Table: Unbelievable
Title: Unbelievable
Fandom: Wicked - bookverse with musical characterisations
Pairing: Slightest, slightest Gelphie but not really
Rating: PG
Summary: ‘Sweet Oz, Galinda was far too tired for this.’ Silly and pointless really.
Notes: Sixth in my table of wicked prompts.
Galinda wasn’t entirely sure how she’d ended up stuck in the buttery with Pfannee and Shenshen, talking about boys. They were her friends, of course (“society vultures”, taunted a voice in her head, and Galinda pulled its long, dark hair and pushed it far away), and she liked spending time with them, but sweet Oz, she was just far too tired for this.
It had been a long week. The mid-semester exams were upon them and Galinda had been up late every night, studying with Elphaba. She was quite sure she’d slept not even a wink the night before, for fear of the astronomy exam this evening. And it had been particularly difficult. As soon as it was over, she had needed to talk about anything other than study, and had retreated to the buttery with Pfannee and Shenshen to lose herself in mindless gossip.
So that… explained what in Oz she was doing here. Well. It was nice to have that sorted out. It was somewhat difficult to think when she’d been awake for over thirty-six hours.
“…And then she said, ‘at least my father isn’t a Pig!” Shenshen finished, and she and Pfannee burst into uproarious laughter. Galinda, who hadn’t been following the conversation at all, urgently told her traitorous mouth to join in, but it didn’t budge. Her friends (“vultures,” insisted the voice again, and Galinda took away all of its books and hit it over the head with them) looked around at her, frowning.
“Galinda, are you alright?” Pfannee asked, her eyes showing just a touch of concern and a lot of gleaming curiosity. “You look a little… hot.”
Galinda stared for a moment as her mind dived into a pool of unexpected and disturbing images, before dragging itself back out with a gleeful snigger.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she heard herself say. “I just have… a slight headache, that’s all.” She raised a hand to rub slightly at her forehead, cursing when it started to pound under her fingers.
“Oh, Galinda,” Shenshen said sympathetically. “Maybe you need to lie down. We’ll take you upstairs to your room, if you’d like.”
“Not to her room; the green bean will be in there,” Pfannee smirked. “And goodness knows what she’ll be doing without you there to keep an eye on her.”
It took a moment, but Galinda couldn’t stop the vision of exactly what Elphaba could be doing that came into her head at Pfannee’s words. She coughed, her eyes wide, trying not to look at either Pfannee or Shenshen.
“Oh you are coming down with something,” Shenshen said. “I hope that Elphaba hasn’t done anything to you.”
Oh well, that one just wasn’t fair. Surely, they were doing this on purpose? Galinda gaped, her mouth open, her brain racing to think of something to say that had no connotations to… well, that had no connotations.
“No, it’s not Elphie,” she said vaguely. “We never get that close, except for sometimes when we study together and she sits on my bed to help me… she does make a lovely contrast with the spread…” She cut herself off when she realised she was rambling. Pfannee was smirking a little. Galinda was tempted to hit her. She sighed when the pounding began again behind her eyes, and she rubbed at her nose, trying to make it go away.
“Come on,” Shenshen said, standing up. “You can come to our room. You can share a bed with Pfannee or me. Or both of us, if you’d like.”
“No!” Galinda stood up, her eyes open wide, her mind scrambling. “No, thank you, I can…” What could she do? Anything, other than think about… well, images? “I’m fine,” she said firmly, sitting down again. She resisted the urge to curl up in a ball and hide behind her fan. “Wasn’t Milla’s outfit just terrible today?”
She had no idea what Milla had been wearing, but it set Shenshen and Pfannee off, leaving Galinda free to… well to think. She rubbed her nose as some of the pictures came back into her mind, wishing desperately that her features were sharp enough to scare them away.
“I thought she looked a little like you!” Pfannee said almost maliciously, turning to Galinda. Galinda, who hadn’t expected to be addressed, floundered for a moment.
“Oh… sorry?”
“Elphaba,” Pfannee said, frowning again. “I said she looked like you. You know, when you try to study.”
Galinda blinked, and for one moment had a terrifying image of Elphaba in one of Galinda’s dresses, one of the scantier ones, with her legs exposed thigh to ankle, green cleavage poking out the top… Galinda choked.
“Are you sure you’re…” Shenshen began.
“I’m fine!” Galinda exclaimed. She tried to force a smile. “Completely fine.” She coughed again, as she suddenly thought of a belt that would go particularly well with the dress her mind had Elphaba wearing. Apart from, of course, being an appalling disaster once paired with Elphaba. “I’m not sure it would suit her,” she murmured, and then went back to massaging her forehead as she noticed Pfannee and Shenshen staring at her.
“What wouldn’t suit…” Pfannee began cautiously, and Galinda stood up quickly.
“Well, I need to get to upstairs,” she said, as brightly as she was able. “Elphaba will be worried. You know Elphaba; never happy unless I’m in bed with her…”
At that exact moment, the door to the buttery opened, and Elphaba herself walked in, just in time to hear Galinda’s words. She stopped sharply, grabbing onto a chair for support.
“I what?” she asked.
“Elphaba what?” said Shenshen.
“She likes what?” Pfannee asked.
Galinda, her brain trying hard to process what was going on, stared back helplessly.
“I - I didn’t -,” Her brain shut down from all the unexpected attention, and she cut herself off.
“Well, of course,” Elphaba said, recovering and slipping an arm around Galinda. “You know I simply can’t go to bed without you.” She grinned. Galinda squeaked, trying to lean away. She heard Pfannee cough.
“Uh…”
Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she said, grabbing Galinda’s hand. “I’ll take you upstairs. I promise I won’t try to molest you.”
She started to lead Galinda towards the door, and Galinda, unable to think of anything else, followed meekly. She heard a giggle from behind her and then Shenshen called, “Goodnight, Galin -,”
Galinda turned sharply, hands balled into fists, and spat, “I am not putting Elphaba into that dress!”
There was a moment of silence, and then Galinda put her face into her hands.
“Goodnight,” she murmured, letting Elphaba take her hand again and trailing her miserably to the door. As soon as they were through it, she heard Pfannee and Shenshen burst into laughter. She groaned.
“Come on,” said Elphaba, tugging harder on her hand. “You need sleep.”
“I need…” Galinda thought hard for a moment, letting Elphaba lead her up the stairs. “Yes,” she decided. “I need to avoid sleeping with Pfannee and Shenshen.” Elphaba paused for a moment, and then shook her head.
“I think your friends would like it if you didn’t say things like that out of nowhere,” she said, snagging Galinda around the waist as she tried to stumble past their room. “In here. No, that’s my bed. Get into your own.”
“Oh yes,” Galinda said vaguely, her eyes only half open. She climbed into her bed, not bothering to undress. There was silence for a minute, and then Elphaba asked, “What exactly were you talking about down there?”
Galinda thought for a minute. “Go and… put on the dress,” she slurred, and a second later was asleep and snoring.