Anna might be (elatedorgassy) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-27 14:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, anna of arendelle, minato namikaze |
Who: Anna and Minato
When: Late September
Where: Minato’s place
What: Confessions and consolation
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete.
Anna felt supremely guilty. She and Minato had been dating, even though she hadn’t really understood that was what was going on. And then she told him she was seeing someone else, and probably hurt his feelings. She didn’t want to. Anna would do anything in her power to protect her friends and loved ones, and Minato totally fell into that category. It was probably selfish to seek comfort from someone who wanted to date her, but Anna needed it. She needed some consolation. She needed time to think, and someone to be kind to her while she thought. She didn’t want to be alone, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be around too many people, either, and Minato was wonderful for that. He would provide company and give her space. It was a win-win.
Besides, Minato liked her. Right? So that in itself was contradictory to what her ex had said to her. The reason for her mood was that her ex had been so awful to her. Minato could help her get through that, right?
She knocked on his door, then folded her arms across her chest. Anna wasn’t glowing, like she normally did. She wasn’t bouncing on her toes, or grinning to light up a room. This was a solemn Anna. A very unusual one.
The knock on his door caused Minato to start, his brows furrowed low over his eyes as he moved to stand. He hadn't been expecting anyone, not at least that he knew of, but still he stood and barefeet padded across the living room and down the hallway.
He stretched his arms over his head as he made it to the door, and he pulled open the door. A smile was on his face, although it faltered slightly at the sight of her standing there. He'd never seen Anna like this before. Normally she was bouncing around, bubbly and bright. Something must've happened. "Well this is a pleasant surprise. Come in." He moved back away from the door, holding it open for her. "What's going on, Anna?" He asked, concern clouding his tone and his features.
It was a relief to see Minato standing there on the other side of the door. Anna put on a weak smile, then stepped over the threshold into his apartment. It’d become familiar and comfortable to her, so she headed straight along the hallway and toward the living room. “School’s starting soon, and I just… I wanted to make sure to see all my friends before… before I get busy with all my classes.” It wasn’t a very convincing lie.
Minato shut the door behind her, and then turned to follow her down the hallway. Something clearly wasn't right, and Minato weighed the pros and cons quickly of pressing her for more details. She'd made time for him when she'd been in classes, and he was fairly certain he'd seen her make plans with other people on the network as well. "Anna?" He reached out, gently placing his hand on her arm, "I appreciate you coming by, now what's really going on?" He wouldn't press again after this, but he did want to let her know that she could tell him anything.
Tears welled up in her eyes as Anna turned to look at him. She felt stupid and childish, as of her feelings were hurt over an argument with a friend. Ex friend. But they were hurt, and she wanted to talk to someone about it. Minato seemed like a good choice. “I'm loveable, right? I mean, more than superficially?” A giant, alligator tear rolled down one of her cheeks.
Oh no, this wasn't good. Minato's brows furrowed, a line appearing between them as he reached out to wipe away her tear. He hated seeing anyone cry, but with Anna it felt a lot worse seeing that tear fall down her cheek. He had no idea who, or what had brought this on. "You are loveable, Anna. You are kind, generous, caring, loyal. You're a good person." He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "People are lucky to have you as a friend." He smoothed his hand up and down her back. "What brought this on?" He asked, still stroking his hand up and down her back.
The hug felt incredibly good. Anna buried her face into his chest, wrapping one arm around his waist. She sighed, gave a little sob, but somehow managed to control herself. She took a few deep breaths, and shook her head a little. “I bumped into someone who… really made me feel useless. He was cruel.” She let out a shuddering breath against his shirt, eyes pressed closed. “And I don’t… I wonder if it was… true. What he said.” Her voice must have been muffled by the fabric of his clothes.
Anger coursed through Minato's veins, his eyes narrowing a degree as she spoke of someone being cruel to her. It was hard to imagine anyone being mean to a creature as gentle as Anna, and it pissed him off royally that anyone would make her feel that way. Taking in a deep breath, Minato listened closely to what she was saying even if her words were muffled. Reaching up, he ran a hand over her hair and shook his head, "No, it's not true." Leaning down he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, "Some people in this world are just douchebags that have to bring other people down. I'll beat him up for you if you want me to." Minato had no issues doing that, it wasn't as if the cops or the guy would ever be able to lay a hand on him anyway.
“No,” Anna said, shaking her head. She pulled back a little and was about to say something else, but then she gasped. “Your shirt! I’m sorry,” she said, and lifted her hand as if she could wipe the tear smudges away. His shirt was damp where her face had been pressed against it, and some of her make-up had smeared there. “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning, I just--I didn’t mean to--I’m so sorry, Minato.”
He'd meant it, he would go beat him up if that would help. Hell, he might do it to make himself feel better. Her gasp had him looking quite puzzled, and then when she began to wipe at his shirt he glanced down. Chuckling, Minato shook his head. "Don't worry. It's a shirt I grabbed at Wal-Mart, and besides, it should wash out." Minato wasn't that concerned about it anyway, even if it didn't come out it would likely become a shirt that he practiced in. "Why don't you go clean up, and I'll go change. Then, if you want, we can watch something silly on television and gorge ourselves on ice cream and pizza." He lifted a shoulder, "Or whatever you want to do. Really, I'm easy."
Anna gave a laugh. Okay, it was half-laugh, half-cry. Both of her hands came up to cover her mouth. “Okay.” She said, speaking behind her fingertips. She wiped at her nose. “Thanks, Minato. I’ll… I’ll just use the bathroom. Then we can order pizza?” After giving him a little smile, she turned to head into the bathroom.
It only took a couple minutes for Anna to wash her face in his sink, rinse her mouth with water, then attempt to scrape the remainder of her mascara off her face. Actually, when she was finished, she didn’t look too bad. Puffy-eyed and a little pink, but she’d looked worse. She wished she could change into some pajamas, but you don’t always get what you want. She came back out and moved to the sofa, then kicked off her shoes and curled up on it.
Minato would take the half-laugh that she gave him, and he gave a nod of his head. "Any time, Anna." He meant that, even if nothing was ever going to happen between the two of them he was still her friend and would be there for her no matter what. "That we can do, and make yourself at home." He'd told her that before, but he wanted her to know that it still applied.
Going to the laundry room, Minato pulled his shirt off, glancing down at the Eight Trigrams Symbol that had appeared the other night after his dreams. He hadn't heard Kurama's voice yet, and he wondered if that would be a thing. Shaking his head, Minato put some Spray-N-Wash on the makeup stains, and tossed the shirt into the laundry along with a few other items before cutting the washing machine on. Reaching into the dryer, he pulled out a clean shirt and turned around. He was pulling the shirt on when he re-entered the living room, and he smoothed it down quickly. "Alright, pizza, what kind do you want?" He asked, raising a brow as he grabbed his phone and leaned over the back of the sofa to look over at her.
“Ham and pineapple?” Anna asked, lifting her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She rested her chin on her knee. “If that’s okay with you.” She’d had that kind of pizza a lot when she was a kid, back when her parents would try to smooth things over with a treat meal. Her eyes came to rest on the man with his phone out. He was a very, very good friend, and she couldn’t help but feel guilt bubble up inside her again. She didn’t want to tease anyone, or string anyone along, or lead anyone on. She liked Minato. A lot.
"Ham and pineapple it is." He scrolled through the apps on his phone until he found the Domino's one. "It's been awhile since I've had one like that." He signed in to his account, and then asked for other specifics. "What kind of crust do you want? And do you want anything else to go with it? I've got drinks here, so we don't need those." He glanced over at her, brows raised in question. There was something there behind her eyes, something that Minato couldn't quite put his finger on. His eyes went back to his phone, "And any special requests for the Domino's folk?"
Anna gave a little chuckle. “Sorry if it’s immature, or whatever, but it’s super delicious. The kind I used to have as a kid on special occasions, so…” She shrugged her shoulders and brought her chin back down to rest against her knee. “No, no special orders. I just hope I’ve got enough appetite to eat something. Something to drink would be great, too.”
"There's nothing immature about comfort food. Chinese fried rice is mine. When I was younger, right after I moved in with my dad when he was just fostering me, I used to wake him up crying, because I thought I would just end up in another foster home and I liked his house. He'd make me food, typically fried rice since he could just toss in whatever leftovers we had in it, and stay up with me all hours of the night." Jiraiya had been a great dad, Minato was thankful for him. He hit send on their order, "Should be here soon." He pushed himself back off the sofa, and let out a long breath. "Here's to hoping, and what do you want to drink?" He asked, taking a few steps back to head toward the fridge.
Anna’s smile was a little more genuine as she listened to him talking about his father. It sounded really nice. Anna was close with her parents, too, but they didn’t have a routine ritual thing like that. Maybe she and Elsa should try for one. She’d bring it up with her sister later.
“Thank you,” Anna said, then turned to watch him over the back of the sofa. “I’ll have whatever you’re having?”
There were plenty of good memories that Minato had in regards to his father. He honestly couldn't complain about the few years that he'd spent in the system, after all he could barely remember anything now about his life before he was adopted. "Sure," Minato pulled open his fridge and pulled out two bottles of Coca-Cola. "Here, I hope this is okay." Minato moved to sit down beside her on the couch, and he turned to look over at her. "Do you need, or want anything else?"
“This is great.” Anna said, giving him a smile. It was a little more genuine, a little less forced. She wasn’t back to her normal, happy, bubbly self, but she was a little happier. “No.” She opened the bottle and sipped, leaning back a little. Her shoulder brushed against his, warm and soft. “We can watch television or… or put on a movie? Or we can play a game. What do you want to do?” Anything to take her mind off her problems, spend some quality time with a good friend.
He was glad that Anna seemed to be doing better, after all, he hated the idea of seeing her sad. "Alright, that's fine by me." He twisted the top on his own bottle, and took a swig, feeling the warmth of her shoulder as it brushed against his. Letting out a long breath, he thought about her question. "Well," he pursed his lips in thought slightly, "I don't actually own any board games at the moment, I do have a deck of cards around here somewhere." He offered her a sheepish smile, and he knew he had to get on top of his board game buying. He'd just never really had a reason to buy any since he was always gone all the time. "So TV or movie might be the way to go."
“I’m sure we could come up with something to play with a deck of cards, but… Maybe a movie would be nice? Something funny?” Anna pulled her knees down a little, tucking her feet to the side. She was cuddled up against Minato’s side a little, savoring the warmth coming from his body. “I’m exhausted now, I’m sorry.” All that crying sure tuckered Anna out.
There were a few games that Minato could think of, but he agreed that a movie might be their best bet. He reached over to pick up the remote, feeling Anna's weight against his side. Glancing down over at her, Minato smiled and shifted to put his arm on the back of the sofa offering her his side to cuddle against. "You have no reason to apologize. Emotions can drain a person." He turned on the television, and began to scroll through the channels. "If you see anything you'd like to watch, let me know and I'll stop on it."
“Okay.” Anna leaned her head against Minato’s shoulder, cuddling in against his side. She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t even feel guilty for being so physical with him because her brain was turning off. She stared blankly at the television as he started flipping through channels, but nothing interested her. And her eyelids were drooping a little. She felt warm and safe, and completely drained. “You can pick something,” she said, sleepily. Her hands wrapped loosely around the bottle of Coke in her lap.
Minato didn't dare think too hard about the fact that she was leaning against him. She was his friend, he was comforting his friend and that was it. He couldn't let himself think too closely on things. He kept his arm on the back of the sofa, eyes forward on the television still as he finally put it on Finding Nemo. It wasn't anything scary, or bad, so he figured that it might be one of the best options out of everything else he'd seen. "There we go." He murmured softly, daring a glance over at her. His only issue would be when the pizza guy arrived. If he didn't have to pay the guy he could've teleported from point A to point B without disturbing her, but as it was he would have to be careful. For now, however, he was just going to let her rest.
Minato was warm. And kind. And that was pretty much what Anna wanted right now. Needed, even. Being cuddled against him was probably unfair to everyone, but she hasn't promised anything to anyone. She wasn't promised to Wash, wasn't promised to Minato. She could do what she wanted, be where she needed to be. The movie was a good choice. A sad beginning, but then there was Nemo and Mr. Ray, and Dory. Anna's spirits lifted a little, though she was still exhausted. She didn't sleep, but she felt close. Then the doorbell rang. Anna sat up, the side of her body going cold as air rushed in between them.
The absence of her warmth against the side of his body caused Minato to frown for only a brief moment. "I'll be right back." He gave her a smile, and then pushed himself up off the couch. Minato grabbed his wallet off the kitchen counter, and went to the door. He paid the pizza delivery guy, giving him a nice tip and then turned around after locking the door. He held the pizza in his hand, ready to go grab plates if needed. "Do you feel like eating?" He asked curiously, not pressuring her or anything since he understood that she was tired. "I mean, pizza is one of the best foods to heat up." He offered her a smile, "I can put this into the fridge, and we can eat later if you'd rather just relax on the couch."
“Yeah.” Anna said, climbing up from the couch. Once she saw Minato holding the pizza box, she felt hunger growing within her. Her bare feet left soft footsteps against the carpet as she made her way over to him. “Yeah, I could eat.” She felt like she hadn’t eaten in days, and the smell of the pizza made her stomach grumble. Audibly. Anna would have been more embarrassed if she hadn’t been so overwhelmed with other emotions.
"Alright," Minato replied, placing the pizza box down onto the kitchen counter. He rounded the island in the middle, going toward one of the cabinets. He picked up two plates, handing one off to her. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked, glancing over at her as he waited his turn to grab a slice. He was still concerned about her, something still felt off, but he wasn't sure if it was just from her cry earlier, or if something else was bothering her.
“Yeah,” Anna said, giving him a small smile. She accepted the plate. “I’m feeling a bit better. I just… don’t know about all this. I’m not used to feeling this way.” She hugged the plate against her chest for a moment, thinking, and her eyes slid out of focus. “I… it’s not easy to… I mean… God, I don’t know what I mean. I don’t want to be that girl. I’ve never wanted to be her.”
He gave a small nod, glad that she was feeling some better at the very least. There was a shift to her voice as she talked, and he glanced back over at her. Minato's brows furrowed slightly as she spoke, and he let out a long breath before he reached out to place a gentle hand on her arm. "It's okay. You're not that girl, whatever sort of girl he said you were. I think you're a very kind soul, Anna. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise, okay?"
“Okay.” Anna said, turning to look at him. Her eyes came to focus on his face once more, and a smile blossomed gently across her lips. It was genuine. It was like the old Anna was back. “Thanks, Minato. For everything.” She stepped over to him to wrap an arm around him and cuddle close. Her head came to his shoulder for just a moment. “Especially the pizza.”
Wrapping an arm around her, Minato gave her a gentle squeeze. "You're welcome, Anna." He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, "Anytime, seriously." Minato meant that, he would do whatever he could to make sure that she was okay and as happy as she could be.