AN. This weekend I'll be in NEW ZEALAND SEEING WICKED! Shows 8 and 9.
Question 3: Admit something that worries you or that you are afraid of.
"Let me read the next question," Fiyero offered.
Elphaba was surprised, but obediently tossed her notebook across to him.
Fiyero flicked through the pages, letting out a low whistle as he turned page after page of notes in Elphaba's tiny, neat handwriting.
"Wow. I'm definitely coming to you come final time."
"I don't let people borrow my notes," Elphaba said flatly.
Fiyero didn't know what to say to that, so he just flicked through the pages faster until he found the questions she had copied off the board.
"Question three. Admit something that worries you or that you are afraid of," he read aloud. Then he scoffed.
"Well, that's a waste. You're not afraid of anything."
Elphaba kept her jaw firmly shut and lowered her eyes. She was conflicted here. She tried to make it a point not to show any fear or vulnerability to anyone. Because otherwise it could be used against you. Probably the most vulnerable she'd been in recent memory- if not ever- was with Galinda the night they had become friends.
And she wasn't sure if she could trust Fiyero with anything that personal.
"What about you?" she asked, deflecting the attention away from herself.
There was a pause, and Elphaba figured either he wouldn't respond, or would respond with something meaningless and shallow.
"Fire."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow slightly, not wanting to appear sceptical or mocking now that he actually seemed to be taking this seriously.
"Fire?" she repeated. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Why is anyone afraid of anything?"
Elphaba could have responded with a spiel about the psychology behind phobias and what they meant; but she restrained herself.
"Did... did you have a bad experience as a child?"
"Nope. Just one of those things, I guess. So, what should I write for your answer? 'Nothing, I am Elphaba the Fearless Green Girl. I fear nothing and all fear me'?"
Elphaba glared at him.
"What? I'm being serious here," he defended himself. "I mean, I'm right, aren't I? You're not afraid of anything. You don't seem afraid of anything. Nothing ever gets to you... just look at the night we met."
When she had danced alone at the OzDust. Not technically when they had actually met, but Elphaba let that slide.
What he had said wasn't technically true, but Elphaba was pleased that the image she was trying to present to the rest of the world seemed to be working.
But she didn't want to put that down as an answer, however unofficial this assignment was.
"Water. I don't like water. Deep water, anyway," she said finally.
She was fully expecting Fiyero to comment on that, or make a joke about it. And he did, but it wasn't the joke she was imagining.
"So, all we need is someone who fears earth and someone who fears wind, and we have all four elements."
Elphaba didn't know how to react for a moment, and then she chuckled slightly.
"I've never heard of anyone being afraid of air."
"What about really high winds?" Fiyero suggested and she laughed again.
When she'd calmed down, she readjusted herself on her pile of pillows and sighed slightly. "Is that it? Are those our answers?"
"I guess," Fiyero agreed. He hesitated for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
Elphaba eyed him warily. "I suppose."
"Is there a reason why you fear water?"
"No," she replied shortly.
If this had been anyone but Fiyero... and by that she meant Galinda or Nessa, she might have opened up more on this question. There were other things that worried her, although she pretended they didn't.
Her worry that she was responsible for her mother's death and her sister's fate. Fear that her life would never amount to anything, because she knew how limited her future was as Nessa's caretaker. As much as she loved her sister.
Elphaba could tell Fiyero didn't believe her answer.
"You know, this isn't like you tell me you almost drowned as a child and then I try and drown you in the bathtub," he told her lightly.
"Well, that's comforting," she replied dryly.
"All I'm saying is that... you can trust me. For the purpose of this assignment, at least. Nothing you say will leave this room. And if it does, you can always inflict the pink wrath of Galinda on me," he offered.
Elphaba couldn't help but laugh slightly at that image.
But she said nothing.
And as brainless as Fiyero acted, he wasn't an idiot. He could tell that it would take a step on his part before Elphaba might reveal something personal.
The question might be asked why he even cared. Fiyero was certainly wondering that himself. But now they had started, he was curious about this green girl. And he was dating her best friend and roommate, and Fiyero had always been curious what had bonded the two very different girls.
"Do you want to know something that worries me?"
As she paused, he grinned. "You're fighting against making a sarcastic comment, aren't you?"
"Not just one," she admitted.
"I'll give you one shot," he offered. He'd never tell her, but he often found her comments hilarious. Mostly when they weren't directed at him.
"The moment's gone," she complained. "But I'll save it for when the time comes."
Fiyero decided he'd allow that.
"I'm worried that I'm going to waste my life."
Elphaba looked at him in surprise. "Aren't you already doing that?" she said without thinking and then inwardly cringed, remembering their agreement to be civil.
But Fiyero didn't retort or snap at her. It was no secret what Elphaba thought of his "Dancing Through Life" attitude and behaviour.
"I'm going to count this as that one shot," he said easily.
But he didn't elaborate as to what he meant, he simply left his words hanging in the air between them; leaving Elphaba to wonder what he meant, and leaving Fiyero doubting his decision to say anything in the first place.
Avaric had a very high opinion of himself. So when it came time that Boq prodded him for an answer to the third question as they sat in Avaric's dorm room- Avaric lounging on the bed drinking a bottle of beer as Boq sat tentatively on the obviously unused desk chair, an untouched, unopened bottle of beer on the desk before him- Avaric conveniently forgot about the time a friend had taped a large (fake) spider to his door one night so that when Avaric opened the door the next morning, the spider was the first thing he had seen; that had caused him to scream so loudly two other boys came to investigate and found that Avaric had jumped so far back from the door he had fallen over and hit his head on the corner of the closet.
"Nothing," he said confidently.
"Nothing?" Boq repeated, trying not to show how sceptical he was about the truthfulness of that answer.
Avaric seemed to notice anyway and glared fiercely at him. "Nothing."
"Ok, nothing," Boq hastily agreed and wrote it down.
Avaric's interest and commitment to this assignment seemed to alternate from moment to moment, and clearly at the moment he was more interested in his beer than anything else.
He ignored Boq, settling himself on his bed and closing his eyes.
Boq felt even more awkward if that were possible.
"Um... do you want to know mine?"
"Your what?" Avaric replied without opening his eyes.
"My... my answer. What I'm afraid of."
Boq secretly hoped he wouldn't. He was sure that this information in Avaric's hands could only be a bad thing.
"Whatever."
The temptation to give a fake answer was overwhelming, but not as strong as Boq's desire to take this assignment seriously.
"Heights. I hate heights," he admitted after a moment's pause.
That made Avaric open his eyes and look over at the Munchkin boy, a wide grin on his face. Boq was alarmed, suddenly having visions of Avaric hanging him from a flagpole or something similar.
"Seriously?"
"Yes," Boq answered cautiously.
Avaric laughed. "That is hilarious."
Boq was confused. "Um... why?" he asked as Avaric continued laughing.
"Because- because you're so short!" Avaric gasped, laughing harder. He almost fell off the bed, he was laughing so hard.
Boq was now just annoyed.
"You're afraid of heights. The shrimp is afraid of heights! So, you can't be three feet off the ground?"
Boq gritted his teeth. "Yes, the irony is hilarious. Can we move on now?"
Avaric chortled. "I don't know about that irony crap, but that shit is funny! Oz Dammit, I spilled my beer from laughing. Are you going to drink yours?"
Boq passed his bottle over in silence. He really hated this assignment.
Galinda was using this question to demonstrate a rare display of depth. This was the side Elphaba actually found not irritating, and the side few saw. Fiyero had not, as yet.
But the blonde was finding Nessa easy to talk to, maybe even easier than Elphaba. Or maybe it was just because Nessa was less sarcastic than her sister.
"I worry..." she said slowly, nursing her cappuccino, and looking at the ceiling of the cafe thoughtfully.
"I worry about not being liked."
Nessarose actually laughed slightly. "Galinda, that's ridiculous! Everyone loves you!"
"I know," Galinda said matter-of-factly. "But sometimes I wonder if they really like me, or if they like me because... I'm pretty, or popular, or wealthy."
Nessa nodded slowly. "I understand that. Sometimes I wonder if people are my friends because of me, or because they feel sorry for me. About my chair."
Galinda smiled sweetly at her. "Nessa, you surely must have lots of friends back home!"
"Not really," Nessa confessed. "Only a few girls. And Elphaba."
Galinda thought about that, and realised what Nessa wasn't saying. That, at least in her mind, Elphaba was another reason for Nessa's lack of friends.
"Well, you have friends here," Galinda urged.
Nessa's face brightened. "I have Boq!"
Galinda smiled, ignoring the small twinge of guilt.
"Yes, you do."
"You must have a few friends you don't worry about why they like you," Nessa said, redirecting the conversation back to Galinda.
"Well, Elphie," Galinda giggled.
Nessa giggled too. "Yes, Elphaba doesn't like many people at all, let alone for superficial reasons."
Galinda nodded in agreement, she knew that much.
"So, what's your answer, Nessa? What worries you?"
Nessarose lowered her eyes. "I'm not sure if it's a worry or a fear..."
"That doesn't matter," Galinda encouraged her gently.
Nessa bit her lip. "I worry about... about being alone."
Galinda frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"About dying alone," Nessa elaborated quietly and Galinda was horrified.
"Nessarose! Why would you even worry about that?!" she demanded incredulously.
"Why shouldn't I?" Nessa asked.
"Boq-" Nessa stopped, took a deep breath and started again. "Boq is the first boy that's ever asked me out, ever shown any interest in me. My whole life, everyone's told me how beautiful I am, but no one has ever wanted to date me. Because of this Oz awful chair!" she exclaimed, and then looked around hastily, just realising how loud she had spoken.
Galinda leaned forward. "Nessa, you're what, eighteen?"
"How old were you when you started dating?" Nessa asked her pointedly.
Galinda flushed guiltily. "Fifteen," she admitted. "But teenage boys are idiots, everyone knows that. I'm sure that... if not Bick- Boq, you'll meet someone who will love you, chair or no chair."
"And if I don't?" Nessa asked softly, tears in her eyes that she was desperately trying to fight.
Galinda didn't know what to tell her.
"I really want to get married and have children," Nessa admitted. "More than anything."
"You will," Galinda said confidently. "You're going to meet a gorgeous guy who will fall head over heels in love with you, get married- and invite me of course- and have beautiful, beautiful children!"
She said it so certainly that Nessa laughed.
"Or," Galinda continued. "Boq will propose one day after we graduate, and you two will have beautiful... but very short children."
Nessa laughed even harder, blushing furiously. But her eyes were shining and she no longer looked like she was about to cry.
"Thank you," she said.
Galinda beamed. "You're welcome."