AN: This one is only going to be 12 chapters long and was based on a prompt by Humole, who asked for a fic in which Elphaba and Fiyero fall in love over coffee. Somehow, my mind connected that to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog working at Duke's in the beginning... and then this happened :P.
It's just a very light story, not a lot of drama... let's say a break from all the UDDUP emotions. I hope you like it and feel free to leave a review!
1. Down in Pertha Hills
The moment Fiyero stepped out of his carriage and inhaled the air of Gillikin, he hated the place.
The city smelt like smoke and different kinds of food. It was busy, with people crowding around stands on a marketplace, going in and out of stores, and walking around everywhere while carriages and stagecoaches rattled over the cobblestones between the pedestrians. The air was thick and moist, not to mention rather cold for this time of the year, in Fiyero's opinion – not at all like the dry heat of Vinkun summer. In the Vinkus, even the cities didn't smell or look this way. The stink was new for the prince. So was the throng of chattering and shouting people. He already missed the sandy roads, the Thousand Year Grasslands, and the small, friendly towns he knew from back home.
But his father had sent him here on a mission to negotiate with the duke of Gillikin and he did not want to let King Humberto down. He had finally shaken off his immature behaviour – or most of it, anyway – and graduated university, almost a year ago; and although he had not completely changed, he was determined to at least make up for everything he had put his parents through over the past couple of years.
He searched his way through small, crowded alleyways and across squares until he finally found the hotel where he would be staying. He was welcomed curtly and led to his room on the fifth floor, which he was dismayed about. In the Vinkus, even the royal castle didn't have five floors. This entire city was too commercial, too practical. He didn't like it.
He asked the servant that had come with him to arrange a meeting for him with the duke of Gillikin the next day and left his suitcase on his bed to unpack later. Instead, he quickly freshened up a little and then moved back out into the streets, determined to find a place where he could get either coffee or something stronger – he needed a sip of either.
As he wandered the city, Fiyero studied the people passing him by on the street.
He could already tell that there was a big difference between the rich and the poor here. Fancy-looking men were driving around in fancy-looking cars, not sparing the beggars on the side of the road a second glance. Pretty girls in brightly coloured skirts gossiped and giggled as they walked, while some older women were washing their clothes in the fountain on the square. Men in suits hurried to one appointment or another, walking straight past small children that were singing a song in the hopes of getting some money from passer-bys. Fiyero gave them a bill of ten and their eyes widened as they thanked him enthusiastically.
His attention was eventually drawn by a small coffeehouse called Fifi's, which made him grin. Some of his past girlfriends had called him "Fifi", claiming it sounded cute. It seemed perfect for him to get himself some much-needed coffee. Chuckling softly, he stepped inside and took in his surroundings.
The café was cosy and warm inside. Only a few tables were occupied with what seemed to be regular customers, because the waitresses were talking to and flirting with them easily and the customers talked and flirted right back. Fiyero took a seat in the corner and asked one of the waitresses for a cup of coffee.
"Aren't you Prince Fiyero?" the waitress asked when she returned with a coffee cup, which she filled for him. "From the Vinkus?"
"I am," Fiyero confirmed and she smiled at him.
"You're just as handsome as the magazines say." She sighed dreamily. "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a prince to sweep me off my feet and take me to his castle to make me his princess. I'd never have to work two jobs in my life ever again. Are you here to sweep some poor waitress off her feet, Your Highness?" she asked cheekily, playfully pushing her hip against his arm.
"Not exactly," Fiyero said with a sigh, wishing he actually was here to find himself a girl. "I'm here for business. Politics."
She sighed again, with more drama this time. "Politics. Of course. Men are always busy with politics. Well, if you ever find yourself looking for a future princess," she blew him a kiss, "then you know where to find me."
She walked away, hips swaying, and Fiyero chuckled to himself before picking up his coffee.
He returned to the same coffeehouse the next morning, when he found out that there was no decent breakfast to be had at his hotel. He ate pancakes and drank his coffee as he once again watched both the people sitting inside of the establishment and the ones walking by on the streets. He stalled as long as possible, but he eventually had to get up and leave if he wanted to be on time for his first meeting with the Gillikinese duke.
The meeting was long and slow. It wasn't because of the company, because the duke was actually very nice; he was a big man with a hearty laugh and the typically Gillikinese blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled all the time, made a lot of jokes, and tried to make Fiyero feel welcome.
"Have you ever met my daughter?" the duke asked at some point, sipping the expensive Vinkun wine he had poured the two of them. "I bet you'd like her. She was absolutely ecstatic about you coming to Pertha Hills. 'The scandalacious Prince Fiyero Tiggular', I think she said."
Fiyero grimaced. "Yes, well... I'm not so 'scandalacious' anymore." Not quite as badly as he used to be, anyway. He could be serious now. He still loved dancing and preferred doing nothing over working, but at least he didn't get drunk every night anymore and had stopped making a pass at everything that breathed.
The duke laughed. "That's what I told my daughter, but she is still very much impressed by you."
The matters they had to discuss, however, weren't nearly as nice as the man he was discussing them with. In hindsight, the prince couldn't even recall half the things that had been said. It was all so complicated, he was tired, and his head was spinning with all the new information the duke had provided him with. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel, take a bath, and dive into his bed... preferably to come out of it again later tonight and go dancing somewhere. He could use a night of blowing off some steam.
The meeting ended up lasting longer than he'd thought, though, and by the time he left, it was well past dinnertime. Instead of going to a restaurant or order the manager of his hotel to get him something to eat, he bought himself a few sandwiches on the way there and ate them as he walked. Maybe he could go dancing tomorrow, but for tonight he would just take that hot bath and go straight to bed.
He crossed a square and made his way through some streets, passing by the coffeehouse he'd visited earlier. When he turned the corner, he bumped into someone, causing the girl to lose her balance.
"I'm sorry," he said, quickly helping her up. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," she waved him away. She glanced at him for a moment, then gave him a smirk. "If you're looking for pretty girls, you're in the wrong part of town."
He scowled. "What makes you think that I'm looking for pretty girls?"
She shrugged. "You just look like someone who is here to have some fun." Her cheeky tone made it clear what she meant and he flushed. Of course they'd have those kinds of places in a city like Pertha Hills, but he had never gone there before. He hadn't occupied himself with such things in a while; but if he'd wanted to in the past, he used to just charm his way into the skirt of some pretty girl swooning over him.
This girl brushed the dirt off her skirt as she continued to talk. "You'd better watch out. The city is not friendly to handsome strangers like yourself. The people are poor and when you are desperate to feed your family, you sometimes end up taking desperate measures." She regarded him with one raised eyebrow. "Not that I'd expect you to know much about poverty. Do yourself a favour, stranger, and stop displaying your wealth for all to see. Especially this late at night." She gave him another of those little smirks and then moved along.
Fiyero blinked. He hadn't been able to see it in the dark; but for a moment there, when she passed underneath a street light, he could have sworn her skin was green.
He shook his head. He really did need a good night's sleep.
Elphaba nearly dropped the two trays she was balancing on her hands when someone came storming through the door and shrieked, "Elphie!"
The green girl quickly regained her balance and continued to hand out the plates and cups on her trays before stacking them on top of one another and turning around to glare at Galinda. "Glin, I'm working. How many times must I tell you –"
"But, Elphie," Galinda interrupted her as she sat down at a table, "I have the most splendiferous news!"
"After work," Elphaba told her sternly. "Right now, I only have time for the customers."
Galinda pouted, but then she tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes twinkling. "I'll have a fresh mint tea, please."
Elphaba grumbled, realising her friend had just made herself a customer. "You know what, blondie? You're smarter than you look. One fresh mint tea, coming up."
"And I'll take some of the waitress' time, too, if that's alright," Galinda added innocently. "It is my coffeehouse, after all. You don't want to disappoint the boss, do you?"
Elphaba shook her head good-naturedly. "Give me a moment." She hurried over to the kitchen and piled plates filled with eggs, toast, and pancakes onto her trays. She carried them over to the customers swiftly and efficiently, with Galinda watching her like a hawk. Only when all the customers had their order standing in front of them did Elphaba return to Galinda's table.
"Elphie," Galinda began again excitedly, "you are not going to believe this. The prince of the Vinkus is here, in Pertha Hills!"
Elphaba snorted. "I can't imagine what he would be doing here, of all places."
"Well, that's because you won't let me get to the best part, Elphie." Galinda leant forward conspiratorially, her blue eyes shining so brightly they were almost glowing. "He's here to discuss business and politics with the Gillikinese duke!"
Her friend raised one eyebrow. "My, aren't you lucky," she said before hurrying off to pour some of the customers some more coffee and take the order of a group of friends that had just walked in.
"Seriously, though, Glin," she said when she returned, placing Galinda's tea on the table in front of her, "what does it matter? Some spoilt, rich prince is here. Big deal. I know you probably want to jump him and marry him now..."
Galinda fluttered her eyelashes innocently and Elphaba shook her head with a laugh.
"...but so does every other girl in the city," she finished her sentence. "And besides, he's probably gone again within a few days."
"A few days is enough to win him over," Galinda insisted. "Oh, have you ever seen him, Elphie? He's so handsome, and his eyes are just," she sighed, "dreamy."
Elphaba shook her head. "I've never seen him," she said, stacking some more dishes on top of her tray, "but I've heard enough to know about his reputation."
"I'll bring you a picture tomorrow!" Galinda promised. "Then you'll realise why I have to marry that man. Or maybe I'll bring something better than a picture – the real thing!" She giggled and quickly drank her tea, burning her mouth because it was so hot.
Elphaba just rolled her eyes with a grin and went back to work.
