"I cannot believe I am doing this," said Anna as fumbled one-handed for her keys. " 'It's just for a month,' they said. 'It's no big deal,' they said. 'You've already got Elsa, how much harder could it be?' they said. 'She's good as gold,' they said." She managed to get the key in the door and unlocked it. "If I wasn't already sure I was crazy I'd have my head examined."
She opened the door. "ElsaAAAH!" The greyhound she was leading, who had been obediently trotting at her heels, dashed into the apartment, yanking Anna forward by the leash. She freed her wrist from it, and the dog was excitedly jumping up and trying to climb Elsa.
Elsa was just as excited. "New dog, who this?" She dropped to the floor and the dog eagerly licked her face as she hugged and petted it.
Anna dropped the bag of dog food and pet supplies on a table near the door. "Elsa, this is Ingrid. She's a retired racing dog. Hiccup — you remember Hiccup?"
"Nice man who kept me for you!"
"Uh, yeah. Well, he was keeping Ingrid, but he ran out of space so we're going to be fostering her for a while."
"Hiccup keeped Ingrid for Anna?" Elsa by now was on her back, with Ingrid climbing all over her, still licking.
Anna winced as Ingrid's tongue came close to Elsa's open mouth. Ew. "No, Hiccup was keeping her for someone else."
"Who?"
"Well, we don't know yet. And until we find out, Ingrid is staying here. She's only going to be with us for a month."
"Not for keeps?"
"No, not for keeps." Anna sighed. It was bad enough at Hiccup's shop, with Kristoff, Hiccup, and Ingrid all giving her puppy-dog eyes. Now she was getting it from Elsa, who was a Puppy-Dog Eyes Grand Master, internationally ranked.
Be strong, Anna. "Elsa, Ingrid is just visiting. We have to take care of her for a while, and that's it."
But Elsa was no longer listening. She was taking Ingrid for a tour as the greyhound followed her faithfully, paying close attention. "This is couch. Not for dogs, except sometimes. This is table. Not for dogs. This is laundry. For dogs. This is toilet. For people business. Dog business is outside. Elsa show Ingrid later…"
Swell. Anna tried to rub the headache from her temples. I got a dog for my dog.
A couple of days later Kristoff sent Anna a text.
K: how's things with Elsa and the rescue greyhound?
A: you would nOT BELIEVE how it's going
K: that bad
A: that good ＼（°o°）/
A: she + elsa get along like crazy. ingrid follows her everywhere
A: elsa is teaching her everything i had to teach elsa
K: i told you it'd turn out great
A: no, you told me hey it won't be that bad + it's only for 4 weeks + you'll get through it
K: but i *meant* it'd turn out great
K: you just wouldn't have believed me
A: i think this is actually great for elsa
A: teaching her responsibility
A: she doesn't get into as much trouble when I leave her alone now
A: because ingrid is keeping her busy
A: did you know elsa is taking ingrid for walks?
K: solo?
A: well *now*. i had to teach her how to bag ingrid's poo
A: and not use her hands
A: i still make her wash up before she touches anything
A: but I can send them to the park and get a half hour's rest for myself
A: blissssssssss
K: so ingrid is a keeper?
K: i should tell hiccup to write up the documents?
A: not so fast
K: but that's not a no
A: that's an i'll think about it
Anna was lying in bed. No classes today, no work, Elsa and Ingrid were off doing…whatever…and she had the bed to herself. (It did get a little crowded when Elsa was cuddling her and Ingrid was lying on top of both of them, but at least they could entertain each other instead of waking her up and pestering her out of bed.) She hadn't been this relaxed since…well, she couldn't remember when. She stretched, yawned, and bundled herself up in the blankets again.
Then she heard a noise.
It was a loud metallic thunk. Living with Elsa, Anna had gotten to the point where if it didn't sound like actual breakage, it could wait. Then there was more clattering, and thudding. And voices.
Plural.
Moaning, Anna pulled on a pair of sweatpants and walked to the kitchen. There were pots and lids spread out on the floor. What looked like bloody carnage splattered over the counter was, thank god, pasta sauce. Elsa was wearing a sauce-splattered t-shirt and panties.
So was the woman standing next to her. She had straight black hair and the build of a track star. She ducked halfway behind Elsa, who proudly announced, "Ingrid is a people now, just like Elsa!"
Anna's mouth hung open. She nearly blurted out how? and why? in the instant before she realized that she hadn't found a satisfying answer to those questions so far, and it wasn't going to happen now.
Elsa went on, "Elsa is making biscetti for Ingrid." She pointed to the two halves of a Spaghetti-Os can on the counter next to the bread knife. "Can opener is broken."
"Biscetti is good! Elsa said!" chimed in Ingrid, then ducked behind Elsa again.
Anna rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Yes, Ingrid. Spaghetti is good. But pots all over the kitchen floor is bad. Couldn't you have waited for me to — "
In an instant Ingrid was on the floor, noisily and clumsily (but enthusiastically) gathering the pots together and shoving them back into the cupboard. "Ingrid tried to be a good dog for Frollo, and runned the fastest, but Ingrid wasn't good enough and Frollo make Ingrid go away. Now Ingrid be a good dog for Elsa and Anna, and Elsa and Anna not make Ingrid go away?" From the floor Ingrid looked up at Anna with Olympic Gold Medal/Guinness Book Of World Records/WWE Championship Belt Puppy-Dog Eyes.
Anna groaned. Better tell Hiccup to get the forms ready. Looks like Ingrid's a keeper.