Practical Magic
I've waved my ridiculous wand around quite a bit and they still aren't mine. Darn.
"Elphie I'm bored."
Elphaba nearly choked on the grape she was snacking on. She loathed those words. Though her burgeoning relationship with her roommate was quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to her, she dreaded being cast in the role of Glinda's entertainment simply because they were now "BFE's" -or whatever Glinda had announced they were the other day.
"Elphie!"
The green girl turned to the source of the shrill but unfortunately persuasive whine. Instead of answering she simply raised her eyebrows and stared the blonde down as she popped another grape into her mouth.
Glinda, pleased to have her roommate's attention allowed herself a satisfied smile as she noticed Elphaba's perfectly sculpted eyebrows -the product of the last time she'd been bored out of her wits.
"Elphie, I'm bored," She repeated, ignoring the other girl's exasperation.
Elphaba pointedly ignored her.
"Whatcha readin'?" Glinda persisted.
"I'm studying for Madame Morrible's seminar. We have a test on Friday that I'd like to pass. You might try it yourself sometime."
"I have! I've been studying all day," Glinda insisted. "I need a break and so do you. It's a wonder your beautiful brain hasn't mutinied for all the thinking you force it to do all the time."
"I happen to like thinking," Elphaba countered casually as she popped another grape in her mouth.
"Show me some magic."
That got Elphie's attention.
"What?"
"Show me something," Glinda said again with exaggerated patience. "I know you've mastered the theory already, so why don't you put it to good use and show me something."
"Sorcery isn't a toy Glinda, it's not something you pull out to play with when you've got nothing better to do. You have to practice at it, just like any other skill."
"You will be practicing, and so will I -by observation of course."
"No."
"Please just one?"
Elphaba sighed and stared at the remainder of her grape bunch.
"Just one little trick please?"
"Fine," Elphaba said. "One. And then you will leave me to study the rest of the night?"
"Deal," Glinda said quickly, before Elphaba could rethink the negotiation.
"Alright, watch closely I'm only going to do this once," Elphaba said sternly, though there was a mischievous twinkle in her azure eyes that belied her tone. "I'm going to make this grape travel through my forehead and down to my mouth."
"Elphie! That's disgusting!"
"Lamentably so," Elphaba agreed with false brevity. "Do you want the trick or not?"
"Just do it," Glinda retorted archly. "Just try not to get grape juice all over the place please."
"I shall do my utmost," Elphaba assured her as she prepared the tiny purple grape in her left hand. She took a deep, dramatic breath and closed her eyes and then proceeded to push the grape onto her forehead -remembering to be careful not to smush it. The green girl hissed in pain and Glinda gasped, horrified that her Elphie would do such an incredibly stupid trick just to entertain.
"Oh Elphie I-
One of Elphaba's eyes popped open and she held up a finger before Glinda could continue the frantic thought. Slowly she lowered her hand and with one quieter groan of pain she opened her mouth to display the tiny purple grape perched at the tip of her pink tongue.
Glinda's initial horror slid into shock and disgust then finally into exasperation.
"Elphaba Thropp! You cheat! That was nothing but a carnival trick!" She cried, giving her roommate a light smack on the arm.
"Is that any way to treat your star performer? That was a perfectly good magic trick," Elphaba said primly. She slyly let the grape that remained in her left hand drop unnoticed to the rumples in the comforter.
"Where in Oz did you learn a thing like that? The circus?"
"A true magician never reveals her sources of magic."
"Bull," Glinda snapped, smiling broadly. "The deal was for real magic."
"I'm sorry you didn't specify that in your terms, perhaps next time," Elphaba bantered back. She popped another grape into her mouth, as if daring Glinda to comment.
"You've learned transmaniportation, I know you have," Glinda said quickly. "Why don't you make the grape appear in my mouth?"
"Oh that's easy I don't even need hands."
"Transmaniportation requires a reasonable deal of magic," Glinda said, eyes gleaming as she silently dared Elphaba.
"Naturally," Elphaba agreed. She scooched closer to the blonde and then explained, "I should probably be a bit closer. Wouldn't want anything to go wrong."
"Of course not," Glinda quietly concurred as she eyed the grape tucked carefully between her roommate's teeth.
"I imagine you'd like some magic words now or something?"
"Elphie didn't you read the theory? Transmaniportation doesn't require a spell. All you have to do is want something badly enough."
"Silly me," Elphaba whispered. She leaned forward a few inches. "I suppose in this case you'd have to want it too."
"I suppose I would."
"Do you?"
Glinda's only response was to close the last few inches of gap between them and gently but firmly press her lips to Elphie's. The kiss remained chaste for a few heartbeats, an innocent fulfillment of two separate but similar desires. Then Elphaba let her mouth fall open slightly. She swept her tongue fleetingly over Glinda's lower lip, retracing the motion when the blonde's lips parted. Before it could deepen any further, Elphaba ended it by flicking the grape into Glinda's waiting mouth just before she pulled away.
"You were saying something about theory?" Glinda mumbled, around the unexpected presence of the grape she'd forgotten.
"Never mind, I think you were right. With regards to magic between two people, practical is really the only way to go."
"Practice makes perfect you know?"
"Indeed," Elphaba said and closed the distance once more.