Salvete, omnes!

You know, Boq is not really a good character in Motionless, come to think of it, he's not really in Motionless, so I decided to give him this one shot. This is sort of based on a scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Also, I may not post for a little bit because tomorrow I'm going to New York! I'm going to see Hamilton and The Great Comet! YAY! I'll tell you all about it in my next AN of Motionless.

Enjoy!

Inutil

One Shot

It was already not a good day for one Boq Riddle. He had woken up that morning to find that Fiyero had barfed all over their floor, which he had to clean up, as the Vinkun prince was still unconscious. Then, on his way to history class, someone accidentally knocked him over, which would have been bad enough, except Nessa just happened to be behind him, so he landed in her lap. This meant he had to walk with her the rest of the way to history class, not knowing what the heck to say to her. He also sat next to her during class, figuring it would be a little rude not to. But, on the bright side, Galinda was only a few seats away from him, so he was able to look at her throughout the class. At least until Elphaba, who was sitting next to Galinda, noticed what he was doing and gave him a look that made him wish he had a shell to retreat into. Oz, she can be scary sometimes. Brilliant, but … scary.

Boq took his lunch in the dining hall, and then went out onto the quad to work on some homework. Doctor Dillamond had assigned them four chapters to read out of their history textbook, along with some short essay questions that were due at the end of the week, so Boq decided to get a head start on that. He had almost finished reading the second chapter when he heard, "Hey, midget!"

He looked up to see Avaric and his posse of Gilikinese thugs. "Hi Avaric," he replied, trying not to egg the larger boy on.

"What're you reading, Munchkin?" Avaric asked snidely. "'How Not to Be a Loser'?" He and his lackeys started cracking up at that.

"None of your business," Boq said, mentally reminding himself that punching Avaric would probably not be a wise choice. "Now, could you please leave me alone?"

But that turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Avaric grabbed Boq by the collar of his shirt. "What did you just say to me, nerd?!"

"Nothing, nothing! Put me down, Avaric, please!"

"Put you down, you say?" Avaric made a show of considering this. "Okay, what if I put you down and then tell the whole school that you've got the hots for Galinda Upland? Nah, most of the school already knows that. Okay then, what if I tell your fake wheelchair girlfriend? Bet her freak of a sister would turn you into a frog or something. I'd like to see that." Avaric's buddies chuckled in agreement.

Boq was reduced to begging. "No, Avaric, please, I'll do anything! You can have all my homework for the rest of the semester, I promise!"

"I don't want your stupid homework, Munchkin!" Avaric turned to his friends. "Boys, whatdya say we hang him by his drawers from the flagpole?"

"Yeah! Let's do that!" So then, despite Boq's protests and pleas, the gang carried him over to the flagpole outside of the political science building that had flags of Oz and Gilikin, as well as Shiz's school flag.

But just as Boq was about to accept his fate, he heard, "Hey! Tenmeadows! Let him go!" Boq twisted in the boys' grips and saw Elphaba running up to them. Galinda was a little ways away from them, looking nervous.

Avaric sneered at her. "Mind your business, Thropp. We're busy here. Unless, of course, you'd like to join the Munchkin up there?"

"You can't fit two people on one flagpole, dumbass! Now, stop being a dick and let poor Boq go."

"Or what, Artichoke? You'll magic spell me?"

Now, unfortunately for Elphaba, she hadn't yet learned any spells that would inflict what she considered to be a sufficient amount of pain on Avaric, so instead she hitched up her skirt and kicked him forcefully in the crotch, causing Galinda to shriek in outrage, "Elphie!"

Avaric immediately doubled over in pain, holding his nether region. "Agh! Thropp, you bitch!" He limped away, and his cronies let Boq go to follow him.

Elphaba smirked triumphantly as she watched them go, and then turned to Boq. "You okay?"

"Am I okay?" he repeated in disbelief. "Do you realize what you just did?"

She shrugged. "I almost made Avaric cry like a little girl. You can thank me for the spectacle later."

"I will in ten years when my reputation as a sissy finally fades! Black eyes heal, Elphaba, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life. So thanks, thanks a lot for your help!" He stormed off, wondering how this day could possibly get any worse.

"I think I just violated the guy code big time," Elphaba confessed once Boq was out of earshot.

"Yeah, you kinda did," Galinda agreed. "Boys are so fragile." They contemplated this in silence for a moment before Galinda perked up. "Hey, wanna go to the Peach and Kidney and get hyped up on mochas?!"

"That sounds lovely."

"I'll make you stay!" Nessa declared angrily. "You'll lose your heart to ME!" And before anyone could stop her, Nessa snatched her sister's spellbook and began to chant.

Elphaba panicked; she knew what could happen if the Grimmerie wasn't used properly. "Nessa, stop, that's dangerous! You're pronouncing all the words wrong. Nessa!"

Nessa stopped chanting at Elphaba's sharp tone of voice, but the silence was soon broken with Boq's cry of, "My heart! It feels like it's shrinking!"

"Elphaba, do something!" Nessa demanded desperately.

"I can't! You can't reverse a spell once it's been cast."

"Then what will we do?! This is all your fault! If you hadn't shown me that horrendible book-…"

"Hush, will you?!" Elphaba shouted, finally completely losing her patience. "I have to find another spell. That's the only thing that might work."

Boq had conveniently fallen into Nessa's wheelchair, so Elphaba could easily push him behind Nessa's wardrobe, where she could do her work in peace without her sister's hysterics distracting her. She quickly flipped through the Grimmerie, searching in vain for a spell that could somehow heal or enlarge a heart. She eventually found the next best thing; a spell which made someone impervious to human frailties. It was very vague, but it was her only option. Elphaba wasted no time in casting the spell, and then watched open mouthed as Boq, by now unconscious, slowly turned to tin. She held back a moan. He was not going to be happy with her when he woke up. Elphaba supposed she could never really win with Boq.

Useless.

Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!
Cheers,

Elle Dottore