Chapter Text
.
Anna was awakened by smell of pancakes. Her head was heavy and she felt like she had sand in her mouth. The moment she opened her eyes, she realized that she had been sleeping on her couch all night. Although her entire body was being covered by multilayer blanket (she looked like a cocoon), her bruised back was still paying the price as she tried to get up.
A familiar voice echoed from the kitchen direction. Anna used her left elbow to get her body half up so she could peek through. She couldn’t see the kitchen from her position, but she could hear the voice better.
“Yes, I understand. I would like to know if there is other alternative to reduce the pain aside the prescription... No, there isn’t any problem with the medicine... yes... could you please let me talk with Doctor Hans? Great, thank you!”
Anna guessed that Elsa was speaking on the phone. The redhead checked the time and saw that it were still 6 in the morning.
Wait. How did Elsa get inside her apartment at this hour?
She was having a very bad headache and not feeling so good. Then the event last night was being re-played all over again inside her head.
She was drunk at Kristoff’s place. She argued with him and acted as a total jerk to her best friend. She had drunk her ass off and then Elsa came to pick her up. Somehow Kristoff had called her. Anna didn’t even want to know how her best friend had Elsa’s number.
What had happened after that was blurry. Anna could only hope that she hadn’t done something she would regret later...
“... Yes, it’s Elsa Anderson. Yes, from 2 days ago. I want to ask some question regarding alternative for painkiller... No, I assure you that nothing wrong with the drug... you want to talk with me at lunch? I’m afraid that I have full schedule today... dinner? I’m sorry... I can’t...”
Anna rolled her eyes. Even though she couldn’t hear what that sideburns doctor was saying at the other end, she knew that the doctor had asked her biology teacher out for a date and got dumped. A part of her felt a bit happy when Elsa was rejecting the doctor’s proposal outwardly.
Anna found a glass of water on the table and quickly drank it up. The time she had emptied her glass, Elsa appeared from the kitchen. She had an unreadable expression when she saw Anna.
“Good morning.” Elsa greeted her student first.
“... Good morning.” Anna wasn’t sure how she should face Elsa. She had created havoc last night, hurting her only best friend in the process, and then didn’t remember the rest of it. Surely Elsa would have bad opinion of the redhead student now.
“How’s your hangover?”
“... bad, but I can handle it.” Anna lowered her face, wasn’t ready to properly face the older woman.
“Drink a lot of water. It helps.” Elsa said, offering a second glass full of water.
“Okay... thanks.”
Anna was waiting for Elsa to leave her alone to do some self introspection, or expecting her teacher to throw some questions and scold her, but her teacher only plopped down on the other couch. No trace of anger or frustration for the younger girl.
“Do you... do you remember what happened last night?” Elsa asked, her tone was a little worried if not insecure.
Anna’s head jerked up, “Oh no... don’t tell me that I did something stupid when I was drunk! Crapcrapcrap....”
It seemed that Anna’s reaction had somehow surprised the other woman as Elsa crossed her arm, with eyes slightly widened. “You don’t remember?”
“... No... I can’t remember any event when I’m drunk. It’s like a gift and curse together.” She explained but Elsa’s change of expression only confirmed her worry.“I did something stupid, didn’t I? You can scold me if you like... I deserve it. I acted like a jerk to Kristoff too...”
Elsa blinked. Her eyes seemed searching for something on Anna, “... I won’t call what you did was something stupid...” the blond teacher muttered in a very low voice.
“What?”
Elsa cleared her throat. Anna swore that she spotted a pink tint on Elsa’s cheek. “Anyway, your action last night was very... unwise... You shouldn’t drink or getting drunk. Not until you are 21 years old.”
Anna snorted a laugh. “You can’t expect kids nowadays to have to wait until that old...”
Elsa glared at her.
“Alright. Alright.” Anna gave up. She was about to come up for reason when a stranger man emerged from her bathroom carrying a toolbox. The man was unusually huge with also huge moustache.
The man waved, flashing a very big smile although it was covered behind the bushes around his lips, “hey ya!”
Anna’s jaw dropped, “who the hell is he?”
“Oaken. Anna. Anna. Mr.Oaken.” Elsa did the simplest introduction.
Anna needed more than name. Like, what the huge man was doing inside her bathroom at 6 in the morning. But her voice failed her and she had been left in the dark as the man bid his farewell with Elsa who had been walking him out to the front door.
Only when they were ready for breakfast on the table that Anna finally asked her question.
“What that man was doing in here?”
Elsa waved her hand while her other hand was plating Anna’s breakfast. “Mr. Oaken is the only one who provides early morning services in Arendelle. He is a dear family friend...”
Anna narrowed her eyes, “what kind of service exactly?”
“Various things...” Elsa poured tea to her own cup. Sometimes Anna was wondering how Elsa had managed to pull off the princess manner every time they were eating. The younger girl bet that Elsa would probably eat pizzas with fork and knives.
“So... he was in my bathroom because...?”
Elsa sipped her tea slowly, slightly tilting her head, “because letting you showering in that bathroom is dangerous.”
Anna became more confused than ever.
The other woman finally decided to give an outright explanation to her student. “Mr. Oaken has installed some handrails in the bathroom and putting a carpet on the bathroom floor so that you won’t slip on those very slippery looking tiles.”
Anna’s mouth made an ‘O’ shape. “Wait... you shouldn’t bother...” She couldn’t believe that her teacher had gone that far.
Elsa put her cup down and looking at Anna intently, “I advise you to shower this morning... you reek of alcohol.” Elsa pointed out.
Anna flinched and then she moved to smell herself. Elsa was always right anyway.
“You should bath after this, I have a class at 9 sharp and I need to go back to my house first to prepare.” Now that Elsa had mentioned it, Anna began to notice how she was familiar with the blue softball shirt and orange basketball short Elsa was wearing.
“You are wearing my clothes.” She realized.
“I’m borrowing it. I had no option as it’s impossible for me to sleep on my dress last night. So, I grab some clothes from your drawer. I hope you don’t mind.” Anna was very ‘mind’ as the redhead witnessed how her old softball shirt had suddenly looked very attractive.
Anna shook her head to clear her mind, “You were staying over last night? Where did you sleep?”
Elsa gave Anna ‘isn’t that obvious?’ look, “of course. I can’t leave you alone after the stunt you did last night. I was reading on this couch when I fell asleep.”
Anna’s mind went blank at the word ‘of course’ but then she tried to keep her cool over the fact of how her gorgeous teacher had stayed over the night at her apartment and was wearing her clothes, and was making her breakfast, in addition that her bathroom got new handrail. It was too much for a ‘morning after shits happened’and Anna needed more time to wrap her head over everything about Elsa.
.
When Anna made a beeline to bathroom she glanced behind her warily and found a tag along. Elsa was following her while holding a rather thick book in both hands.
“Where are you going?”
“... Supervising your bath.” Elsa tilted her head.
“I know, but shouldn’t you be outside?” The redhead student pointed the line between bathroom door and hallway with her index finger.
“But yesterday...”
“...was fine!” Anna groaned, frustrated. Her eyes then went to some new shiny hand rails that were just installed minutes ago. “Look, I have these now. I will grab it if I start falling! Although the new carpet makes it impossible to make me slip.”
Elsa seemed not so sure.
Anna sighed, “you know what? Knock yourself out.” She said before closing the curtain around the tube. The curtain was also new and Anna suspected that the blue curtain which had snowflake pattern was another ‘things’ that been included as courtesy of Oaken’s service too.
From the shadow, Anna could see Elsa’s figure settled on the closed toilet seat. The older woman opened the thick book she had been carrying inside with her and began reading. Elsa always came prepared.
“What are you reading?” Anna asked when the hot water had been fully immersed her body. She played with some foam with her left hand while her cast hung comfortably over the new handrail.
“... Some collection of latest biology journals... if you have gotten over your hate for the subject, I will happily share with you.”
Anna rolled her eyes. The last thing she wanted while having a relaxed bath was an image of frog’s intestines.
She was thankful that aside of Elsa’s sudden weird constant fussing, she had an uneventful bath without any accident. Thanks to the new handrail.
.
Coach Duke Weselton was a proud man. Proud enough to think that he was the most attractive man in Arendelle high despite he was also the oldest. So he was overly excited when the most beautiful teacher in Arendelle High had texted him this morning, asking him for a meeting. Only the two of them. Therefore he made time to iron his best polo shirt, wearing also his best pant and even sprawled some gels to his already white hair. He was very satisfied of his reflection on the mirror. Then he headed outside his office toward the football field after class. For the first time in 2 years, he finally managed to make the ice queen wanting to meet him. He was very certain that he was more charming than any younger male teacher in the school.
He spotted the young biology teacher was sitting on one of the bleachers.
“Miss Anderson.” He greeted her from behind.
The other teacher immediately got up from her sitting position and turned her body. She was now facing fully to the old coach. Weselton knew that his hair gel was working since the younger woman was staring at his hair a bit longer before she spoke.
“Mr. Weselton.” She replied.
Weselton had been immune on her cold voice and unreadable expression.
“So, on what do I owe this pleasant meeting...?”
“I will go directly to the matter. It’s about the captain of girls’ basketball team, Miss Summers.”
Ah.
“I heard from one of the girls in your team that you’ve expelled Miss Summers from the team out of the blue. Now, I would like to ask you to reconsider... no, to call off your questionable decision...”
“Wait a second, Miss Anderson...” He held up his hands. “You asked to meet me for talking about Miss Summers’s matter, yes?”
“Yes. She is injured because of my carelessness. Her inability to participate in practice and next match is unrelated with her skills. In fact I understand enough that Arendelle High girls’ basketball team wouldn’t have won previous season if it hadn’t been Miss Summers’s contribution...”
Weselton seemed to process his response while his eyes greedily staring at the other teacher’s figure.
“So, you want me to not expel Miss Summers from the team?”
“Yes.”
“... Miss Anderson. The jurisdiction regarding any decision relating of our school basketball team is up to me... even the headmaster has said so himself. So, if I dismiss a member from team, so be it. No one can question it. It works vice versa with your expertise as biology teacher too.”
Elsa was fuming. It was really apparent that the woman really hated the old coach. The man really took his time to retire.
“What do you want?” Elsa finally asked, forgetting the entire professional facade she had been maintained.
Weselton had to admit that suddenly the temperature outside had dropped several degrees.
“How about a dinner?” He offered with a sly smile.
“What?!” The younger woman almost squeaked. However she immediately recovered her calm and cleared her throat. She crossed her arm over her chest to hide her fists.
“One dinner... and you have to keep Anna in the team.” She whispered almost threateningly.
The old teacher’s eyebrow went up as he noticed the Ice Queen had already in first name basis with the previous basketball captain.
“Alright.” Weselton’s smile bloomed. If a student girl could be in first name basis with the biology teacher, he should too. “Also... you can start by calling my first name until our date this Saturday night.”
Elsa hadn’t said anything about a date. Dinner and date were two separate matters. However she had had enough of Weselton’s hair gel today.
“Whatever... Duke.”
.
.