A confusion of dressing gowns
The sound of high pitched shrieking woke Elphaba with a start. It was not a noise she was familiar with and it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. A spell, her sleep addled mind managed to provide. It's a spell. Madame Morrible had explained it on their first day.
Madame Morrible had always been proud of the fact that Shiz university was a traditional one with no need of the new-fangled, pesky fad known as health and safety procedures. Unfortunately, after an incident the preceding year with a student, a box of matches and some particularly potent alcohol of their own creation, which resulted in the burning down of one of the dormitory blocks, the Head Shiztress had been forced to take some precautions. She had created a spell that detected fire and cast it over the University buildings as though it were a protective net. Should there ever be a fire it would begin a series of loud, unpleasant noises to alert students and staff to the danger, at which point every human and Animal was to vacate any building that may be burning down around them. Madame Morrible explained to the students on their first day at Shiz that it was to protect the wonderful promising futures of their young people. Elphaba had suspected at the time that it may have more to do with avoiding awkward questions from royal parents…oh and money. Money was usually a factor.
Elphaba groaned and sat up, cradling her head in one hand. Slowly she reached over to flick the lights on, wincing in the sharpness. The noise was an assault on her ears, still sensitive from the loud music at the Oz-Dust. She couldn't have been asleep that long, what with the late return from the party, Galinda's extra lessons on how to be popular and finally a walk to get some space. She'd need to get up for lessons soon. Why did there have to a fire…
The implications hit her like a sudden punch to the stomach and she was abruptly awake. Nessa! The panic was sharp and bit deep, before she remembered Nessa shared Morrible's rooms. Her sister would be safely escorted out. The Thropp heir was too important a student to be left to assure their own safety. Next her eyes jumped unbidden to Galinda. Her room-mate and brand-new friend slept like there was nothing wrong. The awful noise didn't even stir her. She was in the same position she'd been in when Elphaba had crept back from the gardens earlier; on her back, one arm thrown over her head, curls in disarray. As well meaning as she knew her friend was being last night, with her advice and secrets and hair it had all just gotten a bit…much. Overwhelming. So, she'd hidden in the garden where she had waited until the dorm light had gone off.
Elphaba got to her feet and quickly moved to the other bed. She had known Galinda to sleep through morning alarms, but this racket was something else entirely. It would be impressive if it weren't for the threat-to-life implications.
"Galinda. Galinda. Wake up." Elphaba shook the blonde lightly. Her response was merely mumbled nonsense. The green girl sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes. Oh, how much things had changed. Yesterday she would have just left her there and let her be burnt to a crisp. Today she cared. It was inconvenient.
"Galinda, you're going to burn alive!" she bellowed.
The blonde snapped awake.
"Wha-"
The noise took a moment to filter through and then panic descended.
"Elphie? What is it? What's going on?" She gripped Elphaba's arm as her eyes darted wildly around the room.
"Galinda, we need to get out of here. There's a fire…"
The blonde was out of bed in an instant. "We're going to die. I'm going to die. I'm too pretty and goodly to die!" she wailed as she started to pace around the room.
Elphaba grabbed her arm. "Stop it. We need to go." She tried to keep her voice soothing. "It's probably nothing but…"
Galinda's eyes had slid past her to the shelves of her shoes.
"Oh no no." Her eyes began to fill with tears. "They'll burn Elphie. They'll burn. I have to save them!" She snatched herself out of Elphaba's grasp and started to gather shoes up into her arms as though they were puppies.
"Galinda!" Elphaba snapped and dragged her away from the shelves, forcing her to drop the shoes. "Galinda. You are worth more than your shoes. You put one pair on and we get out of here before we burn to death."
The blonde whimpered a little but immediately picked up her favourite pair and slipped them on. Elphaba had just put her own on, relieved that Galinda seemed to have calmed, when the lights suddenly went out, plunging the room back into darkness. With an almighty shriek Galinda bolted for the door, threw it open and took off down the corridor.
"Galinda!" Elphaba bellowed after her, before giving an annoyed huff and following her, snatching their dressing gowns off the hooks as she did. Stupid girl was going to fall and break something, particularly in those shoes, then she really would be in trouble.
Elphaba shrugged into one of the gowns as she quietly and sensibly made her way to the exit, keeping an eye out for signs of her prone roommate.
Outside the University buildings there was a hum of many voices and general milling around as students and staff alike gathered like fluttering moths. Some had clearly tumbled out of bed and evacuated in a hurry. There were many bare feet and pained faces, when a toe was stubbed, or gravel stepped on. Some of the students hadn't paused to grab a coat and now stood shivering or embarrassed or both in less than adequate clothing.
Elphaba gripped the second dressing gown tightly and looked around, knowing Galinda to be one of the number. As flirty as she was she was not immodest and Elphaba knew that as soon as her shock wore off she would realise how little she was wearing, and mortification would set in.
Even though the green girl knew no one would be looking at her in any way out of the usual mockery, and certainly not amorously, she was grateful for the belted robe over her modest night gown, even if the robe was feeling a little…strange.
She spotted the bright blonde head, the blonde a lighter shade of darkness, over to her right, in a tangled mess of others and powered over, the voices becoming clearer as she got closer. Galinda was in the middle of cooing assurances between high pitched panicked exclamations from her friends. Their differences during the Oz-Dust were momentarily forgotten in the current crisis. Elphaba hesitated before approaching, entirely unsure of how welcome she would be.
"I don't care what you say…" she heard Galinda's voice, clear and authoritarian, "…I'm going back in for her."
There was clearly a little struggle as someone tried to hold her back and Galinda broke free. There was a murmur of many alarmed voices, then hers.
"I don't care if she'd green. She's my friend!" Elphaba blinked in shock. Her they were talking about her. Galinda was going back for her. It made her feel warm in her insides as she stepped forward into the blonde's path before her friend could do anything stupid.
"Glin…"
"Elphie!" came the squeal and then arms were wrapped around her, squeezing tight. "I was so worried!"
Elphaba stood awkwardly before lifting a hand to Galinda's back. Worried. She didn't know if anyone had ever been worried about her before.
"Here," she mumbled gruffly and brought the dressing gown up between them. "I brought you this in case…" she shrugged. Galinda took the offering.
"That's so thoughtful…" and then she examined it more closely, holding up heavy towelled folds as she started to giggle. "Elphie, this is yours."
"Oh…" Elphaba ran the fabric of the one she wore through her fingers. Soft and fluffy. Definitely Galinda's. Abruptly the lights in the buildings around them flickered back into life, casting everyone gathered in the glow, and the wailing noise stopped.
Elphaba looked down at herself. It was so pink! Galinda was still laughing.
"Let's swap back," she bubbled and then abruptly froze. She rapidly began to tug Elphaba's dressing gown on around her petite frame and belted it just as the reason strolled into the green girl's line of sight.
"Morning," Fiyero called chirpily, despite the darkness.
Galinda half hid behind her friend as she gave her best attempt at a bright 'morning' back. 'Her hair's probably worrying her', Elphaba mused, whilst raising her eyebrows at Fiyero.
"Why am I not surprised you're still in last night's clothes?"
Fiyero flourished into a bow. "The party is not yet over, just because you two retired early."
"Early?" Elphaba muttered derisively. "You remember that we have classes in the morning?"
"Nope, what are they?" Fiyero winked.
Elphaba sighed and looked to Galinda for help but her friend had pulled the dressing gown hood over her potentially messy bed hair and was arranging it.
"You're not supposed to be over here," she told him shortly and pointed back over to the boy's dorms. Now that the wailing noise had stopped she could see the dark mass of Madame Morrible prowling around. Some students were being isolated from the rest of the herd, awaiting judgement. The fire starters? The others were being sent back into the building.
Fiyero smiled charmingly.
"I wanted to see my two favourite girls."
Galinda tittered. Elphaba rolled her eyes.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" she asked wearily and for once saw a flash of real emotion on the Prince's face. Fear and a little anger.
"Hey," he snapped sharply. "No. Not fire. Never fire. You have any idea what damage that does? How quickly it spreads?" He'd seen it in forest fires back home. "Don't make accusations like that so loudly anyway. If they think I have anything to do with this, then I'm gone."
"Interesting," Elphaba mused. "I thought you didn't care if you got excluded."
Fiyero just stared at her as a range of emotions chased over his face and she just stared right back. She watched as the mask dropped back in place and he flashed a grin at Galinda.
"Well that was before I met my perfect match." He held out a hand past Elphaba and twirled his girlfriend into his arms. The third wheel pulled a face.
"Right." She glanced back over to the boy's dorms were Horrible Morrible was wrapping up, before heading in their direction. "I think its time for you to go."
Fiyero glanced back and sighed, pressing a kiss to Galinda's fingers.
"I'll see you in class later today?" he asked her softly.
The blonde beamed up at him, one curl escaping cutely for the hood. "Sure."
Elphaba put a hand on her hip. As if, after tonight, her roommate was going to get out of bed for her least favourite lesson. Not a chance. Fiyero might not have actually gone to bed so there was a small possibility that he'd show.
Reluctantly the Prince released his girlfriend, who smiled and turned her attention to Morrible who was directing people back to rooms. Fiyero passed by Elphaba as he crept away. As he did, his eyes fell on her and examined her, almost appraisingly.
"Nice dressing gown."
She felt the instant hot flash of defensive anger.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, and he frowned in bewilderment.
"It means 'nice dressing gown'." He watched her indignant expression turn to confusion and gave an understanding smile. "I mean. It looks good on you. I like it."
He was gone before Elphaba fully had time to process. Her cheeks felt flaming hot above a strange tangle of emotions inside her.
"C'mon Elphie." She jumped as a small hand touched her arm. "They're letting us back in."
Her friend. The one who would have returned to the hypothetically burning building to save her. Elphaba gripped the hand in her own in a sudden affectionate gesture and pushed the confused emotions Fiyero had released far back.
"Promise you'll swap the dressing gowns when we're inside?"" Galinda pleaded. "Black really doesn't suit me."
Elphaba smiled. "I promise."