Quick Note: Thanks all you guys for the reviews, they've been great! This AU is coming to me very easily for some reason. I'm not going to try to make it too long, but because the chapters are on the short side, it might be upwards of 20, or even more than that. We'll just have to see!
~ Chapter Seven ~
"Who is he again?"
Anna grinned to herself, snagging another kernel of popcorn from the tub in Elsa's lap. "Bucky."
"There's a person named 'Bucky' in this? That sounds so old school."
"Well," she chuckled as quietly as she could, "the whole story's pretty old school. Captain America was invented at the beginning of World War II. So he's supposed to be, like... classic and retro and all that."
Nodding, Elsa's slender fingers dipped into the tub themselves and plucked a few kernels for herself, popping them into her mouth. Anna forced herself to look away; they were friends. Well, something approaching friends, at any rate - and it wasn't going to earn her any points if she started drooling over her idol at this random juncture.
Even if she couldn't help the stray "I'd lick her salty fingers clean" thought that ran through her mind like a naughty little squirrel. Damn squirrels!
"And who's this now? The woman with the glowy hands, I think I've met her..."
Anna's eyes went round. "You've MET Elizabeth Olsen?!"
"Right! Elizabeth, yes... it was some party, I think. Can't remember." When she caught sight of Anna's expression, she ducked her head. "Sorry, that's a little gross to namedrop like that, I suppose."
"N-no, no, I just... I'm not used to knowing somebody who knows somebody. I'm nobody, and my friends are all typically nobodies - well, not to me, but to other people, you know."
"Stop," Elsa whispered, nudging her forearm with her elbow. "You don't have to be so... intense about this whole thing. Which I know, it's easy for me to say, hard for you to put into practice."
"You're right. I'm working on it, I promise." Picking up her soda, she took a sip before continuing, "For instance, you haven't seen me break out into a weird little dance yet, have you?"
"I haven't. Do I get to see that later?"
"Not if I can help it."
As much as it didn't seem like it, things were getting better. By the time they got to the theater, Anna was able to speak in full sentences, walk casually next to Elsa as if she were Kristoff or any other friend, and only had to swat away a small handful of stray gay thoughts about her - as opposed to the truckloads she had weathered before.
This was more fun than any of them. The SEEK member wasn't at all what she had been expecting-slash-daydreaming about. She was better; more human, more soft and quiet, more cold when she wanted to be cold. Just very, very different.
They had settled on the latest Captain America flick because Elsa literally had no clue of what to see. Though she could recognise the names of the stars, the actual movies all seemed about the same to her - other than a raunchy-seeming comedy, which she said she would rather not indulge in. Her hoodie pocket now held a box of Sno-Caps as a backup snack from the buttery popcorn, and there was a bottle of water in her cupholder. Even if they were doing something for entertainment, Anna was determined to make sure that Elsa at least had the opportunity to eat something, even if she didn't take it.
"So you said you just graduated?" Elsa asked, during a lull in the action.
"Yeah. Um... you did last year, right? From a tutor, or something."
Elsa's smile was coy. "That's right. Now I'm curious; what else can you tell me about me?"
"Is this a fan-quiz? You seeing if I have the right to call myself 'the number one Elsa fangirl'?"
"Perhaps I am. Let's hear it, might as well."
Glancing at the movie for a second, then around at the one or two other people who were in the seats closer to the screen at such a random time of the day, Anna turned more fully to face Elsa, who did the same.
"Elsa Alexandra Valentine, nineteen, Capricorn - born on Christmas Eve. Five-four, thirty-four C, twenty-six, thirty-six. Born in Seattle, um, Norwegian mother and 'whiteness cocktail' father who's some kind of executive? Moved to LA when you were four, went to private schools all your life - but had to finish your senior year of high school via tutoring because of SEEK. You have a tree nut allergy and are pollen-sensitive, but mild on both counts. Umm..."
"I can't believe you know my cup size," Elsa muttered, blinking rapidly. When Anna stopped talking, she waved a hand and said, "N-no, I'm sure all that information's out there. It's more I'm surprised you bothered committing it to memory."
Shrugging, Anna took a sip of her soda to distract herself from feeling foolish for having confessed to knowing all of that by heart, and to give herself a moment to think. "I just really admire you. And I know you probably get that a lot, but... it's true. You're pretty awesome."
"Wish I saw what you see," she sighed, turning back to the screen. "Instead, I just see a jumble of imperfections, trying to fake it for the paparazzi."
"That's a shame," Anna told her evenly. "Because from what I've seen, you're actually one of the coolest people I've ever met - and not just because you can sing."
Elsa didn't respond to that. In fact, she quietly watched the movie for another minute or so before she finally whispered, "What's my shoe size?"
"Huh?"
"My shoe size."
"Shoe size doesn't matter," Anna snorted as she dug into the tub. But when Elsa didn't say anything else, she eventually muttered under her breath, "Seven, or seven-and-a-half if they run small."
"Correct again," Elsa giggled, shoulders actually shaking with mirth. "Wow, what do you do, keep some kind of database on me?"
"I don't have to; the internet does it for me."
Elsa finally looked over at her again. "Honestly, what use does all that information have? Nothing against you remembering it; you just have a good memory, I suppose. But why would anyone ever need to know how wide my hips are, or whether or not I have to take Claritin?!"
"Well... they like you, and they wanna know everything they can. So they can feel closer to you. That was me before I actually met you in person, so... I mean, I'm really sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but that's just how this weird, celebrity-focused culture we live in works, I guess. Right?"
"Hmm yes, Kardashians and such," she replied distantly, thinking it over. "And I do appreciate all the pairs of shoes I receive in the mail, even if I don't wear many of them. So I guess there's a fringe benefit."
"Y'know, if you ever need some extra cash, you could probably try them on once, then turn around and sell them on eBay for thousands." When Elsa just stared at her, Anna shrugged and said, "I've seen the listings. There was a napkin Kida used to wipe her mouth that ended up going for over a hundred bucks."
"A NAPKIN?!" she hissed in disgust. "Oh, that's- I didn't think it could get worse, and it did. That's depraved!"
"It's a chance for a fan to own something that touched their idol," Anna said reasonably, though she also looked vaguely discomfited. "I mean, I'm not that bad, but I still had to talk myself into eating your leftover waffles."
A vague blush came back into the diva's cheeks. "Why? I mean... it's not as if... I didn't autograph them, they were literally nothing more than hunks of- of fried batter! I just don't understand the whole notion of... of something like that being important."
"Neither do I, okay? Like, I know it's because I'm a huge fan and respect and admire the hell outta you, but just saying, I don't get why the waffles would matter, either. Weird, right?" Then she held up a finger. "But! I did eat them instead of selling them on eBay!"
"Good," Elsa said with a light chuckle. "You're above the curve." Then she glanced down at the popcorn tub. "This isn't a problem for you, is it?"
"No, no," she laughed. "You're supposed to share popcorn; if you don't, you're Bogarting."
"Bogarting?"
Shrugging, she looked down and away. "Kristoff says it sometimes; I know it means 'hogging it to yourself,' but I don't get why."
"Kristoff is your friend who came to the show with you, who you told you were coming to meet me?" When Anna nodded, she smiled. "So are you two...?"
"What?" Then she laughed, snorting a little and making Elsa laugh along with her. "Oh GOD, no! He's gay as hell!"
"O-oh! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- was that offensive, for me to imply-"
"No!" she reassured the clearly-surprised Elsa quickly. "It's fine, you don't know him. But yeah, neither of us are remotely interested in the other, believe me."
"Then who are you interested in? Besides Captain America, that is."
It took a lot of effort to catch and prevent the 'You' from slipping out of her mouth. "N-nobody in particular, really. I've never dated, I just... guess I haven't been quite ready."
"That's good!" When Anna raised an eyebrow, Elsa shrugged and picked up some more popcorn to toss into her mouth. "There's so much pressure to date when you're in high school that you end up doing it out of obligation rather than desire. What a mess."
"Powerline?" Anna guessed.
"W-well... yes, Powerline," she sighed quietly. "But you didn't hear that from me. The public facade of us breaking up because we 'simply weren't right for each other' is close enough to the truth that I see no reason to correct it now." A very brief hesitation. "I can trust you, can't I?"
"Yes," Anna agreed immediately. It would be hard for her not to blab such details, but she could manage it for the sake of their budding friendship. "Absolutely. So what did happen? You just... weren't into him?"
"Not at all. Everyone saw how well we got along at the various star events and charity fundraisers, and decided we should be together. My manager and his pushed for it, said we should at least hang out. He seemed more receptive to the idea than I was, but I went along with it; thought it's what everybody wanted. In the end... well, he's a gentleman, nothing bad happened, but I wasn't enjoying myself. He could sense it, and asked if I wanted him to leave me alone. I said I did, and... and that was that."
The star looked so forlorn after telling the story that Anna couldn't help but slide an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. But she felt Elsa tense, and froze in place. "O-oh, I- sorry, this is really- I should have- sorry."
"No, you can," Elsa assured her, though she was still beyond tense. "I... I'm just not used to a lot of... physical comfort." Swallowing hard, she reached a hand up to briefly pat Anna's hand, then lowered it to the lip of the popcorn bucket again. "You're very sweet. Thank you for... I don't know. Whatever we're doing."
"Hanging out?"
The smile was vague, but deeply satisfied. "Hanging out."
~ To Be Continued ~