Woohoo! This is my first AU story EVER! I started reading more Modern AU Frozen stories, and found I really liked it. This is my second Frozen fanfic. For those of you following "To Melt A Frozen Heart", I have not given up on it just yet! This was just something I couldn't help but write.
So without further ado, I present to you: Warm Hugs And Cold Coffee!
Stay classy, errybody.
-Symphonic Madness
"I loathe Trigonometry."
Anna has just dragged herself through the door and plopped face-down on the sofa. It is the first thing she's said to her sister, Elsa, since eight o'clock this morning. Elsa raises an eyebrow from her position on the lounge chair, and waits for Anna to elaborate. She groans, and doesn't indicate any sort of desire to do anything but lay inert on her sister's couch.
"I loathe Trigonometry," she repeats, her words muffled by the couch cushions.
"I can hardly understand you, Anna. It might help to remove your face from my sofa before going on one of your rants," Elsa says amusedly.
"Couch doesn't mind. Couch understands," Anna grumbles wistfully.
"Couch is also getting covered in your saliva. Now get up."
"Fine," she groans. Anna moves so she is lying on her back with her head near the armrest of Elsa's chair. "As I was saying, I loathe Trigonometry. I hate it. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. Just the thought of doing one more stupid equation using the law of sines makes me physically sick to my stomach. Hell, even Professor Buchannan, who's been teaching the class for, like, a billion years, hates this stuff. You can tell. He just has that appearance of absolutely despising his job. And he has that look all the time. I swear he's…"
"You're describing this particular professor as if I haven't had his class before," Elsa says, cutting off her sister's passionate rambling. "Everyone knows how much the man hates his job. I don't know if people still say this, but there's a rumor that Dr. Buchannan secretly puts hard liquor in his coffee a few times each month during the semester when he's got a class to teach. Apparently, when he does, he will just give his students some time-wasting assignment as busywork so he doesn't have to stay sober. But those are rumors. The words of bored, financially-struggling college students should not always be given credibility."
"That's what he did today!" Anna exclaims. "In the first five minutes, he gave us a meaningless crap-ton of problems from the book and some reading to do, and then he just sat at his desk for the last one hundred and fifteen minutes. And I knew I saw a bottle of Absolut Vodka in his briefcase! Gerda thought I was crazy!"
"You are crazy, Anna," Elsa says with a chuckle. "But for once, it's justified."
"When isn't it justified?" she asks, smirking.
The sisters smile at each other for a little bit, but suddenly Elsa shoots up from the couch. "Shoot! I completely forgot! I've got class in fifteen minutes!"
"Since you forgot about your class, I think it would be fair for me to remind you that we've gotta go to Aunt Violet and Uncle Nickolas's house for dinner tonight," Anna calls out to Elsa as she scrambles to get ready. "We agreed to do it a week ago. So don't forget this time."
"I will try to remember, Anna," Elsa says, rushing towards the door. "I'm just hoping my bike cooperates with me today."
"And is there a reason you can't just take your car?" Anna asks.
"Gas," Elsa says simply. "And it's a beautiful day."
"And it's also freezing out there."
"The cold never bothered me, anyway."
"Don't you have a class to attend?"
"I do, as a matter of fact. I've gotta go. I love you," Elsa says, planting a kiss on her sister's forehead before dashing out the door.
"Love you too, Ice Queen!" Anna calls to the already closed door.
When Elsa returns home, she is physically spent. The redheaded whirlwind of excitement waiting at her apartment doesn't help matters much. I swear Dr. Weselton just holds class longer so he can hear himself talk some more, Elsa thinks bitterly. Thanks to him, she ended up having to pedal at almost break-neck speed in order to have enough time to prepare for dinner with her aunt and uncle that night.
"Aren't you excited for this?" Anna asks, bouncing around the apartment with her usual amount of enthusiasm.
"I am. But didn't we just see them a couple of weeks ago?" Elsa asks.
"Yeah! But this time, the boys will be there!" Anna exclaims.
Elsa rolls her eyes. "I'm gonna take a shower. I could use one. I'll be out in a bit, and then we can go."
The shower Elsa takes is a few minutes longer than her brief, no-nonsense sessions under the showerhead. She doesn't worry too much, though. She needs it. If anything, Anna would understand. Elsa steps out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped snugly around her body, with her blonde hair cascading in dripping curls down her back. Her reemergence from the shower doesn't go unnoticed by Anna, of course. And she is quick to resume talking to her sister from in front of the locked door of her bedroom.
"I hope you're not getting too dressed up for this!" Anna calls. "We're just going over to see the fam. Not some fancy dinner party."
"The fam? Since when did the word 'family' need to be shortened somehow?" Elsa asks, raising an eyebrow that she knows her sister can't see, but is likely aware of.
"Rapunzel gave me the idea," Anna says. "But you didn't acknowledge what I said before about not going overboard with the formalwear."
"I won't!" Elsa calls. "Now go away. I'll be ready in a few minutes. Since you don't like the cold, why don't you go and warm up the car?"
"The Taurus or the Impala?" Anna asks.
"Taurus. Your Impala still needs an engine check."
"Fine by me. I'm driving."
"It's my car!"
"She who starts the car gets to drive it," Anna recites in a false professional voice.
Elsa's responding sigh from the other side of the door is permission enough for Anna. The girl quickly grabs Elsa's keys from their place in the bowl on the kitchen counter and hightails it out of the apartment. Elsa opens the car door a couple of minutes later. She is dressed similarly to Anna; skinny jeans and a pair of ballet flats, but opting to wear a nice, teal blouse instead of the graphic T-shirt her sister is wearing. Anna puts the car in drive and backs out of the parking spot, choosing to focus solely on the task at hand for the moment rather than conversing with her sister.
"So the boys called while you were in class today," Anna says.
"And?" Elsa asks.
"They said they were bringing a friend of theirs to dinner tonight," Anna says, trying her hardest not to fidget.
"What's wrong with that?" Elsa asks. "I don't understand why there seems to be a problem with this. Frankly, I'm just happy those two are socializing enough to bring a friend to dinner."
"It is a good thing, I guess," Anna says with a laugh, her nerves dissipating a little at her sister's comment. Her expression sobers slightly as she continues. "Apparently, this friend of theirs is, as they like to put it, 'a reclusive, dog-loving hermit'. They wanted him to come to dinner tonight in the hopes that we could befriend him."
"I think it's a bit ironic that those two creeps are calling someone antisocial," Elsa says.
"But you're missing the point," Anna tells her exasperatedly. "He might be some sort of freakazoid weirdo. I mean, 'dog-loving hermit'? Doesn't that seem a bit bizarre to you?"
"Anna, you know how Marshmallow and Olaf tend to exaggerate things a bit," Elsa reminds her. "And after living with you these past few months, nothing is bizarre to me anymore."
"Har, har." Anna rolls her eyes. "We're almost there. Keep your sarcasm in check. It might make poor Olaf fry a circuit."
"And your over enthusiastic greeting won't?"
"No. Because I greet him with a hug. You know his philosophy regarding hugs."
"I do," Elsa says as they pull into the driveway of their aunt and uncle's house. "Let's go. I can practically smell Aunt Violet's scalloped potatoes from here."
Anna hums with delight as she steps out of the car. "I can, too. They're calling to me."
The sisters make their way towards the house, but before they can even reach the front porch, they are met with a high-pitched squeal of excitement coming from the doorway. Suddenly, Anna is nearly knocked off her feet from the force of a surprise hug.
"Olaf!" Anna exclaims. "It's so great to see you!"
"I know!" Olaf says.
Elsa is just about to request a hug of her own from Olaf, but her request is met by another equally friendly face. "Marshmallow!"
"Elsa!" the gigantic, blonde-haired boy exclaims.
The force of his hug increases to an almost vice-like grip, and Elsa's voice is strangled by the time he relents. "Hey, Olaf. How are you doing?"
Not picking up on the subtle plea for a softer hug, the smaller boy greets Elsa with an equally rib-cracking embrace. "Hi, Elsa! I'm doing great! Me and 'Mallow over here have been meeting so many new people since we've switched from online classes to in-person ones! Speaking of which, we've got someone for you both to meet! I think you'll really like him!"
Anna and Elsa suddenly find themselves being dragged forward and thrust into the house. Elsa manages to catch herself before falling forward from the momentum of her cousins' form of encouragement, but Anna isn't as fortunate. She finds herself tripping on the entryway rug and landing face-first into the broad abdomen of another person. Much to her horror, she timidly looks up from her position on the stranger's torso, only to meet the hazel eyes of a muscular stranger. His hands hold her arms to aid her in keeping her steady, and that realization makes Anna's blush deepen even further. The stranger's blush matches her own as he finally speaks.
"Are you okay?" he asks. "You sorta tripped there."
Anna rights herself, dusting imaginary dust off her clothes. "I'm okay. Thanks. I tend to do that a lot, actually."
"Trip into people?" he asks, raising a curious, blond eyebrow at her.
"Trip into everything," Anna says.
"Oh! I see you've already run into our new friend!" Olaf says, nudging Marshmallow at his pun with a giggle. "Anna, Elsa, this is Kristoff. He's the friend we were talking about."
"He's the 'reclusive, dog-loving hermit' you were talking about?" Anna says without thinking.
"Anna!" Elsa chastises.
"Well, with the way Olaf described him, he might have been some sort of weird creep! I wasn't expecting him to be… well… normal!" Anna cries indignantly.
"You won't be saying that when you get to know me," Kristoff mutters.
His self-deprecation doesn't go unheard by Anna, but she decides to drop the issue for now. Luckily, the awkward moment ends when a middle-aged woman makes her presence known in the hall, oven mitts under her arms and a single eyebrow being raised. "So when were you ladies planning to say hello to me? Was it before or after Anna tripped into our newest guest?"
"Aunt Violet!" Anna exclaims, rushing to hug her aunt. She is suddenly overcome with a sense of embarrassment. "You saw me fall, didn't you?"
"Everyone saw it, dear," Aunt Violet says dryly. "Elsa, you haven't called in ages. Come over here and give your old aunt a hug."
Elsa chuckles, and goes to embrace the woman tightly. "I know, Aunt Vi. I've just been so busy."
"I figured as much. Don't worry yourself too much over it," she says. "I came to tell you that the food is almost ready. You are free to take a seat."
As if on cue, the boys all take off in the direction of the dining room. Elsa and Anna share a fond chuckle, and go to join them. When they get there, they find their Uncle Nick sitting at the head of the table. The seats on either side of him are unoccupied, and he gestures to them with a broad smile as he looks at the sisters.
"There are my lovely girls!" he booms. "Or I should probably say ladies now. Please, take a seat!"
While Olaf has the petite build of his mother, the only way he resembles his father at all is their shared black hair. Like Marshmallow, the man is a mountain, personified. Due to his service in the Marines during his youth, his hair is styled in a military-style buzz cut, and despite all appearances, the man is as affectionate as his wife and sons.
Elsa takes a seat at her uncle's left. She doesn't realize, however, that she has just made things horribly awkward for Anna. With the seat at Nick's right reserved for Aunt Vi, Anna is left with little choice as to where she could sit without some sort of negative consequence. She could sit at the end of the table beside Olaf, but then she wouldn't be able to actively talk with her aunt, uncle, and sister, and instead have to indulge Olaf in a conversation about Call of Duty. She could sit at the end of the table beside Marshmallow, but that would leave her with the same problem, except that Marshmallow was too quiet for her tastes.
"Here, Anna," Marshmallow says. He moves to the other side of the table and sits beside his brother. "You can take my spot."
Anna didn't realize until later that this was her cousin's subtle way of getting her and Kristoff to spend more time together. "Thanks, Marshmallow!"
"You're welcome."
She sits beside Kristoff, and shoots him a smile. His responding smile is slightly more timid, but it's a smile nonetheless. The tension breaks almost instantly when Violet bursts into the room with a glass dish in her oven mitt-covered hands.
"I made green bean casserole!" she says in a sing-song voice.
"Isn't that more of a Thanksgiving dish?" Kristoff asks.
"Just go with it," Anna says with a shrug. "It's Elsa's favorite."
The girl in question is smiling broadly at her aunt. "Aunt Vi! You shouldn't have!"
"Oh nonsense! You've been working so hard lately. You needed a treat. And it was your meal tonight anyway," Aunt Violet says.
"But I didn't…"
"I did," Anna interjects, her aunt coming back and forth from the kitchen with more food each time. "While you were in class, I also talked with Aunt Vi. I told her what you might be in the mood for, and I'm guessing she cooked all that, and more."
"Wait, what do you guys mean it's Elsa's meal?" Kristoff asks. "I'm not complaining, of course. I love green bean casserole, but I'm just wondering about this system you guys seem to have going on here."
Anna chuckles; a short, melodious laugh that makes Kristoff's heart flutter in his chest. "Since Elsa moved out, and then Olaf, Marshmallow, and I all got busier, our time spent together as a family got shorter and shorter, and it happened less often."
"So we agreed to meet at least two nights a month to have dinner. The food at each dinner is picked based on a system we created that satisfies everyone," Elsa continues.
"Anna, Olaf, Elsa, and Mortimer all get a turn to choose what we eat," Vi says.
"Mom! I thought we agreed my real name was not to be spoken aloud!" Marshmallow exclaims in outrage.
Acknowledging her son's disgruntlement with only a wave of her hand, Vi continues. "You were named after my dad, Marshmallow. Now hush up and let me finish."
He pouts while Anna resumes the conversation. "The order goes: me, Olaf, Elsa, and Marshmallow. It was Elsa's turn tonight, and the next dinner will be Marshmallow's."
"That makes… some sense," Kristoff says. "But hey, food is food. I'm not one to argue with a free meal."
"You really shouldn't," Anna tells him. "Aunt Violet is the best cook ever!"
"Glad you like it, Anna," Violet says, stroking her niece's hair affectionately. "Everyone dig in while it's still hot. No one likes cold potatoes."
The occupants of the table follow through with her request, each piling food onto their respective plates and starting to talk amongst themselves. Anna turns her attention to Kristoff, who looks to be just as lost to the conversations around them as she is.
"So Kristoff," Anna begins. "Um… Tell me about yourself?"
Kristoff laughs. "What do you want to know?"
"Whatever you're willing to tell me," Anna says through a bite of scalloped potatoes.
"Well, first, I feel I need to clarify the whole 'dog-loving hermit' thing," he says. "I have an Old English sheepdog at home named Sven. He's been my best friend since childhood. And I'm not exactly a social person, so they put two and two together and made five."
"Ah. I see," Anna says. "So what horrible over-exaggeration did my cousins use to describe Elsa and I?"
Kristoff blushes, swallowing his bite of maple-cured ham. After looking left and right to ensure that Elsa doesn't hear him, he continues. "They called Elsa a 'beautiful, aloof, workaholic ice queen'."
Anna can't control her laughter as she responds. "That's actually pretty accurate. So what did they say about me?"
"Oh, um…" Kristoff hides his fumbling speech with a bite of green bean casserole that he and Anna both know is too big. After a moment, he swallows the enormous bite of food, and continues on. "Marshmallow's description was something along the lines of, 'a clumsy, excitable redhead who is charming in her own way'."
"So he didn't call me pretty?" Anna asks, feigning disappointment.
"No! Wait… yes! No! He didn't. But I still think you're gorgeous. Wait…"
"Calm down, Kristoff," Anna says with a laugh. "I'm just teasing."
"Oh," Kristoff mutters. "Sorry. I'm not exactly… Well, let's just say I don't have the best social skills."
"Don't worry. I don't think anyone at this table does," Anna tells him.
The truth in Anna's statement is proved more and more as the night goes on. Much to the joy of Olaf and Marshmallow, their cousin and houseguest really hit it off. Of course, Elsa picks up on the connection between the two, and finds herself teasing them right along with Marshmallow and Olaf. They don't appear to mind it too much, luckily. At the end of the night, Kristoff asks for Anna's number, and they start texting one another almost as soon as Elsa starts the car.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this little story, and I hope to see you when I post the next one!
-Symphonic Madness