Chapter 7 - A Double Date… But Not Really
Lunch breaks were always tough for Anna to get through at her new job. They were so short and Anna barely had time to eat her sandwiches, let alone get to the chocolate bars she had snuck with her to work every day. What was worse was that the break room was so cramped, so tiny. There were only a few chairs around the inside of the room, a table and a water cooler.
Anna wasn't claustrophobic or anything like that, but even she felt uncomfortable in such a tiny place. Thankfully today, she was the only one in the room. There had been many a day now where Anna had to put up with another person in her, usually eating noisily.
Didn't help much that summer was starting to roll in and several people were sweating quite badly. Anna thought she would have to bring a nose peg one of these days.
By some sheer act of amazement, today Anna had been able to eat all of her lunch. Turns out scoffing it all down in one big go really did help in situations, although Anna was starting to feel queasy. As she distracted herself by looking at her phone, she suddenly saw a notification pop up on the screen.
It was a message, one that simply read, "Korra Waters is calling."
She hadn't heard the sound of her ringtone, having been told to mute it by her supervisor some days earlier. But it was in the quiet break room and Korra probably only wanted to chat.
Korra was Anna's friend from College, the two of them having met by going to the same studies groups. While Anna had been studying history, Korra had been more into religion and spiritual studies, as well as martial arts. Korra was probably the strongest woman she had ever met and didn't want to be on the end of one of her punches.
Walking to the corner of the room, Anna dialled the number and held her phone to her ear. She probably only had a few minutes, but Anna had gotten good at sneaking away from her counter to talk on the phone. After all, no one bought anything from her department anyway.
The redhead listened closely, hearing the dialling and buzzing of the phone before a deep but friendly sounding voice on the other end of the line.
"Hello? Hello?"
Anna smiled. "Hey, Korra. It's been a while."
"Anna!" The voice said excitedly. "It's good to hear from you as well! I heard you got a new place down in... what was the city you and Kristina are living in now?"
"Newbury," Anna stated. "I've actually moved out of Kristina's place now. I was kinda getting a bit cramped there for the few weeks I was there."
"Oh, you've got your own place now? Wow, Anna, I'm surprised," Korra remarked. "Especially in this day and age, girls our age are lucky to afford an apartment."
Anna laughed. "Yeah, that's true. I'm actually living in this really old looking house right now. It was surprising that I could find it so cheap... well, I only paid half, my folks paid the rest."
"Oh right yeah! I think you mentioned that to me in a text," Korra replied. "Sorry, I'm kinda forgetful in my old age."
"Korra, you're only three years older than me," Anna pointed out, sniggering. "So...what's the occasion?"
"'Sami and I are coming to your city for a few days," Anna's friend explained. "Her dad's company is looking to set up some new office there or something, but she figured we should go see the city. I thought you might wanna meet up and hang out with us."
"I'd love to!" Anna cheered. "It's been ages since I had a girls night out with... well any one of my friends." She laughed.
"Awesome!" Korra exclaimed. "Oh... and maybe I can find you a girlfriend as well. I mean, if I can pick up Asami Sato, I can pair you off with someone cute."
Suddenly, a deep blush crept on Anna's cheeks. While she knew Korra had noble intentions, it was probably not best for Anna to try seeing anyone, especially since she was enjoying Elsa's company all too much lately.
"Um... Korra, maybe not that last part, please," Anna stated.
"Why?" Korra inquired, before sort of getting the point. "Oooohhh, I see... you have someone don't you. What's her name?"
Anna blushed deeper. "Well, her name is Elsa and-"
"Great! She can come too! I'll see you guys tomorrow night then, take care!"
"B-but-" Before Anna could say anything else, Korra had hung up and the low dial tone of the line was ringing in the redhead's ears. This had just gone from bad to worse.
A date?! With Elsa?! What the hell was Korra thinking?! Anna's mind was going in all sorts of crazy directions. Her friend hadn't even given her a chance to explain and Anna didn't want to make her feel bad by letting her know she wasn't in a relationship right now.
She sighed and rubbed her head. She knew exactly what she needed to talk to Elsa when she got home, and prayed she would see reason.
The fate of Anna's world, it seemed, depended on it.
xXx
Sometime later, in 18th century Arendelle, Queen Elsa was in her study, working on paperwork. She had been taking it easy the past few days, having felt her current workload (and growing feelings for her new friend Anna) becoming a little too much to handle.
Sighing, she glanced at the still massive pile of paperwork she had to go through. There was still so much to be done. Perhaps Elsa could hire an assistant to help with this stuff? No, she couldn't let anyone else's agenda affect her kingdom, even it was sending her anxiety through the roof.
It also didn't help that her new friend was constantly on her mind now. Anna may have only been a door and 200 years away, but Elsa was starting to feel lonely without her.
Elsa found it impossible to fully assess the extent of her feelings. Perhaps there was some light attraction, but she knew it couldn't be more than that. They were so different. Elsa was closed off, Anna was more open, but yet she saw impressive qualities in the young redhead.
From her keen knowledge of her era to the way she always brought a smile to her face, Anna had practically changed her whole world these past two weeks. Even her servants, most notably her butler Kai had noticed a change in Elsa since she had met Anna.
As she finished signing her name on one last document, however, there was a knock at her study door. Elsa sighed and rubbed her eyes before answering. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Milady," Kai called to her. "Miss Penrose is here to see you. She says it's rather urgent."
Elsa's eyes perked up and a few of the bangs on her fringe stood on end. Was there something wrong with Anna? Could she have been hurt? Elsa didn't know, but part of her was telling her to do the best she could do.
"Send her in," Elsa said, putting down her quill.
The door to the room opened up and Kai guested for Elsa's guest to enter the room. As if on cue, Anna darted into the room in her green dress, eyes fraught with slight worry. "Elsa! Elsa!"
"Anna, what's wrong?" Elsa wondered with slight concern, as she sent Kai away with a wave of her hand. "Has something happened?"
Blushing awkwardly, Anna spoke again. "Well... sort of." She then sat in front of Elsa. "It's kind of a long story, really."
"I'm alright with long stories," Elsa pointed out, smiling and trying to assure Anna's fears. "I'm a very good listener."
Her friend took a deep breath and began her tale. "Okay... so my friend Korra is in town with her new girlfriend Asami and they asked me if I wanted to hang out with them, which of course I said yes to because they're my friends and it's been freaking ages since I last went out with anyone because I've been spending my time lately between you, my new house and my new job, which is frankly terrible and awful by the way and-"
Elsa put her finger on Anna's lips, gesturing for her to shush. Clearly, Anna was one who couldn't shut up when she was worried and situations like this needed clear logical thinking.
"Anna, take it slowly," Elsa spoke, in a calm, almost motherly tone. "What exactly is the problem here?"
The girl took another deep breath before she finally got the point. "Okay... so when Korra asked me to hang out, I might have mentioned you to her."
Eyes wide, Elsa stared at Anna. "What did you tell her?"
"Nothing! Nothing I swear!" Anna promised. "Hell, I didn't even get a chance to tell her anything about you aside from your name."
"Then what does it have to do with me?"
And finally came the awkward part, the part Anna had been dreading to mention for the entire conversation.
"She thinks we're dating," the redhead finally blurted out. "So she wants it to be a double date, with me and you and her and Asami."
The Queen took a moment to breathe before she replied with an awkward, blush filled, "I'm sorry, wait what?"
Anna sighed, before staring Elsa directly in the eyes, sitting in front of her. "She wants you to come with me tomorrow night. Now, I know you said you didn't wanna go out with me in my time because you were scared of the space-time continuum and such, but please... please, Elsa."
"But we aren't dating," Elsa excused, trying to downplay the unexpectedness of it all.
"I know," Anna told her, begging. "But, Elsa, I can't show her up like this. Please, you have to pretend to be my girlfriend."
A soft unexpected blush crept over Elsa's cheeks. The word girlfriend was sounding strangely appealing to Elsa, and she wanted to help Anna as much as she could. There was a lot of advantages, but part of Elsa was still worried.
But then, she saw the almost puppy-like gaze in Anna's eyes and she knew, at that moment there and then, she had only one possible answer.
With a sigh, she gave in. "Alright... I'll do this for you. It... actually might be fun, but we do it on one condition."
"Name it," Anna replied. "I'll do literally anything."
"If you're dragging me out into your kingdom, then I'm taking you out of your time for a few days to explore my kingdom," Elsa made her terms. Both of them knew that if the other was out of their own time, their era would move very slowly, so Anna being away for a few days wouldn't be much of a bother.
With a kind heart, Anna shook Elsa's hand. "Queenie, you got yourself a deal and... thank you."
Elsa smiled. "You're welcome, Miss Penrose."
xXx
The next morning, Elsa came over to Anna's time, deciding to spend the day with her in preparation for their night on the town. For most of the day, Anna was teaching Elsa how to act like a normal person in her time, because it was imperative she didn't give away her true identity.
The Queen Of Arendelle was quite a model student, although she didn't really seem to grasp modern lingo as well, but then again, most people didn't. After spending hours educating Elsa, Anna thought she would be ready, until Elsa starting having difficulties choosing her outfit.
Anna could only watch as Elsa stumbled into the skinny blue dress Anna had in her wardrobe, one that was a few sizes too short for her. It was both funny and slightly depressing to watch at the same time, as the girl Anna had a crush on sort of devolved into a mess of flailing limbs.
"This is ridiculous!" Elsa complained, after trying to fit herself into the dress. "Not only will I look stupid in this gown, but my regal figure doesn't even fit into it."
Still a little awkward to even go near Elsa when she was practically half naked, Anna tried her best to encourage Elsa. "Come on, Elsa, you can do this."
Elsa gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what convinced me to agree to this. This skirt is too short for me. What if some perverted soul tries to advance on me, I won't have anything protect my dignity!"
Anna stood up, walking to Elsa's side. It seems she would have to say to hell with her growing attraction to Elsa and just help her anyway. She went to Elsa's back and helped slide the skirt of the dress over the bridge of Elsa's rear, doing the zip up at the back.
Her blonde friend winced in pain. "Uhhh, that's uncomfortable," Elsa stated, shivering as the metal object of the zip ran a cold trail up her spine. "I personally hope these zip things never get invented."
"Sadly, your majesty," Anna told her. "They do, but on the plus side, I'll buy you some clothes for next time without zips." She then stood up fully, smiling at Elsa. "Okay, can you turn around so I can see if you look alright? The last thing we want is something messed up."
"Alright." Elsa then turned around, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again and revealing herself in the beautiful short, slender dress with her face heavily made up and her blonde hair flowing along the side of her head.
Blushes crept over Anna's face as she covered her mouth in wonder and amazement. She was utterly in awe of Elsa's appearance and her growing feelings were only more intensified with every glance she took at her royal friend's new attire.
Sighing a little, Elsa spoke. "Be honest Anna... I probably look ridiculous, even by the standards of your era. I'm never going to win over those friends of yours."
Shaking her head, the redhead merely gave the opposite answer. "Elsa... you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You're going to knock Korra and Asami dead in the water, hands down."
The blonde's heart fluttered a little, her face going rosy pink as she shyly looked down. If Anna was being honest, that was probably the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to Elsa in her entire life.
Anna felt Elsa move forward, taking her hands into her own. There seemed to be a sort of spark flowing between them as for whatever reason, they started to move closer to one another, inching nearer and nearer to one another.
Without even a second thought, their eyes started to close and their lips puckered outward. They started to move closer and closer, the gap almost closing between their mouths. In that moment, something beautiful was nearly born.
But it was short lived as both girls were startled out of the tender moment by the doorbell of Anna's house being rung. Clearly, Korra and Asami had just arrived.
Elsa pulled away, tucking her long blonde braid behind her ear and blushing softly at Anna. "Well... um... we should get going," she played it safe, not wanting to reference the fact that she and Anna had almost kissed one another.
Soon changing into her own outfit, a sleeveless yellow turtleneck pantsuit, Anna made her way downstairs with Elsa to the front door, ready to greet their guests. As Elsa made her way down the steps, Anna noticed her struggling a little in the shoes she had borrowed from her.
They seemed to be a few sizes too big for the beautiful monarch, but there wasn't time to deal with that now. Anna just hoped they wouldn't be on a dance floor at any point that evening.
Walking to the door, Anna opened it to reveal two women standing there, both of them with happy smiling faces. One was a shorter girl with dark skin and brown hair, wearing a beautiful tribal looking blue gown and the other was a taller Asian girl wearing a glamorous looking red dress.
"Hey, Anna banana!" The shorter girl greeted Anna, pulling her into a warm hug.
Anna hugged the girl back, smiling. "Hey, Korra... I missed you too." She pulled back, looking into her eyes. "You look great by the way!"
Korra blushed a little bit. "Thanks... Asami bought me it. Personally, I'd have worn pants tonight, but she kinda likes me in dresses."
Looking to the left, Anna smiled at the taller girl. This was the first time she had seen Asami in person in quite some time and if she were honest, she was a woman who could rival Elsa in beauty, but in her heart, the redhead knew that Elsa would be the winner of that contest.
"So... you're Asami, huh," Anna greeted her. "You're taller than I thought you'd be."
The Asian girl giggled. "And you're a lot shorter than Korra said you were."
Anna brushed her hair behind her ear. "I ah... get that a lot actually."
Their two guests then noticed Elsa standing in the doorway, Korra smiling at her with a bright expression. "And who's this blonde bombshell?" She remarked.
Going to Elsa's side, Anna held Elsa by the shoulders and introduced her to Korra and Asami. "Girls, this is Elsa. She's my err... new girlfriend."
Elsa merely waved shyly at the two women. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you both."
Korra smiled, shaking Elsa's hand. "Nice to meet you too. I'm so glad Anna found someone. She used to have all sorts of troubles with the ladies back in our college years."
"Korra!" Anna whined. "Don't show me up in front of her!"
The Queen merely laughed. "It's alright... Anna has been very good to me and I'm sure she's been a good friend to you as well."
Asami then looked over at the group of beautiful women, calling them to attention. "Okay, so now that the introductions are out of the way... who's up for some dinner? I don't know about you ladies, but I'm starving!"
"I am!" Anna chirped. The morning of educating and preparing Elsa for this girls night out had helped her work up quite an appetite.
"I think that sounds perfect," Korra agreed. "Hey, doesn't Tiana have a restaurant around here?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, she and Lottie texted me a few weeks back to say they opened up finally. You wanna go there?"
"Why not?" Korra stated. "Anything to try that delicious shrimp gumbo of hers."
"Mmmmm," Anna then licked her lips, recalling fond memories of delicious southern cooking in her mouth, warming her insides fully. "That was some good stuff."
"Then it's settled then," Asami agreed and the four women then started to walk down to the bottom of the drive where Korra and Asami had parked. Waiting outside of their house, was a sleek black Jaguar XF, a very stylish looking car.
Anna watched as Elsa's eyes widened. To her, the sight of a car must have been something revolutionary. After all, in her time, the main source of transportation was by horse or horse-drawn carriage. Anna knew Elsa wouldn't say anything though.
"Wow," Anna admitted, admiring the very beautiful looking car, rubbing her hand along the pristine metal finish of its body. "How on earth did you afford something like this?"
"Oh, did I not say that Asami was super rich?" Korra remarked.
A smirk crossed Anna's lips. "Golddigger."
"Hey, I didn't love her for the money," Korra stated, giggling. "She just has a wonderful personality."
Asami winked. "And that I'm very good company in the bedroom." She then smiled knowingly at Korra, inferring of the times they spent together.
Korra merely blushed softly and all four women got into the car, Anna helping Elsa into the back seat and calming her down a little after she got a little scared when doing her seatbelt. As the car started up, Elsa tried her best to remain calm and not panic.
But this was all so strange. Horseless carriages, harnesses inside of those carriages, it was all so very, very unusual to her.
Elsa leaned against the window, watching the buildings and trees merely go by. If she was riding in her own royal carriage at such a speed, her hair would have been in such a mess, but in here, in the isolated comfort of Asami's car, it was all so serene and relaxed.
"Anna?" Elsa then asked her friend, as they drove into the city, almost at their destination. "Who is this Tiana we're going to see?"
"Oh, Tia? She's a friend of ours from college," Anna explained. "She was studying how to be a world-class chef." She then giggled slightly. "When we were all doing our finals, my friends and I stayed the night at her dorm just so we could taste her cooking."
"Did it work?"
"Well... I did get my diploma didn't I?" Anna remarked with a smile. "Besides, you're going to love her cooking. If you like that pizza from the other night, you will love this."
Elsa smiled. "If you say so, dear Anna. I am merely your tourist with you as my guide."
"Hey, guys!" Korra then called from the front passenger seat. "We're here!"
The group looked out of the window, seeing the sight of a small little restaurant in the corner of the street, with the words "Tiana's", hanging up on a large sign above the entrance. It was a quaint little place, one that seemed perfect for a dinner between friends.
Anna got out of the car first, followed by Korra and Asami. She then walked to Elsa's door and opened it up from her, smiling in a courteous manner. "After you, your majesty," she said.
Elsa then got out of the car, taking Anna's hand and gazing into her teal eyes, feeling a little shy about Anna's chivalry. "Why thank you, Miss Penrose," she replied with a grin. The two then slowly followed Korra and Asami to the front of the restaurant, Anna trying her best not to fall out of her shoes.
"Awww, how cute," Asami remarked, seeing Anna and Elsa walking arm in arm. "You remind me of when Korra and I got together."
Blushing crept over Elsa's cheeks again. For two people who were supposed to only pretending to be a couple, she and Anna were getting very into it.
Heading in front of the group, Anna walked up to the front of the door and opened the door, ringing a little bell on the inside of the entrance as they all walked inside.
As if on cue, they heard the sound of someone running towards them. "Coming!" A young blonde woman wearing a pink dress and a white apron ran over to them holding a notebook. When she recognised Anna and Korra, her face lit up. "Anna, Korra! So good to see you, girls!"
"Hey, Lottie," Anna said, smiling softly. "How's the new place going?"
"Great thanks for asking!" Lottie replied with a grin. "I assume you two have brought your dates with you tonight?"
Elsa blushed, but Korra spoke up for the whole group. "Yes, we did bring our dates. So um... table for four please?"
"Right away!" Lottie replied, before showing them to a seat in the corner of the restaurant, right beside the window overlooking the street.
The four girls sat down at the table to which Lottie had brought them: Korra and Asami on one side, and Elsa and Anna on the other.
Elsa cast a glance at Anna out of the corner of her eye, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly; something about the setting and her proximity to the redhead made her feel rather self-conscious.
As the girls got comfortable in their seats, the restaurant's owner, Tiana arrived. She was a rather modest looking woman, with tanned skin of a lighter shade than Korra's, dark brown hair in an updo and wearing a similar outfit to Lottie.
"Hey, there ladies!" She greeted them cheerfully, with a slight southern twang to her voice. "It's been ages since I saw you girls."
"Glad to you see you moving up in the world, Tia," Korra replied.
"And congrats on the wedding by the way!" Anna chirped, inferring to the wedding rings on Lottie's and Tiana's fingers.
Tiana and Lottie both blushed. "Thank you," Lottie replied. "It feels so strange me and Tia being married but... well I guess love just works in mysterious ways."
Walking forward, Lottie took out a notebook and pencil, ready to take the orders of Anna and friends. "Okay, so what will Y'all be having."
"Asami and I will have the shrimp gumbo," Korra stated. "Anna, are you and Elsa going to have the same or?"
Elsa looked at the menu. "Hmm, I would like to try the Creole pasta and sausage if that's acceptable," she stated.
"I'll have that too!" Anna added.
Lottie wrote all the orders down onto her notebook, smiling. "Okay, that's two gumbos and two pastas, anything to drink?"
"Just nothing strong for me," Asami said. "I've got to be in the office first thing in the morning."
"I'll have a coffee then," Anna decided.
"Got it!" Lottie agreed and she and Tiana headed off to the kitchen to work on their order, both of them holding hands as they did so.
Looking softly at the whole scene, Elsa blushed softly. She had never seen such a beautiful display of affection between two women in such an open environment. In a way, it gave her some hope for the future in a way.
Anna glanced over her shoulder at Elsa, seeing a blush creep onto her cheeks. "You okay?" She whispered. "I think our cover is working."
"Yes," Elsa said. "Maybe a little too well."
A few minutes later, Tiana brought out two trays in her arms, each one containing the meals for the four girls. She laid out two plates of the shrimp gumbo for Korra and Asami, and two plates of the pasta for Anna and Elsa.
The Queen licked her lips, picking a knife and fork and beginning to eat her meal, enjoying it immediately, as shown by an audible. "Mmmmm!"
Tiana giggled. "Seems someone is fond of my cooking."
"Tia, you're the best chef in the world," Anna remarked. "Everyone is gonna love your cooking and this place."
"Well, I sure hope so," Tiana remarked. "It took a lot of money to buy up this place, but with the money Lottie's family leant us, I think we'll do alright."
Eventually, Tiana and Lottie left them in peace as another group of customers arrived. Anna and Elsa were already tucking into their pasta, Elsa politely asking for Anna to pass her the sausage if she didn't want it. Anna was more than happy to reply.
Korra and Asami were watching this whole thing from the other side of the table, watching Anna catch a piece of Elsa's pasta and put it into her mouth with the fork.
As they watched, Asami then whispered into Korra's ear. "So... should we tell them?"
"The fact we kinda already could tell they weren't dating?" Korra replied under her breath. "Nah, let's not. Even if they aren't a couple now, they'll make one hell of a cute one."
Asami giggled. "You're a sneaky one, Korra Waters... but that's why I love you."
"And I love you too, Asami Sato," Korra replied, giving Asami a kiss on the cheek as the four women enjoyed their dinner together.
xXx
Author's note: And here's the second chapter for today! Guest starring Korra and Asami from Legend of Korra and Tiana and Lottie. As for why the latter two are together in this fic, I just kinda started shipping them after seeing them in another fanfic I liked (Dystopia Utopia if you're wondering). As for when the next lot of chapters are coming out, well you might have to wait a bit. I haven't exactly figured that out yet!
Anyway, you lot have more than enough of this cuteness to last you at least a couple of weeks xD
See you soon!