What we see, and what we seem

Even though maybe if this goes well, there will be more. More of those days that might count.

She’s so stuck in this strange state of anxiety that she doesn’t even really notice any change in her friends and the way they’re acting. That Nessarose spends a great deal of time glowering at Fiyero or that Galinda keeps looking like she wants to say something, but then shuts her mouth.

She’ll kick herself later for being unobservant.

But during this time, her brain keeps trying to turn on her. She hates it, she loves her mind, knows it’s one of her greatest assets, but all it wants to do now is twist this thing that is making her almost unreasonably happy into something awful.

First it tries to tell her that she obviously misinterpreted what Fiyero asked for, that he obviously just wanted to go out with her as a friend.

Elphaba’s embarrassed to even entertain this take. He had been very clear, and seemed to expect that she might think this or at least that she would wonder. He knew her that well at least.

Then she instead decides that she’s just an experiment. That he wants to see how a green skinned girl compares to a normal one.

She dismisses that quickly too. She’s not sure Fiyero could even explain the scientific method, much less decide on a whim to devise, plan and commit to a social experiment. It just wasn’t the way his mind worked.

She does spend more than a few days questioning if maybe he’s just out for the novelty of it. That she’s something new that he hasn’t had before and he has to try it out. Has to see how she looks on his arm. Maybe even he’s just curious if she’s green everywhere…she’s had rude, crude comments of that nature come her way before.

She feels bad that she considered it for so long. It’s what she would have believed of the Fiyero she met in the woods, so quick to turn on the charm. She knows better now, and eventually even in her insecurity, she lets it on.

Besides, they’re going to be outside, and it will be dark. And no one will see them.

And having dismissed all the other possibilities, Elphaba is left with just one. That Fiyero is genuinely interested in dating her.

And she doesn’t quite know what to do with that idea.

The day comes, and she doesn’t say anything to Galinda. While she has managed to surmise from observation- though embarrassingly late- of her behavior that Galinda likely knows what happened, she still can’t find the courage to actually say it or ask her.

And she is curious. Did Fiyero actually tell her, or did she just figure it out? But despite their friendship, Elphaba still feels like keeping her cards close to her chest. Galinda tends to be so effusive about things…Elphaba’s not sure she could take effusive right now. She’s too convinced that she’s going to close and open her eyes and this whole situation will be different. This thought sticks with her until the day comes.

Right now, this is manifesting in her inability to select which dress to wear.

They really aren’t that different- both dark colored and modest, distinguished primarily by trim and subtle styling distinctions, yet somehow she is still paralyzed by the choice. It’s after classes, it’s after dinner. She will need to pick her dress to prepare or she won’t be ready to leave.

It’s with nary a word that Galinda steps behind her, and lays a hand on one of the two dresses.

“This one,” is simply her take. Elphaba picks it up. While she undoes the button loops in back, Galinda disappears into the abyss that is her wardrobe, and emerges holding a pair of earrings.

“Just a little something special,” she says, handing them to her.

In that moment, Elphaba almost says something, but swallows her words. She’ll tell her everything after. She can, it will be safe.

And that’s all the time Galinda spends on the subject, turning her attention to preparing her costume for the harvest moon masquerade.

And with that decision taken off her plate, Elphaba spends her remaining time before the date debating if the night will be cold enough that she should wear her coat.

And also pacing.

She comes down on the practical side, and wears her coat. She can carry it if it's too warm, and it will disguise any goosebumps that appear, whether from the cold or the nerves.

By the time that she comes to this decision, Galinda’s already left for the festivities, a blur in her filmy silver and gold costume and matching mask shaped like a fox face. Elphaba’s been alone with her thoughts and her pacing for maybe a quarter of an hour when the knock on the door comes.

Her hands do not shake, she will insist upon this. They remain perfectly steady.

Fiyero looks nice, but he always does. His hair has clearly been recently combed and all of his clothes are neat and up to date, but it doesn’t look as though he put a great deal of thought into it- it’s not much different from what he usually wears. Like that he wanted to look nice, but not to show off.

(Elphaba is glad, she sees no reason to encourage his peacocking).

But he clearly has put some thought into tonight, because he has a basket in one hand, and a lantern in the other.

He grins, and Elphaba’s heart skips a beat.

“I went by the set up earlier and liberated us some snacks,”

He steps back, and with a deep breath, Elphaba takes a step out into the hallway. She steps to his side, and they begin to walk.

Fiyero’s still chatting. He lifts the lantern slightly. He goes on for a bit about how since the poppy fields are on a slight hill from the rest of campus, they should get plenty of lights from the fire and fairy lights set up for the masquerade, but he still thought he should bring it just in case.

“How very practical of you,” Elphaba comments and the smile on his face stretches out to the corners of his eyes.

She’s grateful that since both his hands are full, she doesn’t yet have to entertain the possibility of holding his hand again. There’s only a scant few others in the hall as they leave to make for the back of campus, all dressed in their costumes and paying them no attention at all, but Elphaba still feels like it might be too much. The prospect of holding his arm though…No, still too much.

Especially when she realizes how much she wants it.

“Do you do this back where you’re from?”

Elphaba jerks her head, having gotten lost in thought again and not realized Fiyero spoke. He’s not good with silence, she has noticed that before. Maybe they can work on finding a balance. She has never been shy about speaking her mind, but she also doesn’t feel the need to fill a comfortable silence.

Even though it weirds her out to realize it is comfortable.

“...did you ever attend the harvest masquerade in Munchkinland?”

They’re on the path leading off campus, voices soft and steps softening, at least hers. They can hear each other out here, and there’s no longer any worry that others will over hear.

“Uh, no. I know some communities did masquerades in villages, but we never went to the one in Nest Hardings. Father…he was never big on fun of any sort.”

It wasn’t easy to admit still, and she worries that it sounds self-pitying, but Fiyero takes it in stride, and belays her words by telling her the way the festival was different in the Vinkus than it is here in Gillikin.

The sun is well on its way down, only a dim glow on the horizon as they make their way into the poppy fields.

The lights below them on campus are twinkling and the fire has been lit, but they are both blurry in the distance. And it turns out Fiyero had the foresight to pack a blanket for them to sit on. Elphaba’s heart skips a beat at how much thought he must have put into things.

He’s still talking about the Vinkus’s harvest traditions, and has been for nearly ten solid minutes.

She sits down cross-legged, smoothing her skirt as he removes the food he’d packed. Apparently, he’s managed to sneak or sweet talk some of the cinnamon squash pies off the kitchen’s supply for the festival, as well as some popped corn and a whole bottle of cider.

When Elphaba takes the first sip of her cider she winces a little.

“Oh, this is hard cider. Usually in Munchkinland it’s just unfiltered apple juice…”

Fiyero stammers a bit before she rolls her eyes and takes another drink.

“I know how to handle a drink, and Galinda talked enough that I can be almost certain you’re not just trying to get me drunk”.

His face softens, and Elphaba takes the opening.

“Did…did you talk to Galinda, about tonight? Before you actually asked me?”

“I asked Nessa actually first, and she must have told Galinda about it. She seemed to think I was playing a joke.”

Elphaba nods, and takes another sip. Fiyero studies her.

“Doesn’t that upset you?” he asks, “That your own sister assumed anyone asking you out was obviously playing a joke on you?”

Elphaba takes another drink.

“Until recently, I would have assumed that too. Besides, I’m glad she decided it was worth standing up for me now. She’s never done that before.”

She probably wouldn’t have even thought she could.

“But she’s your sister-”

“She is my sister, and I love her, but I know who she is. She can be terribly self-absorbed and after a lifetime of people treating her like she can’t do anything, part of her believes it even if she’s very loud about the reverse. Besides-”

She takes a bite of a squash pie, and chews before continuing, This is helping to assuage any guilt she might have felt about making Nessa go home alone last summer.

“-from the gist I got from you, I’m pretty sure you’re the one she was actually insulting. She was claiming you were obviously too shallow to look past my looks.”

Fiyero briefly looks taken aback and his eyes get a mildly vacant look that gives Elphaba a brief flash of the gears in his head turning and it makes her laugh. She swallows another bite of pie, and lays half back on the blanket, her hands behind her head. Sunset is fully upon them, the sky pinky dark with a star or two making themselves known.

“But I don’t want to talk about that anymore. Tell me more about the festivals where you grew up, they must have been different from the rest of Oz.”

And so he does, telling her about the harvests and new years and the wild pig hunts in summer. He’s animated when storytelling, his hands telling as much as his face and his words.

It’s…lovely. And it’s so different from what she would have expected from the gossip that preceded him, from Galinda’s chatter. She wouldn’t have expected any of that to be how he acted either though. That was what their time in the woods had done for them. Fiyero might still show off or boast a bit when the others were around, but he didn’t seem to see the need when it was just the two of them. Unless he was trying to annoy her at least. He seems to think that that is fun on occasion, and on occasion she feels it’s worth indulging him.

Fiyero must have gone on for another quarter of an hour when he realizes that he’s been doing almost all of the talking and takes some popped corn to chew, and stretches out on his side, facing her, before asking,

“What about you? Any fun traditions from Munchkinland?”

Probably, she thought.

But she shakes her head.

“Until I came here, almost anything of the sort I wasn’t allowed to join in. I liked going into town or the lake or the library with Nessa, that was about the extent of my fun…but it was always nicer when there weren’t others around to stare or laugh or tease.”

She shakes the memory off. She doesn’t want to go back there, not tonight. Not with Fiyero laying so close, on his side face propped up and watching her.

“That’s why I was so excited to enroll here. Hearing Madame Morrible actually call my magic a talent…I actually thought I might be able to learn something. That one day people might praise me, talk about what a wonderful witch I was…before mentioning my skin.”

She never, Elphaba realizes, believed that the comments would stop. Just that they might be preceded by compliments. That she might be liked in spite of her green skin, not regardless of it.

She had never had hope for that until Fiyero, she realizes, the thought catching in her mind like a step missed on a staircase.

“So you like studying with her?”

Elphaba nods.

“She’s one of the greatest sorceresses of our age. I’m learning so much….but…”

She chews her lip before admitting.

“...I don’t like the way she treats Galinda. She may not be the most gifted student, but she’s always paying attention and she tries so hard.”

It’s one of those truths that she’s never uttered aloud, and not one that requires much comment. It’s something she’s not sure she would have even mentioned if not out here, not in this company, and she can’t really put her finger on why.

But eventually, Fiyero returns with,

“Good thing she’s never had to teach me, she might self-combust.”

Elphaba pulls herself back up to a sitting position, and Fiyero mirrors her, though his posture is more relaxed. She leans to one side, and bumps her shoulder with his. The contact is warm and her skin tingles, but she doesn’t let that overwhelm her meaning.

“You sell yourself short. You always do that, you shouldn’t. Besides, you don’t know. Maybe you’d be really good at sorcery.”

He shakes off her comments with one of his usual grins and a flip of his hair. Elphaba thinks it’s a worthy point to make. Magical education has been waning in Oz and aside from the knowledge of the art, knowledge about the art is fading too. Elphaba has no idea if magical skill is something that’s genetic, learnable, or a bit of both.

But she doesn’t think filling the response with more words is what is needed at the moment, so she lets her shoulder keep touching his, and slowly, so very slowly, lets her head dip and rest just so slightly on it too.

Fiyero shifts and her heart leaps into her throat again, but all he does is rest one of his hands on top of hers. The sky above them is a deep blue-black and the masquerade below is in full swing, a sea of lights and swirling colors.

It’s beautiful, and the moment feels beautiful too.

But Elphaba’s mind is always searching, so she finds she has to ask, her curiosity refusing to be idle.

“What made you want to ask me out?”

Fiyero looks at her askance again.

“You do realize that you let me talk for a solid thirty minutes tonight about the culture of the Vinkus?”

Elphaba blinks.

“What does that mean? I was listening to you talk about yourself.”

Fiyero makes a face that she doesn’t recognize. It isn’t ashamed, not embarrassed either. There’s a hint of what looks like disgust, but not at anything in particular.

“All my other dates, people I took for coffee or to parties…the closest any of them even got to asking about where I grew up or what our culture was like was asking if I had a crown or lived in a castle back in ‘winkie country’.”

Elphaba frowns.

“These people surrounded you, fawned over you as much as Galinda did, but didn’t want to learn anything about you?”

Fiyero grimaces.

“I figured out pretty quickly that most of them didn’t actually like me, they liked what they wanted me to be. And I decided it was easier to pretend to be that person…than to admit the truth.”

Elphaba frowns even harder. This is starting to make things make sense in her mind.

“What did they want you to be?”

“A beautiful charming prince without a thought in his head. It doesn’t bother him in the least that most of Oz looks down on where he comes from. That if he weren’t royalty, these people would probably do the same. And it doesn’t bother him at all that everyone just wants him because he’s a good-looking prince and cares nothing about who he is.”

Yeah, this is really explaining a thing or two, Elphaba thought to herself.

“When I’m with you Elphaba,” Fiyero continues, “I feel like I can actually be myself, and I feel good about it.”

It’s such a small thing when said aloud, but Elphaba has never felt more honored in her life. Because her whole life, she’s always just known that people wouldn’t like her no matter how she acted, just because of how she looked. She can understand being upset that it’s all people seem to care about, even if it meant they treated him better than they might.

But again, it’s a proclamation that requires no words, and so Elphaba lets the silence stay. Like she’d thought before, it’s comfortable.

The harvest moon is waxing, bulbous and rising in the night sky above the festivities, and the stars appear one by one, adorning the scape. Fiyero idly points out constellations, talking about how traditionally tribes used them to navigate in the night. Elphaba offers stories of the magical properties attributed by the ancients to celestial movements.

“Claptrap and superstition, the bulk of them, but it is true that certain types of magic are stronger at times of the day or the year…”

She feels warm and almost content. She hadn’t expected that with the amount of nerves that this night had brought upon her. But she finds herself thinking that she could stay out here leaning on Fiyero’s shoulder for as long as the world would allow.

But there is a point where she feels the need to say,

“We should probably think about getting back.”

Fiyero hums softly in response.

“We should.”

And neither of them move.

And Elphaba summons up the courage to ask,

“Shall we do this again sometime?”

“Oh definitely.”

Such simple words, that somehow makes a goofy grin sprout itself on her face with almost no effort. But still…

They’ve both shifted, and are sitting straight up, though still looking at each other, hands still nestled.

“But-” she starts, and Fiyero’s face falls for just a moment and that makes her heart drop and she rubs her thumb against his wrist just to reassure him.

“But-” she continues, “I don’t want us to be seen together in public yet.”

Fiyero looks momentarily confused.

“We get seen together all the time?”

She swats his wrist lightly. She doesn’t think he’s being deliberately obtuse.

“You know what I mean. I’m going to tell Galinda everything once I get back. And I know that Nessa knows already, and I imagine she’s told Boq already, so it’s not like we’ll actually be keeping it a secret…”

“You don’t know,” Fiyero says thoughtfully, “Keeping it secret might be fun.”

Elphaba feels her cheeks flame. She had never admitted to anyone that she had often found herself favoring that flavor of romance story.

“I know that people are going to talk. They’ll whisper and gossip…and probably say things straight to my face too. And…I think I can handle it.”

Her hand is still on his arm, rubbing fondly.

“But I need time to adjust. And…I want to keep you to myself for a little while.”

Fiyero nods softly. He leans to move the basket and lantern closer to them, but his movements are slow. He doesn’t want the night to end either, and he makes no effort to

Her skin prickles though. She knows that a date brings along the possibility of certain events. She studies Fiyero’s face, eyes bright and open. He’s been very kind, very understanding. She knows he won’t make a single move without asking, so she decides to take things into her own hands.

She slides her hand up Fiyero’s arm, towards his shoulder, so she won’t spook him .

She rests her hand there, and leans in to kiss him. There are no fireworks, no angels singing. But Fiyero’s lips are full and soft, and she can feel him smile against her mouth and a chuckle escapes her.

Shiz. Elphaba, that very first night. He’d never met a girl like her before, never met anyone like her really, and not just the greenness of her skin or the fact that he couldn’t immediately charm her.

(He thought that said good things about her character, that his patented princely charm did nothing for her).

He found her…interesting. Fascinating even. And somehow this interest, managed to end up giving him the closest friend group he’d ever had. Galinda may have been an obvious pick, but he can’t imagine actually being her friend if Elphaba hadn’t come attached. Most likely their farce of a relationship would have continued without even a hint of anything real. Without Elphaba, would he have bothered to befriend Nessarose, the quiet and serious girl who seemed to like him, but also seemed to be just as immune to his charms as her sister? Without Nessarose, would Boq have had the courage to befriend the roommate he often seemed intimidated by? Fiyero had never had a circle of friends before.

All of this, and Elphaba too, who as time went on was beginning to make his heart thud in a manner he had long thought fiction.

And he was suddenly very invested in not getting kicked out of Shiz. He even found himself actually studying.

This is what’s on his mind the day he’s preparing to sneak the Lion cub south to meet his sister. He’s hitched Feldspur to a tree a few paces away, so he can bring him to meet him slowly.

“I know it’s better for him,” Elphaba comments, breaking through his chaotic thoughts, “but I’m going to worry not knowing what’s going to happen to him.”

And Fiyero agrees, but doesn’t tell her this. It’s nothing that can be helped. The Lion will be better off with other Lions and the longer they keep him here, the higher the chance of consequences for all three of them. He knows Elphaba knows this.

He tightens his pack on his shoulder and prepares to guide the Lion to meet Feldspur, not wanting to spook him.

Elphaba’s face is still a bit anxious. He swallows and offers a “Make sure to keep up on my schoolwork,” as a way of farewell, and this makes her smile, if a tiny one. That’s enough. A friendly pat to the shoulder is also enough. It has to be for now. He tries not to think that her skin is warm.

He’s struck by the desire to kiss her goodbye. That’s not strange really, it’s happened before. Though admittedly, it had always been rather vague, more a desire to be kissed than to kiss a specific person. But it’s accompanied by something new. He thinks Elphaba would like to meet his sister, Illyanora. He thinks they would get along and he would like to introduce them. He’s never had the urge to introduce any of his dates, or any of his friends even, to his family.

That scares him a little. He learned very early that it was best to keep his heritage close to his chest. The rest of Oz had their own ideas about what it meant to be a prince, what it meant to Vinkun and he let them. No use in correcting them.

At least he’s not the only one a little scared. The cub- he’s bigger than a cub now too- shakes when he meets Feldspur, shakes every time they stop to catch their breath, shakes when Fiyero pulls him onto the saddle with him so he can rest, and shakes when they meet their destination hours later, as the evening sun is setting.

One of the other Lions comments that as much as he shakes, maybe thought ought to start calling him Brr. Fiyero doesn’t think that’s a good name, but given that Elphaba and him couldn’t come up with a better one, it might stick. The pride here lives on the outskirts of a large town, in dwellings they’ve built up themselves, most still living a bit wild though many work normal jobs to support them.

It will be safer if anything worse happens to the Animals in Oz, Fiyero hears Elphaba’s voice saying in his ear. Safer if he’s with others who already know how to get by without people.

Illy assures him that her Biological science class does field work out here, so she’ll be able to check in now and then. The two of them have stopped to eat supper before Fiyero needs to return to campus, planning to ride at night to avoid being seen, and so he won’t be gone longer than he needed to be.

Illy raises an eyebrow at that, at him worrying about being missed at school.

Fiyero is sheepish. She’s his favorite sister and he can’t hide from her, he never could. She was his only sibling who understood him.

“Yes, and it is a girl.”

“That’s not new,” Illy comments, “There’s been girls and boys the same that you go about with but never one that made you care about school. Is she special?”

She is, but Fiyero wants to keep her to himself for a little while longer. So he changes the subject to how school is going for Illy that year, and whether or not he’s going home for Lurlinemas (he’s not sure yet).

While he and Feldpur return to campus, Fiyero reflects that thinking of Elphaba that way is rather ridiculous. She wasn’t his, even in the metaphorical sense. She belonged to no one, and he suspects she might not even appreciate the metaphor.

And really, he’s more than a little clueless as to what to do about it.

He hates to admit that he’s never had to actually be the one to express interest in someone before, people have always come to him. He watches Galinda with Elphaba from a distance, with Galinda trying to not pay him even a bit of nevermind, trying to move on just like him. She seems almost as clueless about this as he feels.

He almost asks her advice, but he suspects that Galinda advice will not help when it comes to Elphaba. She wouldn’t much appreciate comments on her appearance, in fact he suspects she would misconstrue them. Flowers are a possibility, but seem a bit forward at this point. He’s almost considering the schoolyard possibility of a punch in the arm then running back to his mates.

Because Elphaba is truly not like any girl he’s met before. He’s not certain what sort of gesture she would appreciate. He knows that his other go-to, acting the clown to make people pay attention to him, will also not work. In fact it actually seemed to make her deliberately pay less attention to him in an attempt to make him stop.

Truthfully, he finds annoying her kind of fun, but it’s not what he wants now.

He finds at least part of an answer to his conundrum one day when the whole group of them are in the poppy fields.

Out here, the whole group had surrounded him while he told them about what had happened to the Lion cub. After they were finished, the group shifted a bit as it tended to, Boq and Nessa to one side themselves, and Galinda finding her self closer to them in order to keep herself a little distance from him, but bridging the gap, and Elphaba on her other side, doing her best to stuff what they are supposed to be learning about Biology into his head.

She’s rambling about how the taxonomy of Species really is quite simple in that tone that she thinks he is the one who is really quite simple for needing it explained to him, and he clears his throat, she looks up, and he asks.

“Elphaba,” he says simply, “I don’t get it. Please help me get it.”

And with his words, her tone softens. That made sense, he thought. That she responded so well to sincerity. It’s obvious he thinks, but in his experience, people frequently did not want it.

One day, he decides to just get it over with, and after an especially long and (clearly to her, infuriating. She’s still fuming) history lecture, he asks.

“I need to clear my head. Fancy heading off campus to get a coffee?”

It’s casual, which he assumes is good. And Elphaba is a fan of coffee, tea and all sorts of caffeinated beverages that power her ability to have her nose in a book for longer.

She smiles, and his heart leaps and she says, “That’s a good idea.”

Fiyero just about feels himself start floating, when she turns and calls over her shoulder.

“Galinda, come one, we’re getting coffee!”

Oh. Too casual maybe. That’s a wrinkle he didn’t expect. While they are at the table in the coffeeshop, Fiyero studies Elphaba’s expression looking through her notes, and idly wonders if anyone has ever asked her out before.

He admits defeat at this point and decides he needs to call for aid. Eyeing Galinda carefully blowing at her drink to cool it off, he pushes that thought away again.

And so he flails about for another option.

He finds Boq and Nessa helping set up decorations at an event they’re assisting with for the Shiz Unionist Society at the chapel. He knows Elphaba doesn’t have a religious bone in her body and wouldn’t be caught dead here, so that’s a bonus.

“Fiyero!” Nessarose calls out when she sees him, from where she’s trying to hang a banner, “Hold this for me will you?” she asks, which he does as she carefully stands, bracing her hand on the wall and using the other one to stick the pin in the fabric (ah, she must need the wall to balance, but needs two hands for the task). She adjusts the banner before sitting back down with an “oof”.

“Thanks,” she tells him, “Sometimes I really need a third hand…so why’d you come by? Are you interested in the teachings of the Unnamed God?”

Fiyero coughs, not wanting to get into a discussion about his deeply held agnosticism.

“It’s not that-” Nessa’s face falls, but she still looks upbeat. There’s a table with some chairs beside them, so he pulls one out and sits in it so he won’t stumble. He’s kind of glad it’s only her and Boq is on the other side of the room setting up the punch bowl.

“I want to ask your sister out,” Nessa jerks her head to face him, “and I’m not sure how to go about it.”

Nessarose is quiet for a moment, her smile gone and eyes steely, her expression changed on a dime,

“Fiyero that’s mean,” she says quietly, “Elphaba may be weird but she still has feelings. You shouldn’t play a joke on her like this.”

For the first time in his life, Fiyero finds himself without words. All he can do is blink several times, hoping Nessarose’s words will begin to make more sense somehow.

“...it’s not a joke…” he finally manages. Nessa’s face does not change.

“Right,” she says, her voice even, “You just decided Galinda wasn’t good enough for you and what you really wanted was a stalk of asparagus on your arm.”

Fiyero finds himself without words again. He thinks Nessa’s the one being mean now, that last bit was way beyond being worried for her sister’s feelings. And she could be rather…rigid some of the time, but he would have never taken her for cruelty.

“I thought better of you,” she continues, “And she’ll probably say no anyway, no one’s ever asked her out before. She’ll see right through your trick.”

Well…at least that was a bit of the information that he had wanted. It gives him something more than he had before, in addition to his indignation.

He rolls the issue around in his head for the next few hours, and he likely would have given it even more time if he had not been knocked down by the storm that was Galinda later that very same day.

It was after dinner, and he was just walking back to his dorm, when she approached him, in a rather harried manner, and backed him into the wall. And she looked furious, but somehow serene about it. He’d never seen her look like that before.

“I have to say Tigelaar,” she began sweetly. He’s never heard her use his surname either, “I reviewed all of the gossip published in the Shiz Gazette before you arrived-” Fiyero restrains from commenting that most of it was probably claptrap anyway, “- and none of it suggested you were a practical joker.”

Ahh.

“Good to know Nessarose can’t keep things to herself,” he mutters, but Galinda seems undeterred.

“-and it’s really very unbecoming. I don’t know if you just feel the need to prove something to people- or, or, if you want to get back at me somehow-”

Fiyero blinks and sighs internally. Oh Galinda, self-absorbed as she certainly could be.

“...that’s not what it’s about-” he insists, barely able to get a word in edgewise.

“But she’s my best friend, so kindly leave her out of it, you…” Galinda trails off slightly when he speaks, and he takes his opening.

“I want to ask Elphaba out, because I want to ask her out. I thought Nessa might have some advice on how I should do it, but she jumped down my throat immediately…”

Galinda’s frozen, but still has an expression like she feels like she should be yelling.

“...you want to ask Elphaba out? My roommate Elphaba Thropp, intellectually brilliant, socially reticent and rather green?”

He was filing that away in his head. He wonders if Elphaba was aware that Galinda would describe her as such. But there’s more important things to address. He swallows before responding,

“Yes.”

Galinda continues, her face softer, but still not quite believing.

“And you’re not doing this for a laugh, or to hurt her feelings in any way?”

Fiyero feels a twinge in his chest at the thought. From Nessa’s reaction, he can’t help but wonder if some Munchkin boy had tried that at some point, approaching Elphaba only to laugh and run back to his friends, knowing she had no recourse.

He decides to jump in. Maybe Galinda will have better advice for him than he expects.

“And I just- I know she’s used to people laughing at her. I tried to keep it casual, but she didn’t realize what I meant-”

“She didn’t?”

“-being that she immediately invited you along too, I don’t think so- I mean, unless she actually doesn’t like me at all and wanted to let me down easy. Has she said anything of that nature to you?”

That thought had been in the back of his head. Though Fiyero had never really experienced rejection, he knew it was a possibility, and if Elphaba wasn’t swayed by the charm offensive, that made it somewhat more likely.

Galinda’s face has turned thoughtful, though still pulled tight like a muscle that she expects to have to use very soon.

“She has not. She sometimes complains about you being annoying, but it’s always in a…rather fond way. Last year I might have thought it was for my benefit but…”

Fiyero beams. Fond was a very good one to hope for.

“So you think she might say yes? Any advice?”

Galinda’s face stays thoughtful, her mouth pursed, her eyelashes low. Her posture remains somewhat guarded. Fiyero’s heart flutters. That was the other reason he’d resisted asking her about this. He truly hadn’t wanted to cause Galinda any pain, he did consider her a friend, and while she had been truly putting on a good show of it, he knew there had to be at least a little resentment or hurt underneath, she was only human after all.

After a long minute, she responds.

“Well, the Harvest moon dance is next week in town…”

Fiyero frowns. He knew this, it was that point in autumn. It was a big event, everyone at Shiz was planning to go, curfew was even being relaxed that day.

“With the masquerade? Elphaba doesn’t really seem like the type-”

“She is not. She has told me twice she has no intention of going, even when I offered to help her pick her costume and mask-”

Ah good, he doubts even pointing out that she could wear a mask would go over well.

“What I was going to suggest, was since basically everyone is going to be at the dance, that you should pack a picnic and take her to watch the moon rise from the poppy fields.”

Fiyero rolls the thought around in his head.

“Is that not…awfully private? I thought something public might make her feel more comfortable…”

“Fiyero, Elphaba’s my best friend. I regaled her with every detail of our romance last year- including that despite what the papers said about you that you were a perfect gentleman. I’m fairly sure she’s not going to worry that you’re going to jump her bones as soon as you’re alone. Besides-”

Her face is now almost painfully earnest. This is the Galinda that Fiyero actually likes, the one underneath the face she showed to the world.

“Private or privatish might be better. If this goes well, and the two of you actually start-”

Almost imperceptibly, her words stumble.

“Seeing each other regularly, other people are going to see you, and will say things- both to you and behind your back. Elphaba might need some time to get used to that.”

Fiyero…hadn’t really thought about that.

“She’s used to being stared at and used to always getting attention of the negative sort. There will be more of that and she’s going to have to adjust.”

And with that, Galinda turns to retreat. Fiyero calls after her.

“Galinda- please don’t tell her, give me a chance first.”

She pauses, still looking away from where he stands.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t.”

And she leaves before he can say anything else.

He thinks for a day or two about what Galinda had said. He hadn’t really thought about what him and Elphaba dating might mean for how the rest of the students at Shiz treated her. He should have. He’s still not sure what to do with it- but if things go well, he’ll talk to her about how she feels about it. They can do that, talk about things. He’d been looking forward to it actually.

And so, he gathers his thoughts, and smooths down his hair.

In one of the hallways leading off of the mess hall and to the individual dormitory halls, there are several cut outs in the wall, to open up the space and allow proper natural light to come through, Galinda had once told him. The cut outs are more than wide enough for a person to sit in comfortably, with their backs to one side. This was a common place to find Elphaba when she simply wanted to read and didn’t need the extra space the library desks and tables allowed.

And the hallway was quiet now as it was almost late.

“That’s not for class is it?” Fiyero begins when he approaches her, as she looks up from her book. He takes his spot opposite her in the cut out, back to the other wall. They’re close enough that their feet would touch if they both extended their legs, but they don’t.

“No, it’s just an old adventure novel I’ve been meaning to get around to reading,” she tells him, putting in a bookmark and resting it on her lap.

He nods, and is quiet for a few minutes. Lets the hallway empty out all the way.

“So the Harvest Moon dance is next week…”

Elphaba slumps.

“Did Galinda put you up to this? I told her I’m not interested in putting on a ridiculous…”

“No-” Fiyero cuts her off, “I was thinking, the view of the moon should be really beautiful from the poppy fields. I was thinking of packing a picnic and heading out there to watch. I wanted to know if you would come with me?”

Elphaba’s upper lip twitches into a smirk.

“I know you’re a little behind in chemistry, but if the moon’s out it’s going to be pretty hard to study…”

He doesn’t want to cut her off again, he knows that annoys her, but he wants to get a word in edgewise.

“No.” another swallows, “I wanted, I wanted to take you out,” a pause, to first let his words sink, “Just you. And I thought you might enjoy spending time watching the moon rise with me instead of having to be in the middle of your classmates with them watching you while I try to convince you to dance.”

His words sink in, and her lip twitches again.

“Is this a joke?” she asks, her voice very flat, yet somehow with an edge.

Well, if there was any question in his mind that she and Nessarose were definitely related. He chuckles, not too loudly. He does his best to cast off his airs, to be as much himself as he had been able to be in the forest with the cub. To convince her of his sincerity as he had managed there.

“Elphaba, I may not have learned as much as I should have this past year,” self-deprecating, that was a good choice maybe? “But I have picked up on acting like a fool will not make you pay attention to me.”

He looks her in the eye, even though she’s trying to avoid it, and gives her a bit of time.

“I just want to spend some time with you,” he says quietly.

There’s a long pause.

“Alright,” another pause, “Do I need to like…”

Fiyero shakes his head.

“I asked, so I plan. I’ll come by your dorm once people start leaving for the dance. No one will even notice.”

He stands, and has to use every ounce of self-control he would have once claimed he lacked not to reach out and take her hand. Too much, too soon, he knows.

“It’s a date then?” he says, voice light. He doesn’t want there to be any confusion at all.

And after what seems like forever, she nods, her eyes wide and face serious.

He beams. It takes all his strength not to let the joy burst out of him. He then takes his pack and turns to return to his dorm.