maskormenacelogs | I’ve traveled all this way for something

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I’ve traveled all this way for something

WHO: YOU.
WHERE: Eden East's cruiseship
WHEN: Saturday February 15th, around 5 PM EST
WHAT: Registration in motion... among other things.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; let us know if this should be edited.

" The new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises -- it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them. It appeals to their pride, not to their pocketbook -- it holds out the promise of more sacrifice instead of more security. But I tell you the new frontier is here, whether we seek it or not. "
( from jfk's speech "the new frontier," 7/15/1960. )

The sun hasn't set yet and the temperature hovers somewhere just below 70 degrees this evening; imPorts, both recently arrived and not, will have been escorted to this event so that they can meet each other, have a good time, and of course officially state their registration status. Or lack thereof. It's your decision, they emphasize, even though the unspoken "but" is always there.

It's an elaborate spread, certainly much more elegant than last time. Eden East herself, elegant in her backless champagne-colored dress, meets and greets each and every imPort as she flutters to and fro. She'll find you and chat for a few moments, shaking your hand and complimenting your dress. She'll know your name, and she'll have an entourage of aids and cameras following her wake. Captain Holiday, in contrast, maintains the energy of someone who feels out of place holding the Swear-In ceremony somewhere so extravagant. As imPorts arrive he tells them where to be for the ceremony part of the evening, but that they are free to enjoy themselves until then and after.

( Please state your character's official status -- REGISTERED or UNSETTLED -- in the subject header of your thread. Characters who are UNDECIDED may be contacted later in the week for their decision via their IC contact post. )

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"Hey, n--"

She'd jumped before he got a change to warn her off of it, and his automatic response was to catch her, even though the whole gesture made him freeze up otherwise. His posture went stiff for a split-second while his heart beat faster, and he took a step back after she let go, trying his best to will the redness out of his face.

He shook his head as if to clear it, running a hand through his (actually clean) hair. "Ha. Yeah, uh... Yeah. Hi to you, too. Here I am. It is pretty weird."

"Right?"

She seized upon the subject change of the weirdness of the situation like a lifeline. If it even was a change. It wasn't like they had been talking about her reception of him or anything- nope. Time to focus. She finished smoothing her dress and straightened back up.

"Do you think they just got us all? Elsa and Olaf and the snow monster and everyone that was there-"

She gasped, realizing she'd over looked a very important party member. She glanced around, like she could have possibly overlooked a giant reindeer being in the room.

"Is Sven here?"

"I don't know," he answered the first series of questions easily enough, and was about to tell Anna to slow down, or to hope out loud that Olaf hadn't showed up (it was really warm here), when she got to Sven. He looked over his shoulder, as he already had countless times since being here, as if expecting that the reindeer might be there, but...

"No. It's just me. I don't know where Sven is."

He wasn't entirely convinced that the people here weren't responsible for Sven's absence. If nothing else, they were responsible for Sven's now being alone on the mountain, which was also pretty sad.

She frowned for a moment, letting the sheer unnatural nature of that expression speak for her as she gave one last desperate glance around for the missing....everyone, really. But they weren't there. Just her and the man before her, and her shoulders hunched forward slightly in defeat.

"I'm- I'm so sorry, Kristoff. Things like this didn't happen before me, right? Magic and monsters and...crazy boat parties."

Because what else did you call this, really?

"I mean, you know, I've never been on one of these either, and there's the whole part where magic isn't supposed to do this- so maybe it's not my fault. But, still. Maybe they just wanted the royal line and pulled you in, too."

"Magic's always been around, Anna," he assured, and couldn't help the smile that crept onto his featured when he remembered that, in a way, she was actually right. He'd followed Anna's family to find his own, after all, and what were the trolls but magical monsters? The crazy boat party was totally new and unrelated, but still.

The smile faded a little at mention of 'the royal line,' because it was a small reminder of how separate they really were and how out of place he felt in this environment. Still, he shrugged the comment off, shaking his head. "I guess it just proves me right. I knew you'd be trouble."

"You decided to come along! I- oh, I can't get you a new sled here."

If anything, she seems more put out about that revelation than anything else. All the misadventures and the rest she could attribute to someone else, even if she might feel vaguely guilty. The ice sled, on the other hand? That was her direct promise. A serious (and by now semi-familiar to him) look of determination settled over her expression as she looked up at him.

"We'll get one. The people in charge here, they take care of work and all of that. I'll make sure you get everything you want. Ah, I mean...somehow. I'm not really a princess here or anything- but I can do it."

She had promised, after all. So she could totally make it happen. Maybe.

Her earnestness about the whole thing somehow made Kristoff feel big and small all at once, and he couldn't figure out if he wanted to run away right now or be right here for as long as possible. He swallowed and rubbed at the back of his neck, pausing in his response for a moment. The words weren't hard, but his thoughts swirled and made everything get stuck in his throat.

"I already told you not to worry about me, didn't I? I don't... You don't need to give me anything, okay? It's fine."

"Hey, I can still get things done."

Oh, yes. The arms were crossed now. It was really a pity she wasn't that great at being more than mildly put out when it came to Kristoff, because this really would have been, in her opinion, a good opportunity for a fierce expression.

"It might be harder, but that's no reason not to try."

"I didn't say you couldn't," he responded, an air of playful doubt in his voice in contradiction to the words. He wasn't sure why she was insisting on it, all things considered, but it was endearing. It was enthusiasm towards keeping one's word, which he'd often found in rare supply elsewhere.

See? Nothing but trouble. Kristoff looked distractedly around the large room. All this stuff, all these people... The whole thing remained wholly alien.

"I just don't need it here. It'd be no good."

"I guess not...Not yet."

That took some of the wind out of her sails. Not depressed, just forced to accept the truth of that statement with a small frown. They really did seem set on ice here, didn't they? And as for drivers-

Oh. Oh. That reminded her.

"But you know ice things. Did you ever hear of ice cream?"

"Ice cream? Sure."

He'd heard of it, at least. Very occasionally, people might buy extra ice or request it broken up for the sake of making it, but he'd never bothered asking for details about it. He just assumed it was cream with chunks of ice and, really, why would you drink that?

Kristoff frowned at the idea, not for the first time ever, and pressed on. "I mean, I never had it or anything, but sure. Why?"

"They gave me a job!"

Despite it all, she can't help the excitement from spilling over there. People, giving her responsibilities. Something to help add to the world instead of just hide away from it. Which was all secondary to getting home, of course, by the gesture was still enough to make her smile.

"Selling it. I mean, I don't know who even wants the stuff. But it's ice related and ice is your thing so I thought, maybe, you might know."

Kristoff couldn't help the smile that came up at the happy declaration, because she seemed oddly thrilled by the idea of working and the potential for disaster was already amusing. How hard could selling ice cream be, though? Actually, he was suddenly pretty sure that Anna would make a great salesperson. She was approachable and almost aggressively friendly, and she could probably talk circles around people until they'd be willing to buy anything.

Not that he figured ice cream would be a hard sell. It seemed like a special-occasion thing back home, though he couldn't say for sure. "People who eat dessert want it, I guess. People with... I dunno', birthdays and anniversaries and stuff. Actually--" They were standing at a dessert table, weren't they? And Kristoff was sure every kind of food ever must be lurking somewhere in this room. "They probably have it here."

"They do?"

And that was all the warning he got. Then Anna grabbed one of his arms, trying to make a bee-line back towards the table (and, to her credit, planning to only pause to nab one more brownie as they passed by if he went along with it). What she may lack in muscle next to him, she tried to make up for in sheer determination in completing this newest, and most minor, quest.

"Which one is it?"

"Proba-- Hey."

Well, apparently now they had to find it. Kristoff had half a mind to simply not get pulled, because there was no way she actually had that kind of power advantage over him, but... Who was he kidding, right? He wasn't going to do that. Her grip was warm and she was way too excited, and he still had no idea what ice cream actually looked like. It resulted in him staring at the table for a beat before shrugging. "It'll have to be cold, right? So..."

There was a section at the end of the table with a bunch of syrupy-looking fruits in little buckets, other things in large tubs, all nestled in a big bed of ice cubes. He frowned at the set-up, because the ice cubes were probably machine-made like everything here, and he pointed it out to Anna almost accusingly.

"It's probably this over here."

"Right!"

So off they went, Anna blithely pretending not to notice any undertone of resistance to their newest adventure. She pressed up against the container holding all the ice, frowning down at the buckets of colored desserts, eyes wandering until they landed on a prize. Her voice dropped down to near reverent tones as she looked back up at him.

"It comes in chocolate?"

Kristoff was pretty content to just watch her inspect the situation without comment, now that they were there, standing a step away from the display to avoid looking as nutty over sweets as the princess. Personally, he didn't see what the big deal was. Desserts were way more expensive than basic foodstuffs and a lot less filling. To him, they were luxuries that catered to the tastes of those who could afford that kind of thing, so... Well. Anna was probably pretty wealthy, all things considered, so there you go.

He almost laughed a little at the question, at her tone of voice. It sounded like the start of some life-changing attachment, like she knew right away that chocolate ice cream was going to be a game-changer. Big stuff.

"Watch out. You look like you might start drooling."

Her hands instantly flew to her face, looking for the rumored dampness- then were instantly dropped as she realized he was teasing her. She gave a small, dignified cough, and straightened out her shoulders. Then totally ruined the effect by grinning up at him.

"Why aren't you? It's chocolate."

Duh. The single best, most amazing thing on Earth.

Wow, Anna. You gotta get out more.

"I don't really..." And he didn't want to outright state that he didn't eat the stuff, because he was convinced that it would spark some kind of overblown disbelief on her part. He'd like to avoid that, so he was trying to land on an acceptable excuse and a gentle delivery. "Uh. Sweets are expensive, you know? And they don't really get you fed."

The relative cost of things was something Anna wouldn't be getting acquainted with for another day or so. Meaning that, for now, she just frowns for a second before springing into action and gathering the supplies to fix them both a nice bowl of ice cream.

"Well, it's free now."

And, as far as she was concerned, he would be indulging himself.

She did have a point. It was free, but so was all of the other stuff that looked way more appetizing. He'd rather fill up on all of the also-expensive, more savory foods that were less likely make him sick. Distracted for a moment in searching said dishes out, he turned back to Anna to find her in the midst of ice cream preparation.

"Have you even eaten any actual food yet, or do you function entirely on sugar?"

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I’ve traveled all this way for something

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