Of Love and Loathing, Part 3/? by elphies_galinda, PG
Title: Of Love and Loathing, Part 3/?
Author: elphies_galinda/galindas_elphie
Rating: PG
Pairing: Gelphie
Summary: What is this feeling, so sudden and new? My heart is pounding, my heart is spinning, and all I can think of is you…. Elphie is pulled along into a shopping trip, much to her and Galinda’s dismay. However, their thoughts about each other gradually begin to change….
Disclaimer: We do not own Wicked, nor the characters in this RP-fanfic. Sucks, huh?
A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews so far! Elphie and I really appreciate it. :) I think you guys pretty much have who posts what down, so I guess all you need to do is read and enjoy! :D
The blonde, internally, was perfectly livid with this girl and her impertinence. Who knew that someone who never ate could be so wrathful when it came to food? “Fine, then,” she spat out. Galinda strode toward the door in a manner so unlike her and yanked it open. Before taking a single step out, she turned around and faced her roommate. “Do you want me to take your arm and force you out, or are you going to cooperate with me?”
Elphaba sighed as if dealing with a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples for a moment, like she was trying to keep from sending the little blonde flying out of the two-story window.
Whatever. At least her stomach would be appeased. She’d think of a way out of this hellhole after she ate. The green girl hadn’t had anything since breakfast, and she was famished.
Elphaba grabbed her cloak, in case it decided to rain, and strode out the door. She headed down the stairs to the pebbled street, bathed beautifully in twilight, and waved her green hand for a cab. The driver pulled over and the tall girl paid him and got in, resting her cheek in her hand as she gazed out the window at nothing. She ignored her “companion”, letting Galinda give the poor man the directions to The Beautiful Fairy Land of Gowns and Tiaras and Lurline-Knows-What. She didn’t care where they were going, just so long as the little blonde nuisance finally left her alone about her fancy clothing.
It wasn’t until the carriage actually started to move when Galinda began to realize just how ridiculous this entire idea was. She had never let her anger get the better of her--not like this. And now she was letting her roommate come with her on an excursion that only her closest friends were allowed to take part of? What was she thinking???
Calm down, she willed herself. It’s just temporary….
The blonde let out the breath she just noticed she had been holding, letting her eyes focus on the buildings that passed outside of the cab. Her mind struggled to sort through the several thoughts that rapidly sped through it. What was it her mother used to say? There are some things in life that you just need to grin and bear? Perhaps this outing with her roommate--the vilest creature in all of Oz--was supposed to test her patience. Maybe something good could come out of this….
If we don’t end up killing each other.
Galinda swallowed her discomfort and cleared her throat, hoping that what she was going to do next wouldn’t mark her grave. “So… where would you like to eat?”
The green girl continued to stare out the window as Galinda got in and the carriage began to move. She was going over her Latin vocabulary in her head when the blonde suddenly spoke, jolting Elphaba out of her reverie.
The question she asked was even more surprising, though Elphaba did her best to hide her shock. Was Galinda Upland actually trying to be considerate of Elphaba Thropp?
For a moment the raven-haired girl was speechless, and then her brain seemed to click into place. Where did she want to eat?
“Um,” she stammered, trying through her surprised haze to remember some of the restaurants she frequented. “Uh, there’s a little café up here, on the left. That would be okay,” she said quietly, leaning up to point out the establishment to the driver. Once the carriage stopped and the man opened the door for them, Elphaba kept pace with Galinda as they strolled up the sidewalk. Anyone from Shiz would have keeled over from a stroke upon seeing the unlikely pair.
Elphaba quickly ordered in a quiet voice - a bagel and a small coffee. She turned halfway to face her reluctant companion, feeling awkward as chocolate eyes met blue without anger or disgust in the gaze of either girl.
“Did you want anything?”
Galinda quickly averted her gaze, more out of habit than necessity. But then she chided herself, noting that by doing this she would be offending the green girl, and she lifted her eyes to Elphaba’s once again. In a quick moment of thought she realized that looking at this strange girl wasn’t as horrible as she had believed previously. A part of her was terrified for even considering such a thing… but a majority of her was intrigued by it and made her more curious about her roommate.
However, delving into the matter was something beyond anything the blonde really wanted to get into at the moment, so she decided it was best to just let it be for a while or so.
Realizing that Elphaba was staring at her expectantly, Galinda blushed lightly. “Oh, um… I’m not hungry,” she replied. Her stomach gurgled quietly in spite of her words, as if waging a sort of protest against her, and she grimaced. Please, she thought, just go ahead and pay….
Elphaba raised an eyebrow at Galinda’s response, but shrugged and paid for her small meal.
“For here or to go?” asked the girl behind the counter.
“Um…” Elphaba blinked in surprise. She had forgotten that especially difficult question. Galinda wasn’t getting anything, so she supposed the two could walk while she was eating.
“To go,” she finally decided, taking her food and moving out of the way of others in line, towards the door.
“Where to, Miss Galinda?” she inquired softly, seemingly very interested in making sure the cream in her coffee was swirled evenly throughout the hot liquid.
The blonde followed her roommate out of the café before deciding to take the lead. A small smile suddenly graced her lips, whether at the idea of shopping or the prospect of having the green girl actually submitting to her wishes she wasn’t sure. Nor did she really want to figure that out at the moment. “Let’s see,” she mused to herself. “There’s so many choices…. I guess we’ll just walk until something catches our eyes.” Galinda paused. “My eyes,” she quickly amended with a small frown. But she ignored her slight disappointment--she supposed this was better than nothing.
The green girl nodded mutely, taking a careful sip of her searing drink. She kept pace with her bubbly blonde roommate, not offering conversation, but not really distancing herself either. She munched her bagel thoughtfully as the two of them passed by the various shops, until a dress in a window caught Elphaba’s eye. It was a deep pink at the bottom that faded to a lighter shade, almost white as one’s eyes progressed up the dress. The shoulders were puffy, the kind meant to hang off of someone’s arm rather than for the fabric to be slung over their actual shoulders. The dress itself was strapless, and the torso was fitted to double as a corset. The skirt seemed an endless, but not distasteful, sea of ruffles and layers, and the dress sparkled in the lights of the store like it were magic. Even in the raven-haired girl’s mind, the gown had “Galinda” written all over it.
“What about that one?” Elphaba mused, gesturing to the store window where the dress was shown.
Galinda couldn’t help but cringe at the sound of the question from Elphaba’s mouth. She knew she had to at least be courteous toward the green girl, and she had to admit that she was so far. But this was Elphaba she was talking about! The girl had as much of a fashion sense as a Tiger had spots. She was sure to make a mistake in judgment!
The blonde reluctantly turned her gaze toward the shop Elphaba had directed her attention to, bracing herself for the monstrosity she would find. What she saw, however, was something absolutely incredible. A beautiful, flowing ball gown the color of cherry blossoms was clearly displayed. Glitter was sprinkled across the bodice and skirt of the wonderful ensemble. It was amazing. No, more than that…. It was perfect.
Who would have thought that the color-blind green girl would pick out something like that?
Galinda glanced back at her roommate, a wide grin spread across her lips. “May I?” she asked, her voice filled with a childish hope she believed had disappeared from her for good.
Elphaba shrugged, not returning Galinda’s gaze. She could hear the smile in the girl’s voice, however, and couldn’t help but feel her own lips twitch in response.
“You won’t know ‘til you try it on,” she supposed, wandering towards the door to the shop. She finished the last bit of her bagel and coffee and threw the cup and plate away in the garbage can near the door. She could not believe she was doing this. No, that wasn’t it. What she couldn’t believe was that Galinda could be decent company.
She rested her hand on the handle of the door and looked back to the blonde, unable to resist a soft chuckle. The blonde was apparently still in the process of picking her jaw up off the floor, her eyes still fixed on the dress in the window.
Elphaba tilted her head, her raven hair falling in a black waterfall over her shoulder as the faint beginnings of a smile graced her emerald lips.
“You coming?”
With a not-so-subtle squeal of delight that turned the heads of many in their direction, Galinda bounced over to her roommate. She felt so wonderfully light--a usual reaction she had on these outings, but never anything of this quality. She supposed it had something to do with the strange unusualness that accompanied her this time around, namely her roommate, and that she had yet to truly get used to the idea of doing something like this with Elphaba. But she was willing to ignore it, if only to gain the dress in the store window.
The door swung open at the pull of the green girl’s hand, and suddenly the blonde’s excitement spilled over in one breathless stream. “Oh, Lurline, this is so great! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life! Of course, that’s excluding the diamond necklace my mother gave to me for my birthday a few years ago, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, who would have thought that you would know how to sight something so wonderful? I mean, look at you….” Galinda trailed off, a red flag suddenly waving in her mind and alerting her of possible danger. Too far. Right. “Well… I suppose you do have some taste despite being a green person….” She bit her lip, a wave of panic rushing over her. Oh, Oz, her and her big mouth! “I should just shut up now…,” the blonde muttered, looking away from the girl she had horribly insulted.
Elphaba stared at her for a moment, then threw her head back in a loud cackle. She had to hold herself against the doorway for support as she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes before they could sear her sensitive skin.
“Oh, that’s rich,” she managed to breathe, her dancing eyes capturing Galinda’s in amusement. “Yeah,” she continued good naturedly, a smile still upon her lips as she strode toward the window where the dress hung, “you probably should shut up now.”
Galinda watched in surprise as the green girl tried to reign in the laughter that had so suddenly burst from her. And for some strange reason, she wished that she wouldn’t. It was peculiar to hear such a sound come from her, and it was something the blonde had to admit she could get used to. It wasn’t sarcastic and crude like it usually was--it was lighter, more pleasant….
Upon seeing Elphaba’s smile, she found herself reciprocating it. She could definitely get used to this, she supposed…. Galinda walked over to her roommate’s side, her gaze on the green girl rather than the original object of her attention. “Alright,” she said, her blue eyes alight with a joy that still shocked her to a small degree. “I guess I’m banned from speaking and I’m now supposed to gesture with my hands what I want? Maybe a few smoke signals? Although that would be bad for the shop, I’ve heard that it’s very effective.”
The green girl nodded in agreement, a mischievous smile adorning her mouth.
“Yep,” she confirmed, her grin widening, “you’ve been confined to a never-ending game of charades.”
She glanced around the store, tapping her sharp chin in mock thought.
“Although we seem to have come to the wrong place for firewood… I don’t know how you would pull off those smoke signals.”
Galinda grinned at her roommate. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing I’m certain of,” she said, her tone light yet her eyes suddenly taking on a serious edge. “You are not going to use any of these dresses as make-shift firewood!”
Elphaba chuckled, shaking her head. She ran a green hand through the inky black cascade that tumbled over her shoulders, glancing at the dress before returning her gaze to the blonde. A smile was prominent in her chocolate eyes as they connected with blue ones.
“Just try on your dress.”
Your dress. Those simple two words made Galinda’s breath catch in her throat. And the added look in Elphaba’s eyes made her already-established ecstasy seem to multiply…. The blonde chose to ignore the slight feeling of confusion and unease that settled in her stomach. Instead, she skipped over to the beautiful garment and proceeded to take it off of the display, to hell with the assistants that was there to help with that very task.
Galinda, upon succeeding, tucked the dress over her arm and carefully carried it to the nearest dressing room--luckily there was still one open. She turned around before completely closing herself within its walls, jumping a little when she realized how close her roommate still was to her. The blonde offered her a smile. “Wait right out here, if you don’t mind,” she said, her voice a bit higher in pitch due to her rising excitement.
The green girl nodded, turning her attention to the rest of the store. Oh, sweet Oz, could they have created a more useless waste of space? She should be in a bookstore, a café, anywhere but in this hellhole full of ball gowns. They seemed to sparkle and call out to her, mocking her.
Elphaba… you’re green, Elphaba. Look at us, so beautiful, so perfect for girls like your pretty little roommate, hmm? But not for you. You don’t even have an occasion to wear one of us, do you? The Ozdust? Don’t hold your breath.
Elphaba sighed, running her green hand through her pitch strands of silk again. She was so out of place here, among the beautiful garments that regular girls would die for. There was nothing for her here, an absence that resulted in her seeming disgust for fashion. Everything clashed with green, save for the few dark frocks she had managed to collect.
Elphaba wasn’t repulsed by fashion because she didn’t want to be beautiful. She hated it because there were other, more important things, things she was good at, things that didn’t have to do with her appearance.
Just once, Elphaba Thropp wanted to be beautiful.