Could it be there's someone who wants my love? /
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only girl in the whole world who's not been kissed/
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person who doesn't know what it is
~o0o~
Elphaba enjoyed the book greatly. She wouldn't have considered something like it otherwise, but she was hooked and ended up devouring the whole thing in one sitting.
"Thank you for walking me to my dorm, Fiyero," said Galinda.
"Of course," he said. "I had fun." He poked his head into the room. "Still up, El?"
"Just finished the book," she said. "I'm looking forward to discussing it with you at breakfast."
He grinned and winked. "It's a date. Night!"
He left and Galinda slammed the door.
"What game are you playing?" she demanded.
"It's called reading a book," said Elphaba, placing it in her hair.
"No! Madame Morrible came to the party to give me a training wand. I start lessons with you tomorrow."
She held up the training wand as proof.
"That's good," said Elphaba.
"She said you insisted."
"I did."
"Why?"
Elphaba pushed up her glasses. "Because you want it so badly. Because you peek at my Sorcery textbooks when you think I'm not looking. Because your essay actually makes a really good point about wands not being the only valid channel of magic, and you did something nice for my sister by getting her a date and making her feel accepted by her peers."
Galinda stared at her a long moment and sat down on her own bed.
"Oh."
"You seem pissed about something. What happened?"
Her roommate scowled and busied about removing her shoes and jewelry.
"I was with Fiyero," she said icily. "And he mostly asked about you."
"Well, green people aren't very common," Elphaba reasoned. "He probably wanted to hear the innuendo and outuendo about me. I'm just a novelty."
"Oz, are you dense? He likes you and I can't figure out why he'd pick you over me!"
Elphaba paused and looked at her.
"I just talked to him," she said. "Like a normal person."
"He's better than a normal person, he's a prince!"
"And a boy." Elphaba eased under the covers. "I don't think it's more than a curiosity anyway. Soon enough he'll get bored and decide he's perfect with you."
"We are perfect together," said Galinda. "But he wants to meet you for breakfast."
"Well, think of it this way," said Elphaba. "If you're dating Fiyero, men will stop doing things for you to win your affections. After all, how could they even compete to steal you from a man like Fiyero?"
Galinda gasped. "You are absolutely right! I hadn't considered that!"
Elphaba switched off her lamp and rolled towards the wall.
"Do you like him?"
"I don't know," Elphaba sighed. "Yes, Fiyero was kind to me and we talked a lot, but it could also be a trick and tomorrow he and everyone else will be laughing over how stupid I am to think he'd ever want to be my friend."
"Oh." Galinda was silent a moment. "Well, for what it's worth, I think he thinks you're the bee's knees."
Elphaba wasn't sure how to respond to that and ended up drifting off. Her alarm woke her up at seven, but this time Galinda rolled over and went back to sleep muttering about the time.
Three hours to go.
At eight o'clock, a knock came at her door and she answered to find Fiyero in his school uniform.
"Morning," he said, smiling brilliantly.
"I'm impressed you got up so early," she said, grabbing her bag.
"Never went to sleep," he admitted. "Ended up unpacking instead."
They walked to the diner. Elphaba loved autumn and decided that if she was going to be stuck repeating the same day indefinitely, at least it wasn't bitterly cold or uncomfortably hot.
The waitress from yesterday looked thrilled to see them again and sat them down in her section readily, especially when the other servers wrinkled their noses at Elphaba.
"Coffee and those peach pancakes," said Fiyero. "Full breakfast."
"Same, but just the coffee and pancakes for me," said Elphaba.
Velilah brought them their coffee first. Fiyero loaded his up with sugar and creamer while Elphaba just sipped hers black. It was actually pretty good coffee. It was smooth.
"That book was great," she said. "I really enjoyed it. Thank you for the recommendation. Tell me honestly, are you really like the rakish Earl or is that all gossip."
"Don't be ridiculous, I don't have three brothers," he said.
Elphaba laughed and Fiyero grinned.
"Glad you liked it," he said. "It's not my favorite, but the drama is almost addicting."
"Agreed," Elphaba laughed. "I don't know how two people could be so stupid about love. Not that I'm an expert at it myself. Though, if by some remote chance my sister and I loved the same person, I wouldn't hesitate to step aside for her happiness."
"Even at the cost of your own?" he asked, frowning.
"That's the story of my life."
"I see…"
An unsettled silence fell.
"Planning on attending class today?" she asked to break it.
"Thinking about it," he said. "I have Life Science and Logic/Statistics."
"Logic is a pretty advanced course," she noted.
She was able to test into it herself, skipping over Algebra and Calculus thanks to her academic awards. She didn't particularly enjoy math and it was a subject that required longer study time but that was easy when you had no other life to speak of.
"I already took Algebra and Calc," he said, shrugging. "They're my only college credits and my classes were picked for me this time instead of getting to register them myself."
"Do you enjoy math?"
"I wouldn't say that," he said. "I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to go to class, but it's not as stupid as my other classes."
"Stupid?"
He nodded.
"I don't have to get it," he explained. "I just have to accept that it is what it is and I do alright. Yeah, I can get into a little trouble when I have to stack the equations and might get a little mixed up, but I don't need to know why it's like that, I just have to decide that they do that."
"And you can't apply that to other subjects?"
He rolled his eyes.
"You sound like my mother," he huffed. "No, it's different, because science is always changing. Something could be accepted as fact one day and disproven the next. History has so many names and dates and then a letter is found and suddenly all those names and dates are wrong. And don't even get me started on the idiots who go around saying, 'Look at this strange hook! Clearly it's used as a torture device by those barbaric Vinkuns!' and no, it's not. When it's below freezing, you can't exactly take your hat off to scratch your head, so the mountain tribes carry small hooks around to get into their hats."
"Is that why you point at things with your lips?" Elphaba asked.
"Hm?"
She copied the movement she'd seen him make.
"Oh! That's just a Vinkun thing," he said. "Pointing with your finger is considered rude, though you won't exactly start a fight if you do point with a finger these days."
"Ah."
"And literature!" he said, his thought process looping back around. "If there are multiple ways to interpret a work, then how am I always getting it wrong? Enough said. At least, with no doubt, we have accepted that two plus two equals four."
"Those… are valid points," said Elphaba. "I don't know, I love how things grow and change with new discoveries. I think people will always leak their personal bias into their studies, that's just how they are, but that's why multiple experiments are done. So the most common answer becomes accepted as fact with some exceptions. Yes, it's annoying when you learn something one year and the next you find out it's wrong or infinitely more complicated, but you know three hundred years ago everyone knew illness was passed by miasma or imbalance of the four humors, but now we know germ theory. We also discovered that draining your blood via leeches sure does fix your illness by making you dead."
Fiyero snorted and cracked a grin.
"Okay, good point," he said. "I know I'm not smart, but I hate when teachers are assholes about it and try to shame me as if by some miracle I'll wake up tomorrow with a brain."
"Dr. Dillamond isn't like that," said Elphaba. "He really wants everyone to look at the past so those mistakes aren't repeated in the future. It's heartbreaking to see no one cares and I have to wonder if this disrespect is because everyone here seems to think university is just for having a good time or because he's an Animal."
"I have noticed growing Animal biases," said Fiyero. "It's not as bad in the Vinkus, I mean, we have Animals on the Council of the Twelve Tribes, but at meetings even I notice that Chief Rebane of the Huli Tribe gets talked over and dismissed a lot and she's a Fox. Same with Chief Akila of the Ze'ev Tribe and Chief Thunder of the Turnis Tribe."
"I think someone should tell the Wizard," said Elphaba. "That's why we have a Wizard."
"I guess."
Elphaba frowned. "You guess?"
"I'm just a little wary of a man who hides away in his palace all day and sends someone else to do his bidding," said Fiyero. "I've only seen him maybe once or twice in my life and I'd think people could get used to his appearance. The man he sends to meet with us for everything else, Oscar Diggs, is pretty smarmy. He makes a damn good elixir, though, I'll give him that."
Elphaba hummed and looked down at her coffee pensively.
"Well, hey, maybe he's just shy about his appearance," said Fiyero quickly. "And I think you'd make a way better Grandvizier than Diggs. I bet you'd be able to make a difference."
"I hope so," she sighed. "But for now I'm just… stuck."
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I get that."
The pancakes were some of the best she'd ever had. The peaches were warm and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.
When the check came Fiyero paid, reasoning that he had asked her to breakfast and solved the mystery of what to do about a second date.
"So how does dating work then?" Elphaba asked as they walked back to school.
"Depends," said Fiyero. "I've done both kinds of dating, one where you go steady and the other where you just go out. I've dated girls where I passed by her last date on my way to pick her up. Though lately it's been easier to just pick a girl and go with her for as long as I'm at a school. Fewer misunderstandings that way. You've never dated?"
"Yesterday was my first date," she said. "I've been asked out as a joke plenty of times, though."
"Can't imagine why," he said. "You're pretty groovy."
"Thank you, you're groovy as well."
He beamed.
"All things considered, perhaps we should keep these dates on the casual side," said Elphaba. "Platonic."
She wasn't sure if she really wanted that but it was the safest option.
"That's alright with me," he said. "What class do you have?"
"Life Sciences."
"Yeah? Fate may be trying to tell us something," he said with a charming grin.
"Maybe," Elphaba chuckled. "Or maybe Morrible just copied my schedule so that I could tutor you without distracting too much from my own studies."
"Oh, I was wondering why I had Sorcery on here," he teased.
She led him to the building and Fiyero opened the door for her.
"After you," he said.
"Why thank you," she said.
She stepped across the threshold, heard the squeal of tires, and jumped back before Fiyero's horseless carriage could run her down.
"No," she whined and collapsed against the carriage. "Shit."
"Hey! Off the carriage, miss," said Av.
She made a rude gesture and didn't move.
"Uh, Yero, we're here," said Av. "And some fan is breathing on the carriage."
Elphaba remained as she was until someone tapped her shoulder. She raised her head and Fiyero jerked back in surprise.
"Not a fan," she said. "I mean, you're nice, but I'm just having a crisis."
"Ah." He reached into his boot and pulled out a flask. "Need a drink?"
She accepted it and took a large swig, surprised the liquor was cool. She examined the flask and saw a sigil used to keep the contents within the container at a cool temperature.
"I think my nose is on fire," she said, handing it back.
"Yeah, it's got a kick," he chuckled and tipped his head. "Have we met? You look familiar to me."
Elphaba furrowed her brow and felt a flutter of hope. Was he remembering?
"Where do you think we could have met?" she asked cautiously.
He hummed, drumming his fingers against his cheek.
"Ah! The Emerald City!" he said. "They love green there."
Guess not.
"No," she said and straightened up. "I've never been. We've never met before today, I'm sorry for confusing you. I should go."
"Hey, I'm throwing a party tonight," said Fiyero. "You should come. It'll be fun."
"I'll think about it," she said and started to walk away, then turned back. "I have a weird question."
"I have a weird answer," he countered.
"If you had all the time in the world to do anything you wanted, no consequence, what would you do?" she asked.
"Anything I want?" he said. "No consequences.l?"
"Correct."
"Uhh. Party."
"You do that anyway."
He nodded. "Yeah, good point. Hm… Oh! I would learn every instrument so I could show off."
Building a skill. She never considered that beyond honing her magic.
"That's a good idea," she said.
He preened. "I've been known to have them once in a while, Miss…"
"Elphaba." She offered her hand.
"Fiyero." He shook it firmly. "So what do you do for fun around here?"
"Me personally or the general population?"
"Let's start with you personally."
"Not a damn thing."
"Ah-ha. And everyone else?"
"Not a damn thing."
He laughed. "I see this school desperately needs my help."
"Well, hello there!"
Elphaba was shoved to the side by Galinda and her satellites. Her feet tangled up and she fell to the ground, catching herself wrong.
"Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands! This is Pfannee, Milla, and ShenShen," said Galinda. "Are you attending Shiz now, Your Highness?"
"No, he just likes to go to random schools to throw a shindig," said Elphaba, clutching her arm. "I think you hurt my wrist."
"Don't stand where you're not wanted then," said Pfannee. "Better yet, drop off the face of the earth!"
Fiyero stared at the popular girls then offered his hands to Elphaba. She accepted his help in standing and winced slightly.
"Careful, Your Highness," said Milla, looking genuinely worried. "I hear the green is contagious."
Elphaba scowled as the girls twittered, then got an idea. She inhaled deeply a few times.
"Ah… Ah—ACHOO!" She flicked her hands and suddenly their clothes and hair turned green. "Oh! Looks like you're right! The green is contagious."
They started screaming and wiping at it to try to get it to come off.
Elphaba walked away and winced. She should've just tried with one hand. She wasn't sure if her wrist was broken or sprained, but man did it hurt.
"Hey, how'd you do that?" Fiyero asked. He had caught the edge of the spell and looked as if he'd been splattered with green paint.
"Magic," she said and blew a puff of air, reverting him and the mean girls back to normal.
"Yeah, but I've never seen it used so casually," he said. "I didn't know anyone could cast magic like that unless they were super old and had a ton of practice."
"It is just practice," she said. "But I'm twenty-one."
Technically. If she was going by her time in the loop she'd be about his age.
"I should go," she said.
"Where you going?" he asked.
"The library."
He made a face.
"Ah. Would you be interested in coming to the party tonight?" he asked.
"No," she said. "After that stunt I pulled with those four they'll be out for blood and the last party I went to ended with the contents of the punchbowl getting dumped over my head."
"I see."
"Maybe some other time."
"Sure," he agreed and headed back to spread his 'wisdom.'
Elphaba sighed and hurried ahead. Rather than go to the library, she just kept walking and thinking.
What she wanted to do… how she wanted to proceed with her suspended life. She was aimless, but tried to note places she found even slightly interesting. A lot of shops seemed to offer daily classes open to anyone. That was one way to keep business up, wasn't it? Get people interested so they would buy the products offered to keep up the hobby at home.
"Move it!" a woman shouted, shoving her.
Asshole. Elphaba skirted out of the way.
Several men tugging on ropes gaped at her in shock, their grips growing slack. She looked up just in time to see the piano coming at her.