Title: Gorgeous
Fandom: Wicked - musical
Pairing: Gelphie friendship, some implied Gliyero
Rating: PG
Summary: “I imagine I’d be worse,” Elphaba said. “I don’t know how to dance.”
Notes: Second in my
table of wicked prompts. Basically it’s pure fluff.
“Would you stop that,” Elphaba said, somewhat irritably. “It’s getting on my nerves.”
Galinda stopped humming, and swung herself off her bed.
“Don’t be a grouch, Elphie,” she admonished, sitting down next to her roommate. “You know you love music.”
“Not while I’m studying,” Elphaba replied. “And besides, you’re off-key.”
Galinda made a face. “I am not,” she said, tugging gently on the end of Elphaba’s braid. “Your ears must be out of focus.”
“Ears can’t be -,” Elphaba began, and then stopped. She wasn’t going to have a conversation as ridiculous as this. “I’m studying,” she said instead, and turned back to the textbook before her.
“Alright.” Galinda shrugged and lay back on the bed, stretching out next to Elphaba and ignoring the look her roommate threw her. She closed her eyes and lay in silence for a few moments, letting Elphaba read.
“Would you stop that!”
Galinda’s eyes opened, and she realised, too late, that she was humming again.
“Sorry,” she said, biting her lip to keep from grinning at the look of consternation on Elphaba’s face. “I really can’t help it, you know.”
Elphaba growled, but a little playfully. “I doubt you would if you could. It’s an awful song, by the way.”
“It is not!” Galinda gasped indignantly, sitting up. “It’s a song I danced to with Fiyero just the other night.” She smacked Elphaba lightly as the other girl rolled her eyes. “He was as bad a dancer as I imagine you’d be,” she teased. “Even if he is a prince.”
Elphaba was suddenly serious.
“I imagine I’d be worse,” she said. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“What?” Galinda’s astonishment was genuine. “You don’t know how to dance? But you’re the Governor’s daughter! You must know how!”
Elphaba shrugged and didn’t quite meet Galinda’s eyes. “You think my father would have wasted time teaching me to dance? When it would have made Nessa feel so left out?”
“But you danced at the Ozdust,” Galinda protested.
“And look how that turned out,” Elphaba muttered, and winced as Galinda tugged, less gently this time, on her hair.
“Well,” Galinda said, and sprung suddenly off the bed, making Elphaba flinch. “I’ll just have to show you.”
Elphaba blinked. “What?”
“I’ll show you how to dance,” Galinda declared. “Oh come on,” she pleaded, when Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “It’s easy. And it’s fun. I’ll be the boy; you can be the girl.” She saw Elphaba open her mouth to comment on that, and hurriedly extended a hand. “Miss Elphaba,” she said formally. “Might I have this dance?”
Elphaba looked doubtfully at the hand offered to her, and then up at Galinda.
“I don’t think -,”
“Are you scared?” Galinda asked. Elphaba glared, and grabbed Galinda’s hand.
“Fine. Show me. And you can stop grinning.”
Galinda hid her smile.
“Alright. You put your hand on my shoulder - that’s right - and I put mine on your waist, and our other hands join together.” Galinda nodded. “See? Easy. And now - step.” Elphaba stepped.
There was a minute of silence, and then Galinda said, from her position on the floor, “You’re supposed to step backward, Elphie.”
Elphaba folded her arms defensively. “I didn’t know,” she said. “No one ever - stop laughing!” For Galinda was doubled over on the ground, shaking with giggles. “You didn’t tell me I had to go backward!” Elphaba protested. “How did I know?”
“But surely you must know that the boy always leads?” Galinda asked, still grinning. “It’s how dancing works.”
“How appropriate,” Elphaba said darkly, and Galinda glared at her.
“Stop that,” she said, standing up. “I refuse to be drawn into conversation right now about the working of society.” She grabbed Elphaba’s hands. “Let’s try this again.”
“Must we?” Elphaba complained. “I really do have other things to do, you know.”
“None of which are as important as dancing with me,” Galinda said. She guided Elphaba’s hands back to their correct position.
“Now step backward with your left foot - now your right - move your feet a little more - that’s it - and twirl - good!” She grinned. “You’ve got it!”
“I feel foolish,” Elphaba grumbled.
“Stop thinking so much,” Galinda scolded lightly. She began to hum the jaunty tune she had been humming earlier. “Just move in time.”
To her surprise, Elphaba did. They stepped together around the room, and Galinda stopped humming to smile.“You are better than Fiyero,” she said. “No, really,” she added, as Elphaba looked skeptical. “You’re doing everything he did, but better.”
“Yes, well,” Elphaba snorted. “I’m not going to do everything he - ow!”
“Sorry,” Galinda said, grinning wickedly as they went by the little table she’d just steered Elphaba into. “My mistake.”
Elphaba glared. They stepped in silence for a minute, and then Elphaba began to hum, a quieter, slower song than the one Galinda had been humming a few moments before. Galinda looked up in surprise.
“That song requires a different sort of dancing,” she said, pulling Elphaba’s arms to rest on her shoulders, and looping her own about Elphaba’s waist. They swayed on the spot even after Elphaba’s song came to an end.
“You’re a good teacher,” Elphaba said, after a minute. “You could teach Fiyero to dance.”
Galinda smiled and pressed a kiss to Elphaba’s cheek. “Maybe I don’t want to,” she said. “Maybe I prefer dancing with you.”
There was a moment, then Elphaba drew away, sitting down on her bed.
“I’m no prince, you know,” she warned.
“I know,” Galinda said, sitting down on her own bed and inspecting her fingernails. “You’d be much better dressed if you were.”
“Galinda.”
“I mean really, Elphie, a prince wearing black?” Galinda went on, pretending not to notice Elphaba stalk towards her.
“Galinda.”
“And your hair, well, I don’t know what we’d - Elphie!”
Elphaba pounced.