Work Text:
An Impasse
The Ozdust Ballroom was just the distraction Galinda needed. Fiyero had promised the student body the most exhilarating night of their lives thus far, if only they dared to follow him into the night. And Galinda would dare, if just to occupy her mind enough to detach itself from Elphaba. Of course, there was much preparation to be done before the weekend, when they’d make their grand escape (Galinda was rather anxious that Madame Morrible might catch on and summon some sort of extreme weather event to throw off their plans), but that was for a future Galinda to worry about. For now, she’d blindly do as Fiyero said. He was such a charming man, after all.
Unfortunately, the ‘Elphaba issue’, as Galinda referred to it as, was still very persistent. For all of Fiyero’s charm and attention, she couldn’t scratch the stupid green girl out of her mind. Why? Why did she have such an impact on her? And why couldn’t Galinda do anything but think about her?
Grinding her teeth, Galinda peeked over from her desk to spy on her aforementioned roommate. Predictably, Elphaba had her nose in a book. She was already in bed, the duvet drawn up over her chest and her arms resting above it, quietly reading. It wasn’t an academic text, for a change - Galinda could tell that much from the cover - and she seemed happy enough, a cup of tea sitting serenely on the bedside table. Galinda was seething. Elphaba was totally clueless! Couldn’t give a damn about how frustrating she was! Muttering under her breath, Galinda turned back to her studies. She was working on a paper quite independent from any of her classes, but it was necessary if she was to catch Madame Morrible’s attention. If she presented her with the perfect essay, the sorceress was bound to invite her to those exclusive sorcery seminars. And even if Galinda would have to endure more of Elphaba, she would see it through to the end.
The glaring problem was that Galinda had no idea what she was trying to write about. Morrible had immediately dismissed her earlier paper on magic wands (in fact, Galinda wasn’t confident she’d even read it), so she was trying a different approach. The Long-term Physical Side-Effects of Intense Magical Exposure, the title read. No other words followed. Galinda was positively surrounded by various books and articles, and she was doing her best to plough through them, but it was difficult to concentrate. Her Elphaba-induced frustration aside, Galinda found herself feeling more and more despair as she thumbed through the research materials.
Sometimes, and for reasons unknown, she just couldn’t focus. It wasn’t for lack of trying; that evening alone, she’d been practically chained to her desk since finishing up dinner, but hadn’t written a single word. Every time she tried to read, her brain would stray elsewhere. She found herself reading the same words over and over again, or merely staring at the paper and silently praying that the words would somehow float into her brain and land on the page along a gust of well-aimed breeze.
Her leg was bouncing up and down. It was infuriating to feel so defeated by academia, of all things. Despite her best efforts, Galinda was aware that her eyes were starting to feel hot. She remembered when was younger, sitting at the back of her Mathematics class (so tortuous!) and being unable to answer a single question of the paper in front of her. She remembered how exacerbated her teacher had been, switching from encouraging to reprimanding at the drop of a hat depending on how poorly she had performed. She remembered bashfully offering up her end of term report to her parents, who scoffed and spluttered in confusion at her poor grades. Dopey, they’d called her. She had to pretend that it didn’t sting.
But it wasn’t as if Galinda did try. She did. And that just made the whole thing worse.
It was easy for people like Elphaba, of course. She was a complete natural, swanning through their seminars as effortlessly as breathing. Galinda, though, found herself drifting off. Even when she found a topic interesting - certainly never in Dr Dillamond’s classes - she had to fight with herself to pay attention. But that didn’t always work. Focus, this is important, she’d tell herself. Oh, but I’m not sure what that word meant. I’ll have to look it up. Yes, I’ll look it up. I’ll do that after I’ve organised my laundry tonight for washing - oh! Mustn’t forget to write home and ask for an additional allowance if I’m to buy a new dress to the Ozdust. I wonder if Fiyero and I will wear matching colours? I think he’d look good in blue. Navy, perhaps. Not my colour. Shenshen said I could dye my hair darker for a bold fashion statement, if I wanted to - but I’ve never dyed my hair before. It might stain my hands. What’s it even made of, anyway? It lasts for so long! I wonder if Munchkins dye their hair? That Biq boy had very orange hair. That might be my least favourite colour of all.
Her thoughts would prattle on, exhausting and relentless, and before she knew it, she’d forgotten which word she was supposed to look up, and the professor had moved on entirely to a different topic. It wasn’t as if she could ask Shenshen or Pfannee for their notes, either. That would be far too embarrassing to admit she couldn’t keep up. Biting her lip, Galinda felt her eyes burning.
‘Why am I so stupid?’ she whispered to herself, clenching her fists in her lap.
‘Huh?’
Galinda’s head snapped up and she looked over to Elphaba, who had glanced up from her book with a frown.
‘What?’ Galinda snarled, blinking hard and fast to erase any evidence of tears.
‘I thought you said something,’ replied Elphaba.
‘I’m - I’m just reading aloud, that’s all,’ Galinda said, looking away. ‘Mind your own business.’
Elphaba, however, did not mind her own business. Galinda flinched as she heard the rustle of covers being thrown off, and before she could protest, Elphaba was hovering by the desk, her cup of tea clasped in her hand.
‘What are you reading? I’m not convinced I’ve ever seen you pick up a book before.’
Galinda’s mouth fell open in outrage. ‘You don’t have to be so rude, you know.’
‘Well, isn’t that rich, coming from you,’ Elphaba muttered, leaning closer. ‘Oh - okay, this is pretty advanced stuff. I didn’t know you had an interest in Sorcery, Galinda.’
Heat rose in Galinda’s face. ‘Of course I do, you know that! It's the whole reason I enrolled in Shiz in the first place! I - I wanted to learn directly from Madame Morrible, but then you showed up and totally took my place. You horrid old sprout.’
‘Well, I doubt you’ll get anywhere with this,’ Elphaba frowned, wafting her hand over the desk and not rising to Galinda’s petty insult. ‘It’s dense and complicated, especially without a guide. Why bother, anyway? Madame Morrible rarely takes on students.’
‘She took on you, didn’t she?’ Galinda hissed, her fists white-knuckled in her lap.
‘Sure, but I’m…a special case.’
Galinda hated the undertone of smugness in Elphaba’s tone. She was fairly sure it wasn’t an intentional inflection, but she didn’t have to look at the girl’s face to know she was smiling.
‘And I’m not, hm?’ she said, her voice wavering slightly in a way that made her cringe.
‘I doubt it, considering you’ve - er - not actually written anything.’
Galinda winced, her hand flying to flip the blank papers face down. ‘So what? I’m - I’m just taking a break, you intrusive little weed. Gathering my thoughts!’
‘You have thoughts?’ Elphaba smirked. ‘Wonders will never cease.’
Galinda knew, deep down, she did sort of deserve Elphaba’s disdain and unkind comments. After all, she’d served nothing but those in the weeks since knowing the girl, and inspired a whole campaign against her. But that comment, at that particular time, when she was confused and frustrated because of her, and wholly doubting her abilities to even be a passable student, let alone one of Madame Morrible’s, made the snide remark hurt like a slap to the face.
She felt her eyes burn hotter, and she abruptly stood up.
‘You - I - you don’t know anything about me!’ she snarled, her voice catching. ‘And why do you even care, huh? Worried I’ll steal your thunder?’
Elphaba arched an eyebrow, clearly not noticing the tears that had started to prickle in the corners of Galinda’s eyes. ‘...It might blow your empty little mind to learn this, Galinda, but you’re about as academically threatening to me as a sack of potatoes.’
‘Are - are you calling me stupid?’
‘Put it this way - if you were smart, you’d know.’
The lump in Galinda’s throat strangled her, and she yanked the desk chair back, grabbed her unfinished essay, and screwed it into a ball. She threw it right at Elphaba’s smirking face - which had suddenly morphed into one of shock - but the girl ducked and it bounced harmlessly off the wall opposite.
‘Will you shut your mouth already?’ Galinda choked, mortified to hear her voice breaking. The tears she was trying so hard to suppress seemed hellbent on springing in her eyes, making a fool of her. Her hands were shaking and her lower lip was trembling. Elphaba would have to be blind not to notice. ‘Just - go back to your weird little novel and leave me alone!’
Elphaba’s mouth was hanging open. ‘Galinda, are you - er - you look like you’re about to cry.’
‘Well I’m not!’ she protested, before subsequently bursting into tears.
Elphaba looked extremely alarmed, a dim-witted and distressed expression crossing over her freckled face, but Galinda was too upset to even relish in how stupid she looked. She was the one who looked stupid. A whimper burst from her throat and she pressed her trembling hand over her mouth, her cheeks pink, as tears streamed from her eyes. For some reason, she was worried about her mascara running, but the humiliation of the situation soon caught up with her. She was crying in front of her infernal roommate, of all people, who would no doubt consider her tears as a win, something to hold over her and tease her about.
‘Oh shit, Galinda -’ Elphaba started, reaching out with her free hand, but Galinda didn’t let her finish.
‘Stop - just - leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone!’ she cried, a sob cutting across her with an embarrassing hiccup. She pressed her hand over her mouth again, willing herself to get a hold of the situation, but Elphaba was there and she could see her and her pathetically sad essay was scrunched up and hurled across the room. Her chest hurt. Her shoulders were shaking. She had to leave.
‘Galinda, wait!’ Elphaba said, her voice full of worry, but Galinda had already thrown herself against the door and marched out of the suite.
*
Galinda was vaguely aware that she was crying as she fled down the corridor where anyone could see her, but luckily it was fairly late, so most of the students had already retired. Worse, though, she could hear Elphaba following her. Oh, just leave me alone! she thought to herself.
‘Galinda! Will you slow down?’ Elphaba called.
Galinda sped up. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she needed to get away from Elphaba and give herself pause to calm down. She hiccupped as a sob cut up her throat again. She rounded the corner and spotted one of the laundry closets that stocked fresh sheets and towels for the students to use. Galinda had no idea who cleaned and folded them, and she didn’t particularly care. It would have to do. She yanked open the door and darted inside. But sneaky she was not.
‘Galinda -’
Elphaba was panting, and she followed her into the warm, dark space. The walls were lined with shelves stacked with folded sheets and towels, and it smelt very pleasant indeed. There wasn’t a lot of room and Galinda pressed herself into the corner, her breaths coming in short and fast and panicked, and she could not stop crying. It was maddening.
‘Hey…’ came Elphaba’s soft voice. ‘Look - Galinda, are you okay? I’m really sorry if what I said back there upset you. I don’t actually think you’re stupid. I - I only said that to get a rise out of you.’
Galinda whimpered, turning her face away. Her nose brushed against one of the soft, folded towels.
‘It was unnecessary,’ Elphaba continued. She sounded uncertain, and Galinda could feel her moving closer. ‘You were minding your own business and I’m the one who started it. I just - I didn’t think.’
‘Haven’t you heard?’ Galinda whispered, barely audible. ‘I apparently don’t think much, either.’
‘Oh, Galinda…’
To her credit, Elphaba did sound genuinely remorseful. If Galinda would only look at her in the low light, she’d see how troubled the girl looked, as if she’d just been told some terrible news and had no idea how to process it.
The space was quiet. The door had closed and clicked shut, and the only sounds were Galinda’s sniffles and short breaths, and Elphaba shifting from one foot to the other. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t like Galinda, but seeing her so distraught was…uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be the cause of Galinda’s tears. She didn’t want the girl to cry at all.
‘Um…’ she cleared her throat, watching as Galinda trembled in the corner. ‘...I, er, I could help you with your essay, if you like?’
Galinda let out a snort of self-deprecating laughter. ‘Oh, so you can have a good laugh at how stupid I am?’
‘No, of course not -’
‘ - Will you just go, Elphaba?’ Galinda swallowed. ‘You’ve had your fun. You’ve won.’
‘Galinda, I wasn’t trying to win anything.’
‘No?’ she snarled, facing her. Her cheeks were flushed with tears. ‘Our back-and-forth, that wasn’t a game? You weren’t trying to get the upper hand? To piss me off, or to make me c-cry?’ She dissolved into a fresh bout of tears and hated herself for it.
Elphaba was shaking her head. ‘I - I only gave as good as I got because you’re the one who seemed to make it your mission to make my life miserable. I didn’t want to make you cry, Galinda. I only wanted to defend myself against your juvenile campaign of petty bullying.’
‘I only did all that because you wormed your way into my room and you stole my spot from Madame Morrible!’
‘I didn’t ask for any of that!’
‘You could have said no!’
The silence stretched between them. Galinda’s tears were slowly being replaced by anger, and she wiped at her face with the heels of her palms, still trembling. How dare Elphaba try and take the moral high ground, pretending as if she wasn’t trying to prod and poke until she snapped. And how dare she follow her into a small, secluded space, wearing nothing but her nightdress and smelling so wonderfully!
‘You’re right,’ Elphaba said quietly.
‘What?’ she muttered, through gritted teeth.
‘I could have said no. I didn’t have to enrol here under Morrible. And I could’ve protested more when she invited me to room with you.’
Galinda was slightly taken-aback. ‘Well, obviously.’
‘But I didn’t want to,’ Elphaba continued, her tone firmer. ‘And you know why? It’s not because I had any wild aspirations of becoming a Sorcerer, or even studying at this sort of institution. I was content enough to remain my father’s shameful secret, tucked away in Munchkinland with my books and my sister. I didn’t think I deserved anything more. Yet staying, doing this…’ she trailed off, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. ‘...Galinda, it gives me the opportunity to meet the Wizard. And he could - he could change me. Make me look…normal.’
Galinda let out a soft gasp. ‘But why would you want to look anything other than yourself?’ she whispered, her eyes shining. To her, Elphaba was beautiful, with emerald skin and dazzling eyes and the most adorable freckles Galinda had ever seen. No, no, no! Stop thinking like that!
‘An excellent question,’ Elphaba said, her voice thick with sarcasm. ‘Maybe it’s because I can’t go anywhere without someone staring at me, or making a cruel comment? Like you and your gaggle of so-called friends do.’
Galinda swallowed thickly. The space felt too small. There was an uncomfortable sensation in her chest that had nothing to do with her frustration or her tears. It was squirming and regretful and nagging. Oh, she gulped. I think I’m feeling…guilty.
‘But you know,’ Elphaba murmured, ‘my motivations for staying here aside, I shouldn’t have said what I said back there. I went too far. Everything you say to me is surface level, but I…Yeah, it was too much.’
‘I deserve it.’
The words slipped out of Galinda’s mouth before she could stop them, and she winced, despising how pathetic she sounded.
‘That is,’ she said, clearing her throat, ‘I was cruel to you, too. And you’re right. I am pretty stupid.’ She let out a scornful laugh, dragging a hand through her blonde hair.
‘You’re not stupid, Galinda,’ Elphaba replied, her tone gentle. ‘You were trying to write an essay on an extremely complicated topic with zero input from an expert, like Morrible. Of course you’d struggle.’
‘Don’t patronise me,’ Galinda snapped.
‘I’m not,’ Elphaba said, waving her hands in the air. ‘Put it this way - I’ve hardly made any progress in those Sorcery Seminars, even with one-to-one attention and expert guidance from Morrible. It’s hard, Galinda. You can’t be expected to do it all alone.’
Galinda blinked up at her, stray tears sticking her eyelashes together. ‘...Really?’
‘Really,’ Elphaba said, offering her a tentative smile. Galinda’s heart gave a jolt.
‘Well,’ she said, her voice still a little shaky, ‘maybe if you spent less time following me into closets and more time studying, you might do better.’
Elphaba laughed. Galinda’s stomach flipped. She’d never heard the girl really laugh before. It was musical and loud and careless, like she had absolutely no regard for who might hear or who might judge her for making such a raucous sound. Her entire face lit up with it. And she was beautiful.
‘Perhaps you have a point,’ she smirked. ‘What’s say we make a move, hm? It’s a little cosy in here, and I’ve got an excellent book and a nice cup of tea waiting for me.’ She went to try the door, and it wouldn’t budge. Elphaba swore under her breath.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Galinda, cringing as she wiped at her running nose. She imagined she looked a mess. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d cried in someone else’s company, and wasn’t at all happy that it happened to be Elphaba who broke that rule.
‘Um, the door won’t open,’ came Elphaba’s reply.
Galinda’s heart, which had finally returned to a relatively normal pace, suddenly picked up again.
‘Huh? Don’t be silly,’ she huffed. ‘Get out of the way and let me try.’
Elphaba backed off, hands in the air as if in surrender, and Galinda rattled the door knob. Elphaba was quite correct - it wasn’t opening. Gritting her teeth, Galinda shoved her shoulder against it, pushing as hard as she could to absolutely no avail.
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ she hissed, pressing her palm to her forehead.
‘It’s alright,’ Elphaba said calmly. ‘I’m sure we can get out of this if we think rationally - and, failing that, we’ll just bang on the door until someone comes along to open it.’
‘No!’ Galinda whined. ‘If - if anyone catches us in here together, my social reputation will go down the drain!’ For good measure, she gave the door a hard kick, but the result was her merely hopping up and down and swearing.
‘I’m not certain that breaking your toes is worse than being discovered in here with me, but each to their own,’ Elphaba muttered.
‘This can’t be happening!’ Galinda moaned. ‘Why did you close the door behind you, huh?’
‘I didn’t think it was going to get stuck!’ Elphaba protested.
‘Ugh, you are unbelievable!’ Galinda exclaimed, practically stomping her foot. ‘Everyone knows the first rule of running into a closet is that you don’t ever let the door shut behind you!’
Elphaba folded her arms, a sour expression crossing over her face. ‘Well unlike you, Galinda, I don’t often spend my time hiding in closets.’
Galinda felt her face heat up. ‘What - what in the name of Oz is that supposed to mean?’
‘That I didn’t know about your so-called rule!’
Galinda balled her hands into her fists, blowing sharply through her nose. ‘W-well, we need to hurry up and find a way out of here. It’s late and I’m getting fed up of your company.’
Elphaba rolled her eyes. She thought, perhaps foolishly, that she and Galinda might’ve reached a sort of truce, but she guessed the girl was feeling embarrassed about crying in front of her and was lashing out as a consequence.
‘Perhaps we can spring it free,’ she said thoughtfully, looking around for some sort of leverage to use.
‘With what? We’re in a laundry closet!’
‘An excellent observation,’ Elphaba muttered.
‘Look, if you’re going to be sarcastic instead of helping -’ Galinda replied, but Elphaba cut across her.
‘- I’m the one who’s actually trying to find something to open the door with, you know,’ she said sourly. ‘You’re just standing there looking petulant.’
Galinda’s mouth fell open, making a small ‘o’ shape. ‘I - you can’t - how dare you!’
Elphaba just smirked at her in that infuriating way, almost enjoying watching her nemesis squirm on the spot. ‘I’m just stating the obvious, Galinda. Now, come on. We need to find a way out.’
‘Can’t you just use your stupid magic to blast us out of here?’ Galinda shot back, wiggling her fingers for emphasis. ‘You broke the balcony door easily enough.’
‘Do you have cotton wool between your ears?’ Elphaba scowled. ‘I already told you that I can’t - I can’t do that sort of thing on command yet.’
Cotton wool? The nerve! Galinda was almost grinding her teeth. Her pride had already been thoroughly wounded that night, and she wasn’t about to have the object of her shame belittling her in such a manner. With a new-found passion, she threw herself against the door, grunting from the effort, trying with all her might to shove it open. Unfortunately, she was a bit too enthusiastic again an immovable force, and her slippers - living up to their name - slipped uselessly against the floor. She let out a little squeak and lurched forward.
Elphaba caught her.
Galinda released a stuttering breath as she realised Elphaba’s arm had curled around her midriff, stopping her from smashing her face against the door. She should have been grateful for the save, but her skin was burning and Elphaba’s fingers were pressing into the soft flesh between the end of her ribs and the start of her hip, and she was closer than before with her wonderful smell.
‘Galinda, I’m not certain that brute force is going to get us out of this,’ Elphaba said, shifting Galinda into a standing position with ease. ‘We’ll have to find something to spring it open - using Physics, if you will.’
‘Mmhm,’ Galinda mumbled unintelligibly, her chest tight.
‘Else we really will have to call for help.’
‘Yep, yeah,’ was Galinda’s shaky reply. Elphaba looked at her oddly, and Galinda prayed that the light was low enough that she couldn’t see the pink blush spreading over her cheeks and brightening the tips of her ears.
‘I’ll just…do that then,’ Elphaba said, before she started looking around the shelves for something she could use. Galinda swallowed a soft whimper. She couldn’t keep up with her frazzled emotions. She was tired and frustrated and embarrassed and trapped. She didn’t want to be in there anymore, stuck with Elphaba and her cluelessness. Didn’t she notice how much heat was radiating from Galinda’s skin? Could she not feel it in that small space? Galinda couldn’t help but slump against the door, letting out a small huff. Her legs felt weak. Oh, please, not now…
Her breaths came faster and shorter. Heat prickled up from where Elphaba’s fingers had pressed into her flesh, so firm and assured. Galinda couldn’t help but wonder how she’d handle her. Would she be soft and cautious, fingers running delicately over Galinda’s skin, teasing her with a ghost-like touch? Or would she be rough and steely, leaving bruises and bite marks for all to see? I hope it’s the latter, Galinda thought, before shaking her head at herself in exasperation. It was getting out of hand.
‘...Galinda. Galinda!’
Galinda snapped out of it, letting out a squeak. Elphaba was standing in front of her, holding what looked like part of a metal pipe.
‘Wha - where did you get that from?’ Galinda asked, straightening up.
‘There was some spare piping tucked behind that shelf,’ Elphaba said, gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb. ‘It’s probably been left behind from when they worked on the boilers. This is a laundry closet, after all.’ She gestured above her head to the copper pipes that ran around the edges of the small space, before disappearing into the walls and carrying heat throughout the building.
‘Can it get us out of here?’
‘With a careful placement and a bit of strength, I hope so.’
Galinda gulped as Elphaba got to her knees. She scrambled away to give her some space. Elphaba eased the pipe under the gap in the door, muttering under her breath, and seemed to press it against the floor on the other side.
‘Come on, come on…’ she said, her shoulders flexing from the effort. Galinda watched with bated breath - not from the tension, but from the fact that Elphaba looked…good. Her nightdress exposed the muscles in her arms, and they tensed as she worked the door. Galinda wondered what sort of things Elphaba got up to in order to afford such arms - all she’d ever seen the girl do was read. She wondered how they might feel against her, holding her - stop it, right now!
Elphaba grunted and there was a sudden click. The door sprung open, flooding the small space with the dull light from the corridor. The main lights were switched off, given the hour, but Shiz maintained a low haze for any students who were out of bed, for one reason or another. The glow cast a soft glow over Elphaba’s face, and she smiled triumphantly up at Galinda.
‘There,’ she said, dusting off her hands. ‘Now no one has to know you were in here with me. I’m sure you’re relieved.’
Galinda’s poor brain was trying to catch up. All she could manage was a small nod of the head, before she pushed past Elphaba and out into the corridor. The air was too hot and smelled too good. She didn’t particularly want to walk back with Elphaba, since she needed a short moment to calm down, so she sped off without waiting for her. She thought she heard Elphaba sigh exasperatedly as she went.
‘You’re welcome!’ she called after her.
Galinda didn’t respond. She didn’t trust herself to speak.