Anna slept like horseshit last night and desired coffee— she figured she earned StarButts. Tall iced Americano, three shots.
The absolutely scrungly girl clutched her coffee with both hands like it was her only life support (which, to be fair, it probably was) and begrudgingly entered the tent at the ripe early morning hour of 10am. Elsa, center stage, gasped audibly enough for the younger to hear and she dutifully watched as Anna descended the aisle, sunglasses proudly forgotten atop her head and a prominent hunch in her back.
"Don't—" Anna started, hand coming up, "don't say anything." She knew that the eyebags would give her away. She didn't know they were visible from 100 feet away.
When she made it to the stage, Elsa was kind enough to leave her initial snarky comments unsaid (how generous of her). She did, however, give the mess of a girl an unnecessary and lingering once-over, which ended with a point toward the younger's feet. Anna followed the point. She was wearing mismatched shoes. The hand that wasn't holding her drink clapped loudly as she slapped her stupid dumb face. Of course. That's what she gets for putting them on in the dark.
"You okay?" Elsa asked gently. It sounded very earnest and Anna gradually peeled her palm from her face.
"I'd love to say that everything is fine but," she looked at Elsa right in those curious baby blues and sighed, "oh, I can't lie to you.
"So, okay, I haven't been sleeping well lately and I didn't know why UNTIL LAST NIGHT and guess what it is?" Anna didn't pause long enough for an answer, "my A/C isn't working! It probably hasn't been for a while, now that I think about it. Most of my night was spent kicking away sticky sheets that were absolutely drenched in a hot sweat that wouldn't quit. I got up to try to fix it and figured out I need a manual (because like, smacking the side of it wasn't working), and I was just sooooooo tired. So I laid back down, no blanket, no pillow, no shirt and my tits free as fuck, and not one but TWO fans. This heat at night is just…"
Anna hadn't really thought about speaking this honestly and realized she'd probably overshared. She ended her story with a meek "… you know?"
"I don't share the struggle," Elsa said.
A beat. Then it clicked for Anna.
"Oh, because of the ice stuff?"
"Well, yeah, I mean…" Elsa hesitated, and Anna feared that she'd overstepped her boundaries. She also, admittedly, felt a little embarrassed at the way she responded the night before (and that might be another factor in the shitty sleep she got last night). Did she act too excited about Elsa revealing her big secret? Probably. She wasn't the greatest at being aloof when it came to her feelings. She'd once googled "How to play it cool in front of your crush" but wikihow wasn't any help whatsoever. It told her that the first step was staying calm. Staying calm? Heck no. Anna's entire diet was made up of caffeine and McDonalds, she was made of jitters. Especially around Elsa, whose secret was being entrusted unto awkward little Anna. She doesn't want to be awkward about knowing The Secret, she wanted to prove that she's not going to be awkward about knowing The Secret, so she tried to do the one thing she does best: talk too much.
"I mean, summer would be much more bearable if I had ice powers myself. I don't hate summer of course, I'm just not too fond of the fact that it makes me sweat like I'm being followed by my own personal raincloud and makes me look damp ALWAYS. And also my bedsheets get damp. Wait— N-NOT like I pee in bed, I don't- heh, I don't wet the bed, I don't have bad bed etiquette. Well, I suppose I do, but we can chalk that up to the uh, sweat. Usually I'm fine IF MY GODDAMN AC WAS WORKING. So, you know, you probably don't have to deal with any of that because you're like, your own AC unit. Like the perpetual perfect cold bedroom temp, yeah. I bet it would nice to sleep next to you," Anna said.
Suddenly more alert than the stupid drink in her tightened grip could ever get her, she heard the screech of her brain coming to a stop. The sweat that had been accumulating on the back of her neck went cold. Did she think that last part? Or did she say it? She's not dumb enough to say that out loud, right?
A quickened look at Elsa showed a small tug at the corners of her lips in amusement, pink tinge noticeable on her cheeks and Anna has to remind herself that yes, she absolutely was dumb enough to say that out loud.
Uh. Uhh!
"B-because of all the— the—" her arms flopped around desperately trying to find any words in the air, "you're all cold!" I'm definitely not thinking of sleeping next to you, not in a bed, not with even less garments on and—
"Or because my AC actually works."
"You have AC in your tent?"
"Do you think I live in my makeup tent?"
Anna was confused because, yes, she sure did think Elsa lived out of her tent. That was just her makeup tent? Then where does she-
"I have a camper, it's down a ways," Elsa seemed to have read her mind. Then she added, "maybe you could see it sometime."
"Maybe you'll have to invite me, then," Anna quipped with a raised eyebrow. Elsa laughed. That kind of laugh that makes Anna think about recording and saving as a ringtone on her phone, the kind of laugh lent Anna a sprinkle of serotonin.
"Maybe I will."
And with that, the weight was lifted off of her shoulders. They were still, pun intended, cool. Their banter still felt natural, maybe even freer than usual. Like they were really, truly, actually friends. The heat in her cheeks and the butterflies in her stomach finally settled down.
"Anyway! What do we have planned to practice today?"
"Oh, I thought you were…"
Anna raised a single eyebrow in confusion, to which Elsa nodded her head toward a wooden set, half-painted silver. It was the one she made special for a routine. Not one of theirs, but for—
"Flynn and Rapunzel's debut performance is tonight," Anna remembered aloud. The performance was in only a few hours and…. The set wasn't finished. She gulped hard.
Perhaps she'd been just a tad distracted this week.
"I figured you'd want to work on that instead of rehearse." Elsa had already begun loading up her wheely table."I definitely understand, I promise. Besides, We don't need to rehearse all the time. we're in tiptop shape."
Well, Anna thought, you're the one overshooting your marks and getting close to me buuuuuutttt….
"Alright then, I'll be aaaaalllllllllll the way over here if you need me." Please need me please need me please need me.
But Elsa continued with her own rehearsal. She moved tape marks and played around with icy magic which, Anna knew, was real. And so with that, Anna spent the rest of the afternoon with her pal Old Smelly Bucket O'Paint, isolated in paint fume hell.