"Avaric?"
...
"Avaric?"
...
"Avaric, are you even listening to me?"
He blinked a few times. Truthfully, he hadn't been listening to Boq at all. Of course, he didn't need his friend realizing he had been.. otherwise occupied. "Of course I'm listening, buddy. I'm all ears."
Boq frowned, knowing better but not wanting to argue. "Anyway, I give up."
"On what?" Boq pointed across the lawn where two girls were sitting on a blanket... truthfully, they were what had occupied Avaric's attention before. Elphaba and Glinda, the two most mismatched girls on campus. "The fair Miss Glinda no longer the object of your affection?"
"No, she's as beautiful as ever. I've given up on ever pursuing anything with her. I know I told her I never... wanted anything to happen before, but it was such an obvious lie it doesn't even count as one. But no matter what I do, she doesn't pay me any more mind than she pays to anyone else. So I've given up."
Avaric took a drink right out of the beaker of tea that they shared. "Is it really such a loss? Boq, she's as beautiful as they come, but there are other girls just as beautiful as she is. I don't what it is that is so mesmerising about her. There's no mystery. She's pretty, she's sweet, she's a proper young lady. All of which is... nice. But there's just no spark."
Boq considered shoving Avaric into the canal but knew his friend would win any battle that came push to shove. So instead he went on, "I don't ask you to say why you adore the... ladies you entertain on the weekends. And I have to say, I doubt any of them have any more depth than Glinda."
Avaric shrugged, not denying it. "There's a reason it's a different girl every week. But I don't pine after them after they're gone. You've done enough pining to last you a lifetime."
"You never pine for anyone. Who do you even like? I can't remember ever hearing you say you wanted a girl for anything more than sex."
He didn't like that turn in the conversation. He'd done plenty of pining. He just usually chose not to talk about it. "Oh, no one in particular. It would be unfair to all the beauties of the world to limit myself to just one. Think of all the broken hearts!"
Boq rolled his eyes. "Oh, what a Saint. What a hero... Spare a few for the rest of us, will you?"
"Of course. I always share," he offered Boq a grape to understate the statement.
"Would you share the girl you really wanted?"
"No. And if this is your round a bout way of asking, I don't want Glinda. Promise. I just wish you could see past her beauty... no. I won't share the girl I really wanted. If I actually want her, she obviously has enough substance to be worth settling down for."
"Whatever," Boq said, getting up. "I have to go, anyway."
"Good-bye!" Avaric called, hoping he hadn't irked Boq too much. Who did he like? Surely not one of the dime a dozen girls he slept with on a regular basis. And probably not one of those sweet, pristine girls like Glinda who he flirted with, but knew he would never get in bed. He let his gaze fall back onto the girls who sat across the park from him. Elphaba looked up at something and his staring managed to catch her eye.
She frowned at him, clearly uncomfortable. She was not one of those dime a dozen girls who spoke in quiet social whispers... she didn't flirt, she didn't chat. She was different. Glinda said something witty and they both giggled, and then the blonde got up for whatever reason- going off in the opposite direction of Boq. Not having anything to distract her, she couldn't ignore him. "What's your issue?" she yelled, annoyed.
"Couldn't get a certain someone out of my mind!" he yelled back, not caring who heard him.
She got up, finished dealing with him. "I'll make it easier on you then- I'm leaving."
He watched her go, the folded blanket under her arm. Yes, there was something about her that the conventional beauties did not have. She had a spark.