Chapter Text
Elsa should probably spend her lunch break anywhere else but the petting zoo at work, but it was her chance to warm up mid-day, check her phone, and share her snacks with Nokk. It wasn’t that Nokk was her only friend at work, it was just that she just preferred to spend time with the Fjord horse. Besides, Kristoff (the actual only friend Elsa had at work) was busy with Marshmallow the polar bear who had been acting strange. “There you go, girl,” she hummed as she held out an apple for her equine friend.
She couldn’t help the smile and giggle that burst forth as she could feel Nokk lip at her palm and snatch up her treat. That was her rationale for coming here for her lunch breaks – how could this gentle giant not improve even her worst moods? Elsa could hear her therapist’s rebuttal, however. “You say that about all animals, Elsa” .
That was the current battle Elsa was engaged in, trying to explain that she was happy with animals. That she didn’t get a snowball in her gut sometimes when she was the fifth wheel for Anna, Kristoff, Rapunzel, and Eugene. Or that the snowball didn’t appear when she saw a couple that tugged on her heart strings just so . She was adamant that she was fine, while her therapist simply gave her a look that made Elsa stubbornly double down on her claim.
As if knowing that Elsa was trying to convince herself that she didn’t need a relationship, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. With a sigh, the blonde pulled out her phone and held it at an angle, showing the screen to Nokk as if the horse could read.
Punzo: what’s ur type again?
Snowgie: no.
Snowgie: no.
Snowgie: no. no no no no no nooooooo
Punzo: U R NOT ALLOWED TO “NO” THIS ONE WITHOUT ONE DATE
Snowgie: fine. then hell no!
Punzo: come on, she’s nice! seamstress, has great taste in shoes, and loves animals!
Punzo: one date, for me, please?!?!?!?!?
Punzo: PLEASE??????
Punzo: don’t make me send my sad and adorable pics of olaf and max!
Elsa sighed and turned to look at Nokk. “What do you think, girl? Should I? Just to shut Rapunzel up for a little bit?”
Nokk simply snorted and headbutted Elsa, more interested in searching for another apple than giving love advice. At least if she was eating lunch with Kristoff, he would answer for Nokk, in that silly adorable way of voicing all the animals they worked with that even Elsa had to smile at. He (well, “Nokk”) would probably say something about simply trying so she could get out there, not to roll over to Rapunzel’s heavy-handed meddling.
Frankly, she could have done voices for all eighty penguins in her exhibit and each one would have a different argument on how Elsa could respond to the group text. Her therapist would say that eighty is a tad excessive and probably symptomatic of overthinking the situation. Which, considering how long she had been seeing Elsa, she should know by now that overthinking is one of her specialities.
What harm could come of saying ‘yes’ just this one time? Say yes, go on a completely dull first date, report back to her sister and cousin on exactly why she had felt no spark with a merely lovely girl who also was interested in her – yes, she could do that, and then go into the thirtieth (at least?) explanation to Rapunzel about why dating was not the best idea.
“I think I’ll say yes.” It was a statement just to lock her choice in. One of the tricks she had learned; if she made it out loud, then she couldn’t back down from a verbal contract. (To be fair, this strategy didn’t always work, but it was certainly better than waffling over the idea the rest of her day as she over-thought it only to then come to the inevitable conclusion to not go) “After all, what’s the worst that can happen?” Elsa asked nobody in particular, simultaneously shoving down every negative worst-case scenario preemptively. Her therapist would be proud.
Looking down at her phone again, about to send a reply to Rapunzel, the blonde realized that her lunch break was just about over anyway, so her response would have to wait a bit longer. Which was fine, Rapunzel deserved to be antsy and wait for a response for once in their friendship. Even if in the meantime she would do something they would all regret due to her impatience, but that was a different matter.
Cradling Nokk’s face in her hands, Elsa gave the equine a quick kiss in farewell before turning away to start packing up the remnants of her lunch. The repacking was quick, as she didn’t eat much of her food anyway.
As she finished checking her area for trash, her phone buzzed once again, and the blonde reached for it, flipping it onto its back so she could read the screen. Another text, this one once again from Rapunzel.
Punzo: by your silence, either you’re accepting this or having a panic attack
Punzo: please let it be the first
Punzo: i will cancel on her if it is the second
With a sigh and soft smile, Elsa really couldn’t be mad at her cousin, and quickly typed her response.
Snowgie: one date.
Snowgie: and no more set-ups for at least 3 months
Punzo: deal
One date. What really could happen?
------🐧👮🏽♀️------
Well apparently, the date could turn out to be an absolute disaster, without Elsa having to even be the tiniest bit awkward.
It had started out not-terrible yet not-great; Elsa had met her date at Oaken’s (thank you Rapunzel for letting Elsa have home-court advantage), and they’d started talking and eating, and actually having a nice time. No sparks (for Elsa, at least), but Ella – the seamstress – was sweet and lovely, and had been in the middle of trading sewing tips with Elsa when she froze mid-sentence and looked like a deer caught in a semi’s headlights. With a whispered and too-brief explanation – limited to the words “ex-husband” and “hide me”, Ella had escaped into the women’s bathroom, leaving Elsa to stay at the table and not look like her date had just run off.
Which apparently only attracted said ex-husband’s attention. And made him decide to stride over towards the table and start demanding that Elsa bring him to Ella. All Elsa could do was try and play dumb, which only aggravated the man more. And, well, any drunk, aggravated man who wasn’t getting his way would default into histrionics.
A scene that got Oaken’s attention, and before too long, the police had arrived.
The moment the older cop had put the handcuffs on Ella’s ex-”prince charming”, Elsa let out a breath that she hadn’t felt like she was holding. She knew the night wasn’t over yet – far from it – but the sense of comfort at knowing law enforcement was doing its job helped a lot. The older cop’s partner – a young woman about Elsa’s age with a dark braid and a warm smile that probably contributed to Elsa’s comfort.
By now, Ella had timidly returned from the bathroom and was talking to the young officer – her name plate read “Nattura” – giving her statement. And Elsa, Elsa just was waiting to be able to leave and start the second interrogation that she knew was going to come from Rapunzel (and Anna if she decided to not wait until tomorrow).
“That was very brave of you, Miss …” The blonde’s attention was snapped back to the present as the cop’s voice broke through her reverie.
“Agnarrsdatter,” Elsa supplied, realizing that her “attention” had been on the cop’s face the entire time, which caused her to blush lightly and turn her head. “I don’t like bullies, especially ones that pick on women.” A bit of an overshare, but for Ella’s sake, Elsa felt like she had to qualify her response. It had nothing to do with the cop’s entrancing eyes that reminded Elsa of a shade of dark chocolate she compared all chocolate to. Nothing .
Thankfully, if her stare had gotten noticed, nobody chose to say anything, as Officer Nattura closed her notepad and dipped her head in salute to the two civilians. “That should be all, Miss Agnarrsdatter. Your statement should be enough, so, uh, you take care,” the cop stated, and Elsa looked over at Ella – who seemed a little shaken but overall more relieved than anything.
“Thank you, Officer.” It was all Elsa could say, really, as she wasn’t familiar with the police officer and it had been hers and Ella’s first (and only) date. Collecting her coat, Elsa fished out her wallet and pulled out what she hoped was enough cash to cover hers and Ella’s bill plus a generous tip to thank everyone at Oaken’s for putting up with the scene. “Text me later, okay?” she asked, turning to Ella, getting a nod in reply before Ella and the officer started talking some more, leaving the platinum blonde with a very clear sign that she was supposed to leave.
Shouldering her coat, Elsa breezed out of Oaken’s and onto the sidewalk, turning to head to her apartment for a glass of wine and yelling at Rapunzel about setting her up on dates with women that had baggage .