#anyway taps that post again about how da fans are down to jump you to ran about fake fantasy politica

[gxldencity]

Whenever someone says they hate veilguard bc it doesn't have the intricate politics the other games in the series, im like what intricate politics from the other games in the series

[elsanna-shenanigans]

August Contest Submission #18: The Concrete Rose

Words: ca. 5,500 Setting: mAU Lemon: No CW: Angst, brief Hansanna

October 12, 2019

From the second Elsa saw her roommate, she knew she would become her muse.

Douglas Academy of the Arts produced hundreds of graduates every year already with an astounding, artistic reputation. Anyone that had a future in the arts ran through Douglas Academy first. But that prestige came at a price, success at all costs meant that almost everyone was cold and cutthroat; no one was a classmate, everyone was competition.

It was a mantra that all the students bought into except for two people: Elsa and her roommate Anna. From a simple handshake and a peace offering in the form of a chocolate bar (“The vending machine accidentally gave me two, how lucky is that?!”), Anna stood out from everyone else in Elsa’s eyes.

They became quick friends despite how drastically different they were. Elsa was reserved and stayed in her head a lot, Anna loved people and spoke every thought that came to her. Elsa was constantly second-guessing her decisions and had a keen eye for details, Anna was more impulsive and loved seeing the bigger picture. Elsa was a sculptor who kept her works secret until they were finished, Anna was a dancer who would always post videos of her practicing for her latest performance.

The one thing they had in common was their need to support the other.

One day well into their first semester, Anna barged into Elsa’s room with a flyer that she’d gotten in almost all her classes: an advertisement for the 3-D Art Showcase in three weeks. “You’re doing this, right?” she asks, pushing the flyer in front of Elsa’s face. “You’re entering a thingie into the thing?”

Elsa plucked the flyer out of Anna’s hands and turned back around in her chair, “Not a chance. I heard first years get eaten alive at these showcases, I’ll wait until next year.”

“Oh come on! You’d kick so much ass if you entered something. Remember that clay canary you made me?” Anna pressed her palms against Elsa’s shoulders, which almost knocked the pencil out of the unexpecting sculptor’s hands.

Elsa shook her head, “That was different. I’d have to make like… something fancy and intricate if I want to even be considered for the showcase.”

“Well, can’t you at least try? Please?” Anna slid her hands down so she could wrap her arms around Elsa’s shoulders from behind. “I can help you just like you helped me while I was rehearsing my first interpretive dance.”

It took a while for Elsa to get used to Anna’s touchiness, but she learned to accept it. This was just another thing that added to Anna’s eclectic personality, and besides Elsa was a big fan of the rosemary body wash she was using. “Anna, all I did was press play on your speaker.”

“Which helped out a lot!” Anna assured her. “You know how much energy I could have wasted doing that myself?”

“… not a lot?”

“Just think about joining, okay? Knowing you, I bet you probably have like five ideas running through your head and when you pick one, I’ll do whatever I can to help turn that idea into something concrete.”

Well if thinking about it was all that Anna was asking her to do, then Elsa could do that. Less commitment that way. And she was right, of course, there were five ideas floating around in Elsa’s mind but none of them she could latch on to and say that that was the one to work on. “Alright fine,” she said after a dramatically heavy sigh, “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s my girl! Oh shit, I’m gonna be late for rehearsal!” Anna sprinted out of Elsa’s room to grab her dancing shoes. Before slamming their shared door shut, she said, “If you eat my spaghetti, I’ll kill you!”

November 5, 2019

There was something that Anna told her that day which stuck with Elsa much more than she thought it would.

Turning an idea into something concrete.

What if she sculpted something out of concrete? It was a near guarantee that a lot of the sculptors entering the showcase would be using clay, recycled metals, or wood; using concrete would probably help her stand out and better her chances of being picked. After a researching how to make this work, and some choice words of encouragement and dancing from Anna, Elsa set to work getting everything she needed for her crazy idea.

There was still, of course, one glaring problem: What was she going to sculpt?

Her answer came to her during Anna’s first performance of the semester. It was an interpretive dance that told the story of a young gladiator fighting for the freedom of his sister who was enslaved by a vindictive landowner. Her ability to tell this story without words (not even in the song she chose) wowed the audience and inspired Elsa as she waited for every beat of the story she’d seen Anna tell maybe a hundred times in their dorm.

Elsa decided to recreate one of the poses Anna did where she jumped in the air and punched her arm out like she was thrusting a spear into an unseen adversary. It was a painstaking process that tested her dexterity and her patience even more so, she shut herself in her room until it was finished. In the end, the sculpture was much smaller than she wanted it to be because she underestimated how much concrete mix she actually needed. And a piece of Anna’s skirt chipped off because it refused to stick to the wire mesh. Still, overall she was very impressed with herself.

And so it seemed was the showcase committee, because she was given one of the last remaining spots on the showcase floor.

Elsa somehow found a way to keep Anna from seeing it beforehand, so when she went with her roommate to the showcase, her reaction was genuine.

Anna gasped, “Holy shit, is this me?! She’s so pretty!”

Everyone in the building looked at them with judgmental glares, especially the judges. Elsa didn’t mind all that much, she wasn’t expecting to take a ribbon home, this was more about proving she could hang with Douglas’ best and to thank Anna for supporting her these past few months.

“I ran out of time to add details to the face, so I kept it blank,” Elsa explained. “I hope it doesn’t look too creepy.”

Anna shook her head, “No, I love it! It’s like… it fits so much with Henry’s character, the gladiator I mean. He presents himself as this nobody that could be anybody, like Henry is just a faceless idea, but he stands for justice and integrity, which can speak to anyone.”

Elsa smiled, her heart fluttering from the feeling of being understood. “I’m glad you were able to see that. I think I’ll steal that explanation when the judges come over.”

“Fine, but if you win a ribbon then you’re buying me dinner. For believing in you and for being your muse.”

“Pssh, you are not my muse.” How in the world did Anna already know that?

Anna squeezed Elsa’s shoulders and smiled, her eyes seeing right past Elsa’s thin resistance. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Michaelangelo.”

The judges came around a few minutes later to ask her some questions and write notes on their clipboards. Anna wanted to talk her roommate up so badly but settled on providing moral support right next to Elsa as she answered the questions concisely and with the professionalism that got her into Douglas Academy in the first place.

She didn’t win a ribbon, but decided to take Anna out to dinner anyway.

December 26, 2019

“I think concrete should be your thing,” Anna said before taking another long sip of her hot chocolate.

“My thing?” Elsa asked.

“Yeah, like the thing that makes you stand out from everyone else. The thing you’re known for. Da Vinci had his inventions and paintings, Degas painted ballet dancers, you could be the concrete rose.”

Elsa chuckled, “Concrete rose? That sounds more like you than it sounds like me.”

Anna gasped, “Why Ms. Elsa, you best be careful or I might just take that as a compliment.”

“Uhh you should because it was.” Elsa gently kicked her foot forward to keep the front porch swinging. They drank their hot chocolates in silence, relishing in that post-Christmas bliss. Elsa’s family was always a little more dysfunctional around the holidays, but when Anna told her she’d be spending her Christmas in the dorms she knew that couldn’t happen. Her best friend deserved a real Christmas for the first time in forever.

When their mugs were empty, Anna spoke again, “Thank you for letting me come with you. I… maybe I would have felt a little lonelier this Christmas. And I’m happy that I’m not.”

“Anna, you’re my best friend- heck, you’re like the sister I never had. I can’t leave my sister hanging, you know?” The confession is so raw and unusual for Elsa that it doesn’t feel right coming from her lips at first, but the more this moment sat the better it felt.

She looked to Anna, her red cheeks were a sign that the cold was finally getting to her. “I had a lot of foster siblings growing up… none of them liked me all that much.”

“Well that’s their loss.”

“Thank you, Elsa. Really. Everything you do means a lot to me, I hope you know that.”

Elsa smiled and tapped her shoe against Anna’s, “Everything you do means a lot to me too.”

Anna brought the empty mug back to her lips. “So, if we’re sisters, does that mean I get to steal your clothes and burst into your room to tell you stupid nonsense?”

“You mean you don’t already do that now?” The force that Anna pushed her with almost sent Elsa off the porch swing.

October 21, 2020

Elsa and Anna complemented each other’s strengths in a way neither of them ever expected. The 3-D showcases happened four times a year, and Elsa entered every one of them with the support of Anna. There were also four major dance performances throughout the year, and Anna entered every one of them with Elsa’s support.

Anna had taken second place for interpretive dancing at the last competition, but Elsa was still looking for her first major win. She felt confident, however, in her entry for the upcoming showcase.

“I mean I love it of course, but it’s ambitious,” Anna said while looking over Elsa’s sketch. “How are you gonna carve out the bird and the cage at the same time?”

“I was thinking of making the cage and bird separate, and then putting them together,” Elsa answered. “If I get the dimensions right, I can hammer some nails underneath the cage so it stays put.”

“Hmm, alright well you sound like you know what you’re doing.” Anna handed back the sketch. “And I’m gonna support you a hundred percent. No matter what.”

“I know you will,” Elsa said while putting her arm around Anna’s shoulder. “… I think this is the one.”

“I think so too,” Anna said proudly. “And when you come back with a ribbon-”

“You’re buying me dinner.”

Anna gasped and wriggled out of her best friend’s arm, “Rude!”

Elsa rolled her eyes, “Oh please, half my budget is spent feeding you. I’m sure you can afford to buy me dinner one time.”

She saw the gears turning in Anna’s mind, trying to come up with a rebuttal, but in the end she groaned and said, “Fine, I’ll take your bum ass out for dinner, sis.”

Elsa worked harder than she ever had before, inspired once again from seeing Anna’s latest performance. It was a soliloquy in dance form, about a bird who’d spent their entire life on the move and in the hands of many owners, but never once being allowed out of its cage. It paralleled Anna’s life story: the foster child from New York who was only getting her first taste of freedom now. She paid special attention to the bird’s eyes, wanting them to emulate the longing and ambition she saw in her best friend.

The process resulted in a lot of tiny cuts and a couple of sleepless nights, but it was all worth it in the end. She won second place at the showcase.

True to her word, Anna took her out for dinner that very night on the condition that Elsa wear the obnoxiously huge, red ribbon. They had to stick it on her shirt with a safety pin. “Alright, where does Madame Second Place want to go for dinner?” Anna asked, dressed in an adorable skirt and blouse combo.

“I was kinda joking, you know?” Elsa said. “You don’t actually have to buy me dinner.”

“Oh please, you can’t get cold feet now. I mean you’re already wearing the ribbon, that’s like… I don’t know, it’s like when your high school prom date puts the corsage on you. It’s official, no backing out.”

Elsa raised an eyebrow, “What so you’re my prom date now?”

Anna pursed her lips, “Well maybe not for prom, it’s too late for that. But I’ll be your date if you want me to.”

That answer leaves Elsa speechless.

“Ooh, I know where we can go!” Anna added before Elsa could finish catching up to the millions of thoughts running through her mind. “There’s this really good Mexican place downtown. I heard they sell this burrito that’s the size of your forearm, and I have long forearms so I wanna see that. Sound good?”

Elsa blinked and said absently, “Yeah, let’s go.” They walked side by side to Anna’s car, all the while Elsa pretended she wasn’t seeing her best friend in a brand new light.

May 15, 2020

It’s a scary feeling to know that you’re in love with your best friend. Even scarier when you’ve considered them your sister for almost two years now. It’s like being strapped in to the world’s best roller coaster against your will. Sometimes it’s exhilarating and you think maybe this isn’t so bad, but most of the time you’re screaming and want to get off.

Elsa’s been on the same damn ride for months now and it hasn’t gotten any easier. But she’s accepted it, which is something she never expected.

All of Anna’s errant touches, her smiles and glances, and even just the way she says “we”… Elsa has second-guessed each and every single one of her behaviors. And yes, she would probably stop overthinking if she’d just talk to Anna but she doesn’t know how. It’s hard enough trying to have a regular conversation with her now, it’s nearly impossible approaching her with a talk about their feelings.

And even so, she’s accepted the fact that she’s fallen in love with her best friend. For the past two years, they’ve been nearly inseparable, there’s no one in the world she knows better or cares about more than Anna. Falling in love with her felt almost inevitable.

But did Anna feel the same way? Well, she’d find out soon.

For the last 3-D showcase of their second year, Elsa had been working on a particularly special project. It didn’t have to do specifically with Anna’s last performance, but it was dedicated to her nonetheless.

Rising from a slab of concrete, she sculpted out a finely detailed rose, complete with a realistic crack where the stem breaks out and defined petals spiraling into the rosebud. It represented Anna’s ability to grow and flourish from a life of a constantly uncertain home life and rough nights on the streets.

At the base of the concrete slab, she wrote ‘For Anna, for everything’. When Anna notices the inscription, that’s when Elsa would tell her how she feels.

She shut herself out from the world for a particularly long time; Anna only saw her when they were walking to classes together, and even then Elsa remained tight-lipped so as to not spoil the surprise. Her patience had to be rewarded, she figured, or else this would have all been for nothing.

When the showcase finally arrived, Elsa waited anxiously for Anna to show up. She said she would be running late because she needed to meet someone, but that was fine because it gave Elsa more time to figure out what she’d say to the judges. Which in turn helped keep her from pacing around the showcase floor like a lonely, lovesick puppy.

When the judges came, she defended the lack of complex expression and vibrancy of her piece by quoting Henry David Thoreau’s opinion on simplicity. And she covered the etching with her hand because that was one question she’d rather not answer just yet. At least not to them. The judges looked impressed with her answers and one of them even mentioned that she had a knack for giving life to her sculptures. The high from that compliment should have lasted her throughout the entire day, but it was shot down almost immediately.

When the judges left, she saw Anna walking towards her. But she wasn’t alone, she was with a guy.

And they were holding hands.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I was waiting for this guy to get his fucking shoes on.” Anna patted the guy’s chest with a coy smile. He was tall, proper, and with fashionably thick sideburns. The way he wore his t-shirt and jeans looked awkward, as if he was ripped straight from a 19th century portrait and was forced to wear modern clothes to blend in.

“Hey in my defense, I didn’t know I was going to the showcase until you texted me like half an hour ago,” he said while wrapping her arm around Anna’s shoulders.

“Lies. And propaganda.” Anna turned to Elsa with a softer smile on her lips, which was just another hit to Elsa’s already bruising heart. “Again, I’m sorry I was late but I figured it was time for you two to meet. Elsa, this is Hans. We’ve been dating for a month now.”

A month?

A… a month.

Elsa’s doing her best to remain polite and cordial, but it’s hard when her entire body feels like it’s crumbling onto the floor. She extends a hand out anyway, wincing when Hans takes it with more strength than she’s expecting. “It-It’s nice to meet you, Hans. Anna’s lucky to have you around.” The words come out of her mouth like a rejected poison.

Anna talked some more, so did Hans, and maybe Elsa nodded and smiled when she needed to, but for the life of her she couldn’t tell you what the hell they talked about. When it came time for the… couple to examine Elsa’s sculpture, Anna beamed at her with that same pride that was on her face since day one and Hans said she did a good job. Elsa kept her hand over the inscription the entire time.

She won another second place ribbon. When Anna noticed the inscription, Elsa said it was a thank you for being a wonderful friend. Each word felt like pulling teeth.

September 4, 2020

They met at the campus coffee shop while Elsa was isolating herself. Ironically, Anna was going there to get a hot chocolate to surprise Elsa.

She brought Anna and Hans together.

It was a very lonely summer for Elsa. Since Hans lived in New Jersey, it wasn’t that hard for him to visit Anna whenever he wanted, which is exactly what he did. They spent almost every moment of the summer together, and while Elsa pretended to be happy with getting texts, the occasional phone call, and a surprise weekend visit from her best friend, none of it could stop the constant ache in her heart.

Move-in day for their third year was especially brutal, she unpacked absentmindedly while listening to Anna and Hans joke around and kiss when they thought she wasn’t looking. She tried all summer to let go of the feelings for Anna and to just be happy for her, but it felt like the more she tried, the more she held on.

“Alright, that’s the last box.” Anna wiped her hands on her jeans and looked at Elsa and then at Hans. “Let me just change out of this gross, sweaty shirt and we can get something to eat?”

“Of course, babe.” Hans kissed her and walked out of the girls’ dorm, Elsa finally let go of the breath she’d held since they started moving their stuff in.

“You’re coming with us, right?” Anna asked.

Elsa wasn’t expecting her to to talk to her, and she had to take a second for her mouth to catch up with her mind. “Uh no that’s okay,” she finally replied. “You two enjoy yourself, I want to unpack all of my stuff before I eat.”

Anna raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure? If you’re worried about being a third wheel, trust me it’s not gonna be like that.”

Elsa tapped her fingers on the stacked boxes in front of her. “No, I’m just not hungry yet. That’s all.”

“Well… alright, but I’ll bring you back some food and I won’t take no for an answer.” Anna peeled off her shirt and disappeared in her room to find a new one. From somewhere inside the room, she added, “We’ll hang out sometime soon okay? Just the two of us.”

October 1, 2020

'Sometime soon’ turned out to be nearly a month later. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but with the third year at Douglas being notoriously difficult, they needed to spend a little more time adjusting to the bigger workload and busier schedules. And any free time Anna did have was taken up by Hans…

Elsa continued to pretend to be okay, and she actually relished how busy their third year was going to be because it gave her something else to think about. A six-page essay on contour ate up time she was going to spend thinking about the sexual innuendo Hans was 'accidentally’ adding to him and Anna’s conversations.

The busy times couldn’t last forever, though, and Anna and Elsa finally found some time to spend together- just the two of them- one night on top of one of Douglas’ parking garages. It was a place they’d gone to many times just to get away from the staunch air of pressure and competition in every corner of every building underneath them. This was a place for them to breathe, a home away from a home away from home.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much lately,” Anna said, breaking the silence from their lack of conversation. “It’s just that this is the first relationship I’ve been in and… I don’t know, it’s exciting and new. Not that things aren’t like that with you, it’s just-”

“Anna, you don’t have to apologize. Whatever time I get to spend with you is just fine.” Elsa bites her tongue before she can say that she still wishes she had more time with Anna.

“I just don’t want you to feel like I’m neglecting you, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re not, so it’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Okay…” Anna scooted closer to her, their bare elbows touching made the nerves in Elsa’s arm tingle and send shockwaves through her entire body. “Sooooo, you want to know what I’m doing for my next performance? You know, so you can start figuring out what you’re gonna do for the showcase.”

Elsa looked away, “I don't… I think I’m gonna skip the showcase this time.” She wanted to say she was going to skip the showcase this year, but that would have set off too many alarms in Anna’s head. She could deal with the one alarm she saw going off behind her best friend’s eyes.

“How come?” she asked.

“It just looks like it’s gonna be a real busy year, and I think I need to focus on getting through it. Once I can do that, then I can start thinking about sculpting again.”

“I… see.” Anna looked out across the campus. “And that’s the only reason?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Elsa wondered if there was something she said, or some visible part of her full of pain that she’d forgotten to cover up.

Anna shrugged, “No reason. Just wondering.”

Elsa didn’t have it in her to pry, so she also went back to looking at the buzzing nightlife of Douglas Academy. With luck, they wouldn’t have to address this ever again.

November 30, 2020

Luck remained on Elsa’s side for nearly two months, and then they returned from Thanksgiving Break. Anna had declined her invitation to spend Thanksgiving with her, and instead she spent it with Hans’ family. Who, as it turned out, was exceptionally rich.

Anna spent a good hour gushing over their massive house with the hot tubs (plural) and rooms as big as their whole dorm, and then talked about all the people that were there for Thanksgiving dinner and how amazing the food was. Knowing Anna’s struggles, Elsa tried to remain supportive while she gushed over Hans and his family and his really nice house. And then she said something that should have remained a thought.

“Sounds like you dodged a bullet not joining me for Thanksgiving.”

Anna pounced on that out-of-character remark immediately. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gosh, what could she say that wouldn’t sound passive-aggressive? Elsa decided on, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m really glad you had a good time on break.”

For a second, that looked like it would work. And then Anna closed her eyes and sighed, “Oh god… you don’t like Hans.”

Elsa didn’t say anything, which is the worst thing she could have said.

“Elsa, we’ve been going out for months now. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I…I guess I…”

Anna sighed and waved her hand, “Never mind, I guess it doesn’t matter. Look, I like you both so I don’t want things to feel awkward or whatever. What can I do to help? I want you to like Hans so that things don’t suck between us.”

There’s nothing Anna needed to do, this was a problem that Elsa had to deal with on her own. That’s what she wanted to say to her best friend. But instead, there was another disconnect between her brain and her mouth and she said something that was bound to make things worse, “You don’t even know why I don’t like him.”

Anna nodded, “You’re right. So why don't you like him?”

Elsa wrung her hands together, “Anna, we shouldn’t talk about this.”

“What? But you’re the one that brought it up.”

“I know, but it’s just not… this won’t end well.”

“Is this one of those things where the protective older sister hates every guy her sister dates and thinks that no one’s good enough for her?”

“No,” Elsa replied. And under her breath, she muttered, “I wish.”

“Elsa, we’re the only two people in your room. I heard that.” She scooted across the bed to get closer to Elsa, their fingers nearly touching were enough for Elsa to feel like her arm was on fire. “Just… tell me what’s wrong. Please?”

Though it felt like the wrong thing to do, Elsa pulled her hand away. “I don’t know if I can,” she replied. “Can we drop it please? For now?”

“… okay.”

December 13, 2020

This was the longest time Elsa and Anna had gone without talking to each other. Sure, they were polite and fake when Hans was hanging out in their dorm, and they still said good morning and whatnot to each other, but they hadn’t made an effort to really talk to each other in two weeks.

Knowing this was her fault, Elsa set out to craft an apology to Anna. After deciding on recreating the canary she made her during their first year, this time in concrete, she went to work quickly on creating the mesh outline for it. One night, during this process, she heard a knock on her door. A knock that could only belong to one person.

She took a deep breath and then opened her door. “Hey Anna,” she said far too generically.

“Do you love me?”

Elsa tensed up so much she almost tore her doorknob off. Any answer would have been a good one, but instead she remained frozen in silence.

“Hans and I had a fight and he said…well I mean he thought that… areyou in love with me?”

Still as a statue, much like the concrete rose Anna’s holding in her hand, Elsa somehow found her voice long enough to say, “Anna, I didn't…”

Anna nodded, and in the darkness of their shared loft Elsa could finally see that her best friend had been crying recently. “I should have known. I’m sorry.” She walked away, pressing the concrete rose closer to her chest, and disappeared into her room.

January 20, 2021

Though their relationship had hit an all-time low, Elsa felt it was wrong not going to Anna’s performance. She still very much wanted to support her best friend even if they still weren’t talking all that much. But Anna smiled at her the other day and that… gave Elsa hope somehow? Either way, it was enough to get her to stop being a coward and show up to the performance.

She arrived at the auditorium just in time to see Anna walk on to the stage, but not with enough time to find a seat. So she stood by the entrance awkwardly as the music began playing through the speakers. What conspired for the next five minutes was the most poignant expression of heartbreak and longing that Elsa had ever seen in dance form.

It started off as a simple ballroom dance, and though Anna had no partner you wouldn’t realize it in the way she moved. But her mystery partner continued to pull away no matter how many times Anna chased after them. When the partner disappeared, Anna continued to dance alone and while her moves were perfect and calculated, she let her posture slump with every break in the song. By the end, she’s nearly dragging herself along the floor hoping to make it to the end of the song, all the while reaching out for someone. Something. The song ends with her laying on the floor breathing heavily and the audience erupting in applause.

And for the first time in a very long time, Elsa felt a jolt of inspiration.

February 15, 2021

Elsa sat by the base of her sculpture. The judges had come to talk to her long ago and spectators were slowly trickling out of the building, but she couldn’t leave yet. In fact, she’d wait all night long for Anna if she had to. The note she left underneath Anna’s door even said so.

This had to be the fastest yet most detailed sculpture she’d ever created and there were no doubts as to what inspired her. Time continued to tick away, and Elsa continued to sit.

Finally, after an eternity, she saw the familiar silhouette of her best friend walking through the door. She was wearing the same skirt and blouse that made Elsa fall in love with her in the first place.

Quietly, Anna closed the gap until they were a couple of feet apart. “I got your note,” she said softly.

Elsa nodded, “I watched your performance.”

“Oh, I… I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“I was in the back of the auditorium. But it was beautiful, I’ve never seen anyone move like you do. I’ve never seen anyone express heartbreak like you did.” Elsa wrung her hands together, “I’m sorry if this is inappropriate, but did you and Hans…”

Anna nodded, “A couple of months ago, actually. But my performance, it… wasn’t about him.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No, it…” Anna took her first glimpse at Elsa’s sculpture and it completely threw her off. “Oh my god.”

Immortalized in concrete was Anna in a stunning ball gown, her face content while she swayed in the arms of her dance partner. Except unlike the gladiator sculpture, Anna’s partner was completely visible.

And it was Elsa.

“I know it’s a little forward, but it didn’t feel right having you dance alone,” Elsa replied. And with much less confidence, she added, “Is that okay?”

Anna looked at her, confusion settled on her face. But then that confusion chipped away slowly but surely until a beautiful smile was seen in its place. “It’s perfect,” Anna replied, “Y-you did it again.”

Elsa blushed, “Well, I do have a pretty wonderful muse.”

“Well, I think that muse owes you dinner. What do you say?” Anna reached out her hand, eyes telling her that this was what she wanted.

“She doesn’t owe me anything.” Elsa took her hand and a lovely, warm feeling enveloped her. “But I’d be glad to go with her.”

Anna squeezed her hand and said, “Then it’s a date.”

Elsa’s sculpture won first place that day.

[lycorogue]

Love Square Fluff Week: Part 2 - Flowers

UPDATE (2/10/20): I finally had the time to go through and edit. All typos, mispunctuation, and incomplete sentences should be fixed now. Please let me know if you catch any others.

Technically this is the day 3 prompt, written as part 2 on day 4 of @lovesquarefluffweek 2020, and published at 2am on day 5. 

Needless to say, I’m all sorts of behind and backwards in this project. I did decide to loosely tie all the prompts together into one cohesive story though, so we’ll see how that goes....

My biggest issue is that I seem to be coming up with super-angsty stories for these prompts, so dialing them down to try to get to Fluff leaves them closer to “warm feelings and happy endings”?

I’m good at this Fluff thing... >_>

Anyway, along with having it posted in full below, you can also read this story over on AO3, on FFN, or on DA.

Let Me Help You

Summary: Chat Noir struggles to help Marinette out with a major last-minute project. If only his darn claws weren't in the way.

Word Count: 3828 Rating: General Audience Spoilers: Minor “Reflekdoll” and “Troublemaker” spoilers Love Square Side: MariChat with secret Adrienette Romance Level: Sweet Friendship

It was late. Adrien probably shouldn't have been out running through Paris as Chat Noir. And Marinette definitely shouldn't have been frantically pacing her room.

The light caught his eye first. He had no clue how late Marinette stayed up, but Chat Noir wasn't expecting her top-floor room to shine like a lighthouse in the otherwise dim quarter of Paris. Then he saw her jump up from her floor, rake her fingers through her hair, tugging strands out of her pigtails, before pacing in a tight circle. She shook her hands out, stretched her arms, then plopped back below her window.

Wanting to check that everything was alright, Chat Noir leapt over to one of Marinette's windows and gently tapped on the pane.. Inside, she jumped, wheeling around in every direction before zeroing in on the window. Her face then scrunched in confusion. Chat Noir simply pointed up before climbing to her balcony to wait.

A few seconds later, Marinette opened the skylight hatch to her room and poked her head out. “Chat Noir? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Marinette blinked at him, so Chat Noir continued. “Sorry. I just saw you pacing, and it's so late-”

“Oh!” Marinette broke eye contact. “No, I- I'm fine.”

Chat Noir cocked his head to the side. “Didn't look fine. You sure you're okay? You know you can tell me.”

Marinette quickly blinked. “I can? I mean, I do? I mean- Yeah, I know.” She gave him an awkward little smile. “Thank you.”

“So?”

Marinette sighed, then pulled herself up onto the balcony to sit beside Chat Noir. “Sorry, I'm just such a mess right now.” As if it reminded her how literal the statement was, she quickly pulled each half of her hair down, combed it back in place with her fingers, and then re-tied her pigtails.

“Something I can help with?”

“Oh, no. It's late. You probably have superhero-y things to do, or you were heading home-”

Chat Noir held up a hand to pause her. “I offered because I'm free. What's up?”

“It's nothing. I just- I didn't-” She shook her head. “I'm sorry, Chat Noir, I really need to get back to my project. I can't spare any more time.” She slid her feet back through the window, but Chat Noir caught her upper arm.

“Hey, hold up. There's no way I'm going to let you shoulder something that's clearly overwhelming you. What can I do?”

Marinette pursed her lips, again hesitating. “Really, I couldn't take up your time with this.”

“Marinette.” Chat Noir shifted his hand to her shoulder. “Seriously, I want to help. Please let me.”

Marinette simply stared at him for a few more seconds. He shrugged in return, encouraging her to open up. Submitting, she audibly exhaled.

“I was supposed to make three-hundred paper carnations for Kitty Section's music video shoot tomorrow, but I just- I ran out of time. Or, I will if I don't get back to it right now.”

“How close are you?”

“I think I've finished the first hundred.”

“Marinette.” His voice was soft; soothing, non-judgmental, and dripping with sympathy for her plight.

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck, a grimace on her face. “Between school, helping out my folks, finishing up my friend Alya's birthday gift, and- and other responsibilities I have, I just-” She shrugged. “Not enough time in a day.”

“Why didn't you ask for someone else to make them, or help you make them?”

“We all had our own job for the music video. I couldn't just dump more on them.”

“And you can't ask for them to give you a few more days because?”

“Because everyone else is ready for the shoot tomorrow. It wouldn't be fair.”

“Okay, and you took on making flowers for the video in the first place because?”

“It's for my friends. How could I say no?”

Chat Noir chuckled. “Okay, so you couldn't say no to a project you didn't have time for?”

“Exactly.”

“And you couldn't ask for help.”

Marinette shook her head.

“And you couldn't finish the project because you didn't have the time.”

“I have even less because I'm talking to you.”

“Which is why the one thing you can do is let me help.”

“Chat Noir, no.”

“Chat Noir, yes.” He rested his chin in his hand, trying to give Marinette a suave and debonair glance. “What kind of hero would I be if I didn't help a damsel in distress?”

She rested her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. “I might be a bit overwhelmed right now, but I'm hardly a 'damsel in distress'.”

“Are you a damsel?”

“Well, I mean, technically-”

“Are you currently in distress?”

“I wouldn't put it in those words exactly.”

“Then you are a damsel that is currently distressing: aka, a damsel in distress. And it is my duty to assist any way I can.”

“Chat Noir-”

“Come on,” he gestured towards the window, “show me the way. Let's make those flowers.”

They stared each other down. Clearly no one told Marinette that you can't beat a cat in a staring contest. Finally, she caved, and waved him to follow her inside.

A rainbow of crepe paper scattered across the floor, and a mountain of green pipe cleaners were stacked on top of Marinette's chaise. A large cardboard box was butted up against Marinette's floral trunk. Over half of the box was still empty.

Chat Noir whistled at the daunting task before them. “Okay. So, how do we make these paper flowers?”

Marinette sighed again before kneeling among her nest of paper. She gestured for Chat Noir to join her. Then, she peeled a piece of crepe paper off her stack, handed it to Chat Noir, and peeled another off for herself.

“First, we need to cut the overall paper down to about twelve centimeters, then we need to fold it accordion-style like this, five times.” She showed him about how large each fold needed to be, then cut the excess off. She then showed him how to cut the folds to make a stack of sheets, and folded accordion-style again. Finding the center of her accordioned stack, Marinette tied on the end of a pipe cleaner, leaving the majority tailing below like a stem. Once secured, she fanned open each side of her stack, then slowly unfolded and fluffed each layer until it looked like a full carnation.

Nodding that he understood how to help with the craft, Chat Noir cut his own section of crepe paper, and started folding. Marinette was half way done with her next flower before Chat Noir finished his initial five folds; taking care not to rip anything with his claws. She was done with two more flowers by the time he started tying on the pipe cleaner.

Marinette chuckled.

“What?” He pouted at her, and delicately began to unfurl the sheets of thin paper.

“Nothing.” She smirked as she shook her head and refocused on her own works.

“No, what is it?”

“Nothing. It's just-” She shrugged. “I dunno. It's amusing to see you sitting in my room, doing crafts with such concentration and care.” She shrugged again before fluffing her current flower.

“Yeah, I guess it is kind of- Shoot!” Chat Noir looked down at his nearly completed first craft. His claw had torn right through one of the petals. “So sorry, Marinette. Can we save it?”

Marinette's tongue peeked out of the corner of her mouth as she inspected the flower. She fluffed the other petals, and finished the side Chat Noir was working on. “It's not perfect, but maybe if they tuck it in the back of the shoot no one will notice.”

Exhaling, Chat Noir nodded, and started on his next flower. For every three Marinette could finish, Chat Noir barely completed one. He was so careful with his claws, but he still kept snagging the paper, asking Marinette for help each time.

“I thought you were supposed to be the one helping me,” she joked as she fixed another flower. “We can't keep too many more of these, or there won't be a point in having the full three-hundred.” She scrunched her face to the side as she thought.

Chat Noir leaned heavily on his crossed legs, his chin in his hands as everything about him deflated a bit. His assistance was becoming more of a bother to Marinette than any sort of aid. He had to find a way to make it right. “What if I fold the paper, and you fluff it into a flower? Then I can't tear it.”

They tried that for a couple more flowers, but it still didn't help. Making sure he didn't tear the paper when folding it in the first place took just as long, and Marinette would still manage to get one of her own flowers made by the time Chat Noir handed his project to her.

“I'm sorry, Chat Noir. I appreciate you trying, but this isn't really helping much.” She chewed her lip as she tucked the scissors by her thigh, keeping them from Chat Noir as he tried to start up another sheet of crepe paper.

“It's because of these claws.” He looked down at his gloved hands and wished he could retract the extended nails. “If I didn't have them I wouldn't have to worry about the paper being so thin.”

“I know. It's not your fault.” She reached out and patted his knee. How did she become the one to comfort him? “I really am grateful that you offered. It means the world to me.”

“Yeah, but you still have so many to make and-” He looked around her room. It was late, and Marinette was already starting to yawn. He couldn't leave her to handle all of this on her own. Maybe he could show up to the shoot the next day with his own box of the flowers? He could do them a lot faster as Adrien than he could as Chat Noir.

That wouldn't work. Adrien wouldn't have known that Marinette needed help with the flowers, she'd probably be embarrassed that he covered for her like that, and it wouldn't stop her from trying to finish them that night, even if she had to pull an all-nighter. Adrien wouldn't be able to help her any better than Chat Noir could.

Or, could he?

Chat Noir's eyes lit up as he spotted some clothes Marinette had piled in the corner of her room. Her pink gym bag was tucked under her vanity sink to her left. This part of Paris was comparatively dark, and Marinette's room was fairly high up.

Plagg was going to hate this plan. So would Ladybug – if she ever found out.

“I've got an idea!” Chat Noir jumped up, skirted the paper carpeting the floor, and grabbed Marinette's gym bag. “Marinette, what are the largest pieces of clothing you own?”

“My largest-? Why do you need-?”

“I can't help you because my claws are in the way.” He held up his hands to showcase his artificial nails. “But, if I didn't have them-”

“No! No way! Nuh-uh.” Marinette was also on her feet now. “You can't transform back! I can't know who you are! No one is supposed to know!”

“And you won't know. It's fairly dark outside, so I'll take some of your clothes, go to your balcony, transform back, change into your clothes so my own can't give you clues on who I am, and if I wear a mask as well, you'll be none the wiser. Do you have a Halloween mask I could also borrow? Or a pillowcase you no longer use and wouldn't mind eye-holes in?”

“Are you serious right now?”

Puffing out his chest, and crossing his arms in front of it, Chat Noir gave a single nod. “Marinette, you are putting too much on your shoulders. I said that I am here to help, and I will. I've figured out how to keep my identity a secret, so what's the problem?”

“The problem is what if I figure out who you are?”

“You won't.”

“What if I look when you're detransformed?”

“You won't. I know you won't.”

That stopped her for a couple of seconds.

“Okay, well, what if the mask falls off?”

“Then you won't look until I put it back on, and I'll pay attention to whether or not it's coming loose.”

“What if-?”

“No. You said so yourself. Time is of the essence, and there's still a ton of flowers to be made. We don't have the time to waste on you arguing with me. I know you won't look, I know you want to keep my secret safe, and I know that we can get these things done in just a few hours if I do this. So let me do it.”

Another stare down. Marinette again lost. Probably because of how tired she already was.

“This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy,” Marinette muttered as she rummaged through the trunk. She tossed him a pair of black pants, and a black sweatshirt. She then walked over to a pile of fabric she had tucked over by her desk.

“Thematic. I like it.” Chat Noir held the pieces up against him to make sure they'd fit.

“Here.” She motioned for Chat Noir to hunch down, and when he complied, she wrapped a strip of black fabric around his eyes. “Keep your eyes closed for a second, and let me know if I press too hard.”

“What are you-?” Chat Noir felt pressure along the side of his nose, then on the other side. In a flash the blindfold was off his head. Marinette then cut the fabric, starting at the chalk mark she had made when she measured his nose.

Once done, she slipped the mask back on him. “Can you see alright?”

Chat Noir adjusted it slightly before giving her a thumbs up. Making sure Marinette didn't have time to argue further with him, Chat Noir quickly scooped the pants and shirt up, shouldered her gym bag, and jumped to her rooftop.

“What are you doing?” Plagg scolded once Adrien detransformed.

“I'm helping out Marinette.” Adrien pulled out a wedge of Camembert, and tossed it to Plagg before stripping out of his clothes.

“Ladybug isn't going to like this.” Plagg gulped the cheese down in one bite.

"Which is why she's not going to find out." Plagg quirked an eyebrow at him. "Come on, Plagg, I thought this through. Marinette isn't going to figure me out, and even if she does, she'll keep it to herself. It will be fine." The pants and shirt fit perfectly, as if they were made for him. Adrien wondered for a passing second why Marinette had clothes that fit him so well, but focused instead on the task at hand.

“I hope you really do know what you're doing,” Plagg whimpered. He then zipped over to Adrien and started mussing up his hair.

"Oh! Right! I forgot about that." Adrien shook out his hair, then slid his homemade mask on. Now donning his makeshift superhero suit, he tucked all of his belongings inside Marinette's gym bag, and hid the bag under the lounge chair she kept on her balcony. As he did so he spotted his ring. Marinette had seen Adrien's ring before. She also studied his look for her own design inspiration, so she'd probably recognize his Miraculous while it was deactivated. He couldn't chance tucking it in the bag, not after the Reflekdoll fiasco. He had to make sure he could transform on a moment's notice.

"What are you doing?" Plagg hissed as Adrien began pulling his ring off.

"I can't let her see it. She might figure out I'm Adrien this way."

"Told you this was a bad idea."

"Don't worry, Plagg. I'm not going anywhere without my Miraculous again. I promise." He tucked the ring in his front pocket and patted it. "See? Safe and sound."

Plagg simply glared. Ignoring him, Adrien double checked his mask was secure before padding back to the skylight in his stocking feet.

“Back.” Adrien climbed down the ladder and took his spot on the floor across from Marinette.

She snorted down a laugh, and then another, before she finally let herself giggle.

“What?”

“You look ridiculous, Chat Noir.”

“Yeah, maybe, but you don't know who I am, do you?”

She studied him for a minute before shaking her head. “No, I guess you got me there.”

“Exactly. So,” he clapped and rubbed his hands together, “ready to see how quickly I can actually make these flowers?”

She handed him the scissors with a playful smile. “Care to race to see who can make them fastest?”

“Well that's just not fair,” he protested, “you've had more practice!”

“Oh, don't be a sore loser before we even start,” she teased.

He prepped his paper; she hers, and the race was on. She beat him easily, and he challenged her to a rematch. She again won. And again. And again. And again. The two began laughing as they sped through the project, the piles of paper and pipe cleaners slowly dwindling.

Along with their races – which eventually died off; Chat Noir just could not overtake Marinette's mad crafting skills – the two began to just chat. They avoided anything terribly personal on Chat Noir's part, and he didn't bother asking anything too telling on Marinette's side as well. It was only fair that if he kept his secrets, she could keep hers.

They talked about how the weather was a lot more mild than they were expecting, and how skilled Kitty Section was for an up-and-coming band. Marinette told Chat Noir the concept Nino came up with for the music video, and that the paper carnations were going to be used to make the band members look more like dolls living in a child's imagination.

As the night wound on, Chat Noir and Marinette shifted along her floor, searching for more comfortable positions. Eventually, they ended up side-by-side with their backs against the chaise; the pile of pipe cleaners tucked between their hips, and a small stack of paper to each of their sides.

“And three-hundred.” Marinette declared as she finished fluffing the last of the tied-off crepe paper. “I can't believe we did it!” She pulled out her phone. “And it's only about one-AM. I could actually get some sleep tonight!”

Chat Noir smiled as he watched her pack up the box, quadruple-checking the number of flowers they had made. They were both a bit exhausted, but it wasn't anything he hadn't gotten used to as Chat Noir. Still, the over-tired giddiness in Marinette's voice was infectious. Plus, the sleepy wobble to her steps was kind of adorable.

“Aren't you glad you let me help you, then?”

She turned to him with heavy eyes, and a drowsy smile. Slowly, with a little bob to her head, she nodded. She was clearly minutes away from passing out. Chat Noir wanted to scoop her up, and tuck her into bed. That was probably a bit too much help for one night, though.

“Yeah. Thank you for pushing for me to accept your offer. You truly are my hero.” She toddled over to him, stretched up onto her tip-toes, and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

His cheeks instantly burned with a flash of a blush. Clearing his throat, he skipped away from Marinette, and bent down behind her chaise. When he stood back up he had one more paper carnation in his hand.

“Oh no!” Marinette squeaked. “Did I miss one? I could have sworn I counted right.” She whipped her head over her shoulder, looking at the box.

“No no. This was an extra one,” he twirled the pipe cleaner stem between his fingers before holding the pink paper flower out for Marinette. “For you.”

“Me?”

He nodded. “For the fun evening. For... for teaching me a fun new craft. For the temporary costume. For letting me help. For... I dunno, for being you. I don't know if your friends realize how much effort you put into your relationships, and it was amazing to see. So, to remind you how amazing you are-.” He let the sentence die on his tongue as he again gestured for her to take the flower.

It was her turn to blush as she took the flower from him. Staring at it instead of Chat Noir, Marinette also twirled the flower stem in her fingers, watching the flower spin hypnotically.

While she was distracted, Chat Noir leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, startling her to catch his eyes with her own. He gave her a playful wink and pulled away. “Your friends are really lucky people to have found you. Always stay as fantastic as you are now. And don't forget to ask for help as well sometimes, 'kay?”

Dumbly, she nodded, and watched Chat Noir climb up to her roof. With a quick solute-wave, he climbed through her window.

He pulled her gym bag out from under the chair, and stared at his clothes tucked inside. He had dozens of those shirts, and the jeans and shoes were easy enough to replace. Would it be all that bad to “accidentally” leave them all behind and just transform with Marinette's costume still on?

“Psst,” Plagg hissed at Adrien, “did you fall asleep? What's the hold-up?”

No. As great as it would be for Marinette to know who Chat Noir truly was, he couldn't betray Ladybug's trust like that. He also couldn't chance putting Marinette in danger, no matter how much he had faith that she wouldn't say anything to anyone.

"So much for having someone new to talk to about the superhero thing," he muttered to himself before sliding his ring back on, stripping out of his loaner costume, and pulling his own clothes on. Tucking Marinette's clothing inside her bag, he dropped it onto her bed, and transformed back into his proper Chat Noir costume.

A couple of seconds later, he heard Marinette climb into bed and whisper “Goodnight, Chat Noir.”

“Goodnight, Princess,” he whispered back. Then he headed home, trying to come up with an excuse for Adrien to also make a paper flower for Marinette.