Disclaimer: Oh please, it pains me to even delve out pennies.
Note: I thought there should be a little more excitement in this chapter. The dialogue hath returned, but I fear the 'friendship' part of the collection might have died a slow painful death. Oh, well.
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Galinda was not partial to her heels, grand as they were whilst worn with her autumn dress. It was a much better subject to concentrate on, with its blood red aura that became all the more complimented by her lipstick and shoes. However, she did not favour the shoes, even if they were a necessity of this season's vogue. So she decided not to look at them- how splendid was a woman who kept her head held high to suggest confidence and equanimity.
Noticing the girl beside her trudge along in long-toed, Victorian lace-up boots, the blonde thought herself the better of the two. Elphaba usually walked in the manner the blonde presently portrayed, steady and headstrong, but it would seem the moment brought frustration to the green girl. If it weren't enough, her lithe feet began to walk in pace with Galinda, sharp face turned to address.
"Miss Galinda," she greeted, suggesting a lingering, unasked question.
Galinda turned her face to glare at the green girl for a moment, her eyebrows twitching in confusion as to whether they should raise in surprise, or one should quirk with smugness. "What?" was her reply, swift and simple.
Elphaba tilted her head to one side, opposite collar bone protruding with the effort. There would never be a moment of peacetime between the two, when each were tranquil and willing enough to strike a truce. "You're walking at a most frantic pace," the green girl observed. "Perhaps you find yourself in need of assistance?"
"I believe it was you who had a question dancing on her lips," Galinda shot back.
Elphaba grunted in agreement. It seemed more of a hum, really, as though all the coarseness the green girl possessed would remain forever in her eyes and words. "Ah, yes," she skipped a step to keep in pace with the girl a head shorter than she. "Would you happen to know of the whereabouts of Master Avaric?"
"At this very moment?" enquired Galinda, slightly puzzled over the words. Was it not widely known that Elphaba and Avaric despised each other with the passion of, dare it be mentioned aloud, devoted lovers, though in opposite form?
"Perhaps next year, if you would be so kind," the other girl replied sarcastically, smirking with a curled upper lip.
"I am on my way to lunch, Miss Elphaba," snarled the blonde.
"As I wish I could be also, if it weren't for Master Avaric's absence," Elphaba shrugged, once again proving her skills at composure with a mastery many could never practice enough to obtain. "You see, we have been partnered horribly for a life sciences escapade."
Wishing to be rid of the sight of walking alongside Elphaba Thropp, Galinda decided the girl deserved a reply. "One might think he would be sitting along Crage Hall's shore of the Canal, but one can never be sure," she supposed, then paused. The use of 'life sciences', and 'escapade' became an open door for embarrassment on the green girl's part, and Galinda did not want to part without gaining dominance over their conversation. "You know, with Master Avaric's reputation preceding him, one might deduce that there is something especially vulgar on your mind," she snickered.
Keeping a steady glance ahead of her, Galinda was not prepared for Elphaba to swoop ever closer to her, Galinda's knees buckling in the shocking closeness that she had yet to see, never mind experience the green girl engage in before. Elphaba kept her upright by snaking a hand around the blonde's waist, her verdant, thin lips almost brushing her ear. No one seemed to notice but Galinda.
"Is there something especially vulgar on your mind, Miss Galinda?" Elphaba asked, and to the Frottican's further surprise, there was nothing sexual about it, despite their compromising position. The green girl's voice might have been throaty and quiet, yet it was more of a challenge than a suggestion.
Elphaba let go, and they kept walking in the same direction, Galinda taken aback, and even doubtful, of what just occurred. The blonde looked at Elphaba and sputtered, but the green girl just smirked at her, eyes darkened in the same defiant tone her voice had taken on. She slowed in order to turn around and head back to find Master Avaric for their undoubtedly slow-paced partnered assignment, calling out, "Watch your step," rather complacently.
Galinda scowled, barely registering the green girl's parting words, until her shoe sank into more than just the cobblestone steps on Shiz's walkways. She lowered her head, finding one shoe buried in the sludgy consistency of horse dung and held in a screech, her cheeks warming into a scarlet blush.
She shook off her foot, feigning calmness; grateful that these weren't shoes she adored, or even cushioned her feet comfortably. She was also grateful to be caught with her foot merely in dung, however foul, rather than her waist seized by the one person who could absolutely annihilate her reputation.
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A sloo of chapters will be added to make up for not updating Sea Lion Woman as long as I have. As mentioned before, exam season is here, not very queer, and not even very pleasant. I'm working on chapter thirteen now, but don't advise anyone to expect it sooner than two weeks.