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When Elphaba first met Galinda, she thought she was lofty, aloof, and sickly sweet. And she wasn’t wrong; but that was only Galinda’s exterior, a façade that Elphaba had later found out was only for show.
Galinda Upland was sensitive and sweet and empathetic, and curled into Elphaba’s side. Fast asleep and buck naked. Elphaba admired the contours of her body, the way her brows furrowed in her sleep, the sweat that had beaded on her skin earlier cooling and dripping down her bare shoulders and chest as a pink blanket covered their legs and stomachs.
Elphaba just watched her for a while, running a green hand up and down Galinda’s spine as it rose and fell with every sleep induced breath. It struck her then just how beautiful Galinda was. It hadn’t escaped her notice before; of course the first thing anyone noticed about Galinda was her perfect blonde hair, her flashy smile, her manicured outfit. Elphaba had seen that first, and she had decided she didn’t like it.
She hadn’t liked it for a long time. But then, after the OzDust, Galinda had let her in and Elphaba had finally been privy to the woman behind the mask. And her? Oh, how Elphaba loved her.
Now she loved those perfectly pressed jackets and dresses, lined up on rails all around the room that Galinda flitted around for hours every morning before picking an outfit. She loved the smell of her perfume — overwhelming as it was — because it meant her girlfriend was wafting down the hall toward her. She even loved that smile Galinda wore around the hallways of Shiz, despite the lack of life in her eyes as she flipped her hair and swayed her hips.
But now, when Galinda’s face was bare of makeup and she was tired and free from the tension that kept her perfect shoulders so straight, that was when Elphaba found her the most beautiful.
When her eyelashes fluttered and her lips slightly parted, exposing that crooked bottom tooth Elphaba loved more than life itself. When concealer didn’t cover the smattering of freckles across that perfect button nose. When she smiled in her sleep and shifted closer, tightening her arms around Elphaba’s bare torso and letting out a small sigh.
When the smell of roses had faded slightly and mixed with the smell of sweat and lingering arousal, that was when Elphaba Thropp loved Galinda Upland the most.
Elphaba hadn’t realised how long she’d just watched Galinda sleep, until those bleary brown eyes opened and looked up at her, set above a lopsided smile as those lips curved up and Galinda asked hoarsely, “were you watching me sleep?”
Elphaba smiled and let one eyebrow lift in that way she knew Galinda loved. “I was.”
Galinda’s single dimple popped as she chuckled and shifted impossibly closer to Elphaba. She sighed and looked at Elphaba like she’d hung the moon. “You’re beautiful, Elphie.”
Though Elphaba had long since learned how not to brush off Galinda’s genuine compliments, she still blushed and looked away before looking back. “Galinda, if you could see what I can see, you wouldn’t be calling me beautiful.”
“I would.” Galinda said sternly. “Elphaba Thropp, you know I would.”
“I know.” Elphaba leaned down to kiss Galinda sweetly, tightening the arm around her shoulders and murmuring against her lips, “you are exquisite, my sweet. A work of art worth placing beside the most priceless antiques.”
Galinda had heard all of the words before, from hundreds of different people with lifeless eyes and deep pockets, but it was Elphaba’s smooth timbre that actually made her feel as if it were true. Elphaba’s eyes on her that made her feel properly appreciated for who she was, not just what she looked like. She knew Elphaba could see deeper than her fake laughter and inhumanly high heels. It was Elphaba who made her feel loved, even free of makeup and naked beside her in bed she felt adored.
She felt tears in her eyes, but blinked them away as she breathed, “thank you.”