good_deed]

"Fiyero?"

The word echoed around the room in a wholly unsettling way - this was not Kiamo Ko, nor was it any place Elphaba had ever seen before in her life. It had the cold, unsettling feel of some of the clockwork alleys she had peeked down in the Emerald City, but there was nothing green here. Well, except for her.

Pacing solved nothing, nor did her attempts to force her way past the invisible door trapping her inside. The words that usually sprang more or less fully-formed to her lips were shy here, refusing to issue forth no matter how hard she probed for them, and eventually she had to concede defeat. Tucking her knees to her chest she sat and waited, a deep and unsettling gnawing in the pit of her stomach. This had to be the work of the Wizard, she just knew it.

***

When she was suddenly transported out of the cell Elphaba thought at first that perhaps Glinda had found her, rescued her, but there was no sign of the bubbly blonde in the wide-open room where she was. More chicanery from the Wizard, then, most likely.

She hadn't gotten far in her investigations before a noise to one side startled her, and she turned to glare in its general direction, wary of tricks and illusions.

"Show yourself," she said flatly. "I know you're there."

Comments

[no_good_deed]

There's a definite reaction when she utters 'freak', but a moment later the green woman's hand is in hers, giving it a firm shake. "Elphaba," comes the introduction, and when she drops the hand and steps back she's no longer radiating quite so much of a 'hackles up' vibe.

"So. Are you one of the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys'?" Elphaba wants to know now, arching an eyebrow at Mystique. The shapeshifter gets the feeling that this is as much of a test as her handshake had been.

[born_guilty]

"Elphaba," she affirms, sounding slightly skeptical. Still, it's a good handshake.

At the question, Mystique gives her a bemused look.

"I'd say 'it depends on who you ask', but that's so cliché, right?"

The obvious answer is hanging in the air.

[no_good_deed]

"I don't really trust public sentiment in these matters," Elphaba says, shaking her head. "They're weak-willed and easily led." There's no small amount of bitterness in her voice. Having had a bloodthirsty mob after you does that to a girl.

[born_guilty]

Who does she remind me of?

It's a severely uncomfortable thing, trying to place the woman's suspicious expressions and earnest declamation of society, but it only gets worse when Raven recognizes herself, circa 1910.

Back when you still took yourself and your cause seriously.

Then, a flashback to Irene, whistling the witch's theme low when Raven would tear into a room in a black mood, a cheering tactic that almost always backfired heinously.

"...I can relate," she says wryly, after a long pause. "I guess you got the rundown from Rogers?"

[no_good_deed]

"That nobody knows why we're here or even where here is, and that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who's been taken, and that there's no magic, except that there definitely is?" Elphaba rolls her eyes and turns away to rummage through the rack for a top, hopefully of the more-than-adequate coverage type.

"I heard all that. I don't know if I believe it, but I heard it. Do you have anything to add?"

[born_guilty]

"Yeah. You might want to get in the habit of wearing something that's easy to run in." Raven settles into one of the chairs by the three-way mirror, leaning back and folding one leg over the other.

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba pauses, a thick-knit jumper in her hands. "And why's that?" she asks, studiously casual as she glances over at Mystique.

[born_guilty]

"This place is full of fun surprises. You don't strike me as a woman that wants to be caught off guard."

[no_good_deed]

"I'm not." And she wouldn't be ever again if she could possibly avoid it. Setting the jumper aside, she bends down and picks up the pair of heavy lace-up boots, the first things she had sought out upon entering the wardrobe room. "I think I've got running covered," she says dryly, waving the boots in the other woman's direction.

[born_guilty]

Elphaba holds up a pair of ass-kicking boots as evidence that she knows what she's doing, but Raven wonders how easy it's gonna be to flee the scene in full gothic Mormon regalia.

"Might want to consider some pants?" she suggests, and wow, it's the second time this week she's uttered that particular sentence.

"So. What did you do? In... Oz."

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba still can't get over the fact that people here don't know her - her, the most notorious figure in all of Oz. "Caused as much trouble for the Wizard as possible," she says, turning away and stripping off the sweatshirt and then the tank top underneath. She doesn't normally show this much skin to well, anyone, but this woman is blue - if anyone's going to turn a blind eye to her peculiarities, it'll be her.

[born_guilty]

Maybe Raven will turn a blind eye to her peculiarities, but she can't vouch for anything else.

Now's probably when she should speak up and admit that she recognizes the woman from a book-- even if she has to be vague about what kind of book it is-- but she just can't bring herself to start up that conversation.

"You do magic?"

[no_good_deed]

The other woman pulls the jumper on before turning to face Raven with another suspicious look. "I didn't say that."

[born_guilty]

"Just a question," she says, showing her palms in lazy surrender. "You talked about it like you were familiar with it. Plenty of people that show up here are from worlds without it. Anyway, if you do..."

There's a slight ripple effect as she changes from the center out, going from blue to turquoise to a matching green all the way to her fingertips.

"You're in good company."

Sure, it's not magic, but she can't resist showing off, and frankly, ever since she laid eyes on the color she's been dying to try it on.

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba's jaw doesn't exactly drop, but she's obviously taken aback by this show of... uniqueness. "How did you do that?" she's dying to know, stepping closer and holding out a hand to compare her skin to Mystique's. "I didn't even hear a spell."

[born_guilty]

"There wasn't one," she informs, looking amused. These reactions never get old. "It's something I was born with. Mutated genes."

[no_good_deed]

Elphaba isn't sure what that means, but she does know that seeing this woman covered in the skin she's worn her whole life - hated for most of it - makes her feel strange, and she turns away quickly, the corners of her mouth turned downwards in a contemplative frown.

"I can do magic - at least, I could. Things are... strange, here. I feel like I've forgotten all the words I used to know."

[born_guilty]

Raven flickers back to blue, catching Elphaba's expression as she turns.

"It's the nanites they injected us with. They apparently dampen whatever this place considers preternatural ability. Give it some time. You won't be anywhere near a hundred percent, but once you've rested and gotten used to their effects, you should still be able to use it."

She sounds relatively blasé about the whole thing, but only because she's had to explain it a dozen times and lives with it every day. But the list of things she'd be willing to do at this point to get these $#%^ing nanites out of her system is pretty goddamn grim.

[no_good_deed]

"So there are other magic-users here?" It'd make sense, in a strange way, if the people being trapped here all had some magical ability, especially if it was being dampened by their captors. "That man I met before, Steve, he didn't seem to have any abilities."

[born_guilty]

She can't help (and doesn't make a huge effort to stop) the amused snerk that follows that remark.

"Steve has the power of steroids and good intentions." Somehow, she doubts they have steroids in Oz, though, so she relents and explains. "Steve was a lab rat for a government-sponsored science experiment. They were trying to create the perfect soldier."

And thanks to the magnificent bastard that murdered Erskine, Cap's the only one of his kind, spoiling Weapon Plus's plans to first suckerpunch the Nazis, then return home and start working on the real problem: the mutant threat!

This is one of those tirades that she'd do better to keep internal.

"He has heightened strength, speed, endurance, agility..." She doesn't need to say the blah, blah, blah implicit in her tone of voice. "And he's a hero, which is really the most amazing power of all," she deadpans.

[no_good_deed]

"A golden boy," Elphaba says, sounding distinctly unimpressed. "Great. No wonder he was doing the whole smiles and handshakes routine." Glinda would've been just the same if she had been here, bubbling in and welcoming new arrivals with a wave of that ridiculous wand.

Like she had probably done for that girl Dorothy and her atrocious little dog.

"Thanks for warning me," she tells the other woman shortly. She'd know to keep an eye on him in the future.

[born_guilty]

"Yeah, that's Steve. He's something of an acquired taste." For people that typically reject vanilla, anyway.

"No problem. Anyway. You've probably had all the social interaction you can stomach, and I know I'm dangerously close to hitting my limit." She rolls her shoulders back and pushes herself out of the chair. "I'm A2, first floor, if you need any more tips."

[no_good_deed]

The other woman nods, gathering up the rest of her garments in her arms and hugging them to herself rather self-consciously. She waits until Mystique is nearly out the door before suddenly asking, "Can you do that with any colour? Not just blue or green, I mean?"

[born_guilty]

"Any color," she confirms, and turns into Steve Rogers, wearing his usual plaid shirt-and-khakis uniform. He (she?) gives Elphaba a big smile and ticks a salute off his temple.

Whoo. A little too brawny, a little too fast. She slips right back to herself, but plays it cool.

"I'd ask you if you've got any requests," Mystique ventures, in response to Elphaba's expression, "but I generally like to be taken out for dinner, first."

[no_good_deed]

The witch blinks, then shakes her head. She can't even begin to fathom how different her life would've been if she had had the ability to look like anyone but herself. It's an overwhelming thought and she looks distinctly pale as she tightens her arms around herself.

"No. That's all right. I just... wondered. That's all."