Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Elphaba entered The Wilted Rose the next afternoon. It was a nice little out-of-the-way cafe in downtown Shiz, a popular place for college students to go and hang out. Small, yet homey, it was a nice place to go over winter break, or during the chilly days. Elphaba had gone to it periodically over the last couple semesters, bringing homework or a book to work on while she sipped a cup of coffee or warmed her hands on a cup of hot tea.
"Hey! Welcome to the Wilted Rose. What can I- Elphie?" The green girl smiled at her.
"Hey Glin. How's work?" Glinda shrugged.
"It's only the second day. Yesterday went great."
"Really? That's great." After a moment of looking at the menu, she said, "Just a small cup of blueberry tea."
"Sure thing, Elphie." Elphaba paid, and then took a seat at one of the tables. She didn't notice the door open, but instead, noticed the person who had opened the door.
Fiyero.
Her heart stopped, and butterflies began. After a moment, she sprang to her feet.
"Actually, Glinda, can you make that to go?" The blonde looked at her.
"Sure Elphie, but-"
"Hey Glinda." Elphaba froze, before turning slowly. "Oh, hey Elphaba."
"H... Hi Fiyero." Glinda watched her friends, silent.
"What can I get you, Fiyero?"
"Just a cup of coffee. To go, please."
"Sure thing." Quickly, she got their drinks, and set them on the counter. Nervously, Elphaba grabbed the cup on her right, while Fiyero took the one on her left.
"Thanks Glinda." Fiyero said, turning and leaving. Elphaba nodded.
"Thanks. Good luck with the job, Glin." Glinda nodded, waving to her friend, and watched Elphaba turn, and promptly slam into Fiyero, coffee and tea exploding out of the cups they held and landing all over them. Everyone else in the cafe turned to look at the couple.
"Oh Oz! Are you two all right?" Glinda cried, grabbing a towel and hurrying from behind the counter towards them. Fiyero nodded, wiping the liquid off his face, when he stopped and licked his lips.
"Blueberry tea?" Elphaba paled.
"That was mine." He nodded.
"Oh. So... this must be yours. And you must have mine." He said, nodding to the dark liquid dripping from Elphaba's chin. She licked her lips, and sighed.
"Coffee."
"I'm sorry you two."
"Why?" The two asked, looking at Glinda, who stopped mopping up the liquid on the floor.
"You didn't do anything, Glinda. It was our fault." Fiyero said. Elphaba nodded.
"We ran into each other. It's our fault, not yours." Elphaba agreed. Slowly, other employees began to help clean up the mess, as Elphaba rang the coffee out of her hair. Once the mess was cleaned up, she said, "Well, I'm going to go back to the dorm and change."
"Me too." Fiyero said.
"You two sure?" Glinda asked. They nodded, and fled, bumping into each other to get to the door. Glinda watched the door close behind them. She and the other employees cleaned up the mess, and once that was done, she took her break, fixing herself a frappachino and relaxing at one of the tables, her mind going over the mountain of evidence in her head.
Fiyero and Elphaba were doing everything they could to avoid each other, and when they had to be in each other's presence, they argued and bickered, making fun of the other one and acting like children at daycare. Elphaba acted like Fiyero had cooties and Fiyero treated Elphaba like she was a dim-wit, so that being around them was almost unbearable. Everyone knew that they liked each other; it was so obvious.
Fiyero and Elphaba knew it too, only they weren't talking. Neither would admit that they liked the other; Glinda was pretty sure that Elphaba would as soon commit suicide as admit that she liked Fiyero. And Fiyero... he'd rather check into a psych ward before ever admitting that he had a crush on Elphaba, but the attraction was there. Their bickering and flirting was subtle; little glances and blushes, eye rolls and childish responses, taunts and teases, it was evident that the attraction was there. Definately there.
She sighed and sipped her drink.
If only they weren't so stubborn. But therein lay the problem. They were stubborn. Both Fiyero and Elphaba. They wouldn't admit that they liked each other- let alone loved each other- if it killed them. They'd both rather die than admit to any true feelings. If she could just get them to lower their defenses...
She ran her finger over the rim of her cup, and thought, trying to come up with a good idea that would get them to admit their true feelings to each other. Suddenly, she sprang up in her seat, and idea forming.
Maybe it wasn't whether Elphaba and Fiyero would admit they liked each other- maybe it was that they couldn't.
But if they had a little help...
Perhaps...