#might even finish it by saturday but don't get your hopes up i am sore and achy and doing my best not to fall asleep right now

[queerdiazs]

wip wednesday 🫧

hi <3 i was tagged by @giddyupbuck, @fortheloveofbuddie, @wikiangela, and @daffi-990 mwah thank you all so much!

i've been working on the heart attack fic, so have a little something sweet before it all goes sour

Eventually, Eddie and Albert return from their search. Albert sidles up next to Buck and grabs hold of the hose, offering support, while Eddie jerks hard on Buck’s turnout to spin him around. Buck notices he’s not wearing his oxygen mask or air tank and immediately starts fussing.  Eddie accepts Buck’s fretting with a dirty, crooked smile. “Gave my tank to one of the victims,” he says. “I’m going to triage for some oxygen.”  Buck’s chest tightens and he squeezes Eddie’s shoulder. “You okay?” he asks, a half yell. Their radios aren’t needed; they’re close enough to read one another’s lips.   “Yeah,” Eddie answers, frowning. Buck can see his tight lips and pinched forehead, a crinkle in the middle of his brow, and it’s equal parts endearing and worrisome. “Just—can’t take a deep breath. Air’s hot.”  “Are you—” “Just out of air,” Eddie interrupts, smiling softly. He tugs on Buck’s turnout again, something he must’ve picked up from Chris, and Buck steps impossibly closer, knees knocking into Eddie’s. “I’m okay.”  Buck nods, as placated as he’s going to be. “Be careful.” He squeezes Eddie’s shoulder once again before dropping his hand. “Follow the hose.”  “I will.” Eddie’s smile grows, crooked and bright. He fists Buck’s turnout and pulls him close, butting his forehead against the visor of Buck’s mask like an affectionate dog. “See you out there, cowboy.”  Dazed, a little mesmerized and a lot in love, Buck watches Eddie follow the hose carefully, quickly, until his figure’s concealed by smoke and he alerts over the radio he’s made it outside. He shakes his head, clears the warm fuzzy feeling Eddie always seems to cultivate when he’s sweet, and gets back to work.  Albert nudges his shoulder. “What was that about?”  Buck grins, cheeks hot. “I’ll tell you when you’re older,” he replies, chuckling at Albert and Hen’s twin bark of laughter.

no pressure tagging @eddiebabygirldiaz, @eddiediaztho, @callmenewbie, @wildlife4life, @watchyourbuck, @disasterbuckdiaz, @rogerzsteven, @thewolvesof1998, @folk-fae, @hippolotamus, @loserdiaz, @honestlydarkprincess, @made-ofmemories, and @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy, and anybody else!!

[xtrablak674]

Still Sore From Wednesday

Didn't really need to do a journal entry, but its nearly seven o'clock and since its Saturday I don't have to do my yoga and I have finished tending to my social media garden, which seems to get smaller month by month.

Wednesday was curiously errands directly related to things that were making me unhappy. Brooklyn Frame Works was the first stop to drop of the frame that had fallen off the wall two months ago. I am not sure why I have strong bad experiences with local businesses. I think part of it is that I am very deliberate about actively trying to use specific kinds of businesses, I guess its a bigger disappointment when they fail in their duties.

After surviving the interaction without being as openly frustrated and angry as I was, later that day I got this email from George, the owner, the same person who initially took my order.

Hello Trevor,

I just wanted you to know that we have made the appropriate changes to your frame and it is now ready for you. I am very sorry that this issue occurred. I also wanted to let you know that I truly regret that we let have you down and that you are (understandably) not pleased with the services, etc. which you've received from my business.

That said, I do remain concerned about the hardware on the other two frames we did for you and, as much as I understand your frustrations, I was still hoping that I might be able to remedy the potential issues of the 2 frames for you. 

As such, I would like to offer to deliver the frame we have ready for you now and pickup the other 2 to assure that they are properly wired. I have limited access to a vehicle, but if you are amenable, I could potentially manage this drop off/ pickup this upcoming Sunday (4/2).

I should then be able to get the other 2 frames returned to you within approx. 2 days.

Please let me know if you are interested in this offer.

Thanks and best regards,

George

I think it took me two days before I even opened the email because the subject line was explicit enough that I knew the frame was ready I was just waiting for good weather to go and pick it up. I was also overwhelmed with annoyance that I had even needed to bring the piece to get repaired because it should have been done correctly the first time.

This is the thing about emotions even if you understand why they're there its not easy just to let them go. I guess that is part of the reason I wanted to do a journal today to make an attempt to move past these negative feelings, not for George but for me. As I said he was one of the three errands I had to run and I had feelings of anger, frustration and rage with all of them. I think it was because I went into all of the situations attempting to just do a task, attain a service or purchase an item and things went to shit.

What I really want to know is how can I reduce this trauma from these kinds of interactions. I have decided to put a moratorium on spending in the hopes if I am not buying anything that I can't invite any additional stress. Mind you think is modus operandi, have negative experience or trauma do whatever I can to neutralize future trauma. But then I realized this is just a part of being human and being in the world and interacting with other human beings. It doesn't matter how much I want to try to do good, there's going to be crap to deal with.

Sadly we can't avoid life to deal with life. It's impossible because life is just going to continue to show up no matter how much energy you put into trying to avoid it. I think what I need to do is find a way to reset my expectations, so I am less disappointed when things don't go the way I want them to. Its sad that we have to expect less to feel better, it doesn't feel like a good way to approach life or anything...

[Photo by Brown Estate]

[typicalhippiegirl]

Let's talk about something.

First off, I'm not putting this messed up, peely, gross looking tattoo up for anyone to judge (I'm not happy with it either). I'm putting this out there to help others learn from my mistakes & hopefully prevent them from going thru what I've been dealing with.

There's a tattoo expo coming to town with featured artists from out of town. I find one thru IG whose work looks clean & I like her style so I DM her about setting an appt. Shes got time this weekend yay! no waiting for the expo. -Do you see the mistakes I made already? It's so obvious to me now😓

Saturday's here, I head to the shop (for the first time) for the appointment & the moment I walk in it's like Uh, wtf? Half the shop is taped off & in the middle of a remodel (no dust or active working, just shit all moved around). I brush it off, theyre getting things ready for an expo right? They need people tattooing there, not playing pool so ya, no wonder it's a bit messy.

Next she shows me the stencil and its fuckin huge. Like I specifically said between 6-8 inches max bc it's going on my forearm & i'm not Stretch Armstrong. Shes like Oh I kept it between 8 & 10. Well ya didn't fuckin listen bc what woman has arms that long? So it's resized & idk what we were casually talking about but she def rolled her eyes at me. Look man, I'm a pretty easy going person and depending on the situation I may take a slight without saying shit. Also like low self confidence helps with that right? So anyway, at the point I should have been like Alright dude, we're not really clickin & I'm not feelin this anymore & walked TF out. I didnt. Like an idiot. I'm not gonna lie, part of it was losing put on the deposit the other part was just me telling myself it would be fine despite in my heart of hearts I knew it wasn't.

So we start. Yo, she's a Fuckin. Bitch. I wanted a theme right, this chick is supposed to be a Texas pinup, I wanted certain colors in her clothes. I asked "What colors are we thinking for her?" She actually scoffed and says "These ones" while motioning at her cups. Wow. Ok, well, fuck I don't want to ask her anything anymore so I shutup & go with it.

This shit HURTS. I'm not a pussy when it comes to pain. I have several tattoos, including fingers, toes and a whale that was particularly painful because it goes directly over my very bony shin. I've been cut, I've had a baby without drugs. Mags remind me of getting a razor cut and I find pleasure in the feeling. I can tolerate some pain and this shit sucked. Yo, at the end she switched down to a single needle and that was KILLER. I felt like I was being carved into (which, if you'd ever seen my back you'd know, I know the feeling).

Alright so finally we're finished & I roll into the next day. I'm a bit worried about the appearance and not just bc she looks like she broke her leg. It looks wet. I continue my aftercare as normal: antibac soap & aquaphor. Day 2 I'm researching infections bc it's super painful, red but mostly it's wet. I'm afraid of infection also bc this chick had the trash can right next to the station. I mean Right. Fuckin. Next to it. To the point that the trashcan lid fell onto the pad where my arm is. I want to ask her to move it but she's in such a bad mood I think it'll just make things worse & she'll be even rougher. By day 3 I've tried antibac goo & it seems to make my skin bubble where its been applied so I quickly quit using that. My arm hurts so badly at this point I cant put it down without getting shooting pains up my arm. I let it dry out so things are crusty but at least I don't find them medically disturbing. Regardless, I spend a lot of this day crying. Day 4 I'm still researching infection and come across overworked tattoos, scars & "hamburgering" My heart pretty much drops bc this is it, this is what's going on. What's even more fucked up is that I find this on forums for people learning to tattoo. Like apprentice's first few tattoos having this problem. Rookie shit, ya hear?😑

The pictures are from day 5. You can see splitting along the black lines, there's holes in the sun & near her belt. Oh and that's a thing. The hole is the sun is bc somehow a drop of green got in there so she went over it and over it and over it again with more red. Can you imagine my frustration at that point?

So look, I got this done Saturday, here it is Friday. My skin is very shiny and puckery where the peeling has come off. The scabs are thick af, I've only been moisturizing the places safe to so as of today almost everything but the cactus. Did I mention my arm still really hurts? I can't straighten it, there's pains that shoot out from the center, and why why why is my bicep sore?! I'm really worried about how the cactus is going to turn out. My skin looks bumpy between the cracks of scab. I think she used a crappy cheap green. I'm really left wondering about her experience as a tattoo artist. I'm just saying: My first tattoo was done by a scratcher in a dirty apartment bedroom. He did such a shitty job that I took the machine from him & finished it myself. Might I mention I was 16 and completely coked out of my mind? Also, I didn't hamburger myself and there was no scarring over that disaster of a tattoo (which thankfully no longer exists thanks to the aforementioned painful whale)

This whole thing has fuckin sucked. I don't want anybody else dealing with this. Let me outline some things I should have done differently so if you find yourself in the same situation you can make better decisions than I did.

1. If you're looking on IG for an artist make sure they also post healed pics not just fresh ones.

2. If you're not vibing with your artist it's ok so call it off. Look, a 60$ deposit aint shit to lose in the grand scheme of things, can you get a cover up for 60$? How about bad work or a bad experience lasered off? You can't get those deals, oh who knew? Sometimes losing money is saving it.

3. Don't get shit from travelling artists. Maybe they woke up a 3am & drove 8 hours & now they don't give a shit about anything but going home.

4. If the shop doesn't look great, walk out. Again, whats 60$ compared to your health and happiness?

This is a long post & it's not something I usually post about (lol who am I kidding? Personal tragedies are kinda my thing). It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed how she came out, I'm embarrassed I didn't speak up, I'm embarrassed I didn't just go to the person I knew could give me a good tattoo. It wasn't even about money, I didn't get a deal on this pinup mess. All I can do is move on. Thank goodness this wasn't my first piece or I may have been totally turned off from getting anymore ink. Now all I can do is continue my aftercare, hope for the best and when the time comes I'll go visit Vinny at American Tradition and get something else on the backside of my arm to distract from this mess.

Much love my inked up friends❤

Hey and if this speaks to you like you've been in this situation or are currently in it, feel free to DM me.

[magicksouth]

BLOODY MARY RITUAL 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️

We were having a sleepover at my house that Saturday night. Me and my four best friends; Alex, Bianca, Sabrina, and Lacey. We made cookies and watched movies and did our hair and makeup. By midnight, we’d run out of planned activities. It was time to improvise.

“Let’s try that Bloody Mary thing,” Lacey suggested.

Alex, who was sitting crossed-legged on her sleeping bag, said: “What’s the Bloody Mary thing?”

Sabrina, who was lounging on top of her own sleeping bag on the far side of the room, said: “Come on, Alex. Everyone knows the Bloody Mary thing! You stand in front of the bathroom mirror with a lighted candle and say the witch’s name three times. Then her ghost appears, looking just the way she did when she died; all horrible and bloody with scars all over her face!”

“She sounds gorgeous. Just why, exactly, do you think I would want to see the ghost of Bloody Mary?” Alex asked skeptically.

“Why not?” I said from my place on the pull-out couch in the living room. “I’ve always wanted to see a ghost! It could be fun. Besides, I've heard she can tell your future if you summon her correctly.”

“And if you don't summon her correctly - or if she's in a bad mood - the ghost of Bloody Mary will rip your eyes out and leave your face horribly scarred,” Lacey said dramatically. “Or you will be found dead with claw marks all over your face and body.”

“Or you could be trapped in the mirror with Bloody Mary for eternity,” Sabrina added.

“Ooo, that sounds like fun! Disfigurement, death or entrapment. What a fabulous way to spend eternity,” Alex said sarcastically. “Where do I sign up?”

“It’s a load of crap,” Bianca said as she tried to balance on one foot on the arm of the pull-out couch. “It’s just a story told to scare little kids. Bloody Mary isn't real.”

“I’ve heard its real,” I said. “My friend Katie tried it once and saw the ghost in the mirror. Bloody Mary told Kate that when she grows up she is going to become a research doctor who cures cancer and saves lots of live and wins a Nobel Prize.”

“Hogwash,” said Bianca dismissively.

“There’s only one way to know for sure,” said Sabrina. “Come on! Let’s try it.”

I ran to the supply closet to get a candle and matches, and all of us, even Alex and the disbelieving Bianca crowded into our large downstairs bathroom.

"This is a bad idea," Alex said nervously as we lit the candle.

"Not it's not! It's the perfect thing to do at a sleepover," I said. "Like telling ghost stories. Only this one might be true. Here, you hold the candle." I thrust the flickering candle into Alex's hand.

Once the candle was lit, Bianca turned all the bathroom lights. As we stood before the bathroom mirror, I told everyone the story of Bloody Mary.

Bloody Mary was the name of an evil witch that live back in Colonial times. The witch used her black arts to make her young again by killing a bunch of young girls in her village. When the villagers discovered Bloody Mary was behind the murders, they burned her at the stake. Bloody Mary used mirrors to help her locate and enchant her victims, and she cursed all mirrors when the villagers executed her, so that anyone chanting her name three times would be pulled into the mirror with her to spend eternity in the flames!

By the time I finished the eerie tale, all my friends were looking a little nervous. But we were excited too. Maybe we'd see a real ghost! The candle in Alex’s hand flickered a moment and then steadied as the five of us chanted Bloody Mary’s name 3 times in front of the bathroom mirror.

I held my breath, not know what to expect, and wondered what Bloody Mary might say about my future. Maybe I would marry Robbie when I graduated from college! (Robbie was a cute boy that I liked in my science class.)

The five of us waited tensely as we gazed without blinking at our faces reflected in the glass. The only sound was the ticking of the little wind-up clock my Mom kept in the bathroom. I strained my eyes, trying to see through the mirror into some nether realm that I both dreaded and hoped might be there.

Finally, Bianca said: “Nothing’s happening. Let’s just get out of here."

She reached for the doorknob and turned it. The door wouldn't open.

The door wasn’t locked when we started the ritual. I knew this for a fact because I checked the door in case we needed to make a quick getaway. After all, there was the possibility – however faint – that it might not be just a scary story told to frighten little kids.

I rushed to the door, pushed Bianca aside, and unlocked it. But when I tried the knob, the door wouldn't open. Something... or did I mean someone?...was holding it shut.

Suddenly, Alex screamed and pointed at the mirror. I whirled away from the locked door and saw a glowing white figure staring at us from the mirror. Her face was twisted with malice and flames seemed to flicker around her. In one hand she held a bloody knife! It was Bloody Mary.

We all screamed and my friends backed away from the mirror; all but Alex who stood frozen by the bathroom sink with the candle still clutched in her shaking hand. All of a sudden, Bloody Mary lunged forward, her knife-hand coming straight out of the mirror and striking Alex fiercely in the face. Long scratches appeared on Alex’s cheeks and she stagger backward with a gasp of pain; hands coming up to protect her face. A wave of heat and anger poured out of the mirror in a blast that blew us head over heals. My forehead struck the wall and I felt senseless to the floor.

I woke in darkness a few moments later and groped desperately for the light switch. When I turned it on, I found Lacey unconscious beside me and Alex blacked-out beside the bathroom sink with deep scratches all over her arms and legs and face.

Sabrina was huddled sobbing behind the toilet. I pulled her out, and gasped when I saw she was also covered in scratches. She'd been standing too close to the mirror and the ghost had knifed her too.

I shook Lacey and Alex awake and the four of us clung together weeping and shaking with fear. “I told you this was a bad idea,” Alex gasped.

My eyes widened suddenly when I realized there were only four of us crouching on the bathroom floor.

“Where's Bianca?” I cried in alarm. I leapt to my feet and stared at the bathroom mirror, but it only reflected the wall and my frightened face. Oh dear lord, what if Bianca was pulled into the mirror with Bloody Mary? Would we ever see her again? What would I tell her parents?

“Try the door again,” Alex gasped, lunging forward to grab the knob. It opened immediately. Apparently, the door was released from the lock spell as soon as Bloody Mary disappeared.

We ran to the living room, hoping to find Bianca huddled in her sleeping bag. She wasn’t there. We searched all over the downstairs for her. I was about ready to wake my parents and confess the whole stupid mess to them when Lacey gave a yell from the laundry room. Bianca was lying unconscious beside the washing machine with blood and scratches all over her face. The ghost had scratched a message deep into the flesh of her right forearm. It said: "I AM REAL."

My stomach lurched and I wanted to throw up when I saw Bloody Mary's message. Instead, I knelt down and shook my friend's shoulder, trying to wake her up. After nearly a minute of calling her name, Bianca finally opened her eyes. She groaned and rolled to a sitting position.

“What happened to you?” I asked, dabbing at her cuts with a hand towel from the bathroom.

“After that…that horrible ghost knocked the four of you down, it grabbed me by the hair and pulled me through the mirror,” Bianca said with a shudder. “I felt something scratching my face and hands, and I tried to fight back but I was knocked to the ground and dragged along a cold floor by my hair. The ghost tossed me into a dark room. I couldn’t see anything, but I felt the ghost clutched my arm and there was this terrible pain. That’s all I remember until I heard your voices and the light came on.”

She saw the look on our faces and glanced down at her sore arm. She went so white I thought she would faint again, so I pushed her head between her knees until the dizziness passed.

We cleaned up the blood on Sabrina and Alex and Bianca and then the five of us huddled in the living room for the rest of the night; too scared to sleep. We made up some story in the morning for my parents about bumping into the furniture while playing a game to explain the scratches on my three friends. No one showed them the message on Bianca’s arms.

We’ve had other sleepovers since that night, but my friends and I never tried the Bloody Mary ritual again.

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

Slightly nsfw at the beginning. Also, thank you all so much for your reviews! Both Kite and myself enjoy reading your reactions so much, and your thoughts on deeper topics as much as squeeing over fluff and smut. Hope you keep enjoying!

Anna awoke to the most obnoxious sound in the world coming from Elsa's phone.

She tried desperately to ignore it, burying her face into the soft mound she had claimed as a pillow and trying to fall back asleep. However, her semi-awake brain was quick to register the dull, though not unpleasant ache resonating between her thighs and the feeling of bare skin against her own and her brow furrowed slightly in confusion… especially when the pillow against her face moved and a stiff nipple poked her cheek.

Wait… pillows don't have…

Her eyes shot open, only to reveal that her pillow was, in fact, Elsa's chest. Her face flared up violently at the realization that she had been nuzzling her face into those boobs, perhaps all night. Not that Elsa seemed to care; she only squirmed and reached up to rest a hand against Anna's back, still more or less asleep.

It took a few minutes for Anna's heart rate to slow and her face to stop burning but once it did, Anna felt a fluttering in her chest. A grin formed the longer she watched her sister sleep until she could no longer keep to herself. She lay a soft kiss on the soft skin beside her face before kissing up until she had her mouth over Elsa's pulse, sucking softly on it.

"Hmmhhh…" The sound flowed out of her sister, and she cleared her throat slightly as her mouth dropped open. "Oooh…"

Anna giggled and sighed contentedly before snuggling into Elsa. "Turn off your phone," she murmured against her neck. "I want to sleep with you longer but I can't with that noise."

"Hmh? Oh… OH."

Then Elsa pushed back from Anna a little, staring down in shock at her sister with wide blue eyes. "A-Anna, what- why am I naked? Did… what did we do last night?"

The redhead's pleasant mood turned to slight worry and she bit her lip, unsure of how to answer. Did Elsa really not remember? The very thought of her sister remembering, only to regret everything they did last night, made Anna's heart sink into her stomach but she hid her unease behind a smile. "We showered, remember?" she prodded gently, not wanting to reveal too much right away.

"Right, we…" Then she gulped, pushing a hand into her face. "We did a lot more than shower… oh, Anna, I'm sorry — are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Anna reassured Elsa. "A little sore, but that's normal… a-are you okay?"

"Yeah… I guess I am. I mean, I'm not sure that should have happened, but…" After a moment, her lips twitched into a slight smile. "But it was pretty wonderful."

Anna beamed, her mood soaring again until she couldn't help but litter Elsa's face in kisses. "It really was wonderful," she cooed. Her adoration for her elder sister and the happiness left over from the night before made Anna feel like she was on cloud nine. "Are you… sore at all?"

"W-well, I don't… OOH!" she groaned, screwing her eyes closed when she tried to sit up. "Okay, it's not that bad; I… was just surprised!"

"Sorry, I'm usually a little sore for awhile after the act, too." Anna giggled softly as she reached out and hugged Elsa tightly. Elsa hugged back, nestling in against her after a little sigh. Everything felt right in Anna's world with Elsa like this and Anna felt herself starting to drift into a content, comfortable state, humming as she ran her fingers through Elsa's hair and carefully undid any tangles she found. She didn't want to move despite the voice in her brain nagging her to get up and work.

"I can't believe we did that," Elsa repeated herself, though she sounded less terrified by it now. "It's… I mean, I suppose looking back, we were heading in this direction, but it's still… I didn't expect to go from a few kisses to full-on sex so fast!"

The redhead nodded in agreement. "Yeah… but then life and love is unexpected like that," she laughed softly and kissed the crown of Elsa's head. Elsa was fully blushing already, as shy and inexperienced as ever despite all they tried the night before. It was adorable. "Fun though, right?"

"It was," she had to confess. "We… should try that again. Maybe not right away! But… yeah."

"I'd like that," Anna cooed and gave Elsa another kiss before yawning. "Hmmm, why can't it be Sunday so we can sleep?"

"Because it's Saturday," Elsa chuckled as she stroked over Anna's back. Really, they were lucky at least one of them was clothed or things could have been worse. "Come on. We don't really have time for a shower now, so luckily we took such a long one last night…"

Anna snickered, "Not that it matters considering we got dirty again." Shamelessly, she took a peek at Elsa's lower region and gave the fine hairs a light pat. "But yeah, at least the rest of us is clean."

"W-we only got dirty in one way," Elsa said with a shaky laugh, automatically twitching her thighs together. "And… and wow, I am still not used to this."

The redhead was reluctant but eventually, she got up off of her sister and started walking towards her own bed to start getting ready for the day. She glanced at Elsa, noting the way her bare body seemed to gleam in the pale sunlight streaming through the thin cracks in the blinds and she tried valiantly to ignore the arousal pooling in her belly again.

As she stooped to pull her underwear up past her ankles, she caught Anna watching her and smiled a slightly-bashful smile. "Shameless."

"Only where you are concerned," Anna teased with a grin, beginning to strip out of her sleepwear and stretching once it was off, her muscles aching in both pleasure and protest. "And you really can't blame me, either."

"No, I can't," Elsa breathed, having stopped after finishing the action to gaze at Anna. Seemed it was her turn. Anna let out a relieved sigh and shook her limbs free of the tingling numbness before pulling on a pair of panties and her bra. "Guess I'm not any better."

Anna chuckled and shifted through her pack for a top and some shorts; the day was supposed to be one of the warmest of the summer so pants or jeans wasn't an option. She pulled out a cute, blue blouse made of a light, flowy material that hung off her lithe frame in just the right way, a shirt Anna had picked during their shopping trip when she had noticed Elsa's gaze linger on it.

"Think I should wear this today? I think it's just cool enough for this weather."

Nodding appreciatively, Elsa finished with her own undergarments and moved on to pulling on ankle-socks. "You're going to get some of those pubescent boys watching you a little closer with that, you know. And the counselors doing it for other, less-hormonal reasons."

"Think it'll piss off Aurora too much? With my sin-tempting good looks, maybe she'll get mad because she'll find she can't resist me, either." Anna laughed at her own stupid joke before pulling on a pair of shorts, ones just long enough to be appropriate for the camp.

"Maybe, maybe." Next for Elsa was a longer pair of shorts and a polo shirt. "But don't tempt fate too much, Anna; I don't want to make this situation any more difficult on you than it already is."

"For me?" Anna regarded Elsa in concern. "It's you I'm worried about. I can deal with those kind of comments; girls at my school picked on me for being gay loads of times, so I can handle myself."

Shifting a little uncomfortably, Elsa said softly, "It's that, and… and if they drop hints that we're gay, and people start paying too much attention to us, they might figure out that we're… sisters, as well. That worries me just as much."

Approaching her with a gentle smile, Anna lay a soft kiss on Elsa's lips, sweet and reassuring. Playing with a stray strand on Elsa's forehead, she stared into Elsa's glacier blue eyes. "Just know that no matter what happens at this point, we have each other, okay?" She ignored the nervous flutter in her own chest and the worry and stress that came with the thought of such a scenario happening, instead focusing on keeping her sister from overanalyzing and potentially freaking out over the same thing.

Letting out a slow breath, Elsa nodded, as well. "Okay. Yes, you're right." Another deep breath, and she shook out her arms as she did so. "Ready? Oh, wait - we should probably brush our teeth, at least…"

"Yeah, we should. So we don't scare people away with our morning breath. You can take the bathroom first if you want."

"Okay." Hesitating on her way there, she looked back to ask, "Do… I really have morning breath?"

"It's not that bad," Anna said as she waved her hand dismissively. "Mine is worse."

                                                      ~ o ~

Thankfully, there were no real events scheduled on Saturdays. Instead, Anna and Elsa found themselves sitting in the shade of a large oak and watching a couple of kids from each age group play.

"They wear me out," Elsa breathed as they looked on passively. "But they are sweet, aren't they?"

Anna chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, they are a bunch of monsters but at least they're cute monsters." Elsa's weight against her side was comforting and Anna's hand found itself playing with Elsa's braid, her arm around her older sister's shoulders. It was very pleasant and the smile on Anna's face hadn't faded in the slightest since it first formed upon being assigned their group for the day.

"Stop," Elsa playfully whispered, though she was smiling just as much. "We really should be a little more discreet."

"We should." Anna flicked the braid playfully while she quietly flirted, "But It's so hard because I just want to hold you all day."

A low "shhh" issued from Elsa as they watched the children scamper around. After a few minutes, she waited until no one was looking, then left a fleeting peck on Anna's cheek. Anna's cheeks warmed.

"You're even worse than me," she teased. "Admit it, you can't keep to yourself any better than I can!"

"Better than you," Elsa teased right back with a smirk. "But… not by much. Can you-"

"Elsa! Anna!" A cheery voice interrupted Elsa and Anna grunted as a smaller body leaped into her lap and thin arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist. Dark eyes twinkled merrily up at them and Olaf was grinning toothily from ear to ear. "You did it! You did it!"

Anna's ears turned pink as some of the kids closest to them looked over in confusion. Elsa also seemed to be a little taken aback, glancing between his and Anna's faces.

"W-What did we do Olaf?" Anna questioned the ecstatic boy, trying to keep her voice down so he would hopefully take the hint.

"Miss Elsa and you are glowing! Papa told me only people who are insanely happy with their partners do that! You confessed! You confessed!" The little boy gazed at the two of them adoringly, his expression full of pride. "I knew you guys would eventually!"

"Hush now, Olaf," Elsa warned him, glancing around at the other children with her cheeks starting to pinken. This was pretty obvious, as pale as she was. "Haven't we talked to you about this already?"

Anna took a quick glance and was relieved to notice that the other kids had decided to dismiss what was going on and return to their play. Olaf simply pouted in Elsa's direction. "But Miss Elsa! You guys are cuddling and look so happy!"

"We're very happy," Elsa told him honestly. "Our moods are very good, and we're closer friends now, and we're here at camp with all of you. But that doesn't mean you should keep bringing this up so much; we talked about that. It's very… distracting for the other campers, and could make things difficult for Anna and I. So can't you please try to keep those comments to yourself?"

Olaf frowned. "True love should be shouted from the rooftops!" he protested and Anna let out a sigh. She rested her hand on the little boy's head.

"Yes Olaf," she said patiently. "But at the same time, sometimes people don't like announcing it for everyone to hear. Me and Elsa… we prefer to keep our love quiet, can you respect that for us?"

The boy glanced between Elsa and Anna, looking put out, but he eventually nodded and said a quiet "Okay." Elsa patted him on the shoulder tenderly.

"Thank you. Now go on and play with the others." Once he had scampered off, still shooting a look over his shoulders at them on his way, she sighed and pushed a hand into her forehead. "He's going to be the death of us, I just know it."

"Yeah, probably." Anna watched Olaf as he joined his brother for a game of catch. "He means well though, so I guess we can't be too angry."

Taking Anna's hand between both of her own, she gazed out at them for a little while. "I'm… still a little in shock, to be honest. I think it's helping me be able to simply… be calm about this whole situation, instead of continuing to freak out."

"I'm here to help if it gets too overwhelming," Anna reassured, stroking Elsa's hands with her thumbs. "Do you need to get a drink or anything? Give you an excuse to get away?"

"I'll be fine until we get back to camp." Sighing, she looked off into the trees. "Too bad those divas stuck us with babysitting duty all day… well, other than a few of the other counselors who aren't part of their scheme. I think I saw Rapunzel still in the camp."

"To be fair, this could be much worse. I don't mind watching the scamps over bathroom duty again."

"Oh, agreed," she sighed wearily, rubbing her forehead. But after a moment or two, she began to giggle. Anna bumped her head against Elsa's playfully, glad to see her sister's mood improve slightly.

"Got you to smile, at least."

"No, it's just… well, after what happened the last time we cleaned the bathroom, I would almost think you'd want to do it again."

"I'd rather we 'did it' when we didn't smell like disinfectant and bathroom spray," Anna laughed. "There is only so much sexy that can happen in a dirty bathroom like that one."

"Not in the bathroom; getting cleaned up afterward. But you're not wrong." She leaned in, as if to kiss Anna, but remembered to stop herself at the last moment. "This, um, is going to take some getting used to!"

Anna leaned in to gave Elsa a sisterly peck on the cheek, chaste enough to be mistaken for a friendly gesture just in case some of the kids saw them. "It gets easier, trust me." She grinned. "We're in the honeymoon phase. Just you wait until we can't stand each other anymore." Despite the joke, Anna's stomach twisted at the thought of Elsa and her arguing.

"I don't think that could ever happen now." When Anna didn't respond right away, she leaned over to hug her tightly to her side. "Honestly, it was only our mother's poisoning lies that kept us apart before now. Remember what we were like before that?"

"We were always so close." Anna returned the side-hug by placing her arm around Elsa's shoulders. "Mom and Dad had to fight really hard to get us to separate for more than ten minutes because we would both argue like crazy with them about it."

"Exactly," she sighed pleasantly. "All our other little bickerings were about nothing, and they didn't take long for us to resolve. So… so I think we're going to be just fine, if we can survive camp."

"You're right." Anna snuggled and closed her eyes. "When we part ways next week, we won't shut each other out. We'll keep in contact from now until we are together again…"

Anna didn't want to voice the worry that gnawed in the back of her mind. How she wondered if Elsa would reject her during their inevitable separation. If their mother's influence would scare Elsa back into shunning the closeness and the love they were sharing now. Would they reunite, only for Elsa to call it off? Say how wrong this was and… would she express disgust, an intent to sever all contact again?

Maybe that was foolish after all they had been through, but the thought terrified her. So she tried to focus on the encouraging way Elsa was smiling at her, squeezing her hand. Only time would tell.

                                                      To Be Continued…