where's everyone going? bingo?

no one's around?

freeze! i'll shoot!

there has to be someone here.

give me your other hand!

i'll get you out!

no choice. gotta take it down.

you asshole.

this is not how i imagined my first day.

how many lives does this guy have?

this thing won't die!

chew on that, you overgrown son of a bitch!

you got a problem with death?

don't you dare.

six years have passed since that horrendous incident.

anyway, you know what this is all about.

i'm sure you boys didn't just tag along so we can sing kumbaya at some boy scout bonfire. then again... maybe you did.

sorry to have bothered you.

i had no choice but to neutralize him.

what are these people?

hey, take it easy. my name is [name].

you'd better stay outside.

don't worry, she's cool.

sounds more like an alien invasion if you ask me.

if you don't need me, then get off my back!

a bit of advice. try using knives next time. works better for close encounters.

why don't you do us all a favor and leave before the audience gets pissed off?

now that's what i call backup.

can't remember the name? a senior moment, perhaps.

when we get out of here, drinks are on me.

she's like a part of me i can't let go. let's leave it at that.

you know, you're kinda cute without those glasses.

gimme your number when i get back?

we have to get off this island now.

i knew you'd be fine if you landed on your butt.

if i could just forget what happened that night - the pain, even for a second. this time, it can be different. it has to.

sorry to barge in like this.

i read you! what's your situation?

no fucking way.

this just keeps getting worse.

take care of yourself, buddy.

you want to start explaining?

that went well.

give my regards to your god.

don't worry, [name]. i'm coming for you.

you're going to hurt yourself.

you won't get away with this.

you talk too much.

have you changed?

we don't have much time. let's get rid of these things.

tell someone who gives a shit.

is this what they teach kids in school these days?

you know, you were always an asshole. but at least you had some kind of code, some honor. and look at you now.

time for the teacher to be taught.

i'll make sure you're the next to go.

no way. like i told you, i'm gonna get you home safe.

keep this up? i'll be out of a job.

you did this?

i think we both know this is where we go our separate ways.

don't mention it.

you don't need me. you proved you can handle yourself.

close your eyes.

⠀〝⠀ you⠀need⠀to⠀know⠀something⠀,⠀peter⠀. ⠀if⠀i'm⠀put⠀to ⠀⠀⠀⠀the⠀choice⠀🙵⠀one⠀of⠀them⠀is⠀about⠀to⠀KILL⠀YOU⠀. . . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I⠀WILL⠀NEVER⠀HESITATE⠀.⠀〞

a selection of headcanon questions inspired by key bones in the human body.

skull.   what memories/thoughts do they guard the most from others ?

cheekbone. what makes them smile ?

mandible / jawbone. what are they incapable of saying out loud ?

teeth. what lasting mark do they leave on others ?

hyoid / neck. who taught them to speak up, or stay silent ?

clavicle / collarbone. who/what do they lean on when they're vulnerable ?

scapula / shoulderblade. what burden do they carry on their back ?

sternum. what makes their heart pound hardest ?

ribcage. who/what are they trying to protect ?

humerus. do they use humour as a shield or a weapon ? what from/to ?

radius. who/what do they reach for first in a crisis ?

ulna. who stands by them no matter what ?

carpals. what small habits do they have ?

metacarpals. do they ask for help or clench their fists and bear it ?

phalanges. what is their relationship with touch ?

spine. when do they lose their backbone, what scares them ?

pelvis. what future or legacy are they afraid/excited to be responsible for ?

sacrum. what sacrifices have they made ?

coccyx / tailbone. what outdated beliefs do they still carry, if any ?

femur. what drives them forward ?

patella / kneecap. how compliant/obedient are they, who will they kneel for ?

tibia. who/what keeps them moving forward ?

fibula. do they ever feel overlooked ?

tarsals. what past mistakes stick with them with every step they take ?

This is the number. This must be the place!

Here I am. Does this seem right to you?

Oh, you're good. You sound like a doctor.

Oh look, I would rather go to the movies than eat.

I'm not sure but I have a feeling that you didn't like the movie.

Don't move and I'll explain it to you.

You shouldn't hear me. These are only thoughts.

What are you doing in [name place]? I'm so happy you're here!

Are you ashamed? Come on.

Okay. I've had enough. Satisfied?

This time you've really screwed up!

Oh well, that's the way it goes.

You're wasting your time!

When you've risked your life with someone. you remain attached to that person.

I really messed that up, but I think that you understand what I mean.

I've only known you a few minutes and I've already fallen in love with you.

Can something like this happen in real life?

Will friendship win or love? Will we choose to be honest or happy?

It's a toast to friendship, to a new world!

Who's looking for me? Who is it?

Come in. We'll sit here where we have more privacy.

What's there to say? We've underestimated all kinds of things.

We like each other… in what sense?

This is the last thing I would have wanted to do to you!

The fault is all mine. Don't blame yourself.

Aren't you going to say anything?

Felt sorry… or feel sorry?

Have you gone crazy? What's wrong?

Do you want to humiliate yourself before these people?

Sure, this way, you save your pride in front of others.

Times were hard and we were poor but happy as rich people say.

Shouldn't friendship be above everything else?

What did you come to [place name] for, to pick fights?

What are you doing? Are you leaving?

Get in. I'll explain everything in private.

Who isn't busy nowadays? I am busy too!

I knew from the start that this is what you wanted to ask me.

What should I listen to? You wouldn't tell the truth!

Pay for me, please! I'll explain to you why, later!

I just need a word: Just a yes or a no!

What's happening? Are you drunk?

Why did you insult [he/she/they] so bitterly?

You're wrong! If I were you I'd cry!

Where are you going? You're not even going to say goodbye?

I'll tell you what: Instead of chasing some elusive happiness, perhaps it's better to prepare pleasant memories for the future.

Did you like that? I did it on purpose to cheer you up!

Oh damn you and the day I met you!

Look, I brought you some coffee.

No, I won't ask. What should I ask?

This way, please! I'll show you!

So, what is it that [name] does not know?

What did you want to say? Speak freely.

What are you doing? Are you being sarcastic?

Come on! You only care about what is convenient to you!

I'd better be going. If not, I may get carried away and say something I would regret.

What do you mean, can we do that?

Well, I don't know. I didn't hear very well.

Are you spying on me? Now, listen to me!

You've been the talk of the town for the last month!

Don't trust any of them, [name]! Okay?

What is it? Something serious?

Couldn't you tell [him/her/them] you were from somewhere else?

No, I've already eaten, Go ahead.

What about you? Nothing new?

I was looking for you and you're hiding!

We'll go out and then we'll go to my place.

If there is someone here that doesn't hear, it's you!

Who are you trying to hurt? Who gives you the right?

Is it possible that everything always ends up bad with you?

Perhaps it's my alienation, but I feel more warmth in cold objects than in people!

Get up, don't make a scene!

[name], why are you always upsetting, [other name]!?

I see you've got a crush on me, [name].

I don't want to believe it because I have too much respect for you.

I've got to go. I have a thousand things to do.

So, I'm the one who has too much respect for us both, eh?

You know that I don't believe in these things. I've never believed in them.

No, wait! I need to ask you something.

Am I important for you, now?

Sure, you always forced me to read, but you never read anything.

How many years have passed? God, you look the same!

They say that the world is small. But is it small, [name]?

What do you mean, what has happened to me?

Because you are too honest! I know what you did to yourself!

I've had some problems, some difficult moments. They can happen to anyone.

You'll be late. But why didn't I meet you earlier?

We'll see each other in another 10 years; that is, never again.

Hey, you, feel a little lonely, don't you? I told you so.

We are all alone now. And we'll always be together, you and me, right?

What happened to you? Have you grown?

Listen. I need to confess something to you.

Is it something that will spoil our evening?

Our generation is really disgusting.

The future passed us by without us even realizing it.

Who says? Throwing away your life means to make the best use of it.

Better to be stinking intellectuals than bourgeois proletarians, like you.

You've always been a hypocrite. Admit it!

You may be higher, lower… you may be above all else, but I've got to tell you something; you're still a jerk!

I'm ashamed at giving you my friendship for so many years! Do you understand?

It was a stupid argument. We said a lot of things.

Well then, what kind of surprise would it be?

You haven't changed, you're always criticizing and nothing else.

You've had these problems too, right?

I… I thought that true love was true love.

"I’d burn the world for you, but you’re asking me to burn the wrong one."

"Don’t mistake my love for agreement. I will not stand beside you in this."

"You’re still my heart, but right now, you are also my enemy."

"I swore to protect you, not to help you ruin yourself."

"You disgust me, but no one deserves what they’re doing to you."

"If anyone’s going to destroy you, it’s me. Not them."

"I’d sooner spit in your face than call you friend, but I will not watch them gut you."

"Don’t read too much into this... I’m saving you because their cause is worse than yours."

"We’ve been enemies for years, but today… we fight the same battle."

"Our morals are oceans apart, but even I can see they’re drowning you."

"The side I’ve chosen would spit on me for helping you. I’ll do it anyway."

"You are everything I oppose, and yet—if I let them take you, I’ll be no better than you are."

"I’d forgive you for anything, but not for this."

"I’m not leaving because I stopped loving you. I’m leaving because I still do."

"My heart says stay. My conscience says run."

"If you keep down this road, I will have to stop you, and I will."

"You’re the one I want beside me, not the one who drags me into darkness."

"I’ll stand with you through storms, but not if you’re the storm itself."

"I’m bound to you by love, but unbound by your choices."

"I wish I could close my eyes to this, but I see too much."

"I hate you for what you did, but not for what they’re about to do to you."

"I’d sooner turn my back than help you, but I won’t let them break you."

"I loathe your decisions, but I despise their cruelty even more."

"You’ve made me angry, but seeing you hurt makes my blood boil."

"I want to forgive you, but I must punish you."

"My love for you doesn’t exempt you from consequences."

"You’re my weakness and my reckoning."

"If I shield you, I betray everything I stand for."

"You’re the reason I fight and the reason I hesitate."

"You are my enemy, but I cannot fight the part of me that loves you."

"Every battle with you is a battle with myself."

"I hate that I love you more than I fear you."

"I love you enough to be your greatest obstacle."

"Sometimes the hardest love is the one that says no."

"I’m not your ally here. I’m the voice you need to hear, even if you hate me for it."

"If letting you fall means saving you, then I’ll catch you—but only after the fall."

“Hating you doesn’t mean I want you harmed.”

"I wish you were better, but I refuse to let them make you worse."

"I hate what you’ve become, but I hate the thought of losing you even more."

"Your choices break my heart, but their punishment will break you."

"I hate you fiercely, but I’d fight anyone who tries to break you."

“I will stand against you—for your own good.”

⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀answers . that is what the prince had been searching for .

⠀

you could argue that they were already at his feet . they were right there , in black and white , whispered in dorm corridors , printed on headlines , bellowed through radio ! the answer was that elphaba thropp was not as she seemed . she had betrayed the land of oz , attacked the dear wizard , caused harm to innocent creatures in an unforeseen twist of fate . she was a thief , a fugitive , an enemy to us all who fled into the west to plot our demise . even the thought alone wanted to make him scoff at the sheer lunacy .

⠀

elphaba , the girl who dreamed of nothing more than meeting the wizard himself becoming an aggressor without warning . elphaba , the one who refused to be shushed into silence in the face of a young cub caged becoming the bringer of harm ? ⠀no . no ! no⠀. there was more to this . there had to be . there WAS ! what stood before him was a puzzle , one so complex its pieces had been purposefully scattered to discourage anyone from giving it a try . but he was determined . fuelled by ──── something feldspur had once named during one of their many uncharted searches brought to an unsuccessful close after hours of trees upon fields upon ravines . a ‟ something ” fiyero refused to repeat .

⠀

& galinda . or rather , glinda now . it would take practice to get used to but he made it a mission to try . conflicting stories had spread amongst the shiz students who remained on campus amidst the summer break . she'd gone voluntarily to the emerald city alongside her , they'd gasp . oh . dear , no ! another would chime in . she was forced against her will , the poor thing ! grabbed as the train departed the station . i saw it myself ! i did ! he'd never intervene , not in his uninformed state , but he'd linger in silence behind the likes of bookshelves and structural holdings . fists were clenched , heads were shaken to himself and his companion was subjected to an earful each time fiyero re-emerged into the stables to offer his mane another unnecessary comb but he never participated in too much direct confrontation . not yet .

they were all a big clump of misinformation and speculation . but he refused to remain that way a second longer .

he'd caught wind of other chatter too . of glinda's braverism against the witch . of an honour the wizard had bestowed upon her . he couldn't weave a cohesive story together if he tried . and what he did craft , he didn't like .

⠀

⠀⠀

⠀⠀

there she was . in one piece . glinda . seemingly unharmed in a world clattering down before them without warning . so fast , so sudden . the emerald city venture was . . . belated . overdue . it should have been his first move . but you'd be surprised how quickly days fly by when scouring land again and again . he'd come without providing any formal notice , not sure what to demand but he demanded nevertheless . he needed anything before he drove himself mad (!)

but questions had haunted him on his arrival . was glinda there ? had she been there at all ? was she still there ? could elphaba be nearby somehow ? what had really happened ?

⠀⠀

fiyero held her . he held her tight in relief . held her tight with no intent to let her go . he held her as his right hand combed through the golden curls of her hair . he'd held her and pretended he could ignore the feeling of eyes at each corner of this floral explosion . ❛ elphaba . . . i've been . . . ❜ his own whispered reply fell short as he finally took note of their lavish surroundings to their full extent . it was undeniably divine . like a physical manifestation of a perfectly wrapped gift he'd spotted in the emerald city window displays , bow and all . somehow , that didn't unsettle him any less . but . . . no matter ! there was so much to ask , he hardly knew where to begin . ❛ are you hurt ? do you need anything ? i - is there anything i can do ? ❜

but then the rest of her statement caught up to him . made his brow furrow , the hand once cupping her face when they drew apart now sliding down to stroke at her shoulder .

❛ the wizard's . . . ❜ the words didn't run dry on his tongue any longer . now there were so many fighting to escape his mouth , none made it out at all , ❛ you're his personal representative ? ❜

⠀⠀

she could still hear the horrible shattering of GLASS and chaos as elphaba had flung herself from the tower. the wind whipping in her face, cold air chilling her to the BONE as she watched her best friend take flight. a pang of PRIDE filled her, though it quickly gave way to devastation once more.

elphaba had learned to defy GRAVITY...but at the cost of leaving her behind.

unbidden images of their late nights at shiz float in her brain. sitting against the sides of their beds, giggling and mischievously plotting for the class day ahead. glinda delicately styling elphaba's beautiful hair, pinning a posy behind her ear. elphaba standing behind her, one arm around her waist, the other guiding her TRAINING wand. dancing at the ozdust ballroom, elphie's breathless SMILE catching at her heart. the nightmares of INADEQUACY and of fiyero leaving her--sending glinda to elphaba's bed, her friend holding her as she cried.

elphaba. oh oz. oh ELPHABA.

her chest felt like it was going to burst. arms tightened around fiyero's waist, anchoring herself to the present. he was here now. he'd PROTECT her. he could chase away the monsters nipping at her heels. "i'm fine, really--nobody's HURT me and you're here now," glinda assured him, resting her cheek against him to suck down cool air against her damp and burning face.

she had so many questions she wanted to ask him. where had he been? why had it taken him so LONG to find her? had he seen boq and nessa before everything went to hell? what had been so important that he had left her BEHIND?

like elphaba.

as they pulled away, glinda leaned into his hand. their eyes meet, her lashes heavy with tears. she could see a faint trace of accusation in his LOVELY eyes and her hand slid to rest against his. pink lips quiver as she nodded. "madame morrible...she...she was there that NIGHT," she whispered. "she said that we need someone to raise the HOPES of our fellow ozians."

a heady dose of disbelief danced in her mind, although it was suffocated by her naïve hopes for reconciliation with elphaba. still...the words felt like a massive betrayal to both fiyero and elphaba. glinda sniffled and gestured to the glittering gown of blue and pink and purple and the SHIMMERING crown beside it. "i'm to be...glinda the GOOD," she whispered.

she lets out a shaky breath, shaking her head. "it's my best chance of getting elphie to come out of HIDING. maybe i can...maybe i can convince her to just...to just talk to the wizard. oh fiyero! it was...she didn't let him explain! i just..."

fresh tears threaten to choke her. "i'm going to FIND her, fiyero. i want her home. i...i MISS her."

⠀

more questions had been laid out on his lap , unwillingly so for that matter. WHAT SORT OF GAME HAD GLINDA BEEN THROWN INTO ? he'd like the rules if others would be so kind as to share them . thumbs and sleeve cuffs banded together to dab at tears & the urge to shelter her within his chest was one all - consuming and sharp. so , he did . with the flats of his palms on her spine , fiyero reeled her in , eyes averting to the ground . to anywhere but the dazzling views and silk ribbons .

he'd quench his thirst for understanding later . it was bound to come , even if fiyero had to chase & hold it down to see the unblurred picture . after being so certain that the tangles of elphaba's predicament had to be frighteningly intricate due to the baffling simplicity of everyone's rationale , he was now faced with the opposite . . . a tale so vast , so confusifying that the answer right in front of him just may have been the right one after all ( even if others tried to convince him otherwise ) .

but he didn't wish it to be . he didn't WANT it to be . maybe if he stared long enough at the petticoats & underskirts , it wouldn't be . and if it still was , it wouldn't bother him as much !

SO HE DID.

❛ it's alright . ❜ ( it wasn't ) ❛ it'll all be alright . ❜ ( could it be ? )

⠀

⠀

glinda the good . he was cradling glinda the good . pfft. glinda the good , the wicked witch , our wonderful wizard - what was this ?! had this been afflicting anyone else - a stranger , a distant associate - these titles alone would have him burst out laughing at the cheek of it . there was humour to be found in an ego so fragile , you had insist on your wonderfulness or your goodness to all those around you via your name . yet now they only made him feel sick . or as if an impending illness was on the horizon that you knew would hit any day now but the when was rather fuzzy . fiyero couldn't figure out which it was .

. . . BUT what of madame morrible ? how exactly was she involved in this ? how much ? how little ? by all accounts , he had enough reason to resent her already ───── wait . he had to wait . for the insistence of facts , for annoyance , for upset . as he was in the midst of comforting a lover in grief and a whirling mind did anything but gift reassurance .

❛⠀she'll⠀. . .⠀she'll come home⠀.⠀we can explain⠀,⠀right⠀?⠀the wizard⠀-⠀what was he trying to explain⠀?⠀misunderstandings happen⠀,⠀elphaba panicked⠀,⠀it can be put right⠀.⠀❜

then we can go back to be as we once were . we can pretend this never happened . we can carry on about our days with whatever joy we have left . it was a nice fantasy . one that would never come to be .

& as the play of a better tomorrow carried on internally , fiyero's hand slowly slithered around her own . a silent declaration of a simple phrase - ' i'm staying . ' he'd stay for now . he'd have to . leave glinda alone in this place ? no , thank you . they'd return to shiz . somehow , someway , some day. not today but another . for the meantime , fiyero would linger . he'd have to take his own word for it . . . it would all be ALRIGHT . he had to trust that it would be alright .

he squinted at an embroidered stool in his hunt for distraction . for support .

it wasn't working .