2025-01-16 - Of Secrets and Secret Admirers

It's the morning following the opening of Swan Lake and the show, despite the changes to the story... had some interesting reviews! Esme, of course, was one of the highlights of the performance, portraying the beautiful and elegant Swan Queen, Odette. There was a teeny tiny bit of commotion and panic during the performance, but all-in-all it ended fine, even if Louis, the actor who portrayed the Evil Baron refuses to take to the ice to play the part again in any of the following performances.

Nevertheless, the Zambonis are still out at this hour, which is a little later than usual, so Esme is surprised to see them smoothing the ice on the rink. She's standing there in a velvet golden-pink shawl with white fur lining and a little rose brooch to give it a small touch of elegance. the soft fabric hides the skating attire which she is most likely wearing beneath, but what can be seen are her skin toned, yet glittery, tights and her tall white ice skates. Her hair is swept up into a playful ponytail secured by a pink ribbon.

She has a colorful bouquet held within one hand and a cookie at her lips. Right now, she's just staring at a spot in the ice where one of the Zambonis had just smoothed over, just looking down at it with curiosity in her wide eyes and amazement. She then lifts her free hand to wave the driver down and to call him over... rather than just skate to where he is.

Josh recently got home from a ten-mile run and grabbed a shower, hoping that would do the trick to make him tired enough to at least get a few hours of sleep before work. But no luck. After tossing and turning for an hour and watching his apartment get brighter and brighter as the sun started to crest the horizon he got back up, got dressed, and went for a walk. He remembered talking to Esme, who said he should stop by the Ice Palace. She probably meant to see a show, but a ferry ride later and Josh is at Mystic Mountain. After showing his employee badge a few times, he manages to meander in where he sees Esme out near the ice.

He grins and walks in her direction. He opens his mouth to say hey but he can see she is about to talk to the guy who is driving that big ice smoothing thingy, the name of which he doesn't know. So he stops right near the ice and waits. He is wearing a black hoodie over which is a fleece-lined denim jacket, with the hood hanging down the back of the coat. He has on heavy gray sweat pants and bright white Adidas. His hands are in his jacket pocket.

There's some grumbling on the Zamboni driver's part, but he hops off of his ride and wanders Esme's way. Then there's a little discussion between them, even with that cookie in her mouth, when she points to a particular part of the ice, and all that the driver can do is remove his hat, scratch his head, shake his head, put his hat back and wander over to his ice smoothing machine again.

"Huh."

Only after that does she spot Joshua waiting in the wings and thus, Esme skates over in his direction. In truth, she's always surprised to see familiar faces at this hour. "Gooooooooood Morning!" She says all bright and chipper, before finally drawing in the rest of that cookie to munch on and eat. She's still holding the colorful bouquet as well. "What are you doing so far from the coffee shop, Joshua!" As if... people only hang out where they work. "And are you usually up at this hour? Because if so, cooooool. Most people are still asleep." It is almost 7am.

As Esme skates in his direction, Josh gives her a big, warm, genuine, honest smile. He just plain wears his heart on his sleeve for the most part. Strength and weakness both? Probably. He tugs one hand out his jacket pocket and waves. "Hi, Esme. Sometimes I am, yeah. I been up all night, couldn't sleep." He raises both eyebrows in a well-that's-just-how-it-goes expression. "So rather than toss and turn in bed until I have to go to work I figured I'd see the park while the guests were all sleeping." One slender shoulder goes up in a brief shrug. "I don't like crowds."

Josh peers at Esme's bouquet. "Those are pretty flowers!" he says. "Did you get them from your performance last night? How did it go?"

"That makes perfect sense! The late hours and early mornings must be the most wondrous times for you!" Esme exclaims when she hears his reasoning. Curiously, though, she asks, "How do you like working on Crescent Island? Is it more comfortable because it's just park employees rather than park employees and guests alike?"

When he notices her bouquet, the Ice Princess' face brightens! "Thank you! And yes, I believe I did. Or the card congratulated me on it. But unfortunately, they did not leave a name or any hint of such, so I am on a mission to find out who sent me these flowers!"

At this close proximity, Joshua might notice that there's a constant aura of frost that swirls around Esme's form. He might be able to see snowflakes in the mix, but there is just something frigid about her now.

"Here, take a look at this card that was left." And this she holds between two velvet gloved fingers, yet the edge of the card is now covered in a sort of frost, but if Joshua touches it, it's not cold and after a few moments, the frost will fade.

Either way the card says:

Esme,
Congrats on opening night
and brilliant performance

"Yeah, going to the park when the guests are in full bloom is...a real challenge for me." He shrugs a little again. "Sorry for being a downer at that gathering the other night."

Josh's gaze swirls around at all the snow and ice. He even reaches out briefly to put his hand close to the aura for a moment. "So fire!" he says (ironically?). "Some people have the loveliest magic. Your aura. Theo's eyes." He grins as he takes the card and reads it, nodding his head. "Sounds like somebody thinks you did well last night." He hands the card back.

He peers around the cavernous room. "So this is where you work? This place is amazing, Esme! I bet you did so great last night. They don't just hand out lead roles at a place like this to anyone."

"Does that mean that you're going to stay on Crescent Island any time the park gets busy? Like for Valentines Day, most likely?" Esme can't help but peer up at Joshua when she asks this, a sharp brow arched. "I hope not, but maybe there's a way to avoid the crowds." She tries to think of a good way to do that.

However, that's when she notices Joshua noticing the frost that continuously swirls around her and her eyes widen, "You see that too! I thought that maybe it would go away. It actually started happening during our performance of Swan Lake, but there was alllll sorts of chaos going on. Did you know that the ice cracked wide open and these little snowball critters came out and started chasing the skater who played the villain of the story? It was as if they were protecting me! The Swan Queen! Which... isn't how the story goes." And here she laughs nervously.

She then points out towards the ice, "See, the crack in the ice was right there, but the Zamboni drivers said that they didn't see anything before they started working, so if that's gone, why does everything I touch look like it's covered in ice and I'm practically glowing in frost! But not..." Here she blows air up to lift some bangs from off of her forehead, "It's soooo weird."

When asked if this is where she works, Esme can't help but not proudly, "Yes. This is the Ice Palace. Where Ice Skater's dreams... come to plateau... until they make the Olympic team next year." Apparently, that's her dream! She then looks down at the card which was handed back to her and then looks up at Joshua, "So... does the handwriting look familiar to you? At all?"

When Esme mentions Valentine's Day, Josh just sort of shrugs it off. "I mean, I've never had a valentine before, so it's not really a special day for me. But yeah, if it's really crowded at the park I try to avoid it. And since it's one of the most popular parks in the country, I spend most of my time on Crescent Island."

His eyes go wide and his lips part in surprise when Esme starts telling the story about what went down last night. "Holy shit, Es, that is..." He laughs. "I was going to say incredible, but here I think I should stop being surprised by stuff like this. Was everything okay? Did anyone get hurt? Are you okay? You don't feel like constantly cold or anything like that, do you?"

When Esme asks Joshua about the writing on the card, he takes the card one more time and examines it. "I mean...I can't remember the last time I saw somebody's handwriting. Shit, even my mom emails me." He hands the card back and looks at Esme apologetically. "Sorry."

When told that Joshua never had a Valentine before, Esme ponders on this, then does a twirl, as she's still on the ice, just closer to the sidelines, "You still have a whole month almost to have a Valentine, sooooo~" And here she bats her lashes, before she asks, leaning in close, "Do you want help going on a hunt for a Valentine?" Yes, she's volunteering. She then admits, "I've never had a Valentine either, so don't feel bad about it." He didn't say that he did... "But this Park is supposed to be a place of magic and new opportunities. Let that sink in!" Nevermind that she said that ice skaters' dreams came here to plateau just seconds ago.

"Oh, everything was fine. The audience was sort of up-in-arms as well... I think they were a bit freaked out with what was going on. And Louis, the skater who played the evil baron might have quit due to stress. So maybe Lucien has a chance for a bigger role after all! We shall see and I will see if I can pull strings, though, he doesn't look old enough to be the father of the skater who plays Odile. So that's a thing. We could just put a beard on him." And to this idea she nods firmly.

Though when she's asked if she constantly feels cold, she shakes her head, "No, or I don't think whatever this is," And she gestures to the swirl of frost all around her form, "I don't think it's cold at all. But then again, you're talking to someone who can turn entirely into ice, so... No." Her voice comes out sing-songy, which sometimes tend to be the norm for her.

She then frowns when Joshua can't figure out whose handwriting it is. "Maybe it's Theo... but he wouldn't leave it anonymous like this and he probably would have just handed it to me. What a mystery."

Joshua seems a little bit distant in his demeanor when Esme offers her services as Valentine's Hunter. He licks his dry lips and looks around. "I don't know. I'm kind of hopeless in that department. I told..." Josh seems a little nervous suddenly. He peers around as if somebody might be listening...as if somebody could possible give two cares about what he is talking about. "I told Theo that I wanted to kiss him. I've never kissed anyone before. I mean, you know, romantically kissed. He wasn't interested, and that's cool. We're still really good friends. I'll always be his friend for as long as he'll have me as one."

"Isn't this like a dream job? Why did he quit?" Josh's expression radiates perplexity. "I mean, isn't magic shit happening all over this place like 24/7? Wait, what, you can turn entirely into ice?" Once more, for whatever reason, Josh peers around for a moment before looking back to Esme. "Can I...can I see?"

Where Joshua is quiet and somewhat reserved, turning even more so when Valentine Hunting is brought up, Esme continues to be this little ball of energy who is ready to go on such a hunt. And then Theo is mentioned, and she can only blink, but she looks around too now in case anyone could hear them, and they were sharing secrets. "Are you... romantically interested in Theo?" She just has to whisper now, adding, "I can understand wanting to kiss him. He is quite the handsome prince. A kind and generous soul."

She continues to ponder on what Joshua had said in her own quiet, but now he's asking about Louis! "Ummmmmmmmm.... because those little ice creatures chased him all over the rink. And he said that when they touched his skin, it was like getting frost bite." When she relays all of this, she the voice of a storyteller telling a scary tale, but ends quickly with a way too merry, "That's why!"

The conversation changes from Louis being attacked by tiny snowball monsters to the Ice Princess being an actual Ice Princess now. "Oh yes! I certainly can, much to my roommates chagrin. You know, when I transform, I can make my hands into anything... like an axe! or a sword! Or a hammer!" All weapons, nothing fluffy and nice.

"Okay... One moment." And here she breathes before she lets her eyes clothes. The next thing Joshua might hear is the crackling of ice as it begins to form over the figure skater's body. It wasn't a blocky, craggy ice either, but something smooth like someone had made a perfect Ice Sculpture of the Ice Princess; her skin and even her hair looked to be made of ice, her clothing had icy frost upon it and while one hand held the bouquet of flowers, the other was a big old battle axe for reasons.

Now that she's a fully formed iced person, she gives another twirl, "Ta-da~~~!"

Joshua shrugs and runs one hand back through his hair. "I mean, I was interested in him. But he said he has his eye on somebody else, so I'm not going to, like, pressure him or anything. I'm gonna be a friend and be glad he's in my life. I can't make somebody be interested in me, and I wouldn't even if I could. I think in life most people that we like probably aren't going to like us back. It's just the sad math of love." He very quickly adds, "I am NOT saying I'm in love with Theo! I just mean, like, you know, in general."

He jams his hands back in his pocket and watches, wide-eyed, as Esme transforms. His lips part and he lets out a small gasp. "Esme, oh my god, you are so beautiful!" He reaches out a hand as if he wants to touch her, but hesitates. "May...may I?"

Joshua was now making Esme super duper depressed with his words, but she turned into ice anyway, but she still had a heart!

Nevertheless, when he politely asks, she gracefully extends a hand out, allowing it to peek from beneath her velvet shawl if he cared to touch it. She is wearing gloves, however, but the skin between the shawl and the gloves is pure ice. He could touch anywhere else if he wanted to, but this is what she's offering! If he wanted, he could even try and touch her battle axe hand...

"Thank you!" She says all smiles when she is complimented and now that aura of frost just blends in with the actual iciness that makes up her form.

When Joshua does reach out to her, her skin is very cold to the touch. And hard like ice too. Her skin, her hair, everything, also glistens in the light, making her practically sparkle.

"You know, that's sad to hear. That the people that we like probably aren't going to like us back."

Josh touches Esme's 'skin' just above the glove. "Oh my gosh," he whispers as he rubs his fingertips along her arm slowly. His gaze shifts up to look her in the face. "This is incredible, Es. I mean, no cap, this is fire." He laughs. "Well ice, not fire. Robert Frost is probably turning over in his grave right now." But Josh isn't one to be rude, so he doesn't let his touch too long linger. He pulls his hand back, looks at his own cold fingertips with a cocked grin. Then he stuffs his hand into his jacket pocket again.

"Well feel free to disregard my opinion. I've never kissed anyone or had a boyfriend or a girlfriend. So honestly, I probably know less about love than..." He looked upward and lets out a 'psshhhh.' "...than anyone in the world. So the chances of me being wrong are pretty high."

"Watch Watch!" Esme calls out when she shows Joshua her Axe arm. It then suddenly begins to shift and some of the ice even crumbles as the battle axe forms into a human hand to match the other. Incredibly, the glove that was worn there pre-Axe, was there now, covered in a bit of frost, but it wasn't entirely destroyed in the transformation.

Now that she has both hands again, she holds onto the bouquet with them once more.

"Well, I've never had one either, but I chalk that up to being a workaholic. I mean, I've had friends, of course. The other figure skaters who I've met and the ones who my coach was also... coaching." She makes a face when she realizes how silly that sounds, but she shrugs, "Aren't you still young? We're both young. We have our whoooole lives ahead of us."

Josh's face remains alight with wonder as he watches Esme's wondrous, icy transformations. His gaze follows some of the falling, crumbled ice to the ground before looking back up. "The islands have really blessed you. This amazing what you can do." He leans against the barrier, peering out over the ice, watching the Zamboni running its route. He warm breath feathers out into the air.

"I mean, I'll be 21 in March," Josh answers. "I know there are no rules but that seems kinda old to be as inexperienced as I am. Sometimes I wonder if in 20 years I'm gonna be the dude from the 40 Year Old Virgin. I mean, one day becomes the next and then the next, and before you know it you're 40 and alone." He shrugs again, his favorite gesture it would seem. "And honestly, although I see people every day who are attractive, I don't meet very many people who I feel that way about, you know? It's one thing to think somebody is hot, but it's a totally different thing to wanna, you know, be close to them like that. To trust them like that. You saw me at the gathering the other night. I'm a fucking train wreck. I'm broken in the packaging." He chuffs out a brief, mirthless laugh.

"Broken in the packaging?" Esme has to repeat those words, her brows all furrowed as she tries to figure out what it all means. "If you're broken, then we can get some superglue and duct tape and put you back together, right?" And to this, she smiles warmly, for an Ice Princess who is currently made of ice. Sometimes she forgets that she is after she's transformed.

"I get it though, but I guess I'd rather be a 40 Year Old Virgin than doing something I'd regret." She says after thinking about it for a bit, but her smile brightens once more and so does her words, "But heyyy, if you need help meeting or talking to people, I can offer my assistance!" She quickly follows up with, "You had me worried and quite sad when you didn't join in the game. I mean, we could do a smaller gathering if you'd rather, but it was nice to meet some of the new faces and hopefully, you'll get used to it too. I mean, these aren't tourist, these are your co-workers, so you're bound to run into them often enough, especially for coffee and a good book!"

Joshua turns around from peering out at the ice and Zamboni. He can't help but smile again as he looks Esme's magical ice form up and down. "Theo invited me out to the Midway the other day. For donuts. It was the middle of the day when the place was packed. I tried so many times to leave my apartment to go but I couldn't do it straight. So I got high first. I think that might have been the beginning of the end. I think that really upset him even though he wouldn't like come right out and say it."

"Aaaaanyway, enough about that," Josh exclaims, even going to far as to issue an obviously forced laugh. "I don't want to cast a shadow over your victory. Congratulations on a performance so well done that you got yourself a secret admirer sending you really pretty flowers. And I'm really sorry your co-worker quit. Maybe he'll calm down and change his mind?" Josh tips his head a little to the side in an inquisitive gesture.

Esme looks at Joshua curiously when he tells her of his Midway trip with Theo. "How... high were you? I mean, you weren't stupid high were you? That you were making a scene or whatever." And to this she waves a dismissive hand as if she doubts that he'd do that. "Why would Theo be upset if you took something to make you cope with being in a crowd? There are people who need to take meds for that, sooooo......."

She then adds, "If you like, I can talk to Theo about it?"

Then Joshua does his best to change the subject and while Esme's brow might arch at this sudden change, she'll go with the flow. "It's not overshadowing anything, but thank you, thank you! And I dunno, if Louis doesn't want to play the part of the Baron, then maybe Lucien can finally have the bigger role that he deserves!" That seems more important to her than Louis staying, really.

She then looks down at the bouquet in her hands. "Thanks for reminding me though, I should try to figure out who sent these to me before rehearsal later today. Anyway, I'll ask... Theo," When she says Theo's name, she gives Joshua this look, "And I'll figure out where to go from there if it wasn't him."

Josh shakes his head gently. "Please don't talk to Theo about any of this. I can handle my own shit with Theo. Everything's fine. He's not interested in something beyond friendship. I totally accept that and I'm really happy to be his friend. I don't want to be a source of stress for him. So please, can we keep this conversation just between us?" he asks Esme in a very soft, warm tone.

"Does anyone you know have any magic that can help you unravel the mystery?" he inquires. "I don't know like some sort of psychic or something? Maybe they can like handle the flowers and get some visions or some shit?" He laughs a little because he's still new enough at this that he can't believe he's actually talking for real about real magic.

"Okay, if that's what you want, then I won't bring it up with Theo." Esme says with a slow nod of her head. "But if you ever need someone to talk to about anything. Or that. I'm all ears." Her words are genuine when she says this.

Holding up that bouquet, as if that would give them insight on who the sender is, Esme just shakes her head vigorously, "I don't think so. Theo does emotion things, but that's from people and not items, I don't think. Hmmm... Hmmmm.... That's something else I'll have to ask around for. I know that Jett has powers that would destroy this bouquet. So not him. Who else?" Her face then brightens, "What if I took a picture of it and put it near the register at your shop, with a sign that said: 'Do you know who sent these?'... Do you think anyone will confess to it?" Here she scrunches her nose a little bit. Well her ice nose.

Josh can't help but grin a little. "Esme, I am talking to you. Right now. And it's nice. I really suspected when I first met you that we were going to be good friends. I mean, not because of me but because you're so warm and approachable. I don't know whether or not that's considered ironic given that you have ice powers. But it's deadass, no cap true."

Gently Josh runs the fingertips of one of his hands over the petals of the flowers, enjoying the sensation of their soft touch. "I mean, you can if you want but I suspect that if whoever sent them wanted you to know who they were from they probably would have signed the card. Maybe somebody has a crush on you and is too shy to admit it? Just give it time."

"They could've forgot..." Esme points out to Joshua regarding the unsigned card. "Or I guess they could be shy, but what am I supposed to do with that??" The Ice Princess just sighs, letting a little breath of chilled air escape her lips.

The next thing Joshua knows, there's the sound of a camera on a phone taking a picture. Where does she keep her phone on her anyway?

"There. Can I send a photo of the bouquet to you so that can print it and put it up on your shop? I'll pay for the paper and ink!"

Josh laughs a little. "Oh okay you can pay for the paper and the ink," he says in a teasing, goofy voice. "That'll be $500, please." He gives Esme's shoulder a warm, playful little shove. "You don't have to pay me. I'll print it out and post it in the shop. You got my number?" If not, he will give it to her.

"I don't want to be a downer but honestly I don't think it's going to go anywhere," Josh says, getting more serious. "Nobody forgets to sign a card. I mean that's one of the three major themes of a card: who it's TO, the message, and who it's FROM. This was sent by someone who didn't want you to know who it was. But I bet your secret admirer will get braver and braver and eventually you'll get to meet them, fall in love, and live happily ever after." Joshua flashes a little grin.

Esme looks completely ready to Venmo Josh the money for the paper and ink, but then when he gives her the amount, she Princess made of Ice looks like she'd almost faint. That's when he actually gives her a playful shove and hell once more feel the chill of her ice form, because she hasn't transformed back yet! "Thank goodness. I was about to tell you that I will find my own copy machine, thankyouverymuch,Joshua!"

Still, as he is agreeing to help do this, she just smiles, "Thanks though. Whether anything comes of this or not, thanks for being a good sport. And who knows, while they might say anything, you might catch someone giving it an odd look that might be suspicious. Who knows~"

Though when he goes on about how she'll live happily ever after, she just blinks and though she's made of ice, there is a faint sign of blushing at her cheeks. At least a little. "I mean... that would be nice."

"Es, in the short time I've been here, you are one of the nicest people I've met here," Josh intones solemnly. "If anyone around here is deserves to find last happiness, it's you. Like, by miles it's you. So hang in there and be patient and just keep doing what your'e doing." Josh gestures towards the flowers. "I mean, obviously whatever you're doing is working, right?"

"Okay, I'm gonna grab a ferry back to Crescent and go stuff my face somewhere with breakfast before I have to work. I'll post this picture for you today, I promise." Josh holds a fist out for a bump. "For luck."

"Awwww, that's sweet of you to say, Joshua!" Esme squeals. "Besides these flowers, that's really going to keep me going throughout the entire day. Your sweet words! <3"

"Oh! Of course, I wouldn't want to keep you from breakfast aaaaaand the safety of Crescent Island before the rush of tourist wake up or come into the Park." She then adds, "It's a little slow for the time being, but still... She then notices the extended fist and she makes a fist of her own and taps it against his, leaving Joshua's fist covered in that weird frost. I mean, it feels cold right now, because her gloved hand is cold, but the frost that seems to be forming on Joshua's fist is not cold and after a few moments, it will disappear, as if it were never there.

"Have a safe trip back!"