This was a very short, very quick drabble I wrote for the fortkristanna tumblr a while back. Enjoy while I work on finishing up other writing projects.

Despite being a quiet man, Kristoff isn't overly fond of silence. His family is loud, he's always humming as he harvests ice, and he speaks on behalf of Sven just to fill in the silence. Silence is just a reminder that he's all alone. No matter how much Kristoff will insist to himself and his adoptive mother and Sven that he likes being alone, it doesn't change the fact that he's lonely.

Silence is a constant reminder of that.

So when he finds himself travelling with the princess to the North Mountain to stop the winter that her sister caused, he's not going to waste this time in silence. He gets her talking. Anna, it turns out, is perfect for filling in the silence.

She hardly stops talking the whole journey up to the North Mountain and Kristoff is (pleasantly?) surprised that, for the first time ever, there's someone he can talk to and it doesn't feel like a chore. Even when they find shelter for a couple hours of sleep, Anna mumbles and snores quietly and fidgets until Kristoff gives her a not-so-gentle nudge.

Even after Elsa strikes her, Anna isn't silent. She just becomes…less talkative. But she still makes plenty of noise: chattering teeth, shuddering breaths, the sound of cloth against cloth as her mitten-clad hands running up and down her arms for warmth (he should put an arm around her wait no he shouldn't bad idea wait he has another idea).

She's never silent until that moment the ice finally incases her body and freezes her in her final act. It's eerily silent on the fjord as Elsa clings to her sister's frozen form and sobs and Kristoff feels his heart breaking into a tiny million pieces.

Silence has never been so loud before.

But Anna thaws, the winter thaws and that night Anna is dragging him around the castle in his new clothes, showing him all the rooms, introducing him to random members of staff, telling random little anecdotes when something or other reminds Anna of something that happened once upon a time and not so very long ago. Kristoff remains silent as he watches Anna weave her tales. She hardly stops for breath; like she's worried that this will be the only time she gets a chance to tell them.

Suddenly she stops, looks at him with wide eyes. "I-I'm sorry," she says, looking self-conscious and nervous. "Am I talking too much?"

It takes a moment for Kristoff to break out of his stupor because she's just that mesmerizing. "Huh? No. Of course not."

"I know I talk a lot, Kristoff. If I need to reel it in I can."

"I like hearing you talk," Kristoff admits and he feels himself turn red. "It's better than silence."

Anna is more than happy to fill the silence for them and Kristoff is more than happy to have the silence filled. It's a reminder that he's not alone anymore.