Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked or any characters or materials taken from the musical or book. No copyright infringement intended.
Trouble.
It was a miserable day. Thick, dark-grey clouds blocked out the sun while dropping torrential sheets of rain, turning any bare patches of ground to a bubbling muddy mess. Elphaba shivered. She hated rain as much as a cat and rainy days made her miserable and bad tempered. It wouldn't have been so bad if only she hadn't exhausted her supply of books, for normally, she would simply curl up in the warmest nook she could find and read 'til the storm blew over or, as was more often the case, she fell asleep. Now, she looked out at the storm-greyed world outside her dorm room with an expression that was half-wistful, half-rueful and sighed.
"Hi, Elphie! Whoa! What's got you all mopey and moodified?" Galinda asked as she bounced into the room, soaked despite the pink umbrella she carried.
Elphaba looked at her with a mix of horror and surprise. "Galinda, what happened to you? You're soaked!"
Galinda tossed her hair casually. "Well, apparently, they don't make umbrellas like they used to. Mine leaked like crazy, so I got a little wet. It's no biggie. Nothing a change of clothes won't fix."
Elphaba shuddered.
Galinda quirked an eyebrow at this. "What? It's just water. It's not like it burns or anything."
Elphaba suddenly screamed, clutching her shoulder and curling in fetal position on the floor. "Agh! It burns! Father! Stop! Please! Agh!" she screamed.
Galinda ran to her friend's side. "Elphie! What's wrong?!"
Elphaba suddenly calmed, but her breathing was still ragged and quick. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, but flinched away as soon as Galinda reached out a damp hand to her. Galinda pulled back.
"Water burns you?" she asked incredulously.
Elphaba shook her head. "N-not really. It… When I was little, water used to sting and burn my skin. It didn't actually harm me, but it hurt me terribly, like someone dumping acid on my skin." She shuddered again. "As I grew older, it gradually became less and less the more I was exposed to it, but… the memories are very strong and sometimes it does hurt, but not as bad as when I was younger."
"That's why I've heard you yelp in the shower on occasion. Elphie, why didn't you tell me?" Galinda looked sympathetically at her friend.
"I was ashamed." Elphaba lowered her head, her chin resting on her collarbone.
Galinda gently lifted her chin, forcing Elphaba to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to be ashamed to tell me anything, Elphie. You know that, right?"
Elphaba nodded, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Galinda beamed. "Good! Now, I'm going to get out of these wet things and dried off and then, I'll teach you one of my most favorite board games of all time!" She grabbed some dry clothes from her closet and skipped off to the bathroom.
"What game would that be?" Elphaba called after her.
"Trouble!" Galinda called back, her voice slightly muffled by the door.
When Galinda finally emerged, she found Elphaba wrapped up in her comforter on her bed, staring out the window with that same wistful/rueful expression. Shaking her head, the blonde grabbed the board game and set it up on the floor. After a few moments, she called Elphaba over. Elphaba sat across from her roommate, eyebrow quirked, but said nothing.
"Ok. So, this is how you play Trouble. First, we choose colors." Galinda looked expectantly at Elphaba.
"Green. I clash with everything else," she said dourly.
Galinda rolled her eyes. "Elphie, you really need to stop saying that. You know it's not true. Anyway, I'll be red 'cause it's the closest to pink. They really should make pink an option in this game, then it would be perfect."
"Focus, Glin. What do we do next?" Elphaba asked, starting to take interest.
"So impatient, Elphie. Now we pop to see who goes first. You start. Just pop the popper in the middle and whoever gets the highest number goes first," Galinda explained.
Elphaba reached out and pressed the little clear plastic bubble in the center of the board, which housed a die. The little steel spring popped, sending the die bouncing about the little plastic dome enclosure. "I got a five."
"Good! Now I have to get a six or you go first." Galinda quickly popped the popper. "Aw! I only got a three! Oh, well. You go first, Elphie. Now, in order to move, you pop the popper and if you get a six, you get to move one of your pieces out into your start, then you pop again and move whatever number of spaces pops up. Easy!"
Elphaba popped and got a six first try. She moved her first piece out and popped again. Another six. She counted six spaces and looked at Galinda.
"You get to go again," Galinda explained.
"But, I just moved the number of spaces that came up." Elphaba looked quizzically at her friend.
"Every time you pop a six you get to pop again." Galinda smiled.
Elphaba shrugged and popped once more. A four came up. She moved four spaces and waited for Galinda to go. Galinda popped, but only got a five. Elphaba popped and moved one space. On her next turn, Galinda got a six and happily moved her first piece into her start. She popped again and got four. She moved and landed on Elphaba's piece.
"Hey! You can't fit your piece there, mine's there," the green girl exclaimed.
Galinda grinned wickedly. "That's the thing about Trouble; when you land on someone, you send them home!" And she put Elphaba's piece back in her home.
Elphaba crossed her arms, a frown on her face. "I think you're making these rules up as you go. Whoever heard of such a ridiculous game?"
Galinda whipped out the instruction sheet and handed it to Elphaba.
"Why didn't you just give me this in the first place?" The green girl huffed in annoyance, taking the paper.
"Because it's more fun to explain it as you go along. It's your turn by the way." Galinda smiled innocently.
Elphaba rolled her eyes and popped. "Five. Your turn," she huffed, turning her attention to the instructions. After a few moments, she set it aside. "Alright. So, you're not making this up as you go. Hmm. Well, since I have nothing better to do, we might as well finish the game." Elphaba took her next turn and got a six.
So, the roommates continued. Elphaba managed to get all four of her pieces out before Galinda and one in her finish before Galinda landed on one of her other pieces, sending it home again. But she returned the favor the next turn and so it went, back and forth until it was down to the final two. Each girl had one piece to go and both needed low numbers to win. Elphaba needed a one and Galinda needed a three.
Elphaba popped first. "Agh! That's my third five in a row! Why couldn't I have gotten those five minutes ago?"
Galinda popped and groaned. "One, again? Oz! Why is the last piece always the hardest to get in?"
"Gah! I need a one! Not a three!"
"Three! Now I need a two!"
Elphaba popped and got a four. Galinda popped a five. For a full two minutes they popped every number but the one they needed. Finally, they both needed a one. Elphaba popped. The die bounced. It paused for a few moments on its corner, then fell revealing…
"Yes! Finally! I won!" Elphaba happily stuck her last piece in her finish, beaming from ear to ear.
Galinda, though disappointed at losing, was happy to see Elphaba so happy on a rainy day. "Good game, Elphie. Wanna play again?"
Elphaba thought for a moment. "You know, I'm actually really hungry. All this competition reminded me I haven't eaten since last night. Heck! I haven't left this room since last night. I guess that's one reason I've been so moody today. I'm restless."
Galinda would have fallen to the floor in shock if she wasn't already seated on it. True, Elphaba did get restless, but not too terribly often, so it still took Galinda by surprise when her green skinned, highly academic roommate craved outdoor excursion.
"I just… really hate rain. Rain was always the worst. You know the term 'acid rain?' It really refers to pollution in the atmosphere, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides contaminating the rain water, making it more acidic, but such rain really does aggravate my skin. True, it's not as bad as it used to be, but it still hurts, even if it is only a mild stinging sensation. But still…" Elphaba looked out at the torrential sheets still pouring from the sky and shuddered at the memory of the stinging pain they would cause. But, the gnawing hunger in her belly was becoming particularly annoying and painful.
Her stomach grumbled and Galinda stood up. "I'll go get us some dinner. Just stay here and try to relax, ok, Elphie? I'll be right back."
Elphaba smiled appreciatively at Galinda as the blonde grabbed her pink rain slicker this time and headed out into the storm. She returned a half hour later bearing two bags. Elphaba took the bags and set to work unpacking the supplies into their cupboard, while Galinda dried off again. When she emerged, she was surprised to find Elphaba had prepared a thick hearty stew.
The emerald witch looked over her shoulder and smiled at her friend as she extinguished the green flames and set the pot down on a trivet on the table in their room. She waved Galinda into her chair. Galinda didn't even bother asking about the magic flames, knowing full well Elphaba's raw natural talent was far more powerful than she could ever hope to be. So, she just settled down to enjoy a nice hot meal with her roommate, safe in their dorm room while the storm raged on outside.
Author's Note: Well, this did not go exactly according to plan. I meant to make this primarily about Galinda teaching Elphaba to play Trouble and this is what came out. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.