Post by spastic bard on Mar 21, 2008 16:00:30 GMT -5
Very unedited and rough. Attempting to tackle Liz and Max's relationship and how it formed turned out to be a lot more difficult then I originally guessed. However, I am happy to have finally produced something I can tolerate from the Steampunk-verse. This is post-game, but pre-Elizabeth taking over MESS and going batshit crazy like Jo. 
That is another story unto itself. I don't know if I'll ever write it, unfortunately. Elizabeth proves to be a difficult character to write for me...
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Give her any machine in the world and she could figure it out. Throw any sort of logical problem in her direction and she could work through it. She was intelligent, talented, cultured, and prided herself on her ability to understand the people around her. But when pinned against her own mind; the amazing abilities of Elizabeth Preston always came short. It was the one thing she couldn’t understand, feel through, or work out. And because of that there were shadows of doubt all over all that she felt. And no one brought that out more then Mr. Maxwell Lohmanstein.
He had been nothing special when they had first met. Elizabeth saw him for what he was; simple minded and shallow. Sure, he was rather easy on the eyes and seemed nice enough, but he was a waste of intelligence. She could hardly believe he was supposedly in her league, mechanics wise. Especially once she made the connection between him and the imfamous student who had propositioned Professor Perry. Talk about classless! Not that she was one to judge on a moral level, but there were some limits, even in the sheltered world of academia.
So when his attention turned on her rejection came easily.
She had herself so convinced of his character that despite his handsome face and intelligence, she had no problem brushing him off. It was easy to not take him seriously – after all, he was a low down womanizer. Elizabeth knew she was attractive, even with her reddish hair and almost too slender figure, but she wasn’t attractive enough to get his real attention. He was looking for a simple, pretty toy he could use, and Elizabeth Preston was anything but.
She had been once. And she would never let that happen again.
So she focused on keeping Maxwell out. She did it well. She had the Professor and Will to worry over and distract herself with. He eventually thought she hated him with a passion, but that wasn’t the case. She held nothing against him personality. Her only goal was to make sure he didn’t get past her defensive barrier. Yet she had been so focused on keeping him out she hadn’t noticed when the rules of the game changed on her.
Elizabeth couldn’t pinpoint the moment, the day, or even the week when things changed. One moment she couldn’t stand to be near the bastard, the next his gaze made her pulse race. His words made her cheeks burn. Being near him was comfortable and desired. Somewhere along the line she had been so focused on ignoring him, she somehow managed to fall for him! All forms of logic screamed that this was impossible, yet it happened. Logic had failed her.
Yet she didn’t have time to figure herself out. Maxwell became depressed as their mission continued. She didn’t think so highly of herself as to believe she was the cause of it. After all, what was she to him? One little toy he couldn’t have? Besides, he was being forced to return to England after forming such a better life in America. He had plenty to be upset over besides one girl’s actions and refusals.
She realized too late just how horribly wrong she was.
Along the line, after realizing her feelings, Elizabeth also realized her actions had a strong impact on Maxwell’s moods. The days she was civil towards him were good days. The days she screamed and yelled and insulted, were bad days. The world was going to hell around them and all she could think about was what she had done to him. She had broken someone who had appeared unbreakable. She had moved hard enough to destroy his foundations. Too bad she broke apart her own in the process.
And with the world ending around them, she was sure there would be no chance to repair the damage she had caused.
The night before the final battle a chance had dropped into her lap. Everyone in the mansion was having trouble sleeping, and by chance she passed Detective Howe. He infomed her that Max was in the lab working. Alone. An opportunity.
Elizabeth Preston was the type to think everything out before acting. She was not impulsive. Yet Howe’s words moved her into action before she could acknowledge what she was doing. She ran to the lab and walked right in without a thought or expectation in her mind. She just wanted to make things right before the end.
Maxwell had been surprised to see her that night. He was cold at first. While it did nothing to calm her nerves, she couldn’t blame him. She had no right to. How can you blame a man you broke because you didn’t want to get involved, but did anyhow? How the bloody hell do you explain that without sounding mentally unstable?
Eventually Maxwell slipped and said something about their relationship. She had taken it from there. Awkwardly, yes, but he hadn’t seemed to mind. He almost didn’t believe her till she kissed him.
Now, as realistic as Elizabeth Preston is, she still had some romantic notions of love and situations such as these. She was expecting everything to be right after stepping up and kissing him. Unfortunately it was a kiss equal to the situation. Completely and utterly awkward. Thankfully Max had been equally awkward on his part, so she didn’t feel too badly. The second kiss went much better.
Elizabeth had no idea where to go from here. She wasn’t a blushing maiden, but her school days were far behind her. She had no expectations, yet she wondered how far she could push that night after two kisses. Unfortunately Will had the uncanny ability to interrupt at just the right time. Nothing went further that night, and she even retired to make sure Will was okay.
How it all fell into place she’d never understand. Just like her mind, her emotions, and her feelings over the man she had convinced herself to hate. It was wrong on every level she had experience with. It defied every step of logic and process she had studied. Yet there it was, plain and simple. And there was nothing she could do to fix it.
Not like she wanted to anyway. Who knew some things were better broken?
That is another story unto itself. I don't know if I'll ever write it, unfortunately. Elizabeth proves to be a difficult character to write for me...--------------------------------------------------
Give her any machine in the world and she could figure it out. Throw any sort of logical problem in her direction and she could work through it. She was intelligent, talented, cultured, and prided herself on her ability to understand the people around her. But when pinned against her own mind; the amazing abilities of Elizabeth Preston always came short. It was the one thing she couldn’t understand, feel through, or work out. And because of that there were shadows of doubt all over all that she felt. And no one brought that out more then Mr. Maxwell Lohmanstein.
He had been nothing special when they had first met. Elizabeth saw him for what he was; simple minded and shallow. Sure, he was rather easy on the eyes and seemed nice enough, but he was a waste of intelligence. She could hardly believe he was supposedly in her league, mechanics wise. Especially once she made the connection between him and the imfamous student who had propositioned Professor Perry. Talk about classless! Not that she was one to judge on a moral level, but there were some limits, even in the sheltered world of academia.
So when his attention turned on her rejection came easily.
She had herself so convinced of his character that despite his handsome face and intelligence, she had no problem brushing him off. It was easy to not take him seriously – after all, he was a low down womanizer. Elizabeth knew she was attractive, even with her reddish hair and almost too slender figure, but she wasn’t attractive enough to get his real attention. He was looking for a simple, pretty toy he could use, and Elizabeth Preston was anything but.
She had been once. And she would never let that happen again.
So she focused on keeping Maxwell out. She did it well. She had the Professor and Will to worry over and distract herself with. He eventually thought she hated him with a passion, but that wasn’t the case. She held nothing against him personality. Her only goal was to make sure he didn’t get past her defensive barrier. Yet she had been so focused on keeping him out she hadn’t noticed when the rules of the game changed on her.
Elizabeth couldn’t pinpoint the moment, the day, or even the week when things changed. One moment she couldn’t stand to be near the bastard, the next his gaze made her pulse race. His words made her cheeks burn. Being near him was comfortable and desired. Somewhere along the line she had been so focused on ignoring him, she somehow managed to fall for him! All forms of logic screamed that this was impossible, yet it happened. Logic had failed her.
Yet she didn’t have time to figure herself out. Maxwell became depressed as their mission continued. She didn’t think so highly of herself as to believe she was the cause of it. After all, what was she to him? One little toy he couldn’t have? Besides, he was being forced to return to England after forming such a better life in America. He had plenty to be upset over besides one girl’s actions and refusals.
She realized too late just how horribly wrong she was.
Along the line, after realizing her feelings, Elizabeth also realized her actions had a strong impact on Maxwell’s moods. The days she was civil towards him were good days. The days she screamed and yelled and insulted, were bad days. The world was going to hell around them and all she could think about was what she had done to him. She had broken someone who had appeared unbreakable. She had moved hard enough to destroy his foundations. Too bad she broke apart her own in the process.
And with the world ending around them, she was sure there would be no chance to repair the damage she had caused.
The night before the final battle a chance had dropped into her lap. Everyone in the mansion was having trouble sleeping, and by chance she passed Detective Howe. He infomed her that Max was in the lab working. Alone. An opportunity.
Elizabeth Preston was the type to think everything out before acting. She was not impulsive. Yet Howe’s words moved her into action before she could acknowledge what she was doing. She ran to the lab and walked right in without a thought or expectation in her mind. She just wanted to make things right before the end.
Maxwell had been surprised to see her that night. He was cold at first. While it did nothing to calm her nerves, she couldn’t blame him. She had no right to. How can you blame a man you broke because you didn’t want to get involved, but did anyhow? How the bloody hell do you explain that without sounding mentally unstable?
Eventually Maxwell slipped and said something about their relationship. She had taken it from there. Awkwardly, yes, but he hadn’t seemed to mind. He almost didn’t believe her till she kissed him.
Now, as realistic as Elizabeth Preston is, she still had some romantic notions of love and situations such as these. She was expecting everything to be right after stepping up and kissing him. Unfortunately it was a kiss equal to the situation. Completely and utterly awkward. Thankfully Max had been equally awkward on his part, so she didn’t feel too badly. The second kiss went much better.
Elizabeth had no idea where to go from here. She wasn’t a blushing maiden, but her school days were far behind her. She had no expectations, yet she wondered how far she could push that night after two kisses. Unfortunately Will had the uncanny ability to interrupt at just the right time. Nothing went further that night, and she even retired to make sure Will was okay.
How it all fell into place she’d never understand. Just like her mind, her emotions, and her feelings over the man she had convinced herself to hate. It was wrong on every level she had experience with. It defied every step of logic and process she had studied. Yet there it was, plain and simple. And there was nothing she could do to fix it.
Not like she wanted to anyway. Who knew some things were better broken?
Not like I was hiding it, but I haven't exactly told people about it yet..