For Propriety's Sake
Propriety: the condition of being right, appropriate, or fitting.
It was the night of the big ball. Since the opening of the gates, Queen Elsa had tried to be as welcoming as possible. She and Anna thought that a ball would be a good idea to get to know the people of Arendelle more. Needless to say, Anna was thrilled with the idea. Elsa was still a little hesitant at first, gradually she warmed up to the idea. Kristoff on the other hand, was nervous beyond belief. Most of his life it was just him, Sven, and his troll family. Since he met Anna, he had met more people than he thought he would. Most of them were very friendly, but he was still getting used to it. He knew that Anna loved meeting people, and this ball was the perfect opportunity for her to do so, because people from other kingdoms were coming, but that wasn't the real reason why he was nervous. There would be undoubtedly be dozens of nobles there, and Anna was sure to introduce him to them. Kristoff loved Anna with every beat of his heart; he would do anything for her. But he couldn't help but feel embarrassed in front of all those noblemen. He wasn't of noble birth, he wasn't even rich! How would they look upon him when they learned this? Something told him that he wouldn't be well-received by them.
Kristoff wondered if he should talk to Anna about it, but quickly dismissed it. She was so excited for the ball, he didn't want to ruin her excitement. He just had to act calm, be himself, and hope for the best. Later that evening, Kristoff put the finishing touches on his tuxedo. He honestly never dressed up like this before; it was another new thing for him. Kristoff slicked his hair back with the gel that Anna provided him with it, and took a look at himself in the mirror.
He smiled. "Pretty fancy, Mr. Bjorgman," he said to himself.
There was a knock at the door. Kristoff murmured a "come in" and the door opened.
In came Anna, wearing a bright light green dress with her hair in a bun. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kristoff all dressed up.
"Oh! You look so handsome," she said, smiling.
Kristoff blushed. "I guess, but this tie is a little tight," he said, loosening his tie.
Anna giggled. She walked over to him, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't worry, it's only for one night. Besides, I can't wait to introduce you to everyone. This is our first ball as a couple."
Kristoff felt a twitch of uneasiness within him. It wasn't entirely too late. He could pretend to be sick. That would be a logical excuse not to go to the ball. Anna would understand. After all, the last thing she would want is for him to do is get their guests sick. Oh, he couldn't do that to Anna. He couldn't lie to her. She had been looking forward to this all week, and was especially looking forward to going to ball with him. Plus, he'd feel guilty for doing so if he did. No. He just had to man up, and show Anna a good time. He loved her, and he loved making her happy, and that was just what he was going to do.
"Well, Princess Anna, shall we?" he said, holding out his hand for her to take.
Anna blushed. "We shall, Mr. Bjorgman." The two walked out onto the first floor landing where they met up with Elsa and Olaf. After a brief exchange of greetings, Kai announced the presence of Anna and Elsa. Kristoff also got his own little introduction as well.
As they walked down the staircase, Kristoff smiled, and waved just as he saw Anna and Elsa do. Dozens of people stared at him as he descended the staircase. It was nerve-wracking to say the least. Kristoff had never seen so many people in his life, especially so many nobles.
After dinner, Anna and Kristoff took the time to mingle with the crowd. True to her nature, Anna introduced Kristoff to many people, including two princes.
"Prince Isaac, Prince Edward, I would like you to meet Kristoff Bjorgman," she said. "He's the Official Ice Master and Deliverer."
Kristoff smiled. Anna made him sound like he was some sort of celebrity. "It's nice to meet you," he said.
"Likewise. I must say that I didn't expect to see an ice harvester at this party. I thought it was only for the high class," Prince Isaac said.
"Indeed," Prince Edward agreed.
"Kristoff is my boyfriend," Anna said, matter-of-fact.
Prince Isaac and Prince Edward looked dumbfounded when they heard this. Princess Anna was dating a lowly ice harvester? They couldn't wait to tell the folks back home the news.
"Well, I must say that you look pretty spiffy for a common ice harvester," Prince Isaac said.
"I bet this is the best you've ever looked in your life," Prince Edward added. "Most of the time you're probably wearing rags covered in ice and snow."
Kristoff bit his tongue. As much as he wanted to give these princes a piece of his mind, he knew that this was not the time. "You get used to it after a while. Besides, I'm not too fond of dressing up."
"Probably because you prefer to be filthy," Prince Isaac muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Kristoff asked. He heard what they said alright.
"I said probably because you're not used to getting dressed up," Prince Isaac lied.
Kristoff and Anna said goodbye to the princes, and went off to dance for a while. An hour later, Anna was thirsty, and Kristoff offered to get her a glass of punch. He filled two glasses of punch, and walked back to where Anna was sitting with Elsa and Olaf. As he made his way across the dance floor, he suddenly tripped, and fell face first onto the ballroom floor. The two glasses flew from his hands, spilling all over a councilman's wife. The woman shrieked in horror as she stared at the wet mess dripping from her.
"This is a brand new dress!" she cried. "You clumsy oaf! Why are you even here? This party is for "royal" guests only."
She turned back to her husband, who tried to calm her down. He looked at Kristoff, and shook his head. "You would think that for propriety's sake, Princess Anna would have chosen someone of her own class," he sneered.
Kristoff stood up, and quickly apologized, before running out of the ballroom.
"Kristoff wait!" Anna cried, but the ice harvester had already left the party. As soon as he left, the party slowly got back into the swing of things. The councilman was busy trying to dry his wife off as best as he could with handkerchief, only to realize that it wasn't working very well. Most of the guests returned to dancing, acting as if nothing had ever happened. Everyone was back to having fun, but Anna was not. She left the ballroom looking for Kristoff, but couldn't find him anywhere. She returned to Elsa and Olaf greatly distressed.
"The look on his face, Elsa. He looked so embarrassed. And the things that people said to him! How can they be so cruel?"
Elsa shared Anna's sympathies. "I know. It's a shame that people can be so judgmental. But Anna, don't worry about what other people think. All that matters is that you love Kristoff, and he loves you," Elsa said.
"I don't care what they think, but I do care about how Kristoff feels about it. He must feel so out of place here," Anna said.
"I agree, but you're doing a wonderful job making him feel welcome. You've been an excellent co-host the whole evening," Elsa complimented. "Don't worry about what people say. They don't know what a wonderful man Kristoff is."
"We'll find him, don't you worry," Elsa said, standing up. "Olaf, what do you say you and I go look for Kristoff?"
"I don't think we'll have to look far," Olaf said, pointing across the ballroom.
In walked Kristoff with a sad look on his face. It would seem that he had put his embarrassment behind him, and was going to tough it out.
At the sight of him, Anna took a quick glance at the nobles in the ballroom. She didn't care what they thought about her and Kristoff being together. He was her true love; the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. If that wasn't good enough for them, then they were more than welcome to leave the kingdom, and never return.
What was that comment that councilman said? "You would think that for propriety's sake, Princess Anna would have chosen someone of her own class."
So they wanted propriety, eh? She'd show them propriety alright.
Anna ran across the ballroom towards Kristoff and leaped into his arms.
"Whoa! Anna, what's this all about?" he asked.
Before he could get another word in, Anna wrapped her arms around Kristoff's neck, and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. The entire ballroom watched as Princess Anna kissed a lowly ice harvester on the lips. Some of the people smiled at the sight, others shook their heads in disgust, but either way, Anna didn't care.
Anna pulled away from Kristoff's face, and looked him in the eye, smiling brightly. "This will give them something to talk about," she said.
Kristoff smiled back. He got the message she was sending, and he couldn't help but agree. For propriety's sake, it was the right thing to do.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
