They shared lunch with Clindra, who Elphaba questioned ruthlessly about life hiding out as an Animal. It was not yet time to have dinner when Clindra insisted for the final time that she really did have to leave, her mate would worry. The Deer disappeared into the forest again and Elphaba watched her pityingly. She then turned to Fiyero. "You," she said, not having a specific verb or action to complete her sentence, and she kissed him without caution. Elphaba was not complaining when she found herself lying in his arms in a deep embrace.
He didn't try to take more from her than she would give. Fiyero was not going to disrespect her. Besides, they did have to eat. After a long time of kissing and touching and teasing and hinting, he sat up and unrolled the last cloth, full of her favorite foods, which didn't stun her much by that point. "I'm sorry."
"I just wish you hadn't had to say that, Fiyero. I thought you were more confident than needing to show off something like that."
"I thought I was, too. I'm sorry I hurt you."
"My virginity – or what was my virginity – is not a trophy you hang on the wall and invite the boys over to discuss." She said quietly, staring intently at her food.
"I know, Fae. I violated the rules, I violated you and I wasn't thinking. I love you, though, and I would never cause you any pain purposely."
"I think I'm beginning to understand that." She finished chewing. "I'm still hurt that you spoke about it that way, though. I thought, and you seemed to think, that what happened between us was something very secret, and not to be bragged about."
"I still think it is. I have no excuse for you except for the fact that I was stupid and I wanted to fit in. But I shouldn't have cared; I know. I love you. Tell me you can forgive me."
She wiped her mouth with a napkin he'd brought along and inched closer to him. "I can." When they looked at one another, Elphaba realized that part of them, the entire day, had known they would make love, that they would lie in each other arms long afterwards, nude in the open air on the blanket, Elphaba, of course, happy that evening had begun to dawn and he could not see her as well. However, neither of them guessed that it would begin to rain.
Fiyero felt the first drop and bolted up. "Elphaba! Shit."
She looked at him, curious and somewhat hurt that she'd simply dropped her. Then she knew. Suddenly the rain had begun to pour. Their clothes were soaked already. Fiyero dove for his bag and she cowered.
"Extra blanket," he said quickly, placing it on her.
"What happens when it gets damp?" She worried.
So he covered as much her of as he could, draping his body over hers and then the blanket over both of them. He could feel her shuddering and he kissed her neck to still her nerves. It did not seem to help, so Fiyero just continued to hold himself over her, though it would not stop her from getting wet, as his method was slowly failing. Had it only been a short shower, it would have worked.
"Fae, is there anything else you can think of that I could do?"
She shook her head meekly, slowly feeling the dread creep and defeat her defenses. "I'm going to get drenched if this doesn't stop soon."
"I'll do the best I can," he murmured, "I promise."
"I wish that was enough. But we're so far away from Shiz and… I don't even want to think about it." Elphaba took a deep breath. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He may repeat the words often, but he knew she wasn't too comfortable with them, even if she had said them once or twice and meant it. Fiyero reveled in hearing her speak them and worried at the same time. "You're going to be fine."
"Yero my hero," she moved a hand to caress his face. "Thank you."
"It's not that difficult."
"You could just not hold yourself up and almost crush me, but you're holding yourself up with your arms for such a long period of time and that's a bit difficult, I would assume."
"Not when I remember I'm doing it for you."
"You and your silly lines." She scolded.
"You love my lines."
"I do."
The whispers continued beneath the blanket as Elphaba grew more fearful and thus, more sensitive and vulnerable. Their conversation only stopped when, out of nowhere, the blanket was partially nudged off of them and Elphaba shrieked.
Clindra and another Deer, a male who Clindra later introduced as her mate, stood there. They did not blanch at the nudity; the Deer simply spoke hurriedly. "Quick," Clindra said to Fiyero, "we know of a cave a little ways off. If she walks in the right direction with you and us in front of her, the wind will blow the rain to hit us and not her."
Elphaba did not hesitate at this idea. Fiyero to the front of her along with the male Deer and Clindra to the side, they kept a paced trot (well, whatever one would call a walk that would be a run if the four hadn't been so close and trying to keep a similar speed). She clutched Fiyero's hand, whimpering at the occasional splash of raindrops on her skin. The moment they reached the tiny cave, she was in its depths – not that these depths were very far. In fact, she wasn't sure if they'd all fit.
Clindra stood outside the cave with her mate and Fiyero cocked his head once he'd gotten in. "Aren't you going to…?"
"No. We're used to this. But I remembered you mentioning that your mate cannot touch water."
"Thank you," Elphaba said from behind Fiyero. "Thank you so much. I don't know what we would've done."
"You seemed to have an interesting little strategy worked out." The Deer smiled. "It was smart of you to shed your clothes immediately so that they wouldn't become wet and stick to you."
"That wasn't the reason that we weren't wearing any…" Fiyero stopped his explanation when Elphaba smacked him in the arm lightly. "Well, thank you."
Clindra nodded and her mate galloped off. She followed quickly. "I hope you two stay safe. Good night!"
Elphaba stared at her sodden dress that Fiyero had hung against the wall in the corner. "Great. In a dirty cave with no clothes." But it's dark, so at least he can't see me.
"We'll live. We're lucky we're anywhere dry." Fiyero reminded her.
"We are. I'm lucky you knew Clindra." Elphaba said. "Thank you for today."
"Thank you for letting me take you out today."
"We're dead when we get back, for skipping class and going missing all night. You know that, right?"
"Probably. What can they do? We skipped class. The staying out missing all night is easy to explain with your skin condition. They can't punish us for trying to keep you from dying."
Elphaba sighed. She took the only slightly damp blanket from Fiyero and laid it out on the ground. "It's only a little bit wet. But it'll have to do. We can't just stay up. I'm exhausted. All of this running around and everything."
Fiyero rustled through his bag and again took out something she wanted badly: a lantern. He lit it and held it near the blanket to help it dry. "Just a few more minutes. It'll be more comfortable for you if it's drier, right?"
She just hugged him, sopping wet as he was. The sting surprised her but she didn't recoil. "You really are my hero."
"And you really are going to get very bad skin damage. Let me dry myself off, all right?"
"How?"
He wrung out the original blanket and wiped himself off with that as best he could. Shaking out his hair, he moved away from Elphaba as not to hurt her anymore than she was. Fiyero knew she'd likely be in a lot of pain from all of the water but she refused to complain. It was her way. When he finally felt that he was acceptably dry, he moved back towards her and blew out the lantern. "Don't want that falling over at night and starting a fire while we're sleeping."
She noticed how cold it was. They had no real blanket except the one they were lying on. The other was still much too damp for her to actually place her body on. Shivering, she laid down with him and hugged him close. "This might be a long night."
"The longer it lasts, the longer I've got you, naked and alone," he grinned in the odd light of the cave. "I'm not going to have a problem with it."
Elphaba kissed his chin and curled in tightly. "Men and sex."
"Women and their issues with men and sex."
She didn't answer. After a moment of listening to her breaths, he realized she was asleep. Cautiously, he slipped away and opened his bag after lighting the lantern again. Studying her, he took out a bottle of first aid burn lotion and smoothed it on her burns. When he finished this, he then fastened bandages wherever it looked as if her skin was in the worst condition, which was about as many places as he had bandages. "Oh, Fae."
She began shivering even as he spoke and he joined her again, hugging her close. By this time, the second blanket was almost dry and he pulled it over them. Elphaba tugged on it slightly in her sleep and Fiyero was left with just enough for himself. He contented himself by holding fast to her, this way she couldn't not cover him with the blanket if she was covering herself. Nuzzling in close to his warmth, she whimpered again, accidentally brushing a bandaged arm across something.
He watched, concerned. How hurt was she? Fiyero pondered the depth of the injuries she'd sustained from the water. Since she'd never really told him how badly certain amounts of the liquid could hurt, he had no idea how to assess the issue. In the end, he spent the night half sleeping as he troubled himself and soothed her.
When he woke, it was lighter outside and the rain had stopped. He gently shook her awake but she hissed in pain. "No!"
Alarmed, he quickly wrapped the blanket around her, about to carry her back to the dorms that way. Then he realized she had no clothes on, and that would not make their situation look very favorable. So he cautiously eased her into her undergarments and dress – thanking Oz that they'd dried fully overnight – and then placed her in the blanket. He then dressed himself and picked her up. She opened her eyes then and sent him as resentful of a glare as she could. "What?"
"I don't need to be carried!" She spat.
He laughed. "I think you do. Just let me, please?"
"Fine. But you'd better remember that it's only because you begged. I don't need you to."
Fiyero was glad to see her attitude was not spoiled by the water that had scathed the rest of her body. "I'll keep that in mind."
"I did enjoy this until it started raining, though. And I do accept your apology."
"I'm glad." He stood with her, his bags and basket at the end of the forest, staring at the back of Crage. There was a backdoor and he quickly went inside. Fiyero had some difficulty finding her room from that direction, but she'd stopped talking or helping and he had to find it on his own. Knocking on the door, he shouted, "Elphaba's hurt."
Nessa, Nanny and Glinda were all in the doorway when the door opened. Immediately, Nanny demanded, "Where have you been?"
"We skipped class." He cowered under Nessa and Nanny's disapproving glares. "We were having a long picnic and reading when it began to rain. There was a cave not far off that we'd, um, passed on our way. We'd been in the forest right over here. There was a cave. It was the closet place that provided any dry shelter. She fell asleep and I fell asleep at some point, too, though I was trying to stay up and watch the rain so I could get her back as soon as possible. I don't know if she's okay."
The three women moved away from the door so he could put Elphaba down on her bed. Nanny bent down at the bed first. "Her face looks all right. But I imagine her dress got damp and that might have hurt her."
"Um, yeah." Fiyero looked at his hands.
Nanny tactlessly but carefully began undressing Elphaba. Nessa gasped. "Nanny, there's a boy in the room!"
Glinda giggled.
Fiyero turned away.
Nanny said, "As you well know, he's probably seen enough of this already. If he wants to go, he can go."
Fiyero looked at Nanny and saw she understood more than he thought she did. She may not approve of what had occurred between him and Elphaba, but she accepted that it had happened and nothing was going to change that or make it any less. "I'll stay," he told her. "I'll stay as long as I'm allowed, if that's all right."
"It's fine."
"Then I'll stay. I want to stay with her."