Notes 1: LORD, HELP ME BECAUSE I AM BACK ON MY BULLSHIT. It's obvious what I'm freaking out about now – the Frozen 2 trailer dropped. So excited, especially after the cinema staff asked me to stay back during the Wreck-it-Ralph 2 credits and I legit got Rick Rolled!
I know everyone's excited about the adventure but I stand by Elsa's ponytail. I said it in white knight syndrome and I'll say it again – erph – PONYTAIL. The gay in me felt it. That's the good shit. Things like that make me melt!
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crown shyness
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chapter three
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"Hi." He had said to her and the empty supply room.
.
.
.
And her reaction was to let out a tiny scream and clutch onto her heart as she whips around, braid swinging. As she faces him, she read his expression. He, in return, gives her an alert look and raises his hands to show her he meant no harm.
"Hey, it's okay." He says.
Elsa doesn't address him back. Her blue eyes stare outside the arc way, no door to shut the room or anyone out. Holy hell, Anna's ridiculous theory about having a conversation in the supply room actually came true? Except, it's sort of the other way around and no one's said each other's names – yet.
"I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to give you something." He continues at her silence and steps forward. "Here." He then takes her hand and presses a folded piece of paper into it.
"Um?" Her eyes flits between his face and her now closed hand. She asks, "What's this?"
This whole situation … is weird? He approached her out of nowhere, didn't even bother introducing himself then just handed her some sketchy folded note?
"My number." He answers.
His …
"Hold on." She unfolds it and sees his name scribbled in neat, bold writing – HANS. Oh, Mulan was right too. He is Hans Westergaard. Elsa blinks back in confusion and her voice slowly trails off, "I don't … I … what?"
"You keep staring at me. It's been, what, a month now? You're not very good at being low-key." Hans says.
"O – Oh. I – I'm sorry. You're right, I'm not very good at pretending." Elsa replies. It's no surprise that she can't pretend to unsee things. The way Elsa has stared at Hans in the past is the same way Edward Cullen stares at Bella Swan – which is intensely.
Hans looks back at her and Elsa notes how bright his eyes are. Yeah, she had guessed the shade correctly, emerald green. It would be embarrassing for her to get it wrong with all the eyeballing she's been doing.
"Um, thank you for … this?" She holds up the paper. God, she's awkward. What is she supposed to do with this?
Hans must have sensed something amiss because he asks, "Has there been a misunderstanding?"
"Um," This could not be any less awkward. "Maybe." Elsa replies then chews on her lower lip. "I – It's just – You look familiar and I couldn't put my finger on where I've seen you but I was too shy to say anything so I stared and … I'm sorry?"
Now second guessing himself but things are slowly clicking in his brain. "So … you're not the slightest bit interested in me?" He asks.
"Erm, not in that way. No ... I am, uh, curious though." Elsa fumbles with her words. "It's like I said, you just seemed familiar and … erm, yeah …" All this, and she hasn't even introduced herself.
He stares at her for the longest time. Then a slow spreading smile decorates his face. His eyes twinkle with an accepting mischief. He's finding this moment funny for some reason. He lets out a low chuckle as he tells her, "I thought it was a cosmic joke when I caught you staring at me but it seems like you truly don't remember who I am."
This time, it's Elsa's turn to stare. "Hold on ... was I right? We've – We've crossed paths before? So I do know you from somewhere?" She knows he hasn't answered any of her questions yet but a sense of relief washes over her. So she wasn't crazy to assume all this? "Do you know me?" She continues asking.
"Yeah." Hans nods slowly. "I remember you."
"Oh, that's –"
"You're the reason I moved schools."
There's another pause. And then – "Wait, what?"
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Elsa's hiding around a corner, standing by the teas and coffees, having a little mini-freak out as she whispers everything she's learned in the past few minutes to Mulan. She's going to have a nice long chat with Hans after he's finished up with his Clinic work. But for now, Elsa's just spilling her guts out while Mulan is sipping her tea with interest.
"So, it turns out," Elsa starts her story. "Hans and I used to go to the same school as kids and, um, that's why I recognised him."
"Oh, rad, what are the odds?" Mulan smiles, glad to be part of the gossip. She leans against the counter that's wedged in a nook. It's supposed to be the Clinic's 'break room' but it's more like a small section with a kettle, sink and random bits to make a warm drink.
Elsa's eyebrows squeeze together. "No, not 'rad', Mulan. It's the opposite."
"What?"
Elsa presses her lips together, peeks around the corner before turning back to her friend. "Hans was a childhood bully."
"Whoa, what? That's a plot twist!" Mulan says, her brown eyes sparkle with interest. This is great banter! She even leans in to show her interest. "Did he cause you a lot of trouble when you were little? Do you want to get back at him now? It's been years but revenge is revenge."
"Huh? Mulan, no. He wasn't my childhood bully."
Mulan squints in confusion. "I'm ... not following."
"Okay, so," Elsa throws her hands up and tries to think how to explain things. "So our school wasn't exactly big. Everyone sort of knew everyone. Back then, Hans already had a reputation before I even had my first encounter with him."
"Because he was a little shit?"
"Not exactly. Mostly it was because he had about a dozen brothers."
"That's a lot."
"I know, right?" Elsa manages a small smile but her story still sounded gloomy. "But basically, what I'm trying to say is, I had heard about Hans. Also, yeah, he was a little shit. He was known to be trouble."
"Uh-huh." Mulan nods. "Go on."
"So, you know, Anna, right? My little sister?"
"Yes."
"This story involved her. Hans was her childhood bully."
"Oh." Mulan voices. "Oh." The realisation sunk in. "Oh, no. Oh, that's bad."
"It is. I mean, it was. But … I'm not trying to justify Hans but … it happened randomly, if that makes any sense?"
It didn't. And Mulan made a face to show it.
Elsa bit the inside of her cheek, struggling to articulate herself. "Okay, so, to start off, Anna wasn't Hans's only victim. Um, no, maybe 'victim' is too strong of a word. What I mean is, Anna wasn't the only person Hans bothered. He never had a preference. He just bothered everyone." Elsa explains, giving a little bit of backstory before telling her tale.
Mulan bobs her head, encouraging Elsa to speak more.
"I never thought Hans could have been dangerous. He was just known as that really annoying kid who wanted attention so he got into trouble to seek it." Elsa voices out. "I remember ignoring him a lot. He was just …" Elsa trails off, sighing. "As mean as this sounds, even then, I thought Hans wasn't much. He pretty much was nothing to me but a nuisance." She confesses further. But as Elsa says more, her short nails bit into her palms as her fingers curled into fists. "But then, one day, he crossed the line."
If it was possible for Mulan to look more concern, she didn't show it. But her voice did dip low as she asks Elsa, "So what did Hans do?"
A short pause came from Elsa. Then she answers, "He hurt Anna."
"What happened? Did he hit her?"
"No, he … I know it sounds bad; what he did was intentional but I don't think he meant Anna a lot of harm. I don't … I wasn't exactly there when it happened. A friend saw everything and rushed over to tell me." Elsa says, trying to recall bits and pieces of her childhood. "If I remember it right, I think we were in the middle of changing class. Anna was running down the halls because she wanted to see a friend and it … just happened. Apparently, Hans had tripped Anna and she fell – very hard."
"Did she break a bone?"
"… No. She lost them."
"What?"
"She didn't brace herself and she fell on her face." Elsa says, reacting to Mulan's hanging out with a cringe. "When I got to Anna, she was crying from the pain. It was quite a horrific sight. There were teeth on the floor and blood was pouring out of her mouth. It was … bad. It was really bad."
"Oh, ouch." Mulan answers and makes a face like she's swallowed a whole lemon.
Elsa's words came slowly after. "Anna doesn't remember it, which is good. And all of the teeth that got knocked out was baby teeth so there weren't any long-term damages." Elsa swallows something that felt like guilt at the back of her throat. "I truly think Hans didn't mean to cause Anna to lose teeth. That's kind of extreme. But, at the time, I wasn't thinking that it could have been just a freak accident. I remember being so mad that I tattled on Hans to the teachers. I could have just asked him to say 'sorry' but I didn't. I got him in trouble because of it instead."
Mulan blows a low whistle.
"The teachers made a public announcement of what Hans had done the next day. Some talk about respecting others and anti-bullying. Didn't work because kids started picking on him after the news spread that Hans had caused a little girl to cough out blood and teeth."
"Oh, instant karma."
"No." Elsa only shakes her blonde head. "He was annoying but he didn't deserve to be bullied for it."
"Why does it feel like you're defending him?"
"I'm not. I just feel …" She struggles for the word. "… guilty for what I did."
"Why?"
"What Hans did was bad but what I did was worse. I …" Once again, Elsa trails off. "Hans had to move schools because of the bullying. It got out of hand."
"Out of hand? How bad was it?" Mulan presses.
"Just bad." Elsa answers, she's heard rumours of how they belittled Hans but she doesn't know the full story. "I feel responsible."
Reading the blonde's face, Mulan raises a question she doesn't want the answer to, "Are you going to apologise to him?"
Elsa fiddles with her hands, a sign that she still felt guilty for what happened. "I should."
Mulan takes a sip out of her tea, making a sound like she didn't entirely agree to that decision before asking, "So what's going to happen now?"
"Hans says he wants to talk? So I'm waiting but I don't know if I want to talk to him. What should I do? I'm scared. What if he yells at me?"
"Why would he yell at you?"
"I told you I got him in trouble."
"That's sort of on him for being a little shit."
"Mulan –" The sound of a door swinging open and Mulan's hushed "He's coming" clams Elsa up immediately. "Shit." Elsa whispers. She's cursed so much in this conversation. Now she wishes she had fled long along.
"Hey." Hans greets the blonde, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets.
"Hi …" Elsa tugs on her braid.
Hans's eyes glances over to Mulan who wordlessly raises her cup then leaves the area. His green eyes don't stop looking around the room though, like he doesn't want anyone to eavesdrop. He doesn't spare a moment before asking Elsa, "Can we talk outside?"
"Um," Well, it's better than being contained in a small nook. "Sure."
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Notes 2: Sorry I didn't update on the 12th or 13th. I had planned to but then I had a presentation and procrastination is a thing so …
I'm updating just to annoy someone in the review section. I'm going to add more characters just to up my irritation too. I might write Merida or Jack Frost in to spice things up. I have a concept of how to bring them in. The thing with being a student is, we need coffee. And people still like coffee AUs so ... someone could be a barista. There's this guy I've seen on campus with a 'trainee barista' shirt but he's been wearing that for a whole semester now so ? What gives?
But, I really just want this to be an understanding/mostly friendship/maybe someone has a teenie tiny crush on someone which could pass as admiration kind of fic. We'll see. Maybe Valentine's Day will inspire me?
– 14 February 2019