Not Completely, Altogether Here

Chapter 10 – "Good Afternoon, Madame."

I apologize all the way back to our dorm. For pushing her away, for snapping at her, for hurting her. Elphaba tells me it doesn't matter anymore. I ask her how she could forgive me for everything I've put her through and she tells me it's simple.

"You love me. That's all that will ever matter."

As we enter back into our dorm all I want to do is stand on my toes and press a kiss to her blushing cheek. I sigh thinking about what would happen if I gave into such an impulse. If only there were gloves for my mouth.

Then a brilliant thought pops into my head. I squeal, delighted as I rush over to her desk and throw open the first drawer. What I'm looking for sits atop her pencil case, ready for use.

"I've never seen you so excited to study before," Elphaba muses.

"I hardly consider what I'm about to do studying, Elphie" I reply, hiding the object behind my back as I come to stand in front of Elphaba. "Unless, of course, the subject is you."

One dark eyebrow raises and Elphaba's cheeks darken even more, if that's possible. I can't help myself any longer. I bring the roll of tape in front of me and rip off a big enough piece as quickly as I can. I stick the strip over my lips.

"Creative," Elphaba whispers as I press a soft kiss to her cheek. Seeing the corner of her mouth pull up in a small smile I lean in and touch our lips together. It's definitely not the same feeling I get from before, but at least she's not burning. As I end the chaste kiss I can see Elphaba straining to smile against the tape now stuck to her mouth. I giggle and pull it from her lips gently. "Very creative."

"Runs in the family."

Elphaba has a wicked grin on her face. "I wonder where else this will stick?"

"Elphie!" I blush hard. "Such inappropriateness!"

"I don't know what you're thinking about, Glinda. I merely meant your forehead." She says innocently. I know better than to believe her.

Unless my forehead has suddenly turned into other unmentionable places Elphaba sure has a dirty mind.

It's actually a little thrilling.

By lunch the following day Elphaba and I have fallen back into our usual routine. Only this time I keep my gloves on me at all times. I really could care less what other people think as they watch them seemingly float around. I can't control my touchy feely tendencies and I'd rather not have to worry for Elphaba's well-being if I suddenly decide one of her hands looks lonely. When pestered she just says it's a charm she's working on for sorcery seminar.

No one really pays me much attention after that.

Right now we're sitting inside the dining hall in our usual secluded booth. There's too much rain coming down outside to make it to the library safely. Elphaba keeps taking glances over to the staff table where Morrible is sitting. I've been openly glaring daggers at the giant fish woman since we sat down.

"I can't believe she's sitting there eating as if she hasn't spilled innocent blood." Elphaba mutters.

I sigh. "I can."

Elphaba looks over at me, her expression softening. "Glinda, what she did to you is completely… it's so… Oz, I can't even think of a word to describe it!"

"I know," I say reaching over and touching her fingers gently. She threads her hand with mine. "But it's not like we can do anything about it anyway."

Elphaba shakes her head. "There is always something, Glinda."

I don't say anything back. Elphaba lets go of my hand and continues eating. When she glances back over at Morrible I can see the disgust clear as day in her eyes. I'm disgusted with the horrible cow too. She got away with murder. My murder. And all I can do is sit and watch, hoping she chokes on her fork.

"I think she still has it." Elphaba whispers. The hint of conspiring in her voice has me finally turning to meet her eyes. "The journal." She mouths.

"What makes you think she has it, Elphie?" I ask only to be shushed repeatedly by Elphaba. I roll my eyes and lower my voice, despite obviously not needing to. "She's probably burned it ages ago."

"I don't think so," Elphaba says, looking around before leaning over the table towards me more. I can't help but lean in too. "Just look at her, Glinda. She's a walking monument. A total pack rat. I bet you anything she's kept it."

Hmm, Elphaba does have a point. Morrible wears her prized possessions and accessories as if they were trophies. She probably has kept the journal just to gloat over it in her rooms. My eyes narrow in disgust and contempt over at Morrible as she takes a bite from her salad. Watching her jaw work has my expression veering more towards disgust.

Elphaba snaps her fingers in front of my face and I turn back to give her my attention.

"Just think," Elphaba says. "If we find the journal and we get the material published then your death wasn't in vain. We'd be saving millions of Animals' lives! Morrible wouldn't have won!" She exclaims in a hushed whisper.

"Yes, let's just stroll into Morrible's rooms and take it without her noticing it's gone. We don't even know for sure if it's even there." I point out.

"There's a chance! And of course we can walk into her rooms! Or have you forgotten? Just because I can see you doesn't mean everyone else can." Elphaba grins.

I don't like that grin.

"But, Elphie," I begin to protest before she cuts me off.

"Glinda, please, we have to try. Please. If not for Dillamond and the Animals then for me?" Oh my Oz, is she really pouting at me? "What's the worse that could happen? You're already dead, right?"

That earns her a slap to the shoulder.

"Ow, ok, sorry. But it's true you know."

A harder slap.

Elphaba comes up with a plan later that night. I tell her it's ridiculous but she doesn't seem to hear me. I can only hope that she knows what she's doing.

"It'll be fine, Glinda," Elphaba assures me as she slips under the covers in her bed. I'm all ready sitting on mine, legs tucked beneath me as I watch her. She's left her hair down tonight. I'm completely transfixed.

Elphaba reaches over to turn down her bedside lamp, pausing as she catches me staring at her.

"I promise I'll still be green tomorrow." She laughs quietly. I've known her long enough to hear the insecurity behind her words.

"You're beautiful, Elphaba. Green skin and all." I tell her earnestly.

Elphaba turns down the lamp in response, the room becoming bathed in darkness. I hear her shifting under her blankets, settling into her lumpy pillows.

She deserves so much more than lumpy pillows.

"Elphie?" I call in a whisper.

I hear her sigh. "What, Glinda? I really should get some sleep, we have a lot to do tomorrow."

I ignore her. "Come here."

She's stopped fidgeting under her sheets entirely.

"Why?" She asks softly. Nervously even?

"Please?"

I don't want to tell her why. I don't want to scare her away. How am I supposed to ask her to come sleep in my comfy bed? The one belonging to the dead girl that's in love with you.

It even sounds creepy in my head.

Elphaba is still hesitant so I pick myself up from my bed, taking one of my fluffier pillows with me and make my way over to hers. She's wrapped her blankets tightly around her shoulders. I briefly wonder what she's thinking. Why she's acting so sequestered when just a couple nights before she was more than willing to share her bed with me.

I reach over and touch her shoulder gently. Her arm twitches under my fingers as I hear air being sucked through her teeth. I lift my hand away, afraid I've burnt her.

I'm wearing my gloves.

I'm confused. "Elphie, are you all right?"

She nods against her pillow.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shakes her head.

I don't know why she's acting so odd, but I also don't want to press her.

"So then is it all right if I lie with you?" I ask tentatively. I hold up my pillow despite the fact that she's turned away from me and definitely can't see. "I've brought a fluffy pillow."

I see her body relax a little under the sheets. She turns to look at me finally. "It's pink."

"Yes, the one color you could never clash with." I smile.

Elphaba turns back over. I don't miss the hint of a grin pulling at her lips though. She scoots over in her tiny bed, making space for me. I lie down next to her, above the covers. We exchange pillows, Elphaba giving a little sigh of content as she rests her head on the fluff of pink.

I try to ignore the way hers feels stiff as rock.

I'm too busy enjoying the way it smells like her anyway. Elphaba always smells like a mix of her oils. Today she must have used the Rosewood. I haven't told her yet but it's my favorite. My body just completely relaxes as I sink into the pillow further.

"I'm sorry about acting strange before," Elphaba's voice vibrates in the pillow below my ear. I feel comforted by the feeling.

"Yeah, what was that about anyway?" I giggle. Best to make light of the situation. Elphaba rolls onto her back groaning as she covers her face with her hands.

"You're going to laugh when I tell you."

"Try me," I say, propping my head up on my arm.

Elphaba peeks at me through her fingers before finally dropping her hands to her sides. I reach over and take the closest one with mine. She gives me a small smile.

"I thought you wanted us to… um…." I can see her blushing even in this darkened room.

I'm blushing furiously now too. "Elphie!" I shriek burying my head into the pillow below me.

Of course now it's all I can think about. I'm feeling a little warm in places I'd never felt warm before.

I shriek some more into my pillow.

Elphaba laughs beside me. "Oh come on, Glinda. It wouldn't have been that bad."

I pick my head up and give her an are-you-kidding-me look. "Just tell me this Elphie…. which one of us would have been wrapped in tape?"

Elphaba is laughing even harder.

I pout a little at her taking this situation so lightly. Then I get a mental image of us on the bed, Elphaba wrapped in nothing but tape, my hair snagged on a section of her arm. It actually is kind of funny if you think about it. Minus the part where my hair would be ruined.

I don't care. It would be so worth it if we could make it work.

"I vote you, you're smaller. We'd use less tape." Elphaba rationalizes.

I don't think so. "You're thinner, so you'd use less tape."

Elphaba smirks. "Dominance based on skin surface area. I don't think there's ever been a math equation quite so… tempting."

I giggle as Elphaba wiggles her eyebrows at me. "Only you would find our logistic problem alluring."

"I like that," She says, finally turning onto her side to face me. I bring our linked hands up under our chins, careful not to let her sensitive skin touch my face.

"Like what?"

"What you called this," Elphaba gives my hand a squeeze. "Our logistic problem."

My forehead creases into a frown. "I don't want to think of us as a problem, Elphie."

Elphaba continues smiling at me. "A logistic problem requires a solution. And we will find an answer, Glinda. I promise you."

I want to kiss her so badly right now. I contain my urge to just pounce on Elphaba, instead choosing to sigh happily and snuggle down into her shoulder. It's far more comfortable than the pillow and smells way more like her. This spot is perfect.

"Love you," I mumble, smiling.

Elphaba wraps her arms around me in reply. She falls asleep a short while later. I stay awake tracing small shapes into her shoulder, wondering just when we'll find the so-called solution to our logistical nightmare.

The next day at breakfast we roll Elphaba's plan to get the journal back into action. I sit next to Elphaba in the dining hall and try not to knock myself into a coma as Nessa rants on and on about something even more ridiculous than this ridiculous plan. I want to prod Elphaba but I've left my gloves in our room in order for this plan to work.

Nessa wouldn't exactly approve of floating appendages.

"I don't remember the part of the plan where I get bored to tears for an hour," I growl into Elphaba's ear.

I see her jaw clench.

"So, will you be joining me then?" I hear Nessa say.

"I'm sorry Nessa, joining you for what again?" Elphaba asks her sister to repeat politely.

"To pray for your soul of course! You are still living in that room with that demon spawn, yes?"

Not exactly the sisterly bonding time Elphaba had planned for but I guess it would suffice. That is so long as it took place in Nessa's rooms.

"She's not a demon spawn, Nessa." Elphaba groans.

Nessa gasps, hand quickly coming to cover her heart. "You know of its gender! You have been corrupted by its influence!"

Both Elphaba and I roll our eyes.

"I think you're overexag-Nessa!" Elphaba is being yanked from her chair before she can even finish her thought. Nessa is holding one of Elphaba's arm in a grip so tight I'm not even sure I could pry her arm free with magic. I follow after them as Nessa rolls furiously back towards her rooms. Elphaba notices and gives me a huge grin. Then her grin vanishes as she's nearly run into the wall. "Sweet Oz, Nessa! Slow down!"

"I will not slow down Elphaba! We need to get back to my rooms! We need to save your soul!"

"In your rooms though, right?" Elphaba clarifies as they make another quick turn down the main hall.

"Yes! Has this demon made you deaf as well as insufferable?"

I can't help but giggle as I chase after them. Once inside Nessa's rooms, which I note are entirely devoid of personality, Elphaba is told to sit on the bed. She does so willingly and lies back into Nessa's boring pillows.

"No! Elphaba! Sit!" Nessa screeches. She swats at Elphaba until Elphie is sitting up straight. I can't help but laugh as I stand by the desk. Elphaba glares at me. I laugh harder.

"This was all your idea. You have no one to blame but yourself." I say.

Elphaba mutters something under her breath I can't quite hear. But Nessa does. She slaps her sister on the arm again.

"Ow! Nessa! Oz! What's gotten into you!"

"What's gotten into me? No! The question is what's gotten into you!"

"Nothing has gotten into me, Nessa."

"That's what all the possessed say! And the next thing you know they're off killing everyone. Would you like to be one of those people, Elphaba?"

Elphaba opens her mouth to say something I realize will probably result in her getting slapped some more. But she pauses and shakes her head instead.

"Good," Nessa says laying a blanket into Elphaba's lap. "I hear it gets cold when the demon leaves you."

Elphaba looks over to me. "It does." She says quietly.

I smile at her sadly.

"I need to go collect my things from my study. But you stay right there!" Nessa orders before disappearing into the next room.

Elphaba is up off the bed the instant the door clicks closed behind her sister.

"Quick, get on the balcony." Elphaba says hurriedly as she opens the door leading to Nessa's balcony. I step out of the room and into the small outdoor space. Nessa has set up a couple chairs around a tea table. It's rather cute. Though it looks completely unused. I hit one by accident in my rush and the clang resounds loudly.

Elphaba and I both freeze.

Nessa doesn't seem to have heard. We both relax.

"You know what to do?" Elphaba asks. It's the first time I've noticed since this plan has gotten underway that she seems worried. I pull her to me in a quick hug.

"I'll be back before she blesses you too much." I say with a giggle.

Elphaba doesn't look too convinced as I pull away. But she presses her hands to her lips and then touches my shoulder gently. "Be safe."

I smile at her tenderness. "I will."

She closes the door to the balcony just as Nessa wheels back into the room. As I make my way over to Morrible's window I can't help but hear as Nessa scolds Elphaba for attempting to escape.

The sounds of the sisters arguing dies down once I'm level with Morrible's window. The curtains are drawn over the glass and I become apprehensive at what lies inside. A breeze must pass by as the curtains sway in time with the rustle of the leaves on the tree to my side. Looking down I notice the window is open a crack. Just as Elphaba said it would be.

I push the glass up and slip inside.

My eyes take a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. When they do what I see doesn't surprise me. Morrible's quarters are just as I imagined them to be. A mess of hanging fabrics all clashing together and forming an enormous eyesore. Pretty much exactly like their owner.

I realize I'm in her study. There's a desk to my right, every inch covered with papers and books. Shelves cover every wall, books overflowing on the wood surfaces. Some even piled to the floor. I recognize some from seminar. Others from my father's own extensive library. The rest make me anxious.

Darker magic.

An odd clicking noise startles me. I move over to the shelf opposite me. One of the mechanical looking devices seems to have come to life. As I lean towards it the clicking gears work faster.

"Odd," I breathe.

The little tick-tock device stops clicking as I move away. Very odd indeed. I make a note to mention it to Elphaba later.

Right now I need to find that journal. And I don't know how Elphie expects me to find that it in here. This is going to take ages!

A part of me feels like the journal wouldn't be in her study though. Morrible would want it someplace less common. Think trophy, I repeat to myself.

I wander through the open study door into Morrible's living room. Oz, if I thought her study was a disaster her living room looks as though a storm has passed through. But there's one bookcase of particular interest. Something about it draws me near. It's lined with sorcery medals and other such achievements.

"Perfect."

I try not to read the titles on the medals, knowing how undeserving Morrible is of all of them. I wish I had a pen on me so I could write my own trophy for her.

Or at least deface the ones she's taken so much time to make sure glisten so brightly. I take interest in one specific though. It's unlike the others. No gold, no glamour, just a blue sphere inlaid on a plaque. I reach out to touch the glass. The liquid swirling inside glows yellow at my touch. I jump back.

"Good Afternoon, Madame." I'm even more surprised by the silky voice that flows from the sphere. Elphaba will not be happy to hear I've ruined her plans. I turn on my heel quickly; ready to bolt form the room but I am stilled as the sound of a door sliding open reaches my ears.

Turning back to the bookcase slowly I am surprised to find it's been transformed into a doorway. An entirely separate room lies open behind the wall. I move cautiously into the new room. All the clutter and madness of Morrible's quarters not reflected off the sparse and empty, almost scientific surfaces of the small space. I'm reminded a little of Elphaba's lab... minus the feeling of home.

There are sorcery instruments in here I'd only ever read about in books. Some I don't even recognize. A chill rolls through my spine. I've spent far too long in this room.

And thankfully I don't have to spend another minute. I spot Dillamonds journal lying atop the counter against the back wall. I rush over and grab it, holding it to my chest as I run from the room.

The bookcase slides close behind me, wishing me a good evening as I sprint back through the living room and into Morrible's study. I throw myself out the window and slam it shut. I am panting for no reason, trying to fill eternally empty lungs as I stand on the balcony staring with wide eyes at Morrible's window.

The cold still hasn't left me.

I shake my head clear and make my way to Nessa's rooms. I need to see Elphaba. I don't bother hesitating once I'm in front of her room and rap on the door a couple times.

"Oh my Oz!" Nessa exclaims from her position on the bed. Through the glass I watch as Elphaba springs to her feet and opens the balcony door for me. Before she can even ask about the book she's pulling me into a fierce hug.

"I was so worried." She whispers into my ear. The warm shiver that descends down my spine has me throwing my arms around her, and holding her closer to me.

"I found it." I say as we part, holding the journal between us.

Elphaba takes it gently, running her fingers softly over the worn cover. She gives me a small smile.

"W-where do you think you're going?" Nessa stammers as Elphaba links her arm through mine and leads me to the door.

She turns back to her handicapped sister. "Back to my room." Elphaba says opening the door. She allows me to pass before turning to me with a smirk. "What do you think Demon?"

I giggle as Elphaba gives me a mock sultry look.

Nessa gasps, horrified.

I giggle more.

"She wants to do naughty things to me." Elphaba announces. "Sorry I can't stay, Nessa, need to," She makes a lewd jester with her hands that only makes Nessa gasp in more horror. "Right. So, goodbye!"

And with that we tear down the hall laughing like lunatics all the way.

When we make it back to our room we both fall to the floor, laying side by side. The journal resting safely between us. Elphaba's breathing still hasn't calmed. The flush of color on her cheeks hasn't receded.

Seeing her like this... seeing her so full of life. It makes me feel so alive.