wow this has been a long time coming. i apologise profusely. life got in the way, and then grumpy frui decided to take the wheel for a bit. she's still there, mostly, but has agreed to let happy-cracky-frui try and finish this story. hopefully, in the future, updates will come on wednesdays, but at this point (with it being the prickly end of the semester) i make no promises.

enjoy :) (and thanks to mpsantiago and nyxie for actually pushing me to finish this)

The one good thing about having a no-longer-puppy-human, Anna mused to herself the next day, was that the likelihood of ever having another sleep in was incredibly obviously wasn't the good thing, the good thing was the fact that she was so early for her first class that she had time to get herself a coffee (because a hot chocolate just wasn't gonna cut it).

Small victories.

Of course, this was after she'd had to force Elsa into a turtleneck, because she still refused to take off that damn collar, and poured a tin of spaghetti into a container. With a lid. Rapunzel had even been nice enough (mostly to make up for the abandonment at the mall) to get an ergonomic set of cutlery, just for Elsa. It was bright pink, and Elsa was ecstatic.

Anna could only hope that she'd use it.

All seemed to be going well, though. Elsa seemed to be eating her food as neatly as she could – which wasn't saying much – but Anna'd brought wet wipes just in case. She, and plenty of other people, just stared as Elsa balanced each individual strand precariously on her spoon. It fell off just as she got it to her mouth, and Anna watched in some kind of muted horror as it dribbled down her chin and onto her lap.

They were really gonna have to practise the whole 'cutlery' thing.

It would be easier if she fed Elsa, plus, she still had time before the professor arrived. Taking the spoon, Elsa pouted for a second before opening her mouth, and in the end, it only took about five minutes for her to finish it off. She munched on it happily (mouth closed thank-fucking-god) and humming a little song to herself. She looked... really spaced out. Which was probably for the best because Anna was pretty positive that a friendly squirrel lived two buildings over and liked coming up to people. The last thing she needed was for Elsa to see it and take chase.

Thankfully, nothing of the sort occurred. Anna'd just finished wiping Elsa's mouth when the professor arrived, out of breath and bitter. He obviously hadn't had time for a morning cup of joe, Anna grinned to herself.

The lecture hall wasn't overly big – there were about fifty students in the class, so there was no need for the massive auditoriums. Anna usually sat towards the back because it meant she could doze without getting caught. Of course, Elsa completely ignored her, and by the time Anna realised, her excitable friend was already sitting in the front row, knees bouncing and a megawatt grin on her face.

And, of course, by the time Anna reached her, the professor had begun the lesson, so she was forced to sit right in his line of sight.

He mostly ignored Anna, already well-aware of her tendency to nap. Instead, his eyes aligned on Elsa, and he frowned.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And what are you doing in my class?"

When Elsa screamed her name at him, bright and cheerful, Anna realised that she really shouldn't have expected any less. Suppressing the urge to hide her face, she piped up. "This is my, um. Cousin," she lied. "She's in town and I need to, er, take care of her. She won't be a bother, promise!"

The professor didn't look convinced, and Anna couldn't blame him. She gave him her best forced smile, and he left it at that.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Anna slumped down into her chair. She only had to survive an hour and a half. Ninety minutes. That was all.

"Today we're looking at behaviourism in humans, more specifically, when lying," he was saying. "Pay attention because this might be relevant for the exam." He gave Anna a look, and she bit her lip bashfully. Well, she'd never failed a class before! She'd be fine.

Okay, so, this sort of thing was kinda interesting. Even Elsa was being quiet (although she was being very fidgety, fiddling about with things. Also, being a little creepy, too, staring at the professor in a way that definitely made him uncomfortable. At least it stopped him from calling on Anna to answer any questions).

He tried (and mostly succeeded) in ignoring them as he continued , pausing every so often to refer back to his notes. "Now, we're all pretty good at telling when someone is lying. It's something we don't even notice ourselves doing, picking out truth from falsehoods. Sometimes it's obvious, of course – some people are just bad at lying – and other times, it isn't as easy to determine. You've got audible changes, such as raises or lowering of pitch. Breathlessness, croakiness, increase in breathing, and pauses and hesitation. There are also visual changes; the way someone will look, or not look, at something, the slant of their body. Fiddling is a big one. And these are just the more obvious signs. How someone feels is a big thing – you may not always be right, but our bodies sometimes understand something in far greater detail than we give it credit for. If your body is reacting, it's reacting to something."

Coughing, the lecturer continued. "To demonstrate, I've prepared a series of facts. Now, I just want you to raise your hand if you think I'm lying. At this stage, you should be able to pick the lie, if not understand why just yet. We'll repeat it at the end, with different questions. Everyone ready?" He waited for their nods to continue. "I absolutely hate the colour orange, I have a younger brother named Timothy, and I'm allergic to red food colouring."

Before anyone could even think to put their hand up, Elsa jumped up out of her seat. Her eyes were wide, hands curled into fists above her chest.

"Nooooo..." she said softly The lecturer gave her an odd look (as did the rest of the class).

"Elsa, come here," Anna said, trying to be soft and still commanding. Elsa, naturally, ignored her.

Instead, she actually took a step closer to the lecturer, repeating herself again. "Nooo... Lying. Man lying, no brother no more."

Anna perked up, and she felt the classmates around her do the same. Elsa wasn't exactly quiet.

"Brother named Timothy, not say name now. Name sad..." She was close enough to touch him – hug him, at least – and that was exactly what she did, patting the top of his head. He just stood there until she released him, and kept standing there when Elsa returned to her seat, shaking her head.

It took him a few seconds to gather his thoughts, and even then all he said was, "Class dismissed..." before all but grabbing his things and running for it. Anna wasn't exactly going to complain but she hoped he wasn't too freaked out.

Once hey were out of the room and back on the open pathway, Anna turned to Elsa. Hands on her shoulders, she stared into the blonde's eyes, serious face on.

"Elsa," she began softly, "What was that?"

Elsa let out a little pout. "Man asked Elsa 'pick lie'. Elsa pick and man run 'way."

Giving a nod, Anna tried to think of a way of getting the answer she wanted. "I know, Elsa. And you did very good." Elsa's pout dropped to make way for a pleased grin. "But he didn't ask for that lie. He did have a younger brother by the sounds of it, didn't he?" Elsa nodded. "So why did you say he lied."

She cocked her head. "He not have brother now. Used to, no more."

"And you can...tell that?"

Elsa smiled again (and nodded again). "Elsa very very good. Can pick lies very good."

Swallowing, Anna felt her heart sink a little. She didn't like lying, but she...did tend to lie to Elsa. "You...can tell when I lie?" Elsa made a little noise. Of course she could tell. Closing her eyes and letting out a little sigh, Anna moved from in front of her friend to stand at her side.

"C'mon," she said. "You need to go and apologise for scaring the lecturer."

"But Elsa not bad!" she cried.

"I know, Els', but even if you're not bad, sometimes it's good to say sorry. You didn't mean on making the professor upset, but because you did you need to say sorry. Okay?"

With a little grumble, Elsa acquiesced. Anna resolved to get her a treat just to try and make up for... well, everything.

Dear Lord. The Blue Fairy couldn't return soon enough.