I'm More Than Just The Bachelor

“Maybe back in the day they got away with more things than they do now”, she pondered. The world had changed a lot from the days when Disney started to make animations and now there are so many things that are way more important than they used to be. “It’s one of Don Bluth’s animations. He used to work for Disney and one of the movies he was making was The Rescuers. But after he left Disney he continued making animated movies and movies like The American Tale, Anastasia and Thumbelina are from his pen.” Merrilyn was a bit of a nerd with animated movies, partly because she had seen so many of those during the years, either because of her younger sisters or because of her son. Kristofer looked at Elsa, tried to count to twenty-nine with his fingers but failed so the boy looked at his mother, trying to remember her age. “Are you older?” he asked, which made Merri smile. “Yes, dear, I’m older than Elsa. But just two years, so not that much older than her.” This time Kris did manage to count the ‘two years’ with his fingers and showed the fingers to the women, making sure both of them saw it.

“Oh I have no doubt about that,” Elsa laughed. In all honesty, Disney had some pretty problematic elements that she’d only noticed as an adult. It made sense for the time period, and Elsa was relatively certain that the same could be sad for the sadder era of Disney films. “Don Bluth,” Elsa repeated, nodding her head, “That name sounds incredibly familiar, and if he did The Rescuers, I know of his work. The rest of it...I’m a little fuzzy on, I’m afraid.” Elsa didn’t think she’d seen any of the rest of the movies Merrilyn listed. “I have to admit...being a Disney storyboard artist or animator or something would be...pretty fantastic.” Elsa had some artistic talent, and though she couldn’t pull something like a Disney movie off, it was still a fun thought to entertain. Huffing out a laugh, Elsa smiled, resisting the urge to shake her head. Kris was a cute kid, that was for sure. “There it is,” she said, nodding down at him, mirroring his movement and putting up two fingers of her own.

There was an undeniable sense of anxiety pooling in Tyler as she walked down the hall towards Elsa’s room. She hadn’t exactly been forthright with her teammates when she’d left Beckett with them, sure that they would have had a hundred things to say about the situation, none of them likely good. It wasn’t like she could help it, though. Whatever it was between her and Elsa, she couldn’t stay away from the woman. It was only a short walk down the hall to the open door and Tyler leaned against the frame, knocking at the door as she hovered near the entrance. “Hey, uh. Hey.” It was a lame greeting, about the best that she could come up with, and she bit down at her lip nervously as her eyes drifted over towards Elsa.  @elsagustofsson

True to her word, Elsa left the door propped open, cursing as she sifted through her suitcase. Her shit was all over the floor, she hadn’t had a ton of time to clean up, and with Tyler’s invitation, the mess was only getting worse. “Hi!” she called out, head popping up from behind one of the beds, “Give me a minute. Everything is a disaster in here and I’m looking for a shirt.” She was topless, true to her word, but thankfully the bed covered the worst of it. “If I can’t find it, you might just have to deal with me not matching when we go out.” She ducked back down, peering underneath the bed with a sigh. She couldn’t not match. It just wasn’t in Elsa’s DNA. “Tell me if you see a white tank top with a black design on the front thrown over some piece of furniture, please.” She stood then, hands on her hips as she frowned. Being topless in front of Tyler didn’t bother her, and while she wasn’t blind to the awkwardness coming from the other woman, Elsa felt none of it herself. “You guys played well today,” she said with a dimpled smile, “Where are you taking me, anyway?”

Tyler: oh okay. okay. yeah. i'll just come by your room then?

Tyler: as long as that's okay.

Elsa: yeah, that's perfectly fine lmao.

Tyler: oh! okay. oh. that's. right down the hall.

Tyler: should...i come to you?

Elsa: if you want! i'm just hanging out in here.

Elsa: they have a marvelous selection of daytime soaps to choose from.

“One of my first upsetting ones was Dumbo and later on Fox and the Hound. And of course Bambi as well. All of them have such a good story, but they are also so sad.” Merrilyn looked at Kris, who clearly wasn’t even paying attention to the adults talking right now. “I’m sure he will. And eventually he’ll get to watch Dinosaurs in New York. It’s less scary than the Land Before Time, but it has too many scary bits for his age.” Once the talk was back on the dog Kristofer’s attention was back on Elsa. “Can I?” he asked, glancing now between his mother and this new friend he made. Merrilyn nodded her head and Kristofer’s smile started to beam. “Yay! I’m almost four! We are almost the same age! How old are you?”

“Oh, Dumbo,” Elsa groaned, slapping a hand over her heart. “That one got me too. And Fox and the Hound. It makes me wonder how Disney got away with that kind of stuff. Those get me to this day.” She still got a little misty eyed with Dumbo and the Fox and the Hound, but with Bambi, she still full on cried. Furrowing her brow, Elsa cocked her head. “I’ve...never heard of that one. Maybe I’ll have to have a movie night. Give it a watch myself.” Huffing out a laugh, Elsa grinned big, dimples pressing into her cheeks. “Me? I’m quite a bit older. I’m twenty-nine. I’ve been around a while,” she said, scrunching her nose in Kris’s direction. “I think you and Luna will get along very well though.”

Tyler: oh, right, yeah. Sorry. Okay.

Tyler: Now is...yeah. Now is good. Where should...I meet you?

Elsa: I'm at the hotel, actually!

Elsa: Room 311.

Tyler: sorry. yes. cool. let me know when!

Elsa: ...that didn't mean resort to one word answers, weirdo.

Tyler: uh. hey. so, like. idk. ignore this probably. if you want. just. i know you're here covering the game and stuff. and like. if you want to go...see texas? i know it good. to um. just. yeah. to hang out. like you said. if...you want. anyway. sorry to bother you. you're probably busy. sorry.

Elsa: ...are you okay? did you get it all out? that was a lot lmao.

Elsa: but yeah, i'm not busy. we can go do something for sure.

The uncomfortable air that had settled didn’t entirely dissipate when Beckett barged in to the conversation, but at least it saved them from more fumbling over what to say. Sort of. The young girl had flopped down in Tyler’s lap, then, rolling herself down away from the conversation as she started to try and crane her neck, looking out for Katie. “Is it…bad if…I want to?” Tyler asked in the same, lower voice, a hushed whisper so Beckett would maybe not be listening. It was hard to tell with the kid when she was engaged in a conversation or not, always eavesdropping at the most inopportune times. Tyler’s head was dipped forward, her eyes lowered away from Elsa’s at that point, not sure she wanted to see the reaction that she might have. “But um…minimally? I’ve been like…out to a bar or two here and there just…to blow off steam. Mostly, though, I’ve…you know. Been busy.” Between travel weeks and Beckett, it left only a few rare occasions for her to really get out anywhere and do much.

After a brief pause, Elsa shook her head. “No,” she said honestly, “It’s not bad if you want to.” The odd lifting sensation in her chest was proof enough of that. It was strange to want to spend time with Tyler again instead of wanting to avoid her for the rest of her life. “I don’t...I don’t think so anyway. Do you?” It sounded as if it were a question for Tyler, one Elsa couldn’t answer for her. She fought against the urge to look away, to mimc Tyler’s position, but she held her ground. Tyler wouldn’t believe her if she didn’t have the balls to keep eye contact. “Mm, make sense. I know the team’s been pretty busy this season but...well, that’s every season.” She laughed, running a hand through her hair. It wasn’t often that athletes had a lot of down time. Especially the Pride National Teamers. They were pulling double duty. “There’s a couple pretty fun places to go. I have my favorite bars and clubs and everything. I go out every now and again but...I’ve been busy too.” When the Pride were in season, Elsa tended to crack down pretty hard. She kept herself focused on work, and with the World Cup coming up, she knew she’d be in the same mindset for a while. “So I’d be happy to uh...you know. Just point out a couple fun spots for you when you get some down time.”

Merrilyn looked down to Kristofer and then back to Elsa. “My reason for watching it is pretty much this little guy and my younger sisters. Although me and Kris haven’t actually watched it yet because he’s a bit too young for it. But he is the reason why I did end up watching it one day just to make sure would it be okay for him or not.” The Land Before Time was definitely a bit too scary and dark for a three year old, so Merrilyn might wait few years until she’d let Kris watch the movie. Kristofer looked excited when he heard Elsa did have a pet and he got even more excited when he realised he was going to see a picture of this said pet. He stepped a bit closer to take a better look and when he saw the pet was actually a dog his smile only grew bigger. “Cute!” he said and looked up to his mother and pointed at the phone. “Look, mommy!” Merrilyn leaned a bit closer to take a look and her smile was pretty much a matching one with Kris. “She definitely is a cute. How old is she?”

“That’s...probably a good idea,” Elsa laughed, shaking her head. “I mean, the Land Before Time is such a great movie, but it was the first movie I can remember being genuinely upset about. That one and Bambi. Bambi was really bad.” She didn’t know how Disney got away with killing parents and selling it as a kid’s movie. Still though, she figured the messages were good, even if the movie had darker tones. “I’m sure he’ll love it when he gets to watch it though.” Elsa certainly had loved it despite her tears. “She is cute,” Elsa laughed, nodding her head. “She’s a very good dog. You can meet her any time you’d like.” She’d need Merrilyn’s permission of course, but Luna was good with people. She was a big scaredy cat most of the time, and she’d happily let Kris hang off her if it meant she got pet. “She’s still pretty young though. She’s about four years old. I got her when she was about two and a half.”

Though Elsa’s words seemed to be meant in a comforting manner, it brought a brief flicker of pain to Tyler’s eyes. Look at Houston. The team she had left, somehow made better in her absence. And then Orlando, failing to compete to the expectation they’d gotten with her move there. It was, perhaps, egotistical to assume any of that hinged on just her own self, but Tyler couldn’t help but feel that in some way it did. “I…hope that’s what it’ll take. A uh…new coach and players and…who knows,” she shrugged, awkwardly brushing at hand at her neck. Tyler honestly just didn’t want to think about work for awhile. They had qualifiers coming up with the national team and hopefully that would help her gain a bit of her mojo back. With Elsa correcting what she had been trying to say, Tyler had to glance up again in a double take, eyes blinking rapidly with a mirrored confusion. “You - oh,” she commented in a stunned tone. Maybe it was silly, maybe they shouldn’t be around each other, but even just sitting around talking like this made Tyler want nothing more than to be around the other woman more and more. Beckett crawled over, flopping into the space between Elsa and Tyler. “Aunt T, you can go out with her. She’s pretty,” she said, pausing to think for a brief moment. “I’ll go home with Katie.” Tyler had to bite back a bit of a laugh, eyes filled with warmth as she looked over at Elsa. “Well, I guess uh…I guess the child has spoken, then.”

Elsa, thankfully, wasn’t stupid. She could tell what she’d said hit a nerve, and it didn’t take her long to figure out what. Closing her eyes, Elsa clenched her jaw, wanting to make another statement, but worried nothing she said would make much impact. She hadn’t meant it in the way Tyler had taken it, it was more a general statement that overhaul could do a team well. Still though, she didn’t feel it was her place to keep speaking. “I know, I know,” Elsa laughed, a touch uncomfortably. “I know it’s weird, and i don’t really know why it like...flitted across my brain but it did and --” She cut off, confusion etching itself across her features more firmly as Beckett spoke. It was...odd, but Elsa supposed it made sense. Beckett liked her, they got along and Elsa watched her on the sidelines on a relatively regular basis the last few games. “O...kay,” Elsa agreed, laughing and shaking her head. Leaning in a big closer, Elsa pitched her voice lower, amusement twinkling in her eyes. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to though. I know it has the potential to be incredibly awkward.” Elsa hadn’t quite forgiven Tyler for everything yet, and she never knew when that bitterness would rear its ugly head again. “Have you experienced the night life out here yet though? Like...have you had the time?”

“Maybe it wasn’t, but the expectations are still on my shoulders, so,” she shrugged. It was the downside to being in her position. If things went wrong, she was usually one of the first people that got blamed. Even if she was playing out of her mind, it would still inevitably end up on her if the team had struggles. “But, yeah…yeah, I dunno. Maybe…well, hopefully next year we can…do a little better.” Playoffs had to be the goal next year, if not a full championship. But, for now, she had other things to worry about. With the World Cup right around the corner and the Olympics following right after, it would be a busy few years. Blinking for a second, Tyler looked confused before laughing. She supposed that technically Katie had good dating potential, but with as close of friends as they were, the thought was just weird. “I’m sure there are probably people that are like..into that?” she shrugged, resisting the urge to cringe. Tyler didn’t know exactly where Elsa was going to finish that statement, but her mind filled it in for her regardless. “No, it - I mean, it’s like…fine that…you go out and stuff and y’know. Whatever,” she mumbled back, eyebrows etched in a slight frown as she shrugged. 

Elsa didn’t exactly agree with that on a personal level, but she had to admit Tyler was right. Most people did expect the National Team members to perform at a certain level above the rest. Especially someone as popular as Tyler was. Elsa just thought that expectation was stupid. “Next year should be better,” Elsa said confidently. “I mean, Tom’s out, and while I liked him, it seems pretty clear to me now that he was growing tired of being here. Getting in a fresh coach and some fresh players I think can revive the team in a big way. Hell, look at Houston this season.” Vera had done a pretty decent job getting her team into the playoffs after Waldrum was fired. Wrinkling her nose, Elsa laughed, covering her face. “It’s weird talking about it, I know, I’m sorry.” She had at one point wondered if Tyler and Katie had ever been anything, but after seeing them interacting only once, Elsa damn well knew they were just very close friends. “No, that’s not --” she said, cutting herself off after a brief moment. “That’s not what I was saying. I was like...going to invite you to come out with me if you get bored but that’s...” She trailed off, confusion etching into the lines of her face. “It’s probably a silly thing to say.”

“My memory with dinosaurs usually are just the names from the Land Before Time movie – longnecks, three-horns, spiketails and so on. But when my sister got Kris the book about dinosaurs I read it aloud to him and well, you know kids, they want you to read the same books all over again until they remember it from word to word. Which made me remember and learn a lot more about dinosaurs as well.” Kris looked up to the adults with a proud smile on his face. “And especially children have this odd talent to remember the weirdest things.” They stopped by the front door of the building next to them, Merrilyn let go of Kris’ hand and started to dig up the keys from her purse. “Do you have pets?” Kristofer asked as his mother opened the door for them and the boy headed towards the elevator to have the chance to push the buttons before anyone else could do that.

“I’m about the same,” Elsa laughed, “Though I’m not even that good. I haven’t seen that movie in a very, very long time. Not since I was a little kid.” It hadn’t been her favorite movie, Littlefoot losing his mother had been too sad for her as a kid. Hell, it was too sad for her as an adult. “But that’s pretty cool. I don’t know, I always like learning new things, even if it’s just stuff I need a refresher course on. You’re right though. Kids do have an uncanny ability to pick up on the little things.” She shot a grin to Kris, wanting to make him feel included. In her experience, that was all kids wanted. “I do have pets,” she told him with a nod of her head. “Just one. Her name’s Luna.” She pulled her phone from her bag, lighting it up and crouching to get of Kris’s level. “There she is,” she said with a proud smile.

Tyler’s head fell at the mention of the season and everything that had taken place since it ended. The comments from Tom had stung, certainly, and were weighing on her mind more than she’d have liked. Of course, she supposed Elsa of all people would know that and maybe that was why she was being so nice. “Yeah, it…you know. It was a shit season, I had…I had to play better and I didn’t. So, we’ll see what happens from here,” she shrugged, biting at her lip as she spoke. It was a hard pill to swallow, with it being her first season there and all. Going through the trouble to get her there and then her not performing wasn’t the best look. Hands brushing against her chin, Tyler nodded slowly, a bit of a scowl on her face at the mention of Ohai. “You’re not wrong about that. It’ll be…good for her to meet someone that’s not a total b -…butt.” She had more than a few choice words she could use to talk about Ohai, none of which Beckett needed to hear. “I mean, big mood right there. Unless I go hang with Katie, I just kinda…am by myself. Well, with Beck, but…you know. Alone. Basically. A lot.” 

Clicking her tongue, Elsa shook her head. “Listen, I’m the last person who’s going to mince words for you here, Tyler. You played fine with what you had. I just -- I don’t want you to think the season was all, or even mostly, on you. That’s all.” The entire team hadn’t performed particularly well and Elsa would have been lying if she’d said Tyler had been at her best. “The comments were inappropriate and honestly, I think were said out of annoyance that the team wasn’t doing what he wanted. Which...I don’t know. Keep that out of the bloody media, it’s not that hard.” She had been pretty incensed with Tom over those comments, and she’d be lying if she said it had nothing to do with how she felt about Tyler. Eyebrow quirking, Elsa half grinned, looking down at her lap as she tucked hair behind her ear. She wondered briefly if that was how Tyler spoke about her. “I’m sure she will. Sullivan’s, you know. I think she’s got good dating potential,” Elsa laughed. She was pretty, and she was funny, Elsa had no doubt some girl would take interest. “I am too,” she laughed, “Honestly. I meet a lot of people through work, but if I have downtime? It’s mostly just me hanging out in the apartment with Luna. Though, if I want, I can always go out. I --” She cut herself off, looking momentarily confused as she shook her head.

“Deal!” the boy exclaimed excitedly. He was so totally going to show all his dinosaurs and dinosaur books to Elsa, and this was something Merrilyn knew as well and she couldn’t help but look slightly amused because of this. Hopefully Elsa was in no rush to get home, because this might take a while. “I probably wouldn’t remember as much as I do if I wouldn’t have this little monkey”, Merrilyn replied looking at Kristofer who just flashed a bright smile to his mother. “So I’m rather sure you’ll get to refresh your memory quite a bit.”

“That’ll be alright, I think,” Elsa said with a tired smile. “I was always a big fan of learning. It’ll be nice to have that again.” She shook her head, running her hands through her hair. “I don’t know how it’s possible to keep all the names straight. I know the main ones. The T-Rex, Stegosaurus and such, but everything else? How does everyone keep them straight?” Study, she guessed, but she wondered just how long it took. It had been a long time since she’d been into dinosaurs.

The compliment brought a slightly pink tinge to Tyler’s cheeks and her lips flickered into a soft smile as she looked towards Elsa with a grateful expression. It had been some time now since she’d felt like any sort of compliment from Elsa was genuine and she wasn’t sure what had changed, but things felt somehow different between them now. This time, fortunately, different in a good way. “I think we could make that happen. Ice cream and new clothes, what do you say, kiddo?” Tyler grinned, giving a half shake of her head towards Elsa. It was making Beckett happy, so she wasn’t going to be mad about it. A little ice cream now and again was a good thing anyway. “Maybe we can go this weekend since…I’m free.” There was a sense of bitterness there, as there would be until the season was over and she could focus on something other than the miserable end that they had to the year. “Oh, yeah, like. Dating is probably…good? I think?” Tyler agreed. It was good Katie seemed to be having fun at least, even if she couldn’t tell if it was something serious or not. “She seems happy, so. Can’t complain. Even if it means she’s not always home, which is lame.” Tyler herself didn’t go out much, at least not on dates, so it was always noticeable when Katie was out and about.

Giving her a sidelong glance, Elsa sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry about the season. I know it was a rough one. And...” She glanced around, paranoia setting in just due to the nature of her comment. “In my opinion, Tom’s comments were incredibly unprofessional. I couldn’t actually believe he said them.” Elsa had a feeling the club and Sermanni would part ways after this season. “But...you know. I wouldn’t beat yourself up too hard. Still sucks though, I get it.” Elsa would miss the consistent work the season gave her too. She could still cover things for Fox Sports, sure, but she liked the consistency the Pride gave her. “I think so,” Elsa laughed, “Dating has it’s purpose I guess. And from what very little I understand, it sounds like Katie could benefit from dating around. Dating around could ease the sting of the Ohai breakup, I’d bet.” She didn’t know Katie all that well, but her last relationship and it’s failing had been pretty public in Elsa’s sphere. “Mm, that does suck though. It’s kind of boring sitting around by yourself,” she laughed, “I know how that feels.” Most of the time, when that happened, Elsa would go entertain herself at a bar. She was really good at integrating herself with a crowd. People tended to like her.