AN:

Hey, lovelies!

I have a confession to make... I only proofread/edited this once before getting incredibly tired and grouchy and so impatient that I had to post it anyway. Please forgive me if I overlooked too much...

Anyways, I hope it's still mostly enjoyable, so happy reading! (=^_^=)

xoxo MLE


Chapter Eighteen

Glinda's eyes fluttered open and the first things that came into focus were two empty glasses on a low table. The smell of wine was still strong enough to be detected and made her nose wrinkle in slight disgust. In the background, she vaguely recognised the still blurry outline of a large TV. She blinked, willing away the drowsiness that fogged her mind. She remembered where she was now, but the pieces of information did not quite fit together yet. There was light, she realised, more than the soft shine of the antique floor lamp that stood beside the cocktail cabinet. It was daylight that filtered through the somewhat dysfunctional timber shutters. Guilt and embarrassment flushed her cheeks as realisation set in. She was still lying on the couch where she evidently had fallen asleep the previous night.

As she shifted, she noticed that her upper body was resting on something rather hard and angular. Suddenly fully alert and overcome with trepidation, she slowly moved her head until she could see Elphaba's face. The green girl was awake, propped up on a bunch of cushions, reading something on her phone. Glinda's heart skipped a beat or two, then began to hammer hard in her chest. She didn't dare move and make Elphaba aware of the fact that she was no longer sleeping. Not until she'd figured out the best way to deal with this most unexpected situation.

No matter how hard she tried to think, all she could concentrate on was the gentle heaving of Elphaba's chest beneath her, the warmth of her body, the way her fingers absentmindedly stroked her midriff—wait! What?!

With a jolt, Glinda pushed herself to her knees, scrambling to put some distance between herself and her friend. Eyes wide, breathing heavily, she peered down at Elphaba, who was looking back at her with a calm, searching expression. Her phone had dropped to the ground, but she made no move to retrieve it.

"It's okay," she said after a few moments, her eyes and voice soft and soothing.

Glinda's gaze flickered from her face to her arm that had been curled around her waist mere seconds ago. She contemplated mentioning it, but couldn't find the words, so she simply continued staring.

"I'm sorry if waking up like this made you feel awkward," Elphaba muttered apologetically while scratching her head. "You just seemed so exhausted last night that I didn't have the heart to risk waking you."

"You…" Glinda bit her lip. "This can't have been comfortable for you."

"I'll live," chuckled Elphaba and extended her hand.

Glinda eyed it uneasily.

"You can trust me. You know that, right? And you can lean on me whenever you like, by the way. I don't mind."

Feeling her head grow hot, Glinda lowered her gaze. Out of the periphery of her eyes, she saw Elphaba drop her hand and smile mildly. She briefly looked away to pick up her phone and chuck it onto the coffee table, then changed to a more upright position, leaning against the backrest and folding her hands in her lap. She sat silently, but her attention did not waver away from the blonde. Glinda hated herself for behaving so unnecessarily skittish when Elphaba was nothing but patient and sweet.

Hesitantly, she shuffled closer and looped her arm through her friend's. Soon, her head rested on Elphaba's shoulder. She could feel her body vibrate when Elphaba laughed quietly.

"Shall we start over then?" she suggested before carefully pulling Glinda down with her to a half inclined position.

A small sound of surprise escaped Glinda's lips, but she did not resist.

Elphaba studied her for a moment as if to ascertain that she hadn't overstepped already. When Glinda voiced no objection, the corner of her lips curled upwards.

"Good morning, my sweet. Did you sleep alright?"

Merciful Oz! The proximity, that cheeky grin; how was she supposed to even think, least of all speak!

"Yes? I guess?" she replied shakily, unintentionally teasing a small cackle form Elphaba.

"Woo-hoo! Bold move, blondie!" came Shell's booming voice from the direction of the door.

Glinda froze. She trained her shock-wide eyes on Elphaba's arm and barely breathed. Apparently rather proud of himself and his temerity, Shell strolled across the room and helped himself to something alcoholic from the cabinet. He turned around to raise his glass towards the two girls.

"To new adventures in love," he announced with a smirk so wide his face must have almost split in half.

"Shut up, will ya?"

Elphaba flung a cushion his way but missed by a considerable margin. With the flicker of a rueful smile, she sat up, gently easing Glinda off her chest. Her brother's glee remained undiminished as he leisurely sauntered towards the hallway.

"He's an ass," moaned Elphaba.

Glinda nodded.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"He's just trying to cover up his own insecurities. You know that, right?"

She supposed she did, but that didn't make her feel all that much better.

Elphaba pushed herself to her feet, then reached for Glinda's hands to pull her up as well.

"How about, um, I get started on breakfast, and you go upstairs to freshen up a bit?"

"Sounds good," agreed Glinda, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She took the long way around, from the parlour to the dining room, and through the kitchen, in an attempt to avoid bumping into Shell again. From the entrance hall, she caught a glimpse of him disappearing into his room and let out a relieved sigh. As quietly as possible, she snuck up the stairs to collect her toiletries and clothes before slipping into the bathroom.

In the shower, she took a moment to process the events of this strange morning. It hadn't all been bad, but certainly intense. She wanted to scrub herself from head to toe in hope that it would cleanse her from all the awkwardness and mortification. She turned the water hotter than she usually preferred, but refrained from dousing her hair. She shouldn't make Elphaba wait that long.

Once the last of the soap had rinsed off her body, Glinda hooked the shower head up, but let the water continue to pour over her skin. She placed her palms on the cool tiles and leaned against the wall. Taking deep breaths and focusing on the pattering sound and the gentle sensation of the drizzling water, she searched for clarity and her own advice. What she came up with wasn't much, but there was one issue she knew she needed to discuss with Elphaba: Sarima.

Everything would be so much easier if only she knew about the exact nature of Elphaba's relationship with the Vinkun girl. Well, at least somewhat easier. She realised that the truth might hurt, but so did not knowing and just watching them being so infuriatingly ambiguous with each other. Beyond that, asking about Sarima might actually help and tip Elphaba off, letting her know that Glinda was not entirely indifferent to the fact that she was close to other girls.

By the time Glinda got to the kitchen, Elphaba was almost finished with her preparations.

"Sit down and start with your coffee before it gets cold," she directed her.

"What about your drink?" wondered Glinda as she did exactly as she was told, cradling the warm cup in her hands.

"I enjoy my coffee the same way I am myself: cold and bitter."

Elphaba snickered to herself, while Glinda gave her a frustrated look.

"You like to joke about this sort of stuff, but in truth, you're nothing like that at all, Elphie."

With a shrug, Elphaba turned back around to grab the finished plates of green tea soufflé pancakes. She had decorated them with blueberries and cream and added a dash of powdered sugar on top.

"Oh my, Elphie!" Glinda exclaimed, hungrily eyeing the food. "This looks delightful! I really didn't expect such an elaborate breakfast."

The compliment did not go amiss with the green girl, who certainly looked rather pleased with herself. When Elphaba walked over to her side of the table to place the first plate in front of her, Glinda caught a whiff of her own perfume which still clung to her clothes. It was in instant reminder of how they had spent the night, but it was also… nice. It made her fantasise about marking Elphaba with her scent more often. Because she was hers.

She snapped out of her daydream fairly quickly, and her cheeks blushed when she noticed Elphaba watching her. It was silly, but she couldn't shake the odd feeling that she was reading her mind—down to every single embarrassing detail.

Gaze still fixated on Glinda, Elphaba swallowed the first mouthful of her food before she paused and frowned.

"No appetite?" she enquired.

Glinda gave a little start and glanced down at the hand that was still holding her unused fork.

"Oh, right," she giggled sheepishly. "Not sure what came over me. I'm starving, actually."

She dug her fork into the soft pancake. Elphaba had done an amazing job. It was wonderfully fluffy and sweet, with a lovely vanilla aroma. She told her as much, but after that, she finished the rest of her meal in silence, contemplating, once again, her earlier fancies.

They still had a long way to go before any of it could become reality, of course. If any of it would ever become reality. Recalling her shower musings, she tried to device a way of bringing up Sarima. A more discrete way than plainly asking whether they were sleeping together, that was. In short: not in the same fashion that Shell had interrogated her.

"I can make another one for you," Elphaba offered as soon as she noticed that Glinda had already finished her food, once again breaking her out of her reverie.

"If you don't mind," replied Glinda gratefully and held her plate out for Elphaba to grab.

She was amazed how long and elaborate the process of making the pancakes was. It involved a lot of layering of the batter, as well as quite a bit of waiting. She decided to use the distance and Elphaba's preoccupation to her advantage. The more en passant she made her comments seem, the less suspicion she would draw. There was still time for more direct questions and hint dropping once she had a decent idea of the situation.

"So, um, you and Sa—"

There was some cluttering of utensils and some sputtering as Elphaba skilfully flipped the pancakes. Once the lid was back on the pan, she turned towards Glinda, tilting her head to let her know that she was listening now.

Try as she might, Glinda's resolve had vanished into thin air, just like the steam of the pancakes. The words had gone and they weren't coming back any time soon.

"You and Shell have a strange relationship," she said instead, inwardly facepalming at herself.

"He's become such a jerk," replied Elphaba, shaking her head.

She served the plates, laden with a generous second helping.

Glinda grinned at the sight. She felt less tense now that she'd resigned herself to tackling the Sarima question another time.

"He's still your little brother though, right?" she managed between mouthfuls of food. "Despite everything, I can see that he cares about you. Just like you care about him."

"Of course I care," Elphaba scoffed. "It's hard not to when we used to be so close. I guess, I'm still holding on to the hope that one day he'll grow out of it."

"And your sister?" Glinda ventured.

Elphaba's hand, already half way up to her mouth, sank again, and she pursed her lips. Feeling guilty, Glinda averted her eyes. Maybe she had hit a sore spot.

"I miss her," admitted Elphaba. "But it's better for the both of us to live apart."

Glinda blinked.

"How so?"

"Well, one might argue that it was my fault that Nessie was born the way she was."

"That doesn't make any sense," Glinda said gravely. She had a bad feeling about where this conversation might be going.

Elphaba herself took a deep swig from her mug, ran a hand through her hair and carefully avoided a direct reply to Glinda's interjection.

"Throughout her pregnancy, my mother chewed pinlobble leaves to prevent her second child from turning out green like me. It was a desperate measure and most likely caused her deformities, and the only reason why they resorted to something so risky was me."

"Don't you dare blame yourself for their stupid decision!" Glinda piped up. "Your condition is so unique; what made them think that it would happen again in the first place? I bet the side effects of most herbal remedies are fairly well documented. They should have known better."

Elphaba shrugged apathetically.

"The doctors were unable to give them any advice whatsoever, so they took matters into their own hands. They couldn't imagine anything worse than giving life to another discoloured monstrosity, so their approach seemed reasonable at the time."

While Elphaba's choice of words alarmed Glinda, she knew that saying so would most certainly be counterproductive at this point. She'd have to be more patient with this sort of stuff and chip away on it slowly and persistently. But not at moments like this, when Elphaba was willingly opening up.

"Does she blame you, too?" she ventured tentatively to keep the conversation going.

"I don't think so," Elphaba said, shaking her head. "But she used to rely heavily on my assistance. Father expected me to help take care of her from a young age, and I did it willingly, considering it the only way I could possibly atone for my sinful existence. I suppose, for a long time I didn't have any sense of purpose beyond serving her. My father seemed to agree, but nothing I ever did for her was ever good enough to please him.

"It all changed during a brief visit to the EC in occasion of Nessie's seventeenth birthday. We visited theatres, toured the city, and I learnt how dreadful the situation really was for the Animals. I'd heard of it before, alright. But passing the slums they lived in and taking it all in with my own eyes… that was different."

Glinda nodded and offered her a weak smile.

"I always did wonder how you ended up here."

"I ran away the night before our planned departure," Elphaba supplied, and one of Glinda's blueberries dropped from her fork to the floor.

"You what?" she squeaked in disbelief.

"I ran away," the other girl reaffirmed. "Of course, I asked my father for permission first, but he wouldn't allow me to stay. After all, my duty lay with my sister. So I ran. I was more or less homeless for a few weeks until my great-grandfather got involved and sent a detective after me. After I was returned to him, I told him straight away that I'd run again if he didn't allow me to stay in the capital. He acquiesced shockingly quickly and gave me this house to use, along with a generous allowance. I think, he still believes that I'll take his place one day. My father, on the other hand, still isn't quite over it."

Glinda searched her face for some trace of sadness, anxiety, or any other form of discomfort, but Elphaba appeared almost perfectly stoic and impassive now. She wondered if it was some kind of coping mechanism or if she really was beyond caring at this point.

"I eventually convinced him to occasionally let me visit Nessie and Nanny, so that's something," Elphaba said with a jerk of her head. "And Shell opted to follow me as soon as he attained his majority. Obviously, he doesn't give a twig about the Animals; he just couldn't stand the primitive life in Quadling Country."

"Wow," Glinda breathed and chuckled, still digesting what she'd just learnt. "This morning truly is full of surprises. Unexpectedly elaborate breakfast, unexpectedly deep stories…" her voice trailed off after that, when she realised that it was probably better to not mention any of the other unexpected events that came to her mind.

They finished their food and Elphaba began to load the dishwasher.

"What do you want to do today?" she asked.

Glinda laughed.

"Why? Are we not working on some new scheme to make the world a better place?"

"We could, of course." Elphaba replied with a smirk. "But I kinda assumed you needed a break."

"Mmh… Yeah, probably."

Glinda emptied her cup and popped it onto the top rack of the dishwasher. Her shoulder accidentally brushed against Elphaba, but she hardly flinched this time, which rather pleased her.

"To be honest, I don't care too much about what we do," she told Elphaba. "It's okay if we just hang out. Unless you think Shell might be a problem?" she added, slightly worried.

"He's out for the count, I reckon. All partied out."

"That's good."

It was a quiet day for the two girls, but Glinda had no complaints. After the excitement and stress of the past few weeks, she was in dire need of some relaxation. Still satiated from their lavish breakfast, they skipped lunch, but later in the afternoon they prepared a few sandwiches which they took to the tiny backyard.

"Oh. Looks like someone came back to life at last," Elphaba said after a while, gesturing towards the window where she'd just spotted Shell.

Glinda made a face.

"Do you think he'll be out with his friends again tonight?"

"I probably should ask him," hummed Elphaba and took out her phone.

It didn't take long for it to beep in reply.

"Nope. We're stuck with him."

Glinda groaned.

"We could always hide in the basement and stage a private wine tasting?" suggested Elphaba half-jokingly.

Seeing her so light-hearted was marvellous. Glinda wasn't the only one benefiting from this break after all. None of this was enough to negate the problem of the unnerving brother, however. Reluctantly, praying she wouldn't be perceived as too pushy, Glinda brought up a proposal she'd thought of earlier that day in case she needed to get away from Shell.

"Um, Elphie?" she began, playing with her curls. "Remember how you owe me a favour?"

"Yes."

Elphaba immediately went into wary mode. Maybe, she should have said it in a more flippant way? Deciding to start over, she set away her reservations and tried a more assertive approach.

"You, Miss Thropp, are going out with me tonight," she told her matter-of-factly. Resting her hand on her friend's for maximum effect.

"I am?" replied Elphaba, cocking her brow.

"You don't get to object, but trust me, it's a great deal. You owe me big time and all I ask for is one single outing."

Scratching her neck and averting her gaze in an unintentionally adorable way, Elphaba nodded.

"Okay. But why do I get this worrisome feeling that you're not talking about something as simple as a fancy dinner?"


Glinda kept their destination a secret, but gave her some directions as far as clothes were concerned. When Elphaba re-emerged from her room, she was wearing black leather pants and a black shirt with half rolled up sleeves, a leather jacket casually thrown over her shoulder. Her hair was gathered in a tight ponytail. Altogether, her look was a little too monochrome for Glinda's own taste, but it suited her very well.

"Not bad," she grinned, letting her eyes roam up and down once more. "Can I make a minor adjustment though?"

Elphaba frowned slightly. Undeterred, Glinda reached up to pull off her hair tie. The luxurious black strands fell easily, cascading over Elphaba's shoulders and framing her face.

"Perfect," Glinda managed after a moment of plain gawking.

Elphaba brushed a strand away from her eyes. She looked somewhat uncomfortable, or maybe unsure how to deal with her unbridled hair. But tough luck; Glinda liked it that way, and tonight she was the boss.

"You wear an awful lot of leather for a vegetarian," she noted, but Elphaba only hiked her shoulders dismissively.

"It's non-Animal certified and organic. It's a by-product of the meat industry, so no animals are harmed just to harvest the hides. And I'm not all against meat—there are various species of Animals that tend to have a hard time thriving without it."

Their next stop was Glinda's flat. Although she had brought a bunch of clothes, none of them were suitable weekend night attire, which meant that she required access to her full repertoire. She'd already started on her make up though, so all she needed to add was a little glitter and gloss.

Crope and Tibbett were baffled when Glinda first opened the door, but tremendously excited the moment Elphaba sat foot into their humble abode. They pulled her down onto the couch with them while Glinda disappeared into her room.

She scanned the selection of outfits before her. Personally, she'd have preferred to go all out, because it made her feel more confident. Since she was going together with Elphaba, however, she needed to keep the compatibility of their wardrobe choices in mind.

In the end, she decided on a short romper with an off the shoulder neckline and long sleeves. Black satin concealed all the most important bits, but the top layer was made of sheer black chiffon and extended along her arms and a little further down her legs than the main body did. The piece wasn't too fancy, but sported a number of rhinestones and some sparkle that was woven into the fabric. She paired it with long silver threader earrings. At the very back of her closet, she found a pair of suede over the knee boots. Oz, she hated the way those things put pressure on all the wrong places, but they made her legs look amazing when she wore super short skirts or shorts.

As soon as she stepped out into the sitting room, the boys hollered and clapped. Elphaba stared, her expression impossible to decipher. It occurred to Glinda that she'd never seen her in anything remotely sexy before. Crope patted her shoulder in a congratulatory manner, but she didn't look like she even noticed.

Glinda navigated Elphaba to the parking lot of a shopping centre. The shops would close at nine and parking would be free after that. It meant they would have to walk a bit to reach their actual destination, but it was also safer for the car, since there would be less drunkards hanging about.

She let her phone guide them along the shortest way, still refusing to tell Elphaba where exactly they were headed. Most likely, she already got the gist of it though, since there was little else around the area other than clubs and bars.

"Tada!" Glinda shouted eventually, spreading her arms to present the building with the flashy neon lights. "May I introduce you to The Time Dragon?"

Elphaba stopped to take in the club's exterior.

"Looks interesting," she said flatly.

Giggling, Glinda looped her arm through her friend's.

"I know it's not exactly your cup of tea, but among all the establishments in the city, I guarantee you, that this will suit you the most."

"And why is that?"

"You will see."

Glinda winked at her and eagerly pulled her towards the entrance.

The bouncer seemed to be the same Tigress she'd met previously. Or maybe another one. To the untrained eye, most Animals looked quite alike to their conspecifics.

"Oh, you'll need your I.D.," Glinda advised Elphaba.

She looked surprised, but didn't question her. After they had cleared security and entered the building, however, she did say that it all seemed a bit odd to her.

"I know," smiled Glinda, "but they have their reasons."

She watched Elphaba carefully scanning her environment. Her eyes briefly lingered on their reflection in the mirror mosaic before she directed her attention towards a colourful poster with a number of Animals on it.

"Interesting," she remarked blandly.

They took the lift upstairs. Everything looked pretty much exactly as Glinda remembered it. Except for the light, which now shone in a violet hue instead of the green she'd seen last time. They probably changed it regularly to keep things interesting.

Elphaba looked slightly lost to her, so she pulled her towards the bar. A drink and some time to assess the situation would undoubtedly help her to adjust. Among the bar staff she only recognised the Racoon. He wore the same fluorescent jacket again. They were served by a sassy Koala.

"Been to a place like this before?" Glinda asked as she took her first sip.

"I've been dragged to big parties before, and I've been so bars. This is different, but close enough."

It didn't escape Glinda's notice that she seemed reluctant to look around. Her eyes were trained on the bottle of beer in her hands.

"Usually clubs aren't exactly Animal friendly," Glinda pointed out. "I stumbled across this place by accident and thought you might be more comfortable here than a standard club."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Elphaba's taciturnity annoyed Glinda. She wouldn't ask her to mingle, heck, she wouldn't even ask her to dance or anything. All she wanted was to enjoy the loud music and some drinks, along with a proper conversation. She paused.

"Is the music too loud for you?" she probed. "Do you have some sort of noise sensitivity? Is it that?"

"No."

Elphaba seemed unwilling to help herself, irritating Glinda further. Craning her neck, she scanned the floor.

"How about we move to one of the booths?" she suggested.

To her relief, Elphaba considered this offer seriously and nodded at last. Glinda emptied her glass and ordered another drink before they left the bar.

"Oh no," Glinda chuckled as they sat down. "Look at that, someone already demolished all the snacks."

"It's alright," said Elphaba. She nodded in the direction of the other row of booths. "I think the refill is already on the way."

Glinda leaned over so she could see. She did a double take, then hurriedly returned to her spot.

"Saw a ghost?" cackled Elphaba

"Glad you're finally warming up," scoffed Glinda playfully.

The girl with the tray of snacks reached their booth. She spotted Glinda first and smirked, her lips between her teeth.

"Fancy seeing you here again… Galinda, right?"

"Glinda, actually, but I'm surprised you remember my name at all, considering how many drinks we had that night."

Rain snorted a laugh.

"All a matter of practice. And I sorta hoped you'd come back sooner or later."

Glinda blushed. She took a moment to have a proper look at her. A certain similarity with Elphaba was still undeniable, though she was markedly shorter and her hair wasn't quite as straight. Her face also was prettier—in a conventional sense—but definitely less interesting. She wondered whether Elphaba might at all recognise herself in the younger girl.

"Well, I've brought company along today," she replied somewhat belated.

Rain shifted her attention towards the opposite corner of the booth as if she hadn't noticed earlier that there was anyone besides Glinda.

"Oh. So you have," she said with a strange ring to her voice.

She studied Elphaba curiously, but abstained from making any remarks regarding her odd skin colour. Elphaba returned her gaze with a frown. When Rain turned back to Glinda, she thought she seemed somewhat disappointed.

"You know what?" she said, "How about I bring you some pork crackling instead of those plain old pretzels? The good stuff is meant for VIPs, but friends count, too."

"Thanks, but Elphaba is vegetarian," Glinda explained.

Rolling her eyes, Rain exchanged their empty bowl for a full one.

"I'll get you the crackling anyway," she told Glinda. "Your Elphaba can eat whatever she wants, but I won't let her get in the way of your enjoyment of some proper snacks."

Before she walked off, she placed one hand on Glinda's shoulder and leaned down so only she could hear her.

"I hope she knows what a lucky bitch she is," she whispered into her ear.

The blonde's first impulse was to clear up the slight misunderstanding immediately, but she quickly thought better of it. Under the given circumstances, it would most likely be better everyone involved if Glinda and Elphaba were mistaken to be a couple.

"Weird chick," Elphaba huffed once they were alone.

Glinda wondered whether she was at all jealous. Truth be told, she wanted her to be. Maybe it would spur her into action.

A few minutes later, Rain returned with the promised pork crackling, but she was in a hurry and didn't say much else.

At least Elphaba was talking now. They ordered a couple more drinks. Glinda definitely felt more than a little tipsy, but Elphaba seemed steady as a rock.

"Fuck, the car," Glinda suddenly realised.

"That wasn't very well thought out," smirked Elphaba.

"What in goodness' name do we do?" she whined. "Call a taxi? Pick up the car tomorrow? Heavens, I don't even want to know how much the parking fee will be."

Elphaba barked out a laugh.

"Calm down, Glinda. I'm just messing with you. I've only had one beer. The cocktails were non-alcoholic."

"Oh." A relieved chuckle escaped her lips, but then she pouted. "But I can't be the only one really drinking."

"Well, you can't have it both ways."

Annoyed, Glinda agreed.

Her gaze wandered towards the crowd on the dancefloor. All the talking and drinking had made her restless. The music was good and beckoned her to get to her feet. She cast Elphaba a coy glance. There was no chance in hell she'd be able to convince her to dance.

She asked anyway.

"Do you want to dance, Elphie?"

Elphaba stiffened and followed her gaze.

"Not really," she retorted evenly, although she looked mildly alarmed.

"Yeah, I somehow expected you might say that," Glinda acknowledged with a wistful expression, still watching the other patrons dancing. Then, she perked up and turned back towards Elphaba. "Can you do me a favour?"

"I'm already doing you a favour."

"Just one more," Glinda assured her. "Can you look after me while I'm over there?

Elphaba's eyes searched her questioningly, trying to figure out what exactly she was trying to propose.

"You don't want to dance, and that's fine. But I still want to. Only for a little bit. And I'd feel a lot safer if you could keep an eye on me from where you're sitting. I just… get too carried away sometimes."

Elphaba mulled over what she'd told her. Glinda almost thought she'd come up with some reason why this was a bad idea. Contrary to her fears, Elphaba nodded.

"I can do at least that much, I suppose.

Excited, Glinda jumped to her feet. She reached for Elphaba's hand and squeezed it in appreciation.

"Thanks, Elphie. I won't be too long, I promise."

Elphaba replied with a dismissive wave and shooed her in the general direction of the crowd.

The moment Glinda hit the dancefloor, she felt free. As much as she loved talking to Elphaba, it was also exhausting in some way. It was relaxing to turn her brain off for a while and just let herself feel instead. The rhythm pulsed through her veins and not even her uncomfortable shoes could stop her from dancing her heart out.

A few songs in, she noticed a tall redhead dancing next to her. She seemed to be dancing with someone else, but when the girl incidentally locked eyes with her, she smirked and focused her attention entirely on Glinda. She was good at this. Very energetic, very expressive. Glinda saw it as a challenge to rise up to her level. Adding just a bit more swing to her hips and experimenting more with her arms, she looked back at her dance partner to search for a reaction. The redhead laughed charmingly and stepped closer.

Their little game was interrupted when Glinda suddenly felt a hand on her bare shoulder. She spun around in alarm and almost bumped into Elphaba. For a few beats, she stood there like a statue, her heart beating up to her neck, head flushed by more than just the exercise. Elphaba smiling at her shyly and began to move in time with the music. Slowly, Glinda began to unfreeze.

She shuffled closer and closer, then gingerly placed her hands on Elphaba's hips. The way the green girl's eyes grew just a tad wider did not go lost on her. Her own hands were tingling, but the music and the alcohol helped. She motioned for Elphaba to lower her head a notch.

"Did I overdo it?" she asked no louder than she absolutely had to.

Elphaba shook her head.

"I don't think so? I just changed my mind."

Glinda grinned happily at that. She let go of Elphaba and began to move more freely again, observing her friend at all times. Elphaba wasn't a great dancer—her sense of rhythm was perfectly fine, but she lacked the confidence. Glinda felt honoured that she put herself out there just to dance with her.

They danced one more song, but when it faded into the next number, Glinda grabbed Elphaba's wrist and led her to a somewhat quiet corner. Their cosy booth had found new occupants in the meantime.

"Thank you, Elphie," purred Glinda, looking up to her and beaming. "I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate this."

"You're welcome?" replied Elphaba awkwardly. "Would you… would you mind if we went home now?"

"Yeah, okay," Glinda agreed.

She'd had a great evening. She knew it couldn't get much better, but there was a good chance that it would go downhill from here if she pushed Elphaba too far out of her comfort zone. So, all those things considered, she was absolutely content and ready to leave.

"Hold on a second, girls!"

Elphaba had already pulled on her jacket, when they turned around to see Rain scurrying towards them.

"Why the rush? If you leave now, you're gonna miss the best part of the evening!"

She motioned towards the far side of the room, where two staff members were drawing the curtains aside to reveal a concealed passage. Elphaba frowned, while Glinda gave her a puzzled look.

"I thought the show was only for premium members. Elphaba hasn't even been here before. That would be against the rules, right?"

"Yeah, it is," Rain dismissed. "But these are for you."

She handed them two temporary access badges. They weren't quite as well made as the regular VIP passes and had a date stamped on them. They also showed their names and photos.

"With regards from Mr Boss," grinned Rain, who clearly found their perplexed faces very amusing. "He is the one who makes the rules, so it's his call when to break them."

Glinda was still at a loss.

"What? Why? I don't know this guy. Why would he give us differential treatment? I don't get it."

She looked up to Elphaba for an explanation. After all, she was the mysterious one with unusual connections and an influential family.

But her friend only shrugged.

Rain rolled her eyes.

"Why are you so hung up over this? Just take them and enjoy the show. I don't know why he sent me to give them to you, but he tends so have his reasons. Just friggin' go for it."

They exchanged looks. If she was honest, Glinda was rather curious. Elphaba didn't have a clue what to expect.

"What do you think, Elphie? You know what they say about gifted horses, right?"

She tried not to sound too eager. If the experience turned out to be weird, she didn't want Elphaba blaming her for dragging her into this.

"I don't know," said Elphaba, shifting her weight. Her facial expression was all composure, but the more subtle cues of her body language were telling a different story.

Glinda exhaled and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. The obscure nature of the show was to blame. Not being in the know was one of her worst pet peeves. She was quick to correct her bearing, however, and put on a cheerful air. She took Elphaba's badge out of her hand and gave both of them back to Rain.

"Thanks, but I think we'll have to decline."

The girl scoffed and shook her head.

"Your loss. At any rate, I really hope you'll pop by again some other time. Bring your disagreeable friend along if you have to, but if you come by yourself, I'll make sure you won't be too lonely."

"Yeah, sure," muttered Glinda.

She didn't quite know what else to say, especially in front of Elphaba. Rain leaned in for a light hug and gave her a cheeky kiss next to her ear. The resulting shiver barely registered with Glinda through the alcohol in her system.

Outside it was unexpectedly cold for a June night. Wrapping her arms tightly around her upper body, Glinda tried whatever she could to keep herself from trembling. Elphaba cast her several fleeting glances before grunting a little laugh and shrugging off her jacket.

"Thanks, Elphie" murmured Glinda, suddenly warm from head to toe.

Elphaba only grinned lopsidedly and looked away, pretending to take in the scenery as they walked.


The next morning, Glinda woke unusually early. Her head punished her the moment she sat up, but she doubted that sleeping any longer would change much about that. She rolled over to the side of the bed to angle for her handbag. Rummaging through it, she found an almost empty package of paracetamol.

She left her room a few minutes later and made her way down to the kitchen. To her surprise, it was empty—as was the entire ground floor, she soon learnt. There was no sign of Elphaba. Or Shell. Thank goodness for that at least.

Despite all this, she doubted very much that Elphaba was still asleep. She didn't quite have the guts to check her bedroom, but there was still the study, so she tried her luck there.

Instead of knocking, she opened the door just the tiniest bit and stuck her nose in to cautiously peer inside. When she indeed spotted Elphaba sitting at her enormous desk, she cleared her throat and softly called her name.

Brown eyes looked up in wonder.

"Glinda," she said with some lingering huskiness in her voice.

Capping her pen, she checked the time and seemed all the more baffled when she realised that is wasn't even six yet.

"I couldn't sleep any longer," Glinda explained apologetically. "Do you mind if I come in? I can help if you have anything to do for me, or just sit over there and be quiet if that suits you better."

She received permission in form of a nod. Elphaba still seemed too astounded to speak and Glinda couldn't help but giggle at the hilarious expression on her face.

"You look like you just witnessed a miracle or something," she teased.

"Did you, um, sleep alright?" Elphaba finally asked, adjusting her reading glasses. "No hangover?"

"Just a little."

After closing the door carefully behind her, Glinda sashayed over to the desk to have a peek at whatever Elphaba had been working on. Initially, Elphaba tried to sweep the pages aside, but she seemed to change her mind mid-action, pushing them towards Glinda instead.

"Wanna have a look?"

"Sure."

She picked up the sheets and arranged them according to the numbers in the top right corners. She scanned the first few sentences.

"What is this? Another speech or something?"

Elphaba wordlessly bobbed her head.

It immediately became apparent to her that this was Elphaba's first draft. There were a host of corrections, annotations, and entire sections had been crossed out. She squinted her eyes in concentration. On top of everything else that was going on on those pages, Elphaba's handwriting, while not exactly ugly, was ridiculously tiny and hard to read.

About fifteen minutes later, she returned the budding speech to its creator.

"It's… okay," she said cautiously." Elphaba arched an eyebrow at her. "Okay, it's pretty shit. By your standards anyway. What's up with you? Having a bad day already? Did our outing last night mess with your inner balance or something?"

Elphaba made a small amused sound.

"No. I'm just not used to addressing gross, ignorant bigots. It's not a job I took on voluntarily. I was practically bullied into it by Brrr and his overlord."

"Oh." Glinda smiled at her compassionately. "Well, at least you got me to help you now. Dealing with gross, ignorant bigots is kinda my speciality. Let's see what we can do together, 'kay?"