Take this pink ribbon off my eyes

[breadbound]

Who: Laisa and Elise
Universe: Original
What: A queen learning to be a person
Warning: None yet

Laisa had spent her whole life training for the role she’d always known only death would spare her from.

And yet, here she was, her country in one piece and the threat of invasion at least put off, and someone else’s problem to deal with if Gresta didn’t honor the terms of treaty, the terms that had had Laisa stepping down.

She wrapped the cloak a little tighter around her, the dull brown of it covering the top of her head. For now she had the cold outside to help excuse her but she’d need to find something better come spring. She couldn’t stand looking in the eyes of her subjects, waiting for them to recognize her now that she wasn’t Queen any longer. She couldn’t decide if it was better if they knew her or if they didn’t.

“Excuse me,” she said, moving to brush by someone in the street.

Comments

[climbonup]

If Elise's perception of her matters, then Laisa is in trouble, because Elise perceives her as someone who has lost everything and is therefore in way, way over their head. And even though she probably shouldn't, she's inclined to help.

"Ok. You don't have much in the way of traveling clothes or anything either, do you?" Maybe she's assuming too much, but she doesn't think Laisa was carrying much of anything when they met.

[breadbound]

It's a pity, because Laisa wanted to impress Elise, or at least the other woman not to be helping her out of a sense of pity. If she had a better sense of that, she'd likely insist on forging ahead on her own.

"I didn't have much time to prepare, but I have coin to buy some." She had at least has the cloak, which isn't very royal, and is rather warm.

[climbonup]

It's not pity Elise feels, exactly... it's a weird mix between a sense of duty to her queen and 'well maybe I should not be an asshole.'

"That's good. We should probably do that first, and leave the horse to last so you don't have to worry about boarding it if you get caught up somehow." She might have gold to spare now, but it's not gonna last...

[breadbound]

Laisa considered it, and it almost sounded like they had half of a plan. Or that she, with this woman's help, had half of a plan.

"Where does one go, to buy clothes?" If a tailor wasn't going to come to her, and she assumed that wasn't how it would work. "Also, ah, I'm sorry, I-- What name should I call you?"

[climbonup]

Oh. Right. Just because Elise knows who she is... "I'm Elise. It's nice to meet you."

But yeah, this might be different for her. "There's some tailors in town, but there are a few who make clothing to approximate sizes if you don't want to wait." It's a new thing, she's still not sure how she feels about it. They never fit quite right, after all.

[breadbound]

"Elise," Laisa repeated back with a half smile. "You can call me Laisa." There was no point to anything else, no accuracy to titles, after all. And there were plenty enough children who'd been named after the royal princess -- back when she'd been that -- that there wasn't any reason to think her first name would draw particular attention.

Besides, she'd agreed to give up her throne, not her identity.

"That might be a good idea. The approximate sizes." She knew how long it took to get royal garments tailored, and she didn't have time for that.

[climbonup]

...That's really weird, but it makes sense to not call her by anything else right now. She'll just have to get used to it.

"Alright. I can run and get some stuff for you, if you don't want to risk it." Elise figured her out, it wouldn't take much for other people to, now that the news is spreading. "What do you think you'll need?"

[breadbound]

"Things I can travel and work in," Laisa said. Whatever working would really mean, but that was a problem she had to put off for a few days. "At least two sets of clothing."

She dug in her purse, pulling out a number of gold coins -- too much for what she was proposing, but she had no idea of that.

[climbonup]

Holy crap. Logically it makes sense that she would have so much, and probably that she would expect prices to be higher- up-marking to royalty is probably a thing people do. "Alright..." Elise takes it, even though it feels weird, "It probably won't cost this much. And you're probably going to want to not show people how much money you have on you."

[breadbound]

Laisa cocked her head, clearly considering that. Perhaps the mistake was trusting Elise, but seeing as she knew who Laisa was she shouldn't have needed to see the money to have a sense of it.

"Okay," she said, instead of trying to argue that she hadn't.

[climbonup]

Should she not have brought it up? Hell if she knows. "Do you want me to grab anything else while I'm out there? I've got a couple books and things you can check out here..." This is very weird still and she doesn't quite know how to deal.

[breadbound]

Laisa knew there was a lot she was still figuring out, but right now she felt that very strongly. She didn't know what else she'd really need, but she should be able to buy them later on as she figured it out, right?

"I can't think of anything." She was definitely going to poke around Elise's space if she was left alone here. She needed to get a handle on things.

[climbonup]

"Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can." For multiple reasons.

She heads out, picking up the clothing Laisa needed. Her house isn't much- it's pretty much just the entry room with a few soft chairs and some books, and her bedroom. She can't really afford all that much.

[breadbound]

Maybe it wasn't very charitable of her, but Laisa did look at what she could. It didn't seem that helpful, and she felt bad going into the bedroom, so instead she studied the books, looking for an insight of some sort from them.

It was at least a distraction from focusing on her own plight.