#thisshadeofred

wounds.

Elphaba wrapped an arm around her son as he curled up beside her on the couch, smiling. However, that smile wavered upon the mention of her late sister’s name. She blinked, taken aback. It had been years since she had passed, and while she was learning to let go of the guilt she harbored for her death, and allowed herself to be happy, there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t think of her. Their relationship had been complex, but she had loved Nessa.

Oscar hums and turns the page of the book he’s only been half-reading anyway before looking up over the tops of his gold-rimmed reading spectacles at her. It’s taken time to build up what little rapport they have together, a delicate thing daintier even than Ellie’s sensibilities, and he doesn’t want to upset that. Hell, he hasn’t even told her yet that she’s probably his kid! It all feels too tenuous, too new.

But ignoring a sneeze like that just isn’t possible, whether it brings their rapport crashing down around him or no. He’s tried giving her the grace and the time to tell him on her own that she’s unwell, but that clearly isn’t working, so. His plans needed changing anyway.

@thisshadeofred plotted a thing between Apollonia and Elphaba

Flouncing into her aunt's office, a blur of pale blue silk, Apollonia Upland didn't even pause for the staff member who let her in to announce her properly.

"Aunt Elphie!" She was leaving for Shiz in only a few days, and she was nervous to say the least, Apollonia had never been away from home, her mother or aunt were always nearby if she needed anything.

Fiyero had known it was only a matter of time before this conversation was bound to come up. It had been a few hours since he'd come back for her, since they'd set off, and they'd stopped amongst the trees for the night, tucked away in a hidden little copse that he could vaguely remember playing in as a boy. Head tilted a little sloppily as he looked at her, almost resting on his shoulder. Stitched expression shifted a little, somehow a softness behind the eyes. Though he's a little unsteady, he manages to shift to be next to her, kneeling and offering a gentle hand.

Crutchie was terrified, shaking so badly that she didn't know how she was still standing, let alone how she had managed to make it back to the lodging house. She had blood on her forehead and scrapes here and there, a bruise on her crutch hand... she was pale, but there was no sign of tears, even as she stood there, shaking in Specs' arms, doing everything she could to stay standing. "Tha Delanceys... th-they cornered me... an'-" She cut herself off as she leaned further against the boy for support and tried to catch her breath.

long curls falling down her back are tangled and the very idea of it is prodding at her like a sewing needle piercing her finger as she works. it is easier to clean away the blood with a tissue than it is to take care of her hair. especially as she's laying down in the hallway between the toilet and her bedroom. laying on the floor in the room itself made her feel the need to vomit even further. where she is now is an act of compromise. close enough in case she feels the familiar sense to rush to a garbage can but no too close. anthony being out of town makes it worse. anthony would get her hair wet and comb through it as gently as she asked him to so her hair would at least be clean.

welp.