"You know, this would be a perfect day in if it weren't for ole Horrible Morrible calling a dorm meeting. She ruined a perfectly good game of ticklechesskersgammon without the gammon." Glinda complained as she and Elphie walked down to the formal parlor.
"I have to admit that was an interesting adaptation of a totally made up game. I especially liked using cheese and crackers from lunch as checkers pieces." Elphie chuckled.
"That was fun, eating the pieces you jumped. I just wish we could have gotten around to the tickles part." Glinda grinned.
"I was very interested to see how that was going to factor in." Elphie smiled.
"So was I." Glinda giggled.
"But there is no law that says we can only play ticklechesskersgammon without the gammon on cold snowy days."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just call it ticklechesskers, since there is no gammon anyway?" Elphie asked.
"Nah, that doesn't sound right." Glinda laughed.
"Well it is your game." Elphie smiled as the neared the parlor. Glinda started greeting people and Elphie simply smiled and nodded.
"Hey you all." Loma called as she wove through the crowd. Come on so we can get a seat in the back. They fill up fast." She chuckled.
"Hey Loma. So did this all of a sudden meeting mess up your plans. We were playing a game." Glinda said.
"So was I sort of." Loma grinned slyly as the made their way to chairs in the back corner.
"Hy was over last night, the weather was so bad he just stayed. Since it was even worse today, he's still up there." She whispered.
"Scared us to death when someone knocked at the door."
"Us too. Elphie jumped and knocked the cheese and crackers off of the checkers board." Glinda giggled and Loma looked at her oddly.
"Don't ask." Elphie suggested.
They talked for a bit, mainly about the party until Madame Morrible showed up. She started right in on the usual beginning of term topics of comportment, grades and no males anywhere but in the parlors when the chaperone was present. Loma and Glinda were not the only ones that had to stifle laughs during the last topic and unfortunately, Madame Head noticed. She started to lecture the girls on the importance of propriety, and maintaining a good reputation in order to land a good husband. Glinda and Loma entertained themselves through all of this by making fun of the Headmistress through notes and doodles they made on the little sketchpad that Glinda had brought with her. Elphie refused to participate, but did act as a sort of lookout, giving Glinda a little kick or poke whenever Madame Morrible looked their way or started to walk around the room.
"You have the makings of a fine lookout sweetheart." Glinda giggled softly when they were finally released and walking towards the stairway.
"I just wasn't in the mood for the lecture to be extended because you two were caught writing notes and drawing questionable doodles." Elphie replied with a smile.
"Isn't she thoughtful?" Glinda grinned.
"Very. But if this meeting was about the weather and what it is affecting, why did we have to sit through an hour and a half of the same ole blah blah we get in the fall?" Loma said.
"Who knows? Maybe all of that stuff was weather related. It is possible all of that hot air she produced melted the snow." Glinda chuckled and Loma laughed out loud.
"Lyndie!" Elphie said sternly but with a smile.
"Oh don't pretend that you were all that interested, you were off in your lab defriskifying enzymes." Glinda retorted, still chuckling.
"I most certainly was not." Elphie said.
"I was actually playing that new song on my flute. I need my enzymes frisky for the time being."
"I can't wait to hear you play it out loud." Glinda sighed.
"Manif has mentioned that he is going to talk you into giving us a private concert sometime." Loma said.
"Did he now? Thanks for the warning." Elphie smiled.
"So when is Hyrut leaving?" Glinda asked as they started up the steps.
"We figured we'd have dinner then sneak him out. Hey, why don't you two join us? We can have a snowy day picnic in my room." Loma said excitedly.
"That sounds like fun. Elphie?" Glinda bubbled.
"Fine with me." Elphie smiled.
"Goody! We'll go get some food. I hope you are not too picky. Horrible Morrible made it sound like we'd be on militia rations because of the weather." Glinda chuckled.
"Whatever you can scrounge will be great. Hy and I will move some furniture and make a picnic space. Maybe we can play cards or something too." Loma said.
"That sounds like fun. We'll be up in just a bit." Glinda grinned and she and Elphie turned to go back downstairs.
"Don't forget dessert." Loma said.
"I'm sure it will be the first thing on the tray." Elphie chuckled and Glinda nodded and grinned.
"This'll be fun Elphie. Hyrut knows some great card tricks. I'll bet he'll do some for us. We can spend a few hours with them and still have lots of time for us before bed." Glinda said as they walked towards the café.
"I think it will be fun too. Just remember I do have class work I need to do." Elphie smiled.
"I remember, I remember. We just made the schedule yesterday." Glinda said trying to huff, but giggling about something instead.
"My homework is now amusing to you?" Elphie smiled.
"No, I was just thinking of your enzymes. Do the frisky ones ever try to help the other ones be more social?" Glinda giggled. She had no idea what she was talking about, but Elphie knew that and always played along.
"It's not like the other ones are not social, they are just very selective and prefer to stay within a specific group, in a matter of speaking." Elphie said with a smile.
"Like you. Oh gosh look Elphie there are lots of people going in, we'd better hurry before everything good is gone." Glinda said and all thoughts of enzymes, frisky or otherwise were forgotten as the conversation shifted to desserts.
X
"Thanks for helping me sneak Hyrut out." Loma chuckled as she, Glinda and Elphie walked back up the steps.
"Since he was really not going for your conjure a dress, wig and cloak idea, putting him in the middle of us and walking down the hallway in a huddle seemed reasonable." Glinda laughed.
"I am so glad I don't have to worry about sneaking my love up to my room." She added with a giggle.
"Yeah, what a waste of a conveniently located corner room near the stairs and exit door." Loma chuckled.
"Manif has snuck up to our room on quite a few occasions, so not a total waste." Glinda grinned as they paused on the landing on the second floor.
"Thanks for inviting us Lomie, that picnic was fun." Glinda said then hugged her friend.
"It was, and you all did very well with the food. You even managed to get things for snacks later."
"Sandwiches and cheese were no problem, but she was ready to fight for the death for those last pieces of fried chicken." Elphie smiled.
"Oh I was not." Glinda chuckled.
"I just mentioned to Elphie that I really liked fried chicken and I hoped that young man in front of us didn't take the last of it."
"In a tone of voice I have trouble denying and I'm used to it." Elphie smiled and blushed.
"Ah, you were ready to flirt to the death." Loma laughed. Glinda was overcome by the giggles and it was only moments before Loma joined her.
"All's fair in love and picnic food." Glinda said through her chuckles
"Why women can't be in the militia I'll never know. Feminine wiles have to be better than military strategy." Loma laughed.
"I know right. Instead of guns they could issue us false eyelashes and save a lot of money." Glinda barely got out.
"But think of the expense to redesign those oz-awful uniforms into something flattering that would accentuate sashaying hips." Loma chortled.
"But they do accessorize rather well, all those medals, ribbons and such." Glinda laughed
"If you two military planners will excuse me, I am going to go to our room and put away our snack." Elphie said after a few more chuckled comments and non-stop giggles.
"Good night Loma."
"Elphie wait, I'll come too." Glinda giggled.
"No need Lyndie, enjoy your fun." Elphie smiled and went through the doorway to the second floor.
"Is she mad about something?" Loma asked as the chuckles faded.
"No, she's fine. This sort of silliness isn't her thing. It was a fun night Loma. I'll see you tomorrow." Glinda grinned and hugged her friend.
"It really was. Night." Loma said as she started up the stairs.
"Night." Glinda said as she went through the door.
X
"She was just teasing about the flirting, you know that, right?" Glinda said as she came into the room.
"I know." Elphie said with a smile.
"Okay then. Loma can be very amusing, I like her sense of humor." Glinda said as she put herself in Elphie's arms.
"It was an entertaining evening. Hyrut and Loma seem to make each other laugh a lot." Elphie said.
"We make each other laugh a lot. It's a good thing for couples I think."
"I can see where that would be important. And I do love your precious giggle, even when I don't always understand why it emerges." Elphie smiled and gave Glinda a kiss and Glinda giggled.
"Alright so a troop of girls in false eyelashes and flashy medals flirting their way to victory isn't your idea of amusing. But trust me, it was funny. How about Hyrut's card tricks, those were really good." Glinda said as they went over to their chairs and settled into Glinda's.
"He is exceptionally good at misdirection."
"Elphie that is very cynical, even for you." Glinda said.
"Oh no my sweet, that was meant to be a compliment. Misdirection is an age-old art used by stage magicians, carnival barkers, and the like. It's how they amaze and astound." Elphie said with a tone that Glinda knew she would explore later.
"Misdirection just sounds so…bad." Glinda said.
"It's all part of the show. They misdirect your focus to have you look at their right hand while their left hand is doing something that they don't want you to see. Hyrut did that very well because you had no idea he was even doing it." Elphie explained.
"That is very true. I can imagine that it is hard to master, it's very subtle." Glinda said.
"It has to be subtle to be effective."
"Makes sense." Glinda pondered.
"I've heard Popsicle use the phrase 'the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing' many times. I wonder if that is where it comes from?"
"That's a logical assumption. The art of misdirection seems to have many benefits outside of card tricks and stage magic. Politicians seem very adept at diverting attention from where they don't want you to look or making you think you heard something that they didn't really say. You do basically the same thing at times." Elphie chuckled.
"I most certainly do no…oh yeah, I guess that I do." Glinda giggled.
"Moving on. Now that I know what misdirection is, I can see some very handy adaptations to that skill, especially for fiancées." She added, still giggling.
"And how would that work exactly?" Elphie chuckled.
"Says the master of diverting my attention." Glinda grinned mischievously.
"But if you insist. I can think of nothing better that I would like to do on a cold and snowy day than getting all hot and sweaty making love to you. Care to misdirect me?"
"Technically my sweet that would be redirection, considering what I assume it is that you have in mind." Elphie chuckled.
"I'm not sure whether to say tomato tomahto or call you a nitpicker." Glinda huffed, but giggled.
"In an effort to keep things simple, I'd go with tomato tomahto." Elphie said with a helpful smile.
"Tomato tomahto." Glinda sing songed.
"Now are you going to misdirect me or not?" Glinda giggled.
"I think I'm up for a little romantic slight of hand." Elphie whispered in Glinda's ear while she tickled her side.
"Lyndie. We really need to get on our other evening's activities." Elphie said after an hour and a half of making out and lighthearted chitchat.
"I know. I just hate it when real life interferes with…well real life." Glinda grumbled and Elphie looked at her in amusement.
"Oh you know what I mean."
"I do my sweet, but it's time for our real lives to switch places." Elphie said with a smile.
"After one more kiss and a dance." Glinda said.
"Kiss now, dance before bed." Elphie smiled.
"A long slow one?"
"A long slow dance or a long slow kiss?" Elphie asked, already knowing the answer.
"Elphie, you made a funny." Glinda giggled.
"All right, but everything done, and in nightclothes before we dance." Elphie smiled.
"Deal!" Glinda grinned and shook Elphie's hand then started the agreed upon long slow kiss.
X
Glinda was finished with her bath and was picking out clothes for Elphie to wear the next day. Every so often, she would glance over and spend a few moments watching her love reading, writing, mumbling, playing with the temple bar of her glasses and occasionally swearing softly. She knew that this scene would play out in some form or another hundreds of times over their lifetime, and it gave her a warm content feeling. It was one of those occasions that she simply could not figure out what she had done to deserve being loved the way that Elphie loved her. She knew that all she could do was love Elphie in return, with everything she was and everything she had. Right now, that meant selecting warm comfortable clothing for her to wear to her classes tomorrow and she performed that simple task with tears of joy, love and gratefulness in her eyes.
X
Elphie felt her chair moving slowly away from her desk and looked up. She saw Glinda near the foot of her bed waving her wand. She wanted to be irritated, but seeing her love standing there in a pale green flannel nightdress with a little white bow on the neckline, bare feet with wiggling toes peeking out from underneath and golden blonde curls falling over her shoulders she couldn't do anything but sigh at the simplicity of her beauty.
"That's not on the approved list of ways to tell me that study time is over." Elphie chuckled as she removed glasses.
"Yes it is. It's number three on the emergency interruption list."
"What's the emergency?" Elphie grinned.
"Study time is over and floating a note onto your book didn't work. I think you wrote a formula or something on it." Glinda giggled, as she pulled out a pink sheet of paper with 'shall we dance' written on one side and some long string of nonsense symbols on the other.
"I'm impressed. You almost understood the definition of emergency." Elphie laughed.
"Dancing is involved, that automatically qualifies it." Glinda said reasonably.
"I see, well that does make a certain amount of sense. I will gather my books, bathe and then we can have our long, slow dance." Elphie smiled.
"You're nightdress is in the bathroom, and your towels, soft cloth and oils are ready to go." Glinda said as Elphie put things into her cloth satchel.
"Lyndie." Elphie said after ten minutes of Glinda being her usual adorably helpful self.
"It won't be nearly as much fun, but I promise it will be quicker if I just finish getting ready for bed on my own. But it's your choice." Elphie smiled.
"I'll go pick out music and wait impatiently in my chair." Glinda pouted then kissed Elphie and shuffled off to her chair.
Fifteen minutes later Elphie appeared, put slipper socks on Glinda's bare feet then pulled her into her arms and they danced the promised long slow dance with a bonus even longer, slower kiss.
X
The next few days went by fairly quickly and surprisingly smoothly. The weather cleared up and even though it was still very cold, the snow and wind had stopped and getting around campus became easier. Paths had been cleared in the snow on Monday and by Wednesday; the little frozen snow walls that had been created when walking paths between buildings were cleared, were covered with things that people had carved into them. Glinda took the opportunity to add a little E loves L in a heart to one of the walls then showed it to Elphie on one of the occasions that they were able to have lunch together and Elphie walked her back to the Sorcery Building.
Elphie discovered that even though she and Glinda could not have lunch together most days, it was working out so that she was having lunch at the same time as some of their friends. It was working out that way for Glinda as well and they both took advantage of being able to spend a little time with people they cared about. It helped them to find out that the other couples in their group had limited time together as well and that they all had different strategies for making the most of it.
Glinda and Elphie slipped back into their routine fairly easily. Glinda and Dani went off to their first private tutoring session and class, while Elphie had an unhurried dinner with Manif, which they both enjoyed immensely. Elphie didn't have a flute lesson that week, but did go over to talk to Xafin and get everything set up. In the evenings, they talked about their classes, sharing the fun things and the frustrations and traded tidbits of information from whomever they had lunch or dinner with. Mostly the talks were brief and held while they were getting ready for the next day or bathing, but they didn't mind at all.
"You know Elphie." Glinda smiled, as she was getting ready to fall exhausted into her bed, just as she had the previous two nights.
"It may be only three days into the week, but I think that we are doing very well so far. We are holding to our own schedule reasonably well and have even sort of set one with our friends during the day, well for lunch anyway."
"These days have passed by quickly, it seems that you are almost as busy as I am." Elphie said as she helped her get settled.
"It's that class we get to teach, it's a lot of extra work, but a great deal of fun." Glinda said then yawned.
"Not too late Elphie." She added as Elphie tucked the covers around her.
"Not too late my sweet, I promise." Elphie smiled then gave Glinda a substantial kiss.
"Goodnight my precious girl, I love you very much."
"I love you too, very much. Goodnight Elphie." Glinda replied then they shared another soft kiss before Elphie turned off all of the lights except the new desk lamp that she received for Lurlinemas and settled at her desk to study.
X
As Elphie was closing up the books and notebooks that she had been working on, she thought about what Glinda had said about how they were doing well so far. Elphie agreed because even though it had only been three days, she was seeing patterns during her days, like having lunch with Beliea or Hyrut that she knew would more than likely become constants throughout the term. She also noticed that she was better able to not stay up too late studying, she wasn't sure why that was; she just figured it was a good thing.
As she was putting the last of her things into her satchel, she heard Glinda stirring in her bed, tossing a little. She waited a beat to see if she settled and went into the bathroom.
"Elphie?" She heard a pathetic whimper and came rushing back out to Glinda standing by her bed.
"Elphie, I have a tummy ache." Glinda said.
"Oh no, my precious. Do you feel like you need to throw up?" Elphie asked as she pulled Glinda to her and kissed her forehead.
"Uh-uh." Glinda said miserably as she shook her head.
"It just feels yucky. Maybe my snack doesn't like me."
"Possibly. Okay my sweet sit down on my bed and I will go get something to help." Elphie said as she sat Glinda on the bed.
"Then I will lie with you and rub your tummy."
"Okay." Glinda said, not having the energy to do more. Elphie kissed her forehead again then went to their bathroom cabinet. She put some water in a glass then dropped in two tablets and watched them start to fizz.
"Here Lyndie drink this all down, it will help." Elphie said as she sat beside her and handed her the glass. Glinda made a face, but drank the small glass of fizzing water then made another face.
"Thank you my precious." Elphie said as she put the glass on the nightstand.
"Now let's lie down."
"And you'll rub my tummy?" Glinda said with the hint of a whine as Elphie helped her get into a snuggle.
"Yes, I will." Elphie said then kissed her cheek and started to rub small circles on her love's upset tummy and hum a soft melody.
"Elphie?" Glinda said after five or so minutes.
"Are you feeling a little better now Lyndie?" Elphie asked as Glinda started to turn in her arms.
"A little, maybe. Elphie when you're an Oz-famous apothecary, will you make something for upset stomachs that tastes better than what I took?" Glinda asked seriously.
"I can probably do that." Elphie smiled.
"Can you make it taste like peppermint?" Glinda asked.
"I think I can do that." Elphie said after a beat.
"Can it be pink?" Glinda asked and Elphie saw the hint of a smile.
"Actually, that might be possible as well." Elphie said.
"You should try to sleep now my sweet."
Glinda nodded and returned to their sleep snuggle position and Elphie started to rub her stomach again.
"A pink, pepperminty stomach remedy. We can call it Dr. Elphie's Tummy Tonic and share it with our friends." Glinda said and Elphie heard the hint of a giggle and figured that the medicine was working. She was sure of it when the giggle was interrupted by a very large and most unladylike burp.
"Oh no. Excuse me." Glinda said then chuckled.
"Feel better my sweet?" Elphie chuckled.
"Much. But will you still stay with me and rub my tummy just to be sure." Glinda asked.
"Of course my precious. I'm glad that you are not still feeling yucky." Elphie said as she started to rub gentle circles once again.
"You are going to make a very good apothecary." Glinda said sleepily.
"I'm going to try. Now back to sleep." Elphie whispered and kissed Glinda's temple and Glinda scooted closer to Elphie, sighed and was asleep before she could hear Elphie sing her the storm song.
When Elphie checked on her love before she went to class the next morning, Glinda told her that she was feeling just fine, then showed her just how fine by sending her to class with a spectacular good morning kiss.
X
"Two meals on one school day, this is quite a treat." Glinda giggled as they sat their dinner trays down on a table in the café.
"My afternoon study group needs to be canceled more often."
"It did work out well, seeing as Beliea couldn't join me today " Elphie said.
"So how was that quiz that you had?" Glinda asked as she dipped bread into her chicken stew.
They started a conversation about their afternoons, sharing the good and bad as they always did. Glinda's news was that Loma had been selected to take a test to get into a special honors levitation program that was going to be held during the Summer Seminar. Elphie's news was that her free lab time started the next week and she already had an idea for a project, but she didn't want to say anything until it was approved. Glinda took that as a challenge and tried to get it out of her until they had to leave for Elphie's session with Chaxi, with no success whatsoever.
They bundled up against the cold and headed out onto the patio. They walked slowly using the patches of slippery snow on the walkways as and excuse to link arms and lean against one another. When the reached the point where Elphie would veer left to go to the Humanities Building and Glinda would continue on to the Sorcery Building, there was a slight skirmish because Glinda wanted to walk Elphie to her session and Elphie wanted to drop Glinda off on her way. Glinda would not agree to being both dropped off and picked up, so Elphie relented and agreed that Glinda could come for her when her session was over.
"I get to be the chivalrous one sometimes too." Glinda grinned at the bottom of the steps to her building.
"Yes you do and it was wrong of me to try and keep all the gallantry to myself." Elphie chuckled.
"Yes it was." Glinda giggled then leaned into Elphie's ear.
"I will be close my love, call for me if you need me." She whispered and Elphie nodded then watched her go up the steps, returning her wave before hurrying to her appointment.
There was no need for Elphie to call for Glinda during her session with Chaxi because even though Elphie wanted to jump right in and tackle the issues that she had brought up the previous week, Chaxi insisted that they go slowly. It took some explanation, but eventually Elphie understood why it would take time to figure it all out properly. Since nothing specific was troubling Elphie, Chaxi used the session to ask some very direct questions and made many notes. They were talking about some of Elphie's more difficult touching exercises when Glinda knocked on the door. Chaxi extended the session about half an hour so she could incorporate Glinda's point of view on them into the picture she was creating for herself about how her young charge started finding her sexuality and how intricately it was tied into Glinda's.
X
Glinda waited in the café for Elphie to meet her for a late dinner. She was more tired than she thought that she would be and had a slight headache. She attributed it having to block the emotions of a group of students from the Emerald City that were there to participate in a potions competition. Elphie knew that Glinda needed some extended quiet time as soon as she saw her and suggested that they take dinner upstairs.
After eating together quietly in their room with soft music playing, Elphie drew Glinda a steaming hot bath with some of her relaxation mixture then dusted her hair after a nice long soak. Dinner was the first time they had seen each other all day and now that Glinda was feeling a little more relaxed she told Elphie about her day as they snuggled together on her bed. They talked some while they kissed and caressed a little, but their first full and very busy week finally caught up with Glinda and she feel asleep snuggled in Elphie's arms fairly early. Elphie waited until she heard the soft sounds of her love's snore then shifted her onto her pillows, softly kissed her lips and tucked her in.
Elphie wrote in her journal, did some basic room cleaning, spent a few hours studying then bathed and crawled into bed beside Glinda. After a few minutes of soft words and kisses as Glinda resettled in her arms, Elphie allowed herself to savor her tiredness, because it came from doing things that she enjoyed. So she held her love close and let herself drift off, thinking about creating a pink pepperminty tummy tonic.
X
The weekend was cold with more snow and wind, fairly typical for Shiz at this time of year. Elphie and Glinda ventured out to go see Mr. Kwenyo and have brunch at Tyuron's, but otherwise they stayed in the dorm area. They played bed games in the mornings, cuddled, made out and danced in front of their fire at night. Both days in the afternoon, they spent time with their friends either in one of the informal parlors or in a corner of the café. Dani and Manif were there as well because Dani was staying in Manif's room on campus because a lot of Dani's family was at Granny Kima's and they were driving her crazy.
In various combinations the ten friends had dinner together, or just a snack, talked, played parlor games or cards and even studied together some. They all agreed that it was a fun way to pass the time, but also agreed that they couldn't wait for the weather to break so they could do other things as well.
The snow eased up, but the cold remained and the week played out almost exactly as the last one had. Glinda and Elphie went to their classes and outside activities, relishing the moments they were able to spend together during the day. Elphie started her flute lessons and practiced while Glinda was taking her bath each night, treating her to a private concert as she soaked. They were both tired by the end of the day and their before bed dances were usually no more than holding each other and swaying while caressing or kissing, but it was enough.
The weekend came again and Glinda was glad to have a break from classes and study. The weather cooperated a little and even though it was cold, the sun was out both days. They spent a little extra time outside when they went to attend to their normal off campus tasks, including adding in a short walk after brunch both days.
On Saturday they warmed up after their walk cuddling and entertaining each other in front of the fire until Dani and Loma came to tell them that they were all going to sneak up to Gotero's room to drink ale, eat snacks and play cards.
On Sunday, they warmed up in a long, extra warm oil bath, followed by all kinds of dancing. Some of their friends were going to meet for dinner in the café, but Glinda and Elphie had brought home vegetable stew and herb bread from Tyuron's and warmed it magically for a quiet dinner together before they did their homework.
"Ready for another week to start my sweet?" Elphie said as she and Glinda snuggled together in Glinda's chair.
"I am actually. This hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I mean I miss you during the day, going out on dates, long walks and other things like that, but this has been okay. My classes are very challenging this term. And we had another oil bath." Glinda giggled.
"You were very cold. If I didn't know better I'd swear that you joined in on that snowball fight on purpose." Elphie chuckled.
"I was merely defending myself." Glinda grinned.
"Elphie, even if it is still cold can we go to the Plaza this weekend, to Vesyut's and maybe just walk around there a bit. You can go to the bookstore."
"All right my precious, it's a date." Elphie smiled.
"Goody!" Glinda bounced then started to slowly kiss Elphie, teasing her soft lips with her tongue until she was allowed to enter and explore. When they parted, Elphie reciprocated and they spent their time before bed lost in one another.
X
Elphie was later than usual on Monday night, but Glinda didn't really notice because she was helping Loma prepare for her honors exam. The test was at the end of that week and she was very nervous. On Tuesday night Glinda was later than usual getting home because when she and Dani returned from the Arts Center, they both worked with her. Elphie didn't mind and didn't worry because she knew where Glinda was and she got extra study time.
"Poor Loma, she's a nervous wreck." Glinda said, as she got ready for her bath on Wednesday.
"Dani insisted that tomorrow be the last day that she works so hard, so she can have a few days to recuperate before her test on Saturday."
"Like Manif made me do before the APEs. It really did help." Elphie smiled.
"I'm glad you told her that. It seemed to settle her down a bit." Glinda said as she lowered herself into the steamy water with a long sigh. She had been both working with and distracting Loma most of the evening and she was tired from performing so much magic and from filtering out her friend's anxiety.
"I know it's late my love, but will you still play for me while I soak."
"Of course Lyndie." Elphie said as she went out to get her flute. Loma had left about twenty minutes ago and Glinda had spent most of that time curled against her chest, centering.
Elphie practiced her special scales, then played the storm song and the first song that Byjon had given them before helping Glinda out of the tub.
"Will you dust my hair for me?" Glinda asked as Elphie wrapped her in a towel.
"Are you sure my precious, it was way past your bedtime." Elphie chuckled.
"We are all ready for tomorrow. I'd rather have a nice hair dusting tonight than a dance I think. I like it. It's relaxing and fun."
"How can I deny that?" Elphie smiled as she opened her tin.
"I'm hoping that you can't." Glinda giggled.
Elphie slowly worked the hair dust into Glinda's hair, massaging her scalp then gently rubbing her neck. Glinda closed her eyes and sighed happily soaking in the attention.
"Elphie, I think I know why these weeks have been easier for me than last term was, besides the fact that I'm busier." Glinda said as Elphie started to brush her hair.
"Why Lyndie?" Elphie smiled.
"I think it's because I'm sharing you better. I'm not expecting you to pay as much attention to me as you do to your studies. Last term especially, maybe all of this was still too new and I didn't understand how it worked. But now it seems okay, perhaps because we are engaged. We have our time apart and that makes our time together, like now, all that much better. Does that make sense?" Glinda said.
"It does. I'm just glad that it's working out so well. I think that being engaged has helped me with all of this too. It seems as though…" Elphie started but was interrupted by a knock at the door that startled her.
"I'll bet Loma couldn't sleep and is coming for that book I promised to find and give her tomorrow." Glinda chuckled as she stroked Elphie's cheek.
"You go get the door and I'll find the book." She said as she slipped into her robe. Elphie went to the door listening to Glinda talking about where the book might be.
"Hi Loma." Elphie said as she opened the door. She was stunned to see Fruoa standing there instead.
"I deeply regret the intrusion at this very late hour Your Eminence." The woman said as she met Elphie's eyes with a significant gaze, stressing the last two words.
"Damnit!" Elphie swore rather loudly as she stood aside to let her Colwen Grounds assistant in.
"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!"
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A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating, real life rearing it's ugly head again. It may continue for a few weeks too, but never fear, updates will occur.