A/N: Kitchen shenanigans and hints of Kristanna. :)
"Déjà-ACHOO!" (Part 4)
Kristoff entered the kitchens at full run, more concerned about keeping Elsa's ridiculous snow babies out of trouble than potentially startling any of the kitchen staff. Skidding to a halt, he glanced around for the snowgies.
As it turned out, the little snowmen hadn't caused much trouble yet—at the moment, they were busying themselves attempting to get in one of the cupboards. Maybe they're looking for sweets? Kristoff thought. He knew that there were some things of that sort stored somewhere around here, but he didn't know exactly where. If they're anything like their mother, they probably have a thing for chocolate . . .
All of this commotion, however slight, would surely be noticed, so Kristoff wasn't all that surprised when the Mistress of the Kitchens, Nora, entered at her usual brisk pace.
"Master Bjorgman!" she said, sounding surprised at finding him in her kitchen. "What are you—oh!" She let out a squeak of surprise upon noticing the little snowy intruders. "Why are there little snowmen in my kitchen, Ice Master?"
Kristoff flinched at her tone, but said calmly, "Do you remember when the Queen was sick, on Princess Anna's birthday, and she sneezed up an army of these things?" Nora nodded. "Well, apparently she is sick again; Princess Anna sent for me, but before I could find her, I saw these guys headed in here, and decided I should keep them out of trouble. I hope I haven't done anything wrong, Mistress?"
Nora shook her head, her expression softening. "No, Master Bjorgman, you did the right thing. I apologize for snapping at you; if the princess trusts you, then there's no reason why I shouldn't." She chuckled, something Kristoff rarely heard from the woman. "I trust you in here more than I do her or her sister, anyway. They would likely be doing the same thing these little snow babies are doing—rifling through the cupboards for sweets." She frowned, watching the snowgies move to another cupboard. "That is what they're doing, isn't it?"
"I guess so, yeah," he answered. "Though, shouldn't we be doing something to stop them . . .?"
"Maybe," Nora replied, "but I really should be making some soup for Queen Elsa. I'm sure you can handle it." She grabbed a kettle and set about starting a fire and gathering ingredients.
"Right . . ." Kristoff trailed off, thinking about what he'd done before. I guess I could use that punch bowl, if I can find it . . .
"Mistress Nora!" Kristoff and Nora both jumped at the sudden outburst, and Kristoff smiled at the blur of green dress and copper-colored hair that burst into the room. "Nora, Elsa's sick again! I need soup, lots of soup, and I want to know if there's any of Oaken's cold medicine left?" Anna said in a rush.
"I just started a kettle, dear," the older woman replied. "Your young man was kind enough to fill me in on the situation."
At this, Anna finally seemed to notice Kristoff was standing there. "Oh . . . uh, hi!" she said, tackling him with a fierce hug. "I'm glad you got my message," she said breathlessly, into his shirt. Pulling back, she glanced around the kitchen, and spotted the scavenging snowgies. "Annnnd I see you've been busy . . ."
"I was going to come find you, feisty pants," Kristoff said, "but these guys looked like they were going to make trouble, so I followed them."
"Oh, good. Good idea," Anna said, watching the snowgies. "Uh . . . what are they doing, exactly?"
"We guessed they were looking for sweets," he answered. "Not unlike a certain redheaded princess . . ." Anna gave him an elbow in the ribs, making him wheeze a little. Good grief, she's strong . . .
"Smart aleck," Anna teased. "Besides, everyone knows that most of the sweets are—"
"Anna, no!" Kristoff shouted.
"—kept in the storage room through that door," Anna finished, looking puzzled at his reaction. "What? It's not like they can understand us. They speak, like, Greek, or Russian, or something—" She cut off when the snowgies immediately ceased their rummaging, and made a beeline for the door she had just mentioned, jumping one on top of the other to reach the door handle. "No, no, no, no, wait!" Anna shouted, scrambling to stop them from opening the door.
"I tried to warn you, Anna," Kristoff said. "Those little snowmen are more like you and your sister than you think."
"Snowgies," he heard her mutter, as she tossed the things one by one away from the door. Kristoff, meanwhile, found the bowl he was looking for (the large punch bowl, which he was grateful was empty), and quickly began scooping the snowgies Anna threw into it. "How long . . . before . . . the soup . . . is ready?" Anna panted between tosses.
"A few minutes, dear," Mistress Nora replied, calmly stirring the kettle of soup, humming a cheery tune as if nothing was wrong.
Kristoff, for the second time this year, had a bowl full of snowgies in his arms. He goggled at the number of little eyes looking up at him. Weren't there fewer of these when I came in? he thought. Oh well, it doesn't matter . . . we have to get them away from the kitchens!
"Okay, so . . . now what?" he asked the princess.
"Now what? Umm . . ." Anna paused, as if trying to remember. "Oh! Cold medicine! Then soup. And then we get the snowgies out of here." She smiled at him fondly, and he felt his face heating.
"Medicine's in the third cupboard on the left, Your Highness," Nora said, without looking up from her kettle.
"Thanks!" Anna said, going to the cupboard in question and pulling the half-empty bottle of medicine, simply marked "COLD", out.
"Why is that kept here in the kitchen, anyway?" Kristoff wanted to know.
"Beats me," the redhead replied. "Maybe it's in case Nora gets a cold, and doesn't want to leave the kitchen?"
The Mistress of the Kitchens snorted. "That could be," Nora said, barely hiding her amusement, "but I'm not going to reveal all of my secrets."
Anna frowned, then went bug-eyed, gasping, "Wait . . . Nora, you're not spiking the Queen's chocolate, are you?"
"Why, Princess Anna, of course not," Nora said, looking innocent. "Not that it hasn't crossed my mind—that girl needs to loosen up." Dipping a spoon into the kettle, she tasted the soup. "Soup's done," she said, pouring some into a bowl. "Better get it to her quickly, before it's cold."
"Thanks, Nora, you're the best!" Anna replied, accepting the bowl from her. Grabbing the bottle of cold medicine, she gestured for Kristoff to follow. "C'mon, Kristoff!" she said, darting out of the kitchens.
"So, what are we going to do with these?" Kristoff asked, referring to his bowlful of live snowballs.
"I figured we'd take them to join their friends in Elsa's room," Anna answered, "and decide what to do with them later." Starting up the spiral staircase, she grimaced, and added, "Elsa had better still be in bed, or I just might throw one at her."
Knowing Elsa, Kristoff thought, hurrying after her, that would be a welcome surprise.