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“Oh, we simply have to go!” Glinda cried with her typical boundless enthusiasm. She hooked one of her slim arms through Elphaba’s and tugged her in the direction of a nearby building. Based on the sign outside, featuring a bottle of nail polish and a pair of scissors, Elphaba guessed it was a salon. Ugh.
“I’m in desperate need of a touch up.” Glinda continued flexing the fingers of her free hand to better display her (to Elphaba’s eyes at least) flawless, light pink manicure. She really had beautiful hands. So dainty and soft looking. Elphaba scowled, annoyed at herself for noticing
“Your nails look fine.” She tried to protest. “So do mine, for that matter.” Glinda, having none of it and far stronger than she looked, continued to pull them forward. They’d cleared the entrance by this point and Elphaba assumed that meant there was no turning back.
“Really, Elfie.” Glinda admonished. “You could at least add a little sparkle. It’s a special occasion! You only meet the Wizard for the first time once, afterall!”
“Yes, that’s how time works.” Elphaba replied dryly. Still, she thought glancing down at her typical, dull-green nails, she was willing to admit Glinda might have a point. It couldn’t hurt to at least attempt to make a good first impression.
Elphaba relaxed slightly, watching as a veritable army of Hummingbirds flitted to and fro brushing nail polish onto waiting fingertips. While Elphaba hadn’t been much for salons growing up (Dulcebear had been the only one she’d allowed to touch her hair for years) Nessarose loved all things cosmetology and where Nessa went Elphaba followed. Their salon back home in Munchkinland also employed Birds, a small bit of familiarity which helped set Elphaba at ease in such a foreign place. Smiling slightly, Elphaba thought of Ximena, the elderly Heron salon owner she’d grown somewhat fond of over the years.
“Your sister, she is impossible.” Ximena frequently complained to Nessarose between coats of nail polish. Although she’d lived in Munchkinland at least as long as Elphaba had been alive, Ximena still spoke with a thick accent Elphaba couldn’t quite place.
“No sense of adventure. Always I ask ‘glitter today, Ms. Elphaba? Maybe a bit of gloss?’ But no, always she is wanting a buff and file, no more!” Nessarose had always laughed, happy to gossip about her stoic, no-nonsense older sister. If only she could see Elphaba now.
“Two of you ladies?” The human salon owner asked with a smile, snapping Elphaba back to the present. “Two mani pedis?”
“Oh that sounds divine!” Glinda exclaimed, a dreamy look on her face. Elphaba elbowed her sharply in the ribs before the blonde could get any ideas. She had no intention of spending the whole afternoon trapped in a salon chair. There were libraries to visit!
“We’re in a bit of a time crunch.” Glinda admitted. “Perhaps just the manis for today.” The owner smiled in understanding before summoning some of the nearby Hummingbirds with a snap of her fingers. Before she knew it, Elphaba found herself in a chair beside Glinda, a plastic vest snapped around her neck and a flurry of Birds examining her nails from all angles.
“Pink for me.” Glinda requested as one of the Hummingbirds began to remove her old polish with a cotton ball. “The glitteriest, most ozmopolitan pink you have, if you please. And my dour looking friend over there would like something green with a bit of sparkle.”
“A very little bit of sparkle.” Elphaba clarified with a scowl before turning to Glinda. “I am not dour looking.”
“Well you won’t be for much longer in any case.” Glinda replied benevolently. How ever did she manage to toss her hair like that with both hands occupied? “Relax, Elphie. This is supposed to be a calming experience.”
“-And then I said if he wants to sleep with every woman in Oz fine by me just don’t do it on my freshly washed sheets!” A woman loudly explained to her friend a few feet away from where Glinda and Elphaba were seated. The two girls turned to face each other, both desperately trying to hold back laughter. Glinda was the first to break and she soon dissolved into a fit of giggles. Her laughter reminded Elphaba, oddly, of her first sip of champagne. Glinda’s laughter was a fizzy, bubbling thing that bordered on too-sweet yet Elphaba savored it all the same.
“Oh, this is so fun!” Glinda gushed once her laughter died down. She was clearly in her element, at ease surrounded by beauty products among a salon full of women (and some men) being pampered. It made sense; Glinda’s nighttime routine involved no less than five different creams and tonics which Elphaba found rather excessive. Then again, Glinda was nothing if not excessive.
“It’s not so bad.” Elphaba admitted. She even meant it; their trip had been nothing but pleasant since they’d boarded the train. Perhaps it was due to the green sunglasses everyone seemed to be wearing but Elphaba noticed that no one in the Emerald City spared her a second look. It was an odd experience and not at all unwelcome. Elphaba could get used to blending into a crowd for once in her life.
“I knew you’d come around!” Glinda exclaimed triumphantly like a cat who’d swallowed the canary. “Maybe you’ll let me do your makeup next.”
“You don’t have your usual steamer trunk full of products.” Elphaba reminded her. “And besides, you tried that already, remember? Everything you own looks ridiculous on me.” Glinda had dedicated a whole evening to applying, removing, and then reapplying her various beauty products to her roommate’s face in search of Elphaba’s “perfect match”. Elphaba had been surprised by how much she didn’t hate it. The closeness, the heat of Glinda’s body paired with the honey-sweet scent of her perfume. Elphaba had revisited that night in her memories a lot.
“Nonsense!” Glinda huffed. “I maintain that you look positively fetching with a crimson lip.”
“Fetching?” Elphaba repeated dryly. She glanced down at her nails and was relieved to find them mostly black with accents of green glitter. It was manageable. “Are you 103?”
“Really, it’s a high compliment.” Glinda insisted, pointedly ignoring Elphaba’s barb. “I certainly couldn’t pull off a deep red lip. My features are far too delicate. And my coloring is better suited to mauves and corals.” A few weeks prior, before their friendship developed Elphaba might have read more into Glinda’s words. While Elphaba wasn’t well-versed in social niceties she knew that pretty, popular girls like Glinda had a way of insulting you and making it sound like a compliment. It was still difficult for her to believe that they were here, that someone like Glinda would want to spend time with someone like her.
“Shades of pink?” Elphaba asked playfully, gesturing at Glinda’s newly Ozified pink manicure. “How unlike you.”
“Acting avoidant and sarcastic?” Glinda retorted. “How unlike you.” This time Elphaba couldn’t contain her laughter, enchanted by Glinda’s wit. It was easy to forget sometimes that beneath all that perfectly coiffed blonde hair lay a keen mind. It was, Elphaba noted, one of the main characteristics which differentiated Fiyero and Glinda. While both were undeniably attractive and charismatic Fiyero was, frankly, a little bit dumb. Dumb in an endearing sort of way but dumb nonetheless. Elphaba frowned slightly. Why did she dedicate so much brainspace to comparing the two? The fumes from the nail polish must be affecting her.
“Where to after this?” Glinda inquired as the Hummingbirds finished their work and flitted off to the next customer. “It’s your turn to pick, seeing as you’ve been a moderately good sport about the glitter.”
“Moderately good?” Elphaba scoffed. “How generous.” Despite her sarcasm she found herself touched by Glinda’s willingness to hand over the reins even temporarily. Glinda had a thing about control, Elphaba had noticed. She yearned for it, chasing it with every pristinely tailored outfit and sly comment. It was no small thing for her to cede a bit of that control. Did that mean something? Did Elphaba want it to mean something? No! Elphaba had already been over this with Fiyero. She wasn’t allowed to want things like affection and intimacy. Those things weren’t for someone like her.
“Elphie?” Glinda asked, her pretty face pinched in a concerned frown. “Are you alright? You’re looking a bit peaked.”
“It’s just a lot to take in.” Elphaba replied weakly. The lie sounded hollow even to her own ears. Glinda’s frown deepened and she opened her mouth to no doubt press the issue further. Elphaba couldn’t have that, not in the middle of their wonderful Emerald City day. Luckily for her, Glinda was easily prone to distraction.
“I think I may just be hungry.” Elphaba continued quickly. “It’s been hours since tea on the train. Shall we find a coffee shop?” As she’d predicted, Glinda’s face visibly brightened at the mention of coffee. Much like Elphaba herself, Glinda was a caffeine junkie although, unlike Elphaba, she preferred coffee to strong black tea. Glinda was particularly fond of freshly brewed espresso partially for the taste and partially for the pleasure of waking Elphaba bright and early with her obnoxiously loud espresso-machine.
“I think I saw one in the town square.” Glinda exclaimed, already skipping in that direction with a wide smile on her face. “Ooooh maybe they have a green coffee here! Wouldn’t that be splendiferous? Or green whipped cream, in any case, with lots of green sprinkles on top!” Elphaba smiled as Glinda happily chatted away before she was suddenly overtaken by a wave of emotion. It was not a familiar feeling and it took her a moment to recognize the emotion as nostalgia. How odd; Glinda was standing right beside her and yet somehow Elphaba missed her presence desperately, as though they had been separated for years. Despite her increasing sense that something wasn’t right Elphaba resolutely pasted on a smile and allowed Glinda to lead them back into the center of town. She wouldn’t allow such nonsense to spoil the rest of their short time in the Emerald City.