Elphaba walked besides Fiyero as he slowly guided his horse down a travel worn dirt road. She had refused to ride in the same saddle with Fiyero, so with no other mode of transportation, walking was her travel method. Elphaba was trying to read some poetry but failing as she realized that she had to have all her attention focused on not tripping on loose dirt. Stumbling a little, just enough for Fiyero to notice, he laughed at her,

"Awkward much?"

"It takes an awkward person to know an awkward person," Elphaba muttered under her breath.

Elphaba looked back at her book, hoping Fiyero would quit paying attention to her and realize that she actually didn't want to talk.

"What are you reading?"

Elphaba paused for a moment. No boy had ever asked her about what book she was reading or what she liked to read. Composing herself so she didn't seem overly excited, Elphaba answered in a dimming voice,

"poetry."

"What's it about?"

"Life and Death, discussed as if they are two people who had a relationship."

"So, you're reading romance?"

"No, this is…" Elphaba thought, crap, I guess I am reading romance poetry.

"Romance," Fiyero finished her sentence, giving her a coy smile and wiggling his eyebrows.

Things went back to an awkward silence after that, about ten minutes passed before Fiyero cleared his throat and looked down at Elphaba.

"Would you mind reading some?"

Surprised, Elphaba fingered the line she was on and read aloud in a emotional narration voice that she saved only for Nessa,

"The harbor of Death doth not bound the fruits of Life

Unless the fruit of Life was born sour,

In which Death must be honor bound to stop his lunatic like antics.

But the bounds of obligation are stripped away every moment as Life's family grows larger,

All because of Death."

Elphaba finished and closed her book, turning to Fiyero to see his initial reaction. His perplexed expression told her that poetry was not his usual choice of literature.

"So," Fiyero started, "the poem is saying that Death and Life create the population and that Life takes the offspring to raise them if they are, um, sweet?"

"Sure," was all she could muster out.

"And," Fiyero continued, "if the population they have borne is infected, then Death becomes responsible for them. Also, Life and Death were forced to be apart and when they have escapades in secret and Life's family grows larger, is Death only allowed to love Life without breaking rules."

"You kind of have it."

Face palming and pulling his hand down his face is resignation, Fiyero whispered,

"Well, fuck me," before letting the stress disperse off his face.

Elphaba hid her smile inside her book as she let her fingers run down the creases in the binding of the worn book. She knew she was being charmed by Fiyero, but she didn't want to admit it to herself or let the cocky young man know it either. Elphaba was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice the patch of mud ahead, so when she tripped on it, she face planted on the ground.

"Are you okay," Fiyero asked, having to stop Midnight from the cheerful canter she had kept throughout their journey.

"Fine, absolutely spiffing," Elphaba muttered, having pulled her head up from the wet mud and shown Fiyero her now filthy face.