Disclaimer: Long chapter! I hope you all like it... And, once again, Wicked is not mine, and ELPHABA AND GLINDA ARE NOT IN LOVE! There we go! -happy smile- Story time! -LostOzian
Glinda sat at the table, sadly understanding that this was a classic pity party going on. She was surrounded by her 'dear friends' and boys who thought were worthy to be Glinda's rebound. Oz, most of the girls that called themselves Glinda's friends were only there to see the array of boys Glinda attracted, picking which one they would pursue if he wasn't chosen. Despite the music, nobody was dancing, for fear Glinda would frown upon other happy couples.
She stared at the beer in front of her, not wanting to think about anything, yet not willing to bring herself to drink away the pain. She guessed she had Elphaba to thank for that; she came back, at least as upset with Fiyero as she was, if not more, and had helped her progress past the chocolate and tissues stage of a breakup faster than she had thought possible. Still, she wasn't ready to let it go, and took a sip of beer, letting it replace her unshed tears.
The door opened, letting two men into the bar. One was an attractive man in an unflatteringly gray suit, but the other… Glinda gasped, causing the others around her to turn. Fiyero was here, with someone nobody else had ever seen before. One of the boys surrounding her stood up- Bick, Glinda dimly recognized- and approached Fiyero.
"You've got nerve showing your face here," he said, not threatening but warning. Fiyero looked at him disdainfully.
"I am perfectly happy after breaking up with Glinda, and I'm sorry if I can't be bothered to hide in my dorm in shame," he told Boq curtly, but the other man put his hand on Fiyero's shoulder.
"Just ignore them, darling," he said. "Don't let them ruin our evening." Glinda froze. Their evening?! A date?! Boq seemed just as stunned, too, backing away slowly and nearly running into his chair. The newcomer and Fiyero stepped onto the dance floor, the only couple in the entire establishment taking advantage of the music. The pity party, completely astounded, watched as the two men unabashedly danced together.
Glinda could barely take it. She couldn't even believe that Fiyero would be with a guy after the Ritiga ploy. Was it because Elphaba rejected him? Did something snap inside of him that made this happen? Maybe he was only testing her… to see what she'd do if he found a new man. Glinda stood, holding her tears in. That was probably only some random guy who owed him a favor; they were pretending to be gay to rub it in that Fiyero broke up with her. The two didn't even notice her get closer, trying to decide how best to find out if Fiyero and this stranger were really gay.
Target the partner… Glinda stood half on the sidelines, waiting for her moment. In a spin in the music, Glinda grabbed the stranger's arm, pulling him away from Fiyero. He stumbled, reaching for Fiyero, but Glinda stopped him.
With a kiss.
Fiyero made a noise, despairing and shocked. The man broke away quickly, shaking his head at Glinda. She mentally ran past the list of all the boys she knew; he seemed familiar, but she couldn't find a match. Was he a new student?
"I wouldn't have done that," he said quietly. "if I were you." He took Glinda's hand, guiding her toward Boq. "Here," he said, putting the Munchkin's hand in hers. "A much better match." Glinda continued to stare after the strange man as he returned to Fiyero. The prince's expression was hurt, afraid, and worried. Like I probably looked like when he dumped me.
"Terribly sorry about that, darling," the man told him. "I didn't ask, but I couldn't stop her." Fiyero raised an eyebrow at his date, clearly still suspicious. "You don't honestly think I would engage with a female of my own accord, do you?" he prompted, meeting Fiyero's questioning look. Oh, hopelessly gay, Glinda thought. Fiyero turned his back rather dramatically, at this point toying with his date.
"Oh, come on, you," he said sarcastically, turning Fiyero around and kissing him. Glinda finally looked away, understanding that she couldn't do a thing about Fiyero's new orientation.
"What was that about?" Boq asked, trying to keep himself from shaking because Glinda was holding his hand.
"I didn't think they were really gay," she said. "But I guess they are." Boq just nodded, thinking of how Fiyero would have made a pretty good friend if not for the whole Glinda thing, but he had never struck him as a gay.
"Though something's not right with them," Glinda said. "It… doesn't feel right."
"We could question them," Boq suggested, hoping that if he kept talking Glinda would keep holding on to his hand. "Fiyero and his… his…" Glinda gave Boq's hand a squeeze.
"I know."
"Now, you're sure I shouldn't be worried about you and Glinda," Fiyero muttered after they broke the kiss and worked their way back into the dance.
"Fiyero, that was one of the most disturbing things I've ever done in my life," Elphaba told him. "And Oz help me, I am never doing it again."
"Even if she gets really, really insistent?" By this time Fiyero was teasing her. It was so much fun, especially when he knew that Elphaba was not a lesbian.
"Then I will insist she jumps in a lake," Elphaba said. Fiyero laughed during one of the spins.
"You're actually better at Raphablo than I was at Ritiga," Fiyero commented when the dance brought them closer.
"It's like playing dress up," Elphaba said. "When Nessa and I played, I was the dragon or monster or whatever, and she was the princess."
"So now it's your chance to play the princess," Fiyero said.
"The prince, darling," Elphaba lowered her voice a little more profoundly. "Prince."
They continued through the song, and another. Elphaba noticed Glinda and Boq join them in the second song, but they were more watching her and Fiyero than dancing themselves.
"How about drinks?" Elphaba suggested, starting to feel hot and sweaty. She couldn't take off the jacket or hat or else everyone would notice she was a girl. And pants felt strange. She didn't know how Fiyero and Boq or any other male on the planet could stand them. Maybe it was an acquired comfort, and boys wore skirts at home in the early months before growing out of them, and real drag queens just never grew out of skirts.
"The man always gets the drinks for the girl," Fiyero raised his eyebrows.
"Well, we're both men tonight," Elphaba insisted. "Which means I'll get the drinks, but you'll pay me back."
"Cheap date," Fiyero poked her.
"Take your pick," she said. "The green date, the gay date, or the garish date." She kissed Fiyero again- Oz, it felt good to be able to just randomly kiss him- before heading toward the bar.
Before she even managed to get the bartender's attention, she found Boq standing beside her, trying to look casual yet clearly scared to be there at the same time.
"Uh… hi," was all he managed. Pathetic, Boq. I'm just saying.
"And who might you be?" Elphaba asked smoothly. Boq stopped, slightly taken aback by Elphaba's fluffy manner of speaking. Customary Shizish was 'I'm so and so', responded to by 'this and that'. If there were really people named So and So and This and That.
"Uh… Boq. Boq Hizrlo." Elphaba smiled slightly. Boq's face right now was priceless. Wait a clock tick… Elphaba just got a terrible idea of how to make this situation even more torturous to the abnormally tall Munchkin.
"I am Raphablo Pathepp, at your service, Master Boq." She extended her hand. Boq spent half a moment looking at it, before taking it for a handshake. Quite out of the blue, Elphaba kissed his hand. That's for making Fiyero panic outside Unigi's, Elphaba thought as Boq quickly stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at a cocktail napkin. Oz, she could never get tired of doing that. It was like scaring Glinda; the way she screamed was so easy to laugh at.
"So…um… so when did you and Fiyero hook up?" Boq asked.
"Earlier today," Elphaba said, still laughing inside at Boq's reaction. "And life has been like a dream since."
"Oh. Well… uh… okay," Boq stammered. Oz, is he uncomfortable around gays. The bartender finally got around to Elphaba, and she ordered two rather weak beers. Too much alcohol tonight would blow the whole charade. "Thing is… that Fiyero's…"
"Simply the most attractive being in Oz?" Elphaba supplied, knowing full well that wasn't what Boq was talking about. Ideas for more torment blossomed in her head. "Imagine, if you will, that he's holding you in a loving embrace, and whispering in your ear-"
"I would prefer not to imagine things like that, thanks," Boq said very fast, shielding the side of his face closest to Elphaba with his hand. It was all Elphaba could do to not double over laughing.
"Well, what were you about to say about him?" Elphaba said.
"Fiyero's had a lot of… girlfriends." Elphaba raised her eyebrow.
"Well, we can all have girlfriends and boyfriends and Animal friends and-" Elphaba rambled off, using the child's definition of girlfriends.
"No, no! That's not what I mean!" Boq cut her off. "I mean that Fiyero has been romantically involved with two females in the past month!" Glinda, and… I guess he's counting me, too.
"And this is important… why?" Elphaba said. Boq gaped at her.
"Two girls in a month?! Are you blind?!" Boq said. Elphaba turned around, leaning against the counter. Glinda had cornered Fiyero, both looking rather agitated, as if they were arguing. So that's what this is all about, Elphaba thought. He's distracting me.
"Why, Master Boq," Elphaba said, pointing out Glinda and Fiyero. "I do believe that is Miss Glinda speaking to her ex-boyfriend." Boq glanced at them a moment, then shrugged.
"Yeah," he said. "I mean… I guess it is," he said. Elphaba caught Boq's unguarded hand, making him look at her.
"Is it that you desire my company over Miss Glinda's?" she asked suggestively. Boq's pupils dilated to little pinpoints. He jumped back, crashing into a barstool in his panic.
"It's not that! It's not that!" he repeated over and over. Elphaba gave him a skeptical look. "It's not!" he insisted. He tried to calm down a little bit, taking deep breaths. "It's just… Fiyero doesn't have a reputation of being steady." Elphaba sighed, looking at Boq seriously with no intentions of continuing to force him into awkward situations.
"Tell me this, Master Boq," he said. "Would you still love Glinda if she didn't constantly have other men vying for her attentions? If she didn't flit about, driving you insane?" Elphaba looked back to Fiyero and Glinda, who seemed to be reaching an understanding.
"Think about it," Elphaba told him, about to take the beers back to Fiyero when Boq grabbed her arm.
"Why do you love Fiyero, then?" Boq asked. "Knowing he's been with other women." Elphaba smiled slightly, thinking of how she could be truly honest with this question.
"You've heard his latest philosophy, no doubt," Elphaba said. "'Dancing though life'. It's his innocence that I love. The idea you can just dance is music to an overstretched intellect's ears. I'd like to share in that happiness while I still can. Behave young while you are young."
She finally managed to leave, thinking of how she would leave the duty of getting drinks to Fiyero if you got confronted every time.