More Kristanna now. :P
The next time Anna saw Kristoff Bjorgman, she was in the stables coddling her sweet, white-haired mare after helping the kitchen staff bake cookies. She was dressed far more casually than the usual princess standards, since the seamstress warned her that if she ripped or dirtied one more ballroom gown, she was getting stabbed by a needle. So, scuffed black boots, a messy apron, and a plain brown dress were the fashion choice for the day. Elsa didn't need any extra help with queenly duties (usually she was on top of them anyway) and the tutors had the day off, so Anna was free for the next 24 hours. Anna turned from her mare to fetch a brush, when she bumped into a large, furry nose that she knew couldn't be her horse's - no horse can move that fast. Anna blinked and realized that she had run into the eager Sven, who sniffed her in search of the beloved carrot scent.
"Oh, hey there!" Anna cheerily greeted. "Where's your grumpy ol' owner?"
"Sven?" called Kristoff, who stopped as soon as he entered the stable and caught Anna's gaze. "What are you doing here?"
"What's your reindeer doing here?" retorted Anna, who didn't appreciate Kristoff's tone.
Kristoff deflated, and had the decency to look apologetic. "Sorry. I was unloading the ice, and the next thing I know, he's gone."
"Well no harm done," replied Anna, who began feeding Sven a carrot.
Kristoff nodded, and silence ensued while Anna fondled Sven's ears and Sven chewed happily.
"So… do you work here?" asked Kristoff, if for no other reason that to make small talk.
"Uh… you could say that," responded Anna vaguely.
"Hmph, well by the looks of that apron around your waist you actually work in the kitchen," guessed Kristoff, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, any chance I get!" exclaimed Anna, a little too excitedly.
Kristoff smirked and Anna coughed awkwardly into her small fist.
"All right, part-time kitchen staff," said Kristoff, "what are you doing in the stables?"
"Heh, just showing the animals here some love," Anna chuckled weakly.
"Hey, I won't tell," promised Kristoff. "Just hand me my reindeer back and we'll be off making more ice deliveries."
"Oh, can I come?"
Kristoff blinked. "What?"
"Please please please!" begged Anna. "I'm lots of fun, I promise!"
"And lots of trouble, no doubt," quipped Kristoff. "Don't you have a job?"
"Oh no, I'm done with the kitchen today," assured Anna.
"I don't know… Are you sure you won't get in trouble?"
Anna paused. "Give me one second, and I'll make sure it's okay." She ran a few steps, and turned back to give Kristoff a warning glare. "Stay put."
Instead of replying, Kristoff merely rolled his eyes and gestured for her to get a move on. Satisfied, Anna ran into the castle in search of her sister, who was talking to Kai in the throne room. Anna, gasping for breath, burst through the doors calling Elsa's name, and her sister raised a light blond eyebrow inquisitively.
"Can I help distribute ice in the town today?" questioned Anna.
"Ice?" repeated Elsa.
"Yeah, with the guy who delivers our ice."
"Anna, I can't let you go wandering around the town with a stranger."
"Kristoffer isn't a stranger."
Elsa paused. "Wait, the ice deliverer… his name is Kristoff, not Kristoffer!"
"Oh whatever, close enough," dismissed Anna. "And besides, you seem to know him."
"Hardly," replied Elsa. "I've met the man only a few times. I'm just very good with names."
"Oh Elsa please, he has the cutest little reindeer - well, okay so he's not that little and Kristoff said not to call him 'cute,' but I still think he is and I'd love to see people - "
"Okay, okay," said Elsa. "If you really must to go, then I'd feel better if Kai accompanied you."
"No," pleaded Anna. "I don't want him to make things awkward."
"I think you do a good enough job of that on your own, dear princess," noted Kai humorously.
Anna scoffed, but then she smiled good-naturedly. "Point taken, but would you mind, I don't know, babysitting from a distance?"
Elsa turned to Kai and asked, "Do you think you can do that, Kai?"
"Certainly, your Majesty," responded Kai with a respectful bow.
"Okay, let's go," urged Anna. "We can't keep Kristoff and Sven waiting."
When Anna returned, she realized Kristoff hadn't followed her orders and was trying to get Sven to leave. Thankfully, the reindeer was bent on spending more time with the girl who enjoyed spoiling him as much as he liked to be spoiled, and refused to go with Kristoff. Anna called Kristoff's name, and Kristoff moaned a little; he didn't need this girl slowing him down on his deliveries, but if she and Sven were going to be this persistent, he might as well give in.
"So what's it like being an ice harvester?" inquired Anna.
"Uh…" stammered Kristoff, scratching the back of his neck. "Cold?"
"That's poetic," Anna commented sarcastically.
"I'm not good with words, all right?" snapped Kristoff defensively.
"It's your life's work, isn't it? I'd hope you like it enough to speak passionately about it."
"I do. It's just hard to explain, the feeling I get every time my pickaxe pounds into the heart of the mountain ice. The… the invigorating burn of the wind on my face, and the last rays of sunlight glinting off the mountainside… I can't quite put it all into words."
Anna chuckled. "I think you just did."
Kristoff smiled uncertainly. "What about you? What's kitchen duty like?"
"Oh you know, lots of flour, a couple of burns - err, maybe a lot of burns - and wonderful smells."
"I can imagine. Do you ever get the temptation to do a lot of taste testing?"
"Definitely. My hand gets smacked every other minute for it."
Kristoff laughed, but his humor came to an abrupt halt when concern marched into his face.
"What?" asked Anna.
"I feel like someone's following us," responded Kristoff warily.
"O-oh, I'm sure it's nothing," replied Anna nervously.
"Go, Sven!" ordered Kristoff, who turned to Anna and added, "Hang on, we like to go fast."
The cart Kristoff and Anna were sitting in lurched forward when Sven kicked his powerful leg muscles into overdrive, but it only took a second for them to regain their composure.
"I like fast," commented Anna, who leaned back and and propped up her feet on the edge in front of her.
"Whoa whoa whoa, get your feet down," admonished Kristoff as he pushed her feet back down. "This is fresh lacquer. Seriously, were you raised in a barn?"
Kristoff spat on the wood (unfortunately the wind caused a little of his spit to assault Anna's right eye), and rubbed it down thoroughly.
"Ugh, no, I was raised in a castle," replied Anna.
Kristoff frowned and sat upright. "How could you be raised in a castle?"
"W-what, can't a servant's kid grow up in a castle along with princesses?" stuttered Anna.
"I guess so."
Anna puffed a sigh of relief; as long as Kristoff didn't know she was the princess of Arendelle, he wouldn't judge her for being too quirky, or weird, or awkward. The kitchen staff, now, they were allowed to goof off and be themselves. As a simple servant, Anna's clumsiness wouldn't come as a shock to Kristoff. Without the princess label, nothing like Elsa's regality was expected of her, and she liked it that way. Thankfully Anna had a cloth wrapped around her head and had a sufficient amount of flour on her face so as not to be recognized by the people they were delivering ice to. Just in case though, she stayed her distance while Kristoff chatted with his customers.
"Whoa, Sven," said Kristoff, shattering Anna's thoughs. "Last stop of the day."
"Already?" pouted Anna. "Can I help you carry the last delivery in?"
"You're lucky I even let you ride in my cart - which you had the gall to dirty with your muddy boots. I can only imagine what you would do to my sled."
"C'mon, please!" implored Anna, who hopped off the cart before Kristoff could stop her. "This block doesn't look too heavy."
"Are you kidding? I'll bet it weighs twice as much as you."
Ignoring Kristoff, Anna took hold of the ice block and pulled at it with all her tiny might, until droplets of sweat formed on her forehead and her breath came out in heavy puffs.
"You're gonna kill yourself," warned Kristoff.
"All right, I'm just gonna block you out, cause I gotta concentrate here."
Kristoff shook his head, gently lifted Anna up and out of his way, and picked up the ice block on the first try.
"Some of… the weight… must have… melted off," gasped Anna as she pressed her hand to her chest.
"Yeah, yeah," agreed Kristoff sarcastically. "I'll be back. Don't destroy anything."
"The guy's barely spent a day with me, and he already knows my tendency towards disaster," Anna thought.
When Kristoff came back, he offered Sven a carrot as reward for a full day's labor. Sven chomped down, and when Kristoff reminded him to share, he proffered the other end of the carrot in his mouth. Kristoff grinned, took the carrot and bit down as well; noticing Anna standing off to the side (with her nose crinkled in disgust), Kristoff offered her the last remaining bites of the vegetable.
"Yuck! No thanks, that's too unsanitary," said Anna; she was unable to get over the fact that a reindeer partook of the carrot, although it was just Kristoff who took the last bite of it.
Kristoff's shoulders collapsed, and he looked at the end of the carrot like he had never before considered what Anna pointed out. He didn't even know why he offered it to Anna; until now, that was purely a Sven-and-Kristoff ritual, and all of a sudden he was inviting some feisty redhead to start participating? What was he thinking?
"Sorry," muttered Kristoff, who halfheartedly returned the carrot to Sven.
"Hey, you do want you want," urged Anna, who felt bad seeing the crestfallen expression on Kristoff's face. "You don't need to apologize for it."
Kristoff's brown eyes met Anna's bright, reassuring blue eyes, and he couldn't resist the smile tweaking his mouth.
"Let's get you home," said Kristoff. "Where do you live?"
Anna's eyes widened in panic, and to make matters worse, Kai ran into the scene in a frenzy.
"Oh, Princess Anna!" cried Kai. "Thank goodness you're safe."
"Princess?" echoed Kristoff confusedly
Anna cringed with shame as realization dawned on Kristoff's features.
"Princess Anna," he said in a betrayed tone.
His eyes narrowed, and Anna's lower lip quivered when Kristoff began climbing onto the cart without another word. He snapped the reigns and said, "Go, Sven," a command which the reindeer only reluctantly obeyed. Anna hastily rubbed off the tear running down her cheek and turned to the apologetic Kai.
"I'm so sorry, Princess Anna," apologized Kai. "I was worried because I lost sight of you. You were going so fast."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," replied Anna sadly. "Kristoff caught on that someone was following us, and he sped off before I could calm him down."
Kai nodded. "My horse is tied up over there. We can ride back on him."
Oh, so sad! Do you think Kristoff will ever find it in himself to forgive her, or is their new friendship already over?
