Author's Note: Thanks once again for all your lovely reviews; you all do such a great job at brightening my day! iamgoku, your reviews keep making me laugh out loud. Thankyou. ^_^

CHAPTER 4:

Elphaba and Fiyero tended to the horses in silence – Elphaba keeping uncharacteristically quiet, and Fiyero often stealing glances at her, hoping to catch her eye. He never did.

As they were about to head inside, Elphaba stopped.

Fiyero looked back at her. "What is it?"

"Did you hear that noise?" Elphaba asked, her anger suddenly forgotten.

Fiyero cocked his head to the side, listening intently. "What noise?"

"It sounded like…chickens…"

The noise came again, and Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged glances.

"I heard it that time."

"It sounded like it came from behind the stable," Elphaba commented. "Come on."

The two wandered around behind the stable where, sure enough, there was a small run with a few hens.

"Look!" Elphaba cried excitedly, pointing at a particular hen. "Breakfast!"

Fiyero looked at her like she was crazy. "You're not proposing we kill the thing, are you?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Of course not, you idiot. Look closer."

Fiyero did so and noticed the hen was sitting on some eggs. He grinned. "Brilliant thinking, Thropp. You observe well." He paused. "Who's going to collect them?"

Elphaba returned his grin, albeit a bit more mischievously. "You are."

Fiyero spun to face her incredulously. "Me?" he cried, startled. "Why me? Why can't you do it?"

"Why can't you?" Elphaba countered. "You're not scared of a few chickens, are you?"

"Of course not," Fiyero replied unconvincingly.

Elphaba smirked. "Off you go, then."

Fiyero hesitated. "Right." He walked slowly towards the run, opened the gate and entered. He smiled stiffly at the hens as they looked at him curiously. "Hello, ladies," he greeted them smoothly.

Having sized up their visitor and decided he wasn't a threat, most of the hens looked away disinterestedly. A couple moved away in search of something to peck at, and one stayed still, her beady eye watching Fiyero carefully.

"Aren't you a beautiful hen?" he cooed. "What's your name, hmmm?"

"Hey, Tiggular, you're meant to be retrieving some eggs, not chatting up the chickens!"

Fiyero tossed Elphaba a glare over his shoulder. "I just want to show them I'm not going to hurt them. I'm getting there, alright?"

"Well, get there a bit faster," Elphaba shot back.

Fiyero rolled his eyes but didn't make any further remark. Abandoning his idea of talking to the hens, he instead made his way over to where the eggs were and stopped, looking at the mother for a few minutes.

Eventually, Elphaba got sick of waiting and said so. "Honestly," she added in exasperation, "anyone would think you didn't want any breakfast. Just reach in and get the damn eggs already! Or are you too chicken?"

"I am not!" Fiyero snapped. "I'm just thinking of the best way to do this. I need to have a strategy."

"Chicken!" Elphaba taunted, making chicken noises when Fiyero still didn't move, causing the hens to start clucking along as well. Elphaba smirked.

Clenching his jaw in irritation, Fiyero began to talk to the hen in a low voice, trying to coax her to move away from her nest. After several minutes with no success, he reached out and picked up the hen, placing her on the ground beside him. He managed to grab just one egg before the hen hopped back up on top of the remaining eggs. Fiyero sighed as he carefully put the egg in the pocket of his jacket. "Come on, girl," he said, moving the hen once more, "just give me a couple of minutes. Go and gossip with your friends or…something." But the hen once more made her way back to her nest.

Elphaba, who had been trying desperately to stifle her laughter, found she could not do so any longer and let out a loud hoot.

"It's not as easy as it looks!" Fiyero defended himself.

"You're making it harder than it should be," Elphaba told him.

"Well, why don't you come and do it yourself?"

"It might be quicker," Elphaba conceded with an air of agreement as she entered the enclosure. She strolled over to where Fiyero stood and flashed him an overly-sweet smile before bending down, sliding her hand under the hen and promptly pulling out the remaining four eggs.

Fiyero glowered at her. "Alright, you win. Can we have breakfast now?"

Elphaba laughed. "Yes, we can have breakfast now. Well, once I've cooked this lot. Scrambled eggs on toast?"

Fiyero grinned. "Sounds perfect."

The pair made their way inside and Elphaba immediately set about heating up the range after placing the eggs carefully on the bench. Fiyero, in turn, put down the grouse which he had picked up from the same place the rabbit had been left the day before.

"How did you know how to convince that hen to give up her eggs?" Fiyero asked curiously, coming to stand next to her. "Does your family own chickens back in Munchkinland or something?"

"No, but Munchkinland is farm country," Elphaba replied pointedly. "I just grew up with it." She shrugged.

"Like how I grew up with hunting being a part of life in the Vinkus," Fiyero commented quietly.

"I guess." Elphaba moved toward the cupboard and opened it. Just as she reached for the bread, however, Fiyero came up behind her and reached for it himself.

"Here, I'll get that." As he set the bread down on the counter in front of Elphaba, he inadvertently pressed against her back. The next moment, however, Fiyero got a strange feeling…and then he realized what had happened. "Uh-oh…" he muttered, stepping away.

Elphaba turned around and gazed at him inquiringly. "What is it?"

Fiyero's face turned a dark shade of scarlet as he stammered, "I, uh, I f-forgot about the egg in my pocket…"

"And you squished it, right?" Elphaba sighed. "Well, I suppose at least it will keep us from fighting over who gets the last egg."

Fiyero peeked into his pocket. "Oh, man, it's everywhere…yuck…"

Elphaba sniggered. "Serves you right for treating me like an invalid."

Fiyero shot her a withering glance. "I'm glad you find it so amusing. That's my only clean jacket until we get to a laundromat," he lamented, groaning at the realization. "How am I ever going to get that out?"

"By washing it?" Elphaba said as though the answer were obvious – which it should have been.

"Thankyou, Miss Helpful."

"I'm serious. Cold water is great for removing raw egg. Besides," she added, "in this situation, a washing machine just isn't going to cut it. The only way to conquer this one is hand-washing."

"Yeah, well, maybe so, but I don't exactly know how to hand-wash anything," Fiyero returned.

Elphaba pursed her lips and averted her gaze, giving a half-shrug. "Well, I was going to do it myself, but I can leave it if you prefer…"

"You were?" Fiyero asked in surprise.

"Past tense. I've changed my mind. You can do it yourself."

Fiyero sighed. "Look, how about we trade? You wash my jacket, I'll cook breakfast. How's that?"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow sceptically. "You cook?"

"Well…no," Fiyero confessed reluctantly. "But scrambled eggs on toast can't be that hard, right?"

Elphaba watched him quietly for a moment, a look of doubt etched on her face, before she reached up and patted his cheek. "Poor, innocent Fiyero," she said mock-sympathetically, a sly grin tugging at her lips. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

"Does that mean you'll trade?" Fiyero asked eagerly.

Elphaba shook her head. "Under any other circumstance, I would love to watch you fail at cooking eggs. But this" – she gestured to their meagre supplies – "is all we have, and I'm not going to let you waste any of it. I'll cook breakfast myself. And, afterwards, I'll wash your jacket."

"You will?"

"Yeah. But only because I don't want to hear you complain – and I know you will."

Fiyero grinned. "You know me so well."

"I feel like I've heard this before," Elphaba muttered, lifting her eyes to the ceiling. She looked back to Fiyero. "But don't get used to this," she warned him. "After this trip, no more. Understand?"

Fiyero nodded quickly. "I understand." He squeezed her hand gratefully. "Thanks, Elphaba."

When Fiyero made no move to do anything, Elphaba rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well, take it off."

Fiyero looked taken aback. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Your jacket, dumbass."

"Oh. Right." Fiyero unzipped his jacket and slipped his arms out of the sleeves.

"Why, what did you think I meant?"

"I…" Fiyero trailed off, before shaking his head. "Uh, nevermind."

Elphaba shook her head as well as Fiyero handed her his jacket. "Oz, Fiyero, your mind is in the gutter. But then, I shouldn't be surprised – afterall, this is you we're talking about."

"Hey!" Fiyero protested. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I haven't been able to make one comment since we got here without you churning out some suggestive wisecrack," Elphaba shot back.

Fiyero winced. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking guilty.

"Why don't you go and warm yourself up by the fire?" Elphaba suggested. "I'll cook breakfast and then we can eat it in there. Okay?"

Fiyero flashed her a tentative smile. "Thanks." He made his way into the sitting room, leaving Elphaba to bustle around the kitchen, and sat down in front of the fireplace.

After a moment, Fiyero spied a book which Elphaba had been reading and had left on the table. Curiosity piqued, Fiyero rose and wandered over, picking up the book and having a flick through. Intrigued by what he saw, he sat down, turned back to page one and began to read.

About ten minutes later, Elphaba emerged from the kitchen carrying two full plates.

"I didn't know you read romance novels," Fiyero commented, closing the book and pushing it aside.

Elphaba set the plates down on the table. "I don't."

Fiyero indicated the book. "Then what's this?"

Elphaba averted her gaze. "Okay, it's a romance novel," she conceded. "But I don't make a habit of it, okay? It's just that one."

Fiyero put his elbows on the table and leant forward. "Why?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Why just that one?" Fiyero asked curiously.

"I-I don't understand," Elphaba murmured.

"Sure you do. You're not the romance novel type. So why this one? What makes this one so special that you would go out of your way to read it?"

"Who says I've gone out of my way to read it?" Elphaba defended weakly, only to sigh in defeat when Fiyero fixed her with a look. "It's…personal."

"You can tell me," Fiyero urged gently.

"I'll just get some cutlery," Elphaba said, disappearing back into the kitchen.

Fiyero sighed. Earlier, he had thought he was a step closer to getting her to open up. Evidently, he had been wrong. Then again, it wasn't all that surprising what with the way he had acted.

When Elphaba returned, Fiyero decided to change the topic. "What did you mean earlier when you said I didn't know what I was getting myself into? I mean, you're doing everything."

Elphaba grinned wickedly. "Precisely."

Fiyero looked wary. "Why don't I trust that grin?"

"You see," Elphaba elaborated, "by letting me do everything, you're putting yourself in a…shall we say, a certain position?"

Fiyero's eyes narrowed. "And what sort of 'position' would that be?"

Elphaba's eyes gleamed as she replied, "One of debt."

Fiyero groaned. "Oh, no."

Elphaba's grin widened. "Oh, yes."

"What do I have to do?" Fiyero questioned in a dull mutter.

"Well," Elphaba began, dragging out the 'l' sound, "it would be nice to not have to deal with your silly comments for the rest of the trip…"

"Which ones?"

"All of them," Elphaba said firmly.

"Alright, you've got it," Fiyero mumbled his agreement.

"And –"

"There's an 'and'?" Fiyero interrupted in alarm.

"There's always an 'and'," Elphaba said with a smile, fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

"That's true," Fiyero said heavily.

"As I was saying," Elphaba continued, "I also expect you to behave yourself and to be serious at the exhibition. I don't expect you to help me – though it would be nice – but I do expect you to be polite and helpful to anyone who asks a question of you. Can you do that?"

"I'll try."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow.

"I will," Fiyero amended hastily.

Elphaba gave a smirk of satisfaction. "Excellent."

After Elphaba finished her breakfast, she brought some water in and turned the bathtub into a temporary washtub.

She had only been gone for a couple of minutes when Fiyero grew bored and restless and decided to join Elphaba in the bathroom – internally sniggering at his subconscious choice of words, of course.

Without looking up from her task, Elphaba immediately began, "If you've come in here just to annoy me –"

"I haven't," Fiyero interrupted.

"Then why are you in here?"

"I just came to keep you company."

Elphaba quirked an eyebrow. "Thanks, but I'm used to being alone."

"I thought maybe we could…talk or…something," Fiyero continued, ignoring Elphaba's comment.

"What sort of something?" Elphaba asked suspiciously, finally looking up at him.

"Uh, I don't know…" Fiyero scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Did you want me to teach you how to get raw egg out of clothes?" Elphaba asked with a smirk. At Fiyero's panicked look, she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I was only joking. Somehow, I think you would manage to bungle even that."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Fiyero said sarcastically.

Elphaba grinned. "Any time."

"I'm sure." Fiyero paused, before commenting, "You know, such a change has come over you today. Well, within the last few hours."

Elphaba peered over the top of her glasses with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've never seen you so relaxed."

"It probably had something to do with watching you fail at collecting eggs."

Fiyero laughed. "Probably," he agreed. "And me squashing that egg in my pocket."

Elphaba grinned. "That certainly helped."

Fiyero was silent for a moment. "I kind of wish you would show this side of yourself more often. I've never seen it before. It's nice."

Elphaba ducked her head in an attempt to conceal her blush. "Yeah, well, I wish you weren't such an ass all the time."

Fiyero gave her a sad smile. "So do I," he said quietly, before turning and leaving the room.

Elphaba watched him go, taken aback. She quickly wrung out the jacket and draped it over the side of the bathtub, before drying her hands and hurrying after Fiyero. She found him standing in front of the fireplace, gazing into the fire, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "Fiyero?" She approached him tentatively, her voice soft and laced with concern. "What do you mean?"

Fiyero turned slightly to look at her. "Hmmm? Oh, nothing."

"Fiyero…"

Fiyero sighed. "It's just…sometimes I wish I could be a bit more like you."

Elphaba snorted. "You wish you were green?"

Fiyero chuckled and shook his head. "I wish I could be smart like you. I wish I could just not care about what other people think of me…but I do. I care a lot. I seem to be cursed with a very strong sense of social awareness…or something."

Elphaba's gaze hardened. "You think I don't care what other people think of me?" she asked slightly incredulously, her voice low. "You think I don't care that people mock me because of something I can't control? You think I don't care that no-one can see past my skin? That I don't care about the way they push me away when I'm trying to help them? That I don't care that my own father is ashamed of me?" Elphaba turned away, trying to hide the tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

Fiyero was quiet for a long moment. "I guess I never thought of it like that," he said finally.

"I do care, Fiyero," Elphaba said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "I care more than you could ever imagine."

Fiyero turned his head to the side to glance at Elphaba and was shocked to see that her shoulders were shaking. Unsure about what to do, he quietly moved to stand beside her and tentatively touched her arm. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I had no idea you felt this way."

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero and saw the sincerity in his eyes. It surprised her, and she quickly shifted her gaze elsewhere. She shrugged. "That's because I never let on to anyone."

"And the sarcasm?"

"Defence mechanism, I guess."

Fiyero nodded in understanding. That made sense.

Elphaba wiped her eyes and sniffled. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I don't know what came over me. Can we just forget about this whole thing?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Elphaba's head whipped up. "You –"

"I won't tell anyone," Fiyero promised her reassuringly, "if that's what you want. But I can't just forget this ever happened. I'm going to remember it, and, hopefully, it will keep me straight."

Elphaba took a deep, shaky breath. "Thankyou."

"Are you alright?" Fiyero asked in concern after a moment.

Elphaba nodded. "Yes. I think I just need to be alone right now."

Fiyero squeezed her arm. "I understand."

Elphaba headed for the front door. Just as she reached it, Fiyero spoke again.

"Elphaba?"

Elphaba turned to face him.

"I'm sorry." At her questioning look, Fiyero clarified, "You know, for everything I've ever done or said to hurt you. I know I've been truly nasty towards you, and I'm sorry about that. I won't be razzing you anymore, and that's a promise."

Elphaba gave a small smile. "Thanks, Fiyero."