swirling_storm (swirling_storm) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-06-12 21:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elphaba thropp, elsa of arendelle |
Who: Elsa, Elphie and the kids
When: June
Where: Zoo
What: A day trip
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Elsa hadn’t been to a zoo in a very long time. In fact the last time she recalled going was with friends back in university. But the moment Elphie had invited her she’d jumped at the chance, she’d been better at spending time away from work and handing over duties that didn’t require her input. And she did love spending time with her friend and the children. Of course it was made better by the fact that Elphie was a wonderful and practical mother.
“I’ve heard a number of the animals have had babies recently” she said as they made their way to the large map.
“Well we should definitely make our way to see some of those,” Elphaba grinned at her friend as they pulled the baby buggy up to look at the map. She’d obviously paid for Elsa to come with them and because they were two adults and two children they had been able to get a family ticket together. Dior was peering at the map, on his toes with his hands on the frame. “Where should we start do you think?” she asked the boy.
“Can we start at the monkeys?” Dior asked, pointing to the enclosures which weren’t very far from their current position. “What do you want to see auntie Elsa?” he asked, looking up at the woman.
Elsa had offered to pay but when Elphie had insisted she had decided she would buy their lunch and gifts at the end of the day in return. She’d nip in quick with her card, she was pretty good at that. “Monkeys sound like the perfect starting place” she said before considering the boys question, “I like the polar bears and the penguins” Any animal who lived in the colder climates were her favourites really.
Dior smiled up at Elsa brightly at her choices. They made sense to the little boy who knew that Elsa had icey powers. “I like penguins too,” he agreed. He turned to look at Mae in her pushchair and held her hand before letting go and leading the way to the monkey’s.
Elphaba looked at Elsa and chuckled at the little boy before starting to follow. “Have I said thank you for coming today? It’s really nice to spend some quality time with you, it feels like it’s been a while,” she told her friend.
“Than we can enjoy watching them together when we get to them” she said with a smile before the boy smiled and led them confidently.
“Oh you’re welcome. Thank you for inviting me, I love spending time with you and the children. It’s like having an excuse to behave a little less adult” she winked.
Elphaba gasped, pretending to be insulted. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she giggled, pausing as Dior stopped to point at some brightly coloured parrots, taking his digital camera out of the bottom of the buggy and taking some pictures as they moved along past the cages. “We should definitely do things like this more often don’t you think?”
Elsa laughed, “I’m sure you don’t” she chuckled, “Though since you’re with the kids most days I guess you’re in need of adult time more right?” she smiled before nodding, “Absolutely. I would love to have more days like this” It was so much more relaxed than her usual working days.
“Oh! You wouldn’t believe it!” Elphaba sighed dramatically and raised her eyes to the sky. “Even the baby groups are filled with people who do nothing but talk about their kids and hardly talk about anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mae and Dior with all my heart and wouldn’t change having them in my life, but I do find myself longing for an adult conversation that doesn't involve bodily fluids or how people think I'm doing things wrong just because it's different to them,” she explained with a long sigh. “Does that make me an awful person?” she asked.
“Actually I think that makes you a sane person. It's rather refreshing honestly, I remember a woman in the office last year who came back to work after having a baby and you'd think she hasn't done anything else in her life. Every conversation ended up being about her child, like every single one” Elsa said with her eyebrows raised. She was eternally glad that Elphie wasn't like that.
“Thank god!” Elphaba sighed with relief. “I don’t want to drive people away with how happy and proud I am of my kids, y’know. I want to share them with the world but not...hijack every conversation. I see it happening all the time online, so please feel free to give me a gentle nudge if I start going overboard,” she bumped Elsa’s shoulder gently as they continued to follow Dior who was still taking pictures of birds. “Anyway, what about you? How have things been in your neck of the woods?”
“Moderation” Elsa nodded with a smile, “I think that’s how it should be. Kids are wonderful but they shouldn’t be the only thing in your life I think” She didn’t see Elphie going down that route but she promised anyway. “Things have been good actually. I’ve managed to find a better work-life balance lately, which has been really nice”
“That’s great, how have you managed that? Are you delegating more duties out?” Elphaba asked, feeling incredibly relaxed as they walked towards the monkey enclosure.
Elsa nodded, “Exactly that really. I’m using the staff I already know and trust and it seems to be working so far. I like having almost regular hours, it’s good to see Kate and my friends more”
“I can imagine. You were working crazy hours before so I’m glad you’ve managed to work something better out,” Elphaba smiled at her friend, almost missing that Dior had stopped right in front of the pushchair. Looking up, she saw he was watching the monkeys and taking pictures again, oblivious to the world. She smiled at him and gently ushered him out of the way of the flow of traffic. “So what have you been doing with all your freed up time?”
“Thank you, I am too. It certainly feels nicer to have time, not only outside of work but also to focus on projects at work without feeling like I’m not committed you know?” Elsa said, it made her enjoy her work again which was nice. She had missed that. Smiling as Dior was happily snapping away at the monkeys she refocused on Elphie, “Spending time with Kate and Anna mostly. Shopping trips, movie nights, that kind of thing”
“Sounds perfect,” Elphaba smiled indulgently. “Feel free to enjoy some of that free time with us. We’re always up for adventures like that,” she winked at her friend and bumped shoulders with her. “Come on, let’s go see those penguins before I need to feed our animals,” she chuckled and shepherded them onwards.
“I definitely will, thank you” Elsa promised, these kind of trips were perfect in her opinion and she always loved catching up with Elphie. “Oh yes, penguins” she clapped happily as they started to make their way towards Elsa’s favourite animal.