Author's Note: Thank you to MyLittleElphie for reviewing. Elphie is very handy to have around but then again so is Glinda.
Thanks to CoolerTHEMANPLZ for reviewing. I'm happy it's drawing you in.
Also thanks to whomever runs moderngelphie on tumblr for putting me on your favorite fanfics section. I don't know if you're one of my reviewers, or have an account, but if I havent thanked you, thank you.
A couple of things story wise. First, I apologize for the length between updates. I had to retool this story a bit. At first I was going to write in a format closer to Fighting For Happily Ever After, but decided to challenge myself by writing it almost as serial, or like a tv show. As such, I had to do more work. But its on track again and better. I was trying to make each entry about two weeks in their universe, but when this chapter hit 16 pages I nixed that. This chapter is only ten, and will be split over the next. I plan to conclude their second year at Shiz in the next five or so chapters. But then again, the characters have a way of doing what they want. I plan on trying to keep updates around ten pages, and every week.
Next, this chapter starts off rough. It goes into underage sexual abuse. Not in any great detail (because writing just the detail presented made me sick and wanted mind bleach) but it's there. If you don't feel like you can handle it please skip the italics and just know it had to do with Glinda.
Finally, read, enjoy, and review. Thank you.
2/25/2014
Galinda was in a small forest on the Arduenna Estate. It was a pleasant summer day and she was wearing a green dress and sun hat. They had just had a party for her finishing of elementary education. She had four more years of finishing school, and then she was off to university; she hoped Crage Hall at Shiz. She felt as she becoming a woman not just in mind but in body. Galinda flitted around, exploring, until she saw her favorite uncle.
"Uncle Garon!" she squealed happily, and ran to him. He opened his arms and scooped her into a hug.
"Little Galinda." He replied affectionately, putting her down. "You're not so little anymore, are you?"
"Nope! I'm almost a woman now."
"Give me a twirl, let me see you." He said with a strange hitch in his voice. Galinda did not notice and spun for him. At the end he pulled her close and inhaled deeply.
"Uncle Garon, is there a reason you came to find me?" Galinda asked. She was becoming slightly uncomfortable.
"Yes. You are very beautiful." He said, ignoring her question. His hands moved lower.
"Thank you, Uncle." She replied nervously. She pushed away from him, but for a moment he did not seem to want to let go. "We better be getting back."
Galinda turned to walk back towards the Arduenna Manor but felt her uncle grab her arm. She looked at him confused and slightly afraid. There was a gleam in his eyes that she could not place. He yanked her arm and she fell roughly against a tree. His hands trapped her against it and began to roam. She tried to slap them away but they were too strong.
"So beautiful." He whispered into her ear, his hot breath on her neck making her claustrophobic. He started on the laces of her dress and she tried to push him away again, to try and get him to stop, but he just ignored her efforts. The front of her dress opened and she felt his rough hand on her smooth skin. She turned her head away to hide tears. As she felt the hem of her dress rising she tried to imagine herself somewhere else. Her tears fell on her shoulder, soaking it, but Galinda realized after a moment there was too much water to be her tears.
"Shit." She heard him mutter. "I hate getting fucking wet. Damn rain."
He pulled away from her and hurriedly moved towards the manor. Galinda sank down and sobbed in her state of undress.
Glinda bolted upright in bed, covered in sweat. She realized she had been crying by the wetness on her face. She was disorientated due to the darkness. She scrambled backwards until she hit the head board.
"Shh, my sweet, shh. It was just a dream." A soothing voice said. A pair of dark, concerned eyes came into focus and the world around her suddenly made sense.
"I'm sorry." She sniffled. "Did I wake you?"
"Not you, really. Your sweat did. But I'm fine. How are you, my love?" Elphaba asked kindly.
"I'm ok. I don't even remember it anymore." Glinda lied. She began collecting herself.
"Why don't you take a hot bath while I change the sheets, and when you're done I'll give you one of those neck massages you love so much."
"Sounds wonderful." Glinda sighed. She got up and stripped out of her drenched nightdress. Elphaba blushed slightly and that made Glinda feel a bit better, a bit more like herself. Elphaba quickly went about changing the sheets to help take her eyes off Glinda, and by the time she had the bedclothes in the cloth knapsack to be laundered Glinda was in the bathroom. Elphaba sighed and went to throw the bag down the laundry chute in the hall. She then went back and remade the bed.
Glinda sighed. It had been over a year since she had that dream, and so vividly. It was no dream, of course, but an unhappy memory long buried. That summer had many such unhappy memories forcibly forgotten. She finished washing and got out, wrapping a towel around her hair. She dried off and went to put on a nightdress. When she did so with no flair, Elphaba noticed but did not comment. She sighed again and laid down.
"Am I dry enough, Elphie?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, my sweet. If you could move your towel I can start."
"Oh yeah." Glinda removed her towel and Elphaba used a dry one to catch any lingering drops. Putting oil on her hands, Elphaba held it for a second to warm it, and began on Glinda's neck. Glinda flinched at first contact.
"I'm sorry. Are you too rough?" Elphaba asked worriedly.
"No, it's fine. Just lingering jumpiness from the nightmare. It feels really good, please continue." There was a slight pleading in her voice.
Elphaba smiled and continued the massage. After finishing on her neck she continued down the back. Glinda cooed happily and shimmied out of her nightdress ahead of Elphaba's hands. Elphaba finished with her back but did not go lower, which Glinda was content with. That was different from usual too. This was not the Glinda from the previous day, but Elphaba attributed it to the traumatic events.
"It's almost time to get up, my darling. Do you want to get breakfast with me?" Elphaba asked tenderly. Glinda nodded and got up. She slipped off her nightdress with no wiggle or shimmy. After selecting an outfit she liked, a powder blue dress and bodice, she chose an outfit for Elphaba that coordinated. As she laid it out Elphaba arched an eyebrow.
"My sweet, may I ask what you are doing?"
"Picking out your outfit." She replied, mildly confused.
"Why?"
"Because we should coordinate." Glinda stated.
"And why should we do that?"
"Because we're a couple now."
"And?"
"Couple's coordinate."
"They do?"
"Yes. At least when they have a fashion sensible person."
"I see."
"You don't want to wear it?" Glinda asked with a quiver in her voice. Elphaba almost let the habitual sarcastic remark fly but the real hurt behind Glinda's blue eyes moved her a different way.
"No. I was merely confused. Relationships are hardly my strong point."
"It's ok Elphie. I know about them, at least in general, and we can learn the rest as we go."
"Ok, my sweet. Hand me the outfit so I may coordinate properly."
Glinda gave Elphaba a dark blue dress with long sleeves. As Elphaba put it on Glinda congratulated herself for knowing exactly the effect it would produce. Elphaba was a dramatic but not harsh sight; the combination of dark against vivid emerald would be a stark sight and draw attention to her. In conjunction with Glinda's powder blue and light skin, all eyes would be drawn to them one way or another, and they would contrast and enhance each other superbly.
The girls went to the dining hall for a light breakfast. Neither had class until ten; Elphaba in her Life Sciences class with Avaric, Fiyero and Boq; and Glinda with a Sorcery class. Each class was two and a half hour long in a seminar style with a half an hour break in the middle. Afterwards, they were free for the day. The girls did not speak over breakfast much. Elphaba normally did not so and Glinda was subdued from the nightmare.
As they entered their room Glinda headed for the bathroom. Gathering Elphaba's oils, she took a cloth and tried to mitigate the bruising around Elphaba's nose. Elphaba knew it was pointless but let Glinda do it anyway. Afterwards Glinda motioned for Elphaba to bend down and planted three kisses; one on each side of her and one across the bridge. She smiled and it drew one from Elphaba. Glinda gathered her wand as Elphaba gathered their books and put them in their separate satchels. They set off to class with Elphaba carrying Glinda's satchel. Elphaba walked Glinda to the Sorcery Hall, and then with a light brush of hands Elphaba made her way to the Life Sciences Hall.
Elphaba choose her seat and began to review her notes. She was not reviewing the information presented in this class; she already knew it. She had finished and reviewed it at the beginning of the semester. She was actually reviewing the information six weeks from now that would be covered at the end of the semester before finals. Her diligence had paid off as she was beginning to piece together the information she had taken from Dr. Dillamond's lab. Though she had all the logs and journals, she was trying to bridge the gap between macrobiology and microbiology.
"Hi, Elphie. Reviewing your notes again?" Boq's voice cut in.
"I'm not all beauty you know. I've got brains too." Elphaba replied, looking at him.
"I think you – Oz! Elphaba, what happened?"
"I decided to see if a different shape for my nose would make it more appealing. What do you think?"
"That's not funny, Elphaba. It looks really bad."
"She always looks bad, Boq, haven't you seen…" Avaric cut in but trailed off when he saw Elphaba's face. Fiyero, who came in with him, saw it also.
"What happened, Elphie?" Boq asked again, quieter.
"Boq, don't make a big deal out of this."
"This is a big deal."
"It's just a nose."
"A broken nose." Fiyero interjected. "Reset very well, so whoever did it has much experience. I'm guessing the Hall nurse since we saw you two days ago, which means this had to have happened in the last couple of days. By the bruising, however, I put my money on yesterday."
"Thank you Great Stalker of the Thousand Years Grassland." Elphaba replied sarcastically but Fiyero had the audacity to look smug. "If you must know it was yesterday, and I only went to the nurse because the porters insisted."
"What happened?" Avaric asked this time. Elphaba gave him a strange look at his tone, which sounded like concern mixed with anger.
"Some thugs thought me and Glinda would be an easy target." Elphaba gave them a wicked smile. "We weren't."
"Well, that's a plus." Avaric said, smug tone back. "We can't have you look any worse."
"Your right. Then I'd have to set my standards so low that I would have to date you instead." Elphaba retorted.
"Instead?" Avaric asked curiously.
"That's what I said."
"Instead of who?"
"My beautiful, engaging, and knowledgeable significant other."
"And who would the lucky fellow be?"
Elphaba smiled. "I never said it was a man."
"What?" Fiyero said, a bit shocked.
"Think, gentlemen, of what you've seen me show my love for."
The boys thought for a minute, and then Avaric burst out laughing.
"She's dating her studies!" he roared and the other boys chuckled along. They still were when class started.
At intersession the members present of the Charmed Circle gathered in a short lounge area and talked briefly, mostly disparaging the professor about his mumbling. Avaric saw a pretty girl and went to make conversation while Fiyero excused himself to find something to drink. This left Boq and Elphaba alone.
"Boq, you remember that conversation we had over summer about good rulers needing to entertain changes in knowledge?" Elphaba asked tenuously.
"Yes…" Boq replied cautiously. Here in the Life Sciences building one was never sure who was listening.
"Do you think the subject of our discussion was a good ruler?" Elphaba asked, purposely changing the tense.
"Well, I think you judge a ruler by their actions. We have plenty of actions to judge them on, and plenty of rulers to judge them against. The question becomes how they line up against what you know. That's how I would judge this person if I had to."
"Thanks Boq. I guess I started my analysis without a set of criteria to judge rulers, and without some unsubstantiated assumptions."
"Elphie, are you thinking..."
"Always. But if you can connect the dots long before me, I don't think it will take me too long to catch up." She replied quickly, and smiled. Boq smiled back. After a few more minutes, they returned to their seats for the rest of class.
Glinda was muttering a chant and waving her wand in small circular motions. She was trying to get a stack of plates to levitate and change shapes. Currently the plates quibbled every so often but did not move. Finally they began to, but changed into some form of mush and oozed off the table. Glinda groaned and sat back.
She had not been able to do right in class. Granted, it was rare for her Manipulation class to go perfectly, given that Mrs. Greyling was the teacher, but Glinda was usually so good at it. Some of the other students noticed she was off but made no move to assist or console her. They were quite happy that she was having difficulty as she was normally near the top of the class.
Glinda caught a whiff of pine and suddenly she was back in that forest against the tree. She gasped and pushed back from the desk before she realized it. Some of the nearby students looked at her strangely but went back to their work. Glinda could not take it anymore and threw her books into her satchel and her wand into her fashionable purse. She took off at a pace that was just barely lady-like, and headed towards the Life Science Hall.
"Hey, isn't that Glinda?" Boq asked. Elphaba looked away from the teacher to see her roommate's blonde head searching the crowd.
"It is. That's strange. What is she doing here? She seems to be looking for someone."
"That's probably you, genius." Avaric said condescendingly. She shot him a dark look but he stood up and waved at her. A minute later she was down by them.
"Hi!" she tried enthusiastically but it fell flat. Everyone could tell she was not as charming as normal.
"Hi." Boq replied. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for Elphie."
"Well, you found me. What's going on, Glinda?" Elphaba asked concerned.
"Can I steal you for a minute? I promise I won't keep you long." She asked politely but the undertone of desperation was not missed by Elphaba.
"You can have me for the rest of the day." She replied and grinned at the shocked faces of the boys. "Now gentlemen, I'm going to leave my notebook here. I expect it to be returned to me during our study session tonight. And yes, feel free to copy my notes. I can't expect you to listen and take your own; you'd fail the class or make me rehash the information tonight, and get nothing done."
With that she stuffed a few things into her bag and ungainly moved into the aisle. As she reached Glinda she extended her arm and Glinda looped her's through, beaming. They left like that and the boys stared in wonderment.
"They have to be going at it like rabbits." Avaric said, slowly smiling. He did not believe it, and neither did the boys, but they rose to the bait anyway. It was better than listening to the professor and they had one of the smartest people in Shiz's notes. They did not have to pay attention.
"That's a very uncouth thing to say." Boq replied, rising to defend the honor of his friend and one time crush.
"Besides, Elphaba is way too serious for that." Fiyero chimed in.
"No, my friends, trust me. Why would Elphaba leave a class? Miss Studious herself? Something must be more pleasurable than staying in class. Remember what she said? You can have me for the rest of the day. An invitation to be sure."
"Avaric, I think you've taken one too many trips to the Philosophy Club. It's addled your brain." Boq rebutted.
"Trust me, Boq, when it comes to ladies. When that sexual cork pops, it's the brainy ones that pop the hardest. Anyway, let's get out of here."
"What? We still have another hour of class?"
"For what? We can copy those notes anywhere. Let's go. If I have to think about this it's best to be outside or in a pub instead of this dingy place."
"That's true." Boq conceded. "Alright, let's go."
The boys packed up their stuff and walked out of the seminar. As they made their way back to Briscoe Hall Avaric broke into a wide smile.
"What?" Fiyero asked. He had seen that smile before.
"Just thinking. With those long fingers and silver tongue, she must be amazing."
"Who?" Boq asked.
"Elphaba." He replied wolfishly and then mussed Boq's hair. He laughed as Boq took a good natured swing at him and took off running. Boq chased after him and Fiyero followed laughing, easily keeping pace with the shorter boy.
"Now, my sweet, what is it that so upset you that you had to come find me in class?" Elphaba asked quietly as they shut the door behind them.
"Just hold me for a moment. Please." Glinda replied meekly. Elphaba gathered her into her arms, and Glinda tucked herself close into her girlfriend's chest. She was comforted by the strong arms around her and the familiar scent of oil. They stood like that for a while until Glinda began to fidget from foot to foot.
"My sweet, if you wish to continue this we can move to the bed."
"Ok." Came the muffled reply. The made their way to Glinda's bed, and Elphaba dropped their book satchels next to it. She lay down and Glinda expertly lay down next to her, and curled into the protective copse between Elphaba's body and arm. Elphaba diligently stroked Glinda's hair and rubbed her back, tracing long lines and short circles. At one point there were a few sniffles but no tears came through Elphaba's clothing so she assumed it was not dire. After a little while Glinda's breathing became deep and steady. Elphaba gathered she had fallen asleep. With practiced ease she folded extra fabric from her dress blouse and placed it between her and Glinda. The adorable blonde had a habit of drooling in her sleep. In another practiced motion she dug out a book from her satchel with one arm, moving only the slightest bit so as to not wake her love, and began reading.
"My sweet, come on, it's time to get up." Elphaba whispered in her ear. Glinda just mumbled at her and turned away from her. "My sweet, you've got to get up."
"Donwanna." Was the mumbled response.
"Fine. I can let you sleep for another couple of hours."
"Good."
"But then we'll have to meet the others as is. No touch up, no dress changes."
Glinda very grumpily turned over to glare at Elphaba, making as big of a show of it as possible. Her glare deepened at Elphaba's smile.
"That's not playing fair."
"I don't need to change. I only think of you, my love."
Glinda huffed, blowing the curls out of her eyes, but started getting up. She stopped.
"I'm not getting up. Until…"
"Until?"
"Until you give me a kiss. It's proper for one to be woken up and given a kiss, or to be woken up with kisses."
"Are you sure?" Elphaba asked warily.
"Of course. I do know that much about relationships, you mean green thing." Glinda replied indignantly.
"Of course. How silly of me." Elphaba replied and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Glinda pouted for a second but took what she could get. She crawled out of bed and went to start primping. As she did she called back over her shoulder,
"And don't be silly. Of course you'll change."
Elphaba groaned. "Why? This dress is perfectly fine. Except perhaps for the drool stain."
"There you go again being mean. I do not drool. And that's a perfectly good outfit for going to class but to a pub for dinner? No, no, no." she responded, shaking her head. "You simply do what you must, my emerald beauty, and I'll have your clothes ready for you."
Elphaba sighed but knew it was not worth resisting. She knocked on the little door that separated the rooms and then entered. She saw Nanny but not Nessarose.
"Where's Nessa?"
"Taking a nap."
"Ah. We're going to the Three Candles for dinner and studying in a couple of hours. They have a little room that's pretty well sectioned off that we use. You and Nessa should join us."
"We will, my little Fabala, but probably after Nessa goes to service."
"Alright. Come get me if you need anything."
"You girls have been awfully quiet the last couple of days. Normally I hear you clunking around in those boots of yours."
"We put a sound proofing spell on the room so as to help not disturb Nessa."
"By we I'm assuming Glinda?"
"Yes."
"She's got mighty talent there. Not a bad friend to have. And pretty too."
"Nanny, I thought we discussed this."
"We did."
"Then I'd rather not do it again. I hate wasting time."
"Then you go and spend time with your friend, I'm sure you can find some way to amuse yourself."
Elphaba thought about retorting but thought it best to let it lie.
"Elphie, sweetie, I'm done. Now it's your turn." Glinda said. Elphaba glanced at the clock.
"Only an hour and a half. Impressive. And what do you mean my turn?"
"Well, Elphie, you didn't think you were going out like that?"
"What's wrong with how I am?"
"Nothing's wrong. It just can be better. Aren't you the one who always tells me to strive to improve, be better?"
"I meant in your academics."
"Well, academics are simply the study of acquired knowledge. Fashion is an acquired knowledge so there for I can be academic about it, and so can you."
"I never actually thought of it like that. I always thought it was simply gilding a lily. And since I'll never be a lily, I saw no reason for it."
"Oh, Elphie, we may be lilies but that doesn't mean you can't be a pretty flower also. I can't think of a pretty green one at the moment but you can still be gilded."
"That's not what I meant. But thank you, my sweet. I guess I shall just look at it as practical application in a certain field."
"Good! And I shall be the instructor."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. I'll design a curriculum and everything. But that's for later. For now, come here." Glinda smiled and motioned to the seat in front of her vanity. Elphaba reluctantly sat in front of her and Glinda began brushing her hair. She quickly but artfully brushed out Elphaba's hair and began to braid it. She then gave Elphaba a firm order to stay put and went to her closet. She pulled out a long sleeved black dress with cloth covered buttons that ran up the middle. Glinda had once referred to it as her governess dress for its severity.
"I thought I was supposed to be pretty. That's not a pretty dress. You've said so yourself." Elphaba said confused.
"The art of fashion is the art of presenting one's self as you want to be seen." Glinda replied, taking on the tone their professors' did while lecturing. "The fops and flowers of the world dress themselves to look pretty. A proper fashionista dresses themselves to announce their manner without speaking. It helps those you are talking to respond in a certain way and molds their demeanor to best suit your goals."
"I never knew that."
"It's ok. Most finishing schools don't teach that either. You have to have excellent tutors. And my mother was the best. But anyway, if I dressed you beautifully, those who are ignorant would take it as a joke and make fun, and those who are perceptive would see your elegance and make moves to court you. And the boys would never get anything done because they would be too busy drooling over you to concentrate." Glinda said with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "But to get anything done tonight, as you want, you must come off severe to keep those boys in line. Your look says you mean business, and will broke no argument. They will try but not as much as if I put you in a cute dress."
"Their arguments never get them anywhere, anyway." Elphaba replied.
"Your right but you will have to waste less time on them if you like this. Now, take these." Glinda said, and gave her two long black sticks with a silver weave pattern on them.
"Crochet needles?" Elphaba asked, confused again.
"No. Hair sticks. Put them in your hair right above your braid. If the boys start getting out of hand, turn that braid into a bun and it will help."
"How so?"
Glinda sighed and pointed to the mirror. Elphaba looked at her reflection. Severe, yes, but very scholarly. Then Glinda wrapped her braid in a bun and put the sticks through it to hold it. She went from scholarly to disciplinarian in a few moments. Elphaba nodded, and Glinda dropped her hair out of the bun. As she did so Elphaba gave her head a bit of a shake and saw a look in Glinda's eye.
"What?" she asked, slightly anxious.
"That was sexy." Glinda almost growled and Elphaba shook her head.
"I'll take your word on it. Now, Miss Glinda," Elphaba said, putting on an authoritative tone that gave Glinda shivers, "are we quite ready to go? Otherwise we will be late and there is always punishment for lateness."
That comment sent heat radiating from her center out across her body, and she could only nod and bite her lip. Elphaba extended an arm to her and Glinda put hers in it. They left the dorm like that. Those who crossed them between the dorm and their destination could only puzzle at the sight of the radiant blonde in red and gold being escorted by the severe looking green girl with midnight hair.
"Hey Elphie?" Glinda said as they made their way to the pub.
"Yes?"
"You're quite warm."
"Thank you my sweet. You quite hot yourself." She replied, eyes twinkling.
"Elphaba Thropp! Such things you say in public. And thank you. But I was wondering."
"You shouldn't let your mind wander. It might get lost."
"Hush you mean green thing. You know I said wonder, not wander. Stop making fun of my accent."
"Ok. Wondering what, my sweet?"
"You said my sweat woke you up. I'm guessing it burned you."
"More like irritated me. Think beginnings of a sunburn."
"Oh. I thought you said you don't get sunburnt?"
"For all intents and purposes I don't. I only have once, and it was mild. My father was beet red and in bed for days. They said it was really bad."
"Oh. Ok. Is it better now?"
"Yes. Another funny thing side effect that I can only contribute to my color is that I heal from burns quite quickly, water or otherwise."
"Ok. But anyway, if sweat burns how do you survive summer?"
Elphaba smiled. "Quite a deductive leap, my sweet. I'm assuming because you mean my sweat would burn me?"
"Yes."
"Well, you should best of all know I do not sweat hardly ever."
"True. But you do sweat."
"Yes. Your question actually fits into the larger issue of me being burnt by water. If you can indulge me?"
"Of course. You're about to get very science-y on me, aren't you?"
"Yes, even though that isn't a word. You see, pure water burns me. I have the allergic reaction to it, as you know. However, water solutions do not if they are over a certain mixture. I haven't been able to pinpoint that mixture exactly, but I'm guessing it's about seventy percent water to solute, meaning whatever is dissolved in it."
"That's why I've seen you drink tea."
"Correct. But I put milk and honey in it. I can drink very heavily lemoned water, but it is still mildly irritating."
"So I assume you mean that this works with your body fluids."
"Correct. My sweat tends to have higher acidity naturally than most. I do not wear jewelry, mostly because I don't have any, but also because they tarnish quickly. That is why saliva does not hurt me, either."
"But what about your tears? They burn you."
"True. Of that I'm uncertain. Tears are similar in make up to the fluid that moisturizes the eye. If my eyes were allergic to water, I would not have them. Same with my tear ducts. So I must assume that either it is only my skin that is allergic to water, or they are of a different solution level."
"Can I ask you something else?"
"Of course, my sweet."
"Why are you hairless except for, your head and…you know."
"I'm quite scandalized that you are aware of that since I'm quite certain I have not shown it to you."
"No deflection."
"Except for your own. As you know, skin that has been burned to a certain extent does not grow hair back."
Glinda looked puzzled for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock. "You've, you've…"
"No, not everywhere. But the area with the thickest hair growth are the limbs most exposed. The dampness of Quadling Country took care of most of the hair on my extremities, and the others are actually rubbed of when I do my scrubbing."
"Oh, Elphie. That's terrible."
"Nothing to be done of it now."
"Except maybe enjoy the smoothness of the skin." Glinda said and giggle, trying to break the mood. Elphaba blushed lightly.
"Does that satisfy your curiosity, my sweet?"
"No. It only enhances it." She replied and giggled again as Elphaba darkened. "But another question. Couldn't you take a bath if you had a good enough solution?"
"Solutions are notoriously difficult to manage evenly. A small pocket of water not mixed properly could severely injure me. That's why you see me constantly stir my drinks."
"Oh boo. I was hoping to get you into the bath somehow."
"Not unless it's an oil bath. And Oz knows it would take years for you to find enough oil for one bath, let alone the expense."
Glinda nodded but an idea began to form in her head. She resolved to undergo more research when they got back.