Sov had been up to the roof, trying to think. It hadn't been a good thing, because thinking just turned to worrying. They had written letters to Sether and their mother, but gotten no replies, and that wasn't very much like them at all, and considering what seemed to be going on it was bad news indeed.
They didn't want to be alone. They wanted to talk to someone. And on their way down to their own floor they thought of Elphaba whom they didn't know very well, and who most of the time seemed to prefer her distance.
Perhaps a desperate need not to be alone makes you braver?
Elphaba hid her bottle away under her pillow, and walked over to the room entrance. She quickly brushed the tears from her verdigris cheeks and opened the door.
"Oh, Sov," she said, wishing she was able to smile at her visitor, but she couldn't quite manage it. "I wasn't expecting you."
"Oh, nothing, it's..." Elphaba trailed off, realizing how pointless it was to pretend in this situation, and it wouldn't exactly be fair to Sov, either.
"Why don't you come in, and I'll share," she said. "I don't think I'd wish you to just stand in the hall while I told you all this. Even if it isn't much to tell."
Elphaba stepped back and opened the door further to allow Sov to come in.
"I suppose it's rather common, now," she said. "The disappearances, the loss. Everyone else gets to hear it directly, it seems. But Oz doesn't haven phones, and the portals are impossible."
She went and sat at the edge of her bed again. "Today a letter to my father was returned to me, labelled that it could not possibly be delivered."
"The only thing I know for certain is that whatever us causing disappearances has cost me my sister," Elphaba said, looking down at the floor, at the discarded letter that lay near her feet. "And if I'm totally honest, that is what matters most, in any case."
Sov hadn't really been able to take in that their whole family might be gone. To them, it just felt as if they couldn't contact them, which was terrible and frightening. But they couldn't be gone. That just couldn't happen.
"Before my letter was returned, I had received one from my father, and he did not seem to think I even had a sister," Elphaba said, looking up from the floor and over at Sov. "He doesn't believe in jokes, so... something must have happened."
I'm sorry." The words felt quite inadquate, and Elphaba looked like she needed a hug, but Sov didn't really know her that well, so they just reached out to pat her shoulder in comfort.
It was a gesture that Elphaba appreciated, at least. She'd normally have tensed up, but she actually relaxed a bit, leaning just slightly against that hand on her shoulder.
"It's becoming very obvious that whatever is going on, it's far bigger than I can even imagine. But I cannot let myself be crippled by this sense of fear," she said.
"It must be. Bigger, I mean." Sov frowned a little. "I can't believe that my family are really... gone. They must be somewhere. Are... were you close to your sister?"
"She's my only friend, at least in Oz," Elphaba said. "We were the daughters of the royal governor. She tragically beautiful, and I just... beautifully tragic. We had each other, even when father seemed to forget about us... though he never forgot about Nessa for long. He was her favorite, even though she always objected when I'd say so."
"She's what everyone in Oz considers the pretty one, and I can't deny that she's absolutely beautiful," Elphaba said. "But in her case it's tragic because she was born frail, so she has to use a wheelchair to get around. I'm just tragic because I'm the daughter who's green. And somehow they all seem okay with judging me just on that fact."
A lot of the bitterness involved with that had been alleviated by time in Fandom, but there was part of her that still resented that fact, and it showed in her tone.
They didn't want to be alone. They wanted to talk to someone. And on their way down to their own floor they thought of Elphaba whom they didn't know very well, and who most of the time seemed to prefer her distance.
Perhaps a desperate need not to be alone makes you braver?
Sob knocked on Elphaba's door.
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"Oh, Sov," she said, wishing she was able to smile at her visitor, but she couldn't quite manage it. "I wasn't expecting you."
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"No, I didn't expect you to expect me. I mean, I haven't stopped by your room before." They paused, then added: "What's wrong?"
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"Why don't you come in, and I'll share," she said. "I don't think I'd wish you to just stand in the hall while I told you all this. Even if it isn't much to tell."
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"I suppose it's rather common, now," she said. "The disappearances, the loss. Everyone else gets to hear it directly, it seems. But Oz doesn't haven phones, and the portals are impossible."
She went and sat at the edge of her bed again. "Today a letter to my father was returned to me, labelled that it could not possibly be delivered."
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"Gethen doesn't have phones either," they said, nodding in recognition. "And I get no replies to my letters."
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"Are you sure she is really gone?"
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"It's becoming very obvious that whatever is going on, it's far bigger than I can even imagine. But I cannot let myself be crippled by this sense of fear," she said.
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[and it's bedtime for me. SP?]
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[of course!]
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"I see why you miss her," they said. "What do you mean though, 'tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic'?"
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A lot of the bitterness involved with that had been alleviated by time in Fandom, but there was part of her that still resented that fact, and it showed in her tone.
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