Ladder

“I can’t believe Dad is making me do this,” Anna grumbled, balanced precariously on the top step of a ladder, pushing a disgusting sludge of leaves, rainwater and general muck out of the gutter on the roof.  “There’s gotta be like, ten safety laws that he’s violating here.”

 

Elsa rolled her eyes, gripping the base of the ladder tightly, squinting up into the glaring sun, watching her sister.  “Yeah well, that’s what you get for breaking into his liquor cabinet, I guess,” she replied.  Anna pushed a pile of gunk onto the ground.  It barely missed Elsa’s head.  “Hey!  Watch it!” the older girl snapped.

 

“Sorry,” Anna said, sounding not at all apologetic.  “So if this is all because of my harmless little breaking-and-entering, then why are you out here?”

 

/Because I’m pathetic and will literally jump at any opportunity to spend time with you right now./

 

“Dad sent me out here to make sure you didn’t fall and break your neck.”  It was sort of true, but Elsa didn’t mention that it was her who put the idea in her father’s head in the first place by mentioning all the things that could go wrong with putting an unsupervised Anna and a ladder together.  

 

Anna huffed.  “If he’s so worried, he should hire a professional to do this crap,” she snapped.  She wiped her brow with her forearm – the gloves on her hands were covered in slime.  “God it’s so hot out here,” she complained.  “I’m coming down.  I need a drink.”

 

Elsa steadied the frame in her grasp.  “Alright.  Just do it slowly.  This ladder is old as hell.”  

 

Anna’s descent began to block the sun from her vision, and Elsa found herself getting an eyeful of her sister’s denim-clad rear, the younger girl wearing only a tiny pair of shorts and a tank top to survive the unusually hot day.  She cleared her throat, looking at the ground, shifting her grip to prevent her sweaty palms from sliding off the metal.

 

She chose the exact wrong moment to do it, as Anna leant to the left to drop her small rake onto the ground.  The ladder tilted dangerously, and the younger girl tried to counteract it by quickly leaning the other way.  “Whoa, shi-“

 

And then she was careening into Elsa, who was forced to let go of the ladder, leaving it to topple over and crash against the grass.  The two girls fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, the older girl taking the brunt of the fall.

 

“Oof!” she grunted, feeling an elbow dig into her ribs, as her back hit the dirt.  Anna was sprawled on top of her, a look of discomfort on her face.

 

“Ow,” the girl groaned, squeezing an eye shut.  “That sucked.”  She looked down at Elsa.  “Are you okay?”

 

/Hnng./

 

Despite the pain, Elsa was having trouble feeling much else than Anna’s body pressed against her.  She was warm, and her skin had a slightly pink tinge to it from standing in the sun for the last twenty minutes.  A thin sheen of sweat covered her collarbone, and it was all Elsa could do to stop herself from pressing her tongue to it.

 

Mercifully, Anna interrupted her before the urge became too strong.  “Elsa!” she said, more forcefully.  The older girl’s eyebrows shot up in alarm.  “I asked if you were okay.  Did you bash your head or something?  Do I need to get Dad?” Anna spoke, panic clouding her voice as she pressed a hot palm to Elsa’s cheek, searching her head for injuries.

 

The older girl finally managed to string a sentence together.  “No…no, I’m good.”  She tried to move her arm, but found it trapped underneath her sister.  She blushed when she felt the soft skin of Anna’s thigh under her fingers.  

 

Something flicked across Anna’s eyes, and they stopped moving over Elsa’s face, meeting the older girl’s gaze instead.  Elsa swallowed, hardly breathing, trying not to move.  

 

Anna’s tongue darted out, leaving her lips glistening in the afternoon light.  She was so close that Elsa could see her freckles standing out against flushed cheeks.  /God she’s cute./  Anna moved her head imperceptibly, seemingly leaning down to kiss her-

 

And then she was gone, scrambling off the older girl, stammering.  “Okay.  Good.  We’re good.  No injuries.”  She whipped around, striding towards the ladder and hefting it back against the side of the house.  “Let’s finish this quickly,” she demanded, glancing at Elsa, anxiously.  “I have a date with Kristoff tonight and I need time to get ready.  He’s taking me to some fancy restaurant in the city that he had to book, like, weeks in advance.  And I still need to pick a dress and decide what to do with my hair…” she trailed off, nervously, trying to avoid looking at her sister.

 

Elsa blurted out the words without thinking.  “You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.”  /Jesus fuck!  Why would you say that?!/  Her eyes widened as Anna finally turned to face her.  “I mean, you have so many nice dresses that I’m sure they’ll all suit whatever fine dining establishment you attend.”  /Great save, retard./

 

But Anna didn’t appear to be put off by the comment at all.  Elsa was surprised to see a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth before she bit her lip and turned away.  “Thanks,” she said, quietly, before grabbing the rake and making her way up the ladder again, barely giving the older girl time to steady the frame.

 

Elsa was so distracted by her sister’s response that she didn’t even notice the conflicted look Anna was giving her.