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Elphaba’s awakeness was still a matter of debate, when the perky, unmistakably urgent voice of Galinda Upland cut through the early morning quiet of their shared bedroom.
“Elphie.”
It was barely louder than a whisper, really. Maybe, just maybe, if she stayed perfectly still...
“Elphaba!”
Oh, much more insistent. At this point, it’d be plain rude of her not to pay any mind.
With a resigned groan, Elphaba shifted under the overly pink duvets, blinking one lazy eye open as her pupils struggled to adjust to the flood of morning sunlight. The curtains were drawn, of course. Galinda always flung them open as soon as she woke, as though darkness itself were a crime.
Galinda had made her way across the room from her vanity and now stood planted by the side of the bed, looming. Her hands were set dramatically on her waist, and Elphaba could not believe she could hear her heeled foot tapping against the wooden floors.
She was mad, and she was making a show out of it.
“Hm?” Elphaba mumbled inquisitively, still rubbing the tiredness away from her eyes. Waking up to an agitated Galinda Upland wasn’t new. It usually meant trouble, and it usually meant Elphaba was somehow involved.
And Galinda looked like she would practically explode at Elphaba’s tired dismissiveness. Well, she would explode her, if she could. She leaned over, and indignantly jabbed an accusing, perfectly manicured finger toward a spot on her neck.
“Look at what you did.” She nearly snarled.
Oh.
Well, there it was, then. A testimonial of last night’s activities, perfectly centered on the left side of Galinda’s elegant, thin neck. A spot of purple incandescently lost among otherwise flawless, velvety light pink. Elphaba wondered if it would ache to the touch.
“Oh.” Was what Elphaba’s extraordinarily intelligent mind managed to muster as a response. That is, before she started laughing.
“Stop laughing! Everyone will see this!” Galinda huffed and whined dramatically, turning on her heel and looking to the ceiled sky, like now was time to atone for her actions. “I’m ruined, Elphaba, ruined…” her voice became muffled as she brought both her hands to cover her face.
Elphaba did stop laughing. “Right,” she sat up on bed, the whole ordeal far too startling not to wake her up entirely. “You don’t want anyone to know you’ve been hooking up with your weird green roommate.” she said, a little soberly.
“No, Elphie, I don’t want anyone to know I’ve been doing anything with anyone.” Galinda shot back immediately, already flouncing back to her vanity, where her morning routine had been so abruptly interrupted. “I have a pristine image to keep, I’m practically a saint, Elphie.” Her head tilted as she woefully studied the mark through the mirror.
Elphaba still watched her from the comfort of the bed, wrapped in the silky sheets to fight off the morning chillness. Truth be told, she was not entirely jealous of the position she had put Galinda on.
“We have Morrible today!” Galinda suddenly gasped, horrified. “Can you imagine if she sees this?”
Well. That would be a painfully awkward class. The ever-composed Madame Morrible forced to glance at that and carry on with hours of lectures about inner strength and harnessing one’s willpower.
Or maybe she’d simply expel them both for indecency.
Imagine having to explain that to her father over a letter.
“Why don’t you put makeup on it?” She groggily suggested, gazing over a plethora of brushes and powders that idly sat upon the vanity.
“Makeup only makes it worse.”
Elphaba hated how knowingly she said so.
“Then use your high collar shirt, it’s gonna cover it up.”
“It won’t.”
“It will. No one will see it.” Elphaba finally got up, talking to the floor as she threw on a robe. “Besides, Glin, even if they do, no one will even consider it was me.” Her voice was quiet, still somewhat coarse from sleep.
Galinda huffed. “Stop talking like that.”
“Like what?” Elphaba looked up.
Galinda met her gaze in the mirror, brows furrowed. For a second, she just searched for words. “Like you’re… less than.”
“I am, though. You’re way out of my league.”
“Shut up, Elphie, you’re way out of my league.”
Oh.
Well.
That was unexpected. As often as Galinda made a point of affirming how beautiful she believed Elphaba to be, rarely was it at the expense of herself. Not that it brought Elphaba any joy, the self deprecation of someone she truly believed to be impeccable, but a surprise it was, nevertheless. Made her blush, even.
Wordlessly, Elphaba moved to knowingly browse through Galinda’s closet. Grabbing the aforementioned high collared shirt, she offered it to the fussy girl, who once again dramatically heaved upon seeing it.
Even so, she took it, and did not contest when Elphaba helped her with the buttons, nor when Elphaba puffed up the collar with careful hands.
“There. See? You can’t see it.” Elphaba stated as they both stared in the reflection. Clear as day, or, rather, concealed as night. The neckline of the shirt was just above where the dastardly bite ended.
Galinda kept staring at the mirror, inspecting every angle, searching desperately for any gap that might betray her. But there were none to find.
“Oh. You were right,” she finally sighed. Then, gently, she reached for one of Elphaba’s hands and kissed it softly, a wordless apology for her earlier dramatics. “Thank you, Elphie.” Her voice was buttery soft.
Elphaba reciprocated, landing a kiss to the top of the head of golden hair.
“Good luck covering up the one in your hand, though.” She added casually, already turning away to get changed herself.
A pause.
Then, a dramatic gasp.
“Elphaba Thropp!”
Elphaba didn’t turn around. She didn’t have to. She could perfectly picture the look of pure shock and outrage on Galinda’s face, hand thrust out in front of her like it had betrayed her personally.
And in the way she screamed her full name across the dorm, Elphaba could hear how red she was.
Oh, what a swell start to the day.