fandomhighdorms | Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

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Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

ANNA HAD A PHONE! Anna was not entirely clear on what you were supposed to do with a phone, but she was having some great success with "pushing lots of button and seeing what happens to the screen." She hadn't yet managed to break anything, either, which probably said more for Stark tech than it did for Anna's approach to familiarizing herself with new technology.

She had discovered the messaging app, and all of the adorable little emoji inside -- SO CUTE!!!! -- but was still a little lost on how you actually sent messages to other people, what with not knowing her own actual phone number or that phones even had numbers, exactly.

But she was sitting in the Common Room, excitedly pushing buttons, and she'd gladly send messages to anyone who stopped in (that is, anyone who could explain the actual process to her, because she had not really been listening in class, was the thing).

Messages with lots of emoji.

Lots.

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And here Elsa had been just coming in from taking Canute for his evening walk, and was quite ready to retire to her room and read for a while, when the pup gave an excited bark and half-dragged her down the hallway once they hit the second floor.

One of these days, she'd teach the little guy to heel. And maybe he'd even actually listen.

In the meantime, she was tripping into the common room at one end of a dog leash, a happy pup tugging away at the other.

"Canute!"

"Elsa!" Anna bounced to her feet, unable to contain her glee. She'd been good! She'd been so good, all week, not stalking her sister, not sitting in front of her door, not walking up and down her hall waiting for her to come out of the room -- space!! See? She could do this!

Oh. Right. Space.

"That is, hello," she said, in a much calmer voice. "It's a pleasure to see you again. Would you like to come in? Not that you need my permission. It's a common area. And you don't have to. You're probably busy."

See? Calm.

Aaand that was Anna. For the first time since Elsa had run off at the welcome picnic, here was Anna, and Elsa was taking a deep breath as she let go of the leash entirely so that the puppy could scamper over to say his hellos.

"I'm... actually not all that busy at all," she admitted, deciding to give 'not destroying her little sister' a shot tonight. "I was just heading to my room to read for a bit, but... I could stay here for a while, instead. I can put on some tea."

It would give her something to do with her hands over in the kitchen area, a good few paces away from Anna.

"How are you liking the island so far, Anna?"

"I'd love some tea," Anna enthused. "If you're sure. I'm loving it here! I mean, everyone seems so friendly? I got a phone today, I think just mine, to keep. And my classes are --"

Oh, right, there was something one of her teachers had said that she needed to ask Elsa about.

"Did you take a sex class!?"

It took real skill, to both emphasize a word and drop its volume to almost zero.

... Well, that was a sudden change in topic that had Elsa practically fumbling the kettle, there.

"Did I what?" She was turning to face Anna, blushing bright pink. "I did, but it wasn't for the... the sex! It was a class on sex, dating, and confidence, and I took the course completely for that last one."

"They teach dating here?" Anna giggled. "You took a dating class?! Did you have to go on dates, for class???"

They were sisters, okay? They were supposed to gossip about boys. It was a sisterly by-law! An important one!

This was not a conversation that Elsa had anticipated having, just yet.

"Um, no... No, not for class, no.... I really don't have... much... experience with dating."

A beat.

"Well, there were three-minute dates at the bar in town about this time last year. I might have gone to those. They weren't... weren't so bad, when it was one on one, but afterwards, once people started to mingle, I didn't stay long. That, and Barry."

... Three... two... one..

"Barry, my big sibling Barry?" Anna asked. "He made you mingle with people?"

Wait.

"Or you mean, he was at that -- three-minutes -- thing? And you --"

Hang on. Almost there.

"... Barry!??"

See? Anna was a bright young woman! She just... sometimes needed some processing time, that was all.

"Barry," Elsa agreed, looking somewhere between sheepish and fidgety. "He's really quite sweet, once you get to know him."

"You're dating my big sibling, Barry." Anna was a complex swirl of emotions, right now, and she couldn't even label most of them. And why were so many of them angry!?

"You yelled about Hans, but you're dating Barry," she managed. "He's not even a Prince, but that's okay, because it's you, but the second I start seeing someone --"

She didn't actually care that Barry wasn't a Prince. She wouldn't have cared if she had fallen in love with someone who wasn't a Prince. But Elsa would have. Elsa would have lectured her about proper Princess behavior. Hans wasn't good enough. No one was ever good enough. But that only mattered for Anna, apparently.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Elsa replied, blinking and a little taken aback by this sudden anger in Anna. "Anna, I only followed about half of that. Who's Hans? When did I yell at you?"

She... was not touching that 'Prince' thing for love or money just yet. Even if Barry was Homecoming royalty.

The island didn't exactly have a wealth of princes. And certainly none that Elsa felt comfortable with, if any at all.

But this Hans part...

"Hans is my fiance," Anna said, folding her arms and daring Elsa to object to that. "He's a Prince from the Southern Isles. He proposed, I said yes, and then you sent me here to get me away from him. Or to get me out of your hair. Maybe both."

That was unfair, but Anna didn't feel like being fair right now. Anna wasn't allowed to date, but Elsa was. Elsa wasn't afraid of people. Elsa had a boyfriend. The only person Elsa needed 'space' with ... was her.

Elsa, in turn, recoiled as though she'd been slapped.

To some degree, she just had.

"I don't know any Hans," she said, her voice taking on a cool note as she gathered up all of her poise, "and I never did any such thing. I don't know anything about the Southern Isles beyond what I've learned in my studies, and why would I tell you that you can't marry? Anna, you're not making sense."

Yes, that would help.

"I don't know!" Anna exploded. She flailed her arms in exasperation. "It wasn't you, it was the other you! At your coronation. Her coronation. You wouldn't talk to me and then you said I couldn't get married and that was it, party over."

She tried clenching her fists, but it didn't seem to calm her down any.

"I thought maybe you thought I was too young, but you're my age here and you're dating. Maybe it's only too young if it's me."

"Did I- did she give any reason for saying no? Anna... I can't have half of this conversation if I wasn't even there. I'm not too young. I don't think you're too young. It has to be something else."

There was something about it all that was chewing at Elsa, though. Something that Anna had said.

... Coronation.

The gates were to remain closed until her coronation.

A little more slowly, and a little suspiciously, she ventured, "Anna... where did you meet him?"

Her sister couldn't possibly be that impulsive, right?

Anna was now glaring at the opposite wall. "That's not fair," she said. "You kept the gates closed. When was I supposed to meet him? The annual balls we didn't have? I had one chance to meet someone before you closed Arendelle off again, forever."

"So... you knew him for a day. This Prince that I've never heard of, you knew for a day, and you agreed to marry him, and you're yelling at me for actually starting to open up to somebody else."

Elsa was just making certain she had this straight, here.

"So now you're here, and you're... never going to see him again? Is that it? Did some other version of me forbid you from ever talking to him, and that's why it's so unbearable that after months of knowing one another, Barry and I sometimes sit and eat dinner together?"

They each ate their own sandwiches, though, thank you.

"I'm yelling at you for being unfair!" Anna was back to waving her hands around again. "When you do it, it's okay, and when I do it, it's stupid! You dating someone, that's fine, but me being in love, that's not! And Barry's the one who keeps telling me to leave you alone, to give you space, but you don't need space from him!"

No. Him, she had meals with. They probably laughed and joked and kissed and all kinds of other stupid things. Because Elsa wasn't afraid of people at all.

"You've known me for years, but you wouldn't have dinner with me. What did I do!?"

They did, you know. Elsa and Barry. They laughed and joked and kissed. Sometimes, she even reached for his hand first. It was baby steps. It had been baby steps for a long while, now.

He'd given her a pair of gloves, and in doing so, he'd started her on the path to having her life back.

"It's not you," Elsa replied, after taking a long moment to breathe. Even then, her words all came out in a frustrated tangle, and it was all she could do to keep from pacing the floor. "It is, but it's not. I got scared once, you know, and I can't even talk about it, but then I pulled in from everyone. You, Mama, Papa. They didn't shut the gate to spite you, Anna. You know, I went home a couple of weeks ago. To Arendelle. For Christmas. And so that she wouldn't have to spend the first anniversary of Mama and Papa's... so that she wouldn't have to be alone. I'm trying."

The kettle was whistling. Elsa ignored it.

"You have no clue how hard I'm trying, Anna."

"But you don't have to try, with him," Anna answered, not meeting her sister's eyes.

And that was really the heart of the matter. Whatever aversion this was, it was only centered around her. Elsa could only be herself, could only be happy away from her.

"I didn't mean to pull you in here," she said, trying to sound calm and only sounding tired, instead. "You're walking your dog. You need space. I'm giving you space."

She'd spent years not talking to Elsa. She was practically an expert. What was a few more?

"I still have to try, with him," Elsa replied, sounding just about as tired. "I still have to try with everybody."

She turned and flicked the kettle off so that it wouldn't boil dry.

"But it's getting late. I was going to do some reading. Canute needs to eat before bed. You're right. I should go."

She'd spent years not talking to Anna. She was very much an expert.

What was a few more?

This was Joker's first good look at Canute in... over two weeks. He seemed... bigger. "Shit, Elsa, what have you been feeding him?"

"Dog food," Elsa replied, giving Joker a puzzled smile. "Dog treats, dog food... I've been feeding him pretty much anything edible with 'dog' at the start of the name."

She looked down at him.

"He hasn't grown that much, has he?"

It was maybe slightly more difficult to tell, being in his company most of the time.

Joker blinked. "Was he this big when we gave him to you? Because, just in case you weren't aware, you're supposed to walk him, not the other way around. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's adorable, but... wow. I'm sorry."

"At this rate, I might end up buying a saddle for him," Elsa half-joked, watching him trot over to wag his tail at Joker. "But there's really no need to apologize... he's still excellent company. There's... just a lot more of him to keep that company than we had anticipated, that's all."

And he was still only a few months old.

So.

Joker reached down to scratch Canute's head a little, and then headed to the couch to sit down so he could have his hands free. "Well, yeah, I guess there's just more of him to love. He'll be an excellent guard dog and a faithful companion, and maybe someday you'll be a fearsome warg-rider."

"Aside from a few strange weeks last spring, I can't really see me being much of a fearsome anything," Elsa replied with a smile as Canute trotted along behind Joker. Attention! He loved attention! "But I suppose anything could happen around here. I mean, I did end up with a still-younger-but-somewhat-older version of my little sister, this year. That's... new."

She had been drinking a lot of tea practically nonstop since. Tea, dammit.

"New and different," Joker agreed. "But, hey, maybe that's a good thing, right? You were wanting to open up to your sister a little."

Or Joker was wanting her to. I say "tomato", you say "peer pressure".

"So... this could be kind of like... practice?"

Joker and everybody else, really. At this point, Elsa had more or less resigned herself to the fact that she was in this 'big sister' business for the long haul.

"... Kind of like that, I suppose," Elsa agreed, frowning a little. "Only... if she's from my future, I have no idea where she's been, or what she knows yet. What if I mess something up? I... I can't tell her anything. Not anything she wants to know."

This was probably one of the rare circumstances where, even being from the past, Elsa was in a position to say too much.

"Ooooh, yeah, I guess that does really complicate things," Joker allowed. "But... I don't know. Maybe the two of you can gossip and giggle and keep it secret from the other Elsa?" He frowned. "That... sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it?"

"I haven't gossiped or giggled with my own Anna since she was three," Elsa pointed out, offering Joker an almost apologetic smile. "I don't think I'd have any idea where to start."

... And it would end really badly in no time flat, once she did anything remotely close to doing so.

"I... wouldn't have the slightest clue, either." Joker shrugged. "But maybe you can just... talk to her, you know? Just a little. Baby steps."

"Just talk," Elsa echoed. "About... what? About classes? About... What do sisters talk about, these days?"

Boys!

That wouldn't end well.

"I dunno. Classes, would probably be a good place to start. The island. People you know. Uh... I don't know. What are girls in Arendelle usually interested in? Books? Fashion? Horses? Swordfighting?"

Elsa gave Joker a quick flash of a grin, before she ducked her head and covered her mouth and tried not to laugh.

"Everything except for the swordfighting, I'm pretty sure. Though the more I think about it, the more useful a talent it seems like. Especially around here."

It also happened to be a far easier topic than, 'Anna.'

"Well, hey, you never know," Joker countered, grinning back. "I mean, your palace has guards, right? Maybe she learned from them."

(This bizarre logic brought to you courtesy of Once Upon a Time, where Anna taught Prince Charming how to use a sword.)

Joker shrugged. "Around here, though? Swords are great, but you'd be better off with a gun. Or..." He glanced over at Anna surreptitiously and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You know. Whoosh." He added a tiny finger-wiggle for emphasis.

Elsa gave him a wry smile in reply to that.

"Probably," she allowed. "Though... I can't see me..." She wiggled her fingers a bit, mimicking Joker's own gesture, "again without good reason. And I really can't see me ever using a gun."

It would only end in tears.

Joker had bought himself a brand-new, top-of-the-line omnitool over the break, and had spent entirely too much time in his room playing videogames as a result. He wasn't entirely sure when the last time he'd eaten or slept was, but he definitely had a large pile of achievements and high scores to make up for it.

Still, he'd missed the newbie picnic, and he was regretting that now. Time to get out and make new friends!

He peered into the common room and spotted a familiar girl. "Well, hello there!" he said with a smile. "I was just thinking this place could use a few more pretty faces. How are you settling in?"

"Oh! Hi!" Anna was going to turn bright pink, because she still could not quite get used to this whole, boys-flirting-with-her idea. "I mean, hello! I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Anna of Arendelle."

She gave him a proper curtsy, but then noticed the large metal crutches that would probably prevent him from returning a bow.

"Are you okay?" she asked, with a sudden frown. "Do you need --"

Help? He seemed to be moving just fine without it, but maybe help would be appreciated? She wasn't entirely sure why he had large metal rods strapped to his legs, but it probably wasn't a fashion statement.

Despite the crutches, Joker did his best to bow. "So... we have definitely not met, then. Okay, yeah, that's cool. Little weird, but cool. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I mean, I'm suffering from a rare disease that makes my bones brittle, aside from that I'm pretty spiffy. The name's Joker."

"Were we supposed to meet?" Anna asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear a touch sheepishly. "Did we say hello at the picnic, and I forgot? I don't remember you, at all."

She could hardly stop worrying, at the rest of that. "Your -- bones are brittle?" she asked. "Does it hurt? Is that nosy? I don't mean to be nosy."

"Well, no, we did meet," Joker told her with a grin. "You just don't remember because it didn't happen to you. In case no one's told you, this island is weird."

He sighed at her. "Look, as cute as that worried face you're making is, I'm fine, I promise. It only hurts if I walk too much. Or I fall down."

"Does this have something to do with Elsa?" she asked. "She's here, but she's not really my sister. My sister's back home. So it's like I have two Elsas, which is almost like having a whole Elsa, only ... not ... very much at all."

Two Elsas who avoided her was not all that much of an improvement, thus far.

"I didn't tell Elsa that," she added quickly. "Home-Elsa I mean. That there's a here-Elsa. Are you sure I can't do something? Help you sit down?"

"Sitting, I can manage," Joker told her with a wink. "Standing is hard, but I'm very good at sitting."

He looked over at Elsa, and gave Anna a shrug. "She's my friend. Look, she's... Just give her time, okay?" He dropped his voice a little, and continued on like a voiceover in a documentary. "The wild Elsa is a timid beast, and easily frightened. She rarely ventures outside her native habitat of locked bedroom doors, except to forage for sustenance and classroom knowledge. She is a solitary creature, shunning contact, but inside her cold, icy shell beats a warm and loving heart."

"She's your friend," Anna said bitterly. "Of course. She seems to have lots of friends, here."

She cleared her throat and hoped he hadn't caught her tone. "I'm giving her time. I was here, first, and she stumbled in. I haven't even talked to her. Loads of time. She wants to pretend I don't exist, hey, she's got practice."

She flashed Joker an attempt at a smile. See? Kidding! Funny!

Oh, he'd caught it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey. She's been here a while, and some of us are pretty insistent. Friends happened whether she wanted them or not. There was only so far she could run. This isn't... I mean, it's not what you think."

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Second Floor Common Room, Monday Evening

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