Toss, Toss!
Disclaimer – I do not own Elphaba, Glinda, or any other characters mentioned in this story. They do not belong to me, and never will... unfortunately.
The man sitting at the counter looked up as a crew of five staggered in, all but one of them looking terrified of their surroundings. The man couldn't help but smile; this was a prison, after all. Granted, it was a women's prison, but a place full of criminals anyways.
They looked terribly out of place, in their expensive business suits and dress suits. From years of experience, the man could tell that they were either interns or greenhorn lawyers.
Yet one of them caught his attention, more than the others did. His brows flew upwards as he saw that she was not a greenhorn, but literally green. She stood out more than other others, not just for the colour of her skin but for her clothes; while they were dressed up to the nines in professional clothing, she wore a simple dark blue frock and matching jacket. However, she had something that the others didn't have- that being the air of leadership; nervous leadership, but leadership nonetheless.
"May I help you?" He asked as the group drew closer.
"Yes, you can." The green one said, speaking for the entire group. "We work for the Wizard, and he sent us to speak to his client on his behalf. If we could-?"
All that green bean had to say was 'the Wizard' and his interest was immediately piqued.
"Yes, of course." He nodded hurriedly. "I'll take you right away."
Immediately, he got to his feet with the five following close behind him. He led them to a room, where the walls were the same fading shade of beige as the floor, and left promptly, going to fetch their client.
Right after he left, Glinda let out a huge, heavy breath.
"I'm glad that that's over." She murmured quietly. Glinda was terrified of the fact that in every room they had passed along the way to this one, there had been jailed woman glaring, staring, or jeering at her, and every single one of them looked as if they could snap her into two.
"Not just yet." Elphaba responded, overhearing the blonde's comment. "We still have to meet the client."
She sat in the seat next to Glinda's as they waited for the man to return. In the room they were in, there was a table, and currently only Elphaba and Glinda sat at it- Fiyero, Sarima, and Kumbricia were having their own deep conversation.
"Not to mention we still have to retrieve the alibi." She added in, shuffling papers the Wizard had given her on the case as she took them out of her messenger bag.
"It should be easy enough." Glinda hummed, now more calm. "Lurline is a very nice woman."
"And you know this how?" Elphaba cocked an eyebrow at the tiny blonde.
"Well, you see-"
The door to the room opened and Glinda was interrupted by it as she (and the rest of the legal team) turned to look.
"Thirty minutes." The guard growled, before shoving their client into the room and leaving without another care.
Stumbling from the force the man had pushed her with, the woman stood straight, brushed off what dirt she could from her clothes, and threw a dirty look at the window where the man had just passed by. Finally noticing the others in the room, she smiled pleasantly.
"Hello there." She said, her voice quiet yet sophisticated. "I'm Lurline."
As she looked at them, they were all stunned (save for Glinda), though Fiyero was the only one to gawk openly. The headshot of the woman did her no justice- in person, she was more radiant than any picture or painting of her could ever show. Like Glinda, she looked to be from Gillikin, the pale fair skin and blue eyes and naturally pink mouth giving her away. Her hair, however, was unusually perfect. Although she was in prison, it looked as if she had just stepped out of a salon, for the blonde hair hung in golden waves with not a strand askew or out of place.
Elphaba was the first one to speak.
"Good morning." The green woman greeted. "Mrs-"
"Please," Lurline interrupted, holding up a hand for her to pause, "Just call me Lurline."
"A-Alright then." Elphaba blinked, taken aback by her friendliness and casual manner.
Coughing to rid her voice of the surprise that had slipped into her tone, Elphaba smoothly made the switch from awkward to professional as she spoke once more.
"My name is Elphaba Thropp. I'm your co-counsel for your trial. The Wizard sent me here today with these four interns- they are the best of the best from Shiz law school. We're here to help you with your defence, and we will do all that we can to aid you."
"Thank you so much." Lurline smiled, and, striding across the room, she shook Elphaba's hand vigorously. Discreetly glancing at the green girl, Glinda could see the shock in her eyes; no one touched Elphaba, ever, due to their irrational fears of turning green themselves and Elphaba's dislike of physical contact. However, if Lurline had even noticed that the woman whose hand she was currently holding was not of normal colouring, then she made no sign that she did.
After shaking each and every one of their hands, the sorceress took a seat at the table, the other three interns joining her, Elphaba and Glinda right after them. Pulling out the papers she had been holding earlier, Elphaba laid them out for Lurline to see. Written on them as well as the Wizard's notes were little added ones scrawled in Elphaba's own spiky writing.
"Now the Wizard has briefed us all on your case so far." Elphaba said, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose and glancing at her notes. "There is a significant amount of evidence against you so far. However, even with that fact, we can still win this trial. For this though, we will need to co-operate with you and you with us-"
"I'll do all I can." Lurline interrupted, somehow managing to remain serene. "I'll tell you what you need-"
"Good." Elphaba nodded. "We will need to know your alibi, then."
"Except for that."
Instantly, every single person's head snapped up, and they all turned to stare at Lurline.
"E-excuse me?" Elphaba asked, losing her composure.
"I can't give you the alibi." Lurline said, still calm and earnest as ever, even as the legal team sitting with her flew into a tizzy.
"Well, if you can't give us the alibi-" Fiyero jumped in. "You should accept a plea bargain. If you plea guilty, then they'll reduce your sentence."
"But if I did," Lurline said smoothly, "Then that would be saying that I did something which I did not do. That would be saying that I am the killer."
"But if you accept the bargain," Sarima tried, "Then you'll only serve a fraction of the time that you would under normal circumstances. Two, three, maybe four years in prison instead of a lifetime spent there. That seems reasonable enough."
"Yet it's not." Lurline insisted. "It's not reasonable at all for me to be in prison while the person who is the real murder walks free."
"And that's why we need the alibi." Kumbricia spoke, leaning over the table so she was closer to Lurline, staring pointedly at her. "So we can set you free."
Lurline just shook her head. Kumbricia was trying to emphasize her point by leaning in, but Lurline threw it right back in her face as she leaned in as well, moving closer and closer until their faces were almost touching.
"If you put me on the stand," She murmured to the intern, "Then unfortunately, I will be forced to lie."
Knowing she was beaten, Kumbricia leaned back, simply surveying Lurline under heavy lidded eyes. A half wry, half unimpressed line sat where her mouth should have been, and the rest of them leaned back as well. They had tried to do what the Wizard had asked them , and unfortunately failed. They still had no alibi and no luck with convincing the client to accept a plea bargain. As they brainstormed ways to get her to talk, the minutes ticked by.
Soon, twenty five minutes had already passed, and they still had come up with nothing, Lurline remaining irritatingly calm and tight-lipped. Tired of waiting, the so called 'faerie queen' was about to call the guard when Glinda, silent for the entire visit, finally spoke.
"It doesn't matter if you give us the alibi or not, Lurline. We'll find you innocent. I promise." Glinda told her, smiling. As Lurline looked at her, her brows furrowed. Suddenly her eyes widened, and a smile formed on her lips as well.
"I remember you." The suspect grinned. "You... you took my classes in Gillikin, didn't you?"
While the others stared on in amazement, Glinda nodded enthusiastically, her curls bouncing. "That's right." She affirmed. "I took your magic seminars."
"You created the magical bubble." Lurline went on, cheeks flushing in excitement as she recalled the memory. "The one that was large enough and strong enough for you to fly around in. You're Galinda Upland, right?"
"Correct." Glinda beamed, pleased that Lurline had remembered her name. "Though it's Glinda now."
The two would have gone on, but at that moment, the same guard from before burst in.
"Time is up." He grunted. Walking to the table, he grabbed Lurline's arm and roughly pulled her up and to the door. Over her shoulder, the sorceress called out to her former student, "I'm glad that I can trust someone on the team."
As she left, the smile on Glinda's face stayed. However, it dropped off as someone else stepped into the room.
"I just saw Lurline leave." The Wizard said, shutting the door behind him. "Is our work here all done?"
"You could say that." Elphaba replied, looking tired as she bent over and packed away her notes and everything else she had taken out of her bag.
"I assume you have the alibi then?" The Wizard looked at his assistant expectantly. Slowly, Elphaba straightened up and turned to face the older man.
"Not exactly." She admitted, looking pained. Glinda knew for a fact that Elphaba absolutely despised failing.
Immediately, the Wizard's calm demeanour changed. To others, it would have been imperceptible. However, for the interns and Elphaba, the change was easy to see, thanks to the daily time they spent with him in class. Glinda could practically see Elphaba bracing herself for what was to come.
"So today's trip was fruitless, I see." The Wizard said coolly. Elphaba opened her mouth to respond, but he stopped her.
"Save it."
Elphaba shut her mouth and Glinda could see Elphaba's face darken as she burned with shame.
"I don't want to hear any excuses." Their professor said quietly, his tone more effective than any scream. "Just pack up and go home. We'll meet again in two days."
Immediately, everyone headed to the door, eager to leave the tension of the room behind them. However, when Elphaba and Glinda reached the door, the Wizard spoke again.
"Elphaba, could I talk to you?"
Both women turned back to face the man.
"Privately, please?" He asked, pointedly glancing at Glinda. Silently, the blonde met Elphaba's eyes, and the brunette nodded, mouthing to Glinda to go on. Though unsure, the blonde complied with her wishes and left Elphaba behind.
"... And then I left, took the train ride home by myself, and came here." Glinda finished. Sitting across from her, Nessarose nodded sympathetically.
"The Wizard works Elphaba too hard, and expects too much of her." Glinda said, sitting back and examining her newly repainted nails.
Once again, Nessa nodded. "It's true." She agreed. "Sometimes I think if she spent half as much time with me as she does with the Wizard, I would never complain again."
"But you would complain, Nessa." Glinda couldn't help but giggle. "You would complain about her not giving you any time alone, and insist for her to go and get another job."
"I guess you're right." The younger Thropp sister couldn't help but laugh as well. The two sat there in the nearly empty salon, laughing, until they were interrupted by the door opening and someone announcing in a loud, clear voice, "Delivery!"
They fell quiet so that the delivery man could speak without raising his voice. Quietly, Glinda and Nessarose set to putting away what materials they had used to paint Glinda's nails with, when suddenly-
"Nessarose Thropp?"
Both women glanced upwards to see the delivery man... and then found themselves looking down instead. There, a man stood, holding a package in front of him so that it covered his face.
"That's me." Nessarose blinked, surprised. From his side, the short man pulled a few sheets of paper and a pen and placed them onto Nessa's work table, putting the box next to the pens and papers.
"Could you sign here, please?"
When no answer was given, Glinda glanced at the younger woman's face. Nessa had fallen silent, staring at something. When the blonde turned to look at what it was that Nessa was fixated with, she saw that it was the delivery man.
His hair was a light blonde, and he had a pleasant smile on his face. He wore the uniform of a delivery boy. It fitted him loosely, giving him the appearance of a teenage boy wearing his father's clothes. His uniform would have looked nicer on him, if only he was a bit taller.
"Miss?" He asked. Nessarose attempted to make a response, but she was unable to say a word. Glancing questioningly at Nessa, the man pushed the papers to Glinda instead.
As Glinda was signing the papers, he glanced down at the package bearing Nessa's name.
"You wouldn't happen to be related to the governor, would you?" He asked the woman in the chair. Still unable to form words, Glinda spoke for Nessa instead.
"She is, actually." The blonde told him. "She is the younger sister of the Thropp third descending; the younger great granddaughter of the governor."
"Really!" The man's smile grew wider and he switched his glance to Nessa's face "I'm a Munchkinlander myself." He said to the silent woman. "My name is Boq, by the way."
"I mean no offense, but I thought Munchkinlanders were...?" Glinda trailed off, looking pointedly at the delivery man. While he was short, much shorter than a normal man, he looked to be taller than the average Munchkin, at least one inch or so above Glinda's short stature.
"My grandfather was from the Emerald City." Boq explained. "He married my grandmother, a Munchkin. My father married a Munchkin as well and settled down in the East. Fortunately, some of my grandfather's good genes passed onto me, explaining why I'm taller than most Munchkins."
"That's very interesting. Isn't it, Nessa?" Glinda nudged Nessa hard, finally stirring the woman out of her daze. Even still, Nessa could only nod and mumble something incoherently.
Passing the now signed papers back to Boq, Glinda sat back. As Boq folded up the papers and placed them back into his pocket, he leaned over closer to Nessarose.
"Have a nice day, miss." He said, tipping his hat to her and finally striding out of the salon.
The moment he walked out, Nessarose slumped back in her seat.
"That was terrible." She groaned, putting her face in her hand. Glinda's suspicions as to why Nessarose had gone silent were confirmed.
"It wasn't so bad, Nessa." Glinda comforted her. When Nessarose peered at Glinda from behind her fingers incredulously, Glinda could only shrug awkwardly.
"It happens to all of us." The blonde reasoned. "Just because you fail once does not mean that you will lose your chance together."
"But Glinda, there is no chance." Nessa cried, throwing her hands in the air before burying her face in her palms once more. "He won't want me." The brunette murmured softly, her voice even further muffled by the hand in front of her face. "No one wants to be with me for who I am. They never see me; all they see is this... this..."
"Blasted chair!" Nessa spat, and Glinda could hear the anger and despair in her voice. Her voice softened once more, and the rage turned into sadness as she mumbled almost inaudibly, "He would never notice a girl like me."
Nessa fell silent, and Glinda couldn't help but feel bad for Nessarose. Once again, her handicap kept her from having something that she so desperately wanted. Elphaba could provide Nessa with all the goods in Oz and the world beyond, but she could not give Nessa the kind of romantic attention the wheelchair-bound woman wanted to receive.
However, there was a way that Glinda could. Or at least, a way that Glinda could teach Nessa how to get it.
"But he will," Nessa. The tiny blonde said. Nessa pulled her hands away from her face and looked questioningly at Glinda, who continued on. "He will, as long as you remember to do this."
"Do what, exactly?"
Instead of answering, Glinda simply grinned. Looking out of the front shop window and seeing someone looking in curiously, Glinda murmured quietly to Nessa, "Just watch."
The blonde stared at the person, still looking inside. Catching their eye, Glinda grinned even wider as they looked back at her. Almost as if time had slowed down, Glinda tossed her head from side to side, letting her hair swish with every toss, before throwing a heated flirty glance at the person, who was now staring at her intensely, eyes wide and slightly dull.
Slowly, they shuffled away from the window, and Glinda stifled a laugh as they nearly walked into the edge of the building then staggered out of sight.
Turning back to Nessa, Glinda saw her younger friend staring at her.
"What was that?" Nessa asked.
"That, Nessa, was a hair toss." Glinda giggled, twirling a lock of hair around her finger, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. "And it's going to be what catches Biq's attention."
"Boq." Nessa corrected, but Glinda paid no attention to her as she sprang up from her chair and stood, facing the handicapped woman.
"Glinda, I don't know about this..." Nessa mumbled, looking unsure as she glanced self-consciously at herself and the near empty surroundings in the room around them.
"Oh please." Glinda waved Nessa's insecurities off. "Nessa, if you learn how to do this, the rewards will be endless. Plus, it's easy- why, just the other day, I taught it to Elphie!"
Hearing that last sentence, Nessa rose a hand to her face and covered her eyes, bowing her head down, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'sweet Oz.'
Disregarding her younger friend's grumbles, Glinda clapped her hands together in excitement, the side of her that truly was the hyper sorority girl everyone believed her to be coming out for the first time in a long time.
Nessa made such a face that it made Glinda laugh out loud- that same expression had been the exact one on Elphaba's face when Glinda had taught it to her, too.
Standing straight up, the student held her own arms straight out to her sides, and then carefully bent over without bending her knees. Arms still straight out, Glinda wiggled her fingers and let the dramatic tension build until she sprang back up.
"Toss,"
She swept half of her blonde locks over one shoulder.
"Toss!"
And then swept the other half with the opposite hand over the other. She struck a suggestive pose, an innocently suggestive look on her face.
"Simple as that!" Glinda told her, dropping her stance. "Now, you try!"
Throwing Glinda a sceptical look, Nessarose tried nonetheless. Though she could not stand like Glinda could, she bent over, hunching over her own lap, her arms held to her sides.
"Toss, toss." She said awkwardly as she sat back up, flicking her hair back over both shoulders. She looked to Glinda for her opinion.
"Not quite." Glinda mused. "You still have to remember to make a face and pose. Like this!"
Glinda demonstrated once again, flashing a smile as she finished off the move. Once again, the Thropp woman tossed her hair, but this time, she pulled it off perfectly, even if her smile was forced.
"Good!" Glinda cheered. "Practice makes perfect, though- the more you do it, the better you become."
"So would it go something like this?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Glinda looked to see who it was. There, in front of the both of them, was another salon worker.
"Toss, toss!" She said, her voice breathy as she threw her hair over each shoulder and smiled seductively.
"Exactly!" Glinda nodded. The woman smiled. Right after, yet another woman came up and demonstrated for Glinda, and after her, there was another woman, eager to show Glinda her own version of the hair toss.
Soon, the entire salon was filled with the sounds of people shouting 'toss, toss!' as they expertly flicked their hair over their shoulders, then stared and smiled with come-hither looks on their faces.
"You can even do it without your hands!" Glinda called, performing a no-hands head shake herself as the other women stopped to watch and then cheered, every single one of them smiling and performing their own no hands toss toss.
Practicing tossing her head grew to be so much fun that Glinda couldn't help but laugh happily. Eventually, all of the other women, including Nessarose, joined in with her.
"Enjoying yourself, Nessa?" The blonde woman asked her friend after she performed another perfectly executed hair toss. The brunette smiled shyly at her. "Well, I..."
The words died in Nessa's throat, and the smile fell off her face. The noise inside the Wash and Brush co. had dropped back to a normal level a few moments ago, and because of that, Glinda could hear the soft tinkling of the bell above the salon door, signifying that someone had just entered.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Glinda turned her head to look over her shoulder.
There, striding towards them was the delivery boy, Boq.
"Did I happen to leave my pen here earlier?" The Munchkin asked, glancing curiously at Nessa's work table.
Spotting it beside the bottle of forgotten nail polish, Glinda discreetly picked it up and dropped it into Nessa's hand.
"Do it." She whispered into Nessarose's ear.
Quietly, Nessa inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Y-yes." She stammered to Boq. "I have it right here."
Holding out the pen for Boq to see, she let out a soft 'oh!' as she 'accidentally' dropped it into her lap.
The Munchkin moved closer to try and catch it as it fell through the air, but missed as it hit the fabric of Nessa's dress. A moment later, Nessa hunched over herself to pick it up, and as she sat back up, flicked her hair from side to side letting it fan out dramatically in the air.
Unfortunately, due to Boq being so close, Nessa's hair toss did not go directly as planned. Instead of being able to see the woman's pretty smile, he was blinded as the end of her hair whipped him in the eyes.
"Ah!" He screeched, stumbling back, both hands rising to his eyes as he covered them, doubling over from the stinging pain.
"Are you alright?' Nessarose panicked. She wheeled forward, moving closer to the man in pain. Her only answer was another cry of pain, Boq's voice this time raising to a girlish shriek.
Glancing down, both Nessa and Glinda let out horror-filled gasps. With Boq stumbling around blinded, and Nessa trying to come closer, somehow, Nessa had managed to roll over his foot, and when the disabled woman rolled back immediately after, he flailed, the same foot striking against the hard metal leg of her work table. From the way the distinct 'crack!' had rung around the room, and from the way Boq was now howling about his foot, Glinda assumed that he had broken it.
And as the salon workers huddled around the injured man, and one ran outside to call for a carriage to take Boq to the nearest medical facility, Glinda and Nessa could only breathe one thing simultaneously.
"Sweet Oz."
So here's the next chapter folks. Just wanted to get it up tonight, since I'll be busy this week and part of next because of exams. However, I'll promise that I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible.