Defying Gravity, 14/?, by ainsleyaisling
Title: Defying Gravity, 14/?
Author: ainsleyaisling
Rating: PG
'Verse: Musical AU; some details from bookverse
Summary: Glinda and Elphaba - and Fiyero - working hand-in-hand, the way it was supposed to be . . . maybe . . .
This chapter: Another interlude. Fiyero has an encounter in the City.
Disclaimer: Wicked belongs mostly to Gregory Maguire, and musicalverse belongs to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and possibly Universal.
Notes: Sequel to "The Effects of Gravity," a link to all chapters of which can be found here. The previous chapter of this story can be found here.
~~Fiyero~~
When he returned to his barracks, Fiyero took the laughter and occasional muffled catcalls of his fellow Guards with a smile and a shake of his head, a little wave - playing the part as well as he could. He had no idea whether they'd actually been told something, perhaps by Elphaba's guards coming off duty in the interim, or if they were guessing the type of errand he might possibly have been on in the middle of the night. Whatever they thought, it was important to look as though he'd been off having a liaison that had nothing whatsoever to do with breaking into parts of Southstairs where he almost definitely should not have been.
In the morning, although his duty schedule did not begin until later in the day, he slipped out of the Palace and let himself get lost in the rhythms of the City. If he stayed in the Palace he was fairly certain he would find himself going to talk to Elphaba, and he didn't exactly want to do that. He especially did not want to happen upon Elphaba just as she was explaining to Glinda what they had discovered. That he was willing to let Elphaba handle all on her own.
So he wandered toward the marketplace, not really paying attention to anything around him, stopping only when he heard his name shouted - for, he realized dimly, at least the second or third time.
"Fiyer - oh, good, I knew it was you!" Barrelling toward him through the crowds was a pleasantly familiar face, not one of the other Guards as Fiyero had feared. It was his old roommate Rikk, face maybe a bit more browned by the sun than the last time Fiyero had seen him, but otherwise looking much the same as on the day they had graduated.
"Rikk!" Fiyero stopped, ignoring the fact that the flow of the crowds had to part to go around him, and waited for Rikk to reach him. "What are you doing in the City? I thought you were at home running a farm."
"I am," Rikk replied. "We had some business that had to be taken care of in the City, so here I am." He finally managed to step close enough to reach for Fiyero's arm. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"Not that I'm saying no," Fiyero said, "but it's before noon."
"So it's time for Munchkin morning ale."
"Munchkin -" Fiyero frowned. "Is that a real thing?"
"No."
"Then -"
Rikk's fingers tightened on the arm he was holding. "I'd really like to go somewhere where we could talk. About business. And not be interrupted." He was giving Fiyero a highly significant look, and the slightly troubled feeling in Fiyero's stomach graduated to full-blown nervousness.
"Do we have business in common?" he asked.
"We might soon, at least I hope we will." Rikk lowered his voice, and his fingers relaxed their grip. "Please, is there somewhere we could go? Somewhere - discreet?"
"Discreet?" Fiyero echoed, more in thought than in anything else.
"Well - safe."
"All right," Fiyero decided. He led Rikk through the maze of the streets surrounding the central market, into the district where the Guards liked to drink and through it to the less savory neighborhoods where the Guards went only very late at night. Fiyero had accompanied some of his fellow officers to these places once or twice, more for appearances' sake and to stay in favor with the other men than for any other reason. He didn't favor the kind of "company" they solicited in the darker watering holes - even Shiz's disreputable district had offered less horror and desperation than these places.
He pulled Rikk into one of the least shady bars in the shady part of town, where the barman nodded at them suspiciously but kept to himself and regulars gave their dirty corner table a wide berth. "What business do we have?" Fiyero asked as they settled themselves.
Rikk looked up just as the barman approached their table. "Ale, two," he called.
The barman was still too close. Fiyero shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. How have you been, and your family?"
"Fine," Rikk said, his eyes following the barman's progress back to the bar. "My mother is still a bit ill. She's after me to marry."
"Why not?"
"Haven't found anyone to marry, that's why not." Rikk shrugged. "The farm's doing well enough, although we've lost money since most of our laborers had to be fired."
"Most of - oh. Right. Can they be replaced?"
"They have been, but human laborers have to be paid more."
"Really." Fiyero looked up to see the barman returning with two metallic mugs clenched in his hands. "Even before - everything?"
"No. They started demanding a higher wage when the first rules came in. Since there are fewer experienced human workers, with the - others gone, they're in short supply."
"I thought Munchkinland was . . ." Fiyero waited until the barman had deposited his ales and left, and then whispered, "resisting."
"The landowners are, and right-minded people in the larger towns, and students," Rikk said, his own voice lowered to a murmur. "But the workers saw an advantage and took it. It was easy for the Wizard to convince them that the Animals were the cause of all their misfortune - stealing their honest jobs, consuming resources . . ."
"Just like here."
"Just like everywhere." Rikk lifted his mug. His mutter of "cheers" was decidedly ironic.
"So what business do you have with me?"
Rikk replaced his mug on the table and looked at him seriously. "A question first?"
"All right."
"How's Elphaba?"
Fiyero frowned. "She's - fine, I guess. Why?"
"I mean, what's she been up to?"
Fiyero was raising a hand before he realized it, and Rikk was quick to interrupt.
"Sorry," he said. "I don't expect you to tell me her secrets. I don't necessarily expect you to know her secrets. Just - can you tell me she's on our side?"
Fiyero looked around them nervously before he whispered, "I can't tell you anything about her."
"Fiyero. My friend." Rikk bent low, his chin almost touching the table. "I know she was on our side at school. I know she agreed with us, even though of course she can have no real connection to the Res-"
"Don't say it," Fiyero whispered harshly.
"We have to talk about -"
"I'm not taking chances with her."
Rikk paused. "All right. I know she can't be connected with them. But if I wanted to cause trouble for her - which I don't - I already know quite enough. Can you just tell me she hasn't changed her allegiances?"
"Do you know," Fiyero whispered, "what it would mean for her if anyone suspected she was connected with - them? She lives right in the - under his nose; she'd be in Southstairs in a heartbeat. Or worse."
"I know," Rikk whispered back. "But someday soon we're going to need her help and I suspect she's going to want to give it, but if I contact her and I'm wrong -"
"Your people will kill you if the Guards don't," Fiyero sighed. "I do understand that."
"So?"
Fiyero thought for a long moment, trying hard to breathe steadily. He trusted Rikk, he knew Elphaba had trusted him, and he knew Elphaba would flay him alive if he lost her an opportunity for real help. Not to mention that it could be equally dangerous for the Resistance to get the idea that she wasn't on their side. "You'd be safe with her," he said finally. "That's all I can tell you."
"That's plenty," Rikk said. He leaned back in his chair and tried to look more casual. "Thank you."
"Be careful."
"I plan to be." Rikk reached for his mug. "No one's forgetting that she's a rarified commodity in all this. Her - connections, and not the ones here in the City."
"You might find," Fiyero said carefully, "that the connections you're talking about are close to useless. There's not much love lost."
"That's obvious, but she can get a foot in the door. That's more than I could."
"Maybe." Fiyero hesitated, not certain he really wanted the answer. "What was the business you wanted to discuss? You implied it was more than - her."
"Yes," Rikk said, nodding. "We're hoping for a greater allegiance between Munchkinland and the Vinkus."
"Allegiance?"
"Cooperation."
"On what level?"
"Any level possible." Meeting Fiyero's eyes he added, "All above-board."
"You're speaking for the Governor now?" Fiyero asked dubiously.
"Obviously not. All right, the actions will be above-board, the motivations might not be. My - people are hoping to nudge the two governments into working together, forming a tighter collaboration. Making relationships that might be useful in the future."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"I thought I'd start by asking my old friend to see if he could arrange for a tribal delegation to visit the Governor. A strictly diplomatic visit, to explore a closer relationship."
Fiyero took a deep breath. "We don't do that kind of thing often."
"I know."
"You may be seriously overestimating the degree to which my father listens to me."
"I know that too."
"Is this going to be dangerous?"
Rikk grinned. "You might not be crazy about Elphaba's father, Fiyero, but -"
"For my people," Fiyero clarified. "Am I going to be pulling them into something we can't handle?"
"Not yet," Rikk said after a moment of silence.
Fiyero sighed and sat staring at his mug of ale.
"Well?"
Fiyero shrugged. "I'm going to have to talk to Elphaba. I can't promise anything."
"But if she thinks it's all right -"
"Then we'll see."
Rikk's smile reappeared. "Just try. That's all I can ask."
"How long will you be in the City?" Fiyero asked, intending to turn the conversation back to pleasantries. The barman was looking as though he might intend to pay them a visit.
"Not long," Rikk said. "But I'll be back, I imagine. Perhaps next time I'll arrange to pay a call on Elphaba and Glinda - would they see me, do you think?"
Fiyero gave him a warning look as the barman did, indeed, begin his journey across the room. "Watch your step."
"I'm just an old friend," Rikk said. "No harm in them seeing an old school friend."
Author: ainsleyaisling
Rating: PG
'Verse: Musical AU; some details from bookverse
Summary: Glinda and Elphaba - and Fiyero - working hand-in-hand, the way it was supposed to be . . . maybe . . .
This chapter: Another interlude. Fiyero has an encounter in the City.
Disclaimer: Wicked belongs mostly to Gregory Maguire, and musicalverse belongs to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and possibly Universal.
Notes: Sequel to "The Effects of Gravity," a link to all chapters of which can be found here. The previous chapter of this story can be found here.
~~Fiyero~~
When he returned to his barracks, Fiyero took the laughter and occasional muffled catcalls of his fellow Guards with a smile and a shake of his head, a little wave - playing the part as well as he could. He had no idea whether they'd actually been told something, perhaps by Elphaba's guards coming off duty in the interim, or if they were guessing the type of errand he might possibly have been on in the middle of the night. Whatever they thought, it was important to look as though he'd been off having a liaison that had nothing whatsoever to do with breaking into parts of Southstairs where he almost definitely should not have been.
In the morning, although his duty schedule did not begin until later in the day, he slipped out of the Palace and let himself get lost in the rhythms of the City. If he stayed in the Palace he was fairly certain he would find himself going to talk to Elphaba, and he didn't exactly want to do that. He especially did not want to happen upon Elphaba just as she was explaining to Glinda what they had discovered. That he was willing to let Elphaba handle all on her own.
So he wandered toward the marketplace, not really paying attention to anything around him, stopping only when he heard his name shouted - for, he realized dimly, at least the second or third time.
"Fiyer - oh, good, I knew it was you!" Barrelling toward him through the crowds was a pleasantly familiar face, not one of the other Guards as Fiyero had feared. It was his old roommate Rikk, face maybe a bit more browned by the sun than the last time Fiyero had seen him, but otherwise looking much the same as on the day they had graduated.
"Rikk!" Fiyero stopped, ignoring the fact that the flow of the crowds had to part to go around him, and waited for Rikk to reach him. "What are you doing in the City? I thought you were at home running a farm."
"I am," Rikk replied. "We had some business that had to be taken care of in the City, so here I am." He finally managed to step close enough to reach for Fiyero's arm. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"Not that I'm saying no," Fiyero said, "but it's before noon."
"So it's time for Munchkin morning ale."
"Munchkin -" Fiyero frowned. "Is that a real thing?"
"No."
"Then -"
Rikk's fingers tightened on the arm he was holding. "I'd really like to go somewhere where we could talk. About business. And not be interrupted." He was giving Fiyero a highly significant look, and the slightly troubled feeling in Fiyero's stomach graduated to full-blown nervousness.
"Do we have business in common?" he asked.
"We might soon, at least I hope we will." Rikk lowered his voice, and his fingers relaxed their grip. "Please, is there somewhere we could go? Somewhere - discreet?"
"Discreet?" Fiyero echoed, more in thought than in anything else.
"Well - safe."
"All right," Fiyero decided. He led Rikk through the maze of the streets surrounding the central market, into the district where the Guards liked to drink and through it to the less savory neighborhoods where the Guards went only very late at night. Fiyero had accompanied some of his fellow officers to these places once or twice, more for appearances' sake and to stay in favor with the other men than for any other reason. He didn't favor the kind of "company" they solicited in the darker watering holes - even Shiz's disreputable district had offered less horror and desperation than these places.
He pulled Rikk into one of the least shady bars in the shady part of town, where the barman nodded at them suspiciously but kept to himself and regulars gave their dirty corner table a wide berth. "What business do we have?" Fiyero asked as they settled themselves.
Rikk looked up just as the barman approached their table. "Ale, two," he called.
The barman was still too close. Fiyero shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. How have you been, and your family?"
"Fine," Rikk said, his eyes following the barman's progress back to the bar. "My mother is still a bit ill. She's after me to marry."
"Why not?"
"Haven't found anyone to marry, that's why not." Rikk shrugged. "The farm's doing well enough, although we've lost money since most of our laborers had to be fired."
"Most of - oh. Right. Can they be replaced?"
"They have been, but human laborers have to be paid more."
"Really." Fiyero looked up to see the barman returning with two metallic mugs clenched in his hands. "Even before - everything?"
"No. They started demanding a higher wage when the first rules came in. Since there are fewer experienced human workers, with the - others gone, they're in short supply."
"I thought Munchkinland was . . ." Fiyero waited until the barman had deposited his ales and left, and then whispered, "resisting."
"The landowners are, and right-minded people in the larger towns, and students," Rikk said, his own voice lowered to a murmur. "But the workers saw an advantage and took it. It was easy for the Wizard to convince them that the Animals were the cause of all their misfortune - stealing their honest jobs, consuming resources . . ."
"Just like here."
"Just like everywhere." Rikk lifted his mug. His mutter of "cheers" was decidedly ironic.
"So what business do you have with me?"
Rikk replaced his mug on the table and looked at him seriously. "A question first?"
"All right."
"How's Elphaba?"
Fiyero frowned. "She's - fine, I guess. Why?"
"I mean, what's she been up to?"
Fiyero was raising a hand before he realized it, and Rikk was quick to interrupt.
"Sorry," he said. "I don't expect you to tell me her secrets. I don't necessarily expect you to know her secrets. Just - can you tell me she's on our side?"
Fiyero looked around them nervously before he whispered, "I can't tell you anything about her."
"Fiyero. My friend." Rikk bent low, his chin almost touching the table. "I know she was on our side at school. I know she agreed with us, even though of course she can have no real connection to the Res-"
"Don't say it," Fiyero whispered harshly.
"We have to talk about -"
"I'm not taking chances with her."
Rikk paused. "All right. I know she can't be connected with them. But if I wanted to cause trouble for her - which I don't - I already know quite enough. Can you just tell me she hasn't changed her allegiances?"
"Do you know," Fiyero whispered, "what it would mean for her if anyone suspected she was connected with - them? She lives right in the - under his nose; she'd be in Southstairs in a heartbeat. Or worse."
"I know," Rikk whispered back. "But someday soon we're going to need her help and I suspect she's going to want to give it, but if I contact her and I'm wrong -"
"Your people will kill you if the Guards don't," Fiyero sighed. "I do understand that."
"So?"
Fiyero thought for a long moment, trying hard to breathe steadily. He trusted Rikk, he knew Elphaba had trusted him, and he knew Elphaba would flay him alive if he lost her an opportunity for real help. Not to mention that it could be equally dangerous for the Resistance to get the idea that she wasn't on their side. "You'd be safe with her," he said finally. "That's all I can tell you."
"That's plenty," Rikk said. He leaned back in his chair and tried to look more casual. "Thank you."
"Be careful."
"I plan to be." Rikk reached for his mug. "No one's forgetting that she's a rarified commodity in all this. Her - connections, and not the ones here in the City."
"You might find," Fiyero said carefully, "that the connections you're talking about are close to useless. There's not much love lost."
"That's obvious, but she can get a foot in the door. That's more than I could."
"Maybe." Fiyero hesitated, not certain he really wanted the answer. "What was the business you wanted to discuss? You implied it was more than - her."
"Yes," Rikk said, nodding. "We're hoping for a greater allegiance between Munchkinland and the Vinkus."
"Allegiance?"
"Cooperation."
"On what level?"
"Any level possible." Meeting Fiyero's eyes he added, "All above-board."
"You're speaking for the Governor now?" Fiyero asked dubiously.
"Obviously not. All right, the actions will be above-board, the motivations might not be. My - people are hoping to nudge the two governments into working together, forming a tighter collaboration. Making relationships that might be useful in the future."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"I thought I'd start by asking my old friend to see if he could arrange for a tribal delegation to visit the Governor. A strictly diplomatic visit, to explore a closer relationship."
Fiyero took a deep breath. "We don't do that kind of thing often."
"I know."
"You may be seriously overestimating the degree to which my father listens to me."
"I know that too."
"Is this going to be dangerous?"
Rikk grinned. "You might not be crazy about Elphaba's father, Fiyero, but -"
"For my people," Fiyero clarified. "Am I going to be pulling them into something we can't handle?"
"Not yet," Rikk said after a moment of silence.
Fiyero sighed and sat staring at his mug of ale.
"Well?"
Fiyero shrugged. "I'm going to have to talk to Elphaba. I can't promise anything."
"But if she thinks it's all right -"
"Then we'll see."
Rikk's smile reappeared. "Just try. That's all I can ask."
"How long will you be in the City?" Fiyero asked, intending to turn the conversation back to pleasantries. The barman was looking as though he might intend to pay them a visit.
"Not long," Rikk said. "But I'll be back, I imagine. Perhaps next time I'll arrange to pay a call on Elphaba and Glinda - would they see me, do you think?"
Fiyero gave him a warning look as the barman did, indeed, begin his journey across the room. "Watch your step."
"I'm just an old friend," Rikk said. "No harm in them seeing an old school friend."