Prompt: Flowers
Elsa wasn't typically blindsided by the way her peers smelled. Sure she gagged from time to time when the over-cologned Hans Islet attempted to ask her out every other week, but that was more due to how much of a creep Hans was, rather than how strongly he stunk. No, it was most certainly not typical for her to deconstruct, ponder, and simply obsess over a lingering scent the way that she was now.
Flowers. That was what she had decided. Not just any flowers though. Summertime. It had smelt of a warm summer's day. The flicker of strawberry blonde hair whipping past her, a hastily yelped "Sorry!", and a sudden burst of lilacs, sunflowers, and marigolds tickled her nose. By the time she had turned to see where the smell had gone, the hair had already disappeared around the corner, leaving only a wisp of the tantalizing sensation behind.
"Let me get this straight, you've been put out of sorts because you smelled some girl's shampoo?" Kristoff snorted into his mug. "I know you've had it bad for some girls, but man this is really the icing on the rink."
"Shut up and let me wallow." Elsa said, burying her face so deeply into the table, she wouldn't be surprised if she left a permanent impression in the wood.
Kristoff shook his head, chortling at his roommate's despondency. "So after this mysterious run-in, have you encountered this phantom scent again?"
"No." She mumbled, voice distorted by the table. "Not since two weeks ago. It's driving me crazy, Kristoff."
Elsa wearily lifted her head, hair unusually limp against her forehead, not bothering to tuck her bangs behind her ear. She leaned into a hand as the other absentmindedly stirred her mug of hot chocolate. "All I saw was a flash of her hair, strawberry-blonde, almost red, flying past me. I think she said 'sorry!' but I can't even be sure of that."
"You know, I'm all about love and all, what with me being the love expert," Elsa snorted at that remark. "But did you seriously fall for a girl just because she smelled like flowers?"
"It wasn't just flowers." Elsa replied defensively, "I-I don't know..."
She dropped her head back onto the table with a thunk. "What do I do, Kristoff? If you're the love expert you keep telling everyone you are, lend a girl a hand."
"An expert never gives up their secrets!" Kristoff began, but upon seeing the forlorn and slightly murderous look on Elsa's face he hastily continued, "But I'm sure the expert thing to do would be to help a friend in need."
-x-
"Remind me again, why we're out looking for a bouquet?" Elsa massaged her foot, thoroughly disgruntled at being made to walk all over town in search of the perfect bouquet. They had been meandering through the city for an untold number of hours now. Elsa had a project she needed to catch up on and her free Friday was currently being thoroughly wasted. She glanced at her watch, calculating what she could get done if they left and returned to their apartment right this very second.
"Well… You said her hair smelled like flowers right? Maybe it wasn't her shampoo and maybe you didn't just smell her hair. Maybe she works in a flower shop." Kristoff matter-of-factly explained as he continued to rummage through arrangement after arrangement, "And maybe, I might be in the market to buy a bouquet to congratulate my sister's accomplishments with. Two birds with one stone!"
If looks could kill, Kristoff would have been flayed alive many times over. Luckily for him, Elsa did not in fact command magical powers that would have allowed her to erase his existence from the world so easily. She sunk into the bench, futilely attempting to will herself back home so that she could get work done.
"All this pain over some stupid smell", she muttered gloomily to herself. She buried her face in her hands as Kristoff made small talk with the owner, paying little attempts to his haggling for a better wrapped bow or a small adjustment here and there.
"Well, I'd say I did a pretty good job!" Kristoff exclaimed proudly, walking up to Elsa. She peeked out of her fingers to see an arrangement of multi-colored lilies, hydrangeas, sunflowers, and tulips being held gingerly by his large hands. If she hadn't been so irritated at the absolute waste of afternoon she had just suffered through, she might have said that it was gorgeous.
"Yes… You have accomplished two things today." She muttered, "Bought a pretty bouquet for your sister, and completely wasted my time."
"C'mon now! We've learned something important!" Kristoff nudged her in the ribs, "We've learned that most of the places here don't do delivery and the ones that do aren't employing strawberry blondes!"
A resounding thwack could be heard from miles away. Most bystanders would have to agree that the blonde haired man had most certainly deserved it.
-x-
"Why am I here again?" Elsa adjusted her sheer icy-blue shawl, playing with the teal gloves in her hands, as she walked alongside Kristoff towards the reception area. "I don't even know your sister."
"Yeah, well I needed a plus-one, and you just happened to free!" Kristoff cavalier replied, casually forgetting to mention that he had completely forgot about the event until a week ago. Moving past an ornate mirror, he adjusted his sleeves and gave his lapels a final tug. "Besides, I'll introduce you before we start, we'll be sitting with her!"
"You might want to brief me on what she did that requires a black-tie dress code. Also, her name would be nice as well." Elsa dryly fired back.
"She does scientific research, botany, and they decided to combine the awards ceremony with a fundraising event for the school! So here we are." Kristoff showed the usher their invitation and they moved into the ballroom. "Relax, enjoy the ride! Let me get us some drinks. Also, her name is Anna. Don't wander too far?"
After receiving a humph in reply from his mildly unwilling plus-one, Kristoff disappeared off to the punch tables to secure them some sort of potentially inebriating beverage. Elsa sighed, deciding to make the most of her time at this affair. Momentarily forgetting about Kristoff, she stepped off to the side to study some of the architecture that made up the room, filing away mental snapshots as potential inspiration for future class projects. She had happily been at it for no longer than a few minutes before she suddenly found herself on the floor.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?! I mean you look okay, but you might be hurt, not that you don't normally look okay! I mean you're gorgeous! I-" Elsa, slightly dazed and not quite sure why that voice seemed so familiar, glanced upwards towards the strawberry blonde who seemed to have one hand firmly attached to her mouth, cheeks flushed a deeper red than her hair.
"I think I'll live." Elsa flashed a smile and accepted the girl's outstretched hand. Dusting herself off, she accepted her fallen shawl from the stranger with a short "Thanks", and threw it back around herself. Turning to face her new flushed companion fully, Elsa suddenly stopped, crinkling her nose.
"S-sorry! I took a few showers but it looks like that new scent is a little too potent." The girl laughed nervously, fiddling with her emerald green dress skirt.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, I just noticed you crinkling your nose." The strawberry-blonde haired girl replied, slightly confused. "I've been doing lab work on developing a new floral perfume and it kind of gets all over us as we test, and well… It's a bit strong."
"Ah, it's fine. I think." Elsa smiled, attempting to reassure the girl fidgeting across from her. Honestly, the girl's behavior was incredibly endearing. "Sorry, I just thought I smelled something that I had… Well smelled before, looks like I was mistaken though! It wasn't an unpleasant scent."
"Oh! Well… That's good." Elsa held back a giggle at the visible sag of relief in the girl's posture. "Bleh! No idea what that postdoc was doing, but somehow he manages to get it all over the room every day!"
Elsa started to reply when suddenly a familiar voice cut through her thoughts. "There you are!"
As the strawberry-blonde whipped around to face her roommate, Elsa was suddenly besieged by a sudden burst of smell. That sweet summer's day came rushing back, this time in the form of an explosion of lilacs, strawberries, and jasmine.
"Soooo, I see you two have met already then." Kristoff's words snapped Elsa out of her daze. "Anna, this is Elsa. Elsa, this is my sister Anna."
Elsa felt a flush burn its way onto her cheeks from her revelation as she took Anna's hand for the second time that night, shaking it. "It's a pleasure to finally learn my assailant's name."
Anna turned bright red at that, mollified only by Elsa's giggles. "Um, well. We should probably head to our table then shouldn't we?"
Kristoff walked behind the chatting girls, following them to their table, glancing back and forth thoughtfully. The way his sister kept shyly glancing at Elsa, the way Elsa seemed to drink in every word the girl was saying. His mind clicked away at the times her sister complained to him about her research, and the numerous showers she couldn't take before rushing to her classes in between lab sessions. Hazily, his conversation with Elsa at the cafe rose to the forefront of his mind. An internal groan rang throughout his system at his revelation. His sister was the object of Elsa's obsession.
Elsa had long since come to the same conclusion some fifty steps beforehand. She glanced back at Kristoff to see his look of consternation and agony. She chuckled to herself. Tonight was going to be so amusing.
"What's so funny?" Anna asked, curiously glancing at Elsa and back at her brother, "And why does Kristoff look like he's about to be sick?"
Emboldened by her newfound discovery, Elsa took Anna's arm in her own, eliciting a marked flush in Anna and skyrocketing blood pressure in Kristoff. "I'm sure he's just jealous that his sister has so thoroughly captivated his plus-one."
Anna's eyes widened to saucers as Kristoff's soul slowly slipped off towards the afterlife. Elsa laughed to herself. Yes, tonight was going to be an enjoyable ride indeed.