Polar Opposites

Chapter 12

[Can you please bring me some water and kleenex and a warm washcloth?]

An odd text to receive at three in the morning, and Anna found herself rereading it several times to make sure she understood the request. Was Elsa doing spring cleaning? In the middle of the night? It didn't make any sense. However, she managed to shake herself, pull on some gym shorts and a tee and make her way down the hall.

Elsa's room was pitch black inside once she made it there, other than the vague glow from the pillow where a phone screen was undoubtedly showing her some kind of news feed or other. When she flipped the light switch up, there was an immediate response.

"No, no lights."

"Sorry," Anna hissed as she turned them back off. However, there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary; Elsa in bed, a neat floor, a stack of books on her desk. The usual. Picking her way over in the near-darkness, she sat on the edge of the bed. "I, um, got the stuff, but I'm not sure-"

"Thank you. Leave them on the bed."

"Sure." But something about Elsa's voice told her she should ignore the heavy hint to leave - that Elsa was afraid to ask her to stay. Even as she was worried about what was happening, a tiny voice inside her was crowing with pride that she had picked up on that instead of missing it entirely, as she normally would. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Definitely a great deal of emotion in that voice, and a noise that could either have been sheets rustling, or a tiny sniffle. "Just tired."

"Oh. Okay, then, I guess..."

Neither of them moved. Eventually, Elsa rolled over to face Anna and took a facial tissue from the box, blowing her nose.

"Are you sick?"

"Not sick. Just... not feeling great, either."

"Period?"

"Doesn't usually affect me very strongly." A brief pause. "Can you maybe spoon me for a while?"

Anna smiled, then picked the water bottle and washcloth back up. "Sure, of course." Draping the arm holding them over Elsa's body, she nestled in behind her form, still laying on top of the sheet but nuzzling into the side of her bare neck. In a quiet voice, she told her, "I got you."

"You do."

Minutes passed in silence. Occasionally, there would be a sniffle, or Elsa would pull the water bottle from Anna's grip and chug some of it. Then they would go back to lying very nearly still. Most days, their breathing rhythm would match up eventually, but not this time; Elsa's remained shallow and laboured, while Anna was serene. There was something wrong, and she wasn't going to find out what it might be by sitting around like a sack of potatoes.

"Is... is it me?" Anna finally whispered.

"What? Oh, no, not really. Sorry."

"Because if it is, you can say so. Don't spare my feelings just because I can be a dumbass."

"It's not you. I was trying- well... let's just say, I've been thinking a lot. And that never leads anywhere good."

"Okay, that usually applies to me, though." It earned her a chuckle, and Anna decided to be grateful for that rather than press for an encore. "What were you thinking about?"

"You. And sex. The whole... how you like it, and want it from others since you're not getting it from me. All of that."

"Didn't I just ask-"

"It's not you!" Elsa burst out. "I mean, you're normal - I'm the weird one, right? So it's only fair that I be the one to figure myself out."

Kissing her neck, Anna told her as earnestly as she knew how, "No, it's not. You already know who and what you are, I'm... not going to force you to put yourself in some box that doesn't fit you!"