Greetings reader!
Welcome to the second chapter! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Have fun!
MCPO M-061
Chapter 2
Lunch soon became a regular occurrence for the two. Elsa's inexplicable feelings for Fox rapidly grew to something she couldn't quite understand. These new feelings and intoxicating daydreams of romantic moments had the young Queen craving more time with him, much to the delight of her sister.
"Elsa," Anna said one day, "ELSA!"
Elsa jumped as she fell from her daydream and promptly froze her folder. Anna burst out laughing at Elsa's comically surprised expression when she realised she'd frozen her paperwork.
"Oh…your face though!" Anna howled as she collapsed from laughing so hard.
Elsa recovered and smirked before dropping a very large snowball on Anna. Her younger sister shrieked in surprise as she dug herself out.
"Yes, Anna?" Elsa asked sweetly.
"You've been daydreaming a lot lately," Anna said, still peeved about the snowball, "A certain…Mr Fox on your mind?"
Her reply was another snowball.
"You totally have a crush on him," Anna mumbled around the snow mischievously, "A huge crush."
"No, I don't!" Elsa denied as her cheeks lit up bright red.
"Yes, you do," Anna teased.
Elsa paused and thought it through.
"It's a good look on you though," Anna said lightly, "Last time I saw you this happy was when we were still kids."
Elsa's lips tugged at a smile and guilt tugged her heartstrings.
"I'm happy for you," Anna continued, "This is a good thing, Elsa."
With that, she left Elsa to her thoughts. The platinum blonde sighed as she fell back to her daydream. She hoped she could have some form of romantic relationship with Fox but a part of her claimed to know it would never happen because of her powers and position in society.
A few days later, she found out exactly how wrong that part was.
She walked into their usual restaurant and found a vase of roses waiting for her. She approached curiously and noticed an exquisitely done card in her place. She picked it up and opened it to read the message inside.
"I may not be a Prince and I may not have any titles," the card read, "But will you be my Valentine?"
Her heart skipped a beat and she pressed a hand to her lips as she smiled. Fox slipped up to the table and Elsa turned to him.
"Yes," she said with a smile, "Yes, I'll be your Valentine, Fox."
The day went well with Fox providing a romantic mini-getaway for Elsa. When she arrived back at the castle that night with a happy smile, she was bombarded with questions from Anna. Kristoff just shrugged helplessly when Elsa looked at him for help.
Eventually, Anna calmed down and only brought Fox up again during dinner.
"You know, Elsa," she said with an innocent shrug, "There isn't anything in the law about the reigning monarch having to marry another royal."
Elsa looked up and paused her eating.
"I'm just saying," Anna said, not making eye contact as she played with her food, "You could just name Mr Fox as your suitor and legally the council can't do anything about it."
"How do you know all this?" Elsa asked, wondering why Anna had ended up in a law book of all things.
"I was looking for a loophole for you," Anna said with a victorious smirk, "And I found you one."
Elsa smiled and made a mental note to buy her sister a year's supply of chocolate.
The next day, Elsa found her way to Fox's cottage and knocked on the door. He opened it a few seconds later clad in what appeared to be hunting gear.
"I wasn't expecting to see you today," he said with a smile, "Not that it's a bad thing of course. Had I known you were coming, I wouldn't have planned on going hunting."
She smiled at his kindness as he stepped aside to let her in. The inside of the cottage was cosy, and a strange weapon hung on one wall. Another sat on a dresser beneath it and a small fire burned in the hearth.
"It's alright," she said with a smile, "I come bearing some interesting news."
He cocked his head as he closed the door.
"Do tell, my fair Queen?" he asked as he shed his hunting jacket.
"I have chosen a suitor," she said and watched his expression.
Surprisingly, he smiled at her. Unsurprisingly, his eyes didn't show it.
"That's great," he said tightly, "Who's the lucky man?"
She giggled and placed a hand on his arm.
"You are, silly," she giggled, and his eyes widened.
"Really?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
"Yes!" she said earnestly.
Fox grinned like he was the happiest man alive. He surged forward and scooped Elsa up in a hug, spinning her once and making her giggle.
"So, that's an agreement then?" Elsa asked with a giddy smile.
"Hell yes," Fox smiled as he let her go.
"You'll need your things then," Elsa said, her analytical brain already sorting all the admin out, "Since you'll have to stay in the castle. And…what?"
She paused as she noticed his grin. He held her arms gently and smiled at her.
"Elsa," he said, "Relax. I can be packed in…half an hour."
She breathed out nervously and nodded.
"Now, just sit and relax while I grab my things," he said, and she nodded.
True to his word, thirty minutes later saw him with a tan sling bag on his back and two large black bags in his hands. Over his change of clothes, he wore a metal frame that moved with his body. The back, from what Elsa could see, was made up of armour plates. He set down the heavy bags with ease and attached the larger of his two strange weapons to the side of his pack.
"What is that?" Elsa asked curiously.
"It's my rifle," Fox explained, "Kind of like a musket, only better in every way."
"And this strange…frame?" she asked, running a finger along the cool metal.
"It's an exoskeleton," Fox said with a hesitant smile, "I'll tell you about it later."
Elsa still looked curious but didn't push. They left Fox's cottage soon after and arrived at the castle sometime later. Fox hadn't even broken a sweat from carrying the heavy looking bags. A servant attempted to take one for him and struggled to carry it on his own, eventually giving in to Fox's request to carry his own bag. Elsa wondered exactly how he could carry that much weight in a single hand.
Once Fox was shown to his room and had set his bags and weapons down, Elsa took him on a tour of the castle. About halfway through, they bumped into Olaf.
"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" the snowman said happily to Fox.
"Uh, hi Olaf," Fox said, "I'm Fox."
"Ooooh, you're Elsa's boyfriend!" Olaf said excitedly, and Elsa blushed a bit.
"Yeah, I guess so?" Fox replied, trying to convert the high society English to his own.
Elsa giggled and hid her lips behind her hand.
"Yes, Olaf," she said, coming to Fox's rescue, "Fox is my boyfriend."
They ended up spending the rest of the day with Olaf. Somehow, they got on to the topic of ice skating.
"I've never been skating," Fox said casually, and Elsa raised an eyebrow at him.
"That'll have to change," Elsa said and grabbed his hand, "Come on, I'm going to teach you how."
Fox let himself get led through the castle until they arrived in the ballroom. Once they arrived, Elsa stamped her foot and a layer of ice coated the floor. Fox watched in amazement and nearly jumped out of his skin when his boots grew blades.
"Woah," he said and regained his balance, "That's pretty…cool. Pun unintended."
Elsa giggled and gave herself some blades of her own. She skated up to Fox and grabbed his hands.
"It's easy," she said and started pulling him along.
True to her word, within a few minutes (and with some help from Olaf), Fox was keeping up quite easily with Elsa as they glided around the room.
"You're a fast learner," Elsa said with a smile.
He smirked back and pivoted to skate facing her, earning a glowing smile from Elsa.
They skated until dinner and arrived a few minutes late, much to Anna's frustration.
"Oh, hi guys!" Olaf cried out as they entered to find Anna and Kristoff already at the table.
"Hi Olaf," Anna replied, "I see you borrowed Elsa and Mr Fox."
"Yeah, he's nice," Olaf said innocently, and Fox smiled.
"He's also quite the skater," Elsa added as Fox got her seat for her, "Thank you, Fox."
He nodded and took the only other empty seat on Elsa's right.
Dinner progressed well, and Fox ended up getting along well with Kristoff. Anna was a little distant with him but after what he had heard about the debacle with Hans during Elsa's coronation, he gave her a free pass.
Later that evening, Fox and Elsa were silently enjoying each others company in the library. Elsa had her nose in a book and Fox was being her pillow.
"Hey, Elsa?" he started hesitantly, "Remember earlier when you wanted to know about my exoskeleton?"
She nodded and put down her book, looking up at him.
"Well, it was given to me, so I could become the best soldier in the world," he started, his fingers ended up in her hair, "That's how I carried the bags today with ease. It enhances movement strength, spatial awareness and reaction time. I don't usually wear it unless I go hunting now."
"You were military?" she asked with surprise.
He winced and carried on playing with her hair.
"Not…exactly," he said nervously, "My father used me as a template to perfect the exo. I was more… child-soldier in testing if you will. An experiment."
Elsa blinked in surprise at the new information.
"Yeah, my life was really messed up and left me with a lot of demons," he chuckled uneasily, "I'll understand if you don't want me around anymore because of it."
He fell silent and watched the fire in the hearth. Elsa reached up and put a cool hand on his cheek, getting him to look at her.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she said softly, and he gave her a tentative smile, "But don't ever again suggest that I would leave you for your past. You're my handsome Mr Fox, demons and all."
His smile changed to a relieved one and he took her hand in his. Neither spoke but, at that moment, speaking didn't feel necessary.
