AN. Well this took longer than I expected to get up. Life has been a lot. But I wanted to take a second to thank those who nominated me in this year's Greg Awards. Thank you!
It took all of Elphaba's willpower not to glare at the seating chart like it had betrayed her personally.
"Whoever thought it's a great idea to put people at one table just because they're all single should rot in the depths of hell," she muttered.
Galinda patted her shoulder soothingly. "It's a wedding, Elphie. Happy tones."
Elphaba did glare at her best friend. "It's alright for you," she noted. "You don't have to sit at a table with seven strangers who are going to stare at you all night. And you wouldn't let me bring a book."
"Well, you could have brought a date!" Galinda protested, even as she dreamily fiddled with the diamond ring on her finger, as had been her habit ever since Bram had proposed. "I told you that Bram has single friends I could have set you up with."
"I don't know why Milla even invited me," Elphaba grumbled as they headed into the ballroom. "She's your friend, not mine."
"Most people don't get annoyed about getting invited to parties, you know," Galinda said. "Besides, this is a big deal. Kal's in line to be a duke. This is history in the making."
Elphaba rolled her eyes and looked around the ballroom with a sigh. She wished Nessa had come, even though Nessa surely would have brought Boq as her plus one, and therefore would still be at a different table. But Nessa had decided that once sharing a History class with Milla at Shiz wasn't a good enough reason for her to travel across to the Vinkus to attend the wedding, even if she did worry it was impolite to refuse without a genuine prior commitment. Elphaba had tried the same logic to get out of attending, but Galinda and Nessa had both insisted.
"You know Milla better than I do, through Galinda," Nessa had pointed out. "And you can represent the family at the wedding."
"Father doesn't want me to represent the family. I'm still sure if he could've gotten away with it, he'd have kept me locked in the attic my whole life," Elphaba had argued, but it hadn't gotten her anywhere.
So here she was.
"I was more than happy to just go to the ceremony, say congratulotions and go back to the hotel," Elphaba said, not for the first time.
Galinda sighed, rolled her eyes and physically turned Elphaba towards table eight. "Elphie. Go. Make friends. Just be yourself… within reason. A more polite version of yourself."
Elphaba rolled her eyes right back at her. "Oh for Oz's sake," she said and walked towards her table while Galinda practically skipped off to join Bram at table four.
The only other person at table eight so far was a woman who eyed Elphaba warily as she approached. Elphaba ignored her in favour of studying the placecards, pleased to at least find that she was sitting on the other side of the table with the wall behind her. She slipped into her chair, placing her wrap on the back of the chair and placing her evening bag on the table next to her water glass. Glancing at the place cards either side of hers for the lack of something to do, she wrinkled her nose. To her right would be Reeta Hext, who had been at Shiz with them. She wasn't as horrendible as some of the others had been; but she was, in Elphaba's opinion, painfully boring. But she was Milla's cousin, so that explained why she was here. On Elphaba's left, would be Fiyero Tiggular.
Elphaba wrinkled her nose. She may not know the prince, but she knew his reputation; and she wasn't thrillified at the prospect of being next to him all night. No doubt the prince's main priority for the night would be finding a hook-up for the night, and Elphaba had no interest in witnessing him flirt with the people at the table all night.
Elphaba put her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand as she surveyed the room. She was used to this feeling- the way she felt completely alone, even though the ballroom was rapidly filling. It always felt like she wasn't really there, or like there was a sheet of glass between herself and the rest of the room and she was merely an onlooker. Although, as guests glanced over at her- some more discreetly than others- perhaps it was more fair to say that she was the observed, rather than the observer.
Elphaba's jaw tightened. Galinda had said that it was rude to leave before the first dance.
"Once everyone's up and dancing, Milla and Kal won't notice if you're there or not," she had reassured her.
Elphaba had taken the out she'd been offered, and dutifully agreed to stay until the first dance. But Oz, she was already counting the minutes. It would be fine if she had Galinda and Bram with her, or if Nessa had come. But being forced to sit, eat and converse with strangers was never going to be her idea of a good time.
As the table began to fill up, Elphaba braced herself. The woman who had been there first had not paid Elphaba any notice at all, but as others arrived and the inevitable "how do you know the bride and groom?" exchange took place, she learned that she was one of Milla's colleagues.
They were joined by one of Kal's cousins; one of his childhood friends and two sisters whose family had been neighbours with Milla's family some years ago. None of them addressed Elphaba with more than a nod and a double-take, and she really wished she had a book.
Fiyero Tiggular was the last person to arrive at the table, and did so with a glass in each hand; a dark purple cocktail that Elphaba had glimpsed being featured as the 'signature cocktail' of the wedding. Elphaba blinked as he put the second glass down in front of her as he took his assigned seat beside her.
"Uh…"
"Fiyero Tiggular," he said, turning towards her and extending a hand. "I went to school with Kal. You?"
Elphaba shook his hand rather warily. "I know who you are."
Fiyero just looked at her expectantly.
"Elphaba Thropp," she said slowly. "I went to Shiz with Milla."
Fiyero grinned at her. "Do you want to play a game, Elphaba?"
Elphaba arched an eyebrow at him, not sure how to take that. Her wariness quickly turned to bemusement however, as Fiyero proceeded to pull out a few small cards and a series of pens out of his suit jacket pocket and placed them on the table.
"Wedding Reception Bingo," Elphaba read from the top of the card. There were twenty-five boxes on the card, twenty-four of which had writing in them. The twenty-fifth, in the centre, merely had a heart.
"A guest wears white; the bouquet toss gets violent; someone cries while giving a speech," she read a few of them, glancing between the card and Fiyero again.
He shrugged. "You go to enough weddings, you have to do something to pass the time, right?"
This was the first wedding Elphaba had actually ever been invited to, so she couldn't really relate.
"And you're giving this to me because…?"
"Well, I can't play by myself, can I?"
Elphaba raised an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at the other six people at the table.
"Don't worry, I brought enough for everyone," he reassured her. "But I've got to start with someone, right?"
When Elphaba touched the card nearest to her gingerly, Fiyero shrugged again. "We're sitting next to each other all night, and it's a good icebreaker. Here, look."
He took a card for himself and examined it, then nodded to himself and took a sip of the cocktail. Then he nodded decidedly and picked up one of the pens and marked one of the boxes.
Themed cocktails are terrible, it read when Elphaba glanced at it.
"I think that one is a little subjective," she pointed out.
"Is it, though?" Fiyero asked. "Try it."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but took a sip of the glass he had placed before her. As the overly sweet and sugary taste washed over her tongue, she couldn't help but grimace slightly. It was Fiyero's turn to give her a pointed glance and Elphaba could only concede defeat.
"Mark it off if it's on your card," he told her and then turned to the person on his other side with a blank card and pen in hand.
Elphaba did have the cocktails on her card but she hesitated before marking it off the card in front of her. It seemed a little rude. She was sure Galinda wouldn't approve, and Nessa certainly wouldn't if she were here. Of the six others on their table, only four of them took a card from Fiyero as he made his way around the table. Reeta refused, with a scowl in Elphaba's direction like it had been her idea; and Kal's cousin laughed at Fiyero's explanation but didn't take a card himself.
"How… did you make this up, or is this a common thing and I'm out of the loop?" Elphaba just had to ask, once Fiyero was once again sitting beside her.
He chuckled. "Nah, some friends and I made it up. When we reached that stage where everyone we knew was getting married, so it felt like we were spending half our summer at someone's wedding or engagement party or whatever. One of the first weddings was my friend's sister. They're old family friends, so we got an invite. And they did something like this to help the guests mingle and get to know one another."
He wrinkled his nose at the word mingle and Elphaba felt a surge of camaraderie.
"You don't like mingling?"
"I don't like forced mingling," he corrected her. "Sitting at a table, sure. Let's make small talk so the evening is bearable if you're not with your friends. But this was like, find someone with the same number of siblings as you; or find someone who's been married for more than thirty years, you know. It felt like an icebreaker activity you do at a corporate retreat."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow, rather doubting how many corporate retreats Fiyero had ever attended in his royal duties. Fiyero grinned slightly like he knew what she was thinking, but continued his explanation.
"So my friends and I started joking about what a fun wedding bingo would be. Eventually it stopped being a joke and we actually made cards."
He held up a finger. "We only do receptions," he said solemnly. "Not ceremonies. Ceremonies are off limits."
Elphaba pushed her cocktail aside and reached for her water glass instead. "Alright, I'll bite. Why?" she asked.
Fiyero shrugged nonchalantly, but the tips of his ears were turning pink. "The ceremony is the sincere part, it just seems mean to make fun of that," he explained, a little sheepishly.
It was an oddly endearing answer.
"The reception is mostly when the weird stuff or the drama happens, so it seems fair game. I mean, you can have sincere stuff, but that really depends on the couple. My eldest cousin's wedding? Totally sincere, very heartfelt reception. My youngest cousin? Well, there's a reason there's a box on these cards about learning things about the newlyweds that you did not ever need to know."
Elphaba couldn't help but laugh. "What exactly do you win if you get bingo?"
"It depends on who you're with," he shrugged. "Playing with people you already know is a little different from playing with strangers."
"Do you not know anyone else here besides Kal?"
"Do you know anyone here besides Milla?" he countered.
It was a fair question. "My best friend's at table four with her fiance," she gestured in Galinda's direction vaguely. "Don't deflect the question."
"All my other friends are either married or brought dates," Fiyero shrugged. Then he suddenly frowned at his card. "Does having a singles table count as 'single people being singled out'?"
"I suppose it could be worse," Elphaba said dryly. "We could have a spotlight or a big banner hanging over the table."
Fiyero sniggered. "You say that, but I literally have been to a wedding where the emcee made every single person stand up so they could identify each other," he informed her and Elphaba cringed.
"Oz, you're not exactly encouragerising me to go to any more weddings."
Fiyero chuckled. "I'm counting it," he decided, and marked it off his card.
His gaze dropped to Elphaba's and he raised an eyebrow at her. "You playing?"
It was almost a challenge- and Elphaba could never resist a challenge.
"I'm going to need something better to drink than that though," she said, nodding towards the abandoned cocktail on the table.
Fiyero broke into a boyish grin. "Done. Drink of choice?"
"White wine."
When he returned with their drinks, he was almost bouncing. "New idea," he declared. "Make it more interesting. For every box we tick off, we get to ask the other a question."
Elphaba stiffened slightly, fully anticipating Fiyero's first question of her. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but no one's ever been able to explain the green," she said, rather coolly.
"Not what I was going to ask, but good to know," Fiyero replied without missing a beat.
Elphaba stilled. "Oh."
Her eyes flickered away and back to him, her face warming slightly. She opened her mouth and then closed it without saying anything. She felt like she should apologise, but she was also reluctant to apologise for what was a very reasonable assumption. Elphaba couldn't remember the last time she'd met someone who's first question hadn't been about her skin.
Fiyero just sat there, looking at her calmly. Elphaba forcibly pushed away the urge to fidget and cleared her throat.
"What was your question then?" she asked, looking away from him and reaching for her water glass.
"Do you want the chicken or the beef?"
Elphaba turned to him incredulously. "That's your first question?" she demanded.
"Yes," Fiyero nodded. "Because I want the beef," he said pointing to the little menus at each setting. "And if you get the beef, but we agree to swap, I get to tick it off. And then I get another question," he grinned, looking quite pleased with himself.
Elphaba looked back at her bingo card, and sure enough- guests negotiate meal swaps.
"Fine," she agreed. "But only because I actually would prefer the chicken."
It felt like some sort of apology as she said it, and Fiyero seemed to take it that way as they both marked that box off their respective cards.
"Next question," Fiyero said decidedly and Elphaba couldn't help but brace herself.
Before he could ask her anything though, the emcee called for everyone's attention. "Ladies, gentlemen and gentle friends! Welcome to the wedding reception to festivate Milla and Kalder Nixen!"
The room burst into cheers, and Elphaba tried to focus on what was happening rather than wondering what Fiyero was going to ask her.
"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Lennart Riter. I'm the brother of the bride and I have the immense honour of being your host for the evening. Now, the sooner we get things started, the sooner we can eat, right?"
More cheers throughout the room, and beside her, Fiyero let out an enthusiastic whistle.
"So without further ado, could you please put your hands together for the lovely bridesmaids and groomsmen!"
Elphaba craned her head to try and get a glimpse of Galinda at table four, biting back a smile. Galinda was still slightly miffed that Milla hadn't asked her to be a bridesmaid; even while acknowledging that between Milla's two sisters and new sister-in-law, it was understandable that she hadn't been asked. But still.
Milla and Kal entered next, to loud cheers. Kal twirled his bride across the middle of the dancefloor as they passed and Elphaba had to admit to a twinge of envy as she watched. She may have thoughts on the commercialism and pageantry of weddings (and the apparent audacity of attending a wedding while single), but this? The love, happiest day of your life part? That was bittersweet for Elphaba, watching something she'd long since accepted she'd never have for herself.
"So, where are you from?" Fiyero asked her the moment Milla and Kal had taken their seats and they'd been promised that the first course was on the way out.
Elphaba glanced over at him briefly. "Munchkinland," she replied shortly.
"And what do you do in Munchkinland?"
Elphaba hesitated, glancing over at his card. "Do you have questions left?"
"Last one for now."
He even showed her to indicate the three boxes he'd ticked off on his card, and Elphaba could help but let her lips twitch at his earnestness.
"Nothing exciting, I'm afraid," she said. "I work with my sister."
It sounded better than trying to explain Nessa's condition and the inevitable pity that followed.
"I'd ask what you do, but that seems fairly obvious," she said rather lamely, unable to think of what kind of question to ask in return.
"It's not exactly my dream job," Fiyero admitted. "I mean, if I had a choice…"
That admittedly made Elphaba curious and she turned slightly in her seat to face him more directly.
"What would you do if you had a choice?" she asked him.
"You already asked your question by asking if I had questions left," Fiyero said and Elphaba shook her head, holding up a finger.
"No," she protested. "That doesn't count. Come on. What would you do?"
Fiyero, for the first time that night, looked rather uncomfortable and like he was debating how honest to be. He studied her for a long moment before he answered.
"I used to think about being a speech therapist."
That was hardly the answer Elphaba had expected.
"Oh," she said, unable to hide her surprise and then feeling awful about it.
"I worked with one when I was a kid and he was really great," Fiyero shrugged slightly. "If I had a choice, I thought paying it forward seemed like a good idea. But, you know… well, it's irrelevant anyway, isn't it?"
He smiled at her, but Elphaba thought it seemed a little sad. "Not what you expected, right?"
"No," Elphaba said honestly. "But how boring would it be if everyone was what we expected?"
He studied her carefully again. "I have a feeling you can relate to that."
Elphaba shrugged. "What gives you that idea?" she asked innocently and he laughed.
Fiyero grinned at her slightly, his shoulders seeming to lift slightly. "I'll toast to that," he said and raised his glass and Elphaba reached for her own, clinking it against his.
The first clink of silverware against glasses began across the room as they ate the first course and Fiyero's head lifted eagerly, turning towards the top table as Kal leaned over with a grin to kiss Milla.
"Uh huh," Elphaba protested as he reached for his bingo card. "It says that people keep clinking glasses. One time is not good enough."
"Okay, but you know there's going to be more," he countered.
"Then you can be patient and wait."
Fiyero grinned at her widely. "That really isn't my strong point."
"That doesn't surprise me in the least," Elphaba said dryly.
After the third time someone started clinking their fork against their glass (it was Galinda. Elphaba watched her do it), Fiyero looked at her expectantly and Elphaba conceded defeat. She had it listed on her own card, so she marked it off.
"Tell me something I don't know about you."
Elphaba laughed. "You don't know anything about me. Also, that's not a question," she pointed out.
Fiyero shrugged. "Then it should be easy to pick something."
Elphaba faltered, her mind blank. Everything about herself suddenly leaving her mind in a flood of panic, and she floundered for something- anything- to say.
"I… I take care of my sister. That's what I do," she heard herself say, and had to resist the urge to facepalm.
Fiyero, however, just blinked. "I always wanted siblings. Older or younger?"
"Younger. Nessa- she was invited too, but she doesn't really like to travel," Elphaba said, swallowing back the added details of Nessa's disability and the hassle of travelling with her chair.
Way too much information to give someone she barely knew, although she supposed Fiyero might know about it if he knew anything about her family.
"And if you could do anything, what would it be?" Fiyero asked.
Elphaba stilled. His tone was casual, but there was more weight in that question that she could begin to describe. She had no idea if Fiyero had even questions left, let alone how to answer it.
"If I could do anything?" she repeated.
Fiyero's smile flickered as he looked back to Elphaba in a way that was almost wistful. "I bet you've got it all planned out don't you? Big dreams?"
"No," Elphaba shook her head immediately. "I studied history at Shiz, but I never thought about what I'd ever do with the degree because it's never really been an option. And honestly, I have no idea what I'd do. Because I want to make a difference in the world, but I have no idea how."
Because if she could do something good, maybe it would make up for the sin of her being green.
Fiyero looked at her like he'd heard everything she'd edited out. And Elphaba, instead of shrinking away, felt seen.
"What kind of difference?" he asked, leaning in.
And that was the thing, Elphaba didn't know, she just knew there was an itch beneath her skin to do something, but it was hard to pin down specifics when there was Nessa and her father to think about. She didn't tell him that, but Elphaba had a ready list of all the issues in Oz that dwelled in the back of her brain and she was three items in before she had the distant thought that maybe this was what Galinda had meant when she'd said to be less herself. Fiyero was listening intently though and offering his own thoughts, to the point where Elphaba only realised Lennart was back at the front of the room and calling for everyone's attention until Reeta audibly shushed them.
Fiyero distinctly snorted, reaching for his drink as they halted their conversation.
"It's time for our first speech of the evening," Lennart announced. "So could you please make welcome the father of the groom, Sevin Nixan."
As they applauded for Kal's father, Fiyero leaned in towards Elphaba. "I hope he cries. I've got a great next question for you."
Elphaba shook her head. "He won't cry," she predicted.
She was correct, but Milla's dad cried enough in his speech for both families and Fiyero looked entirely too gleeful as he marked the relevant box on his card. Again, Elphaba found the same item on her card and so they both earned themselves another question.
"Do you believe in fate?"
Elphaba reached for her drink with a small smile. "No, but I'm guessing you do."
"What makes you say that?"
"The only people who want to talk about fate are the ones who believe in it. Same as soulmates," Elphaba replied.
And as though she'd heard her favourite topic from across the ballroom, Galinda and Bram suddenly seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Elphie!" Galinda called out, squeezing around to the other side of the table where Elphaba sat. "Oh, hi, Reeta. Lovely dress, what a lovely shade of orange. Excuse me. Elphie."
"Hi, Galinda," Elphaba replied patiently, turning towards her best friend. "Hi, Bram."
"Hi," Bram said. "Galinda wanted to make sure you weren't suffering too badly before the main course is served."
"Or that I'm behaving myself?" Elphaba guessed.
"No," Galinda protested. "I just wanted to- oh. Hello, Your Highness!"
If she hadn't been utterly besotted by Bram from the moment they met, Galinda's tone would have been very different as she greeted Fiyero, Elphaba knew. No doubt she would have flirted immediately with him. Instead, she just reached out in front of Elphaba to offer Fiyero a hand.
"Hi, I'm Galinda Upland. Of the Upper Uplands," she introduced herself. "I'm Elphie's best friend. This is my fiance, Bram."
"Fiyero Tiggular," Fiyero introduced himself, shaking her hand and then Bram's. "I'm Elphie's-"
"No," Elphaba interrupted flatly. "Don't even think about it."
Fiyero grinned at her, and somehow never quite finished introducing himself.
Galinda looked between them with narrowed eyes, and then tugged at Elphaba's arm. "Elphie, I need to powder my nose. Come with me."
They had been friends long enough that Elphaba had stopped pointing out that Galinda was perfectly capable of going to the bathroom unaccompanied. Instead, she just sighed lightly and smiled slightly at Fiyero, picking up her bag from the table.
"Excuse me," she said.
She was vaguely aware of Bram sliding into her empty seat as Galinda hurried her towards the bathrooms.
"Elphie, he is gorgeous," Galinda hissed at her as they entered the bathroom. "You're sitting next to the prince!"
"Yeah, he went to school with Kal, he said," Elphaba said, leaning her hip against the countertop as Galinda began to fuss at her reflection.
"Elphie, he's a prince," Galinda stressed. "Is he single?"
"He's at the singles table," Elphaba reminded her.
Galinda waved a hand. "That just means he wasn't given a plus one," she said, digging in her bag for her lipstick. "Is he single?"
"Why does it matter? You're not."
Galinda looked at Elphaba like she was an idiot. "For you, Elphaba. Honestly."
Elphaba chose to ignore that. "I think you'd know more than me if he's single. You read all the gossip columns every week. All I can tell you is that he believes in fate. And soulmates."
Galinda did not look impressed. "Really? Elphie, we've seen you. Well, Bram can see you from our table. He said you've been talking and laughing with him all night. What are you even talking about if that's all you've learned about him?"
Elphaba's face suddenly felt very warm and for a lack of anything else to do, she turned to the mirror and studied her own reflection.
"We're just talking," she said, unnecessarily smoothing the satin of her dress and squinting slightly at the way the dress seemed a brighter blue under the bathroom lights than it had in her hotel room that morning.
"Elphie, he's totally flirting with you."
"How would you know from the other side of the room when you can't actually see me? And he definishly is not flirting. Don't be ridiculous."
Galinda reapplied her lipstick, even as she snorted. "Elphie, I love you. But that man- Oz, any man- could be dancing naked in front of you wrapped in ribbon with a sign saying 'I want to date you' and you would have no idea about it."
Elphaba's cheeks flamed hotter and she tucked her hair back behind her ears awkwardly, wishing she'd thought to bring a hair tie.
"You're ridiculous," she repeated, for a lack of anything else to say.
Galinda looked at her knowingly in the mirror, but Elphaba shook her head.
"Stop it," she insisted. "I'm just glad there's a chance for some decent conversation for the night, okay?"
"Yes. About fate and soulmates," Galinda replied pointedly.
"We're playing wedding bingo," Elphaba announced, willing to risk Galinda's disapproval in order to change the subject.
Galinda turned to her with a frown. "What?"
Elphaba explained as they left the bathroom, showing her the card when they returned to table eight. Galinda looked rather torn between disapproval and amusement. Bram however, was deep in conversation with Fiyero about how the game had first come about and how to make it, so he didn't seem opposed to the idea.
"Galinda! There you are!"
Elphaba swallowed back a groan as Pfannee joined them, although it didn't matter as Pfannee outright ignored her anyway.
"Hi Pfannee," Galinda greeted her. "I didn't see you after the ceremony. Which table are you at?"
"Table two," Pfannee said, waving a hand in that direction. "With Shen-Shen. Milla looks gorgeous, doesn't she?"
"Perfectly lovely," Galinda agreed. "And the room looks beautiful, doesn't it? I'll have to get the name of her wedding planner from her."
Pfannee sniffed slightly. "Oh, it's a lovely room," she agreed, "but you should work with my wedding planner. This suits Milla and Kal wonderfully; but I mean, Mother says everyone at the club is still talking about my wedding."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, thankful she hadn't been invited to Pfannee's wedding two months prior. From what Galinda had told her about it, it had been a grand spectacle. She didn't wonder that people were still talking about it, but she did wonder what the tone was in which they were speaking.
"I was surprised Milla went with tulips for her flowers," Pfannee was saying. "She was so complimentary about the roses I had at my wedding, remember? And roses have such a different air than tulips, don't they? Not better, necessarily but-"
Elphaba had to interrupt there, because maybe she and Milla weren't really friends, but she didn't deserve Pfannee nitpicking at her wedding choices.
When she cleared her throat, Pfannee's eyes swept over her before she forced a polite smile. "Oh, Elphaba. You came."
"I was invited," Elphaba pointed out.
Pfannee's gaze moved over the table as though seeing it for the first time and she saw the table for what it was in an instant.
"Oh, and you came alone," she said, although Elphaba had no idea why she was surprised about that. It wasn't as though Elphaba had been known to date anyone the entire time they'd known one another.
"Yes," Elphaba agreed.
"Well, that's okay," Pfannee said condescendingly.
Elphaba set her jaw. "I know," she replied, just on the right side of civil.
"Okay," Galinda said hastily, probably sensing that the timer was quickly running down on how long Elphaba and Pfannee could stand to be in one another's presence without blatantly insulting one another. "I think our meals are just about ready- Pfannee, I think your table is being served. Let's go, shall we? Bram, dearest?"
"Yep," Bram agreed and swiftly rose to his feet and relinquishing Elphaba's chair back to her.
As they and Pfannee headed back to their own tables, Elphaba collapsed into the seat with a tired sigh, reaching for her glass before she realised it was empty.
"Ugh."
"I've got it," Fiyero said hastily before she could utter another word, grabbing both their empty glasses and walking away.
Elphaba accepted the fresh drink he brought her with both enthusiasm and grace.
"Friend of yours?"
Elphaba scoffed. "No."
He leaned over and peered at Elphaba's bingo card. "You can probably tick off 'recently married person compares weddings'," he said helpfully. "Better think of a good question."
Elphaba had no idea what made a good question. She hated small talk, and while she wasn't opposed to philosophical discussions (even if she didn't believe in fate), she didn't think Milla's wedding reception was the time and place to do so.
"The story about you getting expelled from a school for stealing a sink," she finally said, recalling a distant rumour that had gone around Shiz during her time there. "True or false?"
Fiyero's face split into a broad grin. "True," he admitted.
"Why?"
"I was dared?"
Elphaba scoffed. "And if someone dared you to streak naked through the room, would you do that too?"
Fiyero raised his eyebrows at her. "Is that a dare?"
"No," she said hastily, cheeks flaming. "I'm just… trying to figure out where you draw the line for a dare."
Also what he even did with the sink once he'd stolen it, but maybe she'd save that for a future question.
Fiyero looked rather thoughtful at that. "I guess if it would hurt someone, that's a no. Or if it was something really highly illegal. I mean, not that I do that anymore. You never did anything dumb when you were younger?"
"Is that your question?" Elphaba countered, cringing inwardly at all the disasters her magic had accidentally caused in her youth. Although whether or not that counted as 'doing' it herself was a whole other question- it wasn't like she had any control over it.
"No," Fiyero said, a touch too vehemently.
She looked at him expectantly, while he studied her carefully. "If you could live anywhere, where would it be?" he finally asked.
"The Emerald City," Elphaba said immediately. She didn't even need to think about it.
"Follow up question- why?"
Elphaba didn't need much prompting to wax poetic about her love for the Emerald City, and that conversation carried them all throughout dinner; only really pausing for obligatory small chat when Milla and Kal came by to greet everyone at the table before the final speeches for the night.
"Thank you for inviting me," Elphaba said to Milla politely.
Milla waved a hand. "Oh, well we had room," she said simply and bent over to talk to Reeta, which pretty much confirmed to Elphaba she was here to fill a seat at a table.
The shoe game that followed the best man's speech won Fiyero another question- it was unanimously agreed among their table that thirty questions met the criteria for "too long"; and Elphaba failed to see why it was necessary or funny to know that Milla spent more time than Kal in the bathroom of a morning.
"What are you waiting for?"
Elphaba blinked at him, not expecting the question. "What?"
Fiyero shrugged, toying with his glass on the table. "I've got the impression you're waiting for something. What is it?"
Elphaba winced slightly. "Galinda and I made a deal that I'd stay until the first dance before I leave," she confessed.
Fiyero's eyebrow quirked slightly and she shrugged. "Milla's really Galinda's friend, not mine. I honestly have no idea why I was even invited, except to fill a seat. I'd never even met Kal until today. And parties… aren't really my thing," she confessed.
Fiyero smiled, leaning in towards her slightly. "It's not so horrendible, is it?"
Elphaba tried to hold his gaze but found herself looking away, her cheeks feeling rather too warm.
"It's been okay," she had to admit. "I just… I don't dance."
"Ah. Shame," Fiyero said lightly. "I love dancing."
Elphaba had no idea what to say to that.
Milla and Kal's first dance was more entertaining than Elphaba had expected. Galinda had told her that Milla and Kal had been taking dance lessons, but she still hadn't expected the lavishly choreographed routine that they performed to wow the crowd. Elphaba craned her head to look over at table four, half-expecting to see Galinda taking notes for her own wedding.
After Kal finished dipping Milla for the last time amid the applause of the guests before handing Milla over to her father for the father-daughter dance, Elphaba glanced down at her bingo card. She'd ticked off a few, but she hadn't completed a row to earn bingo. As far as she was aware, no-one at their table had.
Once the father-daughter dance was over and the floor was opened to the guests at large, Elphaba swiftly rose from her seat.
"Leaving already?" Fiyero asked, looking up at her.
"In a minute," Elphaba said. "I want to catch Galinda before she starts dancing."
Fiyero nodded and she slipped across the room to find Galinda, who didn't look surprised to see her in the least.
"Fiyero couldn't convince you to stay longer?" she greeted her.
Elphaba rolled her eyes, but didn't dignify her with a response. "I'll meet you both for breakfast tomorrow morning?"
"Brunch," Galinda corrected her. "I'll need to sleep in. Ten-thirty?"
"Fine," Elphaba agreed.
"Will you be alright getting back to the hotel?" Bram asked her.
Elphaba smiled slightly. "It's around the corner, I'll be fine."
"Leave a message at the front desk so we know you're there," Galinda ordered and Elphaba dutifully promised.
Elphaba debated for a moment about whether to say goodbye to Milla and Kal, but they were on the dancefloor surrounded by friends, and Elphaba had no desire to step out onto the floor. And really, were they going to miss her?
As she returned to table eight to collect her things, she was a little surprised to see that Fiyero was still sitting there- the only one still at the table.
"Well, it was nice to meet you," she said, picking up her bag and wrap.
"Is your hotel close by?" Fiyero asked, rising to his feet.
"Right around the corner," Elphaba reassured him.
"Okay," he said, but he seemed a little reluctant. "Well, have a good night."
Elphaba faltered, and then almost tentatively extended a hand out to him to shake. Instead of taking it though, Fiyero slipped his bingo card into her hand.
"What's this for?" she asked him bewilderedly.
Fiyero smiled and winked at her. "Bingo," he said and walked away from the table and disappeared among the crowd on the dance floor before Elphaba's eyes.
The lights in the ballroom had been dimmed for dancing, which meant Elphaba wasn't able to look properly at the bingo card until she was back in her hotel room. She hadn't done more than kick off her heels and putting down her bag and wrap before she collapsed onto the bed and examined the card.
Sure enough, Fiyero had marked off five boxes in a row making bingo. But it was the second box in the completed row that gave Elphaba pause.
'Meet someone you'd like to know more' was marked with a tick and an arrow.
Warily, Elphaba turned the card over. There on the back in scrawling handwriting was Fiyero's name and an address.
And well, Galinda may think she's oblivious, but even Elphaba couldn't miss that meaning.
"Huh," she said aloud in the empty room, tapping the card against her palm. "Bingo," she murmured.
AN. Voting for this years Greg Awards, hosted by Fae'sFlower, is open til Dec 30!