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Honeymaren, Elsa thought, was quite possibly the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She loved to watch her do just about anything. Maren was just so beautiful and sexy and right now she was busy trying to get their tent up and not entirely succeeding.
Elsa stifled a giggle as one of the poles sprang up and nearly hit Maren in the face. Maren shot her a look and Elsa feigned innocence. "Are you sure you don't want any help?" She was more than willing to help, but Maren could be … stubborn.
It was one of the things that made them work, they were both very, very stubborn.
"I don't need," Maren hissed, managing to get the pole into one of the loops. "Any help!"
She'd succeeded this time, but there was still another pole. Elsa leaned forward, eyes falling to Maren's backside as she leaned over to try to get this one in place. The jeans she wore were stretched tight across her butt and Elsa gnawed at her lip, snapping her eyes back up just in time as Maren turned around and gestured at the completed tent, "Ta~da!"
"Very nice," Elsa said, looking the domed tent up and down. Her eyes glittered with mischief, "Now all you have to do is stake it into the ground so the wind doesn't blow us away. And put up the thingie to keep water out."
"Seriously?" Maren casually put her booted foot on the edge of the tent when a breeze blew up, "Okay, maybe you have a point."
While she went looking for a mallet and the stakes, Elsa rubbed sweaty palms on her knees and started to second guess this whole camping thing. She hadn't been camping since she and Anna were children, but Anna was back at the castle. 'Keeping an eye on things,' she'd said, while ushering Elsa and Maren out. 'While you sort your shit out.'
Even a Queen needs a vacation once in a while, Elsa mused. She had a satellite phone in the event of emergencies, but no real plan to use it.
It would be good for Anna too; one reason Elsa had wanted to spend a week away was to try to get a sense of herself. Set aside responsibilities. Maybe she wouldn't even come back at all!
The thought made her chest ache with both fear and anticipation.
Speaking of anticipation, she was feeling a whole lot of it as Maren knelt to hammer in one of the stakes. Like Elsa's brother-in-law, Maren had spent most of her life living and working outdoors and her physique was proof of that. Elsa was pretty well toned herself, but through a steady exercise routine. Which had been how she'd met Maren in the first place. Elsa had been immediately smitten, of course, though she hadn't understood it at the time.
But now, now she understood. She just had to take that final little step. Well, several steps; actually telling Maren - or anyone besides Anna - she was gay should probably come before telling Maren she was in love with her. But Maren knew her other secret, so she wasn't exactly scared about it. Nervous, though. Elsa was definitely nervous. Which was why her palms were sweaty considering it was pretty chilly today.
She shifted in her chair, leaning back and crossing her legs. Maren had the misfortune of glancing at her at just the right moment, and hit her hand with the rubber mallet. Maren let out a loud curse, jumping to her feet and hopping around as she shook her hand out. Elsa was on her feet as well, rushing over. As soon as she reached Maren, she gently took her wounded hand. "Let me."
A little impulsively, she lifted Maren's hand to her mouth, brushing her lips against the bruised skin and blowing icey breath across it.
"T-thank you," Maren whispered, her eyes locked on Elsa's the whole time.
The cold air seemed to soothe the pain a little and would also help with the bruising. "Let's get you taken care of."
"But the tent," Maren said.
"Hand first, then I'll finish the tent for you."
"Fine," Maren replied. Then, in a shy voice, she added, "But only if you kiss it and make it better again."
Elsa immediately obliged, though she let both the kiss and the cold air linger longer this time. Her lips buzzed after and she couldn’t get the taste of Maren’s skin out of her mind.
Once she'd created an ice pack for Maren, she set about hammering in the last two stakes. As she did so, she got the distinct impression that Maren's eyes were on her and if she maybe kind of sort of posed for her, there was no one to tell her not to do such unladylike things.
God, what she wouldn't give to not have to listen to her advisors and PR people anymore!
"Okay," Elsa got back to her feet and brushed her knees off. Now that that's done, let's toss our things and bags inside and then would you like to take a walk with me?"
"Yeah, that sounds great." Maren nodded. There was a small pile of things; two backpacks, a large cooler, two sleeping bags and a pack with cooking supplies. Hauling it all out here had been done courtesy of Kristoff and his sled, but until he came back a week from tomorrow, they were on their own.
At least with Elsa's gift, nothing in that cooler would go bad!
Working together, they got their packs and bags stowed into the tent. Then Elsa froze the cooler up into a tree to keep any curious animals from looting their food.
As they walked away from the camp, Elsa casually took Maren's injured hand and inspected it. The swelling had gone down and it would probably be okay by nightfall. Still, she saw Maren's eyes dart, and heart pounding, she kissed it better again. But she had to let go after that, because touching Maren any more than this was enough to completely drive her out of her mind.
"It might snow a little tonight," Elsa said, glancing up through the canopy. "But I think we'll be fine."
"Not going to use your powers to keep us nice and warm?" Maren asked.
"I'd rather let nature run its course." Smiling, Elsa bumped her shoulder against Maren's, "And you know that. Besides, you'll be nice and toasty inside your sleeping bag."
Maren rolled her eyes, tone cheeky, "I was planning on sleeping naked on top of it."
Elsa promptly tripped on absolutely nothing and flailed her arms as she fell forward. Hands grabbed onto her, trying to keep her upright, but the ground tilted up towards them anyway.
She landed on top of Maren. The first thing she noticed was how soft certain parts of Maren were and quickly moved her hand. The second thing she noticed was how solid she was, toned muscle under her flannel to match her legs.
“You okay, Elsa?” Maren’s arms were wrapped around her, and she peered up into Elsa’s face with concern. As if she hadn’t just acted like a cushion. As if her lips weren’t begging Elsa to kiss them.
“I’m gay, are you hurt?” Shit, “I’m fine, I mean I’m fine.”
“Probably got a few more bruises, but nothing serious.” Maren grinned at her, cheeks reddening a little bit.
Want me to kiss those and make them better too? Elsa almost asked, even as she got up and helped Maren to her feet. “Thank you.”
“I’ve always got your back.” Maren squeezed her hands, smiling up at her as she held Elsa’s gaze.
Lips tingling from need and sheer proximity of Maren’s face, Elsa could only manage a nod. She couldn’t shake that feeling by the time they got back to camp and got dinner ready; baked potatoes wrapped in foil and thrown into the fire, and stew that Elsa had insisted on preparing personally before they’d left the castle.
Maren seemed to like it, which really was the whole point. Oh God, she had it bad.
“Did you bring a bag for trash?” Maren asked.
“Yes.” Elsa got up from her little chair and retrieved the bag from the tent, “I’d be setting a poor example if I didn’t leave this forest the same way I found it, wouldn’t I?” Some of her advisors were unhappy with her environmental measures, but they could, to quote Anna, bite her.
They fell into an easy silence after that, and though the forest’s night was beautiful the only thing Elsa had eyes for was the firelight on Maren’s skin. And almost, she almost blurted out what was on the tip of her tongue.
They were alone, after all. No interruptions like the time Kristoff had shown up just as Elsa had finally found the courage to ask Maren out on a date; spoiler alert, she’d chickened out.
But they were also miles and miles from civilization with no way for either of them to escape if the conversation turned bad. Elsa was more concerned for Maren than herself, imagining her feeling trapped.
She shook herself out of those thoughts and decided it was selfish to ruin their week together by bringing it up. Elsa would just have to suffer in silence. Besides, she could imagine the scandal if she hooked up with a commoner. But at the same time she definitely didn’t care.
“Hey, Elsa?”
“Yes?” She still had her eyes focused on Honeymaren’s face and now that she’d been caught she had an excuse to keep looking.
“This was a good idea.” Maren smiled at her, and Elsa melted like she always did, “But you’re not as relaxed as I’d hoped you’d be.”
Shit. She’d noticed. Elsa forced her shoulders to stop being so tense, which was somewhat difficult to do with the expression in Maren’s eyes, “I uhm. Give it a day or two?”
“Nope. You need to stop thinking about work and duty, at least for the rest of this vacation.”
“I’ll try.” Was that what she thought the tension was about? While Elsa had been extremely stressed lately, as soon as Kristoff and Sven had left she’d felt better than she had in … longer than she cared to count.
“Don’t try, just do it!” Maren fixed a playful glare in her direction.
“Are you going to make me?” The dare came out before Elsa could really stop herself, and then it hung in the air between them.
Maren visibly swallowed, “I just might have to.” Then she got up and walked around the fire, sliding her hand up Elsa’s arm to her shoulder as she stood behind her.
“Wha-”
Maren pressed her fingers into a particularly tense part of Elsa’s back and Elsa finished her sentence with a surprised groan.
“Holy shit you’re tense!” Maren leaned in, voice lowering, “Please relax, babe.”
How the hell was Elsa going to relax when Maren was doing and saying things like that??
Then her hands moved, roaming across her back and her shoulders and hitting spots that Elsa hadn’t even known could be that sore. God this wasn’t fair! Elsa felt like she was going to combust.
“...did it suddenly just get colder?” Maren asked, hands stilling.
“It’s supposed to snow, remember?” Elsa’s face was bright red and she hoped the firelight was a good enough excuse. Luckily for her, it started to fall just then.
“Uh huh.”
“We should get inside,” Elsa said, voice a little too high pitched as she got up to pack the cooler and freeze it to a tree again. The cooler temperature was not helping in the slightest to cool her down.
Honeymaren watched her a moment, then said “About earlier....”
Elsa went perfectly still, “Yes?”
“That thing that slipped out? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but I want you to know … it’s okay with me. You’re not the only gay one here but that wouldn’t matter anyway, I promise.”
Was it possible to feel simultaneously relieved and freaked out? Because Elsa was experiencing both emotions at the same exact time. “Oh. Go figure.” Her pleasebegaydar hadn’t been wrong!
“Does Anna know?”
“Yes, and now you’re the second.” She hoped Maren understood. Anna was so important to her and she couldn’t imagine ever coming out to someone else first.
Maren smiled at her, “I’m glad. Thank you.” She stared at Elsa a moment longer, then disappeared into the tent to to roll out their sleeping bags.
Elsa needed a moment before she slipped in after her, “I was going to tell you, I just … It’s not easy, you know? Finding the words or a good time. But … you mean a lot to me, Mare.”
Mare didn’t respond, and Elsa lifted her head and squinted at her, “What are you…?”
Maren glanced at her and held up one of the sleeping bags - it was full of holes. And that was something Elsa’s powers couldn’t fix, “Moths. Yours is fine, though.”
“Oh no, that’s not going to keep you warm at all.” Not really thinking it through, Elsa started to unzip her own bag. “You can have mine, the cold doesn’t bother me.”
“No way,” Maren said. “I don’t care how little the cold bothers you, Anna would kill me if I let you sleep on the ground.”
“We’re technically sleeping on the ground even with a sleeping bag,” Elsa pointed out.
“We’ll just have to share,” Maren continued, as if Elsa hadn’t spoken.
Elsa stared at her, then nodded, “I guess that’s the only way.” A sort of reckless need started to make her hands and lips tingle.
Her lips tended to tingle a lot around Maren.
“Right,” Maren agreed. Her eyes darted to the left a little, then she started to unbutton her flannel, “So my dad once told me that you should wear as little as possible in a sleeping bag. Something about it helping keep you warm as clothing saps the heat from the air, or something.”
“Uh huh,” Elsa said, eyes locked onto Maren’s fingers as one by one, she undid the buttons, and then shrugged the shirt off.
Underneath, Maren was wearing a tank-top. She started to squirm out of her jeans, “Should’ve checked the weather before we left…”
Deciding that two could play at this game, Elsa undressed too, relieved at the feeling of the cool night air on her skin. When she looked at Maren again, her friend was shoving clean clothing into the bottom of the bag.
Maren glanced at her and flushed, “I uh...got you some too. So it won’t be too cold when we get up in the morning.”
“Thanks.” Elsa tried to ignore the sight of all of Maren’s skin as she quickly scooted into the sleeping bag. She caught a flash of Maren’s face, mouth agape, and tried to ignore the thrill that gave her.
Just because Maren is gay doesn’t means he’s interested in you, Elsa reminded herself. But the voice in her head added, But there’s a chance.
Any further thoughts quickly fled her mind when Maren slid in besides her. Elsa rolled onto her side, reaching over and down to zip the bag back up. She felt Maren’s hand slide around her and up her back, and the fingers of her other hand splay across her stomach under her top. The almost lightning like tingle that shot through her made her suck in a breath as she slowly laid back down.
Maren was peering at her with a nervous smile, and Elsa mirrored it. She slid her right arm around her waist and let her fingers dance across the warm, bare skin of her back. Then she pulled Maren closer, chest to chest, the fabric of their tops feeling as though they were barely there. Her mind was foggy. “You okay, Mare?”
“I’m good.” Maren nuzzled her nose against Elsa’s throat, “Your skin is a little cold.”
“I’m sorry.” Oh, this was bad. Elsa wanted to kiss Honeymaren more than anything she’d wanted in her life. At least that’s how it felt just then.
“Don’t be.” Maren’s hand moved up and down her back, “You’re warming up already.”
Elsa felt like she was on fire, that was fine, “Thermodynamics…”
“So you’re a heatsink?”
“Seems like it.” Elsa laughed, sliding her hand under Maren’s tank top and dragging her fingers lightly up her spine, “I mean, you’re really hot, you know.”
“Tell me more about how hot I am?”
She would like to, except every time Maren moved a little Elsa forgot her own name. But she swallowed and choked out, “Your uhm. Your eyes. And your arms.” She spread her fingers out as she moved her hand across Maren’s back and the words came out a lot rougher than she’d intended, “You’re so strong.” Digging her nails in, and feeling more reckless by the second, she continued, “When you were putting the tent up earlier, I couldn’t look away. Your ass is an Arendelle national treasure.”
“Fuck,” Maren breathed. The hand on Elsa’s back slid up, the one on her stomach did too and then the recklessness overtook Elsa and she kissed Mare, tangling the fingers of her right hand in her hair.
Maren stroked her back, returning the kiss with equal fervor as Elsa rolled them over until she was on top. The kiss deepened, growing more heated by the second as she felt Mare’s hands on her, moving across her stomach, pushing her shirt up and caressing her breasts, then moving up to her shoulders and neck and face.
And there was so much of Mare she wanted to touch, from her abs and arms to her breasts and throat and there was too much but she wanted all of it and if they stopped or slowed down she wasn’t sure she’d have the courage to try again. She moaned, groping Mare’s breasts with both hands and then sliding one between them.
“Elsa,” Mare gasped, breaking the kiss and catching Elsa’s roving hand by the write. “Babe, slow down.”
A panicked refrain started to sound in Elsa’s head but Maren held onto her, her hand rubbing comforting circles into her back and her side, “Elsa, we have all night, and all week. We don’t need to rush this.”
Blinking her eyes and coming back to the here and now, Elsa said, “I’m … I’m sorry. I guess I--”
Maren interrupted her with a quick peck on the lips, “I want this too. Trust me, I want all of you. But I want to savor it. And if I know you, I think you want that too. I mean … you’re shaking.”
Oh, Elsa did want it. But Maren was right and Elsa kind of loved her a little more just then. She smiled sheepishly, “I was afraid if we stopped then we’d have to talk about it and then everything would be ruined.”
“We’re not ruined,” Maren assured her. “Come here.” She shifted them until they were both on their sides, facing each other. Maren was looking at her with open appreciation and something approaching adoration. Elsa let herself mirror that look, because she felt exactly the same way.
Hesitantly, she put her hand onto Maren’s hip, as Maren started to rub her arm, “Its this okay?”
“It’s perfect.” Maren leaned in, stealing another quick kiss, “Lets just explore each other, and see where things go.”
Elsa grinned at her, nerves starting to calm, “I like this plan.”
Maren pressed into her, kissing her again. This time, the kiss lingered and Elsa found herself a lot calmer, but no less giddy or wanting, giggling into Maren’s mouth when her hand slid down and squeezed her butt.
“Mmm, I think yours is the national treasure.”
“Shush.”
“Make me.”
Outside the tent, snow drifted down serenely. But inside the tent, the cold didn’t bother them at all.