thecapitol | (no subject)

Who| Elsa and Hans
What| Elsa confronts Hans after talking on the lonestar post
Where| The roof
When| Backdated to just after the lonestar post
Warnings/Notes| N/A

Elsa is, to put it simply, frazzled right now. After working up the courage to out Hans on the network only to have her attempts dismissed and Hans allowed to participate, she's not the happiest of people right now. After everything that happened between the two of them, after it's all finally started to settle in, Elsa just can't bring herself to trust a single thing he says, no matter what it is. He could claim to have had a glass of milk yesterday and she would likely not believe him.

It's almost impossible to talk in any meaningful way outside of the private network and she knows that, but she's not thinking very rationally right now. She has to see him, confront him on all of it. Her threats before had been empty, even afraid- but right now, after everything she's gone through in the last couple of months, she's ready to make more than just an empty threat. Right now, it feels like one she could follow through with. He has to know that if he does anything to anyone she cares about, there will be consequences from her personally.

Finding him is harder than she had expected, if only because she doesn't want anyone to know she's looking for him. He isn't in his room, he isn't in the kitchens, he isn't anywhere she might expect to find him. It occurs to her that he could be anywhere in the Capitol and she would never know, but she's hoping that he's still in the tribute tower somewhere. In a last ditch effort, she tries the roof. It's not where she expects him to be, but she can try.

As it happens, it's exactly where he is. It would be a relief that she's finally found him, if seeing his presence doesn't send a wave of anger washing over her. Her heels clack across the floor of the roof audibly, the breeze blowing her now shorter hair wildly, but she doesn't care. Elsa stops a few feet away from him, her fists clenched at her sides.

"What are you doing?" she hisses, her eyes narrowed. It's a vague enough question that anyone listening in won't connect to anything suspicious, but he'll know exactly what she's asking.

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This is not what he wanted. Not remotely. He's so frustrated with himself, with Elsa and with Lonestar. Yet, more than ever, he's starting to feel hate for the Capitol. He doesn't entirely hate being here, but he feels stagnant and climbing his way to the top seems less and less likely as time goes on. They've done nothing to earn his loyalty, but neither has the rebellion. He could help either side and be better or gravely worse for it, but he can't dawdle any longer.

In some ways, Elsa outing him had been helpful, but he's angry. Things done out of his terms are infuriating, it had been his secret to hold onto and she was meant to leave him alone. Now his name is out there and he has Lonestar bearing down on him with threats. If he toes out of line on either side he could be struck down, and it's almost impossible to imagine doing nothing.

He'd excused himself for some air, but he can't seem to get enough of it. He's drawing in sharper and shallower breaths as panic and frustration takes hold and Elsa happens upon him in time to see him bring his hands to his face and into his hair as he resists the urge to yell in anger. His hands drop fast when she hisses out to him and he'll give her a long look with a mix of surprise and wariness before he shakes his head dismissively.

"I could ask you the same thing." He forces his voice to be cold, turning away from her like he cares more about the view than her.

Seeing Hans in such a state, even if just for a second before before he's recovering enough to reply, is a strange thing. Every time she's ever seen him, he's been so composed. She never knows how he does it, but he's always been good at masking how he feels. But not tonight, it seems, because from the looks of it he's far more stressed by the situation than she could have possibly expected.

It makes her feel a little smug and more than a little satisfied. At least he's feeling the effects of it and it wasn't a total waste of time for her to do what she had done. It's a consolation, even if it's small.

His reply has a bitter scoff escaping her lips. Before she can stop herself, she's stepping over and taking him by the arm, attempting to turn him around- he's bigger than her and she isn't the strongest of people, but she has anger on her side. "I asked you first," she snaps. She's not in the mood to play nice, and while aggression is uncharacteristic for her, Hans makes it easy, especially in a situation like this. She wishes she could confront the issue directly, that they could speak without worrying about the Capitol overhearing. It makes it much more difficult, but she's going to keep trying.

"Why can't you just leave everyone alone?" she adds after a moment, her voice accusatory and icy, just as cold as his own.

He's cursing himself for letting her see that. He let himself slip a little too recklessly, but it was impossible to keep that panic inside of him. He can't very well involve Starkiller in it, or anyone, really. He'd rather nobody knew just how he felt about all of this, but now Elsa might have an inkling. He almost wishes the force fields didn't surround the tower, because shoving her off the ledge would solve so many of his problems. He supposes Lonestar would see him dead for that as well, though. His hands are effectively tied and he loathes it.

He keeps his eyes trained on the silhouettes of towers rather than deigning her with a glance. He knows her well by now, but he hadn't at all expected her to get as fiery as her sister. He seizes up when she grabs at him, stumbling purely because he wasn't prepared to be pulled around. His hand flinches at his side as indignant rage burns and he lifts it halfway as if intending to hit her before he drops it back to his side and tugs himself a step back away from her. He'll get no real satisfaction from hitting her, he knows it. All it would prove is that he's low enough to strike a woman for touching him.

"I wanted to be left alone, your majesty." He spits out bitterly, brows furrowed in clear annoyance. "You were the one who couldn't leave well enough alone." He points his finger at her face before dropping his hand back to his side. "What exactly is it that you want from me, Elsa? I can't just disappear entirely." Now he's letting his shoulders slump a little, doing his best to look utterly put out.

Edited 2014-10-26 16:15 (UTC)