After this it’s going to be mostly fluff with the occasional story piece.



Elsa woke up in the middle of the night, her mind fuzzy and tired to the smell of coffee. The smell was heavenly. In truth Elsa hated the actual taste of the drink, but the smell she had a fondness for. It reminded her of mornings back home. If she didn’t consider it too wasteful she would have willingly brewed it every morning for the smell alone. That however brought up the question, who was brewing coffee?

Groggily she looked over at her clock. It was four thirty, long before she had to be up for the day. Which made the question that much more important. Who, out of the people she knew were in the apartment, would be up this early? Just like the night before she found her bathrobe and walked down the hall. The sun hadn’t even come up yet, the nights growing longer as the year turned into autumn.

It took her a few minutes to roll out of bed and to find her bathrobe.

Walking down the hall she slowed to a stop, noticing the lights were still on in the kitchen. The sound of mumbling and typing also filtered in, sounding desperate.

Merida was holding a pen in a tight fist, her head hung over a couple of pages. She seemed dead tired, her hand scribbling down notes as the occasional whisper left her mouth. In the other was a cup of coffee. Her hair was a more wild mess than normal as she grumbled. Across from her, working furiously at a laptop was another certain redhead. Between the two the table was littered with textbooks, an obscene amount of empty energy drinks and notes.

Elsa knocked on the wall before entering the room, gaining the sleep deprived Merida’s attention. The two looked up startled.

“Oh, hey Els. Want some?” Merida blinked a few times before bringing up her cup. She motioned toward the coffee maker on the counter. Elsa would have questioned where it came from if the ‘Anna’ nametag wasn’t as large or bright as it was.

“No thank you.”

“Anna?” Anna had already turned back to her laptop, typing even quicker than before.

“Can’t socialize. Must finish paper.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Our Economics professor decided to be a dick and arrange a test this friday, then decided he was also gonna need our fifteen page research paper. On the same day instead of next month.” Merida half-heartedly flicked one of her pens at her economics textbook. She looked tired, with the beginnings of bags under her eyes. Elsa winced in sympathy.

“The Weasel. May his coffee be too weak, his bacon always burnt and his bagels always stale.” Anna paused long enough to shake her fist in connection to her words before she turned back to her work.

“Got it in one.”

“Are you going to even try to sleep? It’s four in the morning.”

“No, at this point it would be better just to power through the day and throw the towel in early. ‘sides I don’t got jack squat important to do today.” Merida took another deep swallow of her coffee, trying to fight off another yawn.

“Hmmm.” She paused as she looked between the two. There wasn’t much she could do to help for all that she had taken the class a few semesters ago. Instead she fell back on what her mother had taught her and decided some food was in order. Something quick and light but filling enough to help them get through the all-nighter.

Moving silently she started pulling out some stuff for sandwiches. Like most college students the two didn’t have much in the way of junk food, those items being one of the first they finished off after a shopping trip. Sandwiches were quick, easy and surprisingly versatile. As Elsa opened the refrigerator she hesitated. Merida was more of a bologna and ketchup kind of person, but she didn’t know about Anna.

“Anna, what do you like on your sandwiches?”

“Surprise me.” The answer didn’t help any. She bit a lip as she looked into the depths of the fridge. At first she considered the old standby of peanut butter and jelly. However in the fridge she saw a jar of lutefisk; one of the few snacks her grandmother kept sending in care packages. Eventually she always finished it off, feeling obliged to do so. As she stared at the jar a rare impulse struck her, and already feeling a bit impish she grabbed the jar.

How about that for a surprise?

It was easy to throw together Merida’s sandwich, then using some cheese, butter and the toaster she made another sandwich topped with lutefisk. Calmly she handed them to their respective diners and sat down with a glass of water for herself. In the few moments as they put aside their work she wondered if maybe it was too soon for a prank. Even one as light-hearted as lutefisk on a sandwich. So she watched worriedly as Merida ate her sandwich with gusto whereas Anna took one bite and made the most hilarious face.

“Oh whoa. I know I said surprise me, but I didn’t really mean it like that.” Elsa gave a small smile as she drank from her glass. But though Anna made a face each time she took a bite she still finished the whole thing off.

“Okay, I need to know, did you put soap on it?”

“You waited until after to ask?”

“Well my dad told me it was rude not to finish food people make you.” Merida pushed Anna, almost knocking her out of the chair. Which of course meant that Anna used her foot to push Merida’s chair away. Elsa tilted her head as she watched them roughhouse. She had never had siblings, so the occurrence was new for her. Stories she heard about the Dunbroch clan was just enough to keep her from worrying. At least until Anna yelped and fell all the way out of her chair as it clattered to the floor.

Elsa immediately stood up, but Anna was up just as quick. Merida grinning triumphantly as Anna rubbed the back of her head. How the two of them could do that and go right back to studying like it was nothing Elsa would never know. They did it so, casually.

Deciding it was time to go back to bed she stood up and left, a voice followed her from the kitchen. “Oh yeah, thanks for the sandwich surprise. Morning Els.”

“You’re welcome.”