A/N: So, hi. Ha ha. This isn't my first fanfic. I've written a few of those. However, this is the first time I'm posting one online. Ever. Hopefully you guys like it! I'm thinking it will be at least three chapters, perhaps one or two more. I already have most of chapter two written and will post it soon. Anyway, these two are just too cute! Let me know what you think.
"It's like you're never even around anymore," Anna whined, letting herself fall back onto her bed with a muffled whump. She heard Kristoff's clothes rustling, then the bed lean slightly as he sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry, Anna," he said with a sigh. She pouted at him—he didn't sound particularly sorry. He glanced down at her, blond brows knit and a light frown on his lips. Why does he have to be so handsome? she thought to herself. Especially when I'm trying to be mad at him. She struggled to regain her focus.
Anna wiggled, then sat up, keeping a few inches between them for good measure. "Can't you just, I don't know," she said, tilting her head and shrugging, "take a day off now and then?" She snuck a glance at him. Kristoff was watching her intently, his frown still firmly in place. "You know I can't," he told her softly, reaching for her hand.
But Anna slithered away, bouncing off the bed to stand in front of him. "Come on," she whined, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "It wouldn't be so bad…"
He sighed again, and Anna deflated a bit. "It's not like that. I can't just take a day off whenever I feel like it," he told her, shrugging a bit. "I have important duties that need to get done."
She cocked an eyebrow at him, unconvinced. The Royal Ice Master and Deliverer had important duties? Oh please. Elsa could just make ice whenever she wanted. Kristoff's eyes grew a shade darker at her unsaid question.
"You know…" she said softly, sidling up to him with what she hoped was an enticing sway. "I am the princess. I could just say a word and get you a day off…" Kristoff hesitated, leaning back a moment. Yes! Anna thought.
Then his face firmed, brows coming down once more. "No," he said, his arms drawing her attention as they folded across his strong, muscular chest. That was so unfair. "Sorry, Anna, but I take my job seriously. Now, especially, with two of the other ice harvesters out of commission, I need to be helping."
Anna huffed dramatically and threw her arms up in exasperation. "So it's more important than spending time with me?" she asked, incredulous. Kristoff opened his mouth and then paused, as if unsure whether he should answer that question.
"You've never held a job before, you don't know what it's like," he said quickly. Anna's brows inched slowly up her forehead. She did not like the direction this was heading. "Oh?"
Kristoff made a vague gesture around her room. "I mean, most people don't have the luxury of spending all day lounging about a castle. When—"
"I'm sorry," Anna said sharply. "What?"
Kristoff's eyes met her for a split second, all honey brown. Focus, she told herself. Then he glanced away. He knew he had made a mistake—his face fell a fraction of an inch. He shrugged again, hunching over uncomfortably.
"Well, you know," he said slowly, still not meeting her eye.
"No," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "I don't. Enlighten me."
He glanced up at her beseechingly then, floppy blond locks brushing past his eyes. "I didn't mean it like that," he said quietly. Damn the man, he actually did look sorry. Anna squashed down her growing hesitation.
"Then how did you mean it?" she asked accusingly. He shrugged again, and anger flared in her middle. "I don't know what you think I do all day, Kristoff," she said, jabbing a finger at him. "But I do not just 'lounge around.'"
As she jabbed her finger into his chest again, Kristoff grabbed it, stopping her mid-motion with his strong grip. Uh oh, she thought, stomach wiggling uncomfortably. Now he's annoyed. She instantly fought against her uncertainty. He was annoyed? Well good. So was she. But that didn't stop her stomach from doing a backflip when he glared at her.
"All I'm trying to say is that you don't understand the responsibility that comes with being employed," he told her, all traces of his usual playfulness gone from his voice. "I don't pretend to know how to be a princess. Don't pretend you know how to do my job."
"Oh yeah?" she said, surprised at how loudly the words came out. "You sure seem to be making a lot of assumptions about what I do all day." Kristoff struggled silently for a moment, anger playing across his face.
"Look, all I'm trying to say—"
"I'm not sure if I even want to hear what you're trying to say," she cut in.
Abruptly Kristoff stood up, suddenly towering over her. Anna took an involuntary step back, his hand still wrapped firmly around her wrist.
"Is that so?" he said in a low voice, the icy quiet of his words cutting through her chest. Why couldn't he just yell? It would be so much easier to be angry with him if he'd yell back.
"You know, I really don't understand why you'd even want me to take a day off." Anna cowered a bit under his angry stare, pulling uselessly at her arm. "If you don't even want to talk with me…"
Anna sank another inch lower, anger battling against the pain of his words. That was just like him, to twist what she was saying. He watched her squirm for another long moment, then suddenly let go of her hand. She stumbled back another step. He sighed, the sharp, cold anger melting into an annoyed frown.
"Whatever," he said, shrugging one last time, then brushed past her and out the door.
