Elsa was lost. It wasn't so much that she didn't know where to go, the line waiting at a signless door was a good indication that she was in the right spot, and it was about as far up the street as she'd been told. She just felt out of her depth. Badly out of it. She was dressed up, a cute little skirt just barely too long to be called mini, a patterned button-up with the top two undone, and cute-ish tall boots. "Careful about your feet", Olaf had told her. It hadn't been the most reassuring warning. Still, with a touch of pale pink matte lipstick that she never got to use, Elsa had felt like she was ready.

She didn't feel that now. The crowd was a hodgepodge mix of various dresses, leggings, denim jackets, hoodies, beanies, shorts and jeans, hair in every sort of color and mess, and one gal shivering in a skirt that was a too-brisk walk away from covering nothing at all. The whole scene was awash in the smell of cigarettes and more; Elsa sneezed when she settled into the back of the line. Her outfit felt downright prissy next to some of these. Some of the guys looked like they'd rolled over in bed and fallen out here, they were so unkempt. Thankfully at least some of the girls were dressed up as well; she couldn't look totally out of place. Certainly not as out of place as she was feeling.

Olaf and the rest would already be inside. Travelling with them would have been nice, but the last look she'd had of Kristoff's beat up, overloaded truck looked illegal enough without them trying to fit her in too. The bus got her here just fine. It just brought her alone. She should be used to that by now.

Was she too late? The venue didn't seem particularly large, hemmed in by two bars on either side. There were a lot of people out here already, would they all fit? Probably, since there were more still arriving to queue up behind her, but it still gave her enough reason to start worrying. Just what she needed, really: an excuse for her to begin fretting about something she had no control over was just the right compliment to the night.

The wind was already whispering a chance of rain when she'd got off the bus, and right as the line begin creeping inside the first drops began to make good on that threat, fat and wet when they hit. She hadn't even thought about that. Too distracted by the show, she supposed, leaving her in a painfully slow race for cover as people slipped inside one by one, handing the cover charge to a couple of folks at a table just beyond the door. In exchange, they got a stamp on the back of their hand. While she hadn't been to any shows like this before, she could guess that was so they could get back in later if they stepped out.

Elsa made it, sort of. She was damp by the time she made it to the front, but that was nothing compared to the cloudburst that let loose just moments later, met mostly by defiant cheering from the people out in it. They were going to be soaked. And then bring it in with them, come to think of it. Gross.

It was much warmer inside. The short hallway she was shuffling through was packed, chaotic with bodies in motion, particularly around a second table piled up with t-shirts and other gear stamped with what she assumed were the other bands playing tonight. Anna had mentioned that they were the first band on tonight: the better known groups always played last.

That also meant she wouldn't have a chance to talk with them before they played. That was probably for the best, she wouldn't want to interrupt whatever it was they had to do to get ready, and they'd have plenty of time to hang out afterwards. She could handle herself for now just fine. Though at the moment she was at a bit of a loss where to go, since the press around the merchandise table didn't leave any space to get through. She waited for a bit, pretending to look at the shirts with a hodgepodge of singularly peculiar artwork pressed onto them. Her favorite probably had to be the hot dog riding a skateboard, though she couldn't quite imagine when someone would wear such a thing. The shirt contrasted oddly with the fellow who looked to be selling them, since he was dressed vaguely nicely in jeans and a plain black shirt, giving off an altogether forgettable impression under short-cut hair.

Eventually a large enough group forced their way through the merchandise throng for Elsa to get bundled along, carrying her the rest of the way in to a haphazard room containing a stage on the far side. It was a markedly run-down space for so many people to want in. None of the lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling matched, the walls were marred and marked by half-stuck posters, and the brick at the back was covered mostly by a thick red set of curtains, apparently needed to cover a big window inconveniently placed right behind the performers. The best constructed bit of the room was a makeshift loft over the rear entrance hallway. There was someone sitting up there, fiddling with what looked like a bunch of sound equipment, though the corner was dark enough that Elsa couldn't make out much detail.

More than anything, though, the room was close. People were close, the walls were close, everything pressing in to squeeze the whole scene together. The bands would be right in reach of the crowd, only a couple of steps higher whereas Elsa had assumed there would be a bit of distance, and the attendees wouldn't have an inch to themselves if the rest of the line was still coming in. They were going to be one big, excited, damp mash at this rate. She didn't much like the thought of that, so she staked out a spot against the wall where it seemed most open, grateful that at least her back was covered. Her sides were quickly losing any free space as she pulled her arms tighter and tighter to herself.

Kristoff was already on stage, setting up alongside someone that Elsa didn't recognize, but whom she suspected was probably Sven. She still hadn't managed to meet him, but he would be here tonight as their bassist, and the way he was industriously working made sense if he was put off by crowds as much as Olaf had said. Focusing on something would help keep his mind from just how many people there were cramming in before the stage. It was a bit of a surprise, now that she was seeing him. He had a big, shaggy mess of hair, a jumble of brown and grey. The rest of him was imposing, too; if Olaf hadn't told her about him she might have assumed he was intimidating, but apparently he was the quiet goofball to Kristoff's very vocal one.

Her phone showed a bit of time left when they started tuning. Given that it took her by surprise while she'd been looking at her phone, the first guitar pluck issuing sternly forth made her jump. The speakers stacks flanking the stage were much louder than she had expected, plenty to blast right over the chatter from the audience, and they only seemed to get louder as it went on. Olaf came in a few moments after and joined them, arriving from the front entrance and settling in place behind the drumset. They all seemed to be working on different things for the moment, each stopping for brief adjustments, though Elsa couldn't discern much difference each time. Some of the tuning sounded familiar, part of one of the songs she'd gotten around to listening to. She was nodding along shortly after when they hit a long enough segment to follow.

Anna came from the other direction. The white streak down her braid was bright in the dark room; it was the first thing that caught Elsa's attention, though somehow she had missed where the singer had entered from. She was dressed simply, black dyed jeans and a black top, sleeveless straps giving a fine view the artwork on her skin. Elsa watched her the whole way, craning to try and see the design on her back through the intervening people. She didn't have much luck. Too many people were between them.

She took the few short steps with a hop, though the crowd didn't pay her much mind yet. Heads perked up when she tapped on the mic, producing a loud pop in the middle of the rest of the band's tuning. They sounded nearly ready.

Look at that smile, Elsa thought. Anna was transparently humming with excitement, thrilled to the brim to be up on stage preparing to play for the gathered attendees. Something about that smile was infectious; Elsa starting grinning in response. Anna was just too perfect when matched with a scene like this.

The band stopped what they were doing when she turned away from the crowd, talking too quietly to hear. Olaf nodded in response, followed by the other two, and she turned back to take the microphone. A pause, two, while those in the crowd looking her way quieted, then she spoke up to snare the rest. "Goood evening, my wet friends. Can we start things off with some thanks to Justin up there in the nest?"

Everyone clapped, looking up to the loft where the man with the equipment was waving, and someone shouted, "Take your pants off!" to scattered laughter. Apparently some of them knew him. Hopefully.

Anna chuckled, answering, "I was just up there. Don't worry, they're already off." He gave two big thumbs up before she took control back amid the lights flickering off. "Next, Red Down deserves some noise for having us here!" Right, that was the venue, though there hadn't been anything denoting the place on the way in, just the door marked up with a geological strata of band and other stickers. Nonetheless, everyone clapped and yelled.

Anna had the limelight and was running with it. "Now, some of you might think you're here for our good friends in Wumpus." Some of the crowd cheered at the name. "Or maybe you're under the impression you've come for Clusterfuster?" Cheering again, a little quieter. "For The Twelve to Ten?" The response to that one was much louder. They must have brought more of the crowd here, though Elsa certainly hadn't heard of them. "Hey Hey Now?" About the same as the previous, and Anna shook her head exaggeratedly. She was having fun up there, brimming with confidence as she spoke into the mic. She swept her eyes over the crowd appraisingly. "And then a lot of you are probably fans of Lady Lips." The biggest cheer yet went out for that one, as well as a couple people yelling back in defiance. Elsa wasn't an expert on performing, but she suspected that taunting the crowd might not be how most people went about it.

Anna stepped right up to the edge of the platform. "I can't blame you! So many great bands here tonight. How could you know?" She paused a moment. "Well, you're about to find out why you're really here tonight. You're here for us." Another pause while the crowd answered with a jumble of noise, and while she took a deep breath. "Because we are Better Than!" She shouted those last two words, their band name, as the other three dropped right into their first song over the people in the crowd yelling back.

It was loud. Incredibly loud, so loud that Elsa winced. Forget her feet, why didn't Olaf warn her about this? She'd have brought earplugs if she'd known. The speakers were blasting away at her ears, and she was in the back of the room! The people at the front had to be crazy, and the ones immediately in front of the speakers truly, truly mad. How could they stand it? Probably they were already half deaf. Idiots.

So Elsa spent the first moments of the song grumbling, hands over her ears to dampen the clamor. It was hard to focus. The stage was lit, but the crowd was in the dark, and the uncovered bulbs slicing into her peripheral vision from the entrance were harsh. The combination of that, the sheer volume of the band, and the roiling press of the audience, was overwhelming. Disorientation leapt at her from all sides.

"I'm stuck waiting for the bad touch

That pinch and pull all over me

I am feeling and hearing these

Unsafe words building catastrophe"

Anna had the mic in both hands, mouth right up on it, her body moving just the same way it had been when she sang for Elsa earlier that week. Sleek, sinuous, sensual...and incredibly distracting to Elsa's attempts to remain irritated. That was a sight dangerously easy to tune in on at the center of all the elements unsettling her. Elsa's eyes were overfull with the long outlines of her.

Well, fuck.

"Tell me no and I will go

Say yes and it's sure to pass

It's when I don't know that I need

Maybes holding me in your grasp

Don't let me out!"

She wasn't sure where else to look. And this wasn't what she'd expected. Even though she still felt upside-down, Elsa's hands were off her ears now, settling into the shock of the audaciously too-loud surroundings like she had just jumped into a cold pool. The atmosphere was intoxicating. Too much sight, too much sound, too much touch, just too much all over swarmed in and took ahold of her. There was no space allowed here to focus on anything, only to experience.

Whether or not she chose it, Anna stood front and center in her sensations.

Step, step, sink down with the mic stand, then a slow rolling rise to standing. Breathe in quick, then scream it all back out, with Elsa tracing the slow compression of her chest. Braids flipping back and forth, whipped about by the motion of her.

Fuck, she was hot. The impossibility of denying it now took Elsa's feet out from under her. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Burning up and needing to take

You somewhere I'm not gonna say

Because the stop sign's gone missing

And there's no green lights on the way"

Elsa was half dancing, half just bouncing along, the big knot of tension she hadn't realized was coiled up inside her being unwound note by note. The rest of the crowd was starting to get into it, too, though Elsa honestly dancing wasn't the most accurate description for what anyone was doing. A brunette in a slinky green dress was frenetically whipping her hair back and forth directly in front of the left set of speakers. Well, why not? She wouldn't be if she wasn't enjoying it.

While it all built up in the audience, and so many eyes were trained on the redhead frontwoman onstage, Anna was drinking the attention in.

The rest of the band deserved attention, probably. They were unpolished, with some rough edges and subtly missed timings, but it all seemed almost on purpose. A smooth, professional session wouldn't have fit here. The whole place was a jagged assembly of people. If the people on stage sounded too polished they might just not cut it here.

Olaf was a bundle of smiles as always, with an expression that said, clear as day, 'I am having so much fun!' He would be. He set the timing just fine, as far as Elsa was concerned, and handled his drumsticks with just a little flair when he could fit it in. Sven was off in his own world, a little content curl to an otherwise intense focus. And Kristoff was just a dork. She'd have to tell him after not to leave his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth while he played.

She saw them, sure. She could notice those details, probably even remember them, but it was just a little back corner of her mind that was paying attention to anything other than the girl putting her whole self out there on display. Her presence demanded attention. And she had Elsa's. She had it utterly.

She was the one filling Elsa's chest with a tight warmth, her stomach with butterflies, and her head with a whole bunch of thoughts that she shouldn't be imagining in public. Though maybe, just maybe, this was the right sort of public for it. Those dangerous things weren't so out of place in here.

She didn't even realize that she had started clapping when their first song crashed to a finish, and she wasn't alone. Elsa was so proud of them, listening to the whole room responding the same way. Someone whistled, which sounded like a good idea, so she stuck two fingers in her mouth and did the same.

That's when Anna must have noticed her. Surprise showed for just a second while their eyes met, before she looked away into the rest of the crowd, waiting for the right opening to drop in and speak. Elsa's heart had leapt up into her throat. All at once she was sure that matching gazes for a moment meant nothing, and everything, that she was reading into it but also that Anna's startled expression had to have told her something. And oh, lord, did she have absolutely no clue whether something or nothing was what she wanted.

I could ask her out. A crazy damn thought. She wouldn't, of course. Shouldn't. There was no good reason for even thinking that, and too much still-recent division. Elsa was...happily? Resignedly? Certain she wouldn't bring herself to do it. It was for the best, anyway, half the crowd was sure to be in love with Anna right now. Why was she even entertaining this intrusion of an idea? Was she even considering it for any better reason than the way that Anna's ass was swaying?

God damn her. This abrupt and catastrophic wanting just wasn't fair. It made no sense, allowed no response, and was going to eat at her since she wasn't going to allow such a mad sentiment any shrift. Anna was an ass, she couldn't let herself forget that just because she was looking so unreasonably gorgeous right now.

Well...sure, the girl could be an industrial-grade pain in the ass. Maybe it could be ok to forget that every now and again? Maybe long enough to imagine her with all of those tattoos uncovered for Elsa to see...that wouldn't be so bad, maybe.

The worse part, which Elsa was sternly attempting to beat back right now, was that she might actually like her sometimes.

"You've got a taste now, yeah?" Anna had found her opening. "The night's just getting started. We've got some important messages for you all! Some things that you might not be aware of. Not one of the easy things that everybody should know, like that chocolate is the best food." A couple people laughed; one booed. "Or that that fellow doesn't know what he's talking about." More laughs and some scattered cheering. "No, this lesson's one you probably not thought about before tonight. We only found it out on a trip. To the zoo, of course." Elsa noticed that Kristoff was leaning in towards his mic. His cue came when Anna asked, "So, Kristoff, want to give them the news?"

He began to sing, which surprised Elsa. Somehow she had thought only Anna would, probably since she'd only heard a few of their songs so far, though now that she heard him she could see why. His voice was mellow and pure to start, while his guitar was the only instrument being played.

"Reindeers are better than people,

Sven, don't you you think that's true?"

The crowd was laughing. Elsa was laughing, too, he had such a ridiculous expression. Maybe being a dork wasn't so bad for him after all. Only now did Anna joined in for the next lines, along with Olaf and Sven shouting along.

"Yeah, people will beat you

And screw you

And cheat you

Every one of them's bad

Even you!"

That was the point where the band dropped right into the song. Raucous energy swept into the crowd, the bizarre prelude doing nothing to mitigate the dancing that ensued. A couple of people in the center of the crowd were bouncing around violently, pinballing off of their neighboring audience members. None of the song got any less silly as the band played their hearts out for it, either. The contrast put a smile on Elsa's lips as even she got caught up in the fun of it.

"We'd be better off like reindeer

Spending more time in the grass

Munching munching all damn day

Then getting down to have a nap!"

Elsa rolled her eyes at the way Kristoff sang that part. They were not subtle people. Still, though, she was glad to be here to hear it. After all her trepidation on the way she was enjoying herself quite a lot now, and she couldn't even be bothered to feel awkward about that.

Gazing at Anna told her that they both were. She was smiling between her lines, and since she was the secondary singer on this song that gave Elsa plenty of time to drink it in. She wouldn't have an opportunity like this again. With Anna on the stage Elsa had the perfect excuse to stare at her; avoiding staring was a battle already definitively lost. Any other time and it would be incredibly rude (not to mention incredibly obvious), but right now, even when she wasn't the lead, she still commanded attention. Sure, it was maybe bad of Elsa, but this seemed like the right place to be bad.

The crowd didn't make it easy to get closer. Waiting for a gap to appear got her nowhere, so when they changed to a new song, with Anna as the lead again, Elsa just forced her way through, feeling the metal studs on some guy's jacket scrape against her shoulder. No one left any room, so she had bodies on all sides as she went, only stopping when she found briefest hint of a clearing past a couple of tall jerks who were blocking the view. The girl in front of her was wearing a silky synthetic dress, and Elsa kept getting bumped into her back. She had definitely been caught in the rain at the back of the line. On her left there was a little blonde gal, hair down and wavy, in a band t-shirt and jeans that Elsa felt by accident on the way in. On her right was a skinny little reed of a guy whose hair looked like it had got caught in a paint store just as it was hit by a tornado. He was bouncing enthusiastically along to the music, which resulted in Elsa getting jostled about. He seemed so excited, though, that it only made her smile.

"These one way roads with one way lines

Skid the blind turns and hope to hit

Looking for personal revolution

But I've got no map to find it"

The couple of feet separating Elsa from the stage were precious few, as she looked up to the object of her unanticipated obsession. In those pants Elsa could see the full curve of Anna's hips, swaying back and forth. She wanted to see more. They were tight, but the lighting was too poor to see if those legs were just as strong as they seemed when she climbed.

"Tip me up and set me going

A perpetual emotion machine

Burn these fumes and light this vapor

I'm lit up for a long time searching"

Gods, when had she started thinking about people like this? Elsa had always been reserved about her romances. She would have neat little crushes, proper things that never went anywhere since she never went so far as to tell any of them. Most of them were probably straight, anyway, but it hadn't stopped her from fantasizing about what they might do in the dark of the night. Never out in the open like this. She was practically staring Anna out of her clothes, and god did it feel good to do it. Fuck it, so what if they'd had some stupid arguments? The show was worth it. And she didn't have to get along with someone to want to push them down and…

She pressed her thighs together as she swayed. Her imagination was taking her places tonight.

Anna was looking at her again, and this time Elsa didn't feel so nervous. Did it show, what she was thinking? Either way, she gave back a half-smile speaking to a deeper sentiment. Anna was too into the song for Elsa to tell what she saw in the smile, but she hoped she was glad to see it. Her voice, raised to near screaming, gave no sign. The song, though, almost sounded like she had someone in mind.

"I'm just a first wheel on the prowl

Eyes up cause I'm wanting to crash

Two treads won't give stability

But we'll leave behind better tracks"

Maybe this was her way of saying something? Elsa wanted it to be true. Even though it was a ridiculous idea, the song had nothing to do with her. The whole band wouldn't be be playing a song tonight because Elsa found a crush in the middle of their set, with a girl she'd been quietly and not-so-quietly battling for months. They hadn't even known each other for long enough for it to make sense, she just wanted it to, in the middle of a crowd of people all enraptured by that voice. In this room, with these people, and all this sound, rationality didn't get a turn.

Why shouldn't she do it? Just pull Anna aside and ask her out to a lunch? Well, she'd say no, and that would ruin what was turning into a fantastic evening. But besides that? She could do it. Once they were done with there set, once they'd moved all their equipment to wherever it was supposed to go, she could just go up to Anna and fucking say it. Nothing ventured and all that.

She was thinking about it when they moved into their fourth song. It was still in her mind when someone barrelled through the crowd and nearly knocked her over. It was the only thought able to fit in her head when Anna caught her staring, again, as that song ground to an end. She almost believed she would do it, as they announced that this would be their last song before relinquishing the stage to Wumpus. Just a few more minutes, a little more chance to drink it all in, and then they'd be off the stage, where Elsa could go over and try something she'd never done before. She could actually make a move. After the dancing, rolling with the crowd all pressed into her. This was an intoxicating sensation. It was not one she knew how to handle.

And every additional second of Anna's voice singing wasn't helping.

"Now please sit down and let me say

Everything I want in a way

That really speaks to you just like

You've told me that you want to hear"

That was not a voice saying anything innocent. That was an invitation to interpret the lyrics by the way Anna's fingers were teasing down the microphone cord. Which Elsa did shamelessly.

"I'll take some time to draw this up

While you finger a full cup

I know that you'll soon feel out

Why I keep that personal touch"

Seriously, the way Anna's voice was caressing every word here was just not fair. Elsa was remembering much too clearly how she had sounded just a handful of nights ago, and having had the chance to hear her in private - well, excepting Olaf - was feeling a lot more special tonight.

"When you saw my outline we were sure to meet

Reading between the lines on crisp white sheets

Yeah, between you and me this has legs

We had better keep meeting this way."

Goooooood damn it was Elsa was not going to be able to sleep at all quickly when she got home. How could the girl stand it, being that sexy in front of the whole crowd? Elsa could not possibly be the only one looking. She shouldn't be.

Anna was thanking the crowd, to more than a little cheering; they were done playing for tonight. That had, Elsa realized, gone very, very well, and entirely too quickly because they were packing drums and stands and everything into cases, which in turn got carried over to a designated spot up against the wall. She wanted to say something, anything, whatever found its way into her mind by the time she worked up the courage, to Anna. At the very least congratulate her. Anything more would require Elsa to dig up resolve that she'd yet to ever find.

Now wasn't the time, she'd be interrupting them if she went over now. Never mind that there were a couple other people helping them pack already, and they were all chatting. Those were probably people from the next band, right? Or at least people who were supposed to be on stage? Ramshackle thing that it was, she knew that was a poor excuse. They probably didn't care too much who was on stage, so long as they weren't breaking anything and they vaguely looked like they knew what they were doing. Or, she thought when she noticed a foot-shaped hole in one of the walls, so long as they weren't breaking too many things.

The packing was done. Was she losing track of time, or were they just really fast at that? The four of them began making their way through the crowd, Kristoff lagging behind to high-five everyone who was willing to do so. Since that seemed to be everybody, Anna and Sven made their way towards the entrance well ahead of him. The room was clearer now, too; enough people had stepped out in the absence of anyone playing that Elsa could have intercepted them, gone over to stammer something. Just...start walking, and she'd be there.

Of course she didn't go. That was just a little too much to expect of herself. The night wasn't over yet, but Elsa had a sneaking suspicion this was going to stay bottled up just like everything else. Wonderful.

She was in the middle of sighing when a familiar voice piped up behind her, chirping, "Hey, Elsa!" She turned around right into an Olaf hug. It had only taken a couple of days of knowing him to discover that they were far and away his favorite way of saying hi, even more so when he was excited. Which he clearly was now, his hair being even more scraggly than usual and his enormous grin being so very wide. "Thank you so much for coming! How were we? That was so amazing!" That was a smile that probably wasn't going to come off for a solid three, maybe four hours, and it knocked Elsa's self-admonition right out the picture.

"You were excellent! It all sounded great to me, and I certainly enjoyed myself! I don't think you get a response like that if other people don't agree." She really was proud of him, too. The week leading up to the show had been filled with him fretting about it whenever she'd seen him, but tonight made it clear he hadn't had anything to worry about. "So, what's next? Do you just stick around to watch the rest of the show now?"

"What do you mean 'just'? It'll be great! You'll love it, I promise, this place goes NUTS!" Elsa had no doubts at all that was true. The weird part of it was that it didn't bother her. She'd been unsure about this whole thing at the start, and in a way she still didn't quite feel like she belonged, but the atmosphere had chased away any sense that it actually mattered whether she did. Screw it, she was having fun. Even without all that noise mixing her head up she was glad that she was here. She was darn well going to enjoy herself.

And even without all that, Olaf was too dang excited to say no to. "Tell me, then, what are these other bands like? I don't know them at all!"

Olaf didn't miss a beat. "Come on, I'll introduce you!" It was not what Elsa was expecting.

Ok, so maybe she could try to say no to him. "No, no, I don't...meet people," she protested, though it fell on deaf ears as Olaf went off like an excited puppy. Elsa scrambled for a moment but did not find herself in possession of any good reason not to follow him. So she went, through the crowd, past the merch, and to the rickety side staircase, up which the other bands were presumably getting ready. She hesitated a moment while Olaf tromped up - light as he was, those stairs should not have been making so much noise under his weight - and fretted, wondering if she was supposed to have a badge or something before recalling just exactly how unconcerned every single facet of this place seemed to be with formalities. There was certainly no one guarding the stairs.

She was only halfway up when Olaf reached the door, which had a poorly taped, partly torn poster dangling from it. He started saying something inaudible from out of sight, but didn't get to finish; when Elsa reached the top after him she found him about a foot off the ground in a hug from a big fellow with a bigger beard.

He wasn't the only one up there. Two other other guys she didn't recognize were lounging and talking on a couch that looked beaten to within an inch of its life, and a tall woman with dyed green and blue hair leaning over the back. On the other side of the room a girl with ragged black hair was looking through a dingy window that, Elsa realized, was looking over the stage room and crowd.

Next to her, of course, was Anna.

"Kristoff could not be a bigger dork if he tried," she was lamenting. Not seriously, given the grin she was sporting. Elsa could only presume that the high fiving had yet to cease below. Also, she was well aware that Kristoff would take that as a firm compliment.

In just a few seconds she had forgotten that Olaf was there, causing her to start when he called out, "This is Elsa, by the way! She's new here, so play nice!" That was ominous. And definitely, Elsa thought when everyone turned their eyes towards her, more attention than she wanted.

But not more than she could handle, darn it. "Hi," she began, stepping forward so that she wasn't still shrinking against the door frame. "I'm their neighbor, it's nice to meet all of you. This is an interesting night for me!" A glance to Olaf asked him to help her out a little in the midsts of so many strangers.

He didn't get the chance to answer. His feet had only just reached the ground again when the big guy hugging him answered with a voice that fit his frame. "I'm Dwayne! You've got Tulio, Chel, and Miguel on the couch, and Pokie over by the window. Everybody else is downstairs, at the merch tables, setting up, all that." Olaf nodded along enthusiastically, smile still totally undiminished and hair even mussier. Dwayne set a hand on his shoulder before asking, "So, what convinced you to come out to see us all tonight?"

Elsa avoided a telling glance towards Anna by the skin of her teeth, though she was powerless to stop the blush that spread when she realized what her first instinct had been. "Oh, I'm not sure," she started, scrambling for a good response, "I guess it must have been the cookies." To her only momentary surprise every head in the room nodded at that answer; clearly Olaf was as generous with his baking as with everything else.

"Yeah, he's kind of magical that way, isn't he?" There was a lot of affection in that comment. "Anyway, a friend of his is a friend of mine. Feel free to join us any time. Oh, and there's beer in the fridge." That was it, apparently. Dwayne dove back into a conversation with Olaf about someone named Duke, the three at the couch appeared to be flirting quite blatantly, and Anna…

Elsa's stomach did a little flip. Anna was looking right at her. She wasn't sure whether it was a help or a betrayal that her feet took her towards the redhead, but under those blue eyes - goodness, had they always been so bright? - she felt compelled.

Silence stretched out. Outwardly Elsa looked serene, or at least she hoped she did. Inwardly she was a whirlwind in search of something, anything at all, that she could say. Nothing was offering itself, so she went with the easiest possible option, just like before. With all the composure she could muster she said, simply, "Hi."

Anna nearly jumped, as though she had forgotten that Elsa might talk. There was no reason Elsa could imagine why she would look so startled right now, but startled she was, tripping over her words to reply, "Umm, hi...this is Pokie...wait, Dwayne already told you that...hi back, then." Elsa couldn't help but crack a smile at the fluster, for all that she had no idea why it had appeared. It was reminiscent of the night in the tree.

For her part, Pokie - that had to be a nickname, right? - had an Olaf-sized grin when Elsa looked over. "It's nice to meet you. Don't let me interrupt, I just wanted to congratulate Anna for being so amazing tonight."

An immaculately-trimmed eyebrow went up before the girl answered, "Since you're probably the Elsa I've heard about, I don't think you could be here without interrupting." A clear look from Elsa to Anna and back did little to clarify what she meant. Nor did Anna's wide eyes as she smacked Pokie's arm, who only giggled.

No context appeared forthcoming, so Elsa took a shot in the dark. "You weren't at Anna's birthday party, were you?" That would fit the comment, if not the tone.

"I was, actually! You missed out, should have come over to join us! Plus, that would've kept us from having to hide upstairs when the cops came by." There should have been more hostility in her voice, Elsa thought. This would make more sense if she sounded mad, but instead something seemed to be amusing her greatly.

"Ahhh...I feel bad about that, actually. I was bitter and petty and I should have handled it differently." A moment of uncertain silence passed before she added, hopeful, "No hard feelings?" It wasn't until she said that part that Elsa realized just how easily that apology had come to her. It wouldn't have, not before, but she just wasn't angry about it anymore. Letting that knot go felt good.

A pointed look from Anna cut Pokie off when she started to reply. Instead, Anna said, "Let's just drop it, it's not like that's the first time I've had to deal with police anyway. Could we go back to talk about me being amazing?" She was clearly attempting to say that casually, but she blushed just a little at the end.

"In that case can we start with how amazing you look, then?" Pokie had that grin again. "Those jeans put your figure on display. You were getting some looks tonight." Turning to Elsa she insisted, "I'm right, aren't I?"

"You're supposed to be on my side…" Anna sounded a little sullen, with red cheeks as she looked away out the window. They probably matched Elsa's, because she knew exactly what Pokie was talking about. She'd spent far, far too much time looking at each little way Anna's curves moved tonight not to have noticed.

"I am, you just won't admit it yet." That earned Pokie another smack on the arm from the singer. Being on the outside looking in on Anna's personal dynamics seemed to be becoming a confusing theme for Elsa.

"It's...it's a good look, yeah." It sounded like a lame response to herself, but a safe one for Elsa to offer. "I like your hair, too. It must take a long time to dye that stripe in like that."

"Oh, this?" Anna reached up and finger down her braid. "It's not dyed. Some weird thing with melanin or something - melatonin, I think. It's always been like this."

"Well, you're lucky then, I think it looks really nice." Elsa wasn't sure how to put it into words, or if she even wanted to, but she also liked how it was something so unique. She'd never seen anyone with hair quite like Anna's.

"I...it's not really...thanks." The end was quieter than the start, but it sounded genuine regardless. "What about our playing, though? My singing?" Her steering the subject came with another glance at Pokie.

For the umpteenth time tonight Elsa felt surprise that she was enjoying herself. The conversation, the evening as a whole, even the start and stop snippets of the next band beginning to tune their own instruments. Her wariness had melted away, as though the rain outside had washed it clean off her. "You were brilliant, all of you were. You actually looked like you knew what you were doing!" She definitely at the start of the night wouldn't have expected to be comfortable teasing Anna like that, but now it felt right. "You're fierce up there. Intense. You make the place yours when you have the microphone in your hands." Anna was more than that, of course, but those thoughts were going to stay properly locked away.

Pokie piped up to voice her agreement. "You're seeing the same things I am! She's meant for the stage, no matter how much she was worrying beforehand."

Elsa's rogue internal monologue from before jumped in and got as far as 'And meant for my-' before she quashed that line of thought hurriedly. Reason was, it seemed, being gradually short circuited by proximity to Anna when she looked so cursed good. The increasing cohesion and volume of the band below helped chase those thoughts out, though not with some sadness that it meant they were probably about ready to start their set. "You know, I somehow can't imagine Anna worrying about this. She only sang for me once before and I knew already that she'd nail it," Elsa remarked, forcing herself to stay on topic.

"You're the last person I expected to be a flatterer, you know," Anna retorted. "I'm not really sure what to say to that!"

Pokie raised a finger and got as far as saying, "I have a few suggestions about what-" before Anna cut her off loudly.

"You are trouble, and I know that you know it. Come on, let's get our asses downstairs before Wumpus starts, I am way too wired not to go dancing!" She set off before she even finished speaking.

Elsa was watching her go when Pokie interrupted. "She meant you too, doofus. Come on, she was right earlier: the night's hardly begun!" A gentle shove towards the stairs added emphasis, and that was all the encouragement necessary. Elsa liked the sound of that even more now; she didn't want tonight to be over for a long, long while.

That feeling didn't fade. The lights dimmed to usher Wumpus into their set, with Elsa crowd-pressed right between Anna to the left and Pokie behind. Both started dancing, in a loose, reckless sense of the word, almost as soon as the first song started, and they weren't alone in the crowd doing so. Joining in just felt right.

All the bump and tumble of the dancing jammed against Anna...well, Elsa liked that part of it too. She liked it a lot. Even as she was listening, she was feeling so much more.

"Where the fuck have I been?

Gone and lost myself again

Circling, spinning,

Haven't done this drain before

Swirling, grinning,

I once found myself

And it was just a bore"

Had she spared a moment to think, Elsa wouldn't have had a clue what came next from here. Here was yet another night that she didn't have an answer for, but this time she didn't care. She was here, bouncing hip to hip with the sort of girl who before now she'd only have day dreamed about. For tonight? Fuck knowing 'what that meant.' Studious self control would never have brought her here.

Right here, right now, she was going to dance.

...

Notes:

Don't necro old threads.

Wait, no, that's not quite right. Yep, I am back with an update! While it may be - ahem - a little behind schedule, AUA is still very much alive! And with some changes to my schedule (oh, so *this* is that coffee thing everyone talks about!) I can finally realistically say that I may be able to manage an update schedule measured in something other than radioactive half-lives. Halloween isn't so far off, after all, and one chapter in particular is definitely best released then...

To everyone who stuck around this long, and to those new followers inexplicably still finding the fic, you are seriously awesome. It's not been possible to let this go so long as you all are still interested.

Oh, and by the way? It turns out writing song lyrics is really damn hard, particularly when I've never done it before. It's a good thing I'm only following a chapter that featured a song by Freddie Fucking Mercury.