Anna slept like shit. She slept like shit and was choosing violence today. She didn't know exactly why she'd slept so terribly and maybe that's why she was so pissed about it. She slunk into the big top at about quarter-to. Elsa was about to praise her for being early, but that was before she'd gotten a once-over of the hunched girl.

"Don't take this the wrong way, did you get hit by a car?" She'd been sitting on the stage with her legs dangling off the side of it and had jumped off to meet Anna on the sidelines.

The sleep-deprived gremlin somehow mustered up a half-laugh, half-groan, "Thank you for that. It was actually a semitruck. What should we rehearse first?" Anna set her bag down with a heavy thud.

"I have this idea and you're not allowed to say no to it," Elsa said confidently. Now that piqued Anna's interest. She stood up straight for possibly the first time all day.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I want you to run through the act without me. See if you remember everything."

Anna's posture stiffened, "You... everything?"

Elsa nodded and gestured toward the stage. "Tonight's your big night. I want to make sure you're ready."

Anna throat went dry. She literally couldn't say 'no', even if she tried. And the way Elsa was looking at her with her big bright eyes and encouraging little smile... Anna was a goner. So she hoisted herself onto the stage and looked for the marks they'd taped down yesterday. Even though it had only been a day, some of the taped x's were already scuffed and peeling off from last night's performance. Standing at the very first mark, the one just slightly off-center, she paused hard. How do I start without...

"Elsa..."

"I already told you that you can't say 'no'." And she was firm about it too.

"Can we compromise? Can you come up here too? I don't want to do any of this without you." Anna pouted and whined pathetically.

Elsa hesitated for only a moment. "Fine, but you lead. I'll follow."

Anna was so nervous, and what for? She only had to do three things: one, bring in equipment from their correct sides of the stage and roll them away when they were done; two, not get in Elsa's way; and three, not piss herself onstage. That's literally it, and why it only took a single day to practice this. So she gathered any courageous energy she could and began.

"Theydies and gentlethems! Put your hands together forrrrrr Elsa the Ice Queen!"

"Nice."

"That's not your line,"

"You're right, thank you. For my first trick..." That was Anna's cue and she sped over to the left side of the stage, making sure to follow the arcing path they'd taped out so that she'd stay far enough from Elsa to still have her as the main focus of the act. She rolled in the wheely table and stepped on the pedal to locked it in place when it was right where it needed to be, then stood patiently as Elsa ran through some quick magic.

"What do you want to see me pull out of my hat?"

"What I'd really like to see is myself with some dignity and grace," Anna mumbled. She was loud enough for the performer to hear, though.

"Ooh, there's not enough magic in the world to fix that."

The next verbal cue was the start of the volunteer act, and that meant Anna had to unlock the rolly table's wheels and hide it behind the right side curtains. She crossed the stage along the arc with the table in tow, making sure not to bring too much attention to it — fuck why is this wheel so creaky, I gotta remember to fix it later — and stood just outside of the curtain's edge. Hidden enough to not draw attention, visible enough to not make the magic trick seem rigged.

Directly after the fake-out card cue, Anna pulled at the curtain's rope to reveal the giant ice card... or at least the space where the ice card would be. Since this was only a rehearsal, there wasn't anything except for the shiny new rig she'd a few days ago.

"This is where the crowd would go 'oooooh' and 'aaaahhh', and then praise me for being such a good curtain puller and rig builder." Anna said, twirling the end of the rope.

"Oooh," Elsa said flatly, "aaaah."

"Can it."

The next bit was the snow burial and from her place on the left side of the stage, she easily wheeled in the flat board that would restrain Elsa.

"So," Anna started as she locked the wheels at the bottom, "I can't say I know exactly how to strap you into this."

Elsa approached the board from the other side. Her hand touched the chains in thought, a little tongue peeking out to wet her lips, and her hooded eyes landed directly on Anna's. "I could walk you through it."

A million thoughts whizzed through Anna's stupid gay pea brain, all red hot and lighting her face on fire. "Ahhhhhh..."

"Or we could keep it so that the volunteer does it just before going back to their seats. That way the volunteer can do more than just the cards but you can also keep an eye on them to see if they're going to be big creeps when they tie me up."

Even while Anna's tiny brain sizzled, she thought that didn't sound so bad. And it was definitely doable. And maybe, just maybe, there'd be a time when they wouldn't need the volunteer at all and Anna could do it herself and—

"Y-yep, yeah that sounds pretty safe, eheh." Anna's cheeks burned. She waited for the next cue, but Elsa hadn't said anything yet. She looked like she was thinking, and the gears in her head were turning.

"Do you think you could pick the audience member?"

"What? Wouldn't that kinda negate the whole 'volunteer' thing?"

"Ah, I suppose that's true. I was thinking that you'd have good judgement on who the creeps are," Anna's mind agreed to this, considering I am one, she's right, "but maybe you could walk them to the stage when they're picked, or something. I don't know, you could have more to your part in the act and not have to be so hidden away." Elsa fiddled with her hair.

"More? Elsa, I'm fine. This is enough for me, I promise. Unless I'm not doing things right?"

"You're wonderful, and everything is going splendidly, although... I, uh, wish we hadn't placed the tape so far behind me. It feels a little... lonely."

Now that wasn't something the redhead could've predicted her saying. "I thought you enjoyed doing it alone?"

"Well, I-I, ah..." Elsa sputtered.

Wait one goddamn second. Did I— me, ANNA, dork of the west— make Elsa the 7 foot Ice Goddess stumble over her words? Anna thought, a giant shit-eating grin spreading across her face. Frickin' payback for the chain thing. She bit her bottom lip to keep from saying anything.

Elsa cleared her throat and looked at her watch. "There's not much after the burial act, do you want to keep practicing or do you feel ready?"

Anna, with her newfound confidence and momentary lady-killer swagger, stood straight and nodded intensely.

"I was born ready."

As Anna left the big top, she noticed a figure in her peripheral. It was Olaf, sitting cross-legged in the dirt and smoking a cigarette. It looked so wrong that Anna had to rub at her eyes to fix this obvious hallucination in front of her. The scene didn't change. He took a looooong drag and sighed the smoke out of his comically deep frown. She figured he didn't see her and debated turning around (her lower half already bent that way) and starting on her second job of the day, the one that she's here for in the first place. The one she actually gets paid for. Then Olaf pathetically sighed and smoke billowed out of his deep frown again and Anna decided, fuck it I'm already behind and walked over.

"Room for one more?"

He looked up at her and nodded and patted the space beside him, a small plume of dust rising alongside. Anna plomped down gracelessly.

"Anything on your mind, pal?" She asked gently.

"Not usually" he hummed. Anna laughed in response. "Today though, yeah."

He took another drag and tamped his half-finished cigarette in the dirt as he puffed out dark tarry smoke breath.

"They didn't let me talk much today. Hans especially. He kept saying that since I don't talk in the act, I shouldn't be talking in the rehearsal. I didn't think I talked too much, I just wanted to know what I'm gonna do when Rapunzel isn't part of the Freaks and Geeks."

"When she— wait what?"

"Yeah, and when I asked about it, he didn't answer me. He just told me to stop talking so much because my voice was giving him a headache. He said it was too annoying to think. I guess it makes sense but still... it's mean to say."

"Wow, that's kind of a dick move..." Anna frowned, then shook it off. "We can circle back to that, Olaf, but what did you say about Rapunzel?"

"Oh yeah! She told me and Mr. Oaken that she wouldn't be in Freaks soon because she'll be dancing with Flynn and can't do both."

Anna was astounded. Rapunzel did it! She wanted to go find the girl and hug her, her butt already raising off the ground, but the little funny dude next to her sighed again. She sat back down fully and he continued.

"Without her, we're just a freak and a geek," Anna let out a light chuckle to that. "I don't think I have any other skills that could even be used in a circus. At least, not the way that Hans wants."

"Hans is going to get a talking to."

"Not from me, no sir no how," Olaf said, eyes big as he shook his head. Anna laughed again. "You keep laughing, am I saying something funny?"

"Are you kidding, my guy? You're really funny. And without even knowing you're funny! I think that's a skill worth mentioning. "

Olaf's elbows were glued to his knees, his palms holding his chin. "What kinda act can I use that skill in, though? One where I can be myself and talk even if it's the way I talk, and maybe I can show off the little magic tricks that I learned in a beginner book I didn't finish reading? And something that I can probably also use balloons because I just learned how to blow up balloons without losing my breath too badly, heheh, and one that I be goofy without anyone yelling at me that I'm too much?"

"Olaf, I'll be honest. That sounds like a clown."

The little dude paused and looked into Anna's eyes earnestly. "Is that what a clown is? Everybody usually yells at Flynn for being a clown, but I've never seen him with balloons."

"Well, he's a kind of clown. But you can be a better clown than Flynn could ever hope to be."

"Woah! You really think that, Anna?" His beady black eyes sparkled with hope.

"Of course."

And then Olaf smiled for the first time since Anna sat with him. "Thank you," he said, and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. It was still weird to see, this little white guy fiddling with a lighter. She stood with a grunt and waved goodbye, and the cigarette in the corner of Olaf's mouth bobbed up and down as he said goodbye to her back.

Anna headed back to the family tent speedily, half to grab the design outlines for the next rigs and sets, and half to beat some shit out of Hans for talking to Olaf the way he did. When she peeled back the front flaps, the only other person in the tent was Elsa sitting on one of the couches, seemingly waiting.

"Long time no see?" Anna greeted her. Elsa looked up, saw that it was her, and stood stick straight.

"Hey! Oh. I guess it has been a whole five or six minutes."

Elsa was really cute. She had changed in the short time since Anna saw her last and was wearing a big blue shirt and some barely visible white shorts. Really simple and really effective for Anna's rapidly beating heart.

"Have you seen Hans?" Anna asked, trying to be a normal human being who wasn't ass over tits for her coworker. Coworker? Partner?

Elsa looked around the tent that, other than them, was very obviously empty. "Can't say that I have."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Ah rats. I can find that scrawny sumbitch later."

Elsa made a face, head tilted to the side. Then her eyes lit up and she went back to the couch she'd just been on and picked up a neatly folded pile of fabric. "I forgot to give you this earlier, it's, ah, the outfit you'll be wearing." And then immediately unfurled it. It was a leotard that had lots of shiny gems glinting in the light, and it was designed to look sort of like a two-piece suit even though it was only one continuous piece of fabric. And, you know, it wasn't the ugliest thing on the planet, Anna had definitely worn worse outfits straight from her closet. As Elsa handed it to her, their hands touched.

"I figure you should have an outfit that matches mine, but be careful with it, okay? "

"Okay, I understand. Only one or two knife fights in this suit, right?" Their hands were still in contact, as Elsa hadn't let go. Anna looked up and —gulp— Elsa was staring her down with those big shiny baby blues of hers. At that point, Anna swallowed her tongue and nodded her head quickly, and then Elsa let go of the outfit. Which, yeesh, it was hefty. Probably all the gems and studs.

"I'm trusting you. It's, ah, it was the first outfit I ever had for my solo act," Elsa said, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "It means a lot to me."

Anna didn't know what to say. Elsa really did trust her. This was everything! God, she could cry. Am I going to cry? No, no, just be normal. Noooormal.

"Thank you, Elsa. This is so nice and—" Anna brought the outfit close to her and took a deep breath, "—you mean a lot to me."

Now after she said that, Anna heard how it sounded and tried to think of some sort of damage control (she was doing a lot of that these days). It turned out that she didn't need it. The performer's eyes were lit up, a small earnest smile on her lips. Anna could feel her own stupid smile creeping up. She didn't know if she should look at her eyes or her lips, she just wanted to take in Elsa and the moment completely. Elsa had that glow that let Anna know, she'd said the right thing.

"... So, Hans?" Elsa piped up. Anna's eyebrows raised and she took a few steps backwards to leave the tent.

"Oh, right, I—I!" Anna bumped into something, serves her right for not looking where she's going, "I'd better go, I have to go, I'd better go, uh... bye!" She gave a little wave and then, once she fully exited the tent, used the very same hand to slap herself in the face.