AN: Credit for this story idea goes to Idina is my Elphie. I hope you like it.
Fiyero yawned as he stretched in Avaric's overly ornate parlor, marveling again in how such a long and wonderfully school-free vacation could be as boring as the jail cell of education so usually was. He lazily flopped his head over to the side to look out the window without having to get up so that he might catch the hummingbirds out to breakfast…or lunch, he amended with a glance at the clock.
"Let's go outside," Fiyero tossed toward the dozing boy across the room.
"Let's not," came the answering mumble.
"But it's a beautiful day, really."
"You always say that," and which that Avaric rolled over and returned to his nap. Gillikin had such milder summers than the Vinkus did. No blazing heat confining one indoors; no dry spells that cooked the ground to sizzle like a fire; no rogue sandstorms that sweep the dry land like angry dogcatchers. Fiyero adored even what Avaric considered a horrid heat spell.
"Come on, we can go swimming in the river. It'll be fun."
Avaric yawned heavily, "Fiyero, mate, don't get me wrong, but you're annoying."
"So you might as well give in," Fiyero said with a smile, bounding up from the couch and dragging Avaric from his. "You know I'll simply keep pestering you until you do." Grumpily, Avaric followed him out into the blissful sunshine, muttering under his breath about house guests. Fiyero led the way toward the river eagerly, discarding his stripped shirt in the care of a nearby tree. With pants soon followed, he dove in to the cool, babbling water below.
Avaric lounged on the bank, smirking at him. "I ought to take your clothes and leave. It'd serve you right, you know."
Fiyero sent a splash toward him, laughing, "Do your worst. There's no one to embarrass me around anyway."
"Not that anyone can embarrass you anyway," Avaric replied, referring to the numerous pranks the boy had tried to pull on him only to discover Fiyero's rather excessive nonchalance.
"Are you getting in?"
"Let's see, two guys in their skivvies splashing around each other with no girls in sight?" Avaric pretended to ponder a moment, "I think I'll stay right here on the heterosexual side of the river, thanks."
"Oh, shut up," Fiyero splashed him again, more forcefully this time. "Don't tell me you're not secure in your manhood."
"Just making sure you don't get any ideas," Avaric teased, brushing the dirt from his rump as he stood. "We all know what a delicious piece of ass I am."
Fiyero had to laugh at that, and he nearly fell under the surface with his raucous amusement. Avaric shed his own clothing and dove in beside Fiyero. When the boy didn't surface for a moment, Fiyero grew quickly worried, scanning the muddied surface for signs of his friend. That is, until his ankles were knocked out from underneath him, and he tumbled under the water. Avaric was laughing hard by the time Fiyero surfaced, so Fiyero repaid him in kind.
After they tired of attacking each other, they took turns swinging in from the tree's attached rope, flying widely into the water below. All in all, it was a beautiful afternoon. Mid-swing, Fiyero heard a very familiar, very unexpected voice floating toward them.
"Oh, trust me Elphie, it's just beautiful over here. You'll love the view," Galinda burst through the forest on the other side of the river right as Fiyero let go, streaking through the scene before her.
Elphaba smirked behind her roommate. "Not exactly the view I was expecting Galinda, but I suppose ogling your boyfriend will occupy you long enough to let me read in peace. You could have dispensed with the elaborate scheme though."
Galinda had turned beet reed, her eyes wide as she stammered denials. Fiyero climbed up the embankment to meet them, amused to see Avaric already frantically shoving on clothing. "Galinda, Elphaba, what a nice surprise. What are you girls doing here?" Fiyero smiled
"Picnic," Galinda squeaked, her eyes still traveling Fiyero's dripping body.
"Oh, mind if we join you? We actually missed lunch I think." His stomach growled in corroboration.
Elphaba raised an eyebrow, pointing toward his clothes across the river. "I don't think that's all you're missing Fiyero."
He shrugged, calling Avaric over. "So how are you girls?"
Galinda squeaked again, and Fiyero assumed she had answered, "Fine," though it came out only as a high-pitched blob of indecipherable sound. Elphaba sighed, "Have you at all planned on getting dressed in the near future?"
"Oh, that's a new one," Fiyero teased. "I don't think I've ever had a girl ask me to put my clothes back on."
"Yes, well, riveting though you may be," she paused to let her sarcasm drip through, "I'm afraid Galinda will not regain her powers of speech until you are reclothed."
Galinda blushed heavily, turning an appalled look on her roommate. Fiyero countered, "If you find me too attractive to concentrate, Miss Elphaba, of course I shall oblige you."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, that's it," she scoffed. "How could I deny my passionate lust? And in front of your girlfriend, no less."
His cocky grin fell at that, and he and Galinda suddenly became very interested in the rocks on the ground. Ever perceptive, Elphaba tilted her head in confusion at their behavior, but her question was cut short by the arrival of Avaric with his clothes. Fiyero dressed quickly, suddenly unnerved by Elphaba's ignorance of his recent breakup with her roommate.
"Let's eat," Avaric broke the tension as he picked up the picnic basket and led them away. "I'm starving! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a way across this river without getting wet?"
"Quite," Elphaba nodded, hastily adding as Fiyero started to drop his arm around the girls, "I'm allergic to water."
"Allergic to water? Is that even possible?" Avaric asked incredulously, but Fiyero caught how Galinda's head had snapped up to stare at her.
"Elphie! You never tell anyone that," she blinked in surprise. That of itself confirmed it for Fiyero.
Elphaba shrugged, looking vacant. "I told you, didn't I?"
"Yes, but…I'm your best friend," Galinda replied.
"Of course, my pretty," Elphaba smiled and took Galinda's hand. "I just thought it best to warn them before that bear of boyfriend of yours drips all over me, and I fizzle away."
Fiyero realized how right she was, and as he stepped away, he made a mental note to leave her alone until he had dried. As they ate, Avaric pestered her with questions of what it was like until Fiyero caught her tension at the subject. He redirected the conversation away, or tried to. In the middle of Fiyero's brilliant capture of another of Elphaba's sandwiches from her, Avaric blurted out, "So, you've never even had a bath?"
Everyone stared at him, having moved on to another conversation. Elphaba flushed, and Fiyero sent her an apologetic look for the rudeness of his friend. "I have an idea," Fiyero interrupted before she could answer, "let's start dessert." With a wicked smile, he reached his hand into the basket only to have Galinda slap it playfully away.
He speared another bit of melon off Elphaba's plate happily as the group diverted to other subjects. Elphaba didn't thank him, but her subtle smile said it all. Pleased with himself, he flopped onto his back, peering up at the clouds. The summer sky here was beautiful, but nothing like the magnificent sky in the Vinkus. He thought a moment if that spectacle was worth the climate, and he merely drew a tie between the two.
Avaric, aware of Galinda's single status, was trying to charm her. Fiyero smirked at a ridiculous line of flattery at the same time Elphaba scoffed quickly in disgust. He sent her a commiserating look, and she bit back a laugh. The line would work on Galinda, no doubt, whose vanity was remarkably easy to appeal to, and though Fiyero felt he should be jealous, he wasn't in the slightest. So long as he and Galinda remained friends, he was content.
Avaric smoothly suggested a cool drink by the river after the leftovers had been picked up and the picnic basket put away, and Galinda quickly agreed. Fiyero shook his head, not bothering to roll off his back. "No thanks," he yawned lazily, "I'll stay here."
Once the pair had left, Elphaba tossed a piece of grass at him. "You know you didn't have to stay and supervise me."
He rolled over and propped his head up. "What are you talking about?"
"You can go get some water with the others. Just because I'm allergic doesn't mean I need a babysitter."
"Oh, I just didn't want to get up, actually," he said, and his sincerity must have convinced her because she flushed in return.
"In that case, never mind." After a second, they heard a splash. She jumped up, ready to go investigate, but he grabbed her wrist.
"Stay. I'm sure they're just swimming or such." In all reality, he was certain Avaric was flirting mercilessly with Galinda, and Fiyero did really feel like interrupting. Not when he had such a pleasant distraction already in front of him.
She crossed her arms. "Aren't you at all concerned that Avaric is alone with Galinda?"
Fiyero shrugged. "Not really."
Exasperated, she added, "But, he's been flirting with her all afternoon." Another shrug. "Aren't you worried you're going to lose her?"
He decided it was time to clarify, despite Galinda's inaction in that area. "First, do you really think Avaric's corny lines can compete with my charm?" He flashed a toothy smile, and she rolled her eyes at his parody of arrogance. "Second, Galinda is free to date whom she would like. Who am I to stop her?"
"You're her boyfriend," Elphaba told him as if he were dense. "That's kind of the point."
"No, I'm not." He returned to scanning the clouds. "Galinda and I broke up. I'm surprised she didn't tell you." The moment of shocked silence told him Elphaba was also surprised she hadn't been told. "Do you mind if we don't talk about it, though?" he cut her off before she could begin her interrogation. Once she started, he would only manage to upset her; that much he had distinctly learned.
They fell into companionable silence for a moment, until Elphaba whispered mostly to herself, "Why didn't she tell me?"
Fiyero sighed, pulling her down to lie beside him against her protests. "Don't worry about it. Worry never accomplished anything for anyone." She started to argue, but he added, "Just ask her later."
Elphaba reluctantly nodded, turning her eyes to the clouds with him. She fidgeted beside him, and he knew how hard it was for her to keep still. Half-rolling on his side, he gave her an impish grin and let his hand reach for a flower on her other side. Her eyes widened a little, and he tried not to think about how beautiful they were. Halfway toward the flower, he attacked, swiftly assaulting her with tickles mercilessly until she squirmed against him, laughing and cursing with each gasped breath.
When he finally stopped, she was flush against him, still twitching with laughter, with her hand against his chest in a useless threat to push him away. She was very imposing when she tried, but he was still stronger than her. He smiled down at her, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder before shoving his hands beneath his head as a pillow on the pebbled ground.
"Jerk," she shot at him, pouting just a little at his assault. He just chuckled, too happy with her warmth against his side to argue. Contentment settled over them like a blanket as the afternoon sun beamed above. "Is it this beautiful in the Vinkus?" she asked softly, and he smiled.
"The landscape is not, all rocks and dirt instead of trees, but the sky…" he closed his eyes, remembering it. "It's so huge, so many colors and so vivid. I don't think most people would consider the Vinkus beautiful; too rough and hard, I suppose. But I think it's breathtaking." His fingers had wandered to dance lightly against her hair, and he let them brush against her soft, brilliant green skin. "Sometimes beauty comes in the most surprising packages."
She shifted, seeming to realize he meant more than the landscapes. "It's not like that in Munchkinland," she refocused them on the subject. "All corn fields and blue skies. We never even seem to get a cloud."
He broke off a blue flower, trailing its petals against her arm lightly. "I bet it suits you, all that blue and you. Like the river and the trees." She blushed, and he tucked the flower behind her ear.
"Did you just call me a tree?" she asked, her argumentative nature flaring up a bit.
He leaned over her, his fingertips brushing over her neck. "No, I believe I was flirting with you, actually." Her eyes widened in shock, and he smirked at her a moment before letting his lips tease hers lightly. "Why, you got a problem with that?"
Her laugh was uncertain as she tried to figure out his game. "And if I did?" she bluffed, trying to gage his intentions.
"Too bad." He leaned in for a gentle kiss, just enough to make him forever fixated on her amazing lips for the rest of his life. He never got the chance to study her reaction because the others arrived noisily, and they broke apart quickly. Fiyero tried to get Elphaba alone to talk about it, but she managed to avoid him until her fate and that damn letter came to sweep her away from him.
It was years later, as fugitives that they wandered into that same patch of woods in the dead of night. He would recognize it anywhere, so often that memory had played in his mind. He held her again underneath the stars, this time with a little more than a chaste kiss to occupy him, and again she denied his declaration of her beauty. "It's not lying. It's looking at things a different way," he told her then, and so much was different this time. She was so much older, and not just in years. And he…he felt like a different person entirely who had never even met his old self.
Yet so much was still the same. She was still so beautiful. He still adored her. He still marveled in how perfect they fit together.
And they still had such little time.