The pair prepared for about thirty minutes for the summons.
Galinda spent a total of more or less twenty minutes inside the bath. She wore a yellow sundress with purple flowers delicately embroidered on the ends. The dress looked fresh, and somehow it had made Galinda look more….extravagant (If that was even possible).
Elphaba on the other hand, chose to wear Frexspar's sixteenth birthday gift for her (which took him longer than expected to sneak inside the palace and hand it to her). It was a simple dress suit. She wore a ruffled white elegant blouse inside the blazer. The blazer's cufflinks were the gilded letters "CW" for 'Colwen Grounds'. The surprising thing about the suit was its color: Sky blue. Normally she would not have worn such garments for she despised wearing anything that clashed with her skin; she wore the suit because of one thing: sentimental value.
From the vanity, Galinda could see Elphaba's rather bold (insert word for garment here, bold choice in dressing?) and much as she'd like not to comment, she did. But it was not an offhanded rude comment, she admitted, sky blue looked rather wonderful with green.
'But pink goes better with green than any other color.' A voice at the back of Galinda's head whispered. The implications of the statement made her cheeks flush with a rosy hue.
"My, how very bright of you to wear such a color."
The verdant girl stopped fixing her blouse's ruffles and smiled coyly at Galinda. "Why, Miss Galinda, I'd say you were, as Fiyero would put it, 'eye raping' me." Elphaba joked. But she herself was a few shades darker.
There was a sudden lull in the conversation, of which Elphaba broke. "Shall we head out and face quite possibly an imminent doom in the face of an… oh so Horrible Morrible?"
Galinda erupted in a fit giggles and as she did so, she threw her head back before she abruptly stopped laughing and shot Elphaba a warning look. "Hush, Morrible might hear us."
Elphaba stared at her in amusement. "And how, in Oz's name, did you come up with such a ridiculous thing? If Morrible were to hear us engaged in friendly banter, what would be so catastrophic in that?"
Tut, tut, tut.
"You don't know? Morrible has ears everywhere."
"That's the most absurd thing I have ever heard, and I've heard the most ridiculous things while I was residing at the palace. Ridiculous, not absurd."
"Grommetik."
One eyebrow scanned Galinda's face skeptically, for any sign of 'joking'. "What?"
"Morrible's clock thing. I overheard a few students talking about it during the whole introduction gathering. It acts as Morrible's spy of sorts, always moving with its metal gears turning and making screeching noises, though it may make such noises, it never speaks."
"Why haven't I heard of it before? Or seen it?" Elphaba asked, trying to break Galinda of this absurd theory of hers. The girl may have a brain, and surely it must be working – though a wee bit rusty of the lack of use or it may have been fried from the heat of her curling irons (of which she yields every morning).
"Elphie.. must I point it out? Grommetik is Morrible's spy. The keyword being spy."
As Elphaba grew tired of this talk and quickly went towards the door. "You comin', darling?"
And without another word, Elphaba disappeared from plain sight and was confirmed by a click of the door.
Galinda stood up from the vanity and with one last look at her reflection, "Coming." She finally said.
"Ah, Miss Elphaba, Miss Galinda, please," she gestured towards the two seats positioned opposite Morrible's "sit".
Elphaba, with grace and a certain eerie calm, complied and sat down quite regally, Galinda on the other hand, try as she may, sat down less gracefully than the green girl did.
Nervously, Galinda's hands fidgeted. Could it be that Morrible had found out about Elphaba fainting? Could she have found out Galinda's rather unnatural feelings (Dear, you are giving her far too much credit) or… a hundred theories and accusations were running through her mind. To distract herself, she traced the patterns on the edge of her dress.
The magnificent swirls of purple in a sea of yellow, it looked so out of place, Galinda mused. But it still seemed like it belonged where it didn't. If only life too were that easy. Munchkinland would not have seceded from Oz, Munchkins would not always be looked down upon, The Gilikinese would not be stereotyped into ignorant and rich tyrants, and surely, from all she'd have the energy and patience to remember—the Quadlings, they would not be outcast and treated as slaves if life were simple.
And the Vinkans? They wouldn't be left out of the citizens of Oz.
But life is simple, Galinda thought, it's just not easy.
The blonde was ready to divulge into the subject further and have a self-debate of whether the Emerald city (an herald of weath and perfection of its own) had manipulated the citizens, whether the 'Wizard' himself was to blame of this discrimination. Surely, he could not? Or could he?
Galinda felt a tug on her wrist. The touch was warm, comforting, but at the same time it was firm and as Galinda had anticipated, a familiar jolt of electricity ran up her arm from where Elphaba was touching her.
She stood up and stared at the headmistress, dumbfounded. Elphaba led her outside the doors and outside of the room, "That's odd, is it not?" She heard her verdant companion mutter.
Confused, Galinda stopped walking and stared oddly at Elphaba as if she'd been a ghost all along. "What is?"
"You were paying attention to what Morrible said, weren't you?" By now Elphaba too stopped dead in her tracks.
With a look of shame, Galinda stared at anything other than Elphaba's questioning gaze and timidly shook her head.
Silence, and then she heard footsteps nearing her then a hand that intertwined with hers. "It's alright, I'm not saying you're at fault." Elphaba looked at Galinda, who was still avoiding her gaze.
"And in any case, you didn't miss anything of value and use. Just that our Sorcery mentor is going away for a few weeks or so."
For the first time since leaving the room Galinda looked Elphaba in the eye, "Where is she going?"
"To the palace, to the wizard." The way Elphaba said the word 'wizard' was so cold, Galinda felt the eye and venom from her tone seep back into Elphaba's soul.
"Your father?" Galinda said shocked.
Then, both of them heard it. The clickity clack of something metal.
Grommetik.