The first time Kristoff saw Anna's bedhead was, quite possibly, the best memory of his life.

He woke up and Odin! she was warm. He had no idea how Elsa could be the Ice Queen when her little sister generated this much heat. But like most things with Anna, it was… comfortable, a pleasant sort of heat. Her smooth, freckled skin was pressed against his chest and he could hear her gently… snoring?

He grinned wickedly. Oh, this was perfect. He would give her no end of crap for this. Even though it was the most adorable thing he'd ever heard. Damn. Okay, so he wouldn't be teasing her about the snoring. Kristoff tightened his arms around her slender frame and nuzzled against her hair. He could tell she was awake then, because her fingers started dancing across his arms.

"Mmm.. morning Kris." Anna twisted around and planted a sleepy, slightly sloppy kiss on his cheek. He grinned and returned it.

"Good morning. You snore." Whoops, there it was. Ah well.

She giggled, a faint blush suffusing her cheeks. "Yeah, I know. Elsa used to make fun of me because of it. Still does, now that I think about it."

"I happen to think it's pretty darn cute. Speaking of, you're pretty darn cute."

She wrinkled her nose at him playfully. "That was a pitiful effort!"

Kristoff laughed. "How's this then?" he asked before gently pressing his lips to hers.

"Not bad," she murmured. "I suppose, as an iceman, you didn't get to talk much."

"Very true," Kristoff replied, punctuating each word with another kiss. Anna's bare limbs tangled with his, and he could feel every inch of her skin…

"Anna? Are you up?" Elsa's sharp knock rang through the room.

Kristoff broke away, terrified. Elsa knew that he was courting Anna, but somehow, he didn't think this would be considered… proper. While he and Elsa were friendly, he rather doubted she'd be okay with the situation.

Anna had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Your expression is priceless!" she silently mouthed. Kristoff glared at her.

"What do we do?"

Another knock.

"I'm up, Elsa! I'll grab Kristoff and be down in a few minutes."

Kristoff heard a chuckle. "Tell him he's more than welcome to actually sleep on a bed instead of the floor."

Anna cocked her eyebrow at him as she replied, "Yeah, I'll do that. Crazy iceman can't get used to sleeping on a bed without Sven, apparently."

The first time Anna had come to get him since he'd been staying in the castle, he'd been on the floor, unused to the softness of a bed; still hadn't gotten used to it, two months later. In fact, this had been the first time he'd slept the whole night in a bed… well, since he could remember.

"She's gone?" he asked quietly. Anna listened carefully, then nodded.

"Think so… Kris, what's wrong?"

He wasn't sure. He was just overwhelmed with… something.

Number one was gratefulness. He couldn't remember having a bed to himself, and Elsa and Anna had given him a huge bed in the castle after the thaw, they fed him, they gave him a swanky new position. It was certainly enough to make his head spin. He'd had a bit of time to get used to it, but still.

Number two was… belonging? He'd always kept on the move, finding new places to harvest, visiting the trolls every now and then, but nothing permanent. Sven had been his pillow every night and it was never the same patch of snow. It was nice to have a place to call home, he supposed. He'd never stopped because no place had ever felt right.

Frankly, he didn't think it was the castle that he thought of as home. He was pretty sure it was the freckly redhead grinning at him that was home.

"Nothing's wrong. It's right, actually. It's just… this is the first time I've ever comfortably slept in a bed. You always find me there… on the floor, I mean.. because that's the most comfortable place for me. But you… you make it… um, comfortable? The bed, is what I mean, I guess." Kristoff shook his head in frustration. He really wasn't any good with words.

Fortunately, he didn't need to be. Anna's lips were on his again, and for a minute, Kristoff was the most comfortable he'd ever been. She pulled back after a long moment, poked him in the chest, and grinned again.

"Hey now, you got lucky last night. Breakfast now! I'm starving." She rolled out of bed and pulled the sheet around her to avoid the chill, and finally, Kristoff noticed it.

She'd been situated so the pillow concealed the worst of it, but as she stood up it foofed. Her hair practically exploded.

The bedhead. Anna's hair went absolutely every direction and Kristoff couldn't help but laugh. He instantly realized his mistake – for the love of all the gods, Kristoff, you've barely begun a relationship with the woman of your dreams and you have to laugh at her bedhead?

The look on Anna's face was mortified. She quickly ran her hands through the untamable strands, trying for damage control, until strong hands captured them and held them still.

"Anna, look – I shouldn't have laughed, especially since it was our first night… you know. Together. This is just all, um, new? Yeah. I mean, I was raised by living rocks! The hair was, ahh, unexpected. Believe me, I think you're beautiful. Really beautiful. Soooooo… yeah."

He couldn't help but laugh again at the still-embarrassed expression on her face, but managed to plant a kiss on her nose between the rolls of mirth, and then she started laughing, and really, the whole just devolved from there into hysterical guffaws and giggles.

"Ya know, for being so bad with words, you certainly express yourself well." She gave him another kiss and began dressing.

At breakfast, Elsa gave him a look that seemed a little too knowing. Kristoff's suspicions were confirmed when she delicately asked how he'd slept the previous night and if he'd finally managed to adjust to a real bed. He prepared himself for a tongue-lashing but received… a wink. Um. That was unexpected.

After breakfast, Elsa had him walk with her to the Queen's study where she did most of her work.

"Your Majesty. What do you need from a humble Ice Master?" he asked, trying for a bit of levity. Maybe she didn't suspect tha…

"Kristoff, I'm well aware you spent the night with Anna."

Nope. She knew. Oh well.

"Ehem. Your Majesty, I can assure you, it won't happen agai…"

Elsa arched a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"Why ever not? Don't you feel strongly for my sister?"

This was mildly confusing.

"Well, yes, Your Majesty, but I didn't think it would be proper for the Princess of Arendelle to be courted by an ice man; titles won't fix that!"

Elsa chuckled. "For one, I'm not sure 'courting' is the term. Two, my sister is free to court whoever she likes. She learned a lot from the… Hans… incident." Elsa's voice cracked like the ice that sprang from her fingertips, and for a moment, Kristoff was fully aware of why she was called the Ice Queen. "But fortunately, that is in the past. I trust you, my servants and advisors trust you, and Anna certainly does. You're well known by the people; I don't believe you're trying to kill me and usurp my throne."

Kristoff mentally breathed a small sigh of relief. He had no particular wish to become an icicle today, love of icicles notwithstanding.

"Kristoff, to be frank, I'm fond of you. I think you're good for my sister. Tradition and common courtesy demand that I give my approval, and you have it, but Anna's grown up a lot recently. Her choices are her own." The Queen gave him a warm smile. "All I ask is that you care for her in the best way you know how, and she'll do the same."

Finally, Kristoff managed to completely relax. He returned the winter queen's summer smile and simply nodded.

"I'll have the servants move your things into her room, then, if she's ready for that."

"No need, Your Majesty. I don't really… have… things. No need for them in my line of work, besides the tools, of course. I think I'll just move them in a room next to hers, if she's alright with that."

"Of course. Whatever the two of you are comfortable with. Let Kai know if you need any help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I have a busy day ahead of me. I will see you at dinner, I hope?"

Kristoff inclined his head. "Of course. Good day, Your Majesty."

Anna silently padded into Kristoff's new room that night. She slipped out of her robe and crawled in, threading her legs between his and smiling happily at him.

"So, you think one of the servants blabbed to Elsa?"

He shook his head. "No, I just think she's perceptive. Or heard us while we were talking this morning. Either way, I'm glad she did. Saved us a whole lot of sneaking around."

Anna gave a quiet chuckle. "That it did."

"Besides, now I've quite gotten used to sleeping in a bed, all fancy-like. And apparently I need you to do that, so you aren't going anywhere," he said in a poor imitation of the prim accent Arendelle's nobility used.

Anna arched her eyebrow, and for half a second, Kristoff was reminded of his conversation with Elsa. "Well, since I seem to have no choice in the matter…"Her mock outrage lasted as long as it took Kristoff to trap her with his arms and kiss her cheek until she was giggling uncontrollably. Anna finally managed to intercept his lips with her own and laid her head on his chest, arms around his waist.

Suddenly, Kristoff noticed something disastrous. Anna had her hair in a loose ponytail. He would have none of this, so with a deft movement, he loosened it and combed his fingers through her strawberry locks until they were splayed across the pillow and resting against his cheek.

She sighed in frustration. "Kristoff, I'm going to have bedhead again if I let it down."

He grinned. "That's the point."

"You prefer bedhead?"

"Yeah, it's… you."