1.4 Breakfast Mannerisms

There was a knock on the door and all three of them looked towards it in unison.

"How long have we been awake?" Elphaba asked finally, after a quick head-scan (it wouldn't have been much of a 'count') confirmed that all three of them were present and accounted for.

Fiyero shrugged, "Do you mean, 'how long have we been up' or, 'how long ago was it you made the sound a carriage makes going over train tracks at extreme speeds'?"

She stared at him.

"What?" he asked uncomfortably, but there was another knock on the door.

"Someone should go answer it," Glinda said smiling breezily.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "Thanks Glin. We'll work on that."

There was another knock and both Elphaba and Glinda looked at Fiyero expectantly.

"What?" he asked again.

"I'm not going to do it," Glinda said, sitting down defiantly on the bed. Elphaba smiled at her childish gesture,

"You're closer than I am, dear Fiyero."

Outnumbered, but not beneath pretending he was doing it to be thoughtful of the two girls, Fiyero went to answer the door.

The door opened a little and I saw Fiyero's puzzled face. Once he saw me, realization flickered across his face and he opened it even more, revealing the two girls inside. We stared at each other and my eyes were involuntarily drawn to a pattern of blue diamonds that seemed to start on his cheek and continue down beneath his shirt.

"Hey," he said, tearing my attention away from the odd markings; I made myself a note to ask him about them later. Glinda was on the bed and Elphaba was standing beside her, arms crossed.

"I heard a crash…" I said, peering around Fiyero and trying to see if anything inside was broken, "Is everyone all right?"

Fiyero stared at me for another second before stepping away from the door and beginning to laugh. Elphaba glared at him,

"Yes, we're fine," she said steely.

Not really understanding what was going on, but happy that nothing was awry, I put a hand on the doorframe, "Well, I'm making breakfast downstairs, if you want to come down and eat."

Glinda jumped up from the bed, and Elphaba started at her enthusiasm, "We haven't eaten in a very long time; breakfast would be heavenly!"

"Anything specific you'd like to eat?" I asked, wondering if they had any allergies. Breakfast was breakfast wherever you went, right?

"Whatever you prepare will be good enough for us," Fiyero said pleasantly and I nodded, turning around to get a head start down the stairs, hoping the toast hadn't burned.

It was only a couple seconds before the trio entered the kitchen and I was in the middle of piling toast onto the plate. The table was already set and I was proud that I'd been able to express at least some semblance of control over the house. Glinda was leading the way, followed by Fiyero and a not too happy Elphaba.

"You guys can sit down and help yourselves, I'll be right over," I encouraged them and while Fiyero and Glinda obliged, pulling out the chairs and sitting down, Elphaba glowered at me,

"Guys?"

"Oh, quite the formality and sit down," I grumbled as Glinda said brightly,

"Come on Elphie, sit by me!"

Perhaps hoping that the night of sleep and the lack of attempted attacks against them on my behalf would shake Elphaba of her animosity towards me was too optimistic.

"I hope you slept well," I said, and Elphaba scowled. Glinda smiled widely, and I could swear she was almost glowing,

"Yes, we had a very pleasant night. And the room was simply beautiful. This house really is a wonderful piece of architecture- so very different than back home,"

"So, where do you all live again?" I said, hoping that the whole 'Oz' thing had just been a temporary state of mind from the trauma of whatever happened to them. I set down the toast and took a piece for myself. Fiyero barley glanced up as he reached for his own.

"As we told you last night," Elphaba said, the only one not devouring her food. Glinda was at least doing it with some sort of dignity, unlike Fiyero. "We're from Oz, and we'd really like to return there as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I'm all for that," I assured, ripping off a piece of my toast more violently than required.

It seemed that Elphaba caught the subtle motion, "If our presence isn't welcome here, by all means just let it be known and we'll gladly leave."

"Elphie!" Glinda chastised, then instantly set out to control the potential damage, "She didn't mean that. Right? Elphie- Are you alright Fiyero?" she asked impatiently as Fiyero had begun to choke on whatever had been in his mouth. He started coughing as Elphaba glared at him; after finally regaining the ability to breathe normally he muttered his apologies for the interruption.

"Well, that's what you get when you eat like an animal," Glinda huffed. "As I was saying," she glared at Fiyero, as if daring him to interrupt once more, "We appreciate your hospitality. Elphie's just in a sour mood."

I nodded, "That's understandable. And I didn't poison the food," I added. Elphaba looked down at her plate suspiciously and took a small bite of toast. I didn't really see why she was so worried- Glinda was fine and Fiyero was already having seconds- the choking thing really had been his own fault.

"Can you tell us where we are, exactly?" Elphaba asked after a couple moments of silence and I swallowed before answering,

"I told you last night, after you jumped on me, remember? Regina."

She didn't apologize for the needless attack, simply nodding.

"How did you all get here anyway?" I asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Fiyero added and I looked to him confused, "How did your meeting with the Wonderful Wizard go?"

"It was absolutely dreadful," Glinda said, holding her hand up to her face melodramatically, "Elphie was simply horrendous! She almost got us killed!"

"Oh, don't exaggerate Glinda. And he deserved it," Elphaba said, defending herself fervently. "And you know that just as well as I. Fiyero, can you believe that he knew about Dr. Dillamond's murder and didn't seem to be at all bothered by the peculiar nature surrounding it? The flippant, patronizing way he treated Glinda and I was absolutely abominable! And what could only be described as his infantile obsession with pleasure faith- and this is the man who leads Oz? Who is willingly abolishing a very able-bodied group of citizens? Using them to strengthen his powers? Who expects people to call him, 'Your Highness'?"

"All I'm saying is that you could have been a little more contained," Glinda sniffed.

Elphaba turned to her, "I wish now that I hadn't been so contained! He's a vile piece of creation that has no concern for anyone but himself. And I refuse to go around saying things I don't mean for the sake of courtesy. I treated him how he treated me, and I only wish I had had the chance to treat him how he treats the Animals-"

"So," I said, interrupting Elphaba for the good of the group, "What happened right before you got here?"

Glinda seemed to physically jump at the chance to stop Elphaba from being angry with her, "Well, we came back from the Emerald City by carriage after we met the…" she glanced at Elphaba quickly, obviously not wanting to start her on another rant, "him, and then I saw Fiyero and I called him over, and he asked about how our trip went, and then…"

"There was a loud noise and we were suddenly in the woods, and not five minutes later you came and found us," Fiyero finished for her as Glinda nodded.

"In other words, there's absolutely no explanation as to why you're here now, instead of Shiz?" I condensed feeling a little helpless.

Fiyero nodded and Glinda sniffed to confirm my theory. I took my plate, as well as Glinda's, preparing to clean away the breakfast mess. But I didn't miss the look that flashed across Elphaba's face when I asked the question and she'd looked down, becoming exceedingly interested in her food.

I didn't call it to attention, but I knew I would ask her about it the next second I got.

A/N: Just drop a review if you're still interested XD