|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Nov 16, 2017 5:58:07 GMT
Hearing Elsa speak so harshly of herself hurt Ralph in a way that words couldn't fully express. He hated seeing her in pain and would have done anything to relieve her pain yet this wasn't the kind of thing he could drive off with his fists. Elsa wasn't being hurt by another person but by perhaps the greatest enemy she would ever face; herself.
"No you don't. You yourself told me your suspicions of what the LaFayettes were doing to Weiss but even you couldn't have known just how badly they were treating her. And you really think what you were doing for that girl was nothing? You were trying to find someway to help her when all of this finally got out, Elsa. AND you were going up against people who weren't afraid to try and tear you down to keep their dirty secrets hidden and their daughter oppressed. If you honestly believe that is doing nothing then look me directly in the face and tell me that."
Ralph's voice was still hard but the anger had slowly disappeared from it. Even the scowl on his face had receded and only left a look of deep concern and a desperate need to help Elsa see the truth.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Nov 17, 2017 16:25:15 GMT
“I just...wish I could have done more.”
Very slowly, Elsa brought her face to look up at Ralph. Her closed off body language eased, falling like melting snow. Her blue eyes had thawed and looked less broken yet the regret still lingered. Just hearing Ralph, one of the few who trusted her, say she had done something, made her feel the slightest bit of relief. Relief not everyone was against her fighting against the Lafayette’s.
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Nov 22, 2017 13:05:19 GMT
At first Elsa wouldn't look up into his face, but slowly her blue eyes lifted so that she was looking directly into his own brown gaze. For anyone else the anger would have still been present in the set of his jaw and the flash of his eyes, but not for her. All that was present in his face was love and honesty.
As he looked at her, the Giant could see the tension in her body slowly ebbing away and the look of guilt lessening in her expression. However, it still lingered and that worried him more then he could ever say.
Without thinking, he brought his hand forward and lightly touched her cheek, brushing away a small drop of water that might have been a melting snowflake or a tear. For someone who possessed such raw strength and who had such large hands, the gesture was inexplicably graceful and soft.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Nov 25, 2017 19:36:16 GMT
A noise like a tremble came from her breath. Unlike most people who had breath that fogged in incredibly cold environments, hers didn't. Then again, the ice was melting and the temperature had surrendered to the typical Louisiana heat.
Ralph was wiping something from her cheek. It didn't matter what it was, a melting snowflake, a tear. All that mattered was he was looking at her like she was the most precious treasure in the world, and how his large hands were gentle as opposed to frightening her.
"Have you ever been so attached to someone that...that knowing you did your best for them...and they ended up getting hurt and you weren't there?" she asked.
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Nov 30, 2017 4:16:01 GMT
"Yes. One person"
The way the word came out of Ralph's mouth and the look he gave her made it clear the person he was thinking of was standing right in front of him. However, the Giant felt there was no need to say it, that surely Elsa could sense who he meant.
"And to a degree I've always felt that way about the victims that I fought for. Even though I didn't know them, each had lives they'd lived, each their own story and each had suffered terrible things. And when I couldn't bring them the justice they deserved, when I couldn't right the wrongs or make the criminals pay for their crimes, it felt like I was just another person who let those people down."
Ralph continued to stand before Elsa but a new look had come across his face, a look that many people might mistake for anger but was far more complex then that. It was the look of a man who had witnessed truly horrible things and yet refused to look away like so many others did. It was the look of a man who couldn't just ignore the cries of countless victims that had been overlooked by society and the very systems that were meant to bring them justice.
"I understand what it is to care so much that you can't stop the guilt that comes when that person suffers, whether you're responsible or not."
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Dec 1, 2017 5:32:51 GMT
Elsa didn't need to ask anymore questions about the person Ralph had been referring to. It had been her, her all this time, and she had been so selfish and shut-off after that one bad day to open her eyes and see it. Then when she was trying to reopen the doors, the walls were being bricked up. She just looked at him in silence, her expression not one of sadness nor guilt. It was a look of contemplation. He had fought to keep people out of the loop, foguth to make sure they would come out okay. Sometimes he did, and other times he failed. Her cases had been similar.
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Dec 7, 2017 10:34:00 GMT
After this heartfelt admission, the two of them merely stood and looked into each others faces for a time. It was hard for Ralph to be open like this about his feelings, but as he gazed into the deep blue depths of Elsa's eyes he realized that one of the reasons he cared so much for her was because he COULD be open about these things with her. He could tell her things he'd never dream of telling anyone else because he loved her.
After a few more passing moments of quiet contemplation, Ralph seemed to rouse himself and gave her a small smile as he broke the spell of silence that had fallen over them.
"But hey, why don't you take a break for the moment? We could step out and just grab a drink or something, get some fresh air. You really could use some."
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Dec 7, 2017 18:41:29 GMT
“I have been getting cold feet. Literally.” She looked out to the doors of her office. There was no more frost or ice in the room, just drips and puddles. Streaks of water fell like tears over the door frames. Ralph was right. Moping and feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to solve anything. She grabbed her phone case wallet, adorned with rhinestones, and shook off the melted water. “You know, a Coldftont does sound good...”
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Dec 13, 2017 11:35:24 GMT
"And it'll be my treat."
Stepping up next to Elsa, he put a comforting arm around her and smiled down from his greater height. It was so rare to see this gentle, soft side of the Giant and yet she always seemed to bring that out in him now. Even in his most stubborn and heated moments when he was losing his temper and didn't want to listen to reason, Elsa reached him on a level no one else could. And as he looked down into her piercingly blue eyes, he knew in his heart that he did the same for her.
They stood by each other despite their weaknesses and flaws. And more importantly, they each helped the other grow into something better then they would have been on their own.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Dec 13, 2017 22:52:01 GMT
Elsa wanted to protest, but realized it would be a waste of time. He was doing this as a gentleman and she had to get used to the idea of being helped every now and then if they were starting over. He had come to check on her, after all. A semi smile crossed her chiseled face and she looked into his earth-brown eyes. She always liked the gentleness that he showed her.
"Okay."
She went to the door. The office, thankfully, wasn't frozen shut. It jiggled on its hinges and a small puddle leaked out onto the floor. She'd mop it up later. Right now she needed to de-stress with Ralph.
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Dec 15, 2017 8:17:43 GMT
Ralph was glad to see the sorrow start to leave Elsa's eyes as she agreed and yet he could tell that the guilt about Weiss still lingered. He wanted so badly for her to see that no one held anything against her, least of all Weiss and yet he knew that the one who she had to prove that to was herself.
He couldn't help but watch her closely with his own lingering worry as he stepped out of her office so that she could lock it. He knew that it wouldn't do either of them any good to keep talking about it right then and there but he hoped that when Elsa had had a little more time to work through her feelings they could work through it together.
Watching her as she closed and locked the door, he reached out and offered his massive hand to her, trying with all his might to let her know how he was there for her no matter what.
"Shall we?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Zuyuri on Dec 24, 2017 0:49:13 GMT
"Yes."
The smile on Elsa's face was anything but sad or cold. It was one that expressed a sort of giddy delight. Usually, women made that kind of smile when being escorted to a fine date. A bar wasn't exactly fancy, but Elsa was never the kind for classy. Class had died on her long ago.
Ralph held his arm out. His size would have put a lot of other people at a sense of feeling small. Instead, Elsa placed her tiny hand, tiny compared to his size anyways, onto the crook of his elbow.
"Lead the way, my fine gentleman."
((end thread?))
|
|
|
|
Post by neverlandlostgirl on Dec 24, 2017 8:31:00 GMT
(End Thread)
|
|
