#ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴏғ ᴍᴇ╰ modern verse.

[heartshards]

@maelindas​ / starter.

              THE SOUND OF A KNOCK AT THE DOOR ------ something simple and innocent, but enduringly haunting to Elsa’s tired mind. she had no roommate, no friends. her phone screen bit into her eyes. it was 1:30 am. what reason had anyone to be at her door now? her hands trembled at her sides, legs weak as she moved to undo the lock.

               her panic half-eased when the opened door revealed only a dark-haired girl. the confusion and agitation at being stirred endured, though. her ton was clipped, but she smoothed it as much as her fatigue allowed.  “ can I help you? ”

[heartshards]

@starbloomed​ / rikki.

            HER VEINS RAN FROZEN IN A SECOND’S TIME.    this was what people like them always feared.  she let a held breath escape her nose,  watching as its chill becomes visible in the warm air.   “ did he see you ? ”   she asked,  fingers knotting into one another.  she was scared for them,  even more defensive in the big sister instinct she’d never been able to shake.  she was not foolish enough to think she can protect them,  but oh,  her heart wants to believe she could.  

                                                                   “ rikki !  did he see you ? ”

[heartshards]

❛ Please don’t talk ❜ / - felipe

            “ ALRIGHT, ”    she’s grown used to his presence in the mornings.  they rarely talk,  and whether or not he knows it when he poses his request,  it comes as a comforting kind of relief to Elsa.  there’s a kind of mutual understanding between them,  one that’s now even spoken aloud,  that they didn’t come for their morning tea or coffee to talk with strangers -- but the mere presence of another body provided a solace of its own.  she fixes her eyes on the street through the thick pane of glass,  watching the colored lights of city refracting through it,  and smiles.  softly,  she passes the bit of the paper she’s finished in his direction,  and wraps her lips back over the mug. 

                               a bit of quiet in New York -- how precious a thing indeed.

[heartshards]

“You think I can stay with you for a while?” ( also from rikki uwu )

              IT WAS LATE.    she wasn’t expecting anyone, and even if she had been the fight or flight response in her bones would likely have kicked in just as hard.  it was always ready,  even when she wished it would give her peace.  she opened the door just a crack, feet sliding ever so slightly on the ice they were radiating across the scratched wood floors,  until she saw rikki,  and her features immediately calmed.

            “ rikki ? ”   she asked,  opening the door to let her in.   “ It’s past eleven,  what are you doing here ? ”    rikki likely didn’t know that elsa lived alone.  she wasn’t exactly of age to,  but her circumstances had called for some living above the guise of the rules.   “ I mean ---- yes, come sit I’ll ---- put some tea on.  what’s happened ? ”

[heartshards]

“ that’s the greatest thing to steal : a man’s joy ” lmao

              “  I’LL DRINK TO THAT.  ”     elsa raised her wine glass to ella’s,   a genuine smile on her cheeks.  true that it ached dully in her chest to so much as speak of her father  ——–  but to know her success had reached him,  to know he was hearing of what he’d lost  ( or rather thrown out  )  gave her some sense of satisfaction,  however skewed.     “  enough about my problems,  though,  tell me about the man,  ella !  ”    she was a little tipsy,  but she knew ella wouldn’t truly mind the prodding.

[heartshards]

‘ice is not a snack.’ ( from rikki AHAHAHAHA )

          " not like this, not yet. " but patience is not one of Rikki's virtues. she's learned that much. still, her careful hand smooths the poised balls of snow, the kind that packs well into a snowman but retains the soft, pillowy texture of an early winter blanketing. it's refined, just right for what will come next. she'd learned it once upon time from the daughter of a Canadian dignitary, and it sat sweetly amongst the rows of locked-away memories inside her.

              " boil this, " she instructs, tipping the honey jar into a metal bowl, " but not too much. " originally, the treat was made from maple, but Elsa finds that, like much else from her youth, that is hard to come by here. she almost prefers the golden flavor of honey now, though, and she just as eagerly watches Rikki's hands over it, unsure whether she's more mesmerized by the other woman's confidant magic or the magic inlaid in the simplest bits of nature, in syrups and freshly conjured snow.