Andy had never eaten so fast in his life. He didn't usually take the importance of mastication lightly, but when you were in a pinch, drastic measures were required.

It all started when Jack decided to order an industrial-size helium tank from a shady-looking website with product descriptions that had probably been written with Google Translator. They'd be willing to turn a blind eye on the fifty-three days shipment delay, had said delay not screwed their whole schedule over. The tank had arrived, sure, and it didn't seem to be malfunctioning, thank God, but calendars had overlapped, and they had to act before someone decided to pay the Robotics Club a quick inspection and noticed an unspecified delivery in the records.

The time crunch meant that they would have to rush with the preparations. Which brought Andy and his friends to wolfing down lunch like they had been starved in a basement for days to no end. Quite the spectacle they gave, that hoard of unrefined animals. But that was beside the point. They could concern themselves with appearances once Operation Pop-Up was over…

Andy leaned back, pressing his fingers to his eyelids. Eating so fast, flying three sets of stairs, then blowing up thirty-something balloons was starting to mess with his blood pressure. He took lungfuls of air as he waited for the buzzing in his ears to diminish.

"You okay there, Davis?" Wilbur asked.

Andy nodded with a groan. "Just dizzy."

Wilbur hummed before getting back to work, and it took Andy another moment to stabilize his vision.

"I feel like I'm eating chalk," he heard Hiccup whining. The auburn-haired guy smacked his lips a couple of times as he attempted to produce some saliva.

"Aw, poor baby, " Wilbur cooed with a pout. "How's Mr. Sexy Space Pirate gonna handle his making out sessions now?"

Andy snorted as Hiccup's face turned a furious shade of red.

"When did that become my codename?" Hiccup grumbled, then crossed his arms and glared at Wilbur. "You're just jealous because you managed to piss off the only girl who can put up with you."

The smirk on Wilbur's face vanished, and he avoided eye contact with the others, busying himself with another balloon.

Andy raised an eyebrow at that, saving Wilbur's fidgety reaction on a cabinet in his mind for posterior analysis. From what Violet told everyone, she and Wilbur had never been that serious. And even though Andy had his suspicions he had never been given much details about their relationship, much less their sudden breakup.

"Too soon?" Andy guessed.

Wilbur shrugged, but if the heavy puffs he blew to fill the balloon were of any indication, his distress seemed to grow at the turn their conversation had taken.

"You never really told us what happened between you guys."

Wilbur sighed, messing his hair with a hand. "What's there to tell, Hics? I freaked out, which made her freak out in return… And we broke up… kinda…"

"How does one 'kinda' break up with someone?" Hiccup asked with a snort.

"Things got weird, and we had a fight," Wilbur grumbled. "And before we could fix anything, my folks called me home…"

Andy stared at the other guy. "So you just left?"

Wilbur was silent.

"Did you even talk to her?"

More silence.

"Wow." Andy shook his head in disbelief. "Dick move right there, William."

"I know."

"Violet acts way tougher than she really is. How could you—"

"I know, okay?" Wilbur snapped, slamming his palms on the desk.

Hiccup flinched, looking between the other two guys with apprehension. "What about the night of the play—the Midsummer Night's Dream night… you kissed her."

"That was supposed to be a greeting."

Andy let out a snort. "And I'm the Easter bunny."

"Anyway!" Hiccup waved eagerly to stop a disagreement from rising up. "You're here now. Doesn't it mean you've made up your mind and are trying to win her back?"

"If Violet was here, she would bite your head off telling you that she is not a prize to be won, sir," Wilbur scoffed, rolling his shoulders back.

"Wilbs, come on."

Wilbur let out an exasperated sigh. "She hates me."

Hiccup shook his head. "She doesn't hate you."

"She can't stand being in the same room as me. Why else wouldn't she be here helping us?"

Andy saw the struggle in Wilbur's eyes, heard it in the other guy's voice, sensed it in the wavering of his movements. Andy's tone shifted to an empathetic one as he explained, "Jack put her in charge of keeping Elsa and Astrid away from this room."

Wilbur frowned with skepticism. "He did? I think I missed that memo."

"So…" Hiccup gave a sheepish smile as he looked at both of the others. "Question remains: Do you still like her?"

Wilbur's eyes narrowed slightly. "She moved on."

"That's not an answer," Andy calmly stated.

"It doesn't matter, Andrew."

"Not an answer either, William."

"I…" Wilbur looked down at his lap, not saying anything for a while. He kept flexing and relaxing his fists until he breathed in and continued, "I wasn't the best boyfriend back then. I was a scared dweeb. Made her feel unappreciated and out of place." He laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. "Violet doesn't deserve to go through that shit again. And now that she's part of the team, we can be friends. Probably. That's good enough for me."

Andy patted the other guy on the shoulder, hoping that his smile would convey his solidarity. Wilbur smiled back, but his smile was robotic and shallow. The kind of polite smile one used when they didn't want others to read their real feelings.

Hiccup laced his fingers at the back of his head and hummed pensively. "You have wisened up."

"That's… not a thing," Wilbur replied with a scowl. "But thanks for the compliment?"

At that moment, the Student Council room's doors burst open, and one silver-haired idiot, followed by a bubbly strawberry-blonde mademoiselle, sauntered inside, their combined excitement easily subduing the previous tension.

Jack held a cardboard box with one hand while the other kept the door open for Anna to enter. He frowned as he watched the concerned expressions of the other boys.

"What's wrong?" the silverhead asked.

Wilbur shrugged, switching to his usual boisterous persona. "Just wondering where the fuck you had run off to, oh, prodigal leader."

"Well, if you have time to chit-chat, you may as well head down to the Robotics room, gentlemen. Hiro and Merida could probably use the help of a couple of strong, endowed hunks with the helium tank."

Andy snorted. "Why did you not offer your services then, stud?"

Anna scoffed, putting her box on the table. "Jack didn't want to risk breaking his nails."

Jack pointed a finger in the girl's direction. "You are so asking for it, princess..."

Wilbur got on his feet and started stretching his limbs. "Come on, strong, virile men. Time to put your big muscles to work."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You are so weird."

Jack scowled, crossing his arms. "What kind of thirst party was going on in here and why was I not invited?"

Wilbur shrugged. "Hey, you choose to stay with the pretty ladies, you miss the sausage fest confessionary."

Hiccup groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He began to mumble under his breath about testosterone-driven assholes thriving amidst awkwardness as he dragged his feet toward the door.

Jack's eyes narrowed as he looked from one guy to the other. "Dude. What the hell were you fuckers talking about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Frosty?"

Andy shook his head as he pushed the other guy out of the room. "Let's just get to work, you bunch of idiots."

Violet had demanded that Astrid and Elsa accompanied her afternoon snack, saying that she had been quarantined for far too long and was in serious need of friends time. And despite their previous arrangements, the two blondes felt sorry enough to comply with Violet's request. Their productive afternoon of strong coffee and paperwork would just have to wait a bit.

The three girls sat together at an outdoor table, and Elsa noticed that Violet kept texting someone under the table.

"Were we not supposed to be having friends time, Vi? How is that gonna happen when you're fixated on whatever is happening on your phone?" Elsa teased, taking a sip of her drink.

Violet jumped and hurried to put her phone on the table with its screen down. "You're right. Sorry."

"You're the one who wanted to do this, moron," Astrid snarled.

"I'm sorry!" Violet cried. She pointed at her phone. "Look. I stopped."

Violet took a cracker from the shared package and shoved it inside her mouth. "By the way, where's Davis?" she asked, crumbs flying off her mouth. "I was kinda hoping for all three hellhound heads to answer to my humble request."

Elsa shook her head, scrunching her nose in disapproval. "Andy is doing inspections today."

"Sounds important."

"It is," Elsa agreed. "Every once in a while we go around making sure that there's nothing wrong with club records."

Violet's phone buzzed, and the girl seemed tempted to check it. "...Like what?"

Astrid listed, "Activity logs, budget reports, equipment maintenance, supplies lists... that sort of thing."

"And he checks everything alone?"

Elsa sighed. "Students tend to not be honest whenever they talk to Astrid or me. They think we'll shut their clubs down if anything is not to our liking, and they try to hide issues from us."

"Yeah, I can see that happening," Violet said with a chuckle.

Astrid snorted. "People are less likely to pee their pants when it's just Andy, so we give him an absence slip and let him do things on his own."

"He does the PR work and Astrid and I fill in the reports for North later," Elsa added.

Violet's phone vibrated again, but she ignored it. Instead, she sighed, placing a hand over her heart. "Ah, the efficiency of the perfectly-oiled SC machine at its best."

"You're awfully interested in our work today," Elsa mused, glancing at the brunette with curiosity.

Violet's default behavior where Student Council duties were concerned was to tune the bureaucratic noise out and nap until dinner time. The girl shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "The Student Council mantle weighs heavily on my best friends' lives. The least I can do is try to understand what kind of boring matters consumes practically all of your time."

Astrid stared at the brunette, and her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "How long does cough syrup high last again? I thought you were cut off."

"Ha, ha." Violet rolled her eyes.

The phone on the table went off buzzing, and Astrid snapped, glaring at the device, "Who the fuck keeps messaging you?"

"Uh…" Violet picked her phone and scrolled through her notifications, making sure to keep the device close to herself. "I really mean it: the amount of work you have is absurd, and you three manage everything fabulously well..."

Elsa chuckled. "That's very kind of you, Violet. Thank you—"

Whatever message Violet had received seemed to please her. Her eyes lit up, and Violet smiled as she cut Elsa off, "And I have no right to hold you lovely ladies from the important work you do on behalf of this great institution. So off you go." Violet got on her feet and motioned for the others to do so as well.

"What happened to reconnecting with your friends after your so-traumatizing deathbed experience?" Astrid grumbled as Violet pulled her by the arm.

"We've reconnected plenty. See?" Violet grabbed the empty containers from the table and wiggled them in her hands. "We ate baby carrots and drank kombucha—"

"Violet, what is wrong with you?" Elsa asked, her friend's sudden eagerness making her grow wary.

"Nothing is wrong, I just remembered that I have two weeks of homework waiting for me. Now chop, chop. Those reports aren't gonna write themselves!"

Violet guided the other girls inside and waved as they headed upstairs to their office. Elsa glanced back from over her shoulder once, and the brunette was still there, watching them like a proud parent on their child's first day of school.

"... That was weird, right?" Astrid asked as soon as Violet was out of their sights.

"A little bit," Elsa agreed with pursed her lips.

Nearing the Student Council's room, Elsa soon noticed an oddity in the scene. "Are my eyes playing tricks on me or there's something wrong with our door?"

"No, I see it too."

As they got closer, they could see that yellow and black warning tape had been layered in all directions across their door. An envelope with the words 'Your Majesty' scribbled over it was neatly placed in the center of the frame, its whiteness contrasting against all the striped tape.

"The fuck is that?" Astrid grumbled.

Elsa reached for the envelope. In it, She found a small note with a safety pin attached to the bottom of the paper.

Thought you might need this

-J

Elsa read the message out loud as Astrid ripped through layers of cheap plastic.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Astrid huffed as she balled strips of tape in her hands.

"Only one way to find out..."

Elsa's hand rested on the doorknob as she mentally readied herself. Exchanging a final glance with Astrid, she pushed the door slowly. It opened a small crack, and a red balloon soon came swirling out. Clenching her teeth, Elsa slid the door open the rest of the way, and she gasped. Balloons covered everywhere. A multi-colored ocean of latex spread through the entire floor, fans had been placed in all four corners, creating the illusion of a disordered aerial spectacle. Several balloons had been connected through sparkly strips of party streamers, and when hit by light, splotches of rainbows were reflected on the walls, the ceiling, the furniture...

Their office had been turned into the inside of a birthday clown's briefcase. And if it wasn't for the fact that they had just been pranked, she'd find that scene the tiniest bit amusing.

Astrid stormed inside, kicking balloons out of her way and creating a rippling effect that stirred the entire room. One of the balloons floated in front of her face, and she grabbed it. Scowling, Astrid dug her nails in the rubbery surface until it popped.

"I swear to God, I'm gonna kill them."

They had spotted Elsa through the library's window, and Jack had stated that there was no better moment than the present to consult with her about their next plan. Hiccup had tried to talk him out of it—it's too soon, Jack, she's gonna eat us alive—, but when had Hiccup ever managed to bend Jack to his biddings? Jack was resolute, and there was nothing Hiccup could say to make the silverhead change his mind. So, into the library, they went.

Elsa sat at her desk, a pile of books open in front of her, her attention switching from one book to the other as she quickly scribbled on her notebook.

"Hey, Els," Hiccup called as he and Jack stopped in front of her desk. "Mind if we sit—"

He had barely asked the question and the silverhead was already pulling out a chair for himself. Elsa's eyes narrowed as she watched them.

"Not at all," she mumbled before going back to writing down notes in her fine and precise calligraphy.

The boys sat across from her, exchanging glances in silence. They started a wordless argument with a lot of eyebrow action and brisk shoulder movements, each trying to push to the other the task of approaching their current topic of interest. Their mental bantering was probably not as discreet as they imagined, seeing as Elsa let out a very displeased sigh and put her pencil down.

"Okay," she said, folding her hands all business-like and raising her eyes to glare at them. "Spill it."

Jack scowled. "What kind of unmannered barbarians do you take us for, Your Majesty? Hiccup and I are more than capable of engaging in polite conversation, mind you."

Elsa arched an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?"

"Of course." Jack leaned back on his chair. "So? How have you been, Elsa? Experienced any unordinary events lately?"

"Is that what you're calling what you did?" she scoffed.

"What could you possibly mean?" Jack wondered with a wink.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe the eight hundred and something balloons you had stashed in the Student Council room the other day."

The silverhead chuckled. "What, you counted them?"

The girl shook her head. "Thank you for your little note, by the way. That was quite thoughtful of you."

"You know I spare no efforts for you, beautiful."

Hiccup snorted, and as two sets of blue eyes turned to stare at him, he gave a dismissive wave and slumped down, trying to blend in with the chair.

Elsa turned to face the silverhead. "You are an idiot, Frost."

Looking pleased with himself, Jack laced his fingers behind his head, leaned back on his seat and winked. "Why, thank you, Your Majesty."

Elsa crossed her arms, and after a moment of silent scrutinizing, she asked, "Would you mind getting to the point and telling me what exactly you want?"

Hiccup and Jack glanced at each other, and the silverhead nodded once.

"We'd like to ask you for a favor," Hiccup said.

Elsa looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Bold of you to come to me after such a heartwarming gift."

"Yeah," Hiccup scoffed. "We had some issues with the timetable."

Jack sat up. "So pretend that you had fun with it, Elsa, and let's move on."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea what a nightmare it was to get rid of all those balloons?"

Jack shrugged. "'Course we know. We had first row seats to you ladies' wrestling match."

The boys shared a triumphant fist bump, and Elsa rolled her eyes again.

"So anyway," he said with a clear of his throat. "We kinda need your help, Elsa."

Elsa hummed but said nothing more, so Hiccup continued, "We would like to make a haunted maze, the Welcome to Your Nightmares Brought To Life, a Tour Through The Perturbed Mind Of One Jackson Overland Frost—"

"That's not the name we're using—"

"—And we would like the whole school to join the fun."

Elsa bit her lip as she seemed to mull over the proposition. "I probably know the answer to this already, but who's overseeing your little attraction?"

"What, you think we can't handle it on our own?" Jack asked.

"How big of a structure did you have in mind?"

"The world is our oyster and the whole campus shall be our chessboard."

Her eyes narrowed. "When?"

"Night of the 31st."

Elsa laughed, shaking her head. "And you expect me to allow that?"

Jack shrugged. "I fail to see why you wouldn't."

The blonde leaned forward on her arms. "Let's analyze the facts, shall we, Frost? Andy could have found a loophole for you to weasel in. You and your friends could've cooked some sort of scheme again if the only thing you needed was the school's stamp of approval. Better yet, you could've taken a clandestine route not to bother with any of the paperwork. But no. You came to me, and you came to me for a reason. Now, riddle me this: what do you need my help with?"

Jack groaned. "You're so full of it, Aren—Elsa." He turned to the other guy. "Let's get out of here, Third—"

"Sit your ass back down, Frost," Hiccup snarled as Jack attempted to get up.

Begrudgingly, the silver-haired boy sat back down, crossing his arms like a small child and glaring at the girl from across the table.

Hiccup made a point of throwing a reprimanding glare in the silverhead's direction before saying, "We know what kind of danger our plan entails—"

"Do you, Hiccup?"

Jack threw his arms in the air. "Jesus Fucking Christ, Your Majesty. We're not complete morons here! Yes, we know the chances of some kid tripping down the stairs are higher when it's dark and you can't see where you're walking. Yes, we know scaring the shit out of their poor souls, though tempting, can also be unpredictable, and things can get out of control. Yes, we know that people can end up breaking stuff, or themselves, or each other, or whatever. And I'm losing my line of thought, but you get my point."

Elsa closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "If you're aware of the risks, why do you still want to go on with it? There's already a Halloween party being organized. Shouldn't that be enough entertainment for one night?"

"Oh, sure. The school-organized event with chaperones and curfews. Where's the fun in that?"

"You are a complete. Incorrigible. Idiot," Elsa grumbled.

The silverhead snorted. "You know, for someone with such a vast repertoire of four-syllabic words, you're really set on calling me that."

Hiccup raised a hand. "Allow me to say this for you, Elsa." He turned in Jack's direction. "Jack, be a good boy and shut the fuck up." Then, he looked back at her. "What he means is that we know it's dangerous, and we were hoping we could work together on some sort of contingency plan?"

Elsa's face started to go red, and maybe she had stopped breathing. She seemed about to scream, stab one of the boys' necks with her pencil, or smash her head against the window. Could be all of the above in no specific order.

"I am not complying with your ridiculous quest," the girl said. "But there's a form you can fill. Andy knows which one. I'll take a look at it before it goes to the headmaster's desk. See if your proposal is at least tangentially reasonable."

Jack looked at her, and one of his eyebrows arched upward. "You would do that?"

Elsa shrugged. "I'll just read it. I'm not promising anything more."

"Honestly, that's more than we were hoping for," Hiccup said with a smile. "Thanks a lot, Elsa. You rock."

"Don't thank me. I'm not moving a muscle on your behalf."

"Pretend we're not friends all you want, Your Majesty." Jack leaned over the desk and threw a wink in her direction. "We know you care."

Not one to risk having their success washed down the drain because of one flirtatious bastard, Hiccup promptly pushed Jack to his feet. "Okay! We're leaving," Hiccup grumbled in panic. "We'll get to work on that form."

"And we'll come to find you again!" Jack shout-whispered as he was shoved away from the desk.

"Oh, joy. I can't wait…"

Elsa huffed, throwing her arms in the air. They had been discussing the boys' Halloween proposition for what felt like hours, even if her watch told her only thirty minutes had passed.

"I am not telling you this again, Frost: I'm not raising your budget."

Jack sighed. "Stop being greedy, Your Majesty. It's very unflattering on such a beautiful face."

She stared at him, eyes narrowing and jaw clenching. "I'm cutting this meeting short."

She motioned to stand, but he stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

"I'm joking," he said, smiling. "Please, don't go. I'll behave."

She shook his hand off of her. "You realize the money we're directing to your haunted house was going to be used to fund a soap-making workshop?"

He laughed, leaning back. "Was that supposed to make me feel bad?"

Elsa rolled her eyes as she flipped through her stash of papers. "Anyway, renting a hologram projector is far too expensive."

Jack's attention went back to the spreadsheet in front of him, and he tugged on his hair in distress. He kept tapping on the table with his pen as he tried to come to some sort of realization. "... What if we buy the stuff to make one?"

She was silent for a moment, and skepticism rose to her semblance. Could he possibly be serious? Or was he making fun of her again? "You want to make your own 3D hologram projector?"

"Can't be that hard, can it?" He shrugged. "Hiro built a robot that makes his bed for him, he can probably put a fancy movie machine together."

Goodness, he was serious.

Elsa shook her head, scribbling down a note on the corner of the page. "As long as it doesn't explode, and respects safety standards, suit yourself. Figure out what assortment of materials will be needed and have the cost of those by the end of the week."

Jack nodded. "Alright. I'll ask Hiro later today."

Elsa read the document's next lines, looking for her next topic of attention. "You can't light flames indoor, so that's a no on the sixty candles."

He flinched. "LED torches won't have the same dramatic effect."

"Sorry."

"No, you're not," Jack grumbled, scratching a thick line over the item. "I can see you're relishing my tragedy."

She covered a chuckle with a cough and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Next on your list: You can't set up an obstacle course and a haunted house in the same dark space. Pick one."

He stared at the paper, scrunching his nose. "So… no rope swing over the slime pit?"

"Unfortunately not."

Jack groaned as he crossed the item off their proposal and started scribbling something Elsa couldn't read very well. "You are so unfun, Your Majesty. My dreams are being shattered here. Do you even understand how much time it took me to write all this…"

He continued to punctuate the movements of his pen with his whining, and Elsa decided to ignore him by going through her notes again. And as they continued to work, there was a clearing of a throat coming from behind them. They both looked over their shoulders and saw Anna standing there, shifting on her feet and pointedly keeping her eyes glued to the silverhead.

"Oh, hey, princess," Jack greeted the girl with a wave. "What's up?"

"Wilbur sent me," Anna mumbled, and she made no effort to shorten the space separating them. "He wants you to check your messages."

Jack nodded. "Sure. I'll do that as soon as we're finished here."

Anna's eyes drifted to her shoes. "Right…"

With an arched eyebrow, Jack looked from one sister to the other, and when none of the girls spoke another word, the awkward silence prolonged itself.

"Anna?" Jack called.

Anna looked up, her eyes wide with fright. She looked like a poor deer in the headlights.

"Was there anything else you needed to say?"

Anna shook her head so eagerly Elsa worried she would pull a muscle on her neck.

"Nope. That was all. Later, Jack. Y-you too, Elsa." The younger girl turned on her heels, and her words followed her as she bolted out of there.

"... Bye, Anna," Elsa mumbled, but her sister was moving so fast she doubted she'd been heard.

As Anna disappeared, Elsa sat back on her chair with a sigh. She intended to go back to work as if they hadn't been interrupted at all, but Jack seemed to have plans that differed from hers.

He rested his chin on his hand as he watched her. "So… what was that just now?"

Elsa's brows furrowed. "We're not talking about that." She pointed at the next topic. "You're not buying pig's blood. Nor an ox skull. Seriously, didn't Andy or Hiccup revise this?"

He hummed. "I may have added one or two new things after they were done writing the boring part. About Anna—"

"For Heaven's sake, Frost. Leave it alone," Elsa snapped, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "What do you need twenty pounds of sugar for?"

Jack snorted. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out." At the glare she sent his way, he straightened up and added, "Fine, we're making spider webs out of cotton candy."

She hummed and wrote the new information down on her notes.

"I heard you two got into a fight."

"Of course you heard that," she mumbled. "I'm putting a minimum age requirement on your maze."

"Why? You already vetoed the worst parts," he grumbled.

"That's non-negotiable."

He groaned and ran both hands through his hair. He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Anna seemed upset. You too, but you're harder to read."

Elsa looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You've been trying to read me? I'm flattered."

He shrugged, and to her astonishment, did not fall for her provocations. Jack sent no comeback her way, and his noncommittal silence made her apprehensive.

"It wasn't… it wasn't a fight. She pretty much knocked me down on the first hit."

Jack crossed his arms, taking a reflective posture. "I don't know about that. Looks like you caused some damage of your own."

She scowled. Her mouth had started to feel too dry. Her heart felt too constricted inside her thoracic cavity. "Is she still mad at me?"

She felt his eyes on her, but couldn't meet his gaze. Her eyes remained focused on her nails.

"I think she's feeling guilty," Jack said, his voice taking a rather gentle tone. "Probably regrets some of the things she said."

Elsa pressed her lips into a thin line. There was a knot in her throat. She wasn't sure what would happen if she attempted to speak.

"I know you don't like to see her hanging with us. And, really, I get why you wouldn't." He snorted. "If it was my sister, I'd want to keep her safe too. But…" He seemed to hesitate for a fraction of time. "Anna is a big girl. If she's got the chance to do it, you should let her screw up on her own."

Elsa glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "What do you mean, if she's got the chance—"

He shook his head. "Give her time, and she'll come around. You'll see."

There was a change in his stance, and Elsa understood that the topic was closed for discussion. Perhaps it was for the best.

She breathed in slowly and cleared her throat. It was time to return to her obligations. "You have a lot of useless paraphernalia on your list," Elsa said, bringing the paper closer to her. "Like a squeaking rocking chair. And thirteen music boxes."

He shrugged. "You say useless, I say mood-building vital components."

"Now, I don't trust you with any amount of money—"

"You don't have to be mean about it," he complained with a pout.

"—I bet as soon as you get your hands on it, you'll run off buying things that are not specified in your proposal." She stared at him with an arched brow, challenging him to deny it.

He smirked, leaning closer to her. "What do you suggest? Join me on a little shopping adventure?"

Elsa scoffed, shaking her head.

"Come on, Elsa. We can even call it a date."

The three girls rushed down the street on their way to the bus stop. It was the last city visit prior to the Halloween party, and if Elsa was being honest with herself, the tardy hour was making her a bit anxious.

"I told you we were gonna be late," Astrid grumbled, throwing glares at the brunette.

Violet threw her arms in the air, the bags she'd been carrying swishing as she moved. "I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know that the craft store would be so crowded?"

"I hope you learned not to leave pending matters to the last minute, Vi," Elsa said.

"Yeah, right," Astrid scoffed. "I'll grow wings before that lesson enters Violet's skull."

"Screw you, Astrid."

"Gates must be closed by now," Astrid said checking her phone.

Elsa hummed in agreement. "We're gonna have to sign the tardiness list."

"Or we could just sneak inside," Violet suggested. "Frost does that all the time."

Elsa huffed. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the brunette, and the hand holding her coffee tightened slightly. "Would you stop referring to Jack Frost's reckless behavior as acceptable? If he jumped off a cliff, would you jump as well?"

"If he survived, why not?"

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Vio—"

At the turn of a corner, momentum sent Elsa bumping against another person, and there was nothing she could do but watch as piping hot liquid poured over the thickness of that random stranger's coat.

She paled. Elsa took a step back, and a hand immediately ran to cover her mouth, the other hand still holding the half-empty cup of coffee. She was far too shocked to do anything, and her two friends seemed to share her startlement.

The other party, on the other hand, looked about to murder them. The tall, gloomy man looked from his coffee-stained clothes to the platinum-blonde. His golden eyes were intimidating and cold as he scrutinized her. "You daft girl. Look what you have done."

With shaky hands, Elsa pulled a pack of tissues from her purse. "I-I am so sorry, sir. Here, please use this. I—"

She struggled with her next words. Should she offer to pay for the cleaning? Common courtesy advised her to do so, but the man's intimidating presence made her hesitate. He was a six feet tall man, and she was a mere high school student. Would it be okay for a minor to give an adult some sort of compensation in that type of situation? Before Elsa could make her mind, the man was grabbing her arm, his grip so tight she feared he would leave marks on her wrist.

"Do you have any idea how much this suit costs, young lady?"

Violet stepped up between them and tried to pry Elsa free from the man's grip. "Back off, dude. She already apologized."

The stranger snorted. "If all of society's problems could be solved with apologies, we would not need law enforcement, would we?"

Astrid glowered at him, eyes burning with rage, and snarled, "You better let go of her arm, pal."

The man raised one of his eyebrows. "It appears that you brats are in dire need of some discipline."

"Discipline this, asshole."

Quick as lightning, and despite the height difference between them, Astrid hit the man's face with her fist. Her punch landed right on his nose, and he stumbled backward, crouching down in pain.

"Astrid!" Elsa gasped.

"Holy shit, Astrid!"

The man looked up at his assailant, one of his hands still pressed firmly against his nose. He lunged forward, free arm spreading like a claw. "You—"

"THE FUCK YOU STANDING THERE FOR FOR?"

"GO! GO! GO!"

Jack Frost and Hiccup Haddock had appeared from seemingly nowhere, and next thing Elsa knew, they were pulling the girls out of the man's reach and dragging them out of there. They ran down crowded streets and turned on random corners, taking whatever route that could get them away from the unknown man's rage. Exhausted and out of breath, they hid in an alley, and Hiccup peeked through the corner for signs of movement.

"Can you see him?" Jack asked.

Hiccup kept an attentive look for a while longer, then straightened up and walked back to the others. "No, I think we're safe."

"Fuck." Jack ran a hand through his hair as his chest rose and fell with uneven intakes of air. "Are you guys okay?"

Astrid nodded. "We're fine."

"Then WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"

Jack rushed to cover the other guy's mouth. He shout-whispered, "Watch your voice, Third!"

Hiccup shoved the silverhead's hand away and gestured at Astrid. "You—that guy was twice your size!"

Astrid snorted, rolling her eyes. "Dramatic much?"

Clearing her throat, Elsa took a step forward. "Hiccup, it was all my fault," she explained calmly. "I spilled my coffee, Astrid was simply defending me—"

Hiccup turned to glare at her. "That doesn't help your case, Elsa," he snapped, and the sour tone in his voice made Elsa's mouth shut closed.

Violet groaned. "Jesus Christ, Hiccup. Relax."

Hiccup's jaw clenched as his eyes shifted to the brunette next.

Violet crossed her arms, and not giving him time to retort, she continued, "You're a worried boyfriend. We get it. But yelling about some worst-case scenario that didn't even happen ain't gonna do shit, dumbass."

"Yeah, Third," Jack agreed with nonchalance. "We know you're just upset because you didn't get to play the hero."

Hiccup stared at the silverhead with his mouth open, completely dumbstruck. He seemed to struggle to comprehend what the other guy meant. Realization graced him, and Hiccup shook his head disgruntled. "What are you guys doing here anyway? It's past curfew."

Astrid laughed with contempt. "You're asking us why we are not back in school yet? You're such a hypocrite, Hiccup—"

"Oh, don't give me that, Astrid. Jack and I were already on our way back."

"So were we— Who do you think you are—"

Hiccup and Astrid kept yelling at each other, their words growing in hostility as the discussion heated up. And even when Violet tried to intervene, she just ended up pulled into the quarrel herself.

Elsa nibbled on her lip as she observed the trio. She kept rubbing her wrist to lessen the weird unease she felt—it didn't hurt, and the redness was already fading, but the memory of her helplessness unnerved her. Her movements seemed to catch someone else's attention, because she felt Jack tugging on the hem of her sweater not much later.

She looked up at him with a silent question in her eyes, and he leaned in to whisper, "You okay?"

"A little shaken still, but it'll probably wear off with some time."

He didn't seem convinced. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm fine, Frost. Really." She smiled and him, and hoped it'd reassure him.

He hummed with narrowed eyes but decided to let it go. Changing subjects, he asked instead, "Why are you not back on campus again?"

"Violet needed supplies for her costume. You?"

"Haunted house stuff shopping. Since someone refused to come with me, I had to make do with pretty boy over there," Jack said, gesturing with his head towards the other guy.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Did you find everything you needed?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "My oh my, Elsa. It almost sounds like you're rooting for our success."

She laughed. "Keep telling yourself that, Frost. You better not make me regret putting my name on the line for you."

Jack chuckled but didn't utter a reply.

"Where's Andy, by the way?" Elsa asked.

"Sent him, Wilbs and Hiro back first with the cargo. Couldn't risk having our goods confiscated, could we?"

Elsa hummed, and the two of them paused their conversation to watch the other three. The argument was escalating, gestures were becoming more aggressive, bloodthirst flared in their faces, and one of them would probably combust soon.

"—Why can't you guys understand that scared the shit out of me?" Hiccup asked.

"For the millionth time, nothing bad happened, dumbass," Astrid retorted.

"Not for lack of trying!"

"Please! As if that weirdo would ever be a match for our Astrid!"

"That's beside the point, Violet!"

Jack looked at Elsa with a ridiculously pleased smirk on his lips. "Do you think we should say something?"

She sighed. "We should be going back to school."

"Please. We are so past curfew that we could come back tomorrow and the amount of trouble we'd be in wouldn't be that much different."

Elsa turned to stare at him, and her eyes narrowed. "If you truly believe that, I worry about your school records, Jack."

He laughed. Straightening up, he clapped to catch the others' attention. "Alright, children, that's enough. All your fighting is giving Your Majesty here an aneurysm."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Not true, but can we please get going?"

"This is so not over," Hiccup grumbled, sending a final glare to each of the girls.

"Hiccup." Astrid seemed about to restart the fight, but she just let the air out through her nose and continued to glare at the auburn-haired boy. "I appreciate your concern," she said through gritted teeth. "I do. But we're unharmed, and you and Frost showed up before things could escalate. We're fine."

Hiccup groaned throwing his arms up. He choked out an exhausted laugh and looked at his girlfriend. "You almost gave me a heart attack when you punched that dude."

"He was trying to hurt Elsa, what was I supposed to do?"

"You're right. I would've done the same thing. Heck, Jack and I were about to do the same thing."

Violet nudged the silverhead, and, with an arched eyebrow, she asked, "You were?"

Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

"A talking fishbone like you would've broken your fucking hand," Astrid said with a snort.

Hiccup tsked but seemed to find her comment amusing as well. "Just promise you won't do it again."

"What, you can get in trouble but I can't?"

Hiccup frowned. "Wha—my kind of trouble entails green jello in bathrooms and shaving cream. Yours means brawling on the streets!"

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "You know what? I was about to apologize. Well, not anymore!" She shoved Hiccup to the side and stomped her way out of the alleyway.

"Hold on, why are you mad at me? You don't get to be mad at me for stating the facts!" Hiccup shouted, going after the blonde. "Astrid!"

"Are those two fighting, or is that flirting?" Violet wondered, crossing her arms.

Jack chuckled, burying his hands in his pockets. "I think when it comes to those two, it's a bit of both."

Even from a distance, they could hear snippets of the couple's resumed argument.

"We should go sign that tardiness list," Elsa mumbled, and they started walking as well.

Jack glanced at her with a smirk. "Elsa Arendelle. The only person in the world who would be eager to face punishment after disrespecting the rules."

Violet snorted. "There's actually a whole category for that kind of people. They're called masochists."

Two sets of eyes mocked her, and Elsa felt her face heating up. She pressed her lips together as her cheeks reddened.

"Huh. That actually explains a lot."

"... Let's just play the silent game until we get to school, shall we?"

"I'm just saying—"

"Starting now!"