cagedlamb | (no subject)

It hasn't been long enough for the stings to completely heal, even with Korra's help, and there are still angry red marks on Kate's jaw and temple, but even so, she manages a laugh when Elizabeth nearly runs into her. She's not in a lot of pain anymore, really, and as usual, she's more worried about Newt than herself. "Hey," she says, lifting one hand to steady them both as Jeff realizes there's another dog here and comes forward to happily sniff at Elizabeth's dog. "I'm good, totally fine, don't even worry about it."

There had been a lot of chaos on New Year's Eve and Kate's pretty sure she missed a lot of it, but she knows what she didn't miss and that's Elizabeth's friend. She'd mentioned him before, but at the time Kate hadn't know who she was talking about. She does now. It's kind of hard to miss a guy who shoots angry birds out of his hand.

Oliver had always been good with other dogs. For such a huge beast of an animal, he was definitely a puppy when it came to playing with other animals. His tail was already wagging the minute hers came up to him.

"Oh, Kate," she said, realizing who it was. Glancing at her healing face, she frowned. "Were you stung? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. They mostly got me on the face, little assholes," she says, turning toward Elizabeth so she can see the red marks left behind on Kate's temple, jaw and neck. There's one on her hand, too, and one of her lower calf, but they're all healing. "The doctor I saw said they're not bad enough to scar, so at least there's that."

She looks at Elizabeth, checking for any marks, then asks, "How about you? Are you okay?"

Elizabeth winced, regardless of whether or not she was 'okay'. From what she had seen, any sting really hurt people, sometimes even to the point of disabling them. The woman she had helped out of the crowd was one of those people.

"I'm just glad it was brought under control," she admitted. So many more could have been injured if it hadn't been for the quick work of everyone involved. "I'm okay. I managed to get out of it with only a couple of bruises from being jostled in the crowd."

"That's good. I bet the guy who shot crows from his hand probably helped with that, huh?" she asks with a smile, because she is glad to hear that Elizabeth got out without being stung, but it's not like she can just totally ignore what she saw. Besides, it's not like she's judging. She's seen so much weird shit between the island and Darrow that Elizabeth's friend having a totally insane talent almost seems like a return to normal in some ways.

Plus, it would feel weird keeping that from her. Kate's totally fine with lying most of the time, but she doesn't like to just avoid stuff if it's not going to benefit her in any way.

Elizabeth felt her stomach twist at the words. She had hoped the darkness mostly masked what Booker had been doing, but apparently not. Months and months of keeping things quiet, only to find herself in this position now.

She wasn't sure what to say. Should she deny it? No, for most of her time here, she was lying by omission. By sidestepping things. Outright lying was not something she wanted to start doing.

"Not so loud, please," she asked tightly, glancing at a passerby. They weren't paying attention, but she worried they might if they started hearing her say strange things like that. Biting her lip, she hesitated a few moments more before asking, "Do you want to walk with me?"

She had to explain. There was no other option. She just hoped Kate would understand when she did tell her why she kept it as quiet as she did.

"Sure," Kate answers, casting a glance at the same person who's passing by. They don't seem even remotely interested in the two girls, but she sort of gets why Elizabeth might not want people to hear. Sometimes she knows the people in Darrow can be a little weird about stuff that's out of the ordinary, but considering the fact that it was their effigy the goddamn bees had burst out of in the first place, she thinks maybe they should be a little more forgiving here.

"It's not like, a big deal," she says. "I saw a lot of weird shit that night. I mean, I got frostbite from a bee sting. That's fucking bizarre." And she's seen magic, too, she's had more than her share of weird experiences. This is just one more thing.

Elizabeth hadn't really been prepared for this conversation. It had been hard enough telling Sybil, who she had prepared ahead of time to talk to. This was more on the spot, and no matter how seemingly okay she was about it, it meant she knew something was different about them.

"It's really important for you to not tell anyone about what you saw. Can you do that for me?" she asked, hoping against hope her feeling about Kate being a nice person was right. "I haven't...told you things about before here. Not because I don't trust you, I just - it's very complicated."

"Uh, yeah, I can totally keep it a secret," she says, although she's thinking about Newt and she's pretty sure he saw the same things she did that night, so hopefully Elizabeth will tell him. Kate's usually pretty good at keeping secrets, mostly because she's usually pretty good at lying, but she's been shit at it with him.

She also doesn't mention that other people definitely saw, because that's the sort of thing that's hard to miss, but she doesn't want to worry Elizabeth, so she only nods. "Seriously, you don't have to explain why you didn't tell me. There's tons of shit I haven't told you about my life before Darrow and none of it's even remotely on the same level as what your friend can do. Complicated is a thing I totally get. Is it... can you do that, too?"

Elizabeth isn't dumb. She knew people saw. She also knew that the chaos masked a lot. But apparently not enough, not for everyone.

"No, no, I can't do that," she replied. No, what she used to be able to do was infinitely more complicated, something she could only assume she was born with. She had no idea if she was going to get into that, though. "Only people who drink the Vigors get...abilities like that. They were created where I'm from. And where I'm from is why I don't really...talk about my past to people."

She paused, her gaze more on Oliver walking ahead of them. It was easier than watching her expression. "I come from a place in Columbia. You wouldn't find it on any map, not even ones from 1912, because it was a city hidden in the sky. I knew it as the place where my prison was. It wasn't - it wasn't a dank, cold place, I had books, and art supplies, but - I had no freedom. I wasn't allowed out from the few rooms I had. I was locked away for as long I can remember like that, just like that, and Booker was the one who broke me free."

It's a lot of information to take in at once and Kate listens, blinking a few times. She's pretty sure Elizabeth has just told her that the dude who can shoot crows out of his hand broke her out of a flying city prison that she'd been locked up in for her entire life and she has no idea what to make of that.

"Holy fucking shit," she says finally. "Well, that's pretty intense."

And she's also thinking about the other thing that Elizabeth has said, that Booker had to drink something to give him that ability and that it's a thing that was created where she's from. What that means to Kate is that anyone can do that as long as they drink those Vigors or whatever it was she'd said. It's not a thing he'd been born with, it was something he'd done to himself with some kind of drink, basically, and that's actually really cool, too.

Elizabeth hadn't been sure how Sybil would react when she first told her, and here she was, in that position again. Kate's shock was unsurprising, but she was quietly glad it didn't sound like she didn't believe her, or she thought she was some kind of freak.

"We've been trying to stay low since we got here because of all of it. Booker only used those crows that night to protect me," she explained, letting out a slow exhale. "This place - I can just be myself here. Nothing stopping me, no one chasing me, no dangers. It's been more than I ever could have hoped for, because before here, I had nothing. And telling people this felt like a good way to make me stand out again. I just want to be normal, for as long as that's possible."

She knew one day they might find her. She knew this place, it's abilities. But she hoped she could live a peaceful life here. She hoped it would never change. That there were no Tears in Darrow for her to manipulate didn't matter to her. She didn't need that ability here.

Edited 2014-01-09 05:01 (UTC)

"Me seeing that? Me knowing this stuff about you, it won't change that," Kate says and she knows she can be a total asshole about a lot of things, but she truly understands the desire to be normal, to just get on with life without a bunch of stuff from the past hanging over her head. "I mean, I'm sure as hell not gonna treat you any different just because someone in your life can do some weird shit and you spent your life locked away."

She pauses for a long moment, then asks, "Why were you locked up? I mean, you're telling me all this other stuff, but if it's too much or you don't want to tell me this stuff, just say the word and I'll stop asking." For now, anyway, Kate's never actually been very good at keeping her questions to herself, which isn't fair, because she sort of hates answering unwelcome questions about her mother.

Elizabeth smiled a little at the words. She knew it was likely not everyone would have the same reaction, but sh was glad Kate apparently wouldn't be counted among them. The question made her pause, but she wanted to try to answer it as best she could.

"I only have pieces of why I was there. I was never really told directly," she explained. She had her guesses mixed in with facts, though, especially as she came to learn more about herself and her lineage. "This is going to sound really strange, which - is saying something, I suppose. I didn't even know the one holding me captive was my father until after I was freed. Columbia treated him as a prophet and I was part of what he preached. Some kind of miracle child, a savior. I had a section in the museum there and everything which was - not something I expected to see. But it was all a lie, and I was apparently a bastard child, so his wife refused to let me stay with them. I was brought to the tower they made for me, the prison, first because of her insistence I remain out of her sight, then because - then because, I think, of what I could do. It's something I can't do here, so that doesn't really matter."

Talking about Lady Comstock left a bad taste in her mouth, and it was probably fairly obvious just by how much of an edge she had in her voice speaking about her. As for her abilities with Tears - Kate had been okay with everything else, it seemed like she was pressing her luck talking about how she could rip open Tears and pull someone with her into another reality. She still didn't understand it enough herself to really even explain it properly except how badly things had gone when she really started using it.

"I'm just me here, nothing special. And I like that. And Booker - he doesn't use those abilities unless he has to," she continued, hoping to make that really clear. He was no threat to anyone. "And I don't even know if he can anymore after that night, he's - you need something from where I'm from to keep being able to use them, something that isn't here."

Edited 2014-01-11 01:37 (UTC)

"Whoa, okay, so some crazy bitch was like, 'let's lock this girl away because I don't like how she was conceived' and your father just went along with it even though he was telling everyone you were some kind of saviour? Well, that's some fucked up shit." Her parents had driven her completely nuts sometimes, she'd made them miserable, they'd made her miserable in return, but she knows she could have always counted on them to do the right thing for her. To protect her and keep her safe and love her no matter what.

She doesn't completely understand why, but it makes her sad to think of Elizabeth locked up because of her parents. The people in the world who are supposed to be the only ones you can really count on had just thrown her to the wolves and completely fucked up her life instead of just letting her be a normal person.

"I'm really not gonna tell anyone," she says, then pauses. "Except you might want to tell Newt. I'm pretty sure he saw it, too, and... well, it'd be good to tell him." Because then she doesn't have to worry about lying to him, especially since she knows she won't be able to. She's a great liar, just not when it comes to him.

Elizabeth hadn't ever really talked about that portion of her life. She had honestly never dealt with the shock, and she wondered if that was a bad thing. A stirring of resentment felt like it was growing in her now that she said it outloud, especially having Kate agree with her that it was justifiable to be angry.

"Sometimes I wish I could have approached him," she admitted. His wife too, though she had long since been dead. That bit of history made her think of Daisy, which was an unwelcome thought to have. "Demanded answers, you know? But sometimes I think it's better I didn't."

She had a lot of questions that she sometimes had some deep feeling she didn't want answered. Some things about herself that she was better not to ask about. After she saw the results of her use of Tears - well.

Well.

"I had a feeling he might have seen something," she admitted, brushing the thought away for now. For Kate, she would tell him anyway. She was being okay enough about this that it felt wrong to ask her to lie to him anyway. "I'll tell him, if he doesn't approach me about it. Thank you. For listening and understanding."

"Hey, seriously, it's not even a big deal," Kate says with a shrug, although it sort of is. It's one of those things that shouldn't be possible, but she's spent so much time dealing with weird shit over the past several years that she feels like her tolerance level for weirdness has just gotten higher and higher until it seems like there's no cap to it anymore. Weird shit has always been part of her life, but living on the island had definitely introduced her to a whole new level of what was weird.

"I mean, it is pretty crazy when you think about it, but my boyfriend's a guy who lived in a world where giant monsters were climbing out of a hole in the ocean," she says with a shrug. "And my mom turned into a bunch of different people when she was stressed, not to mention that I used to date a guy who could do actual magic, plus, I'm pretty sure I've met werewolves and vampires and stuff, so crazy is all pretty relative when you get down to it, right?"

Edited 2014-01-12 05:02 (UTC)

"Your mother - turned into other people?" she asked. She had heard of the strangeness of the population. She hadn't expected anything strange out of Kate's background. She reminded her of Olive, in a lot of ways. That was a compliment. She didn't know about Newt, either - though she had met people from a time when the world apparently was ending, so that wasn't quite a surprise either. "You're right, though, I suppose. I've just spent so long trying to hide it, I - I suppose it's hard to trust, even with how kind people have been here to me."

She felt bad how much she felt like it was necessary. To keep that wall up. Even now, talking to someone about it felt off somehow as much as it was freeing.

"Yep," Kate answers with a shrug. "I mean, it wasn't anything supernatural, just a mental illness, but still pretty goddamn weird when your mom turns into a teenager sometimes, right?" For a long time, she hasn't said much about it, she's preferred to keep it to herself if only because she didn't want to be defined by what had been wrong with Tara. She wants to make her own problems instead of always adopting her mother's, but she's come to a realization that not talking about it isn't the thing that changes how she deals with it.

The only thing that can change that is her own actions. She can talk about it, she can be honest about it and still be apart from it.

"And, shit, I don't blame you," she says. "I mean, tons of people can be total assholes. I got so much shit when I was a kid because of my mom that I didn't want to tell people for a long time either just because I'd heard it all before, you know? I'd been called names, I'd been the kid with the crazy mom. It's not something I go around talking about a lot and it's not even something that could put me in any danger, so yeah, I get it."

Elizabeth had few books on any sort about people with illnesses of the mind. She knew of them, of course, but she had a feeling the advances in the field of that medicine were great.

"I'm sorry, that must have been hard for you," she said. She didn't say it to pity her, she could see she probably wanted that as much as she wanted pity for her own situation. "I'm...glad we spoke about this. I don't really like lying. Or omitting the truth, at least."

Kate waves her hand, trying to dismiss it all. What she's said about her mom, the apology, the fact that Elizabeth feels like she needs to explain why she kept all this stuff a secret. Kate really means it when she says she understands, she knows it isn't easy to talk about stuff that makes a person stand out, especially when all they want is to be normal.

"Well, now all our shit is out there," she says with a laugh. "And seriously, I mean it, I won't say a word. Not that I think you're gonna want to talk about my crazy mom, but it's not such a big secret, so don't even worry about that." She doesn't need the same promise in return. The people who already know haven't judged her and she's pretty sure that anyone who does judge her over it isn't worth her time anyway.

With good reflexes, Faye took a half step back, not so far that the person bumping into her would be left lurching, but enough to give either of them a bit of space. When she found that she recognized the young woman, Faye's brow arched, expression keen for reasons other than being bumped into.

"Fine," she said, choosing not to leap on the topic immediately, tilting her head at Elizabeth. "I'm fine. Did you spill anything on yourself?"

Despite all the thoughts going on in her head, seeing Faye looking alright was a relief to Elizabeth. She hadn't been able to check up on many of her friends, though she had hoped no news was good news at the time.

"Oh, no, this is actually pretty sturdy," she said, motioning to her thermos. Oliver was already sniffing at Faye's shoes, so Elizabeth unconsciously tightened her grip on the leash. The dog knew better than to jump, but she knew it was big and some people didn't like big dogs. "How are you? Are you alright?"

It felt like the question to be asking lately. If people weren't there, they knew of people who were. The whole thing was terrible.

Faye's brows raised at the dog that suddenly approached her shoes. She'd been so busy thinking about how to bring up the topic of having seen Elizabeth on new year's that the dog had escaped her notice — and now she shifts, staring intently down at the pet. It was large, too. Larger than Ein.

Somehow, putting Elizabeth in the mental context of being its owner kept Faye calm.

"I didn't get stung, if that's what you're asking," she said, raising her gaze again to meet the other woman's, brow furrowing. She didn't see a reason to pretend everything was fine. There were things she'd seen that she wanted explanation for. "There were a lot of people out there fighting the bees. Some in pretty interesting ways, don't you think?"

Oliver was, as always, gentle. He seemed more interested in inspecting her than anything else. Which was what she was going to mention, until Faye asked her a question that made her pause. She had a strange look on her face, almost expectant, and she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Did she know? She wasn't sure.

"What do you mean? The fires?" she asked, gauging her reaction to the question. She had a feeling she knew, but she wasn't going to be the first one to say it. She didn't know what she was going to do if she had seen something, but she'd figure that out when she had to.

Faye shook her head slightly, reaching down to briefly scratch the dog behind its ears, more to buy a couple more seconds than anything else. Elizabeth wasn't slow on the uptake. She adjusted remarkably quickly, even, to things that she apparently had never been exposed to before, so for her not to immediately take to the topic felt like a red flag.

"I met that guy you were with, hilariously enough," she said, tilting her head. "Both of us chasing after the same bounty head. I had no idea that he was capable of something like that, though. Might have been a more effective threat than a gun."

Elizabeth knew, deep down, what Faye was talking about. From the moment she brought it up, honestly. She had hoped, bur she knew better. The crows had been so easy to spot, even in the darkness, that the chances of someone seeing them were high enough.

She didn't quite meet her friend's gaze. This was honestly as bad as when she had to talk to Sybil, except at least then she had a little time to prepare herself to talk to her.

"I -" she begins, then pauses to bite her lip. Where could she even start. "I know you have a lot of questions. It's - complicated. I know I have no right to ask you to not tell people what you saw, but please, keep it quiet. It's important to both of us that as little people as possible know about it."

While Faye had no immediate plans to go telling the entire city of what Elizabeth's friend was capable of, especially because the potential of him using those powers against her was high, it didn't mean she was willing to concede that threat without using it for her own means.

"You're right. I should be able to tell people if I want," Faye pointed out, wondering what else Elizabeth was probably hiding from her. Wondering what it was about Elizabeth's world that made it stand out beyond time. All those little remarks, all of the things that she had no prior knowledge of — it was starting to make sense. Elizabeth's world differed from Faye's in more than just era.

"So why exactly should I trust something like that? Your friend isn't exactly shooting for person of the year."

Elizabeth knew it was only a matter of time. That eventually someone would find out, and she was going to have a lot of questions to answer from a lot of people. She supposed she should be grateful for the little time sh had being normal.

"I can tell you what my life was like before here, what happened, but I have nothing to prove anything I can tell you to explain my actions. If you're not willing to believe me just based on my story, I won't blame you for telling people if you want to. You're right, I can only ask for your discretion, and I know that," she replied with an even, quiet tone. She didn't have a right to sound hurt, because no matter how much she was herself around people, the secrets clouded that. Made everything questionable. She understood that, even if being around people was still new to her. What she continued with, however, was stated more firmly, because she needed her to at least understand one thing. "But Booker has never hurt anyone in this city and he wouldn't start now or ever, if he can even use them at all anymore thanks to my decision to stay that night and help someone in the crowd. If this is anyone's fault, it's mine, not his. If you believe anything, I hope you can find it in you to believe that."

"Proof isn't what I'm asking for," Faye said quickly, holding up a hand, her expression intent and unyielding. Circumstances were often beyond the realm of imagination, and a passed moment was often difficult to recover. That was nothing new to Faye, and nothing that she would hold Elizabeth to. Had she tried to convince anyone of her own background, it would have been hard, even in a city like Darrow.

"And even honesty is overrated," she added, folding her hands loosely over her chest. "But the idea that your Booker person wouldn't hurt anyone in the city... I'm not seeing that. I'm not seeing some chivalrous knight. I'm seeing someone who'll put up a better image in front of you while he skulks around the back alleys. He didn't shoot me when I ran into him. But I sure felt like he could have."

She raised a brow, wondering if Elizabeth really had that strong of faith. It was almost enviable. Faye hadn't felt that kind of trust in someone since she woke up. Or maybe since Whitney.

Elizabeth had never used the word knight. She knew what knights were, and he was very far from that. He drank too much, he had a temper and a tendency to be stubborn and bull-headed. But at the same time, he saw a kindness in him that felt genuine, under the layers and layers of gruffness. Even that night, he could have easily grabbed her and forced her to keep going, but he didn't. He helped her. That meant something to her.

"I spent my entire life imprisoned from...everything. Everyone. If you have ever wondered how I don't know things - that's why. Before I was nineteen, I couldn't even remember stepping outside the few rooms I was given to live in, nevermind all this. He was the one who got me out," she said, motioning around them. She was glad the roads were mostly devoid of people right then, between the early hour and the cold. It made it easier to talk. "I've never called him a knight. He isn't one, he'll never be one, I know that. Even saving me - I was a job to him when he first got me out of there. He's told me that."

She paused then, unsure if being truthful hurt or helped her. She supposed it was too late to worry.

"But things are different here. There's no reason for him to keep helping me the second we ended up here. There's no way to collect on the bounty, even if people showed up here, since there's no way to take me anywhere. He's honestly putting himself in danger more helping me than not," she continued. She had never really even thought about why she put so much faith in someone who could drive her crazy sometimes, but the more she thought about it, the more important it was to convey exactly why she wanted to protect him, too. Whether or not it convinced anyone, she couldn't guess, but it felt important to try. "When this place, this city brought us to - I don't know, something out of a nightmare, with monsters trying to kill us - he didn't just protect me, he protected two other people he had no reason to help. If he's that selfish and underhanded, if he only cared about money and himself, why would he have bothered with anyone else but me? He got nothing out of it. Those abilities you saw - they aren't infinite. He wasted them on protecting us when that happened, and he wasted them to the point I don't even know if he can use them anymore the night you saw him use it to protect me. There was never a moment he tried to stop me when he saw I wanted to help that person, when honestly it would have been better if he had for him. So no, I don't think it's an act. Or at least I don't think he'd ever do anything to anyone unless he had to."

And beyond all that, beyond the proof she saw, she always had a gut feeling he wasn't a bad person, just lost. A feeling she never could explain, but still somehow attached her to him in a way she couldn't understand and never tried to put words to.

The Rapunzel-like story made sense, where Elizabeth was concerned. Because there really wasn't any place with perfect weather, save for perhaps something man-made. Something constructed. The reasons why Elizabeth was imprisoned, though, that Faye can't even begin to understand. And it's worth exploring.

Just probably not as worth exploring as the talk of that man. Faye's eyes narrow, still trying to find fault in the story. For a girl imprisoned, Faye has to think that Elizabeth's missed out on a lot of red flags. She'd been quick enough to trust Faye as a friend, after all; some might argue that she shouldn't have been so quick for that.

"So you're saying that he went out of your way to help you. And went out of the way to help people you were around. All I'm seeing... is talk about how he's been like around you. You sure you aren't his sole interest? I mean, if you are, fine. You seem intent on staying by his side anyhow," Faye says with a shrug. Whatever the outcome of this conversation, Faye doesn't see herself behaving differently. Doesn't see herself changing jobs. Just keeping an eye out for that guy, and knowing better when to bow out.

"You sure he isn't doing all of this because he wants something from you? You're a very pretty girl."

Crude, but still a thought.

"He would never," she said, with a sharpness in her voice she didn't have before. It was one thing to question if he would use his gun or his abilities against people. It was entirely another to suggest he was attempting something that improper. "I can't read his mind, but all I've seen, all we've been through together - I trust him. Whether or not you believe otherwise and think badly of him is your own choice, but it doesn't change my own about him. I don't know what else you want from me."

Was she purposely antagonizing her at that point? It certainly felt that way. There was a tremble in her hands that were thankfully hidden by her dog's leash. Oliver seemed to be uneasy himself, though continued walking. She had rarely ever raised a voice around him.

"We hid things to keep me safe and let me have a normal life here that I could have never had back where I came from. That's all. It was my choice to save that woman, and I will live with those consequences," she continued, figuring now she honestly would be spreading things far and wide the way she kept trying to drag Booker through the mud. She might have deserved this suspicion, but it didn't mean she was going to like it. Especially not about a friend. "I knew it would come out eventually. For as long as I have been here, I've been waiting for it. So do what you want, I've survived worse than anything this city can do to ether one of us. If this conversation is over, I have things to do today."

Edited 2014-01-12 19:52 (UTC)

Faye observed Elizabeth without much difficulty. She'd broken up with people for lesser arguments than this; in fact, still hadn't gotten used to the idea of having lasting friendships in the city. As much as she liked Elizabeth, losing her wouldn't shake her to the core. Keeping a stance of suspicion against Booker was more important.

The whole situation reminded her too much of Whitney, and Faye had to wonder if she would defend him with as much fervor in an argument like this. She hoped not, but it was probably a moot point anyway.

She snorted. "I'm almost offended that you think I'd spread information like that for no good reason," she said, arching a brow. "But go ahead and run your errands, Elizabeth. I don't think either of us really knows what this city can do in time."

The trust she had in people here was thin and easy to tear. She had always assumed the worst if people were to find out to them, and it felt like the worst was actually happening as they spoke. If there was anything to probe her assumptions about people were correct, it was the conversation she had right then. She would remember it if she ever thought being completely honest with people she thought well of was a good idea.

"But you said -' she began, then faltered. She had outright been contrary when she asked her to keep it quiet, she had every reason to assume what she had assumed. It didn't matter how well she thought she knew her, hearing that was more than enough to put the wall way back up. Regardless, none of it felt worth arguing anymore. It was as she said - she could do what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "Nevermind. Goodbye, Faye."

They had come to a crossing intersection of the street. Even though she hadn't needed to turn off the street they were walking on, she did anyway. She just had to get away.

He's still feeling a bit stiff from what had happened on New Year's Eve. Goddamn killer ice bees and their goddamn stingers; they'd gotten him way more than he even cares to talk about and had it not been for some well-timed medical attention, Newt's not sure he'd be standing here--even though he had been told that wasn't an option. His back is covered with blisters and even though he's been told they won't scar, he's totally pissed because now his the kaiju on his back looks like one big hot mess with hives.

In any case, he's not at the top of his game and had been given a couple days off from the lab to make sure he recovers but he can't really bring himself to just stick around the apartment. He's had a lot on his mind, the least of which isn't all he'd seen that night--from a bona fide witch from a book series he'd grown up with to Elizabeth's friend, y'know, shooting crows out of his hands. So in a lot of ways, he's kind of really pleased when he realizes it's Elizabeth who bumps into him, even though it sends a painful stinging sensation through all the blisters down his back. He bites back a hiss and instead forces a smile that eventually becomes genuine because in spite of everything, he's glad to see her post-beepocalypse.

"Peachy," he replies, smiling down at the pit at her feet. He figures it's probably best not to jump right into the whole so-you've-got-a-friend-who-can-magic-crows thing but he's not busy today. He can be patient for like, a few minutes. "So you've got a friend who can magic crows, huh?" Okay, maybe the patience thing isn't really something he's mastered quite yet.

Elizabeth had almost not even realized he said it at first, that was how sudden it came out of his mouth. She froze almost instantly, feeling a welling of panic start to bloom in her. He had seen it? Of course he had, even in the darkness, it had been hard to miss.

There was a moment she considered lying. It passed just as quickly - she did her best to lie by omission. If she sidestepped this, it would be an outright lie. Newt had always been kind to her. He didn't deserve that, even if he probably wouldn't believe her if she tried to brush it off anyway.

"Not so loud!" she pleaded in a quiet voice, glancing around. No one seemed to be out, which was the only saving grace at the moment. Clearing her throat, she looked him square in the eye. "Walk with me?"

Newt smiles and gives a casual shrug, as if crow hands are totally a normal thing to be seeing on any given today; and honestly, he hadn't even been sure if it was supposed to be a secret because Elizabeth's bud hadn't seem to worried about keeping it on the downnlow. Understandably, there had been icy murder bees zipping around the city so he supposes that takes priority, but still. Crow hands are awesome, what's there to hide?

"I'll walk with you, I'll take it down to an inside voice," he tells her, trying to get it across to his friend that he's not all that freaked out. He'd also seen a guy who could shoot lightning out of his hands that night and called himself Shazam, plus one of his best friends is a werewolf and another a man basically raised from the dead, so he's not really sure where he draws the line at weird anymore. "Can you do that thing, too? Because it's kind of super badass even though, y'know, crows? Couldn't be pterodactyls or something?"

The only saving grace was Newt didn't seem all that fussed about the actual ability Booker had. If he had been freaked out about that on top of anything she was about to tell him, it'd make things so much harder.

"No, I can't - I can't do what he can do, no. There's...a lot people don't know about us. About before here," she began, already dreading the conversation. She had already gone through it with Sybil, but she didn't think it'd ever get easier. "And I know it's a lot to ask, but I need you to keep quiet about what you saw. For both my safety and Booker's. I'll tell you more, but only if you promise me."

He seemed genuinely curious, which made her hope that that curiosity would translate into him being willing to go along with those terms. She had always felt like he was a good person, so she hoped maybe with the incentive plus hearing her story, their secret would remain safe.

"Mmkay, promise." He realizes as soon as he says it that it probably doesn't spark much confidence, but he's managed to keep the whole werewolf thing a secret even from Kate--though a part of him wonders if that's just because it hasn't really come up--so he thinks that's kind of a victory in itself. Still, Elizabeth is being totally earnest here so he probably should be, too, he gets it. It's not really a thing that a person advertises in a city where locals tend to ostracize those who are different; and hell, you never know about anyone in general, so some practicing some caution is probably a good thing. A good thing he's never really done himself.

He draws an X over his heart and holds his pinky out. "Cross my heart and a pinky swear that I won't go report it to the news, then you know it's doubly binding." He doesn't even mean to sound facetious if that's how this is coming across. Elizabeth is his friend, and he has every intention of doing right by her. "You can trust me."

"Pinky swear?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow at his hand, not sure what he wanted her to do. Still, his own earnestness made her think he really could be trusted.

She hoped so. Booker was going to be upset already. She knew it was his fault.

"Thank you," she said, offering him a small smile. She starts to walk again, her gaze more forward than toward him. She wasn't sure if she could look at him as he said it. "Look, I - there are reasons I don't really talk about this. I hope you'll understand it isn't about you or anyone here. It's just where I come from, Booker and I were being hunted...and then I ended up here. We've been trying to keep as invisible as possible since then, in case the ones coming after us end up here, too."

He wiggles his pinky at her with a nod. "Yeah, just link your pinky with mine and it's like, making a forever binding promise. Or something, I don't know, I haven't done a lot of pinky swears."

He follows her, keeping in stride as he gives her a sidelong glance, not really sure what to expect out of this. How does one just explain away the ability to have crow hands? Newt's not sure. When she says she and Booker had been hunted where they're from, though, his eyebrows shoot up practically to his hairline. "Hunted? Christ, why? By who? Because of his--" He glances around, making sure to level his voice before returning his gaze to Elizabeth. "Because of his skills?"

Elizabeth shook her head. Honestly, recounting what had happened wasn't exactly something she enjoyed, either, but she knew she had made a promise. He seemed intent to keep hers, so she would reply in kind.

"What Booker could do isn't something he was born with, it's manufactured where I came from which is...a whole other subject I'll get to, I promise. But you ingest the Vigor, you get the ability. It's - it's a liquid, a drink, each one giving you something else. The crows, lightning, fire - there were a few," she explained. It was complicated to go into, so she thought that was all she really needed to say about the topic. For now, anyway. "They were coming after me. Booker was only involved because he was with me. I spent most of my life locked away from...everything. Everyone. He was the one who got me out, set me free. The ones who kept me weren't happy."

It hadn't been for noble reasons at first that brought Booker to her, but she had long since forgiven him for the fact he hadn't been upfront about it being a job to break her out. He had long since lost his obligation to help her, and yet he was still there, no matter how infuriating he could be sometimes.

Newt blinks. Okay, so what he's understanding is, what Book can do is not a natural-born gift, it's an ingested one. So he guesses attempting to sneak a hair off Booker's brush to take a look at his DNA is out and also maybe would have been frowned upon anyway. Still, even though he's sure that neither Elizabeth nor Booker are carrying around any of those drinks here in Darrow--otherwise wouldn't she have taken? He sure as shit would, if he's honest--he kind of wishes they were because how sweet would it be to be able to start a fire with his hands? He'd like, totally be a hit at barbecues and what not.

But right, getting off track because his friend is telling him something awfully secret and personal here, and he ought to make sure she doesn't think he's not worth telling. "That's-- Okay. Okay, but why would anyone come after you?" he asks, frowning as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Granted, he doesn't know every facet of Elizabeth's life, even her personality, but from what he does know about her, he can't imagine why anyone would want to harm her in any way.

The question was one that she knew would blossom into many more. No matter how many people she'd tell, she doubted she'd figure a way

"My father - who I didn't know was my father until very recently - was a powerful person where I'm from. He controlled the population by convincing everyone he was a Prophet of God. At some point, I came into the picture, and I wasn't a product of his wife," she explained, her expression hardening a little as she started talking of Lady Comstock. If she hated anyone more than her father, it was that woman. "She sent me away, and I spent all my life in what was essentially a prison. I had no contact with the outside world. I had no choice in the matter, I had no freedom. Booker was the one who broke me out. My father...was not pleased. He was willing to do anything to get me back. Kill anyone."

She glanced over at Newt, having a feeling she was probably being stared at at that point. There was a reason why she didn't talk about this. "Before I was let out, I don't even remember the last time I set my feet outside. I didn't have friends until I came here. I barely spoke to anyone at all."

Edited 2014-01-16 01:05 (UTC)

"Well, shit." He doesn't really know what else to say just yet, and he adjusts his glasses before shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. He's not sure what to make of all of this, but he has to admit that for someone who's spent a majority of her life in solitary confinement, she's surprisingly well-adjusted. He meets her eyes and offers her a small smile, not sure if that's appropriate but he doesn't want to make her feel like he thinks she's a freak or something because that's hardly the case at all.

He can hardly compare her troubles to his own, he's had a generally great and satisfactory life. But he hadn't had many friends at the 'Dome--he could make a case for two--and even though that hadn't bothered him, considering he'd been way too busy and in his own world to worry about anyone else, the difference between then and now is still sometimes staggering. To find people in Darrow he can truly trust has been such an eye-opener; he hadn't ever realized he was missing anything.

He reaches out to lightly grasp her arm, slowing to a stop and facing her directly. "Thanks for telling me," he finally says, and he knows that's not enough but verbal empathy isn't his strongest suit. "Like I said, I won't spill the beans to anyone else. Your secret's safe with me."

Elizabeth wasn't sure what to expect. She knew bad things could come of telling people, but with Newt, she apparently had little to worry about. He looked her in the eye and she believed him.

Trust never came easily. She didn't know if it ever would, but this felt like a step.

"Thank you," she said, earnestly. She didn't know what else she could say besides that. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way instead of me just being honest. I simply want to live a normal life here."

His smile widens and he gives a shrug. "Eh, normal's overrated. Besides, I don't think there's every going to be such thing as a normal life in a place where people randomly appear from other worlds. Plus, y'know, killer ice bees."

Newt's never really known what it's like to be normal, if such a thing even does exist. He's lived with extraordinary circumstances his entire life, considering the way his brain works, and that those circumstances had only become more extreme once he'd joined the PPDC in the fight to beat the kaiju. "Gotta say, though, bees? Way easier to dodge than giant toxic monsters, so I guess it totally could have been worse."