Chapter Text

Elphaba is always in control. Galinda lets her. 

It's their dynamic, okay?

Galinda has so much control over everything else, this is the only time where she relinquishes that control. And she does not let anyone other than her sweet Elphie take control like this. 

Elphaba likes to be in charge. It's so different from the rest of her life. Always being told what to do, how to act. She’s constantly forcing herself to follow someone else’s lead. And this thing she has with Galinda? It's thrilling. It's unlike anything she's ever known.

And while this seems extreme to people on the outside of their relationship, well they just don’t get it. They mustn’t. It’s not like Elphaba is really controlling Galinda’s every move. It’s more of… a light suggestion. One that is best that she complies with. 

This works for them. And while nobody can understand how or why, it just does. And it’s not for everyone else to understand, it's just for the two of them. For their understanding alone.

Though the only other person who comes close to understanding is Fiyero. He briefly dated Galinda. He knows her, knows how she gets sometimes. And while he’s never been quite sure how to handle her, he can confidently say that he understands that Elphaba does know how to handle her.

Galinda is known to neglect herself. The poor thing sets aside her own needs in favor of pleasing everyone else. Sometimes she just forgets. It's bad for her health, her beautiful curls, her anxiety. Sometimes she just needs reminders— someone to tell her to keep up with these few things. 

And really Elphaba would just prefer it if the girl listened to her anyways.

She sees the way the blonde's shoulders droop just an inch when she’s around Elphaba. When she knows that none of the decisions are hers to make— that the hard, tedious parts of her routine are taken care of for her. All she has to do is sit there and look pretty. And isn’t she the prettiest, sweetest thing in all of Oz? Well she has to be, because Elphaba reminds her of this every time she feels that little knot form in the bottom of her tummy about if she's performing well enough. Elphaba helps her in that way. Reminds her to take care of herself. To keep up with her own self care so that she can please the student body of Shiz the way that she insists she has to. 

Galinda helps Elphaba in a lot of ways too. Though it may seem like it’s a one-sided thing, it’s not really. While Elphaba brings Galinda structure and stability, Galinda presents Elphaba with something softer– likability. Just that final piece that really helps her feel like she belongs. And while Elphaba doesn’t think that appearance is as important as Galinda tells her it is, she indulges in it because it makes the younger of the two happy. 

Elphaba lets Galinda do her make up every morning, soft and barely noticeable because Elphaba couldn't tolerate much more than that. And if she were to be really honest, she only tolerates it as much as she does because Galinda always sits in her lap while she does it. And who wouldn’t want the Galinda Upland in their lap every morning? 

She allows Galinda to drag her to parties, though they will, without fail, be the firsts to leave said party. Galinda has a very delicate sleep schedule and if she doesn’t stick to it, her entire day may be thrown off and that would definitely send her into a tizzy. And well, they just can’t have that.

But today is different. Something is completely wrong. And Galinda knows it. Elphie is different. She isn’t keeping Galinda in check as normal. She’s not… tending to her as she usually does. And it’s not that Galinda can’t manage on her own. No, she knows the rules well, they're even written out on a cute little whiteboard in their dorm. So she is capable of following it on her own. But it’s just– well it just is so much better for her when it’s Elphie who keeps her on track. Galinda can be so easily swayed, what with all the comments and considerations of her peers. She likes it when Elphie tells her what to do and how to do it because she knows that Elphaba knows what she needs. She’s not selfish like everyone else. Everything she does is for Galinda and Galinda alone. Plus she has no reason to be cute and pout if Elphaba isn’t forcing her to follow the routine she secretly wants to follow anyways.

So you can understand why Galinda is a bit off kilter this morning. Because not only is Elphaba strange. But Avaric is stupid. 

He must be. He’s the most stupidest, hidioudiest, ridiculous boy in all of Shiz University. Maybe even all of Oz. Galinda’s sure of it. Yes that must be it. Because why else would he open his stupid mouth. It’s his damn fault she’s so off. 

Galinda stares at her traitorous tray, noticeably devoid of fruits, namely strawberries. And this upsets her greatly. It goes against her routine. But it’s not her fault.

“Is something wrong, princess?” Fiyero pokes playfully at her arm with his fork. And that just about ticks her off even more. She throws a glance at Elphaba, who most definitely checked out of the conversation and checked into whatever book she's reading a while ago.

Galinda glares. “Do you visually see my plate?” She shoves her plate just a tad too harshly in his direction, “No fruits. No strawberries. ” She sighs, leans back in her seat resisting the urge to cross her arms like a petulant child. “And I’ve told you to stop calling me that already.” 

Fiyero only smirks, that boyish grin grating on her already fragile nerves. But she can’t have an outburst. Or a meltdown. Not here at least. Not with so many eyes on her.

“Well then why didn’t you get any? You always do.” As if she doesn’t know. As if she hasn’t memorized her own patterns.

But you see, Elphaba had insisted on stopping by the library this morning before breakfast. Had insisted that Galinda go ahead without her. And so she did because Elphie had asked her to. And although it put a damper in her mood, it was manageable. 

Usually, she and Elphaba went to breakfast together. Galinda would go and secure the seats for the group and Elphaba makes both of their plates. But not today. And that was fine. 

Really. 

It was fine right up until she stood in line, plate in hand. Right up until Avaric’s voice rose behind her, sneering about how disgusting the school's fruit was. How only someone insane and inhuman would eat it. And suddenly she felt his eyes on her. Felt everyone’s. Watching. Waiting for her to slip up. The pressure wound so tight she couldn’t breathe. She can’t grab any fruit now— not after he’s made such an idiotic comment like that just as she went to reach for some. It’s bad form. So she skipped the fruit and moved on.

“I know that.” She snaps at Fiyero, who only rolls his eyes. Galinda has to pull her hands into her lap and dig her nails into the fabric of her perfectly pink skirt to keep herself calm. 

Boq readjusts in his seat, fidgets with his plate. “You can have my fruit, Galinda. I usually only get some on my plate in case Nessa wants it. But she doesn’t.” And while that's a sweet offer, it just won't do. No, it won’t do at all. His fruits were picked at, touched by the other foods on his plate. Galinda has to hold back a grimace at the very thought. She hates when her foods touch. 

But she can’t very well just shoot him down without good reason. That would have everyone look at her weird. And if they look at her weird then— 

“No that’s alright, Boq.” Fiyero cuts in, his eyes glancing warily at her before getting Elphaba’s attention. “Elphaba,” he kicks her leg from under the table. And this is what she means by Fiyero understands just a little bit better than everyone else. He knows that the only person who can fix this , stop it from happening, is Elphaba. 

Elphaba looks up, meets his gaze before her eyes slowly shift to Galinda sitting beside her. And she sets the book down that she was completely engrossed in. “What’s happened?” And it’s only then that Galinda realizes her own slightly laboured breathing, the intensity in her shoulders.The slight sting in her eyes. 

“She wants fruit.” Nessa supplies, gives Elphaba a rather odd look but it's gone just as quickly as it came.  

And Galinda has never been more thankful for the younger Thropp sister in her life. Because with the tightness in her throat, she wasn’t sure she could manage getting the words out in a normal capacity.

Elphaba sets down her book entirely, wordlessly, and heads over to the breakfast line.

She returns with a plate full of fruits (the most prominent one being strawberries, she knows Galinda well), sets the plate down, and presses a kiss to Galinda’s temple. Galinda releases a shaky breath, the knot in her chest easing.

Elphaba settles back in her seat, pretends to dive into her book again. Truthfully, she lingers on the feeling of Galinda pressed close, cataloging each breath until it steadies. It soothes something in her too, deep and unspoken.

A small smile tugs at the corner of Galinda’s lips as she pairs on strawberry from her own plate with two from Elphaba’s.

Galinda isn’t thrilled about the morning’s hiccup, but she pushes it aside, plucking up a strawberry with eager hands.

Maybe everything will be just fine.

But then it happens again. Another change in pattern.

Elphaba is resting her hand on the small of Galinda’s back. The group has now parted ways to head to their first lectures of the day, and as Elphaba walks Galinda to her lecture she is resting her hand on the small of Galinda’s back.

She almost misses it. She’s so caught up in the greetings of each Shiz student they pass that she nearly didn’t catch it. But Galinda is nothing if not observant. So she notices that Elphaba’s hand is more to the right, resting near her hip. Usually her hand is more centered— guiding her. The guide is to make sure that Galinda isn’t tempted to stop and entertain anyone on their way to her class. They both know she’ll melt if she’s late to her class and has to be reprimanded in front of her entire class. That would be just awful for her. 

So the fact that Elphaba isn’t guiding her today makes her second guess her assumption that everything was fine. 

She pauses, tenses. And to her utter horror Elphaba pauses too. They just stop. Dead in their tracks.

Oh what the hell is going on?! 

“Everything okay?” Elphaba’s beautiful brows pull together.

And Galinda wants to say something. She desperately wants to point out that everything is in fact not okay. That Elphaba is making small changes to their system. But she doesn’t want to be too analytical. Maybe it’s just all in her head. And so she pushes down the overwhelming urge to cry, tucks herself closer to Elphaba’s side, and shakes her head in the negative. She absolutely does not trust her words right now.

Most of the day carries on like this. And it’s maddening for poor Galinda. She can’t tell if she's exaggerating or not. It’s not as if Elphaba is completely out of tune with her. The moment she sees the telltale signs of a meltdown she’s swooping in and easing the tension that has been slowly building within the blonde. But still. The fact that Galinda is even getting to the point where she needs to be soothed is strange. She knows she can be a tad irrational and she doesn’t want to come off that way. Not with her Elphie. But she’s confused . She’s so very confusified.

And it’s Elphie’s voice that reminds her, when you’re confusified or have concerns you should come up with a hypothesis and test it. Just to be sure.

And it’s early evening when Galinda decides that that is exactly what she is going to do. 

They are both doing homework, Doctor Dillamond having assigned a rather daunting essay assignment. Both girls are in bed, Galinda sat comfortably in between Elphaba’s legs as they both go over their essay’s together.

“Oh Elphie, I’m terribly bored. Can we please do something else?” Galinda sighs, pulling one of Elphaba’s hands into her lap so that she can play with her fingers. 

“We’re almost done, sweetness. I’m sure you can hold out a little longer.” Elphaba dips her head, kisses Galinda’s shoulder a few times. “You’ve been doing so good. Let’s keep reading.” Oh but she’s had enough. Everything's difficult to pronounce, impossible to comprehend with all the shifting the letters are doing, and quite frankly she’s too in her head about today’s events to focus on the techniques Elphies taught her to help with any of these things. Plus she doesn’t think she can sit still for any longer with all the movement going on inside her head.

“I don't want that. I want to go to a party.” Galinda shifts, turns in her spot so she’s facing Elphaba. And without pause, Elphaba drops the papers onto the mattress, her hands finding Galinda’s waist. “Fiyero and some others were talking about this new bar that they want to go to. And you’ll like it because it’s completely Animal owned. They even have a live band similar to the one at the Ozdust.” 

Elphaba turns it over and mulls it around in her head a few times. And it looks like she’s just about to say no. Just about to remind Galinda that academics come before social outings. That Galinda isn’t allowed to parties until after she’s completed all her work. But then it happens. The strange thing. Elphaba swallows back whatever response she was about to make and simply nods.

She nods. Gives Galinda the okay. Galinda Squints, leans forward a bit. “And you’ll let me dress you up too?” Another nod. Fucking hell. Something’s definitely off.

So Galinda decides that yes, she will test this hypothesis. See how much she can get away with. 

Chapter Text

The evening begins simple enough. 

Galinda does her makeup as she usually does, eyes drifting to meet Elphabas every few minutes as she rushes through her routine. She worries that the older girl will change her mind if she’s not quick. 

But Elphaba doesn’t change her mind, she simply heads to her wardrobe, picking out something suitable for the late night chill but not too hot that she’ll sweat once inside the bar.

“I hate when you wear that.” Galinda rolls her eyes at Elphaba's choice. “Must you always wear black?”

“What would you prefer I wear, hm?” And Galinda has to physically hold back the squeal that is clawing its way up her throat.

She flurries about their room, looking for this deep purple dress her mothers sent her that compliments Elphaba just so. “You simply must wear this! Momsicle and Momsie sent it about two weeks ago and I just think it’ll look darling on you.”

And to her absolute shock, Elphaba agrees.

She agrees to everything, really. She agrees to the extra eyeliner Galinda puts on her. Agrees to wear her hair out of the tight braid, but instead a half up half down. It does nothing to soothe Galinda’s mind, as fun as getting to dress Elphie up like this is. Elphaba is never this agreeable. Hasn’t been since that first week after the Ozdust where she let Galinda run herself ragged with her makeovers. She shoves the thought aside and speeds up the process of getting ready. 

Soon they're off, Elphaba’s hand still dreadfully resting on Galinda’s waist as they scurry off of campus grounds to meet up with the group.

“Woah, I think I may have overdone it with the pregaming,” Fiyero’s eyes widened, roaming over Elphaba more than once. “Is our Elphaba all dressed up tonight?” 

Elphaba shoves at his shoulders, moving to the docked boats. “Shut up and get in. We’ll be late.”

Crope tilts his head to the side, snickering as he leans into Tibbitts side. “Late to a club? That seems unlikely.”

Before Elphaba can snap at him, Crope is playfully shoved into the small boat by Pfannee. “Just get in.”

The bar is loud, but the music is good.

The group is all settled into a booth that has a great view of nearly everything. There’s a live band, animals and humans alike, and good service. There are games like darts and pool. The drinks are good. And best of all, there’s no demand for bodies out on the dance floor. They're sprinkled throughout, with some on the floor, some laid back in booths, and others playing games. 

Galinda was right. This was exactly the kind of place that Elphaba would like. 

Except she didn’t seem to be present enough to care about any of that stuff. She sat between Galinda and Shenshen. Her eyes distant, lost somewhere. 

So lost that she made no comment on the fact that Galinda was on her fifth drink of the night.

And not one of those drinks had been water.

“I’m going to order another round.” Galinda stood clumsily. 

“Mind yourself. How many have you had already?” Fiyero chimed in, his slightly hazy eyes moving from Galinda to Elphaba. Galinda’s eyes also shift over to Elphaba. Like they were both waiting for something. Anything. 

And still nothing. 

Galinda let out a loud huff, “That’s none of your damn business.” She says as she leaves, stumbling the entire way to the bar.

She returns with not only another round of drinks, but a phone number as well. The bartender had been awfully sweet on her, even giving them this round of drinks free. 

“Perfect! I don’t think I feel more than a light buzz. I need this.” Pfannee cheers as he leans over Elphaba to grab another drink.

The group drink some more, laughing and carrying on amongst themselves. Until a particular song that Shenshen likes comes on, and she has half the table up and following her out onto the dancefloor. 

Including a blonde, eager to distract herself. She leaves Elphaba with a kiss on her cheek and joins everyone else. 

She allows herself to let loose just enough to feel the music. To actually get into the groove of things and dance. 

She dances with Fiyero and Nessa, laughing and giggling far too much when no joke has been told. She allows Crope to spin her a good few times before she gets too dizzy. And the live band is amazing because every song they've played so far keeps Galinda feeling light.

Until it doesn’t anymore.

Galinda is tired of dancing. Her feet hurt from these insufferable heels she wore, her cheeks flushed, and her hair was beginning to frizz. And so she shoves whatever shiz student was pressed up right behind her— she doesn’t even recall inviting anyone to dance with her— and beelines for their table.

She finds Elphaba, Crope, and Boq easy enough. The socialite plops into the seat beside Elphaba, tucking herself into her immediately.

“Elphie,” She mumbles, her head falling onto Elphaba’s shoulder. “I’m in terrible shape. I feel just awful.” Galinda confesses around the stone lodged in her throat. She feels like crying and she doesn’t know why. Or maybe she does. Who can hardly tell with all this noise.

Elphaba’s been drinking too, she cant tell. Her eyes are far more misty than their usual. “What’s that, my sweet?” Elphaba says, eyes refocusing as she slides her arm around Galinda’s waist.

“You’re not listening to me. Not paying attention,” She slurs, her fingers twisting painfully on the ends of her dress. “Why? Am I not worthy? Not good enough? Why won’t you focus on me, baby?”

And this wasn’t entirely uncommon. There always came a point in the night after Galinda had had enough of partying, where she’d burrow into Elphaba fishing for every bit of praise she wanted.

It was routine. It was how Elphaba knew that it was nearly time for them to leave. How she knew Galinda just wanted to be fussed over. 

And the pattern was always the same. Galinda would slink over to her, sulking about one thing or another. ‘You’ve barely kissed me all evening, have you grown tiresome of me?’ or ‘Oh Elphie, must I drink more water? It’s like you don’t want me to have fun at all. Do you hate me?’ 

And Elphaba would respond the way she always does. She hums softly at the girl when she realizes what Galinda wants to hear, softly boops her nose in the way that makes Galinda’s nose scrunch adorably. Her knuckles come up to brush along her cheek before sliding down to grasp her chin between her thumb and pointer. 

She tilts Galinda’s head up just so , and breathes, “Don’t be ridiculous, Poppy. No one in all of Oz loves you more than I. You are most precious to me. And goodness knows, there is no one more good than you. My sweet gem.” Then she’d kiss her like no one else was watching. Even though they most definitely were. 

And Galinda would be putty in her hands for the rest of the night. Allowing Elphaba to take her back to their dorm, fuss over her and get her ready for bed.

Of course, none of this actually happens tonight. 

Galinda could simply take off someone's head with the way it all plays out instead.

Elphaba does not boop her nose. Doesn’t lift her chin. Doesn’t even tell her she’s precious or loved. 

What she does do, however, is let out a deep sigh. “My apologies,” She leans forward and gives her a chaste kiss. “What were you trying to tell me?” 

And Galinda just can’t take it anymore. “Nothing. I have to use the restroom.” Galinda forces herself to stand and straighten as she makes a beeline for the bathroom. 

But her balance isn’t as strong as she thinks it is, and she knocks straight into Fiyero. 

“Woah there, princess! You almost–” He barely finishes his snarky remark before Galinda is in full blown tears. Absolutely ruining her makeup. She hardly cares about that now, though. 

“What’s wrong, Galinda.” He pulls her into him, rubbing her back soothingly. 

The blonde doesn’t answer, she only cries harder. Not even knowing how to tell him that her girlfriend must positively hate her. Or she’s tired of taking care of her, of loving her. 

She’s so in her head, tears continuing to streak down her face that she doesn’t notice that she’s being passed off. From Fiyero’s strong, worrying arms to Elphaba’s softer, loving ones.

“Oh, my sweet thing. Come on. I think it’s long past time for us to leave.” Galinda doesn’t make a peep, just allows herself to be guided out of the bar. 

On their way out, Elphaba must notice the phone number still tucked into the top of Galinda’s dress, because she crumbles it up and throws it in the trash bin on their way out, only mild irritation in her eyes because she knows that Galinda’s overly intoxicated. Otherwise Galinda would’ve been thrown it away.

With the music now gone, the insistence of her thoughts grows louder. And it’s enough to send Galinda into a fresh wave of tears not even ten steps out of the bar. She’s all hiccups and sniffles and oh gosh she can’t breathe and— 

Elphaba pulls Galinda around to the side of the building, away from prying eyes. Galinda’s back hits the brick wall softly and Elphaba is there . 

She steps into Galinda’s space, one hand moving under her chin while the other reaches for Galinda’s shaky hand. She places it over her own chest.

“Deep breaths, love.” She demonstrates with her own comically large draws of breath. “Like me. Just follow me.” 

She tries. She truly does. Sucking in deep, stuttering breath one after the other. But her attempts seem futile. Because it doesn’t help. Not even a little bit.

Elphaba’s nose nudges her own. And if she notices the snot leaking from Galinda’s nose, she doesn't comment on it or move away. “You’re acting out. Taking phone numbers and drinking yourself into a tizzy. What’s troubling you? Talk to me.” 

Galinda lets out a small strangled whimper and keels forward, face landing harshly on Elphaba’s shoulder. But Elphaba doesn’t mind. 

She just takes it for the sign that it is.

Galinda will not be telling her what’s wrong. She’s going to have to figure it out herself.

Elphaba sighs, pulling the girl closer. “Alright, let’s just get back to the dorm. It’s far too cold out.” 

Galinda allows herself to be shifted into Elphaba as she’s hurried along, tears still clinging stubbornly to her face as they walk. 

They make it back to their dorm just past midnight, and the first thing Galinda’s eyes fall on the second Elphaba turns on the pink lamp she claims she despises, is her forgotten homework. 

Galinda loses it all over again. 

Her homework. Still strewn across her bed, unfinished. Oh gosh. 

She’d completely dismissed it earlier. She shoved it aside in favor of the club. Elphaba had let her. 

And she just dissolves into another fit of tears. Now she’ll have to stay up far later than it already is and try to finish proof reading her papers. 

This is already an extremely draining task sober, nevermind intoxicated. Ugh. 

She hates this. The only positive she can think of from all this crying is that her lashes will grow. 

Elphaba’s eyes follow Galinda’s the minute she sees the younger blonde getting worked up again, and land on the homework as well.

Elphaba just sighs. Because it all clicks into place for her. It would’ve clicked a lot sooner had she not been a little tipsy herself. 

“This is all my fault.” She mutters, moving to pick up the stack of papers on the bed. “How couldn’t I see this before? Well of course I know how but- how could I let her words get in my head like this.” 

She places the papers neatly on the desk before moving back to Galinda, tugging the socialite into her. 

“I’m sorry, my sweet. I’ve been in my head all day because of something Nessa said to me. I forgot myself. And it’s been affecting you all day, hasn’t it? You’ve been trying to get my attention all day.” And Galinda could just melt into a puddle right here on the floor. 

Because yes, she has been trying to get Elphaba's attention all day. And she’s been failing miserably. Now on top of feeling neglected and being terribly drunk, she’s still got homework to do. 

Her routine is all out of order. And it’s going to set her off balance all day tomorrow. Either she’ll sleep in because of how late she’ll be up or she’ll be tired and cranky tomorrow. That completely derails her whole schedule. 

All that plus a hangover. 

“Stop overthinking. It’s alright. We’ll deal with homework later,” Elphaba rubs her back, the other hand making quick work of undoing her hair. “I let things get out of control. This is my mess to clean up, not yours. Let’s just get you in bed for now, okay?” 

And Galinda almost relents. Because that sounds lovely right about now. To just hand all responsibility over to Elphie so that she can rest— that’s how it should’ve been all along anyway. 

However, Galinda can’t let any of that happen until Elphaba soothes her mind. Soothes her worries. 

“Why have you been so far all day, Elphie?” It doesn’t quite come out the way she intends it. She wants to ask why Elphaba has been in her head all day, putting distance between them. Not unbearable distance, but just enough that Galinda notices. Because of course she noticed. When a person goes from keeping you in check and in routine to letting you slip out of said routine and make decisions you’ll regret later, you notice. 

And although the words don’t sound the same in her head as they did coming out— Elphaba understands her just the same. 

Elphaba sighs something long and regretful. “Nessa- she was careless with her words. She had concerns about us. About how we… go about things.” Galinda says, pulling away from Galinda to begin pacing. And to think Galinda had been thanking Nessa just earlier today for her meddling!

“She told me that I seem too overbearing when it comes to you. That I make too much of a fuss and keep you on too tight a leash.” She sighs, her head falling just a bit. “She said that I was treating you the way Father always treated me. Giving you too many rules to follow and stopping you from doing what you want because ‘I know best.’ And I just- I tried not to let it affect me but it did. It affected me so terribly.” 

Galinda doesn’t know what to do with this information. It’s quite confusifying. Elphaba and Galinda had made this decision together. They had sat down and talked out these rules, crafted them as a team based on how they both knew the blonde best managed. So why would she ever doubt that their system worked. And that it worked because they both wanted it to? 

“But you do know best. You always do. That’s…” Galinda feels her throat close, her eyes watering. “It’s why I give you this. Why I give myself to you like this. Because I trust you and only you to do it for me.” 

If Galinda were to be quite honest, she’s getting rather fed up with all her insistent tears. 

She wants to reach out for Elphaba, she wants to wrap her arms around her waist. She does neither. “The only reason I make it through every day not completely wrung out is because you taught me how to put myself first. And you teach me that every day. With every rule. With every redirect. You do that. You save me from myself. And quite frankly, I don’t fucking care what anybody else has to say about it. Because yes, I could do all this stuff myself and be fine. Or as close to fine as I possibly could be. But- ” 

She does it, because screw holding herself back from what she wants. She’s been doing as she pleases all day so why stop now? She reaches for Elphaba. Wraps herself around her. “But it all just works out so much better when it’s your hand and not mine. And I don’t just mean better for me. Elphie, you need this just as much as I do. This isn’t a one sided thing.” 

“You need this. You need to feel like it's your turn to be in control just as I need to feel like it’s my turn to be out of it.” She lets out a long breath, this is the most talking she's done all day. “You don’t take away my autonomy, I give it to you. And I do it because it works quite good for us.” 

Elphaba smirks, pulling Galinda impossibly closer as the tension releases from her body at last. “Works quite well for us.”

“It so does.” Galinda smiles as well, leaning in so close that her nose brushes with Elphaba’s in the way that she loves.

“Come on. Let’s get you some water, and start getting ready for bed, Poppy. It’s already so late.”

Oh about time . Poppy. Elphaba had called her Poppy. Galinda had been waiting to hear that all night. Which reminds her… 

“Wait, we can’t start just yet.” She interjects just as Elphaba is about to head to the bathroom.

“And why not?”

Galinda clears her throat, hands fidgeting with the ends of her dress. “Well because. You were too busy denying yourself joy that you didn’t answer my question earlier. I wanted to know why you wouldn’t focus on me? If you were weary of me.” 

Oh yes. Elphaba understands now. 

She hums softly at the blonde when she realizes what Galinda wants to hear, softly boops her nose in the way that makes Galinda’s nose scrunch adorably. Elphaba’s knuckles come up to brush along the blonde's cheek before sliding down to grasp her chin between her thumb and pointer. She tilts Galinda’s head up just so , and breathes, “Don’t be ridiculous, Poppy. I could never grow weary of you. No one in all of Oz loves you more than I. You are most precious to me. You are so good to me. And goodness knows, there is no one more good than you. My sweet gem.” 

She kisses her, long and deep.

Galinda shines under all the praise. It’s everything she needs to set her night back on track. She lets out a small giggle as she allows Elphaba to guide her into the bathroom. 

And the fussing begins.