Don't Conceal, You've Got to Feel

[Phantom]

Roleplay for Patchy and I to explore a friendship between Elsa and Jack Frost.

Phantom - Elsa

The gloves were off.

What would have been a pleasant summer evening for most was yet another night of loneliness for Elsa. It wouldn't be much longer until she was officially crowned Queen, and the young ruler was feeling more afraid than ever. Every day she lived in fear of her power being discovered, and while her younger sister had been charmed by the power when they were younger Elsa had been told she had to hide it. People would be afraid, her parents told her. They wouldn't understand. She had to conceal her power, and thus conceal her feelings about it. Day by day, the fair-haired Princess had to continually remind herself to conceal everything. She had to remain stoic if she was going to keep her appearance as a normal ruler.

...It was difficult, and that was an understatement.

Elsa had left the castle for the evening, leaving Anna to attend to things around home, and fled for the gardens. She headed for a more secluded part of the garden and came to a stop directly in front of the fountain at the center. Her breaths came out in small bursts as she let her hands rest against the fountain behind her and leaned up against it. For once, her power seemed to be under control. She wasn't freezing anything, at any rate, so maybe she wasn't in danger of losing control.

Elsa felt the cold prickling from her fingers and her eyes grew wide. No! She couldn't let it go now! She had to keep it together!

Keep it together, Elsa. Keep it together... Stay calm...

In spite of herself, she did manage to calm her power down somewhat. She let a relieved breath escape her and glanced at the fountain, only to grimace slightly as she did. There were two patches of icy spikes where her hands had been.

"How am I supposed to do this? I've been doing everything I can to keep this hidden, but... Why can't I control it?"

She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. Elsa didn't even think anyone had followed her. Who would even bother to answer her question?

[Patchy]

Patchy-Jack Frost

The winter spirit had been flying around for most of the night exploring any place he had never been to. And it was here that he had found himself spending most of his time. Jack wasn't sure why but he felt that something was calling him here. Not sure of where else to go, he had flown to the biggest part he could find. A castle of sorts. There he had seen a young girl freeze part of a fountain. For the first time, jack now knew that there were others with the powers like him.

The poor girl seemed distressed though, 'Does she not like her powers?' he thought and listened to the girl.

Why can't I control it?

Ah, so there was the problem. He was in no hurry to leave, after all it wasn't like he had a job like the other guardians. Slowly he landed on the ground and spoke. "You know, i had a hard time like that too." not the most helpful statement but it was true

[Phantom]

Elsa froze for a second and her breath caught in her throat. Someone had actually heard her? Fear escaped through her blue eyes and she looked around, trying to identify the owner of the voice. When she finally saw him, she realized he wasn't from the palace. With the clothes he wore and the casual aura he gave off, it was just too unlikely that he was from around home. This didn't give the young ruler any more of a reason to relax, though. What if he had seen what she'd unintentionally done to the fountain? Elsa drew one hand back, hiding it behind her back, and pondered over what he had said. This caused her hand to come back out into view and confusion to flicker through her eyes.

"You... You can use magic like mine?" Elsa asked. Her voice warbled a bit with hidden hope. Hope that, for once, she had encountered someone who wouldn't be afraid of her. It was true that no one outside of her family knew about her powers, but it was also no secret that her parents had feared her power. They feared for her should someone find out. What could this boy have thought? It didn't seem like he was afraid...

[Patchy]

The boy gave a small smile, he didn't want to scare the girl off. It wasn't every day that he found someone with powers like his. He nodded at her question. "Yeah." he replied, though he was sure that he would have to prove it somehow. He glanced around the garden, looking for something, if not anything to prove it. He didn't dare think of freezing the flowers, that was the last thing he needed was to get her into trouble, not to mention have mother nature be ticked at him again.

Slowly, he tapped part of the stone he was standing on with his staff, causing it to freeze. Luckily it seemed that no one was around but him and her, so he didn't have to worry about getting caught. "It's not easy learning how to control it. I know that much."

[Phantom]

He really did have powers like her own! The fair-haired Princess allowed a soft gasp to slip past her defenses when she saw the stone freeze and a sort of hopeful smile appeared on her face. Maybe he could... Would he even want to teach her? Her smile faltered for a moment and Elsa pondered this. She desperately wanted to control her power so she wouldn't scare her own subjects, or risk hurting anyone like she had accidentally done to Anna years ago, but she didn't know if Jack would want to help her. ...How had he even gotten there, anyway? Elsa hadn't seen him around before, which was made all the more obvious by his appearance. Unless...

Could the story her parents had told her when she was little have been true? A tale of someone like her who brought frost to the world? But that was silly. That was a child's story, and Elsa was on the cusp of turning 21. What were the chances that she had actually stumbled upon someone meant to be fictional?

Elsa bit her lip slightly and gently chewed on it for a moment. Would he think her strange for asking? She already was strange for having this gift of hers and being unable to control it. How much stranger could things get?

Only one way to find out.

"I... I heard a story once, back when I was a little girl. My parents told me of a boy who brought winter to the world. Would you... Are you that boy? ...Jack Frost?"

[Patchy]

Jack was thrilled to see a small smile appear on her face. At least he had brought a little bit of happiness to someone. The girl had seemed so down. He couldn't help but crack a grin at her question. "That's my name. Bringing fun to all children is my game." he said with a smile. "I know, i know, its silly to think that i am real. You know that whole storybook business. But hey, it gives me a little bit of credit." he shrugged. "And what's your name?" he asked, hoping he wasn't being too forward with the question.

[Phantom]

"Elsa. Princess Elsa, actually... Though I'm not sure how much longer I'll carry that title," Elsa admitted. She knew the coronation would be soon, and she would become Queen, but until then she was still just the elder of the two princesses. Jack hadn't been too forward at all, at least in her opinion. She'd guessed at his identity, so it was only fair that he know who she was. Now she just had to explain herself a bit. Elsa imagined that her statement might not have been the most clear.

"You see, I'm going to be crowned Queen of this land soon. In a few days, at the very least. The trouble is my power," Elsa said. She glanced at her hands and grimaced slightly. As long as she wore gloves everything was fine, but Elsa had taken them off for the night. It was only a matter of time before she slipped up in public and revealed her power to the world. All her life she'd been told to hide it, and she'd feared what she might become if her power was revealed. It gave Elsa all the more reason to try and control it. That was why she needed Jack's help... If he was willing to give it.

"I've always had trouble keeping it concealed. My parents told me to hide it, for people might not understand it and thus... Fear me. I don't want to hurt anyone, either. I already had it happen once. Back when my sister and I were still children..."

Her situation might have been becoming a bit more obvious. Why she was asking the very embodiment of frost and winter, a being of fun, to help her was beyond her knowledge. Elsa had long since lost her ability to have fun. That may have been what the problem was, but she didn't know for sure. Only Jack, a fellow ice user, could potentially help her. A pleading sort of look entered the Princess' face as she took a slight step forward.

"Please... I know it's a lot to ask of someone I've only just met, someone I believed in when I was a child but wasn't sure I'd ever meet, but you have powers similar to mine. I was hoping that maybe you could..."

Elsa paused. Was she asking too much of the frosty Guardian? She sincerely hoped not.

"...Maybe you could help me?"

[Patchy]

Jack was a bit shocked to learn this much information. So he was actually talking to a soon-to-be queen. Was he supposed to bow before introducing himself? He wasn't really sure. Then her actual question made him even more surprised. Did no one in her land know about her powers? Were there no wizards in her kingdom? Right because Wizards actually exist. (normally now he would have believed anything since he had always thought princesses were little girl's dreams.)

He gave a small smile before nodding. "Sure. I can help you Elsa." he replied. "Though i am not much of a teacher." that much was true. He was sure that he could teach her a few things, he had nowhere to be anytime soon. Why not help this girl? "Do you want to practice here or somewhere else?" he wasn't too sure if practicing in a garden would be wise. With his luck every flower would be frozen in a second

[Phantom]

"Thank you," Elsa breathed. She genuinely was grateful that he had accepted her request, for she had feared it would be rejected outright. After all, she'd been asking an awful lot of the Guardian. Who was to say he even wanted to be in her company? Well, she supposed it didn't matter. What mattered was attempting to get her power until control before her coronation.

Jack's question of whether they should train in the garden or not got a tiny laugh out of the soon-to-be queen. No, training in the garden would be most unwise. If the presence of her ice on the fountain and his ice on the stone was any indication, doing their teaching would be better suited for a more open area with less of value. Elsa's expression softened a tough and she shook her head at last.

"I think it would be best to find another spot. No one aside from my sister knows about my power, and I don't think freezing the garden would be a wise way of introducing anyone to it," Elsa said. Jack had succeeded in one thing, though. For the first time in what must have been forever, there was a little hint of a smile on the fair-haired Princess' face. How long would it last, though? The only way to find out would be seeing how far her training went.

"I know a place we can go, though. It's not too far from here," Elsa said.

[Patchy]

"Glad to be of some help." Jack said with a smile and then she laughed. That made his face and eyes light up with happiness. It was good to see her happy. He would have done anything to make that smile last for the rest of the day. When she told him of a better place, the white haired guardian was relieved. Slowly, he rose into the air and nodded. "Lead the way Elsa." At that moment he really didn't care who saw him flying in the air, he was hoping that anyone who did would think it was just an illusion