Day 19: In Which Her Emotions Are All Over The Place

Elsa brought her legs to her chest, letting out a tired sigh as she rested her chin on her knees. She had just ended a video call with Anna and Punzie, and she felt drained.

The conversation had started casually, the three of them simply catching up on trivial daily-life matters when, out of nowhere, things spiraled downward. Even when she looked back, Elsa couldn't quite tell how it had happened. One moment, they were mocking Rapunzel's recently acquired love for sourdough, next thing she knew, the girls were crumbling down, the first quavering voice causing a domino effect and surfacing every pang of vulnerability and despair each of them had kept within up to that point.

And as much as Elsa liked to consider herself the strong one, there was not much she could do at that moment to console the other two. The rationality of her words sounded shallow even to her own ears, and she broke down, crying alongside her friends.

The night was cold, and she felt herself shivering, but she wasn't ready to go back inside just yet. Out there on the balcony, she could see glimpses of life through the nearby windows, could hear snippets of music, and tv shows, and talking that mingled together in a soothing track void of meaning. She needed that white noise to keep herself grounded, some sort of normalcy indicator that connected her to the rest of the world, a streak of hope to keep herself sane... Even if it was a borderline stalker one.

"What are you doing in the dark?"

Her turmoil was such that she hadn't even noticed Jack's arrival, much less that he had been observing her for only God knows how long. Elsa blinked, her mind unable to assimilate her neighbor's words right away.

She frowned at the lightbulb above her head. she must have forgotten to turn it on. "Oh… I didn't even notice."

One of his eyebrows shot upwards. "Are you okay?"

"I—" She let out an exasperated laugh. Every bit of intention to play it cool going down the drain. "I don't think I am."

Jack continued to look at her, lips pressing together and forehead creasing with concern.

"I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by all this," she admitted, encompassing the world around them with a wide arm gesture. Then, she took a deep breath and shook her head to ease her thoughts. Trying to sound lighthearted, she said, "Sorry for being such a downer."

"Don't apologize." He groaned, hands running through his hair and poofing it up even more than the usual mess. He paced a couple of steps back and forth. "You have no idea how I wish I could parkour over to your side right now."

Elsa's chest tightened, breath caught in her throat, and she attempted a weak smile. "I didn't know you parkoured."

"I don't." He collapsed against the railing and looked at her through his tangled arms. "Maybe I should learn first, huh?"

Elsa shrugged. "Well, now's the perfect time to acquire a new skill."

"Yeah, you remember how the knitting session went, don't you?"

"Right…"

Elsa got on her feet so she could shorten the distance separating them. Arms against the railing, she locked eyes with him, and he smirked back at her with a hint of curiosity.

"I hope your parkouring works out better than your poor scarf," she said, making him laugh.

"Considering that we have nine floors of air between our balconies and the ground, yeah, so do I."