Glinda grunted in frustration as she struggled to get her little limbs up and over and around and through all the confusing and twisting branches of the trees just outside her and Elphaba's dorm room. Why in Oz she agreed to this, she would never know. All she knew was that, one minute, she was listening to Elphaba goading her into going tree-climbing, and the next, it was actually happening.
While Elphaba scaled the tree with terrifying speed and balance, almost like a squirrel as she darted through the green leaves, Glinda struggled and sweated the entire way up, hauling herself up hand over hand as she tried to keep her grip... and her balance. And it was especially hard because she was weaving through nothing but green leaves. She was overrun by the color, and it was next to impossible to differentiate between one step and the next. It all looked the same. Nothing but endless green. Green, green, green.
The young blond was panting hard by the time she finally reached the uppermost limbs of the tree, and her arms, legs and hands were on fire. She fought the urge to look down. Elphaba, meanwhile, was still weaving expertly through the emerald foliage.
"C'mon, Glinda!" she called over her shoulder as she continued to walk along the branches like a cat, unwavering and unafraid.
"Give me a sec!" Glinda complained, placing a hand to her chest before she trundled on. She was going to have so many splinters after this!
But at last, blessedly, Elphaba finally stopped.
"Well, it's about time!" Glinda huffed and puffed. "Where even are we? And why did we have to go through all that just to-" but Elphaba responded by pushing some of the tree leaves aside, and Glinda's complaints died in her mouth at once.
"Woah!" All she could do was gasp as she was met with an Arcadian Eden rolling out in front of her like a dream.
For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but nature and wildlife in its prime, an untamed and elegant beauty for the eye to gorge itself on. Trees, flowers, grass, plants, leaves, shrubs. They all decorated a sea of bright green grass, the varying shades of emerald immeasurable. For the second time that day, Glinda was overrun by the color green.
"Sure is beautiful, ain't it?" Elphaba asked smugly as she continued to hold the leaves aside for Glinda. Glinda could only nod like an idiot. Elphaba laughed at her before she began to inch her way down the tree. Glinda followed her, almost in a trance.
"I mean, it's no Emerald City, but hey, it's still nice!" Elphaba continued to joke as she shimmied on down the tree.
"Well, it may not be the Emerald City, but it's an Emerald City," Glinda said as she followed Elphaba down. It wasn't until they were both back on solid ground that Glinda realized just how apt her remark was. It really was a beautiful landscape, and, in its own way, it really was just like the Emerald City. All that endless green, and yet it still managed to be so stunningly breathtaking and unique.
Once the two were on the ground again, Elphaba wasted no time and yanking off her dirty old black boots and burying her feet in the soft green sea. She let out an exhale and looked so enraptured that Glinda quickly discarded her own heels with an uncharacteristically dismissive toss.
"Ohhh! It is nice!" she muttered as she felt the green blades of grass poke up pleasurably between her toes.
"Isn't it? My own little slice of paradise..." Elphaba repeated, suddenly looking so different than the surly girl she usually was. The transformation that seemed to come over her enraptured Glinda as much as this little wild sanctuary enraptured Elphaba.
It was as if all the green of their surroundings was bleeding into Elphaba, making her even more verdant than normal. But this time, it was a lively and invigorated green. For the first time ever, Glinda got to see what Elphaba looked like when she was truly happy and at peace, and she couldn't have been lovelier!
Elphaba sank down into the soft grass, reclining in it and shutting her eyes with a satisfied hum. Still staring at her, Glinda quickly did the same. Then she began to scoot ever closer to Elphaba as they continued to bask in their endless field of emeralds. Glinda could see rose bushes, scarlet buds peeking out of bright green stems and leaves. She could see green apples hanging over their heads alongside verdant, vibrant leaves.
At one point, then, the young woman turned her head. She had heard the soft and gentle trickle of nearby water and managed to trace the sound to a small creek only a few feet away. She sat up just enough to take a good look at it. The water was a soft viridescent, dark green moss covering both sides of the small bank. She could even see a few dark shapes dipping in and out of it. One of those shapes was a large frog, bright green and full of life as it hopped in and out of the waters.
"I've dipped my toes in that creek a few times," Elphaba said, startling Glinda slightly. "It's a really lovely little thing, surprisingly warm."
Then she got up slowly, rolling over onto her stomach before pushing herself up as her fingers buried themselves into the soft green earth. Glinda followed after her, feeling heavy and light at the same time. The pair perched delicately upon two large round stones, smooth and flat, before dipping their toes into the water.
"Oooh! You're right!" Glinda couldn't stop a giggle, surprised at how un-cold the water really felt.
"Told you," Elphaba grinned as she stuck her feet in right alongside Glinda's, playfully kicking some water at the girl's shins.
"Hey!" Glinda pretended to shriek in outrage, but she and Elphaba both laughed.
That was another thing Glinda was enchanted by: Elphaba's laugh. Although it was a rare sound to hear, and usually laced with some sort of sarcasm, sharpness or bitterness (which made it sound more like a bark or a cackle than a laugh), every once in a blue moon, Elphaba would utter real laugh that came from the chest and throat. This was one of those times. It was deep and broad and satisfying, very full and rich. Glinda's own giggle became high-pitched with nervousness as she listened to Elphaba's low, but genuine, laugh.
To distract herself, Glinda ran a hand back and forth over the stone she was sitting on, its perfectly smooth surface comforting her.
"Ah, so you've caught on to my little trick!" Elphaba muttered, seeing Glinda stroking the rocks and misunderstanding why.
"What?" Glinda asked.
"Yeah." An uncharacteristically sheepish smile flickered across Elphaba's usually-sour face. "I've wanted to bring you here for a while now, but I only just recently found the courage to do so. But of course, I knew your highness would want some place nicer to sit than a wet and muddy riverbank, so..." Elphaba trailed off with a smirk as she gestured to the stones beneath them. Glinda had to bite back a noise of surprise, missing Elphaba little jibe in her shock.
So, these stones hadn't always been here, but rather, they were something Elphaba had brought out explicitly for Glinda's sake, because she'd been planning on taking Glinda here for "a while now", as she had said. Glinda felt a rush of affection to think that Elphaba had tried to set things up in advance. Perhaps she should've realized it sooner. These stones were unusually smooth, and it was almost too convenient that there happened to be two of them, side by side, both the perfect size and shape to sit on. And the lack of dirt and moss also should've been a clear sign.
But by that point, Glinda was too busy blushing over the thought of Elphaba doing all of this prep work just for her sake to pay much heed to the rocks anymore. But the secrets weren't finished yet. Elphaba continued to explain how long she'd wanted to bring Glinda out here. In the beginning, this place was Elphaba's private sanctuary away from the rest of the student body. But ever since she and Glinda had become friends at the OzDust, Elphaba grown to trust her more and more until she wanted nothing more than to show Glinda this little slice of paradise that she had.
"I wanted to show you it, because I felt like you deserved to see it too. You had become my second sanctuary, so I wanted to introduce you to the first," Elphaba admitted, rubbing the back of her neck embarrassedly. It was so odd to see her like this, but Glinda was too invested in the story to care. She thought it was incredibly sweet of Elphaba, and it meant a lot to her that Elphaba would show her something so personal. It flattered her to think that this was a secret of Elphaba's that only she knew. And even better, it was one Elphaba actually wanted to share with her.
There was that one other secret she'd learned on the night of the OzDust, although it hadn't been quite as freely given. Instead, it was only because the two were both rather punch-drunk and Glinda got even more bossy than usual when she was intoxicated. But this secret had been voluntarily surrendered, so that's why Glinda felt so flattered that Elphaba was willing to tell it to her.
"Well, you know, this place is kind of my Eden," Elphaba muttered, growing quieter and quieter with every word. "But as I'm sure you know from the Unionist stories, Eden was not inhabited by just one person. Instead, the Unnamed God made him a companion. Granted, they were male and female, but hey, we can't be perfect all the time, right?" Elphaba added with a nervous laugh.
Then before Glinda could think up a response, or even digest what Elphaba had just said, Elphaba leaned in to kiss her. It was a small, soft, gentle gesture, but Glinda suddenly felt electrified. She was only half aware when she began to return the kiss, far more passionate than either of them had expected. Then, no more words were spoken. Instead, Glinda could only kiss back as her entire world was overrun by green.
AN: I wanted to only do one fic per ship, but I got "bullied" into writing more Gelphie for the wonderful and talented elphiegranger2508.
And I admit that this honestly could've gone under the "Nature" chapters in this fic (the first of which will come in about a week) but I needed to write about something green that wasn't just Elphaba's skin, because that's WAY too cliché.
In my mind, there's a tree right outside Elphaba and Glinda's dorm that Elphaba climbs quite often (which is actually somewhat canon in the book). But here, that tree connects to another tree which connects to another tree all the way until they find themselves in a little back forest area, which is this wild sanctuary Elphaba brings Glinda to.
My own college campus has some really nice spots like this all over. Maybe none of them are accessible by tree climbing, but the general gist remains the same, LOL
Also yes, slight "Adam and Eve/Adam and Steve" reference at the very end. But what can I say? It's a classic gay joke now, LOL