Oh good gods, they're at it again?

Elsa Arendal was tired; tired from not having slept well the nights before, and tired of the cacophonous attempts at music coming from her neighbors' garage. In the two short weeks since she had moved into the house that noise had managed to burn through her usually formidable patience, and there wasn't much more that she could take. Her new housemates might be fine with it, though some baffling combination of self-inflicted insomnia and the uncanny ability to sleep through anything less than a minor detonation, but Elsa's rest was neither so poorly scheduled nor so robust that she could ignore the issue any longer. If she could at least have concentrated despite it she might have been able to manage, but Elsa read best in proper silence, something that her new neighbors apparently couldn't allow her at nearly ten o'clock at night.

The textbook snapped shut with a satisfying *thwap*, frustration putting more force into it then was quite necessary. Under normal circumstances the disturbance would have been palpably out of place in the well-kept room. Every part of Elsa's domain was placed with studied precision, neatly ordered and sorted, folded and fit. Books lined the shelves, morose guardians over the carefully made bed. The desk held a small lamp near the center and assortment of pens confined to their corner. Dirty clothes were kept isolated in a small hamper near the door, ready to be escorted away whenever it filled. The room exuded a sense of calm and quiet that grated against the sounds invading it, setting Elsa's teeth on edge. Clearly she wouldn't be able to accomplish much tonight without staying up late yet again, and tonight that was just too much. No more.

Resolved, she stood, nearly knocking over her chair under her abnormal fervor. Despite the late summer warmth she grabbed her long coat, drawing it close as a ward against the dark and whatever she might find at the house. No backup was forthcoming from her housemates, who wished her luck but appeared largely uninterested in her efforts, preferring instead to stay sprawled across the couches in the living room variously reading or watching a show. How they withstood it was a mystery. Perhaps their marching band roots granted them some special resistance, and as the non-band replacement for their graduated friend she simply hadn't acquired that particular ability. Whatever the reason Elsa was determined not to be dissuaded from the attempt, and so she stepped out alone.

In a better mood Elsa might have noticed how pleasant the night was. The leaves hung silently on their branches, lit by a nearly full moon set in a clear sky. The year wasn't yet old enough for the trees to have begun turning, though fall's imminent arrival was likely to bring that change soon enough. Elsa's house fell nearly at the end of her street, just one removed from the stand of maples that marked the border of a small park. When searching for a room she'd assumed the location, tucked so deeply into the neighborhood, would be as remote as she would be able to find in the city. It wasn't until after she had moved in that she discovered that though her housemates might be quiet enough, the last house on the row was most definitely not. A short fence in ill-repair did little to separate the lots, and nothing to block the sound pouring from the garage in the back corner of the yard. A dozen paces rounded the corner, bringing the epicenter into view.

Having arrived outside the garage she could hear the calamity within more clearly. There were at least three people between a guitar, drums, and someone singing over it all. More shouting than singing, really, tumbled into the noise and energy being hurled about with abandon. They seemed to be digging into their song so recklessly that their enthusiasm drowned out whatever actual talent they might have, at least in Elsa's disgruntled opinion. Not that it mattered; she was here to end it, not to provide them with an audience. When their efforts finally ground to a brief halt Elsa rapped on the door, glass shaking loosely in its frame.

Quiet replied first, conversation stalling within as they heard the knock. Upon stepping back Elsa was struck by the idea that perhaps she ought to have asked her roommates just who exactly it was that lived here. She'd been so frustrated by their disinterest in the problem that she hadn't even remembered to ask, and as a result was flying blind for no particularly good reason. The best she could rely on now was that none of them had been concerned enough to stop her from going alone, which was thin comfort against the images of irritable, hulking, guitar-wielding fiends her imagination was oh-so-helpfully supplying for her. Maybe they hadn't heard her knock? No, they'd reacted, retreating now wasn't an option. Exhaustion and annoyance had led her into an imminent confrontation. She'd simply have to face it.

Her braid swung wide as she shook her head to clear the phantasms from her thoughts, and it was still swaying when the door creaked open. What she found was a young red-headed woman, perhaps a few years younger than Elsa, head slightly askew with curiosity at this stranger. Her hair too was kept braided, but rather than Elsa's long single braid it was wrangled into twin plaits, one trailing forward over her left shoulder and the other lingering behind her right. What hair hadn't been restrained stuck out at odd angles, weighed down under a damp sheen of sweat. Long streaks of white hair swirled down one side, past thrice-pierced ears where it set a striking contrast against the dark metal rings set into them.

"Umm…hi?" The greeting was a clear invitation to explain why Elsa was here, and was delivered with the breathlessness of someone who had just finished a long run. Faded turquoise eyes carried a liveliness that Elsa wasn't quite prepared for. All told, she was far too happy for Elsa's foul mood, and after a swift moment spent squashing stray thoughts that tried to sneak past her annoyance she was ready to put an end to this.

"Yes, hi. I need to talk to you about your music."

"Oh! Were you listening just now? Did you like it?" Sparkling eyes announced excitement that Elsa was going to have to quash, unwilling to spend the effort to let down the misunderstanding lightly.

"What? No! I'm here to tell you that you need to stop playing!" That clearly took the other girl aback, wide eyes flashing surprise before narrowing into suspicion, the earlier glimmer whisked away behind abruptly settled clouds.

"Excuse me? What do you mean, we need to stop playing? Just who are you, anyway?" Elsa belatedly realized that spending the time on diplomacy would likely have been wiser, but at this point she wasn't going to back it off.

"I'm Elsa, I live next door. Look, it's past ten now, that is just way too late-" Her words faded away as she found herself interrupted.

"What, that next door?" She pointed at Elsa's house. "I didn't know the band kids moved out."

"They didn't, I just moved in for one of them. Look, all I need you to do-" Again, the sentence trailed off as the redhead ran her words over.

"They've always been fine with us playing, it's not like it's all that late. Plus, this is the only time we can play together."

Elsa was done being interrupted. "Will you let me finish? I don't care when you are able to play, it's late, I have school tomorrow and work left today, and I don't need to be hearing all this awful noise while I try to do it! It's after dark already, so please, will you just stop?!"

The ensuing silence held the weight of an oncoming storm. Elsa could tell that her outburst had struck a chord, one deep enough to leave a lasting mark. Worse, if the hurt shading her neighbor's face was any indication then she had just burned her chance of this ending peacefully, or at least of it ending tonight. And while Elsa was creeping towards her usual compulsion to run and hide from the brewing fight it didn't look like the other girl had the same tendency.

The squall struck before any plan had time to coalesce, indignation fueling the response. "Excuse me? Awful noise?! Just because you have no taste doesn't mean you can just come over here and order us around! We'll play when we want to, thank you very much! And it will be awesome!" The last word was punctuated by the girl leaning forward and pointing sharply at Elsa, her other hand planted firmly against her hip.

She looked ready to say quite a lot more, but a broad-shouldered blond man stepped behind her and set a large hand on her shoulder, steering her back from the door while saying, "Woah, woah, hold on there feisty pants! We don't want to start fights with our neighbors." His tone was jovial, but the daggers in her eyes before she was pulled back promised that a fight was exactly what she'd had in mind. Her place in the door was taken by a second young man, this time a scrawny fellow with a mop of brown hair, strands sprouting from the very top to lend him a nonchalant air.

"Ok, it sounds like that got off to a bad start. Mind if we start over? Hi, I'm Olaf, and I play the drums!" His expression was earnest to a fault, so much so that Elsa felt the anger and anxiety that had flared up when confronting the redhead begin to fade.

One deep breath later and she was ready to respond. "Hello, Olaf. I wasn't looking for a fight, I just want to be able to finish my homework at a reasonable time tonight, and you have been making that very difficult for me."

"Of course, of course! We were done tonight anyway, and I wouldn't want to bother you." He paused, seeming to consider something, before continuing, "Could I stop by tomorrow to talk about this more? I'm home by four. I'll just need a bit of time to talk with everyone, and you seem very busy so I shouldn't keep you." The way he spoke left the impression that he already thought of her as a friend; stranger still, Elsa was ok with that. Every word felt perfectly genuine; the man just didn't seem to have an ounce of guile anywhere in him.

Better, he had provided a path out of the situation for her. Relief was apparent as she replied, "Yes, that will be fine. I'll see you at four o'clock, then." Even if she'd wanted to it seemed as though trying to keep any anger up was a losing proposition against someone so fervently nice.

"Good, good! It was nice meeting you, Elsa! Have a wonderful night!"

As she began walking away Elsa heard her adversary speak up. "How are you so good at the drums, Olaf, you are like the least punk person ever."

The third person responded. "You're more than enough for all of us, Anna. Maybe we should let Olaf answer the door when you're fired up like that?"

The girl went to the entrance rather than responding. When she noticed Elsa looking back she scowled, then stuck her tongue out and shut the door, leaving the glass rattling once more. Somehow a thought struggled its way out from beneath the debris of Elsa's discomfort and relief, floating to the front of her mind.

That was kind of cute.

No. You stop that right now, Elsa. She's a jerk, don't you dare. Shaking her head at her unruly mind, Elsa returned home.

The confrontation provided mixed results. Olaf did indeed visit, apologetically explaining that between class and work schedules for the band members they only had time to play together in the late evening. As he told it the band had spoken with the neighbors when they started, but they hadn't planned any further than that. The apology seemed sincere enough, in part because Olaf himself was utterly ingenuous. Enthusiasm punctuated every sentence he spoke, and after a tangent or two about their music it was apparent that Olaf truly enjoyed playing, enough so that Elsa couldn't bring herself to even want them to stop entirely, let alone to ask for it. While arguing with the girl before it had felt much more reasonable to demand that they cease entirely, but now that she was having a proper conversation Elsa was happier to find a compromise. Even then she felt a twinge of regret that she would be the reason that Olaf wouldn't get to play quite as much as he clearly wanted to. They eventually settled on simply limiting the practice time, ending still later than Elsa liked but at least avoiding the truly late nights. On a whim Elsa also promised to give them a heads up if she was ever going to be away, just so that they could play on those nights without worrying about her. It helped her feel slightly less like she had just denied a puppy its treats.

It didn't take long to see why Olaf treated everyone like a friend: in his eyes, everyone was a friend. Elsa had never met someone quite so unrelentingly happy. His joyous goofiness proved infectious, providing a lighthearted counterpoint to the acrimony from the previous night. It was strange for Elsa to imagine him living with such an ill-tempered roommate. Perhaps he was simply too relaxed to be bothered by her? In any case she was hesitant to bring the fight up, not wanting to spoil the visit with a conversation about someone who had triggered such immediate dislike. With any luck she'd not have to deal with that particular issue at all.

Perhaps she should have known better. Elsa had never been very lucky.

No drop in the temperature manifested during the weekend as the summer seemed unwilling to go out peacefully. This didn't sit well with Elsa, who much preferred a nice cold snap to a heat wave, doubly so when there was no air conditioning in the house. In better conditions Elsa's room would usually have every door, window, and curtain sealed tightly, but the hope of catching what little breeze there was to be had temporarily overwhelmed the tendency. It didn't amount to much, but even getting a little help was a victory. Thankfully her room was on a rear corner of the house, offering a second floor view of the new neighbors on one side and a small forest on the other. The windows facing the other building were blocked off by a bookshelf, but the trees would keep their peace well enough. The window towards them stood open.

Most of the Elsa's Saturday had been spent on the computer working through an English essay, mostly in an attempt to take her mind off the mounting heat and sweat gradually soaking through her shirt. By the time the afternoon rolled around it became clear that wasn't going to be enough. Since she was fairly certain she couldn't fit herself in the freezer downstairs she decided on the next best thing, a nice cold shower followed by lazing about with a book. The cool water proved difficult to leave. Chill rivulets wrote out a compelling case as they ran through her hair, over her shoulders, down the small of her back. It wasn't until well after most people would have been left shivering that she left, savoring the last few moments before wrapping in a towel and stepping into the lurking heat once more.

Her room appeared much less dire this time around, though that was sure to change as the last remnants of the shower dried, and Elsa was determined to make the most of it. The towel was banished to its hook on the wall while Elsa enjoyed the lingering cold. The wind had began to stir as well, running fantastically through the open window and over bare skin. In fact, judging by how it was rustling through the trees it must have picked up quite a lot. No, that wasn't quite right, just wind wouldn't cause the branches to shake like that. Maybe…a…

It wasn't a squirrel. The shaking stilled as Elsa made eye contact with the red-headed source, shock rooting her in place as the intruder's mouth fell open in surprise. The girl came around slightly faster than Elsa could, recovering her wits just enough to give a wide-eyed thumbs up with her spare hand, the other being necessary to hold fast on a swaying branch. The gesture was enough to remind Elsa that she was quite naked, a realization followed immediately by a squeak and a dash towards the towel, then a dive onto her bed and out of sight of the unexpected guest. Hiding accomplished, Elsa's brain tried, and failed, to process what had just happened. What was still happening, as a voice floated into the room.

"So, I guess Jacquie was the one who moved out. Err, hi."

Elsa gave herself a second before leaving the protection of her covers, securing the towel as she stood hidden against the wall. Safely shielded from prying eyes once more Elsa leaned her head just past the window frame, hissing, "What on earth are you doing there?!"

"Climbing!" The answer was delivered with an infuriatingly matter-of-fact tone, as though there was nothing at all wrong with the situation. Somewhat more defensively she continued, "I got permission."

"Permission from who?"

"Jacquie, of cou…" Elsa could almost hear the pieces click into place in the ensuing pause. "Oh. That's…that probably doesn't work anymore. Can I still climb your tree?"

"No you cannot still climb my tree!" The blush marching across Elsa's face continued to grow deeper, but now irritation was beginning to take over for embarrassment to fuel its spread. That this girl would even ask that question was baffling, how could she possibly think Elsa would be inclined to do her a favor at this point? She didn't even know the girl's name yet, and they were yet to meet each other without a fight starting. Did she really expect to just skip right past everything to being forgiven for casually spying on Elsa? Just how self-centered was this brat?

"Great. Are you planning to do anything other than ruin my fun here, or is that it? First you try to shut down the band, and now no climbing? What's next, a curfew?" The biting tone took Elsa aback – was this girl trying to make her out as the bad guy here?

"How is this my fault? You're the one peeking in on me! And why this tree? There are hundreds out there that won't have you staring in my window!"

The redhead didn't seem to have a good response, but she wasn't letting that stop her. "Look not every tree is as cool as this one, none of the others let you go as high at the top of the hill here! And it's not like I was trying to spy on you, I had no idea you'd be…try climbing it, you'll see why …" None of the rambling seemed to be moving quickly enough towards an apology as Elsa decided she'd had enough.

"You asked for my permission, and my answer is no. I'm not going to keep arguing like this, and I think that you should go home now." To lend weight to her decision, and to cut off the chance for any further conversation, Elsa reached across with her free hand to close the window. Right before it slid shut some last few words drifted in, being muttered angrily under the intruder's breath.

"Stuck-up bitch, probably hasn't even climbed before…" Elsa didn't let any reaction to the jab show as she drew the blinds. It wasn't until she sat on her bed and pulled her legs up close, bangs brushing against her knees, that the shaking began. Adrenaline had steadied her briefly, but it drained swiftly once she was no longer face to face with her adversary.

Gods, I'm not made for this sort of thing. Last year, and now this…can't I just be left alone? Ragged breaths counted out the minutes as she waited in vain for her mind to settle. Conflict was never something that she sought out, and yet in the span of a single week here she'd already had to face off twice against just one person. If this was how things were going to be for the next year…well, she could keep hiding in her room like always. So long as she kept her windows closed.