Chapter Text
“Okay, I promise I’m not judging,” Anna began, arms waving around as she spoke, “but it’s literally the middle of winter! Why are you ordering iced coffee?”
Honeymaren blinked in surprise. She had been expecting a question about why she became a regular at this particular café or what she was studying in school. Her face flushed a little, accenting her tan skin with the slightest shade of red. “Um, I mean, it’s delicious, so why not?” She shrugged, looking everywhere except the green eyes of the cashier. Oh and except for- too late. Honeymaren’s eyes locked onto the beautiful blonde behind the counter. She admired the way the woman’s green apron complemented the light blue sweater she wore. Honeymaren gasped softly as the blonde barista turned and caught her staring.
Oh shit, what do I do , she thought, trying to form any coherent sentence. She waved with one hand and shouted, “hey there!” Inwardly, Honeymaren slapped her forehead.
Elsa turned around looking to see who this gorgeous customer was waving to. Upon seeing no one else in her direction, she realized that the woman was waving to her . She gave a small smile and awkwardly waved back. Elsa cursed herself silently, wishing the Earth would swallow her whole. Her shoulders tightened as she set about to continue her work. She grabbed the next cup. Elsa worked her way through the customer’s orders until she came across a clear cup. A frozen coffee? Elsa wondered who in their right mind would order that during these cold times. She shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to make her infamous Frozen coffee. She scooped the ice and poured it into the blender. Then she added espresso, milk, and finally her secret ingredient: a touch of magic.
Meanwhile, Honeymaren broke her staring when she realized she was currently being sized up by the usually bubbly redhead.
“I see what’s happening,” Anna smiled widely. She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.
“What do you mean?” Honeymaren sweated, hoping that the gorgeous blonde wouldn’t overhear them.
“So that’s why you’ve become a regular here, Maren!”
“I really don’t know what you mean.” Honeymaren felt the little white lie slide through her teeth.
Anna rolled her eyes playfully. “Her name is Elsa. She’s my sister by the way.”
“Elsa…” Honeymaren whispered the name, testing and enjoying how natural it felt rolling off of her tongue.
The two women hear a throat clearing sound coming from behind Honeymaren. They quickly apologized for getting distracted.
Honeymaren walked to an empty table in the café, shifting her bag to the chair next to her. She removed her laptop from the bag and signed in. She pulled up her current research paper and saved articles. As she began to type, she heard the familiar and lovely voice calling out her name. No matter how often she came to this coffee shop, no matter how often she heard that voice, Honeymaren could never get tired of it. Her heart pounded faster as she stood and walked over to the counter. She gulped and put on what she hoped was a charming smile.
“Thank you, Elsa.” She reached for her cup and almost dropped it as her fingers came in contact with slender, pale ones.
“Oh sorry, Honey,” Elsa gasped out, “I didn’t mean to surprise you. I know my hands are usually cold.”
“That’s okay, I could think of a way to warm them up.” Without giving a second thought, Honeymaren gave her best wink and walked away, coffee in hand. She strode towards her laptop and immediately lowered her head to hide. She wasn’t sure what had come over her, or where the sudden burst of confidence came from. She groaned slightly as she lifted her eyes to see what her barista’s reaction was, but the blonde woman had already turned back to work.
A few hours later, Honeymaren was engrossed with her reindeer paper. She could feel her eyes getting tired and knew a break would be needed soon. Then she heard a familiar voice coming from the entrance.
“Is he here?”
Oh no, Ryder’s here . Honeymaren playfully rolled her eyes as she heard her younger brother ask Anna. Wait, who is he asking for?
“Is who here?” Anna asked, looking around for a sign of who the out of breath man was looking for.
“You know-!” Ryder began and grinned when the door behind Anna slammed open.
In the doorway stood a well-built, sandy blond man. He wore a light gray jacket with dark gray pants.
“Ryder!” The man called out as he hopped over the counter.
“Kristoff!” Ryder called out, grinning at his friend.
The two raised their hands up. Open palmed and thumbs stuck to the sides of their heads, the two men made reindeer calls and knocked into each other. Their laughter filled the mostly empty café, Honeymaren noted.
“Kristoff! Is it already time for you to clock out?” Anna asked, already used to her boyfriend’s antics.
“You bet! And now Ryder and I are gonna chill till his sister is done.” Kristoff wrapped an arm around the other man’s neck and pulled him into a joking hold. “Speaking of which, where is she?”
Ryder escaped the hold with ease and brushed imaginary dust off of himself. “She should be here somewhere, this is her new favorite place.” He scanned the room and spotted his sister who had been watching the whole situation unfold. “There she is! Hey Honeymaren!” He called out waving enthusiastically to his sister.
Honeymaren waved back and beckoned the duo over to her table. She met Anna’s inquisitive eyes, feeling the probing behind the green eyes. She also risked a glance towards Elsa.
Elsa looked between her sister, the two men, and finally the customer who had sent tingles down her spine. She couldn’t believe that this was such a small world. Seeing as there were no orders awaiting her mastery, she went over to the group to chat.
“So you two know each other?” She raised her hand to point at the gentlemen.
“Yeah! His sister is the TA in my deer domesticating class.” Kristoff offered an explanation.
Ryder puffed his chest out with pride, “She’s pretty good at what she does, must have learned it from me.” He chuckled as he let out the façade. “Just kidding about that last part. She’s like really good at animal stuff.”
“I see…” Elsa trailed off, wondering more about the mysterious woman sitting at the table nearby. “Does she normally drink iced coffee during winter?” Elsa couldn’t help but ask. She would have asked the woman herself, but for some reason she felt slightly intimidated by Honeymaren.
“Who? Honeymaren? No that’s just something that’s started recently.” Ryder cocked his head to the side. He called out to his sister, “Hey! Come over here!”
Elsa felt her pulse rush when she realized the woman they were talking about was walking over. She could feel the goosebumps form along her arms as a chill ran down them. Was it happening in slow motion or was she just going crazy?
She felt a sharp jab in her ribs. Looking down, Anna’s elbow had collided with her. Elsa looked at her sister confused.
Anna made hand gestures towards her sister and Honeymaren as the latter came over.
Elsa stared at her blankly. Anna slapped her hand to her forehead. “Never mind Elsa,” She laughed it off when Honeymaren reaches them.
Breathe, Honeymaren, breathe. Ryder’s just trying to help you be more social. That’s all. Ignore the fact that your crush is looking super hot yet aloof at the same time… Honeymaren’s stream of consciousness did not help her nerves as she made her way to the group.
“Hey Deerhead,” Ryder greeted her and pulled her into a tight side hug. “I dunno if you know, sis, but Kristoff here is totally gonna give you a run for your money as the professor’s favorite student.”
Honeymaren’s lips curled into a smirk, knowing her brother was baiting her. “That’s fine, Rydes,” her smirk grew as she noticed his smile falter at the childhood nickname. “The professor can get a break from my amazing research and take on a rookie.” She patted Kristoff’s arm and grinned at the tall man. The two knew the professor would not - or could not- replace Honeymaren.
“Ahem, so Kristoff, babe, you didn’t tell me that you had made such cool friends!” Anna jumped in, hoping to learn more about them besides their fields of study. “Why don’t you guys join us on Friday for a game night?”
Honeymaren asked, “Sure, what kind of games?” She and Ryder usually made the best team since they were siblings.
“Oh you know, the usual, charades, cards, pictionary.” Anna listed off and began telling highlights of previous games. “And one time, Kristoff tried to draw a cat, but his drawing looked more like a p-”
“Nothing!” Kristoff interrupted, “The drawing was so bad it didn’t look like anything.” His face ran red as his girlfriend teased him.
“It certainly wasn’t nothing, Kristoff,” Elsa chimed in, causing the group to look at her. She had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation besides a quiet chuckle. She laughed awkwardly at the sudden focus of attention on her. “I don’t think I’d ever heard my sister laugh as hard as she did then.”
Ryder and Honeymaren looked at each other. They smiled widely and nodded towards their friends. “That sounds like a blast!” They synchronized with each other.
“Oh great, another pair of siblings…” Kristoff muttered and facepalmed. “Isn’t there gonna be an unfair advantage at this point? I mean, come on!” He argued lightheartedly.
Anna’s eyes sparkled, an idea forming. “Oh I got it! How about this, we’ll make new teams. Kristoff and Ryder, you guys pair up because you’re already on the same wavelength.”
The two men high-fived and hip bumped each other.
“And then I’ll pair up with Olaf, he’s our little cousin. And finally, Honeymaren and Elsa can get together.”
The two aforementioned women froze. Elsa swore the temperature dropped a little. Honeymaren’s shoulders tensed and she glanced over to Elsa. She gulped and quickly looked her up and down, noting how uncomfortable she seemed.
“Anna, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Elsa raised her concern, “I’ve never been on anyone else’s team before.”
Anna gave her older sister an exasperated look, “That’s exactly why you’re going to!” She huffed and placed her fists on her hips. “Time for you to branch out, sis.”
“If it’s okay with you, Elsa, I’d like to work with you.” Honeymaren stepped in, holding Elsa’s piercing blue gaze. “And maybe we could go out for dinner tomorrow to, um, go over strategies and learn about each other.”
“Oh, learning strategies sounds wonderful, I’m afraid I’m not very good at these games yet,” Elsa admitted, “But I have to close tomorrow.”
The sound of a forehead slap echoed around the group and everyone looked towards the source. Anna swore up and down that her sister was the most oblivious woman in the history of ever. “Elsa! We literally own this coffee shop, you can afford to go out tomorrow. I’ll close by myself, it’ll be okay.”
Elsa turned her head confused, she wondered why Anna was being so insistent with this. Her eyes widened with realization. Of course she’s trying to play matchmaker. She’s so observant. She sighed and turned to Honeymaren, eyes roaming and taking in the way her outfit hugged her hips. “I would be honored to accompany you to dinner, Honey.” Once they matched eyes, blue met brown, a smile appeared on both women’s faces.
“That’s fantastic! I’ll pick you up from here at 6 P.M.” Honeymaren offered a hand out, unsure of what to do next.
“Lovely, I’ll see you then.” Elsa shook her hand and brought it up to her lips. She planted a light kiss on Honeymaren’s knuckle. She widened her eyes then promptly dropped her date’s hand and ran back behind the counter. She began fiddling with a coffee machine, disassembling it and washing it. She refused to meet anyone else’s eyes for the rest of the night.
Honeymaren’s cheeks blushed furiously. She packed up her laptop and bade farewell to Anna. She, Ryder, and Kristoff piled into her car outside. Honeymaren placed her face into her hands, unsure how to process the gay panic within her.
“I didn’t think Elsa had it in her,” Kristoff noted to his friends from the backseat. “Usually she just freezes up and runs away. You must be somethin’ real special, Maren.” He lightly punched her shoulder.
Ryder let out a cheer, “My sister’s got a date! Spirits, it’s been so long since you’ve had one. And Elsa seems pretty cool if she’s friends with Kristoff here.”
A groan came from the driver. “I don’t even know what to wear!” She complained, but that only earned her two grins from her friends. “Oh no, I’m not sure I like that look on your faces…”
“Time to go shopping!” Ryder whooped, knowing his sister’s closet needed new items.
In the coffee shop, the two workers began closing down. Anna swept the front while Elsa cleaned the dishes. Since there was no one in the store, Anna took the opportunity to talk with her sister.
“So, Honeymaren, huh?” She smirked.
“She seems nice, and Kristoff is a good judge of character.” Elsa explained, still refusing to look at her sister, hearing the grin in her voice anyway.
Anna stacked a few chairs so she could sweep around the tables. “And what about that incredibly out of character kiss? I mean, it was super adorable but I wasn’t sure…”
Elsa’s pale cheeks flushed with color. “I don’t know what came over me. Maybe I had too much caffeine today.”
“Or maybe you’re touch-starved. I mean, come on Elsa, you haven’t gone out ever! Plus, I think Maren really likes your coffee, I mean she literally is ordering it during the coldest month! Maybe you could show her how.”
Elsa coughed slightly, “Maybe… but for now, please make sure the front is presentable.”
“Aye aye, sis,” Anna saluted and doubled her broom efforts.
The two worked in relative quiet, Anna’s humming and occasional singing breaking through it. Elsa’s thoughts jumped from the idea of her going on a date and everything else that could follow. She trusted Kristoff’s judgement and she really liked how Honeymaren looked and sounded. Maybe tomorrow won’t be so bad… I gotta remember not to drink too much coffee though, I don’t want to be too forward again...