[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

Comments

[labiondaisotta]

If at any time of her wanderings Elphaba happens to cast ger eyes downward, she'll perhaps notice a slender, pale, blonde and beautiful, albeit eerie lady, clad in mismatched skirt and blouse (still the clothes Iggy provided, yes), walking slowly by the line of the forest.

Isolde needs to gather her thoughts.

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba squints her eyes, trying to make something out of the pale shadow she sees moving up and down. She cautiously takes one shoe off and throws it into the general direction of that...being?

[labiondaisotta]

Isolde's sometimes-occuring reflexes save her from a nasty encounter with the sudden ammunition. She turns her head, frightened by the sound, and the shoe misses her off by inches.

"What's the meaning of this?" she wonders out loud, as if hoping that something or someone in the shadows might answer.

[weightofaduck]

"Uh, well; as a matter of fact it's quite simple. You stick your foot in it, tie the laces and you're good to go!"

Elphaba looks down over the eave.

"How does one get down from here? My broom seems to mind its own business tonight"

[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.

[hourglasspriest]

For some reason, Saetan seems to like the early spring rain. The earth is waking up, and that delights one of the Blood, tied as they are to the land. And with the sun safely down, he isn't particularly uncomfortable outside. Don't ask how he got up onto the roof (Hint: he cheated). He's not by the chimney, but sitting on an edge with his legs dangling over the side. His boyish smile and the way he's kicking his legs belie other signs of his age and so-called dignity.

There's silver at the temples of his otherwise black hair. His fingernails are tinted black and overly long. He's missing a pinky on his left hand, the same hand sporting a ring with a large Black Jewel. His clothes are immaculately tailored even if they're now somewhat wet. The rain is slacking off for a moment, so perhaps Elphaba won't be so uncomfortable coming to see him. He knows she's there. He doesn't know who or what she is, specifically, but she certainly smells almost like a witch. Almost. Blood can tell these things.

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba doesn't believe in coincidences. She knows all about rain and it's usefulness for life...life, yes, but not for her. She has lived very well without it, thank you very much. Being the exception, she couldn't help but think that when rain starts and when it ends has a meaning. And that meaning is there for her.

So why is it now that it stopped pouring right when this boy appeared? She feels his presence intensly so she takes her chance and slides his way, to confront him.

[hourglasspriest]

He looks up at her as she approaches. His eyes are golden, like a cats, though shaped like a normal man's. One eyebrow goes up. "I wondered if you'd come see me." If she acts hospitable he might even shield her from the rain if it starts up again.

"I think it's a nice night, but you don't seem very comfortable."

[weightofaduck]

"Most certainly...for a sponge. I'm not one but still, if I were to be wrung out one would get twice my weight in water; and mind you, I'm not even drinking such a thing. Also, one of my shoes is gone and there's an odd pointy-eared girl around who keeps asking me why I'm green"

Elphaba stops and takes a deep breath of air, expelling it with something that would resemble a sigh. She gets a reassuring vibe from the man so he must be having a secret agenda. But all she can say is:

"Other than that, it's a nice night"

And she meant it.

[pandora_antioch]

Perhaps Elphaba never noticed her - vampires, and particularly very ancient vampires such as Pandora, can be extremely quiet. It's her case - living with an elf has made her more acutely aware of how loud a human can be.

She's also on the roof - her preferred space for brooding - and will say, after a moment of silence...

"I believe you and I are the fliers, not the house - and whho have you seen that lives on a boat?"

She's been there a very long time. She would know, she figures.

[weightofaduck]

The rain is too loud for Elphaba to have heard anything else, so this voice coming out of nowhere interrupts her line of thought. She takes in the owner of the question, glances quickly over her features and decides she's human enough.

"Whyyy, may be that I should rethink my theory. It's clear now that people live ON houses around these parts"

[pandora_antioch]

Pandora chuckles mirthlessly. "I wish it were as ingenious as you suggest. Most live inside - only a few live out of it - and to my knowledge, only one lives truly without shelter."

She tilts her head. "You are newly arrived, it's obvious. Be welcome, then."

She's reminded (and it's always sour-sweet with Pandora) of her own arrival. It was also on the roof - and she's hoping that she can give this strange and witchy woman a greeting which is better than the one she got herself, all those years ago.

[weightofaduck]

"Thank you, then" says Elphaba intently, wondering if the Mansion is that big or if neighbours don't actually know each other. She thinks she'd like that.

Being recognized rather late as a new arrival a new thought crosses her mind and she says out loud unwittingly:

"Mayhaps there are other green people in the area?"

Elphaba wouldn't like that and she's not even sure why.

[cyranosavignien]

This might come as a surprise. Here's someone who has already met Elphaba - a very long time ago. They didn't speak for a very long time, but green women are far and few between, and they're also vastly unforgettable.

As he doesn't generally hang out on the roof, Cyrano de Bergerac is instead burning the midnight oil and rather thoughtfully looking for a rhyme.

Should Elphaba wander by the table where he is working (inside, of course), she might end up having a rather interesting and strange conversation....

[Typist note: I obviously don't expect Elphaba to recognize him - but this could get lolzy.]

[weightofaduck]

With her clothes soaked, Elphaba realizes she can't mope around for much longer. She must find out what has happened, she must seek the master of the house and she must be sent back. There's still unfinished business in Oz: the shoes...

"They're mine!" she yells and jumps to her feet. Unfortunately she has forgotten that she threw one of her shoes towards a shadow on the ground and the touch of wet wood is agonizingly painful. She stumbles and falls through the smoking chimney.

She lands smoothly, she's very light, but her clothes catch on fire. Feeling that she's reenacting a sad and recent event and seeing a man in the room, Elphaba raises her broom to defend herself:

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't put me out!"

[cyranosavignien]

Cyrano looks up - he's abandoning the rhyme half-way resolved, which makes him half-grumpy.

It's not lack of empathy if he's responding mildly - it's simply that he's been there a long time and is, well, blasé.

"Most certainly, Madame," he replies calmly. "Far be it from me to force an untimely rescue."

.... and then he notices her face.

"Madame Thropp-Cohen?"

[weightofaduck]

Elphaba kills the fire with her broom, stiffing the fiery end of her cloak into some ash she deranged from the fireplace. She takes her time and keeps doing that long after the last flame died with a fsss. She's not sure if she heard right. Finally, she turns to the unfamiliar man:

"You could call me Auntie Witch. I'm better at that than being a...well, you assumed I was - a wife. Some would argue, I'm sure, but they don't know what happened to my lover."