Kristoff arrived at the boathouse in the morning for the race that day. Since it was a local race, everyone was meeting up at the boathouse, and the free bagels were definitely extra motivation to get there on time.
The coxswains were all standing near Kristoff discussing the river conditions. Friday's fog had cleared, though the air was very still on Saturday morning for the regatta, along with the water appearing flat as glass.
"Well, you know what they say," Olaf said, "still waters run deep."
"What are you talking about?" Kristoff butted in. "That river is maybe five feet deep. Haven't you ever fallen in? You just stand up."
"It's a saying, I just thought it sounded cool," Olaf explained.
"Right, right. Sorry, being a bit literal."
"When we were in high school, they still made us decontaminate when we fell in," Anna laughed. "Remember that, Elsa?"
Elsa laughed. "Maybe I fell in once?"
"Right!" Olaf said. "Anna fell in a lot, I remember that."
"You fell in?" Kristoff smirked. "How?"
"I wasn't a coxswain in high school," Anna explained, "I rowed. And in case it's not obvious, I'm not very big, so I got knocked out of the boat a lot."
Kristoff nodded thoughtfully, sipping on his coffee.
"What about you?" Anna asked. "You don't look like you could get knocked out of a boat."
"Nope," Kristoff replied. "But we had a floating dock in college, and once a speed boat went by when I was standing at the edge and I slipped in."
"Oh!" Anna exclaimed.
"I'll be sure to warn you if I see anything coming," Elsa laughed. "On that note, I'm going to go check in with Coach Mattias."
"I'll be there in a sec!" Anna called after her sister. "Just one more bagel."
Anna went to grab a bagel at the back of the table. Kristoff realized he was a little too aware of the spandex uniform on her as she grabbed the food and ran off, and stared very intently at his coffee.
"Good luck today, Kristoff!" Olaf said cheerfully as he went to join the other coxswains with Coach Mattias.
The regatta went well, and none of their boats came in last. Once all the boats had returned from the finish line and everyone was back inside, it was approaching dinner time.
"We should go out and celebrate!" Olaf declared after they were putting everything away.
"Nobody won," Hans muttered. "I don't see the point."
"Fine, you don't need to come," Elsa told him. "Where does everyone else want to go? Applebee's?"
Hans wrinkled his nose, packing up his bag and heading out.
"Applebee's is fine with me," Kristoff said, and several of the others agreed.
The restaurant was a short distance from the boathouse, and even though Kristoff had gotten going fairly quickly, Anna was already there when he arrived.
"Hey, how'd you get here so quickly?" Kristoff asked.
"Did I? I suppose I did. I actually left right after the four was put away, since our race was earlier. I was at the coffee shop next door and Elsa texted me that a few people were planning to meet here."
"Did she tell you who wasn't coming?" Kristoff smirked.
Anna frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, a certain member of our boat made a bit of a stink about not coming," Kristoff snorted. "I thought Elsa might have mentioned it."
Anna gave half a grin. "I think I know who you mean. And, no, Elsa didn't mention that, but I certainly won't miss him."
"Well, that's good to hear," Kristoff said. "He told me about you himself, by the way. When he was drunk in my bed."
"Wait, what?" Anna asked.
"No, not like that-" Kristoff laughed. "No, I found him there. He was so drunk he went into the wrong room. I left the door latch to keep the door open because Olaf kept getting locked out."
"Ahhh," Anna giggled. "I won't judge."
"Anyhow…" Kristoff cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about him. I was avoiding this-" she waved her hand vaguely, "because I knew he'd be around. I'm glad I came back. And I think I've kept my emotions in check."
"I wouldn't have known if he hadn't said something, so don't worry," Kristoff said.
"Well, that's good." Anna smiled. "But, really, let's go sit at the bar and look at the menu. What's your favorite?"
"I really don't eat out much," Kristoff admitted.
"It's Applebee's, it's not really eating out," Anna insisted.
"What do you recommend?"
"Don't laugh," Anna said, "but the appletini."
"What's that?" Kristoff asked.
"It's like a martini, but not really. It's super sweet."
"I wasn't really thinking about getting a drink here," Kristoff admitted.
"It's almost five, why not?"
Kristoff considered it. "You know, I think I might. As long as you can recommend some actual food."
"Oh, yeah, I bet you're hungry," Anna said. "We should get some appetizers so we're not starting without everyone else. Nachos? Onion rings?"
"It all sounds good."