#Cee and Edin wrote this

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Ten

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 2997

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-------------------------

Anna woke up wrapped around Kristoff’s back.  Hazy memories of being half asleep surfaced in her mind.  He had rolled away from her in his sleep, and Anna had chased him, settling her arm around his side and her face pressed into the nape of his neck. 

She pulled in a gentle inhale, breathing in the smell of his clean hair.  Even though she wore the same shampoo since she’d used his, it smelled different on him.  It smelled better. 

Smiling, she remained still so as to savor being this close to him for as long as she was able, when something suddenly clicked in her mind.  It was like everything he had said to her suddenly made sense.  The way he chose to live his life.  The simplicity of it.  She realized that since she’d been trapped up here with him, she had not once thought about her business, or her bills, or even her sister.  All she thought about was the work that needed to be done that day and that in and of itself was a certain kind of peace. 

Could she do it?  Live this life with him?  Absolutely.  Would she?  …No.  And as much as she tried to think of a way that they could compromise; spending winters in the cabin and summers back home, part of her understood that it was likely something Kristoff could not do.  This was his very specific life that he had chosen.  It was either his way, or her way, and neither of them were willing to give it all up.

Kristoff stirred a moment later and Anna backed away from him, worried about her compromising position.  He seemed not to notice and was soon standing beside the bed, stretching out his back.  He turned to look at her. 

“Morning.  You sleep well?”

With you, always.  “I did, thanks.  You?”

He smiled.  “Like a cat in a sunbeam.”

They went about a morning routine that somehow seemed familiar now, talking through it all, even while they ate their oatmeal breakfast.  Kristoff told her he wanted to check the beaver traps that Anna had moved, and then see if there were any martins on the sled line.  He told her since they’d moved the beaver traps to calmer waters where the river split, they didn’t have to snowshoe it since the trees were much more thinned out in that area.

Anna liked the idea of going out with him on the snowmobile again, being able to wrap her arms around his thick, muscular waist.  And she was trilled that she didn’t even have to ask to help.  Kristoff just invited her along. 

They went outside to clear air and high cloud cover.  The storm had almost passed them by.  They gave each other a quick look, neither of them being able to acknowledge out loud what it meant, and trudged to the snowmobile shed.  Kristoff hooked up the sled to the back and they took off to check the beaver traps.

The morning went by quickly.  They pulled the sled along the river checking the traps and Kristoff told Anna about his childhood and how Linda and Cliff had taken him in after his parents died.  He asked her about her parents and sister and couldn’t get enough of her talking about her business.  He seemed honestly intrigued.  No one, besides Frank, had ever been as interested in what she did.

There was something else Anna noticed as well.  Kristoff had a large grin on his face.  It was exactly like the other night when their rum induced laughter filled his small home.  She couldn’t stop looking and at how happy he seemed.  Kristoff caught her gaze more than she’d like to admit.  He gave her a larger smile each time before looking down and away from her. 

Each trap was full and Kristoff’s elation and relief made her bubble over in pride.  As they put the beavers onto the sled, Kristoff looked across to Anna.

“Thank you.”  Those chocolate eyes were gazing at her and Anna’s heart melted a little more for him.  “I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”

Anna could only stare back.  It was suddenly too hard to fight her feelings.  She had a sudden and deeply strong urge to jump over to him, wrap herself around him and beg him to let her stay.  She tore away from his gaze, trying to gain her composure.

“We have to take them back to process now, right?” she asked, getting on the back of the sled.  “Then check the martin line?”

He nodded and got on in front of her and spoke over his shoulder.  “Yeah.  Between the both of us it shouldn’t take long.”

Anna smiled again that she did not have to ask him what she could do to help.  She wrapped her arms around his waist, setting her cheek in the middle of his back and sighing deep with satisfaction as he took off.

Back at the homestead, Kristoff was right.  They processed the furs quickly and loaded up the sled with some new bait for the martin traps and a few extra that Kristoff wanted to set up near the end of the line. 

They baited every trap they passed, still chatting idly about their lives, until they came to the last one on the line.  There had been a Martin in it, just like the first time they had gone out and checked.  Kristoff retrieved it, rebaited it, while Anna grabbed the two traps he wanted to set up near this lucky spot. 

“Um… So where did you say you wanted to set the traps?” she asked as he trudged back to her. 

Kristoff pointed past the snowmobile.  “Not too far.  We can walk if you think you’re up to it.”

Anna crinkled her nose at him.  “Is that a challenge?”

Kristoff’s hand went to his head to adjust his cap.  “Nah, nothing you can’t handle,” he said as he waved his hand down. “You’re strong.”

After hey strapped on their snowshoes and walked in the direction to where Kristoff wanted to set his traps, he asked Anna more about flying.

“So, tell me,” Kristoff said after all the traps were set and they started to make their way back to the snowmobile, “what’s the best part?”

“Best part?” Anna asked, giving Kristoff a side glance.

“Out of everything you told me.  Everything you do.  What is it that keeps you getting in the plane time after time?”

Anna took a moment to think, the crunch of their snowshoes on the fresh powder eerily poignant in their silence.  “I think…”  Anna stopped herself trying to figure out the best way to describe her feelings to Kristoff.  “There’s a ridge.  It’s not all that far from where I take off.  I have to go over it a lot – to get to you as a matter of fact.  It looks so imposing as you approach, just the shear walls of the mountains daring me to cross.  Then right after you pass over it, the whole valley opens up and the mountains seem to go on forever, all capped in this unending white.  It takes my breath away each time.  There’s a beauty being up there that you can’t get on the ground I tell you.  I feel so free every time I see it.” 

Kristoff didn’t say anything, only nodding his head.  He remained quiet, almost in contemplation.  Anna was only able to last a few minutes before she was filling the silence with whatever popped into her head.  It took her a second to notice he had fallen back behind her.  Anna’s words died as she looked back to see Kristoff standing several paces back.

“Can’t keep up with the pace?”  She playfully called back to him.  When he didn’t answer her, Anna asked again.  “Everything alright?”

Kristoff regarded her for a few moments before waving his arm in a beckoning motion.  “Follow me.  I want to show you something.” 

He took a turn off the trail and disappeared into the trees.  Anna had to hurry up to see where he went.  His tracks led to a small clearing between the trees.  It looked like it may have been a trail, but not one that Kristoff could have used much.  After a few more hurried steps, she caught up with him.

“Where are we going?”  No response.  She tried again.  “Kristoff, where are we going?”

He didn’t slow down or look back at her.  “Just wait.  You’ll see in a minute.”

She continued to follow him along the narrow path, growing more impatient by the second.  Finally, the trees started to clear.  In front of them was a grouping of boulders that Kristoff hopped up on.

He stopped and looked back at her, offering his mittened hand to her.  “Are you ready?”

Anna narrowed her eyes at him, and reached out for his hand.  He pulled her up over the cropping of rocks.  After she made sure her footing was secure see looked up and what she saw took her breath away.  In front of her was the entire valley stretching out as far as she could see and framed by mountains.  It was the same view she had been seeing for years from her plane.  Anna stood there, frozen in place as she gazed at the magnificent spectacle in front of her. 

“There’s beauty here too,” Kristoff said. 

“Oh my God, Kristoff.  This… this is amazing!”

Anna looked at Kristoff.  His eyes were already on her, a soft smile on his face.  She sucked in a breath as his fingers grazed her cheek.  He reached up to her only to tuck a stray tendril of hair back under her hat.  He turned his gaze back at the valley and Anna was grateful he wasn’t able to see the look of disappointment washing over her.

Kristoff drew in a large breath before he spoke.  “Even though we may be seeing at it from different angles, in the end it’s still the same view.  Magnificent no matter which way you look at it.”

They could have stayed out there for days as far as Anna was concerned, but eventually Kristoff nudged her, telling her they needed to start heading back before it got dark.  He disappeared behind her, jumping down from the rocks.  She took one last longing look back before jumping into Kristoff’s outstretched arms.

On the way back, Kristoff told her how he stumbled on the view once on an excursion and how he liked to come out here sometimes on warmer days in the summer when the walls of the cabin were starting to close in on him and he needed a moment to relax and take it all in.  Anna listened to him talk.  His voice was like velvet and she could get lost in hearing him talk about absolutely nothing.  It wasn’t until the snowmobile was in sight that she realized her hand was in his.  He looked down like he’d just realized the same thing.  Neither of them let go. 

Anna looked up into his eyes.  He met her gaze for a moment before it flicked quickly to her lips.  Perhaps he did remember that kiss.  The way he was looking at her now was the same way he was looking at her when they were drunk.  She desperately wanted him to kiss her again.

Then, like he suddenly realized how vulnerable he was in that moment, he blinked and slid his hand out of hers and gently cleared this throat.  “We should get back.”

A thought rose up in her and before she could think about it, she blurted out.  “Race you to the snowmobile!”

Kristoff pulled a face.  “What?”

“I said,” Anna straightened and said confidently, “race you.”

“In snow shoes?  I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not.”

“Have you ever tried to run in snow shoes?”

“No, but there’s a first time for everything.  Come on!”

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe.  But I’m still going to win.”  She gave him a wicked smile and took off.

“Anna,” Kristoff sighed, but quickly raced to catch up with her.

It wasn’t the running that was hard.  It was trying to stay in a straight line and pick her feet up high enough, and she was determined to beat Kristoff.  Anna flailed through the snow until about halfway to the snowmobile, the front tip of her shoe caught hard, sending her face first into the white powder with a quiet thud.

Anna heard the laughter before she saw him; ten feet behind her and doubled over.  She sat up and crossed her arms over her chest but it only made Kristoff laugh even harder.

“I swear… swear to god that was the fucking funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”  Kristoff stood back up and wiped a tear from his eye.  “Let me catch my breath for a second, but do you think you could do that move-”

Thwak

The snowball burst open on impact with Kristoff’s face, showering crystalline fragments into the air and embedding in his beard.  He stood there in shock until he noticed Anna pumping her fists in the air and jumping up and down in victory.

She caught his smirk a little too late, didn’t see the snowball he had scooped up or that he was waiting for the perfect moment.  She tried to take cover behind a tree, but the snowball hit her in the back of the head right before she ran behind it.  Anna shrieked as fragments of the soft snow fell between the gap of her neck and snowsuit. 

“Oh, game on!  You’re going down!”  Anna called out from behind the tree, trying to form as many snowballs as she could and build up a stash.

The first snowball whistled past Kristoff, just above his head.  He didn’t have time to react before another one hit him squarely in the chest.  “Hey!”  He put up his arms defensively and turned to his side.  More snowballs whizzed past him until another one smacked into his shoulder when he tried to bend down to grab more snow.  “Ow!  No fair if you just stay behind that tree the whole time,” Kristoff said, not able to stop the laugh in his voice.

“Don’t you know?” Anna said, picking up another snowball.  “There are no rules in snowball war.”  She launched another series towards Kristoff then pressed her back against the tree again for safety. 

Her breath was heavy from the adrenaline coursing through her.  Everything was quiet behind Anna until she heard crunching of snow.  She dared a peak around the tree and saw Kristoff heading right for her.  With no place to run, Anna darted out from the tree, releasing as many missiles as she was able to hold onto from her stash.

Kristoff laughed with each of her throws, flinching each time not knowing if the snow would make contact with him or fly past him at a safe distance.  He was more deliberate in his attack, throwing when he knew he had a shot.  Anna couldn’t form the snow fast enough, half of her throws disintegrating before they even came close to Kristoff.

“Give up?” Kristoff asked as he continued to walk towards Anna.  His smile was so bright and he looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. 

He pushed them into a clearing near the snowmobile where was no where for Anna to find shelter.  She was open and exposed and a sitting duck for his attack.  Her response was what she always did, throwing herself head on without a second thought.

“Never!” She exclaimed and launched herself at Kristoff.

Anna’s momentum sent Kristoff stumbling back.  She wrapped her arms around his waist as they moved backwards until Kristoff lost his footing and they tumbled into a snowdrift.  They were tangled up in a fit of giggles.

“Okay you win,” Kristoff chuckled. 

Anna was laying back on the snow with Kristoff on top of her.  His arms were on either side of her and he pushed on them slightly to take his weight off her.  As they fought to regain their composure, Kristoff locked his eyes on Anna.  His breath was still labored, his face only mere inches from her.

“You still have snow in your beard.”  Anna reached up and grazed her mitten along Kristoff’s beard.  He didn’t move, but his eyes closed slowly at her touch and she couldn’t bring herself to move her hand away.

Was it minutes? Seconds?  She didn’t know.  Didn’t care.  When Kristoff opened his eyes, there was an intensity to them that she knew she was matching.  They stayed like that, both giving their silent approval yet unwilling to break their gaze.  Kristoff moved first, dropping his head the rest of the short distance between them until his lips met hers.  This was not a drunken impulsive kiss made before they both passed out.  This was soft and deliberate and Anna felt herself smiling as she kissed him back and slid her hand to wrap around the base of his neck.

His lips parted and Anna took that as an invite, sliding her tongue into his mouth.  After a loud groan of approval, he reciprocated.  Their kisses became hungrier and Kristoff’s desperation became instantly evident.  Anna gave into it, lost in the moment of his utter need, when suddenly it was over.

“I’m sorry,” he said, rolling off of her and sitting up in the snow, panting.  “I’m sorry, Anna.  I just can’t do this.”

Her mind was still a little foggy with what had just happened.  She wanted him more than anything and he was not allowing it.  Again.

She swallowed the emotion welling up in her throat, pushing it down for the time being in the swiftly dwindling light of day.  “We better get back.”

“Yeah.”  He nodded, unwilling to meet her eyes.  “Okay.”

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever-fics]

The Lake House

Kristanna Modern AU

Rated: K

WC: 3035

@lukin08    Happy Birthday Edin!  I hope you like this fluffly little fic and have a wonderful and amazing day! <3 <3 <3

--------------------

Anna paused after Kristoff helped her out of the truck.  The only sounds were birds chirping, the breeze through the trees, and water gently lapping the shore.  No noise from traffic or planes overhead or the constant sounds of people living together in a city.  They had been searching for a place with peace and quiet and this was the first one that actually seemed to fit the bill.

It was a bit longer of a drive than she would have liked, and on some pretty narrow gravel roads, but Kristoff had been smiling the whole way.  Anna could not help but feel excited with him, despite her reservations. He had told her it was a fixer-upper and the property was well within their price range, even with all the work that needed to be done to it.

“Come on!” Kristoff said with a wave of his arm, as he walked up to the small dilapidated-looking house.  He opened the door and disappeared inside.  Anna followed him, standing at the entrance and taking a long look over her shoulder at their wooded lakefront surroundings, before stepping over the threshold.  

It smelled of must and decay.  Anna instinctively put a hand to cover her nose, worried over breathing in something harmful.

“There’s no mold or anything bad, I promise you.  I made sure to check it over very closely.  It’s just old.”

She could just make out Kristoff’s form moving towards the back of the space.  It was very dark inside.  The windows were boarded shut and Kristoff had told her that there hadn’t been power to the property for a decade or so.  Anna suddenly hoped there weren’t any wild animals or anything lurking in the shadows.

“And you don’t think this is a tear down?” she asked her husband, following him further into the house.

“No, no, it’s structurally sound.  I had Frank come with me yesterday to make sure before I showed it to you.  It just needs to be gutted, that’s all.”

‘That’s all’, he says. Anna was continually amazing how there was yet to be a scope of work that Kristoff thought was too much.   What she hoped he realized, was how much longer it was going to take, working on weekends to fix up a place like this when they could easily afford one that was ready to live in.  All the other houses they had looked at were closer to the neighboring town sure, and there was less land, not to mention that this was actual lake-front property, but was the extra work and longer drive really worth it?  While it was definitely the quietest of everything they had looked at so far, Anna wasn’t sure if that was enough to dive into something that might cause them endless aggravation?

Anna wandered over to the entrance to the kitchen, following Kristoff.  There was a lot of counter space and there was plenty of room for a large table.  Perfect for family and friends.  Anna rubbed a hand over her swollen belly absentmindedly as she walked through the space to a door at the back.  She opened it to a little boot-room encased in windows, making it seem as though it were outside.  Well, she supposed she was outside since there was no glass in the windows.  Still, she could appreciate the design.  Obviously, an add-on by a previous owner, with a small deck built off of it and enough space for a picnic table and barbeque.

Anna scanned the expanse of trees as she heard Kristoff approach behind her.  She realized just how far out into the woods they were, not to see anything besides an endless treeline.

“Look here,” he said, pointing to the floor of the boot room in front them.  “I can install a bench seat here with a top that lifts for storage since there’s no closet, and then I can build a boot rack on the other side for all the shoes and whatnot.”

Anna looked down on either side of her, picturing what Kristoff was talking about.  She didn’t have an eye like he did but she could imagine what he had in mind.

“And once we have proper insulation and glass in here, we can knock out that door so it’s open to the kitchen.  More light for the kitchen and the added view.”

Anna nodded, following him back into the house.

“And in here,” he said, walking over the far corner the kitchen, “I want to put more windows in this wall, and a built-in breakfast nook in the corner.  Then the dining table would go over there of course, because if we knocked out that wall it would be open between here and the living room. I know how much we both want an open concept.”

Anna nodded, trying again to see what Kristoff did.

“And in here,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her back into the living room, “I was thinking about putting a big rock fireplace on that back wall there, surrounded by built-ins for books and games and stuff.”  He turned around and Anna followed his lead.  “And both of those front windows need to be replaced, so I want to build them out with a recess for bench seats.”

“That would be lovely,” Anna said.  She’d always wanted to have a window seat.  She turned around to find that Kristoff was already across the room to a door under the stairs.  

“There’s a powder room here. It’s a little tight because I think they converted it from a storage area, but I can re-work the layout to make it more space efficient.  I mean, it is kind of nice to have a bathroom on the main floor, right?”

Anna nodded, poking her head inside the small room.  It certainly did have a weird layout with the toilet seeming a little too far under the slope of the stairs, especially for someone tall like her husband.  Still, she knew if anyone could make it functional, it was Kristoff.

“Come upstairs,” he said, taking off up the rickety looking staircase.  He paused when Anna wasn’t following him.  “It’s safe, I promise,” he said tenderly.

Anna smiled and started up the stairs.  She trusted him.  She always had and always would.  He would never do anything to put her and their child in harms way.

At the top of the stairs, he led her into the first small room.  “I want to build a couple bunk beds in here for our kids and if any of our friends eventually have kids, there’s plenty of room.  They can hang out and have fun in their own space if they want.  Either that or they’ll all end up camping on air mattresses on the living room floor downstairs.”  He laughed.

Anna smiled at the thought as he led her to the door of the next small bedroom.  

“And a double bed in here for out adult guests of course,” he said.

Anna peeked in the room. It was the same size as the previous one with the window on the opposite wall.  It looked a little tight for a Queen size guest bed.  She supposed that if they had guests, they’d most likely be outside or downstairs anyway.  The beds would only be used for sleeping at night.  A simple double wouldn’t be all that terrible.

She followed as Kristoff continued down the hall.  “And this is the master,” he said with a big grin, as he opened the door and stepped aside.

The first thing she saw was the lake, glistening in the bright sunlight.  It was the only window of the house she hadn’t seen boarded up so far. She understood as soon as she stepped in the room and saw the plywood leaning against the wall that Kristoff had removed it, probably when he was there the previous day with Frank.

Anna walked over to the window and looked out over the expanse of water.  They had always dreamed about having a lake-house.  They had been talking about it since college. They wanted to have a place to take their kids on weekends in the summer.  Somewhere they could swim and fish and learn to waterski.  Somewhere they could hike and explore and enjoy the outdoors.  It was always something they had wanted to give their children.  

Kristoff came up behind her and pointed down.  “I want to put a porch on the front so I was thinking about extending the roof line, then brining a couple beams across here so that we can put in some French doors instead of this window and we can have a small balcony.”

Anna suddenly saw her and Kristoff enjoying a morning coffee on their little deck as the sun rose over the lake while their kids still snoozed in the beds.  She saw the built-in breakfast nook in the kitchen, and the beautiful window seats in the front room, and cuddling with her family around the big rock fireplace on cold nights in the fall and winter.  She saw their friends coming up for weekends with them, having a cocktail and playing card games while the kids were sleeping.  She saw them all laughing around a campfire and splashing on the shore in the hot afternoons…

They had been working their whole lives for this.  They had sacrificed an expensive wedding and a three-week trip to Europe for this. This was their dream, and Anna suddenly saw it clear as day.

“Anna?”

Kristoff’s voice was full of concern.  She didn’t even realize she had started to cry.  She cursed her pregnancy hormones for the millionth time then turned and pushed herself up to Kristoff’s chest.  

“I’m sorry, Anna.  I know it’s too much work.  Not to mention I guess the baby will be here is a month and we won’t be able to start until the next spring.  I just… I’m sorry Anna.”

“No Kristoff.  This is it.  It’s the one,” she said into his shirt.  “It’s perfect.”

“Really?”

Anna wanted to cry harder at the hopeful and happy tone of his voice.  

“I know how run-down it is and it will certainly need a lot of work, but I think I can turn it around.”

“I know you can,” Anna said, hugging him tighter.

*****

Anna rocked their sleeping son as she watched Kristoff from the shade of the bench swing that he had built under the big willow beside the house.   He was on the roof, shirtless and dripping sweat in the heat of the summer sun as he worked on the roof line extension so they could have a deck off their bedroom.

He paused, wiping a forearm across his brow before leaning back over to finish hammering the nail into the wood.  After a decade together, she was still as turned on by him as the first time they’d ever met.  Things had been so hot and heavy in those days.  Even though that mindless, lust-filled passion had left them, they were still deeply attracted to each other.

Anna watched him continue to work and thought about all the things she was going to do to him when they were home that evening after their son was asleep.  They had been blessed by having a baby that slept incredibly well. By three months old he was sleeping a solid six hours and Kristoff and Anna both thanked their lucky stars that they were able to start feeling like functional human beings again.  They both liked to joke that they were so lucky that they would most likely end up paying for it with their next child.  

The lake house was put on hold after the birth of their son but Kristoff was making amazing progress on it once work resumed.  His best friend Sven was often there to help and she loved him for it.  Sven knew just as well as anyone that he would be spending a lot of future weekends at the lake house with his girlfriend, and not once did he ever complain about spending so many of his current weekends helping Anna and Kristoff build their dream.  Anna was just wondering where he was when she heard a truck approach and a short couple of taps of the horn.

“Sorry I’m late,” he called out as he hopped from his truck with a tray of coffee’s and a box of donuts. “There was an accident on the freeway and it took me a bit to get out of town.”

Kristoff came down the ladder and walked over to the plastic lawn table beside the bench swing where Sven was putting down the donuts.  He handed Kristoff a cup of coffee as he approached then took a seat on a lawn chair across from the bench swing as Kristoff sat on it beside Anna.

“So, I have some big news,” Sven started while Anna slid her free hand into the donut box and snagged the chocolate one.  “Rita is pregnant.”

Anna nearly choked on the bite of donut to hear that Sven’s girlfriend was pregnant.  She was thrilled that their best friends were going to have a baby.

“That’s great news!” Kristoff said, as he got up and went over to give Sven a hug.  

“That is wonderful!” Anna piped up as Kristoff came back to sit beside her.  “How far along?”

“Three months.  We were waiting until the first trimester was over before we told anyone.”

“I didn’t even know you guys were trying,” Kristoff said.

Sven shrugged.  “We wanted to keep it quiet.  We’ve been talking about it for so long we decided that now was the right time.  I think it’s mostly because she fell in love with little Spencer.”  Sven smiled at the six-month-old in Anna’s arms.  “She wants to have someone for Spence to play with,” he said in a joking manner even though they all knew he wasn’t joking. Rita loved kids, and it was no surprise that she wanted to have a baby right away.

“Well, they’ll be pretty close in age.”  Anna smiled at him.  “I just know they’ll get along famously.”

“Are you going to find out what you’re having?” Kristoff asked.

Sven laughed.  “That’s still up for debate.  I want to know but Rita wants it to be a surprise.  What are the chances of me winning that one, do you think?”

“Not good,” Anna and Kristoff said in unison and they all burst out laughing.

“It’s going to be an interesting year to say the least,” Sven said, still chucking while Anna popped the last of the donut into her mouth.

“Are you and Rita going to eventually tie the knot then?” Kristoff asked.

Sven nodded.  “After the baby arrives and we’ve had time to settle in we’ll plan something small.  You know me, I couldn’t care less.  I don’t need a marriage certificate to define what we have together, but I know it would mean a lot to Rita and her family.   Then after we get married, I just know she is going to want to have another kid. Especially if you guys get pregnant again.” Sven waggled his eyebrows at the both of them.

Anna and Kristoff looked at each other and smiled.  They were just talking that morning on the drive up the cabin when it would be a good time to have another kid.  They knew they wanted at least two, then they would see where life was taking them before they planned for any others.

Sven looked over to the lake house for a moment.  “We’re going to have a lot of fun times when this place is done.  I can already hear our kids laughing and playing.”

Anna watched Kristoff’s eyes appraise the cabin thoughtfully before he turned his gaze back to her. “Me too,” Kristoff answered Sven, not taking his eyes from Anna’s.  

“We are going to make some pretty great memories,” Anna added, smiling back at Kristoff, thinking of all the times they had talked about that very same thing.

 FIVE YEARS LATER

Kristoff stepped out onto the deck with two cups of coffee in his hand and passed one to Anna.  Anna thanked him and held the cup between her hands. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, painting the lake in a glorious golden shimmer.  

She had never been so content.   Her and Kristoff… they were officially living their dream.

It had taken two years to work the lake house into what they had envisioned.  During that time things were a struggle on occasion.  They spent much of their time working on it while balancing time with the little miracle that came into their lives.  Sven and Rita welcomed their daughter a short time later and it was that incredible moment for their friends that had Anna and Kristoff feeling extra sentimental about their future plans for another child.

As it turned out, Anna found out she was pregnant again a month shy of a year after the birth of their son.  They were about to tell their best friends that they were having another kid when they were surprised with the news that they were expecting as well.  Sven and Rita had just found out but wanted to share the information with Anna and Kristoff – the closest people in their lives – before anyone else.  That had been a night of laughter and congratulations and bright sunny outlooks on the future.

Now, as Anna watched the sun clear the horizon across the lake, she realized just how perfect life could be sometimes.  All four kids, close in age, slept soundly through the night after a wonderful summer day in the sun and water.  Their parents had a wonderful evening of cribbage and a few drinks while they laughed and talked about how great it all really was before turning in to bed themselves.

“This is perfect,” Kristoff said quietly, pulling Anna from her thoughts.  

“It’s everything we dreamed about, isn’t it?” Anna responded.

Kristoff kept his eyes on the lake as he reached blindly for her hand and gripped it gently when Anna offered it to him.  “It is,” he agreed.  “It really is.”

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Seven

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 3164

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-------------------------

Kristoff was hungry by the time they got back to the cabin in the late afternoon.   Anna was too.  He had heard her stomach growl a few times on their quiet way back.  Snowshoeing was a lot of work.

After they had moved the last trap, he had thanked Anna for her help.  She said it was no problem and gave him a smile, then the way her gaze began to survey his face made him edgy.  He had to wonder what she had been looking at.  Maybe he had some snot frozen in his moustache or something.  It happened to him all the time.  He had never thought to feel embarrassed about it until just then.

Kristoff took her snowshoes and hung them near his, then followed her into the cabin.  She sighed to be out of her boots and trudged over to the fire to stoke it.  Kristoff had to laugh to himself.  He found the temperature just fine.  If he kept the cabin as warm as Anna liked it all winter, he’d have to chop a lot more wood.

He grabbed a towel he kept near the door and scrubbed his face clean of the frost that had built up in his beard, a little relieved that there didn’t seem to be any snot or anything with it.

Afterwards, he moved the rug and went down into the cellar to grab them a bite to hold off their hunger until dinner.  When he came back up Anna was there to shut the door for him and put the rug back in place.  He took a seat at the table and handed her a piece of beef jerky when she took a seat.

“Oh, yummy!” she exclaimed with exited eyes as she reached out to take it.  She wasted no time in taking a huge bite.

Kristoff had to stifle his laughter at the face she pulled when she tried to chew.  “Sorry, It’s a little tough.  It’s Moose.”

“Ah, I see,” she said, struggling with the piece she had bitten.

Kristoff nibbled on some jerky trying not to watch her.   He took the lid off of a tin of almonds while he chewed and pushed it between them on the table.  Anna smiled her thanks and popped a handful into her mouth when she was finally finished chewing her piece of jerky.

When their small snack was done Kristoff felt the need to express his gratitude again.  He had a good feeling about the placement of the traps.  He hoped to get a good yield to make up for the lack of success at the beginning of the season.

“Thank you again, Anna.  I really do appreciate your help today,” he said, giving her a smile.

She smiled back as her eyes started wandering over his face again.  He realized suddenly, that for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was worried about how he looked.   

Perhaps it was time for a haircut. 

-------

When Anna came back into the cabin from using the outhouse, Kristoff was sitting at the table, scissors up to his face and holding a small round mirror.  She hung up her coat and pulled off her boots and Kristoff felt her eyes on him as he tried to trim his beard.  He imagined it looked as awkward as it felt.   The last time he had trimmed his beard he just starting hacking away until the hair was shorter, not giving a shit how uneven it was and how terrible it looked.  Now though…

“Want a hand?” she asked, pulling the chair beside him and sitting down.

He looked sideways at her.  “No, I’m okay.  Just wanted to trim it a bit.”   She said nothing, only watched him closely.    “Because it get’s too heavy with ice if it’s too long,” he added.

“Of course,” she said in an offhand way, leaning back a little, not moving from his side.

He looked back in the mirror and tried to keep working on it, knowing that she was still staring at him.  He relented, and looked back over to meet her gaze.

She said, “It’ll be much faster if you let me do it.  Then we can get back to whatever other back-breaking labour you have to do around here before the sun sets.”

He chuckled.  He couldn’t help it.  “Alright, here…” He relinquished the scissors and turned his body on the log to face her as she pulled the chair up close. 

She leaned forward and was about to start when she paused and looked up into his eyes.  “How short do you want it?”

“Um… what uh… what do you think?”

She let her eyes wander over his beard before looking back up.  “I think you should trim it short to your skin.  It would look really good on you.”

He swallowed hard, hoping that she didn’t notice.  “Okay then.  Short it is.”

She began working with scissors, starting with his chin before her free hand came up and cupped is jaw to get him to turn his head.  As her fingers left his face, he realized how good her touch felt on his skin. 

She kept trimming, gently pushing his head this way and that.   She put her finger under his chin and tilted his head back, so she could trim the last part.   He felt her warm breath on his neck, and his spine shivered involuntarily. 

When she had worked her way around his entire jaw she moved to his moustache, leaning in so close that she was only a few inches away from his face.  She was being careful not to cut him.  Her hand came up to his lip, gently holding it so that she could trim the short hairs.  His heart was beating so fast he hoped that she couldn’t notice.

She leaned back with a smile as she surveyed her work before meeting his eyes. “You look great, if I must say so myself.”   

He picked up the mirror and looked at himself.  He was a little shocked at the difference it made.  His beard was trimmed so neatly to his face, that he could see the line of his jaw for the first time in a decade.

“Want me to cut your hair too?” She waggled her eyebrows at him and snipped the scissors open and closed a few times in her hand.

He chuckled.  “Not today.”

Anna mocked a pout but got up and put his scissors back in the beat-up coffee can that he kept them in.  He was impressed that she had noticed that.  He went to the porch and grabbed his broom, sweeping up all his trimmed hair and into a dustpan before flinging it off the side of the little deck into the snow.

“So, what now?” Anna asked when he came back in.

“Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind taking the night off.  You certainly deserve it with all the help you’ve been.  We could play some more crib.  I even have a stash of Rum if you’re interested?”

Her eyes lit up and he felt a sudden heat in the pit of his stomach.

“Really?  That sounds awesome!  No more work?  And we get to drink?  What fun!”

He understood that she was mocking him and he gave her a sarcastic smile before stoking the fire in the stove.

-------

 Kristoff laughed when he pegged out.

“Shit!” Anna spat, throwing her cards at him with a giggle.  “How the hell are you so good at Crib?”

“I didn’t tell you I was a national champion when I was a kid?”

“You were?”

He laughed.  “No.  I’m just kidding.  My Grandpa taught me to play.  He was the best crib player I ever saw.  I never did beat him in a game.  Not once.”

“Well, I am bound and determined to beat you.  Set it up again while I get more rum!”

Kristoff smiled and did as he was told, watching Anna get up, wobble a little, and make a b line for the bottle on the counter.  He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she poured them each another cup, letting his gaze wander over her shapely figure.

He couldn’t remember having ever smiled so much in his life.  He couldn’t remember a time in his life where he had had this much fun. 

Anna plopped back into the chair and handed him his cup, sloshing the rum over the side a little.   “This is gonna be my game, you wait,” she slurred slightly.

“We’ll see.” Kristoff grinned at her and handed her the deck to deal.

When she was done and they were both looking at their hands, she said something that he did not expect.  “Do you have ant regrets, Kristoff?”

“Regrets?”  Their conversation had been so light all evening, he wasn’t sure where this was coming from.

Anna shrugged.  “Like, living up here in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere?  There’s only one drink left in that bottle.  It’s not like you can go to the store and get another one.”

“Actually, I do have one more bottle in the cellar.”

Anna snorted with laugher making Kristoff smile wider.  “I’ll give you that.  And I’m really glad you have another one.  But consider this, once that second bottle is gone, you won’t have any more until I come back.  What if you’re in the mood one night?  You’re stuck.  What do you do, just go to bed?”

Kristoff shrugged.  “Pretty much.”

Anna was shaking her head.  “How sad.”

They finished pegging and counted their hands.  Anna pulled into a big lead with a phenomenal crib hand and Kristoff chuckled when she taunted him and gave him a devilish looking grin.

“Seriously, though,” she continued as Kristoff dealt the cards.  “Are you happy?  You wouldn’t change anything?”

“Well, to be honest, I don’t think about it too much.”

“Don’t you get lonely?”

Kristoff faltered, accidently flipping the card he was dealing her upright.  He let out a sigh and gathered the cars to re-deal.  “I guess.  Sometimes I miss Cliff and Linda.  Sometimes it would be nice to have someone to talk to.”

“What about a relationship?  You don’t miss being with anyone?”

“I’ve never been in a relationship before.”

“Really?  Wait!  Wait, wait, wait.  You’re not a virgin, are you?”

“No!  And no.  I’ve never felt strongly enough about anyone to give up my dreams of doing this.”

“What about kids?  A family?  You don’t regret leaving all that behind for this?”

“Well,” he shrugged, feeling his heartbeat ramp up in his chest again, “it’s not like I never thought about it.  Maybe once I had an idea I might want kids someday, but it’s not like anyone would want to have them with me.  Any woman I ever talked to before I moved up here could never understand me for wanting to do this.  That’s why nothing lasted much longer than one night, if you know what I mean.  That’s why I’ve never had any kind of relationship.”

“I don’t know how you do it.” Anna shook her head again, looking sad.  “I would be so lonely living like this.  There’s no way I could ever do it.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear,” Kristoff deadpanned, upset that Anna seemed to have completely missed what he was trying to explain.

Anna blinked at his tone.  “Oh, Kristoff, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it like that.  This is your life, not mine.  Don’t mind my stupid babble.  You keep doing you, Kristoff.”

She gave him a sloppy grin and looked at the new cards she’d been dealt and discarded two into his crib.

“What about you, Anna?” he asked, still feeling a little angry at being misunderstood by her again.  “Do you have any regrets?”

She put her cards down and leaned her chin into her palm.  “Probably.  Can’t think of any right now.”

“What about your desire for kids?  You mentioned you don’t have time to date anyone.  Do you regret not changing things to allow that?”

Anna frowned at him, looking like she finally understood what he was feeling.  “Touché.  This conversation is getting way too touchy, isn’t it?”

Kristoff nodded.  Anna turned her eyes to her cards and laid an eight on the table to begin the count.  Kristoff scored the most pegging points and pulled ahead of her lead.

“Ah, you jerk…” Anna smiled, instantly lightening the mood between them.  “You shuffle for me, I’ll get more rum!”

“Uh uh, no way.  It’s in the cellar.  Last thing I need is for your drunk ass to fall down and break a leg.  I’ll get it.”

Anna laughed as she started to shuffle the cards.  Kristoff fetched the bottle trying not to think about how beautiful her flushed cheeks were.  He had meant what he said to her the other day; he had no idea how there wasn’t a line of men banging on her door begging to take her out.   He had never met anyone like her and in all likelihood never would again.

Kristoff splashed some rum into their cups before he put the bottle next to the almost empty one on the counter.   When he sat down Anna started talking about movies as they resumed playing.  Kristoff smiled and asked polite questions even though he had no idea what she was talking about as she prattled on and on about all the great things she’d seen in the theatre.  The last movie he had seen was ‘Dances with Wolves’ on television one of the last nights before he left to build his life up here.

“I wonder if you’d like the Count of Monte Cristo.  I don’t know how close it is to the book.  Sometimes movie makers stray so far off it ruins your favourite book, know what I mean?”

Kristoff blinked at her.  “How… how do you know that’s my favourite?”

“Your copy over there.” Anna gestured with a flick of her head.  “You’ve dog-eared it so many times it has to be your fave!”

Kristoff blinked at her.  She was a hell of a lot more preceptive than he had so far given her credit for.

“Maybe if you ever came back to civilization for a bit you could watch it with me and let me know what you think.  Or maybe I’ll read the book when I get home.”

The thought of sitting on a couch and watching a movie with Anna snuggled to his side, stirred a sudden longing deep within him.   Before he could gather his thoughts, Anna was already talking about something else.  He listened to keep up with her even though the new awakening kept nagging the back of his mind.

When Kristoff won the game, Anna insisted he give her one more chance to win one.  He conceded, telling her this was absolutely the last game.  Their rum intoxicated minds were both having trouble with basic addition.

*****

Anna stared at his card trying to figure out what he had left in his hand based on the cards he had already laid on the table.  If she could stick him with a go, she could peg out with 31 and win.  He was so close behind her that he would win if she didn’t peg out as he’d be counting first.

She laid her Jack.  “Twenty-nine.”  She bit her bottom lip and waited.  It would be just her luck that he would lay an Ace to take it away from her.

Kristoff looked up at her with a sly smile and she knew he had her yet again.  “Go, Anna.”

“Ah, Damn!” Anna made a move to throw her cards when she realized what he said.  “Wait, did you just say go?”

He nodded, smiling wider.  “Go, Anna.”

Anna slapped her two on the table.  “Thirty-One!” she cried.

Kristoff laughed as she leaned over and placed her peg in the winner’s spot then shot to her feet in celebration.  She completely forgot how drunk she was and the room spun around her, and she wobbled, trying to grab the edge of the table to steady herself and coming up a foot short.

Kristoff suddenly had her in his arms, bracing her from falling, until he lost his balance with her.  The shock in his face was priceless as he fell to the floor, dragging her with him.

He landed with a thud on his ass and his back continued until it met the floor.  Anna ended up on his chest, facing him, unable to breathe with hysterical laughter.  She started to bounce up and down on his chest when he started to laugh with her, making her laugh even harder.

She slid off his chest and laid beside him on her back, clutching at her aching sides trying to stop laughing to ease the pain.  She couldn’t remember laughing this hard since she was a kid.  In fact, she couldn’t remember a time she’d had so much fun with another human being.

They had both dissolved into giggles when Kristoff pushed up on his elbow and leaned over her.  “Are you okay?” He chuckled. 

“Yes.” Anna giggled again.  “Oh my God, we are so drunk.”

He nodded.  “We need to get to bed.  Tomorrow is not going to be very fun.”

“No, it won’t…” Anna laughed, looking up into his face.

His smile faded slowly as his gaze moved to her lips, lingered, and back into her eyes.  She smiled at his intention and he bent down and kissed her.

Anna instantly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, bringing him against her.  She kissed him back, hungry and ravenous.  His response was immediate and forceful, deepening the kiss to frantic levels.

Her mind was spinning with desire and booze.  She slid her fingers into his hair, pulling his mouth further into hers.  She needed more… just… more.  His desperate kisses were everything.

Then just as quick as it had started, he pulled back, breathing hard with his eyes closed.   “Anna, I can’t.  Sorry, I… I can’t.”

He rolled away from her without meeting her eyes and got up.  He wobbled on his feet, taking a moment to steady himself before he turned around and offered her a hand.  She took it and he hauled her to her feet.  The room swam lazily in her vision and she almost fell back down.

Kristoff hooked his arm under her legs and hoisted her into his arms.  The room spun around again as he did so.  “Let’s go to bed,” he mumbled, and took her to the bed, set her in it and pulled the covers over them both as he slid in beside her.  The last thing Anna knew before she passed out into sleep, was Kristoff curling himself around her and hugging her tight to his chest.

---

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Fourteen

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M/EX WC: 3334

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

----------------------

Kristoff rode with Anna to work.  He stifled yet another yawn. 

“I’m sorry you didn’t sleep well,” Anna said, glancing over at him.

“It’s fine, Anna.  I’ll get used to it.  Took a bit getting used to sleeping up at the cabin at first too.  Back then it was quietness that was a change.”

“Hmm.”  She paused a moment.  “Can I ask, what it was that made you decide to leave?”

He smiled to himself, remembering.  “I was in bed, I realized I was cold, and that I wanted to be with you instead.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said softly, thinking back to how relieved he was to have made up his mind.  “And it wasn’t a thought of just wanting you there, it was needing to sleep next to you for the rest of my life no matter what.  I emptied and stored all my traps, processed the last of the firs, then boarded up and packed out.”

She was quiet a moment.  “Kristoff, you gave up so much for-”

“No, Anna.”  He knew exactly what she was thinking.  “You made me realize that I had absolutely no plan for my future.  No plan for if I got seriously injured or got too fucking old to do that shit anymore.  Where would I be then?  What would I have to show for my life?”

“You were right about the good things about it though,” she said, glancing at him between keeping her eyes on the road.  “I realized when I was up there how peaceful it could be.”

“Yeah,” he nodded.  “And since I’ve been back, I have found that peace with you.  As long as you are with me, I will be happy and fulfilled.”

She smiled, getting misty eyed, and looked over at him.  “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Anna.  With all my heart and soul.”

They pulled up to the hanger.  “So you’ll have to fill out some paperwork to make this legit.  Wait, do you even know what your social insurance number is?”

Kristoff laughed.  “Yes, Anna.  I did have a job before I left.”

“Good,” she smiled, and got out of the truck.

They walked into the hanger where Frank was already hard at work.  They greeted him and chatted for a minute before Anna took him into her office and sat him down at her desk.  She gave him the paperwork to make him an employee of her company and then went to get to work.

Kristoff took his time filling out the forms.  It had been a long time since he’d had to do anything like this.   When he was done, he went back into the hanger and found Anna loading her plane.

“Put me to work.”  He grinned at her.

Anna told him what to do and he got to it straight away.  They finished loading the crates into the plane and then she showed him exactly how to go through the flight checklist.  When it was complete she told him she was headed over to Anchorage to deliver the goods. 

“You wanna come?” she asked with a cheeky smile.

“Can I?” he asked, loving the idea of going up in the air with her.

“Absolutely.  When we get there, you can unload while I deal with the paperwork.”

-------

Kristoff could not take his eyes off of her.  Seeing her do the thing that she loved, filled his heart and made him long for something he never thought he would.  He’d always assumed he truly was a feet-on-the-ground type of guy.

“I want to learn how to fly,” he said into the headset.

Anna looked over at him and gave him a huge smile.  “I would love to teach you.”

“Think I can hack it?  I mean, this type of thing,” he gestured to the control board,” is pretty damn far out of my wheelhouse.”

Anna laughed, keeping her eyes on flying the plane.  “Absolutely, you can.  I am sure you’ll have no trouble getting the feel for this.”

“That’s awesome.  I’m excited to learn.”  Kristoff turned his attention back out the windows on his side of the plane.  The snow-covered peaks below then were majestic.  He could feel everything Anna had described about loving to fly in the very depths of his soul.

After a moment of silence between them, Anna broke it.  “Hey, Kristoff, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

He turned to look at her.  “Shoot.”

“Would you want to go back?  Maybe we can work something out that we live there in the winters or something.  We can trap and when we get back just resume at the airport?  I mean, I have to admit, there was a part of me that really wanted to stay up there with you.  I just… My sister and Frank, they-”

“Anna, it’s okay.  I am at peace with the choice I have made.”

She glanced at him quickly.  “Are you sure?  I mean I know Nome is remote and pretty quiet but its still a far cry from your place in the valley.”

He smiled.  “Anna, you have no idea how sweet it is to try and find some way to compromise with me, but the more I thought about the new path of my life, the more excited I became with it.  Being here with you is what I want.  The only thing I want.  Plus, I can still trap.  I’ll just do it closer to home.  Maybe a side-hustle, like your dad.”

“That’s a great idea,” she said, then adjust some of her instruments.  “Give me a moment.”

Kristoff sat back as Anna communicated with air traffic control in Anchorage, then tilted the yolk, putting them in a slight turn to straighten them out with the runway.   He watched everything she did with rapt interest, taking it all in in preparation for learning it himself. 

After she was done and they were on course to land in ten minutes, she continued talking to him.

“What about your place then?  What will you do with it?”

He shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I thought it might be fun to have it as a cabin.  You know, a place to go on weekends here and there.  Then I thought about how functional of a homestead it is and part of me wants to sell it to someone who can benefit off the land the way I was.”

“A tough decision,” she answered. 

“What would you do?  If you were in my shoes?”

Anna tilted her head back and forth in thought.  “Honestly, I don’t know what I would do.  Take some time to think on it I guess.”

“Yeah,” Kristoff agreed.  “I definitely need to do that.”

*****

As soon as they were done for the day, Anna raced them home.  Her bedroom door was barely shut before she was on him, kissing him with desperation.  He matched her intensity, picking her up and carrying her over to the bed.  They collapsed upon it and decided simultaneously that their clothes were a burden.

Under the sheets, Kristoff had his hands all over her.  His warm palms blazed a trail against her breasts, her hips, her thighs.  He wasn’t leaving a part of her untouched.   Then his hand ventured to her throbbing clit. 

As soon as he touched her, Anna cried out a “Yes!”

Kristoff looked down at her, eyes wide.  “Quiet, Anna,” he whispered.  “Your sister is home.”

She blinked at him.  “Oh, right,” she whispered back.  “Forgot we weren’t out in the woods in the middle of nowhere.”

He chuckled and resumed touching her.  Anna’s head lolled back onto the pillow and she moaned softly, reminding herself to keep quiet.  Which was hard, because only a moment later she knew she was going to come.  She did so with a deep gasp and clung to Kristoff tightly. 

Her eyes opened and gazed into his.  “I want you now.  I need you.”

“I will never get tired of hearing that,” he said quietly and positioned himself over her.  Gently he pushed his cock into her and Anna gasped again. 

There was no better feeling in the world than when he was inside of her.  He fit her so perfectly, giving her such unspeakable pleasure.  Anna savored the feeling of him for a moment, then asked to switch.  He obliged and she lowered herself onto him, taking him in again. 

“Oh, my, god,” she breathed.  “You feel so fucking good.”

“So do you, Anna.  Fuck,” he groaned. 

Anna stared into his eyes as she moved against him.  “You are gorgeous, you know that?”

He chuckled.  “Me?  No way.  You hold that title, baby.  I am passable at best.”

“You are gorgeous,” Anna said through a moan.  “You are the sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on.”

“No, you are the sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on.”

Her breathing was getting heavy as she worked his cock.  Anna was just about there and she could tell he was close.  “Fuck, we are so good together.”

Kristoff answered his agreement with a moan.

A moment later Anna collapsed on his chest, her center rolling with pleasure.  She could barely feel his simultaneous orgasm over the power of her own.  They weren’t just good together.  Together they were incredible.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

“Anna,” Frank called from the reception desk at the front of the hanger near the man door.  “Heads up, we have a couple booked to go to Juneau tomorrow with a return flight the next day. 

“Okay, thanks Frank!” Anna called back.  She turned her attention back to the 100 hours inspection she had been showing Kristoff how to do.  “Next we need to-”

“Sorry, Anna,” Kristoff interrupted.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but can I go with you?”

She looked at him quizzically.  “Yeah of course.  I thought that was implied.  I definitely want you with me.  It’s an eight-hour flight so I’d be staying the night anyway, even if the couple weren’t booked to come back the next day.”

“Okay sorry.  I didn’t want to just assume you’d take me.”

She smiled at him.  “Don’t say sorry.  And you can pretty much always assume that.  We are attached at the hip from now on as far as I’m concerned.”

He chuckled.  “I like the sound of that.  I just had to ask because I wanted to see if my old friend still lives there.  He moved down there after high school.”

“Oh, sure.  Sven, right?”

“Yeah,” Kristoff answered.  “I wouldn’t mind catching up if he’s there.  He was pretty much my only friend growing up.”

Anna nodded.  He had told her all about him and that he was at a sleepover at his house the night that his parents tragically passed away in that fire.  Kristoff had grown a little withdrawn after that, and while him and Sven were still friends, they never hung out as much as they used to.  Then when Kristoff was setting to live off the grid after they graduated, Sven decided to leave as well.

Anna continued with the inspection and Kristoff made notes.  It had been a solid week of working with her and he was learning a lot.  Frank was teaching him a lot too.  It was great to talk to the old man again. 

Anna had finally gotten him out to a restaurant as well.  They went to a little family place the night before that she assured him wouldn’t be too loud.  And it wasn’t, which was a bit of a relief to him, even if he was feeling more accustomed to being around groups of people in the short time he’d been back. 

They finished the inspection that closed out their work day and then he took Anna home.  She’d asked him to drive the day before and now automatically jumped in the passenger seat so he kept the keys assuming that was what she wanted.

They had dinner with Elsa that she had prepared.  She did that often with Anna working long hours at the family business.  It was some sort of beef strew that they ate on rice and Kristoff found it a little reminiscent of meals he used to have up in the mountains.  Although much tastier.  Anna and Elsa had lots of stock, butter and fresh vegetables in the house to make good food.

Afterward, tucked away in Anna’s room, Kristoff asked her to help him find his friend Sven.  While he did somewhat live under a rock the past decade, he wasn’t that far removed to understand that people used computers and phones for social media.  Even Cliff and Linda had told him in their letters that they were a fan of Facebook, whatever the hell that was.

Anna had helped him set up an account, and even made him add a profile picture much to his chagrin.  At least she took a decent photo of him considering what she was working with, and his brand-new Facebook was complete.  Next, she showed him how to search for Sven.  It only took entering his first and last name and searching for anyone who lived in Juneau and they got the one and only result they were looking for.  

Kristoff sent him a message, telling him he was back in civilization and wondering if they could catch up.  Not an hour later, he’d gotten the reply that Sven was trilled to meet up with them for dinner or drinks the next night.   Kristoff was kind of amazing with the whole marvel of being able to reach anyone no matter where they lived through such a thing an internet connection.  He supposed he’d have to get one of those phones soon too.  Not that he had much of a need for one.  The only people he knew that he didn’t talk to on the daily were his parents, and he used Anna’s home phone to call them every couple of days.

Then when it was bed time, him and Anna made love before falling asleep in each others arms, whispering their devotions of love and their excitement for the days ahead.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

They had stopped in Anchorage to refuel as it was too far to Juneau to make it on one tank of fuel.  While there they grabbed a quick lunch at a restaurant in the airport and then continued on their way.  Anna wasted no time in showing Kristoff the ropes of being a pilot and he started logging in his hours.

The couple they flew up parted ways with them at the airport with the plan to meet back there at nine the next morning.  Anna and Kristoff found themselves a hotel room and then Kristoff used Anna’s phone to call Sven and asked where they wanted to meet.  He chose a Pub that was walking distance to his house and their hotel.

On the way there Kristoff felt all kinds of nerves and anticipation.  He had not laid eyes on him in over a decade and he hoped that they would be able to salvage the time it had been and become close friends again. 

It only took one glance through the crowd of the place and Kristoff spotted him.  He was hard to miss with is brown hair, prominent nose and baby-faced smile.  He was the kind of guy that had the whole room in stitches, and he was talking to some older women who appeared thoroughly amused by his story.

Kristoff approached and Sven seemed to note the movement out of the corner of his eye.  He glanced at him, his goofy smile turning into one of delight, before he looked back to the women.  “Excuse me ladies, but my friends are here now.  Have a good night.”

They bid him a good night as well but he wasn’t listening.  He went straight towards Kristoff and pulled him into a bear hug.  “Kris, brother.  It’s been too long.”

Kristoff hugged him back, his throat tightening with sudden emotion. “Good to see you again, Sven,” he managed. 

He pulled back and held him at arms length for a moment, appraising him.  “Damn, Kris.  When I saw you last you were a gangly eighteen-year-old.  Look at you now, you beefcake! What do you weigh?  Two thirty?”

Kristoff laughed.  “No idea.  Haven’t weighed myself in well over a decade.”

“Well, like I said, bro.  Damn.”

He dropped his hands and his focus turned to Anna who was standing beside him.  “You must be Anna!”  He pulled her into a gentler hug.  “Nice to meet the woman who brought our boy back.”

Kristoff noticed Anna showed no hesitation in hugging him back.  “Nice to meet you too, Sven.  Kristoff told me all about you.”

Sven looked between them, his eyes bright.  “You guys wanna grab a meal here and catch up?”

He felt Anna look to him and he knew it was out of concern.  The bar seemed pretty busy and loud even though there were some open tables.  He knew she would be worried about him, but honestly, he didn’t seem as fazed by it as he first had when he was back.  “Fine by me.”  He looked at Anna and gave her a reassuring smile.  She smiled back, relieved.

-----

Kristoff felt a new sort of peace he hadn’t experienced yet being back.  It was the peace of reconnection.

Catching up with Sven had been cathartic.  Almost as much as when he saw Anna again for the first time after she’d left his homestead.  As it turned out, Sven was engaged.  His fiancé was a nurse at the hospital who happened to be on the night shift the day him and Anna were due to be in town, but hearing about her, about how happy Sven looked when he talked about her, Kristoff could not wait to meet the woman who made him that way, and he felt another strange wave of emotion over it.   He covered it well all while wondering in the back of his mind why he was so damn emotional all of the sudden. 

Sven even invited them to their wedding in the spring with zero hesitation.  In fact, he demanded that they be there and take the Thursday and Friday off work before it so that they could fly down and spend some fun times with them before the wedding.  He had graciously accepted and vowed to find the perfect wedding gift for his long-lost best friend. 

And as they caught up on each others lives, he felt Anna’s love in every smile, every glance and every time she tenderly touched his arm, or his leg.  Just a quick little rub of encouragement that left his mind reeling again with how stupidly in love with her that he was. 

By the end of the night, it was Sven who got emotional.  While it may have been magnified by the booze, it was certainly genuine.  He teared up and told Kristoff with a parting hug in the parking lot how good it had been to see him again and that he better promise to stay in touch now that he was back.  Kristoff had hugged him back tightly, no longer trying to hide his own emotion and promised Sven that he would.

And now he was with Anna in their hotel room, basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking.  He had her, her sister, Frank, his parents, and now Sven and his fiancé Haley.  He was becoming wealthy with friends and family, something he never gave much thought to before Anna had come into his life.  He had wondered, when he was on his way back when the going was tough – hell nearly impossible – if he’d long for the days of how he used to live.  Now the thought of it made him cold, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what he was going to do about it.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Fifteen

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M/EX WC: 3098

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-----------------------

Kristoff slid on the head set and checked the instrument panel then continued running through his pre-flight checklist.  A moment later, he was ready, and he fired up the engine of the plane.  Anna smiled at him from the co-pilot seat as he set out.  He rolled out of the hanger and taxied to the runway.  Once he got the all-clear from air traffic control, he pulled onto it, lined himself up, and took off.

There was no better feeling than being in control of a plane as it took off from the ground.  There was a weightlessness to it, something he felt in the deep pit of his stomach.  It trilled him every time. 

Six months ago, he was living alone in his cabin in the middle of nowhere, eking out a living on trade.  Now he was piloting an aircraft on his own with the love of his life beside him.   Look at me now, he thought.

They soared high in the clear, sunny sky.  It was the perfect day for flying.  The perfect day to do what he was about to do.  He looked over at Anna.  She was already looking at him and gave him a big smile.  He grinned back.  It was impossible not to feel pure happiness with the life he now had.   

They chatted as he flew, talking over this and that, things about their future, which they did often, and how great it had been for Kristoff to reconnect with Cliff and Linda.  They made the trip to White Mountain often, and they always had a fantastic time with Kristoff’s parents.  So much so in fact, that the older couple had decided they wanted to downsize their house and get a condo back in Nome to be closer to their family. 

Finally, the ridge came into view.   He had never flown this way before, only heard about it from Anna, and he was nervous with anticipation.  He’d dreamt about it, ever since she had described it to him, and he was excited to see it with his own eyes. 

He approached it and reminded himself to breathe, then just as he pictured it in his mind, they crested the ridge and the long valley opened up in front of them.

“Wow,” Kristoff whispered.

“Right?” Anna said softy.

He nodded unable to take his eyes off the view.  “It’s incredible.”

Anna reached over and patted his forearm gently.  He pulled in a breath, as he was strangely on the verge of tears.   While he knew today was going to be a mixed bag of emotion, he had no idea it was going to start this early.

They flew on, chatting again about the task at hand, when the strip of bare ground came into view.  He smiled.  The first time he’d set his eyes on it from this view he was with Frank; the plane full with the first load of his purchases to drop off in preparation to start his homestead.  It was a natural void in the forest that was just about perfect for landing a small plane.  They only thing Kristoff had to do was widen it a little and straighten it near the end for safety.   He had put all those felled trees to good use in keeping him warm in the lean-to while he worked to build his cabin.

He lined up the plane and began his decent.  The snow had all melted, leaving him a smooth grassy runway.  A moment later they were on the ground and Kristoff was maneuvering the plane back to where it was usually parked when it was unloaded with his supplies.  This time however, there were no supplies with them. 

Kristoff killed the engine and sat for a moment, looking through the window at his old life.  “It feels weird to be back,” he muttered. 

“You know, we can just call it off.”

He looked at her and gave a reassuring smile.  “No, Anna.  It’s okay.  I’m ready.  I’m ready to let go.”

They walked to the cabin and Kristoff disappeared into his shed to grab a hammer.  With it he took all the nails off the board he had hammered over the door.  He set the piece of plywood on the porch and opened the door.

The hinges groaned and Kristoff winced.  They were going to need some WD40.   He stepped into the dim cabin and went straight to the fire.  He got it up and running in no time while Anna lit the lantern and started packing his personal items into a duffle bag. 

With the cabin warming, he helped her with the last of it, grabbing his grandfather’s crib board and picking up the wolf pelt, putting them on top of his books, photos and clothes.  The only items left in the cabin were things he would not miss.  Things he no longer needed. 

“This does feel weird,” Anna frowned, looking around the cabin.  “Considering the last time I was here.”

Kristoff chuckled and pulled her into an embrace, caressing her back.  “You know, I was thinking we could give the place a bit of a send off.  One last thing to remember it by.”

“Really?” Anna smirked sensuously.  “What did you have in mind?”

“I dunno, something along the lines of that first night we slept together.”

“Hmmm, that sounds like a great idea.”

“Uh huh.”  He leaned down and kissed her. 

It wasn’t long before they were buried under the covers in the still chilly cabin warming up in the best way possible.  Anna was on top of him, kissing him silly, while they made love.  She had already come once and he was hoping he would make it to when she came again so he could join her.  It was magical when they reached climax together. 

He got his wish and they both moaned and held each other tight through their pleasure.  After they laid there for a long time, basking in the moment and taking the time to say a silent goodbye to the place where their lives had intertwined. 

“That young couple you sold the place to is going to love it here,” Anna said after a long time.

Kristoff sighed deeply, truly satisfied.  “They are.  And I am happy that they are so excited to do it together.  I know all too well how lonely it actually is.  I also know how valuable it is to have someone to help out.” He looked into her eyes.  “That week you were with me with me was the best week I’ve ever had here.”

“Well, it was the best week I’d ever had here too.”  She smirked.

Kristoff laughed.  It had been her only week there, but he couldn’t argue with the sentiment.  “You know, that night the first time we were together, it was… I don’t even have words to describe it.  It was… like I never knew I could ever have something like that, and then realizing that I was never going to have it again.”

“It’s weird you say that because I certainly thought the same thing at the time.  Although, we certainly have had that again.”

“Yes definitely.  It’s just not quite the same, you know.”  He realized how that came out and backpedalled quickly.  “I’m not saying anything bad!   It’s just… I don’t know… how can you compare that first moment to anything else.  The first time being with you… shit that moment is branded onto my soul.”

Anna giggled.  “I understand, Kristoff.  It is on mine too.  Every time we are together is a reminder of that beautiful night.  I will cherish it always.”

He shook his head.  “Boy, we are sappy today, aren’t we?”

She laughed.  “Just cringe.”

“Cringe?” he asked, confused.  He’d heard at least a dozen slang words that he did not understand.  

“Stupid teenager talk,” Anna said through a chuckle and got up.  “Come on Mountain Man, this place is not going to shut itself up.”

They dressed and boarded the cabin back up with the fire securely doused in the stove.   Kristoff had made a deal with the couple that the cabin came with everything except his personal belongings.  He didn’t even want the food anymore.  He left it there for them to start their lives off the grid.  He would be flying them up the next week as a matter of fact.  He’d have to mention to them that they will need to wash the bedding before using it. 

Thoughts of him and Anna dirtying it up made him smile. 

They were standing in the clearing, taking one last look around.  Anna had her eyes to the south, looking towards the trap line one last time, when he decided it was time.  He sunk to his knee, his hand going into this jacket pocket, just as her gaze was sweeping back around to him.

Anna pulled in a gasp when she saw him, and both hands clapped to her mouth. 

He cleared his throat gently, staring into her shimmering eyes.  “Anna, you are truly the most extraordinary person I have ever met.  You amaze me every day.  That storm allowed me to get to know who you are, and I am so incredibly thankful for that.  I want nothing else than to make you happy, Anna.  I want to be the husband you deserve and the best father I can be to our future kids.  I love you more than life itself.  Will you marry me?”

She was full on crying and nodding over and over, squeaking out “Yes, yes, yes!”

Kristoff grabbed her trembling hand and slid the ring onto her finger, his eyes burning with his own tears.  A moment later, they were in a tight embrace, and he pulled the restraints on his emotion and cried with her. 

*****

Anna could not stop staring at the ring.  It was gorgeous. 

She heard Kristoff’s chuckle into the headset.  “I am so glad you love it.  It’s not really a traditional engagement ring in a sense.”

“I adore it,” she said, tearing her eyes away from her hand.  “Kristoff, I cannot wait to be your wife.”

He smiled.  “I can’t wait to be your husband.”

Anna glanced at the ring again and then looked back at her man.  He was so incredible there were times that she could barely believe that such a wonderful person was in love with her.  Then he would go and show her just how in love with her he was, and she was usually left feeling in complete awe.  Either that or trying to recover from mind-melting pleasure.  That man did things to her that she didn’t know were even possible.

“When did you even have time to get this?” she asked, looking back to the ring again.  “We have barely spent a moment apart since you got back.”

He smiled, eyes on his instruments as he changed the altitude of the plane to get ready for their decent.  “When I said I had to wait at the gas station since a refuelling truck was in the way.  There wasn’t one.  I popped into a jewellery store and got it after I fueled up your truck.”

Anna laughed.  “You are sneaky, mister.”

He glanced over at her, looking thoughtful.  “I knew I wanted to propose at the cabin.  I just had to.  The fact that it is the reason for you coming into my life means a lot to me.  And then it wasn’t selling and I was getting a little panicky on trying to think of an excuse to take you up there.”

“Is that why you seemed so elated when it sold?”

He smiled.  “Oh yeah.  I was happy that it sold, but even happier that it meant I could finally propose.”

Again, Anna was struck with the enormity of what an incredible man he was.  Just utter perfection.  “I am making you whatever you want for dinner tonight.  Then I am going to make love to you all night long.”

He let out a low whistle, looking over at her.  “Baby, you are too good to me.”

~ That Summer ~

Kristoff stared at the ring on his finger.  He grinned.  As far as weddings go, theirs had been absolute perfection.

While Sven’s wedding earlier that year had been a blast, Kristoff and Anna’s nuptials were a lot more intimate.  Sven and Haley had at least fifty at their wedding whereas between the people in Anna and Kristoff’s lives at the moment, the guest list topped out at fifteen. 

In the end that was the perfect amount of people to be able to host the ceremony and reception in the back yard of Anna’s home.  Well, their home.  Elsa, upon hearing about their engagement, told Anna she was going to move on and find her own place.  With the inheritance left to her and Anna when their parent died, she was able to afford herself a nice condo near the ocean.   After that, Anna put the house in his name too.

There were five of them still currently awake sitting around the fire in the wee-hours of the morning.  The sun had set only an hour and a half ago and already dawn was just faintly beginning to lighten the horizon.  Kristoff looked over at Anna, engaged in a conversation with Haley.  Sven and Frank were across from him laughing at one of Sven’s jokes.  His heart felt full and he smiled at them all.

He thought back to seeing Anna come down the little aisle in her dress.  That first look at her stole his breath, and tears filled his eyes to see this absolutely stunning woman who was about to marry him.  She was adored in sea-foam green to compliment his light blue suit.  Anna had told him she didn’t want to go with traditional colours and he happily went along with her ideas. 

Her dress was shin length, sleeveless with spaghetti straps and layered into soft waves of fabric down the length.  In her hands a bouquet of white roses.  Kristoff blinked the tears out of his eyes as she approached him and he could see she was doing her hardest not to cry herself and ruin her makeup.  He put a firm grip on his emotion and smiled at her, wiping the tears away with a handkerchief.  Sven, standing behind him, gave him an encouraging pat on the back.

Anna turned to hand her bouquet to Elsa and the Justic of the Peace began their short ceremony.  Only fifteen minutes later they were wed, and the group wasted no time in jumping into the reception part of the event.   A small local mom-and-pop catering business was set up under a little tent in the corner of the yard with a buffet of delicious food.  A lot of it local seafood, caught that morning. There were also plenty of other wonderful things.  So much so that after everyone had had their fill, the caterers told Anna and Kristoff with a laugh that their fridge was stocked with the leftovers and they wouldn’t need to buy groceries for at least a week. 

Everyone ate outside on folding tables pushed together to form one long dinner table.  Conversations were light and happy, and when the DJ started, people flocked to the dancefloor; the concrete slab where the patio usually sat – its furniture moved to the beside the house.  It was the perfect size for all the guests. 

And after hours or dancing and merriment, finally it was the five of them, relishing in the last of what was surely one of the best days of Kristoff’s entire life. 

Anna leaned over and placed her hand on his forearm.  The rings on her finger glittered in the firelight.  He glanced at his own again, incredibly happy to see it there.  

“You okay,” she asked softly.

He looked at her and smiled.  “I have never been more okay in my entire life.”

She grinned back and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that their companions were standing from their chairs.  “Well, we’re gonna head out.  Give you two the rest of your night,” Frank said, rounding the fire to pull Anna and then Kristoff into a tight hug.  He bid them all the best and left through the gate with a wave and a smile over his shoulder.

Sven and Haley said their goodbyes next, the two couples promising each other they were going to get together again soon.  A pilot who bought Franks plane when he semi-retired that Anna had subcontracted when she was too busy, was going to take them back to Juneau the next day.  Since they’d made this trip up, Kristoff promised they’d head down there to see them as soon as they were able.

And now Kristoff and Anna were alone and he was sitting beside his beautiful bride, holding hands and looking up into the night sky.   Suddenly, a streak drew a quick white line against the deep blue, and he heard Anna pull in a light gasp.

“A shooting star,” he marvelled.  “Not that I believe in omen’s but that’s gotta be a good one, yeah?”

Anna giggled.  “Definitely.”

Just then another one shot across the sky in almost the same path as the first.  “Wow,” Anna breathed.

They continued to look skyward, but if there was a meteor shower, that was it.  The sky remained still as it continued to get lighter.

“Huh,” Kristoff said.  “Guess we just got the two.”

“We did.  How about that.  I was just thinking about the two children we plan to have.  Which I can’t wait to start working on by the way.”

He chuckled and looked at her.  “Me too.”

She gazed back at him, her eyes looking whimsical.  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that maybe… just maybe, that was an omen.  Maybe… that was them.”

Kristoff smiled at her, incredulous at the thought.  “I love that idea.  And I love you, Anna.  I love you so much.”

She smiled as she got up and then settled herself in his lap.  “I love you too, Kristoff.  More than you will ever know.”  She kissed his forehead, his check… his lips.

Kristoff got up with her in his lap, cradled her into his arms, and carried her into their house and to their bedroom.  They came together as their first time being husband and wife, and not long after were sleeping soundly, dreaming of the two little faces they would soon see in their future.

--

Previous Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Thirteen

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M/EX WC: 2821

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

------------------------

When they woke from their nap in the late afternoon, Anna dressed quickly and apologized to Kristoff that she was going to have to see to some work things before they would have a chance to go home.

Kristoff was struck again by how amazing she was.  There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to take him in and give him food and shelter, and that made him feel more loved than anything he had experienced in so very long, it brought new tears to his eyes.

“Don’t, Kristoff,” Anna warned as she pulled her boots back on.  “I am going to bawl again if you keep that up.”

“Sorry.”  He chuckled and picked up his shirt off the floor to wipe his eyes before he slid it over his head.  “Can I help?  I don’t want to just sit around.”

Anna smiled at him.  “Hmmm, do I know that feeling from somewhere recently?  As a matter of fact, yes.  Yes, I do.”

Kristoff laughed.  “Well alright then.  Tell me what you need a hand with.”

Anna opened the door to her office and stepped out to the hanger with Kristoff on her heels.  “First we can finish the daily plane maintenance routine, then-”

“Already done,” called Frank from the far corner of the hanger where he was hunched over a work bench.

“Oh, okay then…”  She shrugged.  “Thank you, Frank!” she called back over to him.  “I guess instead we can-”

“That’s done too,” Frank called jovially. 

“Let me guess, you didn’t leave me anything I need to do for the rest of the day, did you, old man?” Anna shouted back with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

Frank just smiled and tapped his nose twice.

Anna laughed and jogged over to give him a big hug.  Then she hustled back to Kristoff and grabbed his hand, dragging him out of the hanger towards her pickup.  They hopped in and Anna took off towards town while they both smiled ear to ear.

“I’m taking you home first so you can meet my sister, then we can go grab a huge celebratory dinner.  What do you think about that?”

Kristoff sighed.  “That sounds amazing.”

It wasn’t a very far drive to Anna’s house.  Kristoff asked her a bunch of questions on the drive over, mainly about how their four weeks apart had been.  She kept things lighthearted since they were both happy now, but Kristoff understood it was harder for her than she was letting on.  When she asked him the same question, he knew she was picking up on his misery as well.

They dropped the sadness as soon as Anna pulled into her driveway.  It was exactly the kind of place Kristoff had pictured in his mind.  It was small and quaint, looking more like a cottage, with only one neighbour to the South and the edge of the forest to the North.  She had mentioned to him how her and Elsa went and walked along the nearby stream and explored the open wilderness when they were kids.

Anna burst into the front door and kicked off her boots before running further into the house.  Kristoff was left in the foyer, struggling with his own boot laces when he heard Anna calling out.

“Elsa? Elsa, are you home?”

“In the den,” he heard a similar voice call back.  “Hang on, I’m coming.”

“I have some news.  You’ll never guess-” Anna began before she was interrupted by a gasp.

“Anna!  You’re smiling again!  What happened?”

Kristoff finally got his boots off but hesitated at the door, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.  He suddenly felt very awkward.  Before he could think about what would be the proper action in a situation like this, Anna was in front of him smiling ear to ear and dragging him with her.

“This,” Anna explained, as she pulled Kristoff into the kitchen where Elsa was standing near the table.  “This is what happened.”

Elsa’s eyes went wide before she gave a soft smile of understanding.  “I see…”

-----

As soon as he walked into the place with Anna, he paused at the door.  The bar was very busy and very loud.  Kristoff swallowed hard.  He wanted to have a nice dinner with Anna and talk to her, but this was too much.  He’d been in isolation for so long, that this much ruckus immediately made him feel incredibly anxious.  It was actually hurting his ears.

Anna paused when he stopped and the door and looked back over her shoulder into his eyes.  She was about to open her mouth and question him when it seemed like she understood.  Kristoff thought she might be a little upset that he was unable to do this, then she smiled at him instead before turning and walking back out the door, pushing him along with her back to the parking lot.

“How about a case of beer and a pizza instead?  We can veg out on my bed in privacy and we can watch something on tv.”

Kristoff pushed her gently against the side of her truck and kissed her in answer.  It blew his mind again with how amazing she was.  He didn’t even have to say anything, she just looked at him and understood.   He pulled back from her lips, mind cloudy with desire and fatigue.  Despite napping in her office, he was still exhausted. 

“Come on.”  She smiled at him in a way that soothed his soul.  “What do you like on your pizza?”

Kristoff had to laugh at that.  “I haven’t had a pie in over a decade.  And I’m not picky, so you can decide.”

“Really?” Anna grinned.  “Even if I choose ham and pineapple?  I went out with a guy once who told me I was an abomination for liking pineapple on my pizza.”

“Well, that guys sounds like a fucking idiot who doesn’t understand that people are allowed to like what they like.”

“Right?!  He was a complete moron.  I got up right then and there and left him to pay for the drink I had ordered and hadn’t even gotten yet.”

His smile faltered to realize that he actually had nothing to give Anna.  He had barely a cent to his name, His livelihood was done on trade, managed by Cliff and Linda.

“Don’t.”  Her tone was a warning, as if she could read his mind.  Was he really that easy to read, or was she that intuitive?  Did it really matter?  “Get that out of your head right now, Kristoff.  I mean it.”

He looked down into her eyes and smiled.  She was right.  None of that stuff mattered in the face of love.  He was going to have to get used to this new reality.  Luckily, he had Anna to guide him through it.

He could not help but watch her as she drove them to the pizza place, she was just so beautiful.  His heart ached with love in a way that he never imagined was even possible for him. 

They walked into the place hand in hand and ordered Anna’s all time favourite; ham and pineapple. 

“I just love the combo of it you know?  Although, I also love deluxe with fresh tomatoes on top.  There’s something about that combination of a hot cheesy pizza with a nice juicy cold slice of-”

Kristoff cut her off with a kiss.  He felt bad for interrupting but he could not help himself.  The prospect of this new life, this new future, he never thought there could be so much happiness in the world.

The shout that their order was up brought their lips apart.  The teenager behind the till seemed to be equally embarrassed and mesmerised by the public display of affection.  Anna paid while Kristoff grabbed the pizza and they left.

He sat in the truck while she hopped into the liquor store and came out with a case of beer.  He watched her through the glass facade, smiling and talking to the old shopkeeper.  No doubt this was her usual spot to buy booze.  Just the ease of her, the way she could literally melt into and make the best of any situation, it was amazing. 

The rest of the drive back to her place he had her hand in his.

After talking very briefly to Elsa and bidding her goodnight, they tucked themselves into Anna’s room.  It was the Master bedroom and used to be Anna’s parents.  She told him with a chuckle she claimed it as her own when it became clear that she was going to be the breadwinner for her and her sister.  Elsa had not balked, preferring to stay in her childhood space.

Anna had even converted the double sink vanity in the bathroom to a single to give herself a breakfast station; a coffee maker, a mini fridge and a toaster.  She told him that she liked to skulk around her room in the early morning since Elsa was often up all night and slept during the day.  Being able to make herself coffee and butter some toast in the privacy of her own room was more comfortable for her than worrying about waking her sister as her room was right off the kitchen.  Things were better for Elsa, but she still had periods where she struggled with sleep.

Not that Anna didn’t, she was just able to handle it better than her sister.

Anna put the beer in the fridge and joined Kristoff where he was sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard.

“It’s like a hotel room.”  He smiled at her as she settled beside him and pulled the box over pizza over.

“I know!” she laughed.  “It’s handy when you have a sister that has trouble sleeping.”

She opened the pizza box sitting between them and grabbed a slice as she took the remote and turned the television on.  “What do you want to watch?”

Kristoff shrugged his shoulders, grabbing his own slice.  “It really doesn’t matter to me.  Watch what you like, Anna.”

She flipped through the channels, trying to find something suitable as they ate.  After a moment of searching, she looked sideways at him.  “Do you like the pizza?”

He smiled at her.  “I do.  I’ve never had pineapple on pizza but I like it.  Salty and a little sweet is awesome.”

“Good, I’m glad.”  She turned her attention back to the idiot box and saw Alone on one of the channels.  She had a half a mind to flip to that, then thought better of it given what Kristoff had given up to be with her.  In the end she settled on a hockey game.

They chatted as they ate, mostly Kristoff telling her about his journey back, and Anna was unable to take her eyes off of him.  Actually, they couldn’t seem to keep their eyes of each other, and it wasn’t long before the pizza was tossed onto her dresser and they were kissing each other passionately.

They made love for hours.

-------

Every single noise kept Kristoff awake.  He was used to falling asleep to the muffled sound of fire cracking in his stove and sometimes the wind blowing against his cabin.  Once in a while the sound of animals in the night. 

Now he lay on his back staring at the ceiling, astounded that there were so many sounds in Anna’s house.  The click of the old thermostat in the hallway – heard even through her closed bedroom door – as it called for heat.  The rumble below them as the furnace ignited and the woosh of the warm air being pushed through the ducts, causing the sheet metal to expand and creak.  The old wooden house gave muted cracks here and there.   And that was just inside.  Outside it was completely different; a car driving by, the sound of a train whistle in the distance echoing off the mountains, a siren blaring on for only a moment before it went quiet.

Kristoff rolled back over and put his arm around Anna, burying his nose into the tangles of her hair.  It would take some getting used to, but she was there to soften every blow of reacquainting with the real world.

He felt it was a little hard for her to hear about his journey back.  It wasn’t pretty, he would be the first to admit that.  Trekking out on his snowmobile, hoping he had thought of everything with his desperate mind to get back that would keep himself alive on the journey.  He aimed to do it as quick as possible, not at all ashamed that he had to consult his map so much.  The last thing he wanted was to journey off course and make it even harder to get back to Anna.

He planned not to sleep, just drive the seven hundred or so miles to Nome in one tiresome trip.  Recent snowfalls however, made his progress much slower than he ever dreamed of.   With all the fresh powder, he had to dig his snowmobile out at least a half a dozen times, each time pushing him to the brink of exhaustion.  Having to stop and sleep, he built the biggest fire he could manage with his fatigued muscles trembling and slept hunched over his snowmobile.  He woke when the fire died for how cold he’d become and decided that even though the sun wasn’t up yet, he’d continue on.

He pushed the machine, going as fast as he could while maintaining his safety.  He made it almost all the way there when his snowmobile finally gave up the ghost.  Grumbling, Kristoff had packed from the sled whatever he figured he’d need into his backpack, threw on his snowshoes, and went on foot for the last forty or so miles.

He trudged on for hours until all of the sunlight drained from the sky and he needed to stop.  He built a fire in near complete darkness and sat down beside it.  He ate the last of his provisions; some mixed nuts, beef jerky and his very last can of peas.  With his stomach somewhat satisfied, he stoked the fire as big as he dared and laid beside it to sleep.  He woke up freezing every hour and needed to throw more wood into the fire.  When daybreak was once again barely on the horizon, he set again.

He finally reached a road by the late afternoon and managed to flag someone down to give him a ride.  Going into Nome his anticipation grew.  He was dropped off at a motel and Kristoff managed to barter with some firs he’d stuffed into his pack for a room.   The innkeeper ended up getting something he could sell for two hundred dollars and Kristoff ended up with the key to a little room that hadn’t been updated since the seventies.

First, he showered, relishing in the heat streaming down his body.  It felt amazing.  After he dried and dressed in some clean clothing and then went to the phone in the room and dialed his folks.  To say they were surprised was an understatement.  After a lot of tears from all three of them, Kristoff finally got to explain where he was and why he was there.  His parents were thrilled with all the news he had for them; that he was back, he’d be seeing them soon, and he was in love. 

After they talked for an hour and promised to wire him some money, Kristoff went to the credit union and got the cash they’d sent him.   He stuffed it in his pockets and walked down the street until he found a barber.  He got himself a shave and a hair cut and then went out in search of food.  Having finished the last of the food he’d packed himself the day before, he was starving.  The first thing he came across was a Subway, so he went in and ordered two sandwiches – glad the place was empty except for one other customer – and took it back to his hotel room.

He ate the sandwiches, not bothering even trying the television.  He would have no idea what to watch anyway.  The meatball subs were good, although very salty to his tastebuds for having eaten rather bland food for so long.  When he was finished, he slipped into the bed and fell asleep immediately.   He woke in the morning, a lot later than he would have expected due to his exhaustion, and left to find Anna.

And now he was sleeping with her in her bed, thinking about how noisy civilization was.  And as much as it bothered him, it was a far cry from the lonely alternative he could have chosen.  He smiled, hugged Anna tighter, and fell asleep not long after. 

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Twelve

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M/EX WC: 2507

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-------------------------

That morning, they both started at the crystal-clear sky. 

Neither of them said a word as they cleared off Anna’s plane and readied it.  Kristoff loaded in all the firs and handed her the list for the spring.  She tucked it into a leather pouch with a nod, then he reached into the waist of his pants where he had tucked the item he wanted to give her.  He offered it to her without a word, not trusting himself to speak.

“Oh, Kristoff, I can’t take that.”

“Please, Anna?  I… I want you to have it.”

She nodded, eyes still on the book.  She reached out to take it, hesitated, then curled her fingers around the spine.  She looked at it a second before she opened the leather pouch and tucked his copy of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ beside his list of supplies.  “I’ll read it and bring it back next time I fly in.”

Kristoff didn’t reiterate that he wanted her to keep it.  He would let her make that decision on her own.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in the spring then.” She was looking everywhere except into his eyes.

He didn’t blame her.  He had been dreading this moment for quite some time.  “I think it’s going to be a long cold winter.  I hope I’m wrong,” he said quietly, not knowing what else to say. 

“Me too,” Anna whispered to the ground. 

She stayed that way for a long time wondering if he should say something.  He wanted to tell her.  He wanted to tell her so badly, but he didn’t want to utter something that would only end up hurting both of them.

“Well, I better get a move on.  See you in five or six months,” she said, putting her mouth into firm line before she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed her head against his chest.  “Thank you for everything.”

She unwrapped her arms and turned to walk away before he was barely able to hug her back.  She opened the door to her plane and paused, looking back over her shoulder at him.  She gave him a strained smile, then hopped up into her aircraft.

Anna pulled on her head set and readied herself, going through the checklist while Kristoff watched on helplessly.  When she was ready, she turned and waved to him.  She wasn’t smiling or even attempting to.

She maneuvered slowly out onto the flat ground that she used as an air strip and pointed the plane in the right direction to take off.  She glanced over at him again as she started to glide forward.  All of the sudden Kristoff could see the tears in her eyes and the heartbreak on her face before she turned her gaze out the front of the window.

Panic gripped him.  “Anna, wait!” he shouted, trying to run after her.  Without his snowshoes in the deep new fallen powder, he sunk down and fell to his knees.

He realized the brave face she had been putting on, that they both had been putting on.  He struggled desperately to get up as Anna’s plane sped away.

The small craft was up in the air before he moved two feet.  He watched with a crushing despair as it moved further and further out of sight.  He stared after her for a long time, even after he couldn’t see the tiny speck in the sky anymore, frozen with defeat.

-------

“Five or six months,” he muttered to himself over and over.  “Five or six months.”

The day Anna had left he could do nothing but stare out the small window by the table in the cabin and think. 

He fiddled with the rope she had made out of her gloves, running his fingers over the braids and knots while his mind was wholly consumed by her.  When it grew dark, he sat there for a while before deciding to go to bed where he stared at the ceiling all night long.

When day broke, he got up and started his daily routine, knowing that if he thought about her any more, he was going to go insane.

He threw himself into his work.  For two weeks straight, all he did was trap and make fir and chop wood and work himself to exhaustion every night just so that he could get a few hours of sleep.   Every beaver he caught made him think of her.  Every marten lured by the bait from the beaver made him think of her.  Seeing the logs that she had stacked in his wood shed made him think of her.  That damn leather rope, that he had tied around his neck, was an ever-present reminder of her.

He worked harder and harder to occupy his mind, until he woke up on the ground in front of his cabin one day, having passed out from exhaustion. 

“Five or six months,” he muttered, getting up, feeling sick to his stomach and making his way inside to sit down.  He sipped some water, staring at the table before barely making it to his bed, collapsing upon it, boots and all.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.  He was supposed to be in isolation with no one on his mind but himself and staying alive.   Then Anna had come into his life.  He wanted to blame her.  He wanted to say that she had disrupted his whole existence and that he would have been better off if he never met her.  Except he knew how big a lie that was. 

He would endure an eternity of hell to never, ever forget about that night. 

He wondered how she was doing.  If she was happy.  If she was enjoying being back in Nome with her sister and other people.  Maybe she had found herself a boyfriend, someone she could have those kids she wanted with.  Maybe she still thought of him.  Maybe a lot of things…

He laid there for hours, dead tired and unable to sleep.  He finally got up and stripped naked, shrugging into his pajamas and settling himself between the covers, determined to get some rest lest he pass out again and really hurt himself.  Or worse.

Instead, he stared at the dark ceiling for a long, long time.  

He felt empty. 

As he tried in vain to push her from his mind, he realized that he was cold, and he was usually never cold in his bed.  He shivered because of it, too distraught to actually go and add more wood to the fire.  He buried his head under the covers and curled himself into a ball to try and warm up.

I wish Anna was here.

He stopped breathing and his eyes went wide at the realization.  For the first time in his entire life, he did not want to sleep alone. 

He made up his mind in an instant.  The epiphany washed over him in wave after wave of relief.   And as he thought about the preparations needed to set his plan in motion, the sleep that had alluded him since Anna had left, took him, and he slept like the dead for nearly a day.

~   ~   ~    ~   ~

“You look like shit, you know that?”

Anna shot Frank a scowl.  “I do, as a matter of fact, know that.”

“You ready to talk about it?”

“Nope.”  She took a sip of her coffee.

“Anna, it’s been nearly four weeks.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Frank sighed.  “Well, you know if you ever want an ear to bend, I’m always hanging around here, right?”

Anna gave him a weak smile.  “I know Frank.  And thank you.  I just… I’m in a really unsure place right now.  I have to sort out my own mind before I can even think to talk to someone about it.”  She sighed, taking another sip of her coffee, wondering when the caffeine was going to kick in. 

She stared at herself in the black liquid of the cup, knowing that no matter what she was going to end up deciding, she was going to have to see him again, and soon.  Even if it was to say goodbye, that she could never stand to see him again lest her heart shatter in a million pieces to have to fly away every time.  She could not continue to only see the man she was in love with two or three times a year.

She knew what her heart wanted.  Her heart wanted to fly up there and never leave, to live with him for the rest of her life.  But she had her sister to think about.  She had a business to think about.  She had Frank to think about, because over the years he had become one of her greatest confidants and she considered him as much her family as Elsa.

She yawned again, lamenting the fact that she hadn’t slept well since she left him.  She suddenly realized that if she didn’t get out to see him before the winter fully set in, that she would be going a couple more months without sleep.  It made her mind up instantly.  There was no way that she could keep living like this.  She had to see him again right away and tell him she would find him a new pilot to take him supplies.  Just a quick trip there and back.  Tell him what she needed to say, and leave.  She wouldn’t even talk to him in his cabin, she would tell him from the window of her plane and fly off again to resist any temptation to stay.

She looked over to Frank to ask what the weather was supposed to be like over the weekend when she noticed him staring over her shoulder at something behind her, mouth hanging open with complete shock in his eyes.  He looked over at her slowly, meeting her gaze and giving her an incredulous smile. 

“I think,” he said flicking to motion behind her, “that someone is here to see you.”

Anna turned around, wondering why her sister had all of the sudden decided it was okay to be around planes again.  Her heart stopped when she met his gaze.

She blinked, her breath stolen as she stared into the familiar brown eyes that she had fallen in love with.  His hair was trimmed into a golden mop that shone like a halo with the morning sun coming in through the open hanger door.   His face was clean shaven and he looked a fraction of the age that he had appeared up on the mountain. 

He was a vision.  An angel. 

The coffee cup fell from her hand and shattered on the floor.  It didn’t make a sound.

Anna suddenly understood that she had died.  It must have been a massive heart attack.  Or perhaps a brain aneurism.  Those things could happen to a 28-year-old; it wasn’t completely unheard of.  How else could he be there in front of her?  Looking like that… looking at her like he was staring into the face of a deity.

“Anna…” he whispered.

She shook her head.  She knew from the way her heart was hammering in her chest that she wasn’t dead.  Just crazy then.  She must have finally gone off the deep end into insanity.  She wondered where her sister would have her committed.

He approached her slowly as she continued to gape at him, frozen with disbelief.   As he got closer, she could see that his eyes were shimmering with tears.  He stopped a couple steps away from her and spoke.

“Anna, I haven’t been able to think about anything else except you since you left.”  His voice was soft but there was an urgency to his words.  “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, because you weren’t there, and I realized how crushingly lonely I am without you.  You made everything better, Anna.  You made life life again for me.  You gave me something to want to live for.  Something I need to cherish for as long as I have left in this world.   I can’t even ask if you’ll come back with me because I can’t continue to live the way I was.  Never again.  I realized that I can see bright eyes and rosy cheeks in my future and they are our kids, Anna.  I’ve dreamt about them.  I’ve seen them in my mind and I have to know them.”

Tears were streaming steadily down his cheeks.  Anna had to suppress her own sob with a hand to her mouth as he kept talking.   Her entire body was shaking out of control. 

“I want to have those kids with you, Anna,” he choked, taking a step closer.  “I want to have a family.  I want a family to cook meals for, and go hiking with, and pick out a Christmas tree with.  I want a big family to get together with on holidays, and I want to be able to take weekend trips to see Cliff and Linda, and I want them to feel what it is like to be grandparents.  I want to marry you, Anna.  I want to grow old with you and I want to fall asleep with you every night for the rest of my life.  I love you, Anna.  I love you so much that I simply can’t live without you.”

Anna sobbed and threw herself into his arms, crushing him as hard as she could.  He lifted her, cradling her against him.   “I love you too,” she wailed, and they cried against one another, shocked and relieved and overwhelmed.

That moment stretched on until they finally composed themselves and Anna turned to lead Kristoff into the small office when Frank caught her gaze.  He was smiling at them, tears in his old eyes and nodding at them with happiness before turning and walking out of the hanger. 

-------

Anna ran her fingers along the leather rope that was tied around Kristoff’s neck.  They were shut away in her office, laying naked under a blanket on her couch.  They had intended to talk some more, then broke down and began kissing after only a minute or so.  They had missed each other so much, that their love making was wild and desperate, leaving them both spent.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered, moving her palm down his bare chest, caressing his warm skin.

“I am here,” he murmured, his eyes still closed.  “Here to stay.”

Anna smiled and put her head back down on the crook of his arm.  As beautiful as he was, she could see that he was exhausted.  She had no idea how hard the journey back would have been on him.  Once he was rested up, she’d ask him about it.

She shut her eyes and let her own tiredness take over.  It wasn’t long before they were both sleeping soundly, dreaming of the future that they could now have together.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Eleven

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M/EX WC: 1961

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-------------------------

The rest of the ride back, putting everything away, and finally in the cabin getting out of their snow gear, had been silent between them.  Kristoff’s mind was filled with troubling thoughts.  Why had he done that again?  He was being incredibly reckless.  Enough for the both of them.

He hung their stuff on the hooks by the stove and then turned around, about to break the ice by asking what she wanted for dinner, only to find her staring at him with a furrowed brow and her arms crossed over her chest. 

“You remember that first kiss.  The one when we were drunk.  Don’t you?”

That surprised him.  “Of course I do.  And I’m sorry for that one too.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” He threw his arms up in exasperation.

“Why can’t you?  What is holding you back?”

He eyed her, getting frustrated.  “You’re kidding, right?”

“No.  I need to know,” she demanded.  “I can’t stop thinking about either of those kisses and I can’t stop trying to figure out how to get you to kiss me again.  I want to be with you, Kristoff.   And I know you want to be with me.  Explain to me why you are holding back.”

“Because I can’t cross that line, Anna!”  he shouted.  “I would much rather continue not knowing than having a taste of what could be.”   How could he tell her in words she would understand that if he got to know, it was going to end up destroying him.  And that was only the concern for himself.  His first and major concern was for Anna. 

“I understand that, but nothing is set in stone, Kristoff.  Maybe things change, maybe they don’t.  Don’t we owe it to ourselves to-”

She did not understand, and warning lights were going off in his mind.  “Anna it’s been a decade since I’ve been with a woman.”

“So?  What difference does that make?”

“Never mind,” he said through gritted teeth and walked over to the chest to get his comfortable clothes on.   The last thing he wanted to do was to say it out loud.  Especially to her.

“No, I need to know,” she said, following him. 

He shook his head, frustrated that she had now backed him into a corner.  “Leave it alone, Anna, please.”

“I will not leave it alone.  I want this, Kristoff.  I want you.  Tell me.”

“Because I care about you, that’s why.”

“You care about me?  Really?” she said sarcastically.  “I mean you kissed me, twice, I kind of figured that out.”

“Anna, just drop it.”  He pushed past her and headed for the door.  This was too much for him to handle and she was absolutely wearing him down.  Every fiber of his entire soul wanted to give up the fight and be with her. 

“No, I will not drop it.”  She followed him to his boots.  “I care about you too, Kristoff.  Why don’t you care about me enough to explain what is going on in your mind?”

He stopped and whipped around to face her.  His nerves were fried and he had had enough.  It was time to shut her down even if it meant telling her the godawful truth.  “You want to know what’s going on in my mind?  You really want to know?  I’m terrified of losing control.  It’s been too long and I can’t because of just how much I care about you.  I can’t hurt someone that I Io-” 

His mouth snapped shut just shy of saying it out loud. 

Anna’s eyes widened and her lips parted to say something but he was not in the mood to hear what it was.  “There,” he spat.  “Now you know.  I am a pathetic, lonely, desperate man who wants you so badly that I am scared I might accidentally hurt you.”

“That is not who you are, Kristoff,” Anna said quietly, taking a step closer to him.

He eyed her.  “That is exactly who I am.”

She smiled gently, taking another step, bringing her directly in front of him.  She slid her hands onto his chest.  He was powerless to pull away. 

“That is not who you are,” she repeated, looking up into his eyes.  “You are kind, and compassionate, and I know that you truly care.  You made sure I didn’t fly around that storm and you opened your home and your life to me, even though I’ve managed to step on your toes once or twice.”

The corner of his mouth twitched up in the faintest smile.  His mind was slowly coming to terms with the fact that this was going to happen between them regardless of his fears.  He just hoped that his eventual heartbreak was something that he could handle.

“I’ve gotten to know exactly who you are.  You are a good man, Kristoff.    The fact that you are so worried about hurting me is proof of that.  I trust you completely.”

His eyes closed.  He was so close to giving in.  So dangerously close.  “I can’t,” he whispered, giving her one more chance to put a stop to this madness. 

“I want you as badly as you want me.”

“Anna, I-”

“I’m strong, Kristoff.  You said it yourself.”

He opened his eyes and looked into hers.  “I know you are.”

“I am confident I can handle you.”  She grinned sensually.  “Even if you do somehow lose control.”

That did it.  He smashed his lips against hers and Anna screamed with delight into his mouth, wrapping her arms firmly around his shoulders and pulling him tightly against her. 

His hands had a mind of their own, and they were pawing at her clothing, taking it off of her with frenzied desperation while his tongue continued to wrestle with hers.  Blindly he made her naked, yanking and pulling at her clothes, unable to pull his lips apart from hers and ran his palms all over her bare flesh, touching every inch of her.  He barely even noticed she had him almost completely naked as well until Anna broke from kissing him for the seconds it took to rip his t-shirt off of his head to finish the job.

He pulled her body tightly against his, the warmth of her pressing into his front and against his cock.  He shuddered out another moan and then pushed her towards to the bed.   As soon as the backs of her knees connected with the edge, he broke the kiss and pushed her down onto it.

She grinned and wiggled her way onto the bed to make room for him.  The only thought on his mind was his desire.  Her knees parted for him, and as soon as he caught her scent, a growl ripped through his throat.  He needed to taste her.  He plunged his tongue into her hot center, wrapping his hands around her hips and pulling her onto his mouth.  Her cry of utter delight was raw and primal, making him want her even more.  His mind went blank as he devoured her. 

Through the fog of his lust, Anna came against his mouth with a guttural scream of pleasure, and it snapped him out of his frantic yearning long enough to get a firmer handle on himself.  That and the fact that she was tugging at his hair.

His lips moved up her body, kissing all the way back up to her neck while Anna writhed with pleasure beneath him.  “I need you now,” she breathed over and over, reassuring him.

He slid all the way into her in one trust and as she gave a loud gasp.  For a split second a thought made it through his hunger that his action had hurt her, then she cried out a boisterous “Yes!”  He took that as answer enough that she was okay, and let himself give in to his desperation once more. 

Within minutes he was there.  The feeling came upon him like a hurricane, and came undone with a final thrust and a wail that rang with longing, even to his own ears. 

“Kristoff…”  she muttered with tenderness, gripping him as tight as she could while his entire body shook.

He got his breathing under control before he slid from her then bent over to kiss her.  He started with her lips, moving down her jaw, her neck, determined to kiss and caress every inch of her beautiful freckled skin.  He had no idea skin could be so soft.  Anna hummed with pleasure as he moved around her contours, pausing to suck gently on each nipple before continuing.  He kissed her ribs, the side of her breasts, not wanting to leave a patch of skin untouched.

He loved this woman.  This strong woman.  Smart woman.  Courageous and determined.  Kind and compassionate.  Soft and heartbreakingly beautiful.  This was the woman who had stolen his heart and the one who was going to break it.

He didn’t even know if he had actually gone soft in between.  All he knew was that his wild desire for her was taking over again and he needed to be inside of her once more.  He had to abandon his work across her body, moving back up to her lips and kissing her with everything he had as he gently positioned himself at her entrance.

“Oh my God, already?” Anna breathed.  “You are amazing.”

He took it as a yes and slid into her, crying out with the overpowering satisfaction, drowning out Anna’s loud moan of approval.  He found a slow rhythm, wanting to take his time and savour her.  Now that his feral need had been met, he could actually concentrate and appreciate all the sensations a little more.

Her body started to pulse around him after only a minute, and she yanked him down on top of her and bit his shoulder as she gave into the orgasm.  Kristoff waited, savoring the feeling, then resumed his movements, knowing that he would never forget this night for as long as he lived.

They continued to make love until both of them were moaning in tandem and clinging to each other as they rode out their next climax together.

*****

Neither of them was able to find sleep.  They laid together, Kristoff on his back and Anna curled around his side with her arm on his chest, staring into the darkness of the cabin. 

They had joined together twice more after the first go around.  Anna had lost track of how many orgasms he’d given her.  It was something she’d never had and would never have again.  It struck her when they were done how much of a mistake it had been to push him to do this.

The things that he didn’t tell her were starting to become apparent.  The word he almost let slip.  The way his arm was around her, his hand gently rubbing up and down her bare arm in the gentlest caress she could have imagined.  Her heart was starting to ache in knowing that their beautiful night together was going to haunt her for the rest of her days. 

“We have to move on like that didn’t happen, Anna,” Kristoff whispered, breaking the silence.  His voice waivered ever so slightly.  “Please.”

“I know,” she said quickly.  “I know.”

Now she understood Kristoff when he said it was better not knowing what being with each other was like.  She wanted a life with her business, a husband, kids, her home, her sister and Frank.  He wanted this life.  As he had told her, he didn’t even think about anything else.  It was this, period.

There was no way anything could ever continue between them, and now they both had to live with that taste of what could be.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Nine

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 2573

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

---------------------

Anna wandered out to the bathhouse.  Kristoff had shoveled the pathway again.  She imagined it was a non-stop battle in the winter to be able to get easily to and from his various buildings when it snowed.

She felt like shit for making yet another dig at how he chose to live his life.  She knew she needed to accept it and move on as much as that seemed to hurt.  It was stupid to get hung up on trying to change someone who did not want to change.

Peering through the door he had his back to her, building a fire in a large stove at the back.  Anna stepped up into the structure.  To her right was the wash basin and drying line for his clothes, and to the left, an antique-looking clawfoot tub.  Above both was a large window with opaque glass, letting in the light without need for a lantern, unless, of course, it was dark outside.

She settled her gaze on Kristoff.  “Can I help?”

His back stiffed a little, then he resumed what he was doing.  “You can fill the buckets with water,” he said quietly.

Anna noticed there were four large metal buckets on top of the stove.  She went over and grabbed one, looking down at his face.  He refused to meet her eyes.

The fire was roaring by the time she was finished with the third bucket.  He passed her on her way back in with the fourth.  A minute later he came in and placed it on the stove with the others.  Then he turned around and grabbed another bucket that Anna just noticed was sitting by the door.  He went outside, filled it, and dumped it in the empty tub.

“Oh, is that because when the water is boiling, it stabilizes out the temperature?”

He finally looked over at her.  “Yeah.”

“I can help you fill it.”

“I got it,” he said, walking past her and heading outside again. 

Anna followed him.  “Is it okay if I borrow some of your soap and shampoo?”

He paused and turned around.  “Yeah, of course.  It’s all in the bottom of the nightstand.  Help yourself.”

Anna nodded her thanks, grateful that some of the softness had returned to his tone.  She turned to get it when he spoke again. 

“All the clothes in my chest are clean.  Help yourself.  Towels are in there too.  And after, leave your dirty clothes on the floor.  I’ll wash them.”

“I can wash my own clothes, Kristoff.”

“I’ll wash them,” he reiterated, and began to pump water into the bucket. 

Anna sighed and went back into the cabin.  She grabbed the soap and shampoo first, set them on the table, then went to the chest to rummage through his clothes.  She found a plain black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants with a draw string.  She’d be swimming in the clothing but at least they were clean.  She hadn’t realized how dirty she felt until Kristoff brought up having a bath. 

She went back outside and placed the soap and shampoo on a shelf built to hold them, and hung the clothes and towels on two hooks fastened to the wall beside the door.  Kristoff had the tub half full and was keeping an eye on the water in the buckets in the stove.

He looked over at her, his expression blank.  “Should be done soon.”

“Thank you, Kristoff.  I really appreciate this.”

“Don’t mention it,” he mumbled, turning his attention back to the water. 

Anna wrung her hands.  “Look, I’m sorry about-”

His head turned in her direction.  “Just drop it, okay.  I get that you think living this way is insane.  I don’t really need a constant reminder of your opinion.”

He sounded almost defeated and she opened her mouth to apologize again when he turned his body fully towards her.

“You haven’t once taken the time to appreciate what I might enjoy about living this life,” he said.  “And there is a lot.  It’s the peace and the quiet of this place.  The way the sun rises and sets over the mountains.  It’s natures beauty as far as the eye can see, unhindered by power lines or radio towers.  It’s not having to worry about bills or mortgage payments, or dealing with crappy neighbours, or crime, or solicitors knocking on my door.  I don’t sit in traffic for hours to and from work, staring at billboards enticing me to buy things I don’t need.  I don’t have a boss who tells me what to do and when, and gives me a shitty paycheck after it all.  I am extremely fit and I never have to work out.  All you see is loneliness.  I see a life unburdened by all the things that tend to bring people down.”

Anna pinched her trembling lip in her teeth, her eyes stinging with tears.  She nodded, turning her eyes to the floor.

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not,” Anna choked out, turning around and wiping her wet eyes.  He hadn’t talked with any sort of tone, in fact he sounded at kind of at peace to explain it, and Anna felt bad again for the little digs she’d been taking at the way he lived his life.   

She heard him walk up behind her.  A second later his warm hand was on her shoulder.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be harsh.”

“You weren’t really, at all” she said, wiping her eyes once more, getting a firm handle on herself.  A deep breath and she was good.  “You were just setting me straight.  I didn’t understand.”

He gave a gentle sigh and his hand slid off her shoulder.  Anna turned around as he walked back to the stove.  “Should only be another minute.  And when you’re done, just leave the water in the tub.”  A pause.  “Please.”

Anna nodded, focusing hard on letting Kristoff, and his way of life, go.  

-------

Anna toweled off her hair, relishing in the warm, steamy bathhouse.  The fire kept the space delightfully warm. 

She felt fantastic.  The temperature of the bath had been spot-on perfect.  Anna lounged in the water for a long time until it started to cool.  There was nothing better than getting clean after a couple of days getting dirty.   

She slipped on her coat and hat, and shuffled through all the snow that had fallen in the pathway since Kristoff had set up the bath.  The ends of her hair not covered with her cap immediately froze.  Inside the cabin was just as warm and nice as the bathhouse.

Kristoff looked up from where he was sitting at the table, looking through a familiar stack of photographs.  “How was the bath?”

Anna let out a delighted moan.  “So good.  Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said, his cheeks deepening in colour.  He stood and gestured to the stack of photos.  “Dug these out of my chest.  Progress on the cabin when I built it and a few others.  If you’re interested.  Or whatever.”

The way he dismissed himself wormed its way back into her heart for how endearing it was.  How protective he was of his way of life.  “Thank you.  I’d absolutely love to see them.”  It wouldn’t hurt anyone to leave out the fact she’d already snooped at them.  At least now she could take a nice long look.

Kristoff went to the door and began putting on his boots.  “I’m going to have a quick dip then wash our clothes.”

“Okay.  I’ll help you fill the buckets.”

Kristoff paused, finished pulling his boot on, then straightened slowly, looking at her.  “Please don’t think this is creepy, or gross, or anything other than me being tired and just wanting some convenience, but I am just going to hop in the tub, wash, and get out.”

“Oh,” she said, cheeks lighting up with heat.  She had no idea he planned to use the bathwater after her.  She’d assumed she wanted the water left for some other reason for whatever else went on around his homestead.  It didn’t creep her out, but it did embarrass her a little.  What if she was dirtier than she realized and he got grossed out.  “I’m sorry, I… took my time.  The water isn’t very warm anymore.”

“Anna, half the time I take my shampoo to the river in the summer.  Lukewarm water will feel tropical.”

“Still, I don’t mind helping.  You deserve a nice hot bath too.”

He shook his head.  “I am not going to waste a tub of soapy water, even if it is cold.  I’ll be quick, okay.  Make yourself at home.”  He plucked his clean clothes off the back of the chair, tucked them under his arm and went through the door, shutting it behind him.

Home.  How could she make this anywhere near what her actual home was like.  She thought about her running water, the heat in her house, the electricity and the full fridge and pantry with anything she desired because that’s how she shopped.  This could never be home, and that drove the last nail in the coffin that was her maybe thinking someday that it could be. 

She shuffled over to the table and sat on the log, picking up the stack and looking down at the first photo; an impossibly young Kristoff and their friend Frank.  He’d taken it out of the frame so it was apparent he wanted her to see it with the others.  She took her time, flipping through the photos of his progress, trying to take it in through his eyes.  Nearing the end, seeing everything he had accomplished with his own two hands, she thought that she understood him a little better.

Then she flipped to that photo of the purple lupine flowers.  She swore she could smell their sweetness looking at them.  Perhaps the next time she brought him supplies, she’d get him a picture frame and he could hang it on his wall.  Maybe next to the one of him and Frank.

Anna flipped past the picture, thinking she’d be back at the beginning, when her eyes settled Cliff and Linda with a young boy.  One look at his features confirmed that this was Kristoff as a child.  Anna smiled.  He looked so goofy and gangly, smirking that lopsided grin of his.  In his hand was some kind of certificate, only Anna couldn’t make out what it said.  She flipped over the photo.  On the back, scrawled in cursive it said:

Scouts Wilderness Training Certificate

She flipped back to the front and studied it again.  He would have been maybe nine or ten.  Definitely tall for his age based on how he appeared next to Linda, who was herself probably only five feet.  Anna went to the next photo, delighted to see another one she hadn’t looked at before.  

It was Kristoff, as she knew him now, only with a long beard and even longer hair.  He looked seriously at the camera, a shot that he had clearly set up himself.  He was wearing a rugged jacket that looked like he’d made himself and he was standing over the carcass of the largest wolf Anna had ever seen.  She recognized the fur right away.  It was the one now sitting on the floor in front of his wood stove. 

Anna looked at it for a long time, eyes roaming over his as he stared back at her.  Then she flipped the photo and found she was back at the start. 

*****

Kristoff bathed like he did everything else; with efficiency. 

The water was cold, and that really didn’t bother him.  He washed his hair and body, rinsed off by plugging his nose and slipping under the water, then pulled the plug and got out.   He dried himself and pulled on his only other pair of sweatpants since Anna was wearing his favourites, then tugged the long sleeve t-shirt over his head and went about washing their clothing. 

He set up a bucket to get warm and stoked the fire, then filled the wash basin with one bucket of cold water from the well.  He added the two when the one on the stove was boiling, dumped in a bunch of soap, and used the washboard to get them clean.  Once rinsed, he hung them on the clothes line to dry.  Then he pulled the plug on the wash basin, put his damp towel over his head, and trudged back to the cabin.  Inside Anna was sitting on the fur in front of the fire in the stove.  She looked over at her shoulder and smiled.  It struck him in the heart.  Anytime she smiled at him it did. 

“How was your bath?  I hope it wasn’t too cold?”

“It was just fine, thanks for asking.”

“I was going to start dinner,” she said, getting up to her feet, “I just didn’t know what you wanted.”

“What do you feel like?

She gave him an amused look.  “What are my options?”

He chuckled.  “For meat, caribou.  For the grain, I have pasta, rice, quinoa…”  Anna pulled a face at the last one and he had to laugh again.  “Yeah, I know, it sucks.  But it does fill the hunger void.”

Anna nodded, eyes going a little sad again whenever something like this came up.  He had no stock, or butter, or much of anything to make his food taste better.   

She said, “Could we maybe have that dish you made on the noodles with that cheesy tasting stuff in it.  The… nitch?”

“Nooch.  Yeah, I can definitely whip that up.”

“I can help.”

His stomach suddenly twisted in a weird way and he hoped he wasn’t getting sick or anything.  He hadn’t been sick since he moved away from people, but Anna was a person who had germs, and she was sleeping in his bed.

And you kissed her…

He cleared his throat, forcing the thoughts away.  “Sure, can you please start boiling some water?  I’ll grab the meat.”

Anna did as she was asked and he went to the cellar to grab two packages of ground meat, thankful once again that this meal wasn’t going to be rationed.   The night before, when they’d gotten drunk, Kristoff had made them a couple of cans of Chef Boyardee Ravioli his parents sent him; something he rationed carefully and only ever ate as a treat when he was beyond too tired to prepare food.  Anna had of course, thought it was the best thing ever – just like the rum – and they had heated up and devoured his only three cans.   He had even brought the chocolates to the table after.  Between the two of them, mostly Anna, they finished the rest of the top layer, and after every one she popped into her mouth, she gave a rather loud moan of satisfaction.

Another reason why he had kissed her. 

Kristoff shook his head and went back up into the cabin, closing the door and flipping the rug back in place.  They both made the dinner, talking about what tasks they were going to accomplish tomorrow.

After they ate and cleaned up, they were both tired and crawled into bed.  He did not want to push or assume she’d want anything from him, then she asked if he wouldn’t mind holding her so that she would stay warm.  He obliged without hesitation.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Eight

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 2750

Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-----------------------------------

“My head hurts.” Anna’s muffled voice came from somewhere under the covers.

“Mine too,” Kristoff muttered, keeping his eyes shut to the light coming in from the window.  While he had half a mind to disappear under his blankets with Anna, he worried that would be too presumptions despite what happened between them the night before. 

“I have painkillers in the first Aid kit in my plane,” she muttered.

“And you don’t want to go get them?”

“Hell no.”

Kristoff smiled and steadied himself to move.  He got up slowly, wincing as his head pounded and the room spun around.  While he had some pain killers in his own first aid kit, he rarely took them and they were a decade old.  Likely not as effective anymore, and if her head hurt as much as his, they would need all the help they could get.

“You’re going to get it for me, aren’t you?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh my god you are the best.”

Kristoff shook his head, smiling wider and took to his feet slowly.  He dressed in his coat and boots and opened the door.  The snow was somehow still falling.  He breathed in the cold mountain air deep into his lungs, instantly making him feel a touch better and clearing his head a little.

He trudged through the deep snow to where Anna’s plane was and retrieved her first aid kit.  He brought back in the cabin and poured them both a glass of water from what was left in the cold kettle before shaking the pills into his hand.

He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Anna to slowly emerge from the covers.  She did so with her eyes pinched shut, wincing as she sat up. 

“Here.” He offered her the cup and his open palm.

She took the pills and the water with shaky hands and popped them in her mouth, draining the cup with a greedy gulp.  She handed the cup back to Kristoff and laid back down.

He took his own pills and set the empty cups on the floor and crawled back in beside her.  No sooner was he settled on his back and Anna was curling up to him, throwing her hand over his stomach and nestling her head on his shoulder.  He could feel her breath on his neck and he suppressed a delighted moan. 

“As shitty as I feel right now, that was a lot of fun last night,” she said.

He could hear the smile on her voice.  “It was,” he mused, thinking about just how much fun it was.  He hadn’t laughed so much in his entire life.  His smile faded to remember that the storm wasn’t going to last forever and Anna would be leaving soon. 

“Hey Anna?” he started before he knew what he was doing.

“Hmmm?” 

He panicked.  What was he about to say anyway?  Was he actually going to tell her that last night was the most fun he had ever had in his entire life?  Was he going to admit that he never wanted the storm to end?  That he wanted her to stay there with him forever.  Was he going to tell her that she had taken his heart and he was madly in love with her?

No.  He couldn’t do that.  He couldn’t drag her into this life of isolation.   He couldn’t crush her spirit like that.  Likely couldn’t even have the chance anyway.  She had mentioned how many times she would be unable to live this life.

He thought quickly.  “I’ll give you another opportunity to beat me at crib again tonight,” he said, hoping that it didn’t sound as sad as it made him feel.

Anna giggled, obviously not picking up on his distress.  “You’re on, mountain man.”

*****

They got out of bed in the late morning, too hungry to ignore their growling stomachs.  Kristoff made them oatmeal and opened a can of peaches that he told her he saved for special occasions.  Anna watched him as he made them their breakfast, chatting idly with her like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be doing.  She could not stop staring.  His handsomeness was so much more apparent with the short beard.  She could see his magnificent jaw line, and she imagined what he’d look like if he’d let her cut his hair shorter too.  Never before in her life had she been more attracted to a man.

She thought back to that wonderful kiss.   More than anything she wanted to have him kiss her again.  She wanted a whole hell of a lot more than that actually.  Then she realized that she would be leaving soon.  She couldn’t stay, couldn’t even entertain the idea.  She had family and too much back in Nome to just throw it all away. 

Yet as she remembered it again, that beautiful soft and tender first kiss he had placed on her lips, she longed to be able to say fuck it and stay with Kristoff.

She pushed the thought from her mind immediately, knowing that it would only lead to heartache.  Why it hurt so much she wasn’t sure.   She managed to forget about the future and focus on the bowl that Kristoff had placed in front of her with a smile.

After their breakfast they both cleaned up, and Anna asked what she’d asked him so many times in the past couple of days.  “So, now what?”

Kristoff looked around his cabin.  “Uh, to be honest I am not feeling up to doing a lot of manual labour today.  I haven’t been that drunk in my entire life.”

Anna cocked her head to the side.  Did that mean he didn’t even remember the kiss?  While it was seared into her mind, maybe he was one of those people that blacked out and didn’t remember anything.  “Yeah, we drank a lot,” she said, not wanting to bring it up in case he really didn’t remember.

“I have some wobbly shelves in the cellar I need to fix.  Some clothes that need mending.  I have to deal with a couple of hides, but that will only take me about an hour.  Uh, what else?” 

He looked around in thought again, so innocent and pure, and Anna’s heart lurched in her chest thinking about that kiss.  How utterly desperate his lips had become, like he’d been under water for a dangerously long time and was finally able to gasp for air.  How it must have felt to him.  And he probably didn’t even remember being so vulnerable with her.

“… tidy my shed up a bit too.  Been putting that off.”

Anna realized she zoned out.  “Oh yeah, sure.  Put me to work.”

His head tilted to the side and he regarded her for a moment.  “Where should we get started?”

“Give me your clothes and I’ll mend them while you deal with the hides.  Then we can do whatever you figure next.”

He nodded, his bloodshot eyes looking at her carefully again.  “Alright.  Thank you.”

-------

Anna picked up the first shirt and looked at it.  A plain black henley that was tattered and getting holes along the shoulders.  He’d told her all the clothes needing mending were clean except for that black henley.  Anna had assured him that she didn’t mind.  And truly she didn’t.  She imagined it on him then looked up quickly to make sure Kristoff hadn’t somehow slipped back into the cabin without her noticing.  Once confirming she was indeed alone, she pulled the shirt up to her face and inhaled.

An involuntary shiver ran up her spine to smell him on the clothing.  It aroused her in a way she was not at all expecting, and she set the shirt back down on the table and shook her head.  Get a grip on yourself, Anna!

She threaded the needle with black thread and began mending.  It was quick work and she moved onto the next shirt, and then the next.  When they were all done, she started on the socks, switching the black thread for the only other colour; white. 

Anna mended his socks, cringing a little at how much it would drive her crazy to step on the mending all day long.  She’d tried it before.  There was only one solution to socks with holes on the bottom; buy new ones.  Something that Kristoff could not do whenever he wanted. 

That made her sad all over again, thinking about his life as she finished the socks.  Next, she moved onto his work pants, two pairs of jeans with holes in the knees and some Carhart’s.  Every pair had holes in all the pockets. 

After the pants the only item left was a hooded sweatshirt with the front pocket ripped on one side.  It was grey, so Anna switched back to the black thread for it to be less noticeable. 

When that was done, she folded all the clothes neatly and placed them back in his chest and put the henley in a small laundry basket he had sitting beside it.  She turned around and surveyed the one at the end of the bed again, thinking about those photos and wanting to look at them once more.  She was just about to, when the front door opened and Kristoff stepped in.  His face was drained of colour.

“Kristoff!  Are you okay?”

He nodded and wobbled a little as he used his feet to take off his boots.  Anna rushed over and grabbed his shoulder just as he leaned far enough over that he was going to lose his balance if she wasn’t there.  She braced herself as his weight fell into her.

“I need to sit down,” he mumbled. 

Anna helped him over to his chair and sat him in it.  Kristoff turned and placed his head in his arms on the table, taking a few slow breaths like he was going to be sick. 

“Are you okay?” she asked again.

“Dizzy,” he murmured from his arms.  “I think I need some water.”

“Of course.”  Anna turned and grabbed a cup from the shelves above his kitchen cupboard and the cold water from the kettle on the stove, then took it over to him. 

Slowly, he pulled his head up, his eyes closed.  After two more deep breaths he opened them, took the glass and drank with a shaky hand.   As soon as he was done, Anna took it from him and filled it again.  With that downed, she filled it once more with all that was left in the kettle.  After giving him back his glass, she took the kettle outside and filled it with water from the well.  She filled his empty up again, then grabbed one to fill for herself. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly as she took a seat on the log across from him. 

“You okay?”

He nodded slowly.  “Just dehydrated from all the booze,” he said, his eyes lifting to finally meet hers.   “Like I said, that was the drunkest I have ever been.  I’ve never been this hungover.”

“I’m sorry,” Anna said, wondering again if he really didn’t remember that kiss. 

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, eyes going back down to the table.  “I just need a minute.  I’m pretty sure when we got up, I was still drunk, and I’m just hitting the wall now.”

“Why don’t you go lie down for a minute?”

His eyes met hers again.  “How are you feeling?  Are you okay?”

Anna smiled.  “I feel kind of like you.  Clearly not as severe.  I’m okay, just sucking at life today, you know?”

He gave her a slight smile.  “I could use a nap.  How about you?”

She thought about being in that comfortable bed with him again and was not about to miss out on the opportunity to be close to him again.  “Definitely.”

They went over to the bed and settled into it, Anna thinking again to that kiss.  “How many games of crib did we even play last night?” she asked, thinking it might give some insight into if he remembered it. 

“I have no idea,” he said, brining up his forearm and settling it against his eyes.  “I can’t remember.”

Anna frowned, and pushed the thought of that kiss from her mind.  It would do no good to keep thinking on it if she was the only one who remembered it happening.

A moment later Kristoff was snoring.  As much as Anna wanted to snuggle up to him, she could not bring herself to do so.  Her heart was heavy with thoughts she had no business having.  Eventually she drifted off and fell into a fitful sleep.

*****

Kristoff woke slowly, blinking into the light of the cabin.  His eyes hurt.  Like his head.  The painkillers had worn off.  He looked over to where Anna was sleeping.  She was facing him, as far away as she could get.  He studied her face, every inch of it, every freckle, every gorgeous feature. 

That kiss…

He pushed it from his mind for the hundredth time since waking up that morning.  He would not, could not, hang onto that.  It was like a taste of things that could be.  Things that would never be.  He needed to let it go for good.  It was far too dangerous not to.

To his relief, Anna was completely fine not talking about it.  Maybe she didn’t even remember it.  Either way, they could move on as if it never happened, which was more than fine with him.

Kristoff got up slowly, getting a little dizzy again.  He put his feet on the floor and hung his head between his shoulders.  He felt the bed shift under him a moment later.

“You feeling any better?”

“A little yeah.”  He sighed.  “How about you?”

“Like a new woman.”  She laughed.

-----

Anna spent the rest of the afternoon following him around and helping him here and there, talking his ear off.  It was amazing how her hands worked, knowing exactly what to do without having to ask.  Her independence and skill were never more apparent to him.  If she ever had the desire, he had no doubt she’d be able to make this life work for her too.  She had all the same instincts as him.

They had just finished with the unstable shelves in the cellar.  While it was the last task that he had wanted to accomplish that day, it still didn’t feel like he’d done enough.  He was feeling better and itching to get more shit done.  This was the first day since he’d been living like this that he’d been lazy, and it was starting to bother him.

As soon as he had the tools back in his toolbox, he brushed the dirt off his hands and looked at Anna.  She was looking down at her own hand, surveying her fingernails with a frown.

“You okay?” he asked, worried she’d injured herself somehow.

She looked up at him, quickly putting her hand back down at her side.  “Oh yeah, fine.  Just have to wash the dirt out from under my fingernails.”

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he was a little embarrassed it hadn’t come to him sooner.  “Did you want to have a bath?”

Her eyes brightened.  “A bath?  That actually sounds wonderful.”  Then her brows furrowed in question.  “Wait, how do you even do that?”

He chuckled.  “What do you think that little building by the well is?”

Anna shrugged.  “Another shed.”

He laughed again.  “It’s the bathhouse, silly.  Despite what you may think I do wash my clothes and bathe.”

“Really?  How often?”  Her smirk was all play.

Shrugging one shoulder he said, “Once a week.”

She playfully scrunched up her nose.  “Ew.”

“Well, to be fair it is a lot of work.”

Her light mood shifted to a touch of annoyance and she rolled her eyes.  “Of course it is.”

Anger prickled him.  These reminders that she thought his life was ridiculous were starting to really get under his skin.  He went for the cellar ladder and ascended without a word or backwards glance in her direction. 

“I’m sorry,” she called after him as soon as he stepped onto the floor.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” he said, his teeth clenched.  “Just going to go get you a bath started.”  He threw on his boots and slammed the door behind him.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Six

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: MA WC: 4121

~Collab with @lukin08

A/N: Well, it's now complete! The remaining chapters will be posted semi-regularly. If you have already read the first five chapters of this story, please note that some very minor changes have been made (updated on here and AO3) to make the story flow a little better for what was written after. Those familiar with this story may want to re-read.

Chapter Index

-----------------------

Anna groaned when he left the bed.

He chuckled.  “Not a morning person, are you?”

“Actually, with my job, I am,” she mumbled as she rolled over to where Kristoff’s body had been, trying to stay as warm as possible.  How did that man manage to run so hot in such a cold place? 

“Not by choice, I take it?”

She sighed. “Definitely not.”

“Well, you can sleep in.”

Anna rolled her eyes under her closed lids.  As much as she wanted to, as much as she was sure Kristoff would just assume she would take him up on his offer, she wanted to prove herself useful while he was offering her his precious food and shelter for her stupidity in trying to fly ahead of what was surely one of the biggest storms in Alaska in more than a decade.

After keeping her eyes closed and listening to him change, she reluctantly crawled out of bed.

He was stirring the hot embers in the stove before adding some wood.  The dry logs caught immediately and Anna wandered nearer to the only heat source… well, aside from the heat source that was Kristoff.

He went about making them breakfast, quick cooking oats yet again, and Anna once again chipped some of the impossibly hard brown sugar into her meal trying to make it taste like anything other than what it was. 

They were half way through eating, Anna trying her best not to talk his ear off again because she knew damn well how much it annoyed him, when Kristoff casually looked out the window and froze, his eyes widening.  Anna looked and saw nothing at first.  Dawn was just barely breaking and it was very hard to make out anything outside.  Then a glimmer of the eyes drew her attention, and she finally saw the bull caribou at the edge of the clearing to Kristoff’s homestead.

Kristoff reached over to the lamp on the table and slowly turned it off.  The cabin dimmed into near darkness, the only light coming from the fire in the stove.  “Quiet,” he whispered, getting up silently and walking very carefully to where his rifle hung above the door. 

Anna kept her eyes between the caribou and Kristoff’s movements as he slowly brought down the rifle and carefully opened the door and slipped outside.  Anna realized how much he kept up on his home maintenance as the hinges on the door were silent.  She glanced back at the animal who was still pulling the bark off of a tree, straining to see exactly how he was lined up for the shot. 

Kristoff took very careful steps onto the porch and settled the rifle into position.  Anna could just make him out through the edge of the window.  He was talking deep breaths, clearly concentrating.  A gunshot rang out a moment later, startling her a little even though she was no stranger to rifle fire.  She’d gone hunting with her dad plenty of times.

The caribou collapsed to the ground and Anna knew right away that his shot had been dead on, meaning that the animal was killed instantly, basically eliminating any suffering.  She jumped up from her seat and jogged out the door to stand beside Kristoff.  He was taking deep calming breaths, the rifle loose in his hand, and staring at the downed animal. 

“Great shot, Kristoff,” she said after a long moment, wondering why he was just standing there.  

He nodded absentmindedly.   “I was getting really worried,” he said slowly, his voice quiet.  “I don’t have much meat left.  Every hunting day I’ve had lately has been bad.  The animals have been scarce this fall.” 

“Well, I’m glad you had some good fortune then.” 

He looked over and his eyes surprised her.   It was a mixture of a lot of things with an undeniable softness underneath.  “I have to get to this right away.  Do you mind cleaning up from breakfast?”

Anna nodded and offered her hand out for the gun.  “I can put that back for you.”

He smirked at her.  “Think you can reach?”

She guffawed at him.  “I can use the chair if I can’t, wise guy.”

His smile went all natural.  “Alright.  Thank you.”

“I’ll come out and help you after,” she said, turning to go back into the cabin. 

“Uh, it’s a kind of one-person job.  And it’s pretty messy.  I can handle it.  Thanks anyway.”

Anna tried not to let her face fall.  She hated sitting around.  “Anything else I can do then?”

“No, I think you’re good.  You can read a book or play cards.”

“Okay,” she said, failing to keep the dejection out of her tone, and turned into the cabin to clean up the dishes and then do nothing.

*****

“That was fast.”

He looked at Anna as he shut the door.  She was sitting at the table, playing solitaire.  He’d spent the last three hours dressing and butchering the caribou, taking care in his cuts, preserving certain things for his tanning.  The hide was going to make a suitable replacement for the ripped vinyl on the seat of his old snowmobile.  In the end there was not much that needed to be disposed of. 

“Not my first rodeo,” he replied to her comment. 

“So, what now?”

Kristoff walked over to the kitchen and opened a lower cupboard and pulled out a roll of butcher paper.  “Gotta wrap and store all the meat.”

“Can I help?” she asked, scrunching up her nose like she thought he was going to brush her off again.

He turned around and smiled to himself, not letting her see.  “Sure.”

He pulled out his meat grinder and started with the cuts suitable for ground meat, then wrapped everything else and labeled its date and cut with a black sharpie.  With Anna’s help it took him half the time.  She’d taken over the labeling and her penmanship was gorgeous compared to his messy scrawl.   After she passed him all packages to the cellar where be put them away. 

When all was said and done, Anna looked at her watch.  “Holy crap I swear it’s damn near two in the afternoon.  It’s not even eleven.”

Kristoff chuckled.  “Yeah, that tends to happen when you get an early start.”

“So, what now?”

“I should check my beaver traps today,” he muttered, feeling strangely uneasy about having to leave her out again.  It was clear that she did not like lousing around, which admittedly impressed the hell out of him.  “I, uh, only have one pair of snowshoes though.”

Her smile was so natural, it gave him pause.  “I’ve got my own in the plane, if you want some company?”

“Sure.”  He tried to smile back, only his face would no allow it.  His mind was suddenly contemplating his life’s choices again.

Kristoff followed her outside when she was wrapped up again in her winter gear.  He grabbed his snowshoes from their place on his porch, watching her through the tree line for a moment as she brushed the slow off the nose of her plane as she walked by.  She opened the door and disappeared into the snow-covered aircraft.

Kristoff sat on the steps of his porch to put on his snowshoes.  Anna appeared at his side a moment later, and they walked through the clearing to head up the river.

*****

“So, have you been trapping since you first came up here?”

Kristoff glanced down at her.  “Pretty much.  The first year I was too busy just getting everything in place so I could survive.  I studied up on it before I moved up here and started my second year.  I learned a lot as I went along too.”

“How many traps do you keep out?”

“Only enough to pay for my needs each year plus a little extra for anything unexpected.  I could put a lot more out, but it feels like a waste.”

“Take only what you need.”

“Exactly.”

Kristoff stopped and made a sharp turn down a path by the river.  Anna watched as he checked the trap, yielding nothing.  Frustration on his face was clear as he reset the line and started to move to the next one.  Anna followed him along the bank of the river.  It seemed odd that all his traps were coming up empty.  She tried to remember if there was anything different her father had done, but nothing stuck out.  Kristoff, for what she could surmise, set the traps exactly as her father would have.

“Are your traps always so bare?”  Anna asked.  She tried to stop herself from saying anything, and as usual, she never knew when to keep he mouth closed.  Anna closed her eyes bracing for a biting retort from Kristoff.  Instead, she heard him sigh.

“No,” he answered.  There was a solemn expression on Kristoff’s face.  He looked almost worried.  “The traps have been fairly successful.  That is since the end of summer… Now I’m not catching a thing and I don’t know why.  I keep going over it, trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.”

Anna knew the firs were Kristoff’s livelihood.  They afforded him the critical supplies he needed each year and without them he could be in dire straights.  They kept moving, checking the traps with no improvements. 

There was something in the back of her mind nagging at her.  She couldn’t shake the thought that there was a remedy to Kristoff’s problem.  Another hour passed until Anna was struck with the revelation.  She stopped in her tracks as the lesson of her father played out in her head.  When she looked up to Kristoff, he was far ahead of her trudging to the next trap.

“Kristoff!” she called out. 

He stopped and turned back to her, the annoyance she was slowing him down clearly showing.

“I know what’s wrong!” Anna said through deep breaths.  She had practically ran to catch up with him through the deep snow.  Anna put her hands on her thighs, leaning over trying to catch her breath.  “Why did I think that was a good idea?”

She looked up again and saw Kristoff staring down at her.  Anna straightened up and proclaimed.  “The weather pattern this summer!”

Kristoff tilted his head.  “What?”

“Don’t you remember?  Everyone was talking about-   No.  No, you don’t.”  Anna threw her arms up in frustration then walked past Kristoff, pushing him out of her way as she looked for the next trap.  “Because that would require you watching the news, or reading about it, or talking to people.”  She turned back at Kristoff.  “Do you remember anything odd about this summer?”

“Not really.  It may have rained more than usual.”

“Yes!  But do remember anything else?  How it didn’t cool off?”

Kristoff thought for a moment.  “It did seem to stay warmer longer, now that you mention it.”

“Everyone was talking about it.  Some crazy weather pattern coming up from the Pacific.  It extended the summer.  It hadn’t happened in over twenty years.”

“So?”

“So, this is your problem!  I remember my dad talking about this when I was a girl.  Warm summers extend the feeding season and there isn’t as large of a need for food right now.  You have to adjust your traps to the calmer waters.  The animals aren’t in their usual spots.  They’ll take the bait if it’s in front of them, but they aren’t searching for food as much right now in the open water.”

Kristoff’s gaze shifted to the river.  “Of course,” he whispered.  “Why the hell didn’t I think of that?”

He turned without a word and trudged back to the trap they had just passed.   After he yanked it from the water he surveyed the bank, looking for a good spot.

“I think we need to go back downstream a bit,” Anna said.

He nodded.  “I think you’re right.”

“You have any more up ahead?”

“Yeah, only one.  Let’s just reset the ones we passed and I’ll do that one another day.  It’s getting late anyway.”

He took off in purposeful strides before Anna could agree, slugging the heavy trap with him.  When they got to the next trap Anna offered to carry it.  He gave her a curious look before shaking his head quickly.  She followed him to the third trap and offered again.  He shrugged and handed it to her before he took off again.

Anna struggled with the weigh of the metal.  Kristoff was carrying two like they weighed nothing.  At least the split in the river was in sight now.  As soon as she had mentioned calmer waters, she knew that was where Kristoff was going to place the traps. 

She stopped beside Kristoff as his gaze swept the river.  “What do you think?”

Anna didn’t even realize he was asking her until he looked down at her in question.

“Oh, you mean me?” she laughed nervously.  “Sorry, I wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t know you wanted…. I just thought you knew where you wanted to place them after I mentioned…”

“Where would your father have put them” he prodded gently.  “I’ve never had an issue like this before.   Honestly, I’m at a loss.”

Anna looked out at the movement of the river.  There was an area up ahead where a tree had come down.  “Over there,” she pointed to what she was looking at.  “That tree that’s still half on the bank?  There’s probably a lot of debris stuck under the water making a calm spot on the other side.”

Kristoff followed her gaze then turned back and nodded.  He trudged ahead and went down to the bank to set the trap.  When he came back up, he grabbed the two remaining traps.  “Where else?”

They walked a quarter of a mile further where Anna found another spot near a natural rock formation.  Kristoff set the trap and they set off the place the last one. 

Anna spotted another great spot almost at the end of the split where the river rejoined itself.  It was tricky to get to and Kristoff had to take off his snowshoes and wade into the river.  Anna was worried he would fall into the icy water but he was more sure-footed than she realized.  He scrambled back up the bank and put his snowshoes back on.

With that task accomplished, they started to head back to the cabin.  Anna was very glad he decided to leave the last trap for another time.   She was getting exhausted from trudging through the deep snow and Kristoff showed no signs of slowing.  She wondered again about what kind of stamina it must take to do this stuff all day long every damn day.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[sunflowers-and-sandwiches]

I read something the other day about “waste your time, that’s when the good stuff happens” - and this is the very best of good stuff to procrastinate over!

Mountain Man

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M (swearing) WC: 3425

~This was a collab with @lukin08

Summary: Kristoff lives a solitary life off the grid in the wilds of Alaska.  He is a mountain man in every sense of the word.  When his supply pilot Anna is forced to stay with him and wait out a winter storm, his world is thrown completely out of balance.

Chapter Index

——————————-

Kristoff woke well before the sun, getting an early start on all the things he needed to prepare before the winter set in and he would be unable to navigate the hundred or so miles to the closest settlement of people.

Keep reading

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man ~ Chapter Index

Collab with @lukin08​

Kristanna Modern au  /  Rated: MA

~ Kristoff lives a solitary life off the grid in the wilds of Alaska. He is a mountain man in every sense of the word. When his supply pilot Anna is forced to stay with him and wait out a winter storm, his world is thrown completely out of balance

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen

*Kristoff’s Cabin Layout *Kristoff’s Homestead Layout

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Five

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: MA WC: 4121

~Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

-------------------

Kristoff woke slowly, wrapped around something incredibly warm.  He blinked in the dark, confused for only a second when he remembered everything and who was in his arms.  He went to move and his muscles refused to cooperate.

Despite how tense and awkward he felt last night when he dozed off sleeping next to her, right now he was comfortable.  Very comfortable.  Anna was breathing deep with sleep, the movements very evident under the arm that was curled around her.  Then he realized that his hand was tucked just below her breast, that he could feel the curve of it through her sweater resting ever so gently against his thumb.

He definitely needed to move, was about to, when he felt the dip in the middle of the mattress where his body usually laid, alone.  He was the one who had invaded her side of the bed.  It was him who had sought her out in his sleep, rolling over and putting himself around her.

That idea scared the hell out of him.  

He made the decision to move again, only to have his muscles hesitate once more.  He had no idea what time it was.  Perhaps it was the middle of the night.  He didn’t want to disturb her.  She had spent all day helping him and she was probably still tired.  Anna had proved to be a great help.  He could stand to let her sleep a little longer. This way if she was cold, she wouldn’t have to wake him up to ask him to hold her.

He yawned and relaxed his tense muscles, knowing he wouldn’t get any more sleep for having to remain still so as not to wake her.  He inched his face a little closer to her hair, breathing in the scent of it.  He could faintly smell her shampoo. Something soapy and not overly floral.

My God, she is warm.  

Kristoff started to think about all the tasks he had to face in the morning when suddenly he was in a flowered meadow, Anna sitting there beside him in a yellow sundress.  He startled back to consciousness, incredulous that he had actually dozed off.  That was the absolute last thing he thought he would be able to do.

He just about moved away from her then.  Just about.  Then he relented quickly and reminded himself he needed rest to get through the day ahead.  With that, he fell back asleep once more.

-------

They both stood on the porch looking up into falling snow.  It had accumulated so much overnight that everything was covered in a foot and a half of fluffy white flakes.  All the new fallen undisturbed white powder was a breathtaking sight.

“This is one big system,” Anna grumbled.

Kristoff looked at her grim expression, wondering what he could do to make her feel less like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.  He fumbled with the words in his mind, trying to think of the right way to talk to her when she grew impatient with his silence and spoke instead.

“So, are you checking your lines again at some point?  We’ll need to fix that rod.  I’m actually surprised that rope got us all the way back here.”  She frowned when he couldn’t respond. “Or you have other stuff going on?”

He blinked himself out of his stupor. “Uh yeah, I should fix that rod.”  Her eyes narrowed.  “I mean, we, if you don’t mind helping?”

Her face relaxed and she smiled.  “Not at all.”

“Right.”  He nodded and took off towards the small shed, shoveling a path as he went, glad that she seemed a little happier now than when the had walked outside to see all the snow.  If she needed a task to take the scowl off her face, he would give her plenty of them today.

Anna removed the cover off the sled and waited while Kristoff grabbed some tools they would need. From the corner of his eyes, he watched her fidget as he went through a bin of scrap metal looking for something that would work to do the fix.  He knew she was itching to talk.  She liked to talk.  It was hard for him to understand that.

He dumped everything in a pile as Anna leaned over the rod assembly with him.  She didn’t make a peep as he pulled the hinting knife from his belt and cut the leather cord she had made with her gloves.  

After he sheathed the knife, he handed her a crescent wrench and asked her to remove the ski.  She did as she was asked while Kristoff went over to his work bench and grabbed a hook from beat up coffee can and hung it in a free space on the peg board on the wall above the cabinets.  He took the leather cord and wrapped it around the hook, wanting to keep it in case there was ever a need for something like that. So many things could happen unexpectedly, he never threw anything away.  

Anna had the pieces apart when Kristoff crouched back beside her, looking bored out of her mind.  

“So… you have any kids?” he asked.  He didn’t think she did, he just wanted to try and make conversation so that she wouldn’t look so dejected.

Anna laughed.  “Not yet.”

“Someday though?  Are you a kid person, or a non-kid person?”

“Oh, I am definitely a kid person.  I love kids.  I really hope I can have some of my own someday. But that clock is certainly ticking and quite honestly, I’ve been too busy to even try and find myself a man.”

“They’re not lined up at your doorstep?”

Anna snorted a laugh until she saw his strained smile and seemed to realize that he had been a serious. Kristoff knew he should try and play it off as a joke, but he had genuinely thought that she would be sought after.  She was gorgeous and smart and tough.  While he himself found her annoying, she seemed like the perfect catch for what he remembered most guys looked for in a woman.  How the hell could she not have men all over her?

They both fell silent as Kristoff began to remove the entire steering assembly.  He was at a loss on how to keep the conversation going.

“What about you?” Anna asked after a moment.  “You never wanted kids?”

Kristoff’s hands froze as he was removing a bolt.  He had not expected her to ask him that.  

“Sorry,” she murmured at his silence.  “None of my business.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” he said, brining his eyes up to hers.  “I just… I never thought about anything besides this life.  I never took the time to consider anything else.  It was just… this.”

Anna’s eyes became sad. “You never wanted companionship? Never wanted to have a family?”

Kristoff’s heart started to hammer in his chest.  This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.  This was why he hated talking.  No one understood him.  It was only two years ago that Frank had to fly him back to White Mountain when he had fallen deathly ill from an infection from the tiniest scratch of a rusted nail. It only took one look at his appearance for people to shake their heads. The nurse who attended him had looked at him like he was an idiot.  The doctor berated him being so far from civilization without a means to call for help. He had never been so glad to be back at his cabin when he was healed and well.  It was absolute hell having to lay in that hospital bed while everyone who came into the room all but sneered at him.

Kristoff shook his head. It was all he could give her.  He didn’t trust himself to speak in that moment. Her eyebrows twitched upwards quickly as if she was saying ‘okay then, whatever’ before she moved her eyes back to the snowmobile.

He resumed removing the assembly wondering how things had gotten off track so quickly.  It was his fault, he realized.  He was the one who asked her about kids first.   He had completely forgotten how people have proper conversations.  Of course she would ask him something in return.

The assembly finally came off and Kristoff looked over the broken part.  He was going to have to weld the damn thing.

“I only have one welding shield.”

She looked at him a moment before understanding crossed her face.  “Okay.  I’ll just go chop some wood or something.”

“You don’t have to-” he started, but she was already heading out the door.

He sighed, shoulders slumping.  He felt strangely defeated.  The truth was, he never gave his decisions, or his future for that matter, any thought. He didn’t have time to.  He just lived every day that came without worrying about what he would be doing in five years.  Or ten years.  He certainly never thought about what he would do when he was too old to eke out a living in the middle of nowhere.  It honestly never crossed his mind to even consider it.

Now it seemed to be all he could think about.

*****

Anna chopped and stored a cord of wood before she got tired and retreated back into the cabin.  She felt a little bad about pressing Kristoff with her questions.  What was it about her that she just needed to know?  She couldn’t understand how someone like him, with his kindness and obvious gentle nature, could want to spend his entire life alone.  He had so much more to offer the world than simply living all alone in one of the most remote places on earth.

Anna threw a log on the fire and went over to his little shelf of books to see what he had.  Most of them were about trapping, skinning and wilderness survival.  There was also a book on basic first aid and medical procedures.   Then there were a few classics.  Anna picked them up one by one looking at them.  

‘The Call of the Wild’… Fitting, Anna thought with smile.  ‘War and Peace’, ‘Don Quixote’, ‘Robinson Caruso’… he even had ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.  Anna looked at a few more, pulling them all down and leafing through the pages.  It wasn’t until she reached the last book that she understood immediately that it was his favorite.  The beat-up copy of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ was dog-eared on almost every page, probably from having read it so many times that he always ended up stopping in a different spot.  Every other book had only a fraction of bent pages as this book did.  While Anna had never read the book, she had seen the movie. She wondered what about the story made it his favorite.

She tucked the book back into its place and stood to look around the cabin wondering what to do next. There were no dishes to do.  She had no idea what, if anything, he ate for lunch since they hadn’t stopped for the mid-day meal since she’d arrived.  She didn’t want to snoop… well, she did, but she wouldn’t.  

She took a seat at the table and grabbed the pack of cards.  She shuffled them and laid them out to play solitaire, trying to understand again how Kristoff could live this way, wondering if he was truly happy.

*****

Anna was nowhere in sight when Kristoff was finished with the repair on the sled.  He looked around the small clearing, thinking that she might be doing something outside.  He had thought after he shut the welder off that she might return to help him install the assembly, but she never came back.

He knew she had chopped some wood for him.  He heard each thwack of the axe until he had fired up the generator to run his welder.  He went over to his wood shed and looked inside, surprised by how much she had done.  It certainly was a big help to not have to do it himself.

He went into the cabin and found her sitting at the table playing solitaire.  When she looked up at his entrance, he was happy to see that the sadness he had seen earlier seemed to have left her eyes.

“Got it fixed?” she asked.

He nodded.  “Yeah, all put back and everything.”

“That’s good.”  She started putting the cards back into a pile and slid them back in the box.  “Now what?”

“Well, I have a bunch of pelts to deal with.”

“I could give you a hand with that.”

“It’s… well the way I do it, um, you might think it is disgusting.”

“I’m not squeamish.”

“Not even when it comes to brains?”

Anna’s mouth popped open. “Brains?  You have got to be kidding me?  What the hell would you be playing with brains for?”

Kristoff’s cheeks flushed with heat.  “It’s not… I mean, I boil them to tan the hide.  It’s an old method… You know what, never mind, I’ll just do it myself.”  Fuck, he was not used to having to explain this shit. He was turning to head back out the door when she spoke.

“No, no!  I’ll help!” she insisted, and added under her breath, “beats sitting around with nothing to fucking do.”

“What?”

“Nothing!”  Then softer.  “Nothing.”

He eyed her a moment, feeling a twitch of annoyance.  All she seemed to be able to do was focus on the cons of his life without bothering to consider the pros.  Not that he could blame her, he supposed.  She just didn’t understand.  Never would.  Better to leave it alone and just tolerate this shit until the weather was clear enough that she could leave.  

Until then, he could at least be civil.  

*****

It had been dark for hours by the time they were finished with the task.  Anna was dead on her feet and shuffled into the cabin behind Kristoff, plopping herself into the chair at his table and putting her head in her arms.

Anna listened as Kristoff went down into the cellar and then prepared food, wondering idly if he would put more finesse into the meal like he did the night before.  She supposed she should help him, except she was just too damn tired.  There was no sign of the fatigue on Kristoff, which she understood from doing this every damn day… but still!  

“You want some coffee or something?”

Anna smiled into her arms then lifted her head to look at him.  “No, I’m okay, thank you.  I think I just need food and sleep.”

He gave her a smile. “You and me both.  It was a long day.”

“Insanely long.” Anna chuckled and finally stood to take off her coat and boots.  With that accomplished she settled herself on the floor in front of the fire.  After taking the chill off her bones she asked him if he needed any help with dinner.

“Nah, I got this handled,” he said, and continued to work in the kitchen.    After a moment his head turned and he looked over his shoulder at her.  Anna was embarrassed to be caught starting at him again and was about to apologize hen he opened his mouth.

“If you want, there is a fir in the chest at the foot of my bed.  You can grab it to sit on if it would be more comfortable for you.”

Anna smiled at that and told him she was going to take him up on that offer.  He returned to making dinner and she went to chest at the foot of his bed and opened it.  She pulled the grey and white fir out, was about to close the lid, when her eyes happened to stumble on a photo of Frank.

Pinching her lip in her teeth, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Kristoff was still occupied with dinner, then set the fir down and fished the picture from out from under the stack of blankets.  Frank stood there next to Kristoff in the small clearing where she now found herself, only there was a simple shelter for protection from the elements and nothing else.

The men were standing about where the cabin now resided.   There was no well, no shed, nothing.  Anna imagined it was the very start of Kristoff’s journey to build a life for himself up here.  Turning the frame over in her hands she saw there was writing on the back in Franks neat scrawl.  

‘Humble Beginnings. Good Luck my friend’, it said.

It hit Anna in a weirdly emotional way.  To see Kristoff back then, looking so damn young, with a short beard and a big smile, clear excitement for his endeavor.  And Frank, giving the camera a thumbs up.

Who took this photo? Was it set on a timer, or was there someone else up there with them that day?  Did his parents ever visit?   Had they ever seen their son’s lonely life up here in the middle of nowhere.

Anna looked back into the chest, needing more.  Moving the blankets aside, she found a neat stack of 4x6 photos in the corner of the chest. Quickly, she began quickly fanning through them to find that Kristoff had taken consistent track of his progress in building his homestead through the photos.  Anna watched the small clearing transform into what it was now, and then it stopped.

The next photo Anna gazed on was much different.  It was of the clearing where she landed her plane in all its summer glory, full of the purple lupine flowers she loved so much.  She adored flying in the summer, gliding over the sea of purple in the in the mountains. Everything was so vibrant at that time of the year.  The photo was so serene it really deserved to be framed.

“You find it okay?” Kristoff called from the kitchen, his back to her while he worked.

Anna startled, almost dropping the entire stack of neatly organized photos.  With her heart hammering she put everything back where she was pretty sure she found it, grabbed the fir and walked back to the stove.  “Yes, I did, thank you.”

He turned around and looked at her carefully like he was going to question why it took her so long to grab something from the chest.   Anna felt like admitting she had been snooping in his things might be a pretty terrible idea right now.

“I… um…” a thought struck her and she held up the fir.  “What animal is this?  I can’t figure it out.”

The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly upward.  “Artic wolf. About five years ago a pack wandered down the valley and that guy took a little too much interest in me.”

“What happened.”

Kristoff shrugged his broad shoulders, picking up the skillet and carrying it over to the stove. “Nothing too exciting.  He just wandered into the clearing and really wanted the Martin I was in the process of unloading from my snowmobile sled.   I tried to scare him off by shouting at him, and when he kept coming, I had to grab my rifle.”

Anna’s eyes went wide.   “Oh my god, did he attack you?”

“Um, sort of?  He launched at me so I shot him before he could, you know… bite me.”

Anna shook her head slowly and looked back down at the fir in her hands.  She hadn’t even thought about wolves.  Come to think about it, there was probably a whole host of animals out there that would kill them if given the chance.  

Kristoff turned his attention back to the counter so Anna laid the fir on the floor in front of the fire and took a seat.  He came over shortly after and set some meat to cook in a cast iron pan and rice in a pot.

“You want some vegetables? I have some canned peas I can stir into the rice?”

Anna smiled at that, enjoying the fact that he was asking for her input on dinner now.  “Sure, that sounds great, even if canned pea’s taste super weird.”

“Weird?” He smiled at her. “They taste great.”

“Says the guy who doesn’t have access to fresh vegetables.”

His smile fell a little and Anna immediately regretted opening her mouth.  Apparently, he didn’t like being teased about his life.  She was about to apologize when he moved and pulled the rug back to go down to the cellar.  She sighed and reminded herself to be polite.

Anna moved to get out of his way and he finished cooking in silence, then brought a steaming plate of food to the table and set it down in front of her.

“Thank you.  I really appreciate this.  Not… not just dinner, all of it.  The food, letting me stay, um… sharing your bed… and all that.  I’m sorry again for invading your life so badly.”

“It’s fine,” he said softly, not lifting his eyes from his plate.  

Anna repressed a sigh and turned her attention to her own food.  The meat was… well she had no idea what the hell she was eating.  It was gamy and slightly more tender than the first meal she had had here.  And the rice and peas were exactly what she expected; decent.  Lacking salt.  

She was halfway through her meal when he spoke.  “How is it?”

Anna looked up and met his eyes.  “It’s good.”

He nodded and returned to eating.  Anna shrugged and did the same.  She was about three quarters finished when he spoke again.

“I keep meaning to start a garden.  I’ve wanted to for a long time.  I just always seem so preoccupied with everything else to find time to get it started. Not to mention the growing season would be rather short for how much work it would be.”  He shrugged, clearly not knowing what else to say about it.

Anna felt bad all over again for teasing him about the peas.  Clearly it had bothered him more than she initially thought.  “Well, they say canned vegetables have just as much nutritional value as fresh, so… you know… you can easily manage without them. Er, I mean you do, you do easily manage without them.”

His head nodded slowly. “Right.”

Anna sighed.   His plate was empty and once again he had dished her in as much as himself.  This time however, she really was full and not about to deny him his precious protein. “Do you want to finish mine?”

He held her eyes for an almost uncomfortably long moment before he gave her a small nod.  “Sure.”

Anna did her best not to watch him.  It was hard. She supposed she should be cleaning up the dishes but her body refused to follow her command to stand.  It wasn’t until Kristoff finished his last bite and took to his feet that Anna did the same.

He met her eyes and his head tilted slightly to the side as he appraised her.  “You look exhausted, Anna.  Go settle yourself in bed.”

“I can help.  It won’t take too long if we both-”

“It’s okay.”  He shook his head with a small smile.  “I am just going to stoke the fire and do these in the morning.  I’m tired too.”

She smiled back at him. “Okay.  Thank you.  And thank you for dinner.  And… everything.”

“Don’t mention it,” he muttered and turned away to take the dishes to the kitchen.

Anna went to the bed and slid beneath the flannel covers, eagerly waiting for her furnace to join her. If he didn’t offer to hold her to keep warm, she was going to ask, because she needed sleep and the only way that she was going to be able to accomplish it was if he was keeping her warm. That was the only reason. Warmth.  Survival.  It had nothing to do with anything else.  The way her heart quickened when he held her was just her nerves.  Yup, just nerves.

He joined her a few moments later and settled on his side.  Anna bit her lip, about to ask when he spoke.

“Do you want to sleep together?” then added quickly, “so that you don’t get too cold?”

Anna grinned into the dark and did her best to keep her voice level.  “Sure, that sounds good.”  The mattress shifted and Kristoff pressed against her back and settled his arm around her waist.   “Thank you.”

“S’okay.” He yawned. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Anna whispered.

She was still listening to his breathing, wondering when he was going to fall asleep, when unconsciousness claimed her.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Four

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: MA WC: 2922

~Collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

--------------------------------------

There was no talking between them as Kristoff sat on the stump at the table and pulled off his boots.  Anna sighed as she shucked off her thick layers, happy to be free from them for the night.

He hung all his wet clothes on a hook beside the stove then walked straight over to Anna as she was piling hers into her arms.  He took them from her and hung them with his without a word.

Anna sat down as he walked towards the chest with his clothes.  He rummaged around inside, grabbed the clothing and turned to look at her. “I’m too tired to go outside.  Avert your eyes so I can get changed.”  

She nodded to him and turned around, staring at the cabin door with all kinds of thoughts running through her mind, mostly about how a life like this could be appealing to someone.

“Done,” he mumbled, walking back towards the kitchen.  Anna finally looked towards him.  He was in a flannel pair of pants and a long sleeve t-shirt with a logo too faded to recognize.  

He took a seat across from her at the table. “Are your hands okay?” he asked.

Anna studied him for a moment, realizing there was actually compassion in his eyes.  “Yes, thank you.”

He turned sideways on the stump and leaned back against the wall.  “No, I think it’s more like thank you. You pretty much saved our skins with your… fix.”

He ended it awkwardly and Anna understood he was not used to having someone help him with something.  “At least we didn’t have to sleep in the woods or something.”  She smiled.

His face dimmed. “It’s hard, sleeping out in the open like that.  I’ve had my share.  It’s not very fun.”

He looked sad all of the sudden and Anna had that crushing feeling of loneliness press on her again to realize what kind of life he led.  “So, what do you do when you have down time?” she asked softly.

“Well,” he let out a breath and looked around his small cabin, “I don’t have a lot of it.  Most of the time I work on everything so late that the only energy I have left is to crawl into bed.  And I do have to hunt too.  Sometimes it takes days.  I need moose and caribou to sustain me.  This fall has been pretty rough though.  Hopefully I can get one soon.

“What about when you want to relax?”

“Well, I read.  I cook.  And I do have cards.  I am pretty good solitaire player.”

Anna’s eyes went wide at the prospect of having something to do.  “Want to play a card game?”

He regarded her closely for a moment before he spoke.  “I do have a crib board.”

“No way?” Anna could not contain her excitement.  She had not played crib in an eternity.  

He got up without a word and opened a cabinet in his little kitchen, rummaging around a little before he came up with the prize and brought it back to the table.  

“Wait.  Can I ask, why you have a crib board if you are up here all alone?”

“I brought it with me. It belonged to my grandfather. It’s about the only item I have that I am a little sentimental about,” he said, as he removed the cards from the box and started to shuffle them.  Anna had never seen someone shuffle so well.   His hands were incredibly nimble for how big they were.

Kristoff won the cut and they started to play.  Anna was surprised how good he was at it.  She was going to take it easy on him, thinking that he was a bit rusty, but he was kicking her ass.  After getting skunked, Anna decided that she was somehow going to beat him.  

He smiled as he pegged into the winner’s slot.  It was the first time she had ever seen him do so.  While a little muted by his heavy moustache and long beard, it was lovely none the less.  His expression quickly shifted uncomfortably and Anna realized that she was staring again.

He ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. “So, what are you in the mood for… for dinner?”

“Oh, whatever you were planning on making.  I, don’t need very much.” As soon as she said it her stomach growled very audibly. Anna looked away from his eyes out of embarrassment.  

“I’m hungry too,” he said, then got up and walked over to his small kitchen.

He pulled down a large pot and walked outside to full it with water and placed it on the stove to boil before grabbing down a jar of dried macaroni.  Then he moved the rug that sat in the middle of the cabin to reveal a trap door.   Anna felt silly that she didn’t even realize it was there.  Of course he would have built a cellar for food storage.  

As soon as he lifted the door Anna was hit with a blast of cold air.  That was why he had the rug over the door, to keep out the draft.  He disappeared into the floor and came back quickly with a brown-paper wrapped package and a can of diced tomatoes. Anna closed the door and put the rug back in place for him as he placed the items on the counter.

He grabbed a skillet from one of his cabinets and placed it beside the water on the stove, dumping the contents of the paper inside.  Anna realized it was a package of finely diced meat.  When he added the can of tomatoes, she realized he was making a meat sauce for the pasta.  

The thought of this meal compared to the bland dryness the one the night before made Anna’s mouth water. The saltiness of the canned tomatoes would add some much-needed flavour to the gamy meat.

Kristoff took a seat on the log at his table after the two pots were on the stove.  Anna understood that cooking in that method took its time compared to having a direct flame.  Especially since she could see that the meat was frozen.  She had wanted to help him cook but they only thing they could really do now was wait.

“Want to play a game while it’s cooking?” Anna asked.  “I still need to beat you.”

He chuckled softly. “Sure.” He grabbed the crib board to reset the pegs as Anna shuffled the cards.

They played while they both took turns getting up and stirring the pots on the stove.  By the time the game was finished and Kristoff had skunked her again, the food was done.  He placed the pots on the kitchen counter then grabbed a jar of yellow flakes off the shelf and sprinkled them in the sauce and stirred.

“What’s that?” Anna asked, getting up and going over to where he was standing in the kitchen.

“It’s called nooch.”

“Nooch?”

“Well, nutritional yeast, actually.  Nooch is just a nickname.  It’s the closest thing I can get to making things taste cheesy.”  He chuckled.

“Really?  It doesn’t look very cheesy.” Anna wrinkled her nose up a little at the thought of the weird flakes.

“Here, try.”  He lifted the spoon with some of the sauce and offered it to Anna.  

She leaned forward, blowing a little on the steaming sauce before tasting it.  Damn if he wasn’t right.  There was a delicious cheesy hint to the wonderful sauce.  She let out an unexpected and delighted moan.  “Oh my God, that’s so good.”

Kristoff’s cheeks turned deep red as he cleared his throat and got a set of plates and utensils.  He dished them both in a hearty portion of pasta and split the sauce between the two of them.  Anna found it curious that he was giving her as much as he was dishing in for myself.  Goodness knew with his size that he needed sustenance more than her.  

“Thanks,” Anna said when he offered her the plate.  She sat at the table and started to eat with gusto.  It was a phenomenal meal, considering.  One she couldn’t fathom after last nights dinner, assuming that all the meals would be chewy gamy meat and horrible bitter grains that screamed for salt during her time stuck with Kristoff in his cabin.  

He ate in the same way as the night before and finished before her, despite how fast she herself was eating.  Anna looked down at her remaining food when it suddenly dawned on her.  All of his food was likely packaged in his individual portions.  He wasn’t making enough for two, he was splitting half of his dinner with her. And it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.  If hunting was poor, which he just mentioned it had been this past fall, he only had so much protein rich food to sustain himself until he was able to bag another animal.

“Ugh, I’m so full I can’t eat another bite,” she said, pushing back in the chair and patting her stomach.  It was a tiny fib as she was certainly capable of eating the rest of his delicious cooking.   She just felt too guilty to do so. “You want to finish this, Kristoff?”

He eyed her for a moment making her aware that he knew exactly what she was doing.  He reached over for her plate anyway.  “You sure you’re done?” He raised his eyebrows.

Anna nodded, giving him a big smile.

“Alright, as long as you don’t want it.”

“Have at it,” Anna laughed and tried not to stare at him while he finished off the plate.  

When he was done, Anna got up to clear the dishes.  Kristoff beat her to it, having both plates in front of him.  

“Set up the board,” he said as he stood.  “I’ll give you another shot to redeem yourself.”

“Oh, you are on!” Anna grinned and grabbed the cards.

-----

Anna was about to ask if he wanted another game when he yawned.  It caught and Anna did the same, suddenly realizing how tired she was herself.

Kristoff stoked the fire while she went to his bed and crawled into the covers, settling herself on her side as far over as possible.  After a moment Kristoff joined her, leaving a space between them, and Anna realized that it was warmer in the cabin than the night before.  Had he been keeping the fire hotter for her?  Probably.  Most likely not wanting to have to deal with her by using his body heat to keep her warm during the night.

“Thanks for what you did today,” he said, startling her a little.

“Don’t mention it.”

“I mean it.  That fix on the sled.  That was…. Impressive.  It never would have crossed my mind to do it like that.”

“Well, thanks.”

He was quiet for a moment and Anna thought he was settling into sleep.  He surprised her again when he spoke once more.   “Have you lived in Alaska all your life?”

“Yeah,” she answered, rolling over to face him.  His features were visible in the dim lighting given off by the fire in the stove.  “My parents raised my sister and me up in Nome with their plane business. We both learned to fly at a young age.”

“Your father is an outdoorsman?”

Anna chuckled.  “How did you guess?”

“Well, you sure came up with that broken rod solution pretty quick. And mentioning using beaver for the martin traps, I just kind of figured that you had learned that somewhere?”

“Yeah, my father sold beaver pelts as a side business.  He enjoyed the outdoors, definitely.  I swear the only time he was ever in the house when we were kids was to eat and sleep.”  Anna smiled to herself at the memory.  “He was always smiling when he was outside.”

“How long ago did he pass away?”

Anna pulled in a breath, surprised that he had picked up on her use of past-tense.  “About fourteen years ago.  I lost him and my mom.  Their plane went down in the mountains in bad weather.”

“And you were going to try and fly around that storm yesterday?”

Anna frowned in the dark.  “Yeah, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

She ignored him.  “Flying has never sacred me.  Ever. It never scared my dad either.   I suppose that’s why I kept doing it, ever after the accident and my sister flaked on me.”

He was quiet.  Anna was sure he had had just about enough of her pathetic life story, when he spoke again, as soft as she had ever heard.    “Your sister couldn’t handle being around them anymore?  Planes?”

“You guess it,” she said through a long sigh.  “Elsa never set foot in the hanger after the day they died. She became quite neurotic and spiraled into a bout of heavy depression.  You know… never leaving the house, sleeping too much, not eating, that sort of thing. I got quite worried about her.  It was almost impossible to be there for her and try and run our parent’s business on my own being that young.  That was until Frank stepped into my life in need of hanger space and a business partner when he moved to Nome.”

“He did?”

“He saved my bacon, he really did.  I was on a fast track to a mental breakdown.  He helped me get the business back on track so I could help my sister.  She got better quickly with help, thank goodness, and Arendelle Air finally started to thrive.  Still is, in fact.  Elsa even started to take on some of the responsibly, like the bookwork and stuff like that, even though she does it is all from home.  Can’t get her anywhere near a plane.”

“Sounds like everything is working out,” he said quietly.

“It was, until Frank had a heart attack and they revoked his pilot licence.  He didn’t want to fully retire so he sticks around to help me handle all the ground work. I had to take on all the rest, like flying supplies out to people like you.”

Kristoff was deathly quiet for a moment.  “I… I never knew that… Frank had a heart attack.”

“You never asked,” Anna said, not meaning for it to sound as pointed as it did.

He didn’t respond for a long time.  Anna shifted and rolled back away from him assuming he was finished talking.  

“I’m sorry,” he offered after a moment.

“About what?” Anna asked, still facing away. “Had nothing to do with you.”

“I should have asked.”

“Wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“Still-”

“Listen, Kristoff, I’m not upset or anything.  It’s just what happened.  Goodness knows you have more shit to worry about than a new pilot, like waking up and trying to make it through the day without dying.”

“I know it’s hard to understand this lifestyle-”

“It’s not hard for me to understand.  For me it’s impossible to understand.”

He resumed his silence and they lay there in the dark for a long time, thinking to themselves before Kristoff pulled in a yawn and Anna realised that he was keeping himself awake, not wanting to leave the conversation hanging in the air they way it did before they fell asleep.  Truthfully, neither did she.  Things between them were tense enough already, they might as well try and be civil towards each other since they were sleeping in the same bed.

“We better try and get some sleep, so we are rested for the tasks tomorrow,” she murmured.

“Yes.”

“Goodnight, Kristoff.”

“Goodnight, Anna.”

She felt him settle himself into a position and he was quiet a moment before he whispered.  “Let me know if you get cold.”

“Okay, thank you,” Anna whispered back.

She was dead tired, but she couldn’t fall asleep.  Kristoff had started to breathe long and slow behind her and Anna didn’t like where her mind was going.  She didn’t like that she wanted him to hold her, cold or not.

She stared into the dim cabin, wondering again how he could choose to live a life with no one.

It was a shame really.  He was rough around the edges but he was kind and compassionate.   Just like Frank said, a complete softy inside. Anna could not help but wonder what his life would have been like had he not gotten this crazy notion to live in isolation.  What kind of man would he be then?  What kind of job would he have?  It wasn’t hard to picture him with kids, and a wife, and a dog, and the whole white picket fence bullshit.  Not that he would want that, ever, it just wasn’t a stretch to see him in that roll of doting husband, father and provider.  There was just something in him that made her see that.

Had he not chosen this life.

He snored for a moment before he suddenly moved, rolling over and right up against Anna’s back.  His arm fell loosely around her and he settled back into his deep sleep immediately. Anna was still for a moment before she let her body relax.  She sighed quietly, gently snuggling herself closer to him and letting her eyes slide shut. She realized that being held by him was indeed what she had wanted, and gave into the sleep that pressed on her immediately.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[kristannafever]

Mountain Man - Three

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: MA WC: 3298

~collab with @lukin08

Chapter Index

---------------------------------

After she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, Anna found him outside chopping wood.  He had a propane lantern on his small covered porch that lit up a small snowy clearing where his cabin was.  He was just at the edge of the darkness, splitting each log with one powerful swing as fat snowflakes fell silently in the air.

He wedged the axe in the huge stump he used to chop the logs on, then loaded his arms with split wood and walked around to the side of the house where Anna assumed a wood shelter was built.  She wandered over, removing the axe and setting up a log to split.  As soon as she swung it, he was there beside her.  

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The axe went about halfway down the log and she cursed him silently for disrupting her swing. “Chopping wood, what the hell does it look like?” she shot back, lifting the log with the axe and brining it down again to split it the rest of the way.  The two halves fell to the ground and she stared daggers at him.  

“I don’t need your help,” he grumbled at her, picking up another arm load of the logs he had split.

Anna ignored him and continued to chop wood anyway.  Her progress was a little slower, however.  When the wood pile Kristoff cut was moved to the shed, he had stood in front of her with his hand out for the axe and waited.

She relented easily. It was his after all.  She stayed to gather up all the wood he split and took armfuls of her own around the side of his cabin to the wood shed, not caring in the slightest that he shot her grumpy looks every time she came back like she’d be doing it wrong or something.  It beat sitting in the cabin and waiting, not knowing what to do and not really wanting to touch anything, especially after what happened with the chocolates.  He seemed like he was the type of man who liked things a certain way and she did not want to disrupt that any more than she already had.  Her stacking wood in his shed was probably going out on a limb enough, but she knew what she was doing.  She did it at home for herself all the time.  They did live in Alaska.  As if she didn’t know the answer to if bark up or bark down was better.

Anna watched him whack the axe back in the stump before he went to the porch to turn off the lantern and then trudged off to a shed without a word.

The modest building was nestled in the tree-line of the small clearing.  She hung back, watching with curiosity as he went inside and opened both doors to reveal an old snowmobile.  He set the choke and pulled the starter cord a couple times before it roared to life, then he waited until the idle slowed before he reached down and took the choke off.   Lifting one of those long legs of his, he straddled the seat and pulled the machine out into the snow, then disappeared back in the shed for a moment before coming out with a sled that he attached to the back.  

Anna could see better now that there was finally some light filtering through the heavy cloud cover. Lifting her face to the sky, she blinked against the falling snow.  It appeared that the system that had roared in, finally stalled, making her wonder again just how many more days of this she was in for.

The machine revved and she realized that he was leaving.

“Hey!” she shouted. “Wait!”

It looked like he wasn’t going to stop until she saw his head dip between his shoulders and he let go of the throttle.  The machine slowed to a stop as Anna jogged up to him, following in his tracks. Kristoff was giving her an impatient and annoyed look.

“Can I come?” she asked.

“No.”

“But-”

“I said no.  I don’t need anything that would slow me down.”

Anna frowned at him. “Fine, tell me what I can do around here to help you out then.”

He blinked at her like he was just realizing what exactly he had gotten himself into by making sure she didn’t try and fly around the storm.  “Why don’t you just grab a book and keep the stove stoked or something?”

Her hands went to her hips. “I’m not going to louse about, especially because you were gracious enough to offer me food and shelter.”  Despite how uncomfortable it is, she thought.  “And if you won’t let me come help you on your trap line,” His eyes widen slightly, like he was surprised she knew what he was going out to do, “I want to do something around here to help you out.”

His jaw tightened. “You don’t even have proper gear to be out in this weather.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh please.  I have my shit in the plane.  You think I’m that stupid?  I fly across the mountains of Alaska for a living.  Of course I have cold weather gear!”

His top lip twitched ever so slightly, like he was accepting the fact that he was about to pick the lesser of two evils.  “Fine. Grab your shit and hurry up.”

Anna didn’t hesitate, knowing that taking her time would irk him further.  She trudged over to her plane and crawled inside to get to the trunk she kept tucked in her small space at the very back.  She pulled out her thermal snowsuit and heavy down jacket, as well as her sorrels and thick wool socks.  Last but not least, her Ushanka and her fur-lined, leather mittens.  Anna pulled everything over the clothes in the confines of the fuselage of her small aircraft and emerged to see that Kristoff had not moved an inch.  

He finally looked over as she got closer.  If he was impressed by her set-up, he didn’t show it.  He simply said “hang-on” as she straddled the machine behind him and grabbed loosely at his sides.

He took off and she nearly lost her lax grip.  Anna leaned forward and wrapped her arms a little tighter around him.  The last thing she needed was to fall off the machine and have to face his annoyance at having to wait for her to get back on.

She wasn’t sure how long they were on the trail.  It seemed like a while.  Time had a funny way of dragging on at the endless, unchanging landscape of trees and snow.  He finally slowed, coming up on one of his martin traps.  He was pulling away from her and off the machine before they even came to a full stop.

He bent over, looking at something before he straightened and cursed, turning back and heading quickly for the machine.  Anna barely had time to settle her hands around his waist again before he was speeding off to the next one.  

Trap after trap, he was coming up empty and he was getting more and more frustrated and standoffish. Anna had followed him to one of them to see what was going on.  When he spun around to find her right behind him, he just about snarled at her.  He walked around her, leaving her standing there shaking her head.  

“Come on,” he barked, revving the engine of the snowmobile to emphasise his impatience.  

Anna ignored him and walked over to the trap.  She noticed that he had what looked like some grouse for bait.  She jogged back as he was slowly creeping forward on the machine to imply that he was going to leave her there if she didn’t hustle.  

“Have you tried beaver?” she shouted over the noise of the engine and he gunned the machine forward.

He turned his head slightly to the side.  “Are you kidding?  Of course I’d use beaver if I could fucking catch any.”

Anna had to frown. Her father had a side hustle of trapping beavers for their pelts and she had learned a lot by going out with him. She reminded herself to ask him where he was trying his traps when they got back to his cabin.

They continued on until she surmised that he was making a loop back to his cabin by the position of the sun; which would be setting in a few short hours.  One of the joys about living so far north, she thought sarcastically. In the summertime it was almost magical how it never got fully dark.  In the dead of winter however, the endless night sky became daunting at times.

The next stop, Kristoff finally had a martin in the trap.  His celebration was non-existent as he pulled it out of the trap and threw it in the sled attached behind the snowmobile without a word.  Anna helped by fetching fresh bait before he had to ask, as he worked on re-setting the trap.  She was happy for him that he would not come up empty handed at least. She refrained from being overly vocal about it however, knowing it would probably just annoy him.  

They kept curving back around the big loop and checking traps when the sled suddenly took a violent dip to the left, almost spilling them both into the snow.

Kristoff killed the engine as Anna let go of his waist.  He paused a moment and didn’t move, as if he was suddenly overwhelmed.   Then she heard him say “fuck” under his breath and he got up and rounded the front of the machine.  He lifted the hood off the engine and looked down at the suspension for the left front ski. Anna scooted up to the front of the seat and peered over.  She could see that one of the steering rods had snapped and the ski would not be able to maneuver without it.

The burly man grumbled again then went to the small box and the front of the attached sled and stated to rummage thought it, cursing more and more as random items and tools were pulled out.  Anna quickly came to understand that he did not have the right materials to do the repair. She had an idea, however.  Her father had fixed something similar once by wrapping it repeatedly with leather cord when Anna was a child.  

“Do you have a knife?” she asked.

“What?” He looked up, exasperated.

“A knife?  Do you have one?”

“Ugh.”  

She ignored the distain on his voice as he reached up under his coat, presumably into the bib of his Carhartt’s, then tossed a pocket knife at her.   Anna caught it, rolling her eyes at the fact that it clearly didn’t even cross his mind to offer her the big hunting knife strapped to his waist. She wasted no time stripping her gloves off and starting to cut them apart.  She tore off the soft fur lining from the leather and started to braid the thin strips together as Kristoff kept rummaging through his supplies, trying to piece things together.  

He was looking at everything in the snow and muttering to himself of what he could do to repair the rod while Anna continued to make braids from her gloves and tie them together with secure knots.  When she was done making the rope, she looped one end around the joint for the ski and another around where the broken rod bracket was.

“Come here,” she called out to him sharply.  The makeshift rope was just long enough and she didn’t want to move the perfect grip she had achieved to turn around to look at him.  There was silence for a moment before she heard snow crunch and he was standing over her.  

“Help me straighten the ski and then we can tie it,” she said.

She waited in the eerie silence of heavy snowfall in the middle of fucking nowhere.  Finally, he shifted and did what he was asked, placing the ski in the same position as the right one before he stripped his gloves off to help her.  He grabbed the makeshift rope from her grasp and pulled it taut to tie a knot with Anna securing the short loose ends to help him do so.  When he was done, he paused, looking down at the innovation as it became sprinkled with snowflakes.

When he tuned his eyes to hers, Anna was surprised by what she saw.  It was the first time she could see past the barrier her had set up.  His eyes were genuine and he nodded his appreciation.

And that was it.  He closed the lid of the machine and started it back up.  Anna watched as he packed up his things, then slid himself on the seat and pulled the throttle lightly to get it lined up back on the path.  Once he was set up for them to continue, he got off and walked up to where she was standing and pulled off his gloves without hesitation.

“Here, take these,” he said, holding the out for her.

She looked down at them before meeting his eyes again.  “No way. You need those if you’re driving.”

“Anna-”

“No, your hands will be exposed and they’ll freeze.  We need to get back.  I’ll just stuff my hands into your pockets if I have to.”

His eyes searched hers. What he saw there, she would never know. He nodded and straddled the machine, pulling his gloves back on.  Anna followed and he guided her hands to the front pouch pockets of his jacket, even though he was so broad that she could barely even get her fingers in.

Kristoff started off and time ceased to exist.  Anna held onto him as tight as she could, trying to stuff her hands further into his pockets as the cold wind started to take over, freezing all her exposed skin at her wrists.  Then suddenly he slowed to a stop and he pulled off his mitts.  

Anna was about to protest when he said, “give me your hands.”  

She put them forward under his arms wondering what he had in mind.  He shifted in the seat, reaching under his coat.  It took a moment for Anna to realize that he was tugging his sweater out of his Carhartt overalls.  The next thing she knew he was grabbing her hands and pulling them upwards.

He pulled in a quick breath when her cold hands made contact with his skin as he settled them under his arms with her fingers curling around to the side of his pecs.  He pressed them firmly, indicating that he didn’t want her to move them before he clumsily pulled the layers back down.  The edge of the coat stopped when it met Anna’s folded elbows, leaving his lower back exposed.  She tried to compensate by shifting her hips forward until she was completely wrapped around him.

When he seemed satisfied that she was settled, he started off again.  Anna realized that she could feel his heartbeat under his ribs.  It was steady and fast.  Likely he was nervous about making it back to the cabin before nightfall.  

They passed trap after trap, not bothering to check them as the light was swiftly fading.  Anna wondered how hard it would be, had they not been able to fix the ski, to spend the night out in the open.  How many times had Kristoff had to do that, trying to stay warm to keep himself alive?  What was it like to fall asleep so exposed in the hopes that you will survive the night and see the light of morning?

The cabin finally came into view and Kristoff pulled right up into the shed and killed the engine. They sat there a moment before he spoke.

“Can you go in and stoke the fire?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Anna understood and pulled her palms from his skin.  “Sure,” she muttered, walking slowly toward the cabin.  

Doing as she was asked, she stoked the fire, sitting in front of it while it roared to life and getting the last of the chill off the rest of her body.  Her hands, having spent so long on Kristoff’s hot skin, were the only warm part of her.

When she was finally warm, she grabbed the kettle on top and went outside to fill it from the well. She spotted Kristoff as he emerged from the shed and entered a small addition that was build on the on the side. He had the martin pelt in his hands and he proceeded to hang it on a line.  Anna realized that it was where he put all his skins before he processed them. He didn’t look over at her as he went about his business.

Back in his cabin, she lit the lantern before she set the kettle on the stove to heat.  Then she took a look around his kitchen.  She wished she knew what he wanted to eat so that she could start dinner for him.   He had rice and some other dried grains in jars, but she didn’t want to go ahead and start to make something if he was running short or had something else in mind.  Plus, she had no idea where he kept the meat.

Turning around and leaning against the cabinets, she took a good look around the one-room cabin for the first time since she’d been there.  Front door to her right.  Table against that wall in front of the only window.  The bed with it’s singular night stand, a chest at the foot of it and the one he kept his clothes in across from it in the corner with the bookshelf on the wall above it.  And on her left, the stove.  That was it.   Anna grabbed the lantern and went over to the end of the bed, setting it on the floor and lifting the lid of the chest. Inside she saw extra blankets and a beautiful fir.  She had a mind to go digging, to see if there was anything at the bottom, then thought better of it.

He had nothing else in the small cabin that would give her any other insight into what kind of a man he was other than what she already knew.  A hermit didn’t worry about possessions after all.  Still, she had to wonder why there wasn’t a single picture.

With a sigh, she wandered back into the main part of the cabin and shrugged back into her coat and boots.  She went out to the little porch and looked around.  Kristoff was in the shed now, probably with the snowmobile.  She could see the faint light from a lantern and she could hear him moving around in there with the sound of tools.  Looking around, she spotted a broom resting against the house at the edge for the railing.  She picked it up and began to brush all the snow that had accumulated on the edge of the porch where the overhang didn’t quite keep it covered.

She looked over to the shed again, the dim light mostly obscured by the falling snow.  It was getting darker by the second and she wondered when he was going to come back inside.  As if he heard her thoughts, the light went out and he emerged from the shed, shutting it and trudging back to where she was standing.  

He walked straight past her to his door, muttering, “Come in now, it’s getting colder.”

Anna followed him with a sigh, wondering how she was going to endure another night of awkward conversation and having to share his bed.

--

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter