(no subject)

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Who| Elsa and whoever might be up fairly late
What| Elsa goes up to the roof to admire the Capitol
Where| On the roof of the living suites
When| Present day, sometime after midnight
Warnings/Notes| N/A

The weeks following her time in the arena have truly been the hardest that Elsa had ever experienced in her entire life. Not even losing her parents had been as painful as the knowledge that she had killed Anna. All of her life, she had avoided her sister in order to keep her safe and yet when she finally felt like she could be around Anna without hurting her. She had been wrong- her powers had returned and everything had gone horribly wrong.

Ever since then, she'd done exactly as she had her entire life; shut herself in her room and keep everyone out. It was painful and lonely, but she knew it was what she deserved for hurting Anna.

But even those who felt like they were monsters grew restless sometimes and as the days ticked by, Elsa found herself wanting to get out and explore a little. This world was new and foreign and her brief glimpses of it before had been intriguing. The technology was confusing but fascinating all at once.

Finally, the curiosity got the better of her. Late one night, after the noise outside died down and it seemed like everyone had retired for the night, Elsa made her way out of her room. It was too late for her to want to leave the building entirely, so she opted instead to go somewhere she thought she could get a small taste of what she wanted.

So eventually, she made it to the roof. It was the first breath of fresh air she'd had in weeks as she stepped out into the cool night air. Elsa stepped forward until she was near the edge of the building. The view was absolutely breathtaking, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. It was so different from Arendelle, with it's lights and large buildings- to be honest, it was a little overwhelming on top of beautiful.

Suddenly Elsa felt really small and alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a small sigh, closing her eyes. There was no sense in missing Arendelle. She didn't belong there now- if they knew she had killed Anna, then they would shun her- or worse. In her opinion, now she belonged here. With the murderers and the monsters, because that was exactly what she was. If anyone deserved to go back to Arendelle, it was Anna.

Elsa continued to stare out at the twinkling, colorful lights of the Capitol, arms folded over her chest. As horrible as she'd started to feel, she didn't have any particular urge to go back to her room at the moment. So she allowed herself to zone out, imagining what each of the buildings might have in them. So lost in her thoughts, anyone could come upon her and she wouldn't notice.

Comments

[metalicarus]

Jet didn't know what he was hoping to accomplish by coming up here, it hadn't taken him long to discover this place got too quiet at night for his liking and most of the lights went out as people went home and turned in and slept peacefully. He couldn't.

New York had conditioned him and there was no comfort to be found when it was too dark and too quiet. But one thing the roof did have going for it was the sky. No matter the misgivings he had about being turned into a cyborg, losing his ability of flight now that he was human again just made him feel trapped. Seeing the stars helped a little.

He walked the perimeter of the roof, so lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice the woman who was up there with too until he was almost right next to her.

"Oh...sorry, didn't think anyone else would be up here this late."

[frozenfractalsallaround]

To his credit, Elsa was so wrapped up in her thoughts as well that she was well and truly startled when he spoke. She really had to pay better attention to her surroundings, though to be honest it was nice to focus on something harmless for once.

She took a small step back from her, shaking her head lightly.

"No, no, it's fine." She had half a mind to hurry back to her room, but she still wasn't ready for it. She was enjoying the fresh air and the view. "It looks like we had the same idea, huh? It's... nice up here. Peaceful."

[metalicarus]

"Yeah..." Too peaceful in his opinion, but he wasn't enough of a jerk to say that when she was getting more from it than he was. Besides, he'd take this quiet over the din of the locals cheering on people's deaths any day.

"It's a loony bin down there. It's nice that there's some place that feels half normal, at least." Someplace they can take a moment to pretend things weren't as crap as they actually were. He looked up, eyes searching the inky black as though he might spot some sign that said 'you're dreaming' up there that would make all of this a little better. There wasn't one. "At least we can still see the stars."

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Under normal circumstances, Elsa might have laughed at that assessment, but she couldn't bring herself to as it stood. It was true, everyone she had caught glimpses of were... rather odd. That wasn't even getting to the people who seemed to really enjoy the death games going on.

Elsa had been so focused on the Capitol that she hadn't really looked up at the sky, but his words made her smile a small smile. "You're right," she said with a nod. "At least some things never change." It was weird, but that was comforting and she felt glad that he brought it up. A minor thing, but sometimes even minor things needed pointing out.

[ordinaire]

Nightmares plagued Anna when she tried to sleep. The Valentine's Day dream that had been induced by her escort was the first night of normal sleep she'd had since the arena.... And the last. It was easier to wander when she couldn't sleep, it wasn't as though she had many friends here just yet-- and she was tired of hearing perfect strangers coo over how lovely or even symbolic her death had been. Who tells people that, anyways???

Her feet brought her to the rooftop before she really realized where she was headed. She paused for a moment, however, when she saw who else had made their way up there.

"Elsa..."

It was more of a whisper than anything, and she'd hardly realized she'd said it to begin with. Sure, she had knocked at her sister's door (after begging to be let near by the others in her district) a handful of times since returning from the arena... But she hadn't gotten any response-- she hadn't even seen her since it all happened.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

If Elsa hadn't been thinking so much of Anna the past few weeks, she might not have heard the whisper at all. But if anyone's whisper could snap her out of her thoughts, it was Anna's. Instantly, Elsa went rigid and she drew in a quick gasp, holding her breath after without even really realizing it. Her heart quickened and she felt cornered, with Anna behind her and nothing but a long drop in front of her.

"Anna..." she said, her own voice barely above a whisper. She didn't turn around, couldn't bring herself to face her sister. "Please... go back to bed." Her voice had a sense of urgency to it.

She had ignored Anna's attempts to see her for a reason. Both out of shame and to keep Anna safe. She couldn't look at her sister without wanting to cry, without guilt overwhelming her to crippling degrees. They were feelings that Elsa didn't know how to cope with, so she felt like avoiding Anna was the best, for both of them. And yet there Anna was. She didn't know what to do.

[ordinaire]

If Anna was nothing else, she was very persistent. And stubborn. The little time they had spent together before everything happened in the arena? It was enough to remind her how things used to be- what little she remembered about it.

"I can't sleep," she admitted quietly. "I don't want to leave you here either."

She knows she shouldn't push Elsa anymore, but she can't help it. They need to talk... they need to not avoid each other like she's been doing her whole life. And she can't take it anymore.

Nor did she realize that she'd just said all of that out loud. Oops. Well, no time like the present to bring these things up...

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Anna was very persistent and it was a fact that frustrated Elsa a lot of the time. It made it harder, while they were growing up. Listening to Anna outside of the door, asking her to come and play. So many times, she wished that she could and yet for Anna's own safety, she couldn't. And now, when circumstances were even worse than they had been, this wasn't something she wanted to deal with this.

She was about to tell Anna that it was fine, that she wanted to be alone, when Anna continued and said those things. Like at the party, it felt a bit like a rough smack in the face.

"I can't handle this, Anna!" she said, her voice a shaky hiss. "I can't handle seeing you! It's like a constant reminder of what happened and I can't do it. I can't handle it!"

[youbarium]

"You know, even though they say there's a force field keeping us from falling off, you should still be careful," said a voice from behind her. The voice was businesslike, brisk, and a little nasal. "The wind is really very strong up here. I'm surprised you aren't freezing."

Carlos hadn't been watching the Arena, not since he died himself, so the nature of Elsa's powers was completely unknown to him. If Elsa turned, she would see a tall man, handsome but with an unflattering, too-short haircut, holding a small machine under one arm. It was not an elegant machine -- it was all angles and wires and rows of LED lights, bulky and unwieldy. He was dressed in a long white coat, too thin to afford any real protection from the elements, that whipped out behind him loudly in the wind.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa did turn, though his hair wasn't quite the first thing she noticed, rather the machine he held under his arm. With technology being such a new thing for her, she couldn't help notice it wherever it was. She gave it a look of curiosity, before tearing her eyes away from it to look at the man who had spoken to her.

"The cold hasn't ever bothered me," she said with a small shrug. "And I hadn't realized there was a... force field? But I will be careful, thank you." She had no idea what a force field was, but she didn't feel like saying so. "What is that you're holding?"

[youbarium]

Oh good, she asked. Elsa might regret asking, actually, if the way Carlos's eyes lit up was any indication. But it was too late: she had given him a chance to talk about science.

"Oh, this? It's actually a portable device for detecting anomalies in reality and fluctuations in spacetime. Now, I'm not sure how well it'll work, since I had to make some substitutions for a few of the materials -- I couldn't find antimatter coils or a proper infinity drive anywhere in the city at all -- but I thought it would be best to test it up here, where there's least interference."

He smiled.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

To be honest, Elsa regretted asking almost immediately- if only because she had no idea what any of it meant. If she could understand him, it might be something she would be interested in talking about. But as it was, she felt as if she were listening to someone speak a foreign language while all she could do was smile and nod.

Which is exactly what Elsa did. When he was finished and smiled at her, she hesitantly smiled back. "I... see," she said slowly, her tone probably betraying the fact that she had no idea what he had just said.

After a moment, she finally decided to tell the truth.

"I have no idea what you just said."

[amplifying]

Beck was on his way up to the rooftops; it was a good way to clear his head after a long day. Recently he had been confronted with a few weird people in general, and the same tribute who killed him in the last arena. And of course, the guy took it like there wasn't anything important about it. Sure.

No matter how long he would stay here, Beck knew that he would never really get the hang of this. How many cycles had he been a program? People here said that he came from a computer from his world, which was...kind of hard to figure out. What was he, exactly? He couldn't be a program if he was human, but at the same time, he couldn't be human if he was just a bunch of codes.

This was stupid.

Beck finally reached the top, and he let out a breath of fresh air. And there he saw her. A lady was standing there too, but she apparently didn't notice him coming. Was she up here for the same reason he was?

He didn't want to interrupt her thinking process. But at the same time, he didn't want to scare the pixels out of her, either. "It's nice out, isn't it?"

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa was oblivious to the man behind her, unaware as well that such conflicting thoughts were running through his head. It was only when he spoke up that she realized anyone was there and she turned quickly, unable to help being startled by the sudden appearance of someone.

It didn't last for too long, though and she relaxed slightly. As much as she wanted to avoid people, she felt like she was at least safe from hurting anyone. Back in the Capitol, she felt they really wouldn't risk letting her powers return. Really, the only person she didn't want to see was Anna anyway, so she didn't have such a strong urge to run away now.

"It is," she agreed with a small nod. "I hadn't realized it was so beautiful- I always imagined somewhere run by such awful people would mirror that awfulness." But instead, she had a beautiful city before her. It was a lot different than she had ever imagined.

[amplifying]

"It's weird, isn't it?" Beck could even relate to that. Coming from a world where you were nothing but a program, and humans were almost godly...it was different. It wasn't what Beck was used to picturing. Here the Users were almost as bad as programs back home, and it was a little hard to accept.

He crossed his arms, sighing a little. "It's kind of funny, isn't it? How you think some people are, but then they turn to their real side and it's nothing what you expected." Beck looked to her. "I always thought that humans were supposed to be flawless. It's almost disappointing."

The few tributes around here he would beg to differ. But the mass of them...?

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa had been following along with everything he said, nodding lightly. It was true, after all. And it wasn't always for the best, but sometimes people surprised you. But when he got to the part about "humans", Elsa suddenly gave him a quizzical look.

"You make it sound like you aren't human," she said, tilting her head a little to the side, looking him up and down. He... seemed pretty normal to her? "Certainly more human than the turtle I met in the arena, anyway." She gave a small chuckle, the memory much better in hindsight than how afraid she had been at the time.

[revvinguptheharley]

"Whatcha thinking about?"

A woman had appeared, blond with bright eyes that seemed to twinkle like the lights of the city. She had a plate in her hand with what looked to be a mound of chocolate cake, drizzled with fudge and a single ornate silver fork.

Harley would be a liar if she had said she wasn't looking forward to this. She had been ever since she followed the sisters story in the arena. Elsa just happened to be the last one she'd located.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

The sudden appearance of someone behind her was startling, but Anna quickly recovered when she found that it wasn't Anna. She knew the Capitol wouldn't risk letting her powers return when she could damage the city- or worse. So she didn't feel the need to run away. At least not yet.

"Oh, just... things," she said, trying to force herself to sound as if it wasn't a big deal. "Mostly the city. It's a lot different than I had imagined."

[revvinguptheharley]

Harley smirked and nodded "Yeah that's an understatement. I come from a place where cities are this big, but not this advanced. Pretty neat really, and so much to do it's enough to make you forget about all the bad in your life."

She shot Elsa a silly wink "And around here, that's saying something."

[halfa_hero]

"You'd think they could shut the lights off for five minutes." Danny grumbled from where he was laying down. Light pollution tended to completely ruin the fun of stargazing.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa hadn't noticed the younger boy at all in her entire time of being on the roof. Sometimes, she really had a one track mind, especially lost in her thoughts as she was prone to do lately. So she turned towards him, eyebrows raised in light surprise as her eyes landed on him.

"I didn't see you there," she said, straightening up a little, putting on a bit more of a regal air. "Do you not enjoy the lights?"

[halfa_hero]

He shrugged. "If it's a choice between that or being able to see the stars? I'll pick the stars. Kind of an amateur astronomer."

[atippleoftransparency]

Lyle had been going up to the roof at night. Mostly to prove to himself that he could, even if he didn't go near the edge. He couldn't afford to let his...distaste for heights get any worse than it already was. Not here, not trapped in this mess.

He'd spied people on the rooftop before, but never anyone he'd had a particular urge to talk to. As distasteful as it was, he'd forced himself to sit through the "highlight reels" to try and get an idea of some of the other people in the Arena. This woman -- Queen Elsa, if he recalled correctly -- seemed pretty torn up about her inability to control her ice powers. Understandably, considering what had happened when they activated in the Arena.

It was possible he could help her. Maybe. It couldn't hurt to try. And if anyone asked, well, he could come up with a lot of reasons his villainous persona might want a queen with ice powers looking kindly on him.

So naturally, he decided to introduce himself by sneaking up on her.

"Good evening, your majesty."

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa hated how jumpy she could be sometimes, but it was hard not to be when she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that everything else had almost stopped existing. The sudden voice behind her was enough to make her inhale sharply and turn around, ready to defend herself if need be.

But a second later, his words registered in her brain and she relaxed. That was... oddly respectful of him. She had grown used to people dismissing her royalty, so the fact he was calling her your majesty was pretty surprising.

"Oh, hello..." she said, a little hesitantly. "You surprised me, I never heard you coming," she continued. "But... good evening."

[atippleoftransparency]

"I'd be pretty awful at my job if people did hear me coming," Lyle answered with a lazy grin. "So thanks."

He undoubtedly looked a little odd to her. Up top he looked neat and well put-together with combed hair, a black shirt with a white silk scarf draped around his neck and white gloves disappearing under his sleeves. Below the belt though, well: maroon sweatpants that were at least a size too big pulled down around blue felt slippers. Because he was not ever going to wear the skin pants.

He bowed to her at -- well, it would be an appropriate angle for a foreign dignitary to bow to a ruler back home in the United Planets, but he had no idea what the angle said to her. He was just going to assume she could tell what he was trying to do and not worry about it.

"Lyle Norg," he introduced himself. "I was hoping I'd run into you at some point. Well, outside the Arena."