Work Text:
Elsa stepped off the blue line and onto the wooden elevated platform.
Immediately a gale force arctic blast blew her braid up and around, smacking her straight in the face.
‘Ack.’ She muttered, spitting the braid out of her mouth and scurrying toward the semi-shelter of the mostly open platform station. She hugged the tray of coffees close to her side, shielding the drinks so that they wouldn’t be snatched away by the wind.
Winter in this city.
Long, dark and subarctic cold. Snow and ice and more snow. Most hated it, or complained about it—but she loved it. There was something so peaceful about the chilling quiet of those subzero days, when no one else dared to go outside—the silent desolate streets, the looming monolithic skyscrapers and the steam rising off the frozen lakefront on a crisp sunny morning. It was beautiful. Winter was beautiful, and winter in this city reminded her of another place and time, like a dream she could reach but not quite hold. It was home, and familiar and really, the cold never bothered her anyway.
But the wind did. The wind was not calm nor silent, it was a trickster and once, it had snatched her tray of drinks and sent it flying down the tracks at this very stop.
Not today Satan.
She snorted with a wry smile as she made her way down the stairs of the El platform, drinks still securely in hand. She used her hip to push the turnstile, careful still not to spill the drinks and then was out onto the snowy streets. It was cloudy and snowing lightly, but the wind at street level was not nearly what it was up on the platform, so she shifted the drinks to one arm and chanced the wind to pull out her phone.
4:23pm Almost there. She shot a quick text to her friend Honeymaren, letting her know she was near.
4:23pm Thank god. The response was immediate as the phone buzzed in her hand.
4:24pm Hurry.
4:24pm I’m so bored I’ve started re-watching Glee.
4:24pm 🤦🏼♀️
4:24pm 🤷🏽♀️ Blame your sister.
4:24pm S.O.S.
4:25pm: RIP 💘
Dork. Elsa smirked and shook her head then thrust the phone back into her coat pocket and sped up her pace.
This trendy, hipster neighborhood on the outskirts of the city proper was where she found herself more and more frequently these days. For one reason: Honeymaren. Or rather, Maren as she made abundantly clear was the only name she’d respond to.
‘Who names their child Honeymaren?’ Maren had bemoaned once, rolling her eyes when Elsa asked her why she hated the name so. ‘It’s like they were purposely trying to set me up to fail!’
Elsa chuckled. Personally, she liked the name. It sounded exotic and exciting and she’d told Maren that too, to which she responded: ‘I loathe it.’
Elsa felt a smile crawl up her lips at the thought of how cute a flustered Maren looked.
Cute. Ugh. She liked Maren, a lot. Maren was everything she was not—she was cool and outgoing and kind of a badass, only a dorky, smart and cute badass. These strange feelings of attraction had surprised her at first, that is, until her sister Anna noticed the way she acted around Maren and sat her down and bluntly asked her if she thought she might be gay.
For some absurd reason, that had never even crossed her mind in the beginning. Admittedly, she had practically zero relationship experience with men or women, so coming to the conclusion that she was likely gay hadn’t really been all that shocking or hard to accept. In fact it made her life suddenly make a whole lot more sense.
Somehow, her intrepid sister had ferreted out that Maren was also attracted to women and upon this discovery had fanatically announced that she ‘shipped Elsamaren,’ whatever that meant. Her sister could be so dramatic. Skipping over her sister’s strange outburst, she’d then asked Anna how she knew this for sure about Maren, to which Anna had rolled her eyes and stated that she had an excellent gaydar, which apparently, one does not need to be gay to use—her sister had a boyfriend.
The problem was, when it came to close relationships, she was at a loss—despite Anna’s prodding, romantic flirting was just not her forte. She had always been a bit on the quiet side, but when it came to flirting she just became plain silent or worse, awkward—plus she thought the whole institution of flirting was stupid so she usually just avoided it. Why didn’t people just say what they meant in the first place? Unnecessarily long, superficial conversations were anathema to her.
It was different with Maren though. She was more like Anna—blurting out whatever she was feeling or thinking in the same moment she thought or felt it—and Elsa appreciated people like that. There was never any question about where they stood or what their motives were, you just knew. Maren was probably the closet real friend she had if she didn’t count her sister—and it was so comfortable and easy to be around her that she didn’t want to say or do anything to mess that up. Maren somehow, just got her.
Oh, she had many other acquaintances and co-workers—but in the profession she chose, real genuine people were hard to come by. And outside of work, frankly, she just wasn’t very outgoing. Which was part of the reason why she’d fallen into the profession she did, as nonsensical as that seemed. Modeling was easy, she didn’t have to socialize. She just had to stand there, look pretty, pose for the camera, then get paid. Which was almost too easy—most of the time.
She looked up from her thoughts and came to an abrupt halt, nearly bypassing Maren’s place of work.
NORTHULDRAN SUN
OPEN
Tues - Fri: 9am - 5pm
Sat - Sun: 10am - 4pm
Monday: CLOSED
Elsa opened the door as a little bell jingled over her head. She walked into the empty shop and the smell of incense and tribal meditation music hit her immediately.
‘Hey you.’ She heard Maren call out but did not see her. ‘Just a—sec.’ Her voice sounded strained and like it was coming from behind the counter.
‘I could be a serial killer, you don’t know.’ Elsa responded, closing the door behind her with a light click and stomping the snow off her boots.
She heard whatever Maren was fidgeting with spring open and a muffled ‘fuck’ echo from behind the counter.
‘I do know.’ Maren said, popping up from behind the counter with an eyebrow arced almost up to her gray beanie. ‘You open the door too nicely.’
‘What?’ Elsa asked with a chuckle as she walked over to the counter and set the (mostly unspilled) drinks down. She took a moment to take in Maren’s slender but defined tattooed arms—which for some reason, she could never seem to take her eyes off of. How she wore sleeveless tank tops in the middle of winter though, was baffling—but Elsa was not complaining about it.
‘Most people come flying in here like a freaking tornado, flinging the door open, slamming it shut, rattling the whole damn place and my sanity.’ Maren rolled her eyes. ‘You’re like, the only one who doesn’t do that.’ She chuckled and flicked her long dark braid off her shoulder.
Elsa smiled and glanced down, Maren always noticed the tiniest details about her. With most people this made her extremely uncomfortable, but it never did when Maren noticed. ‘For you.’ Elsa said and took Maren’s coffee out of the tray and slid it over to her on the counter.
‘Ah nice! You brought this all the way from work?’ Maren asked excitedly as she picked up the cardboard cup.
‘Oaken’s makes the best.’ Elsa answered casually, and shrugged. Though, bringing two drinks across the city from the coffee shop where she worked was anything but casual. Especially in this weather—it was more like a prolonged circus balancing act.
‘You mean you make the best.’ Maren added with an arced eyebrow and a smile before taking a sip. ‘Yep, you made this. I can tell. Amazing.’
‘I don’t understand how you do that.’ Elsa chuckled at Maren’s uncanny ability to tell the difference between drinks she made and those her co-workers made. Weirdo.
Maren wiggled her eyebrows. ‘It’s a special talent.’ She said and took another swig of coffee. Elsa shook her head and rolled her eyes.
‘Alright, that’s for you, now what have you got for me?’ Elsa asked and leaned her elbows on the counter expectantly.
Maren put the drink down and leaned into the counter, then cocked an eyebrow with a smirk. ‘You’re a junkie.’
‘I am.’ Elsa confirmed, suddenly very aware of how close Maren was leaning towards her and also, how much she enjoyed it. ‘Now do you have anything new for me or do I need to find another dealer?’ She offered with a smirk. Two could play at this game.
Maren put a hand up to her heart and staggered backward as if wounded. ‘You wouldn’t.’ She said dramatically.
Elsa raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
‘Ok ok, so no new shipments from the docks, but—because I knew you were coming and I like you, I mixed you something special.’ Maren said with a smirk and a theatrical wink—causing Elsa to roll her eyes again. Maren reached below the counter and pulled out a small bottle of essential oils and placed it on the counter.
Elsa picked it up and read the label. Fifth Spirit Essence. She quirked her brow at Maren with a smile. ‘Fifth Spirit?’ She asked curiously.
‘I made it for you. It’s a mix of five of your favorite oils, the ones that help with anxiety—thought it might help.’
Elsa found herself smiling wider than she had in days at Maren’s thoughtfulness. She opened the cap and smelled it, then let out satisfied, relaxed breath. ‘Lemon, cedar, lavender, eucalyptus and clary sage?’
‘Nerd.’ Maren said, a smile spreading across her lips as she shook her head. Elsa scrunched her nose at Maren in faux annoyance at the insult.
‘It’s perfect.’ Elsa said and capped the bottle. ‘Thank you.’ She found herself looking straight into Maren’s deep brown eyes for just a moment longer than she meant to. Maren held her gaze until Elsa blinked and looked down. ‘Oh hey, do you also have—’
‘A spray?’ Maren asked knowingly, pulling out a spray bottle from behind the counter and presenting it as if she were advertising for a cheesy infomercial. ‘What kind of dealer would I be if I didn’t cover all your needs?’
Elsa chuckled and picked up the spray bottle which also read Fifth Spirit Essence on the label. ‘You’re the best.’
‘I know.’ Maren huffed in a mockingly conceited tone.
Elsa scrunched up her nose in disapproval then gave a good strong squirt from the bottle right at Maren’s face—who snorted and ducked just a moment too late.
‘Oh that’s how you want to play it?’ Maren shot back. She then sunk behind the counter, springing up a moment later with a spray bottle of her own and squirting a cloud of essential oil filled mist right back at Elsa’s face.
Elsa laughed and tried to duck out of the way and before she knew it they were both immersed in a spray war, laugh-choking on the essential oil fumes that now surrounded them both in a thick cloud of mist.
‘You think people can actually die from inhaling this stuff too much?’ Maren laugh-coughed and set her spray bottle down on the counter, hands up in defeat.
‘My sister would probably say yes.’ Elsa laughed. ‘She’s already ready to kill me with how much I spray it around our apartment.’
‘Ah my young protégé, how is she?’ Maren asked endearingly.
Elsa sighed, pondering the best way to sum up her sister’s life at present. ‘She oscillates between partying, playing SIMS, sometimes going to class and eating my chocolate. By Anna standards she’s doing great.’ Elsa returned with wry humor. ‘Feel free to teach her how to start making money with photography at any time.’
Maren chuckled. ‘I’m still trying to show her how to import raw files into Photoshop. It might take a minute.’
Elsa shook her head. Anna was a fantastic artist, and had a great eye for photography but the girl’s attention span was lower than zero.
‘You wanna tell me why you’ve been buying this stuff so much lately?’ Maren asked, changing the subject and gesturing to the essential oils on the counter. ‘At this rate you could open your own store.’
Elsa let out a breath and set the spray bottle down. ‘Anxiety. Same old.’ She said and reached down to grab her coffee and took a sip. ‘This tastes like lavender now.’ She added, scrunching her face up in disgust.
‘You wanna talk about it?’
‘The spray got in my coffee—’
‘Elsa.’ Maren cut off her deflection with a perceptively raised eyebrow.
Elsa took a breath and studied the lid of her coffee. It had cooled, but there was just enough warmth left in the cup to warm her fingertips. ‘I got a call from the agency the other day, about a shoot they want to book me for.’
‘Hey, that’s great! — Isn’t it?’ Maren questioned, reading the less than enthusiastic expression Elsa knew was on her face.
Elsa sighed. ‘It is, this job is paying really really well—and it’s for a high profile client…’
‘But?’
Elsa tore her eyes slowly from the cup to look back at Maren. ‘It’s basically nudity.’
‘Oh.’ Maren paused and appraised her for a moment, as if that was not what she was expecting her to say. ‘And you’ve… never done something that before have you?’
‘Is it that obvious?’ Elsa snorted and shook her head. ‘No, I haven’t. And I’m not really even sure I want to, or that I’m comfortable enough to. I don’t know if I want to be known for that.’
‘Do you have to do it?’ Maren prodded, a soft tone in her voice.
Elsa shrugged. ‘It’s not the smartest thing to do to blow off your agency. I’m lucky I even have one.’
‘What does Anna think?’
‘Oh no, I’m not telling her about this. She’d pitch a fit.’
‘Anna?’ Maren questioned in disbelief. ‘The girl who, by her own admission, wore a bikini and painted her whole body rainbow for the Pride Parade last year?’
Elsa sighed, cringing inwardly at that mortifying memory. ‘She’s very liberal with everything else, just not when it comes to me.’
‘Mm. She’s protective of her big sis.’ Maren said knowingly. ‘I don’t blame her.’ She added and took hold of Elsa’s forearm over the counter. Her hand was gentle and Elsa was surprised at the gesture but she liked it. ‘Elsa look, you’re beautiful. You don’t have to take jobs like this if it makes you uncomfortable—I doubt the agency will drop you—you’ll have plenty of other opportunities.’ Maren removed her hand, and Elsa wished she hadn’t.
‘I really need the money though…’ Elsa said offhand—and it was true. Besides her part-time job at the coffee shop, modeling was paying the bills—her’s and Anna’s for the moment. Anna’s part-time job helped a little, but most of that went to her tuition.
Maren took a breath and was silent for another moment, contemplating then: ‘What if you practiced first? You know, to see if you were even comfortable trying nudity?’
‘Practiced? Like, in front of a mirror? I don’t think that would really help—’
‘Well, or, practiced with someone you already trusted—perhaps someone who was already an amateur photographer and who also happened to care about you?’
Elsa blinked and creased her brow, processing what Maren had just said—did, did Maren just offer to shoot her naked? Did she just say she cared about her?
‘You?’ She asked finally after nearly too much time had passed in her silent stupor to be natural.
‘Don’t look so shocked or I’ll get a complex.’ Maren jested playfully.
‘No I mean, that’s not what I meant.’ Elsa rambled, trying to recover from her confused reaction. ‘I meant, you would really do that for me?’
‘Sure, if you think it would help. Wouldn’t be bad practice for me either.’
‘Don’t you usually shoot landscape and wildlife photography?’
‘Yes.’ Maren chuckled. ‘Hence why this would be good practice for me too.’ She added with a smirk.
‘Right.’ Elsa smiled and looked down at her coffee.
‘Elsa listen, if this is weird or uncomfortable just forget it, I just thought—’
‘No, it’s not.’ Elsa said quickly. ‘I mean it is, but not because of you. I want to try it.’
‘Ok.’ Maren offered casually as she straightened up the counter space. ‘Just let me know when you’re free.’
‘I’m free tonight.’ Elsa blurted out and immediately regretted it. Why had she said that? Because she wanted to spend more time with Maren that’s why. Her heart thudded in her ears sending heat to her face. But was she ready to take her clothes off in front of Maren? Maybe it was for the best, if she didn’t make a decision to try this right now she would probably never have the nerve to do it. Just go for it Elsa! Anna’s voice rang in her ears and she wanted to tell her sister to shut up right now.
Maren was looking at her with amused eyes—was she that transparent? ‘Tonight? Hm, I don’t know—I had some big plans to go save my brothers ass in Fortnite.’
‘Oh, right. Sorry, yes of course you already had plans. We can do it another time—’
‘Elsa. I’m kidding.’
‘Oh.’
‘Well sort of. I figured I was going to be bored out of my mind tonight so I told Ryder I’d go over there to play video games, but now that I have real plans with you, he can save his squad on his own.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’ Maren said directly then smiled mischievously. ‘I would much rather hang out with you than a bunch of annoying college boys who will most likely be drunk or high.’
Elsa snorted. ‘Remind me to introduce my sister to your brother.’
‘That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.’ Maren laughed. ‘C’mon, let’s get out of here. We’ll get some food, have some wine and you’ll get naked. It’ll be a Friday night to remember.’ Maren jested. Elsa chuckled. ‘But only the last part if you decide you want to, if not we’ll just put on Netflix and chill.’
Elsa nodded then paused. ‘I’m not watching Glee with you.’
Maren made a pouty face which quickly shifted to excitement. ‘Oh shit, have you caught up on Orange is the New Black yet?’
‘No—is Piper still dense and making stupid choices?’
Maren laughed at this for some reason. ‘I don’t know, probably—I’ve been waiting to watch it with you. Ok, lets go, we have a lot to get through tonight—we are binging this after you get naked, I don’t care if it takes all night.’
‘Ok.’ Elsa agreed, and just like that, Maren had dissolved her nervous anxiety with something fun and relaxing to look forward to. The only other person who had ever been able to do that for her, was Anna.
Maren flicked open the memory card slot for the tenth time in five minutes—checking to make sure the card was in the camera. It still was. She clicked the card holder slot closed and sighed.
She wasn’t nervous. Nothing ever made her nervous. But she was getting on her own nerves with how fidgety she was right now, waiting for Elsa to come out of her bathroom. Everything was set in her small makeshift photo studio she had set up in her apartment. She already set the lighting, checked the the camera battery four times, done test shots and adjusted the camera settings. All she needed now was the subject to shoot.
Maybe it was a bad idea to offer to help Elsa with this—too much too soon, at least for Elsa. She didn’t want Elsa to think she only wanted to see her naked—it wasn’t like that. Well, it was partially like that. She was insanely attracted to the girl, and hell yes she wanted to see her naked—but even more than that she just loved her dorky, nerdy, unassuming personality and found herself doing anything in her power to help her when she needed it.
Fuck.
She had it bad for Elsa.
But Elsa was not a fast mover nor particularly gifted at picking up on subtle hints—of which Maren had been throwing at her for months now. Which was baffling considering how incredibly smart Elsa was. She nearly gave up trying at one point, assuming that maybe Elsa wasn’t really into women after all, until Anna had pulled her aside and explained the complexity that was Elsa.
‘Look.’ Anna had said. ‘I know my sister can be really dense, and prudish but she likes you Maren, a lot. That much I do know. She just, has a hard time opening up and trusting people—our childhood was kind of messed up and Elsa took the brunt of it so just, if you really care about her, just give it time. Don’t give up on her.’
So, Maren had not given up. In fact what Anna told her made her try even harder to unravel the mystery of Elsa. So she had taken it slowly and hadn’t pushed for anything more than friendship—trying to understand her bits and pieces at a time. And it seemed to be working—at least, she definitely got the vibe that Elsa was into her, which meant that on some level she trusted her. Trusted her enough to take her clothes off in front of her—don’t fuck this up Maren.
‘Maren? I’m not sure I can do this.’ Elsa’s muffled voice from behind the bathroom door caused Maren to look up from her camera. She set it down and walked over to door.
‘Elsa? It’s ok, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.’ Maren paused, no response from Elsa. ‘Can you at least come out here so we can talk?’
The door opened to reveal Elsa clad in Maren’s short white bathrobe, which was pulled tightly closed around her and fell midway down her long defined thighs. Keep your eyes on her face Maren. She reprimanded herself, though this whole ordeal suddenly seemed like the best worst idea she’d ever had. Even looking at Elsa’s face caused her to falter for a moment, not expecting to see Elsa with her hair down. She always wore it up in her signature braid, but now it cascaded down her shoulders in beautifully long blonde waves that made it incredibly hard to focus. Right then she realized just how fucking difficult staying professional was going to be tonight.
‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ Maren tried with a kind smile, hoping she could talk Elsa down from her worries.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, I do know.’ Maren said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the doorframe. ‘Either you’ll take that robe off and hate it, then we will turn on Netflix. Or you’ll take that robe off and hate it, but we’ll work together to make it so you don’t hate it as much. It’s just me Els, you don’t have to be nervous or afraid—I’ll be here for you either way.’ Maren could see the thoughts running around in those deep blue eyes. Finally Elsa nodded.
‘You’re right. I need to stop being afraid.’
Maren smiled back at her. ‘I’ll be over there when you’re ready.’ She walked back over to her camera and turned it back on.
‘You know, some say that the female body can be very empowering if you embrace the beauty of it…’
Holy shit. Eat your own words Maren.
Maren lowered her camera and looked up just as Elsa came timidly walking out of the bathroom, only she wasn’t wearing the robe anymore—
Fuck.
Gay.
Yes Maren you’re definitely gay.
Arms.
Neck.
Breasts.
Legs.
Thighs…
FUCK, STOP MAREN.
God she was so attracted to this girl it almost physically hurt to look at her. She absently pulled down her beanie a little, as if she had to fidget with something to distract herself from staring—which didn’t work, her eyes were fixated.
It seemed impossible that someone could have a figure as well defined and perfect as Elsa’s—like some greek goddess she had read about somewhere. Feminine, yet perfectly toned—slender but not unnaturally skinny and all Maren could think about was—unprofessional things that she wanted to do to Elsa. No Maren, keep this shit professional.
‘You’re right, I do hate this—although it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be.’ Elsa said sheepishly as she came to stand on the sweep in front of Maren.
She was hunched a bit, nervous, her arms folded protectively around her middle— but there she stood, determined to do this even though she was clearly scared—and that small spark of confidence was extremely endearing. But mostly, she looked like an anxious bunny rabbit and Maren had the sudden urge to wrap her arms around her and hold her. Yeah, no—she did not want some other sleazy photographer leering at her, groping her, doing who knows what else. No fucking way. Maybe after this she could convince her not to do that other shoot.
‘So where do you want me?’ Elsa offered when Maren realized she’d been blatantly staring for longer than was appropriate.
She quickly snapped herself out of it. ‘Right.’ She set the camera down and stood up and took a deep breath. Time to be a professional photographer Maren. She appraised Elsa again, thinking critically, and trying to see her as she saw her wildlife subjects—what would be the best pose and angle to capture her from? Finally she moved closer and put her hands on Elsa’s upper arms, which were as soft as they looked and Maren felt a shiver of electricity run through her. ‘Jesus Elsa, you’re freezing—do you want me to turn the heat up?’
‘What? Oh, no I’m always like this. It’s fine, I don’t feel cold.’
Maren gave her a confused look. The girl was icy to the touch, how was she not freezing? ‘Ok well, just let me know if you do get cold or hot or need water or a break or something.’ Elsa nodded. ‘Alright, stand about here.’ Maren said and moved Elsa so she was more centered under the lights. Then she moved her hands from Elsa’s shoulders down to her crossed arms and over her hands. Gently she pried Elsa’s arms apart and moved them down to her sides.
‘You’re confident remember? No fear.’ Maren confirmed and moved her hands back up to Elsa’s shoulders and gently pushed them back so she was no longer hunching. ‘Own your body Elsa, embrace it—don’t be afraid of it.’
‘Ok.’ Elsa confirmed, a resolute look in her eyes.
‘Alright, let’s do it.’ Maren smiled and wiggled her eyebrows trying to loosen Elsa up. She moved to hit play on her Ed Sheeran mix on the computer to get the mood flowing. First up Castle on the Hill.
‘Ah, I love this song!’ Elsa announced enthusiastically. ‘Reminds me of freedom or something you know? Like freedom from yourself.’
‘Tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass I rolled down.’ Maren nodded to Elsa while mock singing the lyrics, holding a fake mic to her lips and moving her shoulders. Elsa giggled and shook her head. ‘Ed Sheeran is my go to photoshoot mix.’ Maren confirmed and picked up her camera, still moving to the beat of the catchy song. Which was true, she needed a certain vibe and music when she was shooting—but she also knew Elsa loved Ed Sheeran so that was part of the reason for her choice. Subtle moves Maren… ‘Ok, just do what you normally do at shoots and we’ll go from there. Pretend you have clothes on if that helps.’
Elsa nodded, closed her eyes and moved with the music little. Maren put the camera up to her eye and started clicking. She watched through the lens as Elsa literally transformed into another person—into a confident regal woman—it was incredible. Elsa kept her eyes closed for a moment as she got into it, then slowly began striking different poses. She had a very distinct style that played to the strengths of her personality, very high fashion. Her poses were all sophisticated, serious, mysterious and very regal all at the same time—she looked like a queen. Taunting the camera and Maren’s resolve—something she could look at but not quite touch.
Maren let her go on for a bit like this, encouraging her to freeform and explore new poses and continue getting comfortable posing without clothes. ‘Elsa, these all look amazing—whatever fear you’re feeling, it doesn’t show in the photos.’ Maren said finally, still a bit awestruck at how good at this Elsa was. It was something she had to see to believe—never could she have guessed that the quiet, nerdy, anxious girl she knew could morph into this confident, regal supermodel in a matter of minutes. It was incredibly hot.
‘You know, I’m really not afraid anymore.’ Elsa said excitedly. ‘Once we started and I got into it, it’s not that much different than posing with clothes on.’ She smiled a cute half smile then added: ‘Then again, it could be because of you—I don’t know if this will carry over when I’m in front of some photographer I don’t know.’ Even if you do that other shoot, I will be there Maren wanted to say but she didn’t.
‘You can do anything.’ She offered instead. ‘Here, come check these out.’ She motioned for Elsa to come over to her computer where the images from the camera were wirelessly live-fed onto the screen. Elsa walked over and stood next to her—so close Maren could feel the electricity of her presence.
‘Wow, those came out better than I thought—I didn’t think I’d even be able to look at naked pictures of myself, but you captured them beautifully.’ Elsa said, awestruck as she stared at the screen.
‘You’re beautiful.’ Maren said, and felt Elsa’s eyes come away from the screen to look at the side of her face. She glanced at her then returned to the screen.
‘Here see look,’ Maren said and pointed to the screen. ‘You really nail the sophisticated, mysterious regal look. But, I think you can do more than that—expand your tool kit.’ Maren said with a raised eyebrow.
‘What do you have in mind boss?’ Elsa asked playfully.
‘Well, I think if you loosen up some, you can get some more interesting, fluid poses—more motion, less static. Have you ever seen ESPN’s body issue?’
‘Where they put naked athletes on the cover?’ Elsa asked, her interest piqued.
‘Yes.’ Maren chuckled. ‘But do you see how there’s motion in those poses, even though it’s a still image? That’s what I’m talking about—it glorifies and celebrates the human body yet in a classy, modest way. I think that would be perfect for you.’
Maren saw a spark of recognition click in Elsa’s eyes. ‘I, never thought about it like that before.’ She looked into Maren’s eyes with determination. ‘Let’s try it?’
Maren nodded with a smile. ‘Ok get back out there.’ She said playfully then paused for a moment, thinking. ‘Have you ever seen those ribbon dancers, how fluid and gracefully they move?’ Elsa nodded. ‘I want you to pretend you are dancing with those ribbons, flowing with them all around you—really exaggerate the movements and poses ok?’
‘Ok.’ Elsa confirmed, then started shaking out her limbs to warm up. Once again Maren put the camera up and started clicking. This time, Elsa did as Maren asked, but it was clear this was out of her comfort zone—she was going through the motions, but she was still quite stiff with her movements. Maren put the camera down and walked over to Elsa.
‘That bad huh.’ Elsa said defeated.
‘No, you just need to be more expressive—more emotive.’ Maren said and grabbed Elsa’s hands and shook them out, then ran her hands up Elsa’s arms, squeezing as she went, trying to loosen her up. ‘Let it go a little bit.’ She chuckled and caught Elsa smiling a shy half smile.
‘Try to make the people viewing you feel what you’re feeling. What are you feeling?’
‘Stiff, and uncomfortable.’
‘And that shows, so what’s something that makes you feel the opposite of that? Free and expressive?’ Maren asked, still squeezing Elsa’s biceps. It was instinctual to try and warm her up, even though she claimed she was never cold.
Elsa paused for a moment, thinking. Then she chuckled and shook her head. ‘It’s stupid.’
‘I doubt that.’ Maren assured.
Elsa took a breath and rolled her eyes. ‘When I was little, I used to go outside in the winter and pretend I was a snow queen who could command powers of ice and snow. I would flail my arms all around, dancing like an idiot—and well, it was childish, but when you said free, that’s what came to mind.’
‘That’s adorable.’ Maren said with a dumb grin on her face, and suddenly forgot why she had asked that question in the first place. Elsa had moved slightly closer to her, and Maren once again found those blue eyes to be extremely distracting.
‘Do you… want to try it?’ Maren offered, though she was still completely absorbed in Elsa’s eyes and the fire burning in her own body.
‘Yes.’ Elsa whispered, and edged closer still, her eyes telling a story about what she wanted far better than her words.
‘Ok.’ Maren whispered back, whether it was in her mind or actually made it out of her mouth she wasn’t sure, all she knew was that they were too close, this feeling between them too powerful. Elsa had to feel it too or she would have pulled away by now. This magnetic desire that had been building between them for months—she had fought it so long and she couldn’t fight it anymore. She stepped forward, moved her hand up to the side of Elsa’s face and she kissed her softly.
Elsa returned the kiss with a passion that let Maren know she was on the same page. Both of them at the mercy of each other and damn was Elsa a good kisser. Her lips were soft, she moved them so gently but with purpose—Maren didn’t want it to end but she pulled away to gauge Elsa’s expression. Elsa’s face was flushed, she was breathing heavily and almost looked disoriented that Maren had pulled away, but she smiled and reached her arms around Maren’s neck.
Maren smiled then kissed her again with a sigh and started moving them slowly towards her bedroom—one thought on her mind. She found the wall first which was good enough for now, and pressed Elsa up against it, kissing her senseless. She ran her hands down Elsa's sides, feeling the lithe curves of her body and grabbing her firmly around the waist and squeezing there. Elsa had worked her hands up under Maren’s tank top and was trying to get it off of her. Maren smiled, then pulled away for a moment and ripped her shirt off, tossing it to the side, her beanie along with it.
Elsa’s eyes roamed over her almost naked torso and she let her, before grabbing her hands and pulling her into the bedroom. Once there she quickly kicked off her pants and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling a giggling Elsa to straddle her lap. She kissed Elsa between the breasts and up her chest, Elsa shivered and Maren smiled in satisfaction.
‘Have you ever done this before?’ Maren whispered, locking her hands behind Elsa’s lower back.
‘No.’ Elsa responded and shook her head, which didn’t surprise Maren. Knowing Elsa as she did it would have shocked her if Elsa had said yes. ‘But I want to.’ Elsa breathed, then leaned down to kiss Maren again. ‘With you.’
That was all Maren needed to hear. She slid Elsa over onto the bed and crawled on top of her, kissing and sucking at her neck.
‘Have you?’ Elsa asked into her ear, causing Maren to pull away from her neck, chuckling.
‘Yes.’ She smiled. ‘So let me do this for you.’ She breathed and kissed Elsa again, allowing her hands to roam down. She grazed over Elsa’s collarbone then down to her breast, running her fingers lightly over it, causing Elsa’s breath to catch. Elsa had given up all control to her at this point, which aroused her even more. Elsa trusted her. It was trust she fought long and hard for, trust she would continue to build, and never break. This girl was worth it.
She moved her kisses back down to Elsa’s chest, her breasts and slid her hands down Elsa’s thighs, thighs she had been fantasizing about holding for weeks now. She allowed herself to squeeze them, to feel the lean muscle that was there and massage it as she moved her hands back up. Elsa sighed and Maren made a satisfied mental note that Elsa liked massages.
Finally, she slid her thigh between Elsa’s legs and pressed it into her center, which caused Elsa to let out a quiet groan and close her eyes. She could feel that Elsa was already wet down there, so she slid her leg back and forth to give Elsa some friction. Elsa groaned again, arching into her, and Maren quickly covered her mouth with a kiss and kept moving her leg. Everything about the way this woman breathed was sexy, and Maren’s only desire was to push her further and further.
Elsa’s breathing started coming faster, so she slid her hand down Elsa’s flat stomach and rested it there, then paused and looked into Elsa’s heavily lidded eyes. What she found there was lust and longing and trust staring back at her with piercing blue and it was insanely arousing. She kept her eyes locked on Elsa’s and slid her hand further down until she found what she was looking for.
‘Fu—ck.’ Elsa breathed through closed eyes as Maren slid her fingers between Elsa’s legs. Maren smiled into Elsa’s neck at being the cause of her rare use of a curse word, which sounded like a foreign language coming from her, and even then, more decorous than Maren had ever heard the word fuck sound before. Nerd. Maren thought affectionately.
Elsa had tightened her grip around Maren’s neck as she worked, squeezing her with need as her chest rose and fell faster and faster. Maren welcomed Elsa’s arms, and decided she wished they could stay there forever, securely locking her with this woman until the end of time.
Finally Elsa was getting close to her edge, her breathing and quiet groans coming faster and faster and Maren matched the pace of her hand with Elsa’s breath, feeling Elsa’s orgasm build and wanting it to be fantastic for her first time—something she would never forget.
‘Fuck fuck Maren, right—there.’ Elsa groaned in one final exaggerated breath, her face contorted as she spasmed up into Maren’s body, clutching her back and convulsing with an orgasm that Maren could feel in her hand. She pressed firmly down into her and kissed her deeply, holding her securely to the bed with her body, hands and lips as Elsa finished. Finally, Elsa relaxed beneath her and let out a deep breath, panting. Maren rolled off of her and propped herself up on her elbow, smiling as she watched Elsa’s chest rise and fall.
‘Wow.’ Elsa breathed finally and turned to look at her, a cute smile spread across her face.
‘Stick with me.’ Maren said then leaned over to kiss her again. ‘And we can do this all the time.’ She said with a sly smile and traced lines up and down Elsa’s stomach.
‘I’d like to stick with you.’ Elsa said, and Maren felt there was a deeper meaning behind the words.
Just then, Elsa’s phone buzzed on the nightstand where she had tossed it earlier. She reached and flipped it over so she could see the screen.
‘Crap.’ She said and sat up in the bed, flicking through numerous missed notifications on her phone that Maren could see from the position next to her. She didn’t want to read over Elsa’s shoulder, but she did notice that there were a lot of capital letters in those notifications. Just then the notifications disappeared and the screen lit up with an incoming call. Anna. Elsa glanced at Maren then rolled her eyes. ‘Just, just a sec.’
Maren made a move to leave the bed to give her privacy, but Elsa reached out and snatched her arm, holding her there as she answered the phone.
‘Elsa what the hell? Are you ok? Why weren’t you answering my texts I haven’t heard from you in hours I thought you were dead?!’ Maren could hear Anna’s high pitched voice rage from the other end of the phone, and she curled in her lips to keep from laughing. Elsa noticed and shot her a dirty glare then cut in on Anna’s rant.
‘Anna, slow down. I’m fine, I’ve been at Maren’s.’
‘Oh. Fuck. Well ok. Jesus, Elsa I nearly had a heart attack. You never ignore my texts, what the hell were you two doing that was so important?’
Elsa paused for just a moment too long, and Maren snickered. She was so busted, Elsa was a horrible liar. Maren waited expectantly to see how she was going to try to talk her way out of this one.
‘Nothing, nothing—I just, didn’t hear my phone. Sorry.’
Silence permeated the other end of the line for a beat until suddenly: ‘Oh my god Elsa, did you two fuck?!’
Silence from Elsa as she scrunched her eyes closed and put a hand to her forehead. Maren looked on amusedly. ‘What? Anna—’ Elsa tried but Anna cut into her.
‘Aha! You did didn’t you! Holy shit finally! Yes yes yes!!!!’
‘Ok I love you, GOODBYE ANNA.’ Elsa said over her sister's unintelligible high pitched screeches, then hung up the call with a dramatic sigh. ‘I can’t have two seconds.’ She muttered and shook her head. Just then a series of texts started lighting up Elsa’s phone in rapid succession. She sighed again and flipped her phone to silent mode then set it down rather forcefully on the nightstand.
‘She cares about you.’ Maren tried sympathetically for Anna’s sake, then pulled Elsa down and into her arms. ‘Like I do.’ She added and kissed Elsa’s temple. Elsa snuggled into her and wrapped her arm around Maren’s middle—this she could get used to, just this. Forever.
They stayed that way for a while, holding each other in silence until Maren remembered. ‘Guess what?’ Maren asked as she reached for the TV remote and flipped on Netflix. Elsa turned her head towards the TV but stayed securely wrapped in Maren’s arms. ‘It’s binge time.’ Maren added and poked Elsa playfully in her side, keeping the Netflix pointer hovering over Glee.
‘Noooo…’ Elsa moaned and poked Maren back in the side.
Maren laughed and recoiled, then slid the pointer over and clicked on Orange is the New Black. The familiar theme song resounded though the room. ‘The animals, the animals, trapped trapped trapped till the cage is full…’
‘Well at least now when Piper and Alex fuck I won’t have to fantasize about that being us anymore.’ Maren laughed playfully.
‘Glad to know I wasn’t the only one thinking that.’ Elsa confessed and snuggled into Maren’s chest, her attention on the TV. Maren pulled the covers up around them and squeezed tightly the girl who was finally in her arms.