Elsa gathered her newfound resolve around her like a cloak before following the herd - pack? - towards the stairs. She was the last one there, and wasn't fully in earshot while Anna's voice drifted down to meet her. Nor could she be: Elsa was thoroughly blocked from reaching the top of the staircase by the small knot of people that were clogging the exit. As the chatter died down, though, Anna's voice eventually penetrated to her.

After all that build up she was even a little excited to try playing. Or at least to see what the fuss was about.

"My friends," she was saying in another awful attempt at an accent, "you come to me on this, the day of my Halloween, and ask me to do murder for fun. And I say HELL YEAH!" A scattering of cheering met her. "So! I know a lot of you have played before, so let's start with a show of hands by those who haven't." There were, presumably, hands going up. Elsa couldn't see them, but did hear the sounds of tinfoil and tape.

The music hadn't stopped, though it was quieter now. It was a somber backdrop to the silliness around the room.

"Ok, that's enough that we will need the rules rundown! The name of this game is Mafia. It's not the sort where you're sitting around with your heads on a table. This version takes place in complete darkness. Some number of players will be designated as Mafia members. The others will be normal, everyday people. This will be secret! The game starts when the lights go out, and everyone starts moving around. The Mafia players are trying to kill everyone, while Everyone is trying to not get killed. There is only one accepted way to make a kill! You walk up to someone, like so, and pinch right here, on either side of the neck, right where the shoulder meets the neck."

Elsa could only assume that she was demonstrating on someone, but tiptoes weren't enough to let her see.

"Remember, you aren't a Vulcan, so you don't need a death grip. Be firm enough that they can't deny that you have them, but not hard enough to hurt. That's for the full-contact version." Somebody wolf whistled in response.

"As you see, once your victim is pinched they must remain totally silent and stay standing. You can move them however you want, like this." Another pause while she demonstrated. "Then, when they are where you want them, let them go." There was a clear thud. "Your victim then falls to the ground. They do not have to be quiet when you let them go, so if you aren't in a hurry it's probably wise to ease them onto the ground, instead of dropping them like I just did to Eugene. Thanks by the way, you make a great victim."

"Any time…" The response was muffled, like his face was pressed against the ground, and was quickly drowned out by laughter.

"Now! The way to fight back against the Mafia is simple: when you find a dead body yell 'Dead body!' and we immediately turn on the lights. Everyone who's still alive gathers together at the body and we vote on somebody to lynch. There are thirty seconds to vote, and as soon as anyone gets a majority we off 'em. They are allowed to defend themselves, but there's no requirement to actually listen. You cannot use the lights being on to explore for other dead bodies, but any in plain sight count. After the vote all discovered dead people, and anyone who was lynched, go to anywhere outside the play area - this means they can go anywhere up or downstairs, or sit on any of the seating, or go into the kitchen - and hang out until the current game ends. They can talk, but not about the game."

This was getting a little long-winded in Elsa's opinions, but the eagerness in Anna's face helped sustain her. She was just too obviously excited for at least a little of it not to seep into Elsa.

"Remember, we're wandering around in the dark. This means don't do anything dumb. Don't run, don't walk around crouching, don't drop anyone where they might land on anything. And as I said, this is not an R-rated game tonight. While I know that some of you are more than happy for hands to go wherever hands want to - yes, thank you, I didn't need a show of hands to know which of you that is true for, though I'm sure it's appreciated - in this version of the game you should try to keep your hands about stomach to chest level. Be careful to avoid accidental boob-pokes if you can, but they are an accepted occupational hazard in this game. If hands are too high people start thinking you're pinching them and drop dead for no reason; too low and someone will end up accidentally going nut boxing."

The three guys in front of Elsa all shifted at that comment, and she wasn't alone in giggling.

"Oh, and before I forget, we need to move all drinks away from the play area. If it's on a table it will get knocked over, and if it's in a hand it will get spilled. Just say no to wasting booze! That's just about all of it! Anyone who's not interested should head up or downstairs. Downstairs can have the lights on, but should keep the door closed. Upstairs can only have lights on in the rooms, and those doors need to stay closed too. Whenever anyone arrives pause the game so long as the front door is open, and we'll direct them out of the way. If you want to play, gather up around me! We'll deal out roles via cards, if you get an ace then you're Mafia."

Finally those three cleared out, heading back downstairs presumably to restart their talk. Elsa squeezed her way up and into the crowd. If Anna was excited for this, then she wanted to be, too.

There were about two dozen people gathering, while the others started filtering to the safe zones. Several in the crowd were downing their drinks.

Anna, after a quick finger count, started pulling cards from a deck that she'd acquired somewhere. "Stay put, I want to make sure we have our numbers right here," was all the direction she gave for the moment. It wasn't until after two adjustments for late arrivals that she looked up and, totally deadpan, asked, "Tim, what are you doing."

The man in the palm tree replied, "I want to play!"

"You're a tree, how are people going to pinch you?"

"They...uh, that's a fair point, actually."

"I've got some ideas," Chel helpfully volunteered, to a smirk and hearty eye roll.

"Nonetheless…" Anna looked around after he said that, scanning for other problems.

"Ok, Tim and Johnny, you're both going to sit out this round while changing out of those costumes, cause you can't play in 'em." She pulled two cards back out of the deck after waving them upstairs.

"All right, that's everything! Everyone, come get your card, look at it secretly, then get your butts ready! Light go off in 20...19…" The group scrambled for their cards, rapidly depleting Anna's deck down to just her own.

Elsa looked at what she'd drawn: the six of hearts. With the timer running she looked around for somewhere to leave the card, before realizing that would give her away.

"13...12...11...10…"

She fumbled for a spot on her outfit that would hold the card, since she was sure she'd drop it otherwise. Nothing worked, and with time nearly out she simply stuffed it down the front of her dress, leaving it until later. She quickly eyed the people around her, searching for malicious intent.

There wasn't enough time left. "4...3...2...1. LIGHTS OUT!"

Kristoff has stationed himself at the switch and flipped it. Both of them then immediately turned towards the stairs, since the upstairs lights were on, and shouted in unison, "LIGHTS OUT UPSTAIRS TOO!"

They went out a few seconds later, and everyone was plunged into the dark.

Feet scuffled as people scattered, immediately followed by a pair of muffled thumps and a small shriek, then giggling right on the heels of both.

"Sorry, we're alive, just blind. Did anyone get the plate of the car that hit me?" Elsa had heard that voice previously, but couldn't place it.

She was also a little distracted. All of a sudden every single sound around her was nerve-wracking, and she had to suppress a squawk when somebody brushed by her arm. Most people, it seemed, were in the same boat though. Someone across the room did squeak a few seconds later.

Something thunked nearby, followed by the sheepish explanation, "Wall…" That was definitely Kristoff.

"You know, parties like these, they're nice," Tulio spoke up from around the corner. "It's a great chance for us all to get together and not see each other."

"If only I had that choice after you've had a few too many the night before. You look like death warmed over."

"Alas, that is also an accurate description of how I feel on those mornings."

"While we're on that subject," Olaf broke in, "if you ever get the chance to see Anna's bed head you should. Her hair looks like someone set a bomb off!"

"Olaf, just how many people are you expecting to see me when I wake up in the morning?" Anna was just a few feet behind her.

"You can't see me right now, but I'm shrugging."

"Well, I'm taking applications. Cute girls can apply here!"

That...it was banter. Playful, definitely, but…Elsa went for it. "Where do I sign up?"

"Wherever you want, that's the application!" Anna was far more nonchalant than Elsa felt. Maybe because she was now imagining signing Anna's boobs.

Her efforts to find a sufficiently clever response were cut short by Tulio, somewhere near the couch, commenting dryly, "Someone must have slain our dear Chel. She'd have put her name on that list in an instant if she could still speak." The footsteps that were probably his kept shuffling around in that corner.

"Dead body, dead body!" Elsa was startled into snickering by the sheer joy in Olaf announcing that. There was a quick shuffle from the far end of her room, and the sound of a little fumbling behind her, then the room lights went back on.

Everyone was blinking when they did; were those always so bright? Olaf was easy to see. So were the two 'corpses' in the room with him. One was Chel, who seemed to be fighting bitterly against an urge to say something. The other was a guy with blond hair and an outfit that, if Elsa had to guess, was the living spirit of the 70s. Or, for the moment, the unliving spirit of it.

"Johnny, what are you doing." Everyone was gathering, and Anna's tone was dry.

"Why, I'm dead, can't you see? It's tragic, I know." There was a healthy helping of smarm in his reply.

"You weren't even here when we started. You aren't a player."

"True, true. But I have a tale of woe for the ages, that I shall now regale you all with. It began on one dark, tempestuous night…"

"You have ten seconds before I get the duct tape." Anna started tapping her foot as she looked down at him.

"I was trying to get to the kitchen for a beer and I got caught."

"Much better! Now, get yo butt up and go grab one, we're going to vote now."

He stood, eyes crinkled with amusement, and dusted himself off. "Thank you for your generosity, oh dark mistress of the nigh-"

Anna gave him a shove. "Begone with you!" He went, chuckling to himself, while the rest of the group looked suspiciously at each other. Anna collected Chel's card, showing everyone: the 4 of Clubs.

A hand went up, then pointed at Tulio dramatically. "I vote we off this cad!"

"While I agree in principle," Miguel answered, smirking at the start, "I still want to hear why."

"Yeah, Eugene, I wanna hear why too." Anna's foot kept tapping.

"For the game answer, it's because he was the first to say that Chel was dead. For the real one, I don't think we really need a reason, do we?"

Miguel was nodding sagely. "Both arguments seem airtight. I'm sorry, friend, deicide is a difficult thing but I'm afraid I must." He raised his hand and pointed it at Tulio as well.

"Ok, we are not nearly drunk enough for turn one shenanigans yet." This girl looked familiar, but again Elsa couldn't quite place her. Was she at the show? The short, brunette hair was from somewhere…

"Oh, I beg to differ!" That was Johnny again, beer in hand. Anna shooed him on his way.

"As much as I like the idea, I'm with Punzie. Offing a random person just helps the mafia right now, we need more info." Anna was clearly not on board, and though Elsa wasn't clear whether there was actually any strategy to this she did think Anna sounded sure of herself.

"I'd also like to make something clear, the reason I said that was that Chel is too much of a hoe to turn down the opening that Anna had given her. I think we can agree that isn't very controversial? No, no, Chel, dead people can't speak." To say that he was taking advantage of the situation would be a stark understatement.

"Ok, I've changed my mind, let's kill 'im." Anna pointed too.

"Can any of you say I'm wrong?"

"No, just snarky."

"Well, in that case I think I'm not long for this world in any case. I couldn't bear to live in one that disallows snark."

The brunette from before shrugged and joined the ranks pointing at Tulio. Olaf joined in too, cheering, "Strategery, woo!" A few more after that and they had a majority.

"Well, that's that then. Tulio, I will need your card, you are being executed by the thoroughly legitimate process of an angry mob." Anna held her hand out.

He scowled, handing it over. "I maintain my accuracy, if not my innocence!" Anna turned it upright: jack of hearts.

Mild cheers erupted, while Chel stood and jabbed him harder with her elbow. "This ass was telling you all I was dead in the middle of walking my corpse around!"

He chuckled in response, trying to get out of elbow range. "Yes, I'm pretty proud of myself for that." Chel just glared, and the both set off for the couch.

"Ok, well done everyone, but there's at least one more killer out there! Also, I didn't stop her because he deserved it, but the deceased should try not to say who killed them. It can give away information." Olaf was already in position at the switch, and she gave him a nod.

Once again, Elsa couldn't see a thing. She shifted back, moving slow while trying to remember how far away the wall was.

"Wanted in after all, eh?"

She jumped, and made a sound that was exceedingly undignified. Anna had taken her utterly unawares.

Elsa felt like she deserved the laughter in response. Anna left her to sweat a moment first, now keenly aware of her lurking just behind her, before taunting, "Seems like kitty's on edge tonight!"

Elsa grumbled, and shifted back just a little as someone passed by in front of her. Just enough to bump against Anna. In the dark, Elsa's heart jumped at the contact.

"You are too good at surprises for your own good."

"It comes from practice! Anyways," she said, voice quiet, "You surprised me too, before."

"When do you mean?"

"When we danced, earlier! You were really good. And when...uh, well, you seemed like you were enjoying yourself." Elsa's curiosity perked up at the obvious change in what she was going to say.

"Why would it be a surprise that I was having fun?"

"You haven't always managed to do that, over here."

Elsa scoffed, shifting a little further towards the wall, as well as to face where Anna's voice was coming from. "Oh? I think it would be fairer to say that's been a mutual problem." This was what they did, wasn't it? Dancing around the issue, and, as Elsa shuffled warily in the darkness, each other.

"Well, maybe, but still. I liked seeing it. I liked how you...you smiled really nice, when you were dancing. I wouldn't mind doing more things like that."

Those words set butterflies loose in her stomach. The other conversations around the room were babble, incomprehensible and meaningless. Even the thud a dozen and a half feet away didn't feel very relevant right now.

"I'm gonna stop being a sitting duck here now. I just wanted to say first that next time, you shouldn't stop half way." Anna left a happily confused Elsa behind with that cryptic comment.

That didn't stop her from squeaking again when fingers pinched lightly at the side of her neck.

Aww, fuck. Standing still while distracted was apparently not a very good strategy.

She was directed back across the room, shuffling slowly and hoping that someone would find a body along the way so that they could catch whoever this was in the act. It was hard to tell from just a hand on her shoulder and the fingers pinching her, other than that they were too small to be Kristoff. Not that her knowing would help much.

Her toes nudged something - no, someone - soft, and an exploratory reach found the back wall just past that. Slowly, and quite carefully, the person directed her down, crouching first, until she was slumped with her back against the wall. Then the let her go, and she suddenly started worrying about someone accidentally stepping on her. That, and wondering whose leg it was crossed under hers.

She only had to wait about fifteen seconds before the cry of "Dead body!" went up again, this time led by Anna. This time, though, the light went on in the other room, leaving Elsa and the other victim with her still in the dark.

From around the corner and out of sight Olaf could be heard, quite worried, saying, "Uh-oh. We are missing a couple of people here…"

Anna jumped in right after. "Don't look around now! They aren't immediately obvious, so we're going to have to find them in the dark. The spooky, spooky dark."

"I vote we kill Anna! She found the body, but I think she announced it for cover." That was Eugene again.

Anna answered back. "I vote we kill Eugene, for wanting to kill me for a dumb reason."

The group settled into their debate while Elsa pondered her new life as a corpse in the corner. There wasn't enough light to make out who was there with her.

"Psst. Who're you, I can't see." Their whisper wasn't all that quiet, but the others were loud enough that probably wasn't going to be an issue.

"I don't think we're supposed to talk." The rules had been clear on that, if Elsa remembered them right.

"So long as they don't hear us it's fine. I'm Jim. I don't think we've met."

"Alright. I'm Elsa, then. I'm sorry about trapping your leg."

"Not like I could use it now, anyway. Not till we're found. Say, what brings you here tonight?" He spoke quickly, like he was trying to get ahead of his own next words.

"I'm their neighbor. It seemed like a fun way to spend Halloween." Someone from upstairs was hurrying down the stairs, and gave them a solemn nod when they spotted them in the gloom.

"Hmm, makes sense. I'm honestly not really sure what I'm doing here myself. A friend said we should come, but she's not here yet so I'm just just trying to meet people. So, uh, nice to meet you, Elsa."

The arguing seemed to be settling down in the other room, culminating with Eugene gasping, brimming with melodrama, and declaring, "You are all villains! You've killed an innocent man!" The murmuring suggested that he was telling the truth about that.

"Yes, but we have killed you, so shush." That was the brunette from earlier that had looked familiar.

"Ok, lights off again in 3...2...1…" Anna didn't give them much time to consider what they had done. Soon everything was dark once more.

People seemed to be moving faster this time, spreading pretty quickly from the other room. The first person approaching them met a grisly fate, stopping abruptly in the tracks before being shuffled slowly towards the two already dead. They took up a place on the other side of Elsa, laid sideways at the base of the wall.

The next person came quieter, until the moment their foot hit Elsa's and they tripped. They were already yelling "Dead body!" by the time they caught themselves against the wall.

Olaf hit the lights, then whistled. "Someone's been busy!" Elsa was treated to the view from below as Jayla looked around at the people gathering.

Jim turned out to be skinnier guy with a small mess of mid-length brown hair, and was dressed in some team's soccer kit. The victim on her other side was Miguel, face down on the wood floor.

"We're down one more person, too."

"I don't think we are. That's obvious enough, right?" Kristoff pointed, to the base of the couch on the opposite ride of the room. Anna was there with what looked like a small wooden stake held to her chest, like she had been stabbed. Elsa couldn't imagine where she had kept it.

"Yeah, it is. Well, let's get to it then, our numbers are dropping fast. I'll start, I definitely noticed somebody moving around over here before, but managed to keep my distance when they came towards me. They were pretty tall, I think."

The pattern was more familiar by now. A couple of people aired their suspicions, there was some arguing about it, then eventually someone voted for a tall guy in a suit named Jules. More arguing failed to win enough votes, though, as did the counter vote against Olaf for having accused him. The third attempt, this time at Jayla, won out through a burst of spurious reasoning. Anna, having risen from her grave, silently collected her card, then revealed the queen of clubs. Another innocent victim.

Elsa was glad to be able to stretch her legs properly, and decided that the couch definitely seemed like the best option of the dead-approved zones. She handed her card over to Anna on the way, who then followed. They were both seated just as Olaf killed the lights.

"So...still having fun? Even though you're dead?" How was it that even in the pitch black Elsa felt she could still see exactly how Anna was grinning right now?

"Hey, you're dead too!"

"Yeah, not as fast as you were though. I guess that's expected, since you're a beginner." Could almost hear her stick her tongue out.

"I'm sorry, did you get yourself killed just to tease me?" Elsa could almost believe that she'd do it.

"Sadly, no, I was betrayed. I know exactly who got me, too."

"Oh? Who was it? I have no idea who took me out."

The cushion trembled, as though Anna was shaking her head vigorously. "Can't say, too many ears out. If they got me, I want them get everybody."

"That is fair. I think." It was surprising how many other conversations were going on, among the living and around the edges. They were clearly having a blast upstairs, too, if muffled by some doors.

Elsa was slightly proud of herself for not jumping when the doorbell witch sounded abruptly. Everything ground to a minute long halt as a couple new arrivals felt their way inside the pitch-black room until, after Kristoff told everyone playing to keep their eyes closed, he relented and turned the lights on for them, revealing a room containing at least two victims draped across each other. All three of the arrivals, including both men, were dressed as nuns, which Elsa found delightful. They all went upstairs as soon as their shoes were off.

Everything seemed even darker once the lights were cut again.

Anna didn't wait long. "So, I've been thinking," she started. "About this revelation that you can actually be some fun." She said that with the "what are you going to do about it?" attitude of someone fully aware that she was being a brat, then added, "Specifically, that you can have fun with me."

Fluster and defiance skirmished over which was the better response to Anna's teasing, and the latter won a narrow victory. "You're really enjoying yourself right now, aren't you?"

"What, should I stop?"

A short-lived victory, at that. Elsa shook her head, wondering if Anna could feel it. "No, no. You can...you should keep enjoying yourself. I don't mind." Is this flirting? Are we flirting? Am I...doing well? Herself was sadly lacking in useful answers.

"Gee, that was a ringing endorsement," she retorted in a tone as dry as the Sahara.

Elsa felt the weight of her inexperience much too keenly here. Luckily, for once she felt also stubborn enough to at least try to push past it, even if she was having to shut out thoughts of embarrassing herself horribly along the way. "Tonight's turning out to be an odd experience for me. I'd be lying if I claimed to know what I should say right now."

"I haven't known what I'm saying for about thirteen years now. I think I had a nice, solid conversation in kindergarten once." That won a chuckle from Elsa.

"I can never tell if you're incredibly confident, or hilariously not. Somehow you make either one look the same as the other."

"And somehow you manage to confuse me if you've just said something nice, or mean. I don't think I've ever met anybody like that before." Anna's weight shifted, and the end of her sentence sounded like it came from a little closer than the start did.

"I wish I could say that I know any better myself."

"Well, I've got some advice for you. Stop worrying about what you 'should' say. That's not a thing." Anna was trying to sound sage, though it wasn't working very well.

"Oh? And what do you recommend I do instead?" Elsa didn't know where she was going with this, only that she wanted Anna's answer.

Her giving it was interrupted by a gasp, then a fit of giggling from the end of the couch that Chel and Tulio were at, with Anna chuckling softly at them. When those quieted she responded, "Heh. It'd be easier if I were her, I'd just say 'Me.'"

The tingling that went through Elsa said that was a very good answer for Anna to give, but she knew it was a dodge. So she pressed. "Yes, but you're - for better or worse - you. So what would you say?"

They sat for a minute in silence, listening to the game going on around them, the quiet of someone thinking. "I guess," Anna began, pausingly, "I'd say that you should make it clear what you actually want."

"I..." She trailed off, though in her head she continued, thinking, I want to kiss you, dummy! Her cheeks flared red. How did you go about actually saying that? She hesitated in the hopes that she would stumble on something cleverer before simply concluding, "I wish I knew, really." It sounded downright lame to herself. But Elsa forged on to ask, "Are you glad that I'm here tonight? You don't have to invite me to things just to be nice, if that's what you're doing."

"Geez, and you say that I might not have much confidence. Of course I'm glad that you're here tonight. I mean it! And not just cause that costume is so fucking hot."

The lights went on for a dead body at a thoroughly inconvenient moment just then, right when Elsa cheeks burned their brightest yet. "Thank you, that's...kind of you, to say. You look handsome too." Keeping her cool was made particularly difficult by Anna, turned to sit sideways in her seat and closer.

Anna had the bit between her teeth. "The hell sort of answer is that? "Kind of you" is something you say at a funeral. Don't you dare try and wiggle out of this one! You are holy shit-level hot in that, and I could get a lot of second opinions from everybody saying the same thing. If, umm, it's ok for me to say all that." Somehow they had both ended up blushing. Wasn't she supposed to ask that last part first?

In any case, Elsa managed to force out a nod. "I'm just not used to hearing people say that. I mean, guys do, but they don't count. You do. You...you definitely count." That admission only barely preceded internal panic, thinking, Oh god, oh god, did I just? She couldn't bring herself to follow up on it properly. "It's," she pondered, hesitant, "well, it's nice. I think...I do like it." Even that much did enough to feed the red in her cheeks, and her sudden wish that she had another drink available.

The lights going off again was a gift. A significant number of dead players had found places to wait, and someone else had apparently taken over card collection duty from a thoroughly distracted Anna.

"'It's nice.' That's good enough for now, I guess." A deep down part of Elsa was insisting that the both of them must look ridiculous right now, but that was a thoroughly useless sensation in the end and she endeavored to ignore it.

"I...if you want, I can tell you a secret." She'd chosen this whole outfit while thinking about a particular someone seeing her in it, after all...

"You bet your booty I want to hear a secret!" Anna answered so quickly she barely had the breath to finish saying it.

Elsa also took a breath, deeply, and felt ridiculous all over again for it. The butterflies in her stomach hadn't settled a bit. They kept fluttering as she worked up the courage, then said, "I chose this because I hoped people would notice. I haven't done that before."

Anna's snorted, loudly, in response, and Elsa scowled at her. "Ok, ok, ok, sorry, but no shit, Elsa." Laughter was not exactly what Elsa had been hoping for here, but it was what she got for a solid couple of seconds. "Fucking hell, I can't imagine what sort of ditz you'd having to be to wear that and not realize that you're going to get some serious attention. Hey, I have a question too, then, it's been stuck in my head all night. Why did you choose a cat costume?"

If she could slow down for just one second that would help, Elsa was still stuck on the first half of that response. Catching up to the question in it took her a red-faced while, but finally she did and said, meekly, "I feel silly about it now that you're laughing at me, but I was honestly thinking of when I got stuck climbing. You know, when you-"

Anna let out a triumphant "Yes!" and bounced on the couch. "Yeah, when I helped your ass back out of it, ha! I totally guessed right!" There wasn't a chance in hell that she wasn't grinning wildly right now, not when her tone was that self-satisfied, but Elsa couldn't mind that much when she was inwardly celebrating that her silly idea had through some miracle panned out.

Anna kept running headlong with the topic now. "Damn, I really can't believe I figured that out. That's awesome. It's almost like," she said, then stopped, tripping over her own words. "Like...oh."

Elsa waited, but no continuation seemed to be forthcoming. "Anna?"

It wasn't often that someone swallowed quite as loudly as Anna did then. "Sorry," she managed, strangled, "but that makes it sound like, umm...like you had someone in mind when you chose it. Damn."

Elsa sat there, trying and failing to a stupendous degree to reconcile having planned this in theory with the actual sitting-in-front of her reality of Anna realizing it. All of a sudden the atmosphere around her seemed twice as heavy, pressing in on her lungs from every side, and her heart was doing peculiar things to push back. 'Damn' was right.

"Ok, I'm just going to fucking say it then." Anna had flipped back to confidence, albeit with a hint of mania underpinning it now. "You look really hot in that. Hella hot. Like, I'm sad that the lights are off right now cause I don't have night vision hot. So, um, well done, if you were trying to show off, you succeeded so frickin' much. I mean, holy shit, have you seen your boobs in that? Cause god damn, I sure have. I...um, yes. I'll just stop talking now then."

Elsa sat stock still, other than both hands going to the center of her chest while her heart performed an impressive series of acrobatic maneuvers. What the hell...her response finally burst out while her cheeks scorched with red, hissing, "How can you just up and say something like that?!"

Anna hit right back, "It's because you're Elsa "I set the bar for 10s" Arendelle and you seem to be the only person who hasn't realized just how much everyone at this party has the hots for you!"

There was precious little left of Elsa staying afloat in the conversation. But there was enough, at least, to ask, "...everyone?"

The most cheerful cackling ever produced erupted in the room in front of them. The lights went on, clearly for the last time this game, though Elsa had no attention to spare to it. She had eyes solely for Anna's, a scant six inches away. Her mouth was ever-so-slightly open.

Lips parted. Breath thick like honey. Eyelids fallen half closed, as though she was waiting for something...

The question hung in the air, unanswered and familiar.

Finally, Olaf's celebrating his way across a room piled with corpses forced them both to look away from each other. The costumed Olaf crowing "Snow much blood!" made it hard to keep their little corner of the room as isolated as it had felt the moment prior.

Anna sighed. "He'll be insufferable if he wins too many more times tonight. I had better get everyone set up for the next game." She slipped off the couch, poked Chel a few times until she and Tulio stopped making out for long enough to realize the game had ended, and called out for everyone to bring her their cards.

Elsa was wondering where all her breath had gone. Anna seemed to have taken it away with her. She was still working her way to the fact that Anna had just admitted that she found Elsa attractive. Well, no. She had said more than merely that. More accurate to say that Anna had declared her the pinnacle of attraction itself. Which was ridiculous. Absurd. The single most flattering thing Elsa had ever heard. Preposterous. She wanted more.

From this girl? The one who had laid claim to her imagination so thoroughly? From one who was herself so infuriatingly hot?

Yes, more.

Lips parted...

She was seeing Anna's face again, mouth ajar, hovering in reach. Seeing it twice, again from when they had danced, when she had dipped Anna down, and Anna had been breathing in just that way.

She had looked like she was waiting.

She had been. Elsa had to be blind, she had been. Then, and again now.

It was a thunderbolt of a realization and it sent her to her feet, to go wait with the others for the next game. The energy it gave was nervous, shifting, jitters out to her edges. She kept stealing glances at Anna the whole time. Little ones, looking back to the ground less each time between. Worrying less with each whether she caught the looks. Hoping that Anna would look back when she did.

She had been waiting, and Elsa had completely missed it.

Her card barely registered when she got it. Something that wasn't a jack. It didn't really matter past that. Not next to the fact that the group had joined in the countdown to lights out, using it to chase the non-players back upstairs with their hastily acquired beverages.

Ten...five...one. Lights.

Not a thing was visible, but she saw her path clearly while the people around her scattered. Anna wasn't moving, not yet. She was waiting.

Elsa stopped, just before she guessed they would collide, and softly in the dark asked, "Anna?"

She was less than a foot from the answer, a quiet, "Yeah?" Waiting… The thought echoed off that one word.

The dark was too quiet, when Elsa knew she ought to have been saying something. Anything. Just...where the hell was she supposed to start? Nothing was coming.

It emerged in pieces when she tried to force it. "I was...I've been thinking, since we've been...what you said just now, I…" No, darn it, no! Why was this so impossible for her? She knew, for once and for certain, that she didn't want to keep waiting.

"Why the fuck haven't you kissed me yet?"

That rooted Elsa to the floor, mouth stuck open, frozen. Stunned. But only for a half second, the time it took to process, until her feet came unstuck all at once and she lurched forward. Her arms fit around Anna perfectly. So did Anna's in return. In the dark she missed, once, lips brushing too many freckles to count. She did not miss a second time.

Grips tightened on fistfuls of cape. Where she held didn't hold much importance, but that she did hold was critical. Mandatory.

She kissed her again, Anna's chest and hers compressed by each other. Breath muddled together, shared.

Again. Her heart was doing terribly funny things in her chest. When had Anna's leg ended up between her own?

Again. Anna licked around the edges. Elsa's tongue answered in kind. They met halfway.

There was a game going on around them, and a party around that. The world, presumably, was still turning as normal. Millions of miles away, the sun was burning out in a millenia long explosion, one single speck in a galaxy twirling about in a universe that didn't pay it much mind. Trivial things, dwarfed by the just how soft Anna's lips were. How heated her breath felt, slipping between them. How the full stretch of her body shifted and slipped. How her fingers held so tight, high and so low on Elsa's back.

Elsa knew that she'd never forget this moment, not a touch, nor a sound, a scent, a taste of it.

Least of all would she forget the abject, incredulous outrage when the hand highest on her slipped further upwards, to pinch right where her neck turned to shoulder.

The absolute, unrepentant little SHIT. Elsa wanted to scream. Was she joking right now? Seriously? Seriously?

"I'm so, so sorry. I just had to." The shallow remorse made a poor companion to the hellion glee lurking beneath it. Elsa was just going to kill her.

A heady cocktail of adrenaline and endorphins were coursing through her, and they all of a sudden has an entirely new focus: Revenge.

Ohhhhh, yes, tonight had taken a very abrupt turn. Particularly abrupt, considering Anna's lips were still on hers and Elsa still didn't want them to stop and what the everliving fuck was even going on right now.

And why did she feel a rather particular sensation pooling into her while Anna took her extraordinary advantage of this situation?

The (treacherous, awful, infuriating, miserable) brat keeping her lips on Elsa's all the way to the ground. She was lowering her far, far more slowly than was necessary. Elsa almost didn't let her get away, almost grabbed grabbed and dragged her down as well onto the ground to make sure she couldn't get away. Something, anything, to foil her plan to be such a monumental jerk even though she had no idea at all how that would end.

She almost...but she didn't. Before she could finish deciding she was left panting, flat on her back in the corner as Anna whisked away. She could be heard slipping off into the darkness.

All too clearly now Elsa understood just what that R-rated version of the game might look like.

If Elsa didn't have to stay silent she was pretty sure she'd be spitting fire in frustration right now. She'd done it, finally god damned done it, she'd kissed her. It had been amazing, for all of...five seconds? Fifteen? A minute? Who the hell even knew? She'd lost track when she got her first taste of those lips. Oh, good god, those lips...and then Anna just hadn't been able to help herself. The siren song of being an impossible jerk had come calling and Anna had answered in her usual headfirst-through-the-wall fashion.

Months of practice dealing with Anna's proclivity towards annoyance were the only thing that kept Elsa in place. Breaking her silence felt like it would be letting Anna win, and Elsa would be damned if she would let that happen now. She could play this game, darn it. She was just going to have to get even.

Once she was allowed to move.

Too many thoughts were careening around her skull to be left alone in the dark with them. Half of them seemed to be variations of Holy fuck.

Because, well, holy fuck. She had just kissed Anna. And god damn if Anna hadn't been kissing back. Gripping back. Somewhere in the middle there Anna had even grabbed her butt.

It was a strange feeling, not being able to doubt herself. Anna had held her to kiss for way, way, waaaaaay too long for that. Then, even after she'd engaged in an act of supreme jackassery, she'd taken so much advantage of having control over Elsa that it would have been a genuine problem if Elsa wasn't, to her frustration here in the corner, so certain that she hadn't disliked it.

Taking that advantage wasn't the source of her indignation, anyway. Anna was going to pay for this. She wasn't going to surrender anything. She was not going to surrender a single fucking thing to Anna's Emporium of Being an Infuriating Ass.

It was so very on.

Though she still wasn't allowed to move, and that was chafing at her impatience. She could listen in to the conversations wandering around the room, and the paranoid shuffling of feet. She could smell pie. She could see that they needed to unplug the microwave, since now that her eyes had fully adjusted to the dark she could notice its dim gleam cut off when someone walked in front of it. She could hear giggling that sounded like Miguel somewhere in the other room.

She just couldn't do a single damn thing. Even once they found her she would be consigned to exile until the next game started. All she could do now was fume, and hope that this game went quickly, and also dwell a little bit of a lot on the way Anna had felt on her mouth and under her hands and...

"Dead body!"

Oh, thank god.

She screwed her eyes shut when the lights went on, discovering that her position on the floor left her staring directly up at the fixture when it flared to life. People gathered while she blinked the spots from her eyes. At least that meant she had to be in sight of the vote, and that meant she would be able to move.

"I vote for myself." Tulio spoke up immediately over the trailing murmur of previous conversations fading out, earning some scattered laughter.

"Ok, so while I agree with that sentiment, hear me out here. His hands have not been free enough to kill anybody," Anna piped up. Infuriatingly, to Elsa, who wondered if glaring would be too much of a giveaway. Probably. And while Anna deserved the heck out of it, the rest of the players still deserved a fair game.

She went ahead and glared. Now was the perfect time to be petty.

"Why do you say that?" Kristoff was clearly out of the loop, rubbing the back of his head when he asked.

Tulio remains indignant, protesting, "Yes, I agree, you haven't made your case! Err, that I'm not a murderer. You have no proof that I've not murdered!" An interesting strategy, to argue for your own execution. Not good, but interesting.

Anna - Grrr, look at her smug face right now, Elsa grumbled inwardly - simply raised an eyebrow and pointed to his face. "Her lipstick appears to have traveled."

"Yes, it does tend to do that!" Chel's late entry was conspicuous, particularly considering Jayla's blush when she rounded the corner immediately behind her. Goodness, she didn't waste any time, did she? Some of her bandages were slipping, too, which gave Elsa's cheeks an extra flush.

"Ok, I admit it, all of a sudden you've got a good antibi," Anna gave in, only slightly deflated.

Olaf chimed in, asking with some confusion, "Did I miss the part where we we have an actual reason to vote for anyone?" He was shushed soundly from all sides.

"The snowman is right! Have we all forgotten," Jules announced melodramatically into the pause, "that random killings help the mafia more often than not?" Elsa could only guess he was acting in character, though she had no idea which one. It also seemed like he might be taking the wrong strategy to convince anyone, since he was making a valid and strategic point. Winning didn't really seem to be the point of the game so far.

It certainly wasn't for her anymore. And they were taking too long.

So, not moving from her slump, Elsa tells the group, "The dead request a vote so they can go to a couch."

The crowd of survivors looked at her, exchanged glances, then raised their hands as one and pointed, exclaiming, "Olaf!"

"I'm hurt! Wounded! Entirely and cruelly deceased at your hands! I cannot believe that you would all be so despicable!" His protestations were roundly blunted by him handing over another jack, which was met with scattered cheering. Finally, Elsa had her chance to stand. The urge to either strangle or smooch Anna built as she walked towards her, the couch being on the other side.

Then Anna looks right at her, and Elsa swore to god she smirked.

As calmly, and quietly, as she could, Elsa slowed as she passed, and through a too-nice smile whispered her mood, distilled to a single sentence:

"Your ass is mine, brat."

Then she continued on as though she hadn't said a thing, took her seat, and smiled sweetly at Anna right before the lights went out. Hoping beyond hope that would put the fear of god in that egregious punk.

Among the dark felt like the perfect atmosphere to plot her revenge. Elsa was unaccustomed to having both the desire and the means for vengeance like this, but she embraced it heartily.

She wasn't going to cheat. If she was doing this, she was doing it legitimately. But she was going to do one of two things. First, if she didn't draw a jack then she was going to make darn sure that if Anna killed anyone, she caught her. Second, and much, much more fun, if Elsa did draw a jack then she was going to take out Anna.

She wasn't just going to off her, though. Ohhhh no. Not after Anna had taken her sweet time when the tables were turned. She'd opened Pandora's box with that choice. On purpose, Elsa was certain of it. Anna might not always, or ever, think through what she was doing, but she always sincerely meant everything she said and did.

All Elsa had to do now was survive waiting until the next game started. She's never had less desire for patience in her life.

The pattern became familiar, with little interruptions here and there as more arrivals slipped in, and when the tape on one of the windows lost its grip to free a streetlight-bright corner. The lights flicked on and off again and again, with each crowd showing fewer and fewer survivors. Tulio insisted on starting every meeting by voting for himself, but a consensus appeared to have been reached that he would be kept alive against his will.

The last time, however, was a little different. Tulio called out his discovery, only to find when the lights went on that there was only a single other person left alive. Anna, of course, she had managed to deny Elsa the satisfaction of seeing her caught at every opportunity. At the sight of her, grinning toothily and clearly gearing up for gloating, he threw his hand up in an effort to forestall her.

"I vote for me!"

"No, no, no," Anna admonished, wagging her finger at him. "That wouldn't be nearly as fun, now would it?" He looked, rightly in Elsa opinion, apprehensive as she gathered the cards from the dead players, ushering them out of the play area.

She adopted her atrocious accent when she hit the lights, taunting, "Velcome to the night!"

Elsa wished she could have seen it, based on the mad scramble she could hear burst into life out of Tulio and the cackling from Anna as she gave chase. The outcome was inevitable. After one particularly undignified squeak from him the room went silent, followed by the clear sound of him falling heavily to the floor.

Anna's voice dripped with gloating when she announced to the room, "Dead body." The lights went on, showing exactly what everyone expected.

She took his card with a flourish, then summoned everyone in. People gathered, other partygoers swarmed the kitchen for beverages, and card counts were adjusted. Anna announced that enough people had joined that they would be going up to three Mafia.

Then she dealt. A careful look revealed to Elsa the perfect hand of a jack of spades. It was about time.

The lights went off.

This time felt different, though Elsa took care to shuffle around with her arms lowered like normal. She remembered where Anna had been clearly, though even before the lights were out she had been on the move. She started in the direction she had been going.

She was surprised to find a dead body already. For half a step she thought to ignore it, but then decided that she'd look more suspicious if someone else found her moving away from it.

"Dead body." Not an announcement so much as a statement of fact, this time. A flip of a switch by someone revealed a man she didn't know wearing a kilt. A, ah, maybe deliberately adjusted kilt.

"That was fast." Anna, of course, as soon as the lights sparked. "Suspiciously fast, in fact."

Indignation flared at the sheer nerve, but she held it in check. Of course she was going to try to frame her, after the promise Elsa has levied against Anna. All part of the game.

Kristoff helped her out before Elsa could think of a rebuttal. "I heard the body fall too, I was coming for it as well. It was obvious enough that I think we should be looking at the people moving away from it when the lights went on.

"I vote for Anna, though I won't lie, it's just for revenge from last time." This was Jim, surprisingly. He had been quiet in the previous groups.

Elsa could use that. "She was moving away from there, actually. You might be on to something."

"Nah. It would take a new player to try something that obvious. New, such as…" The way that she trailed off implicated Elsa as clearly as if she'd said it outright.

"It's too early to make guesses," the volunteer from the rules demonstration chimed in. "There were lots of people around that soon after we started the round."

"With three players we have a better chance of getting a Mafia member if we just vote for someone."

"That's not how percentages work."

"What, if there's more of them then…"

Somehow everything had just veered into a lesson in statistics. Elsa let it, comfortable that Anna's efforts had failed. She chanced a look in her direction.

They locked eyes, and far too many emotions all started clamoring for attention at once. Elsa looked away to try to shut them up again. All while her heartbeat accelerated precipitously.

She wanted to get her hands on that girl.

The math lesson proved relatively useless, and settling into a no vote. Off again went the lights. Elsa moved again.

Anna was, it turned out, a slippery target. It was not clear whether she knew that Elsa was actually Mafia this time or if she was simply good at evasion, but the end result was a lot of shuffling and nothing to show for it. That didn't sit well with Elsa, not one bit.

Each time the lights went on for someone's discovery she was certain that Anna's smirk at her grew that much wider. It only served to fan the flames of revenge.

Well...maybe a little more than only that.

They had been so, so soft…

Olaf was the victim of the latest mob, though he turned out to be, for once, innocent. And considering the missing players presumably around the corner, the crowd was dwindling distressingly without any Mafia having turned up. For Elsa this meant only that she had to get Anna as soon as possible, before someone else did.

The lights went off again.

Elsa's shuffling was determined, aiming for Anna's last known location. She warily sidled around others, their socks scuffing against the wood and announcing their location. She bumped into one, quieter than most, and both backed away hastily from each other.

"Having fun yet?"

Elsa squeaked, then scowled. How did Anna do that? Her voice was practically right in Elsa's ear!

"I expect that I will be, soon…" Not her best comeback, but it would do. At least she knew where Anna was now.

"Yeah, you do seem rather fond of the couch, so I guess you will be." Elsa nearly jumped out of her skin as a hand brushed her arm, just barely jumping out of the way before it reached her neck. There was only one person that could have been!

This time she didn't answer, focusing all her attention on moving as silently as humanly possible. She was notgoing to let Anna win this round too, absolutely not. One way or another.

An idea struck her, and she started shuffling directly towards the other room, as quickly as she could without risking kicking someone in the head if she found them. All she needed was to find a body…

Another brush, another pounding of her heart with how close it came to getting a pinch on her neck. Not this time!

Her foot hit something soft, and she announced "Dead body!" with only a bit of desperation. The lights going on was instantaneous. Anna dropped her arm and tried to look casual.

She had Olaf to thank for that, it seemed. He was right by the lights.

"Do I even need to say why I'm voting for Anna this time?" She scowled at him. The rest of the group raised their hands to vote against her at the same time, though. Elsa stared her down as she raised her own, smirking victoriously.

"Hold on, I can explain," Anna interjected hastily.

"Oh, can you?"

"...ok, maybe I can't, but I promise I'm innocent anyway."

No hands dropped. Anna grumbled a moment, then accepted defeat and pulled her card out.

Ten of hearts.

Wait, what?

"See? I promised!" she chirped, over the grumbling from the crowd. Nonetheless, she didn't comment further, dutifully gathering cards and silently making her way to her seat.

The lights went out. Elsa realized that she didn't have a plan at this point.

Wandering about the room now felt different without having a clear target. Actually playing the game like normal was a bit of a letdown, if anything. It wasn't what she wanted to focus on.

What she wanted to focus on…was sitting, too smug by half, on the couch on the other end of the room.

It was, according to the microwave, getting awfully late, too. She needed to end this round quick. Luckily, having an imbalance of Mafia left alive proved handy in that regard. When the next dead body was called out there were only six players left, and the collection of cards only contained one Mafia member among the assorted dead.

Tulio delayed the vote briefly to sing a eulogy for Miguel. Elsa figured he was probably responsible for it, but declined to join the shaky vote against him. The nervous faces after that vote failed gave her a pretty good idea who to go after next.

The lights went off. A distressingly efficient bloodbath ensued. When the lights went back on there were three people, Tulio among them, still upright. They looked at each other in silent agreement, then raised their hands to vote for Jim, who was looking extra hapless as he realized his fate.

Much to her surprise, Elsa had emerged triumphant. She found Anna and stuck her tongue out at her.

More drinks, more cards counted, and another round made ready to deal, though the wait was longer this time as the pent-up need for booze upstairs was unleashed. Elsa took the opportunity to sidle up to Anna while she shuffled.

"That was not very sporting of you." Best to start with the obvious. Easier, at least.

"Hmm?" Anna didn't look up from the cards.

"You know what I'm talking about! You weren't mafia, you shouldn't have been trying to get me!" Of course she was going to be difficult about it.

Now she did look up. And back down, and back up again, smirking so much that Elsa's palm itched to wipe it back off her freckled face. "Oh, I dunno...from where I'm standing I think it was the strategic play."

"It's against the rules!" Yes, it was. Very against the rules. Which made sense and were clear and were something Elsa could process a lot more easily than the way Anna had just looked at her.

"Oh, is it? My bad. Won't happen again. Cross my heart."

The problem, Elsa realized wasn't that she found Anna infuriating. It was that she found Anna infuriating and yet still wanted to grab her by that overdressed collar and kiss her more. Those two impulses were emotional oil and water.

"Cat's got your tongue?" Grrrr, she was, just…

"I'm the cat, you saying it doesn't work." It came out sullen.

"What should I say instead when you start staring like that?" Anna was nearly gloating. Why did she have to act like this was some sort of competition? What exactly did she expect to win?

Elsa huffed. "Something that doesn't make you sound like an ass?"

"I'm out of ideas."

Elsa...wasn't, she realized, much to her own surprise. After how this started, Anna taking so much advantage of their kiss after betraying her, she had an idea that arrived with terrifying clarity.

"Then let me give you one," she replied cryptically. "The game's back on."

"Not quite, they're still mixing a few drin-"

"Just pass out the cards, Dorkula," Elsa commanded, if gently. Anna's mouth dropped into a little 'o', followed closely by a laugh.

"Yes, ma'am!" Anna, for once in her life, didn't argue, bouncing off the couch and slipping through the crowd to distribute the deck among the players. Clearly Elsa needed to try giving her orders more often.

The card she had left in her place was conspicuous. Elsa could only assume it was hers. That it was a Jack seemed almost too convenient.

Looking back up from it, she didn't make any efforts to hide that she was returning Anna's earlier favor, keeping her attention on her the whole way around the room. The looks back from Anna didn't seem to indicate that she minded at all. Which was good; if she had Elsa would have been utterly, utterly confused, and she much preferred at least the appearance of knowing what she was doing right now.

"Oh, that poor girl." The appearance broke when Elsa jumped in her seat. She had completely missed Chel slipping up beside her, following Elsa's gaze to its destination. "She's really wound you up, hasn't she?" The mummy costume was on the verge of surrendering entirely, making it that much harder to focus on what she'd just said.

"I...might not be able to disagree?" Elsa replied, haltingly. "Why 'poor girl', though?"

"That's simple, love," Chel laughed back. "You look like a cat ready to pounce right now...no pun intended. Am I wrong?" Elsa opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again promptly when the accuracy of that description sank in, prompting further chuckles. "It's not the first time I've seen that look, dear. Though I had been hoping it might have been directed at me…" She sighed, pouting, before finishing, "Don't worry, though, I won't be jealous. I'm rooting for you!"

"What exactly is it that you think I am planning to do?" Just because she was right didn't mean that Elsa was going to make it that easy on here.

Though maybe she should have. Chel leaned down with a lascivious smile on her lips, quieting enough that only the two of them could hear. "The same thing that any good girl wants to do on Halloween, dear. Something wicked." The kiss on Elsa's cheek was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one.

Chel straightened again, the twinkling in her eyes returning to normal levels. "I hope you won't begrudge me that much! I'm going to go find myself some trouble now; I recommend you do the same." Before Elsa could think of a reply Chel had already faded back into the crowd.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for us to get back to murdering each other! I need you highlanders to get back upstairs, we're going to need the space back." Anna shouted over the noise of the crowd, aiming it particularly at a couple wearing kilts and, in the case of the guy, very little else other than body paint. They scampered dutifully away with the cups they were carrying.

Elsa rose slowly, her focus once again on Anna. She had a plan again, and this time she was playing by Anna's rules. She barely registered the briefing that Anna gave to the newcomers to the game. It just wasn't very important right now.

The lights going out, on the other hand...that was much more important. She started to move towards where Anna had last been.

That giant collar Anna was wearing turned out to be a blessing. It meant that, upon finding someone shuffling a little too close to her, she could tell right away whether she was pinching her neck or someone else's. Her first victim was unlucky that way, and was quickly left unceremoniously against the nearest wall. Elsa moved on so as not to be tied to the crime. There was only one target she cared about right now, whatever the game rules might say. And if she wasn't fast enough someone else might get there first. She couldn't let that happen.

Anna was hers.

Luckily for her, she hadn't started reaching for the neck of her next potential victim when the cry of "Dead body!" went up from across the room. She stepped back inconspicuously for the lights to go on.

Illumination revealed two victims, neither of which were Anna. The vote didn't interested her much other, of course, than watching out that neither of them got fingered as the mafia in it. She just voted for whatever seemed like it would end that step the fastest. Getting the lights back off was her only goal.

After much debate and few decisions they adjourned without anyone getting a majority. The lights went dark once more, and Elsa set off.

She was able to dismiss the first two people she bumped into, the first due to the fluff of their costume and the second due to the voice that mumbled an apology for the collision. The third, though, the third danced away with the sway of a cape trailing the motion.

Elsa's grin was so wide it practically shone. There she was.

Giving chase in the dark was an odd mix of cautious, deliberate motion and intent listening, following the shuffling feet moving away. Anna had the advantage on her, too. Her mental map of the space was far more fine tuned.

All Elsa had was her determination to get revenge. Though somehow she got the impression that Anna wasn't dodging quite as quickly as she could have. Elsa would get near, brush against her, and it was only once she reached for Anna's neck that her quarry would dart away just out of reach.

After everything, after the dancing before, after the teasing and taunting, after the kiss, and Anna's spoiling of it...after that, Elsa was not in any mood at all to be toyed with. If Anna was trying to stay just out of reach, then Elsa was just going to have to surprise her.

After a pause. Someone had found a body.

Lights on. The players looked around, blinking, and gathered over the unfortunately deceased Jim.

"I have a hunch I know one of the mafia, but I'm not going to say yet. I want to see what they do next." It was Anna, of course. The brat.

"Why not try now? We're falling behind if he isn't one of them." Jules was eyeing the gathered crowd with measured distrust.

"I want to see them make their move is all." Was that...a challenge? Elsa was going to take it as one. Not that she hadn't been planning on that already.

"I vote for Anna, then. You scheming generally bodes poorly for the rest of us poor lost souls." This was a newcomer, a tall, skinny fellow with some sort of southern accent, dressed as a doctor.

"Nah, I believe her. She wouldn't put herself on the spot like that if she actually was guilty." Chel, bless her, was helping out. Elsa nodded along in approval. That seemed to be enough to dissuade too many people from putting their hands up.

"Fine, fine. Don't complain to me if you get worse than you bargained for this round, then!" He didn't seem too ruffled by his vote failing.

A burst of debate followed after, ending somehow with a vote for a rather surprised Kristoff. It was as ill-advised as Elsa thought, given his complete lack of a poker face; he was innocent. But it did mean the voting was over, as announced by Olaf at the light switch.

Elsa looked around for Anna and found her behind her, looking right back. In the moments before the lights went off the brat even stuck her tongue out.

When Elsa shuffled her way again, taking pains to move just as deliberately as before, and Anna started up the same taunting evasion.

No. No more of that.

She was expecting Elsa to continue moving cautiously. She only ever dodged just enough, staying just out of reach. It left her open to Elsa taking a chance and, completely blind, rushing forward, throwing caution to the wind to flatten Anna into the wall she had been maneuvered towards.

Grabbing her arm to prevent her from escaping before Elsa's fingers reached her neck was definitely cheating. It felt only fair at this point.

They were terribly close now.

One hand was stuck, frozen in place to keep Anna where she was. The other, though…

Elsa gulped, then took the plunge. Her other arm went around Anna's back and pulled her in, to hold on while she went to finish that kiss from before on her own terms.

She lost all track of time in those lips.

She kissed her, lips dragging closed on one of Anna's, just sucking on it before opening to kiss again. Her breath, mingling, drawn deep into her lungs and dizzying. Kissing again, tongue at the boundary between their mouths, glancing off Anna's lips. Meeting Anna's. Tasting her. Feeling her body tighter against her own. Overheating with the feeling that it was all too much at once, and turning her head to rest it in the crook of Anna's neck, panting.

True to form, Anna played dirty.

Both hands around her stayed in motion, petting, stroking, squeezing, feeling. On Elsa's back, down it to grab at her bottom, and up it to her neck, into her hair, taking a handhold before she let it slide free through her fingers. Kissing Elsa's shoulder while it was all that was in reach. Making her shiver, and feel a keen lack of breath in her lungs.

Too much. Overwhelming, and it showed when Anna reached to feel under that short skirt, Elsa tensing up and grabbing a handful of cape.

Both jumped when the call went out from the other room, near the kitchen, and Elsa hurried back before the lights went on again. Orientating herself in the dark was a struggle she wasn't quite ready for, but luckily the lights in their room stayed off. The discovery was on the opposite side of the space.

The light from around the corner was plenty to see each other by. Anna didn't look any more combobulated than Elsa felt. She did, however, start wandering first towards the council.

She seemed to have forgotten that Elsa had just killed her.

"I'll admit," the guy from the last round joked, "that Anna does appear to have been in the wrong place to have been responsible for this." He was part of a notably smaller crowd gathered around a trio of fatalities. Most notable were Miguel and Tulio both, arranged in a somewhat, err, compromising position. Punzie was sprawled beside them, trying and clearly failing to hold in her giggles.

"Chel." The vote was instant, unanimous, and accurate. She turned up the first Jack of the round, and gathered her most recent victims with her to claim a corner of the couch. Anna gathered the cards, then took a conspicuous moment to hand the deck off to Olaf before returning to Elsa's side. She looked like she had something to say, her focus alternating between Elsa's face and the floor repeatedly, but she didn't manage to speak up.

Among the buzz of conversation around them their mutual silence was conspicuous. And it couldn't last; one of them was going to have to say something.

Lights off. Neither moved.

This was unbearable, standing in the dark while torn between the way Anna's lips had made her shiver and the way Elsa had froze up when her hand went too far. She needed an answer to a question she didn't know how to ask yet. Fidgeting in the pitch black was too much to handle. Saying something, anything, would be better than more damned waiting.

Her approach this time felt horribly awkward compared to a minute ago. "You're dead, remember?" Elsa tried to whisper it quietly, trusting in the buzz of conversation from upstairs to mask her words.

"Undead, actually." Anna muttered back, finding her own footing quickly now that she had something to react to. "You forgot to bring a stake."

Elsa scoffed. "You are the worst sort of cheat, I hope you know that."

"Yes, and," Anna murmured decisively, voice and breath coming closer and closer until they teased equally at Elsa's ear, "I cheat to win." Just that fast Elsa felt a pinch on her own neck.

This time felt different. They weren't playing the same game any more, and when Anna steered Elsa towards the stairs it was almost expected.

Almost. Stumbling up that first step up still set her heart pounding. This was something new. Particularly when Anna's arm circled around Elsa's waist as they climbed. Slow, hesitant, and entirely unlike the hasty grabbing before.

The upstairs was a tangle of cushions and people, but there was a path vaguely defined by little electric candles through the middle. They were far too dim to shine downstairs, but were perfectly visible after adjusting to the darkness. They marked a path through the unseen loungers chatting around them.

They didn't, however, save Elsa from thudding into a door.

"Oops. Thought we had a bit to go still." There was a rare measure of contrition in Anna's voice. Elsa was just glad they had been going slowly enough that it hadn't hurt.

"Where are you taking me?" There was, as it turned out, a limit to Elsa's newfound confidence, and she had come up on it. She was deep enough in the unknown, but now she had no idea at all what was coming next.

"Umm...my room. If that's ok."

Was...was that ok? It turned out there was still room in Elsa's head to panic. It didn't even sound like her own voice saying, "Yes."

Anna's room. Anna's fucking room. What in all hell was she supposed to do now?

The kissing was nice. More than nice. It was amazing. She wanted more of it. Tons more. The grabbing was thrilling and terrifying. Was...was that what Anna wanted? She was so much bolder than Elsa. Did she want to...more than that? Did Elsa? Yes. But...yes? No?

Oh, my god, what the hell. Anna had just closed the door behind her. After a moment of fumbling, a string of Christmas lights around the ceiling lit up. Elsa was still standing stock still where Anna had left her.

I am so useless. Here she was alone, with a beautiful girl who she had just been kissing like a drowning woman needing air, and she hadn't the slightest idea what to do.

There was, just...nothing for her to do here without some idea what she actually wanted. Or some idea what she did not want. And she was grimly aware that no one else could really answer those questions for her.

At least she had some space here. Being alone with Anna was terrifying, but being alone also meant she had room to breathe that hadn't been possible downstairs. Room for her thoughts to settle. If they were ever going to be inclined to do so, that was.

"Could we...do we - I mean, do you - want to cuddle?" Elsa was vaguely aware that Anna seemed to be having some trouble with finding her words too. Mostly she just grabbed that lifeline of any direction whatsoever and held on for dear life, nodding in a way that she hoped didn't look like a deer contemplating the headlights of a semi.

Wait...in bed?!

Anna staved that fresh bout of panic off by plopping down onto a lump in the corner, which on second glance turned out to be a gigantic beanbag chair occupying a significant portion of the room. Which was, now that Elsa looked around, admittedly a bit of a mess. Anna had two piles of clothing occupying opposite corners; hopefully the distinction wasn't "clean" versus "dirty", though Elsa suspected that was exactly what they were.

Wait, cuddles. That was what she had said. Which meant she wanted Elsa to join her. Which in turn meant Elsa was going to have to make that decision right now if she didn't want to just keep standing here.

She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath in, and sternly reminded herself that she had not come here tonight to be timid.

She hadn't. She really, really had not. Her whole outfit had explicitly been chosen not to be meek right now. That reminder to herself was enough to get a thread of nerve back.

You can do this, Elsa. Stop being afraid of the pretty girl. You...literally dressed up for her. Let yourself do something crazy.

Even so, it wasn't until she sat beside Anna's legs that she felt able to breathe back out.

"I...think we probably have a bit to talk about." Anna sounded...nervous. Very nervous.

That helped more than anything she was telling herself. That hint that Anna might not know just exactly what she was doing here either was a desperately needed sign that Elsa was not alone in figuring this out. It was enough to let her sink back onto the bean bag, stretch herself out, and relax.

Given the nature of beanbag chairs, this meant the two of them settling against one another, pushed together by the amorphous divot in the foam. She was still very warm...and it was nice. Sure, Elsa's arm might have been awkwardly trapped because she had no idea where to put it, but it was still nice.

"It's easier if, umm, I...or you…" Anna started and faded away into uncertainty. When Elsa looked up she saw a blush under her freckles.

"Hmm?" It was nothing more than encouragement to finish that thought.

Anna took her own deep breath this time, then plowed on ahead to explain, "We'll fit better if I hold you."

She didn't move, though. This time Elsa recognized that she was waiting on her.

That was...easier, at least, in a way. Being asked. Getting the chance to answer, even if it was just a slow nod and quick shuffle, was more comfortable than just trying something and hoping it worked out.

Credit where credit was due, in fact. Going to her room, cuddling, holding...Anna asking first before all that was a marked change in behavior for her. Even from earlier tonight. She was making an effort, and that felt surprisingly good.

It gave comfort. As Elsa snuggled back into Anna's arms she at long last felt the stress drained entirely from her. Anna was warm and close and she could simply enjoy that for what it was.

She was even able to speak up without feeling embarrassed, commenting, "I...have to admit, this is pretty new to me. Snuggling. Particularly with someone I've kissed."

"Huh. I don't see why."

"Why?" What did that mean?

"I mean, umm, well...why you wouldn't have done it more. Snuggle, that is."

"Why would I have?"

Anna snorted. It was far from the most attractive of sounds. "Come on, you know exactly what I mean."

"I really don't! You're confusing at the best of times, you know."

"You're serious? Like, actually?"

"Yes, I really am actually serious, you dork. I have no idea what you mean." A pity that she was facing the wrong way for Anna to see her eyes roll at that question.

"Huh. I would have thought that you would be drowning in...well, whatever you want, really. You are fucking gorgeous."

"Flatterer."

One of Anna's fingers poked her in the side, prompting a surprised squeak. "Ok, nope, not gonna let you keep doing that. You are unfair hot, and that is a fact. Ask anyone downstairs and they will back me up on this. If you are going to try to tell me that no one has wanted to jump your bones then you are wrong."

"Wait a second, that's-"

"Nope, not waiting. Cause I already told you that earlier and you obviously didn't listen, so it's going to be my job to make you listen."

"No, really Anna, I appreciate it, but you are definitely exaggerating." Not that she minded so much, but Anna was laying it on a bit thick.

The giant hug Anna squeezed her with was a clear if surprising answer.

"Well, even if you aren't enjoying it yet, I hope you don't mind if I do." Her sigh sounded oddly serious, considering how much she would usually have teased.

Elsa sighed as well, taking solace in quiet for a moment before grinning and providing the teasing herself. "Is that why you asked me up here, then? Is this a booty call?"

Another snort from Anna. "You have never said 'booty call' before in your life, have you?"

"Err...no comment. But am I wrong?"

"I don't know…" Anna trailed away, pensive. "It could be, I guess? It's not like I haven't noticed...but I don't know, though. I'm not sure what it is about you, but that's...not the thing that sticks in my head."

"Why did you bring me up here?"

Anna shifted. "It sounds like you think I know what I am doing."

This felt worth pressing, just a little. "You have to have some idea, don't you? It sure seemed like you had a plan downstairs."

Grumbles answered. "Downstairs was different. And you started it."

"I don't think that's exactly true."

"It's enough true!"

"It's still not an answer."

"Is 'this' an answer? Snuggling is a good reason, right?"

"I suppose I'll allow it." Elsa let a bit of haughtiness slip in, just for fun.

"Oh, will you? How gracious. How about I make you actually answer my question, then?"

Elsa paused, then bit. "Which question was that?"

"Why you aren't used to snuggling. We got distracted before you really answered. It's sort of awesome, so why not?"

That did not seem like a fair question to Elsa, but she decided to try anyway. "It's my turn to say that I don't know, I guess. I don't know how you're supposed to find people who want to?"

"Why not ask?"

Yeah, like it was just that easy. "Is that something I was supposed to learn? If so, I missed out. I never really found out how to discover if women like me. Enough for snuggles, at least…"

"Ok, I can relate to that."

"And here you were making it sound like you were an expert in this."

"Are you kidding?" Anna scoffed. "I've wanted to kiss you for months now and never managed to say a damn thing! You're the one who up and did it."

Elsa wanted to argue, but was stuck on the dueling facts that Anna was totally right about the second part and making her blush furiously with the first. Months? That long?

Well...why not play along? If she was already this far, then...

"Do you still want to?" Her heartbeat was performing a drum solo right now. It felt like the sound of it had to be as obvious as Anna's gulp.

"Please?" She was breathless all over again. "I mean, only if you want to, of course, I wouldn't want you to feel like I was saying you had to or anything, that wouldn't be right, but if you do want to I mean you should feel free to-"

This, as least, was something that Elsa knew how to answer now. Her lips on Anna's sealed away the stammer. They shifted together, turning closer to find an angle more comfortable, easier to continue for as long as Elsa's Anna-addled mind decided to.

This was easier than she could have imagined yesterday. She wanted this. If nothing else was clear, at least this part was. She wanted to kiss Anna. To keep kissing her.

"Is that better?" It was Anna's turn to nod in the absence of any available words to form an answer.

"I know something that could make it even better..." She knew this was going to be a little mean of her.

"What's that?" Anna was hanging off her words.

"If we got you out of…" Anna's eyes widened, taking in the implication in that drawling tone. Elsa paused to enjoy that response before finishing, "...that cape. The collar keeps getting in my face."

"Fucking...don't do that to me! I can't handle you doing that!" Anna's tone was a particular mix of exasperation and indignation that said 'well played, you jerk.'

Elsa started laughing and finished yawning. "I don't know, that reaction seemed worth it." She stretched into the yawn. Why did it have to be so late...

"You look like you don't have a lot left in you tonight," Anna said a little sadly. "Maybe the collar was trying to tell us something."

"I should have brought pajamas."

"Why?"

Huh. Anna made a good point. When exactly had she decided she wanted to stay the night? Because she did, now that she thought about it.

And if she wanted to… "Do you have any I could borrow?" she asked casually.

Anna was quiet for a moment, like a deer stuck in an oncoming set of high-beams. Her recovery was slow, percolating until she managed to start, "...my pajamas? I mean, you're asking me if I can borrow them from me? For here?"

"I don't see anyone else in here to ask, so yes, I mean yours." Had teasing always been this fun?

The depth of crimson that crept through Anna's face was downright impressive. Her stammer was back in full force when she answered, "I, um, don't usually wear, uh, pajamas."

"What do you wear instead?"

The mild panic Anna shot back with her expression spoke volumes. Elsa found the blushing contagious when she realized the implication, and the mild desperation in Anna's hissed, "I don't." didn't do anything to lessen it.

Silence was their only answer for a couple of long and imagination-filled moments.

"I," Anna mumbled, "do have some really big t-shirts. They're comfy, at least…why, though? Don't you want to go home? You're literally next door..." She fell into another yawn, which led Elsa to follow suit.

"I don't want to go yet." Elsa surprised herself with the certainty in her voice. "I'm comfortable here, and I'd like to stay. Would that be ok?"

She could practically see the gears turning as Anna processed. Eventually she burst out with, simply, "Yes!" The suddenness of that answer was matched only by her haste in scrambling over to one of the two piles. She rummaged through for a minute before pulling out a shirt that could easily have fit the both of them. She held it up, assuring Elsa, "Don't worry, all these are clean."

"You weren't kidding about that being way too big…" Elsa mused, before smirking. "Is that for us to share?"

"Err, it's a shirt, how would we...ohhhhhhhh..."

Elsa was enjoying this process of learning how to get Anna to blush, and stuck her tongue out at her.

She muttered back, "That is so not fair, teasing me like that right now."

"Why's that?" Elsa feigned innocence poorly.

"Because that's the sort of teasing that goes further than snuggling, jerkbutt." She was only a little sullen when she stuck her tongue out back at Elsa, right before spoiling the whole thing with a yawn of her own. Those were showing up annoyingly often by now.

"Oh, my mistake then!" Tired or not - and she was tired, she admitted sullenly to herself - Elsa was enjoying this. She was liking being bold, and when an idea popped into her head she added, "I should probably not ask what I was going to, then."

"No, um, please feel free to ask, err, whatever, really…If you want…"

Bold indeed. Was this what confidence felt like? Elsa plowed ahead with it before it escaped her again. "It wouldn't bother you to help me out of this dress, then? The lacing on the back was a pain to do myself..."

"Noooooooooo that would not bother me just fine. Yeah. For sure. Now? You mean?"

Elsa giggled. "Yes, silly, I mean," she teased, a yawn inserting itself in between, "now. Before I fall asleep with it on." Whether it was her drinks before or the weird position of the hour hand on the clock hanging on the wall, this didn't feel nearly as scary as it seemed like it should have.

Elsa stood, stretched, and offered a hand up to an Anna who took a moment to realize that hand was meant for her. The blush had not yet faded from her cheeks when she took it, getting pulled to her feet.

Which left them again standing face to face, Elsa having tugged her right up close. She wasn't done enjoying this yet. While Anna hesitated, clearly lost for words, Elsa delved that much further into the mad freedom she was feeling right now. Her hand settled on Anna's back, squeezing out any remaining distance between them, and her chin fit itself over her shoulder.

"Cat's got your tongue?" She purred that into Anna's ear, who downright whimpered back. This was a rush that Elsa had never felt before. Her nerves were gone, fallen to the wayside. She felt almost...powerful.

Chasing that, however, would have to be for another night. Her eyes were drooping, and they would win out before much longer, no matter how desperately she wished them open. There had just been too much of the night already gone by. She took a half step back from Anna and turned so that the lacing would be accessible. "We'd better do this before I topple over. Mind giving me a hand?"

Anna sighed. "You know that I'm confused as fuck right now, right?" That didn't stop her from working the laces loose, freeing Elsa from their constraint. "I mean, I'm enjoying this, but I have no idea at all what we're, well, doing? Like, I'm taking your dress off, and I think I'm following that by not jumping you. And that's kind of feeling weird." The dress was loose by now, but she stopped short of actually lifting it off, seemingly waiting on Elsa.

She made sense, too, in a way. Elsa knew she was in over her head. She wanted to be, right here and now. But she knew that when she stopped to think she'd have a lot of questions, both for Anna and for herself, and without a lot of answers available for them quite yet.

"I know this isn't a great answer, but I think I want to leave figuring that out to future Elsa. Right now I just want to enjoy the moment, if you're comfortable with that." She started wiggling out of the dress then. Anna took the cue and helped to lift it up and off, leaving Elsa wearing only her socks and underwear. "Getting into that tshirt and under some blankets is about as far ahead as I want to plan right now. If you're ok with that, this is your room after all."

The hug was a surprise, Anna wrapping her arms around from behind and squeezing Elsa tightly and pressing her cheek against Elsa's shoulder, her face tucking in against Elsa's neck. "If you want to stay, then I want you to stay. Here, you'll want this." She relaxed the hug to scoop up the shirt where she had dropped it, holding it out for Elsa to take it."

"Thank you, Anna. There's just one thing…" Just one more tease, Elsa told herself. Then she'd really be done.

"Hmm?"

"I don't sleep in a bra...if you want to help me out of it, I...might enjoy that." Facing away helped hide her blushing as she said it.

"Fucking...tomorrow me is going to be asking a lot, you know that right? Because I'm going to have a lot of things on my mind when we wake up, and not many of them are going to be ideas that get us out of bed. Frickin' tease…" Her grumbling did nothing at all to slow her down, though, grabbing the back clasp with one hand and pinching it together and apart.

Elsa didn't expect how incredibly aware she was of the way Anna's fingers felt brushing against her back when she did that. The goosebumps that followed were...not unpleasant. She'd explore that more later, though. For now she mumbled, "Thank you", keenly aware of how shy she sounded. That Anna was watching when she slipped her bra off her shoulders and down her arms was new, too…

Slipping the shirt over her head felt secure again. Maybe that had been pushing even her newfound courage too far.

Or maybe, she thought through a yawn and stretch, she was too tired to figure any of this out right now and she shouldn't bother trying.

Yeah, that sounded easier.

Turning around she found Anna still facing her. Her mouth was hanging a bit open.

"You really should get out of that cape, it can't be comfortable to sleep in."

"Err, right, yeah, true." She started shedding her costume in a hurry, but paused halfway through unbuttoning the white button-up shirt she had on under the outer layer. "Umm...should I wear a shirt too? I can, if you're more comfortable with that."

Somehow Elsa hadn't realized that question would be coming, though it made perfect sense now that it had. And...she didn't know the answer. Figuring it out didn't seem very likely right now either, so she went with the easy answer while her fingers were on autopilot letting down her hair.

"It's your room. Do what you want."

The intensity in Anna's look in response to that was more than she was prepared for. "Do what I want...you really should be more careful with your phrasing, snowflake."

It was Elsa's turn to be short for words. Anna took the opportunity to finish shedding her shirt, and socks, and the black, dressy slacks that were the last of her costume. She then pointedly met Elsa's sleep-narrowed eyes again before shedding her own bra, and asking teasingly, "Are you sure you want to let sleep win right now?"

"I want...things. Umm...ahem. But I'm not getting much of a choice, we are - yawn - way past my bedtime…all I've got left in me is cuddling."

Anna mumbled something too quiet to hear, then more loudly said, "Then let's get you to bed. Here, come on." She turned Elsa gently with a hand on her shoulder, shuffling her forward until she was near enough to tumble onto the sheets.

"This is comfy...thank you." If Elsa had ever been happier to find a pillow she could not recall when.

"You're on top of the covers, dork. Here…" With some gentle cajoling Anna nudged Elsa about until she managed to get the covers out from under her, freeing them to tuck them snugly up to Elsa's chin.

"There you are, sleeping beauty. I'll get the light." Elsa murmured her thanks, snuggling into the sheets. They smelled like they were freshly out of the wash, but also…

Elsa blushed. They also smelled like Anna. And if she was being honest with herself that made her want to snuggle in deeper. She was mid-blush when the lights went out. She could hear Anna's footsteps across the room, followed by the thwump of her clearly dropping into the bean bag chair, and rustling that sounded like a blanket being settled into place.

Her heart sank, and before she even realized why she was already calling out, "You don't have to sleep over there. I...I want to cuddle."

"Oh…" Anna's exclamation was quiet, and followed by heartbeats of silence. Then the cloth rustled again, and footsteps brought her to the other side of the bed.

When she slipped under the covers herself, squirming up until she was fit in against Elsa's back and had an arm draped over Elsa's side, she sighed, just as quietly as before.

She fit there. She fit in a way that Elsa didn't have the right words to express. And despite her question, Anna's tone seemed as comfortable as that fit when she asked, "What are we even doing here?"

Elsa gave the only answer that felt right. "I don't know...but I want to figure that out with you, if you want to also."

Anna yawned, tucking her face into Elsa's hair. "I think I do. I don't get why, but I do."

She hugged softly, settling into place quietly for a minute before adding her parting comment before Elsa was lost to sleep.

"Tease."

***

Notes:

Hey there, everyone.

You might have noticed how long this took me to update. To tell the truth, I am mostly out of the fandom by now, and I'm likely done writing Elsanna. I've moved on, and I am sorry that it meant this story has fallen by the wayside.

This will be the last chapter, and the probably the last Elsanna I write. Thank you to everyone who's read this far, and I hope that this last chapter gives you at least some sense of closure. It's not the end that I expected when I started this story, but it is an end of a sort.

I wish every one of you the best, just as I wish it for our two girls here, looking forward towards figuring out where this crazy life is going to lead them.

Also, it wouldn't have been fitting without breaking the text formatting due to things entirely invisible to me one last time. Sorry for the delay while trying to fix it!