Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year! I've been on holidays (and still am) at the beach in a reception black spot so that's my reason for lateness :P Meaning that I've had lots of spare time to read, draw and try to finish Bravely Default (it doesn't end!). But mostly, I've had time to write! I wrote the majority of this on my phone due to lack of computer.
vinkunwildflowerqueen: Correct again! I've been doing some harder ones so thought I'd go easy this time. And you're right, there was originally going to be a bit more of a process before Elphaba got a job, but I decided that you had waited long enough for a new chapter and we needed a ray of hope.
"I'll have a cappuccino and the Pumpkin Smash special thanks." Fiyero smirked across the table at his girlfriend. "What would you like, Galinda?"
Galinda giggled before looking up at their green waitress. "I'll have a half-strength caramel latte made on almond milk, and the Emerald Salad, please."
"Sure," Elphaba dead-panned. "But it's counter service so you're going to have to tell that to Fran inside. I'm just here to welcome you and give you water." She plonked the glasses and jug down, offering them both a sarcastic smile before she strode back inside to fetch menus for another table, ignoring the laughter from behind her.
The moment she stepped over the threshold of the small shop, Elphaba was bombarded with the now familiar hustle and bustle of the little cafe, but the scent of roasting coffee beans and the whirr of the milkshake maker in the corner had become her life over the past two weeks. The first few shifts had been disorientating and tiring, but Elphaba had begrudgingly grown to like the Emerald Bean and its perpetually unimpressed staff, infact, she fit right in! Her only complaint being their insistence that she be the one to welcome customers to the store.
It's the easiest job here, Cherry had explained. Everyone but the kitchen staff started on front-of-house, and even they have to help out when it's busy!
That doesn't mean everyone enjoys it, Elphaba had thought, and still thinks. So many people came in and out of the little cafe that she had to interact with, she'd never had to talk to so many people in the space of a few weeks, let alone her entire life. It was beyond taxing. At the close of every day her face was sore from smile and her throat from talking. Galinda speculated that it was the result of severe under use. Never the less, at the end of every shift she worked, Elphaba was seen off with a pat on the back and an envelope containing her pay.
"You're voice is a muscle just like the rest of your body." Galinda had said whilst nodding in a sagely manner. "If it doesn't get used, it won't get stronger."
Elphaba rolled her eyes at the memory as she wrote her hours down on the board and headed out the back door, waving to the kitchen boys who hollered their goodbyes right back. Once outside, Elphaba made her way into the square and over to the bench by the nearby boutique that her friends had a habit of sitting on as they waited for her to finished work.
The past two weeks had been more than hectic for the green girl, but she'd adjusted, not only to her work routine, but to having friends. Fiyero and Galinda, despite most probably having dozens of other acquaintances in the city, had attached themselves to Elphaba and refused to leave her alone for more than a few days. Galinda had claimed that it was because Elphaba was "a breath of fresh air away from the stuff aristocracy", which made the green girl wonder what on earth the blonde did all day if she wasn't shopping, and Fiyero just shrugged and tagged along, happy to just kickback and do as little as he could. She had even moved out of that run down hotel and found a small apartment in a nearby block that had all the necessary facilities squeezed in. It wasn't much, but it was all she could afford at the moment. In fact, so much had happened in the past few weeks that Elphaba had almost forgotten Mr Dillamond and the Animal Raids in Longstone.
As she approached Elphaba smirked to see Fiyero with his arm slung over the back of the chair, nodding every-now-and-then behind his sunglasses while Galinda nattered on about something most likely fashion related.
Throughout these past few weeks Elphaba had been wracking her brain to try and find some reason as to why she enjoyed their company. With Galinda it was easy. She was girly and talked a lot, and tended to enjoy gossiping and prying into other people's business, much to Elphaba's chagrin, but despite that, the blonde was kind and a welcome female presence Elphaba hadn't experienced in a very long time.
Fiyero on the other hand was apathetic and never seemed to want to do anything during the day but sleep and eat in preparation for some party or other that night. He was very different from when Elphaba had met him in Longstone when he was a soldier. It seemed to her that Fiyero allowed to perceptions of the people around him to dictate his actions. Although, much to Elphaba's surprise, he was about to prove himself to be just that little bit considerate.
When she was closer, Fiyero spotted her and raised his unoccupied hand in greeting, alerting Galinda of her presence as well.
"Don't you have better things to do than hang around here waiting for me all day?" Asked Elphaba.
"If by that you mean shopping, then no." Said Fiyero.
Noticing there was space beside Fiyero, Elphaba instead asked them both to shuffle over so she could sit on the opposite end next to Galinda. Once seated she let out a long, exhausted sigh. "It's good to sit down."
"That woman is a slave driver! You haven't had a day off since you started." Exclaimed Galinda.
"It's alright, Galinda," Elphaba replied with a small smile. "I need the money."
"But you haven't seen any of the city since you got here!"
"She's right, Elphaba," piped up Fiyero. "You need to get out more."
"You make me sound like some sort of shut in. I walk to work and talk to hundreds of people every day!"
"Customers don't count, Elphie."
Elphaba was about to give a snarky reply but couldn't find to energy to care. "Whatever," she said.
Galinda, who had been preparing a comeback of her own, gaped in shock for a moment. "Well, I'm just glad you're coming out of your shell so-to-speak." Then to everyone's amazement, she dropped the subject.
"Well!" Said Fiyero suddenly, standing to his feet and clasping his hands before himself. "I think I know somewhere Miss Elphaba would enjoy."
"If we end up in a bar I'm going to murder you." Elphaba deadpanned.
"Nothing like that!" Said Fiyero. "It's a quiet place."
With that he stood and beckoned the girls to follow him. Galinda eagerly skipped along and latched herself to his arm while Elphaba hung back still hesitant to follow the man.
They had not been walking long when Fiyero suddenly stopped and gave a grand gesture towards a magnificent green stone structure standing on the corner of Wilde St and Twist St.
It was a library. The most magnificent collection of literature to ever be collected in the land of Oz, commissioned by the Wizard himself to be the biggest and most wonderful assortment for the public to peruse. To Elphaba, this was like stepping into a whole other world. Dillamond's shop may as well have been a market stall in comparison to The Public Oz Collection, as the library was called, and all she had had to read since leaving the church had been the Grimmerie, which she hadn't touched since she had hurt Bif.
"I remembered you always carrying books around back in Longstone," said Fiyero, breaking through Elphaba's reverie as the trio walked through the doors. "So I figured you'd like to take up that hobby again."
"Do you mean carrying books or reading?" Said Elphaba, already making a mental list of all the things she wanted to read.
"Both."
"Oh Fifi! You're so sweet!" Squealed Galinda planting a kiss on his cheek.
"I try." Fiyero smiled.
"That'd be a first." said Elphaba.
"You're wit is always a welcome part to my day."
"Isn't it just?" Elphaba smirked up at the Winkie who raised an eyebrow before signalling his surrender by putting his hands in the air.
"How did you even know this was here?" asked Elphaba.
Fiyero shrugged, "When I first came to the city I saw this place in a tour. I've never been inside until now. Never wanted to, still don't really."
"I'm just amazed that you remembered where the library was." Said Elphaba.
Fiyero shrugged again. "No big deal. There are many things you don't know about me."
"I know enough, thanks."
"Speaking of which," slid in Galinda, "I don't really know a lot about you Elphie."
"I've told you all there is to tell." Said Elphaba, having been grilled about her life with Frex
"Yes, yes," Galinda waved her off. "I know all about that awful Frex fellow, how you met Fiyero and how you got to the city, but in all the time we've been together-"
"All two weeks." Scoffed Elphaba.
"-I still don't know how you came to be in Frex's care." Fiyero shot his girlfriend a look, shaking his head. The blonde could be too nosy for her own good sometimes, and as much as he wanted to hear the answer, he knew that it was likely an unpleasant story from his interactions with the green girl in Longstone.
Elphaba's eyes darkened and she idly ran her fingers across the spines of a few nearby books. She moved further down the aisle, seemingly looking for something to occupy her. A long minute past, and it seemed Elphaba had chosen to simply not answer them, when finally she spoke her voice was hollow and her eyes distant. "I'm an orphan. My mother and relatives died in a fire." She said looking away from them. It was close enough to the truth.
Galinda's hands flew to her mouth to cover a gasp. "What about your father?"
Elphaba just shrugged.
"So Frex..." Frowned Galinda, the reality of what she had asked finally dawning on her.
"Took me in out of saintly obligation." Elphaba spat the words with disgust, moving down the aisle a bit. "Which he has regretted everyday since and let me know of his displeasure directly."
Galinda and Fiyero looked at one another for a moment.
Elphaba sighed. "It doesn't matter. I was young at the time and I don't really remember it." Lies. She remembered everything. Especially him. Dying. "So it doesn't matter anyway. It's fine, really."
Galinda was wise enough to know not to say anything more and simply nodded before pointing to an assortment of couches and armchairs gathered in the corner. Once they were all seated and settled, a heavy silence fell about the group them uncomfortable and gloomy. It only took a few moments of this before Galinda couldn't take it anymore and launched into her own life story, starting with her first makeover, to visits to the Emerald City and school life, which took so long that by the time she had finished Elphaba had not only collected four books to read, but was halfway through the first. Fiyero on the other had had fallen asleep in the armchair he sat in while his girlfriend continued to talk uncaring if her audience was paying attention or not.
When she was finally done regaling them with her adventures in the many boutiques to be found in the Uplands, Galinda turned her attention to her boyfriend.
"Well I've told you everything about my life in the Upper Uplands." Said Galinda. "But Fifi might have a thing or two to tell about his adventures as prince of the Vinkus."
Fiyero snuffled awake at the mention of his name, only just catching what Galinda wanted of him. He smiled uncertainly as he thought of his younger days, "Well..."
Startled, Elphaba looked up from her book, "Wait, you're a prince?!"
A slightly longer chapter than usual to thank you for waiting! If you liked it (or spotted something that's gone horribly wrong :/) feel free to tell me in a review or a PM. I'm always up for chats and love to hear your opinions more than anything else.
The answer was The King and I! I saw it earlier this year and it was the most extravagant show I've ever seen. Although they did miss a massive opportunity for a crowd ballroom scene which sucked. Also, Lisa McCune from Sea Patrol was in it.
Next! Which musical features the tap number, "Moses Supposes"?