awashlogs | [open] canon updates are rough

WHO: elizabeth + you!
WHERE: Near the forest at first, then generally around town
WHEN: October, just before the event
WHAT: Elizabeth got a canon update, which means she had a bad time. So clearly, she needs a chill hang to come down off that
WARNINGS: Likely to have mentions/allusions to torture and murder. I'm not kidding, she had a real bad time!!

i. forest's edge

[ If you've been looking for Elizabeth, she's been nowhere to be found.

It's been three days at this point, and it might seem like she's one of the few to have left this place. Though if you've talked to Elizabeth about her home, that's probably a sadder prospect than it is a happy one. She's been clear that Columbia is the last place she wanted to go to if she left Chroma, and as it turns out, her worries were more than justified.

If you're hanging out near the forest, you might see someone coming out of its depths. At first, it might seem like someone new, because Elizabeth has had something of a makeover in her time away. Her long hair is cut short, and her silhouette is considerably different with her corset drawn tight to a tiny waist. But regardless of whether you know her or not, just by her posture as she emerges from the trees, it's fairly clear that she's in pain.

As she steps out of the shadows of the trees, it's a bit clearer why, since there are visible cuts and bruises on the skin that's exposed. Her eyes also look darker and sunken, as if she hasn't slept in quite a while. And to herself, before she notices you, she just looks towards the town and shakes her head. ]

I'm... back. Here. Why here?

[ Also, she's probably cold. Oddly enough, she's not wearing shoes. ]

ii. home (?) again

[ Once she's gone away from the forest, Elizabeth heads back into Chroma proper. You can encounter her as she's en route to her house (still very much shoeless), or after once she's found a pair. Though if it's after, she'll be idly wandering the town. Her posture is very much drawn in like she's protecting herself, and her gait is still a bit slow, since that massive bruise on her back is far from comfortable, and there's no need to run for her life here. But she almost doesn't believe that she's here. It's why she's wandering. It feels like if she just stumbles across the right thing, this will break, and she'll be right back in Columbia.

...She almost wants that, in a way. Being here when she'd so thoroughly decided to take matters with Comstock into her own hands feels wrong.

You're free to stop her if you know her, but even if you don't, she might just approach you, so long as you look open to a conversation. She tucks some hair behind her ear, then shrugs. ]

Sorry for interrupting. Can I ask— [ She starts, but she seems to just decide that she's going to ask regardless of that answer. ] Have you ever heard of someone leaving Chroma and then coming back?

iii. something else?

[ If you have a specific idea in mind for how your character might encounter Liz or just want to talk out something different, hit me up! As always, I'm flexible for wildcard options. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That simple "I see" is enough to make her realize just how harsh her words sound. She doesn't regret it, exactly. But she is more aware of just how much had changed in such a short time. It makes her feel anxious, in a way, and she only hopes that these changes aren't so drastic that she would drive her new friends away. She truly hopes so, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't know.

But even so, she smiles. It's tired and weary, but also at least a little warm with her thankfulness. ]

I... I am too.

[ Mostly, at least. There's a part of her that wishes that whatever forces bring them here had waited just a little longer... But overall, Chroma is highly preferable to Columbia. ]

A lot happened while I was gone, so... It's nice to be back.

[In truth, he's a little off-balance too. She's changed a lot, and he doesn't know how to help her anymore. It's clear she's hurting, and... he wants to help ease that, however he can.

But... how?

Maybe in this, it's best to be totally transparent.]

Elizabeth-san... what do you need now?

[To feel a little better, to be a little happier--whatever it is she needs, he wants to try to help give it to her.]

[ It's an offer that surprises her, not because she doesn't expect the kindness (thank God, the people here are so kind), but it's more. As she stands there for a moment in a quiet, contemplative silence, she also realizes that it's a question that she doesn't know the answer to. She'd never really thought about it. There was never time in Columbia, obviously. But even beyond that, it feels almost strange to consider it that way. ]

Sorry, I— [ She apologizes to fill the silence that's becoming awkward. She looks down at her shoes, then rubs at her arm before she looks back to Minato. ]

It's a lot to explain. Maybe too much. [ In particular, she thinks about her mother. How do you even explain that when you weren't there? Or the Luteces...? ] But... I don't know. If you don't mind listening, maybe it's just something I need to get off my chest. All of it.

[It's an awkward silence, but Minato understands it, too. It's not easy to deal with this sort of thing. It's especially not easy to carry all of this burden on your own shoulders--which is why Elizabeth's words come as a relief.]

I don't mind listening.

[An immediate response, and there's sincerity in his words and his gaze as he meets her eyes.]

I'd be happy to listen, if you're ready to talk about it.

[Burdens are meant to be shared between friends, and lessened that way--he really believes in that.

Though...]

... Do you mind if we go to my home first? You look like you could use a place to sit down, and maybe something to eat.

[ The sincerity and softness gets her to smile, if only a little. It's thankful for his time, but she doesn't know how to fully express that. She's not sure why it feels so strange to even ask, but her best guess is that just like stepping through the Tears in Finktown, time feels strange. Being here in Chroma, away from everything Columbia had done to her, it feels like something from a long time ago. But it was yesterday. The carefully bandaged hole in her back and the soreness between her shoulders is proof enough of that.

Thinking about it, she rolls her shoulders a little bit as if to massage that tension out. ]

Please. It... [ She trails off softly, but she ends up laughing a little ] It would be weird to just stand here and explain everything.

[That gets a small smile out of him.]

I would've been okay with it, but... yeah, maybe a little weird.

[Taking her hand might seem a bit too intimate, so... Minato just reaches a hand carefully, quietly and briefly on her upper arm, before he nods and starts to walk. He'll lead the way--it's really lucky the town's not big enough to make it a painfully long way.

To Minato's very quiet home! Now Elizabeth will get some of that tea Sebastian declined, so it was worth it in the end for Sebastian to be a loser.]

Sit wherever you're comfortable...as soon as the water's heated up, the tea will be ready.

[ i'm glad one of my dumbass characters helped the other ]

[ Elizabeth follows along quietly, not for a lack of wanting to talk, but really, she's trying to think about where she would even start. She wasn't gone that long in terms of pure hours, but so, so much happened. She learned so much about who she is and why Columbia is what it is. It's all related, and being at the center of something that important still makes her uniquely uncomfortable.

By the time they enter Minato's home, she's fidgeting with the ends of her hair, because that's what her mind is on. It's not the very beginning of the story, but... It was kind of representative of what's happened.

Her mind is briefly taken off it though when Minato offers tea, and her expression does at least brighten in gentle surprise. ]

Oh, tea? Have you made some too?

[ hers sucks though ]

Oh... no, I'm definitely not even close to being able to do something like that.

[There's a faintly amused look on his face; in all honesty, when he thinks about it...]

Mine was a quest reward, but I definitely am not surprised you're creative enough to try making your own, Elizabeth-san.

[open] canon updates are rough

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