❄️❄️❄️Frozen Fractals❄️❄️❄️ (show_yourself) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-09 05:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, daisy johnson (quake), elsa of arendelle |
Who: Elsa and Skye
What: Random encounters with Corvids
When: Recently
Where: a park
Status: complete
Rating: PG
It was a remarkably nice day, and so Elsa had decided to set up shop in a park with a sketchbook and a few pencils. The open air and lack of many people around at least helped with her anxiety and she was stubbornly determined to not need any help. Even if she was never going to enter a club alone ever again. Assuming someone could talk her into going in the first place.
She was designing her dream house, sleek and ultramodern but with almost elegantly refined lines to it. Lots of windows, lots of open spaces, and a bit of an ice motif to the trimming.
It was definitely a nice day out, so Skye had chosen to head to a park for lunch. Of course, she brought her laptop with her because sometimes she got an itch to just see what she could hack if she got bored enough. She found a bench that had good shade and she sat down there. She was sitting near a woman who was busy sketching something. Skye couldn’t tell what it was, but she didn’t really pry.
Sitting camper style on the bench, she pulled her sandwich out and set it next to her on a napkin. She set her thermos next to it as well, which contained coffee, the nectar of the gods as far as she was concerned. She then pulled out her laptop and turned it on. She started with looking at what wifi came up.
...until a crow landed near her and made eyes at her sandwich. “Oh hell no, that’s my sandwich not yours,” she said to the bird, quickly snatching it in her hand. It cawed at her. Clearly it was used to people feeding it.
“That’s not a fight you’ll win,” Elsa said, glancing over and smiling as a breeze blew a bit of loose hair out of her braid. “That one in particular is very convincing. But you should hold out; last time I was here it kept bringing me things to trade for the sandwich, until it somehow found a rolex.”
Skye looked over at the woman, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “Seriously? It brought you a freaking rolex?” She looked back at the bird as it looked at her. “What are you going to offer me?” She was suddenly very interested in seeing what this crow would offer her. And the bird flew off. “So what, did it start with like, a stick and then somehow work its way up to a rolex?”
“Yes. When I wouldn’t accept a pebble, or a quarter, or a newspaper, it flew off and came back with the rolex a few minutes later. I think they really like things that are shiny.” Elsa could get the shiny addiction. She was all about the sparkles, as her earrings attested to.
“That’s kind of amazing, though. I mean, it’s totally a good rebuttal to people who say birds aren’t smart. Crows are definitely smart.” Skye remarked. She took a bite of her sandwich and was halfway through chewing it when the crow returned with a twig. “Out of everything you could bring me, you start with a twig?”
Crows in particular seemed extra smart. Elsa had read once that they formed bonds with humans they liked and held grudges. It was almost like humans were their pets. Elsa giggled, watching the crow hop around in frustration. “Don’t you know to always start negotiations low?”
“I know that, but it could’ve started with a shiny pebble or something.” Skye looked at the crow, picking off the smallest of pieces of bread. “This is what a twig is worth, and I’m pretty sure you want more than that.” And the crow flew off again. “So how long did your negotiations with the crow last?”
“About ten minutes, it came back three times,” Elsa explained, looking delighted at the way Skye was interacting with the crow. “You’ve given it a taste, maybe it might even bring some money. I’ve heard of one crow that brought a man three dollars for a hotdog.”
Skye liked interacting with friendly animals. And this crow certainly seemed friendly. “It’s certainly got some negotiating skill, then.” She chuckled a bit, then the crow returned and dropped some coins on the bench. “Wait a second,” she said, brow furrowing as she reached out and picked up the coins. “Holy shit, one of these is a dollar coin. Okay, it’s not a rolex, but that’s still impressive.” Skye tore part of her sandwich and handed it over to the crow. “You definitely earned that.”
“You’re going to get a friend for life,” Elsa remarked. “Or at least someone who will try to bargain with you.”
The crow eyed her pencil and she angled her body away from it. “Oh no you don’t, this isn’t for trade!”
“I never say no to friends,” she responded with a smile. There had been periods in her life where she hadn’t really had friends, so Skye would never turn one away. “Be careful, he might start bargaining for your pencil.”
“I’m trying to do work here,” Elsa complained, a smile still on her face. “He’ll have to give me something really good for my pencil.”
She turned her sketchbook more towards Daisy, to show the building she was doing brainstorm sketches on. “I’m working on some new building designs.”
“Something that tops a rolex?” Skye asked with a grin. When the sketchbook was turned towards her, she looked at it. “Oh wow, that looks pretty cool! So an architect? That’s pretty awesome.”
She couldn’t think of anything that would top a rolex, at least that a corvid would be able to bring without… a whole lot of other corvid’s helping, so Elsa just laughed. “I’ve designed one of the newer buildings in the Skyline and I’m trying to design something to submit for consideration for a project I heard about through the grapevine.”
“That’s pretty awesome! Hopefully you can get your design finished and submitted for that project. It kind of sounds like a dream come true type of thing there.” Not that Skye was talking from personal experience there, but she knew what it was like to dream.
“Dreams.” Elsa snorted, then covered her mouth, and cleared her throat. “I like classic lines, but also really clean styles. You could say I’m a huge fan of ice as inspiration.”
The crow had returned with a twig, with leaves on it. He had threaded tabs from soda cans onto it in a bizarre form of art. Elsa looked impressed. “You can’t have my pencil, but…”
And then forgetting where she was, she twirled her hand around, and a perfect ice replica of the crow grew out of sparkles and spirals of magic on the ground. The crow squawked, and bounced around the ice-crow in excited curiosity.
Okay, that twig with the cans threaded to it was an interesting offer. However, what was more interesting was when Elsa conjured an ice replica of the crow. She gazed at the ice replica with awe and wonder. “That’s pretty cool,” Skye commented with admiration. Magic was becoming familiar to her by now, having seen plenty of it since arriving in Orange County.
Elsa froze mid gesture, staring at her ice crow then at Daisy, before smiling sheepishly. “Well, at least you’re not freaked out by that, so you must be a Dreamer. Thank you. I was born with it. In the dreams, I mean.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen some weird shit. And there’s apparently aliens or something in my Dreams. I’ve only had like two.” Skye said with a shrug, but she smiled. “You’re welcome. So what all can you do? Just ice manipulation or can you control other elements as well?”
“No aliens here, just magic.” Elsa wriggled her hands, making it snow in a localized patch in front of them. “Ice, snow, and temperature. I can even spruce up my dresses.”
She twirled her hand, and her dress became a different shade of blue, with sparkling patterns on the hem.
There were probably aliens around, just not right here. Skye was definitely human. Though the localized snow was pretty cool to see, as well as the change in her dress. “That’s pretty cool. Pun intended,” she said with a wink and a chuckle. “I’m Skye, by the way. I totally forgot about my manners and didn’t introduce myself.”
“Elsa.” She didn’t offer her hand, though she’d shake if someone else did. It took a bit for someone to get inside Elsa’s defenses, touch wise. Well, either familiarity, drink, or OC craziness. “So what do you do, besides make friends with crows and ice queens?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Elsa.” Skye didn’t extend her hand. Normally she would, but it felt a little odd to do so after they’d been talking for a while already. “I work in IT for an internet provider, but it’s a snooze fest for what I’m capable of doing. It’s a paycheck and I need a job, so there it is. In my spare time I, well,” she glanced around just to make sure no uniformed police officers were near them. Which there weren’t. “I hack into places I shouldn’t hack into.”
“Do you do that just for the excitement?” Elsa asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise that anyone would admit to such things in public. At least she had the impression Skye wasn’t the kind of person to leak someone’s nudes.
“Or as a side gig?”
“Excitement. Computers are about the only thing I’m actually good at.” Well, she was probably also good at sex, but she wasn’t going to admit that outloud. “And in case you’re wondering, I don’t go poking around in people’s private stuff. Unless they’re like corrupt or something, then I’d probably be tempted to go for their hidden dirt.” She shrugged a shoulder.
“I’m just an architect, so I don’t think I have to worry then. And the only one like that I can think of is already in jail.” Elsa leaned back on the bench, resting her pad against her chest. She supposed someone like Skye would have been really useful when dealing with Jacques Schnee, but all that was taken care of.
She hoped.
“Nope, you’re safe. And good, I’m glad to hear that person’s in jail.” Skye didn’t like people getting away with things or using their money and power to skirt the law. Of course, she also favored transparency, which was why she liked poking at things like the Pentagon and so forth. “So, what do you do in your spare time aside from making deals with crows?”
“Nothing as exciting as hacking bad guys,” Elsa assured her. “I read, mostly. I sometimes go to charity events. That was how I met my ex-girlfriend.”
Her expression faltered, just a little bit, before she recovered. “I’m afraid I’m not a very exciting person. I love adventures but it’s hard to have adventures here, compared to my dreams. They’re helping give me an appreciation for politics though.”
Skye caught the falter in Elsa’s expression, but she didn’t push the subject. She knew that sort of thing from personal experience. “Hey, I’m not that exciting either, so it’s totally cool. I tend to just stay home and screw around on the computer more often than not. Sometimes I’ll go out to a club or something if I want excitement. You know, when this place isn’t going crazy, at least.”
“I used to do a little clubbing, but I don’t really feel safe in them anymore.” Getting drugged and kidnapped tended to put a damper on any large public gatherings involving alcohol, especially when one already had anxiety issues.
“This place really does go crazy sometimes, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s not for everyone.” Sometimes it was too much for Skye. It depended on how she felt at the time. Sometimes it was good to just get out and lose herself like that.
“It really does. The invasions are beyond what I can handle, though. So I typically just stay inside. Or call Jemma if I need help.” Skye didn’t know how to use a gun, and she was just a normal human with no powers. Fighting was not something she was good at aside from just punching assholes now and then.
“The last few I put up ice barriers and bunkered down. Though I suppose I could be some kind of superhero if I chose to.” It might be fun to design a costume, and Weiss and her friends had always been fighters. Why couldn’t she?
A perfect ice replica of Myternaster formed in her hands. “Last April, there were… living peeps and vorpal bunnies. I did a little fighting there, but I think I’d need more practice.”
“If you became a superhero, what would your superhero name be?” Because aside from having a costume, superheroes always had names. Skye was curious on the matter. She noted the ice replica, finding it interesting, but she quickly turned her attention back to Elsa. “Wait, living peeps? Vorpal bunnies? Damn, Easter is hardcore around here.”
“Froz..en?” Elsa tilted her head. “No, that’s terrible! Maybe something more like Icewoman.”
Which was also really stupid if one was honest, but Elsa wasn’t really taking that seriously. “Yes, my ex was… trapped by an evil bunny and I had to help her.”
“Icewoman is a starting place.” Skye said with a smile. To be honest, a lot of superhero names were stupid sounding. But there were cool ones. Like Black Widow.
“Oh man, that sounds kind of terrifying. And like something right out of Monty Python.” Which was probably not far from the truth given how this place seemed to operate.
“I’m pretty sure it was some how inspired by Monty Python. Sometimes I think this place likes to take cues from us. Like if someone thinks too hard about something it happens.” Watch there be a giant marshmallow man. Elsa’s anxiety about freezing everything was bad enough. But a marshmallow man would be a step too far.
“If you come up with a better code-name let me know. Otherwise I’ll stick with Ice Queen.”
“Then I’ll do my best not to think about something that could happen here. Just to be safe.” And considering what little she knew of her dream world thus far? There would be plenty of things that she’d think about that could crossover.
“I promise. Code-names can be difficult to come up with.”