Work Text:
Hey, guess what.
U GOT IT????
KRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah. Goodbye adjunct life, hello full-time. 😊
im so proud of u!!!
knew u could do it
i love u so much 💕💕💕
I want to take you someplace special tonight to celebrate.
😭😭😭 what did i do to deserve u
well celebrate after that too 😘😘😘
if u catch my drift
oh im in a publisher meeting g2g love uuuu
Love you too. ❤️
He slid his phone into his back pocket and headed down the stairs, grinning so broadly his face hurt. Being in such a specialized field-- really, the fact that he had as many students as he did was still shocking-- meant becoming a full-time professor of Scandinavian studies was a long shot, and getting tenure was a total pipe dream.
But by some miracle this spot had opened up for him in the History department, and they’d needed someone who could cover a couple of lit classes, too, and he’d just so happened to have done his dissertation on Old Norse epic poems and done some background research on similar things and that had been exactly what they needed-- and when he’d explained all of this to Anna, breathless and rambly as only she usually was, she’d squealed and thrown herself into his arms. “You’re a shoo-in, babe,” she’d insisted, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek.
“I mean, I still have to get through the interview--”
“A shoo-in . Trust me. And they know it too.”
“I just--”
She’d moved her attention to his mouth, already twining her legs around his waist and tangling her hands in his hair. “Shh. Stop worrying.”
And he had, or at least he’d tried to, but the fact was that more than just his career was depending on this. He’d been dating Anna for a year now, living with her for a couple of months, and had been looking at engagement rings not quite casually for a few weeks; but the fact remained that as long as he was just an adjunct, there was no guarantee of stability, no sense in putting down roots when the rug might get pulled out from under him without much warning. And there wasn’t exactly a high demand for professors of any kind in the whole state, let alone just Boulder, especially ones who specialized in Viking mythology instead of chemistry or composition or something else far more practical.
But somehow it had happened; he’d signed the contract and everything, no gotchas! or take-backs now, and he knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate with Anna. He texted that he’d pick her up outside of the publishing office, then ran a couple of errands, picking up what he knew they’d need right away tonight.
He parked in the garage, somehow nabbing a spot by the doors on the right floor and everything-- it really was his lucky day. She was already waiting for him, dancing from one foot to the other. She flung the door of his beat-up Honda open and threw herself inside, leaning so far over the console she was nearly in his lap. “You did it!”
“I did, yeah,” he said with a laugh, meeting her fevered kisses with equal enthusiasm. “But we have to-- mmf-- hurry because-- Jesus, Anna-- they close at six.”
“What sort of fancy dinner place closes at six?” she asked all in one gasp as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her collarbone.
“We’re not having dinner there,” he mumbled against her skin, wishing he’d thought to wait for her in the backseat.
“Then what--”
A honk sounded as someone nearby unlocked their car, and they jumped apart, both flushing scarlet. Her hair had fallen half out of its neatly coiled bun, and he reached over, carefully freeing the rest and letting it fall in waves over her shoulders. He tucked an errant strand behind her ear and let his hand linger there, running his thumb over her cheekbone. “Have I told you how gorgeous you are?”
“Yes. All the time. And I’d love to hear you say it again except if this place closes at six we’d really better get a move on. And there’s lipstick on your-- here.”
She dabbed it carefully off his chin and gave him a quick peck on the lips for good measure. “There-- all set.”
“Thanks. Don’t forget to buckle.”
“I never do,” she said cheerily, already plugging in her phone to play her special “Very Good Day Playlist” she kept handy for special occasions and always begged him to sing along to.
He pulled out of the parking garage to the sound of Queen and the dinging of the no-seatbelt alarm. “ Anna ,” he groaned, pretending to be exasperated, and she giggled, fastening the belt. “Sorry, sorry.”
As they got through the worst of the city traffic, he set his right hand on her knee, rubbing gentle circles on it as he drove past the city limits. She rolled the window down, singing at the top of her lungs for all the world to hear, and he couldn’t help but grin, knowing that she was this happy because something good had happened to him .
They pulled up in the gravel parking lot, and she went quiet as he turned off the car. Neither of them opened the doors.
“Kris?”
“Hmm?”
“You really...we’re really...you’re serious? We’re going to do it?”
She turned to look at him, eyes wide, as if she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. He’d felt that way quite often ever since he’d found himself sitting next to the prettiest woman he’d ever laid eyes upon on a flight that had turned out to be anything but routine.
He reached over and took her hand. “Well, you know I’m going to marry you someday. Sooner, rather than later, if I can swing it.”
She already knew that, but she let out a little gasp of surprise at hearing him say it anyway. He grinned and squeezed her hand. “But now that I know we can stay here in Boulder for the long-term, I know there’s something else we’ve both been really wanting, too. And now we don’t have to worry about what’ll happen if we have to move or something.”
“But we haven’t got--”
“My meeting was this morning, and I knew you wouldn’t be ready til three. So I ran a few errands. We’re all set.”
She was sniffling now as she put her other hand on top of his; her fingers were trembling, just barely. “You mean it? We’re really doing this?”
“Yeah. If you’re ready, I mean, or we can wait a little--”
She dropped his hand and leaped out of the car, barely remembering to unfasten her seatbelt. He grinned and followed after her, setting his hand on her lower back as they walked through the doors into the brightly lit lobby. A woman with gray threaded throughout her long braid was waiting there at the counter and greeted them with a bright smile. “Hi! How can I help you two today?”
“We’d like to adopt a cat,” Anna said, bouncing a little next to him. “We’ve sent in the preliminary paperwork before and got approved, we just haven’t come in yet.”
(In fact, they’d done that hardly a week after moving in together; they’d known it would be a while before it could actually become a reality, but still-- you never know. Never hurts to be prepared.)
The woman quickly found them in the system and then led them to the back of the animal shelter. “Our kittens are all here,” she said, gesturing to a playpen full of tumbling balls of fluff, “and the kennels are all in the next room.”
They’d talked only a little about what kind of cat they’d like to adopt; Anna had insisted that when she saw the right one, she’d know right away. She seemed determined to prove that correct and immediately crouched beside the playpen, inspecting the kittens carefully. To both Kristoff and the woman’s surprise, she shook her head. “No, they’re lovely but-- not quite right. I think I’d rather adopt a grown-up cat. One who needs us.”
God, he’d never loved her more; he had half a mind to take her to the courthouse as soon as they finished here and marry her right then and there. The shelter employee beamed at her. “I think I may have just the cat for you.”
She led them to the back of the room of kennels and opened a crate, cooing softly and holding up her arms. “Come on, baby,” she coaxed, and a fuzzy, gray-and-brown head peered out.
One of the cat’s ears looked like it had had a bite taken out of it, and there was a bit of a scar under one eye. Kristoff felt a little brush against his fingers and glanced down to see Anna taking his hand.
The cat finally emerged fully, climbing into the woman’s arms, and he heard Anna whisper, “ oh, bless him ,” as they both noticed at the same time that the cat was missing a front leg.
The woman turned, scratching the cat behind the ears. “This is our Marco. He’s been here for a few months now. We think he was a stray, got brought in when someone accidentally backed over him.”
Anna stepped shyly forward and held her hand up near the cat. When he didn’t hiss, she reached out carefully, stroking him behind the ears. He nuzzled against her hand, letting out a little purr, and a smile bloomed on her face.
“This is him, Kris,” she said, only tearing her gaze away from the cat for a moment. “This is our cat.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, knowing that she and he both already were, and she nodded enthusiastically.
The woman beamed and held out her arms slightly; Anna did the same, and to Kristoff’s delight the cat went easily into her arms, meowing as if he was saying the same, yes, you’re mine .
He reached over and stroked the cat behind the ears, knowing he was grinning just as broadly. The cat looked up at him with bright green eyes; he nodded solemnly and was rewarded with a loud miaow . “Welcome to the family, buddy,” he said, and Anna let out a little whoop of joy.
He handled the rest of the paperwork and the adoption fee quickly while Anna kept cuddling the cat, muttering different names as she looked him over. “You really don’t look much like a Marco, do you? Maybe-- maybe Tom, like the cartoon-- no, that’s not it-- Crookshanks? No, I don’t actually like Harry Potter that much...maybe something literary, maybe Eliot…”
Kristoff led them back out to the car and pulled out the travel carrier from the trunk. Before Anna slipped the cat inside, she looked up at him, clearly still thinking hard. “What do you think, Kris? What does he look like his name should be?”
He met the cat’s gaze, reached out and ran his hand down his back before scratching behind his ears. “He looks like a Sven to me.”
Anna laughed. “What a funny idea-- but I like it. Sven it is, then.”
She kissed the top of the cat’s head and guided him into the carrier. He curled up quietly, and she settled the box on her lap as Kristoff turned the keys. “Sven, my darling, let’s go home.”