A Home

[cageunemptied]

It had only been a year, roughly, since she had come to Radiant Garden. Now, she thought no more of Columbia, and little enough of the man who'd freed her from her tower (and then had so repulsed her that she'd fled him). She was grateful to him, certainly, but she was even more grateful to be away from his type.

Here there was no killing, and no need for killing. Although she had understood little enough about this place - world - and how, exactly, she'd managed to pull herself into it, she certainly wasn't complaining. The ruler of Radiant Garden had turned out to be a kindly older gentleman, who'd taken her in and listened to her story - and upon learning of how she had nowhere else to go (but Paris; she still wanted to see Paris), he'd asked her to stay. And so she had.

It had been slow, finding a place for herself here. For all her years of reading in her tower, she had honestly known little in the matter of practical application (aside from lock-picking, that is). Here, she could apply it. Although it had been strange to her that Radiant Garden did not, in fact, float using quantum particles that were suspended in mid-air, she had slowly come to accept the existence of magic. She'd even managed to learn a little, herself - albeit in the form of a few minor healing spells, just in case.

Thankfully, not everything about the world was new to her. Even had been pleased to discover that Elizabeth knew her way around science well enough to assist him every so often, and Radiant Garden's library provided hours of entertainment. There were few enough women in the castle, but the men that were there were, for the most part, kind and well-mannered. Dilan was gruff, certainly, but he was polite and had a surprising knowledge and appreciation of the arts, and Ienzo, although near-silent, had taken to occasionally reading with Elizabeth. Braig, of course, caused most of the mischief, but it was nothing Elizabeth couldn't give back by now.

And there was Aeleus. He was a giant of a man, but he rarely spoke, and he preferred to let his actions do the talking. And he was quite gentle - Elizabeth had been afraid of him, at first, but she'd quickly learned that Aeleus was arguably the most trustworthy of the group, always willing to lend an ear (or open a jam jar or two when Elizabeth took it upon herself to bake a cake). She liked him, and she liked the way he smiled - close-mouthed and quiet, but sincere.

Tonight, it was his turn to cook, and Elizabeth had taken it upon herself to make dessert, a task she found easier than cooking. Sure, she could manage, but she much preferred to cook with someone there (half to keep her company and half to make sure she didn't burn the kitchen down; cooking was one thing she'd never needed to worry about while in her tower). She smiled at her companion, spreading a generous layer of strawberry jam on top of one layer of the cake she was baking so she could balance the next on top of it.

"Well? How does it look so far?"

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[abidingstoic]

It wasn't often that newcomers made their way into their lives, and didn't leave shortly thereafter. The last one had been Ienzo, arguably; King Mickey, though quickly becoming a very dear friend of Master Ansem, had his own kingdom to attend to. He couldn't stay, not for more than brief but nonetheless treasured visits. Ienzo had come to stay, in their home and in their hearts, because there had simply been no other place for him to go. And then, Liz.....

Nobody was entirely sure how Liz had come to be here, (Even had stayed up for hours trying to figure out some possible theoretical mechanisms for it, and nearly torn his hair out over it) but there seemed to be nowhere else she would rather be, at least not in the long-term. Ansem had welcomed her just as congenially as he had their latest ward, and she too had donned the lab coat and ascot of their little fellowship.

Their personalities were certainly distinct, but their circumstances were similar enough that Aeleus couldn't help but be reminded of Ienzo when he thought of Liz, at least once they'd met. She'd been such a spooked little thing, when he'd greeted her properly for the first time, fearful and intimidated..... He'd taken pains to be even more cautious and non-threatening around her than usual, and looked for ways to make himself smaller, like sitting or taking a knee while she stood, until the fear had passed. (He was fairly certain she still didn't know about the animals, the way Ienzo had finally shaken his own intimidation--but that was quite alright. Aeleus had no doubts that she would tease him enough about it when she found out on her own time.) Now that she was more comfortable around him, though, he'd grown fond of her; it was hard not to, when she was so friendly and full of energy, when it seemed that she was fitting into their little family so well.

She was one more person to watch over, and perhaps a little more closely than most--after all, who else was going to do it, if he didn't make it a special priority? She didn't belong to anyone who would take it upon themselves to look after her safety naturally..... So even if she and Ienzo were technically wards of Master Ansem, Aeleus fully intended to see to it that he ensured they were both safe and healthy and happy, like the families they quite simply didn't have.


It wasn't uncommon to find Aeleus in the kitchen, at home as though he belonged there; Braig especially loved to shirk his turns onto Aeleus instead, since he knew he could almost universally get away with it, and much of the time Even simply couldn't be bothered; it was either take over for him when he forgot or disdained the duty, or let the kitchen servants do it, when they were so busy already..... Well, Aeleus didn't mind. He enjoyed cooking, honestly, and seeing how much everyone seemed to enjoy the results. Sometimes, Ienzo would sit with him while he worked, perched on the counter and helping to stir or taste things--but today, it was Liz in the kitchen with him, busily working away on one of her lovely cakes. When it came to actual cooking, she still needed some supervision, even if she was learning steadily enough.....

But baking? She'd taken to that far more quickly; she even had a real knack for it, if he did say so himself. Aeleus paused in his stirring as Liz called him over, giving her work a good look-over and appreciative sniff. Everything smelled good, nothing seemed to be singed or ready to crumble into some half-baked soupy mess, the edges were level enough that she didn't need to worry about anything sliding off..... The edges were still a bit rough from being turned out of the pan imperfectly, but what did that ever matter, once it was iced? Aeleus offered Liz an encouraging smile and nod. "It looks very nice; you're getting better at baking every day. What are you planning for the finishing touches?"

[cageunemptied]

Although Elizabeth hadn't taken on the role of apprentice to Ansem, she'd gladly joined in his little group, befriending them all in her own special way. For Even, of course, it was chatting about science, and they'd spent long hours in the laboratory as Even taught her - and she him, for it seemed physics worked quite differently in her world than in his. For Dilan, it was a quiet presence at his lancing practice, as the man was quite strict in his own training, as he was in all things. With Ienzo, it was reading in the library, the two occasionally curled up against each other. Braig had his mischief, of course, and she rarely spoke to Xehanort, but for Aeleus, it was... well, things like this.

Elizabeth beamed up at him, grateful for his approval. Although the pain of being locked away in her tower for most of her life would likely never fade, she had learned quite a lot about the outside world - and unlike the things she'd learned in Columbia, these were lessons she'd been more than happy to learn. "Thank you," she replied, taking a moment to remove her hands from the (rather large) oven mitts and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ears. "I'm not sure, yet. What do you think?" She was naturally going to frost it, but as for how, she wasn't yet certain.