Above Fandom - Saturday afternoon - 10/3

[new_to_liirness]

There was one thing that Liir did when he needed to get his head straight. Anyone who knew him knew this, as did anyone who looked up at the right moments. Liir took to the air, disconnected from everything and everyone; it was the ultimate escape, and while he felt a bit like a coward for taking it, that didn't stop him from zooming through the

Comments

[momofawitch]

Elphaba was still trying to figure out what this place was and how she had ended up here. Running into Liir (and, yes, of course she knew his name) had been unsettling.

So she had taken to the sky to figure out if there was a way out of this place.

Imagine her shock when she saw someone else flying. Especially when she flew close enough to realize who it was.

[new_to_liirness]

Liir almost fell off his own broom.

"For Ozma's sake," he shouted into the wind, "I can't escape you even up here, can I?"

[momofawitch]

"How are you doing that?" Elphaba demanded.

[new_to_liirness]

He couldn't help it. He stared at her.

"Has your victorious return from the dead damaged your brainpan? How do you think, Auntie?"

His eyes went flat.

"After all, I've always been just another monkey to you, haven't I?"

[momofawitch]

"I never magicked you," she said. "You shouldn't be able to do that."

Because there was no way he could be doing it with his own magic, right?

[new_to_liirness]

He looked at her for a moment... and then took off for the preserve, speeding as fast as he could.

[momofawitch]

Elphaba watched him fly off and debated whether to just let him go or to follow him.

Her fear and confusion over being here won out over her good sense and she raced after him.

[new_to_liirness]

He didn't dive down into the trees; he was too busy trying to figure out what he should do since she was actually following him.

Instead, he found a spot with a relatively clear bit of grass tot he air and dropped to land.

[momofawitch]

Her descent was more controlled, but she definitely followed him. "If you want to be rid of me, tell me what I need to know to leave."

[new_to_liirness]

He threw the broom into it's holster at his hip and stalked back to growl.

"I don't want to be rid of you, you stupid woman. I want you--"

He was going to say it, he was going to say it, he was going to say this.

"I want you to treat me with... with respect, if you can't" swallow "love me."

Liir stalked right up, closer than he'd ever had the courage to approach, and realized that they were of a height. That he'd grown in the last two years, grown tall and broad.

I got the shoulders from Father, but the height from both of them. They're both tall. They're both tall and they're both--

"Now I know where I get my terrible response to surprise from."

[momofawitch]

The directness of his words left Elphaba speechless and staring at him. A part of her wanted to acknowledge him but another part of her refused to do so without being able to remember.

"You show me no respect, boy," she said. "Why should I show you respect?"

[new_to_liirness]

He stared at her aghast, green green eyes wide, mouth wide and gaping.

"I don't show you--

"I--" and his lips snapped shut before he could breathe again, "I lived for you. My whole life revolved around you. I followed you, I carried your things, I cleaned your keep, I took care of Nanny, I cooked your food, I brought you anything you asked for you in that blasted tower.

"I dealt with the merchants, I made sure to get food for all those bloody Animals that you were so busy dealing with, I talked to your monkeys. Respect?"

His eyes closed.

"How can a man, a boy, respect that which he lives for? Does a Unionist respect the Unnamed God?

"You were my world and you left me!"

[momofawitch]

"I never asked for your devotion," she pointed out, her tone strident to hide the fact that his words were affecting her. "You offered it. I never asked for any of the responsibilities I've had to take on in my life. But I've made the best of my lot and you should do the same."

[new_to_liirness]

"You never--"

He was shaking again.

"No one asks for responsibilities! Do you think I asked to have the Emperor of Oz breathing down my throat? Do you think I asked to be the one to fix what you did to Princess Nastoya, to restore her? Do you honstly think that I wanted to be the one to find Nor?"

Nevermind that he'd lost her again. She was alive and she was out of Southstairs and that was the most important thing. Knowing those pieces of information meant she was probably doing better than he was.

"The all want you but all they've got left is me. Me to deal with all this mess. Me to take Irji's place. Probably me to do something about Munchkinland since both you and Nessarose are dead! I didn't ask for any of them either.

"I would have asked the Wizard for a father, yes. But now I'm asking the Witch for a mother. Is your doubt more important than that? Than even a servant's comfort?"

[momofawitch]

"I am not your mother!" Elphaba insisted. There was a lack of conviction in her voice though. Because she had always wondered. And now she was wondering even more.

[new_to_liirness]

"And why not? You raised me, you took me from the mauntery, you kept me in your household? Answer me, Elphaba Thropp," he insisted with a lift of his head.

"I know the truth. I've seen, and my father confirmed it. What have I ever done that you would deny me this? What?"

That was it. That was the question that had plagued him. For years, he had been without a mother or father. For years, he'd been lost, without a base. He'd found out differently, he'd learned who he was, and while he was afraid, he'd not flinched from what he saw as his responsibilities. Once he knew... he'd jumped for them, just for a firmer claim.

Fiyero had taken him in, legitimized him in fact, called him 'son'. What crime had he committed, where was he lacking, that in all their years, she could not call him the same?