Chapter 12: Shiz, Several Weeks Later

Fiyero watched Elphaba as she moved around the small lab. He wondered if she noticed she was smiling. Each time she reached for something or moved, her braid would swing like a pendulum along her lower back. It was mesmerizing, really.

"Excuse me, Fiyero, but would you mind focusing on your work?" Elphaba said, looking at him with raised eyebrows. He hadn't even realized she'd turned around.

Dr. Dillamond peeked up from his microscope. "What's wrong, Miss Elphaba?"

Her cheeks flushed almost violet with a rush of blood. "Nothing, Sir. It's just that, after years of being stared at, I can sense it even when I'm not looking at someone." She met Fiyero's eyes again. "We all agreed we were going to be professional here. So unless I'm doing something wrong that you'd like to correct me on, Prince Fiyero, could you stop staring?"

It was his turn to blush. "Um, yes. Of course. I didn't realize I was. I apologize, Miss Elphaba. I was lost in thought." He just didn't mention that the thought he was lost in was one about her.

Dr. Dillamond merely chuckled. When the two students looked at him curiously, he shook his head. "The two of you were barely hiding it before, but now I can see it in every move you make. If it weren't treason, I might find it charming - young lovers."

"We're not…" But Elphaba stopped when Fiyero caught her eye. "I'm sorry, Dr. Dillamond. I believe we're still learning to separate our two lives."

Fiyero didn't want to separate his different lives. In fact, he'd simply give up this one to stay in the one where he was alone in that inn with her. He blinked quickly, trying to shake himself out of his daydreams. This was not the place, and he knew that well enough by now. This hadn't been a problem before - the constant thinking about her. Yes, he'd been a little curious, sometimes a little desirous, but this was new and pleasant. In his head, she danced around his mind, whispering and laughing. Of course, here, she wasn't laughing. She was frowning.

He chewed his lip and sighed as she turned back to her work. After a moment, however, she looked back at him. This time, though, she winked and licked her lips before returning to her task. This woman would be the death of him!

She caught him staring several more times during the course of the afternoon and into the evening, but she didn't say anything again. Instead, she simply gave him a knowing look. He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

As soon as he was walking her back to her dorm, she asked. "What has gotten into you, Fiyero? I could feel your eyes on me the entire day."

"I'm sorry, Elphaba. I don't know what's come over me. I'm not quite present in my head today, and I've found myself drifting off into daydreams more often than usual. I'm sure with some rest, I'll be more myself." Or maybe as soon as he was away from her and had no more… alluring distractions.

"That wasn't a daydream, Fiyero. You were staring - not at nothing, but at me." She paused before saying, "And no one has ever looked at me like that before."

"You said that you get stared at all the time, Elphaba."

"There are different types of stares. The ones I usually get are curiosity or disgust. What you were doing was neither of those."

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"Go ahead. Weren't we trying to be honest with each other?" She challenged. "What is going on?"

"I've just been thinking about you quite a bit lately. And I enjoy looking at you, watching you do just about anything."

"And imagining me naked? Is that what that was?"

"It's… not quite. I mean, I do imagine you… oh, sweet Oz! I'll be better about it!"

Elphaba giggled. It wasn't a laugh or a cackle, but a soft, bubbly giggle. He did a double-take to assure himself that the sound had, in fact, come from her. She smiled. "I think maybe I liked the way you were looking at me, though."

He grinned at that. "Oh, really?"

"Just a little," she admitted. "But really, it does get annoying. And it's also dreadfully obvious. So I'd prefer it if you didn't, for the sake of propriety and secrecy."

He nodded. "Understood." Fiyero realized how slowly they'd been walking, as if they'd purposely been taking their time. By now they should've reached her dorm had they been walking at their normal pace. "Did you learn anything about premonitions from your roommate? I keep forgetting to ask you."

"More than I thought I would. Fiyero, I still don't know if I believe all of this. The idea that there is a power outside of us that could be controlling our lives is scary. I believe in science. I believe that we control what happens to us, and we control our world."

"I think we do, Elphaba. But I think if things get out of control, or the world needs to change, perhaps Fate intervenes. I don't know what this is, either. Is it religion or magic? Or perhaps some odd combination of both?"

"How should I know if I'm not even sure I believe in it?" Elphaba sighed. "Galinda isn't even sure if she believes."

"Believes what? You said you weren't going to tell her."

Elphaba stopped walking. "She already knew, Fiyero. All I did was clear it up."

"How in Oz did she know? Elphaba, you're risking our lives! I understand your concern in the lab about my behavior, but Dillamond already knows. You can't just…"

"Stop! She knew. Galinda has this sort of ability. She can read people by touching them. I didn't know until she told me. But when she's touched my hand or helped me or anything, she's seen us. She didn't know what it meant, or why, but she saw it."

"So you explained it?"

"What else could I do?"

"Elphaba, she's specializing in sorcery. Morrible is her advisor and her mentor. If she told…"

"She won't."

"I don't understand how you've come to trust her so much. I thought you considered her vague and useless."

"Maybe I did. I was wrong. Look, she won't turn us in. She's… she's my friend." Elphaba said these words with an odd look on her face, and it occurred to him that she may never have said them before.

"And what am I, then?"

"You're… you. I don't know. We're friends; we're married; we're partners in crime. I don't have a word for us. Why should we label something that no one can know about anyway?" Elphaba began walking again. "Fiyero, my dear, you can stop fretting. We're safe. And I'm not angry at you for staring. Our conversation is over."

"But…"

"But nothing. I said my piece and you said yours. You stare at me. There's nothing I can do. We agreed you need to be more subtle. Galinda knows. There's nothing either of us can do. I can't erase her memory. What's the use of arguing about it?" She waved her hand at him dismissively. "Are you walking me to my room tonight or am I allowed to be an adult?"

Despite their arguing, or maybe even more because of it, he wished he could do more than walk her to her room. But if he voiced that, she'd probably tell him it was another thing they could do nothing about and wasn't worth discussing. "Have a good night, then, Elphaba."

"You, too, Yero my hero." She laughed as she said that, spinning around and grinning at him before dashing through the door.

Fiyero stared after her for a long moment, trying to understand this enigma. He couldn't decide if he was confused, aroused, amused or frustrated. She stirred things in him that he couldn't place. The only thing he did understand was that he wanted to pursue these things, no matter the cost.

Scolding himself for letting her get back inside his head, he wandered back towards Three Queens. Without Elphaba, his pace quickened. He wasn't trying to delay the inevitable separation that happened every night. He wished they could share a bed like husband and wife were supposed to. Somehow, though, he doubted that was what she wanted.

"Good evening," Boq said when he came in. "You look lost."

"I do?" Fiyero tried, yet again, to shake himself out of his stupor. "Perhaps I'm just tired."

"And it's still early in the semester yet." Boq went back to his notes. "I haven't even started to consider what to do about the spring formal."

"Spring formal?" Fiyero asked.

"It's a dance. We're all required to attend. We don't have to have dates, but the more popular people usually do. Although, I don't know what you would do, as there are no other Vinkuns here…"

Date? He knew he couldn't take Elphaba. Their relationship was already too clear if one was looking for it. "That's true. At least it takes the pressure off."

"For you, maybe." Boq frowned. "I know I certainly can't ask Galinda."

And then he knew of the perfect way to better conceal his relationship with Elphaba. "Ask Elphaba," he said suddenly. "She's Galinda's roomie. They're close. And you know her."

"Elphaba?" Boq looked uneasy.

"I bet she'd go with you." He'd make sure of it.

"I don't know, Fiyero. She's a little odd."

"So what? She doesn't talk to a lot of people. She won't have anyone. And she's got quite the status in Munchkinland, right? It wouldn't hurt."

Boq considered it for a moment. "You really think she would go? I never took her to be one who'd attend a dance."

"She has to go, too, doesn't she? Why not go together?" How hadn't he thought of this before? Boq was a Munchkin, so was Elphaba. They'd even known one another growing up! This would be the perfect way to conceal their relationship and put anyone suspicious off their trail.

"Maybe. I'll think on it."

Boq would be easy to convince. It was Elphaba who he knew would be the struggle...

"What are you asking me?" She sat up, staring at him with a bewildered look on her face. "Please tell me I misheard you."

"I think going with Boq to the spring formal would help keep people from catching on, Elphaba. I know it's not your idea of a good time, but it's important. Too many people know about this already. The more we can make it seem like it isn't happening, the better." He insisted, placing a hand on her knee.

"I was going to boycott the dance as a statement." Elphaba muttered, gathering the sheets over her body. "And now you expect me to go."

Fiyero reached over and kissed her. "Elphaba, you have to understand why I'm asking."

She groaned. "I do. That's what makes it even more frustrating." Then she threw a pillow at him. "So you decided to talk to me about it now?"

"When else are we alone?" He asked.

"We're alone when you walk me back to my dorm. And we were alone when we first got here, but you led me straight to bed. Was that a way to soften me up?" She snorted.

"No, but I had a feeling you'd be less likely to want to be intimate after we had this conversation. It might put you off. And I did really want you. I've been thinking about it all week." He ran a hand along her arm. "Seeing you all the time, it's hard not to."

"You really are a lusty teenager, aren't you? To think, I thought we were adults!"

"I am an adult! Elphaba, you went along with it. You were all too happy to go another round, too! You asked for it."

She lowered her eyes for a moment. When she looked up at him again, she was smirking. "So I did. Maybe neither of us is an adult."

"Or maybe this is normal."

"It doesn't feel normal."

"Why?"

"When I'm with you, it's… it's different, Fiyero. It's a good kind of different. But it's not normal to me. I've never felt…" She trailed off. "Why are we talking about this? We were talking about Boq. For Oz's sake, why are we talking about Boq in bed?"

"Because you have to go to that dance with him, Elphaba."

"Do we have to talk about this now?"

"Yes, because I've convinced him to ask you sometime soon so you have time to plan. I also did it so that it would have time to spread around campus that he asked you and you're going together."

"I hate how well you thought this out."

"Is it not a good idea?"

"It's a great idea. I just wish I didn't have to actually go through with it! It's actually brilliant, Fiyero."

He laughed. "Thank you."

"I'll give credit when credit is due, you know. But next time, could you have a good idea that doesn't involve me spending time with Boq?"

"What has he ever done to you?"

"Nothing, but he's just this weird bumbling mass of flesh. Most people are." She grimaced.

"Oh, don't say that."

"You don't count."

"I don't? Then what am I?"

"You're useful and sweet and…" Elphaba kissed him. "I don't mind you quite so much."

He kissed her back. "Coming from you, I believe that's a compliment. You still need to go to the dance with Boq, though."

"Fine. I'll go. If we can just stop talking about it already."