Chapter Text
Elphaba had been studying at her desk, in her dorm room, when Galinda came running in; in a flurry with papers falling and flying out of her arms, and Elphaba could only stare at her roommate, in shock, as she triumphantly smiled upon setting the papers down; well, most of them made it anyways, and turned to her, “Galinda, what in Oz are you doing?
Galinda smiled, as she came bouncing over to where Elphaba sat, and proudly presented one of the papers to her, nodding for Elphaba to take it. Elphaba looked down to the paper within her hands, and rolled her eyes, as she placed it to the side, “Really, Galinda? A matchmaking party with questionnaires?”
Galinda beamed, proudly, “Of course, Elphie. It is almost Valentine’s Day!”
Elphaba could only weakly look to her roommate; she’d be trying to forget that the day was approaching. She had hoped the blonde wasn’t going to bother her about it, but obviously, here she was, “Well, I’m sorry to tell you, Galinda, but you’re wasting one of your papers on me.”
Elphaba attempted to go back to studying, before Galinda’s hand covered her page, and she turned to her, exasperated, “Galinda!”
“No, Elphie. I am not wasting a paper on you. You are answering the questions, and you are coming to the party!” she protested, pouting a lip. Elphaba could only roll her eyes; she knew that didn’t work on her. When the green girl didn’t budge, Galinda tried to soften, “Please, Elphie. I would really like you there, even if it’s just for a little while. I know very well, you have no plans for that day.”
Elphaba thought on it for a moment, deciding, “I only have to stay for an hour, and I don’t have to participate in the matchmaking.” She offered, raising an eyebrow. Galinda smiled, “But, you’ll fill out the questionnaire anyways?” she at least had to try.
Elphaba looked back to the folded paper, and opened it to see the questions. She scanned it, before turning to Galinda, knowing the blonde wasn’t going to drop it otherwise, “I will complete it; it’s not as horrid as I thought it would be. But, that’s as far as I’m going with it.”
Galinda beamed, bouncing back to her side of the room, preparing to hand out the questionnaires tomorrow. Elphaba was hoping she had heard the last of it from her roommate, “I don’t know why you seem so intent on me having some semblance of a love life, Galinda.”
Galinda just looked to Elphaba, serious, “Everyone wants human connection, Elphaba. It’s only natural. I know you try to play it off, like Elphaba Thropp doesn’t need anyone; but everyone needs someone.”
Elphaba didn’t reply, as she looked over the questions again within her hands. She noted that Galinda had used her name, and not the nickname she almost always used; her words echoed in her mind, “Everyone needs someone.”
.
Elphaba had been walking to the library the next day when Fiyero fell into step with her. She gave him a quick smile, as she continued on her route. She didn’t know when exactly this had started, but this was not the first time Fiyero had found her, and continued to walk with her; no questions asked. Didn’t he have better things to do? She almost could begin to call it a routine with how many times he had found her and fallen into step with her.
They walked in silence for a moment, before Fiyero pulled a paper out of his satchel, and nodded to it. She rolled her eyes at it, “She got you with it too, huh?”
Fiyero smiled towards her, “You make it sound like a plague, Elphaba.”
She lightly smirked to him at the comment, “You make it sound like it isn’t.”
Fiyero turned his attention back to the paper, before turning back to her, “Did you fill one out?” he wondered, and he expected her to say something along the lines of she had thrown the paper out; somewhere Galinda wouldn’t find it, and she’d let a smirk slip revealing its location to him, but it never came. Instead, he was met with silence. He looked to her, seeing her best attempt to keep a straight face; though when he saw her lightly picking at her lip with her front teeth, and he knew that telltale sign. She only did it when she was nervous, or unsure. A wide smile began to beam across his face, as it dawned on him, “You did not.”
She smacked him, lightly on the arm as they walked. She rolled her eyes, “Do you realize how often she would have pestered me about it? If I hadn’t.” She sighed, as she held her books tighter to her chest. He was still smiling to her like an idiot, “So you answered the questions, and?”
“And, what, Fiyero?”
“And you’ll be going to the party?” he questioned, and noticed her pace slowed. He waited a moment, before answering his question himself, “I am.”
She stilled, and turned to him, “You’re going to indulge her?”
He nodded, “Why not? It’s a great excuse for a get-together, and I think it’ll be a good time.” She rolled her eyes; the thought that she’d be there at the least for an hour, and now she’d not only fighting off Galinda, but Fiyero would be there as well. Her cheeks warmed slightly; nervously, and she shook the thought from her head.
They’d reached the library, not long afterwards, and she raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re coming to the library?” she asked, as he held the door for her, looking like he’d follow in behind her. He flashed her a smile, “I guess we both full of surprises, Miss Elphaba.”
She rolled her eyes, as he followed in behind her.
.
She hadn’t been searching for the books she needed for class for long, before she found a quiet nook that had a table available, and she sat down, starting to research for her paper. She thought she had lost Fiyero within the books at some point, and would have peace and quiet to work in.
She was wrong.
Fiyero slid into the chair across from her at the table, flashing his best smile. She rolled her eyes again, turning back to her own books, before noting the one book he had brought with him, “Really, Fiyero? One book?”
He proudly smiled down to the book, nodding. She shook her head, that was definitely not going to be enough. He at the least, sat in silence for her to work; his gaze drifting between watching her, and then, pulling out Galinda’s questionnaire. Elphaba raised an eyebrow at him, and he smiled back to her, reading the first question aloud, as if she hadn’t already seen it herself, “What’s your favourite season?”
Elphaba didn’t look up from her paper. He jotted something down, within the answers available, and poked a finger towards her hand, “What did you put for that one, Fae?”
She glanced quickly to him, before looking back to her paper, “I don’t think that we are supposed to share our answers, Fiyero. I think that’s the point of it being a matchmaking compatibility questionnaire.”
He smirked, though she hadn’t seen it, looking down at her papers, “I bet you put Autumn.” Her gaze whipped up to meet his, and he smiled, “Am I wrong?” She didn’t dignify it with an answer, especially since it was correct. He was proud of how well he knew her, though he guessed maybe this questionnaire would reveal more.
He moved his pencil down to the next question, reading aloud, “What’s your favourite choice for dessert?”
He tapped his pencil for a moment to his cheek, before filling his answer.
“Ice cream.” She said in a small voice, not looking up from her paper.
“You?”
She rolled her eyes, “No. You.” he smiled in response. She wasn’t wrong. Maybe as much as he thought he knew her, she also knew him well. He turned his gaze back to the questionnaire, scrunching his nose slightly, “How does answering about your favourite beverage and what it says about you; help in the area of matchmaking?”
Elphaba shrugged her shoulders, just as confused at first as he was, “I thought the same. I asked Galinda, and she said it had to do with compatibility with dates, involving food and drinks.”
He thought on it for a moment, looking to the answers available. Water, Alcohol, Coffee, or Tea. He hovered for an answer for a moment, before circling it in. She peered over, and he pretended to cover his answers, like it was a test. She rolled her eyes, moving her eyes back to her paper, “I did not think that was going to be your answer.” She said simply.
Fiyero looked back down to the paper, “Why? Did you think I’d fill in the Alcohol spot?”
She gave a pointed look, and he laughed, trying to keep it quiet; they were in the library after all. He shook his head, “No, not Alcohol. I can live without that. My poorest decisions are probably made when I drink.” He quirked his head to the side, before nodding, “Coffee. Coffee, I cannot live without. It’s probably the reason I make it to lectures before 9 am.” She let a small snort slip, before she brought her hand up, in an attempt to cover it, but he had already heard it. He smiled, “Something to say, Fae?”
She shook her head, a smile pulling at her lips, as she continued to research through the book in front of her. “What did you put? I bet you put Coffee too.” She gave a small glance to him, before looking back down. She smiled, letting him guess that he was indeed correct.
He smirked, turning back to the sheet again, “What is your ideal date night?”
He slowly scanned the options: a fancy dinner, a walk on a beach, spur of the moment road trip, or staying in and doing your favourite activities together.
He thought on this one longer, Elphaba noticed. As much as he had been seeming nonchalantly about it all, he seemed to now be thinking his answers through more. Though, the tone of the questions had also changed. They became more serious the further you got into it. It did begin to test your compatibility. He slowly circled in his answer, and Elphaba moved her eyes ever so slightly, hoping to see a glimpse of which he circled, remembering the order of the answers on that one. She was surprise to see he had circled the last option.
He caught her looking, and decided to pretend like he hadn’t seen her. She looked up to him, “You do know that ‘activities’ mean literal hobbies, and not-“ she trailed off, not thinking through the thought before it left her lips, shocked that she had said it aloud; he leaned back in his chair, smirking, “Miss Elphaba…” he gently chided, smiling as he shook his head, he could see slight blush come to her cheeks. He paused, “Do you really think that little of me?”
She glanced for a moment, before her eyes were glued back to her paper, “No. But, do you remember the reputation that followed you to Shiz?”
She glanced up at the silence, and saw his face drop for a moment, “I’m sorry, Fiyero. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
He shook his head, and reached to grab for her hand, which stilled her movements. She stared at it for a moment, before he waited for her gaze to meet his, “Please don’t, Fae.”
Elphaba stayed still as he continued, “You’re one of the only people who call me out on my poor decisions; my stupid decisions. Please don’t stop, just because your mouth spoke faster than your brain could keep up with.” He finished it with a smile. She nodded, turning back to her book.
He read out the next question on the sheet: “The best thing about you is your-“
He read the options available: “my looks, my personality, my humor, my intelligence.”
He thought on it for a moment, he smirked towards her, as she attempted to ignore him. “My looks, obviously.” He said it, sounding so arrogant, so matter-of-factly, that she thumped his leg under the table. He grimaced, rubbing his shin where her boot had made contact, and he looked to her, “Are you saying I’m not good looking, Fae? Because you could have just said that, instead of kicking me.”
She rolled her eyes, “I didn’t get you that hard.” She paused, writing another sentence, before looking to him again, “And I didn’t say that either.”
He smiled, “So, you do think I’m good looking?”
He was being smug, and he knew it. He watched her, as she thought over her answer carefully, “I was trying to say,” she looked to him pointedly, “That it’s not your best quality.”
He wrinkled his nose at her, and she smiled, “I’m not saying you’re not handsome, Fiyero. You’d have to be blind to not see that.” He smirked at her response, and he nodded for her to continue, “I’m just saying, there are other qualities in you that are better.”
He relaxed into his chair, arms crossed on his stomach, “Such as?”
She shook her head, “I’m not saying anymore on the topic. Galinda will already be mad enough, if she finds out that you filled it out around me. She specified: no answer sharing.”
She paused for a moment, before allowing a small smile, as she stared at her paper, “Looks can always change, but your heart; who you are at your core. That hardly ever changes.”
He mused her words over, and smiled, looking at the answers on the sheet. Personality, Humor, Intelligence; she could have been meaning any of them. He held his pencil over the first answer to spite her, but he moved it down to the second answer.
They sat in comfortable silence for awhile longer, as Fiyero was finishing the questionnaire, and Elphaba was getting somewhere in her research, when she looked up and found him on the final question. She noted how serious his face was as he read, and she remembered the final question.
“What do you look for first in a partner?”
The answers were similar to the personal question: looks, humor, intelligence, or confidence.
She had turned to Galinda, when she answered this one herself. She had asked her why there wasn’t an option for all of the qualities, when Galinda had smiled to her, and replied, “It’s for what you look for first, Elphie. It’s not that you can’t want all those qualities. I’m just interested in the first one that comes to mind.” Which hadn’t really made Elphaba all that happy with the answer. Looks weren’t everything; their heart mattered the most. But, you needed to be attracted to them, to a degree. Humor was also a good thing to have, but it depended on the humor. If it was in good spirits, great. If it was aimed at someone else’s expense, not great. Humor was such a subjective thing. Intelligence, made her think for a moment. She did enjoy when she matched well with someone of the same intelligence. And finally, confidence. This one was also a precarious one. While confidence was a good attribute, it could go too far, and lean to the side of arrogance. She hated when someone was arrogant; too confident.
She looked up, to see him studying her, as he thought on his answer, “What?” she asked, when his gaze didn’t waver. He smiled, and shrugged, “Nothing. I was just lost in thought.”
She gave him a slight look, but turned back down to her paper. His voice broke the silence, “Why isn’t there an ‘all of the above’ answer?”
She smirked, looking to him, “I said the exact same thing to Galinda.” He raised an eyebrow to her, and she shrugged, “It was a hard one to decide on, but she said when I asked, that it’s not that you can’t want all those qualities, but it’s about which one you look for first.” She flipped a hand to him, trying to insinuate that it wasn’t as deep of a question as they took it, and he turned back to his paper. She turned back to her book, sneaking glances as she watched him decide. She tried to make the glances seem inconspicuous: a door opening, a student walking by, a student coughing; all noises she’d normally glance up for.
He surprised her when he circled the third answer. She tried to keep her face even, as if she hadn’t looked for his answer. She had been curious.
He tried to hide the smile on his own face, when he noticed the look on her face when he circled in the Intelligence answer. It was one of surprise, but there had been something else behind it. Had she been proud of him; that that’s the first thing he’d look for in someone?
He had written his name at the top, and creased it, folding it inwards. He slid it over to her, and she quirked an eyebrow at him. It was something she seemed to do at him often; he confused her.
“Do you mind giving it to Galinda for me?” he flashed her a smile again, and she looked at his questionnaire. She mutely nodded, tucking it into her books, like a bookmark. He went to walk away, with his one book, when she quietly called over to him, “You trust me to not look?”
He smiled, over his shoulder, winking to her, “Of course I do.”
And with that, she was left sitting in the library, by herself. Suddenly, she found herself looking towards the door, hoping he’d turn around and come back. But he didn’t. She watched as she lost him within the crowd outside the window, as a lecture had just released.
She thought more on what Galinda had said: everyone wants human connection; everyone needs someone. Maybe, Elphaba Thropp wasn’t as happy as she thought she was when she was alone.
.
Elphaba returned to her dorm, not long after Fiyero had left. She noted Galinda was sitting at her vanity, and smiled as she noted the green girl entering. Elphaba walked over to where she sat, gently slipping the paper out of her book, holding it out to Galinda. She looked confused, she’d already given her the questionnaire yesterday. “It’s Fiyero’s”, she said calmly, as the blonde quickly grabbed it from her, “I bumped into him at the Library-“
Galinda quirked an eyebrow, and Elphaba lightly laughed, “I know, I was shocked too.” Galinda nodded knowingly, and Elphaba continued, “We bumped into each other, and he asked me to pass it along; you know, roommate and all, I was going to see you first.”
Galinda nodded in agreement, and began to look over his answers. Nodding here and there, and scrunching her nose at others, “You didn’t look at it, right?”
Elphaba moved over to her desk, to put down her books, “Of course not. You told us to not share answers.”
Galinda smiled, triumphantly. Finally, she felt that maybe she was getting somewhere with Elphaba.
Elphaba thought on it; technically they had guessed answers, or had discussed the question or answers. But she hadn’t looked at the sheet once he had trusted her with it.
Galinda settled Fiyero’s questionnaire with the others she had already collected, and looked at the pile; she had so many to get through before the next two weeks were up. She had begun to look them over when she heard Elphaba’s voice from behind her, “So, how exactly will these help you to match people?”
Galinda turned around beaming, Elphaba had made it sound like a death sentence when she first brought it up yesterday, “Well, I’m comparing the answers. It’s not like one answer means you automatically match to someone. Multiple answers need to line up to make you compatible. Each person will have three matches best suited to them, and everyone can mingle, and they can decide for themselves, if it’s something they want to explore.” She shrugged smiling as she finished, when she noted Elphaba’s face, and couldn’t exactly place the look on it, “Elphie?”
Elphaba looked up, and nervously to the blonde, “What if someone has no matches?”
Galinda quirked her head to the side, no matches? Elphaba had begun to ask a bunch of question about something that she had seemingly had no want in priorly. Then she realized what Elphaba was thinking about.
She had agreed to it at Galinda insistence, but what happened if no one matched with her; even if she said she hadn’t wanted to participate on the day of. She already got enough looks as it was; she didn’t need to be embarrassed too.
Galinda looked to Elphaba, serious, “Everyone will have at least one match, Elphie.” When Elphaba didn’t look convinced, Galinda smiled, “I know, for a fact already, that you have at least one match.”
She raised an eyebrow, and Galinda giggled, “I promise, Elphie. I know within this stack-” she turned, lifting it for Elphaba to see, “- you have at least one match already.”
Elphaba didn’t know if she trusted it, but she nodded anyways, turning back to her books, to continue her research at her desk. “I’m trusting you, Galinda.” Her tone serious. Galinda turned to her stack of papers, smiling at the one she held in her hand, “I know, Elphie.”
“What do you look for first in a partner?”
“Intelligence.”