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Elphaba had been nestled within the safety of her dorm room for most of the day; despising the snow as she watched the flurries and storm through their window. The current snowstorm seemed to being relentless. Every now and again, she had been looking up to see what Galinda was up to; but by this late into the day, she had stopped checking. The blonde was still bopping about the dorm room, doing a million things at once, when finally, Elphaba snapped, “Galinda!”
The blonde paused where she was, slowly turning around to face her roommate. Elphaba rubbed her temples for a moment, “Can you, please, just choose something to do and stick with it? You’re making me dizzy.”
Galinda shyly smiled, “I’m sorry, Elphie. There’s just so much to do and so little time.”
Elphaba rolled her eyes, “So little time? Where else are you going, Galinda? Perhaps you could busy yourself with something such as your course work?” she raised an eyebrow towards Galinda. Course work would keep her in one spot for awhile, but she just swatted a hand to her, “Elphie, I couldn’t possibly.”
She resumed her pacing around their room, and it honestly had begun to actually make Elphaba dizzy. She looked up from her book for the umpteenth time, “Galinda!”
Before Galinda could even retort back, their room was suddenly swallowed by darkness. Galinda squinted towards where she knew Elphaba was, “Elphie?” she cautiously called out, “Did you just-“
She could hear Elphaba snort from her bed, clearly amused, “No, Galinda, I did not cause a blackout.”
She sheepishly smiled as she replied, “Well, Elphie, it wouldn’t be the first time that your magic caused a little bit of chaos.”
Elphaba sighed, as she placed her book down in front of her; clearly, she wasn’t going to get to finish her book’s final chapter right now. She paused as she listened into the hall; there seemed to be some commotion and then silence, “I think the whole dorm is out, based on the reaction of the others.”
She could vaguely see Galinda’s shadow move towards the window, where she could still see the snow coming down rapidly, “Elphie…”
Elphaba moved over towards Galinda, when the blonde’s voice continued, “I think all of campus is out.” Elphaba looked out the window, and sure enough, the glistening from the snow was the only thing illuminating the courtyard, and it seemed like the usually glowing dorms were all as dark as their own.
Elphaba sighed, moving towards her desk, grabbing something from one of the drawers. She moved back towards Galinda’s side of the room, “If it’s from the snow, I doubt it’ll come back quickly.”
It was then that the blonde suddenly realized her roommate’s plan, and she blocked her vanity from Elphaba. She sighed, putting hands on her hips, “Galinda…”
“No, Elphie. They’re not supposed to be lit.” Elphaba rolled her eyes, “Galinda, do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? Candles; that shouldn’t be lit? Especially in a time like this?”
Galinda kept her glare onto Elphaba’s shadow for a few minutes, arms outstretched protecting the candles on the vanity, before she realized Elphaba wasn’t caving, and she sighed, as she dropped her arms.
Elphaba triumphantly smiled, “It’ll be fine, Galinda. I’ll even let you choose the victims yourself. We only need two.”
Galinda shook her head, “That’s not funny, Elphie.” But she could already hear Elphaba’s snickering from the dark, as she turned to look over her scented candle stash. She hummed for a moment, deciding, before she turned to Elphaba, holding a purple candle out towards her, “The first sacrifice?” she questioned.
Galinda narrowed her eyes, “Elphaba.”
Elphaba stilled; changing her tone, “I’m sorry. This is the one that you’re willing to give up?”
Galinda nodded, turning back to the vanity again, as she heard Elphaba strike the match on the strip of the package, and soon she could see a faint glow from Elphaba’s side of the room, and soon the smell of lavender danced through the room. Elphaba turned back to her, “Which one do you want for your side?”
Galinda looked around, before deciding she had more than one vanilla candle; ensuring she chose the smallest one, and held it out to Elphaba. She gave her a slight look; it wasn’t going to give off much light. Galinda nodded, “It’s fine, Elphie. I don’t need much light anyways.” Elphaba didn’t buy that for a moment; she just didn’t want to ‘destroy’ her most beautiful candles.
She dipped the match into the candle, lighting the wick in the middle, and Galinda shuffled back to her bed, putting the candle on the nightstand beside her bed. Elphaba went back to her own, attempting to angle her book towards the small amount of light that her candle gave off.
She only tried for a couple minutes, before she groaned and sighed, placing the book back into her nightstand drawer; it would have to wait there for another day. She had just gone to turn to Galinda, to decide on what they’d do to occupy their time until everything would return to normal, when a resounding thud happened from the hallway, and both girls whipped their gazes to each-other; ensuring they had both heard that noise; neither imagining it.
Elphaba had slowly moved off of her bed, heading for the door, when Galinda stopped her, “Elphie? Should we really be opening our door to a random sound when we are in the pitch dark?” Elphaba swatted her hand to her, “Galinda, nothing is going to happen. We are fine. It’s hardly pitch dark; that would mean you didn’t let me light any candles at all.”
Galinda snuffed her nose to the air, “What if it’s an attacker, Elphie?” The dramatic of her roommate made her roll her eyes, but she smiled into the darkness, “I’ll take full responsibility.” Her curiosity was getting the better of her.
She cautiously opened the door. Galinda watched from her bed; ready for the apparent attacker to snatch Elphaba the moment the door opened. However, she could just see Elphaba’s shoulders sag in the glow of the candle; shaking her head as the door opened more. She turned back to Galinda, “It’s no attacker, Galinda. Just two idiots.”
She swung the door open further, so that Galinda could attempt to make out the two figures at the door, and she smiled, “Ren!” He smiled to her from the door frame, and she returned the smile in the darkness, “Miss Galinda.”
Galinda’s brow furrowed and she squinted at the second figure, “Who’s with you?”
Elphaba shook her head at him as she could see the figure beside Ren, “Who do you think?” He stood shaking the snow from his coat, “Fiyero.” She turned back to see Galinda smirking at her. Elphaba slowly shook her head at her; hoping to silently signal to her roommate to keep her mouth shut. Some things were said in confidence; and that’s where Elphaba had hoped they’d stay. Elphaba cocked her head towards the boys, “What was that thud?”
Fiyero and Ren shared a look for a moment, “Thud?” Ren asking, as if he had heard no such thing, before Fiyero smirked, quickly giving up their friend, “Ren slipped from the snow on his boots when we reached the top of the stairs.”
Ren shot him a look, before he rubbed his hip for a moment, if Fiyero was going to give him up that easily. It was sore, “Your hallway is much more slippery when wet.” Elphaba smirked as well, “Most things usually are.” Ren sheepishly looked away from her.
She watched them for a moment, before she raised an eyebrow to them, “And you two are in this dormitory to- “She paused allowing them to finish the sentence themselves.
Fiyero flashed her a smile, “To come and check on you girls. To make sure you were okay.” Ren nodded beside him. She brought her hand to her hip, skeptical, “You came over here in a snowstorm; in a blackout no less, because you thought that we’d need you?”
Fiyero scoffed, as he put a hand over his heart, “Wow, Fae. I thought you’d appreciate the thought. I thought it was pretty chivalrous of us.”
She shook her head at him, but there was a slight smile, dancing onto her lips, “So, you two, decided to defy one of the rules we are given; in an emergency situation, stay where you are. All because, let me guess, you two were actually bored, and decided to use us as an excuse to make yourselves feel better?” She held her gaze on them.
Ren tried to sputter out an answer; but under Elphaba’s gaze, he had to admit: he was slightly scared of her when she seemed upset.
Fiyero, however, was not.
Fiyero had no healthy fear of Elphaba, deciding to pipe up from beside Ren, “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.” Ren smacked his arm, and Elphaba shook her head.
She took in how much both of them were shaking from the snow melting off their coats; chilling them. She rolled her eyes, before moving to the side, “Don’t make me regret this. Get in before someone else sees you.”
Ren nodded, quickly dipping past her and into the dorm. Fiyero gave her a smile at he passed her, a bit too smug for someone shivering, and she narrowed her eyes towards him, “That’s a pretty smug look for someone who is shivering from a little bit of snow.”
Ren now already stood over near Galinda, coat and boots discarded at door; snow melting off of them where they sat. They both watched as the Fiyero turned to Elphaba, “A little of snow, Elphaba? It’s a bloody blizzard out there.” She kept her stance, arms crossed, and only went to break it when she noticed the smirk come back to him, as he moved towards her, arms held outwards to her, “Come here, Fae.”
She shook her head, as she backed up, “Don’t you dare, Tigelaar.” He was beaming now, as he tried to corner her, “What, Fae? It’s just a little bit of snow.” He mocked her earlier words, but she wasn’t ready to surrender yet.
Fiyero went to move, but he missed the small flick of her hand, and he found himself unable to move. He tried again; no luck. He looked up to her, shocked, “That is unfair warfare, Fae.”
She smirked from where she stood, “I don’t think so; quite intelligent on my part, really.”
He attempted to pull his feet up again but they were still seemingly glued to the ground. He grunted for a moment, thinking maybe if he used his hands onto his pant legs, that would help to free his feet. He looked up to her again; the look of pure joy on her face at his predicament, caused a smile to come onto his own, “When I get free, Fae…”
She turned her head to the side at him, “Oh yeah?”
She decided to challenge him further, “Free? I doubt that you will. Only I can control that.” Her smirk returned as she saw Fiyero begin to panic slightly; realizing he was entirely controlled by her magic, and only she could release him from it’s hold. Fiyero crossed his arms in a protest, before attempting to lean forward towards her; seeing if he could reach her, but she just moved back to keep herself within only an inch or so from his grasp, “Fae, this is unfair…” he whined, as she taunted him.
Galinda and Ren watched the scene from Galinda’s side of the room; she was sitting on the top half of her bed, and Ren had situated himself on the chest that sat at the end of the bed. He cocked his head slightly, smiling before looking back to Galinda; and she nodded to him.
Elphaba noted their exchange, even in the dim lighting of the room, and she looked towards them, “What?”
Galinda played innocent, “Nothing, Elphie.”
Elphaba shook her head, “No, don’t ‘Nothing, Elphie’ me. You both clearly have something to say.” She raised an eyebrow to her, and Galinda smirked, “We were just thinking that it’s funny when you two flirt.”
“Flirt?!” Elphaba cried, incredulously. She had taken enough of her focus off her magic; the one that had been holding up Fiyero, at her roommate’s words. He was quite suddenly released and landed onto his chest to the floor with a thud. He coughed for a moment; the wind knocked out of him. He pushed himself up with one arm to look towards Galinda and Ren, “What?”
Elphaba noted; he would not look up to her as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. She crossed her arms towards Galinda, “We were not flirting.” She just smiled as she nodded towards, “Uh huh, keep telling yourselves that.”
“Galinda, we were not flirting.” Elphaba looked to her, repeating herself as she glared. Fiyero said nothing from his spot on the floor below her. Galinda just smiled, as she looked back to Ren, “They weren’t flirting.”
Ren could only smile in response; he had also caught onto the prince and green girl, though not as quickly as the blonde had.
.
They had sat around in silence for awhile after Galinda’s comment. Elphaba had been silent; replaying the moment in her mind, looking for any sign that Fiyero had been flirting. Surely, Galinda was wrong.
Fiyero had be silent for an entirely different reason; could Elphaba really not see that he had been flirting slightly? Galinda surely had caught onto him; which is why he stayed quiet once she had mentioned it. Was Elphaba really not catching onto him; and the fact that he has feelings for her?
Galinda huffed, wrapping herself in her blankets, “Well, we need to think of something to do. I think Elphie is right, and it’s going to be out for awhile…”
Everyone exchanged glances, but what could they all suggest to do within the darkness of the dorm room? It was a moment later that Ren looked over to Galinda, “We could play truth or dare? Within reason, of course.”
Galinda lit up at the suggestion, and Elphaba deflated at the suggestion. Fiyero smirked as he looked up her from where he leaned against her bed on the floor, “What, Fae?”
She shook her head at him, “This never goes well with Galinda involved.” Galinda made a noise of protest from her side of the room, “I take offence to that, Elphie!”
She snickered as she replied, “You are supposed to. I’m not kidding, Galinda. This game always goes south when it gets played with you; usually for me.”
Galinda whined from her side of the room, “Please, Elphie…Please…” she drew out the last please, hoping it could somehow convince the green girl.
The room was only silent for a few moments before Elphaba’s sigh could be heard, “I guess so. That’s really what we want to do? Everyone will play fairly?”
Noises of agreement were heard from everyone within the room. Galinda smiled, as she looked towards Elphaba’s side of the room, “Elphie-“
Elphaba shook her head, “No, Galinda. I am not going first.” A sigh was heard from the other side of the room, before Galinda changed her mind, “Fine. Fiyero-“
Fiyero perked up from his spot, “Me?”
Galinda shot him a look in the dark, he could see it slightly illuminated by her small candle beside her, “Fiyero, truth or dare?”
Fiyero thought on it for a moment. No matter which option he chose; neither would be great. He knew Galinda; he hoped she wouldn’t try to use Elphaba against him, “I guess, dare.” It seemed to be the better of the two options; at least for his first turn.
Galinda smiled a smile that Fiyero could only describe as villainous, and she; along with her bundles of blankets; moved over to her vanity, before she shuffled over to him. She held something out to him, and he could hear Elphaba snort behind him, “I dare you to paint your nails.”
She held her nail polish out to him; swirling it. He noted it was emerald green and not her usual pink. She winked to him; nodding behind him. He leaned his head back to see Elphaba come into his view, “Can you lend a hand, Fae?”
Elphaba smirked, “What makes you think I have nail painting expertise?” Galinda mocked a shiver from her bed, now situated there again, “I couldn’t possibly. I’m too cold.”
Elphaba shook her head at her roommate as she rolled her eyes. Ren through his hands up, “I only have brothers.”
Elphaba could see Fiyero’s pleading face looking to her, and she sighed as she grabbed nail polish bottle from him, “Really, Galinda? Green?” She sounded surprised, and accusing; all at once.
She smiled to her, “Yes, Elphie. Is there something wrong with that?” Elphaba stared at the bottle for a moment, before Fiyero piped up, “Fae, please don’t give her any ideas on switching it to pink. If this is my dare; I quite like emerald.”
Her gaze snapped down to him; her grip on the bottle tightening, “What?” she said, lost in thought.
He smiled up to her, making sure he had her attention, “I said I quite like emerald green.” He held her gaze for a moment. He noted that she was catching onto the way he said it, and he had said it that way for a reason. He held back a hand to her, “Do a good job, Fae. I’ll be critiquing your skills.”
She rolled her eyes at him, “Watch it, Tigelaar. I know where she keeps the nail polish remover. And your attitude determines if I help you before you leave or not.”
He just offered her a smile, as he relaxed against the bed, holding his hand as close to the candle as he could, “Yes ma’am.”
Galinda sighed from her bed, “Now you have to choose who you’re going ask.”
Fiyero looked away from Elphaba, completely distracted by the fact that his hand was in hers as she painted his nails, “Uh, Ren?”
Ren looked over to him, and he continued, “Truth or dare?”
Ren turned his head to the question; thinking on it for a moment before he decided on his choice, “Truth.”
Fiyero though on it for a moment, deciding on what to ask him. They had a few classes together, and obviously the longer he and Galinda shared feelings; they had integrated him slowly into the golden group. They didn’t know a lot about him yet. He smirked as he thought of his question, “Ren, if you could take Miss Galinda on a date, what would you do for it?”
Ren’s eyes widened in the slight glow from Galinda’s candle and he twisted his lips; thinking hard on how to answer this question. Fiyero could hear Elphaba behind him snickering quietly, and he turned to her, as she finished his first hand, “I would watch how much you laugh at Ren’s question. You haven’t had a turn yet, Elphaba.” Suddenly, she was quiet as she focused entirely on Fiyero’s left hand.
He turned back to Ren, and encouraged him to answer. Ren sighed as he answered, “Well, I would for one; make sure that I picked her up from the dorm before anything else. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do. A lady should not be walking alone.” Galinda nodded behind him, smiling. He continued, “We would probably go for dinner somewhere off campus, and then go to the Ozdust for awhile before coming back.”
Galinda smiled towards Ren, “That sounds like a perfect evening, Ren.” He smiled back; proud that his answer had be sufficient for her. He looked over to see Elphaba finishing Fiyero’s last nail in the glow of her candle; adorning the polish to it, “Elphaba-“
She looked over towards where Ren sat, “Truth or dare?”
She sighed as she tightened the cap back onto the nail polish, putting it onto her side table. She thought on it for a few moments. Neither seemed to be a good option, but at least it was from Ren, and not Galinda. That somehow made it seem safer, “Truth, I guess; seeing what Fiyero had happen when he chose dare.”
Even Ren had to smile at that; they should have seen it coming; it was Galinda. Elphaba suddenly didn’t feel comfortable in her choice, when the candle beside Galinda flickered it light slightly brighter, and she could see a smirk on his face. He paused for a moment, before asking, “You and Fiyero are close, right?”
“Yes.” Fiyero answered from the floor, as Elphaba answered above him, “I guess so.” Fiyero turned to face Elphaba, giving her a look, and she sighed, slightly amused by him, “Yes.”
Ren smiled at their interaction, “Tell us what your favourite thing about him is.”
Elphaba froze for a moment at Ren’s words. Compliments weren’t something that came easy to her; giving or receiving, and especially not when Fiyero had turned to face her, curious on what her answer would be. She definitely couldn’t confess what was actually on her mind about him; ever since they had teased each other earlier.
Fiyero quirked an eyebrow at her, seeing her frozen; thinking on her answer. He gently moved one hand over to her own to get her attention, and her gaze snapped to him. He smiled, hoping to put more at ease, “It’s not super serious, Fae. Just say what comes to mind first.”
She tried to offer a smile back, still deciding on her answer. She finally decided, “One of my favourite things about Fiyero is how caring he is.” She looked to him after answering to see him still watching her. Ren nodded, “What instances, Elphaba? Do you have examples, to provide proof to your comment?” He smirked to her; he knew enough about Elphaba to know: she liked a good challenge. She narrowed her eyes at Ren, before Fiyero got her attention again, “Fae, you answered. You don’t have to say more if you don’t want to.”
She sighed, before her voice began to fill the room again. It seemed softer than other times he had heard it, “It’s times like offering his umbrella to Galinda, because he knows how important her hair staying perfect is to her. Is it needed? No. But, he knows for her, it means something. It’s times like offering to take notes for friends when they miss a class; if he goes to said class,” she added, and she could see his shoulder shake slightly as he laughed with his back to her again, “It’s in times when I’m not believing in myself-“
He turned around to face her again, and she smiled to him, genuinely, “That he finds something in me that even I couldn’t see.”
They had kept their gazes on each-other long enough that Galinda cleared throat from the other side of the room, and their gazes looked over towards her, “Elphie, it’s your turn to choose someone.”
“Galinda, true or dare?”
Galinda didn’t even have to think about it, “Truth.”
Fiyero let out a noise of protest in the dim light of the room, “Hey! Does no-one in this room believe in the other half of this game?”
Elphaba laughed, laying a hand on his shoulder teasing him, “Yero my hero; thank you for choosing dare.”
It came across so naturally that her hand stayed there for a moment, before she realized what she did, and quickly moved it. Fiyero sighed, feeling the warmth of her hand leave him, and he tried to peek a look back to her, but she was already looking towards Galinda, “Truth, huh?”
She smirked as she looked to the blonde, and Galinda could see in from the flicker of the lavender candle, “Careful, Elphie.”
Elphaba let her smirk grow wider to her roommate, “Do you, at this moment in time, have feelings for anyone? Some might call it a crush, Miss Upland…”
Galinda now returned to her glare, quickly looking to Ren, and then back to Elphaba, “Elphaba Thropp.”
She threw her hands up in the air, “I didn’t say that you had to name them. Just asked if you do?” She raised an eyebrow to her as she cocked her head; this game wasn’t seeming as bad once Elphaba was on the asking end and not the answering end. Galinda quickly admitted defeat, “Yes.” She shortly answered.
Then a long pause, and then Galinda smirked back towards Elphaba. Fiyero noticed it before she did, and he leaned his head back again to Elphaba, “Hey, Fae?”
She hummed an acknowledgement as she looked down to him, “You do realize now that we’ve all gone… That means she can choose whoever she wants as the next one…” Her eyes widened for a moment as she looked at Fiyero, before her gaze lifted to Galinda, looking as smug as Fiyero had when they’d first arrived, “Galinda…”
She smiled as she looked to her roommate, “Elphaba. Truth or dare?”
Elphaba buried her face in her hands for moment. Neither option was going to have her unscathed in this, and so she decided on the lesser of two evils, sighing, “Truth; though I just know I’m going to regret this...” Elphaba took back her last thought; this game was just as bad as she remembered.
She didn’t even look up towards Galinda’s voice as it rang out, “Do you have feelings for someone? You don’t have to say who.” She added, using Elphaba’s own words back onto her.
She felt her cheeks warm up; whether it was blush due to Fiyero being right beside her, or anger towards Galinda. She should have known to not push the blonde first; she could fight dirty when she wanted to. Galinda also held the secret that Elphaba kept close to herself. She gritted her teeth for a moment, before narrowing her eyes at her, “Yes…” she answered slowly, and quietly.
Galinda seemed pretty proud of herself. Fiyero had turned around to Elphaba as she answered, surprised, “You do?”
She tried to avoid his eye contact; looking just long enough to answer him, “Yes. Is that so hard to believe?” She knew her voice sounded hurt at the end. But, Fiyero didn’t falter.
His face softened, “Not at all, Fae.” Did he dare to wish that she reciprocated his feelings?
They settled in a silence once again for a moment; Elphaba was now refusing to play; leaving the other three to keep playing, while she listened to them. Galinda had gone to ask Fiyero for his turn, when the lamps within their room began to flicker, as if trying to come back to life.
Ren shared a look with Fiyero, “Should we be taking advantage of the veil of darkness, to not get caught by Morrible?”
Fiyero thought for a moment; he didn’t want to leave Elphaba yet, but decided Madame Morrible was a worse fate. He nodded, getting up from the floor. He turned to Elphaba, noting that Ren was busy saying his goodbyes to Galinda, “Thanks for harboring us tonight.”
She rolled her eyes, “You’re welcome, Fiyero. But don’t think for a moment though, if you two get caught leaving, that I won’t throw you under the bus.” She held up an accusing finger towards him. He smiled, in a moment of courage, took her hand while she pointed it at him. He seemed so causal about it like he had done it a million times before, “I wouldn’t dream of anything else, Fae.”
She stared to where he held her hand, before she looked back up to him, and he was giving her a lopsided grin. He waited only a moment longer, before calling out to Ren over his shoulder, and both of them used the darkness of the hall, to slip back to their dormitory.
Elphaba locked the door once again behind them, before she turned around to find Galinda, on her bed in her blanket cocoon with her arms crossed at her.
“What?” she questioned.
Galinda huffed, “I know that was not the lights coming back themselves, Elphie.”
Had she actually saw her hand flick before the lights fluttered? She tried to feign confusion, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Uh huh, you know nothing about cutting off Fiyero’s turn?” she asked, and Elphaba shrugged, “Oh, was it Fiyero’s turn?” she shrugged her shoulders, “How unfortunate for you.”
Elphaba went back to her bed, burrowing within the covers, “You had promised to play fairly; and you went back on it. I was saving him from your questioning.”
“That’s pretty ironic coming from you, Elphie, considering you started it.”
Elphaba sighed, as she laid back in her bed, “I’m sorry, okay? I just know that you have feelings for Ren, and thought you could use a push. I’ll stay out of it, from now on.”
She turned her back from where Galinda still sat up, watching her in the glow of her candle, “Elphie?”
Elphaba turned herself, using her elbow to hold herself up, “Yeah?”
She sighed, before speaking, “All is fair in love and war.” She turned further, blowing out the candle; ending the discussion, “Goodnight, Galinda.”
Galinda smiled as she settled herself into her bed. She listened to the silence from Elphaba’s side of the room, before she decided on one last thing, “Elphie?”
A sigh was heard, before Elphaba’s voice questioned, “Yes, Galinda?”
You could hear the smile within Galinda’s voice, “Did you really not know Fiyero was flirting with you earlier?”
A heavy sigh came from the other side of the room, “Goodnight, Galinda.”