A Lazy Afternoon
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
Chapter 15
Elphaba blinked awake. The sun was streaming through Fiyero's window, acting as a rude alarm clock. Fiyero lay curled up against her, oblivious. His body must have learned to sleep through the early morning sun. She was glad her own room did not face east. His right arm was slung across her waist, and his right knee over hers. What a crazy night it had been. Though she really had no idea of time, she decided that she had kissed him for at least an hour, and that thought perplexed her. A kiss was such a strange sensation for someone who had never known love…
Commotion outside the door snapped her out of her daydream.
"Pick it," Avaric commanded.
"I don't know how to pick a lock," Boq whined. "You do it."
"I figured you might have some idea…"
"Why? Because I'm a Munchkinlander?"
"That's not what I was saying...quite."
"We could just knock on the door, and call him again."
"But he could just not be answering the door."
"Yeah…"
Boq slammed his fist against the door, 3 times. "Fiyero!"
Fiyero's head popped up groggily. "What the hell is that?"
"They're trying to determine if you're here. Are you?"
He yawned and stretched.
"I don't think its working," Boq lamented.
"We'll have to figure out someway to pick it then. Go find a pair of pliers."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Fiyero sat up. "I should go greet them, eh?"
"They're probably concerned. They were yesterday. I was supposed to find out for them, and I never came back last night."
"So Glinda's probably worried about you too…"
"No, probably not."
"I thought she cared about you now."
"Oh, she does. But at this point, I'm pretty sure she'd assume I'm here if I don't come back."
"Ah."
Fiyero grinned, and climbed out of bed. "I still don't really want to talk about this, but here goes nothing."
"Wait…Fiyero, should I be visible?"
He hesitated.
"I'll hide."
"No…you don't have to."
"I should. It just wouldn't look right."
He nodded, and she climbed out of bed, and went into the closet to change. A fist came down on the door again.
"Fiyero, chap, where are you?"
Fiyero swung the door open. "What the hell is this racket?"
"Hey, man! Where have you been?"
"Sleeping. As most people do at 7am."
"Sorry, chap, we were just concerned. Nobody'd seen you since early morning yesterday."
"I was dealing with something."
"You all right?"
"Yeah…I'll be fine."
"I found them!" Boq shouted, running down the hall. "Oh, he opened the door."
"Yep."
Fiyero stood in the aperture of the doorway, and Boq tried to peer around him.
"What exactly are you looking for?"
"Oh, uh, nothing…"
"Uh huh."
"Are you coming to breakfast?" Avaric asked.
"No."
"No?"
"No. I have a ton of reading to do, that didn't get done yesterday."
"What did you do yesterday?"
"A lot of thinking."
"What happened?"
At that moment, Glinda came skipping down the hall. "This was easy to get to," she smiled. "Fiyero! How are you?"
"I'm fine."
She looked at him, uncomfortably. He was still not wearing a shirt.
"Did Elphie ever find you yesterday?"
"Yep."
"Is she still here? She didn't come back last night."
Boq and Avaric looked to him expectantly. There was no way of keeping this ruse up any longer.
"Yes, she's just finishing getting ready, right now."
"I'll be out there in a second!" Elphie called.
"Oh, good. I was worried about her. I mean, I figured that she'd find you sooner than any of us. Then when she didn't come back last night, I figured she was here, but I still wanted to know what's going on. Where were you yesterday?"
The group looked to Fiyero.
"I received a parchment from home yesterday. An unfortunate notification that my mother has passed on."
"Oh no!" Glinda cried.
"It's okay, I've been processing this for a good day now. And because of the winter in the Vinkus, while I'm only just getting this now, it happened in January."
"That's horrible!" Glinda interjected again.
"It is, but it also in a way allows me to find closure sooner."
Elphie came out into the doorway. She was wearing the same blue skirt she had on the day before, and a dark blue tunic of Fiyero's that she found in the closet. Boq looked to Glinda snickering, she shot him a 'now-is-not-the-time' glare. Even Avaric kept his mouth shut.
"Fiyero," Glinda began. "I'm so sorry."
The boys nodded their agreement.
"Thank you. It happened, I have to get over it. Elphie calmed me down yesterday."
He squeezed her hand, which she awkwardly took back immediately after.
"Good. If you need anything, just let us know," Glinda offered.
"I will. Now if you guys don't mind, I have to get ready in order to make class on time."
Avaric, Boq, and Glinda began down the hall.
"Are you coming?" Glinda asked Elphie.
She looked at her, uncertain.
"We'll be along later," Fiyero answered. "She still got some stuff inside."
Glinda nodded, and continued along. Elphie and Fiyero backed into his room, closing the door. He sat down on the bed.
"Well, that was awkward," Elphie sighed, crossing to sit beside him. "You holding up okay?"
Fiyero nodded, absently, and curled himself into her lap.
"You seemed to stay pretty strong."
"I didn't want them to see me break."
"But you're close?"
"I don't know…I don't mind you seeing me like this, but I'd rather the others not."
"Trust me, I completely understand that."
He squeezed her knee. "Yeah, I guess so."
He sat up. "I'm sorry if you didn't want them to see you here."
"No, once Glinda showed up I knew it was inevitable."
He nodded, and pulled her closer to him. She tensed.
"You okay?"
"Yes," she answered softly.
"May I kiss you again?"
She looked up into his eyes, and leaned in. His lips met hers, gently. It was a slow, tender kiss, a far cry from the passion of the night before, but incredibly genuine in feeling. Breaking apart, he pulled her tightly to him, and held her for a long while.
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