Author's Note: Gah! It's been months! But, well, be thankful it wasn't worse, eh? Some of my other fics have been delayed for legendary amounts of time compared to this. In fact, I'd say I did well not to have prolonged this release even further (I know, scary thought). Regardless, please enjoy the second, concluding installment of Frostbite!
It was with great astonishment that Luxanna, and, indeed, every other employee who entered the lounge afterward, witnessed Ashe – Ms. Cold Shoulder herself – conversing shyly with her Assistant Manager at the table nearest the cooler.
And she was smiling.
Brows arching in disbelief, Luxanna rubbed at her eyes with the crook of her finger, as if determined to dispel what she was almost certain was an illusion.
When the scene remained as it was, she cautiously made her way towards them, scuffing her boots against the polished floor as she did so.
"Uh…"
"Oh, Luxanna. You're here early," Tryndamere remarked.
She noticed that as soon as she approached, Ashe quickly averted her gaze.
"Hi, Ashe. It's…unusual to see you down here."
Ashe mumbled something incoherent in response, before hesitantly glancing up at her.
"Yes, um…Tryndamere thought it would do us both some good to clear our heads a little."
Luxanna was nothing short of bewildered, darting her eyes from him to Ashe and back.
Seeing the query dangling perilously from her lips, Tryndamere hastily cut Luxanna off before she could overwhelm Ashe with the situation.
"But we really should be getting back to the office. We're already pushin' it with how much we have to do."
As much as it was conducive for her to finally greet her coworkers civilly, to at last unravel herself from her frozen shell, he knew: slow and steady does the trick, after all.
Luxanna stood there, unsure of what to make of the pair's sudden departure (she even noticed that Tryndamere's fingers were curled loosely around Ashe's as they headed up the stairs – seriously, what was going on), merely shrugged, before merrily skipping towards her own cubicle.
"Those two better watch themselves," she cheerfully mused, idly thumbing through a wad of documents. "Rumor mill's gonna churn itself upside down with this one."
Becoming friends with Ashe was quite possibly among the best decisions of Tryndamere's life. Seeing her make a genuine effort towards their friendship was a balm on his spirits like no other, and he found her company so immediately pleasant he had to wonder how in the world he had missed out on this before while working for her for so many weeks.
Amusingly, he discovered that when she wasn't pushing people away, she was actually quite bashful.
"Tryndamere," she said softly. "Are you sure that we can overturn this decision in only a week's worth of time?"
"Oh, ye of little faith," he sang. "You don't take me for a completely reckless bonehead, do you?"
Ashe raised both brow and finger and parted her lips, prompting him to hastily intercede.
"Don't answer that. Okay, I admit I was impulsive, but it wasn't like I had absolutely no clue what I was doing when I agreed to Zil's proposal. Iat least do have a plan as to where we go from here."
"Really?"
"The way I figure it," he hesitated, uncertain how to phrase it delicately. "Well, uh…you don't know anyone in the company very well, right?"
"If you mean I'm an anti-social little prude whom nobody likes," she pursed her lips. "Then yes, I believe that's the gist of it."
"Come on, I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
A curtain of tension enveloped them as Ashe remained downcast.
Her eyes flickered open with realization.
"I'm doing it again, aren't I? I'm sorry-"
"Ashe," he said quietly. "There's nothing wrong with being who you are. I…I only regret that I didn't try to understand you sooner. And you're mistaken, by the way. I like you."
Ashe felt something well up beneath her throat, and abruptly – alarmingly – she was stifled by warmth, coated by it, nearly strangled with it.
"A-As to what I was saying," Tryndamere coughed, tugging mildly at dispersed eraser shavings in embarrassment. "You-"
But it was lost to a fleeting whistle of hitched breath as pale arms slipped gently under his shoulders, slender fingers crawling up and clutching at his back. She held him flush against her own body, cheek brushing his, breath tickling his ear.
"Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder. "You don't have any idea just how gratefulI am to have a friend like you."
Face still tinged with red, Tryndamere cautiously hugged her back.
"Save it for after we get out of this mess, hm?" he chuckled. "Now as I was saying."
He gently dislodged her grip and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Though admittedly there aren't many people who are personally acquainted with you, if y' turn that around, it also means no one knows you well enough to hold a grudge."
"I…I suppose that's true," she conceded.
"So right away we can eliminate quite nearly everyone. Except…"
"Except..?" she furrowed her brow. "Please don't tell me this was all a ruse and you're actually-"
"God no, Ashe!" he let out a wheeze that denoted something between strangled indignation and exasperated amusement. "Come on, work with me here. It's really pretty simple if you think about it. For as long as I've worked here, I've noticed only one person – well, maybe besides me – who has suffered quite the personal blows to his ego, courtesy of our resident ice queen herself."
A sharp, quick breath prefaced Ashe's sudden realization.
"You mean…?"
"I sure do. I'm not one hundred percent on this, but it's lookin' pretty damn likely if you ask me."
Contempt lined her expression, her lips stained with it as she snarled.
"That baseborn, vile, rotten little-!"
"It's refreshing to see you badmouth someone else for a change," Tryndamere laughed.
"This is no time for levity, Tryndamere! Would that snake really go so far as to…? When I get my hands on him, I swear I'll-"
"Let's not be too hasty. If we don't approach with caution, we'll never get what we need."
"Fine," she grumbled. "But then what do you have in mind?"
"Nothing too elaborate. 'N fact, I say we confront him face to face. Or rather, you will."
"…Am I missing something? Because I'm fairly certain you just told me to avoid doing exactly that."
"I know how wretches like him think. They tend not to be the sharpest stick in the barnyard, and can't help but wallow in their own greed. If you can stomach his presence for a couple of moments, we'll have this wrapped up before the week is done."
"But," she chewed her lip. "I'm really not so sure…"
"Ashe," Tryndamere tightened his grip on her shoulder, his jaw set with a strange sort of determination Ashe had up until the moment not witnessed. "I'm asking you to trust me on this one. Can you?"
Her lips parted, her eyes roved over the taut lines of his cheekbones. Her hand rested gently over his, clutching it to her shoulder.
She smiled
"I trust you. More than I trust myself, I'd say."
Tryndamere smirked.
"Then I say it's high time we trap ourselves a troll."
"We can talk in here, Mr. Daly."
"So," A nauseating grin split Trevor's face as he swaggered into her office. "Finally coming around, are you?"
She fixated him with a cold glare.
"Hardly. What I wanted to discuss was another matter entirely. Particularly, the embezzlement of documents that I'm being blamed for."
He let out a throaty, garbled chuckle, all wheeze and no tone.
"Why, I'm sure I have no idea what you mean."
But his sinister sneer told an entirely different story.
"I know it was you, Trundle," Ashe growled, her nails digging at her palm.
"There's no use for any wishful thinking," his imitation of a dainty sigh was almost physically repulsive. "Trying to pass it off to quaint ol' me will only land you in more trouble, I hope you realize. You have to take responsibility for your actions, after all."
She bristled, gnashing her teeth together, before remembering to compose herself.
Ashe took a deep breath.
"What will it take," she began slowly, dreading her words, abhorring her own acquiescence. "For you to clear this up for me?"
And Trevor's jagged, predatory smirk stretched wider still.
"Ah," he dragged out the word, clearly relishing the moment. "Well, now. This certainly changes things, doesn't it? Frigid little Ashe, at my beck and call."
Licking his lips, he drew closer until his bulbous nose brushed against her pale cheek. She recoiled in disgust.
But his hand shot out and firmly grasped her shoulder.
"I think you know very well what I want," he crooned, his hot, seedy breath fanning out over her face, causing her to wince. "The issue is that I, of course, won't want to implicate myself either. But there's really a very simple solution."
He craned his neck, indicating the desk beside them.
"We'll just push it all on your brute of an assistant. Last I heard, you two didn't really get along. Two birds, one stone, whaddya think? Good riddance to that shit-sniffin' mongrel anyhow."
Ashe's expression remained neutral.
"So then you admit that you stole the documents?"
He laughed, though to Ashe it sounded more like raspy croaks strung crudely together.
"C'mon, babe, I thought we were past this."
At her glare, however, he relented.
"Yes, yes, if that's what it'll take to make ya happy and seal this whole deal, I'll say it if you want. I took the damned papers from your desk; really, your fault for leavin' such important things out in the open like that unattended. Now, what do you say we go screw that bastard ov – what? There somethin' on my face?"
For Ashe had begun to stare quizzically at him, even tilting her head slightly to the side in apparent curiosity.
"Huh," she mulled over, before placing her hands firmly between them and shoving him off of her. "He was right. You are just an imbecile."
"Wha-?"
"My dear Trundle," it was her turn to grin. "Do you mean to tell me you didn't even consider that I might have been recording our conversation?"
"You were-"
He flushed purple with rage.
"Well, not 'recording' per se. Nothing so clandestine or outlandish. All it is is my phone on speaker."
She smiled and held up said cellular phone.
"You bitch," Trevor snarled as he advanced toward her. "I'm gonna-"
"You'll be doing nothing."
Tryndamere leaned against the door, smirking towards his diminutive coworker.
Trevor swiveled towards him and growled.
"Was this your idea? I dunno what you were trying to accomplish, but you've got nothing on me."
"You think so?"
Tryndamere carelessly gestured behind him where Keeper stood, the very picture of stoicism.
At once, Trevor lost his confident sneer.
"M-M-Mister Keeper," he gulped, his beady eyes darting frantically between the administrator and the phone he loosely held in his hands.
"I think," Keeper began slowly, letting the words dangle, dragging along Trevor's perception of them, prolonging his distress. "That you and I need to have a talk, Mr. Daly."
"Bu-But I…she…Mr. Keeper, I-"
"And by that I mean this instant, Mr. Daly."
Miserably, Trevor hung his head and trudged towards him.
As Keeper led the downcast man out, he glanced behind him to briefly address the two remaining occupants.
"Terribly sorry for the mishap on our parts, my dear girl. Consider yourselves vindicated."
And with that, he tossed back Tryndamere's phone, its owner hastily plucking it out of the air by the tips of his fingers.
The pair of them were left alone as usual, as if nothing had changed in the first place.
Ashe peered hesitantly towards her assistant manager.
"We…did it?"
He glanced back, the corners of his mouth crinkling upwards.
"Was there ever any doubt?"
And to his immense surprise, it was Ashe who began whooping and hollering in delight, quickly and easily tackling him in a hug that trembled with laughter.
"We did it! We really, really did! Thank you! Thank you so much, Tryndamere! I…"
He found himself lurched to a halt, her arms still wound firmly around him.
"I couldn't have done this without you," she whispered into his chest.
She looked up at him, nearly blinding him with the force of her happiness.
"Truly, I…I don't have the words. I owe everything to you."
"You owe me nothin'," he nonchalantly refuted. "It was my pleasure."
And as he gazed, struck dumb by her joyous expression, he thought to himself that if indeed she owed him anything at all, the radiant smile he currently bore witness to was payment enough.
Her laughter, though music to his ears, caused him quite the bout of confusion.
"Please, Tryndamere, I don't mind at all."
"A-Are you sure? I can make them stop if you want."
"I think it's endearing," she smiled.
"You?" He gaped.
Certainly, in the weeks since the Trundle debacle, Ashe has made plenty of progress, but Tryndamere thought that of all things, this was the exact sort of thing she would not abide.
"You're really okay with the rumors they've been spreading about…well, us?"
True to Luxanna's premonition, there was no end to the jibes and assumptions regarding the inordinate amount of time the two spent together.
"You're my best friend. If there's gossip concerning me, which I'm sure is inevitable, then I'd much rather it be about you than anyone else. I mean, if not you, then who?"
His jaw unhinged even further.
"Do you realize what you're even saying?"
Ashe smirked, and threw back his words that had so oft been repeated to her.
"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud."
His exasperated laugh signaled his defeat.
"What did you just say?" she asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
Two months later, and Tryndamere finally decided to throw caution to the wind.
"U-Um, that is," he stuttered, looking anywhere but at her. "Just thought…y'know, only if you wanted to, I know y' weren't so keen on the last guy who hit on you, but I just thought maybe, if you weren't busy…"
The snowflakes brushing past her cheeks during their drift to the sidewalk beneath them made her seem especially pretty, Tryndamere realized with a gulp. That did not make things easier.
When she said nothing, he continued to babble, desperately attempting to get his point across.
"I know w-we always go together to movies and stuff anyway, b-but this is – I wanted – I hoped this time it could mean something a little d-different."
And for not the first time since meeting Tryndamere, Ashe felt her mischievous streak taking hold of her body, causing her lips to curl.
"Different?" she pretended to muse. "In what way? As you said, we go out all the time. I can hardly see what makes this particular dinner so special that you have to go out of your way to make a scene of asking me."
Tryndamere's expression visibly plummeted.
"N-No! That's not-!"
He groaned, oblivious to Ashe's attempts to stifle her giggles with her dainty fingers.
But she was startled when Tryndamere seemed to steel himself, rooting his feet in the thinly laced snow underneath. His body was rigid, yet his visage spoke volumes of his determination.
"Look, Ashe, I…ever since I've met you, it's like I can't even remember what my life was like before you were in it. It's turned everything about me into just this big blur that I can't make heads or tails of. I think the nickname they have for you in the office is unfitting, to be honest. Because I've never felt warmer than I do whenever you're with me."
He sighed, running his hand through his snarled hair in a vain attempt to straighten it despite the cold.
"Ashe, I really like you. Could you…would you…do me the honor of going out with me?"
And in the face of his candor, however stuttered and stymied it was by his embarrassment, Ashe could only feel joy brimming from the bottom of her heart, enveloping her in its warmth, surprising her with the strength of the affection she held for the man in front of her.
Heartless, Ashe most certainly was not. How could she keep up her little charade in the wake of such sweet honesty?
"You're beyond silly, Tryndamere. Did you really think for a second that I wouldn't agree?"
His head shot up.
"Then-"
"Of course I'll go out with you, you nincompoop! How did you ever convince yourself that I'd say otherwise?"
Tryndamere's features lit up like a bonfire, such was his happiness. He laughed and grabbed Ashe around the waist, twirling her through the air, mitigating the steady patterns of the swirling frost around them.
"Honestly," Ashe reproached, the corners of her mouth twitching, a smile threatening to overtake her strict countenance. "You're such a barbarian."
"A barbarian who you happen to be dating, Ms. Ice Queen."
He flashed her a cheeky grin.
She gave in to her smile and shook her head fondly.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Author's Note:
And that concludes the AU! I hope you enjoyed the ride. Sorry again for the tardiness, but I did warn you that my updates for this fic would be sporadic and based almost entirely on whims. Anyway, I probably will revisit this universe from time to time, but the next chapter is, unless I go through some massive upheaval of decision, going to resume with our adorkable Freljordian couple. Stay tuned, and tell me your thoughts on the chapter!
