~ The Calm Conversation, part 1 ~

Narrator POV:

The door to the Queen's room opens and in comes the maid, carrying a tray, which holds some desserts, biscuits, and even some chocolate, which is a little bit redundant, seeing as there are 4 cups of hot chocolate right there on the tray.

"I am back!" Diana declares to the Queen.

"Yeah I know, I heard the door open and I am looking straight at you..." Elsa deadpans.

"Sometimes, vocalizing what you do is fun, therefore, I am going to put the tray down, hand the cup which is full of hot chocolate straight to your arms and then I will sit down"

And the Queen looks at the maid doing just as she said, a cup appearing in her palms and the maid sitting down in a fancy sofa chair.

"And I brought extra cups... Just in case" Diana quickly adds, getting an appreciative nod from the Queen.

There's an awkward silence, neither of the two saying anything, but the maid isn't having any of it.

"Ahem, I've read a moderate amount of books"

"Uh... Okay?"

"And... In one of those books. there was a mention of a little 'game' that helps people to get to know each other better"

"Ooh, a game, what's it about?" Elsa chimes in with a tiny amount of excitement.

"It didn't have a name... But I thought of naming it, anyways, I called it 21 questions" The maid says 'proudly'.

Elsa stares at the maid, her excitement having died down "I don't think I need the rules for it..."

"Uh... Yeah..."

"And how is this a game? We'd be asking each other questions anyways, so what does this add, exactly?"

"I... um... It said that the questions must be answered 'honestly' and 'truthfully'? No matter what they are..."

"Maybe this sounds wrong coming from me... You know, the Queen, who hasn't really met a lot of people... But isn't that what people are supposed to do in a situation where they want to 'get to know each other' anyways?"

"That may or may not be correct..."

"Right... So?"

"It's a game... Because..."

"Because?" Elsa asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Because... there is a set number of questions you have to ask somebody?" Diana says uncertainly.

"Right, 21"

"Exactly" The maid remarks.

The Queen just rolls her eyes at the maid "Fine... Let's do this 'game'... And one more thing, aren't games supposed to have a winner or a loser, or something?"

"Now that one I have an easy answer to, that'd be a no, one property of a game is for fun and enjoyment, there doesn't have to be a victor, but we can think of something if the Queen wants"

"I suppose that makes sense, we can keep it like this, so, shall we begin?"

"whoa, hold on, this may not seem like a 'game', but it still requires some explaining to be done"

"It does? But it's just questions..."

"First, we are obviously not actually going to do 21 questions, that's just way too many"

"And now the 'game' has lost its last lifeline as a game"

"Perhaps, but the Queen can't disagree with it being too much, right?"

"Indeed"

"So... How many should we do? What number does the Queen feel is good enough?"

"Hmm...4 or 5"

"Okay, let's do 4. Now, we should set some boundaries"

"Boundaries?"

"Yes, a type of question you wouldn't want to answer, for example. I know that we had our first time together, quite randomly, but that got me thinking, have you touched yourself before that happened and if you had, how often did it happen. That'd be two of my questions already"

"I...You... Why would you ask that?!" Elsa shouts at the maid.

"Why wouldn't I? I don't hide from such things, I don't mind talking about them, it's a natural thing, after all, besides, it's exciting to know and the fact that it's a part of you, albeit one hidden and erotic part, it just amplifies the effect"

"Unbelievable... Yes, let's do it with boundaries"

"Aww, so, what are those for the Queen?"

"Obviously anything erotic related, just like that example"

"Of course" Diana says smiling.

"And... I guess that's it? So what's a 'no-no' for you? If there even is such a thing"

"Well, normally, there wouldn't be... But since the Queen has one, I might as well say one too"

"It's only fair"

Diana starts thinking, she could just say that sexual questions are a boundary for her too because she doubts that Elsa would ask something like that... But what if... what if... Now, what should she say?

"Hmm... Hmm..."

"Can't think of any?"

"No... Not really... Um... I guess this one is fine, no questions about my previous boss and job? Well, no details about it, like secrets. Questions about how I started it and how I did while doing it, are fine"

"Okay, good, that's understandable..."

"Now, there's a bonus rule, to make it a little bit more interesting and more game-y"

"Okay?"

"So out of those 4 questions, one question can be thrown back at the person who asked, If you don't want to answer it, maybe it's too embarrassing, too stupid or something, basically if it's too much, you can bounce it back and they HAVE to answer"

"Hmm... Some strategy involved now" Elsa mutters to herself "Okay, that's a decent suggestion, let's do it, shall we begin now?"

"Yes, but one little detail is missing"

"How is there more? Seriously, it's just talking..."

"It's the last and small hurdle, I promise"

"It better be"

"And... It is... Who's going to be asking first?"

"Ah... I guess that's a small thing..."

"Well, the maid thinks that the Queen should go first"

"Why me?"

"It would be presumptuous of a simple maid to question the Queen, no?"

Elsa looks at Diana not amused "Yeah... Like that hasn't been the case since the day you started working in the castle..."

"No, I don't think anything like that happened, I'd remember"

"Sure..." The Queen drinks from her cup "Okay, I might as well go first"

The maid patiently waits for the question, she sees that Elsa has stopped drinking her hot chocolate, realizing that it's been finished, she stands up and gives another cup to the Queen, taking the finished one and putting it down on the tray.

"Thank you" Diana only nods at the Queen's soft words of gratitude and sits back down.

"How do you know such... Vulgar words, insults?"

"I had a great, great teacher"

"A teacher... for insults?"

"Of course" Diana quickly thanks the internet in her mind "Books, of course"

"There are books like that?"

"Yes? There are books about everything... Well small papers and writings, but you can find anything in them"

"That's interesting... All I've read here in the castle has been documents and some fairytales"

"Yes, I noticed, but you can even find erotic stories in books"

"Huh... What? No way"

"Oh, there's plenty of them, if you look for it"

Elsa stays silent, mulling over that knowledge "... Didn't you say that you won't speak about it?"

"The boundaries were for a question... I didn't ask one yet"

"That... Fine, well, you can ask me now"

"Okay..." Diana says, before thinking of something else other than her question. If Elsa didn't know about erotic books... Then how did she learn about creating an ice paddle for spanking... Was it just instinct?

The maid shakes her head to get out of those thoughts before she gets aroused. And starts thinking of a question. Oh, this is a great opportunity to ask her about her usage of ice powers.

"Do you not find anything wrong with the idea of using your powers when somebody asks you to?"

"What... Do you mean?" Elsa asks slightly confused.

"The way I see it, you shouldn't agree to use your powers when somebody asks for a 'snow-flake' or some little ice figure, whatever, it's just... I don't know, I just don't like seeing it"

"Hmm... It makes the people happy. bringing a smile to me too, so I don't think there's anything wrong with it..." Elsa answers after thinking for a bit.

"Mhm, I guess if it makes you happy when you do it, then it's fine, but I do hope that you're doing it by your own accord and not for the idea that you have to do it because you think that if you don't do it, people will stop liking you or something along those lines"

The Queen stays silent and in thought from hearing that statement.

"Okay, the QUeen's turn to ask me again, bring it on" The maid calls out, snapping Elsa out of her daze, the Queen nods.

"Why did you want to work as a maid?"

"For you? Or in general?"

"I already know why for me... Even if it's a little bit strange, but I want to know overall"

"Psst, nothing strange about it"

"Uh-huh"

"Well, to be honest... It was just a spur of the moment, my situation wasn't anything like in a 'fairy-tale', where they want something to do or happen to them for their whole life, I simply needed to work, so I walked around Arendelle, thinking about what I'd be able to do and there you go, now I am talking with the Queen directly as a maid"

"Not what I expected..."

"Oh? Did the Queen expect for me to want to be a maid for my whole life?"

"Somewhat... Beneath all of the... Um..."

"Weirdness?"

"That's too much, I think I'd describe you as having a ridiculous attitude for every situation, beneath that though, you're quite an excellent maid, Gerda's been complimenting you to me, basically every day. 'This girl doesn't leave a speck of dust', 'I have no idea who she does it', 'it's like she's from a house of maids' and more, so, I just assumed that you wanted to be one or was trained from early on, but the fact that you're this good without any of that, is just a surprise, a pleasant one. You have talent"

Diana slightly frowns at the word 'talent', but it quickly fades due to the happiness from the Queen's words, turning into a beaming smile.

"Thank you, I appreciate all of those words, but I think... If a job you're doing is fun, you're going to give more of yourself to it, therefore increasing the effectiveness and overall performance, just like me, I liked working for Rosa, yes I wasn't technically a 'maid' like I am now, but both that job and this? It just calls for me to enjoy it naturally"

"That's a good point" Elsa comments "Well, I suppose it's your turn to ask me"

"Okay" The maid puts her head on her palm and starts mulling over what to ask, she knows quite a few things about her due to obvious reasons, so she'd rather ask something else entirely, but what? "Okay, I got one, however, I am not sure if it's breaking the boundaries, if it is, you don't need to answer and I'll just ask another one"

"If you're not sure about it... I am pretty sure that it'd be breaking them"

"Perhaps, but, I don't want details about it, it's basically just a 'yes or no' question, that's all I need"

"Okay, fine, but just because you said if I won't want to answer, I don't have to"

"Good, anyways, have you and the Princess talked about what happened between us in the castle, yet? You know... When she saw us... At the wrong time"

"Oh... Uh..." Elsa thinks for a moment if she should answer, the maid didn't want details, just a yes or a no... So she makes up her mind "No, no we haven't... But"

"You don't need to add anything more to it, I am fine with just that"

"I know, but it's a weird situation"

"Weird how?" Diana asks confused.

"I tried to talk about it with Anna a few times, but the moment I bring the ice castle or anything about it at all, she just changes the topic"

"Huh... She doesn't want to hear about it?"

"Maybe... I don't know, she probably just needs time, so I decided to stop asking her about it, if she'll want to talk, she'll come herself"

"Yeah, makes sense. Well thank you for more than I bargained for, now is the Queen's turn again"

"Oh, I don't to even think about this one, it came to my mind when you were answering the last question"

"Y-yeah?" The maid uncharacteristically stutters, slightly throwing the Queen off, Diana has a very bad hunch about this next question.

"So you've told that the job of maid just happened by chance... But was there anything that you wanted to do from the very beginning or for a long time, everybody has had something like that after all"

And Diana's hunch was right, she stares slightly to the side, for the first time not looking at the Queen, and stays quiet for some time, at first Elsa thought she was thinking, but the blank stare and prolonged silence is slightly worrying.

"Diana?" Elsa softly calls out.

"I... I am using the 'bonus' rule, I am throwing that question back to you and per rules, you have to answer it" Diana finally says, not registering Elsa's call, and only after she said it, she realized that it was a stupid question for Elsa, for she already knows the answer and she doesn't think it would have changed this early on. But she herself doesn't want to answer that yet... Or ever.

"Uh... Okay, well, people may think that being the Queen is the 'best' thing to ever happen to somebody... But, I don't know, the responsibility, the documents, the 'everything', it's just not as great as people make it out to be... So even now, as it was back then before I became the Queen, I'd always wondered, what being 'free' feel like, truly free, doing whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, without anybody commenting, caring about it"

"That's mostly because of your powers, or am I wrong?" Diana asks, that was most of the answer she thought she'd get anyways.

"Mhm... You're right. Of course right now? Everything is great, me and Anna talk, joke and spend time without trouble, my people aren't afraid of me and my powers, I don't have to 'isolate' myself so I wouldn't trade that for anything, but... It's just a lingering thought, coming back at rare times, mostly when everything goes quiet and at the slight chance that I don't have anything else to do for that day"

"It's perfectly understandable, no matter what, who or when a person is practically 'destined' to think about 'what could be' at some point in their life. And that's perfectly okay, it's when you forget what you have right now and destroy it even further with those 'future' aspirations, that it becomes wrong"

"I never thought about it like that... Is that from one of the books you've read?"

"Probably"

"Mhm, well time for you to ask"

"Indeed it is and the Queen will have to throw the question back at me if she wants for the maid to answer the same number of questions as herself. Otherwise, it will be 3 for me and 5 for you"

"Yeah, but I don't want to do that just for that reason. That added rule was if the question asked is too much for you to answer, so using it just to equal our numbers doesn't feel right to me"

"Well, if you're sure about that, I'll just have to try a little harder then"

"Right..."

"Ooh, this has gotten a little bit too serious, so let's go for a lighthearted, but hard question. Which snowman do you personally like more, Olaf or Marshmallow?"

"That's not really hard, it's of cour-"

"I advise the Queen to choose carefully, there may be a naughty magical vixen hiding somewhere thinking of informing the less liked snowman about the answer given from their snow mommy"

"... You're evil"

"How am I evil? It's the naughty vixen who'll do it, not the maid"

"Ugh! Can I sa-"

"No"

"But you haven't heard the quest-"

"I don't need to, no 'both' nonsense, I asked which one, not do you like both"

"Fine" Elsa says exasperated "Uh... Let's think... I like both, how could I not... Marshmallow is big and amazing, but unfortunately, it's stuck on the mountain, making it hard to visit regularly and it did protect me when I commanded it. Olaf is funny and sweet, but can get annoying sometimes"

Diana fakes a gasp, making the Queen roll her eyes "I wonder why that is... I have to hear him say 'Elsa's maid' several dozen times a day... So it's the naughty vixen that's annoying"

"Ha, fair, but hey, they wouldn't be called naughty, if they couldn't come off as annoying"

"I guess. Hmm... But I guess I have to go with Olaf, mostly for the reason, of having spent more time with him compared to Marshmallow"

"Makes sense, I'd choose Marshmallow myself"

"Oh, why is that?"

"Is that the Queen's next question?"

"What? No, that was jus- Wait, you're serious..."

"Of course I am, the Queen wants to know, she will have to ask me, we are playing a game after all"

"I wasn't interested in knowing it anyways" Elsa says with a puffed-out chest.

"Of course, the maid doesn't dare to assume otherwise... But the vixen might, unfortunately, seeing as she is invisible, she has left the room without a problem"

"Oh, is that so? Well, if the vixen ever comes back and I see, hear, feel her around me, I will freeze her on the spot and make her apologize for disrespectfully leaving the room without a farewell"

"That's for the better"

"Mhm, now, my last question, what shall it be..." The Queen thinks about it. While Diana slowly hands her over the last cup of hot chocolate and it's still somewhat 'hot' because the maid also brought over an open lantern, keeping that particular cup right next to the fire to preserve its warmness. As the Queen's about to take it, the maid stops her "Careful, the cup is quite hot, that's why I had gloves for it"

The Queen looks at the cup in the maid's hands and just puts her fingers closer and just as she's about to use her powers to cool it off, she gets stopped again.

"I wouldn't do that, if you try to cool it, the chocolate will get cold, then it won't be as good"

Elsa thinks for a moment, but she gets an idea, she looks closely at the cup and quickly makes a cup just like it, but slightly bigger, she brings it below the cup held by Diana, then looks at the maid with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, alrighty then..." Diana puts the hot cup inside the ice cup while muttering 'Fancy, schmancy ice', slightly amusing the Queen. So, Elsa finally having taken the ice-hot chocolate cup, continues.

"Okay, this is my question, because of a few comments made by Gerda" The Queen says and the maid nods acknowledging it, she also takes a biscuit and raises it to her mouth, as she's about to snack on it, Elsa says something that makes her hand pause midway.

"What do your parents do?"

~ End of Chapter 21 ~