So, I'm posting this a day or two early. I couldn't help it. I won't post six until the… 13th? I think. Well, six is short, so the 12th. You'll have seven by the 14th. Then I go back to once every third day…
CHAPTER FIVE: "That'll do"In the week they had before leaving, Madikien was out a great deal of the time. At first, Elphaba had been a bit suspicious of this, but she then realized that he actually had people to tell that he was leaving for such a long time; she had no one.
Jansied had come to talk to Madikien several times. In the early hours of the morning that Madikien and Elphaba were to leave, Elphaba was leaning against the headboard reading, not taking up much space because Madikien had gone to sleep for an hour. She'd told herself she only stayed because he'd asked her to wake him after an hour, but she hadn't gotten very far in her book, she just watched him sleep, ignoring the urge to just settle in next to him and fall asleep, too. As Jansied tapped on the window, she jumped, dropping her book. Madikien didn't wake. She nudged him, not keen to deal with Jansied.
"What?" He looked up sleepily. "I could swear it's only been half an hour."
"Someone's looking for you." She leapt off the bed.
"Oh. Jansied." He opened the window.
"Later," Elphaba mouthed at him, grabbing her book and scampering into her own room, shutting the door not quite all the way. She listened.
Jansied spoke first. "Explain that."
"What?" Madikien said stupidly; he knew exactly what Jansied meant.
"Explain why she was on your bed."
"She likes that spot. It's comfortable - "
"Stop bullshitting me. I thought you said you weren't sleeping with her?"
"I wasn't and I'm not."
"Then what are you doing with her?" Jansied scoffed at him.
"I'm trying to find out what she knows. Ever consider that maybe she knows something that could be useful to us and just isn't supposed to say anything? After all, we're not supposed to go around talking about our assignments to everyone, are we?" Elphaba tried not to let the miniscule cry of pain escape her throat. No, he wouldn't do that, he couldn't possibly be…
"You said that before. I haven't heard anything useful from you at all."
"She's a bit… difficult." His words made Elphaba cringe.
"No surprise there."
"You know I have to leave soon. Get to your point. Why'd you actually come here?"
"I don't think you should go."
"We've gone over this already, the more time that - "
"I know. But I'm not going to be there to watch over you."
"Who says you need to be? It's not like you're constantly here all the time."
"But I see you more than once in a period of six months. I say I need to be watching over you. Why didn't you attempt to get out of this?"
"Do you think I didn't? Jansied, I don't need a babysitter. I know what I'm doing and I can take care of myself. Stop being so damned paranoid. I'm going and you should go back to wherever it is that you spend your time."
"If you must, then fine. But I expect to hear from you the moment you return." The window opened and shut, leaving a minute or two of silence.
"Elphaba, come back in here. He's gone." He said without raising his voice. "Look, I know you heard all of that." It was as if he didn't need a response to know that she was listening. "Would you let me explain?" When she still didn't answer, she heard his footsteps near the doorway. "Elphaba, please."
Reluctantly, she opened the door and took a step into his room. She would stray no further and folded her arms across her chest.
Knowing better than to reach for her, he stayed where he was. "We're not allowed to be doing this. You know that, Elphaba. If I told him, we'd both be in a bit of trouble. You know as well as I do what would happen if anyone found out."
"Found what out?"
"You and me." When she only looked at him questioningly, he shook his head. "Tell me you know what I'm talking about." Once again, she only looked confused. "We're not supposed to have any sort of relationship within our circle. You said yourself that emotions get in the way of what we've been told to do. There's a rule against all of this, Elle. And here I thought you actually listened to Yackle."
"I do listen." But Yackle had made an exception in this case because she was supposed to be getting information. And that had been her truth and suddenly, it seemed, Madikien's lie. She had no right to be angry. If anyone was at fault, it was she. How could she have forgotten that he had no idea that Yackle knew already, not to mention that Yackle had actually been the one to start in motion the coincidences that had begun everything in the first place? What gave her permission to be hurt when she was actually the one who was in it all for the wrong reasons? Well, was she still in it for the wrong reasons? Oh, hell, she didn't even know.
"Then stop looking at me like that." Bravely he took a step closer to her. "I like this, the way we are. I don't want to say something and destroy it."
"I hate it when you're right and I'm wrong." She muttered.
"Could you repeat that? It sounded like you said that I was right, but I don't think I heard you correctly." He said jokingly. "We do have to leave soon. Damn Jansied. I wanted to sleep a little more." Yawning, he looked down at her, "You're not mad, then?"
"Of course not." She brushed her lips over his softly. "Now let's got out of here."
Elphaba was sad to find that the refugee Animals weren't very talkative. Many of them were silent; a few talked among themselves. There were some Goats, who looked to be a family and shared two wagons. There were a few single Animals: a Deer, a Tiger and a Monkey – who each had their own wagon. There was an elderly Gorilla couple that shared a wagon. To her dismay – more of a fear than dismay, actually – Elphaba shared one wagon with Madikien. She had no doubt that Yackle had had some hand in it. This was fine during the days and during the nights that were reasonably warm and dry, but the wagon was small and she couldn't possibly stay outside when it rained.
Around the fourth week, when the caravan was halfway to its destination, they got caught in a storm, which seemed to follow them westward. After the wagons were circled and dinner was eaten (some ate outside but Elphaba would not leave the wagon), there came the small problem of where to sleep. Feeling incredibly uneasy, she wrapped herself in a blanket and snuggled as close to one side of the wagon as possible.
"That can't be very comfortable." Madikien commented, climbing into the wagon and drying himself off with a towel, careful not to touch her for fear of getting her wet. He tossed the towel to the side and pulled off his shirt (he slept like that, and even, on occasion, spent the day like that, a habit that made Elphaba even more edgy). It was humid outside and she disliked sleeping with the blanket, which he could tell. But of course, she was stubborn and distant, so she would not sleep simply in her nightclothes while he was near.
"I am comfortable right here, thank you very much."
"You're sweating. You're going to overheat."
"I'll live."
He rolled his eyes and laid back. "If you insist."
At midnight, she was still awake and drenched in sweat. She tossed and turned, having almost given up on going to sleep.
"Elphaba, you're going to make yourself sick."
"No I'm not." She argued.
He sat up in the darkness. "I'm not letting you do this. I mean, what do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get sick?"
"No."
"Then what's the problem?"
She shifted and continued to keep away from him.
"Well, I'm an idiot." Realizing what it was, he shook his head. "The problem is me, isn't it?" He didn't really expect her to answer. "Fine, then. But I'm not allowing you to do this to yourself. I'll go outside."
"Are you crazy? It's pouring!" Elphaba sat up and grabbed his arm.
"I'm not the one who's crazy." He pulled away.
"All right, all right." She scrambled out of the blanket and placed it between the two of them (a pathetic barrier, she knew but it made her feel a little better). "Damn you and your guilt trips."
"Goodnight, Elle."
They both settled back, Elphaba turned away from Madikien; he simply lay on his back and fell asleep.
Even during the days when it wasn't raining, Elphaba stayed in if it was even the least bit damp. Though she was glad the winter was over, the spring months weren't a good time for her to spend outside. She'd get increasingly bored during the days, so much so that she was almost glad to have Madikien to talk to at night, as awkward as it could get at times.
The land was fresh and green when they passed the border into Ugabu and there was only a week until the journey back. It was still very humid and there were some rainstorms so spontaneous that Elphaba almost tripped in her urgent attempts to get back into the wagon. Her long sleeves made her progressively more uncomfortable in the heat and wearing only black didn't help much, either. If they had time when they got back before the second ride out, she was going to have to find some other color to wear that wouldn't clash with her skin.
When it came time to turn around, Elphaba and Madikien made sure that the Animals were settled and promised to be back with the second caravan within three months. She watched the rest of the wagon fade away when they left late that afternoon. It angered her that the Animals had practically been forced to migrate to some far-off part of Oz away from the rest of civilization. Her eyes narrowed and she grabbed her book irritably and tried to read. Unfortunately, she was distracted before she even found where she had left off.
"We're a day ahead. What do you say we stop early tonight?" As usual, he had ripped off his shirt earlier that afternoon. She wondered if he had any idea how much it bothered her. It was somewhat understandable, it was hot outside and she was the only one around so he was perfectly at ease with it. Elphaba, on the other hand, tried her best not to look at him. Her nose once again would not leave her book. "Elphaba, are you even listening?"
"Hmm?" She looked up (and quickly looked back down again). "Sure. Whatever." Her book was not nearly as interesting as she was making it out to seem.
He tossed her an apple and two slices of bread. "Eat up."
She looked at her "dinner". "Well," she said ironically, "a feast made for royalty, eh?"
"Yes of course." He laughed, took a bite and then looked at her curiously. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yes. Why?'
"Nothing."
She raised her gaze to look at him, but he said no more. Quietly, she munched on the apple and slices of bread.
He moved next to her when they'd both finished. "Just you and me for a while, now." He was poking fun at her, knowing she was a little edgy.
"Don't try that with me."
"Try what?"
"Ugh!"
"What? I don't know what you're talking about," He teased, playfully.
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
"Would you just let me read?"
"I'm sorry, was I distracting you?"
Agitated, she threw the book down. "I give up. You win."
"Ah, so you surrender, then?"
"Shut up." She laughed and kissed him. "Not another word."
"Then surrender." He breathed, pulling her up onto his knee. A hand crept under her blouse and she left it to do as it wished.
Her own hands exploring the muscle on his chest, she murmured, "I refuse to surrender totally and completely." She paused and looked at him, telling him with her eyes that she didn't want the hand on her waist going any lower. He understood, for her began to tickle her instead and she giggled. "You haven't won this war. But," she sighed, "I believe you've won the battle."
"That'll do… for now." He pulled her back into the kiss lasciviously. It seemed like hours before she gently pulled away, placed the blanket between them and turned away to go to sleep. Even more hours seemed to pass as he lay there, gazing at her form in the darkness and realizing that he didn't even know much about her, her past, didn't know who she'd been before, and if she was any different now.