From Rags to Riches (Elisabeth)

[Ezner]

As Ezner stared up at the sign, he found his mind momentarily wandering to what Elisabeth had said. Two Ezners. One that was the slave it seemed, and one that was free. Or wishing to be. It was a strange thought. He found himself perturbed by it a bit, he'd never considered himself to be multiple people before.

He'd really never considered himself to be a person, at least before Elisabeth.

Would the slave Ezner still be there once he was freed? Would he still be chained in his mind even though the physical shackles were broken?

But he didn't have long to chase down that rabbit hole, before Elisabeth spoke. And when she spoke, he always paid close attention. Though prior to her speaking, it would be evident in his eyes he was bothered by the thought. He looked at the symbol she pointed at. F. Fuh. Furrier, food, fight, fork. All of those start with F. Seemed easy enough he supposed. Then thinking on the words she'd just spoken, "First, too, yes? And from?" This was followed up by another question, "Who decided to make F look like that?"

Ezner looked around the street, not seeing any other signs nearby with F's on them. "How many letters are there?"

Then the door opened up, and a woman stepped out of Mrs. Wick's Furrier, "Well hello there! Do come in, no need to catch a cold on my stoop! Let old Mrs. Wick help you." She opened the door, and Ezner started to walk inside, before pausing, looking back to smile at Elisabeth, "Found."

Then he turned back, gently pulling on her arm, entering the small shop. Everything inside was fur lined or fur made. "What can I get for you two this trial?"

Ezner looked to Elisabeth for help this time, squeezing her hand.

[Elisabeth Angelus]

Arc 720, 18 Vhalar

She did indeed notice that he was bothered by what she said. Sighing softly, she inwardly cursed. Elisabeth had only been trying to tease him a bit, but it was too soon for that. So instead of letting the thoughts fester in his mind, she decided to take care of it straight away- before going into the store. Smiling at the woman that addressed them, she held up her hand, indicating that they would only be a minute.

Squeezing his hand, Elisabeth tried to explain her comment. “Ezner, inside everyone -I think – is a lot of different versions of themselves. I know that there are a lot of different Elisabeth’s somewhere in here.” Placing her hand on her chest, she continued softly. “There will always be different Ezner’s inside you, depending on your mood or situation. My comment, it was just a gentle tease. That’s all. I like seeing you happy. The man I met in the marketplace; I like him a lot too. They are both you and you are special to me. I meant nothing negative, I promise.”

With that said, he asked about the letters. “In Common, 24 letters. Other languages can have more or less. I can teach you some more after we are done here if you’d like? And I’m not sure who decided that. It was a long time ago. Oh…here’s another easy one. If you look at ‘F’ and add one more stick to the bottom, that’s an ‘E’….which is the first letter of ‘Elisabeth’ and ‘Ezner’. The trick with that one is that it can make a few different sounds. For ‘Elisabeth’, it sounds just like the letter ‘E’. But for ‘Ezner’, it takes on an ‘I’ sound.“ Thinking quickly, she reached out and touched his face, right next to his eye. “It’s pronounced ‘eye’….so ‘Eye-zner’. Sometimes letters make more than one sound. They can be funny that way.”

As they walked in, he mentioned that ‘found’ had an ‘f’ too, which made her smile. “Yes, that too.”

Giggling as he pulled on her arm, she followed him into the shop and noted that as Mrs.Wick asked them what she could help them with, he squeezed her hand. Oh yes, his signal to her. “Hello, Ma’am. We were just at the clothing store down the way and we needed to get some shoes for my friend here but also, he needs a winter coat and some accessories to go with it. They said you might be able to help?” Rharne wasn’t Viden so a heavy coat was likely not necessary but at least something that would keep the chill off him was preferable to no coat at all.

[Ezner]

Ezner nodded at her comforting words. Her words made sense to him, and he nodded in his agreement. He hadn't put any blame on her or anyone, it was simply a strange thing to consider. He was a man who didn't own his own life, and now there might be many versions of him. It was so... strange to think in that way. Did Mr. Dey own all of the Ezners? Did Ezner own some himself? Did Elisabeth have one that she owned too?

But the lesson continued.

Twenty four letters. That was a lot. At her request to teach more later, he nodded again, "Yes, please. I would like that."
And then Elisabeth began explaining the letter E and Ezner's eyes went wide. There were so many sounds and rules for the letter E! E sounded sometimes like 'I' and 'eye'. Ezner's mouth fell open in a bit of confusion and his eyes showed a small amount of fear. This was more intimidating to him than facing a man a hundred pounds his size.

He walked in, still a bit dazed, as he looked to Elisabeth for help picking the clothing. He listened as Elisabeth spoke, and he counted one F-word, for. Mrs. Wick pulled him forward, tutting around him as she eyeballed his measurements. She walked around, picking out several cloaks and gloves. She brought them forward. "These are all basically the same coats, just different furs. We have raccoon, fox, snow hair, wolf, bear, elk, readily on hand. We can make others. What is your fur preference?"

She saw Ezner's lost look on his face, "Oh! Is this your first time buying fur? Don't you worry about it! Old Mrs. Wick will help you out! Now close your eyes and trust me." Ezner closed his eyes instantly, always obeying automatically. Mrs. Wick took his hand in hers, noting that his knuckles were quite scarred. Not uncommon for Rharne, a lot of fighters here. He'd need something that wouldn't tear so easily if that was the case. And was a bit distinctive so it could be easily found if lost in a bar brawl.

She watched his face intently as she ran his hand across various examples of the fur. They were all of varying degrees of thickness, coarseness, and softness. A smile grew upon her face. She saw him react to the fox fur. He didn't smile, but the soft lines on his face did relax just a bit. That was the one. She let go of his hand, "You can open your eyes dearie." She went back through the store, hanging up what she had picked out, then grabbed one more cloak. It was black with silver fox fur lining. It was a simple cut, not extravagant, but certainly comfortable. She held it up next to his face, "Yes, perfect. This is the one dearie. I'll get you some gloves to match." She smiled, "You can get shoes next door from my husband."

The woman went about her work, while packing up the goods. She got the account name to send the bill to from Ezner, who was looking at Elisabeth now. "E is confusing."

[Elisabeth Angelus]

Arc 720, 18 Vhalar

In retrospect, ‘E’ was probably not the best letter choice to use as an example although she had thought using their names was a good way to explain. Then again, she only worked in academia – she wasn’t a teacher.

Ezner was getting used to being poked and prodded in measurement for his clothing so Elisabeth just let Mrs. Wick do her thing as she stood nearby. Her luminous gaze watched as the woman brought different fabrics, colors, and furs to him, trying to figure out which one suited him best. The young woman already knew what color she wanted to see him in, but it wasn’t up to her to decide, even though she was quite sure that if she said something, he would insist on getting what she wanted. That wasn’t the way she wanted this experience to work for him though. It was about buying what he wanted.

Once Mrs. Wick was done, Elisabeth walked over to him and held out her hand, smiling. It was just something they did, she noted. Ezner often had trouble communicating so she knew if he squeezed her hand, he needed help. As well, it helped calm the young woman, feeling his hand in hers.

His bronze skin looked beautiful against the silver-lined black cloak. It was the exact color she had wanted to pick for him but didn’t. “It looks perfect. You look very good in black. It suits you.” It was then that Mrs. Wick sent them next door to her husband for some new shoes. Out the front door and into the new shop, Elisabeth didn’t wait this time for someone to approach, finding the man and letting him know what was needed. Soon enough, Ezner had his pick of shoes and with a new pair on his feet, the shopping adventure was concluded. They started out the front door but Mr. Wick, being a clever, observant man, motioned to them that the back door would be far better. Once they stepped out said door, it was evident why. Across the way from the back of Mr. Wick’s shop was a small park where one might walk and talk for a few minutes in peace.

It was Elisabeth’s turn to pull Ezner, leading him in the direction of the park. She knew their time was ending, even though she didn’t want it to. “I had fun today, being with you. I always enjoy spending time with you.” That comment was a bit of a double-edged sword, for she truly did enjoy spending time with him, but it was never enough. Did he feel the same way? She didn’t dare ask. Elisabeth minded her words so much with him, not wanting to offend him in any way and there were so many things she wanted to say.

I'll miss you. Words left unsaid.

[Ezner]

Ezner felt a warmth spread across his cheeks as she spoke about how black suited him. This wasn't the first time that Elisabeth had complimented him, but most were coming on the backs of insecurities and struggles Ezner had been having. Maybe it was because Ezner's eyes were more open to how the world could look, but those words spread a flush across his face, and a small, nervous smile. He turned away, running his hand through his hair, a cheerful nervous, before looking back at her, his hand still on the back of his head.

"And you look beautiful in blue."

Soon, Mrs. Wick was whisking them both along toward her husband, and Ezner felt as though he was floating. He barely even noticed Mr. Wick, who had his shoes squared away in no time. It was only when her arm found his, as they entered the small park, that he snapped back to reality. She spoke again, and he knew their time was nearly done. Mr. Dey would need him to be bodyguard soon, another night frolicking in a bar, Ezner assumed.

He had certainly had fun, but that wasn't all he was feeling. It certainly wasn't the most dominant feeling. He agreed with every word she said, but something in him wanted to say more. He just didn't know the words to put with it. Ezner simply just smiled, giving Elisabeth a glance over his grin, "Me too. My trials with you are the best ones I've ever known." He reached out, taking both of her hands in his, his mouth opening as though he was going to say something. He just didn't know the words.

'I don't want these trials to end.'

"Thank you, Elisabeth."

He turned, not wanting to walk away but knowing he had no choice. He was a slave, he knew that much. But now he knew that there was some beauty in this world. And he wanted to see more of it. And he wanted to see it with her.

With Elisabeth.