{MIW} Spot-Checking

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa could only laugh and shake her head at Roxana's comments regarding pity and hair-braiding. The former she still sincerely doubted, and the latter just amused her. Elsa did recall hearing something about Roxana being drawn toward hair or something along those lines, but she'd never paid it much mind and certainly hadn't asked the other girl to start playing with her hair on a regular basis. This wasn't the time to discuss such matters, which thankfully even Roxana could pick up on.

As far as the next question, the next prompted response from Elsa, well, at that she just gave Roxana another quick, yet hard look. Yes, yes she did care what Roxana thought of her. Elsa cared what quite a lot of people thought of her in general terms. They could think her a bitch, a heartless monster, a control freak, whatever, so long as they didn't think her weak and pitiable, which was precisely what the alcohol did in no uncertain terms.

"it takes far too much to get numb," Elsa replied, addressing a thought and looking away. She laughed slightly at the comment. "I know that, mentally. But try telling that to messed up emotions that come out when you're alone," she had another wry smile, before watching as Roxana headed toward the alcohol. She nodded. "That one really is mine. I stashed a few bottles here during my bender," she replied, before looking around. "I think that's it, and we can probably leave the rest for someone who's getting paid for it."

[Roxana Strix]

There had been no jokes on Roxana’s part about her comment about not wanting pity and the question about playing with Elsa hair. She really wanted to do the latter and was tempted to ask as much but knew that now was not the time for such a thing. Not that she ever felt that there would be a time when it would be ideal since Elsa and her did still only involve themselves with one another when it was work related. They were friends but still things had not fully changed much in terms of them just hanging out to be in one another company. Today proved that in some ways, but it was not like Roxana really minded all that much.

The look was not something that Rox was not used to getting from the other girl so it didn’t really bother her. She did know that Elsa cared about what others thought; for some strange reasons, but she figured it was only in terms of her Bellefonte name and image. Anything else she didn’t see the point of the other girl caring, so that of course translated into her not seeing why Elsa would care what she thought about the other girl. It was not like it had changed anything between them and Elsa still went about assuring Rox that she didn’t feel that way about her or just choose to not even dwell on the fact about how Roxana felt about her.

“Noted.” Roxana said, giving Elsa a look yet again for being in her mind but by this point and what Elsa told her she knew that she could not been too upset with the other girl. That still didn’t take away her feelings of disliking Elsa being in her head. “You don’t have to be alone.” Roxana pointed out, not looking at Elsa as she kept searching and grabbing anything that did not belong here. She didn’t say anything in response to Elsa admitting that they were in fact hers and just focused on gathering them up and being sure to not leave anything behind unless her hands got too full.

Dropping them would have only been bad in the fact of having to clean up a mess, because Rox had this feeling Elsa would make her clean up such a mess. “Understood.” Roxana said, leaving with what she had then and moved to go where she could dump the contents inside the bottles and then recycle said bottles.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Noted, good, glad to hear that the girl could at least hear basic English. Elsa nearly wanted to grumble in response but she kept herself silent for the time being. The following words only deepened the silence if anything, causing Elsa to wave it off. "I'm well aware," was all she said. Yes, Elsa understood that there were people out there who loved her, who wouldn't let her self-destruct. Her foiled attempts at doing so had proven that all too vividly for her.

"What, no comment now?" Elsa asked as Roxana cradled the expensive bottle. "I'm also going to pretend I didn't catch the bit about dumping out expensive alcohol either," Elsa let out a sigh, turning and looking around again. Except for the booze still tucked away, everything else had been covered. People were arranged, the food was together. Sure, she and likely Roxana would have to deliver some meat. Or else Elsa could simply instruct someone else to do so. Perhaps Vera and Roxana could work together on it... no, it would have to be her.

Elsa sighed and closed her eyes. There were seriously times when she wished that there was at last one other person who had some of her same skills and a willingness to help. She turned slightly to look to Roxana. "Can you think of anything else that needs covered?" she asked. "Before we go our separate ways and all."

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana had nothing more to say on the matter and thus was going to opt for silence, even if it did not seem like Elsa was all too pleased with her. She had already apologized and was not wondering what the problem was. Elsa spoke words that were not true in terms of no one loving her and being alone. Roxana didn't get why Elsa would feel that way when there were people around her that did care about her and would not leave her alone if she asked them to stay. Rox was one of those people for example, and yet Elsa never actually asked her to stay.

What was it that Roxana lacked that Elsa didn't really seem to want to do or say more than that she actually trusted the girl and that they were friends? It was a question that floated around in Roxana's mind as she went about 'serving her punishment' for upsetting her friend. No comment? Roxana just looked at Elsa, not saying anything still and going back to what she was doing until she was told that everything was good from there. "I do fully plan to dump this expensive alcohol. Or perhaps I will consume it by myself on my down time." Roxana responded as she looked at the bottle.

She doubted it would be as strong as what she got back home but it was worth giving it a taste before she disposed of it. There was a sigh that had Roxana's piercing blue eyes looking towards Elsa again, standing there in silence as she waited for Elsa to face her and speak. Was there anything else that needed to be covered? "Not on our end, no." Roxana said as she moved ahead to leave the reception area before she paused and looked at Elsa. "Can we spend some time alone together?" Rox asked, her tone the same as always.

((Post 1,000! Woot!))

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa nearly stuck her tongue out at Roxana as she insisted that she would be pouring out the expensive alcohol. Not that Elsa had expected anything less from her bodyguard. It actually struck her as being precisely in line with the personality. The bit about consuming it at least drew a laugh from Elsa: she could appreciate the attempt there, and could also appreciate if Roxana actually drank it.

"It's not," she said, answering the thoughts regarding strength. "It's got a bit of a kick, but I was always one more for flavor than for kick," not that she hadn't tried to get herself with both when she'd been busy drowning her sorrows. Blue eyes met Elsa's and she raised her brows. The girl had to know that meeting Elsa's gaze immediately opened the thoughts up a little further. Everything took on that strange echoing sensation as Roxana continued to talk, so much so that Elsa was ready to answer Roxana's question before she finished.

"Do you mean now?" she looked around. "Because we're technically alone already. Is there something you needed to talk about?" Elsa couldn't help but be slightly concerned. Usually Roxana didn't ask for "alone time" unless there was something serious, particularly when she knew that Elsa had a lengthy list of tasks that needed gotten to.

[Roxana Strix]

Dumping the alcohol was the most efficient way to get rid of it and ensure that no one else would be able to use it. It was likely going to be the course of action that Roxana took, but she would likely have a taste of it. If it was so expensive, she wanted to give it a taste to see what the America’s considered to be worth a lot of money. Roxana personally rarely drunk while in the states and when she did it tended to be vodka or something with a pretty high level of alcohol in it.

Elsa was answering the question that was inside Roxana's mind and she really could not help but to want to put some distance between her and the other girl. She knew it would only help a little bit but she really, really didn't like Elsa being in her head. There were so very few places that she had privacy and not even her mind was even safe even more, even if Elsa explained that it was not fully her fault. It was more flavors then kick, Roxana just nodded and made a mental note of that for later as she tucked the bottle under her arm.

Rox then asked her question, which had Elsa asking one in return. They were indeed alone, but not the kind of alone in where Roxana felt like they were one hundred percent alone with not ears or eyes to see the two of them. Then again...this was perhaps not a good idea to begin with, which was why Roxana's glanced away from a moment; a tell of hers that she was mentally debating something. A tell that she was well aware of and only hid when she felt necessary. "Never mind, I misspoke." Roxana said, giving a slight nod of her head. "Until next time, Elsa." Roxana said, the words that represented her signature farewell to the other girl.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"Stop thinking so loudly and I won't respond," Elsa replied, falling back on something she knew she'd said before. It wasn't entirely true either, as most people who actually spent time around Elsa realized. That was always the "fun" part of being a mind-reader, particularly one with Elsa's own particular gifts. She almost couldn't stop reading Roxana's thoughts if she wanted to. It wasn't just her power, but how she'd trained it, and how she'd developed as a human being. Elsa nearly wanted to sigh just thinking about it, but she put it off to focus on what Roxana had in mind.

Misspoke? "Right, that's going to work," Elsa said, rolling her eyes. She took several steps closer, eliminating some of the distance between the two of them. "How about you explain to me what it is that you have on your mind, hmm? Or would rather I deepen the mind-reading thing and just leave my way through your thoughts?" Elsa arched her brows and folded her arms across her chest. Roxana knew she could do it; they both did. They both also likely realized that doing so would leave Elsa exhausted, and that she definitely didn't want that on a day like today.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana didn't comment on the 'stop thinking so loudly bit', since Elsa must have just saying it for...Rox didn’t know why. Roxana's thoughts had not changed in any way other than the things she thought about. It was Elsa's whose power was not turning off when around certain people and causing her to hear almost everything. The only way for Roxana to avoid Elsa hearing anything was for her to stop thinking too much on things, which was easy enough. The main problem was Elsa caused a lot of certain thoughts to float around inside her head so it proved a bit more challenging to just make them stop unless she actively tried.

Elsa was then stepping closer to Roxana, which intestinally had her stepping away from the other girl. She never liked someone closing in the distance between her and them when she purposely stood a certain distance form a person for a reason. She knew distance would only help so much against Elsa but she already started to feel a little weird as Elsa got closer to her. Elsa was pushing again. Why did Elsa always feel the need to push? What happened to the days where Elsa would just let things roll off and go back to what she was doing? They became friends; she supposed that had to be the cause of Elsa bothering to care to the point of feeling the need to break every level of Roxana's privacy.

"It is nothing of importance. I will get the same answer from you all the same, so why ask to be alone to see if that would make any difference?" Roxana asked, but it was mostly a rhetorical question. If Elsa was going to push; which she fully expected at this point, then it was best to just get it out of the way then. "Your words about love and being alone just made me think again to tell you that my feelings have not changed for you. That I will likely not be here much longer." Roxana said, she said things in that order for a specific reason and in a way was testing something.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa stepped forward; Roxana stepped back. That had Elsa at least stopping, though she couldn't help but wonder why Roxana was bothering. It wasn't as if Elsa were the physical threat here or anything. If the two of them were to fight, there would be little doubt as to which one of them would end up the winner. So why was Roxana acting uneasy? The bit about breaking every level of Roxana's privacy had Elsa laughing, but she covered it with her mouth. She did want to treat the conversation and Roxana's doubts seriously.

The question had her able to lower her hand as she got serious. What was Roxana... seriously? Elsa fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Believe me, if anything had changed for me, I'd let you know. But friendship is all there's ever going to be between us, Roxana," she gestured between the two of them before letting out a sigh. "And we both know that you're not going to leave, not at this point. There's too many people tying you here, not to mention your obligations. Eventually I'm going to grow tired of hearing your empty threats on the matter."

Elsa paused and raised her brows. "Besides, if you did leave, then I'd be forced to head to your organization and make demands, and wouldn't that be fun?"

[Roxana Strix]

It was not that Roxana was fearful of Elsa in terms of a psychical sense, that was something that was laughable at best; if Rox really laughed. No, she didn't really fear many people due to her training and fear was a foolish emotion that prevent you from acting to your full potential. In fact, one could say that Roxana did fear one aspect of Elsa, and it was the one that made her always hesitant to touch the other girl or be too close to her. Yet again it was at fault because of the feeling she developed for the other girl that had yet to go away. It didn't help that there were times where Elsa was unknowing fueling those desires within Roxana.

Yes, Roxana was being seriouse and as expected Elsa was behaving and saying pretty much what Roxana still expected. She would never know why even the smallest part of her would dare to think that such things would change. She was Roxana Strix, such things did not happen with her in that manner, and likely only would the day she was assigned to someone. All that they would ever be was friends. This was why Roxana had said never mind and asked that rhetorical question. However; she could not help but to wonder why they would only ever be friends. Was she not attractive to Elsa? Was there something about her that Elsa could not stand and thus could never view her in such a way?

Did Elsa feel so strongly about it that she could not even imagine giving Roxana a chance? Those thoughts could not help but to surface as Roxana stood there and gave a small nod. Elsa doubted that she was going to leave and how she was tired of hearing the empty threats. Rox still remained silent, figuring that there would be no point in saying farewell to the girl then if Elsa viewed it that way. There was the added fact that Elsa thought that she could make demands of Roxna's organization. That alone had Roxana smiling for a small moment, if only because it was...humorous.

She didn't answer the question, instead turned to head back to her dorm like she had originally been planning to do before she dared to think anything would change. "Until the last time, Elsa." Roxana said, giving a small wave as she headed off.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Sometimes certain people just weren't attractive in a certain way to someone. There just wasn't that charge there, that spark, that something that made you want to touch or kiss or feel. Elsa had felt it time and time again, enough times to have figured out her own sexuality. She needed to know someone first, to have someone with a specific personality type and setup. She trusted Roxana, but she loved her like a friend, always would. Some of her friends Elsa did sleep with, yes. She didn't have a prude's outlook on the act, nor did she see it as something that overtly romantic. But she knew that sex could change a relationship, even a friendship.

The simple fact was that Elsa appreciated and needed her friendship with Roxana more than anything else, particularly more than her own desires in that way. She couldn't force herself to feel a certain way just because Roxana did. That wasn't how it worked. And she wasn't going to put on some farce that could damage one of the best, most supportive relationships she had. Roxana would understand that at some point. Elsa was just playing a waiting game.

And that game apparently meant a dismissal for the time being. Elsa kept her face blank as Roxana waved. They'd meet again; she knew they would. She also knew that whether Roxana intended to or not, she was drawing Elsa closer to a confrontation with this shadowy group. "Just what I want, more enemies," Elsa murmured, watching her friend go before turning to head off. There were still some spots that needed checking, and Elsa's list seemed to be growing rather than shrinking.