It was a warm summer day, and everyone in Arendelle had gathered for a fair. General Mattias looked around, smiling. He had missed this sort of thing. There were vendors everywhere selling food and drinks, and various games for prizes of dubious quality. Queen Anna had asked him to take charge of judging some sporting events later, but for now, he was free to walk around, simply taking everything in.
"Hey, Mattias!" Olaf called out.
The General's shoulders tensed up a bit. Olaf was delightful, of course, but he was never sure what he would want to say to him, and the uncertainty could be a little bit stressful.
"Yes, Olaf?" he asked, maintaining as calm a facade as he could manage.
"Have you seen Anna?"
"She's at the shelter by the harbor judging the desserts right now," he replied, thankful for a simple question. Then Mattias blinked, realizing that it wasn't the sunlight playing tricks on his eyes. "Olaf, are you pink?"
"Yeah!" Olaf replied, grinning. "I'm a snowcone!"
"But… how?"
"Have you tried the lemonade?" Olaf asked. "It's pink!"
"No, I haven't tried it." He had, in fact, seen the stand where it was being sold, but he didn't trust the drink.
"You should! Come on, I'll show you!"
Olaf grabbed Mattias's hand, and Mattias went along despite his reservations.
They reached the other side of the market square, and Olaf paused to check which vendor was selling the pink lemonade. Mattias sheepishly waved at Halima, who was selling hot sandwiches outside Hudson's Hearth. He wanted to get one later–she wouldn't let him pay, though.
"Oh, here it is!" Olaf exclaimed, running to the stand with a large pitcher of pink liquid and a stack of glasses to the side.
"Hello, General," the man selling the lemonade said. "Do you want some lemonade? First one's free!"
"I suppose I'll try one," he said. He was still skeptical about the color, though. He could think of some awful things that would turn a drink that color, as much as he was sure they wouldn't be selling anything like that here. "But tell me, how did you get it to be pink?"
"Oh, that? There's also a bit of lingonberry juice in there. Not that much, otherwise it would be bright red."
Mattias gave a laugh. "Fine, I'll take a glass!"
He took a sip, and it was very sweet. He could barely taste the lemon juice, let alone the lingonberries.
Olaf pushed in front of him. "Can I see the lingonberries?"