golden blonde¹

coincidental meetings

late september 2022
it's only 10 am the next morning, but everyone's barely awake as they're trudging onto the plane.

elena on the other hand was wide awake.

they were on their way to amsterdam for the second leg of the qualifiers for the champions league group stage against ajax.

elena sits down next to her new norwegian friend, who despite the sleepiness in her body language, smiles when elena sits down.

they talk aimlessly for a bit after the plane takes off, but eventually elena finds herself fiddling with the tablet in front of her seat.

"you should play battleship." frida says tapping on a game. "kim's in seat 2A." frida says looking down the aisle.

their captain was currently reading a book, but she looked up at the tablet in front of her when elena requested to play battleship.

kim looks around suspiciously at the rest of her teammates in the cabin, but she fails to see frida and elena who are all the way on the back of the plane.

elena looks at the screen in front of her, no idea what to do next.

"so basically, you have to arrange your ships so the other person won't sink them. then you get a chance to attack their board."

elena nods slowly, dragging her finger across the screen. placing her ships strategically, some further away than others.

READY?

elena tapped the words, and she immediately looked to the norwegian next to her.

"what do i do now?"

frida leaned her head down the aisle, trying to look at kim's screen. she visibly squinted, before saying, "3B."

elena lines up the grid point and clicks on it. sure enough there's a little explosion on the screen as it reveals a burnt part of the ship.

elena grins, high-fiving frida quietly with giddiness.

"since you hit a piece of one of her ships, you get another turn." frida explains. "so choose a grid that connects to the one you hit."

they continue to play battleship with a clueless kim. frida tells elena the positions of kim's ships and they win easily.

frida watches as kim puts down her book and sits up straighter in her seat.

"now she's really playing," frida chuckles. elena presses on the rematch button her her screen.

unfortunately, with kim now sitting up and leaning a bit closer to her tablet, frida can't see her screen anymore.

frida pulls out her phone and begins texting someone.

"stina says 4D." frida murmurs quietly. elena presses the screen, and sure enough, the ship explodes.

with the swede's help, elena and frida win once more, only frustrating their captain again.

"okay that's it! who is playing battle ship right now?" kim stands up in the aisle, addressing her teammates.

frida and elena look at each other with wide eyes. they never expected their cool-headed captain to get so competitive over a minigame. apparently, they thought wrong.

to the whole team's surprise, lia and leah raise their hands.

"we're playing with one another, how did you know?" lia asks.

elena looks to her side where beth has stirred slightly.

"you are going to wake up beth." the spaniard points to the english winger as kim's gaze snaps towards her. frida struggles to hide a giggle from beside her.