Table: Turntables
Title: Turntables
Fandom: Wicked - musicalverse, but I've played with the timeline a little.
Pairing: Gelphie undertones
Rating: PG
Summary: "Fiyero said I’d Galindafied you."
Notes: Fourth in my table of wicked prompts.
Galinda threw herself into the dorm room with a huff, closing the door firmly and sliding down against it to sit on the floor. Elphaba, sitting on her bed in her nightgown, closed her notebook with a snap and looked up.
“You look dreadful,” she observed, frowning a little. “Something wrong?”
Galinda looked up dismally, lower lip stuck out. “It’s Fiyero,” she said, a touch heatedly. “He’s acting so strangely.”
“Indeed?” Elphaba asked, opening up her book to a fresh page and beginning to write again. “How so?”
“He was cross with me all night.”
“Cross with you?” Elphaba asked, looking back at Galinda. She smirked a little. “Did you insult his good looks, or dare to muss his hair? I certainly can’t think of anything else that would make him cross.”
“Oh Elphie, don’t make fun,” Galinda said, raising miserable eyes to her roommate. “He’s behaving so oddly.” She stood up and began undoing the buttons of her dress, reaching for her nightgown. “He wouldn’t stop talking about you.”
She turned back just in time to see a strange expression pass over Elphaba’s face.
“About me?” Elphaba repeated. “Why in Oz would he be talking about me?”
“I don’t know,” Galinda replied, pulling her nightgown over her head and sitting down on Elphaba’s bed. “He said I’ve - changed you. He said -,” she broke off, flushing a little.
“Said what?” Elphaba prompted.
“He said I’d - Galindafied you.”
There was a silence, and then Elphaba snorted. “And he was cross with you for that?”
“Yes. But Elphie, why would he say that?”
Elphaba’s eyes slanted, sliding sideways. “He saw me -,” she hesitated. “He saw me trying to toss my hair.”
Galinda’s eyes widened, and she bounced a little.
“Oh, Elphie!” she almost beamed. “You’ve been practicing!” She engulfed her roommate in a hug. Elphaba bore it for a moment, and then gently extracted herself, her cheeks a shade darker than normal. “It was no big deal, I assure you,” she said, slipping under the covers and gently propelling Galinda toward her own bed. “And clearly, since Fiyero didn’t fall at my feet when he saw it, it didn’t work.”
Galinda’s smile faded. “Well, something certainly affected him. He went on and on about it all night. He said changing your hair had changed you.”
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “And here I thought he was shallow.”
“And I don’t know what to do,” Galinda wailed, as if Elphaba hadn’t spoken. “I definitely can’t undo what I did to offend him.” She was silent for a moment, and then she bit her lip. “Perhaps…” she looked at Elphaba, her eyes lighting up.
“What?” Elphaba asked warily.
“Perhaps it would make him feel better if you - well - Elphabafied me.”
Elphaba stared, momentarily speechless for once. “I most certainly will not,” she spluttered, once she’d got her words back. “And turn you into someone mistrusted and disliked like me?”
Galinda pouted. “Oh come on, Elphie. You can teach me to glare. Yes - like that.” For Elphaba had fixed her with a look. Galinda looked back, narrowing her eyes comically and pressing her lips tightly together. “What?” she asked, as Elphaba stifled a laugh.
“You’re too sweet to attempt that look, my pretty,” Elphaba smirked. “There - that’s more like you.” Galinda had pouted, and did so even more at Elphaba’s words.
“Alright,” the blonde girl sighed, carefully unpinning her hair and tying it into a ponytail for sleeping in. “Maybe you can teach me something easier. Although I warn you, I will not take fashion advice from you.”
“I agree, that would be quite dreadful,” Elphaba said calmly. “I’m sure it would be difficult for you to be seen in black.” Then she grinned. “Why, Galinda! I believe that was a real glare you just directed at me. Perhaps I’m rubbing off on you after all.”
Galinda giggled. “There, you’ve Elphabafied me. Do you think Fiyero will like it?”
“Now that you can glare as well as pout to get your way? I’m sure he’ll love it.”
“Elphie,” Galinda protested. “You know I don’t glare or pout to get my way. I just smile.” She leant against the wall, legs curled underneath herself, and peered over at Elphaba from beneath her lashes, her face a picture of innocence.
“Yes, well,” Elphaba said. “Perhaps when I meet the Wizard he’ll give me a spell to help me persuade people to my way of thinking. I’m sure that I certainly can’t achieve such a thing by smiling.”
“Well perhaps you could if you smiled a little more often,” Galinda said. “Only you never do, Elphie.”
Elphaba was silent for a moment, then she blew out the candle, plunging the room into blackness.
“What is there to smile about?” she asked into the darkness.
Galinda blinked, taken aback for a moment. She slipped under the covers of her bed and twisted, trying to see Elphaba’s form.
“Lots of things,” she answered. She heard Elphaba shift toward her.
“Oh yes? Like what?”
“Well,” Galinda paused, thinking. Anything that made her happy would certainly not do the same for Elphaba. Family was out of the question. Clothes would just make Elphaba mock her.
“Me,” Galinda answered at last, softly. “There’s me.”
And in the darkness, she thought she saw Elphaba smile.