AN. There is a VERY tiny M*A*S*H reference in this chapter.
Many people mentioned the paint drying line in the previous chapter as a favourite. It's one of mine too!
Chapter Seven
Elphaba refused to tell Nessa or Galinda anything about her date with Fiyero until they were getting dressed the next morning. Galinda kept pushing for details, not really satisfied with Elphaba's account of "he took me to dinner and the theatre" before spending the next ten minutes telling them every detail about the play they had seen. To Galinda, there were much more important details.
"Galinda, why does it matter what wine we had with dinner?" Elphaba asked, from where she was squeezed into the bathroom for a glimpse of the mirror as Galinda applied her makeup.
"I can tell you it was white, but other than that you'll have to ask Fiyero."
"It's all about details, Elphie," Galinda replied, putting on blush. "For someone who spent months writing letters to your boyfriend, you sure suck at telling stories. It really makes me doubt what you two actually talked about. If I hadn't seen those letters for myself..."
"You said you didn't read them," Nessa pointed out, wheeling herself to the bathroom door to join the conversation.
"I didn't," Galinda said hastily. "But sometimes... you know... I couldn't help seeing the odd sentence here and there."
Catching the reflection of Elphaba's glare in the mirror she added, "Which I will take to my grave."
"You'd better," Elphaba muttered. She wasn't sure exactly what her best friend had read, but she was trusting her to keep it to herself.
There was a knock on the door, surprising the girls.
"I'll get it," Elphaba offered. She squeezed out of the bathroom and headed for the door, absentmindedly scratching her wrist as she walked. She hated when her skin was dry, it always itched and she was hopeless at remembering to moisturise every day as Galinda ordered her to.
When she opened the door, Elphaba was surprised to find Boq and Fiyero on the other side.
"What are you doing here?" she greeted them.
"We thought we'd escort you three lovely ladies to breakfast," Fiyero grinned, kissing Elphaba lightly. "Good morning."
She couldn't help but smile. "Good morning."
When the girls- namely Galinda, were ready, the five of them headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
"How'd you sleep?" Fiyero asked Elphaba quietly, drawing her close.
"Fine. Not very long, but fine," she replied. "But I got more than five hours so I'll take it. You?"
"Good," he nodded.
"That guy Antim is in the room next to ours," Boq spoke up. "He's stayed here before and said the food is great."
"Well, it's got to be better than cafeteria food," Fiyero grinned.
As they ate breakfast, the room was filled with excited chatter between friends, some excited and some nervous about meeting the people they'd been writing to for a year.
"Poor buggers," Fiyero said sympathetically.
Nessa raised an eyebrow. "You relate, Fiyero?"
"Absolutely. I was petrified before meeting Fae."
"Which time?" Boq asked innocently, and Fiyero glared at the Munchkin.
"Both. Although for different reasons," he admitted.
Boq grinned. "Actually, I remember the first time. You were terrified. It was kind of funny," he laughed.
"Thanks, Boq," Fiyero said sarcastically.
Elphaba avoided anyone's gaze. "I was more nervous the second time," she confessed. She didn't have to add that it was because of what had happened the first time, they all knew it; prompting Fiyero to silently took her hand in his under the table and squeeze it gently.
The Shiz students were at the CEC by ten o'clock that morning. They were supposed to meet their pen pals in the auditorium and Elphaba had to laugh when Fiyero had to stop and think where that was.
"You were here for three months," she reminded him. "It wasn't that long ago."
"Hey, I only remember the important things," Fiyero grinned. "Just be thankful I'm not supposed to be finding the library or a classroom. Then we'd be in trouble."
On their way to the auditorium, they passed the courtyard and although there was really no need, Fiyero pointed out the giant Wizard statue that had ultimately gotten him expelled. All knowing the story, they paused to look.
Elphaba tilted her head. "You transformed that into a dragon with sheets?!"
"Supposedly," Fiyero shrugged. "That's up for debate."
"By you," Elphaba muttered, but he ignored her.
"How did you do the wings?" Boq asked, sounding rather impressed.
"Don't encouragise him," Nessa scolded her ex-boyfriend.
They were hurried along quickly and entered the auditorium, finding it milling with awkward students trying to find one another. Nessa soon found her pen pal and disappeared, and Boq and Galinda weren't far behind. That left Elphaba and Fiyero alone, as Fiyero scanned the room to find his former roommate.
"Won't Lau be busy with his own pen pal?" Elphaba asked.
Fiyero shrugged carelessly. "I guess, but he can spare five minutes to meet us."
Elphaba couldn't help but notice that here, some people did stare. But it wasn't a case of staring at the girl with the odd green skin; moreover, it was more girls staring at the girl who was obviously Fiyero Tiggular's girlfriend. Elphaba was used to those stares at Shiz, but these weren't merely only the stares of girls who were attracted to or who admired Fiyero, they were different. And Elphaba suspected why.
"Er, Fiyero? I think some of your friends have noticed us."
Fiyero was both startled and confused. Other than Lau, he didn't have many people he'd consider friends at the CEC. And then he looked more closely at the people watching them and Elphaba's pointed look before looking sheepish.
"Oh, right. Um... you see..."
"Fiyero, if you think I'm suddenly oblivious to the fact you dated other girls before me, you're an idiot," Elphaba said bluntly, even slightly amused by his guilty and panicked expression on his face.
"Do I like it? Not especially, but I can't change it."
Fiyero didn't know what to say. "Is this something I can apologise for anyway?" he asked with a grimace.
Elphaba smiled slightly. "Not really, but if it makes you feel better..."
He stepped forward and kissed her gently. "I'm sorry. And I love you."
Elphaba wasn't sure if she smiling at his words or at the no doubt stunned and outraged reactions she was sure was crossing the face of every girl in the room watching at that moment, but she was smiling.
"I love you too. Come on, let's find Lau."
When Fiyero spotted Lau finally, he led Elphaba across to him. Elphaba watched as Fiyero and Lau greeted one another with a typically male half-handshake, half-hug that made her roll her eyes. Then Fiyero turned to Elphaba, pulling her forward with a smile.
"Elphaba, this is Lau. Lau, Elphaba," he introduced them.
Lau looked faintly surprised for a moment when he saw Elphaba and then extended a hand to her.
"It's nice to finally meet you," he said warmly.
"You too," Elphaba replied, shaking his hand. "I guess I owe you a thank you for passing all my letters on last year."
He grinned. "No worries. I like to think it was my little part helping you two get together."
Fiyero rolled his eyes. "You want credit, Galinda wants credit... don't I get any credit?"
"What does Galinda want credit for? What did she do?" Elphaba asked him in surprise.
Fiyero shrugged. "Nagged me? I don't know, I didn't ask."
Lau paused. "Galinda. That would be the infamous Miss Upland? Your ex-girlfriend and your best friend?" he asked, pointing to first Fiyero and then Elphaba.
"And that's really not awkward for anyone?"
Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged a glance.
"Well... sometimes," Elphaba admitted.
They stood around chatting for a few more moments, and then Elphaba heard Galinda's voice calling out to her.
"Elphie!"
She turned and saw Galinda approaching, followed by a girl who Elphaba figured must be Tena, her friend's pen pal.
"I think that's my cue," she said to Fiyero. "I'll see you guys in a bit."
She excused herself and walked over to join her roommate. Galinda happily introduced her pen pal to her best friend, who seemed much more interested in who Elphaba was dating rather than the colour of her skin.
"Galinda told me all about how you two got together. It's so romantic," she gushed. "Although I was so surprised to hear that Fiyero was in the program."
Elphaba frowned slightly. "Wasn't he told to sign up in front of the entire school?"
"Yes," Tena nodded. "Although Fiyero was told to do a lot of things," she added with a laugh. "That doesn't mean they were done."
"I have no trouble believing that," Elphaba said dryly.
She had one question. "Did you see the dragon?"
"The one that got Fiyero expelled?" Tena asked. "Yeah. I thought it was pretty cool actually. I didn't think it was worth expulsion, but I guess it was the last straw for the Headmaster, you know?"
"I didn't know you knew Fiyero," Galinda said to her.
"Well, he didn't know me," Tena shrugged. "But everyone knew him."
It was twenty minutes before Elphaba managed to excuse herself from the conversation and scanned the room for Fiyero. From what she could see, the meeting between pen pals seemed to be a success. They seemed to have progressed from pairs to small groups, as groups of Shiz or CEC students came together so their pen pals could meet their friends.
Many others had left the auditorium, including Boq. Elphaba spotted Nessa with Sybhal in a small group of girls, and she could see Antim- who she knew was Lau's pen pal in another group, but not Lau himself. Elphaba headed outside, and saw Fiyero and Lau sitting on the steps outside, their backs to her. She wasn't sure whether to interrupt or not, but she was a short distance away when she heard her name being mentioned, and she stilled her footsteps.
She wasn't intending to eavesdrop, but she was curious as to what they were saying about her, and ducked around a corner so they wouldn't see her if they should turn around.
"So, how serious is it? With Elphaba?" Lau was asking.
"What, like on a scale of one to ten? An eleven," Fiyero replied without hesitation.
Lau laughed. "What's an eleven?"
"Higher than a ten," Fiyero grinned.
Lau rolled his eyes and Fiyero sobered, although the smile never lost his face.
"It means I love her more than anything," he said seriously.
Lau raised an eyebrow. "Are we talking like... The One here?"
There was only a brief pause. "Yeah, we are," Fiyero said softly.
"Does she know?"
"Well, I haven't exactly told her yet," Fiyero admitted. "I want to find the perfect moment. I mean, that's bigger than 'I love you'; it's telling her that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. And it's the whole discussion of marriage and children..."
"Ruling the Vinkus," Lau finished.
Fiyero laughed. "In my case, yes."
"So, what's this 'perfect' moment? After she's met your parents?"
"I don't think that's so important," Fiyero answered. "I mean, I can't wait for them to meet her and I know they're going to love her and I think she's really going to like them, but it's not the biggest factor."
"What is then?"
Fiyero looked at his friend with a smile. "That's my secret. But don't worry, I'll know when," he assured him.
"Are you worried about her answer?" Lau frowned.
"No," Fiyero replied confidently. "I just want to do it right."
"Do what right?" Elphaba announced her presence, heading towards them and being careful to keep her voice light.
Fiyero grinned up at her as she sat down beside him. "Hey, Fae."
"Ah, the 'Fae' thing," Lau nodded. "Is that weird? I mean, do you call Fiyero by whatever his fake name was?" he asked Elphaba.
"No," she replied with a smile. "But I like 'Fae'."
"I should hope so considering you made it up," Fiyero teased her and she rolled her eyes.
"You know what I mean."
Then she looked back at Lau. "Does your pen pal mind that you ditched him for Fiyero?"
Lau grinned. "No. His cousin goes here, so he's catching up with him."
"So, what are we going to do until dinner?" Fiyero asked them.
"How about a tour?" Elphaba suggested.
Fiyero shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"I'm happy to play tour guide," Lau agreed.
Elphaba grinned. "I was counting on that. Fiyero didn't remember where the auditorium was, I wasn't counting on him to remember anything else."
"Hey!" Fiyero protested.
"Fiyero, where's the library?" Lau asked pointedly.
Fiyero paused for a moment. "OK, you may have a point," he conceded.
Lau gave Elphaba and Fiyero the grand tour of the CEC, and although Fiyero really could have cared less, he did find a few recollections coming back to him as they walked around and he and Lau told stories to Elphaba as they went. Few amused her. She was much more intrigued by the buildings and grounds, especially the library. It was much bigger than the one at Shiz, and she could have spent hours in there looking around. Which is probably Fiyero only let her spend a few minutes inside the building.
"So how does the food at Shiz compare with the CEC?" Lau asked Fiyero as they were heading to the dining hall for dinner.
"The food's better here," Fiyero replied. "But Shiz has more restaurants around campus that we can go to instead of eating in the cafeteria."
"And by 'more' he means 'more affordable for the average student'," Elphaba added.
Lau grinned. "Gotcha."
"Although the food isn't bad at Shiz," Elphaba defended. "It's not amazing, but it's edible and it tastes good."
"That is true," Fiyero acknowledged. "I've been at schools where they may as well serve cardboard; or it tastes like it's surplus food from a war or two."
Elphaba laughed. "You think a can of beans survived two wars and is being served to university students?"
"I'm saying it would explain a lot," Fiyero replied. "Let me assure you, I got out of that school pretty quick."
"How quick?" Lau asked.
"Three weeks," Fiyero grinned proudly. "My personal best."
"That's nothing to be proud of, Fiyero," Elphaba scolded him with a roll of her eyes.
"You sound just like my parents," Fiyero grumbled.
"Er, I don't think that's a great thing to tell your girlfriend," Lau pointed out.
The food was good, and the dining hall was full of noise as everyone ate and talked.
"Horrible Morrible is going to be so smug," Boq commented as they ate.
"She'll probably insist it was all her idea," Elphaba agreed.
Sybhal, Nessa's pen pal frowned. "Who's Horrible Morrible?" she asked.
"Our Headshizstress, Madame Morrible," Nessarose explained, glaring at Boq for using the nickname Shiz students used as opposed to her title.
Lau chuckled. "That's clever."
"What if this hadn't worked?" Galinda asked.
"Then it would be the Headmaster of the CEC's idea and they'd dismiss it as a failed experiment," Elphaba replied.
"They'll probably be doing this program for the next fifty years," Fiyero nodded.
"And make it compulsory," Lau chimed in.
"Is that a bad thing?" Tena asked uncertainly.
"Only if you're going to write to your pen pal telling them they could become an axe murderer," Fiyero said innocently.
Elphaba glared at him. "You insist on bringing that up repeatedly, but it worked out pretty well for you," she reminded him.
"That's true," he admitted.
Sybhal looked at Nessa. "Are we missing something?"
Nessa laughed. "They always do that."
"You just learn to ignore it," Boq added.
The CEC students still looked confused.
