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That night Dorothy slept on Alex's chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. Ozma had been offered guest accommodation but chose to stay with the two of them. no one was going to argue with the queen over this point. she was presently asleep on their sofa just like she had done in the palace. Early enough, dorothy awoke and stepped off of alex's chest. This roused him immediately as instinct caused him to go for his sword. Dorothy found herself wondering what he had been dreaming about as she hopped off the bed and walked over to the couch Ozma was on. She jumped up onto her and curled up on her chest, immediately a hand went to her head and started scratching her behind the ears.
"Alright you twoooo, oh yea right there." She purred still enjoying the sensation.
"yeessss?" they both asked playfully.
Dorothy jumped off of Ozma and giggled best she could.
"alright, no ear scratching or chin scratching until later, I'm enjoying it way too much." Dorothy said purring a little, then shaking out her fur.
They shared a chuckle as Alex rolled off the bed and walked over to the two of them. sitting down on the sofa, and taking Ozma's feet onto his lap. Dorothy sat there and watched; her tail swishing left to right.
"Worried you might decide to stay a cat, Kitten?" alex asked teasingly.
"a little" dorothy answered a little sheepishly
"honestly, the purring was rather relaxing." Alex said, his hands moving to give Ozma a massage.
Dorothy watched as Ozma looked at him, she squeezed her eyes shut and sighed.
"okay, yea, I can see why dorothy likes this so much." She said with a slight giggle.
"honestly, you do feel quite tense." Alex said looking at her "relax Ozma, you're with us now."
Ozma took a few deep breaths and did loosen up a little. She giggled
"oh I know, its just…I worry about you guys, you two especially." Ozma said looking down at dorothy.
"because stuff like this has a tendency to happen." Dorothy said nodding, "and we're the focal point of disaster, they don't use us to get to you guys, whatever force is out there uses you guys to get to us."
"Honestly the latter I'm not as worried about, I have my own means, even Evanora and the Imps didn't leave me in an impossible situation." Ozma said sighing and looking down at dorothy, "Even at her height of power, Evanora couldn't keep an enchantment on me long without diligence." She sighed.
"yes and while you were indisposed by her our word was literally law, because you never got around to mentioning I'm your second in command." Dorothy said jumping back up onto and walking up her to be face to face.
"In my defense that was a very busy week." Ozma said giggling, "you know that."
"Oh I know, only teasing." She said thrusting her head forward rubbing against Ozma's cheek and chin affectionately.
Ozma giggled at this, but listened to dorothy's orders of no ear or chin scratching. The three of them sat there in mostly silence for about 20 minutes before a knock interrupted them.
"it should be unlocked!" Alex called.
The door swung open and Cassandra hobbled in, she handed another visitors badge to the queen.
"so, you three are still settled nicely I see." Cassandra said summoning a chair for herself.
Toto and pockets finally stirred at this. Both of them jumping off the bed and walking over tiredly to figure out what was going on. They were perturbed to find that it wasn't much. They sat there in silence as Cassandra talked.
"Now, this transformation relapse was a long time coming Miss Gale." Cassandra said with a chuckle, "No one in our little group is even remotely surprised by the fact that your shape defaulted to your Calico shape."
"yes…she does make for a rather cute calico doesn't she?" Ozma asked affectionately
"Oh she does, but that's not the point your majesty." Cassandra said tapping her stick against the carpeted floor, "the point is that she is at present stuck, and as a student that puts her in an even more dangerous position"
"yes, because she's small and just straight up tendencies towards trouble." Alex said with a chuckle.
"she's also the guardian of the Grimmerie now." Cassandra said glancing over at the satchel.
The scepter let out several pings at this point.
"she's got a point, Cassandra, we knew well in advance that there was little we could do if a relapse happened, and the Grimmerie is currently locked with a key that's back at the palace, so not much we can do in that regard." Alex said firmly.
"Oh I am well aware, but it would be advisable to keep that satchel close to the three of you." Cassandra said her eyes falling purely on dorothy now.
They seemed to stare through her, to penetrate her. as though looking into her soul.
"The slippers are also in there, so its not like anyone can do much in the way of rummaging around in there." Alex pointed out, his stance still firm as he released ozma feet and got up.
The scepter pinged and in a flash he was in his regular suit, the one with the purple velvet coat. He straightened the cuffs and walked over to the satchel, picking it up and putting it over his shoulder.
"Nothing is getting this if I have anything to say about it, even if I have to tear apart whoever tries." Alex said, this time there was no hint of the voice, this was him and him alone, his devotion at play.
"oh please don't say things like that alex, I wont have you stooping to my level just to keep things safe." Dorothy said pleadingly.
"And I don't condone that kind of violence either, even if the mindset of you and the beast has saved our lives on more than a few occasions" Ozma said firmly.
"and the only thing that could physically stop him is Windy." Cassandra said looking at the scepter, "only one with magic strong enough to contain his endless strength."
"that's why we're pleading" Dorothy said jumping off of Ozma and padding over to him, looking up at him with big sad eyes.
"Kitten, if it comes between me and any of you, you know I wont hesitate." Alex said looking down at her
"and I'm worried that kind of a mindset could consume you both, the things I've done, I wasn't given a further choice, I couldn't step back from the jester and let him live, I was more or less controlled with what happened to Evanora." Dorothy said her eyes glistening, "you still have a choice, Defense only, no offense." She said, "you are not a soldier, I know that's not you."
"you say that kitten, but I've been an unofficial member of Glinda's army since the jester tried to take over, I am your soldier, and I will defend you, Ozma, and Oz itself, even if it eventually gets me killed."
"And that's what worries me." She said rubbing against his leg, "we don't know how far you can go, but trust me, its an awfully long way to fall."
Alex sat on the floor crosslegged and looked at her, Ozma soon joined him and gave the same sad look dorothy was.
"Look, I'll hold back for your guy's sake, put the dog on a leash as it were if we want to keep the canine puns up." He said petting dorothy from head to tail, "but like I said, if it comes down to it, I'm less breakable than you guys are, I will not hesitate to defend you guys at any cost."
Dorothy arched her back from the petting, she crawled up onto his lap and nuzzled his neck. Sometimes it really didn't occur to her how much taller he was than she. At her full height he was almost half a head taller than her, closer to his father's height.
"I suppose that's the best we're going to get from you…" ozma said kissing his cheek, giggling as she watched dorothy nuzzle him.
"Keeping the beast on a short leash is in fact preferable." Cassandra said turning to face them, "does her majesty intend on staying longer than Sunday evening?"
"I would, but if its not convenient to everyone." Ozma started to say.
"you can sit in on Mondays lecture." Cassandra cut her off, "it seems I will be shifting the syllabus slightly forward, to discuss transformations."
"I thought we weren't supposed to start on that until closer to Halloween?" Alex asked.
"change of plans, what better way to start than with a practical lesson." She said clacking her stick against the floor.
Immediately the little blue compendium slipped from alex's coat pocket and floated in front of him. turning to the page bringing up transformation relapses, then a text book flew from the nearby desk and landed on the floor, spooking Dorothy, Pockets, and Toto. Toto growled angrily for a moment, only for pockets to nuzzle him and calm him down.
Alex looked at the page, "Transformations, what why and how." He read off, "honestly Cassandra we've been here a month give or take and this is the first time we've even cracked open on of the textbooks."
"only goes down hill from here, I promise." She said getting to her feet "Read up."
Meanwhile elsewhere on the campus Elphaba was looking at the dorm. Whispers on the wind from students about Ozma's presence. She knew things would eventually get complicated, Dorothy and Alex were very dear to the Queen and she knew it. she couldn't fault her, nor was she in a position to stop her. she walked in as Cassandra walked out.
"Change in lesson plan for Monday, start on transformations." Cassandra said as she passed Elphaba by.
"you say that like I'm going to be surprised." Elphaba said as Cassandra hobbled away.
The campus was waking up, it was Saturday, the best day to try and do stuff. She sighed and walked through the halls to Dorothy and Alex's room. She found the three of them huddled around the sorcery text book.
"I'd figured you'd be masters on transformations by now." Elphaba said with a giggle, unable to contain herself.
"you say to the girl who's lucky if she keeps her natural shape for more than a year." Dorothy said sighing, "Morris! Wendell!" she called
"yes boss?" they both asked appearing.
"where is Maddie, and why hasn't she come in to make a remark yet?" Dorothy asked sounding rather concerned.
"She's reading up, seeing if theres anything she might be able to do about the transformation relapse." Wendell said firmly, "said it was like chasing a shadow."
"not inaccurate." Elphaba said sighing
Dorothy winced best she could and before she could demand maddie's presence, she was right next to morris and Wendell, looking like she had barely slept a wink.
"You look terrible." Elphaba said bluntly, "have you slept at all?"
"not really, seeing as I am a part of dorothy, theres a part of me that drives to try and help her, to…varying levels of success." Madeline said walking over to the trio, "and yes, you are really stuck riding this out, Dot" she said scratching her behind the ears.
"Okay, you know the rule she instated, you're in her head." Alex said watching and listening as Dorothy purred loudly.
"and?" Maddie asked curiously, "I've had a long night, give me this one."
"Maddie, get so, ooooh yea, right there, just behin…" Dorothy said as Maddie found a particularly nice spot behind her right ear, she quickly moved away realizing she was enjoying it again, "just go to the dreamscape for an hour, I know how it works remember?"
Madeline nodded and smiled at her.
"morris, Wendell?" she asked turning to them.
"yes boss?" they replied.
"wake me in about an hour, going to get that power nap in" she said with a giggle.
"now that just feels like a waste of a dreamscape." Elphaba said, madeline vanishing before she could stop her.
"she's more irresponsible than I am at ttimes." Dorothy said shaking out her fur.
"she is you in a way though, just less…reserved." Alex pointed out, "Not bound to convention, just like you aren't, she's unique in that respect."
Dorothy sighed and sat down again. alex took a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it in the book. Shutting it and using it as a book mark. He got up and set the book back on the desk.
"how long you wager before other students come trying to get a look at the queen?" Dorothy asked looking over at Elphaba.
"Oh soon enough, the campus is already waking up." Elphaba said stretching a little
"surprised Glinda isn't here breathing down our necks for this." Came Ellie's voice from behind.
She was still in her nightgown, despite everything though she looked as if she had just gotten out of bed.
"Oh, Ellie, did we wake you?" Dorothy asked curiously.
Ellie shook her head, Jude soon came up behind her.
"no we've been awake, we've just felt the constant shift in magic and then heard Cassandra leaving so figured we'd come check on you." Ellie said stretching herself a bit.
"I see…"Dorothy said going over to her friend, rubbing up against her ankles
Ellie giggled, stepping back from her.
"Dorothy, stop, that tickles." She said giggling.
"I was hoping it still would" she said giggling and bolting back to the bed
"oh-ho-ho, now that's a new one, you being the tease." Elphaba said biting back giggles.
"Anything to see her smile." Alex, Ozma, and dorothy said in unison.
"and its rather appreciated." Ellie said giggling, squealing as Jude wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Dor…oh wow it's a party in here." Zeb said pushing past Ellie and jude
"yes Zeb?" Dorothy asked curiously, looking at him.
"Elena wanted to know if you guys wanted to just use her bed tray this morning instead of risking the Cantine." Zeb said looking around.
The three of them shared a glance with each other. This actually was a fairly decent question. Alex himself had already made up his mind to go there and grab some things as well as a pot of tea for them. work on some of the small assignments then making the effort to relax.
"I think the tray would be preferable this morning." Dorothy said sitting on the bed, rocking to bounce on it a little.
"we're going to have to face our fellow students eventually though, its not escaped notice that Ozma is here." Elphaba said.
"Especially since Cassandra got me a visitor's badge." Ozma said giggling "and offered to let me sit in on Monday's lecture."
Elphaba stared at the queen for a moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. Taking a long breath in and a deep sigh out.
"you know, I know that these guys are basically your retinue, and not much is liable to happen to you…you know what I'm not even going to consider arguing with Cassandra, I'd have better luck with a glacier." She said leaning against the wall.
Zeb took this time to take his leave, he and elena would return a few minutes later with the bed tray, which produced a charcuterie board with various cheeses and meats on it. this was actually a surprise to all of them as it was the first time it had only produced something that was served cold or room temperature. It also served up a plate of Tuna for dorothy. None of them complained, and once the hour was up, madeline returned with a tea tray and looking more refreshed. She set a saucer down for dorothy to lap at and sat on the floor with them.
"Found a note in my room to bring the collar for Monday's lecture…I am actually a tiny bit worried as to what Cassandra has planned." Madeline said looking over to Elphaba.
"Wow, you're worried?" Dorothy asked looking down at her.
"Yes, because we really don't need to end up with two of us in this situation." Madeline said, "and I'm not just talking my self."
"honestly unlikely for her to try it on you, you two were shifting back and forth so many times with the imps its wonder you haven't relapsed" Elphaba said chuckling, "I think its more likely she'd ask Alex, or maybe even Ozma herself to do it, since alex just go off a relapse not long ago, and Ozma being half faerie is made of a bit stronger stuff than the average magic user"
"I wouldn't mind, Glinda and locasta got to do practical demonstrations, I'd like a turn to if I'm to be a guest." Ozma said excitedly.
"I was afraid you'd say that." Elphaba said pinching the bridge of her nose again.
"thanks, feeling loved." Ozma teased.
"well, if you get your heart set on it, we wont stop you." Dorothy and alex both said.
"besides, Glinda will be livid just watching." Ellie said with a conspiratorial giggle.
"Theres also that." Dorothy said jumping off of the bed having eaten her fill, "still playing with fire, we're all bound to get burned."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, its just a little game at the end of the day." Alex said reaching over and picking her up, pulling her onto his lap.
"you could have said the same thing about the imps." Dorothy said nuzzling up against his coat.
"yea, well, whatever the rules of fair play were, we beat them at it…or rather imp-etuous did by bringing back Oscar." he said gently stroking along her back.