Vibrant Grays

The Color of Forever

"Green, right?"

"No, yellow-green. It's much lighter than green."

"It's confusing."

"I had to have a tutor for all of this."

"Maybe she can help me too."

"Maybe. I'll call her."

"Thanks, Elsa."

"No need to thank me."
:
"This is indigo?"

"First time seeing it?"

"Uh-huh. How do you know this is indigo?"

"I remember it."

"Your clothes are color coordinated?"

"Had Tooth do that. It helps me."

"Did you tell them about your... us?"

"No. No. I wouldn't do that."
:
Elsa gives up on 'banishing' him away ever since Jack has permanently planted himself on the Arendelle household. Anna will be surprised to see him coming out of their bathroom, or lounging around casually.

"Are you two together?" Anna asks.

Elsa sighs, closing her drawing book. She's been getting back on arts after years of not even touching a charcoal pen. She's trying to use colors, blue mostly. It's harder than she thought but she's getting better at it. Jack's still distant, sometimes eyes glazed over.

"Maybe."

Anna immediately brightens up. "That's wonderful!"

No it's not, Elsa thinks, it just means how we need each other to survive. Jack, though he really wants to tell his friends, hasn't done so. There's something that changed about Jack. The way he walks resemble dragging. He stays up late at night, staring at Elsa's ceiling and sometimes, just sometimes, she thinks she can hear him crying.

"Are we two together?" Elsa questions him, watching as he differentiates his blue and indigo sweaters.

Jack freezes, looking shocked. He slowly turns to Elsa.

"Maybe."
:
The wind is harsh on Elsa's skin. She steps in the apartment complex she's been living in for a while now. Winter is coming once again. It has been five months since she can see the grass green and the sky blue. They- her and Jack -has sinced moved to an apartment of their own. Elsa's on her way to graduation. They sold the house, finally getting over the memories. Anna lived in the extension of the apartment.

The Arendelle house is too vast, too empty. They have seven rooms, two for the servants, three for the family and two guest rooms. They also have an attic and a basement. Everything's too big for the two of them. Jack gives a bit of happiness but it's still not enough.

"So are you two Jack really really together now? I mean, you two live together!"

Elsa gives up on denying it. "Yeah. But you also live with us."

"Doesn't count."

Jack then enters the apartment, hair soaked to the tips. "It's raining outiside," he reports. He's fresh from the newly opened ice cream parlor that replaced a corner diner. He works there part-time. He quit his studies long ago, to support Paula's own fees. It was very brotherly of him to do so, Elsa makes it a point to tell him that. Paula is rooming with two more girls and they practically don't leave their dorm.

"Really?" Anna looks out the window. "It actually is. I haven't noticed."

Elsa sees a lot of colors down. They're on the seventh floor. The umbrellas are a variety of different styles and colors. Jack is staring into nothingness once again. It's common for him to be like that. She hates it when that happens. Guilt wears her down every time and seeing him doesn't make anything easier.

Nothing's perfect, not by a long shot. They're trying to make it work, even if they still get surprised by color bursts or the lack of it. There's hollow parts in their hearts that neither of them can fill in but they find something in each other that's close to love.

That's all that matters right now.

Fin