"Hey, Kristoff, should we put this here, or there?" An enthusiastic strawberry blond princess asked her burly husband, holding a long line of garland decorated with white frost (courtesy of Elsa) and colorful ornaments.
"I think we should leave the deciding with Kai. It's not safe for you to climb on the ladder."
Kristoff, Anna and Olaf were assisting Gerda, Kai, and the other castle staff in decorating the ballroom for the upcoming opening holiday ball. The opening holiday ball is going to be hosted tonight, along with the ringing of the Yule Bell to finally mark the start of the holidays.
The castle is lively as it used to be, the chandelier on the ceiling of the ballroom shining and glimmering because of its lit candles. The garland had also done its job to fill the plain but spacious ballroom with bouncing colors.
Chef Leonardo proudly pushed up buffet tables with delicious delicacies, and other assorted types of food just for special Christmas dinner. The beverages, which are both the Norwegian spirit Akvavit and hot cocoa, are just beside the desserts remained covered with a white linen cloth, to keep the bottles of liquor untouched since they are fragile.
Beside the buffet tables are open carts of plates, wine glasses, utensils and other necessities for dining, and let's not forget the very well known eight thousand salad plates.
"Prince Kristoff, can you please help us with pushing the tree to stand?" Lars favored, after approaching the pungent reindeer king, (I'm sorry, I can't help it) motioning to the lay around nine feet Christmas tree. Matthias and a few other guards stood before the tree, waiting patiently.
"Oh, sure, why not. I'll be back in a sec, Anna." Kristoff grinned, excited to show off his needed strength to the other guards, and well, most especially to his wife who rolled her eyes good naturedly.
Olaf and Anna curiously watched as the grouped men brought their hands under the trunk, then began to gather every ounce of their strength just to lift it up. Their shoulders shook and shriveled, veins beginning to shake in the heavy pressure.
And sooner or later, or was it ten seconds? The men gasped in exhaustion after failing to lift the tree to a proper stance. Anna snickered rather loudly after seeing Kristoff's tired pants and huffs, folding her arms modestly.
"May I offer my help?"
All heads turned to Aiden who stood by the large doorway, his other arm wrapped around Elsa's shoulder casually. Elsa approached Anna and gave her a tight hug before letting her go and giving Olaf a pat on his head.
"This is so exciting, Els! I mean, you're married and I'm married! We don't see any danger lurking around, and gasp we've revived our tradition! And- OH LORD, mama and papa are here with us, too! Could we get any more happier?" Anna ranted cheerfully, holding her older sister's hands. Elsa gave her a sly smile, nodding her head. She had repeated to herself over a hundred times that The past is in the past and it has been her current mantra ever since her parents' return.
"We would forever be, Anna. As long as we're together." She responded, kissing her sister's cheek happily.
Anna gave her sister's hand a gentle squeeze, but remained in silence after catching the sight of the fire king lifting up his shirt and tossing it to the other side of the room, revealing his toned abs and manly biceps. The scar Abaddon had given him remained on his mid section.
Elsa's eyes drifted from the scar to his whole shirtless form, her cheeks beginning to be flushed, "Oh my," She whispered gushingly, while her blue eyes widened at how they flexed as the gathered men and Aiden began to lift the tree. Sweat trickled down the fire king's forehead after he beamed at the successful lift, his hand wiping the sweat on his brow.
"Ooh, somebody's blushing." Anna chortled teasingly, brushing her elbow against the dazed Queen's shoulder in a playful way. Elsa blushed a darker shade, then covered her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment.
Aiden rushed up next to his wife as he puts his shirt back on, grinning mischievously, "Do you want me to lift you up next, minn elska?"
"Excu-Aiden!" Elsa shrieked in surprise, as her husband swept her off her feet. Elsa laughed and thrashed in his embrace, whacking his chest, "Put me down!" She demanded with a scowl, or was it a grin?
"What was that, snowflake?" Aiden cuts off her complaints with a deep kiss.
"I-i... t-told you to put m-me down." Elsa breathlessly pulled away, blushing viciously, "P-people are staring at us."
"So? I want to show how much I adore my lovely wife." Aiden smirked, brushing their noses together, "Because she deserves it. And I'll never stop, even until we're old and grey. I'd love you to our graves. Even to our next life."
Elsa smiled, tears almost stinging her eyes, "T-thank you." she brought her lips to his cheek,
"No, thank you." Aiden closed his eyes, breathing heavily, "You do not know how much you have done for me."
Elsa chuckled, kissing his nose, "I'm glad."
"Hello everyone."
Elsa and Aiden tore away from each other, blushing beet red after seeing Iduna and Agnarr approaching all of them with simple smiles. Elsa walked over to Iduna and hugged her lightly, "How was shopping?"
Iduna giddily answers, "Well, talk to your father. I just bought some simple loot."
Elsa steered her gaze to Agnarr who looked like he's ready to blow with all the shopping bags Iduna had stuffed his arms with. "J-just some loot, y-you say?" He shakily muttered as he luckily caught a dropping bag. Kristoff grabbed a few bags from his father in law to help him, earning a grateful thank you from the strawberry blond haired man.
Anna giggled, "Mama just wanted to make up for lost time, she was practically trembling for the marketplace down town."
Iduna folded her arms, "I was not."
Elsa grinned devilishly, "Oh dear husband of mine~" She steered her gaze to the fire king.
Aiden gulped.
A/N: Get ready for some epic Drunk Elsa for the next chap.