Room 218, Tuesday Evening

[glacial_witch]

As part of her resolution to 'spend as much time with graduating friends as possible,' Karla was getting ready for Ender's visit. They'd planned to get together Friday at the picnic to exchange presents--and also to have a Serious Talk, but Karla was focusing on the more enjoyable aspect of the evening instead. His presents were wrapped--like

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[didntchewgrass]

Elphaba had been in a mood since the welcome picnic, and eventually decided that it might be healthier to try and talk about things instead of just brooding.

And that was why she was visiting one of her closest friends on the island, and knocking on the open door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she said, genuinely.

[glacial_witch]

Karla glanced up, rather broody herself after her conversation with Ender, but gave Elphaba a smile anyway. "Not at all," she said. "Please come in. Want some fruit?"

She still had the remains of the fruit platter, after all.

[didntchewgrass]

"Thank you, but... maybe in a bit," Elphaba said, entering the room. "I trust you are well?"

It was funny, she'd come to talk about herself but now couldn't really come up with a natural way to do so.

[glacial_witch]

"January's already shaping up to be much better than December was," Karla said, side-stepping the question just a bit.

She gestured for Elphaba to take a seat anywhere she liked. "And you? You went home for Lurlinemas, right? How did that go?"

Don't worry, Elphaba. Karla was more than ready to talk about you instead!

[didntchewgrass]

"Lurlinemas went quite well, actually. Father was a little abhorred by my new choice in fashion, but Nessa was very amused even if she didn't let father quite know that she approved," Elphaba said. "My trip home probably could not have gone smoother."

She sat down once she figured out a good place to sit. "Then there was the picnic." Her tone indicated that event was a complete change of fortune.

[glacial_witch]

Karla raised an eyebrow at that. It was surprising to hear Elphaba speak almost fondly of home and then have a complete reversal when it came to Fandom and the picnic.

"Really?" she asked. "Was someone, uhh, insensitive?"

[didntchewgrass]

"In a new and different way," Elphaba said. "She used a.. well, a very rude term for people from the Vinkus country. Which was entirely strange because no one in the Vinkus is green. And by all accounts she's from those stupid children's stories about Oz."

Elphaba let out a huff. "And she's entirely too innocent that it's making it hard for me to hate her."

[glacial_witch]

"Dorothy?" Karla guessed. After all, she'd met the girl. "Maybe she was taught the term by someone else and didn't know any better?"

Which was still unfortunately, but not really the girl's fault. "And, well, it's possible that the people in Vinkus are green in her world. There are some really strange deviations from reality to reality."

The differences between Jono's world and Warren's were staggering.

[didntchewgrass]

"It's very confusing," Elphaba said, which was really just the tip of the iceberg. "It was one thing for my world to be wrong in a strange story, it's another for someone to know a different Oz than I know. Especially when..."

Elphaba sighed and leaned back. "When she's the one who kills all the so-called wicked witches."

[glacial_witch]

Karla flinched but said, "Fortunately, we don't know any of those, right?" She reached to take Elphaba's hand if she'd let her. "It's just one more detail those books get wrong."

She gave her friend a wink. "Besides. There's no way any witch worth her salt could get taken down by the little girl I met at the picnic."

[didntchewgrass]

"That's exactly it," Elphaba said. She happily let Karla take her hand, the sort of physical gesture she was not accustom to but often craved. "She seems so... bright-eyed and empty-headed. Hardly the type to hunt down a witch and kill her with a bucket of water."

Which still boggled Elphaba to no end.

"I'd ask her about it, but I don't think I'd like the explanation."

[glacial_witch]

"I could ask her if you wanted," Karla said, since she could see how that conversation could really upset Elphaba. "It's probably something the books got dreadfully wrong."

Glancing around as if looking for eavesdroppers she added, "Mother Night, you know as well as I do how often this world fails at basic fact checking."

Sorry, Earth! But it was hard not to feel superior sometimes, okay?

[didntchewgrass]

"I think I'd like that," Elphaba said, giving Karla's hand a little squeeze. "Though only if it's not a bother. I know this isn't your problem at all, and you've probably got more important things to do."

[glacial_witch]

Karla sighed good-naturedly and shook her head at Elphaba. "When are you going to learn that you are not an inconvenience to be dealt with?" she asked gently. "And that you're not the least important person on campus? There's nothing life-or-death breathing down my neck, so of course I don't mind helping out a friend."

[didntchewgrass]

"I didn't say that," Elphaba said, twisting her mouth a bit. Mostly because she knew Karla was right to say what she said. "I just... didn't think it was all that important to learn more about her."

She was totally lying to try and feel a little less foolish.

[glacial_witch]

Aaaand Karla was going to call her on it.

"I might--" though her expression suggested that was unlikely "--have bought that if you didn't preface everything you asked me to do with the understanding that I probably have something more important to do."