Sketches
Written by: kohee
Fandom: Disney; Princess and the Frog
Summary: A series of drabbles, and some bits and pieces here and there – may be before the movie, during the movie or after the movie.
Genre: A mixture of mumbo jumbo with some gumbo.
Disclaimer: Wants to own but own nothing except pocket lint.
Author's note: My take on a conversation that might have happened between Naveen wanting to get comfortable in the tree hollow and the next morning.
-----
ten: Interlude
(Naveen, Tiana, during the movie)
-----
She was a small green frog, flushed and angry, her eyes as threatening as the stick she welded in her frog-fingers, and yet, Naveen thought there was something inexplicably attractive about this waitress. She was so different from the female species that he thought he knew, for he had always thought of himself as an expert in the ways of charming a woman. After all, no woman could resist Prince Naveen.
But this waitress, she was a curious case, and he was intrigued. He hopped two steps closer and immediately found the sharp end of the stick right under his nose.
"I told you to stay away, your Royal Froggyness." She said, her tone sharp and biting, and he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Fine, I stay away." He backed slowly into the other corner of the log, and they were silent, shivering a little as the alligators' yells about frog legs continued, before eventually fading away.
Tiana set down her stick carefully, close to her, as she pat the ground, no doubt trying to find a comfortable spot to lie. She did not seem to be interested in talking to him, and Naveen was determined to rectify that. It would do his reputation no good to have this frog-woman detesting him, for he was supposed to be the charmer of all women. And besides, he was bored with the silence.
"Waitress." He said, his tone dismissive.
Her head snapped up and she instinctively reached for her stick, but seeing him remaining still at his corner, she relaxed a little, but her tone remained snappy. "What do you want?"
"Relax." He said, leaning back against the tree stump and stretching his frog legs. "You are so full of tension. So jumpy. There will be a way to make this right, I am sure."
Of course there had better be. There was no way in hell he was going to be frog for the rest of his life. It had already been a few hours too long.
She gave a short laugh of disbelief. "Are you kiddin' me? You're asking me to relax? I lost my dream today, and then you turned me into a frog. And now I'm stuck with you in a tree hollow, with alligators planning a frog supper!"
"It is not so bad to be stuck with me. I am very handsome, after all." He returned, and winced as she picked up her stick and threw it at him, with him dodging it neatly at the last second. "I know you do not like me, but I will appreciate it if you would stop trying to kill me."
Tiana glared at him, her arms crossed, and did not answer him. They lapsed into silence again, and Naveen sneaked a look at her out of the corner of his eye. Her features had softened, and she no longer wore that expression of irritation, but instead, she just looked curiously sad.
He cleared his throat, and asked. "You spoke of your dream. What is it?"
"None of your business." She muttered, and turned away, but not before Naveen saw a glimmer of a tear in her eye, and he was shocked.
He had never seen a woman cry before. All the women he was accustomed to, they always gave him their brightest smiles, and they were always laughing, giggling and oh-so-obliging around him. He had never encountered a sad woman before. Well, his mother was really upset at his lack of responsibility, but that was surely different.
"You wouldn't know anything about losing your dream." She added, and he thought her voice was a little choked and less fiery than it was just now, and she let out something that sounded like a small sob.
Naveen was terrified and he prayed that she would not start crying, for he did not have a single clue as to what should be done. He supposed he should say something to comfort her, but she was right. He had never lost his dream because he never really had one to begin with.
"Well. Do not give up." He tried, albeit awkwardly. It might sound generic but that was the best he could come up with.
Tiana sniffed again, reaching for a nearby leaf, and ran it quickly over her eyes.
"I think you can still achieve your dream. You are very very determined, yes?" He added, thinking that should be the right thing to say. He might not be able to charm her because that seemed impossible, but maybe he could make her stop feeling sad.
A small spark of hope lit up within her. He was right, she was very determined. It was not the end yet. Maybe, just maybe, things could still be all right. She had no idea how, as of then, a few hours as a frog and huddling in a tree hollow, but tomorrow would be a new day, and she needed to keep sight of what was important.
"Thank you." She said softly, and on a whim, she tugged off a large leaf near her, and tossed it towards him. He caught it, and grinned briefly at her, and for a moment, she thought he might not be all that bad.
"You best get some sleep. We will need to work hard tomorrow to get ourselves out of this mess."
"We? Work?" Naveen echoed, lying down and spreading the leaf over himself; it made a good blanket. Work was such a foreign concept, and he did not understand it. "Prince Naveen does not work."
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but he does now." Tiana retorted, feeling the old feeling of annoyance creeping up upon her again.
"I will try." He said, turning to face her, leaf over his frog legs as he flashed her a suggestive smile. "You will give me a reward for trying, no?"
Her answer was to throw a pebble at him, and that hit him neatly on the forehead.
-----
1007 words
-----
Note: I hesitated about this one because we all know that Tiana is Iron Spunky Woman that probably does not cry, but taking into consideration that she lost the sugar mill AND was turned into a frog AND Naveen was completely useless, I thought it might be fair for her to wallow in a little self-pity without being completely uncharacteristic. That is my take, anyway. And I like writing in-between sort of scenes.
Am planning for a few more in-between ficlets for the movie scenes, but the next one should be the return of cooking!disaster!Naveen...I think.
Updates will be a little infrequent for the next week because I will be packing up to go back to university a continent away, but I will try my best to write. :)
I am, as ever, extremely appreciative of all the wonderful, lovely reviews. They really warm my soul and makes me all squee-like. Thank you all so so so much.