Anna had been sitting in the parking lot for about an hour because she'd arrived mega early and was trying to figure out the best time to come in that wouldn't make her seem too eager. She watched her phone's clock as it rolled from 8:59 to 9:00 and figured that was probably good enough. She was just so excited to see Elsa. And sure, everyone else and stuff, of course. Little poofs of dirt followed her as she skipped across the fairgrounds and when she threw the flaps of the side entrance aside, she saw Elsa as the sole occupant, onstage messing with her props. Their props, Anna reminded herself, because they're somehow an actual team and she didn't need to fantasize about working near Elsa anymore.
"Have you thought more about our new routine?" Anna shouted from the entryway, then descended the middle aisle of the pit.
Elsa's mirthful laugh echoed throughout the tent. She waited until Anna clambered up the side of the stage (instead of using the very convenient nearby steps) before she spoke.
"I can't believe after one single performance, you're cocky enough to change everything up," Elsa set the item in her hands down onto the wheely table and now that Anna was closer, she could see it was the ice bag. A small smile came to her lips as she recalled the day the magician had shown her that trick.
"Well," Anna said sheepishly and threw her work bag aside, "I figured we could add stuff, not get rid of anything. Just enough to replace the time that will be lost from the combined performance that Rapunzel and Flynn are doing."
Elsa paused in sorting through the various props. "I still think that's kind of weird," she said. Anna very suddenly remembered that Elsa and Flynn were exes and her heart fell into her butt at the thought. What if Elsa was... jealous?
It was a mistake to think that. Anna's little monkey brain then went rapid-fire, spewing thoughts along the lines of how maybe she still had feelings for him and varying degrees of disgusting and ew. She just couldn't help herself and before she could spin out of control, she decided to just ask.
"Ah, what's so weird about it to you?" Good job, monkey.
"That Hans approved a permanent change like that. He doesn't allow it very often, he hardly likes changing even minute things. He only approved of you and me because of Kristoff's arm, and even that was quite a conversation." Elsa didn't mention anything about the two acrobats being together specifically and that was a win for Anna.
"Hans, ah, seems like a hardass." Anna said, focusing the conversation elsewhere. Though she did make sure to mentally note that Elsa had 'quite the conversation' on her behalf. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that.
"Yes, he definitely can be, Especially since the Northuldrans are setting up next week for that occasional meetup I mentioned. He always wants us to be in really good shape for their arrival and acts a bit more uptight than usual."
"Oh yeah! I can't wait for that!" Anna remembered talking about them and how they have ANIMALS that she could PET PROBABLY. "Should I build anything for when they get here? Animal pen?"
"I believe they have their own builder with them."
"Okay, what about us?" Anna asked.
Elsa looked up and met her eyes. "We don't need an animal pen, unless it's for you."
Anna felt her face heat up and, with a fat HARRUMPH and crossed her arms. "Not what I meant, stinker. Do we need anything built? Have you got any magic tricks stashed away, anything you've wanted to do that you haven't yet?"
"Well, that opens the gates a little."
"Oh?"
They spent the next few minutes going over the props on the table, discussing a rather large illusion that Anna in no way understood but wanted to help with regardless, and it meant she'd have to spend quite a bit of time developing the structures for. They set that idea on the backburner and also devised a much smaller addition to go with the already existing performance, using the endless ice bag to present it. Anna was very insistent on using the endless bag in this context because, pun intended, it's so cool come onnnn. Elsa rolled her eyes, yet agreed. She showed Anna a few other random props that she'd had lying around, including a handful of handkerchiefs and a bit of rope.
"... Adding this right after the reveal will make the most sense to the audience but if we do that, you'll have to come in from the left. Otherwise we'd have to spin around each other."
"That could be fun," Anna smiled toothily.
"To twirl around each other? And not be clumsy about it?" Elsa said pointedly at her assistant.
"Oh you're saying that because you're definitely clumsier than me."
"Than IIIII," Elsa remarked with a big, fat emphasis on the I.
"IIIIII'm gonna wipe that stupid grin off your face," Anna retorted.
"And how do you plan on doing that, exactly?" Elsa seemed half coy, half intrigued. Oof. Anna felt her stomach heat up. Before she could chicken out, she extended her hand out to the other girl.
"I'll show you just how clumsy I ain't."
They locked eyes and Elsa took Anna's hand. Challenge... accepted.
Anna's clammy hands held Elsa's cool ones, she brought her closer and after a beat, they proceeded to do the worst ballroom dancing together. Awful because one, there was no music playing so their beat was very off; two, Anna had never really danced before; and three, Elsa hadn't either.
"Really?"
"Really."
Anna couldn't imagine why, Elsa seemed very good at dancing. Though she couldn't say that out loud, lest Elsa win... whatever this was. So she only said "that sounds like something a clumsy person would say," and continued swaying back and forth rhythmlessly. The other girl laughed and Anna felt warmth spike throughout her body. They were at arms length from each other and she found herself wondering if they could get closer. She tested the waters by bringing their arms up high and twirled the other girl in place, then extending her out as far as their arms would go before spinning her right back in. Their bodies collided clumsily and they both laughed, Anna a little more than flushed. She chanced a look at Elsa to find her rosy-cheeked and sporting a wide grin, and also sneaking peeks at Anna.
Anna had to look away; it was too much, being slathered in attention and loving it. She was a goner. She bowed deeply and dramatically and thanked Elsa for the dance.
"My pleasure."
"I'm big sweaty, I should exercise more. Hey, you workout in the mornings..." every morning, she left out, "...maybe I can join you some day?" Anna rubbed at the back of her slick, sweaty neck, and wondered if witnessing Elsa work out would actually motivate her to do the same or if it would turn her into a sweatier pile of mush.
"No," Elsa said firmly. Anna was taken aback. The flirty air that was present not ten seconds ago disappeared abruptly. Her eyebrows came together in confusion.
"Well, why not? I mean I can wake up early for it, if that's the problem."
"It's just not a good idea. It's..."
Elsa almost continued, but abandoned her trail of thought and sighed, signaling to Anna that that was the end of the conversation. Phone in hand, she looked at the time. "Practice with the others will start soon. We can discuss the semantics of the act later."
Anna was frustrated and a little salty. Elsa was opening up, she could tell! But in the last minute she got short and shut Anna out. She didn't even know what she did! So she replied very very brief, "sure." and went to the tool shed.
The performance went off without a hitch; you wouldn't have been able to tell that they weren't at 100%. Elsa was less stiff than she was for the previous night's act, now used to her assistant's presence, and almost even seemed to gravitate toward her. Anna thought that she herself was off the mark and double checked, only to find that she was exactly where she needed to be and that Elsa was the one off her mark. She was getting closer than they'd rehearsed.
Not that Anna was complaining. Their choreography seemed to be written by their chemistry.
The performance only included a small addition to the endless bag trick— they weren't quite prepared to debut a complete new trick. The slight change was well met from not only the audience but the other performers too. During the show Anna had noticed a few shortcomings in some riggings and mentally noted them. Flynn's rigs especially, as Rapunzel was to be a part of his performances and therefore would add more weight/stress to the equipment. Flynn's fat ass needed to lay off the breakfast of concrete he'd apparently been eating daily.
After the show, Anna was typing up these problems into her ever-increasing field notes on her phone. Elsa walked up right behind her and looked over her shoulder to watch as she furiously typed.
"So, second performance. How do you feel?"
Less nervous farts for sure. Anna spun around to address Elsa and got to see just how close they were standing together. "Ah, good. Gotta admit I was a little spacey because of the stuff I'll have to fix within the week." It was a lot of stuff.
Some of the carnies had stuck around to clean up a bit, but none had stayed in the Big Top long after the show ended. The girls were the only ones left. This seemed to happen fairly often, Anna noted, not complaining even in the slightest. Elsa spoke considerably louder than she would with other people present and that made the short gay one's heart drunk and hopeful.
"The very small addition went well tonight. We could probably add even more than what we were thinking. This was a good test run," Elsa hummed. They hadn't moved, Anna noted, so they were close enough to enter Very Friendly bubble territory. Anna smiled and pocketed her phone. Notes can wait for later.
"You think of any other tricks to add, madam magician? We could probably do some of the more classical magic tricks."
"Like what, madam assistant?" Wooow, the throaty way Elsa said that was so... It covered Anna's arms in goosebumps. Anna needed to respond, the silence was bordering an uncomfortable level, but her mind was completely wiped. Elsa's voice was that light from the Men in Black movies.
"Liiiiiiiiiiiike," Anna drew out the word long enough to search her emptied brain for any illusion ever performed in the last hundred years, "how about a ring of fire —except, well, no, I suppose it would have to be ice, 'cause that's your schtick and that kind of takes away from the danger factor... What about sawing a lady in half!" Anna's eyes lit up and she was immediately hooked on the idea. She snapped her fingers, "yeah! That's it, sawing a lady in half."
"Oh, Anna, the trick should be something we could actually learn. Something feasible." Elsa laughed, dismissing it all too easily.
The rusted gears in Anna's head were spinning. "It sounds feasible enough to me. I'm a lady! I got a saw! Or, I know where I can get my grubby hands on one."
"The magic won't work like that."
"The heck you mean? I've seen it happen before! Not like snuff films or anything like that— even though it's so easy to stumble upon that kinda stuff, I mean, that 50/50 subreddit? Yeesh. Anyway, it's just a magic trick, all you have to do is learn it!"
"Anna, no, I-"
"We can learn it together!"
"It doesn't work that way—"
"You've just gotta saw me in half and then unsaw me, easy peasy! I'll go grab it."
Yeah, Anna wasn't listening. It was probably a mix of her stubbornness and the discouraging moment they'd had earlier that fueled her, and she began toward the tool shed against Elsa's protests.
"Anna."
"—I know it's either in the tool shed or really really close to the tool shed—"
"No, Anna, wait—"
"—'cause I was too lazy to put it away."
She neared the tool shed, almost reached in when the door slammed shut in front of her. It felt like it came from a powerful wind. Ice shards had framed the door, embedded themselves into the wood, and were outlined with frost. The frost continued down into a solid trail along the floor, and Anna's eyes followed the trail across the floor and right up to its creator's feet. Elsa was frozen in place, her hands extended in front of her and eyes squeezed shut. Not a single sound in the Big Top, until Anna finally breathed.
"…. Elsa?"