Chapter Text
Women don’t pursue; they are to be pursued.
Galinda has had that lesson drilled into her head for as long as she can remember. Women can make their interest known, but they are not to initiate things. Men pursue. Women are to be pursued. It’s all very common knowledge in Gillikin.
There’s just one small problem with that. The rules don't say anything about what happens when the pursuit does not concern the duo of a woman and a man. After her arrival at Shiz University, Galinda has come to learn that:
- Not everyone falls under the definition of a man or a woman, which is totally fine and does not affect her.
- The rules of pursuit fail to distinguish what one is supposed to do when the object of a woman’s affections is another woman.
Galinda really struggles with the latter, no matter how much she tries to ignore it. It’s incredibly frustratifying, really. All her life, she’s learned to do the right thing and succeed by following different social rules, but suddenly, she’s unsure what to do to get her way.
Galinda is a woman. She is a woman who wants to be pursued by her friend who is also a woman, though she’s different from every woman Galinda’s ever met. Elphaba Thropp, her former rival, current roommate-turned-best-friend, will not leave Galinda’s thoughts, and it annoys her to no end.
Elphie has inspired feelings in Galinda that she used to think were impossible. Hands sweating, heart palpitations, butterflies in her stomach, the works. Before Elphie, she thought people were just exaggerating their crushes and feelings of being in love – because yes, Galinda is deeply and truly in love – but she now knows all those physical manifestations of romantical feelings can actually happen.
The situation is serious enough for Elphaba to infiltrate her subconscious and enter her dreams. The dreams begin innocently enough, but after a while, she dreams of Elphie pinning her against the wall of their room, hovering over her on her bed, and having her way with her with her bent over one of their desks. Facing Elphie the morning after is always torturoucious – her best friend is so blissfully unaware of it all, reading one of her books on the balcony without knowing the effect she has on Galinda.
When she’s wanted men to pursue her in the past – though that seems like ancient history now – she’s always been able to initiate or facilitate the pursuit with small cues. Her eyes, her posture, even a casual touch here and there. A flirtatious laugh, a lift of her eyebrows, saying something that makes the man know his prospective advances will be welcome.
It does not take very long for her to find out that the same subtle cues will not be acknowledged in the same way by Elphaba. In fact, it seems that they are not recognized at all. Elphaba remains oblivious to it all no matter how hard Galinda tries.
i.
“I really like how you’re wearing your hair today.”
Elphaba, visibly confusified, turns to look at her. They’re both getting ready for the day, Galinda almost done with her makeup as Elphaba is putting her hair up in a bun, a few loose microbraids hanging free and framing her face. Galinda doesn’t compliment Elphaba’s looks enough considering how she simply cannot keep her eyes off her.
“Thanks,” Elphaba says, unsure.
“That shirt is really nice too,” she adds, not wanting to stop there. She really wants Elphaba to know that she is not just complimenting her but really Complimenting her. Flirtatiously. “It brings out the color of your eyes.”
“My eyes are… green,” Elphaba responds slowly and squints her eyes. “Like the rest of me. Are you okay?”
“M-hmm,” she responds and nods, trying not to mess up her eyeliner. Her hand is shaking, her nervousness evident to anyone that’s not Elphaba. She’s not used to flirting with someone she actually likes. She can flirt with men with instant results – men are easy, simple, low-risk. Elphaba is anything but. “I’m great.”
“Great.”
“So,” she continues after they’ve fallen back to a comfortable silence. “I think Pfannee has a crush on Fiyero.”
Elphaba doesn’t say anything for a while, just raises her eyebrows at her. “You’re pretty casual about other people having a crush on your boyfriend.”
“Oh, we’re not together anymore,” she tells Elphie casually as she finishes applying her lipstick. “I ended things a few weeks ago.”
“Seriously?” Elphaba asks, sounding way too resolute about the whole thing. “I thought you were planning a marriage with him.”
“Right?” She gets up and laughs, not mentioning how the way Elphaba makes her feel – and how Fiyero doesn’t – was a key factor in her decision. “Funny how things go.”
“Are you okay?” Elphaba asks her, still overly concerned.
“Obviously,” she answers. “I haven’t been crying over… any of that.”
It’s truthful enough. She might want to cry over something else, but she doesn’t feel like revealing that at the moment.
“I actually haven’t seen you two spend that much time together lately, now that I think about it,” Elphaba points out as she gets up and grabs her bag. “I guess I should’ve known something was going on.”
“More like nothing was going on,” she admits as she follows Elphie to the door. “So, how about you?”
“How about me what?”
“Do you have your eyes on anyone?” she asks, purposefully making the question gender-neutral. She really really hopes that Elphaba likes women, or at least one particular woman (her), but she doesn’t want to be too obvious.
Elphaba scoffs. “Be serious.”
“What?” she asks, but Elphie just laughs and shakes her head. She stops dead in her tracks in the middle of the hallway and demands answers. “Elphie, whaaat? You have to tell me now!”
“I really don’t,” Elphaba points out, annoying Galinda. “Stop stomping your feet. We’re going to be late for class.”
Elphaba takes her hand, causing Galinda’s breath to catch in her throat as her heart beats faster. She lets herself be dragged into class, though she tries to approach the topic again a couple of times. When she finally sees that she is not going to get an answer out of Elphaba today, she figures she needs a new approach.
She really wants – no, needs – to find out if Elphie has a romantical interest for someone like Galinda.
ii.
“Hello, Nessa,” Galinda says, sitting down across from Nessarose at the library. She’s been waiting for a perfect opportunity to talk to Nessa when Elphaba, Biq or any of her friends aren’t around. After a few days of trying, she realized Nessa might frequent the library alone – just like her sister.
“Hi, Galinda,” Nessa responds and smiles. “How are you?”
“I’m fantastical, thank you,” she answers. “I have a question for you.”
“Oh.”
“Nothing serious,” she says and puts on a smile that hopefully conveys casual and friendly conversation. “It’s about Elphaba.”
Nessa does not look any less confused as she cocks her head to the side. “Okay.”
“I was, uh,” Galinda starts and feels completely riduloucious. She is not someone who forgets what she’s supposed to say; she’s the master of social interaction. ”I was just wondering if she has, you know, a thing?”
“A thing?” Nessa repeats.
Oz, Nessa really is not helping her at all. It’s like Galinda has to do all the work herself.
“Yes, like you and Mister… Bag. Bick.”
“Boq?”
“Right. Does she like, you know, people? Men, women? Others?”
“Uh, I don’t know, to be honest,” Nessa responds and shrugs. “Elphaba isn’t really a people person, and I haven’t seen her interested in anyone. She only has time for her books.”
“No one? Ever?”
Nessa meets Galinda’s eyes, shakes her head and shrugs apologetically. “No.”
“Well, thank you, anyway,” Galinda says as she smiles through gritted teeth and gets up to leave. “You can go back to studying now.”
She turns around and tosses her hair, ready to leave, but Nessa calls her name. “Galinda. Why?”
“Oh, you know,” she responds as she turns back to face Nessa. “I thought that as her best friend, I should know.”
“Why not just ask her?”
She forces another smile. If it were only that easy. “Right? I should most certainly do that.”
She bids polite and not at all frustrated farewell to Nessa as she exits the library, just as clueless as she entered it. She might have to take a more direct approach. She cannot possibly endure another day of this torture.
Galinda does, in fact, endure another day of said torture – and then some.
She spends most of that time wondering how to ask Elphie about her romantical interests – if there are any – without being too overbearing. Too assertive. Too… pursuing. She needs to find out if she’s hoping for something that will never happen, but she needs to do it subtly.
“You’re so studious,” she tells Elphie one day, trying to casually start a relevant conversation when her roommate’s nose is buried in a book. Elphaba might not realize what she’s even saying when she’s so focused on history. “You’re always reading for classes.”
“You might want to try that too,” Elphie answers calmly. “You know we have a history exam in two days, right?”
“I am studying,” Galinda argues, even though she hasn’t focused on a single sentence in front of her in… she doesn’t know how long. “I’m reading. Look, I have a book right here.”
“You sure do,” Elpbaha answers, not lifting her eyes from her notes.
Dear Oz. Why?
“Do you like reading other things?” she starts, feeling so obvious and awkward she wants to cry. This isn’t like her at all. Damn Elphie, making her, Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, feel awkward and flustered.
“Yes, but not now.”
“Do you like romance books?”
Elphaba’s hand stops for a moment, the quill staining the word she was jotting down. Her eyes are still on her book, and she blinks a few times before finishing the line of text. “If they are written well.”
Galinda hums in agreement, interested by Elphaba’s reaction. Liking romance books would imply that Elphaba would be interested in some sort of romantic connection if one would present itself, right? Maybe.
Why does everything have to be so torturoucious?
“Would you like to live in a romance book?”
That makes Elphaba lift her gaze from her notes. She looks at Galinda like she’s said something incredibly weird. To Galinda’s defense, she hasn’t said anything that weird. It’s totally normal to ask a book enthusiast if they’d like to live in a book.
“Why?”
“For the… romance?”
“Haven’t thought about it,” Elphaba answers. “Might be interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Sure.”
They fall back to silence, Elphie’s quill running on parchment as Galinda stares at her hands writing the notes. They hold hands so often; Elphie’s hand feels so warm and soft in hers, so comfortable. She would love to lift her hand to her mouth and kiss it, to feel it against her lips.
Oz, was it this warm in here just a moment ago?
“What type of suitor would you have in that romance book?” she asks, unable to stop herself from talking about the totally hypothetical romantical situation Elphie might be in.
“Hm,” Elphaba lets out. “Someone who wants to do the right thing… Someone who… doesn’t mind that I'm green…”
Galinda feels like she’s been punched in the gut. Her first words to Elphaba ring in her ears. You’re green. Why on Oz did she say that? Elphaba is so much more than the color of her skin – not that there’s anything wrong with her green complexion. She wouldn’t want Elphie to be different at all. Galinda cannot stop looking at her, admiring how Oz created something as wondrous as Elphaba. She’s perfect.
Perfect and unattainable.
“I’m sorry, you know,” she says instead, feeling like she should have said it a long time ago.
“About what?” Elphaba asks as she lifts her gaze from her book.
“About being so rude when we first met.” She pauses for a clock-tick. “And then a lot ruder and so mean later. I was so jealous about you getting into Madame Morrible’s seminar.”
“I figured,” Elphaba responds, but there’s no malevolence in her voice as she meets Galinda’s eyes. “And thank you. For apologizing.”
She shrugs, not knowing what else to say.
“It was honestly kind of refreshing having someone hate me for my accomplishments instead of all the… green.”
Galinda bites her cheek. Life has been so unfair to Elphaba, and she doesn’t know what to do with how that makes her feel. “I meant what I said before, by the way.”
Elphaba laughs. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific. You say a lot of things.”
“You’re beautiful,” she specifies without fanfare.
Elphaba’s smile falters. “You don’t have to lie to me, you know.”
She tries to keep her hand from shaking as she brings it to Elphaba’s over the table, her fingers landing over the back of Elphaba’s hand. “I’m not lying. I mean it, Elphie. You’re so beautiful.”
Elphaba’s reaction isn’t much better than last time. Galinda sees what she assumes to be a polite smile as Elphaba pulls her hand back and mutters, “Well, thank you,” before flipping a page of her book and starting to read again.
Galinda doesn’t push it more but looks at her book instead, unable to focus on a single word.
iii.
Galinda is unable to stop thinking about Elphaba’s answer to her question. Someone who wants to do the right thing. Someone who doesn’t mind I’m green.
She does not mention a “he” or anything else that might refer to a man. Surely, someone who is only interested in men’s attention would mention men specifically? She knows Pfannee and ShenShen do. They talk about men all the time, and Galinda humors them, though her heart is not in it anymore.
It is entirely possible that Elphie doesn’t have a preference one way or another. She knows Fiyero doesn’t – after they broke up, he’s been seen in the company of several students regardless of their gender.
That still doesn’t explain why Elphaba hasn’t responded to any of her advances. Because if Elphie likes women, she’d surely like Galinda, right? Everyone loves her. Men fall at her feet. Women either want to be her or be with her. Surely Elphaba might want to be with her too?
Although… What if she doesn’t? What if Galinda is too much? What if she’s not book-smart enough? What if Elphie doesn’t want to be with someone who’s going to decorate their future house with all things pink?
No. It can’t be the last one. Elphie seems to like, or at least tolerate, all the pink in their dorm room well enough. She even agreed that pink goes well with green. And as for being too much or not book-smart enough, well… Elphie doesn’t seem to mind any of her qualities now that they’re best friends, so maybe she wouldn’t mind them in a romantical partner either.
Maybe Elphaba simply doesn’t believe Galinda is interested? Maybe Elphie hasn’t even considered it. From what Galinda knows, Elphaba hasn’t had a lot of friends in her life. Maybe Elphie thinks her flirty expressions and compliments are just a friendly thing.
Granted, they could be just a friendly thing. That’s why this has been such a relatively safe game to play – Galinda has not lost her face and has not made herself overly assertive. She has not put herself in a place where she’s the one doing the pursuing; she’s just encouraging it with subtle hints. She has done nothing that would be downright scandalocious for a Gillikinese woman to do.
She has raised her eyebrows. A lot.
She has raised them in an inviting, flirtatious way that has always gotten her point across before and made boys do anything she’s wanted them to. Well, until now. Elphaba is not a boy, and she seems completely immune to her expressions. Elphie always either shrugs it off or doesn’t even notice it in the first place. It’s incredibly frustratifying. Galinda is so good at flirting, and Elphie does not even realize it’s taking place.
She has tried meeting Elphaba’s eyes for far longer than necessary. She has tried to give Elphie doe eyes in a way that is obviously flirtatious. She swears that she has been doing it daily. Yet, Elphaba does not seem to notice but continues their conversations as usual, as if Galinda is not fluttering her lashes in a way that seems almost ridiculocious when her intended audience isn’t even paying any attention to it.
“Oh, this suits you perfectly,” she tells Elphie as she pushes a violet behind her ear. “Beautiful.”
Elphaba doesn’t run away this time. Granted, they’re in the courtyard, so it would be a bit more awkward for her to leave after something as mundane as Galinda placing a flower in her hair, but still. She counts it as a win.
“You should get one,” Elphaba tells her and pulls a violet from the canopy next to them. Galinda stops breathing for a few clock-ticks when Elphaba’s fingers brush against her cheek as she places the flower behind her ear. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” she forces out and bats her eyelashes a couple of times for good measure. “I think it looks better on you, though. I’m sure of it.”
“Did you hit your head again when we were sparring earlier?” Elphaba rolls her eyes playfully and scoffs.
Galinda wants to scream. No! I am in love with you and want to kiss your beautiful face.
“No. Why?” she asks as she cocks her head and bats her eyelashes again.
“You’re pretty generous with all the compliments.”
“Well, I mean all of them.”
Galinda is aware of how little space there’s actually between them now, how easy it would be to just close the distance and kiss Elphaba. Yet, she cannot possibly initiate something like that – she’s not to pursue something so openly – not to mention the possibility that Elphaba might not want to kiss her in the first place. She flicks her gaze down to Elphie’s lips instead, making it clear that it’s okay to kiss her.
Elphie does not kiss her.
She smiles confusedly instead and asks Galinda if she has something on her teeth.
Oz help her.
Galinda forces out a laugh. “Oh? No. No you don’t. Nothing at all.”
“Okay, well.” Elphaba’s voice falters, which is unusual for her. “I promised to meet up with Nessa, so…”
“Oh, yes,” she responds, swallowing down the disappointment that their small, intimate moment has come to an end. “Tell her I said hi.”
“You can come with me if you’d like.”
“No, no, I’ll be–” She’s not sure what she’s supposed to say, but she needs a small timeout. “I’ll be fine. Skin care routine. Really need to do it, so I don’t break out.”
Elphaba looks at her like she’s said something odd. She starts walking toward the dining hall. “I’ve never seen you break out during this whole time I’ve known you.”
“It’s because of my routine!” she yells behind her, but Elphaba isn’t looking at her anymore; her friend only laughs and waves her hand in farewell.
She groans and leans against the cold stone wall behind her. How on Oz can she still be in this situation? She’s Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, for Oz’s sake.
“Trouble in paradise?” a familiar sound says behind her.
She gasps and turns around, meeting Fiyero’s (entirely too smug!) face. “Fiyero. You scared me.”
“My deepest apologies,” he says in a light voice that conveys anything but deep apologies. “She’s not going to get it, you know.”
“Get what?”
“That you’re trying to flirt with her,” Fyero says, and Galinda wants the ground to swallow her whole. “Believe me. I’ve tried.”
“You’ve tried,” she repeats, trying to sound like she doesn’t care.
“Elphaba seems to appreciate a more direct approach,” Fiyero continues as if he can’t see Galinda’s discomfort. “I tried the smirks and the winks, but what really made a difference was just telling her that I’d like to take her out. On a date. Romantically.”
She tries to think of something to say but comes up empty-handed. Fiyero has been out there flirting with Elphaba after their break-up without Galinda knowing about it? Asking Elphaba out? Doing the things Galinda dreams of doing?
Suddenly, she feels incredibly jealous of his ability to just do that. He can just march into the room and pursue a relationship with anyone and be as loud about it as he likes. Meanwhile, Galinda is stuck trying to give Elphaba subtle hints when she’d probably be more successful flirting with a wall, somehow.
“There’s no reason to seem so upset,” Fiyero continues, and Galinda realizes she’s tightening her fists hard enough for her nails to leave marks on her skin. “She said she’s not interested. In me, that is..”
“Oh,” is all she can respond, and she feels a huge weight falling off her shoulders.
“Thank you for the compassion,” Fiyero says, smirking. “But I have moved on as you may have seen.”
“I have seen,” she responds. “Good for you.”
“Want my advice?” Fiyero asks, and before Galinda can even respond, continues, “You need to be more upfront. You won’t get your affections known to Elphaba if you keep acting like you’re still in Gillikin.”
“I did not ask for your advice,” she responds as politely as she can muster, even though she knows Fiyero is right.
Fiyero shrugs. “Your funeral. Take her out to dinner, at least. Wear that tiny lacy night dress of yours too. Maybe not to dinner, but you know. To get her thinking about it.”
She turns around to walk away and groans.
“You’re welcome!” Fiyero yells after her.
iv.
Galinda flicks the hem of her negligee as she tries to even her breathing. She’s staring at herself in the mirror, face free from makeup and hair up in a bun, wearing her most revealing piece of nice attire. The pink night negligee barely covers her underwear, the see-through lace hem of it falling only slightly past the most critical area.
Even though the gown does actually cover what it needs to cover, the pink silk at the top is so thin that it’s easy to make out the outline of her nipples through the fabric. The straps are thin on her shoulders, leading to an ample cleavage that shows what it needs to show without revealing anything too critical for it to be scandalocious.
She adds a bit of lip balm as she continues regarding herself in the mirror. The lack of makeup and her hair pulled up adds vulnerability and casualness to her look. It could be just another night of her going to bed, but she just happens to wear a different kind of night gown. One that reveals a lot more, that is.
She looks amazing, she thinks. It is definitely a bit much, but Fiyero wasn’t wrong. If Elphaba doesn’t open her eyes and actually look at her like this, she never will. This has to help her mind to actually go there.
The shower in their bathroom turns off, causing her heart to skip a few beats. Elphaba will be coming out any moment, and she’s going to see Galinda like this.
Putting on her most casual face, she starts organizing the books on her desk, not wanting to give away that she’s been nervously staring in the mirror for far too long. The sound of the bathroom door opening makes her breath catch in her throat, but she’s luckily not the only one. Elphaba starts calling out her name and stops midway, clearly unable to finish her sentence.
Thank Oz. It’s working.
“Yes, Elphie?” she responds as innocently as she possibly can while turning to face Elphaba.
Elphaba is gaping at her, her eyes falling up and down Galinda’s legs until she seems to snap out of it and meets Galinda’s eyes again. “New night…gown?” Elphaba pronuncifies the word slowly, clearly not sure what to call the piece of clothing.
“I forgot I had it, so I thought I’d give it a try again,” she lies. She can’t exactly say the truth without seeming too forward. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I–” Elphaba stumbles upon her words. “Aren’t you cold?”
“It’s practically summer, Elphie,” she responds with a shrug as she moves closer to Elphaba. She pulls at the hem of the dress so Elphie can reach it. “Feel it. Isn’t the fabric nice? It’s so soft.”
She feels absolutely ridiculocious about the whole thing, but she can sense that the energy in the room has shifted. Elphaba swallows before bringing her hand to the fabric, pressing two of her fingers against it.
“Yeah, that’s really nice,” Elphaba agrees, and her eyes flicker to Galinda’s chest just for a moment too long on their way back to Galinda’s face.
“I can get you one of these if you’d like,” she offers quietly, knowing that Elphie will say no even though she’d look amazing in one. “It doesn’t have to be pink.”
“I’m… I’m good,” Elphaba responds. It seems like Elphie is looking at her eyebrows instead of her eyes, trying to compensate for looking too low for a moment. “Thank you, though.”
“Don’t mention it,” she responds and mimics her trick from before, her eyes flicking down to Elphaba’s lips for a few clock-ticks before returning to meet her eyes. She licks her lips for some good measure, just making sure that her body language is clear.
Elphaba does nothing.
It’s exasperatifying.
Whenever she’s put on even half of these moves before, she’s been kissed almost instantly. But with Elphaba, she has to turn subtle things to massive signals that say ‘I’m available’ and Elphie still doesn’t make the final move. She groans internally as she puts on a smile and turns around.
“Anyway,” she continues as she walks toward Elphaba’s bed. “Should we read the same book as last night?”
Elphie’s book is on the bedside table on the side furthest from her, so she (very subtly) gets on all fours for a moment to grab it, her negligee definitely riding further up than what’s proper. If Elphaba is looking, she has seen her underwear now; she’s seen where Galinda’s thigh meets the place she craves her touch.
She counts a few clock-ticks and turns around to get off the bed nonchalantly, as if she didn’t practically show Elphie everything. Putting on an innocent smile, she walks to the other side of the room, to her bed, and lays the book on top of the covers before sitting down next to it.
When she looks at Elphaba, her friend is in the middle of the room, clearly processing what just happened. She tries to smile, back to being casual for a moment, so that she doesn’t give Elphie a heart attack.
She sees it now, though, the point Fiyero made. Elphaba’s reactions are clearly those of someone who is attracted to her; she’s quite sure of it. When Elphaba finally returns to normal and walks to the bed like any other night when they read something together, she gives Galinda an awkward smile.
“Did you want me to continue where we left off last night?” Elphaba asks her as she gets comfortable against Galinda’s pillows and opens the book.
“Yes, please, Elphie,” she responds and gives Elphaba a big smile.
Elphaba starts to read out loud for her, and Galinda shifts on the bed so she can cuddle up to Elphie. It’s very nice, comfortable, as it always is, though Elphaba seems slightly more tense tonight.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” she asks when Elphaba is mid-sentence, not wanting to wait for an appropriate time to ask her. It’s one thing to be flirting overtly and showing off her body, but she doesn’t ever want Elphaba to actually be uncomfortable around her.
“What?”
“With the dress? Would you like me to put more clothes on?”
“No, it’s–” Elphaba starts like someone whose mouth has just gone dry. “It looks nice. I don’t mind. As long as you’re not cold.”
“How could I be cold when I have you to warm me up?” she points out. She’s not cold, but… her eyes flicker to her nightstand and fixate on the body lotion she keeps there… she couldn’t possibly… “My skin is a bit dry, though,” she declares before even finishing her earlier thought. “Do you mind if I put on some of my lotion while you read?”
It’s silly, Galinda knows. Her skin might not be all that dry since she takes such good care of it, but she’s already pushed the limits of everything tonight, so she might as well try one more thing so that Elphie will never forget what’s right in front of her.
“Sure, go ahead.”
Reaching for the container on the nightstand, she puts a small distance between her and Elphaba (because she’s not trying to scare her away, either) and settles in a new position on top of the bedding. She takes an ample amount of lotion from the container and starts with her arms before moving on to her legs. Taking her sweet time with it, she eventually rubs the lotion all the way up to the hem of her panties, smiling at Elphaba when she’s done.
She decides against moisturizing the skin underneath her nightgown, fearing that that would be pushing the limits too much. Elphaba already looks like she’s about to pass out, the book in her lap long forgotten.
“Elphie?”
“Mm?”
“Are we still reading?” she asks innocently and bats her lashes a few times. “We can go to bed, too.”
“Um, yeah, maybe that,” Elphaba agrees. “It’s been a long day.”
“Right,” she answers as she puts the container back on her nightstand. “Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?”
Elphaba seems to ponder on it for a moment – they end up falling asleep in Galinda’s bed more often than not since it’s bigger than Elphaba’s – but sometimes, Elphaba still sleeps in her own bed. Galinda wants to give her that option, that way out, in case her hints tonight have been too much.
“Sure,” Elphie responds, and Galinda smiles.
They get under the covers and Galinda turns off the light on her nightstand. She turns around in the sheets, ready for Elphaba to hold her if she wants to, not wanting to be too much and initiate cuddling after her whole display only moments ago. Listening for any cues as to what to do, she hears Elphaba put her glasses and the book next to the bed before lying down.
“Would you like cuddles tonight?” Elphaba asks her.
When doesn’t she want cuddles from Elphie? “Yes, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Elphaba tells her amusedly.
During their friendship and sleepovers in her bed, Galinda has learned that Elphaba really likes being close to her. It’s almost as if she’s been touch-starved all her life, not getting enough hugs or other physical contact when she needed it. It doesn’t surprise Galinda – she knows how Elphaba’s father is, and she absolutely detests him.
She’s pulled from her thoughts when Elphaba’s arm slides around her waist, the only fabric separating them being her tiny nightgown. Elphaba starts stroking her stomach through the fabric – absent-mindedly as usual, Galinda guesses – but it ignites something within her. Something that was already there when Elphaba’s eyes landed on her body for just a moment too long earlier, when she let her fingers glide against her legs slowly and way too theatrically because Elphaba was watching.
And Oz damnit, then Elphaba’s breath tickles her against her bare neck. She’s unsure what she’s done to deserve quite this torturoutious of an experience. Elphaba seems so unaffected by it all, a content hum escaping her lips just next to Galinda’s ear as she’s trying to gather her bearings. She feels wetness seeping into her panties just from how Elphaba is affecting her senses, and she wants to cry in frustration. Even more than that, she wants to flip them over and meet Elphaba’s mouth with hers, kiss her senseless until she’s writhing underneath Galinda, unable to remember anything other than her name.
She wants to do all of that, but she won’t. She can’t. She cannot, just cannot, be that forward. It’s not okay for her to make the first move like that; it’s not her place as a proper Gillikinese woman and Elphaba’s best friend. It has to come to her and from Elphaba.
And Oz how she wishes Elphaba’s lips would just meet the skin of her neck and kiss her there. How Elphaba’s hands would travel a bit up and squeeze her breasts, flick her nipples, maybe even travel down and slip underneath her underwear and find the wetness that’s all her fault. Oz, she wishes.
But instead, Elphaba tells her, “Good night, Galinda. Sweet dreams,” as her arm around her waist tightens just a bit.
“Sweet dreams, Elphie,” she manages to breathe out and squeezes her eyes closed, trying to think of anything other than the position she’s in right now.
v.
“Elphie! I got these for you.”
She’s standing at the doorway of their dorm room, holding a bouquet of poppies she hand-picked for Elphaba. She put a lot of thought into each flower she picked, only choosing the prettiest ones for Elphie. Now that she's confirmed Elphaba might be interested, she’s turning to more romantical hints to send her way. Elphie only deserves the best; bouquets of flowers, romance, candlelight dinner. All of it.
“Galinda?” Elphaba turns around in her chair and gets up, leaving her book on the desk. “Flowers?”
“They’re for you,” she says, suddenly aware that this is an actual bouquet of flowers she’s giving to Elphaba. For a moment, she wonders if this is too forward, too much like a man who pursues a woman with flowers, and Elphaba will be put off by it.
“You got these for me?” Elphaba says, her voice a mixture of awe, curiosity, and confusion.
“Yeah, I thought you’d been studying so hard, and…”
Elphaba’s eyes look a bit wet, like she’s about to cry. Oh, no. No crying.
“Thank you, Galinda,” Elphaba says and smiles. “They’re beautiful.”
You’re beautiful, she thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. She takes a deep breath and asks instead, “I was wondering if you’d like to go with me to town to have dinner? With me? Tomorrow night?”
She’s nervous. She’s not supposed to be the one to ask. More importantly, what if Elphie says no? She cannot bear the thought of rejection. Though Elphaba is completely free to do whatever she chooses, Galinda might actually die if she turns her down after everything.
“Yes, of course,” Elphie answers, and Galinda lets out a nervous breath. “You remember we’ve been there before, right? I thought you were going to say something serious.”
Galinda tries not to pass out. She meant it as a date. She was forward enough to ask Elphie out on a date, and Elphie didn’t even understand what she was doing. And why would she? They have been to town to have dinner multiple times before. What on Oz would make this different?
She takes her time figuring out what to wear. Despite having a dorm room full of clothes, she cannot find a single thing that’s good enough for a dinner with Elphie. She considers a puffy pink dress with ruffled sleeves, but it might not be the right choice for a date. The dress she wore to their first time to the Ozdust is gorgeous, but she’s afraid it will remind Elphie of the time before they were friends and how cruel she was to her. For a moment, she wonders if a yellow dress with thin shoulder straps is the right choice, but it’s way too perky for this kind of night out.
Her side of the room (or most of the room, really) reaches a state of total chaos by the time she’s supposed to be done with everything. She’s standing in the middle of clothes and shoes she’s tried on and rejected, about to have a breakdown. What if this dinner is a make-or-break on whether Elphaba thinks she wants to have more intimate dinners with her? What if a certain dress makes her look Just So and opens Elphaba’s eyes; what if it makes Elphie see her in a new light, and she just doesn’t know which one it is?
“Galinda?” sounds behind the door as it unlocks and Elphaba walks in. “Are you ready to–”
Elphaba falls silent. Galinda is standing in the middle of her clothes, transfixed and unable to do anything other than look at Elphaba. Her friend scrunches her brow as she takes in the amount of clothes and shoes scattered around the room. Galinda must look silly in the middle of it all, with a full face of makeup and her hair up in rolls, wearing only the silky pink robe she uses when she’s getting ready.
“What’s going on?” Elphaba asks finally, breaking the silence.
“Oh, I just,” she starts as fiddles with the string of her robe. “I was just trying on some clothes… Like a fashion show. For myself.”
Elphaba closes the door behind her but nods, some sort of understanding finally on her face. “Oh, well, that’s…” Elphaba looks at her for a moment in a way that Galinda can’t quite figure out. “I see.”
“Let me just get those.”
She starts moving clothes around and piles them up on her bed to give Elphaba more space. This is laughable. She should’ve just decided on a dress and gotten ready, but instead, she’s still in her robe.
“Do you still want to get dinner tonight?” Elphaba asks. It’s so casual – she’s putting her books away as she does it – that Galinda feels like an utter fool about the whole outfit emergency.
“Yes, sure,” she responds, feigning nonchalance. “If you don’t have anything else happening.”
Elphaba lets out a small, benevolent laugh. “When do I have something else happening?”
“I didn’t want to assume…”
“Ready when you are,” Elphaba says and Galinda realizes she just needs to put on clothes. Now.
“Sure, yeah. It’s just that…” Galinda feels like she’s about to cry. She’s not used to such high-stakes situations where her feelings can get hurt like this. “I don’t know what to wear.”
“Wha –” Elphaba starts. “You have so many things to choose from. What do you even mean?”
Elphaba doesn’t sound dismissive or angry, but Galinda feels bad anyway. She flops face down onto her bed – one might argue too dramatically, but the situation definitely requires it – and sighs loudly. “I want to look nice tonight.”
She leaves out the fact that she wants to look nice for Elphie, specifically. Her whole future might depend on this outfit and how Elphaba sees her. And now, she sees her almost crying on her bed over her clothes.
“You always look nice,” Elphaba says behind her. “You know you’re the prettiest girl of this entire university, right? You can ask anyone.”
Her voice is so genuine that Galinda finally lifts her head and meets Elphaba’s eyes. She knows she is that pretty. She also knows that that might not be enough to get her what she wants this time.
“Hm,” is all she can respond.
“Pick…” Elphaba starts and picks up the first dress she can get her hands on. “This one, the shoes you were wearing earlier, and we’ll go. You’ll look great.”
The dress Elphaba is holding actually works. It’s silk with bare shoulders. Fuschia. It doesn’t go great with her shoes from earlier, but she knows a pair that does.
“Yeah, okay. Just give me another twenty minutes, and we’ll go.”
Elphaba doesn’t even tease her about still needing another twenty minutes. She just smiles and nods.
Galinda is utterly and completely in love with her.
Once she’s ready to leave the dorm and she sees Elphie smile at her, she feels a lot better. Elphaba smiling makes her feel a lot better generally, no matter the occasion. However, the way she smiles at Galinda right now, eyes sparkling and teeth showing as she spins around in her new outfit for her, makes Galinda’s heart beat incredibly fast.
It’s unbelievable that she ever thought she was in love with anyone else before this.
“Let me get that for you,” she says when they’re about to leave their room, stopping Elphaba on her tracks.
“Get what?”
“The door,” Galinda responds as if it’s the most obvious thing in Oz. She gets in front of Elphie, unlocking the door before opening it for her.
Men open doors for her all the time, so it must be chivalrous, right? Chivalrous, but not too over the top. Simply polite, even. Something a person can do without it seeming like she tries to pursue anything at all, though she thinks they’re past that now, especially after the whole night gown incident.
“Thank you?” Elphaba says, phrasing it like a question.
“You’re welcome, Elphie.”
They walk to the boats arm in arm, just like they usually do. It’s comfortable, and it feels incredibly right; she would be happy to have all her walks with Elphie for the rest of her life and not get bored. Once they’re on a boat with a couple of other people, she listens to Elphie talk about a class she didn’t pay particular attention to; she makes it seem a lot more fascinating than the teacher did. It’s just how Elphie is.
When they arrive at the restaurant, she’s suddenly alert about how to act in this kind of situation again. Elphaba looks at her confusedly for a moment when she waits for her to take off her coat so she can put it on the extra chair. She looks at Galinda even more confused when Galinda pulls the chair out for her before sitting down herself.
She’s starting to wonder if everyone in Gillikin is a complete dumbass, because she likes the way doing chivalrous stuff for Elphie makes her feel all warm in her chest.
“So, where were we?” she asks as she sits down. Elphaba is looking at her all weird, like she’s about to ask her something, but she shakes her head, microbraids moving. “What?”
“Just thinking,” Elphaba claims.
“You do a lot of that.”
Elphie laughs again, and it’s beautiful. “Sure. What are you thinking of having?”
Elphaba ends up having a roasted vegetable delicacy with mushrooms when Galinda enjoys a fish plate. When it’s time for dessert, Galinda suggests they share one. Though they have been very much in each other’s personal space ever since they became friends, Galinda is nervous when she offers Elphaba the first piece of cake from her fork.
That scrunched brow from earlier reappears, but Elphaba nods and accepts the piece of cake. Galinda groans internally when Elphaba’s tongue brushes against the fork and she licks at her lips after she pulls back.
“Good?” she says, trying to keep her voice from faltering as she forces her eyes to meet Elphaba’s instead of staring at her mouth.
“So good,” Elphaba responds. “You have to try.”
Galinda does. She uses the same spoon to cut another piece and brings it to her mouth. The cake is delicious, but the fact that the spoon was in Elphie’s mouth only a moment ago might be the reason her head is spinning.
“So good,” she forces out and smiles.
Galinda doesn’t miss how Elphie’s eyes fall on her mouth before flicking back to her eyes again. Elphaba smiles at her, before saying, “Glad we chose that one, then.”
Muttering in agreement, Galinda mimics Elphaba’s look at her mouth before meeting her eyes. She’s been doing it sometimes – mirroring Elphaba’s movements. It’s a good way to make one know you’re interested. She’s done it before, though the effect with Fiyero on the dancefloor was a lot faster than what she has going on with Elphie.
Not that she necessarily minds, grateful that she’s had all this time to share with Elphaba, to be her best friend and fall wildly in love with her. Elphaba is so special to her.
When the waiter brings them the check, Galinda accepts it before Elphaba has any say. She pays for the food, like a person who’s definitely on a date, like men have done for her in the past. Surprisingly, the world doesn’t end there and she feels kind of good about the whole thing. She’s just treating Elphie the way she deserves to be treated.
Maybe the whole submissiveness thing that’s been drilled into her head doesn’t make all that much sense, she thinks. Elphaba lets her pay, insisting that she pay for next time (next time!), and they head back to the boats, arm in arm once again.
vi.
When they’re walking down the dorm hallway to their room, Galinda starts feeling a bit faint. She’s pretty sure that Elphaba didn’t view their dinner as a date, but surely Galinda should still give the evening the ending it deserves.
This time, she lets Elphaba open the door and lead her inside, her arm momentarily leaving Galinda’s. Once the door is closed behind them, a surge of boldness appears and Galinda takes Elphaba’s hand and holds it between hers before bringing it to her lips and pressing a soft kiss on it. “Thank you for a lovely dinner, Elphie.”
Elphaba stares at her but doesn’t pull away. After a moment of silence, she says, “I mean, you paid, so…”
“I did, didn’t I?” Galinda responds and doesn’t even feel like there’s anything wrong with it, like she shouldn’t treat the woman she’s in love with with dinner, flowers, and all sorts of things. Screw anyone who thinks there’s anything wrong with her giving a bit more than subtle cues. Screw anyone who thinks she absolutely has to be passive and not pursue anyone because there’s something inherently wrong with it.
She hums partly in realization as she frees one hand to brush a braid behind Elphie’s ear. Her hand continues its movement almost of its own accord and brushes against Elphaba’s cheekbone as she continues admiring Elphaba’s face. She is so beautiful.
And then, with a moment’s bravery, she moves even closer and brushes her lips against Elphie’s cheek, giving her a small kiss. “I meant thank you for the company. There’s no one I’d rather have dinner with.”
“Galinda?” Elphaba says quietly in her ear.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to kiss me? Like kiss-me kiss me?”
She pulls back only slightly to meet Elphie’s eyes. Elphaba looks vulnerable, her green eyes wide as she questions her. Galinda’s head is spinning; they’re finally talking about this. She tries to sound calm as she whispers, “Would you like me to?”
“Yes,” answers Elphaba, her voice low.
That’s all it takes for Galinda to finally press her lips against Elphaba’s. They are plump and soft, and having hers against them feels like coming home. She moves her mouth against Elphaba’s, and Elphaba’s lips are tentative, not moving much until a few clock-ticks later. Galinda gives the kiss her absolute best, knowing that this is most likely to be Elphaba’s first. She will absolutely make it count.
She moves her hand from Elphaba’s cheek to her neck, pulling her closer while her other hand is still intertwined with Elphaba’s. She feels simultaneously closer than she’s felt to Elphaba yet not close enough. She wants to melt into Elphie, become one until it’s impossible to be any closer.
Pushing Elphaba lightly against the door, she brings both of her arms around Elphie’s neck, her fingers getting lost in her long braids. When she opens her mouth slightly to bring Elphie’s bottom lip between hers, Elphaba gasps and it makes heat pool down in Galinda’s belly. She feels lightheaded from having Elphie like this, to be kissing Elphaba after Elphaba asked her, but she pulls back, not wanting to get ahead of herself.
“You okay, Elphie?”
Elphaba breathes out, readjusting her glasses. “I’m… I’m good. You know I never said, but I’ve never…”
“Mm.”
“Kissed anyone before or done… any of it.” Elphaba’s voice is still quieter than usual, lacking its normal confidence.
“Did you like it?” she asks, deciding to start with that. “The kiss?”
“Yes.”
“Me too,” she answers while relief washes over her. Then, she figures she might as well come clean about her recent endeavors. “You know I’ve been trying to give you hints I wanted to kiss you for weeks?”
Elphaba goes silent. Galinda can practically see the wheels in her head turning, before she says, “Oh.” and then, a bit louder, “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Nessa told me you asked her about who I’m interested in,” Elphaba adds. “She then said that there was something suspicious going on between us.”
Ugh. Of course, she didn’t stay quiet. Not that Galinda asked her to, but anyway.
“What did you tell her?”
“I mean, I dismissed what she said about us. I said we’re best friends, and I was mainly wondering why you wouldn’t just ask me something like that. Nessa told me to just talk to you about it because there’s clearly something you needed to tell me. I was going to bring it up, but...”
“I guess that’s fair,” she says. “I mean, I agree. I’ve been quite subtle with my hints. Being anything other than indirect about your interests as a woman is very much frowned upon in Gillikin. It’s pretty scandalocious.”
“That’s a thing there?” Elphaba asks, scrunching her brow. “Sounds very patriarchical.”
“I suppose,” she admits, recalling what Elphaba taught her about the patriarchy. It seems a bit silly, going to those lengths when she could’ve just told Elphaba in the first place. But then again, “I wasn’t sure you were interested either. I did all sorts of things, and you didn’t respond at all like I expected!”
“I’ve never had a best friend before,” Elphaba points out. “How was I supposed to know that… this wasn’t just that.”
“I bent over in that tiny nightgown to get your attention, Elphie!”
Elphaba seems to blush at that, and frankly, Galinda can feel her own cheeks heat up.
“Does that mean that… that you want…?”
“I want anything you want to give me, Elphaba Thropp,” she answers truthfully. “I’m not picky. Or in a hurry.”
The last bit isn’t quite as true since she really wants to climb Elphaba like a tree, but she’d much rather have Elphaba be comfortable and take her time.
“Well…” Elphaba says, clearly weighing her next words. “I’d be interested in that, too.”
“That’s… fantastical.” Galinda nods and smiles, unable to say anything else; she’s afraid she’ll burst out into song if she doesn’t leave the room soon. “Well, my skincare routine awaits. And I simply must wash my hair.”
Once she’s behind the closed door of their ensuite bathroom, she does a silent happy dance. It goes well with her even more silent and happier scream.