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The young prince was unsure what to do next, Elphaba showed no signs of stirring anytime soon and he thought it would be mean to wake her so soon after she'd fallen asleep. Carefully Fiyero prised the book she had been reading from her fingers and placed it in her bag which he placed in her lap and he scooped her up in his arms and carried her off in the direction of her dorm room.
Galinda looked slightly bemused as Fiyero turned up at their dorm once again with Elphaba in his arms.
"My, my Master Fiyero it appears you and Miss Elphaba have taken a liking to each other," Galinda teased him as she opened the door further to allow him in.
"I didn't mean to upset her Galinda, she knows that now," Fiyero said as he softly placed Elphaba down on her bed, she groaned quietly in her sleep but became rested again immediately.
"You know I think you really care about her," Galinda observed shrewdly, quite unlike her usual unmindful self.
"Maybe I do," Fiyero muttered almost incoherently as he brushed Elphaba's hair behind her ears, "but I barely even know her."
"When has that ever stopped two people from liking each other before? You of all people should know that Fiyero," Galinda smiled astutely at him, impressing herself with her incisive comments.
"She's just so, well not like any girl I have ever dated before, I don't know there just seems to be a connection there already but I don't know how," Fiyero explained to her, himself more perplexed as to his feelings for the green girl.
"Elphaba's special, she is unlike anyone I have ever met before in my life, she's down to earth, straight-thinking, and most of all extremely compassionate if you get to know her," Galinda smiled proudly at her friend, "I know she likes you too Fiyero."
"I think I should be going now, tell her I will see her tomorrow," Fiyero said respectively, nodding to Galinda before heading for the door.
"Thanks Fiyero, for everything," Galinda smiled appreciatively at him before letting him get on.
Galinda's focus fluttered to Elphaba and then back to the closed door. She admitted to herself that Fiyero was charming, good-looking, very kind and not as ostentatious as the rumours spread about him suggested. At first sight she had fancied him like hell, she had wanted nothing else but for them to be a couple and for all of Shiz to know of it but then he had spoken to Elphaba. The moments she saw his gaze drawn to her and the look of admiration in his eyes she knew he had already fallen for her green roommate. Elphaba had never been respected so quickly by someone before and Fiyero obviously cared about her, she had quickly forgotten any sort of feelings she had towards the prince. She conceded that Elphaba deserved to be happy with him a lot more than she did.
"Glin," Elphaba murmured as she woke up, rolling over to face the blonde's side of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes slightly, the remnants of the red tear tracks still evident slightly.
"Hey Elphie," Galinda smiled, looking up from the latest issue of Ozmopolitan she'd been flicking through.
"How did I get back here?" Elphaba questioned, recalling the last thing she had known as being sat reading in Fiyero's arms in the library.
"You fell asleep so Fiyero brought you back here," Galinda said before glancing at Elphaba with a smile at the bemusement on her face.
"Why is he being so nice to me Glin?" Elphaba asked innocently. She may have been the most intelligent girl at Shiz academically but she sincerely had no idea about boys whatsoever.
"Elphie come on, isn't it obvious to you yet?" Galinda enquired, setting her magazine down on her bed and crossing to her friend's.
"Isn't what obvious?" Elphaba asked, still playing the 'I am seemingly oblivious to Fiyero's affections' card.
"He likes you Elphie," Galinda giggled sweetly, swinging her legs back and forth over the side of Elphaba's bed.
"He likes me?" Elphaba said slowly, as if unable to comprehend the words being spoken and said.
"Yes Elphaba," Galinda said condescendingly, why was it so hard for her to understand?
"But why?" Elphaba asked, still having reservations over what was being explained to her.
"Oz I don't know Elphie, you will have to ask him, maybe because you are beautiful, intelligent, though you are not showing many signs of that at the moment, and downright stubborn," Galinda listed with a smile.
"But he's a prince, he is a scandalacious prince and he's the most charming boy at Shiz, he could get any girl on campus, how come he likes me?" Elphaba continued, her persistence to find out an answer was beginning to annoy Galinda who tugged the verdant girl up by her arm and pulled her to the door.
"Elphie seeing as you are so intent on finding out, go ask him yourself," Galinda said authoritatively as she thrust her best friend through the now open door and slammed it shut behind her.
Elphaba opened her mouth to respond but Galinda had already shut her out, she searched her pockets relentlessly but acknowledged that she had no keys.
She realised it would be hopeless to try and get Galinda to let her back in, she wouldn't until she had proof that Elphaba had spoken to Fiyero.
"Why does she always have to be so right about boys," Elphaba muttered to herself as she crossed the green towards Briscoe Hall.
"Because she is the most popular girl in school?" came Fiyero's voice from behind her.
"For Oz's sake Fiyero don't do that," Elphaba snapped as she turned to face him and promptly hit him hard on the arm.
"Hey," Fiyero said, recoiling away from her and clutching his arm as he had done earlier with Galinda, "that actually hurt."
"It was meant to," Elphaba retorted angrily, a blush rising on her cheeks, threatening to show how flustered she was by his sudden appearance.
"Sorry Miss Elphaba, please do continue to wherever it was you were going," Fiyero smiled charmingly at her.
"Actually erm," Elphaba started, but then she panicked; there was not a romantic bone in the green girl's body, what on earth was she supposed to say to him? "I was erm, on my way to the library, need to, I mean I need to," Elphaba corrected herself, "to get a book out for our history assignment."
Fiyero was slightly taken aback; a flustered Elphaba was quite amusing and a tongue-tied, inarticulate, faltering Elphaba was even more comical. The polite Arjiki tribesman however managed to refrain from smiling out of courtesy yet he could not help but think her explanation sounded more like a cover story, a white lie.
"Well I won't delay you and your books any longer," Fiyero finally smiled, nodding graciously to her before turning and walking away.
Elphaba too turned away from him and physically thumped her forehead with the heel of her hand. She felt like a complete and utter fool. What had Galinda repeatedly told her about being confident around boys? How many times had she undergone the talking to boys successfully lecture since they had become friends? It seemed that every piece of advice her blonde roommate had ever given her was completely erased from her mind. Either that or she was ill and forgetting how to speak, no she must not think that, not after the Animal Banns that were beginning to come around in Oz.
"You really are an idiot Thropp," Elphaba whispered to herself, quieter than before out of fear that somebody else, maybe not Fiyero were listening in.
She cursed herself as she tried in vain to find a book to take out from the library that would be of any benefit to her history assignment, anything she did need she had already taken out or read and re-read half a dozen times.
Fiyero was walking along rather aimlessly, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the conversation, well more like lack of conversation he had just experienced with Elphaba, usually she was fluid and eloquent in her speech, she was one of the most articulate and expressive girl he had ever met, far more academic then any girl he'd ever dated yet she had appeared to stumble on her words awkwardly.
It was a girly squeal that drew him out of his reverie as he focused his vision to realise that he had walked unknowingly straight into the path of Galinda. She had dropped the collection of magazines she was carting around with her, all issues of Ozmopolitan and such as far as Fiyero could tell when he helped her collect them from the ground.
"Fiyero, I wasn't expecting to see you out here," Galinda said as they stood up again.
"Why not?" Fiyero questioned, confused as to why Galinda would not expect to see him in a school he attended.
"Well I presumed you would be with Elphaba," Galinda said before quickly realising that Fiyero had not been told, or asked anything by Elphaba.
"Elphaba?" Fiyero said, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
"She was supposed to be coming to see you, I locked her out of the room purposefully," Galinda explained.
"I did see her but she was just a bumbling mess and mentioned something about getting a book from the library," Fiyero clarified, recalling the events from earlier.
"Oh Elphie," Galinda muttered under her breath before returning her attention to Fiyero, "wherever she has gone you need to speak to her, she is um, she's slightly confusified about something that's all, she needs you to ascertain a few things for her."
"What things?" Fiyero enquired, unknowing that it was not really Galinda's place to explain.
"You would be better off asking her that, I have no idea what that girl's thinking most of the time," Galinda smiled breezily before making a quick getaway and leaving Fiyero standing looking somewhat bemused in the middle of the pavement, glancing after her.
"Everybody is speaking cryptically today," he mumbled to himself, taking himself off in the direction of the library, hoping that Elphaba would still be there. Who was he kidding; of course she'd still be there.
When he did finally come across her she was searching relentlessly for a book on the shelves of the Ozian History section of the library.
"You know you can stop that facade now, I know you don't really need a book for your history assignment," he said and she jumped, Fiyero, cringing slightly when he realised he'd scared her again, "sorry."
"You have to stop doing that Tiggular," Elphaba warned him sternly.
"I just saw Galinda outside; she told me that you wanted to speak to me?" Fiyero asked, playing the blissfully unaware card, pretending he had no idea why Elphaba was being distant. The truth was he had figured it out on his journey across Shiz, he knew why she'd been so nervous before.
"I erm, well it was not actually my intention to come and speak to you it was Glin's idea, it appears she doesn't have all the answers to my questions involving boys, as you probably know I have led a rather sheltered upbringing and had a life of seldom contact with other humans."
"You know when you are not fumbling on your words you are extremely talkative," Fiyero informed her.
"I'm trying to explain something to you here," Elphaba said scornfully, her voice threatening as she backed away from him slightly.
"Ok, I'm sorry, carry on," he smiled, gesturing with his hand for her to continue.
"People never befriend me Fiyero, especially new students, they usually pass me by, often with a snide remark and an insult about my verdegris which is more understandable than somebody actually making the effort to have an intellectual conversation with me, then on the same day rescue me valiantly from a bully and treat me with respect. Not even Galinda was kind to me until we had known each other for over half a term, why did you have to make an exception, why do you appear to care so much?" Elphaba elucidated before finally managing to ask Fiyero the question she had been longing to since the moment he had smiled and passed a friendly comment at her.
"Because I'm not like everyone else Elphaba, haven't you noticed that I stand out too? How many other students do you see walking the corridors with my skin colour? I'm different too, a Vinkun, I know what it's like not to fit in and I hate seeing you treated badly because of it. We are two of the same Fae and you are a decent person, I could see that the moment Sam pointed you out from across the courtyard," Fiyero explained to her, his voice full of compassion and benevolence.
Elphaba was left partially speechless but now she was faced with another question, he had just made up a nickname for her, what was it with the pupils in this school refusing to call her by her given name?
"Fae?" Elphaba posed to him, raising her eyebrows slightly, crossing her arms and adopting an authoritative stance.
"Don't you like it?" he smirked at her, knowing he had hit a nerve, he liked that because it sparked that slightly more strong willed and ambitious side to her.
"It seems fitting I suppose and I guess it is better than Elphie, less perky, but do not tell Glin I said that," Elphaba warned with a smile and Fiyero could tell she had accepted it.
"So does this mean we are ok now, everything's cleared up?" Fiyero asked her cautiously.
"Everything's fine," Elphaba smiled back at him, masking the slight feeling of regret that was niggling at her from the inside, she almost wanted to say something more to Fiyero but she could not find the words to express how she felt. Besides she had only known him for all of three days, how could she act on impulse, nothing might ever happen between them again to spark any feelings other than friendship, she wasn't that girl.