thecapitol | (no subject)

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(no subject)

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.

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"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.

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."

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."

All Elsa could really do was offer a small chuckle and a sad smile. Harley seemed nice enough, but everything she said was enough to bring Elsa's troubles to the forefront of her mind. It left her feeling unsure what to say.

"I'm not sure if it's quite enough to make me forget about the bad things," she said with a small shake of her head. "But it is a pretty nice distraction, at least. One of these days, I want to see what the city is like. It looks beautiful out there."

If she could bring herself to leave the building, anyway. Baby steps. This was a start, maybe she could work her way up.

"Oh it is!" Harley sighed happily and offered the cake to Elsa. "There's shopping, and gardens, museums and so many fancy restaurants with cool decorations." she gushed. "And Spas! Nothing helps me relax like a trip to the spa for some soothing music, maybe get my nails done, a massage or a soak in the hot springs."

It was a rare place where even Harley would be calm.

"Of course, being royalty you're probably used to that sorta stuff huh?"

Elsa really couldn't deny it- all of that sounded very excited. They were things she had never experienced before- especially the hot springs. Oh, the idea was suddenly appealing. Back home, she would probably have frozen it solid within two seconds. Of course she preferred the cold and even enjoyed it, but there was still that part of her that longed to experience warmth like that.

It was a moment before Elsa responded, having gotten caught up in the mental images of it all. She shook herself out of it. "Oh- sorry. But... no, actually. I have never done any of the stuff you mentioned, ever. It sounds wonderful, though."

Harley brought an eyebrow up in surprise.

"Really? Well why not? Were you from a poor kingdom? A boring kingdom? Or..." And here she gasped for dramatic effect. "Were you one of those royal types who's all work and no play?!"

The last one sounded like Elsa might be committing a sin by living that way.

The sudden barrage of questions was enough to make Elsa feel a little overwhelmed. She shut her eyes and took in a slow breath. "No, it's... complicated. But none of those things are true. Arendelle is actually rather well off."

She wasn't sure how much she wanted to say- honestly, she had the feeling everyone had seen what happened in the arena, so there was no reason to hide, per say. But at the same time, it was personal.

"To put it simply, I never really got out much. It was for the best, though," she said after another moment. She figured if that wasn't good enough, she would suck it up and offer a bit more of an explanation, but she hoped it would be sufficient.

Harley listened and tapped her lips with a finger in thought.

"Ah, this is about the control thing huh? You wouldn't be the first. In fact back home I worked with alot of "Special" people who had control issues."

Of course that was a delicate way of saying "Raving lunatics."

But beside that she slid the cake closer to Elsa "Dr. Harleen Quinzell, but you can call me Harley."

It was just as she had thought- people did know. She suddenly had the urge to run away and barricade herself in her room again. People must have thought she was a freak and a monster- and she would agree with all of them. But it felt awful knowing that people knew anyway.

But when Harley continues and mentioned being a doctor, Elsa's curiosity piqued a little. "A doctor? Do... you know how to fix me, then?" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up, not even thinking to introduce her own name for the moment. All she cared about what finding out if Harley knew something she could do. "Can you take away my curse?"

"Yes! Absolutely." She declared with a triumphant look on her face.

And then after a pause she added. "Well no, but it's possible. I just need to know more about it." She grinned brightly.

For a moment, Elsa's excitement soared, faltered, and then evened out into something a bit more reasonable. She supposed she could tell her more, if it meant she could help. Really, what could it actually hurt to talk about it?

"Do you mind if we sit down?" she asked, gesturing to the ground. It wasn't going to be the most comfortable, but it was one of those sit-down type discussions and she wanted to do it properly.

"Of course! Lead the way." Harley chirped.

Meanwhile as Elsa led her along Harley undid her usual ponytails, shaking them out and redoing them into a quick and businesslike bun. Next she drew a pair of thick rimmed glasses from her pocket slipping them onto her face with practiced ease. This was her costume for the world at large whenever she wanted to pretend she still had a bit or professionalism left in her.

"Now I want you to know that anything you say I won't share with anyone. Doctor Patient confidentiality."

This was of course a terrible lie because lurking somewhere there was always a camera and a microphone. That was just life in the Capitol. But Harley could hardly be blamed for that.

Elsa gave a small nod, moving away from the edge of the building to pick a safer spot towards the middle of the roof. She moved to sit down, scooting so that she was facing Harley and- oh. She was surprised to see how quickly Harley had done up her bun and donned glasses. Suddenly it was as if she were looking at a whole new person who reeked of professionalism.

"Thank you," she said with a small nod. "I appreciate that very much." She took in a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. "Now... where to begin. Well, I guess I should start with the fact that I was born with them. I don't know how or why, though if my parents knew then they never told me."

She was really hesitant to tell her of what happened to Anna when they were children, so she decided instead to focus on what she could do. "I can create snow and ice and I can control it, too. I'm not really sure how it works, but somehow I can even make living snow creatures! It's... amazing, actually." For a brief moment, she sounded fond of her powers.

It disappeared soon. "But dangerous- too dangerous. The bad definitely outweighs any good in them."

Harley offered an encouraging nod, any good therapist knew it was best to let the patients just talk, but she had always been a chatty sort and liked to think that interacting with the patients backstory helped to put them at ease.

"Where I come from such things are...well I wouldn't say common but they happen. Most manifest during puberty but there are cases of the meta gene in children as young as newborns." She paused and added "Of course the rules don't apply the same in each universe but it might help to know that you're not alone in this."

It was nice to be able to talk about it to someone who seemed to understand. She'd never been able to talk freely about it, so being able to was pretty cathartic, if she were to be perfectly honest. Harley was good at making her not feel judged.

Though, Elsa wasn't sure she would ever get used to the idea that people were from different "universes". That people weren't all from the same place as her was something she could hardly believe, yet was forced to. The evidence was all around her, what with the technology and just general strangeness. Still, it was a lot to handle.

Despite that, it was also somewhat of a relief as well. She wasn't alone, even if... they were from other universes. "What kinds of things can they do?" she asked, curiosity all over her voice. "Are there people who can make ice like me?"

"Oh absolutely. In my world for example the first one that comes to mind is Frost." She catches herself because she can't imagine using the girls full name "Killer Frost" will make Elsa feel any better. "There's The Snowman, Minister Blizzard, Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, there's even one girl who just calls herself Ice."

She feels like the silly names require explaining "See where I come from, if you have powers you probably want to use them. It feels good to use a skill or talent you have. Some people use them for good things like helping others and protecting the weak. But some people use them for selfish reasons. Usually the people who use their powers for good go out of their way to stop the ones who use their powers selfishly so that innocent people don't get hurt."

That was really just dancing around the subject though. "So! To protect their personal lives and the people they love, sometimes they'll use fake names when they are out using their powers and then the rest of the time they pretend to be boring normal humans."

Elsa listened with rapt attention to everything Harley said. She'd never been so eager for a conversation in her life. She had never expected to hear about so many people with ice powers- of course the names were a little weird and she probably would have asked about them sooner or later, but simply the fact that people with them existed was so wonderful.

Less wonderful was the fact that people used those powers for bad, but it was also nice to hear that people would use them for good, too. She wished she could be one of those people- if she could do something good with her powers, it would feel incredible. But what use was ice in this place? Or even Arendelle?

"That sounds incredible," she said, sounding in awe despite her heavy thoughts. "I can't believe there are so many. How do they control it, though? I mean... it sounds like the whole world should have frozen solid with so many of them around! And yet it doesn't sound as if it is- and people are okay with people having powers? They don't treat them like monsters?"

"Well some use technology." Harley continues thinking of a few key cases. "That's what I suspect is keeping our powers in check right now because the Capitol has in the past, returned use of powers if we're doing something for them. Last year some monsters escaped into the city and anyone who volunteered to help could use their powers during the whole thing."

"As for the rest control wise, like any skill or talent it takes practice. Think of it like instead of snow you had a talent for writing. Even the best writers need practice and focus to be able to produce great works." She reasoned.

"Unfortunately since the Capitol took away your powers you can't practice with them here."

As for the second question Harley was stalling for time while she decided if she was going to lie to the girl and give her hope, or be honest and trust she was intelligent enough to handle it. She chose the latter.

"People are sometimes afraid of things they don't understand." Harley began. "And they make bad choices when they're scared. Persecution exists for people who are different, either because of their looks, their beliefs or their talents." She sighed shaking her head "It's not one of humanities best traits, but it's there."

Perking up she smiled warmly "But for every intolerant uneducated human, there is a curious and open minded human who finds the diversity fascinating. Like me! I love how wild and weird the world can be."

Elsa gave a nod- she didn't quite know how technology could do it, but she'd seen enough by that point to learn not to question it. So much here was possible, and while it didn't make sense all she could do was roll with it. It honestly didn't matter to her anyway- the only thing that did was her powers being gone at all.

She hadn't ever really thought of it as a skill, and that much showed on her face. It had always been a curse to her, and for a moment something she was proud of until the fear came back and swept that away. But it made sense- she would have to practice it. Except she couldn't, as Harley pointed out. And maybe that was for the best, because it meant that she couldn't hurt anyone in the process of trying to control it.

"I hadn't ever thought about it like that," she admitted during the lull in the conversation.

As Harley continued, she honestly felt a lot better, at least knowing there were people out there who didn't care and even liked them. All in all, she was very glad she had met Harley. "I wish there were more people like you out there," she said with a wistful sigh. "The world needs more people like that."

"Absolutely!" Harley agreed with a shiny bright smile.

"But let's go back to you shall we? So you were born with your powers, that must mean you have a pretty good idea of how they manifest. I only saw the bit in the arena so maybe you could go into more detail?"

Realizing she'd abandoned the cake she slid from her seat to go retrieve it and when she came back she was already eating some of it, licking a dollop of fudge from her upper lip. Ever the professional.

Elsa waited for her to get back- she'd actually not realized Harley had cake, perhaps because she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that it had gone unnoticed. But now that they were about to get into heavier things, she didn't think she could stomach anything.

She drew in a deep breath. "Well," she said after a moment, figuring she should just go for it. What would the harm be in telling? "When I was a little girl, it never seemed that hard to control." Her voice was quiet, vaguely nostalgic. There was sadness in it, too.

"But there was an accident. I accidentally hurt Anna and... After that, I couldn't control it. Every time I got scared, they would go crazy. I froze everything I touched all of the time."

Now that she was getting into it, it became a little easier to talk about. "My father gave me a pair of gloves." Subconsciously, she rubbed her hands together, almost missing the feel of them. "Conceal, don't feel. Put on a show," she recited, maybe a hint of bitterness in her tone- because that hadn't worked. None of it had, and Anna had still been killed by her. "The motto I lived by," she explained as an afterthought.

She ran a hand through her hair and then shook her head. "Sorry, that's not really relevant, is it? You just want to hear about my powers." She shrugged. "I don't know what more to say. They work best when I'm calm, but... I guess I'm never calm enough."

Edited 2014-03-05 12:54 (UTC)

Harley listened intently, eyes focused on Elsa's with an amount of attention that Harley rarely paid to anything. As Elsa came to a pause she swallowed a bite of cake and smiled again.

"Actually, that all helps a great deal." She explained and held out her hand to Elsa.

"May I?" She had some theories of course but one step at a time. Also she was curious if the girl would have a lower body temperature with her powers cut off.

Elsa was glad that it seemed to help. Whatever could aid in getting her powers under control, or at least getting a better understanding of them, was a good thing in Elsa's opinion.

She hesitated at the request, if only because she was still used to not having physical contact with anyone. But after a moment, she nodded and extended her hand. Harley would find that her body temperature was indeed slightly cooler than average, but nowhere near ice cold.

Harley took her hand gently and placed another hand over it gently cupping the delicate princess fingers and palm in her own more worked hands.

"Here is what I've taken away from the story so far. When you were free to explore your powers you had better control over them. But fear and lack of confidence stifles your control and abilities. Over the years trying to repress things only made them worse because your powers are a part of you. A part that is as important as your mind or your pretty smile."

She smiled for example and gave Elsa's hand a squeeze.

"It's really too bad you didn't have a therapist in your kingdom, they probably could have caught this alot sooner. But studies in mental and emotional health have advanced alot in my time."

"What it boils down to, and this isn't gonna be easy or quick. You're going to have to do a few things."

She brought up one of her hands to count on her fingers but kept holding Elsa's hand with the other.

"First, forgive yourself. It wasn't your fault your sister got hurt, either time. And I don't know her that well but from what little I've chatted with her? I'm betting she's already forgiven you."