wicked-secretsanta - Tumblr blog

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @mudefrau!

The evening sun gilds the trees and hanging moss and reflection off the water into something precious, the chorus of the wetland-bugs rises like a welcome, and Nessarose is distraught, because Elphaba is leaving.

She must not show it, of course. She sits on the end of Elphaba’s bed, watching owl-faced as her elder sister packs up what little she owns.

“What do you think, Nessa, the red or the brown?” Elphaba is holding up a pair of traveling dresses, the only two she owns that are physically suitable for the rigors of the journey.

“The red clashes horribly, you know this.”

“You’re right, first impressions are so vital to the life of any girl newly blossomed into adulthood. Finding a way to stand out is of paramount importance,” she says as she folds up and packs away the brown dress, setting aside the red one to wear tomorrow.

Nessarose scoffs in nominal disgust, for the sake of appearances, but lacking any teeth. “A noteworthy first impression is important, yes, but not so important that it’s worth making the faithful think they need to perform an exorcism on you.”

“Assuming any remain.”

“Shiz is a Unionist university, correct?”

“It was, originally, but it’s become rather secular, even the pleasure faith has been rumored to grow amongst the student body.”

“Well, perhaps the faculty will be more sensible. Are they not renowned for their wisdom and experience? Is that not why they were chosen to shepherd young, impressionable minds towards a gracious adulthood?”

“One would hope.”

Elphaba had stopped, staring at nothing with a shadow in her eyes. Nessa tries to not wish for arms very often, her condition must after all be crucial to the Unnamed God’s plan for her, but she thinks it must not be blasphemous to wish she could put a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder.

She settles for words. “Well, even if the contents have rotted, the structure might yet be sound, no?”

“It’s the library I’m most interested in, actually,” Elphaba says, avoiding the question, “Since Shiz was an old Unionist school, they’ve got one of the largest repositories of very old Unionist texts. I’m interested in comparing the origins of the religion to its modern state, and seeing if I can trace back how it got here.”

And there it is. Nessa knows Elphaba must be only posturing when she throws her supposed atheism into their father’s face; after all, who but the truly devout would put so much effort into understanding the growth of this religion, to learn which supposed “traditions” are in truth harmful later additions that must be scraped away?

Even if Elphaba claims to reject the faith, should she devote herself to it beyond university, why, she might be the greatest thing to happen to Unionism since the Saints of old. Truly living up to her name.

“That sounds wonderful. You’ll keep me up-to-date with your findings, won’t you?”

Elphaba’s expression softens into the warm face reserved exclusively for Nessa. “Of course,” she says, with a gentle yet toothy smile that displays her unusually sharp canines.

Her teeth, her skin, her aversion to water, her sandpaper personality, all of these things make others think Elphaba some demon of prophecy, a human-shaped incarnation of a draconic herald of the apocalypse.

But here is the truth: Elphaba is tame for Nessa. Elphaba is gentle for Nessa. Nessa is certain that the Unnamed God gave them to each other for a reason: the dragon that would have raged across field and city has instead become the guardian of a holy woman. Or something along those lines. Whether Elphaba truly has faith does not matter, because her love for Nessa is the most real thing in the world.

In the most locked-down, guarded space in her heart, she thinks Elphaba’s love is more real, even, than Father’s love for her.

And Elphaba is leaving.

“But do you have to go now? Couldn’t you wait a couple years and go with me, when the time comes?”

Elphaba sighs, deep and heavier than her lungs should allow. “Nessa, if I stay in this house much longer, I fear I will no longer be able to restrain myself, and might one day tear Father’s throat out.” She is outgrowing them, the house too small to stretch her wings.

“You won’t hurt him if I’m there.”

“But you can’t be with me every moment of the day,” I wish I could, “And besides, every day I spend here is another day I risk slipping on a wayward patch of lichen and falling into the water, and then there would be nothing to threaten Father at all.”

“We could go back to Colwen Grounds together.”

“Without Father? You know he loved Turtle Heart too much to abandon this cause.”

“Well, Nanny would be happy at least.”

“You are not wrong.” Her smile fades. “But Nessa, I have to go. I can’t— can’t stay still any longer.”

Nessa sighs. “Alright.” She worries, privately, about what Elphaba will become without her. “But we will write frequently, yes?”

“Of course.” And in that secluded spot in her heart, Nessa worries about what she will become without Elphaba.

Worries that Elphaba’s true gentleness and affection might no longer be reserved for her. That Elphaba might find someone who can give her something Nessarose couldn’t, and decide that this other person is more important.

That she might be a part of what Elphaba is outgrowing.

Not that she allows herself to articulate this thought into words, even in her own mind.

Elphaba stands up straight, then, and turns around to rummage through her things.

“Listen, Nessa— about Turtle Heart.”

“Yes,” she says shortly. That frayed knot at the beginning of her existence—something that should have been a shame on her father, perhaps, but which Father had instead turned into the fuel for his holy mission.

“When he first came to our parents, he made something for me.” She pulls out a glass disc, at first appearing to be a pale green, but displaying a subtle iridescence as it turns in the light. “I want you to have it. Something of him.”

Nessa frowns. “Would he have approved of me getting something like this?”

“Oh, Nessa, he would have adored you.” Elphaba places the disc in the satchel Nessa has strung around her shoulders.

Then, Nessa pitches forward into Elphaba’s embrace. They are both silent.

The moment is broken by Nanny barging into the room. “Do you two have any idea what time it is? Nessa must come to bed, now, it gets dark so late this time of year, we wouldn’t want to deprive her of her sleep, now would we?”

Nessa stands up to leave, then turns back with a questioning look.

“I’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up,” says Elphaba, “But I will write, of course.”

Of course.

“Farewell, then,” Nessa says, and leaves.

She ends up placing the disc on her nightstand, unsure of what else to do with it.Father has said that Turtle Heart taught him to make this sort of thing. So she doesn’t feel too bad a few days later when she bumps up against the desk and watches, helpless to reach out and catch it, as the disc falls and shatters against the floor.

#mudefrau #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

13 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @festivating!

Special message: happy holidays, my friend! I hope you enjoy this fic, I had so much fun writing it!

Read it on Ao3

Galinda gazed out the window at the snowflakes whirling through the air. This was not the first snowfall of the season- that had been the evening of Morrible’s first poetry soiree- and it surely wouldn’t be the last. But still, she found herself captivated by the phenomenon every time. She had better things to do. It was exam week and, as boring as the idea seemed, she knew that she should follow her roommate’s lead and study.

She sighed to herself as she tried to focus on her studying: a task which proved to be much easier said than done. How was she to maintain her concentration with such beautiful snowfall? And the prospect of winter recess only being a few days away was far too exciting. A few weeks away from the stress of classes would be much needed after—

A knocking at the door shook her from her thoughts. Elphaba, who had been silently studying on her bed, went to answer it. At the door was Morrible’s unnerving little Tiktok contraption, with a note in its claw-like hands. Elphaba took it and swiftly shut the door in the steely face of the miserable little creature.

“Miss Elphaba?” Galinda watched Elphaba’s dark eyes scan over the note, “What is it?”

“There’s a snowstorm coming– they say it’s going to make traveling out of the valley near impossible and that any student wishing to travel home for winter recess must leave by sunrise tomorrow or wait until after the blizzard passes.”

Galinda could only stare at her roommate in astonishment. She couldn’t leave that soon, she still had to take her sorcery exam, and there was no way Morrible would let her leave campus before taking her test.

Elphaba set the note on the nightstand and took up her previous position– folded up on her bed poring over some presumably dull reading. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t planning on going home anyways. And an even better thing that Nanny and Nessa left early– surely they’ve made it past the mountains and are safely on their way home by now.”

Galinda still didn’t have any words. This was supposed to be her time to go home and celebrate Lurlinemas, to finally see her parents again, to finally get some time away from Elphaba. Though she had begun to grow rather fond of the green girl, she didn’t know if she could bear the idea of spending the entire winter recess stuck with her.

“Will you be heading home, Miss Galinda?” Elphaba asked, and Galinda was surprised that she had taken an interest in her personal matters, even looking up from her book to pose the question.

“I don’t think I can,” Galinda replied, “I still have exams to take– we have our sorcery exam tomorrow afternoon, far beyond the cutoff for which we can safely leave.”

“Right,” Elphaba set down her book, standing up again from her favorite spot on the bed, green limbs unfurling like the fronds of a fern, “Seems we’ll be stuck here, then. I’m going to venture out and ask the boys what their plans are. Perhaps we can gather for some festivities, if we all are to be stuck on campus.”

“Very well.” Galinda said, and pretended to focus intently on her textbook as Elphaba bundled up in a thick trenchcoat and clunky boots. As she headed out the door, Galinda found herself amazed with the fact that Elphaba was so quick to make the best out of the situation. Where was Elphaba’s usual brand of dry humor and cynicism?

Galinda closed her textbook. If even Miss Elphie, in all her terribleness, was going to make the most of being stuck here, then it was only natural that she should do the same.

She hunched down on the floor in a most unladylike manner, rummaging under the bed until she found a box of Lurlinemas decorations she had intended to put up several weeks ago. Now that she was sure to be here for the entirety of winter recess, decorations were much needed.

–

The sun had nearly set and Elphaba had not yet returned. Galinda was worried– and was surprised by that fact. Since when did she care so much for her roommate?

She gave this a moment of thought, then decided that it was probably around the same time she’d first been caught by the surprise of her strange, unfamiliar beauty on that rainy autumn night. Embarrassingly, her heart fluttered at the memory of that terrible hat and Elphaba’s vehement insistence that she was in fact, not beautiful.

With a frustrated sigh, she dismissed the thought, resuming her task of adorning the room in Lurlinemas decorations. Tinsel and wreaths and garlands covered every suitable surface. She’d propped up an artificial tree in the corner of the room. It was much taller than her, and she struggled with properly adorning its higher branches with decorations.

Elphaba finally stomped in, those miserably clunky black boots making quite a ruckus. “What in Oz’s name have you done…” she sighed as she shrugged off her jacket, taking in the sight of the room covered in even more decorations than usual.

“Do you like it?” Galinda asked, though she didn’t much care what the answer was. She’d keep the decor up either way.

Elphaba toyed with some of the garland that hung over the fireplace, “It’s a bit… much. Unionist holidays don’t involve nearly this much decorating.”

“What do they involve then?”

“Mostly repenting.”

“How dull…” Galinda was still pondering how to decorate the top part of the tree that was out of her reach. She noticed her roommate, who was significantly taller, and she was struck with an idea, “Come, Elphie, I need your help reaching the top of the tree.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes dismissively, “Not a chance. You may decorate to your heart’s content, so long as you don’t involve me in it.”

“Fine, if you’re going to be so unhelpful, then I’ll just have to decorate what I can reach.” Galinda said, and proceeded to drape a length of garland over Elphaba’s shoulders.

“What are you–?” Elphaba flinched as Galinda wrapped her in another strand of silvery tinsel.

“You’re green enough to count as a tree,” Galinda carefully hung an ornament from the frame of her glasses, taking great care not to poke her with the ornament’s hook. She then stood on her toes to balance a golden paper star on Elphie’s head, “And– somehow– I can actually reach all of you. Since you won’t help me decorate the tree, I’ll just have to decorate you.”

Elphaba laughed. She actually laughed! Such a rare sound, almost melodious. Galinda found herself laughing too, for Elphaba looked silly, all covered in tinsel. Despite the absurdity of it all, Galinda found herself awestruck. In the light of the fireplace, Elphie’s green skin seemed almost to glow, and the tinsel draped around her shimmered, and the rare surprise of her smile was– and Galinda found herself frightened by this prospect– indeed, beautiful.

“You’re ridiculous, Miss Galinda,” Elphaba said, carefully removing the various accoutrements she had been bestowed, then walking over towards the tree and placing the decorations on the top portion of the tree where Galinda could not reach. Carefully, she affixed the gold star to the very top of the tree, then stepped back to admire her work. Galinda gasped as Elphaba’s fingers interlaced with hers. “Simply ridiculous.”

Within a day and a half, the worst of the blizzard had passed, and Shiz was left under a blanket of fluffy snow. Many students had left before the storm hit, but those that had remained had finally ventured out from the warmth of the dormitories, including Crope and naturally, Tibbett alongside him.

The pair sat on a bench in one of the courtyards, huddled together for warmth. The groundskeepers had attempted to clear the sidewalks of snow, but the valiant effort was only somewhat successful. Crope and Tibbett took great joy in watching people shuffle carefully through the streets like Penguins, only to lose their footing and land on their rear ends anyway.

“Ah, my dear,” Tibbett spoke up, gesturing towards a heavier-set Munchkin man wearing a ridiculous stocking cap, “Look at that one. He’s in a hurry, I bet he doesn’t make it as far as the fountain before falling on his arse.”

“But even in his hurry, look at how he carries himself, maintaining his forward momentum,” Crope responded, “I’m not saying he won’t fall, but if he does, it will likely be face first, and surely it will be sooner than the fountain.”

Their questions remained unanswered, for the stocky man quickly stepped into one of the libraries, no doubt to escape the cold. Crope’s eyes scanned the courtyard again, looking for the next victim of their schadenfreudian tendencies.

Two people rounded the corner of one of the far buildings, coming from the direction of Crage Hall. Even from a distance, the pair was recognizable. The pink and green gave it away, of course, but even if not for that, there would be no mistaking the pair based on their proximity and mannerisms alone. They walked closely, never quite touching. Galinda walked about a half step ahead of her green counterpart. Elphaba was hardly looking at the path ahead, instead maintaining focus on Galinda.

“Are the Misses Elphaba and Galinda considering themselves to be an item yet?” Tibbett asked.

“One would think so,” Crope responded, “Just look at them…”

The pair watched the two women stroll along, somehow maintaining their balance on the icy path much better than anyone else they’d seen that morning, despite being completely focused on each other. Galinda laughed about something, and Crope wondered what they could possibly be talking about.

“Don’t they remind you of anyone?” Tibbett posed, placing a gloved hand on Crope’s leg, “Perhaps two strapping young men who fell head over heels for each other last year?”

“Oh, I’d hardly consider myself to be strapping, dear,“ Crope answered, placing his hand over Tibbett’s, “You, on the other hand…” He pecked a quick kiss to Tibbett’s nose, reddened from the cold, “Are quite dashing.”

Galinda laughed again, recapturing Crope’s attention. “Yes, their mannerisms are similar to ours in the early days of our love. However, I merely alluded to the idea when speaking with Elphaba several days ago, and I was met with a glare that could cut through tempered steel.”

“Maybe they just need a little push…”

“You’re right…” Crope thought to Elphaba’s proposition that the group socialize during the winter recess since they couldn’t travel. Ideas quickly began to bubble forth. “A little push… Come, Tibbett, we must find Master Fiyero. I’ve got an idea.”

“I’ve already told you, I don’t own a pair of skates, Crope.” Boq protested, “Even if I did, the very idea of being out on the frozen lake terrifies me. What if I should fall through the ice, into the frigid waters, never to be seen again?”

“You worry too much, Boq. This ice is perfectly sturdy,” Crope said, thumping the blade of his skate on the ice. Sure enough, the ice remained intact. “If you’re content with sitting on the sidelines today, then so be it. But later this week, we’ll be having a snowball fight and we must have all hands on deck if our team is to emerge victorious.”

“I don’t see how such a violent activity could possibly be fun,” Boq answered, “But if you are so insistent, I’ll join. For today though, I’m fine watching you all skate. I’ve got my mug of tea to keep me company.”

“Enjoy your tea, then,” Crope said, heading onto the ice at Tibbett’s beckoning, “Perhaps I’ll get you a pair of ice skates for Lurlinemas, and you can join us the next time we all go skating together.”

Truly, Boq was content watching his friends dance and twirl and zip around on the ice. Crope and Tibbett, truly enamored with one another, performed some improvised dance routine for an invisible audience. Boq wished he could find someone to match him the way Crope and Tibbett so perfectly matched each other.

Miss Galinda… She glided across the ice effortlessly in perfect figure eights. In the cold, her face was rosy, just as pink as the winter gear she wore. Oz, she was so radiant in her beauty… Maybe he still had a chance with her yet?

His captive attention on Galinda was broken by Elphaba and Fiyero zipping past, evidently in some sort of race to see who could skate around the lake the fastest. Boq took an interest in this– Elphie had always had a bit of a competitive streak in her. It would be interesting to see how this turned out.

In the heat of their race, Fiyero lost his footing and bumped into Elphaba, who was then sent flying towards Galinda, who herself was absorbed in her task of crafting a perfect geometric design on the ice.

Galinda yelped as Elphaba fell into her arms, throwing her off balance. Somehow, they both maintained their footing despite the sudden shift in momentum, and Galinda kept on her path with Elphaba in her arms.

Boq watched as Fiyero skated towards Crope and Tibbett, shooting them a quick thumbs-up. Now what was that all about?

He turned his attention to the girls again. Galinda, who he knew was a perfectionist, strayed off of the path of her intended design, gliding along as Elphaba hesitantly wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. Galinda smiled that beautiful smile and the pair moved along together in a fashion not dissimilar to the way Crope and Tibbett danced, albeit less showy and dramatic.

The dots started to connect, and Boq felt uneasy. His chances with Miss Galinda were quickly diminishing, and he knew it. But still– he was a man of resolve! He had a big heart, and he’d tried time and again to offer it to Galinda. He’d been rejected just as many times, sure, but until he was certain that her heart belonged to another, he would not give up!

It had been an eventful week as Lurlinemas drew closer. Elphaba, who never had been one for socializing, found a lovely comfort in the presence of her friends, and especially in the presence of Galinda.

On the first night of snow, when she had gone to make plans with Crope regarding what to do over the winter recess, the conversation had dragged on, eventually reaching a topic Elphaba dreaded. Crope had inquired into the state of Elphaba’s romantic life. As usual, she insisted it was nonexistent, only to be met with a raised eyebrow from her friend. She’d asked him what that look was about, and he’d muttered something about noticing how close she’d grown with Miss Galinda.

The exchange left her hot under the collar, and having to return to her shared quarters with Galinda only made matters worse. She’d been enthusiastically decorating, so happy despite the disappointment of not getting to return to see her parents. And despite the gaudy tinsel that covered every inch of the room– an eyesore, really– seeing Galinda so joyous caused something within Elphaba to stir.

And then, there was yesterday’s ice skating incident. She’d fallen right into Galinda, and though Fiyero had claimed it was an accident, she’d caught a glimpse of him skating towards Crope and Tibbett, looking awfully proud of himself. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have entertained the thought of the boys trying to set her up with Galinda.

What nonsense! Sure, she had grown… fond of Miss Galinda as of late, but why would the boys consider it any of their business? They were rather nosy, yes, but surely they wouldn’t go so far as to set up an impossible romance… especially considering it could only end in embarrassment for both parties.

Elphaba sighed to herself as she buttoned up her coat. Scheme or no scheme, there was no denying the warmth that had begun to blossom in her heart at the very thought of Miss Galinda.

Terrible, bothersome feelings…

Elphaba laced up her boots, trying to shake off the lingering fondness that clung to her heart, like cobwebs in an attic.

The boys had planned a snowball fight for today. Perhaps getting to pelt the object of her affections with snow would help relieve some of the tension in her heart.

–

A second wave of snow had blown through, and this particular storm had brought a layer of thick, heavy-wet snow– the kind that was perfect for building snowballs and snow forts. It wasn’t snowing as heavily now, only a few lingering flakes fluttering against the gray sky. Elphaba stood amongst her friends in a circle in one of the clearings on campus.

“Snowball fight,” Fiyero announced, tossing a snowball back and forth between his hands, “The rules are simple– each team will have an hour to prepare. Then, at the strike of noon, we go to war!”

“As for teams…” Crope chimed in, “I propose guys versus girls.”

“Well, that’s hardly fair!” Galinda protested, “There’s four of you, and only two of us– why can’t we have equal teams?”

Boq was quick to speak up. “I’ll join your team, Miss Galinda!”

“That won’t be necessary, Master Boq,” Crope shot him an icy glare, “See, Misses Elphaba and Galinda have the advantage of magic on their side, surely they can fend for themselves.”

“Right, then,” Elphaba turned to Galinda, “Guess it’s you and me.”

“Don’t look so unhappy about it, Elphie!” Galinda exclaimed, “It’ll be fun!”

As the clock in the campus center stuck eleven, everyone set to work preparing. Galinda, who had always had an affinity for architecture, quickly got to work constructing a massive snow fort. Elphaba didn’t quite understand all the structural premises, but she was happy to lend a hand in the form of ice magic. Together, they managed to build a small but impressive fort, while the boys had barely finished a loosely packed wall of snow.

The clock rang once again, twelve mighty peals echoing through the otherwise quiet air. A silence fell over the battlefield. Elphaba and Galinda hunched behind their fort, shivering both from the cold and from anticipation. Who would take the first shot?

Taking her chance, Galinda peered over the edge of the barrier, quickly ducking when four snowballs were flung her way. She laughed and got to work forming snowballs of her own, returning fire at the group of boys across the field.

Snowflakes in her hair, blue eyes shimmering like frost, and that lovely smile… She truly was beautiful, and Elphaba got so caught up in admiring her that she’d forgotten the task at hand.

“Now, what’re you staring at? Come on, Elphie, help me out!”

Seconds after she finished speaking, Galinda was struck in the shoulder by a snowball. Elphaba sprung into action at her defense, hurling snowballs as fast as she could make them, until, out of nowhere, a large clump of snow hit her in the side of the face with more than enough force to knock her to the ground.

“Elphaba!” Galinda ducked behind the fort, hurrying to her side, “Oh stars, you’re bleeding…” Galinda removed her glove and gently caressed Elphaba’s face, wiping away the moisture that singed her skin.

“I…” Elphaba struggled for words, “My water allergy pertains to snow as well. A few flakes here and there is no matter, but this is different.”

“Why didn’t you say something before agreeing to a snowball fight?”

“I didn’t want to ruin the fun… I know how important this is to the boys… to you.”

“Elphaba… do you really think I care for you so little that I’d put my pleasure before your safety?” Galinda said, before whispering a healing spell and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Her heart fluttered.

“Now…” Galinda waved her hands, and the stockpile of snowballs they’d made levitated in the air, “I’ll teach them what happens when they mess with my Elphie!”

Elphaba could only watch in awe as the air around Galinda shimmered with magic. With a wave of her hand, each snowball that hung in the air was propelled towards the enemy fort. At the same time, she’d crafted an energy shield that sparkled like a prism in the afternoon sun. Elphaba was captivated by the sheer display of power and beauty.

Elphaba felt something stir in her heart.

Oh stars… Was it… love?

The following evening, Crope decided to do some shopping in the town square, for Tibbett had an extensive wishlist of gifts. The City of Shiz hosted a holiday market, with vendors from across Oz setting up booths and storefronts. Somehow, thank the stars, he’d managed to talk Elphaba into coming with him.

“Sorry about the snowball yesterday,” Crope said as the pair walked side by side, “I didn’t mean to throw it that hard, and I certainly wasn’t aiming for your face..”

“It’s okay. Burned a bit, though.”

“What!?”

“My water allergy also pertains to snow. Such a dense snowball really did a number… Fear not, though. Miss Galinda knows some healing magic and she patched me right up.”

“Speaking of Miss Galinda…” Crope started, before realizing that Elphaba had stopped a few booths ago. She was looking thoughtfully at some glass creations from the Quadling Country.

“I spent a lot of my childhood in Quadling Country. Now that was miserable for my water sensitivity. The air was so humid that being outside was enough to give me a wicked rash. But the artisans, the things they craft… really shows the beauty in that part of Oz.”

Crope was frustrated that his friend managed to dodge the question, as per usual.

“I know you were going to ask me about Galinda again,” Elphaba said plainly, “Since you mentioned it the other day, I’ve been thinking about it. I have some… growing feelings of fondness towards Miss Galinda. I care for her deeply, more than I’ve ever cared for anyone in my life. One could even be tempted to call it love. Certainly there’s no way she’d return any of my affections but still… I want to get her something special.”

Crope couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Such a soul-baring revelation, almost completely unprompted…

“Oh, look at this!” Elphaba pointed to something on the table, “It’s absolutely perfect.”

It was two days before Lurlinemas, and Fiyero had put off his shopping until the last minute. Galinda had decided to tag along with him– perfect for continuing on their plan.

It was a blustery day, and the pair had ducked into a store to escape the wind. It was a small bookshop with a tiny cafe tucked into the corner. Fiyero, ever the gentleman, purchased tea for both himself and Galinda, and they sat to wait out the storm.

“... and that’s how I met Sarima,” Fiyero said, finishing the tale of how he’d come to know his fiancee, “I don’t suppose you have any sweeping love stories to share, Miss Galinda?” He took a sip of tea, trying to remain nonchalant.

“Well,” Galinda mirrored his action of sipping from her cup, and they were at a societal impasse, “I do have something to share, but you cannot tell a soul!”

“Oh?”

“It’s awful, really, but… I fear I’ve fallen in love with Miss Elphaba…”

“How is that awful, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“She’s green.”

“Surely you’re not letting the color of someone’s skin affect your perception of them?”

“Of course not,” Galinda shifted in her chair, “These feelings are just… unexpected, is all. I’ve been in relationships before, but I’ve never felt anything so strong in my life. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

“I think you should tell her.”

“That’s far too terrifying of a prospect, dear Fiyero. What if she should reject my feelings? How can I show her I care for her in a way that is less… daunting? “You could start with a gift,” Fiyero suggested, “Our Lurlinemas Eve party is tomorrow night.”

“Yes, but what do you get for the most minimalistic woman I’ve ever met?” Galinda stood up and returned her cup to the barista, then paced around the shop. Galinda stopped in front of a display, “Practical and beautiful, just like Elphie. Oh, this would be perfect for her!”

The morning of Lurlinemas Eve, Crope, Tibbett, Fiyero, and Boq all gathered in the lounge of the Briscoe Hall dormitory, for what Crope and Fiyero had deemed to be an urgent meeting.

“I’ll cut right to the chase,” Crope said, “I was with Miss Elphaba at the market two days ago, and she confessed that she’s grown rather fond of Miss Galinda. Now, I wasn’t sure what to make of this, as fondness and love are not necessarily one and the same. But, Fiyero, you said you spoke to Galinda last night?”

“I did– she openly admitted to being in love with Miss Elphaba.”

“Then our plan surely must be working!”

“Excuse me?” Boq cut in, “What plan?”

“Ah…” Fiyero and Crope looked at each other, “You were busy during the meeting, and we never filled you in. We’ve devised a plan to encourage Misses Elphaba and Galinda to enter a courtship, since they are so clearly enamored with one another.”

“Right…” Boq’s face fell.

Tibbett was the first to speak up, “Look, Boq, we all know you had feelings for Miss Galinda, but it’s evident that her heart lies elsewhere.”

“I’m okay with that, really, I am. I’m more upset that you all didn’t tell me about this plan sooner! I must’ve looked like a fool!”

“Yes…” Fiyero started, “But a very dashing fool, mind you!”

“Flirting won’t help, Master Fiyero,” Boq laughed and rolled his eyes, “So what’s the next step in this grand plan of yours, knowing that the two have feelings for one another?”

“Well,” Crope answered, “They’ve bought each other gifts, which they’ll exchange at tonight’s party. I say we take some more measures. Any ideas?”

“We should find a way to get them alone,” Fiyero said.

“Don’t be a fool, if they’re alone, then we can’t see them!”

“As reluctant as I am to participate in this plan…” Boq sighed, “Have you considered a sprig of mistletoe in the doorway?”

“Ah, now there’s a good idea!” Crope laughed, “Sharp boy you are, Master Boq! And, it’ll be an excuse to kiss my dearest Tibbett! What do you think?”

“I think…” Tibbett paused, “That we’re trying too hard. The other day, you said Elphaba and Galinda reminded you of us as a young couple. We didn’t have people pushing for us to be together, did we? Our love developed as it should: simply and naturally. Who are we to deny that simplicity to our friends? We’ve given them the push, I think it would be best to let things run their course from here on.”

“Oh… such wise words, my dear.”

“Thank you, love,” Tibbett smiled.

That evening, all the friends gathered in the library commons for a feast of fresh bread and glazed vegetables and a roast. Spiced wine and cakes served as dessert, all under the glow of a beautifully lit pine tree.

As the night carried on, a multitude of gifts were exchanged. Crope had gotten Boq a pair of skates in jest, reveling in his protests before revealing his true gift– a new suit, custom tailored to fit his size.

“It’ll be perfect to wear to all the parties, you’ll be sure to catch the eye of every lady– or man– there!”

“Thank you, Crope.” Boq replied, blushing, “I’ve a gift for you, too.”

“Really?”

Boq flipped Crope off. “That’s for the skates.”

“Why, Master Boq, you shouldn’t have!” Crope gasped.

Boq proceeded to rise from the floor and moved over to Crope, giving him a kiss on the cheek, “And that’s for the suit.”

More gifts were exchanged throughout the night. Boq gave Galinda a notebook with flowers on the cover. Elphaba gave Fiyero a rare book she’d found, a collection of old Vinkan legends. Fiyero gave Crope and Tibbett a stack of raunchy magazines.

The exchange continued until only two gifts remained under the tree.

“For you, Miss Galinda,” Elphaba said, retrieving the small package, “I hope you like it.”

Galinda opened the box to reveal a necklace. Unlike most of the flashy, bejeweled things she wore, this one was rather simple. It was a silver chain with a small charm– a pink flower made of carved glass.

“It’s like the flower you gave me after the Ozdust, see?”

“Oh Elphie…” Galinda quickly put on the necklace, “It’s beautiful… How can I ever thank you?”

“Perhaps with the remaining gift under the tree?”

“Right!” Galinda quickly grabbed the last gift and handed it to Elphaba, who carefully undid the delicate wrapping. Inside was a leather-bound notebook and a stylish pen.

“Before you get too worried– the book is made of a plant-based leather. Apparently they can make leather out of mushrooms now!”

“Oh wow…” Elphaba ran a hand over the cover of the book, “It’s amazing.” She uncapped the pen and scrawled her name on the inside cover, “And the pen writes so smoothly…”

“There’s a second part to your gift,” Galinda said, and Elphaba looked confusedly at the empty space under the tree, “It’s scary, so bear with me.”

“A scary gift? Now what in the world–”

“I love you.” Galinda said, taking her hands.

The room went silent. Elphaba blinked at her wordlessly.

“I…” Elphaba laughed nervously, “You mean it?”

“I do.”

“I love you too,” Elphaba looked at the ground, then at her hands, then at Galinda, “I’ve never been great with this kind of stuff… what do we do now?”

Crope smiled and walked over to where the two sat, pulling out a sprig of mistletoe.

“Really?” Galinda laughed, blushing a bright pink, “In front of everyone?”

“Why not?” Elphaba smiled.

“We don’t mind,” Crope said with a wink, “In fact, we’ve all been rooting for it.”

The two women kissed, and the room seemed to exhale a sigh of relief. The festivities continued on, friends reveling with friends late into the night.

Room twenty two of Crage Hall was silent on Lurlinemas Eve, save for the scratching of pen on paper. Galinda was curled up next to Elphaba in bed. Elphie was writing away in her new journal, while Galinda was fiddling with the charm on her new necklace. They were in their same old dorm room, and yet everything felt so new.

“Elphie, won’t you please tell me what you’re writing?”

“I will once I’m finished, my sweet.”

My sweet… The affection sent Galinda’s heart whirling.

Galinda, with a newfound patience, sat and watched Elphie’s studious gaze trace over the page.

After a few more minutes, Elphaba finally shifted, and began to read what she had written:

“Lurlinemas Eve, Year 1 at Shiz University,

Journal– I’ve had a most eventful week. Stranded on campus with Galinda was initially an intimidating prospect, but it proved to be the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Miss Galinda has a knack for decorating– she’s adorned our room in all manner of tinsel and glitter. Not my preferred style, but her passion and enthusiasm is unmatched.

Furthermore, Miss Galinda seems to enjoy the winter weather. She skates in perfect patterns, as graceful as anything I’ve ever seen. And in a snowball fight, her dedication and vigor is impressive. Not to mention her excellence in healing magic. It would appear that it is made more powerful through kisses. I hope to further put this hypothesis to the test.

On Lurlinemas Eve, Miss Galinda was kind enough to gift me this very journal. To my surprise, the lovely Miss Galinda also professed her feelings for me. I of course, return these feelings, but I am so terrible at expressing them through spoken word. I suppose that this journal will suffice as a suitable outlet for said feelings.”

Elphaba set down her book and continued on from memory, pulling Galinda into a cozy embrace, nearly on top of her, running her slender fingers through blonde curls.

“My Galinda… She is as radiant as the sun, as dazzling as the moon, as brilliant as the stars. She is so much more than meets the eye, and she looks beyond the surface of everyone she meets, sees them for who they truly are. She is beautiful in heart, mind, and body alike. I care for her more than words can speak, and I truly look forward to the time we are fortunate enough to spend together. May our love be long and prosperous.”

“Elphie…” tears pricked at Galinda’s eyes, “Oh, what am I supposed to say to that? You poetic thing, you!”

“You could say, ‘I love you,’ again,” Elphaba remarked, “I rather enjoyed hearing it before.”

“I love you,” Galinda laughed through her tears and kissed Elphaba, “I love you so much…” She kissed her again as the clock struck midnight, “Merry Lurlinemas, my dear.”

#festivating #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

14 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @gliyerabaa!

Special message: Happy holidays! Thank you for being such an awesome person in the fandom <3

Read it on Ao3

“You have to help, Glinda, I keep leaving late because of her. It’s so unfair.”

“Late?” Glinda asked. “You close at eight, don’t you?”

“Yes, technically, but I can close earlier if no one’s here and no one is here after six except for her. Not to mention she always stays until after eight, it’s ridiculous. Every day? I mean, every day? How many things are there to read in this place? Surely she must’ve gone through everything already and—”

“Peace, Milla.” Glinda raised a hand as if that could fend off the rambling. “Elphie is just—”

“Oh, Elphie,” Milla scoffed. “I'm sorry, I forgot you two are joined at the hip nowadays. I don't care what Elphie is doing here, I just want to go home. It's the weekend!”

Glinda’s face burned as Milla dragged her through the library. “Now wait a moment. What makes you think I could possibly—?”

“Figure it out. And get her out of here!” Milla finished her sentence by pointedly shoving Glinda towards the stairs to the second floor.

“Gee.” Glinda huffed as Milla walked away, still mumbling angrily to herself. Something about the library's end shift not being as easy as she thought it would be. “Talk about an attitude.”

Glinda threw her hair over her shoulder and climbed the stairs purposely taking her time. Not that she wasn't sympathetic to Milla's plight, but she didn't appreciate being made fun of. She and Elphaba were definitely not joined at the hip. The nerve.

The second floor had many tables and benches near the balustrade, and in one of those tables was Elphaba in her natural habitat, hunched over, notebook in front of her, stack of books by her elbow, splayed books in front of her, quill in a hand that was looking so cramped Glinda winced in sympathy.

Elphaba didn't notice her arrival, too engrossed in her work.

“Elphie,” Glinda called softly, not wanting to startle her, feeling as if she was approaching an idle animal.

Elphaba looked up, startled, blinking beady eyes and then squinting, then removing her spectacles to rub her eyes with ink-stained fingers. Her braid was all messy, strands framing her face as if she'd raked her fingers though it repeatedly, and she had an overall frazzled look about her.

Glinda swooned, but just a little.

“What?” Elphaba’s voice was a little hoarse from disuse. “What are you doing here?”

Glinda cleared her throat. “It's late, Elphie, I've been sent to bring you back to the dorms.”

“Oh.” Elphaba leaned back in her chair. “Late? But it's only—” Then she looked out into the window at the back of the room, and was greeted with the darkening colors of sunset crossing over the sky. “Oh. I lost track of time.”

A smile played on the edges of Glinda’s mouth. “As you often do. C’mon, get your things, Milla is going to kill me if I don’t get you out of here in the next minute.”

“But I’m not done.”

“You can come back tomorrow,” she said. “And God knows you will come back tomorrow. Aren’t you tired?”

Though the question was redundant, she knew at this point that Elphaba was always at least a little bit tired. She had been ever since Dr. Dillamond was murdered, just like Glinda had been permanently tired since Ama Clutch fell ill.

“I have something to show you.” Elphaba came to her feet suddenly, not even bothering to answer the question, but looking more alert than she had just a second ago.

“Didn’t you hear me?” asked Glinda. “We have to leave. Milla is—”

“Milla won’t care for a minute or two.”

“Milla is about to have a fainting bout, Elphie.”

“She can have one after a minute or two.” She closed her notebook and stacked her books and put a bunch in her satchel, then threw it over one shoulder and grabbed her little lamp, the only light source other than the natural, dying sunlight breaking through. “Come on, it won’t take long.”

“What?” Glinda blinked, but followed Elphaba deeper into the rows of bookshelves. She had to follow her, Milla be damned, because Elphaba never included Glinda in her comings and goings in this place, the chance was too good to pass up. And to be fair Elphaba was taking her things with her, so she clearly intended to leave once she was done showing Glinda whatever she wanted to show her. “What is it?”

“Have you ever been here?”

“To the library? Sometimes. Why?”

“Just follow.”

“I am following.”

“There’s a lot of books that aren’t accessible to us on account of our unfortunate circumstance of being girls.”

“Unfortunate?” Glinda muttered, but Elphaba went on.

“I’ve been bribing Boq and Crope and Tibbett to find me real material from the Briscoe library. Well, I used to bribe them, but now they just do it.”

They trudged through a great number of bookshelves, moving through the rows and hallways as if going deeper and deeper into a maze. “I suppose that’s what happens when you become friends with people.”

The soft glow of the lamp caught Elphaba’s adorable grimace. “I suppose. The point is that they’re good at what they do, but I cannot walk around with the books on my person. Who knows what would happen if Morrible were to corner me, and I know she’s had her eye on me, that disgusting little tiktok creature follows me around when she thinks I’m clueless.”

It wasn’t the first time Glinda heard about this. It had started happening after the murder, and in her grief-stricken state Glinda had attributed it to Elphaba’s paranoid and conspiracy-loving mind, but she didn’t think it was so farfetched now. She had caught glimpses of Morrible’s mechanical servant in places where it shouldn’t be.

“You keep them here?” Glinda asked. “The books, I mean.”

Finally they stopped in front of a random shelf at the back, not any different than any of the others, spines and spines of weathered leather forming a wall that extended from floor to ceiling.

“Yes,” said Elphaba, and reached for one of the books. “No one ever searches here because what could the good girls of Crage Hall possibly be hiding in their library of all places?”

Glinda smiled. She wouldn’t have encouraged breaking the rules in the past, but she was beginning to see some rules only existed for the wrong reasons. “Right. Good society girls usually hide their prohibited things in their drawers or under their mattresses.”

“You would know about that,” Elphaba teased, then handed the book over. “I thought you may be interested in this one.”

Glinda squinted at it in the low light, for the sun was almost under the horizon now, and Elphaba’s lamp was quite small. From what she could gather it was some dusty, ancient spellbook.

She closed it after realizing what it was.

“What?” Elphaba asked. “Isn’t sorcery your preferred area of study?”

“I— well, it used to be. But it’s complicated now.”

“Because of Ama Clutch?”

“Because of Ama Clutch.” Glinda put the book back where it belonged—well, not where it belonged, but rather where Elphaba had smuggled it into. “What if it was my fault?”

“That’s—”

Then they heard the screech of a heavy door, and the unmistakable click of an even heavier lock.

“Oh, she didn’t,” Glinda whispered.

And finally, as if on a timer as tight as Milla’s schedule, the sun finished setting, and the two of them were thrown more or less into darkness in the middle of the most remote corner of the library, perhaps the most remote corner in all of Crage Hall, with only Elphaba’s little lamp to go by.

They looked at each other briefly, Elphaba scowling, Glinda rolling her eyes, and made their way out and into the main floor.

“Did your friend just lock us here on purpose?”

“Friend is a very strong word right about now,” said Glinda.

The library’s main door was indeed locked, no amount of pushing or pulling would make it budge.

Elphaba smashed her shoulder against it, fruitlessly, then banged on it with her open palm. “Milla! Are you still out there? Open the door right this instant, if this is a prank—”

“It’s not a prank, unfortunately.” Glinda grabbed Elphaba’s hand before she could mangle it. “She probably saw your things were gone and assumed we left without her noticing.”

Elphaba turned to her, bewildered. “And she would close up the place without being certain?”

“Oh, sure. I don’t think you understand how upset she was about having to stay here this late.”

“It’s not even closing time!”

“You don’t have to fight me about it,” Glinda grumbled.

“Come.” Elphaba grabbed Glinda’s wrist and tugged her away from the door, still holding her lamp in her other hand. Was it gas or oil, Glinda wondered, and just how much light did they still have left?

They stopped in front of one of the windows, and Elphaba handed over the life-saving lamp. “Hold this for a second. I’ll get this open and we’ll just jump through—” Elphaba trailed off.

Glinda leaned closer to the window to see what she was seeing, just as water began pattering against it, and just as the sky lit up briefly with a flash, followed by the low rumble of thunder.

“Great,” said Elphaba.

“God forbid things are ever easy for us.”

“You could still leave if you don’t mind getting your clothes wet,” Elphaba said. “You won’t melt like a sugarcube the way I would. Though I suppose if I step outside my ‘melting’ would be quite more graphic and bloody than that of a sugarcube.”

Glinda grimaced. “Must you be so morbid? And I’m not leaving, Elphie. I would hate for you to be all alone in here with the storm going on, who knows when it’s going to let up.”

“You don’t have to worry, I’ll be perfectly safe. It’s not like I never spend time alone in here anyway.”

Elphaba was never going to let this go as long as she saw it as Glinda doing something for her, she had that funny way about herself where accepting someone else’s assistance was a ludicrous concept.

“I don’t want to get my hair wet,” Glinda said. “I spent a lot of time curling it this morning.”

And that was that.

“Fine, then.” Elphaba sighed. “Let’s try to put on the fireplace, it can get chilly in here, and something tells me we’ll need the light to go by.”

“You’ve been here all day,” said Glinda as they made their way back through the main floor, led by Elphaba's singular lamp. “Did you eat?”

The fact Elphaba had to think about it was hilarious, and also a little sad. “No, but it’s fine. I’m not hungry.” She was betrayed by the sudden and spectacularly well-timed growling of her stomach, because that was just the way things went.

“Mhm.”

Elphaba flushed a darker green, and cleared her throat. “It’s because you made me think about it. I wasn’t hungry a moment ago.”

“That’s entirely sensible.” Glinda nodded seriously, though of course she didn’t think it was sensible at all. “You handle the fire and I’ll make sure you don’t starve.”

“There’s nothing to eat here, food and drinks aren’t allowed.”

“Oh, Elphie,” Glinda said dramatically. “You wound me by being so distrustful! Don’t you worry about that, I’ll find you something to eat.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Fine, go hunting and gathering inside the library, that’s a swell idea. Just know that I don’t eat books, contrary to popular belief.”

“I’ll be back in a clock tick.” Glinda smiled at her, and they went in their opposite directions, Elphaba towards the fireplace and Glinda towards the front desk.

Milla’s front desk, to be exact.

She got to keep the lamp so she didn’t have to stumble her way through, but she would know where to go and where to search even in total darkness.

At this point Glinda had spent enough time with Milla—more time than either of them had ever spent with Shenshen and Pfannee—to know the girl’s habits pretty well. If she had to stay four hours a day in this place then there was no way she would do it without anything to eat in the meantime.

Glinda had only to rummage behind the front desk for a few seconds before she found what she was looking for. A half-eaten bag of almonds and peanuts, a little box of breadsticks, and nougat and other non-perishable little munchables. Perfect.

Glinda grabbed all of it, then frowned, then her eyes widened and she chuckled.

“Ah, Milla. You scoundrel.”

Behind the little pile of snacks and hidden under some stacks of papers was an innocuous dark glass bottle. Glinda pulled it out, and took out the loose cork and sniffed it, then wrinkled her nose.

Well, she supposed that was one way of coping with always having to leave on time—which for Milla meant leaving late.

She gathered all of Milla’s pastimes in her arms and made her way back to find Elphaba crouching by the fireplace with a stick, fumbling around in the darkness as she tried to get a flame going.

“C’mon, you useless—”

Glinda dropped her spoils on the nearby couch and set the lamp down on a low table, then snapped her fingers and the fireplace properly roared to life.

Elphaba stumbled back, startled, then looked over her shoulder with her typical scowl. “A little warning could’ve been nice.”

“Where’s the fun in that? I rarely get to surprise you with anything, let me have this.”

“I thought you weren’t that interested in magic anymore.”

“I said to let me have this.”

Elphaba dusted off her hands then came to her feet, overseeing everything Glinda brought. She glanced at her lamp, but it was a little redundant now. “Where’d you find all of this?”

“Milla’s not-so-secret stash.” Glinda winked. “It's not exactly a proper meal but at least you won't die of starvation.”

“I think I could've managed a few hours without—”

Glinda tossed her the brown bag of peanuts and almonds, and it comically hit Elphaba square in the forehead.

“Thanks for that,” Elphaba deadpanned, and the bag fell right into her waiting hand.

“So you can say thank you! Very good, Elphie.”

“I—” Elphaba blinked. “I have been terribly ungrateful, you're right. I'm sorry. Thank you for the food, and for staying with me while I’m trapped here.”

Glinda's eyes lit up. Goodness, she kept swooning just because Elphaba was being a decent person.

“You're welcome, Elphie.” This little infatuation was proving difficult to manage and also quite a bit embarrassing. “This is tonight's grand prize, however.”

And she lifted up the liquor bottle and gave it a little shake.

“What in the—” Elphaba snorted. “Where’d you find that?”

“Also Milla’s not-so-secret stash.”

“No wonder that ninny can never help me find a single book. I know the school pays only in extra credits but honestly, a little effort would go a long way, and—are you even listening?”

“Sorry.” Glinda finished taking a swig. It was kind of awfully strong. Was it moonshine? Ugh. She never would've expected that from Milla of all people. “Did you want some?”

“Give me that. And I’d offer to sit but I’m kind of sick of staying in one place. Do you want to walk around? I can show you the library. I don't think my lamp has a long lifespan left but there's enough windows and moonlight to go by.”

Glinda wouldn’t say no if her life depended on it. “Fine by me.”

“But—” Elphaba raised a palm between them. “Are you sure?”

“Sure of what?”

“Sure of staying here, I mean,” Elphaba said. “You don’t have to, it’s really not that long of a walk to the dormitories, you can deal with a little bit of water—”

“Elphie,” Glinda cut in slowly, more like a warning than anything else. “I'm staying until it's safe for you to go outside, and that's that. You hear me? That's that.”

“But—”

“That's that. I don't want to hear another word about it.”

Elphaba blinked for a moment, just staring at Glinda, then nodded as if unsure of what she'd just heard.

If nothing else it truly felt like progress. Glinda had been ready to argue for a while longer.

She carried the lamp so Elphaba could munch on the ‘borrowed’ food as they walked, but they did share the bottle of moonshine between them, passing it back and forth as they went along.

Yet Elphaba never grimaced at the strong aftertaste and she walked in a straight line, her eyes sharp even after Glinda started refusing any more of it because she was getting lightheaded.

“You can really hold your liquor, Elphie.”

She shrugged. “I suppose. Can you?”

“It depends on the liquor. Just never give me wine—unless you want to have a really good time.”

“I don't know who'd say no to a really good time.” Elphaba smirked at her, and Glinda blushed something fierce.

Was Elphaba even aware of what she was doing? Why would she answer with something borderline flirtatious to Glinda’s innocent and playful comment? Or, perhaps, just perhaps, Elphaba’s intention wasn’t to flirt and she was just being her normal self. Ugh.

Glinda hated this, she was definitely not an overthinker. Why would she be? She never had problems with the objects of her affections before, but Elphaba was—different than the rest. None of the other boys Glinda held interest towards really even came close.

Glinda was now recognizing her interest for those boys was more intellectual curiosity than actually driven by any sort of emotion. It was logical to find certain boys handsome, right?

Well, no.

Elphaba defied logic as much as she tended to defy all expectations. Glinda liked her, really liked her. Liked her in a way she understood intellectually was the way she was supposed to like boys, but nothing about her feelings for Elphaba were intellectual, they were just warm and humane, driven by pure sentiment instead of logic.

She sighed, walking beside Elphie these halls that smelled of paper and ink and dust and noticing that Elphaba moved through them with an ease that Glinda had never seen.

She hoped the storm would never let up, or that at least it would last the whole night.

“You look right at home,” Glinda said. “More than you ever look at home in our dorm.”

“I never spent too much time in rooms, not even as a child.” Elphaba talked without looking at her, her eyes instead scanning the bookcases. It was eerily quiet this deep into the library, even the sound of the rain was a distant thing. “Libraries, though—well, when I could. The one in Colwen Grounds is quite extensive, yet it's private, it belongs only to my family. All that knowledge—” Her fingers trailed over some dusty spines. “And it's not shared. And even if it was, there's simply not enough time to know it all. I used to spend hours upon hours upon days trying, reading whatever I could get my hands on and trying to understand what I was reading so I could— I’ve just rambled like a madwoman, sorry.”

“If anything, you don't talk to me enough, Elphie.” Milla may call them ‘joined at the hip’, yet Glinda would spend even more time with Elphaba if that was possible.

Elphaba looked at her puzzled, her head tilted to the side as if Glinda had said something entirely incomprehensible.

“What are some of your favorite things about this place?” Glinda asked because she was growing flustered yet again. “Show me.”

She realized that for Elphaba this wasn’t only a place to come in and do research or do her homework. She liked being here, and whether that was because it reminded her of her childhood or because of something else Glinda would like to know.

Elphaba smiled at her, the silvery moonlight giving her a sort of sheen that was quite entrancing, even if she was otherwise so disheveled. Yet another thing Glinda wouldn’t mind doing for her, fix up her braid and wipe the ink stains away from her fingers.

How odd it was to want to take care of someone in such gentle ways, usually Glinda was the one craving to be pampered, but Elphaba’s unkempt edges—which in the past had seemed ghastly to her—were inviting.

“Let’s go, then,” Elphaba said. “There’s one thing you may want to see.”

“Other than illicit books?”

“Other than that.”

At the back of the main floor, in a space cleared of books, was something that looked very out of place for a library of all things.

It was a piano.

Glinda frowned. “I thought this place was supposed to be quiet at all times.”

“It’s a showpiece more than something you’re meant to play,” Elphaba said. “Let me show you.”

Glinda didn’t understand how such a common piano could be a showpiece. It wasn’t much different from all the other pianos she had ever seen in parties or receptions, or in her own lessons from when she was a little girl. It was sleek and black and it stood on four legs, more shiny than she expected from a place otherwise so dusty but utterly ordinary.

“It doesn’t look like much,” Glinda said.

“Watch.”

They sat together on the piano bench, which was small, so it meant that they were quite together and the closeness was not helping Glinda’s growing case of being disastrously in love with her best friend.

She cleared her throat. “Do you know how to play?”

“Well, no,” Elphaba said, lifting the covers off the keys. “But that's not entirely necessary for what I want to actually show—”

So Glinda was the one that played. She wasn’t an expert by any means but she remembered her lessons well enough she could conjure up an old child’s lullaby, a slow rhythm. It was a little clumsy, but overall not too terrible.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Elphaba said softly as if not to cut through the music with her voice.

“There are a lot of things I can do that you don’t know about.”

There was that sly smile again. “Like what?”

“Like—” Glinda faltered a little, then she just stopped altogether to turn her head and look at Elphaba directly.

It really was a small bench, made even smaller by the fact Glinda had to sit somewhat in the middle to have access to the pedals below. Her thigh pressed against Elphaba’s almost entirely, and their arms brushed together as Glinda took her hands away from the keys.

Glinda licked her lips. “Um. What did you want to show me this piano for, anyway?”

It took Elphaba a second to process that she was being spoken to. “Right. Here.” And she leaned around the side of the piano and did something, and then there was a click and a soft buzz.

And then the keys and the pedals started moving on their own, repeating to perfection Glinda's slightly imperfect rendition.

“What in Oz?” she murmured, her eyes wide. “It's—a tiktok thing?”

“Yeah,” Elphaba said, satisfied. “Like Morrible's little servant, only much less unsettling. It helps that you’re good at it, if I’d been the one playing we’d be stuck with a much more disastrous loop.”

Glinda recalled Elphaba saying the library could get chilly without the fireplace, but she couldn't imagine how that would be true, she had never felt warmer in her life, the heat expanded from her cheeks and intensified where Elphaba was pressed against her. Elphaba’s body felt like an open flame next to her.

“I wouldn’t say I’m good,” Glinda said in a rush. “Most girls I know can play a song or two.”

“My father tried to put me in lessons, too.” Thankfully, Elphaba wasn’t looking at her. “He wanted me to play hymns on the organ for the church at home.”

“And what happened?”

“I think I bit a priest or a maunt, I don’t really remember.” She grinned. “But there was blood and after that no one was so willing to teach me.”

Glinda grinned right back. “Incorregible.”

The music kept playing, a constant loop of the same song over and over, and Elphaba reached for the bottle she had set on the floor again, then frowned at it.

“What’s the matter?” asked Glinda.

“Look at this.”

Elphaba tilted the bottle a bit to catch the light of the lamp, and it glinted off the inscription at the front.

“Today you’ve shown me all sorts of things,” Glinda said with a smile. “What is it?”

“This thing is a gift from Boq.”

“From Boq?” Glinda took a closer peek at the engraved letters.

“He’s taking some arts and crafts electives, look.”

Glinda arched her eyebrows, but indeed the markings at the front of the bottle she thought were nothing but branding were actually a message in a nice script. Could we share the next one? Love, Boq.

“Oh God.” She laughed. “That’s extremely corny for someone like Milla, I can imagine the face she made. But of course she would never say no to some moonshine.”

“I didn’t know they had a thing for each other.”

“A thing,” Glinda repeated, amused. “Boq’s been hovering over her shoulder for a while now.”

“I thought he was sweet for you instead.”

“He hasn’t been in months, Elphie.”

“Huh. The more you know.”

“You’re absolutely clueless.”

“I’m not ashamed, sometimes it’s good to be clueless about certain things.” Elphaba shrugged. “You’re not upset that your admirer found someone else to admire?”

“Are you kidding me? Not whatsoever. Good riddance to him. I never should've let him kiss me but in retrospect perhaps that was the beginning of the end.”

“You let him kiss you?” Elphaba put the bottle back on the floor, frowning at Glinda now. “Why?”

“A regrettable and terrible moment of weakness. Besides, I was upset, and that proved a distraction—albeit a boring one. Kissing boys has got to be the most boring thing in the world.”

“But why were you upset?”

Ah, Glinda definitely did not want to get into the complicated maelstrom of complications that’d been the day at the Caprice and Pines, when Shenshen and Pfannee thought it would be hilarious to impersonate Glinda in a letter and invite Elphaba there for a lark.

A lark at Glinda’s expense, mind you. She still couldn’t believe her feelings for Elphaba were so evident that even those girls could tell. It’d been so mortifying to be so known.

“Uhh—” She couldn’t tell any of that to Elphaba, however. “Never mind all that!” She leaned against Elphaba in the small bench, defaulting to just keeping her close in hopes of distracting her.

“Regrettable, you said?” Elphaba chuckled, but she wrapped an arm around Glinda’s shoulder as the slow music kept playing.

The gesture brought them even closer together, and Glinda fully rested her head on Elphaba’s shoulder, her entire body relaxing in the low light, with the slow music, with the nearness.

She longed to be even nearer.

“How come I never knew?” Elphaba asked.

Glinda really didn’t want to keep discussing that. “Have you ever kissed anyone, Elphie?” Way to divert the conversation.

Elphaba snorted. “Don't be absurd.”

“Why is that absurd?”

“Not all of us can have the entire university pining for us.”

“Wait a moment.” Glinda’s brow furrowed. “Are you talking about me? I don’t have the entire university pining for me.”

“Of course not, just Boq, and Fiyero, and that idiot Avaric and—” She shut her mouth abruptly, and Glinda tilted her head back just to catch a glimpse of the way Elphaba’s cheeks darkened.

Glinda’s heart fluttered briefly. Should she dare hope?

“Who’d want to kiss me, anyway?” Elphaba muttered darkly. She was as adept at diverting the conversation as Glinda was, clearly.

The lamp on top of the piano flickered once, twice, and then went out completely like a whisper, total darkness enveloping them save from the dim moonlight barely illuminating the edges of Elphaba’s face.

Between their closeness and the darkness, Glinda decided to let herself hope.

She licked her lips. Her cheek was pressed against Elphaba’s shoulder, she lifted a hand to carefully brush a strand of hair away from her neck, briefly brushing against Elphaba’s pulse point. It was quick like a hummingbird’s wings.

“I can think of someone who’d want to kiss you.”

“Oh, really?” Elphaba’s scowl got even deeper with disbelief, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Well, I'd love to meet that person.”

“You actually know her well enough. She is, quite literally and figuratively, all over you.”

“She—” Elphaba's brain visibly malfunctioned, looking down at the way Glinda was basically draped over her in this cramped little piano bench. “She—you—” Her eyes widened a bit, and Glinda gave her a moment. “Are you serious?”

“As the grave.”

“But—”

“Actually, never mind,” Glinda said suddenly, pushing away as her nerve abandoned her just as quick as it had arrived. “I just realized how odd that was, so let me just—”

“No! No, wait, wait.” Elphaba’s hands went on to Glinda’s shoulders so she could keep her there. “You’re serious?”

It was good that the place was otherwise so dark, because Glinda did not want Elphaba to see how red her face was. “Yes! And please don’t ask that again. Yes, I’m serious. I guess the question now is do you want to kiss me?”

“Glinda, everyone wants to kiss you.”

“But you’re not like everyone, Elphie.”

It was quiet for a moment, one of Elphaba’s hands on her shoulder slowly made its way towards Glinda’s hair, and she twirled a stray curl around her finger. Glinda had never been so unmoving in her life, she was nearly holding her breath.

“I think that when it comes to you,” Elphaba’s voice was a whisper, a soft rush of air. “I am more like everyone else than you think.”

The world came to a stop for a moment, and when it resumed motion it did so gently, like so: Glinda's lips parted just a little, mostly in surprise, and Elphaba's eyes flickered down.

And then Glinda leaned towards her, not even conscious of the frantic beating of her heart, not anymore. And then, and then, and then, she kissed her.

Other than the clumsy and slow song still playing, the place was silent and still, and kissing Elphaba was nothing like Glinda had expected—and she hadn’t had expectations at all, truly. It was never a thought Glinda liked to indulge in because she thought it would never happen.

Except that now it was happening, and it was better than anything she could’ve tried to picture anyway. Elphie tasted like that awful moonshine but Glinda didn't really care, nor did she care about the spectacles barely digging into her nose. There was no room to care about anything like that.

Elphaba held onto her shoulders rather gently, a touch that was just barely there, just like the touch of their lips, a soft press that was feather light and careful, for Glinda was still aware of the fact it was Elphaba's first ever kiss—she didn't want to be overwhelming.

But there was no reason to worry about that. Elphaba tackled most things in her life with the same intense drive, and this was no different. She said she had never kissed anyone before, and yet she kissed Glinda like she never wanted to do anything else.

Glinda shifted a little, smiled into Elphaba's mouth and that was taken as encouragement. They kissed for a long, long time. Longer than Glinda had ever kissed anyone before, which suited her just fine, and in fact she was oddly giddy to be sharing a first time of her own with Elphaba.

So long in fact that it eventually stopped raining, but neither of them noticed for a while.

Until whatever mechanism kept the piano going finally stopped and that broke the spell the two of them found themselves in, and they realized that it was just a little too quiet inside the library.

“I think—the storm’s over,” Elphaba said softly.

Glinda blinked slowly at her, dazzled. “The what?”

Elphaba snorted, one thumb brushing the side of Glinda's mouth, perhaps trying to fix her smudged lipstick but all she did was make Glinda's heart do a somersault. “The storm, my sweet. We can leave through a window now.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Sweet.” Elphaba now pressed her thumb over Glinda's lips. “That's how you taste.”

Glinda had to kiss her again after that. She had to. What else was she supposed to do?

Luckily Elphaba didn't complain.

But this time Glinda didn't let herself get carried away, she was the first to pull back and stand up with haste because being so close to Elphaba was making her only want to stay close to her for the rest of the night, and they really had to leave.

“That eager to run away from me?” Elphaba asked with some amusement. “You wouldn't be the first.”

“Oh, hush, you seem to have no idea of what you've done; you'll never get rid of me now.”

“I won't complain about that.”

“Get up.” Glinda laughed softly. “We should hurry in case the storm comes back.”

“Suddenly I'm not so keen on leaving.” Elphaba’s braid was basically nonexistent and totally shapeless at this point. Glinda would really have to fix it for her later once they were in the safety of their shared room.

But first thing's first, they had to get out of there. And then she would make sure Elphaba carried an umbrella wherever she went.

“Let's go, Elphie, don't kick up a hard time about it.” Glinda paused, and decided a different tactic. “Nothing will stop us from kissing again once we’re back, you know.”

Elphaba had never gotten to her feet faster.

#gliyeraba #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

15 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @gaypapercuts!

“Two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but will never break.”

#gaypapercuts #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

39 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @vinkunwildflowerqueen!

Read it on Ao3

Glinda squealed as she tore the wrapping paper from the package. Her birthday gift from her parents had arrived three days early, and the blonde, not known for her patience, couldn’t wait a single tick-tock. The only thing that stopped her from opening it as she walked from the campus post office back to her room was that she had other bags to balance.

She opened the card and skimmed over it, just to be able to say she read the card first, and tore the tissue paper that protected the box. Her squeals intensified (if that’s even possible), as she discovered what was in the box.

“Ooh! A camera!” she grinned, carefully removing the new device from its box and pulling the bubble wrap off. It fit perfectly in her hands.

She had always loved photography, mostly as the subject. She loved having her biggest smiles and most iconic poses captured forever, as well as the attention.

She exhaled softly, carefully examining the sleek black and silver finish. She carefully put it beside her on the bed and fished out the accessories that came with it.

She took out the instruction manual, a neck strap, three rolls of film, and a coupon to buy more. She diligently read the instruction manual, consulting the pictures at each step, and was able to successfully secure the neck strap and properly insert the first roll of film.

She turned the tiny dial with her thumb, stopping when she heard a soft click. She could take thirty-six photos per roll. She squinted into the viewfinder. “What shall I photograph first?”

Her fingers hovered over the shutter button as she scanned her room through the viewfinder. She wanted to make sure her first photo was a perfect one. She could take a photo of her beautiful, color-coordinated shoe rack, or her perfectly-made bed, or –

Keys jingling in the door pulled her focus and she grinned. Her roommate would be the perfect test subject. She stepped closer to the door and positioned herself, her finger ready to capture the perfect photo as soon as she saw Elphaba through the viewfinder.

The second the door opened, Glinda captured the moment.

“Ack!” Elphaba yelped, dropping the bags she was carrying as her hands flew to shield her eyes from the sudden flash. Her shoulder collided with the doorframe, and she winced, but didn’t move her hands. “My eyes!”

“Elphie!” Glinda removed the camera from around her neck and placed it on her bed before rushing to her roommate's side. “Are you alright?”

Elphaba had slid down and was kneeling on the floor amongst her bag’s scattered contents. Her glasses had flown off her face and Glinda picked them up and carefully pressed them into her hands. “I…” She slowly opened her eyes, but all she saw were large, dark spots covering most of her visual field.

“Here. Let me help you.” She handed Elphaba a few of her books, but realized what happened when she didn’t look at her or take them. “Oh, sorry. Here.” She helped her roommate to her feet and led her over to her bed.

Elphaba carefully placed her glasses on her pillow, since she couldn’t use them at the moment. “Oz, Glinda. What are you doing? What was that?” Elphaba groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her palms against her eyelids.

Glinda picked up the information manual and flipped through it. “To make sure the flash is turned off, the flash button light should not be lit,” she read. She looked at her camera. The flash button was lit. “Oh. Whoops.”

Elphaba slowly opened her eyes and blinked multiple times. The dark spots slowly gave way to blurry colors, and after a few more frantic blinks, her vision was fully restored, and she slipped her glasses back onto her face. “You never answered my questions.”

“Momsie and Popsicle sent me a camera for my birthday.”

“Your birthday is three days away.”

“The package came early. And I couldn’t wait. Look, it’s one of the newer models! The Kine Exakta!”

She looked at the offending object in her roommate’s hands. “Oh. Well, I hope it was worth temporarily blinding me.”

Glinda giggled and looked at her roommate through the viewfinder. “Smile, Elphie!”

Elphaba quickly turned away.

“I turned the flash off. I promise.”

“I don’t want my picture taken, Glin.”

“Aww. Why not? Photos are black and white, if you’re being self-conscious.”

“You know I’m always self-conscious. And the day Oz gets color photography is the day I leave Oz.”

Glinda rolled her eyes. “Oh, Elphie. You’re so dramatic. Now, smile!”

“Why would you even want to take my picture?”

“Because years from now, I’m gonna want to remember my days at dear old Shiz, and you are a part of those memories, whether you want to be or not. So I can either remember you for your beautiful smile, or your frown that could curdle milk. Pick one.”

Elphaba worked her jaw. She really didn’t want her picture taken, but knew that Glinda wasn’t going to back down, no matter what excuse or threat she used. With a resigned sigh, she gave the blonde a small smile.

“Elphie, you look like you’re being held at gunpoint. Smile like you mean it.”

“You mean like my life depends on it.”

Glinda pouted, and that’s what got Elphaba to give her a genuine-looking smile. She clicked the shutter and bounced. “Perfect!”

Elphaba sagged and flopped back onto her bed. “Thank Oz.”

“Come on! Let’s go find our friends and take more photos! I have three rolls of film to use.”

“You’re not going to use three rolls of film in one night.”

“Just come on!” She grabbed her friend’s arms, pulled her off the bed, and dragged her out of the room.

Classes were ending for the evening, meaning the campus was abuzz with students heading to the cafeteria, dorms, or one of the various cafés. The two expertly maneuvered through the crowds in search of their friends.

“Nessa! Boq!” Glinda waved.

The two Munchkins turned and smiled. “Hi, Glin. What’s that?” Nessa asked.

“My parents got me a camera for my birthday. You two, get together and smile!”

Nessa looked up at Boq, who stepped beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Nessa leaned closer to him and grinned.

“Perfect!” Glinda smiled after snapping the photo.

“I didn’t know you were into photography,” Nessa said as the four headed to the cafeteria.

“I’m normally on the other side of the camera. My room at home is covered wall-to-wall with photos of me. I mentioned that I wanted to try taking photos over Lurlinemas break, and my parents got me the camera.”

“Have you taken any other photos?” Boq asked.

“Elphie’s been helping me test it out,” Glinda smiled.

The green girl nodded. “I’m the reason the flash is now off and will not temporarily blind anyone else.”

“I have three rolls of film to use. But I can’t just take photos of anything. It must be special.”

“I hope you didn’t plan on taking photos of us eating,” Nessa said, giving Glinda a wary look. “I don’t want a photo of me with pasta sauce all over my face floating around.”

“No. I’d hardly consider that ‘special’. Oh, there’s Fiyero! Fiyero, over here!”

The prince looked up and waved, hurrying over to his friends. “Hey!” He eyed the camera around the blonde’s neck. “Ooh, a camera.”

“Birthday gift from her parents,” Elphaba supplied as Glinda assumed a familiar position. “Uh-oh.”

Fiyero was ready and struck his most dashing pose, his hands on his hips. Nessa and Boq laughed, Elphaba rolled her eyes, and Glinda was beyond delighted.

“Ooh! You must take one of me!” She handed Fiyero the camera and smiled so brightly, the flash wasn’t necessary.

Fiyero snapped the photo, which started a mini photoshoot with everyone, except Elphaba, taking turns on both sides of the camera.

“No,” Elphaba frowned after she was asked, for the seventh time, to be in a photo. “You already got two out of me, and one of them was unplanned.”

“Ooh. You got a candid of Elphaba?” Fiyero grinned, and Elphaba glared at him.

“A picture is worth a thousand words, Elphie. You need to make sure each word matters,” Glinda said.

“There are approximately 200,300 words in the Ozian language, but I could never string enough of them together to properly convey how much I hate this,” Elphaba groaned. “You will get nowhere near two hundred photos of me for your ‘thousand words’.”

Nessa tugged on her sister’s hand. “Just one photo, Fabala. Take one with me.”

Elphaba looked surprised, but it passed as quickly as it arrived. Knowing that her weakness was being unable to deny her sister anything, she stood closer to Nessa’s chair. The younger Thropp took her sister’s hand and lovingly leaned her head against her arm. The sisterly physical contact got Elphaba to melt a little and she tenderly kissed the top of Nessa’s head, which made Nessa’s smile grow just as Glinda took the photo.

“Now that we got that over with, let’s go eat,” Elphaba said, the tenderness immediately dissipating once she heard the shutter click, and trudged to the front of the group.

“Oh, Elphie. We’ll get you to love having your photo taken,” Glinda teased, and Elphaba didn’t dignify that with a response.

(LINE BREAK)

The first roll of film was finished before her birthday, and the first thing Glinda did that Saturday morning after breakfast was run to town to get them developed. She found it hard to contain her excitement, but half an hour later, the darkroom technician came back out with a small envelope of her processed negatives, as well as the actual negatives in case she wanted to make more copies later.

She thanked and paid him before running back to campus, waiting until she was back in the privacy and sanctity of her room to open the envelope.

She sat cross-legged on her bed and carefully removed the photos like they were precious artifacts and sifted through them. The first photo was the one she took of Elphaba as she entered the room. She couldn’t see much of her, due to the flash reflecting off her glasses and filling most of the photo, but she could tell she had captured her roommate’s surprise before the chaos ensued.

The others were much better; there was the good one she took of Elphaba, Boq and Nessa, Fiyero, people sitting on a lawn, Elphaba and –

Wait. People sitting on a lawn? Had someone else’s photo accidentally gotten mixed up in hers?

Glinda stared at the photo. Upon further inspection, she recognized the pattern on their clothes and realized it was the Shiz uniform, and the ‘lawn’ was the quad in front of the founder’s statue. She didn’t remember taking any photos other than the ones of her friends. She studied it closer. No one was looking into the camera, so she figured she must’ve pressed the shutter by accident and never noticed.

While not one of her planned, posed photos, it was still a decent picture. The angle was wide enough to capture three separate groups of students, and she recognized a few, namely Pfannee, ShenShen, and Milla, sitting together on a picnic blanket, with multiple books piled around them. ShenShen was leaning on Pfannee’s shoulder, and Milla was lying on her stomach, her feet in the air. The other two groups held various, similar positions with their study groups. Some were smiling, some were frustrated, and a few had fallen asleep.

She smiled at the candid photo. While her photos of her friends were wonderful, there was something about the unplanned photo that was intrinsically perfect. It felt more lifelike than the others. A little glimpse into their student life.

The lock clicked and Glinda quickly hid the quad photo under her pillow. “Hi, Elphie!”

“Hi. Oh, the photos are ready.” The green girl dropped her bags on her desk and sat on Glinda’s bed next to her.

Glinda handed them over and smiled as Elphaba went through them. “They came out nice.”

“Whose forehead is that?” Elphaba asked, holding up a photo of someone’s forehead, eyebrow, and half an eye.

“I think it’s Fiyero’s,” Glinda giggled. “I let him hold the camera, and I think he tried to take a photo of himself.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Yeah. That sounds like something Fiyero would do.” She continued to go through the photos, pausing on the one with her and her sister.

“You can keep that one. I can get an extra copy for Nessa.”

“This is the first photo of Nessa and me together,” Elphaba whispered, her finger delicately tracing over her sister’s face. “There are tons of photos of Nessa back home, and none of me – for obvious reasons, but she’s never requested one of us together. I didn’t think she’d want one because…”

“You two look very similar. I mean, obviously, because you’re sisters.”

“Nessa has always been a pretty girl. ‘Tragically beautiful’, while the best I could hope for was ‘beautifully tragic’. No one, especially her, would ever try to see any similarities between us.” She studied how Nessa held her hand as she lovingly leaned her head against her arm. She was kissing the top of Nessa’s head, and both girls were smiling. She held the photo up to the mirror and studied Nessa’s face, then her own reflection. “I suppose, if not for the green, we would truly look like sisters.”

Glinda smiled softly. “Then I’ll let this one be extra special, just for you.”

Elphaba’s lips twitched. “Thanks.”

She always considered Nessa to be much more beautiful than her, and this was the first time she carefully studied the similar facial features they shared. She never put much thought behind it before, since Nessa didn’t go around advertising their sisterhood. But looking at this black and white photo, the absence of color got her to see how beautiful she could be.

“Besides, I think she’ll want this one instead.” She grabbed a photo of Nessa, Boq, and Fiyero together, with Nessa giving Fiyero bunny ears.

(LINE BREAK)

Glinda sighed melodramatically as she took down another string of photos from the wall and carefully placed them in a shoebox. She was taking down the photos that had spilled over onto Elphaba’s side of the room, and she had promised her roommate that she’d have them down by the time she returned from her final exam.

She had purposefully hung up the self-portraits she and Elphaba had taken together in their full-length mirror (she had gleefully called them ‘Elphie Selfies’, and only stopped when Elphaba threatened to hide her camera where she’d never find it). She smiled at all the fun poses she made Elphaba do, and placed the one where the two of them formed a heart with their hands on the green girl’s pillow. She was going to take it home, whether she wanted to or not.

She looked at the clock. She still had half an hour before Elphaba’s exam finished, so she quickly finished taking down the photos and pulled a shoebox from under her bed.

She had gone around campus, and even to the town, with her camera around her neck, taking as many pictures as she could. She brought extra rolls of film with her each time, and never left an outing with less than a roll filled. She spent more money on film than she did on clothes the past year, and surprisingly, she had no regrets.

She had captured photos of people studying, walking, socializing, sharing food, dancing to music only they heard, reading, and doing other slice-of-life activities. The indistinct conversations and bustling atmospheres provided a good cover for the camera’s click, which wasn’t very loud to begin with, and even though the photos were taken at chest level, without her looking in the viewfinder, they still came out good.

She realized that some of the best photos came from people who didn’t realize their photo was being taken. It sounded stockerish at face value, but she didn’t plan on sharing the photos anywhere, so she didn’t see the harm in taking them just for herself. She found that she really liked taking candid shots, and made quite a collection for herself over the last two years.

She knew it wouldn’t make a difference if she left the shoebox in plain sight, since there was nothing out of the ordinary about her multitude of shoeboxes, but since these were her extra special secret photos, she took extra care of them.

She had created a sub-section of photos specifically dedicated to candids of Elphaba and Fiyero’s outings. Her best friend and ex-boyfriend began dating shortly after she got the camera, and she got the idea for their subsection once she realized how good she was at taking these secret shots. Most of the photos were of them walking hand-in-hand, of Fiyero carrying her books, or of them sitting under their favorite oak tree near Suicide Canal. Lots were taken mid-conversation, which led to lots of unplanned, silly facial expressions. She even managed to catch a moment when Fiyero tripped over a large sidewalk crack, and Elphaba had to reach out to steady him.

Unbeknownst to her roommate, she was toying with the idea of giving them these photos. Assuming they stayed together (and she had bet money that they would), she could give Elphaba and Fiyero these photos as a wedding present. It was cute enough, and she knew them well enough for it not to be as weird. She had worked so hard on these, and even harder at staying hidden and not letting them know she was documenting their relationship.

She went through the photos one more time before slipping them back into their designated box and taping it shut. She just hoped those two wouldn’t break up and waste all her hard work.

(LINE BREAK)

A few years later…

Glinda was supposed to be focusing on the flower arrangements on the tables. That was her job. That was the job she gave herself. So why was she in the bridal suite instead of doing her job?

“Glin, I think we have enough photos of my face being caked in blush,” Elphaba said, looking up at her friend’s reflection in the mirror.

The blonde looked up from her camera’s viewfinder. “How would you know how many photos I took?”

“She’s counting clicks,” Nessa chuckled and lifted her head so the hairstylist could pin her hair in place.

“Elphie, it’s my job to document every moment of your wedding. It’s for posterity,” Glinda insisted.

“It’s not your job. We hired an official wedding photographer,” she said, gesturing to the young woman with a professional-looking camera. “For posterity.”

The photographer, whom the blonde had banished to the doorway, gave Glinda a small smile and wave.

“Yes, but she doesn’t have as much experience photographing you as I do. I know how to get your good side.” She snapped a photo of Elphaba scowling at her. “So cute!”

“Glinda, you’ve taken enough photos. Give it a rest.”

Glinda let out an annoyed grunt and placed the camera back in her bag, safely tucked away in the corner. “Fine. I’ll be nice and listen to you. But only because it’s your wedding day.”

Elphaba smiled and motioned for the photographer to take her place. The three girls laughed and talked, letting the camera clicks fade into the background. After almost forty-five minutes of primping and preparing, Elphaba was in her full wedding attire, complete with makeup and accessories.

Her hair was in a braided updo, wrapped around her head, and adorned with tiny flower clips and a tiara with a veil attached. Her wedding dress was an ivory, princess-style ballgown, befitting her new role, with delicate floral lace adorning the corset and long sleeves of the lace-embellished bodice. It had a closed back, secured with multiple buttons, a high neckline, and a voluminous, shimmering sparkle tulle skirt.

“You look positively princessified!” Glinda gushed, wiping a tear from her eye and fanning her face.

“Glin, go check on the table flowers,” Elphaba commanded good-naturedly, but couldn’t tear her gaze from her reflection.

“I’ll go with her,” Nessa volunteered, sensing that Elphaba probably wanted a moment alone.

“Nessa, stay.”

It sounded more like a question, and the brunette exchanged a look with the blonde before nodding to her sister. Elphaba dismissed the photographer, waiting until it was just her and Nessa before going over to her bag.

“I have a present for you.”

“You have a present for me, on your wedding day?”

Elphaba smiled and pulled out a large envelope, handing it to her sister. “I wanted to wait until your birthday, but I don’t fully trust the postal service with something this important.”

Nessa looked at the envelope with surprised reverence and carefully opened it, pulling out a photo. She stared at it with tear-filled eyes, her hand over her mouth. “Fabala… this is… this is the photo Glinda took of us.”

Elphaba knelt in front of the chair, carefully smoothing out her skirt. “Back at Shiz, when she first got that annoying, infernal camera,” she added, but couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “She had volunteered to make a copy for you, but I ended up making one for myself. That’s the original.”

“Fabala, I can’t –”

“Keep the original, Nessie. It’s okay. There are plenty of other photos, but I thought you’d like to keep this one.”

“I… this is… thank you.” She pulled her sister into a hug.

Elphaba rested her chin on Nessa’s shoulder, completely melting into the hug. She was grateful for the quiet time with her sister before the chaos of the day started. She was so tuned in that she didn’t hear the door creak open, but she heard a click and whipped around. “Glinda Upland, I swear to Oz!”

“Going!” the blonde called, closing the door and running away.

“Unbelievable,” Elphaba muttered, shaking her head and standing.

“I’ll go check on the flower arrangements,” Nessa volunteered with a laugh, squeezing her sister’s hand and quickly hurrying out. “And I’ll take her camera away.”

“Thank you!”

(LINE BREAK)

“Finally!” Fiyero exclaimed, pushing the door to their marital suite open.

He insisted on carrying Elphaba over the threshold, and Elphaba didn’t put up much of a fuss. He twirled her once and set her down with a loud, faux-groan, and playfully rubbed his back.

“Oh, stop that!” Elphaba chuckled, lightly whacking his arm. “Don’t tell me you’re getting too tired to continue ‘dancing through life’.”

“That was more of a philosophy than a literal way of life,” Fiyero chuckled, then surprised Elphaba by pulling her back into his arms and twirling her around the room. He kissed her and they continued dancing to the residual music in their minds. “I’m nowhere near tired. I love you,” he whispered once they pulled away from a passionate kiss.

“I love you, too.” She kissed him again and playfully hurried away before he could pull her back.

They chased each other around the room until Elphaba’s eyes fell on a box wrapped in light blue paper.

“Fae, what’s that?” Fiyero asked when she picked it up.

“I don’t know. I just noticed it.” She took the card taped to the top and opened it, rolling her eyes with a laugh. “It’s from Glinda.”

“When did she find time to sneak away? I didn’t see her leave the dance floor the entire night.”

“I’ll never understand how she can manage to be the center of attention, and extremely sneaky, at the same time. Listen to this; ‘Dearest darlingest Elphie and Fifi…’” Elphaba gagged and Fiyero snatched the card from her, ignoring her face as he continued reading for her.

“‘Don’t think too hard about how I snuck away from the party. It’ll make your newlywed heads explode. Anyway, if you’re too tired from the reception or from doing something else, this present can wait. Actually, I want it to wait if you found this after doing the ‘something else’. Just make sure you open it before I see you again, which should be anytime within the next fifteen hours. All my love, Glinda.’ And she put a large heart next to her name, look.”

“I know how she signs her letters,” Elphaba chuckled, then took the present.

She and Fiyero opened it together, and lifted the cover to reveal an emerald, leather-bound book.

“Okay, Glin got you a book. What’d she get me?” Fiyero asked, pushing the tissue paper aside to find his gift.

Elphaba opened the book, her eyes immediately tearing up. “It’s not a book, Yero. It’s a photo album.”

He looked over her shoulder. “It’s… photos of us. At Shiz. I don’t remember her taking these. We’re not even posing.” They sat on the bed, studying the multiple photos Glinda had taken. There were a few of them with their friends, but it was mostly their couple’s photos. They laughed, reminisced, and offered explanations for ill-timed photos.

“How did she do this? I never knew… Was she stalking us?” Elphaba asked, seeing the photo of Fiyero tripping over a large sidewalk crack.

“Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me.” He smiled at a photo of him twirling Elphaba in the air, her hair dancing around her face, and a wide smile on her lips. “But she is good at photography.”

“I’m surprised she’s not a private investigator.”

“She’d be the best. Sneaky and – Hey! I remember this one! Glinda let me take it,” he proudly announced with a wide grin, pointing at a photo of Elphaba looking out a window.

She tilted her head. “Oh. That’s why it’s blurry.” She chuckled and kissed his pouting lips. “These are… really nice photos. While I’m going to have a long conversation about the stalking, I love that our best moments are memorialized.”

“It will make telling our kids the story of our relationship easier.”

“And keep it accurate. Wait… how did she manage to include photos of the wedding ceremony? Nessa took her camera. I visually confirmed she had it. I can’t believe… you know what? I’m not gonna ask any more questions I’m not sure I want the answer to.”

“Good choice, especially when it comes to Glinda.” He slipped his hand into Elphaba’s and gave her a quick kiss, turning the page to find two photos of them sharing their first married kiss, along with writing in a neat, sparkly pink script.

Thank you for not letting my hard work and great photos go to waste. Congratulations Elphie and Fiyero!

Elphaba had to laugh. “Oz, that girl.”

“I think I’m a good enough photographer to pick up where Glinda left off,” Fiyero mused, flipping back to his blurry photo of Elphaba.

“Yeah.” She flipped back to the photo of the two of them together, sitting at their favorite table in the café. They were snuggled together, cheeks touching, and Elphaba was clutching her mug of tea. Fiyero took it, and it was significantly better than his forehead selfie and blurry Elphaba’s window photo.

“You don’t agree?”

“I agree with you.” She took the book and put it on the nightstand. “I’ll even let you pick up where she left off.”

Glinda had been right. A picture is worth a thousand words. And every single word mattered to her.

#vinkunwildflowerqueen #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

5 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Note

merry christmas!

just so you know, the Ao3 link for the fics doesn't work as of yet..

Hey, thanks for letting me know! I just fixed it ❤️

#questions #wickedsanta23

1 note · View note

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @paradise-bi-the-dashboard-lightt!

Special message: happy happy christmas to you! ❄️🥰 while i was working on your gift, i realized i wanted to tell a story with the songs i picked out and here we are—a journey (as i imagine) of glinda dealing with the aftermath of elphaba's demise. grieving and growing, but never giving up hope. dreaming until her longing is answered. finally being brave enough to leave her life behind to be with her elphie.i hope you'll enjoy your gift and have a good time listening to it. 💕

Listen to the fanmix here

#paradise-bi-the-dashboard-lightt #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

7 notes · View notes

wicked-secretsanta · 4 months

Text

Merry Christmas @wickedobsessed101!

Special message: Hope you like this! Merry Christmas ❤️

Read it on Ao3

Everything everyone had ever told Elphaba about childbirth and pregnancy had certainly not been her experience.

“It can take up a year to fall pregnant, so don’t worry if it doesn’t happen before then,” the royal midwife had told her when she and Fiyero had decided to start trying; only to turn around and confirm her pregnancy nine weeks later.

“First babies are always late,” said her mother-in-law, the midwife, random strangers on the street; but Elphaba had gone into labour at thirty-six weeks.

“It’s probably just false labour, and if it is real, it will still be hours. First babies take their time,” the midwife had said dismissively, rather irritated about being sent for in the middle of the night and clearly thinking Elphaba was an idiot.

A mere three and a half hours later, Azura Tiggular slid into the world.

When Elphaba had gotten pregnant the next time, she’d gotten a new royal midwife. That delivery had been even quicker, so Fiyero felt rather justified in being wary about the prospect of taking the family out on Lurlinemas Eve. Elphaba did not.

“Fiyero, I’m not due for another month,” Elphaba said calmly, needlessly straightening the covers on the bed of the spare room. “And if something happened, we’d have plenty of time to get help.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Fiyero argued. “With Daxton, he practically fell out when you sneezed.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Stop telling it like that. Dax is going to hear it one day and not know you’re exaggerating.”

“You’re nesting,” Fiyero pointed out, watching her fluff the pillows on the bed.

She turned to him, placing her hands on her hips. “I’m not nesting, I’m cleaning. Glinda’s going to be here any minute.”

“Okay, but-”

“Yero,” she cut him off gently. “I’m fine. I haven’t missed the Lurlinemas markets in all the years we’ve been married, and I’m not going to start now.”

Fiyero sighed, taking in the stubborn set of her jaw. “I want it on record that I have no desire to deliver this baby myself.”

Elphaba snorted. “You think you could?”

“Hey, I watched both the kids be born,” Fiyero defended himself. “I paid attention, I could do it.”

“Except for when you fainted right after Azura was born,” Elphaba smirked.

Fiyero’s shoulders sagged. “Fae, it’s been seven years. Can we maybe let that go?”

“No,” Elphaba laughed.

Glinda arrived within the hour, and Fiyero went out to meet her.

“Hi,” he greeted her.

“Hi,” she beamed, stepping forward to hug him. “How’s Elphie?”

“Stubborn.”

“Oh, then same as always,” Glinda laughed. “What is it now?”

“She wants to go to the markets on Lurlinemas Eve,” Fiyero explained, offering her an arm as her driver began to unload her luggage from the carriage.

Glinda’s brow furrowed as she took his elbow.“So? You go every year. Isn’t it like, royal decree?”

“It’s tradition, not decree,” Fiyero corrected her. “But she’s never been this close to her due date before.”

“She has a month.”

“Azzie and Dax both came early. And fast,” Fiyero reminded her. “Dax pretty much-”

“Oh, for the love of Oz, do not tell the sneeze story again,” Glinda cut him off, wrinkling her nose. “It’s been four years, and I still can’t get rid of that mental image. How do you expect me to have a baby of my own if you keep telling me these things?”

“Maybe you should focus on planning your wedding first?” Fiyero teased her. “It’s been over a year.”

Glinda scowled at him. “Excuse me, but it took me four months to plan the engagement party, and then as soon as we started to even think of dates, someone got Elphie pregnant.”

“Well, as far as I know, that someone was me,” Fiyero said lightly.

Glinda swatted at him. “My point is, I can’t get married without Elphie as my matron of honour, can I? And she certainly can’t stand beside me at the altar with Baby Glinda in her arms, can she?”

“No way,” Fiyero protested. “Azura’s middle name is already Glinda. You don’t get two namesakes.”

They met Elphaba and the kids in the parlour, and Azura and Daxton dashed to greet Glinda, while Fiyero moved forward to help Elphaba up off the couch.

“Oh, Elphie. You look so good!” Glinda exclaimed excitedly, hurrying forward to hug her and immediately pressing her hands to Elphaba’s stomach to feel the baby.

“How was the journey?” Elphaba asked calmly, ignoring the way Glinda prodded at her belly.

“Oh, it was fine,” Glinda said airily. “How are you? Fiyero was saying something about the markets?”

Elphaba shot Fiyero an exasperated stare and he shrugged innocently.

“I’m perfectly able to go to the markets,” she said. “Fiyero’s just being ridiculous.”

“He does that,” Glinda nodded knowingly.

“Hey,” Fiyero protested, but was ignored.

The small village of Elmspire, nestled in the Lower Kells, had been the hometown of Fiyero's great-grandmother; and so the tradition of the royals attending the markets on Lurlinemas Eve had been in place since the marriage of his great-grandparents. Since he was a child, Fiyero had loved experiencing the food, carols and the ritual of lighting the fairy lantern to guide Lurline and her fairies to the village to visit and bless the people throughout the night.

In the past seven years, getting to share the traditions with his children and seeing it all through their eyes had made it even more special. But he’d never attended the markets with his heavily pregnant wife; who was definishly not as fine as she insisted she was as they all boarded the carriage to head out to Elmspire on Lurlinemas Eve.

“Is this your first time, Aunty Glinda?” Azura asked her, bouncing with excitement.

“Actually, I’ve been before,” Glinda replied. “But you wouldn’t remember that- it was your very first Lurlinemas, you were just a tiny little baby!”

Azura’s dark eyes widened. “Really?”

Glinda nodded with a smile. “Really. I think you’d only just started crawling- isn’t that right, Momma?”

“Sounds about right,” Elphaba said, with a smile to her daughter that didn’t seem genuine to Fiyero.

“Az, you and Dax will have to give Aunty Glinda the full tour when we get there,” Fiyero said swiftly. “Right?”

Azura’s face lit up. “Oh, Aunty Glinda! They have giant gingerbread cookies!” she exclaimed, and Glinda gasped with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.

“Really? How giant? Bigger than you?” she asked and Azura giggled.

“Maybe not this year. I’m pretty big now,” she informed her solemnly.

“You definitely are,” Glinda agreed. “What else do they have?”

With the kids suitably distracted, Fiyero took the opportunity to lean towards Elphaba. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Elphaba reassured him, unwrapping her cloak from around her. “My back is just sore- as always.”

Elmspire was about a forty-five minute carriage ride away from the castle, and Fiyero was grateful he had Glinda there to help entertain the kids as Elphaba kept shifting ever so slightly, rubbing her stomach absent-mindedly and Fiyero struggled not to watch her like a timer was about to go off.

“There’s Grams and Grandpa!” yelled Daxton as he spotted the king and queen.

“Hello, my darlings!” the queen greeted them warmly as Azura and Daxton spilled from the carriage the moment it came to a complete stop, sweeping them both into her arms. “Are we ready for tonight?”

“Grams, can we have hot chocolate?” Azura asked immediately. “And candy apples, and pastry and cake-”

“Whoa,” Fiyero said hastily, climbing out of the carriage after them. “How about we get one food thing and one drink?”

“I think that sounds reasonable,” his father agreed, as Fiyero held out an arm to help Glinda alight before leaning back inside to help Elphaba out.

“You good?” he murmured to her, as she leaned heavily on his arm after getting on the ground.

The look she shot him was exasperated but fond. “I just need a walk. Stretch my back,” she replied.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” the queen asked her as the children greeted their grandfather.

“My back isn’t great,” Elphaba admitted. “I could do with a walk. Do we have time before the lantern lighting?”

“Fifteen minutes or so,” she reassured her. “Enough time to do a loop- let the children settle a bit?”

“Sounds good,” Elphaba agreed.

The more they walked, the more she did seem to ease and her eyes grew brighter. Fiyero suspected watching Azura and Daxton take everything in with wide-eyes was part of that. While Fiyero loved sharing experiences with the kids that he too had done as a child, Elphaba just loved seeing their children find joy in the holidays. It was something that she’d never really had herself growing up.

Fiyero watched her soft gaze fixate on the way Azura held her little brother’s hand as they walked, pointing things out to him that she remembered from last year, sounding very mature. With a soft smile of his own, Fiyero couldn’t resist sneaking a hand over to cover Elphaba’s stomach for a moment, but he frowned as he registered how hard it felt beneath his hand.

“Elphaba…”

“It’s fine,” she said breezily, not looking at him and smiling at those that passed them. “They’re just practise ones. I can barely feel them.”

“Elphaba,” Fiyero hissed, his heart dropping like a stone.

“Momma!” Dax yelled out excitedly, spinning on the spot to face them. “Look, there’s sillymon rolls!”

Glinda looked over her shoulder from where she was walking next to Azura, shooting Elphaba and Fiyero a bewildered glance. Elphaba laughed quietly, moving forward.

“Cinnamon,” she murmured to Glinda, and Glinda’s face cleared in understanding. “Do you want a roll, Dax?”

“Sillymon,” Glinda said with a smile, falling into step next to Fiyero as Elphaba led Daxton and Azura over to the cinnamon roll stand. “That’s adorable. It reminds me of when Azura used to call me ‘Glinna’ , remember?”

She giggled, but when Fiyero said nothing, she frowned at him. “What’s with you?”

“Fae’s having contractions,” he hissed to her.

Glinda’s eyes widened, shooting towards Elphaba. “Wait- real ones or fake ones?”

“Fake ones she says,” Fiyero said, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his wife. “But…”

“I’m sure she’d know if it was real,” she said practically. “It’s not like this is her first labour.”

Fiyero wasn’t comforted.

The highlight of the markets on Lurlinemas Eve was the lighting of the lantern; wherein the lantern atop the tall lamp post that stood in the middle of the village square was lit with light green flames. Typically this was done by the youngest member of the royal family, but this would be the first year Dax was deemed old enough to do it. Azura had spent the past three weeks teaching her little brother how to do it, using their toys as stand in props. It was the most adorable thing Fiyero had ever seen.

And as they all gathered near the lamp post, Fiyero watched Elphaba talk with Glinda and his mother and the way she kept shifting her weight, one hand bracing the small of her back.

“Are we ready to begin, Your Highness?” the village minister asked, interrupting his musings a few minutes later.

“I think so,” Fiyero nodded, searching out the kids. He spotted them on the other side of the lantern, talking to Elphaba quietly. She was kneeling down as she talked to Dax and Azura, a feat which Fiyero could only marvel at when she was in her third trimester.

“Dax,” he called out, “you ready, buddy?”

Dax looked over towards him and then back to Elphaba, who said something to them with a small smile and then looked to Azura. Whatever she said, Azura nodded solemnly and then took Dax’s hand to lead the way back over to Fiyero. As they approached, Fiyero squatted down to meet them.

“You ready?” he asked again, drawing Dax close as he leaned in towards him.

“Daddy, can Azzie help me with the lantern?” Dax asked in a whisper, his gaze flittering nervously towards the minister.

Fiyero’s heart melted. “If you want her to, absolutely,” he reassured him, running a hand over his rosy cheek. That earned him a tiny smile from Dax and Fiyero shot him and Azura a wink before rising to his feet.

“Azura and Dax are going to do the lantern together,” he told his father and the minister.

“Wonderful,” the minister replied without missing a beat. “Let’s do this then.”

As the minister called for everyone’s attention, Elphaba slid into position next to Fiyero.

“He okay?” he asked her in a murmur.

“A little shy about being the centre of attention,” Elphaba murmured back.

Fiyero nodded understandingly. “Ah. We have not had that problem with Az,” he replied and Elphaba snorted.

“No.”

‘Shy’ had never been a word that could be used to describe Azura Tiggular.

It was a short ceremony. The minister would welcome everyone, and then invite the king to read the story of Lurlinemas- of how the night came to be a holy night for Lurline and her fairy court, and how they now festivated the occasion by flying around Oz and blessing those Ozians with golden candles in their windows; and how long ago in the middle of a blizzard, the town had lit the lantern with green flames to guide the fairies to the village of Elmspire. Then the lantern was lit, and then the minister would do a short prayer, followed by a carol led by the village church choir. It had been the same thing every year for longer than Fiyero had been alive.

His father had always been an excellent storyteller- so many of Fiyero’s favourite childhood memories involved his father reading to him, and even now in his thirties, he could still find himself transfixed as he listened to his father’s tales. But this year, Fiyero was distracted as Elphaba kept fidgeting beside him.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Elphaba merely hummed, which made Fiyero turn his head towards her hastily. “El-”

“Ssh,” she cut him off, slipping her hand around his elbow. “It’s the kids.”

Fiyero turned to watch Azura and Dax step forward together to light the lantern under careful supervision. Azura carefully guided her little brother into place, letting him do the bulk of the job while being a steadfast presence at his side; and Fiyero saw so much of Elphaba in her as he watched that he could only marvel.

But his gaze was ripped away from his children as Elphaba inhaled sharply, her grip on his arm tightening like a vice.

“Are you still going to tell me that you’re fine?” Fiyero hissed to her.

Elphaba’s eyes flickered to him briefly before returning to the kids. “My water just broke,” she murmured calmly.

Fiyero’s heart leapt into his throat and he started to turn towards her, but she stopped him, her free hand rising from her stomach to press against his chest.

“Ssh, it’s fine.”

The crowd began to applaud as the lantern was lit and Elphaba moved her hand from Fiyero’s chest so that she could applaud too.

“Go Dax!” Glinda called out brightly from somewhere behind them, but Fiyero was frozen, only jerkily clapping his hands together when Elphaba nudged him. Honestly, Fiyero felt like he was on the verge of a heart attack.

“Your water has broken,” he said through clenched teeth over the applause. “Which means you’ve probably been in labour since we got here!”

“Probably earlier,” she murmured back as Azura and Dax began to make their way back to them. “My back pain started when we were helping the kids get ready.”

As she praised the kids upon their return and ushered them over to stand with Glinda and their grandmother; Fiyero snuck a glance at his watch, trying to think back to what time that was and how much time they likely had- based on the speed of Elphaba’s past labours. He did the mental math, and then did it again when he really didn’t like the answer he came up with. It didn’t change and that heart attack felt like a real possibility.

“Elphaba-”

“Ssh,” she said, patting his chest. “We’re about to pray.”

“You are an atheist,” he reminded her, but she hushed him again. Fiyero sighed frustratedly, wishing his wife wasn’t so stubborn. It was clear she had no intention of going anywhere until the end of the lantern ceremony.

“Don’t sneeze,” he told her just as the minister called for those gathered to bow their heads.

Elphaba rolled her eyes, just before she lowered her head and closed her eyes.

Fiyero did not. Instead he twisted his head until he found Glinda, who was standing hand-in-hand with Azura. After a moment she raised her eyes to Fiyero, like she’d sensed his eyes on her. Her brow furrowed.

Fiyero nodded minutely towards Elphaba, but Glinda’s frown just deepened.

‘Baby,’ he mouthed, repeating the gesture and then involuntarily winced as Elphaba squeezed his arm again. Coupled with the sharp inhale she let escape, Fiyero guessed it was a contraction.

Glinda’s eyes widened in alarm and her jaw dropped slightly. She took a step forward, but Fiyero shook his head ever-so-slightly.

‘Wait,’ he mouthed back and Glinda shot him an incredulous look.

Fiyero could only shrug and turn back around. He didn’t hear a word the minister said, could only focus on the carefully measured breaths Elphaba was taking and her iron grip on his arm. As the crowd started to sing, movement caught his eye and he watched Glinda carefully move forward to Elphaba’s other side, taking Elphaba’s other arm supportively.

By the second verse, Elphaba was gripping their arms to brace herself as she stood, rocking from side-to-side slightly. Fiyero had never been more thankful for a Lurlinemas carol to end.

“Okay, we need to get to the hospital,” Fiyero said the moment it was done, leaning towards them both to be heard over the applause.

“Oh, I don’t know if we have the time for that,” Elphaba said grimly, a little breathless.

Fiyero stared at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Okay, you were right,” she admitted. “But can we have this conversation later?”

Fiyero made some kind of noise as he turned to find his parents, hurrying over to where they stood nearby with the kids. “Elphaba’s in labour,” he informed them quietly.

They switched into alert mode immediately, but Fiyero didn’t have time for their reactions.

“Her waters have broken, and she doesn’t think there’s enough time to get to the hospital. Please tell me there’s a midwife or doctor here? Or both?”

“I’m sure there must be,” his mother said immediately. “I’ll find someone. Just a moment.”

“Well, Azzie, Dax,” the king said as she hurried away, wrapping one arm around each of the kids. “I think that you both did such a wonderful job tonight that you deserve a reward. How about, when Grams comes back, you come back with us for a sleepover?”

Azura looked up at him with wide eyes. “But how will Lurline’s fairies find us if we’re not at home?”

The king chuckled, tapping her nose with a finger. “Azura, I’m the king. We have an in with Lurline’s fairies, I assure you,” he said with a wink.

Azura and Dax looked appropriately awed at this information and Fiyero sent his father a grateful look.

“What about Momma and Daddy?” Dax asked, glancing over at Fiyero. “And Aunty Glinda?”

Fiyero squatted down to be at his eye level. “Aunty Glinda and I need to help Momma with something super quick,” he told him. “But then we’ll be right behind you. Save us some cookies, okay?”

Dax nodded, but Azura stared at him shrewdly. As his father led Dax away, she lingered and leaned into Fiyero’s side.

“Is Momma having the baby?” she whispered.

Fiyero startled, blinked and then smiled. “You, my girl, are getting way too smart,” he informed her, squeezing her tightly. “Yeah, kid. Momma’s having the baby. So I need you and Dax to go with Grams and Grandpa. Okay?”

“Okay,” Azura agreed easily. She lifted her head and kissed Fiyero’s cheek twice. “One of those is for Momma,” she told him. “And remember, I want a sister.”

Fiyero decided this was not the time to tell her that he had no control over that. “Thanks, sweets. Go catch up with Grandpa,” he urged her and Azura hurried off.

When Fiyero turned back to Elphaba, she was gripping Glinda’s arm tightly with her eyes squeezed shut. Glinda looked more pained than Elphaba.

“You okay?” Fiyero asked her.

Elphaba just made a noise, which after two prior kids, Fiyero could safely interpret as a ‘no’.

“We can’t just stand here in the middle of the square,” Glinda said anxiously, glancing around. “It’s freezing, and it can’t be good for the baby. Or Elphie.”

Fiyero looked around the square and the surrounding buildings. “Let’s try the inn,” he said decidedly. “Hopefully there’ll be a free bed.”

It took him approximately ten seconds to decide the inn’s manager was his favourite person in the world, after she took one look at Elphaba as they entered the foyer and immediately handed Glinda a key, giving them directions to the room and a promise to be along in a moment with a stack of towels.

“Thank you…”

“Evera, Your Highness,” she said.

“Evera,” he repeated. “Thank you.”

He barely had time to let her know that his mother would be along shortly before he hurried Elphaba away.

The moment they were in the room, Fiyero ditched his outerwear and helped Elphaba shed layers and get into the bed. Glinda hung back, wringing her hands helplessly. Evera swept in and presented them with a pile of towels, promising to send up help when it arrived.

“I need to push,” Elphaba gasped, rolling onto her side and Fiyero cringed.

“Just wait,” he begged her. “There’s a midwife coming.”

He hoped. Oz, he hoped.

When the door opened behind him, Fiyero’s shoulders sagged in relief as his mother entered the room. Which only lasted for a heartbeat until he registered she was alone.

“The doctor and midwife are at a delivery in the next town,” she told them. “There’s a retired doctor on a farm on the outskirts of the village and someone’s gone to wake him, but I’m not sure how long they’ll be. If there’s no time to get Elphaba to the hospital-”

Elphaba interrupted her with a long, quiet groan.

His mother looked to Fiyero apologetically. “I’m sorry. Shall I-?”

“Go home with Dad and the kids, Mom,” Fiyero reassured her. “Az knows what’s happening, she might need you. I’ve got Glinda here.”

“Me?!” Glinda squeaked with wide eyes.

“You,” Fiyero said firmly. He was only distantly aware of his mother leaving the room as he rolled up his sleeves.

Glinda grabbed his arm. “Fiyero, there is a reason that I am not in the room and only see the babies when they are clean and cute!” she hissed.

“Well, there’s a reason I don’t deliver my own children!” Fiyero hissed back. “Go. Hold Fae’s hand.”

Fiyero felt ill as he hastily washed his hands and moved to the end of the bed in between Elphaba’s legs. He’d watched both Azura and Dax be born, but he still felt completely out of his depth as he tentatively checked on her progress.

“Well… there’s no head yet,” he announced, although he wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be that much blood.

He was not typically down this end during the birth part.

He looked up at Elphaba. “Fae, remember when I said I could deliver this baby because I paid attention when the other two were born? I lied.”

Elphaba let out a half-gasp, half-laugh. “Just- just don’t… don’t faint again,” she panted, and then slammed her eyes shut as another contraction hit and from Glinda’s wince, squeezed her hand quite hard.

“Seven years,” Fiyero muttered under his breath, rubbing her shin encouragingly.

“What?”

Fiyero knew better than to repeat his comment. “If you need to sneeze now, that would actually be helpful,” he said instead and Elphaba just gave a small sob in response.

It only took another contraction before Fiyero tensed. “Ohhhhkay. There’s the head,” he said slowly.

Elphaba groaned something incoherently and Fiyero squeezed her ankle lightly, urging her to push as he eased the head and shoulders free, remembering enough to make sure the umbilical cord wasn’t caught. Once the shoulders were free, the baby slid into his hands in the literal blink of an eye- one second Fiyero was cradling the head in one palm and the next a whole baby was in his hands.

Fiyero swore unconsciously, and both Elphaba and Glinda’s gaze whipped to him in panic.

“Everything’s fine,” he hastily reassured them. “She’s fast is all. Wasn’t expecting it.”

Elphaba craned her neck weakly, her eyes turning glassy. “She?”

Fiyero grinned at her broadly. “She,” he confirmed and Elphaba collapsed back onto the pillows with another sob, this one tinged with joy.

“Oh, Elphie,” Glinda exclaimed.

“Glinda, grab me some of the towels. Quick,” Fiyero said swiftly, before she could say anything else.

Glinda hurried to grab a towel from the pile and came around to hand it to him. Without looking at her, Fiyero adjusted the baby to free a hand to take one, but nothing was placed into his expectant hand.

“Oh.”

That made Fiyero look up in time to see the blood drain from Glinda’s face. He took the towel from her.

“Don’t pass out,” he warned her, starting to clear the baby’s nose and mouth- he remembered that much from Azura’s birth before he’d passed out, at least. He’d watched her like a hawk, wondering why she wasn’t crying and trying not to panic before the midwife had explained what she was doing. Then Fiyero had taken in the mess on the bed, and things got very fuzzy after that.

“Glinda?” Elphaba said tiredly, struggling up onto her elbows. That spurred Glinda out of her stupor and she stumbled back to Elphaba’s side, stuffing pillows behind her back to help her sit.

“I’ve changed my mind, I’m not having children,” she muttered distinctly.

Fiyero snorted as he rubbed at the baby’s chest, which was thankfully drowned out by the baby’s first thin cries. There was nothing like the wave of relief that swept over him at that sound, and as he looked up at Elphaba, saw the same overwhelming relief in her eyes. A crying baby was always a good sign.

Without her needing to say anything, Fiyero wrapped their daughter in another towel and minding the still attached umbilical cord, carefully moved to place the baby on Elphaba’s chest.

“Here you go, Momma,” he said softly.

Elphaba chuckled as she ran a trembling finger over the baby’s face, murmuring to her so softly Fiyero couldn’t hear the words until the baby’s cries settled into whimpers. Only then did she look back up at Fiyero, beaming.

“She’s perfect, isn’t she?”

Fiyero leaned forward to kiss her. “Just like her mother,” he agreed. “I love you, Fae.”

“I love you too,” she said softly.

He leaned his forehead against her temple, watching the baby settle with Elphaba’s heartbeat under her ear.

“Oz, I’m never doing this again,” he said tiredly. “Next kid, we bring a midwife everywhere we go, got it?”

Elphaba laughed loudly enough to startle the baby, who whimpered. “Not the worst idea you’ve had,” she said amusedly.

The next knock on the door brought the retired doctor and his daughter; and Fiyero was relieved to be able to stand back and let someone else take charge. It was all a whirlwind of activity then, checking both Elphaba and the baby over and getting them cleaned up. But at last Elphaba was back in bed with clean sheets; a clean, sleeping baby against her chest while Fiyero sat on the bed beside her and Glinda sat in the armchair, looking rather shaken. Fiyero couldn’t blame her. They'd travel back home in the morning as long as Elphaba was feeling well enough, although Fiyero knew it was killing her to miss Lurlinemas morning with the kids.

“What are we naming her?” Fiyero asked, staring at the baby. “I think we need something… Lurlinemassy.”

Glinda perked up at the idea of names. “Ievie? Aine? Melia? Lirael? Loreline?” she rattled off a stream of options related to Lurlinist tales in one breath and Fiyero could only blink at her.

Fiyero looked to Elphaba for a response, watching as she mused over the options. They’d had plenty of boy name options this time around, but they’d had trouble coming up with girl names.

“I like Lirael,” she said slowly.

“Lira for short?” Glinda suggested.

Elphaba looked up at Fiyero and he nodded. “Lirael Alvy?” he suggested. “After my great-grandmother?”

Given that the baby had been born in her home village, it seemed appropriate to him. Elphaba nodded, a soft smile crossing her lips as Fiyero kissed her gently. Pressing another kiss to her temple, Fiyero stroked one of the baby’s- of Lirael’s- tiny hands.

“Best Lurlinemas present I’ve ever gotten,” he murmured.

“Can’t argue with that,” Elphaba agreed.

A quiet sniffle turned their attention to Glinda, who was delicately wiping away a tear as she watched them.

“Maybe one baby,” she said.

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged a knowing glance, and Fiyero couldn’t help but laugh quietly.

#wickedobessed101 #gifts'23 #wickedsanta23

8 notes · View notes