A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out! I've been kind of swamped with life stuff and haven't had a whole lot of time to write. I hope this chapter kinda makes up for it. It focuses purely on Elsa and Anna.
It's another one in Anna's point of view, I really don't think the story is driven by one character more than the other.
Anyway, be sure to leave a nice little review or constructive criticism or whatever. I love reading the comments y'all leave.
"Hi."
The hesitant voice came from the doorway which Anna now stared in bewilderment at. Standing on the threshold of her room stood Elsa, arms crossed over her stomach as she leaned on the door frame. The redhead continued to stand at the edge of her bed and look in the general direction of the blonde without looking directly at her. She cleared her throat and straightened up, crossing her own arms over her stomach to mirror the stance of the girl across from her. It was now that Anna could get a better look at her roommate. The first thing she noticed was how slender she was. She wasn't a sickly slender, but she definitely had a thin form that a lot of people yearn for. And although they were partly covered by the red hoodie she wore, Anna's eyes caught the hips that could make any straight woman question their sexuality. She found herself staring for too long, and a cough from the blonde caused Anna to raise her head to have her eyes meet Elsa's. Even from the few feet between them, Anna could see the chilling blue eyes that seemed to immobilize her.
"Oh, hi me?" Anna nervously commented, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Elsa slowly nodded, never breaking eye contact and shifted her weight so that she was leaning on the other side of the door frame.
"Um, hi." Anna offered a small wave and attempted a smile.
Elsa returned the gesture, only her smile seemed less forced and more natural.
"So what's uh, what's going on?" Anna asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed and placing her hands on her knees. The nervously rubbed them until her hands were warm from the generated friction.
Elsa shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, never breaking eye contact with the redhead across from her. This admittedly made Anna a little more nervous than she already was as she pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, waiting for Elsa to say something. Waiting for something that wasn't going to happen again anytime soon, apparently.
Anna cleared her throat and nervously chuckled. "So..." She was hoping Elsa would say something, anything that would break the silence between them. But at this rate, the blonde could probably stand in that doorway all night long without a word. This is actually kind of creepy. Anna thought and shifted, resting one leg over the other and leaning back on her hands.
Elsa then calmly left the doorway and went off into the hallway. Anna could hear her footsteps on the hardwood floor and guessed she probably went off to the kitchen for some unknown reason. She shrugged to herself and looked at the spot on the bed where the box cutter laid earlier. The sight of it brought back unsavory memories of not only that afternoon, but past memories as well. She couldn't stand the sight of it and put it away before putting the sheets on her bed. The dinner with her cousin had done wonders for her mood and although she didn't feel like her usual self, she couldn't deny the fact that she felt much better. Anna stared at the ceiling above her while she continued to sit on the edge of the bed, simply enjoying the feeling of doing absolutely nothing. She took a deep breath and almost jumped when she lowered her head to see Elsa standing in the doorway again. She was holding a box and was clutching it to her chest as she stared at Anna with a hint of a grin. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a chess game.
Anna cocked an eyebrow at the blonde, wondering why she was randomly holding a chess game when the realization dawned on her. "You want me to play chess with you?" She chuckled, a half smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Elsa's smile widened and she gave a nod. Drumming her fingers on the box, she lifted herself up on her toes and dropped back down. The blonde looked at Anna with hopeful eyes, it was pretty clear that this meant a lot to her.
"I promise you I'm not very good at it, the only board game I've ever really been good at was monopoly and that was only because I liked buying all of the colors and the little dog piece was just so cute." Anna scrunched up her face when she remarked how cute she thought the dog piece was. "I really didn't even know what I was doing when I played with Rapunzel, I'd just buy all of the colors and I somehow ended up winning more than I lost and that always kind of irritated Rapunzel because she'd always think through her moves for like, hours on end." Anna shrugged. "One time she got so angry at how bad I beat her that she locked herself in her room for most of the night. But then she came out at like midnight and we made brownies and made a mess of the kitchen." The redhead giggled at the memory, she continued to talk about how the ruckus they had caused made Rapunzel's parents wake up and scold the both of them not for the mess, but because they didn't think of sharing with them. "Rapunzel's parents were always cool like that, they never really got mad."
Elsa was leaning up against the door frame again, still clutching the chess box and staring at the redhead. She looked genuinely interested in Anna's word vomit, even though her mouth was moving faster than she herself could probably comprehend.
"And it got really crazy when we realized we used the wrong measurement for the water and vegetable oil, so the brownies were like really really spongy like a chocolate pancake and-" Anna cut herself off when she realized she was blankly staring at her hands moving in all different directions while she told her story which she clearly got caught up in. "-oh, I'm sorry." She nervously swept a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I was rambling."
The blonde shook her head as if to tell Anna she didn't mind. Nudging her head down the hallway, she left the doorway again and Anna once again heard her light footsteps make their way down said hall. Bright copper hair tussled slightly when Anna shook her head to herself and took a breath. She shrugged and rose to her feet, reaching for the ceiling in a deep stretch which caused an involuntary yawn. She walked over to the doorway where Elsa previously stood and poked her head to look down the hallway. From her room she could make out blonde hair bobbing up and down on the couch. She was probably setting up the chess board for Anna's inevitable defeat. Creeping her way out of her room and collecting herself as she strode down the short hallway she stopped briefly beside the kitchen. The box from her cousin was still on the counter, untouched and seemingly forgotten. Inspecting the box, it was wrapped similarly to the smaller one which held the box cutter. Realizing she never really needed it in the first place, she forced her thumb nail through the packaging tape and began tearing it off. Opening the box, she blankly stared at the gift from her cousin as a large grin crept its way across her face.
"Frying pan!" Anna shrieked, giddy with glee. Elsa jumped a little and looked back at the redhead, confusion painted on her face. She picked up the cast iron frying pan from the box and rotated it in her grip a few times, testing the weight as her smile grew to the point where it began to hurt. She looked up and noticed Elsa's concerned look from the couch and giggled a little. "Look, Elsa!" Anna extended her arms and bounced on her toes. "It's a frying pan!" The confused look on Elsa's face grew and Anna began to expect she thought she had totally lost her marbles.
"It's kind of an inside thing between Rapunzel and I." Anna began as she held the frying pan, it was definitely heavy enough to hurt somebody. I'd like to see Aleks get in my face now! Anna smirked to herself. "I was over at her house one week in summer when my parents were out of town, and we got a little bored and decided we would play some two person baseball." She adjusted the frying pan so that she was holding it like a baseball bat. "But the only thing was, we didn't have any baseball bats. But her mother loved cooking so she naturally had a lot of frying pans around." She swung the pan, tightening her grip so that she wouldn't end up putting a hole in the wall. The weight of the cast iron made the redhead stumble a little bit. "So, we tossed around a baseball in her backyard and hit it with frying pans! But it didn't stop there!" Anna bounced again and placed the frying pan on the glass top oven, causing an audible clack. "We played baseball with frying pans, golf with frying pans, tennis with frying pans, and even ping pong with them. Sure, it was a little awkward at first but it was a lot of fun!"
Elsa's expression softened and appeared to be a little amused at Anna's recollection of playing sports with a frying pan. "Rapunzel is pretty deadly with these babies, let me tell ya! But we sure had our share of accidents." Anna made her way from the kitchen and sat on the recliner which sat adjacent from the couch. "She once broke her boyfriend's nose with one when he startled her taking a nap." Anna giggled and leaned back in the black leather recliner. "Why she was taking a nap with a frying pan I have no clue, but it was an interesting doctor's visit. And boy did Eugene go on and on about how she broke his 'smoulder' again." Elsa cocked an eyebrow. Anna noticed this and shrugged, trying to keep back more giggles. "Yes. Again. His 'smoulder' as he calls it is some ridiculous face he makes when he tries to get his way. It's like his own version of a pout or a puppy dog face." Anna concluded and placed her hands on her knees and sat up straight. She looked over at the blonde with wide eyes. "So, chess?"
Elsa smiled and gave an enthusiastic nod as she gestured at the chess board laid out on the wooden coffee table in front of both girls. The black and white chess pieces were laid out perfectly on the checkered board, a straight line of pawns in front of the assorted other pieces. The kings towered over the rest of the pieces. But there was something off about the pieces, the paint on the wood was chipped on almost all of them. Other pieces hardly had any paint and all, and some of the pieces even appeared to be slightly splintered. Paint was also chipped on the board itself and the corners were in pretty bad shape in particular. Water damage? Anna picked up the black rook which sat on her side and she brought it close to her face. They were in worse condition than Anna first guessed, she expected the pieces to still feel fairly smooth but they were actually pretty rough.
Elsa's hand bolted and took the piece from the redhead, leaving her staring in shock. She placed the rook back in its rightful place and crossed her arms around her stomach, closing into herself. Anna noticed this and scooted to the edge of her seat, placing her hand on Elsa's knee she could feel it tense up as the blonde cast her gaze to an empty spot beside her.
Anna wanted to ask her a million questions. Why she was tensed up. Why the took the rook from her. Why she hasn't spoken since greeting her. Why chess of all games. Why did the pieces appear water damaged. Why is Aleks such a bitch? She ultimately decided that she wasn't about to scare Elsa off. She finally seemed to have the opportunity to prove that she can do something right. Although her first instinct was to ask questions, she decided that instead of bombarding the seemingly defenseless blonde with an endless barrage of vocal inquiries, Anna took a different approach to make Elsa a little more comfortable. "Honestly, I don't even know how to play chess." She admitted.
Elsa looked up and stared into Anna's turquoise eyes which seemed to be filled with equal parts concern and hope. The redhead noticed a fresh glaze of tears over the blue eyes that stared at her. She shrugged and retreated back to her own seat, watching as Elsa slowly uncrossed her arms and eased a little. "Never learned how. Probably why Rapunzel always beat me."
Elsa rubbed her eyes and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "I'll teach you." She said nervously and under her breath, Anna barely heard her.
The redhead beamed at the sound of the blonde's voice. Even if it were barely audible and hardly above a whisper, she saw it as progress and it brightened her mood. "I know all the little pawn guys can only move forward and attack diagonally." Anna started, trying not to sound completely clueless even though she was. She didn't pick up on a whole lot through all the games with her cousin, but she knew a little bit. She knew how the pawns worked, and knew that the aim of the game was to take out the opponents king. Other than that though, she was practically blind. Elsa nodded in agreement at Anna's statement regarding the pawns. "But what do the little castles do?" The redhead picked up the rook again and gingerly held it in between delicate fingers. The slightly splintered wood was rough, and she tried not to inspect it too close again.
"T-they're called rooks." Elsa corrected, raising her voice hardly above a whisper. "They can move however many spaces you want either vertically or horizontally." She stuck her hands in the pocket of her hoodie, and sunk into the couch a bit more.
"Oh, that's cool." Anna placed the rook back in it's rightful place but her eyes never moved from the shy woman in front of her. She seems so nervous and just out of place. I could totally see her as the stuffy librarian kind of person. "What about the pointy dudes with the cool looking hats?" She pointed to a piece next to the king.
"Bishop. They only move diagonally, and on their respective colors." Anna cocked an eyebrow in slight confusion and Elsa seemed to notice. "If it starts on a white square, it can only move on white squares in a diagonal direction. Same thing if it starts on the black square." She finished.
Anna inspected the bishops and imagined how they would move. It made sense, the bishop that started on the black square couldn't logically move on a white square due to how the board was set up. She began to realize that taking out even one of the bishops would be a pretty smart thing to do early on. "What about the queen?" Anna pointed to the piece that appeared to have a small cross on top that she assumed to be the queen.
"That's the king."
"...oh." Anna gave a small giggle and adjusted so that she was pointing to the queen.
"The queen is probably the most powerful piece. It can move in any direction, but cannot move like a knight."
"Knight?"
"The horse." Elsa answered. She picked up one of the knights that was on her side and placed it in the middle of the board. "They can only move in an 'L' kind of shape."
Anna grazed her fingers over the chipped white paint of the knight and grasped it. She slid it four spaces forward and three to the right, ending up near the edge of the board. She was technically right, she made an 'L' shape with the movements. Elsa lightly sighed and almost let out a small laugh at how clueless Anna appeared.
"Almost." Elsa smirked. She took a hand from her hoodie and lightly placed it on top of Anna's to guide her. Her skin felt cool to the touch on the back of Anna's hand despite the fact it was just in her hoodie pocket. Elsa's hand jumped back and she shied away before gingerly placing her trembling fingers back on the redhead's hand. Anna noticed her eyes were shut and her face was tightened with pursed lips. As if she was straining or even struggling with something. Anna's eyes widened when she noticed the blonde's eyebrows slightly twitch, then she felt her hand begin to move. The knight along with her hand were shifted three spaces to the left and one forward, forming a much smaller 'L' form.
Elsa then barely opened an eye and met Anna's warm expression. She slid her hand off of the redhead's and stuck it back in her hoodie.
"I suppose that makes a little more sense, huh?" Anna remarked.
Elsa's softened and came out of her self-constructed shell a little. Removing her hands from her hoodie and placing them on her knees and gave Anna a blank look which could mean anything. Anna couldn't tell how she was feeling from the blank look. Maybe happy, maybe sad. Maybe even a little relieved. Elsa gave a quick nod and returned the knight to it's rightful place on her side of the board.
Anna rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. She studied Elsa's expression but still couldn't make anything out from it. Although being this close gave her the perfect opportunity to get a good look at her. She initially noticed how pale her skin was. It wasn't a sickly kind of pale, but more like a porcelain doll or fine ivory. And it looked so smooth! She wasn't sure she had any kind of imperfections at all on her face. No scars nor were there any signs of acne. Nothing. Just clear skin with the lightest freckles which were painted on her cheeks and nose. Her cheekbones were fairly well defined and higher on her face than most peoples, giving her a regal kind of look. And her eyes! They were much more of a pure blue than Anna's which were splashed with a hint of green. She's so pretty! I can't believe how jealous I am! Her head tilted as she continued to gaze at the blonde, taking note of every inch of her face. Elsa's eyebrows came together as she nervously backed up a little. You're staring, Anna.
"Oh, sorry!" Anna nervously repented. She cleared her voice and straightened up. "So, chess huh?"
Elsa nodded and picked up a pawn to start the first move. Still, Anna was pretty much clueless as to what she was doing. But in between moves the stole little glances at Elsa, who often appeared to be deep in thought and took her sweet time contemplating every little move. Anna did attempt an actual strategy though. She wanted to remove her opponent's bishops because she thought they would end up decimating all of her pieces if they were given the chance. Although that didn't seem to work out too well, within minutes she had already lost two pawns and a rook.
"You're really good at this, Elsa! I think you could even beat Rapunzel." Anna smiled, appearing cheery despite the fact she was losing.
Elsa was shaken from her trance and met Anna's eyes. "Uh, t-thank you. I've had a lot of practice I uh, I guess." She returned to her deep thought and made another move, capturing another of Anna's pawns.
Anna swept a loose strand of hair behind her ear and studied the board. She was at a clear disadvantage, not even taking a single white piece yet. She did see an opportunity though, Elsa had mistakenly left one of her knights open for the taking by Anna's bishop. She internally shrieked as she noticed this, and took no hesitation in sliding her bishop from across the board to take the knight. Elsa was taken back a little bit and her eyes shot open in shock. It was clear that she didn't expect that and Anna was giddy inside at the small victory. But it didn't last long, as her bishop was soon taken by the rook she didn't notice. She cursed under her breath and tried to take the game more seriously. But the certainty and grace even in the most subtle moves from Elsa seemed to belittle the redhead. It seemed like with every move Anna lost ground and pieces as Elsa's crept closer and closer to her king. The board started even parts black and white, but now only a few black pieces remained. Anna looked and took note of what she had left. Her king, queen, two pawns and a rook. While the only thing Elsa was missing was one knight. Anna tried to strategize by using a pawn as bait so that her queen can swoop in and take a piece. She managed to set up her trap seemingly without notice from Elsa, and she grew a little proud of herself. But then Elsa moved her queen across the board to take Anna's in one swift motion. Anna's shoulders sunk and scolded herself for not noticing that.
"Checkmate."
"What?" Anna raised an eyebrow. It was true, no matter how she moved her king it would still be in jeopardy of being taken from one of Elsa's pieces. She also had no possible moves that would remove the threat. She lost fair and square.
"You played pretty well though, I couldn't really figure out why you were letting me take so many pieces and I got sloppy." The blonde fidgeted in her seat and swung one leg over the other before finding a comfortable position.
"Sloppy?" Anna asked in obvious confusion. To her, nothing about that game was sloppy on Elsa's part. She completely destroyed her which was evident by all of her missing pieces.
"I lost a rook." She pointed to the single white piece on Anna's side of the board.
Anna was completely baffled at how Elsa thought she was sloppy for losing a single piece. She gave a nervous chuckle as she noticed the plethora of black pieces on the side opposite of her's. "But look at how you won! By a landslide I would say!" Anna smiled again, simply glad that Elsa was talking to her now. "I told you I wasn't very good at chess." She finished.
"You'll get better over time." Elsa winked. "Promise." She sat up and began to put the pieces back in the box and folded up the board.
"You're assuming I'll play again." Anna crossed her arms and gave a smug look in an attempt to mess around with the blonde. Of course she would play again if Elsa asked, but she didn't have to know that.
Elsa stopped her movements for a brief moment and tenderly placed the board back in the box and closed it. "Would you like to play again sometime?" She managed to get out under her breath. It was clear she didn't expect the attitude change from Anna.
I think I scared her! Damnit, Anna. Be more friendly! She's actually warming up to you a little bit! Anna stumbled over her words. "I-I mean of course I would play chess with you again! I was just trying to play around a little bit and I'm sorry if I offended you or something but I mean oh yeah totally I'll play chess with you! Maybe we could even shake it up and play checkers or monopoly too!" Shut up, Anna.
Elsa picked up the box and placed it on her lap. "I would be okay with checkers." She admitted and started to drum her fingers on the box. "I don't have the pieces though." Her face dropped.
"I was totally kidding, Elsa. Don't worry about it. It was just something I spewed out in my rambling." She scrambled to get the words out in an attempt to lighten Elsa's mood. But she would prefer checkers over chess any day if given the chance. Even if she wasn't exactly good at checkers either she was much better at it than chess. At least in checkers the pieces could only move in one way unless they were a king. She did genuinely enjoy the chess match though despite losing. And despite Elsa being quiet, shy, and soft spoken she liked her much more than her sister. At least this one didn't punch her in the face when she greeted her.
"You talk a lot." Elsa noted in a monotone fashion as she stood to place the chess box on the bar.
The comment took Anna by surprise and she didn't know whether to take it offensively or not. She knew she talked a lot, not only did she remind herself of it quite often but the people she annoyed would tell her constantly. Which meant she wasn't a stranger to hearing the comment. But it still hurt her every time, she couldn't really help that as much as she couldn't help talking. It was something she did to defend herself. Her face dropped to the floor and she intertwined her fingers, keeping her attention off of the comment from the blonde. "Tell me about it." She muttered under her breath, feeling hurt.
Elsa turned to look at the woman feeling sorry for herself from the kitchen where she continued to stand. "I'm sorry." She walked back over to the kitchen and sat down on the couch. "I didn't mean it in a bad way."
Anna shook her head and tried to get a small chuckle out. "I'm used to it." She waved Elsa off. "It's alright. No big deal." She lied between her teeth. "It's been a hell of a day. I'm heading to bed alright?" She stood up and smiled at the blonde, trying her best to look normal. Although she wasn't too sure what normal was. She gave a small wave and turned to walk away.
"Thank you for playing chess with me, Anna." Elsa gave an unsure wave in response and stared at the space in front of the redhead.
Anna made her way down the hallway and rubbed her eyes which were still sore from the afternoon's events. It was true though, it was one hell of a day. A six hour car ride which consisted of singing show tunes with Eugene, being punched in the face by a very violent and condescending she-beast, crying her eyes out, dinner with Rapunzel, and a game of chess with the beast's sister. Shutting the door behind her she fell on the bed and let out a load groan. It was going to be an interesting school year.