rendez-vous + APPOINTMENT POST

[tearmeanewone]

[This is an appointment post for Elizabeth at luceti.]

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[tearmeanewone]

[After Elizabeth's name comes up on the list of chosen candidates, she realizes that maybe signing up after seeing Booker and Gai's names on the list had been a bit of a mistake. Because while Gai's name had come up as well, Booker's hadn't. What would have happened if only one of them had been chosen? If either of them had had to go alone, it could have been disastrous.]

[It didn't help that there was already tension in the apartment due to Rosalind's appearance, and now there was one more thing that had been added on. Elizabeth realized that Booker being left alone with both Luteces could result in her returning to something she'd have to sort out between the three of them, but what choice did she have now? Could she even refuse to go?]

[She goes over her supplies and packs her necessities on the 6th, and then when the morning of the 7th comes she sits in her room and stares at her bags nervously. This had definitely been a mistake...]

[quantumgrammar]

[Rosalind hopes, by the morning of the 7th, that her existence has been adequately proven to the residents of the flat - for better or for worse. It would be awkward for Elizabeth, she supposes, being bid farewell by their collective folie à plusieurs. Delusion does not suit the girl - one of the many ways in which she is nothing like her fathers.

So it's still early in the morning when she raps at the door, a short, businesslike staccato. It wouldn't do to miss her departure by sleeping in, especially not when she means to send her off with advice and the only advantage she is equipped to impart at the moment.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth starts awake, looking blearily at her door. This is new, no one's ever knocked on her door like this in the morning. But, then again, this is the day she's supposed to go off to this mission she's signed on for. It's not a usual day.]

[She pulls on her dressing gown and goes to the door, opening it wide enough to fit her shoulder through. It's very surprising to see Rosalind on the other side.]

Miss Lutece! Ah... [Elizabeth clears her throat and closes her gown a little.] Good morning. Is everything alright? [Was she wondering about breakfast, maybe?]

[quantumgrammar]

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, if that is what you mean.

[It's almost humour, and might actually be recognisable as such if she smiled, or changed her tone even a little. But there's a relaxation to her bearing, at least, something that seems more suited to the hush of early morning and yet-dim light.]

I'd merely hoped to find you before you departed on your assignment.

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth does take it as an ironic sort of joke--because what was Luceti if not Out of the Ordinary for someone new? She laughs a little, but cuts it short when she realizes Rosalind isn't even smiling. Was... that not supposed to be a joke then? Honestly, while Elizabeth has had more dealings with Robert, it's almost difficult to separate those interactions from Rosalind's character simply because even the way they spoke was so similar. But obviously Rosalind was different from Robert, and as such Elizabeth vacillated between easy friendliness and caution.]

Ah, well, you found me. [She smiles and gestures awkwardly back to her bed and half-packed bags.] I still have a few hours... I think.

[quantumgrammar]

So I see.

[It's interesting, to see the girl who had been so hungry to see the world now with bags half-unpacked, left until the last moment. After seeing so many iterations of her, it is both strange and wholly natural to think her feelings toward adventure may have changed a little.

She lifts one hand that is folded beneath the other, and lightly clasped in her fingers is a little puff of fabric, filmy and white and held into a loose loop by several hairpins.]

I've either a parting gift or advice, depending upon how you wish to interpret it. If you'd be so kind as to have a seat-?

GMAIL STACKINGGGGGG.

[tearmeanewone]

[A gift or advice... a gift of advice maybe? Elizabeth isn't sure how to interpret it at all just yet--obviously she's going to have to sit down and see what Rosalind has in mind. Because clearly what Rosalind is holding isn't advice, it looks more like a ribbon.]

Of course... [Still confused but curious, Elizabeth sits down at her desk chair facing Rosalind. Perhaps this was one of those situations where a guardian-figure sat the charge down and had some important life discussion?]

[quantumgrammar]

[With the same calm efficiency as ever, Rosalind walks over, plucking the hairpins one by one from the bundle and snugging them between her fourth and fifth fingers. Thus prepared, she settles into place behind Elizabeth and begins finger-combing back the hair the girl so, so often has chopped off, shaking out the wide band of soft, strong fabric to tie around it.]

When I was thirteen years old, I had short hair for a time as well. [She gives the remark with a calm ease, as if she is in the habit of speaking about her past and personal life with Elizabeth and it is a natural state of affairs between them.] Mind you, it wasn't an intentional decision.

[tearmeanewone]

[Yes, the fact that Rosalind Lutece is putting a ribbon in her hair and talking about her childhood is throwing Elizabeth a little. Granted, Elizabeth is used to the enigmatic, matter-of-fact Rosalind. Robert had only shown her a more human side of himself since arriving at Luceti, but Elizabeth had always had the impression--perhaps from listening to her voxophones--that Rosalind wasn't the sort to get down on her knees and apologize for what happened to Elizabeth. So the hair ribbon is a little too... motherly, perhaps, for Elizabeth to completely rationalize.]

Oh? Did your mother cut it for some reason?

[quantumgrammar]

[However motherly the action is, Rosalind goes about it with absolute cool precision, not a trace of caress or affection in how she straightens the just-long-enough-to-be-unruly brown hair into a sweep that the broad band holds back neatly.]

Actually, I'd made up my mind to sneak into a university laboratory. The operation of the gas burners was simple enough, and I'd prepared to work my way though the better part of the exercises of the textbook. [Whatever shape her mouth is in, a trace of a smile creeps into her voice as she snugs the first knot into the ribbon, just firm enough to hold.] I might have managed it, too, if I hadn't become so absorbed in the seventh or eighth reaction that I leaned a little too close to the flame. My hair, of course, slipped out from behind my ear.

[tearmeanewone]

... ...Oh...

[Strangely enough, it was a little comforting to realize Rosalind was telling Elizabeth to tie her hair back as to avoid setting it on fire instead of doing her hair before trudging out to a desert.]

[She shouldn't find the story of Rosalind setting herself on fire comforting.]

But you put it out, didn't you?

[quantumgrammar]

Of course. But the damage was done.

[she finishes a rather pretty, broad bow and sets to pinning the rest, leaving the moral unspoken. It's a story with several morals, anyway, and Elizabeth's very nature is to fish about in ambiguity and find precisely what will serve her best.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth stays still as Rosalind finishes the bow and starts pinning the rest of her hair back, frowning as she tries to figure out what this has to do with Rosalind pinning her hair back now. She might not even be around fire very much, and ever since cutting most of her hair off she wasn't in quite as much danger of setting her hair on fire as Rosalind might have been.]

[Maybe it was more of a metaphor then...]

So... you're saying that if I become too engrossed in one thing, I won't notice my hair's caught fire? So to speak?

[voidseeing]

[Evidently Elizabeth is just popular this morning, because Rosalind won't be the only one who comes knocking on her door. The whole procedure leading up to a mission is almost routine to Gai by now after the number of them that he's been on; all he has to do is grab the duffel bag that he keeps packed for just such an occasion, put on his uniform (and small arsenal that he hides underneath it), and head out the door. That's all there is to it.

But this is Elizabeth's first mission, and though he's seen her skills in combat, he knows she's bound to be nervous about this whole situation. Booker hadn't been picked, after all. It's just him and her and a rather vaguely-described situation that supposedly won't end in fighting... not that he's going to place any bets on that.

His knock is louder and firmer than Rosalind's, and if she'd had any question as to who was at her door, his voice should answer that much.]

You almost ready to go?

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth had been staring at her medical bag with quiet intensity when Gai knocks. She knows it's him, Booker would probably just walk right in, and Robert's knock would be more hesitant.]

No... [She rubs her face.] I'm still in bed in my nightgown.

[Bit of sarcasm there, probably unwarranted (she's fully dressed and has her hair done up from Rosalind's visit earlier). But she's nervous to go somewhere, potentially into battle, without Booker. She loves Gai, she really does, but going back into a fight without knowing Booker was behind her is scary.]

[voidseeing]

[Gai detects that hint of sarcasm in her voice when she answers. He also knows that this isn't the time to push or tease about something like this, so if it's time she wants, he's happy to give that to her.]

I'll go wait in the living room until you're done. There isn't much anyone here can get mad at me for if I'm just sitting out the couch and not within ten feet of you.

[Granted, he'll likely feel like he's under a microscope, but he can deal with that.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Well she doesn't want that. Knowing Gai is waiting for her would only add to the pressure for her to come out and face the mission. Elizabeth rushes to the door and opens it.]

No, wait-- [Standing in the door and faced with Gai, she doesn't know what to say. So she stares into Gai's eyes for a moment, scared, and then lets her gaze drop to the middle of Gai's chest.]

I don't know what I was thinking... [She pulls the door open wider and turns to wander back to the middle of her room where her bags are.]

[voidseeing]

[She won't get very far before Gai's arms wrap around her from behind and pull her against him with a gentle but unyielding grip. She's scared; he can tell that much. And he can't blame her one bit for it, either. He's keenly aware that his views on combat are the exception rather than the rule, here and just about everywhere else.]

No matter what happens out there, I won't let any harm come to you. That's a promise.

[Even if it means killing in order to keep that promise.]

[tearmeanewone]

[She knew to expect this from Gai, and she believes it of course. Booker and Gai are the two people she trusts most to make certain of her safety. However she's still afraid. The invasion was one thing, she hadn't known what was happening when it was going on. But this was Elizabeth-from-Columbia walking back into a fight.]

I don't know what I was thinking. [Elizabeth reaches up and latches onto Gai's arms, squeezing them slightly.] I just didn't want you or Booker to be alone.

[voidseeing]

[He laughs, just quietly, leaning his head down to kiss the top of her head. (Had she done her hair like that? It was awfully cute, he had to admit.) It was a sweet sentiment, albeit a somewhat misguided one, as Gai is probably the last person she would need to worry about on a mission or draft.]

I'll be glad for your company. Missions get pretty boring when the only people you have to talk to are ones you don't get along with, save for a few exceptions.

[Not that Gai gets along with that many people, but details. He doesn't go out of his way to be friendly, and he doesn't expect anyone else to do the same to him.]

[tearmeanewone]

I'm not talking about company, I'm talking about... backup. [She squeezes Gai's arm again, tensing up in his arms as she tries to control her anxiety.]

When I saw your name on the list, and I saw that doctors were needed... I panicked. If this mission really was as nonviolent as it claims to be, there wouldn't be a need for medical assistance.

[voidseeing]

[So much for his attempt at casual conversation to get her onto a lighter topic. She's not the only one who'd taken note of that fact, and Gai has had enough experience with these missions to know that it's not uncommon for things to end up going awry in some way.

So he squeezes her right back, trying to reassure her despite his own misgivings about the situation.]

Things have a way of going wrong where missions are concerned. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I've been on enough of them to know that much. But my experience has also been that it's rare for anyone to get seriously injured while on a mission.

[tearmeanewone]

That doesn't mean it isn't going to happen this time...! [She squeezes her eyes closed and turns to rest her head against Gai's shoulder.]

I was happy thinking I would never have to fight again, but then the invasion happened, and I was so scared for you and Booker, and I knew the only way I could rest would be if I was there to be sure. But I saw your doctor's name on the list too, and now I just feel absolutely idiotic. I'm going to worry both you and Booker.

[voidseeing]

[And Gai reaches down to slide a finger beneath her chin and tilt her face up towards his.]

You've already shown me that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, even if I'm not right there to fight with you. I won't say that I'm not going to worry, but you need to give yourself more credit too.

[tearmeanewone]

[She lets Gai tilt her chin up, but she doesn't look reassured or more confident in the slightest. She rests her head on Gai's chest more heavily and looks up at him.]

I don't know how I did it during the invasion. Back in Columbia, no one ever shot at me because I was The Lamb. It would have been like killing the President's daughter.