Chapter 4: A little twist over here...
"Psst! Hans…oh, Haaaans…Hans! Wake up, for the love of…!
"Hrmgr…five more minutes…"
Genevieve huffed and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently as she saw the new stableboy take his first nap on a haystack. Jonfen had discovered him asleep there just last night, after dinner, and left him there to get a backache. Now, early morning in Arendelle, she needed Hans to escort her to the market…and he slept like a log.
"Hans, if you do not get up this instant…" she hissed, losing her patience fast. All he did was turn his back on her.
"Ugh!" she growled. She looked around for something to wake him up, and found a stray bucket of water. A wicked smile crossed the lady's features.
"Oh, Haans…" she sang, taking the heavy bucket in her wrinkly fingers. Hans snored and turned around, just so the ice-cold water could fall all over his face and chest.
"AAAAH! GOODNESS gracious, woman, what is wrong with you?!" Hans jumped and yelped, already trembling from the cold morning air and the even colder water drenching his clothes and hair. Genevieve smirked and placed a hand on her hip like she was eight years old,
"You were not waking up. I had to do something."
"Well, what kind of wake-up call is that?"
"A proper one. Get up and change, we are going to the market." She said, throwing the bucket away and walking away with her proud stride. Hans growled from the violent trembles shaking his body, and he hugged himself, trying in vain to get warm,
"What for?" he asked, curious.
"I'm out of carrots for a soup. Now, now, hurry up! We do not have all day." She said, clapping her hands at Hans so he could hurry up. He shrugged a shoulder, letting the old lady clap his way to his official new room in the stables, which was just above the horse and was almost the same as his haystack on the level below them. When Hans saw how small and…peasant-like was his new room, he rolled his eyes. One day down, twenty nine to go…
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Elsa was sitting on her bed, wearing a blue snowflake nightgown and looking terribly tired. She couldn't sleep: there was something that bothered her about Hans. Even though she had given Genevieve, Jonfen and Olaf the responsibility of telling her everything he did and didn't do, it wasn't enough. It itched at her sides that she didn't know for sure if he was regretful or not for herself. It made her curious; sure, Hans was a villain like no other, almost as good as her in hiding his feelings, but did he truly regret everything? It made frost creep up the walls like vines just thinking about it!
After a good half hour long thought, she decided that, even though just a day had passed, that she would see how he was doing. After all, it was her duty as his caretaker (babysitter, kind of…?) to check on his progress. It wasn't such a bad idea.
"Yeah…yeah, that's what I'll do!" she said, jumping from the bed, her tiredness completely blown away. Today she would go check on Hans, just in case she had to send him away even without a full decent week's work. She'd hate to have him too long in Arendelle against his will…
"Wait." She snapped, looking at herself in the mirror. "Since when do you even care about that imbecile?" she scolded, throwing her hair back and getting ready for a new day.
"What do you mean, Hans isn't here? Where is he?" Elsa asked worried. Jonfen took a huge pile of hay with a pitchfork and placed it on a horse's stile, giving a slightly impatient sigh and shaking his head,
"I don't know your majesty. Genevieve isn't here either, I've been looking for her and I can't find either of them."
"Where could they be? And without telling me! Ugh…anyway, thank you, Jonfen, please continue."
"You're welcome, your highness." He said, bowing his head a little and giving the horses their food. As Elsa walked back to the castle, she thought in where and why Hans would've left. Had he escaped his duties because of…okay, a definite reason couldn't be given, but he could've escaped! And Genevieve too? It wasn't like her to just leave without notice. Then, she saw Olaf, strolling around with his penguin-like stride and his little black cloud over him.
"Perfect! Olaf!" she called, waving a hand. Olaf turned around, looking in every direction first before settling his eyes on Elsa and giving a happy, goofy smile.
"Oh, good morning, Elsa! Beautiful morning, isn't it?" he asked as he got closer to her.
"Yes, yes, but I need our help now." She said, also getting close to Olaf. Once they were together, she kneeled down and placed her hands over his shoulders.
"Something wrong, Elsa? You look really worried. Was it Hans?" Olaf asked, squinting his eyes with suspicion.
"No, well, yes, it's just…have you seen Hans or Genevieve around? I haven't seen them today."
"Hmm, let me think…" Olaf tapped his chin with a stick finger and looked up to the sky, trying to remember if he's ever seen them that morning.
"Hmmm…oh, yeah! I saw them in the market a few minutes ago! They were looking for all kinds of weird stuff like shiny tomatoes and big lettuce and…"
"Really? Oh, thank you, Olaf!" Elsa quickly interrupted, giving Olaf a hug.
"Oh, goody, I love hugs! Best prize ever." he sighed, settling his head on Elsa's shoulder. Elsa chuckled and pulled away, gently patting Olaf's head before walking away,
"Tell Hans I said hi!" Olaf yelled, waving a hand eagerly.
"Hmm, this seems a bit odd shaped…what do you think, Hans?" Genevieve asked, showing Hans a potato that kind of had a face. As Hans tried to balance all the bags of food she had given him, he took one small glance at the potato and growled,
"It's fine!"
"Mm, no I think its odd shaped. What kind of merchandise do you sell, young man?"
"Genevieve!
"Hmm, yes, Hans?"
"I thought we'd just buy carrots!" he winced under the weight of the bags. Genevieve laughed and shook her head,
"What? You did not think a soup only has carrots, right?" she said, laughing again and continuing her bargaining with the merchant. Hans had to lift a leg to keep one of the bags from falling. And this "soup" of hers also has eggs, right…?
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. There was nothing he could do now, for he was no a prince anymore, so all his whining and complaining and cursing his superiors mentally were of no use. But he could still feel angry at having to carry 25 bags for only 2 hands and a leg. When one of the bags on top slipped from his grasp, he gasped and tried to get it with a leg, but could only see how it fell into a little boy's arms.
The two stared at each other, expecting the other to make a move. The boy was no more than six, but his wide brown eyes showed the hunger Hans wouldn't dream of experiencing. Still, the boy just gulped and raised the bag, handing it to Hans with a little gleam of reluctance in his eyes. Hans pressed his lips and sighed. Genevieve was going to kill him,
"Forget it, kid; take the bag." He said, nodding at him so he could leave. The boy giggled happily and jumped, running away with the bag with such joy…
Genevieve turned back and placed the bag of potatoes on top of the other bags carelessly. This made all the weight almost flow down to Hans' knees, who faltered for a moment, scaring Hans.
"Whoa! Could you be a little more careful with this? I'm the one carrying everything!"
"Take it like a man and stop complaining. We have one more place to go before we get back to the castle." Genevieve smiled.
"Tell me it's not the watermelon stand." Hans whined, a little higher than he wanted to. Genevieve just laughed; throwing her head back like it was the funniest joke in the world.
"Haha! No, silly, it's a surprise." She smirked. Hans growled and tried his best to adjust the whole load on top of him. He would have to ask Jonfen if he could borrow a wheelbarrow the next time Genevieve wanted to go shopping…
From afar, standing behind a vegetable stand, was the Snow Queen, eyes wide in startle at the scene she'd just seen. What was so great about someone sharing a whole bag of apples with a kid? That it came from Hans.
It was so unexpected she had to close her jaw before some bug came flying in. From everything that happened, from everything she'd heard from Anna, she would never, in a million years or more think that Hans would willingly give away something for someone if it didn't mean he would get something in return. He was a manipulative, selfish bastard
for all she knew...but this was a side of him she began to like. A soft smile crossed her features as she turned back to the castle, leaving the two walk to a caramel apple stand..
"Candy?" Hans asked, raising a brow. Genevieve smiled and nodded; she had two reddish brown apples in her hands, both of them dripping freshly coated caramel. She handed one to Hans, and said in a motherly tone
"Oh, my dear Hans has been so helpful today! The least he could get is a sweet treat for a sweet heart!"
"What?"
"If you don't like it, I can give it back." she snapped, her eyes clearly stating "Take it or leave it." Hans stared at the candy for a minute before settling the army of bags upon him on the floor and taking the caramel apple in his hand. Genevieve sat on the floor, legs crossed under her long skirt, looking at the bustling of activity in the market. But Hans just stood, looking at the apple.
When he was little, his older brothers were the ones to get the best treats while he only got the spares because he was the last one. Even his older sister got the best and she was the littlest girl! He was used to being ignored for his actions, and he thought that today wasn't going to be different. But there he stood, staring like an idiot at a not hardened caramel apple, a prize for helping someone, albeit unwillingly. For the first time in five months, Hans smiled warmly and took a bite out of the apple, sitting next to Genevieve. The two simply sat there, eating their treat and watching everything in silence. Hans felt like he had to say something, so he simply said,
"Thanks, Genvieve."
"You're welcome, Hans."
That night, as Hans finished the last of his chores and he got ready to go to sleep, he heard footsteps coming into the stables. He thought it was Jonfen, so he just turned around with an annoyed expression and started,
"Look, I lost a day because your old girlfriend took me shop...Elsa!" he gasped, taken aback at the Queen's presence in the stables. She was smiling softly, like she knew a secret he didn't, and walked around, looking at everything,
"Nice work."
"Um...thanks?" he said awkwardly, too surprised to think straight or even hate her that instant. He took a bucket from the floor as a diversion, and turned his back on her, walking to his room,
"What for?" He added from the stairs.
"For what you did today. I'd never imagine you so selfless as you were with that little boy in the market." Elsa replied, following Hans up the stairs.
"I'm not the idiot everyone claims I am, you know." he said.
"Well, you can't blame them too much; you did cause a lot of trouble five months ago and that's hard to forget." she said, looking around his room. Hans frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, I caused a lot of trouble?" he sad, raising a brow. She turned around, raising a brow.
"Yes, you did."
"If I remember well, I wasn't the one who froze the entire kingdom solid, then made a huge snow monster and froze Anna solid too." he snapped. She gasped, placing a hand on her chest, and growled,
"You dare turn this around to me when it was you who wanted to kill her in the first place?"
"Well, I certainly didn't have to do much."
"You have no right to claim I did that on purpose, it was an accident! I'd never hurt her, you were the one who wanted to cause her harm, remember? You threw the sword down? That wasn't me!" she snapped back,
"Well, it was you who closed the door in her face all those years ago! You weren't there for her when you were supposed to, you just cowered away in your room!"
"You miserable, selfish, manipulative..." she mumbled under her breath as she tightened her fist, frost beginning to snake up the walls. Ooh, Hans had touched a soft spot, he knew that already. Well, if he was going to stay there for a month, he might as well have a little fun in the mean time, right? It's not like she was going to have any kind of mercy over him any time soon...
"I might as well had ended her eternal journey behind you; oh, now that I think of it, how could she have felt all those years on the other side of the door? She told me, the night of the coronation. Not only was she pushed away by her big sister, the one she'd so admired and loved; I'll bet she also felt like the spare, the "other" princess in line, never getting to be the central point of a conversation between her parents or anyone else! I can relate to that, actually, being the spare, the invisible, all alone on the halls..."
"Shut up!" she screamed, flicking her wrists at him. Instantly, ice shot out of her hands, freezing his hands to the wall. Hans looked at his hands with slight fear, but only stifled a wicked chuckle as he turned back to her. She was infuriated; her eyes were wide open and burning, practically burning with anger, and her jaw was tightly shut as she breathed in an out like a wild animal.
"You..." she hissed, "have no idea what I've been through."
"You have no idea what I've been through either. What makes you think I can make you tick without something to teach me, hm?" he said, raising a brow.
"By the end of this week, you are out of this kingdom and I dearly hope your brothers deal with you like they should." she hissed again, turning around and leaving the stables in a flurry of snowflakes and frost. Hans shook his head, chuckling softly at how easy it had been to change her mind. He thought for a moment he had to seduce her to get her to advance the date of his departure. At least he didn't have to pretend being in love; seriously, who could love such a woman? Cold as the ice that escapes her fingertips, conceited like anything and above all, so hard to manipulate to his desire...although the last one was debatable.
Who said he still didn't have the touch?
A/N: My GOD, I feel so evil for letting so much time pass before uploading this. Not only that, I have bad news to say: I'm going to have to put this story on hiatus for a good, long while. I don't want to do it, but I just don't want you guys waiting so long for one chapter. At this rate, I'll be uploading every month instead of every week like I said in the first one! I'm really sorry if I disappointed you guys, but this story has been hard to write down, and I've forgotten the whole plot altogether. It doesn't mean I'll completely abandon it: I'll just be pausing this story until I can have a decent plotline to follow and I can have the enthusiasm to write again. Thanks to all the people that followed, favorited and reviewed this story: it means a lot to me that you put this story into account. I'm sorry, once again, for being such an awful writer. Until next time, good bye.
-bedstories