Chapter 3 - Wait, what?
A/N:
A shorter chapter this time, but I'll make it up with the next chapter, which is longer (the longest in fact).
Beta reader: once again, awesome Snowstorm Thirteen.
After Rapunzel had gotten her dessert, a strawberry cake with whipped cream on top, she ate it with relish. Anna thought the noises of pleasure she was uttering were almost too indecent for the restaurant.
"You have to try this strawberry cake, it's wonderful," said Rapunzel and put her spoon near Anna's mouth.
"You don't have to do that. Just enjoy it by yourself. I'm-"
Anna couldn't finish her sentence because Rapunzel had put a slice of cake into her mouth.
When she had eaten it, she commented, "It does taste great."
"I know, right. It's delicious." Rapunzel smiled slyly and said, "Do you know what it reminds me of?"
"Um... strawberries?"
"Obviously, dummy. But what else? You used to like it a lot."
"I did?"
Anna thought about it but she couldn't think of anything specific. "Desserts you used to make? I don't know."
Rapunzel's smile changed into a wicked grin when she said, "Well... you could certainly call it a dessert. It reminds me of the times I used to eat strawberries and whipped cream off of your bare skin."
Anna's cheeks turned as red as a beetroot, and she would have liked to hide under the table if it hadn't been occupied. "Punzie!" she said until she realized her voice had been too loud. Fortunately nobody had paid attention to her. She continued with a much lower voice, "That's hardly a suitable dinner table topic."
Rapunzel just continued grinning and answered feigning innocence, "What? I can't control how my memory works. But I could never forget the taste of your-"
Anna eyes flashed wide open and she put her hand on Rapunzel's mouth before she was able to finish the sentence. "Stop! Not another word!"
Rapunzel seemed to obey her after Anna had taken off her hand. But then she said, "For your information, the word I was going to say would have been 'skin'. Not the other thing you were obviously thinking about," and gave a short giggle.
No matter how weird it looked, Anna buried her face in her hands and banged her forehead against the table. Rapunzel stroked her back soothingly, and said, "Not that I could never forget the taste of 'the other thing' either. You had this special kind of aroma."
Anna groaned.
Oh god, just kill me now, please!
"Aww, poor baby. You get embarrassed so easily. I guess I teased you a bit too much," said Rapunzel and continued stroking Anna's back with one hand and eating the rest of her dessert with another as if nothing had happened.
"Is everything okay, Ms.?" asked one waitress when she was passing by and saw Anna's weird behavior.
"Everything is juuust perfect," Anna answered without lifting her head from the table surface.
"Don't mind her words, she's perfectly fine. She just gets embarrassed easily," answered Rapunzel and smiled at the waitress.
The waitress looked confused but left anyway.
When they had paid their bills, Anna thanked whatever deity had been listening to her that the dinner was finally over. It had been quite a test of endurance.
Rapunzel was putting her credit card into her purse, but before she managed to do that, it slipped from her hands.
As she was about to crouch to pick it up, Anna felt a chill on her spine. If Rapunzel were to take a good look under the table while searching for her credit card, there was a high chance she would see Elsa!
"Let me get that for you," Anna said and crouched quickly. When her hand hit the credit card, something awful happened! They had both crouched to pick up the credit card, which had created a perfect position for their lips to brush against each other.
Anna froze completely and Rapunzel didn't move either. Her mind shouted at her:
What the hell are you doing? Pull away now!
She turned her head abruptly to the side and handed Rapunzel her credit card. Rapunzel took it and put it into her purse.
"Oh, Anna, you don't need to make excuses to kiss me. You could have just asked me, and I would have let you."
Anna eyes flashed wide open. She could've sworn she had heard something shifting under the table.
RED ALERT! RED ALERT!
It was a matter of seconds now!
Anna took Rapunzel's hand and dragged her along. She walked hastily away from their table. "I need to see you in the restroom, now!"
Rapunzel looked confused, but followed Anna anyway.
When they were in the restroom, Rapunzel had got a gleam back in her eyes, and she said, "Oo, sex in the toilet booth. I haven't done that for a while, but I like the idea. You are so daring nowadays."
Anna was flabbergasted, "What? No, no, NO! That's not why I took you here."
"Why then?"
"I just... wanted to..." Anna started but didn't know what to say next.
Think! Think! And fast, before you end up having sex with her because you couldn't think of any other reason to come here.
"...ask if you have anything for heartburn. I think I ate too much."
"That's the reason you brought me here? Really?" Rapunzel didn't seem to believe Anna.
"Uh-huh", Anna said and nodded.
"Then why were you in such a hurry?"
Anna hadn't expected such a question. "I... I..." she started but her mind was blank.
Oh fuck! What am I going to say to her?
"I though I was going to vomit. But that feeling passed," Anna said and congratulated herself on making up a reasonable excuse.
"That's good to hear, but why am I here if you thought you had to vomit?"
Anna gritted her teeth in order to kick-start her brain, which had temporarily left her on her own.
"I wanted you to hold me hair," said Anna off the top of her head, but she regretted it immediately.
No! Why did I say such a thing? Way to abandon me when I needed you must, brain! Now I'll never get her off of my face tonight.
Rapunzel's slightly defiant and suspicious expression softened and she looked touched.
"Aww, Anna. How nice of you to think about me. Of course I would have held your hair, darling," Rapunzel said and pressed their cheeks together. "Do you still need something for your heartburn? I think I have something in my purse that could settle your stomach."
Anna nodded and she wasn't lying. Constant embarrassment had left her stomach a bit upset.
When Rapunzel had found two tablets from her purse, she gave them to Anna.
"Do you know what else helps upset stomach? Campari. I happen to have an unopened bottle in my cabin if you want to come and have some nightcaps later tonight? I'll be waiting for you in my favorite negligee. I'm sure you remember which one."
Rapunzel kissed Anna on her cheeks and and said, "Too-da-loo," when she left the restroom.
Anna sighed when Rapunzel finally left. She wouldn't even go near her room tonight. Then she remembered the negligee Rapunzel had talked about. It was so thin that it was almost indecent. A faint blush began to creep up to her cheeks even just thinking about it. She almost regretted she had bought it for Rapunzel as a Valentine's day present.
She opened the water faucet and let it run for a while until the water was cold. She washed her face, especially her cheek, with cold water. If it had been possible, she would have washed away the memories of their dinner as well.
