A/N: Sorry for another late update! This chapter was pretty slow for me, not only to hit the new 9k word average I've set, but also because I kinda hit a little bit of writer's block about halfway through it. I knew how I wanted the chapter to end, but the words just wouldn't come to me. The events of the last chapter was something I didn't even have planned until I started writing it, so I had to shift everything in order to accommodate it.
But, I think you all will like this chapter very much. Tons of development and good stuff!
As always your constructive criticism is always welcomed.
Enjoy!
"Anna, what are you doing?" Elsa asked as she emerged from the bathroom to find the redhead on her toes, reaching for something in the cabinets above the stove. It had hardly been an hour since Elsa revealed her powers to her roommate, and quite frankly she was still terrified. She had caught her totally by surprise, and she was sure Anna was going to freak out and never speak to her again. Or worse, tell people and have Elsa locked up for the rest of her life. But the way Anna reacted brought a great amount of relief to the blonde, she was still wary and uneasy about it, but still greatly relieved she didn't have to hide it from the redhead.
"Trying to reach the cinnamon!" She grunted, trying to gain that extra inch to reach the spice. She fell to her heels in defeat when her fingers grazed the bottle and pushed it deeper into the cabinet. "Why did we put the spices so high up?" She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and crossed her arms.
The gesture stirred a giggle from Elsa. Cute. "Well I never realized how short you are." She commented and giggled again when Anna stomped her foot in a childlike frustration. "Why do you need the cinnamon anyway?"
Anna scoffed. "For fajitas of course! Now would you be a dear and get it for me please?"
Elsa raised and eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips. "Cinnamon for fajitas?" She asked, not sure whether to be disgusted or worried.
"I like to add cinnamon to the onions when I caramelize them. You'll like it I promise!" She was nearly jumping with glee when Elsa reached over her and pulled down the cinnamon. She graciously took the bottle and placed it on the counter. "Hey Elsa, your hair is blonde again!"
The comment took Elsa by surprise as she backed up to the counter and hopped on top of it, swinging her feet she leaned her head back against a cabinet. "What do you mean? I've always been blonde."
"Not when I walked in awhile ago!" Anna replied as she pulled out a package of presliced chicken from the freezer. "When I walked in your hair was like, a really light gray. Almost white." She commented as she pulled out a skillet from a cabinet.
For a moment, Elsa didn't really believe her. But as she went over the days events in her head, anything seemed possible. After the argument with Aleks, all she had the energy to do was lay on the couch. After she had picked up everything that had fallen during the storm, she didn't even have the energy to unfreeze the room. Her gaze shifted to the small snowman which was still set on the coffee table in the living room, small cloud still snowing on top of it. She had debating running once Anna walked in. She didn't even have a small inkling of where she would go, she just wanted to get away. But once she was presented with the small snowman, she forgot about everything but Anna. It was at that moment she realized that despite the short time they've known each other, Anna cared about her. And that meant a lot to the blonde.
Elsa brought a lock of her hair up to her face and started playing with the ends. They were still as blonde as ever, and although she could foresee a haircut just to get the dead ends off, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to her. "Did it look bad?" She asked amongst the noise of Anna rustling through drawers to find the utensil she was after. Anna turned to face the blonde and inspected her, causing Elsa to feel more self conscious than usual. She was used to the glances from the corners of peoples eyes throughout the day, but the staring from Anna made her uncomfortable and she could feel a blush growing across her cheeks.
"Nah, it didn't look bad. Although personally I prefer the blonde." Anna shrugged and walked up to Elsa sitting on the counter. She placed her elbows on the blonde's thighs and cradled her head in her inter crossed fingers. "So, meet any guys today?" A smile graced the redhead's lips as she stared into Elsa's eyes.
The blonde shook her head. "No, but I did meet two girls today." If you could call what she had a meeting. She met Rapunzel through a small conversation in calculus before she brought an unconscious Scottish woman into the study hall.
Anna cocked and eyebrow and grinned again. "So you swing for the other team, huh?" She laughed and twirled a finger through Elsa's hair.
"No, no. Not like that." Elsa laughed it off and gave a small shrug. "I've never really been one for relationships in general. Male or female."
"Would you date the right female if she came up?" Anna asked as she dropped the strand of hair she was playing with.
Elsa shrugged again. "I mean, I wouldn't totally be opposed I guess. Love is love, right?" Although she wasn't too sure what love was after the discussion with her twin went south. She still loved Aleks without a doubt, but she couldn't help but feel hurt and a little betrayed from earlier.
Anna nodded. "You're right. I mean I wouldn't think of you any differently if you had a girlfriend or a boyfriend. I mean there's probably a lot of people out there who would look at you funny if you had a girlfriend because you know being openly gay or whatever is still kinda controversial for some people but I don't really understand that because nobody really has the right to tell you who you should or shouldn't lo-" She was cut off when Elsa placed a finger over her lips and stifled a laugh. "Rambling again." Anna shrugged and averted her gaze to a random spot on the floor. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry, it's cute." She removed her finger and couldn't help but beam when she found Anna staring up at her with a large grin on her face. "What's the smile for?"
"Do I need a reason to smile?" Anna spoke with a renewed vigor, as if there was a kind of hope that started to well up inside of her.
"I suppose not." Elsa commented as she reached behind Anna's head and took out the hair tie which was holding her bun up. Once the copper locks were free from their prison and cascaded over her shoulders, Elsa began twirling a finger through a strand. Her hair was still a little wet from Anna's shower that morning from being kept in a bun all day long.
A quizzical look grew on Anna's face as she looked up at the blonde and raised an eyebrow. "What's up with the hair thing?"
"You've done it to me on more than one occasion today, and I'd like to see what was so appeasing about it." Elsa said and continued to twirl a slender finger through the copper hair that cascaded down Anna's shoulders. Her eyes eventually found their way to the white strand of hair that was intertwined amongst the red. With a delicate touch she ran her fingers down it and brought it up to her face, inspecting the entire length from her scalp to the ends. "What's the story behind this, Anna?"
Anna shrugged and swept her hair behind her ear on the side Elsa wasn't messing with. "I'm not really sure. It's totally natural and I haven't seen anyone else with anything else like it."
Elsa ran her fingers through the snow white strand before returning it to it's proper area amongst the red and swept Anna's hair behind her ear. "I like it, it's something unique that sets you apart from everyone else."
"Do you rea-" Anna's words were cut off from a loud, monotonous and high pitched beeping that caused her to jump, sending her elbows straight into Elsa's thighs. "Sorry!" She yelled, trying to be louder than the loud beeping.
Elsa immediately and calmly recognized the black smoke coming off of the oven and shook her head with a small chuckle. "Your chicken is burning." She pointed towards the oven and couldn't help but smile at Anna scrambling to salvage any parts of the chicken she could. It wasn't hard for Elsa to find the source of the beeping, the fire alarm right above her next to the kitchen light. With a flick of the wrist, a blast of snow shot towards the alarm and immediately shut it off. Once the ringing in her ears stopped, she was a little worried to find Anna staring wide-eyed at the now silenced alarm.
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of you doing that." She muttered as she crossed her arms with a small chuckle. "But I don't think I'll be able to save much of this chicken..." Anna nodded towards the skillet on the counter, blackened and sticking bottom of the pan. "I mean, if you like jerk chicken then I guess it's good!"
Elsa worriedly rubbed her thumb against her palm and gave a nervous shrug. "I'm just glad you don't think I'm some kind of monster or something." She meekly commented, hoping Anna wouldn't take back on anything she said before. Although not entirely comfortable using her powers around Anna, she figured that she had no use in hiding it anymore. It wasn't long before she found Anna back at her original position, elbows on her thighs and head in her hands. It was clear at this point that the girl didn't have much of an idea about personal space. But with Anna, Elsa didn't mind too much. Although she did find herself stiffening up a little whenever she came close.
"Elsa." Anna said bluntly, staring at her with heartfelt eyes. "Just because you have super cool ice powers doesn't mean you're a monster." She smiled from ear to ear and chuckled a little. "See what I did there? Super 'cool' ice powers?"
Elsa could only shake her head but couldn't help but smile. "You hardly know me, Anna. How could you know what I'm capable of? Maybe I am a monster." She leaned her head back onto the cabinet and sighed.
"You're right, we've only known each other for roughly a week give or take." Elsa felt the pressure on her thighs disappear as Anna placed her hands on the back of her head and pulled her forward until they were to forehead to forehead. At this distance, Elsa could make out every detail of her turquoise eyes that were full of life. The joy Anna seemed to radiate coalesced in her eyes, and the dusting of freckles over her cheeks brilliantly accented that. "But just because you're a little more gifted than others doesn't change who you are. You decide who you are, not your powers." She was close enough that every breath she took tickled Elsa's lips, and there was a part of her that couldn't get enough of that. A part of her wanted Anna to go off on a ramble, just so she could continue to watch the movements her face made when she spoke and feel her breath on her lips.
"You don't know how hard it is, Anna. Constantly having to keep your emotions in control so that you don't end up freezing everything around you." Elsa's voice was waning and her eyes shot down as she struggled to find the words. "I never asked for this." She muttered, slumping her shoulders and letting out a deep sigh.
"Hey, now. You don't have to hide who you are around me." Anna smiled reassuringly.
"But-"
"No 'buts'. I'll always be right here for you, nothing can make me think any differently about you." Anna spoke with a confidence that Elsa hadn't seen in her throughout the short time they've known each other. When Elsa looked back up into Anna's widened eyes, she felt Anna's forehead wrinkle against her own as she raised her eyebrows. The smile across her lips caused Elsa's heart to skip a beat and she wasn't sure why. She felt accepted by Anna, wholly and completely. There was nowhere else she'd rather be at the current moment than staring inter her blue-green eyes as she simply smiled. A warmth spread across her chess and it wasn't long before she found herself returning the wide grin.
"Anna?" Elsa asked slowly as everything seemed to slow down and she suddenly became aware of everything. She got a whiff of the perfume Anna was wearing and the sweet, candy scent filled her nostrils and intoxicated her as she recognized the scent as cotton candy. She felt a lump in her throat as she felt the need to be close to the redhead.
"Yes?" Her reply came breathy and tickled Elsa's lips again, causing her stomach to both twist in knots and flutter with butterflies. Elsa's eyes involuntarily fluttered shut as she found herself leaning in closer to Anna and yearning to be close to her.
At the last possible moment, there was a knock on the door, causing both Anna and Elsa's eyes to shoot open. "I'll get that." Anna muttered, but didn't move. She continued to stare into blue eyes as if to milk every moment she could as she lingered. "I should get that." Anna said again as Elsa felt her trace her jawline with the back of her hand. Finally, Anna broke away and strode her way to the door, leaving Elsa in a daze.
Elsa sat there on the counter for a moment and wondered what just happened. One moment, she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown and then the next moment she was about to kiss her roommate. Who by all accounts was another female. And yet, it had felt so right and Elsa felt deprived as the moment was stolen. With a sigh, she hopped off the counter to see who was at the door. When she rounded the counter, a familiar accent graced her ears.
"Elsa! I never knew you lived right next to me!"
"Merida? What's going on?" Elsa asked as she joined Anna in the doorway.
"Well, I was just about to hop in the shower when I heard ye' fire alarm going off. So I dropped on by to make sure everything was peachy." She replied promptly and shrugged.
"You know her, Elsa?" Anna asked as she looked up at the blonde, who gave her a quick nod.
"Yes, I met her earlier this morning. Which reminds me." Elsa turned to look at Merida who was leaning up against the doorway. "How are you feeling?" Now that all the blood had been cleaned up and the swelling had died down, she looked much more presentable. Elsa was even able to recognize the light freckles on her red cheeks.
Merida lifted herself off of the doorway and extended her arms over her head in a deep stretch. "All n' all I'd say I'm alright. Nose is a little sore, though. But nothing I can't handle." She spoke with confidence as she waved Elsa off.
"What happened?" Anna asked, looking between the two with shifty eyes.
"I took a tumble down the stairs, that's it lass." She shrugged and drummed her fingers against her thighs. "Elsa helped me get back up on my feet. I'll tell ye' what though, her sis may be a ninny but Elsa has my respect." She nodded with a half smile.
The mention of her sister caused a lump to form in Elsa's throat and her stomach to drop, for a brief moment she had forgotten all about her. "Well I'm glad to hear that, and I apologize again on my sister's behalf."
Merida waved her off again. "It's alright, lassie. But I'll be on my way now, just wanted to make sure everything was alright."
"Sure you don't want any jerk chicken? It's what made the alarm go off." Anna mentioned lightheartedly as she giggled at the peculiar look Merida gave her.
"What's jerk chicken?" Merida asked with a face mixed with both disgust and curiosity. "Is it like jerkin' the chicken? Or however it's said over in this country?"
The naive comment induced a giggle fit between Anna and Elsa, much to Merida's confusion. When Elsa finally regained her composure, she crossed her arms and shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing, promise." She said as Merida could only shake her head and wave goodbye as she closed the door. But not before muttering something about how strange Americans were.
"Well she was fun." Anna commented as she turned around and made her way back to the kitchen to try and salvage anything she can from the chicken which was probably cold by now.
"I haven't a reason to think any less of her." Elsa said as she followed the redhead and leaned on the counter as she watched Anna make faces at the burnt chicken. There wasn't a whole lot that could be saved, most of them were blackened all the way through. "So chicken, huh?"
"How about we just warm up leftovers?" Anna suggested as she trashed the chicken and swung open the refrigerator door and made a face when she didn't see anything.
"Ate the leftovers for breakfast, didn't you?" Elsa asked, but she already knew the answer.
"Yup." With a sigh, she shut the door and joined Elsa in leaning on the counter. "We could always go out and get something."
"Anna, where could we go at-" Elsa stopped for a moment to look at the time on the oven, and shook her head when she found out. "-6:30 pm that isn't going to be packed on a Monday night?"
"Well, is the cafeteria still serving food?"
Elsa cocked an eyebrow and shot a look at the redhead beside her. "I think I'd rather eat my shoe." She said sarcastically, but that didn't change the meaning behind the statement.
"How do you want it cooked? Well done, medium, rare...?" Anna asked with a small smile, and Elsa could only shake her head and give a small chuckle at her humor.
"Does pizza deliver here?"
Anna's eyes shot open as if she dawned upon a realization and grabbed Elsa by the shoulders. "Yes! That's a great idea!" She was nearly squealing.
With her brain still rattling inside her skull from the jostling from Anna, Elsa regained her bearings and scratched the back of her head. "Passionate about your pizza, huh?"
"It's just the perfect solution! Oh, man it's been a long time since I've had pizza. I remember one time, Rapunzel and I ordered pizza when I was spending the weekend at her house and we waited until like 3 am but the pizza never showed, and boy we were getting stir crazy because we were hungry and tired and wanted pizza! So we ended up trying to make our own pizza and I mean it was okay but it wasn't-"
Elsa could only smile as Anna continued her rambling about her home made pizza, she ended up blocking out her rambling and focusing purely on her mannerisms. She noticed that Anna spoke with her hands a lot more than the average person, she was constantly waving around her arms to tell her stories. When she got really excited about something, she would be even more animated. It was a lot to take in, but there was an adorable quality about it Elsa thought. Elsa's eyes widened when she finally made a realization amongst Anna's rambling.
"-And I have no clue about how she got her foot stuck in the toilet-"
"Did you say Rapunzel?" Elsa butted in, causing Anna to completely freeze and give her a weird look.
"Uh, yeah, she's my cousin. Haven't I told you that?" Anna brushed back a strand of hair behind her ear as she pulled out her phone and started to look up the number of the local pizza place.
"I met her this morning! She was the one who carried Merida into the study hall!" Elsa said excitedly as she made her way around the counter and hopped up on it, secretly hoping Anna would join her in her previous position.
Anna's eyes shot up from her phone as she gave a small chuckle. "What? No way, are you sure it was my Rapunzel?"
"Anna," Elsa started, raising her eyebrow and shaking her head. "How many people have the name Rapunzel?"
Anna took a moment to think that through and eventually shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. That actually makes a lot of sense considering the story she told me earlier about finding a woman passed out on the bottom of the stairs." She walked around the counter and leaned against the sink opposite of Elsa before looking back down at her phone in search of the number for pizza. "Was it Merida she found?"
"Yeah, the entire situation is kind of a mess." Elsa admitted. Which was true, the whole thing between the Scottish woman and her sister made both her head and her heart hurt. She was glad Merida is relatively unharmed, but wondered where she sat with her sister. Elsa didn't regret anything she had said, Aleks was completely reckless with using her powers over something so petty.
"I found the number, what do you like on your 'za?" Anna asked as she stuck out her tongue and licked her bottom lip, shaking Elsa from her thoughts.
"I'm not picky. I'll be okay with whatever you want to order."
"Looks like we're getting everything!" Anna quickly tapped the numbers onto her phone with a large grin on her face. "Except for mushrooms." She stuck out her tongue again and faked a gag in disgust. "Don't want those slimy little heathens ruining a good pizza." She brought the phone up to her ear before excusing herself from the kitchen and into the hallway. Elsa didn't really find the purpose in that, as she could still hear her loud and clear from her position in the kitchen.
When she returned, she confidently strode into the kitchen and greeted Elsa with a large grin. "They must be pretty close, it'll only be about fifteen minutes. The guy on the other end sounded pretty cute too!" Anna stuck her phone back in her pocket and before Elsa could respond, she already opened her mouth to talk again. "I'm going to hop in the shower real quick, you mind keeping an eye out for the pizza guy?"
Elsa shook her head and with that, Anna was on her way to the bathroom. Once she heard the click of the door shutting, she slumped her shoulders and sighed. She felt something, but she wasn't too sure what. When Anna called the voice cute, she felt her stomach tense up and it almost felt as if her heart dropped. Was it possible that she was jealous? But jealous of what? She couldn't quite figure it out, but all she knew is that she craved to be close to Anna all of a sudden. She wondered if she would let her braid her hair once she got out of the shower. After running her fingers through her own hair, Elsa decided it would probably best to get a shower herself after her roommate.
Hopping off of the counter, she traveled to the living room and sat down on the couch. The small snowman from earlier was still staring straight at her with it's little button eyes. She sat forward and gingerly picked it up as to not disturb a single snowflake that made up it's body. Although the eyes were inanimate, Elsa still saw life in them. Grape vine arms and pencil led smile just completed the entire package. A few stray snowflakes from the cloud descended onto Elsa's hand and quickly melted, but she appreciated the cool breeze that came with it. Although such a small gesture, the snowman brought a warmth in Elsa's heart that she hadn't felt before.
"I think..." Elsa said softly, speaking to herself. She nudged on one of the grape vine arms tenderly to mimic a small wave. "I think I'll call you Olaf." She smiled to herself and ran her fingers through her hair as she continued to stare into the button eyes. Her stomach was filled to the brim with butterflies and she felt herself start to tear up as she placed the snowman back down on the table and wiped her eyes. She still wasn't too sure what she was feeling, but she liked it. She liked the feeling she got around Anna, and she didn't want to stop feeling it. A knock on the door brought her from her thoughts as she stood up and looked through the small peephole.
A tall, blonde man stood on the other side. The logo on the visor he was wearing coupled with the large bag proved that he was delivering the pizza, and Elsa was nearly taken back by how quickly he arrived. Just as Elsa was about to open the door, she saw the man stick his finger into his nose. Then ate it. Slightly disgusted, she nearly gagged as she collected herself and opened the door.
"I thought you guys would take about fifteen minutes?" She asked, although certainly not angry that the pizza arrived earlier than expected. "It's been like six or seven tops."
"Yeah, well we're literally right next to the campus." He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "And plus this pizza was already made, we just had to warm it up real quick."
Anna was right earlier, the man did have a cute voice as much as Elsa hated to admit. She nearly felt insignificant in his presence considering how bulky the man was. He spoke as if he was already bored with not only her, but just absolutely everything in general. "It's going to be $14.99, ma'am."
"For one pizza?" Elsa was taken back in shock.
"With everything on it? Yeah. $14.99, lady." He extended his hand and opened his palm, flexing his fingers and waiting for the payment.
With a groan, Elsa walked over to the couch where her purse still laid and pulled out her wallet. The smallest denomination she had was a twenty, and although she loathed to give the man nearly a six dollar tip, it was all she had. She walked back over to the large man and nearly slapped the bill into his greedy palm. "Keep the change..." She gazed at the name tag on the man's shirt. "Kristoff."
"Don't mind if I do." He said with a cocky tone as he stuffed the bill into his pocket and pulled out the pizza box from the large bag he was carrying. He handed the box to Elsa and folded up the bag before placing it under his arm. With a mock salute he nodded and took his leave.
"Well, he's kind of an ass." Elsa muttered before she shut the door, apparently louder than she had thought when she was surprised to hear his response from down the hall.
"Thank you!" The sarcastic tone nearly made Elsa cringe.
"Shut up ye' ninny!" The accent told Elsa exactly who that was.
"Yes ma'am!" Kristoff's reply was barely within earshot the further he went down the hall, but loud enough to make Elsa roll her eyes.
Elsa turned and walked towards the counter, placing the pizza box on top of it and opening it, she was drooling by the time she laid her eyes on the Italian jewel. In all honesty, it probably looked like garbage with the plethora of toppings on it. Before she could even get the first bite in her mouth, her ear drums were nearly busted from the loud squealing from Anna as the entered the kitchen with her braided hair still dripping with water from the shower. Elsa felt a tinge of disappointment in seeing this, she was looking forward to asking Anna if she could braid her hair. Anna nearly dashed to get her hands on a piece, but was denied with Elsa swooped up the box and held it just out of her reach.
"Elsaaaa, come on!" Anna groaned as she kept trying to reach over the blonde to the pizza, but the blonde's slight height advantage kept her mere inches away.
"I had to pay for it, you think I'll just pay for a meal to share without a pickup line or anything?" She teased with a smug grin as she tantalizingly shook the box, causing the pizza to rustle and Anna fail to grab it once again.
Anna rolled her eyes and groaned, backing off and slumping her shoulders in defeat. "Are you really going to do this to me?"
Elsa gave a quick nod which came with another smug grin. "You did it to me." She said simply as she bit into a slice, making sure Anna saw.
"Ugh, fine." Anna muttered as she leaned up against the counter and swiped her hand in front of her face as if to change her persona. "So." She started with a sly wink, much to Elsa's amusement. "Have you been sitting in sugar?" The smoothness in her voice was completely uncharacteristic of Anna, and it honestly surprised Elsa. The confidence alone that laced her voice was enough to keep Elsa's attention.
"Uh, no. Can't say I have." Elsa commented as she took another bite.
"Really? Cause you have a pretty sweet ass." She winked again, and puckered her lips as she brought her eyebrows together. Elsa couldn't tell if she was being serious or kidding around since she added the face, but the comment was enough to cause a deep red blush spread across her face as her eyes widened. Without saying a word, she hastily passed the pizza box to the redhead. It felt like her heartbeat nearly doubled in tempo and she suddenly felt as if the air around her grew thicker.
Anna immediately dropped the face and traded it for a large grin as she snatched the pizza box. "I knew the lessons I took from Eugene would come in handy one day!" She stuffed nearly half a slice in her mouth as she hopped up on the counter, swinging her feet in a childlike glee. Elsa was still standing still in both blush and shock when she noticed Anna look over and cover her full mouth as she giggled.
"Trying to tell me nobody has complimented 'dat ass' of yours?" Anna commented nonchalantly as she stuffed the other half in her mouth.
Once Elsa was finally able to control the raging blush on her face and move, she shook out of her daze and heard Anna hum to herself as she ate. "Uh, no." She said shyly as she joined Anna on the counter and picked up a slice. She nearly fell over when Anna playfully shoved her with her elbow.
"So, I'm the first?" Anna asked nearly in disbelief, and the innocence of the question caused a smile to tug at the corner of Elsa's mouth.
"Yeah, you are actually." Elsa muttered as she silently took a small bite of the pizza in her hand. Because of how introverted she always was, she never allowed anyone to get close enough to actually compliment her. Whenever somebody did, she was either too afraid to even notice them or Aleks would scare them off. She was kidding around with Anna, and didn't expect the joke to effect her as it has. Even after the moment has passed, Elsa still felt her heart beating a little faster than normal.
"Well, you do." Anna quickly said, which caused Elsa to look over at her and give her a look. "Have a nice butt, I mean-" Anna swallowed her bite and shrugged. "Not that I look or anything, but you know sometimes it's just hard not to look down when you're walking behind somebody and I don't do it on purpose and it just happens and sometimes I find myself looking for a little longer than what's probably normal, and by a little I mean a lot and sometimes I just completely zone out and forget everything that's being said and-" She was cut off when Elsa placed her finger over her lips again.
"Thank you, I guess." Elsa meekly replied as she stared at the floor under her. The steady beating of Anna's heels against the drawers was the only sound for awhile. But, Elsa didn't mind it. Although slightly uncomfortable at the moment, she still enjoyed being next to the redhead. Awkward glances through the corner of their eyes were the only acknowledgment of each other. But suddenly, the days events started to weigh on Elsa. The deep breath she took broke the silence and alerted Anna, who shifted her eyes over towards her. She hopped off of the counter and turned to look at the redhead who had pizza crust stuffed in her mouth.
"I'm going to get a shower. Chess afterward?" Elsa asked, and the small noise from Anna was enough affirmation for Elsa. As she made her way to the bathroom, the days events started to run through her mind again. Except this time, she was actually proud of herself. She managed to make two friends completely on her own, and get some kind of independence from her sister. Aleks. A part of her missed her twin, but in the long run the distance between them would be beneficial for both of them. She hoped.
Elsa decided not to mull over that for a moment, and as the bathroom door clicked shut, she let out a sigh and began to undress. By the time she removed her shirt and bra, she found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror. Thick blonde hair fell down her shoulders and easily reached her waist. Remembering what Anna said earlier, it was hard for her to imagine her hair being white. It was an oddity that intrigued her, but she had no way of replicating it. And she definitely didn't think freezing the entire bathroom to replicate the day's earlier events would be a smart idea. She found herself staring at the mirror again once she got her pants off, this time at her rear. Elsa wasn't sure if Anna was being completely serious with that pick up line, or if she was just being Anna. But looking at her rear which was still covered with her purple underwear, she didn't notice anything special about it. Elsa shrugged it off and sat on the side of the tub, turning the nozzle to start the stream of water falling from the faucet. She played with the nozzle until she found a comfortable temperature and pulled up the tab to start the shower.
Anna awkwardly continued to swing her feet on the counter, slightly jolting whenever her heels would hit the wooden cabinets below her. Chewing on a slice of pizza, she continued to enjoy herself contently until she heard the click of the bathroom door closing.
My roommate has ice powers.
She swallowed her bite of pizza and took another, not even bothering to pick up the sausage that fell onto her lap.
It was bad enough that she was beautiful, smart, funny, adorable and plain drop dead sexy. Anna tossed the crust back into the now empty pizza box as she picked up the fallen piece of sausage and plopped it into her mouth. Legitimate super hero powers.
Now that she thought about it, Anna realized just how strange that is. She was no stranger to powers in fiction due to the fact she often occupied her time back at home with Marvel and DC movies, and even owned a couple comic books that she was able to borrow from Rapunzel with no intention of returning. But seeing it in real life was a completely different situation. Oddly though, she meant every word she said to the blonde. She didn't see her much different. If anything, it only made Anna more attracted to her because it added a whole new layer to the blonde. Although she couldn't help but be curious about the entire situation when she walked in.
The snowman!
Hopping off the counter, the redhead stumbled as she strode over to the couch and nearly missed the cushion when she sat down. She caught her breath and leaned forward towards the small snowman that still sat on the coffee table. Anna got close enough to where she could feel the slight breeze that came off of the cloud that still hung suspended across the tiny head. This is seriously the coolest thing I've seen in my life. She couldn't help but snicker to herself. Cool! Ha, you're so funny, Anna. She extended her hand in between the small head and the cloud, collecting a small pile of snowflakes in her palm. Retracting her arm and bringing her hand close to her face, she inspected the pile as close as she could. It certainly felt like snow, and was just as cold as snow. By the time it melted in her hand, she had no doubt in her mind that it was definitely real.
But how does she do it? She crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back in thought. Was she born with it? Or what if she's some crazy government experiment? That's kinda hot, actually. On one hand, she wanted to interrogate Elsa and find out all she could out of genuine curiosity. But, she wasn't sure if it would be the smartest idea to push and prod her already. Elsa would eventually have to tell her one way or another she figured.
She was jostled from her thoughts when 'Get the Party Started' by P!nk started to blare from the kitchen. It was hard for Anna to resist singing along to the chorus as she walked back to the kitchen and picked up her phone. She allowed herself a guilty pleasure as she sang along to the next couple of words before answering the call.
"What's up, Rapunzel?" She asked as she leaned back onto the counter and made a mental note to clean up the water that had collected on the floor underneath the still partially frozen fire detector.
"Who's your crush?" She replied from the other end of the phone quickly and direct, voice laced with excitement.
"That's for me to know and you to find out." Anna said with a chuckle as she pressed her phone between her cheek and shoulder, picked up a wash cloth from the sink and knelt down to wipe up the growing puddle of water.
"C'mon, Anna-banana! You're no fun." Despite not being in front of her, Anna could tell Rapunzel probably had her shoulders slumped just from the tone in her voice.
"I'm the funnest person you know, what are you talking about?" She replied as she finished up wiping the puddle and tossed the wash cloth over her shoulder, hoping it landed in the sink.
"Will you at least give me any hints? I'm over here practically dying of curiosity." Rapunzel pleaded.
Remembering her conversation with Elsa earlier after Merida knocked at the door, she knew just the hint to give her cousin. "You've met her." Anna said as she stood back up and found that the wash cloth had ended up in the cabinet she couldn't reach with the cinnamon that was still next to the oven from earlier. That's just going to stay there for now.
"Recently?" Her cousin asked from the other end, voice uplifted in curiosity.
"Maybe, maybe not." Anna smiled to herself when her cousin let out a sigh of frustration from the other end. "But, things are going really well with her." She couldn't help the grin that grew across her face when she remembered the distance, or lack of distance rather, between them before Merida knocked at the door.
"Oh? You're not hiding this one from me, Aren."
"We may or may not sorta kinda almost kissed."
"I literally just found out a few hours ago that you were into girls, and now you're off kissing them?" Anna wasn't sure if Rapunzel sounded excited or disappointed from the increase of volume in her voice.
"Almost! We didn't actually kiss or anything."
"Well, what stopped you?"
"A knock at the do-" Anna was cut off from a knock at the door. She tapped her knuckles against the wooden counter. Knock on wood. "-I'll talk to you later, Punzpunz. Somebody is at the door." Anna ended the call before her cousin had a chance to rebut and walked towards the door. It's like- She looked over her shoulder, but was too far away to see the clock on the oven. Past dinner-ish time probably. Who comes knocking on people's doors at this time of dinner-ish time? She rose to her toes as she looked through the small peephole and was immediately taken back. She would recognize the black hair anywhere. What? Why? Why are you here? Please let this be a figment of my imagination. If not that, maybe somebody spiked the pizza and I'm seeing things.
Anna felt her heart begin to race as she frantically looked behind her, hoping to see Elsa on her way out of the shower. She felt her stomach drop when all she saw was the empty hall as she took a deep breath and grasped the door handle. Both mentally and physically preparing herself, for what she wasn't sure, she turned the handle and swung the door open.
"Hey, how ya doin'? Please don't punch me in the face, it finally isn't sore anymore and I ju-" She exhaled her breath and any anxiety she was feeling suddenly washed away when she noticed the girl's red face and puffed up eyes. "What's wrong? Do you need me to get Elsa for you?" Anna asked with both genuine care and curiosity when the mention of Elsa's name caused the girl to wince and eyes glaze over with fresh tears.
"No. I don't think she wants to see me and quite frankly, I don't blame her." Aleks replied weakly, never looking up from the floor. "I-" She let out a quick sigh and raised her shoulders in a small shrug. "I came to see you, actually."
"What for?" Anna asked, leaning up against the door frame. The knot in her stomach slowly loosened. I already like this version of her much better.
"To apologize." Aleks muttered as she wiped at an eye. "I'm not asking for forgiveness, but I'm sorry for punching you in the face." She wiped her other eye. "And for making you cry."
Kind of funny how this kind of stuff goes full circle eventually. Anna wasn't sure why, but the woman barely standing in front of her seemed completely broken. The small sniffles that came from her actually managed to pull at her heartstrings a bit. Anna wanted to snap, to yell at Aleks and demand her to beg for forgiveness. But she couldn't. Not while she was in front of her like this. The best she could do was keep her cool and definitely not mention the fact she knew about Elsa's powers. Judging by how defensive Aleks was of her twin, feigning ignorance was probably a smart idea.
"I'm used to it. You didn't tell me anything I didn't know." Anna shrugged, only halfway kidding.
"What do you mean?" Aleks muttered as she finally raised her head back up, the wet streak running down the sides of her face caught the light from the kitchen and Anna could almost see her reflection in them.
"I've always been the underdog, never really memorable or achieving anything great. Always the under-achiever." Staring off into the distance, Anna managed to fight back the growing pressure behind her eyes. "But nobody ever put it as blunt as you have." She wasn't sure why she was telling her former aggressor all of this, but she was. Remembering the assault from Aleks, Anna felt her chest starting to constrict as if something was wrapped around her.
"I know it's pretty fucking low of me to ask you to do something for me-" She slowly rubbed the back of her neck and let out another sigh. "Could you tell my sister something?"
Shaken from her own self pity, Anna shifted her gaze from the distance until she once again realized the broken, pitiful excuse for a bully drooped in front of her. No. "Yeah?"
"Tell her-" A sniffle cut her off as she raised her hands to cover her mouth, and her eyes were clenched shut in a feeble attempt to stop the new stream of tears falling from her face. Letting out the breath she was holding, she tried her best to collect herself. "Tell her that I'm not sorry for what I've done. But, I'm sorry for keeping it from her."
And with that, she dashed off around the corner and Anna was left feeling completely dumfounded in the doorway. She had absolutely no clue what she was talking about, but she pitied her. Closing the door behind her, Anna slowly made her way to the couch and pulled her knees up towards her chin. Resting her head on her knees, she was filled with only more questions. Why was she crying? What happened between her and Elsa? What made her apologize? Why did Anna not yell at her? What did she keep from Elsa? As these questions swam around her mind, she realized that she was into something deeper than she could imagine.
Stepping out of the shower after she finished, Elsa grabbed the nearest towel, bent over, and wrapped her hair. When she stood back up she couldn't help but giggle at her reflection when she saw the horrible job she did in wrapping her hair. Strands of wet hair were sticking out every which way from underneath the towel and into her face. She let out a puff of air trying to rid her vision of a few stray strands, but only made it worse as more wet hair was sticking to her face. Elsa shrugged it off as she reached towards the counter, only to be shocked when she only felt the cool surface. There was a disturbing lack of fabric as she mentally cursed to herself for forgetting clothes.
Picking up a second towel and wrapping around her body, she boldly opened the bathroom door and was somewhat surprised to see only darkness in front of her. Shrugging it off, Elsa dashed across the hallway and successfully made it to her room, nearly slamming the door behind her. Deciding to spoil herself for the night, she opened the closet and pulled out her favorite set of purple pajamas. Although the plaid design on them wasn't flattering at all, it was comfortable and that's all that really mattered to her at the moment.
After dressing herself and fixing her hair into her all too familiar braid, she opened her door and looked both ways down the dark hallway. She had promised Anna a chess match and she intended to see it through. She crossed the hallway and lightly tapped her knuckles against Anna's door. When she didn't hear anything, she pressed her ear against the cool wood of the door. Still not hearing anything, she slumped her shoulders but was suddenly perked back up when she heard a soft sniffle coming from the living room. And suddenly she was reminded of her first night in the dorm, and how she couldn't bring herself to turn the knob and enter Anna's room when she heard a familiar sniffle. But things were different know. She knew the girl a little better, and was willing to indulge her curiosity this time. With a light stride, she made her way through the darkness until she was able to make out the soft form of the couch. Slowly making her way across the arm of the couch, she slowly lowered herself onto the hopefully empty cushion. The soft sniffles were all Elsa needed to know that Anna was beside her, even if she couldn't see her.
"Hey." Elsa whispered, trying her best not to startle the redhead. All she heard was a shuffle on the cushion beside her for a response. Elsa waited for a moment, but when she didn't hear anything more she decided to try again. "I'm going to move until you talk to me." She had raised her voice slightly until it was barely a whisper anymore.
Another sniffle, and another shuffling.
"Aleks showed up while you were showering." Anna muttered, voice shaky and varied between a whisper and a soft mewling. It sounded as if her face was buried in something, and Elsa could barely hear her.
Elsa felt her palms start to sweat and her heart race. Her mind was full of possibilities of what her sister could have said to her vulnerable roommate. A small fire also began to burn inside her chest as she was slightly angered that Aleks even had the audacity to show up. "What did she want?" Elsa asked bluntly, demanding an answer.
"She told me to tell you-" Elsa heard Anna let out a breath as she heard another shuffle. Her voice suddenly became clearer, indicative that she removed whatever was covering her face. "That she wasn't sorry for what she did, but sorry she kept it from you."
Father.
The small flame in her chest was instantly extinguished as the thought brought nothing but sadness towards her. Elsa felt her heart drop and a small lump form in her throat. She couldn't fault Aleks for her actions, in hindsight it was probably the best thing to do at the time. But still, Elsa thought it could have been resolved in a different manner that didn't end in murder. A small part of her felt calmed in hearing that Aleks apologized from keeping it from her all these years, but the pain and feeling of betrayal was still there. But at that moment, she missed her mother.
"I don't know what happened between you two, but she seems to be taking it a whole lot worse than you." Anna softly added. "She was barely able to talk before crying again."
The new knowledge was like a dagger right in the heart. She knew Aleks was hurt, but if she was willing to talk to Anna of all people, and if she looked shaken up like Anna described, she knew it had to be bad. Elsa was shaken from her thoughts when Anna spoke again.
"I couldn't be mad at her for what she did to me that day I met you two. After all, she was right."
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked.
"I am a failure. As much as I didn't want to believe it, she only made it clear what I had been trying to deny." She sniffled again and Elsa felt the couch shake slightly. "I couldn't even make fajitas earlier without accidentally making jerk chicken!"
The blonde wasn't entirely too sure where Anna was coming from, but she knew she wasn't exactly coming from sunshine and rainbows at the moment. "Anna, for one thing you aren't a failure." She extended her arm and hoped to find her shoulder to add to the reassurance, but she wasn't exactly sure what her hand found. But it was pleasing to the touch, firm and yet soft at the same time. Elsa assumed she found her cheek.
"Elsa, that's my boob."
She couldn't pull her arm back quick enough, before nervously trying to laugh it off. "Tried to find your shoulder, sorry." Elsa felt the blush instantly grow across her face, if Anna could see her she would probably laugh and say she looked like a ripened cherry. Feeling Anna's hand grab her wrist, she was guided to her shoulder. The fabric underneath slightly wet with what she assumed were tears in the darkness. How Anna managed to get tears on her shoulder was beyond her. "Thanks. Anyway, you aren't a failure. And I cannot describe to you how much I appreciate this little friendship we've formed." Elsa continued, trying not to sound condescending and as reassuring as possible. "You remember how reserved I was the first night I came to you and we played in chess? That's how I always was, even to family save for Aleks. I don't know what it is about you, but now that we've spent time together and you know about my secret, I feel completely safe and secure around you." The words she was speaking were the complete and honest truth. Elsa actually had a hard time finding the correct words to portray exactly how she felt. "You've done for me what even therapists couldn't. You've taught me that not everyone out there is trying to hurt me." Finding herself smiling when she felt Anna's hand softly lay on top of hers, she found the confidence she needed to continue talking. "Today I managed not only to make two new acquaintances, but I managed to make my way through crowded halls and even stand up to Aleks. All that was possible after just a few days knowing you."
"Is that why Aleks seemed to shaken up?" Anna asked, the normal cheeriness to her voice was back and it brought a warmth to Elsa's heart.
"In a way, yes. And don't worry about the chicken, you were a little preoccupied at the time." The memory only made the warmth in Elsa's heart grow, and she still wasn't sure why.
"What was that about, Elsa?" The cheeriness in her voice started to shake, threatening to return to the solemn tone she had just gotten out of.
"I don't know, Anna." Elsa admitted. "But I liked it."
"I did too." Anna replied, and although she couldn't see it, Elsa could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"Is it wrong that I want to do it again?" Elsa unknowingly asked out loud. When she realized what she blurted out, she shifted uncomfortably in the awkward silence that followed. Growing self-conscious, she felt Anna grab her hand when she tried to remove it from her shoulder.
Seconds turned to minutes as she continued to shift uncomfortably in the silence. She wished Anna would say something. Anything at this point, even if she was going to ramble about how she sweats in her sleep or making pizza with Rapunzel.
She was jostled from her thoughts when she felt a hand on the back of her head softly pull her towards the darkness, and when the warmth of Anna's forehead was pushed up against hers, her nostrils were filled with the same scent from earlier. Her heart skipped another beat as she craved that sweet scent of what she assumed to be cotton candy, she craved it and she needed more of it.
"Thank you, Elsa." Anna whispered, which sent the same chills from earlier down Elsa's spine when she felt Anna's breath tickle her lips.
"Anna-" Elsa was cut off when Anna pulled her closer and their lips met. There wasn't a single thought running through her mind, all she knew at that moment was the soft, tender feel of the redhead's lips against her own which tasted just as sweet as she smelt. When Anna backed up, Elsa tried to follow her and to linger on her lips for just a moment more.
"I'm sorry, Elsa. You just make me feel so much better about myself and you're funny, smart, beautiful, caring, and just ugh, the whole package! And I try my best not to seem like a total fool but I always end up tripping up, rambling, or just making myself look worse in the process and I've lik-"
Elsa cut her off when she leaned forward and placed her lips back onto Anna's, successfully quieting her without a problem. Her cravings to be close to the girl were finally fulfilled, and she finally understood exactly how Anna made her feel. And for the first time in forever, she felt like she was where she was exactly supposed to be.