Hey everyone, this is my first Wicked fanfic! I recently joined the fandom a few months ago, and I love the musical to bits, so of course I had to write a fic. Here's some Lurlinemass fluff, I know it's past Christmas but I hope you still like it. Constructive criticism appreciated!
It was nearly a month to Lurlinemas, and just two days before the students at Shiz would leave to go home for the holidays. Exams were all pretty much over, and everyone was in the mad flurry of packing and some last-minute studying.
All of course, except for a certain lively blonde. Glinda was bent on decorating her dorm room, even though both she and her roommate would be returning home for the holidays. Somehow, being the tireless ball of energy that she was, she already had all her bags packed, although whether she had actually completed all her schoolwork Elphaba doubted.
The green Munchkin was sitting cross-legged on her bed, busy sorting through her notes from Doctor Dillamond's class, when Glinda came skipping into the room, a large cardboard box in her arms. By this time, Elphaba was more than used to her roommate's antics, and so she largely ignored her for the next hour and a half, in spite of the clatter and noises, mixed with several squeals or muttered curses.
Absorbed in a new hypothesis the Animal professor had written about, Elphaba looked up in surprise as the bed suddenly dipped and Glinda stepped onto it behind her. She shifted herself so that she wouldn't be stepped on, and the sudden movement caused Glinda to lose her balance on the soft bed. Reaching out a hand to steady herself, she smacked the green girl squarely in the jaw.
"Ouch," Elphaba gave her roommate a glare. "What was that for?" Glinda should have known by now that disturbing her when she was busy studying was never a good idea.
"Sorry!" the blonde exclaimed, although she hardly looked contrite. "I just thought that we ought to decorate the room, since it's going to be Lurlinemas!"
"We'll be going home for the holidays," Elphaba pointed out.
Glinda shrugged it off. "That doesn't mean we can't have our room all nice and pretty for when we return."
"Lurlinemas will be over by then, and they will just be gathering dust. And they're extra work to put up and then take down again." Elphaba said, rather unappreciative of all things festive.
Glinda rolled her eyes and gave her roommate a dramatic sigh. "Oh Elphie, do stop being such a wet blanket, please? I promise that everything will turn out utterly swanktified!"
"Then keep it to your side of the room." Right after moving into their dorm, back when they had 'utterly loathed each other' (in Glinda's own words), they'd drawn an imaginary line down exactly half of the small space, declaring that neither could put their things on the other person's side. Ama Clutch had been amused, while Nessarose had called them both extremely childish. Of course, as their friendship blossomed, the line had gradually disappeared, and soon became a laughing matter between them whenever anyone brought it up.
At the same time, the difference in the two girls' personalities could be easily seen simply by entering their dorm. Elphaba had a minimalist style—her bed was simple, with just a grey pillow and knit blanket resting over a sheet of the same drab color. A relatively bare study table that she took obvious pains to keep neat sat next to a shelf of books all sorted by height.
In contrast, Glinda's side of the room was bright and bold, just like she was. Her bed was piled high with bright pink pillows and a luxurious thick duvet. Where Elphaba would have placed her desk and bookshelf, she had set her vanity and collection of shoes. The Munchkin had never understood her need for so many shoes. After all, the Unnamed God had given them two feet, and thus a pair or two of shoes was more than enough. Despite the blonde's lengthy explanation of fashion and color combinations, the green girl was still left shaking her head.
During festive seasons, the Frottican's side of the room was decked out in bright and colorful decorations, and despite how lopsided it looked, Elphaba opted to keep her side bare, expressing disgust at the clutter and unnecessary trouble it involved. And now, she frowned as, for the first time, the blonde insisted on setting up the decorations on both sides.
"No! This is Lurlinemas, we should do it on both sides!" Glinda insisted stubbornly. "Now move." She gave her roommate a gentle but firm shove with her high heel.
Elphaba grudgingly picked up her notes. "Alright, but at least take your shoes off before you step on my bed." She grumbled, as the blonde chirpily obliged, flinging the pair of red stilettos onto the floor next to the bed. (Who wore stilettos in their dorm room?)
"Elphie, come help me with this end," Glinda called, decorations in both hands and noticing that Elphaba was about to sit down at her table to read a novel.
"I'm busy."
"No, you're not. Exams are over and your luggage is packed. So, stop with your excuses and help me before I faint under the weight of these Ozdamned things. You don't know how hard it is to decorate a whole room by yourself."
Rolling her eyes at the Frottican's dramatics, the Munchkin got up and reluctantly helped to hold up the end of a golden garland as the other girl stretched it across the wall and then stepped back to admire it.
"I don't see the attractiveness of such things," commented the taller girl as she wrinkled her nose.
"Oh hush Elphie, and don't do that to your nose—it's bad for your complexion. And come help me set up the tree." Glinda said with a toss of her golden curls. "Avaric and Fiyero brought it over last evening."
"There's a… tree?" Elphaba gaped.
"Of course!" Glinda said, "We can't celebrate Lurlinemas without a tree! Come on, I can't lift this thing by myself." She was struggling to lift said tree out of the box.
Elphaba stepped over to help. "Ow," she muttered as one of the pine needles jabbed her bony arm. "Is all this trouble even necessary? You and I are going home day after tomorrow and no one will be here to admire it—not that it's very admirable in the first place."
"Elphaba, have you never heard of festivity? And I don't know what you do for Lurlinemas, but a tree is definitely necessary." Glinda replied with conviction, as both girls heaved the tree into a standing position between their beds.
Elphaba sniffed. "Glinda, you know my family. We never celebrate Lurlinemas, I've never even wished anyone a 'happy Lurlinemas' before."
The blonde was unfazed. "Well then, I'll teach you all you need to know."
"I sure learned a lot more here at Shiz than I expected to… or asked for," Elphaba commented, more to herself than anyone else.
Glinda ignored her mumbling. "Now that we've got the tree set up, we've got to put in the ornaments! I've got some gorgeous ones!" she cried excitedly, as she opened up yet another box.
"Where did you get all these from?" Elphaba asked in consternation.
"I brought some, and I bought some," Glinda replied, as if it were no big deal. The Munchkin simply shook her head. "Which ones do you like?"
Elphaba stepped over to the box of mostly green and gold ornaments, disdain still written clearly on her face. However, that look vanished as one of them caught her eye. She picked it up gingerly, turning the bauble over in her green palm.
It was crimson, just like the red glass that Turtle Heart used to blow. She could still remember that time, back when she was a little girl, before Nessa and Shell had been born. Just her and Turtle Heart sitting together in front of the fire, while Melena and Nanny exchanged gossip by the dinner table and Frex was out on another mission trip. The Quadling had let her play with the red glass balls after they had cooled; she had been intrigued by how she could put them up to her eye and see the world morph through the rounded sphere.
Horrors.
"Elphie, are you okay?" Glinda's bright voice jerked her back into reality.
"Y-yes, I am, did you want something?"
"Come hang these on the tree," the Frottican waved her best friend over. "I want to get these all done by dinner time."
Elphaba obliged, although she was greatly annoyed by the sharp pine needles that were rather unforgiving to her hands, and she made sure Glinda was fully aware of that. Finally, in a bid to get the green girl to stop complaining, the blonde assigned her to unravel the long string of lights for the tree. Just as Elphaba complied, a loud crash was heard, and Glinda yelped, "Oh, sweet Lurline!" as one of the ornaments slipped from her hands and shattered into pieces against the wooden floor.
"Now look what this has gotten us in, now I'll have to sweep up broken glass from the floor before you cut your precious feet on it," Elphaba pointed out as she went to get the broom, although she was not upset.
"Well, I'll do the lights then," Glinda seemed tireless, stepping cautiously over the scattered shards on the floor and trying to unwind the tangled lights.
Elphaba returned with the broom, and spent the next ten minutes sweeping up the little broken pieces, before taking them downstairs to throw in the dumpster. When she came back to the room, she was rather startled by a sharp squeal of what sounded like panic, coming from Glinda.
"Whatever is the matter now?" she demanded, rather amused at what the blonde might have gotten herself into.
"I—I think I've gotten tangled up in the lights. Oh, sweet Lurline, what am I going to do now? The tree will never be complete without these lights!" Glinda wailed, and Elphaba had to bite the insides of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud. The blonde could be so dramatic sometimes. "What are you smiling at? It's not funny, come here and help me out of this!" the shorter girl ordered, her face flushing.
With a shake of her head, Elphaba stepped over. "Glinda, you are not tangled up. This part is just wound around your shoe, and all you need to do is unknot this other place right… here—there you go," her nimble fingers made quick work of all the knots and tangles.
"Oh," Glinda chuckled sheepishly when she realized how simple it actually was. "Well, come help me set up the lights," she continued, stringing the wires around and around the tree. Elphaba obediently helped to plug the other end in, and untangled the knots that Glinda always seemed to create.
Finally, they were done, and Glinda flicked the tree's lights on, and the room's ones off. Then the pair stepped back to enjoy their handiwork, lit softly by the tree's green and golden glow.
"It looks gorgeous," Glinda breathed in awe.
"It actually does," Elphaba had to agree that it turned out way better than she had imagined. She definitely needed to give Glinda some credit for her knack with festivities and decorations.
However, their tender moment was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Elphaba hurriedly turned the lights back on and opened the door. It was Nessarose, a bag of something in her hands, and Nanny wheeling her chair.
"Good evening, sister," she greeted, as prim and proper as ever. "Boq took me—along with several other girls—out for dinner with Avaric, Fiyero, Crope, and Tibbett. I brought you some things to eat, and Glinda may share them, of course," Nessarose handed Elphaba the bag of food, looking behind her sister to smile at Glinda when she caught sight of the decorations. "Sweet Oz, Elphaba, what are those?" she demanded.
Elphaba braced herself for the lecture she knew was about to follow. "Nessa dear, I'm sure you know as well as I do that those are Lurlinemas decorations."
"Lurlinemas? Elphaba, you cannot celebrate that! We are believers in the Unnamed God, Lurlinemas is a pagan festival!"
Elphaba exchanged a weary look with Glinda. The blonde knew how much Elphaba loved her little sister, but once Nessarose launched into one of her Unionist sermons, she seemed to go on forever.
"Nessa, we've been through this before. You may believe in the Unnamed God, but I am an atheist."
"Elphaba! Stop that at once!" Nessarose ordered sharply. "How can you say such things? What will Father think?"
"Frankly, dear, I don't give a damn."
"Elphaba!"
Elphaba sighed loudly. "Listen to me, Nessa. I don't owe Father anything. You know that he hates me; you are his pet, not me. He never cared about me—Oz, Turtle Heart paid more attention to me than he ever did—and now it's my turn not to care his opinion. I'm going to celebrate Lurlinemas with Glinda, and Father isn't here to stop me."
She could tell from the way Nessarose had her jaw set and the way her small hands clutched the handles of her chair that the younger girl was clearly furious at her biting words. With a flick of her slender wrist, the younger Thropp gestured to Nanny to wheel her out of the room.
Halfway down the corridor, she called over her shoulder, "Elphaba, if you do celebrate Lurlinemas, you're going to Hell!"
Elphaba snorted. "If I am, tell Father I'll meet him there!" she fiercely retorted. A scandalized gasp from Nessarose, and Elphaba slammed the door shut before she could say anything more.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at her roommate, who appeared rather upset. "What's the matter?" the green girl asked, her anger vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.
"I—I'm sorry, Elphaba. I shouldn't have made you set up the decorations if I'd known it would make your family so upset."
Elphaba sat down on her bed, opposite Glinda. "Glinda, I swear this is not your fault. I set up those decorations because I wanted to. And I don't care what Father thinks—or Nessa for that matter." She reached across to grasp her friend's fair manicured hands in her strong green ones. "I think they look beautiful, and nobody can change my mind."
Glinda's baby blue orbs met Elphaba's emerald eyes. "Really? You think our Lurlinemas decorations are pretty?"
Nodding sincerely, Elphaba whispered in reply, "Yes, my sweet, they look absolutely gorgeous."
Glinda wrapped her unlikely friend in a tight hug. "I'm so, so happy," she sighed contentedly.
Elphaba planted a chaste kiss on the blonde's forehead, as the holiday greeting left her lips for the first time. "Happy Lurlinemas, Glinda."
"Happy Lurlinemas, Elphie."
Please review! Thank you, and happy new year!