[introduction] It's still green up here

[weightofaduck]

In the life of a witch there is no afterword. She was dead, dead and g...wait.

Elphaba pants heavily. There's no stone beneath her feet, but wooden, shaky ledges and she can feel thick drops of water digging into her skin. One would think Dorothy's bucket emptied by now. But is she dead? It wouldn't surprise her if divinity chose to mock her

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[three_leaves]

"The house isn't flying," comes a voice from the other side of the chimney, and poking around the corner is a hooded head with a few strands of tousled hair sticking out from under it.

Nellas couldn't sleep and decided to indulge in her natural curiosity and discover more of her new abode. To find someone up here is unexpected, but after meeting a vampire lady in distress, other people don't hold that much terror anymore.

"Why are you green?"

[weightofaduck]

"My dear, that's because you're quite having a terrible nightmare"

Elphaba tries to keep her calm and look composed, not taking her eyes off of the new appearance. She is intrigued, people have always tried to act as if noticing her skin issue was beneath their snobbish politicaly-correct ways; besides, she's not yet convinced SHE isn't the one having a dream.

Deciding to give it a go anyway, she asks:
"If we're not flying, where are we standing? I like to know where I stand"

[three_leaves]

"I'm not sleeping."

She tries to smile at the strange woman and pushes her hood back, maybe that will help her understand that she is talking to a real person, not an apparition.

"This place is called the Mansion. People come here." A slightly helpless look follows that. "They say it's without the world." She can't say more because she doesn't know.

[weightofaduck]

"Mansion...that is a good name. Is the master mansionist available to talk to? You see, I can't stay here for long. I have things to take care of"

She pauses, trying to make sure she's not blabbering.

"But... why do you have pointy ears?" says Elphaba, returning the courtesy.

[three_leaves]

"I -- I don't know who that is. Someone with magic." At least Adaon said so. "And there isn't a way to leave. You have to stay here now."

She blinks. And blinks again. She isn't entirely familiar with political correctness, but keeps finding herself caught by surprise that people don't seem to know Elves.

"I'm an Elf. Why are you green?" Again.

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba is bewildered. She feels she has answered the question already. How is her greenness more important than the fact that here she is, standing on this elf's roof. She could be a murderer. She could be a witch.

"That's because I am a witch" She doesn't feel like mentioning the elixir her mother drank before Elphaba was born. "And and elf...are you now? In Oz elves giggle at everything. You don't seem to be giggling very much. Not at all, to be more precise. That's odd"

[three_leaves]

The fact that she is standing on the roof isn't Nellas' decision to make, and this elf is certainly not expecting a witch.

Hence the withdrawing, slightly, behind the chimney, and biting her lips. She doesn't see anything to giggle about, although she might do that sometimes, in other circumstances.

"I'm from Doriath. Is Oz your country? And are all of you green there, and -- witches?"

[weightofaduck]

Hmmm, what's there behind the chimney? Elphaba makes the connection between the place the non-giggly elf came from and the place she disappeared into. Maybe it's a trap, but maybe it's a way down?

She decides to follow.

"Yes, no and n...well, you could say we're all witches in our own way, albeit not all magical... Do those pointy ears have a biological purpose or are they attached?"

[three_leaves]

There just is more of the roof, Nellas made her way up clambering here and there. She grew up in trees, after all, and buildings are not terribly difficult for her to scale.

She peers behind herself to see the green-skinned woman following. She doesn't mind, even if no month ago, that would have sent her skittering away in fright, but she doesn't pause to marvel, at the question, or the change in her.

"They just are. I was born with them."

[weightofaduck]

"I see"

Elphaba doesn't quite get that. Things don't just are. Nature and evolution took good care to make all things useful in a way or another.

She thinks about her winged snow monkeys and how she created a new race and reevaluates the situation. Well, maybe these elves weren't nature's purpose, but someone's purpose. She will investigate that later on.

"Would you lead us inside? "

[three_leaves]

They were Eru's purpose and creation, that is all Nellas knows, at any rate. The word 'evolution' she probably wouldn't understand, nor know that a sort of Lamarckism seems to be at work in Middle-earth.

She glimpses over her shoulder. "We have to climb down first. Can you do that? If not I can get you a rope."

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba can see on the girl's face that the terms she used are unfamiliar to her. If Chistery, her winged snow monkey would learn to actually speak in coherent phrases, would he be like that?

She shakes her head. Never did she hear about humanoids, technically speaking, without a soul, so this would have to be a different type of experiment than hers. She shudders and decides that she must indeed find out if there are more like this elf and about how she came to be.

"A rope would be great. Then I can meet your kin"

[three_leaves]

"I have no kin here," she says unhappily. "But I have a friend, and maybe you will like him," and the thought of Iggy helps lessen the pang of that loss. "I will get the rope!"

And off Nellas scurries, appearing to simply swing herself over the edge of the roof and drop down to land on some windowsill and clamber further down until she reaches 'her' balcony, gets the smooth rope of hithlain she found in one of the cupboards, much to her delight, and scurries back up, not terribly unlike a monkey. With a critical glance she decides that the chimney will do as support, and ties it securely.

"You can get down now. And inside the Mansion through Iggy's room. He's not home, but he wouldn't mind."

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba doesn't fail to notice the agile climbing of the girl, another argument to her monkey theory. But she also notices her delicate features and eerie vibe and thinks she's never quite seen something like that. Well, nothing except the silver shoes denied to her; they, too, are full of symbolism.

She grabs the rope and slides downwards, puffing and huffing. Finally, she reaches solid floor. She looks around, trying to stretch, but isn't able to see into the dark room.

"Auch" she exclaims, hitting her head on something.

[three_leaves]

Nellas has been opening the balcony door, but looks back at Elphaba. "Careful. That's my wind-screen, I need it. I sleep here. Come, here is a door."

And as she knows mortals don't tend to see well in the dark, typist allowing, Nellas will just grab Elphaba's hand and guide her through Iggy's room in the dark, until they emerge in a lit corridor near a flight of stairs down to the ground floor. Nellas releases Elphaba's hand, only surreptitiously daring a glimpse to see if there is green paint or something of the sort on her fingers now.

"This is where the bedrooms are," she explains. "You can pick one that isn't taken. And the kitchens and the large room are down there."

[weightofaduck]

"How did you do that?" Elphaba is impressed. "You must be here very long"

She even ignores the girl's...well, she should definitely ask her her name. But not now; she does indeed refrain from commenting upon her reaction but she can't help to be a little bitter.

"As long as it isn't leaking, any room will do. And thank you, you've been most helpful; you must be very tired"

While she sais that, Elphaba walks into an empty room seemingly suitable and starts dusting with her broom.