Words: 1450
Disclaimed

Kristoff never would admit it, but he loved going out with Elsa. Strolling with Elsa around Arendelle, watching Elsa interact with the townspeople; Kristoff ate it up. He especially enjoyed seeing someone's eyes light up at Elsa's powers. He didn't really care about the stranger, it had more to do with how happy Elsa became when someone reacted with wonder rather than fear. Elsa made slow progress, but she definitely became more confident in her powers everyday, including the non-magical ones.

They ran into the occasional unhappy jerk, whose situation usually had nothing to do with Elsa but they blamed her anyway. Kristoff pointed this out, sometimes right in front of the person, which usually shut them right up and amused Elsa. She couldn't show it in front of a disgruntled citizen, but Kristoff could catch the gleam in her eye, the subtle upturn of her mouth. He prided himself in his ability to read Elsa, something he had difficulty with at first. Anna wore every emotion openly, but Elsa was more about subtlety.

The idiot that Elsa just finished speaking with brought up Kristoff living at the castle. The truth was he'd moved in a month ago. Anna had been begging him for much longer, but the final straw was when she brought it up around Elsa. With a light blush, Elsa told him she wouldn't mind having him closer, and that if he chose to live at the castle he could have his pick of the many empty rooms, still not filled from when the late king and queen let so many people go. Anna took advantage of Kristoff's flustered state and made arrangements. He ended up with a room not even technically connected to the castle; it was connected to the stables. Kristoff didn't think they would try to separate him from Sven, but he had still been surprised at their thoughtfulness.

Of course, the situation sparked rumors the size of a forest fire. According to gossips, not only did Kristoff live in the castle, he and Elsa lived in the same room. In some versions of the rumor, Anna shared their room as well. But the majority of them focused on Kristoff and Elsa "living in sin," and while the two could usually laugh it off, the disapproving glares weighed heavily on them. Even worse were those who decided to flag Elsa down just to insult her, tell her she drug down the entire country with her sinning ways. Even after explaining the situation, they wouldn't admit being wrong, only complain about something else. Kristoff punched a few of them, but tried to control himself. Not because he thought they didn't deserve a punch in the face, but because usually they demanded an apology. More often than not, Elsa granted them some form of apology to uphold the royal name and all that.

Kristoff always stood to the side while Elsa spoke to her citizens, and when she returned to his side they resumed walking. This time was no different. That jerk upset her, which happened more than he'd like, and he tried to stick as close to her as possible as some form of comfort. Their sides brushed every step they took. Elsa led their walk to a secluded area, which Kristoff knew from experience meant she was still frustrated and needed to decompress but couldn't do it where townspeople might see her or interrupt. Kristoff has seen her leave Anna in order to do this, and every time she allowed him to accompany her he felt drunk on happiness.

Elsa stopped, sighed, and leaned her weight against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He slouched a little so she could reach his shoulder more comfortably. After a long moment of silence, Elsa started to speak, but didn't move away.

"How long do rumors last?"

Kristoff shook his head lightly, trying not to disturb her.

"I don't know. Until they get bored, probably."

He felt her laugh and wished it was happy, even though he suspected it was more of a scornful laugh. Kristoff found her hand and laced their fingers together. Elsa squeezed his hand, so different from when they first started dating and she flinched away from his touch. Kristoff was more about touch than talk, so in those days he found himself constantly apologizing for touching her without thinking.

"Do you... think they would stop if we were married?"

Kristoff concentrated to keep himself from freezing up. That was one hell of a loaded question.

"U-um, well, I think that people like that complain about everything. They'd create new things to complain about."

Elsa only nodded. The previous comfortable silence transformed into a heavy presence, and Kristoff knew his movements were either rigid and unnatural or he was weirdly still. Not being able to see Elsa's face in this situation only made it worse. He had no idea what she was thinking, if she accepted the answer or wanted something more. His mouth ran on and on.

"I bet they'd complain about me. Can you imagine me as king? I can't even deal with the castle staff. I'd ruin Arrendelle in a day. Not that I want to be king. I never want to be king."

Elsa stiffened at this. Kristoff was happy that finally he had something to go on, but terrified because stiff was not good. He went over his rambling, but before he figured it out Elsa spoke.

"You would hate being king?"

Kristoff turned his head to look at her, confused. At his movement, she lifted her head so they were facing each other.

"Uh, yeah. Leading a country is way too much for me."

Elsa had this suspicious look on her face, but it was a new expression to Kristoff and he couldn't exactly place it.

"Kristoff," Elsa started, speaking slowly, "You know you're dating a queen, right?"

And it clicked into place.

"Marrying you means becoming king," Kristoff spoke softly, letting the meaning sink in.

Elsa pulled away from him, and he reluctantly let her tug her hand out of his. He wanted to tighten his grip, but he wouldn't force Elsa if she needed the distance. Kristoff read her expression as best as he could, but he could tell she was trying to keep a straight face. He regretted telling Elsa that her face was her biggest giveaway. Confusion... no, maybe more like... uncertainty?

And Kristoff knew that this was the moment where he should correct himself, that he didn't mean for the statement to have anything to do with marrying her, but... really, he wasn't sure. It's stupid, but he never considered it before. He liked Elsa a lot, hell, he was head over heels, but in the beginning Kristoff didn't know if their relationship would work out. Why consider a marriage when there was no way it'd get that far? And by the time he realized how amazing Elsa is, how much he needed their relationship to work out, his cognitive skill were way too far gone to process that ruining a kingdom might not be worth his love life working out.

This moment was a bucket of ice water over Kristoff's head, which struck Kristoff as kinda funny, since you'd think being with Elsa would keep him cool. But this isn't the sort of thing to decide on a whim, so Kristoff told Elsa the truth.

"I... need to think about this."

Elsa shook her head, and Kristoff blinked, not knowing how to react. Elsa generally gave people their space; she sympathized with needing to be apart from others to calm down. Kristoff felt guilty, but he kind of liked that Elsa let her emotions take over with him, that only he affected her so much. Elsa paused, biting her lip, unused to stopping people like this. Something like this was more Anna's thing.

"Kristoff... Why don't we work this out together? Can't we?"

Kristoff's feet were his new focus; there was no way he could look Elsa in the face. He would give in, and if Elsa was around there's no way he would be able to even think about letting her go.

"I'm sorry."

Just seeing Elsa's expression hurt Kristoff. He watched her swallow, give him the barest nod, and back away from him. As she walked away, she carried herself with the same regal grace as always. If Kristoff hadn't seen the pain on her face, he might be fooled that she wasn't affected. Seeing her pain... it hurt, but he wouldn't lie to her. He wouldn't make a promise he couldn't keep.

But as Kristoff stood alone, he couldn't help but wonder if lying would've been better.

AN: Kristoff lived a pretty secluded life, so I can't see him agreeing to be king and being perfectly okay with it. I don't think he's one to mince words, either. This story won't be long, and it's not a priority right now, but I hope you enjoy it!