Fiyero's lungs burned from exertion and his stomach cried out in hunger as he staggered into the corridor of the boys' dormitory. He ran a sweaty palm through his shaggy brown hair, slicking it back into a surprisingly attractive style as he found his way to the door of his dorm room. He pulled his keys out of a pocket in his dark blue sweatpants and dazedly fumbled through them, his fatigue making finding a room key a next to impossible task. Finally, he located the dull piece of gold with "BRISCOE HALL 432" engraved above the ridged edge and unlocked the door, dramatically bursting into the room and falling onto his unmade bed. He heaved a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing his throbbing muscles to relax and heartbeat to regulate. Calming himself with slow and steady breaths, he allowed himself to survey the room. Boq was out- probably in the dining hall getting dinner with everyone else. His stomach growled savagely at the notion of food.
Slowly, he lifted himself to a sitting position, causing stars to dart in and out of his vision. No way was he going to make it anywhere. But that's when the smell reached him. A medium-sized, white box sat on his roommate's desk; a warm, bakery scent wafted from it, reaching every corner of the room.
I knew good things came to those who did nothing, Fiyero thought, smirking. He stood up and gained his balance for the short, yet risky journey across the tiny dorm room. He staggered over and brushed his fingers over the papery covering of the box, readying himself to cram whatever pastry it held inside of his drooling mouth.
The next thing he knew he was on the floor.
"Don't touch that!" shrieked his stout roommate, who had him pinned down with his knees on his chest.
"Get off of me you little freak!" Fiyero shouted back, brushing the much smaller boy off with ease. Boq bounced back onto his feet and swiftly turned to the small box carefully lifting the lid and surveying the contents. Fiyero pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. "Relax; I didn't touch it."
Curiously, Fiyero peered over Boq's shoulder into the box. A mauve-colored cake with white ruffles of icing donning the sides sat there, beckoning at him with its scent, ten times magnified now that the box had been opened. Fiyero drew his head a little closer and saw something scrawled in icing across the top the cake. Boq quickly snapped the lid closed before Fiyero could make out the illegible handwriting.
"So, why exactly do you have a bright pink cake on your desk?" Fiyero asked, more inquisitively than mockingly.
"I made it," Boq replied, a little pride in his voice as he brushed some invisible specks of dust from the top of the box.
"Wow, Boq. Cooking and cleaning," Fiyero said, nodding in the direction of the cake and Boq's well-kept side of the room. He faced Boq and smirked. "You're going to make a lovely wife one day."
"Shut up," Boq shot back, scowling. He pushed past Fiyero and plopped down onto his own bed, pulling out a book from under the pillow. Fiyero shrugged and took the opportunity to take another look at the cake and see if he could make out the hieroglyphic-like handwriting. He popped open the lid, and didn't take much effort to guess what the chicken-scratch icing said.
"'Happy Birthday, Galinda'," Fiyero read. He turned to face Boq, a quizzical look on his face. Boq didn't look up from the book, but his face was bright red. Fiyero tried again, "You made her a cake?"
Boq made eye contact with the prince, but quickly look away and nodded slowly.
"Wow, that's-," Fiyero did a double take. "Wait, when's her birthday?" That snapped Boq out of his embarrassment.
"You seriously don't know?" he asked, looking disgusted. "But she's your girlfriend! You-you're her boyfriend!
"Yes, I'm aware of my relationship status," Fiyero replied, immediately regretting how sarcastic he sounded.
"It's tomorrow,"Boq spat out, angrily.
"Oh, good," Fiyero sighed. "I still have some time to grab her a gift."
"Grab her a gift?" Boq shouted. "You have got to be kidding me! Yeah, two hours before her birthday, you're just going to waltz into some jewelry shop and buy the most expensive thing there! But that's exactly what she wants, isn't it?"
"Look, Boq," Fiyero began, calmly. "I've had a lot to deal with lately-"
"Oh, trouble in paradise?" Boq scoffed.
"I've just… been thinking-"
Boq gasped. Fiyero ignored him and continued.
"I've been thinking about Galinda," he said finally, pausing in case Boq interrupted again. No, the mention of Galinda silenced him. Fiyero went on. "And, well… how I don't deserve her."
Boq was listening intently.
"You're right, Boq. I would just go into some expensive store and buy some random necklace for her and call it a night. She would appreciate it, but there would be no feeling in it. Our relationship is all glamour. At first, that was fine. But now... I don't know."
"You want love," Boq said softly. Fiyero cringed at the sentimental turn the conversation had taken, but Boq looked serious. There was no sign that he was going to start jeering; he was being completely sympathetic. It was assumed that it wasn't going to become a widespread story around campus in the morning that Fiyero "Heartbreaker" Tiggular had gone soft, so he gave in.
"Yeah. I guess I do," Fiyero sighed. "But I do love her." Boq flinched.
"I mean, I- I think I do," Fiyero caught himself. "Is it love? If you really care about them but doubt your relationship?"
"No," Boq replied too quickly. Now it was his turn to catch himself. "Uh, what do you mean by doubts, exactly?"
Fiyero sighed. He might as well come clean.
"There's another girl."
"You're cheating? With who?" Boq barked. He had lost his composure again; short-tempered little thing.
"No! I never cheated!" Fiyero raised his hands in defense. "I'm just, um, feeling for another girl?"
"Who?" Boq demanded. Fiyero felt his mouth go dry. Who. That's the problem. It's who she is that makes this that much harder. Who. Galinda's roommate. Galinda's best friend. The complete opposite of Galinda. The complete opposite of any girl he had ever met. The one girl who could get him to think. The one girl who could actually make him feel the depth of himself as a person. The one girl that was shunned by nearly everyone in school. Who. Who. Who.
"I-I'd rather not say," Fiyero muttered, finally.
"Fiyero, if you're feeling this way, you can't go on being with Galinda," Boq said sternly. Fiyero noted all of the selfish overtones in that statement, and wanted to call him out on it, but Boq interjected before he could open his mouth. Lowering his voice, he continued, "You could really hurt her if you lead her on… She's in love with you." His small blue eyes slid their gaze down to the floor.
"I know," Fiyero mumbled, twisting his face into a frown. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, as both of them wallowed in self-pity, not quite sure what was left to be said. It wasn't long, though, before Fiyero's stomach uttered a chorus of growls and the awkward reticence was broken. Taking advantage of this, Fiyero straightened himself and spoke.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk; clear my head, find something to eat," he said, his voice returning to its usual casual tone. Boq just nodded, slowly. Fiyero stared at the Munchkin slumped over on the edge of the bed. "Uh, Boq?"
Boq raised his head.
"Thanks for… this. I'm expected to be the clown of the school, so it's nice to actually be able to, uh, talk to someone, y'know?" He gave a small smile, which Boq returned. Only a moment passed before Fiyero's face became serious again. "But you do realize that if you ever speak about this to anyone, I may be forced to kill you."
"Understood," Boq smirked.
"Good," Fiyero smiled again. "Oh, and one more thing."
"What's that?"
In a flash, the prince popped open the top of the box, jammed two fingers in and stuck them into his mouth.
"You're a fantastic cook," he laughed.
"You bastard!" Boq leaped up and darted over to the soiled pastry, while Fiyero made a mad dash in the other direction and slipped out the room. He was halfway down the corridor before hearing the door slam behind him.
*cough* Review. *cough*
... pretty please?