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]

"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."

[born_guilty]

Mystique considers her for a second, frowning. Elphaba doesn't even blink at the joke, isn't phased by it in the least, and instead is staring at her, at her skin, like Raven might be contagious or something.

Or maybe that look means something else.

"It's a great ability to have," she says after a beat, casually. "'Cause in my world, if I'd been blue without it? I wouldn't have made it out of primary school alive."

She has no idea if there are other green people in Oz, but everything about Elphaba's mannerisms and body language say: outsider. It's a decent guess.

[no_good_deed]

And one that's right on the money, given the other woman's reaction to this revelation. Elphaba's face betrays sympathy and remembered fear, and no small amount of envy - ironic, perhaps, given the colour of her skin.

"Well. Count yourself lucky, I suppose," she says shortly. Not everybody had that luxury.

[born_guilty]

"I do," she admits, and for the first time since they started talking, for just a moment, Raven looks entirely on the level.

"...see you around, Green." Turning, she heads back out the door.