Chapter Twenty-Four: Boys' Night

The five boys of their old group – Fiyero, Avaric, Boq, Crope and Tibbett – went out the café (and possibly, Avaric whispered later, when he and Fiyero were out of Elphaba's earshot, the Philosophy Club, at which Fiyero faithfully balked). Elphaba had called it a boys' night and rolled her eyes, but Fiyero had continued to see it as what Crope and Tibbett had called it, "A Men's Time-Out". "Aren't I technically a man by now, Fae? Why must you insist on calling it a boys' night?"

"Because that's what it is. I will always see Boq as a boy, because that's what I first knew him as. Avaric acts childish enough to still be a boy, and Crope and Tibbett are definitely not grown. If anything, they're women more than men. That leaves you," Elphaba teased, "as the only man in the group. So got out with your boys, have fun, but not too much."

He saw the uncertainty in her eyes when she opened the door for him and he answered, "Nothing beats the 'fun' I have with you, Fae."

She smiled then, and kissed him sweetly. "All right, then. Just have a good time. I'll be here when you get home."

The "boys" were glad to have Fiyero out of his "captivity", as they called it, for a small time, at least. Fiyero protested that he enjoyed marriage.

"Right. It's hell and you and Elphaba just won't admit it." Crope joked.

"It's nothing like hell. I love Elphaba and she loves me. We've got each other and I really don't see what else I'd need."

"What about your friends?" Boq asked, offended.

"That's not even spoken." Fiyero said quickly.

"I wouldn't want to report back to prison and to some bitch every evening, that's all I know." Avaric said. "Women turn bitchy the day after the honeymoon."

"I find it nice, actually, coming home to a loving, beautiful woman and a warm bed."

"Elphaba's not loving!" Tibbett laughed. "Is she?"

"If you're loving back, any woman could be loving." Boq guessed.

"Who'd want to love the same woman all his life?" Avaric asked cynically.

"Boq would gladly love Glinda." Crope piped in.

"How was the other night?" Tibbett added.

Fiyero raised his eyebrows at Boq. "What's going on?"

"Glinda and Boq went on a sort-of date. She refuses to call it anything of that nature, but he insists that's what it was." Avaric explained. "Did you do anything?"

"No."

"Nothing? No cuddling?" Avaric made a face. "No hand-holding? No crazy sex in the middle of the night?"

"I would never take Miss Glinda that way!" Boq was horrified.

"I was kidding, man." Avaric grinned.

Fiyero was amused at his friend's attitudes about sex. He suddenly felt much more mature than the rest of them, and he was part glad that married life had affected him and partially sad he would no longer be able to share his friends' pathetic innocence. But he'd rather make love to Elphaba at night than stay innocent, he knew. He only smiled at them. "Relax, Boq."

"It's okay, he's afraid of sex, aren't you?" Crope chided.

"Oh, let him alone." Fiyero remembered the eagerness and anticipation that had come with his and Elphaba's first coupling, but also recalled the nervousness and fear, as well. Sex was scary to think about as a virgin, in some ways. It certainly didn't scare him anymore.

"Coming from our married man over here?" Avaric laughed. "Well, that's okay. You probably get some as often as we do."

He stared at his napkin. It was his time with his friends, but if Elphaba ever knew he said something, she'd never forgive him. Nonetheless, he said, "I get as much as I want, thank you very much."

"That's what they all say." Tibbett countered.

"No, really. You guys will be going straight to bed tonight and I will be up making love to Elphaba." Fiyero couldn't help but brag, especially with Avaric's attitude.

"Oh, you will, will you? I doubt she'll still be awake. It's almost ten now, anyway."

"She doesn't mind if I wake her." Fiyero shrugged. "You guys can make as much fun of me as you want, but you forget that I have a sex life, unlike the rest of you."

"I do!" Avaric argued. "I've got a girl. I'm just not allowed to say her name."

"Come on!" Crope rolled his eyes. "Yeah, some imaginary girl without a name."

"I swear!"

"And you have sex?"

"As a matter of fact, we started last week."

But Fiyero knew things that could catch Avaric in his lie. "Did you hurt her?"

"Why would I hurt her? I did have her, uh, screaming for mercy!" He gave Tibbett a high five at this remark.

"Because she liked it or because you were hurting her?" Fiyero pressed.

"I don't know what went wrong with you and Elphaba," Avaric snapped, "but I didn't hurt my girl."

"Was she a virgin?"

"Yeah."

Fiyero clicked his tongue and said, "Whatever you say, Avaric. Whatever you say."

"At least I didn't hurt my girl!" Avaric replied.

"It's supposed to hurt her the first time. I think you'd better go ask your girl if she was a virgin again, Avaric, because if she didn't bleed, she likely wasn't."

All four of the "boys" stared at Fiyero in awe. Crope said, "Wait, it hurts a girl the first time? Are you sure?"

"My dad warned me the night before Elphaba and I got married. She's supposed to bleed. Don't take everything I say too seriously. After all, I'm just married, how could I know?"

Avaric spit out his coffee and mumbled something to himself. Fiyero smiled proudly at his revealing Avaric's mistruth. Boq said, "I don't think I want to know more. At least not about Elphaba."

Avaric took this chance to come back. "Yeah, seriously, having sex with the green skinned freak doesn't count as having sex, man."

Fiyero pounded a fist on the table. "Would you please refrain from calling my wife a freak? I'd appreciate it."

"Sorry," Avaric muttered.

"Thank you." Fiyero stood up. "Let's go on back, shall we?"

When he got in, Elphaba ran and hugged him at the door. "I stayed up for you," she whispered. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Avaric down the hall. "Come in, my love." She smiled at Fiyero and glared at Avaric and the rest of the boys. "It's late."

Before the door closed, she heard Avaric whisper, "Let's go down to their window and see if Fiyero really gets some tonight."

She kicked the door shut completely and kissed Fiyero. "How was your night?"

"It was fine." He began getting undressed, gesturing for her to do the same.

"No, no, not yet, love."

He raised his eyebrows. She was being too forcibly sweet. "What is it?"

"Your friends think they're having a show tonight. No way are either one of us getting undressed until they are far away from the window. Turn out the lights a pretend to sleep. I promise we can do what you want later."

He nodded. They sat next to one another on the bed in silence until Elphaba heard laughter near the window sill. Fully dressed, she went to the window and did nothing but flick off the boys, and then rejoined Fiyero in bed.