When the roof caved in and the truth came out...

[pplrunincircles]

((OOC: I know that there are a lot of new posts. I just had to get this up before the wedding. I want to make sure that JD's reaction to his journal entry is shown and then that he's in well enough mental/emotional condition to go to the wedding.))

It has been nearly two weeks since Elizabeth's seen Josef. She was frustrated and stubborn, and she

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[pplrunincircles]

"No, I didn't think you had taken any drugs. It's just-- People tell the younger generation that all the time and all. There's the stay in school and play sports that's like totally supposed to go along with that. What's the Laboratory? And why are they giving you drugs? Are you sick?"

Elizabeth stares down at the handcuffs on her wrist. She is having way too much experience with handcuffs lately.

"Uhm. It's a long story. Basically, my dad thinks I'm a whore or that I steal stuff, because he doesn't understand that I'm just-- I'm doing my duty as an angel. So he has buddies in the police department and in juvie. They decided to show me what happens to people who break the law." Those three words are said in Elizabeth's best imitation of a deep, manly voice. Her words in general are steadily sounding more and more frustrated as she relives the basics of what happened to her. "And what happens is they put handcuffs on you, put you in an orange jumpsuit, take your weapons away, and lock you in solitary confinement if you punch their man for frisking you too... deeply."

[designed2kill]

Luka is still kind of confused. "Nobody's ever told that to me. I've never been to school and I haven't played sports either. The Laboratory is where I'm from on my world. They gave me drugs because they were doing experiments on me. And I'm not sick."

Luka listens to what Elizabeth has to say. "What's a whore?" A pause. "If he was still able to put handcuffs on you after you punched him, you did it wrong. You're supposed to knock him out."

Luka reaches down to pull her lockpicks out of her boot. "Do you want me to take those off?"

[pplrunincircles]

"...oh," Elizabeth says at all the explanations. "Well, I dropped out of school so I guess I can't say that it's for everyone. You might be the kind that likes learning. You never know!" She frowns a little sadly. "I'm sorry that they were doing experiments on you. It-- That sucks."

She blinks. Oh, fish sticks. This isn't-- She's not sure that she should be the one to explain something. At least she's not feeling so angry anymore, because this girl is providing a nice distraction.

"Someone who sleeps with people for money. It's illegal. I bet my dad doesn't think I actually do that, but he definitely thinks I do drugs and steal and am headed down the path to jail," Elizabeth says, shaking her head. "No, he didn't put the handcuffs on me. His cop buddy did. I didn't want to knock him out just get him to stop frisking me. I'd have fought them all, but then they'd put me in jail for real. For assault charges. So I got out instead!"

She practically grins at the sight of those lockpicks. "Can you? Yes, please. My arms kind of hurt from being held in front of me all this time."

[designed2kill]

"I had a tutor for a while that taught me some stuff but he died in the plagues," Luka says. "Learning is okay, but I like the type of learning that I can use for my job best." Meaning, learning how to fight, and things about guns. Although she wouldn't mind learning things that would help her help out Duncan more. She feels useful when she helps him out with his work.

"I don't see why that would be illegal, but I don't understand a lot of laws. At any rate, you're only headed down the path to jail if you get caught." Luka is blissfully without any sort of moral compass. "Oh, I see, you're not good enough to take them all out at once, and I bet they have cameras at the police station, right? That does put a different spin on things."

While she's doing all this talking, Luka is poking at the lock on the handcuffs with her lockpicks. It doesn't take all that long for her to pick the lock--most handcuff locks are simple affairs, with only a few tumblers. There is a faint click as Luka maneuvers the last one into place and the handcuffs pop open. "There you go, all free."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth nods, somberly. If there's anything that can serious this girl up, it's the plagues and talk of death.

"A lot of people died in the plagues. It's too bad about your tutor. Death isn't really a bad thing though. It's just a part of life," Elizabeth says, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not really a big learner either. It's why I dropped out. ...what kind of job do you have?"

She would think that Luka would be too young for a job, but considering her own lifestyle, she's no about to judge anyone else's.

"I don't get it either really! But some really moral people with money and power decided it a long time ago. Maybe. I dropped out of school so I'm not all up on the laws and how they were made." Elizabeth laughs at what Luka says. It's not that she doesn't have a moral compass... she just doesn't point that moral compass at others. "You're very right, but I'm one of those people who are clumsy and would probably get caught if I did any of that stuff. I don't do that stuff though so I shouldn't have been in jail at all, even for only a day."

And Elizabeth is not at all offended at being called 'not good enough' to take out a whole police station. It's true. "I'm not good enough, and I didn't want to take them all out. It's not like it was their fault that I was there, and my dad was going to pull me out later in the day anyway. They do have cameras, and before all that happened, they took my mug shot. Plus, my dad knows them, knows what I look like and my name. It would have been too much trouble even if I could have taken them all out."

The narration apologizes to Luka, because Elizabeth seems to have all the trouble shutting up.

She grins when she's free! She could practically hug the girl she's so happy! "Thank you! Lock picking skills sure come in handy, huh? You're so totally awesome."

[designed2kill]

"I know death isn't a bad thing," Luka says. You kind of have to accept that it's not, if you want to be an assassin. "And I do work for a guy named Aaron. There are various jobs he needs done and he pays me to do them." If by 'various jobs,' you mean killing people, that would be a true statement.

"I've never had any parents, so they couldn't get me if something like that happened to me. My boss might, but I'm not too sure about that so I just have to be careful not to get caught in a situation like that ever. Why couldn't you wait until your dad came to pick you up? I know you don't get along but isn't easier just to accept your punishment, especially if it's going to be a short one?" It appears that Elizabeth's loquaciousness is beginning to rub off on Luka a bit.

Luka is glad that Elizabeth is happy! As long as Elizabeth doesn't hug her without warning, Luka will not be obliged to flail and accidentally smack Elizabeth in the face while trying to get free. Luka's not really comfortable with suprise hugs. "Lock picking skills are pretty handy," she agrees. "I don't get to practice them as much as I want to though, because breaking into places is usually illegal."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth smiles warmly at her. "Not many people know that really. I've been with a lot of... dying people, in their last seconds they kind of freak out and realize they never really thought about death before. It's good that you know that already." She nods about the job. There's no judgment or insisting that she should be in school or something. Elizabeth has no right to judge. "Oh, okay. that's nice then. It's nice to get money for doing... stuff. I don't have a job really but I think it'd be nice."

She gets all of her money from Josef. Anything she needs, he's happy to buy for her. She's really rather lucky in that respect.

Elizabeth frowns when she says she never had any parents. "I never really had a mom," she admits, shaking her head. "Well, I did but she died giving birth to me. It kind of sucks, doesn't it? Or I don't know maybe you're okay with it. Do you ever wish you had parents?"

She shakes her head at the next question. "It's- It would be easier, but it's not always about what's easy? If that makes sense? My dad wants to turn me into something I'm not and take me away from someone that I love. I am who I am. I won't change for anyone. Not even my dad. And he'd only let me go, let me free if I changed. I can't live my whole life in shackles."

Elizabeth smiles brightly. She won't hug anyone by surprise. Well, she might but she can kind of tell that Luka is not one that she should pull surprise hugs on. "Maybe you could get some handcuffs and practice on those? You can have these if you want. And maybe you could teach me sometime... if you wanted? I'd like to learn so in case I get locked up somewhere again."

[designed2kill]

"I actually didn't know people lived with their parents until I came here. I was raised at the Laboratory, and the only other young people I knew were also raised at the Laboratory. I've never met anyone who lives with their parents. Honestly I don't even know if I have parents because the trainers used to make fun of us for being genetically engineered. So I don't really know. I guess it would be interesting to try, to see what having parents would be like. But mostly I'm fine with the way things are now," Luka says.

Luka is quiet while Elizabeth explains about her dad. She's having a hard time understanding what Elizabeth is saying about being who she is. "I don't really get what you mean by 'turning you into something you're not," she says. "My life has always been decided by other people. If someone I love wanted me to be a certain way, I would happily change for them."

"That's okay, you can keep them," Luka says at the offer of handcuffs. "Handcuffs aren't that hard to pick. Angle-cut 6-pin locks on the other hand, now those are a challenge. But there's not that many of those in places where I won't get in trouble for picking them. And the doors with those kinds of locks are usually video-monitored too.

"But as far as teaching you...I'm not good at explaining things, but I can at least try to show you how. You'll need to get a good set of lock picks though. I'm not sure where to get them here, since this set is from my world. If you find a set, you can contact me over the journals. My name's Luka."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth nods as she listens to her. Other people might think it's sad that Luka hasn't had parents. Elizabeth knows that parents aren't always what they're cracked up to be. She wishes Luka could have more fun, but there's no judgment here.

"If you're happy with the way things are, there's no sense longing over having parents then," she insists with a serious expression. "As long as you're happy, that's what's really important."

She shakes her head, pressing her lips together. Elizabeth can understand why it would be confusing but it's hard to describe.

"I guess... it's an angel thing? I'm an angel of death. I think it's important for me to help people die. My dad thinks it's important for me to go to school and won't let me not go. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's hard to explain... when you don't have that angel or demon calling," Elizabeth says. "The problem is that I have two people that I love very much. They both want different things for me. I couldn't change the angel of death thing about me if I wanted. There's a lot I'd deal, a lot that I'd... I'd alter with for the sake of... of one of them anyway. But he's never asked me to, because when someone really loves you? They love you for who you are and don't want to change you. It's the best thing there is."

She doesn't really understand the difference between locks, but she takes the handcuffs anyway. Elizabeth doesn't really know what she'll do with them, maybe give them to Josef. HE did seem to want his own pair for Christmas....

"I've never tried to pick any lock," Elizabeth admits. "I don't know much about them, but getting lock picks won't be a problem." Josef can get those for her. "I'm Elizabeth. It's nice to meet you, Luka, and thank you again for setting me free. Handcuffs hurt after awhile."

[designed2kill]

"I'm still not very good with emotions like happy, but...I guess I am? There are some things I wish were different but overall I like it here much better than the Laboratory. Like, maybe if Aaron became my parent...can your boss be your parent? But I don't think that would happen anyway so I don't think about it. I'm fine with him just being my boss." Luka sighs and sticks her hands in her pockets. It's obvious that there's some strong feelings there on Luka's part that don't seem to be returned.

"Yeah, I don't really understand callings all that much. Maybe you can explain them to me sometime? I'm interested in learning more about angels because I don't really know much at all. I know they have wings and they're stronger than humans and their body temperature is colder, but that's really about it." And then Luka can use that information if she ever has a hit against an angel. She's always thinking of opportunities to get more information that might be useful for her job.

"Nice to meet you too, Elizabeth," Luka says. "And yeah, handcuffs do hurt. I've never liked them."

[pplrunincircles]

"It's okay to not be very good with emotions. You know most people aren't really. If I was any good with emotions, I wouldn't have been attacking that wall back there. There are different ways of not being good at emotions, but it sounds like you're closer to happy than you've been before, right?" Elizabeth looks thoughtful at the question. She doesn't know all the answers. She doesn't know many answers at all. Finally, she shakes her head. "I don't know if he can, but I can't see why not. If he wanted to be. You can make your own family, really. Even if you're not like technically related to the person, they can still be family to you. Why would you like your boss to be your parent?"

She doesn't ask like it's a bad thing. She's just curious. Most people talk about their bosses like they're the worst people ever. Elizabeth's never heard of anyone that wanted to get closer to their boss.

"I can try to explain? They should really make pamphlets for everybody that describes all of this. I'm still kind of learning myself, but I'll tell you what I know." Elizabeth rubs her wrists again and shivers. "Speaking of cold, it's flipping freezing out here."

Elizabeth holds herself tighter, not that it matters. It's not like her body's warm, but it is warmer than the temperature outside at the moment.

"You've been handcuffed before, too? Ugh. It sucks."

[designed2kill]

"Let's talk more at a coffee shop," Luka suggests. "I know where one is. We can have hot chocolate to warm up!" Luka starts heading out of the alley and seeing if Elizabeth will follow.

As they're walking, Luka gets back to Elizabeth's original question. "Aaron is--special. He was the one who first discovered me when I came here, and he gave me a job and a place to live, and he even pays me when there's no work to do so I don't go hungry. He doesn't like it when I say it, but I love him and I want to make him happy. And I really want to be useful to him. I would do anything he asked me to." Luka's obsession is showing hard-core here, but maybe Elizabeth will be able to understand where Luka's coming from.

Changing the subject, Luka says, "Yes, I've been handcuffed before. They had to do it sometimes at the Laboratory, especially if we misbehaved. I've always found it to be very uncomfortable."

[pplrunincircles]

Elizabeth blinks at the suggestion. It's not that she's against with going with someone she's just met to a coffee shop. It's more that--

"Don't you think people will get kind of freaked out and suspicious if they see me?" She does follow Luka though. "Not that I care what anyone thinks, but I'd rather not anyone call the cops cause I look like an inmate. There's kind of a missing person's report about me. Out there."

She does understand where Luka's coming from... to a certain extent though her relationships with Josef is certainly very different. And there's a lot she would never do for him though it's unlikely he'd ask for most of what she wouldn't do.

"I get that. I mean not completely, but I can kinda understand where you're coming from. I have someone in my life that I'm in love with and want to make happy. He doesn't mind it when I tell him that I love him though... not anymore at least. The first time I said it I think it scared him and made him so angry at the same time. He doesn't mind anymore though, and he loves me, too, even though he never says it. He did even when he was angry at me for saying it," Elizabeth admits quietly, and how weird is it to talk so openly about that with anyone. "I wouldn't do anything he'd ask me to do though. It's part of what he loves about me, I think. I stick by who I am, my values, my beliefs. No matter what. He loves me for me, doesn't try to change me."

And she's reached ramble central again. The narration apologizes again.

"Sometimes the best thing though is to see what he wants or needs. I don't know. Maybe he cares about you, but he's not good with the whole love thing. How does he react when you say that you love him?"

Elizabeth blinks. Her mouth drops open. "Seriously? Ugh, that's just-- that's totally abuse, ya know? I don't care who raised you. If your raiser like handcuffed you for any length of time? It's abuse, and it's so not right or fair."

[designed2kill]

"Oh yeah, that might be an issue. You're sort of on the run, aren't you?" And the orange jumpsuit with "Cook County Department of Corrections" stenciled on the back is just a tad obvious.

"You're an angel right? Do you think they would turn you in if we went to the Conrad?" Phoebe said something along the lines of that's where angels live, and its really kind of hard to miss that many angel mindfeelings in one area.

"I try to anticipate things that Aaron would want or need, but it's really hard. He's a very private person and I don't get to see him much. And when I said I loved him, he said that I didn't really understand love. Maybe that's true but I would do anything for him if I could and try to make him happy in any way I can. And that's what Anka said love was like."

Luka just shakes her head at Elizabeth's reaction to her being handcuffed. "The Laboratory...is not like this world. I was just an experiment there. It didn't matter if it was abuse because I wasn't even considered human. The only worth I had was in my potential. And handcuffing doesn't interfere with my potential any so if it was a convenient way to restrain me, then there was no reason not to. Right or fair didn't have anything to do with it."

[pplrunincircles]

((OOC: I'm SUPER sorry for the delay. My tagbrain died so hard this past week. You don't have to respond if you don't want to, but I wanted to get back to this tag. <33))

"Sort of," Elizabeth admits, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, it's not like I did anything that they can hunt me down for... except stealing their handcuffs and their jumpsuit... but I didn't mean to steal them. I just wanted to get away."

She nods at her, excitedly as this all occurs to her. "I'm an angel! How did you know? Yes! Perfect idea! You're very smart. They all know me there so they wouldn't turn me in. I bet we can get hot cocoa there anyway."

Elizabeth presses her lips together thoughtfully, as she tries to think of how to help her with her situation.

"Hmm. The guy that I was telling you about... he's very private, too. I do get to see him a lot. I live with him. I haven't seen him in awhile. When I told him that I loved him, he said I didn't because I didn't know him. Let me tell you something, you don't have to know someone to love them." She takes in a deep breath, looking sideways at her. "And I don't think anyone really understands love. It just... is. If you feel like you love him, I bet you do. It doesn't mean that he will love you back though. Unfortunately. But you deserve to be loved, too, Luka, just as you are."

Elizabeth shakes her head, wincing heavily to hear about it all. She folds her arms over her chest. Anger seeps into her and hurt to think of any small child being handcuffed up like that. "It's abuse here though, and you didn't deserve it. It's not right at all, and I wish you didn't have to go through it. I know you did, and there's nothing I can do about it now, but... yeah. I don't know." She bites down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling, shaking her head again.

[designed2kill]

((It's totally cool! <3 School's been kicking my ass this last week so I haven't been able to reply either. Slowtiming FTW?))

"My riftpower," Luka explains when Elizabeth asks how she knew Elizabeth was an angel. "I can feel in my head what type of person someone is, like angels or demons or regular humans or something else." Now that they have a plan, Luka mentally figures out which direction the Conrad is from here and turns toward it. She's not going to start walking without Elizabeth, but she's ready to go whenever Elizabeth is.

"I know he doesn't love me back," Luka says. "I just want to be near him sometimes, and I like doing things that will please him. That's one of the reasons I try to be really, really good at my job. I want to be better than any of the other employees and make him proud." The other reason is that Luka literally knows nothing else. She was born and bred (so to speak) to be an assassin, so that's what she will do.

"Well, it's never happened to me here. I like it much better here anyway. It gets kind of confusing sometimes, but that's why I have people like J and Phoebe to explain stuff to me." Luka is quite fond of J and Phoebe. She would even go so far as to call them her friends now.