The incantation was fast, leaving Elphaba tingling all over. "My skin feels electric," she whispered to Fiyero.
"I know the feeling," he whispered back, taking her hand in his.
Was he going to be this open about his feelings all the time? When he said things that intimated his desire for her, it made her feel dread and excitement at the same time. When he'd been with Galinda, there hadn't been any hope, which had been safer. Now, he was going to want to hold her, kiss her... More than that? More than that.
They found a faucet, and turned it on just a little, so that it dripped. The moment felt like a balloon expanding in her chest. Fiyero held one hand, and Elphaba reached the other out slowly. She closed her hand into a fist, then stuck out her pinky, letting it rest under the faucet until a drip fell on her.
It felt cold. There was no burning, no awful red welt. Just a strange coldness that carried down the side of her finger as gravity pulled the droplet down. Elphaba smiled, not sure she could believe it, and let go of Fiyero's hand to reach out and turn the water on a little more.
When her entire hand had been submerged under the water, Elphaba was sure that her allergy was, in fact, gone. She and Fiyero practically jumped up and down with joy, hugging and laughing. Elphaba left her arms around his neck after they had stopped, and stood there, feeling the exhileration of not being allergic to water coupled with the exhileration of holding Fiyero in her arms. He held her close, and they felt the warmth of their bodies pressed together.
"Snow," Elphaba finally sighed.
"Good idea," Fiyero agreed, and, hand in hand, they ventured out into the flurries together.
Mostly everyone had gone home for the winter break. The grounds were quiet, muffled by the cold whiteness. "It's so beautiful," Elphaba said.
"Beauty is everywhere," Fiyero concurred, staring at her.
Elphaba smiled shyly, and gathered up some snow in her hands, packing it into a ball, and looking at it wondrously. "It's really cold," she exclaimed. "I was going to make snow angels, but I don't know if I'm ready for that, yet."
Fiyero smiled lopsidedly at her, trying to imagine the sensation of wet or snow for the first time, and couldn't. He watched her enjoying letting flakes fall on her, watched as she spun, the snow falling around her like blossoms, watched as she wound up -
She threw a snowball at him. With an evil grin, she froze after the clump of snow hit his chest and then fell to the ground. He stared down at the wet splotch where the ball had hit, then, pondering his options, scooped up some snow and chased after her. She was fast, but he was faster, and grabbed her by the waist and rubbed the snowball on her neck, letting it fall down the back of her dress, to which she shrieked.
"That was very uncalled for," she scolded.
"You started it."
Elphaba reached downward, trying to get at some more snow to attack him with but he pulled her close, and whispered in her ear. "I don't want to fight..."
"It's playing," she laughed.
"It's cold, and fast. It's not warm, and gentle."
"Are you really this romantic?"
"No," Fiyero chuckled.
She shivered in his arms a little. "Snow is really cold," she chattered.
Fiyero laughed, head back, his long, strong neck just begging to be nuzzled. Elphaba was glad to oblige, and pressed her cold nose against him. "Hey," Fiyero complained. "Your nose is pretty cold."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Elphaba replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought you were tough."
"I am tough. I saved you from Death-by-Pond, didn't I? And," he added, "I found a cure for your water allergy, and I am going to save you from night after night of studying with no breaks whatsoever."
Elphaba smiled. "I suppose you are a bit of a hero, Fiyero." She paused. "Hero Fiyero," she tried. "Fiyero the hero..."
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know," Elphaba said. "It just had a nice flow to it." She shook her head, clearly flustered, attempting to clear her mind. He made her so nervous. She'd barely gotten by with them being friends, and now, here they were, having a conversation while his arms were firmly around her waist. "That's quite the list of achievements you just rattled off," she mused, changing the subject.
"It seems pretty obvious, when you hear all those things, eh?"
"What does?"
"My affection for you. I'm surprised it took us this long to -"
"To what?"
Fiyero thought about it. "I'm not sure... To... Be together?"
"Are we together?"
Fiyero wondered why Elphaba had a joking tone to her voice. Didn't she take this seriously? She didn't look him in the eye, and then he realized: she took this very seriously. Probably so seriously she wasn't wanting to think about it too much.
"I want us to be together," he murmured.
Elphaba didn't understand. When had this happened? How had this happened? She looked at him, into his deep blue eyes, at his handsome face, at how broad his shoulders were under his winter coat. She knew, she remembered, what has under that coat, at least from the waist up.
"Everyone will judge you," she warned him.
"I'll be too busy being with you to notice," Fiyero replied.
Elphaba smiled, almost winced, at how brainlessly optimistic he was.
"So, now, can I ask you out, formally, rather than have Galinda do it for me?"
Elphaba realized that Galinda really had orchestrated the whole thing. "If you want," she answered, feeling overwhelmed by how wonderful he was being.
"Elphaba, this is me, formally asking you out. Exclusively. Will you have me?"
Elphaba nodded happily. "If you'll have me."
"I think you're going to spend a lot of time fighting me off when I want to have you," Fiyero predicted, kissing her nose, then tilting his head and kissing her on the mouth. Sighing a little, Elphaba kissed him back, sucking lightly on his bottom lip, which inspired Fiyero to take the kiss deeper.
It was as if Elphaba was suddenly two people: one, returning his kiss, pressing herself against him, smoothing her hands over him as he did the same; the other, screaming in terror at how readily the first Elphaba responded to him. They kissed until they were breathless, until Elphaba felt dizzy, until Fiyero felt weak.
"Want to go get warm somewhere?"
"Good idea," Elphaba said. "Where were you thinking?"
My bed. "I don't know... Maybe that little café we studied at a few times?"
"It's off school grounds - what about the press?"
"Do they matter?"
"Yes," Elphaba said firmly. "Nobody knows about you and Galinda breaking up yet. People will think she was forced to break up with you after yet another 'indescretion'."
"You love her a lot, don't you," Fiyero observed.
"She's my best friend. My only friend."
"Not anymore," Fiyero reminded her, kissing her forehead. "And, hey, we were friends months ago!"
"I had inappropriate feelings for you. It felt dishonest, which isn't a good basis for friendship," Elphaba informed him.
Inappropriate feelings? Since when? "How long have you liked me?"
Elphaba blushed. "Longer than I'll ever admit to anyone, including myself."