"Now what?" Glinda said while picking leaves and twigs out of her hair.
Elphaba, still sprawled out face down on the grass, said nothing.
"Elphie? Elphie, quit your brooding. Tell me, did I get it all?"
Elphaba rolled onto her back, and reached a hand out to smooth over golden curls. "That's your biggest concern right now? Seriously?"
"My hair has been through a terrible ordeal, what with the wind, that tree, your rough handling..."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for trying to hold onto you and break your fall." She sat up suddenly, and tilted Glinda's chin so their eyes could meet. "Are you hurt anywhere my sweet?"
Glinda blushed and looked down at her lap. "Just some scrapes and scratches, nothing serious. But I broke three nails!" She held up her hands for Elphaba to see.
Elphaba laughed aloud, but quickly surpressed it after seeing Glinda's pout. She took Glinda's hands and placed a light kiss on the fingertips with broken nails. "You've lived colorful lives. May you regrow to be smothered in paint again someday."
Glinda giggled and took her hands away. She began instead to point out the scrapes on her knees, the cut near her left wrist, and the red scratch marks on the inside of her right elbow. Elphaba rolled her eyes, but tended to each of Glinda's injuries as requested. "All better." She looked up as Glinda cupped her cheek. "Just one more." Glinda whispered, and with the other hand behind Elphaba's neck, guided her lips onto her own.
-----
"You know that's what brought us crashing down here in the first place." Elphaba said when they bothed pulled away.
Glinda smiled sheepishly. "You were amazing, Elphie. Standing up to the Wizard, magicking that broom... You brought out courage and bravarism I never knew was in me. I couldn't contain myself. It's not my fault you let go of the handle..."
"Oh?" Elphaba leaned back onto the grass. "Must've been another blonde that tackled me mid-air, then."
"Mhmm." Glinda giggled, laid her head on Elphaba's shoulder and curled into her side. "What do we do now?"
Elphaba didn't say anything for awhile. Then, in a hesitant voice, "well... Fiyero told me about an empty castle in the Vinkus, just north of the Great Kells."
"Oh?" Glinda raised an eyebrow, furrowed both, then raised them again. "Oh." She pushed away from Elphaba and sat up.
"Glinda."
"Fiyero and I had a clear understanding of our relationship. I just didn't realize you had --"
"We don't." Elphaba sighed. "... I don't. It wasn't like that."
"Okay."
Elphaba put her hand on Glinda's. "Please believe me."
Glinda squeezed her hand and leaned back against her chest. "Always."
After some time, Elphaba got them both up and grabbed the broom. "Ready to get back on our way?"
"Can I steer this time?"
"Definitely not."