A loud crash woke Glinda up from her peaceful sleep.
"What in Oz?" she muttered angrily, slowly sitting up in her pink bed and removing her pink sleeping mask. Her blue eyes were narrowed as she looked around for the source of the racket. Suddenly, then, lightning illuminated the room. Ah, so it was a storm! Lovely. Glinda gave a disgusted sigh. Another bolt streaked across the heavens and filled her dorm room with light. Glinda turned her head towards the window to curse at the storm when she discovered a far more concerning sight. It was her roommate, sitting upright and curled into herself, in a tight little ball.
"Elphie? Are you ok?" Glinda asked curiously. When she received no reply, she got up slowly and padded over to Elphaba's bed. It was quite the contrast to her own, black and plain while Glinda's was pink, glittery and frilly.
"Elphie? Are you ok?" Glinda repeated as she took a seat beside Elphaba. Elphaba was still wedged into the corner of the wall, curled up and as still as a statue, eyes squeezed shut so tightly that there was an ugly crease between her dark eyebrows. It broke Glinda's heart to see Elphaba in such a state and she tentatively reached out to touch one of Elphaba's hands, which were currently wrapped around her knees. Elphaba jerked under Glinda's touch, but made no move to push her away. Glinda left her hand against Elphaba's.
"Elphie? Are you ok?" for a third time, Glinda asked. Even though the answer was very clear, she wasn't quite sure of what else to ask, so she figured that she would just gently repeat this simple little question until she received a response. It seemed, though, that the third time really was a charm because it was on Glinda's third attempt that Elphaba finally answered.
"I'm fine," her reply was clipped and spoken through clenched teeth. Even someone as brainless as Fiyero would be able to tell that this was a lie. It was more obvious than Elphaba's green skin. Glinda, however, did not chastise Elphaba for the poor attempt at covering up. Instead, she continued to wait patiently by Elphaba's side until the green girl finally managed to speak again. "I'm just not very fond of storms. We don't exactly have the best of relationships..." these two sentences were still spoken through clenched teeth.
"May I ask why?" Glinda was being sincere and polite in her question, but Elphaba was so offended by Glinda asking that she forced her eyes open and glared right back at Glinda. It might've been dark, but Glinda could still see that Elphaba was glaring at her. For a moment, it was Glinda's turn to grow offended, but then she remembered why. Ah. Yes. That was right. Elphaba was H2O intolerant. Literally, strange and funny as that seemed, if water were ever to touch Elphaba's green skin, it would be like pouring acid on her. It would burn and stain. Of course Elphaba would be afraid of storms, which were even worse than a typical downfall.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Elphie, I wasn't thinking!" Glinda chastised herself as she apologized.
"It's nothing. I don't need your pity," Elphaba hissed lowly, voice hoarse from keeping quiet.
"But you need my comfort," Glinda replied. For the first time that night, her gentle voice went away and was replaced with something far more serious and stern. It was her no-nonsense voice, and she only used it on very serious occasions. Elphaba harming herself through suppression and denial was one of those serious moments. Glinda even completed the stern remark with a firm look, blue eyes now hard and set like ice, instead of soft and gentle and fluid like water.
It was in times like this, when Glinda brought out her serious side, that even stoic and rebellious Elphaba was cowed. No one could deny Glinda when she was able to put on such an intimidating stance. It was even more impressive given that she wasn't very big, she was extremely pretty and cute, and, as of that moment, was in only a fluffy pink nightgown, complete with furry trimming around the sleeves and neck. How in Oz someone so... girly and adorable could look so commanding and powerful was beyond comprehension, but the fact that such a display was entirely real and possible was not. Glinda was not someone to trifle with.
So, against her will, Elphaba's walls slowly fell down. But maybe that was just it. Maybe that was why Elphaba was ok with being vulnerable around Glinda. Maybe it was because, despite Glinda's outwardly shallow appearance, she actually was very much like Elphaba: hiding a true self under a mask. The only difference was in the mask itself. Elphaba's was stoic and distant, Glinda's was bubbly and sweet, but artificially so. The true Glinda was far stronger and sharper, it was just hidden under blond stupidity. In other words, like it or not, Glinda had hidden depths, and those depths were very much like Elphaba's, and Elphaba could not deny the one companion she had that actually, really understood her, and looked after her mental and emotional health. (Oz knew that no one else gave a darn about that, even Elphaba herself, sometimes). But not Glinda, never Glinda. Elphaba's health was always a priority to that bubbly little blond, as she was displaying so boldly now.
Although it still wounded Elphaba's pride to ever accept help or to admit vulnerability, she still did both when Glinda asked her of it in the right way. It might've taken awhile, but Elphaba did finally relax enough to allow Glinda to crawl in bed with her and just hum some stupid old Gillikin lullaby to her and fiddle with her thick, dark hair until the storm finally passed. It was a bit silly and shallow and mildly embarrassing, but something about the two activities calmed Elphaba, and the ability to scorn them did return a small amount of confidence to her (which was something Glinda had counted on, hence why she chose the hair-playing of all things as opposed to a massage or something more serious). For that, the green girl was able to survive the rest of the storm with little hassle. When the gale had gone completely, Elphaba finally felt ready for bed.
"Thanks again, Glinda," Elphaba muttered awkwardly.
"That's what friends are for!" Glinda replied, pretending to brush it off even though she was secretly thrilled that Elphaba had actually found one of her activities useful. Makeup and dating were totally lost on the green girl, but it was nice to know that singing and playing with hair was not.
"Well, then, thank you, for just being my friend," Elphaba replied again, earnestly trying to get Glinda to see how much she really did appreciate Glinda caring for her, even if it did wound her ego.
"Ah, well, you're good company," Glinda nudged Elphaba playfully.
"Glad to know," Elphaba shyly nudged Glinda.
Surprised by Elphaba actually responding to her touch, Glinda giggled excitedly and decided to see what else she could get away with by snuggling under Elphaba's blankets.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Elphaba was confused now.
"Well, I have to protect you, just in case the storm comes back!" Glinda smiled as she nestled into Elphaba's bed. "In case the fronts change!"
"Uhhh, I don't think that's how meteorology works," Elphaba said.
"Oh, who cares? I never paid attention in that class! Too boring!" Glinda waved a dismissive hand.
"That's what you say about all your classes," Elphaba raised an amused eyebrow, back to her sarcastic self again.
"Elphie, hush, I need my beauty rest," Glinda insisted next, then she rolled over on her side. Elphaba quirked her eyebrow again. Nope. Glinda would not be moving until sunrise tomorrow. Oh well. Elphaba shrugged once before joining Glinda under the covers. If she couldn't beat Glinda, she could always join her, so she did.
AN: I won't be double-writing every prompt, just this one and the next one. BTW, this follows book canon regarding the water thing.