The King of Arendelle

Hvis Bare de Visste

In their youth, one of Elsa and Jack's favorite things to do was sneak around the castle late at night.

His first year in Arendelle, he and Elsa explored every corner so she could show him the little secrets like the hidden passages between rooms, an old, underground tunnel that was once used as an escape route in case of invasions, where the cooks kept their ingredients for sweets.

Being left on her own for most of her childhood meant plenty of time to explore and find such things Elsa wasn't meant to. Things that even her parents didn't know about and servants only heard rumors of. She would creep into Jack's room once enough time had passed for everyone to fall asleep and wake him.

Although his relationship with Elsa was accepted by her parents, he followed the rule of not being in her bedchamber after dark faithfully... Elsa, of course, was not inclined to such restrictions. As long as they weren't alone in her room, she surmised that they weren't technically 'breaking' any rules.

They once even turned the ballroom into their own ice rink, skating together as carefree as children while pelting each other with snowballs. These were all moments from the early stages of their relationship—when they were still just teenagers learning what romance was.

While Jack hadn't been used to so much physical contact at first, he became eager to take Elsa's hand in his, to hold it wherever they walked. Soon he was comfortable putting his arm around her, then being the one to initiate hugs and hold her when they kissed. It was a slow process that took several months.

His first winter there, shortly after Jack's eighteenth birthday and days before Elsa's nineteenth, she crept inside his room and placed her hand on his back. He was half-smothered by his pillow, deep in sleep.

"Jack," she whispered. He didn't budge. "Jaaack," she singsonged as she lightly shook him.

"Mm..." He stirred that time.

"Wakey wakey."

He blinked his eyes and noticed it was still dark. "What time is it?" His voice was scratchy.

"Time for you to follow me. I wanna show you something."

Jack looked at her half-asleep, his eyes dark-lined and tired. He buried his face back into the pillow. "Show me in the morning." He grumbled, his voice muffled. This was normal; Jack was a loving soul, but a grumpy sleeper. Elsa wasn't deterred.

"But what I want you to see will be gone in the morning."

Jack didn't reply. He was already drifting off again. He felt the bed shift and then weight press down on his back, "Mmph—! What are you doing?"

She started riding him like a hobby horse while singing, "Don't be such a sourpuss, sourpuss, sourpuss..." And she was going to go on until he gave. Jack groaned and rolled her off of him before he had to hear another verse. She'd wake up the whole castle if he let her keep it up.

Even with Elsa tugging at his hand, Jack was a reluctant partner tonight. He rubbed his eyes and dragged his feet all the way to the study where Elsa opened a window—

—Wait.

"Uh... What are you doing?" Jack was wide awake now.

She put one leg over the ledge and held her hand out. Elsa had expected that for someone who dared to live on his own in an isolated castle to be more eager. This should be nothing to him.

"Unless you're about to take me off on some parkour session, I have no idea what's going on."

"Just something I thought would be nice for us to do." She gestured her hand again, getting impatient.