Title: Tedium
Pairing: Crope/Tibbett
Rating: T
Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending.
Warning: …nothing really, unless you didn't know there was a book…then I'd be worried.
Genre: Romance, humor
Summary: Companion to "Study Break" – Tibbett gets bored, and decides he needs to pay Crope a visit. One-shot
Author's Notes: I got bored during a show, and started thinking about how Tibbett got the dress from "Study Break" and how he knew Crope was in his room alone. So, this happened. This should have been up about a week ago, but every time I sit down to finish it, something distracts me. So, this is my present to you all while I'm away in Florida. The ending ties in directly with Study Break, though it would be in Crope's perspective. Not Tibbett's.
There were four days left of finals, before the summer break would start. Four long, dull days. Tibbett sighed. He rolled onto his stomach and pulled at a piece of grass. He only looked up when a shadow passed over him.
"What are you doing out here, Tibbett?" Avaric asked, his nose wrinkled in aristocratic dislike.
Tibbett rolled his shoulders in a feline fashion, listening to them crack. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked. He had to squint to make out the fair-haired young man above him. Avaric sat down next to him.
"It looks like you're pouting." He said. Tibbett opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. He probably was pouting without knowing it. He ran a hand through is hair, before looking back at Avaric, suddenly hopeful.
"Where's Crope?" he asked, trying not to sound like a giddy young schoolgirl – though he had to admit he felt like one, as asinine as it may have been.
Avaric picked a piece of grass off of his immaculate pants. "Where do you think he is? He's upstairs, devouring his History book, as he has been every afternoon since finals began."
Tibbett deflated visibly. "I thought you were studying for arithmetic." He said accusatory.
Avaric smirked. "Ah, yes, and you're studying for our Life Sciences final by soaking up the life and Life around you, am I right?" Tibbett opened his mouth to say something, but Avaric stood, brushing off his pants. "Unlike Master Crope, I can't live on facts alone; I'm going to a small theatre to see some girls perform. It's supposed to be high entertainment – then I may try to get into the Philosophy Club." He raised an eyebrow. "Crope will be in there for awhile, and it'd be easier to get two men into the Philosophy Club then just one. What do you say?"
Tibbett shook his head. "That's fine. I think I'll stay…" He stopped, and his eyes narrowed suddenly, his lips moving soundlessly. He smirked, and looked up through his eyelashes at Avaric. "How long do you plan on being out?" he asked sweetly.
"All night, with luck." He said, flashing Tibbett a very wolfish grin. "Would you like to join me, and find a nice young woman that's better suited than Crope for you?" he asked. Tibbett shook his head frantically as he stood up. Before Avaric had a chance to ask what had changed Tibbett's mood so quickly, Tibbett was hurrying towards Three Queens.
When he reached the college, Tibbett slipped inside. He walked down the hallways until he reached a closet. He tried the door. Frowning, he pulled harder. He groaned, looking around the hallway. He backed up as far as he could, before he started running towards the door. He skidded to a halt and hid under the stairwell as the door unlocked itself and opened. A young Gillikin fresher came out with a bundle. The boy didn't close the door, and Tibbett quickly took advantage of that. He wrenched open the door and looked around the costume room, before grabbing the first thing that caught his eye. He circled the room one more time. He took a dark bag of no particular importance and stuffed his prize inside, before he tore out of the costume room and out into the open courtyard.
Breathing heavily and sweating were two things Tibbett distinctly hated doing by himself. Thinking also happened to be something he had a difficulty doing when he didn't have Crope with him. However, he managed – after a little indecision and pacing back and forth – to decide to venture into all-too well known territory.
When he reached Crage Hall, he stopped, his fist raised somewhat. What was he going to ask? He hadn't thought all the way through. He gulped, putting his hand back down, and started to turn away. But he needed help, so he turned back around with his back rod straight and nearly knocked on the door.
He jumped back when it was flung open, and blushed deeply. "Master Tibbett, what in Oz are you doing here?" Asked Miss Pfannee, one eyebrow perfectly raised. Misses Milla and Shen Shen tittered behind her.
"I…uh…" Tibbett coughed. These were, after all, if not his friends than acquaintances, and he needn't feel as nervous as he did. "I would like to ask a favor from you." He said.
Shen Shen seemed suddenly intrigued. "What sort of a favor?" she asked.
Tibbett shifted uncomfortably. "May I wait and ask this question with the Misses Glinda, Elphaba, and Nessarose present?" he asked. He didn't need rumors flying to his emerald compatriot, her roomie, nor her sister. The three other girls looked distinctly put-off by his request, but nodded anyway. They led him up the steps to the room the three girls shared.
Without knocking, Milla flung open the door. Glinda jumped, caught in the act of picking out a dress to wear, while Elphaba merely looked up from her book. "Where's Miss Nessarose?" Milla asked.
Elphaba cocked her head to the side, allowing pieces of dark hair to fall into her eyes. "She's in her room." She straightened and raised her voice. "Nessa!" she called.
The other girl came into the room, her hair half-braided. "Yes?" She asked, looking around the cluttered room. "What's going on?" she asked.
Elphaba pointed her chin towards Tibbett and his three guardians. "Ask them." She said, before going back to her book.
"What are you girls doing here?" Glinda asked, stepping over a puffy yellow mass on the ground. "I thought you were going out with boys."
"The boy came to us." Pfannee said, pushing Tibbett awkwardly into the center of the throng. The three girls looked at him in suspicion as he shifted his weight.
"I was wondering…" he cleared his throat as his voice cracked suddenly, making him feel juvenile. "…if you could help me…give Crope a study break?"
Four of the girls clucked gleefully at the prospect, but their blather was broken by the staccato crack of Elphaba's book closing. She stood and walked towards Tibbett. She stood in front of him, arms akimo. "And what, Tibbett, does that entail?" she asked.
Tibbett blushed, before putting the bag down. He opened it and pulled out a russet colored dress he had found in the costume room. "Helping me get into this, and possibly fixing me before I go." This idea suddenly felt foolish.
Nessarose huffed. "I'm not helping with this…this is unnatural under the Unionist faith." She pointed out, before turning and leaving the room unsteadily.
"Nessa…" Elphaba started, before sighing. She turned to look at Tibbett, before she took the dress from him. "Well, you better let this gaggle take care of you; I'm no better at playing the girl than you are at playing the boy." He smiled at her thankfully, before watching as she laid the dress out on her bed.
Glinda quickly took over, moving her triad of friends onto her own bed, before circling Tibbett. "Take off your boots and shirt." She told him. He did as he was told. She looked over at Elphaba. "Are there any creases in that dress?" she asked.
Elphaba looked the dress over critically. "For being stuffed in a bag, remarkably, it doesn't." she said. Glinda looked at Tibbett, but addressed Elphaba.
"Good; then bring it over here." The young green woman did so. She held it out as Glinda undid the binding in the back, before letting it pool onto the ground. "Master Tibbett, please step into the dress." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, before doing as he was told. Glinda motioned Shen Shen over; the other girl stood in front of Tibbett and held the material over him. "Now, take off your pants." She said. It took him a little more effort than he had expected, but Tibbett managed to get his pants off and get the dress on with relative ease. "Shoes?" asked Glinda.
It took a moment for Tibbett's mind to comprehend that it was a question, but he shrugged. "I figured I'd wear my boots, so I'm not taller than Crope." He turned to Elphaba. "Isn't it bad if the woman is taller than the man?"
Elphaba shrugged. "I wouldn't know." She said, sending Tibbett a sharp, warning glare.
Glinda broke the look by running her nails through Tibbett's hair. "You look good with your hair messy, so I won't do anything to it. Now, put on your boots." Tibbett took his boots and sat down on Glinda's bed. He fastened them on, hearing Elphaba's noise of disapproval.
"You're mad if you're actually going out like that, in broad daylight." She pointed out.
Tibbett looked up at her, smirking slightly. "No one is out today." He said. He stood and hugged each of the girls in turn. He stopped when he reached Elphaba. "Don't worry; I won't harm the already blemished social standing." He said, kissing her on the forehead. She retracted from him, cursing him.
Laughing, Tibbett left Crage Hall and walked as fast as he could in the dress towards his own dormitory. Once he reached Three Queens, however, his heart started beating faster. He snatched a cloak that was unoccupied and lying haphazardly on the cloak rack next to the door. Wrapping in around the dress, he walked up the steps. He knocked on Crope's door.
"Who's there?" He heard faintly.
"It's me." He called.
There was a pause. "Who's 'me'?" Crope called back. Tibbett rolled his eyes.
"You know very well who it is. Can I come in and help you study? I've nothing else to do." Tibbett called.
He heard his partner's sigh. "Fine. Just…be quiet about it." Tibbett smirked as he opened the door. He walked over to the desk Crope was hunched over, and sat down on it. He took off the cloak and let it fall onto the floor as he waited for Crope to notice him.