December 20
"Only five to go," Fiyero said cheerfully.
"I'm not sure I want that many more," Elphaba replied.
Fiyero frowned. "Why not? Aren't you enjoying this?"
Elphaba reached over and took his hand. "It's a lovely idea. It's just…well, after that necklace and what Nessa wrote about me, and then yesterday…you can't top that. I've never received anything so beautiful or thoughtful in my life."
"It gets better," Fiyero told her, and then grimaced. "Just…not today."
Elphaba opened her mouth, but Fiyero jumped in before she could say anything.
"And no, you cannot skip today's. You have to open every box. Afterall, who knows when it will turn up? And you don't want to miss it, do you?"
Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I don't want you to miss it," Fiyero said firmly. "So open it."
Elphaba rolled her eyes fondly as she did so. The small figurine she extracted was that of a grand-looking castle. She raised an eyebrow at Fiyero in amusement. "To go with my knight figurine?"
Fiyero grinned sheepishly. "No?"
"Does one of the boxes have a princess figurine?" Elphaba asked suspiciously.
"Not saying."
"Or a dragon?"
"Not saying."
"Is there a princess or a dragon figurine in one of the boxes?" she pressed, jabbing a finger in Fiyero's ribs.
"I'm not saying," Fiyero insisted, flinching away from her bony finger.
"Hmmm…" Elphaba narrowed her eyes. "I bet there's a princess figurine in the somewhere."
"Think what you like," Fiyero said.
"I will anyway," Elphaba finished with a grin, which Fiyero returned. "If there's a princess in there…"
Fiyero's eyes sparkled. "At this point in the conversation, I'd usually say, 'Look! It's snowing!', but somehow I don't think that one is going to wash with you."
"Damn straight it's not." She paused, then added, "But if it really were snowing, I just may have let it slide."
"If only could control the weather," Fiyero joked.
"Then you'd have Morrible as your arch-nemesis," Elphaba pointed out with a smirk.
Fiyero shuddered. "Yeah, no, thanks. Okay, let's think up another plan…"
"Let's not," said Elphaba, leaning over for a kiss.
Fiyero smiled. "Agreed."