Elphaba Thropp

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

“Wait, is it more of those endorph things that cause me to feel sleepy when you do that?” Galinda asked, yawning after her question. She tried her best to hide her yawn, but knew she hadn’t done a very good job. Elphie just knew so much about science and how everything worked, it was no surprise that she had figured out exactly how to make Galinda feel comfortable enough to sleep. As Elphie assured her she wouldn’t be bored, Galinda let her eyes close for just a few seconds. “I mean, there are other things we do than sleep sometimes too,” she responded, opening her eyes again to look at Elphie. Closing her eyes for those few seconds had felt so nice, even if she wanted to try to stay awake. Maybe a few minutes of napping wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially if Elphie didn’t mind. Galinda smiled at Elphie before letting her eyes close again. “Just a few minutes,” she said, moving so her face was pressed against Elphie’s chest. Before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep against her girlfriend.

Elphaba snorted a little laugh at Galinda’s question “endorphins” she corrected adoringly. “It might be. But I think you tend to run on high most of the time. Either physically with a lot of energy, you never stop moving” she pointed out with a smile “or mentally, you always have a hundred things going on in your head worrying about what people see or think about you and making sure you look perfect at all times and keeping up appearances and proper behaviors for a young lady of your status” she knew that had been engrained in her at a very young age. “But when it’s just us, you can relax and be yourself and not worry about the rest of it because you know I love you” she kissed her head softly “and I would never judge you it leg anything happen to you so your brain tells you it’s okay to let your guard down and when your body gets that relaxed… you fall asleep” this was timed perfectly with the yawn Galinda tried to hide, she could tell she was teetering closer to sleep. She continued to move her hands over Galinda’s skin to keep soothing her. “There are other things besides sleep” she agreed with a knowing smile, Galinda was trying so hard to fight it. “A few minutes of course” she agreed easily kissing her hair and just waiting. Galinda was fully knocked out in less than thirty second afterwards. She loved how easily Galinda fell asleep when they were together. She loved being her safe space and knowing Galinda knew she could trust her enough to let her guard down and really relax her entire body. It always made her feel warm inside. “I love you” she whispered lightly, not wanting to wake her up. She laid with her for a while just enjoying the feeling of Galinda wrapped around her and getting to be the one to hold her like this. It took maybe twenty minutes for the rest of the day and how drained she’d been when they got to the cabin to catch up to her and she fell asleep as well.

After sleeping for some time, she felt herself waking up feeling much more refreshed. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she could feel Elphie sleeping next to her and didn’t want to move. Elphie, who had acted like it had been an obvious thing that she was looking back at her too. Who had mentioned Galinda’s inner and outer qualities, and always seemed to see her for who she was. How had Galinda gotten so lucky? Without thinking, she snuggled closer to her girlfriend, but then tensed realizing that the movement could wake her up when she was sleeping so peacefully. Just further proof that she never stopped moving, as Elphie had so accurately observed. She made herself lie still again, hoping that she could at least give Elphie a few more minutes of rest and recovery, especially after dealing with the extremely cold weather to just get to the cottage in the first place.

She knew right away Galinda was awake when she hugged her back. “How long have you been up?” She asked in a low sleepy quiet voice. Almost immediately she could feel Galinda moving around her. Her feet her legs her arms and hands “did you sleep well my love?” She asked her hand rubbing up and down her back, as she pulled Galinda a bit tighter. She loved waking up with her, feeling their bodies pressed together from head to toe and how warm and cozy she felt. She’d never woke up feeling happy and relaxed before sleeping next to Galinda each night.

“Did you sleep alright, my love?” she asked in return, wanting to make sure Elphie was rested as well. “I haven’t gotten up to check if it’s still just as cold outside. I’m not sure what we’ll want to do about any of that, if we want to wait it out a bit or once we feel ready to go back to just go.” Galinda certainly wasn’t ready to jump out of bed and head back to the house in that moment, but she wanted to get an idea for how Elphie was feeling. There was plenty of firewood and they still had some snacks, so they could definitely stay out at the cottage for some time if they wanted. The question was just the weather and what the temperature might do. Galinda knew when it was cold like this it was clear, so there wasn’t any concern about it starting to snow any time in the next few hours. It was just waiting to see if it would warm up at all.

“I slept really well. I was more tired than I thought” she answered honestly “but the nap really helped I feel great”. When Galinda mentioned getting up to see if it was still as cold Elphaba wrapped her arms around her waist and held her tight “no don’t go anywhere” she pouted just slightly at the thought. “Let’s stay here for a while, like this. It’s plenty warm and when it’s time to go bavk I can try and cast the warming spell before we get outside so it’s already in place and I don’t have to work so hard on the way back. It should help us not be quite as cold on the way back.” She suggested then added “if you want to of course, I’m happy to do what you’d like” she offered with a kiss to her cheek.

Galinda laughed when Elphie held her tightly and said not to go anywhere. “I’m happy to stay here,” Galinda said, agreeing with Elphie. “We can stay warm and just enjoy some alone time before we head back.” She didn’t feel any need to go back already and worry about people in the house wondering what they were doing or looking in on them. “That’s a good idea about the warming spell,” she said. “We can walk as quickly as possible back, and now that we know what to expect it should hopefully go a bit better this time.” She leaned into Elphie’s kiss on her cheek, feeling very content and satisfied to stay in the cottage for a while longer. “Is there anything you’d like to do while we’re out here?” she asked.

Elphaba smiled when Galinda kissed her cheek “no, nothing in particular other than spend time with you” she explained with a kiss to her head. “We spend so much time going and doing various activities, which I love don’t get me wrong. But we rarely just sit together and enjoy each others company without books or somewhere to be. This is very nice” she added leaning in to brush a tiny kiss on Galinda’s lips. “What about you? Anything else you’d like to do other than be held?” She asked before tightening her arms just a bit to indicate she was doing her job.

She grinned as Elphie said she just wanted to spend time with her. “I can’t think of anything right now. But I’ll let you know if I do think of anything.” She nestled into Elphie’s hold, enjoying just being with her. It was a bit odd for her to be lying still without the intention of thinking about sleeping. Normally they were either cuddling and Galinda was trying her best not to fall asleep, or they were engaged in other activities together. She reminded herself mentally to relax and just enjoy their time together without having to do anything else. No studying, no rushing off to class, or dinner with her parents, or anything else. This was just time for the two of them to be together and enjoy the closeness.

Elphaba knew there was only so much time Galinda could spend being still and relaxing. She had so much energy all the time and usually didn’t stay in one place for too long. But she’d made a request and Elphaba intended to do it to the best of her abilities. When she felt Galinda snuggle in a bit more she kissed the side of her head and held on tight with one arm. The other hand drifted over Galinda’s skin to keep up contact. Her back, her sides, her shoulders. All with enough pressure not to tickle at all. She didn’t want to do anything to keep Galinda from relaxing. After a few silent minutes Elphaba took a deep breath she turned to Galinda “I’m very happy you suggested coming out here. Even if it was cold getting to spend time together just napping and relaxing together has been really nice” she realized they were always doing something keeping up with some schedule or another. It was nice to just lay together and breathe. “I love you” she added at the end before pressing a kiss to Galinda’s lips.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

“Wait, is it more of those endorph things that cause me to feel sleepy when you do that?” Galinda asked, yawning after her question. She tried her best to hide her yawn, but knew she hadn’t done a very good job. Elphie just knew so much about science and how everything worked, it was no surprise that she had figured out exactly how to make Galinda feel comfortable enough to sleep. As Elphie assured her she wouldn’t be bored, Galinda let her eyes close for just a few seconds. “I mean, there are other things we do than sleep sometimes too,” she responded, opening her eyes again to look at Elphie. Closing her eyes for those few seconds had felt so nice, even if she wanted to try to stay awake. Maybe a few minutes of napping wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially if Elphie didn’t mind. Galinda smiled at Elphie before letting her eyes close again. “Just a few minutes,” she said, moving so her face was pressed against Elphie’s chest. Before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep against her girlfriend.

Elphaba snorted a little laugh at Galinda’s question “endorphins” she corrected adoringly. “It might be. But I think you tend to run on high most of the time. Either physically with a lot of energy, you never stop moving” she pointed out with a smile “or mentally, you always have a hundred things going on in your head worrying about what people see or think about you and making sure you look perfect at all times and keeping up appearances and proper behaviors for a young lady of your status” she knew that had been engrained in her at a very young age. “But when it’s just us, you can relax and be yourself and not worry about the rest of it because you know I love you” she kissed her head softly “and I would never judge you it leg anything happen to you so your brain tells you it’s okay to let your guard down and when your body gets that relaxed… you fall asleep” this was timed perfectly with the yawn Galinda tried to hide, she could tell she was teetering closer to sleep. She continued to move her hands over Galinda’s skin to keep soothing her. “There are other things besides sleep” she agreed with a knowing smile, Galinda was trying so hard to fight it. “A few minutes of course” she agreed easily kissing her hair and just waiting. Galinda was fully knocked out in less than thirty second afterwards. She loved how easily Galinda fell asleep when they were together. She loved being her safe space and knowing Galinda knew she could trust her enough to let her guard down and really relax her entire body. It always made her feel warm inside. “I love you” she whispered lightly, not wanting to wake her up. She laid with her for a while just enjoying the feeling of Galinda wrapped around her and getting to be the one to hold her like this. It took maybe twenty minutes for the rest of the day and how drained she’d been when they got to the cabin to catch up to her and she fell asleep as well.

After sleeping for some time, she felt herself waking up feeling much more refreshed. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she could feel Elphie sleeping next to her and didn’t want to move. Elphie, who had acted like it had been an obvious thing that she was looking back at her too. Who had mentioned Galinda’s inner and outer qualities, and always seemed to see her for who she was. How had Galinda gotten so lucky? Without thinking, she snuggled closer to her girlfriend, but then tensed realizing that the movement could wake her up when she was sleeping so peacefully. Just further proof that she never stopped moving, as Elphie had so accurately observed. She made herself lie still again, hoping that she could at least give Elphie a few more minutes of rest and recovery, especially after dealing with the extremely cold weather to just get to the cottage in the first place.

She knew right away Galinda was awake when she hugged her back. “How long have you been up?” She asked in a low sleepy quiet voice. Almost immediately she could feel Galinda moving around her. Her feet her legs her arms and hands “did you sleep well my love?” She asked her hand rubbing up and down her back, as she pulled Galinda a bit tighter. She loved waking up with her, feeling their bodies pressed together from head to toe and how warm and cozy she felt. She’d never woke up feeling happy and relaxed before sleeping next to Galinda each night.

“Did you sleep alright, my love?” she asked in return, wanting to make sure Elphie was rested as well. “I haven’t gotten up to check if it’s still just as cold outside. I’m not sure what we’ll want to do about any of that, if we want to wait it out a bit or once we feel ready to go back to just go.” Galinda certainly wasn’t ready to jump out of bed and head back to the house in that moment, but she wanted to get an idea for how Elphie was feeling. There was plenty of firewood and they still had some snacks, so they could definitely stay out at the cottage for some time if they wanted. The question was just the weather and what the temperature might do. Galinda knew when it was cold like this it was clear, so there wasn’t any concern about it starting to snow any time in the next few hours. It was just waiting to see if it would warm up at all.

“I slept really well. I was more tired than I thought” she answered honestly “but the nap really helped I feel great”. When Galinda mentioned getting up to see if it was still as cold Elphaba wrapped her arms around her waist and held her tight “no don’t go anywhere” she pouted just slightly at the thought. “Let’s stay here for a while, like this. It’s plenty warm and when it’s time to go bavk I can try and cast the warming spell before we get outside so it’s already in place and I don’t have to work so hard on the way back. It should help us not be quite as cold on the way back.” She suggested then added “if you want to of course, I’m happy to do what you’d like” she offered with a kiss to her cheek.

Galinda laughed when Elphie held her tightly and said not to go anywhere. “I’m happy to stay here,” Galinda said, agreeing with Elphie. “We can stay warm and just enjoy some alone time before we head back.” She didn’t feel any need to go back already and worry about people in the house wondering what they were doing or looking in on them. “That’s a good idea about the warming spell,” she said. “We can walk as quickly as possible back, and now that we know what to expect it should hopefully go a bit better this time.” She leaned into Elphie’s kiss on her cheek, feeling very content and satisfied to stay in the cottage for a while longer. “Is there anything you’d like to do while we’re out here?” she asked.

Elphaba smiled when Galinda kissed her cheek “no, nothing in particular other than spend time with you” she explained with a kiss to her head. “We spend so much time going and doing various activities, which I love don’t get me wrong. But we rarely just sit together and enjoy each others company without books or somewhere to be. This is very nice” she added leaning in to brush a tiny kiss on Galinda’s lips. “What about you? Anything else you’d like to do other than be held?” She asked before tightening her arms just a bit to indicate she was doing her job.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

“Wait, is it more of those endorph things that cause me to feel sleepy when you do that?” Galinda asked, yawning after her question. She tried her best to hide her yawn, but knew she hadn’t done a very good job. Elphie just knew so much about science and how everything worked, it was no surprise that she had figured out exactly how to make Galinda feel comfortable enough to sleep. As Elphie assured her she wouldn’t be bored, Galinda let her eyes close for just a few seconds. “I mean, there are other things we do than sleep sometimes too,” she responded, opening her eyes again to look at Elphie. Closing her eyes for those few seconds had felt so nice, even if she wanted to try to stay awake. Maybe a few minutes of napping wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially if Elphie didn’t mind. Galinda smiled at Elphie before letting her eyes close again. “Just a few minutes,” she said, moving so her face was pressed against Elphie’s chest. Before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep against her girlfriend.

Elphaba snorted a little laugh at Galinda’s question “endorphins” she corrected adoringly. “It might be. But I think you tend to run on high most of the time. Either physically with a lot of energy, you never stop moving” she pointed out with a smile “or mentally, you always have a hundred things going on in your head worrying about what people see or think about you and making sure you look perfect at all times and keeping up appearances and proper behaviors for a young lady of your status” she knew that had been engrained in her at a very young age. “But when it’s just us, you can relax and be yourself and not worry about the rest of it because you know I love you” she kissed her head softly “and I would never judge you it leg anything happen to you so your brain tells you it’s okay to let your guard down and when your body gets that relaxed… you fall asleep” this was timed perfectly with the yawn Galinda tried to hide, she could tell she was teetering closer to sleep. She continued to move her hands over Galinda’s skin to keep soothing her. “There are other things besides sleep” she agreed with a knowing smile, Galinda was trying so hard to fight it. “A few minutes of course” she agreed easily kissing her hair and just waiting. Galinda was fully knocked out in less than thirty second afterwards. She loved how easily Galinda fell asleep when they were together. She loved being her safe space and knowing Galinda knew she could trust her enough to let her guard down and really relax her entire body. It always made her feel warm inside. “I love you” she whispered lightly, not wanting to wake her up. She laid with her for a while just enjoying the feeling of Galinda wrapped around her and getting to be the one to hold her like this. It took maybe twenty minutes for the rest of the day and how drained she’d been when they got to the cabin to catch up to her and she fell asleep as well.

After sleeping for some time, she felt herself waking up feeling much more refreshed. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she could feel Elphie sleeping next to her and didn’t want to move. Elphie, who had acted like it had been an obvious thing that she was looking back at her too. Who had mentioned Galinda’s inner and outer qualities, and always seemed to see her for who she was. How had Galinda gotten so lucky? Without thinking, she snuggled closer to her girlfriend, but then tensed realizing that the movement could wake her up when she was sleeping so peacefully. Just further proof that she never stopped moving, as Elphie had so accurately observed. She made herself lie still again, hoping that she could at least give Elphie a few more minutes of rest and recovery, especially after dealing with the extremely cold weather to just get to the cottage in the first place.

She knew right away Galinda was awake when she hugged her back. “How long have you been up?” She asked in a low sleepy quiet voice. Almost immediately she could feel Galinda moving around her. Her feet her legs her arms and hands “did you sleep well my love?” She asked her hand rubbing up and down her back, as she pulled Galinda a bit tighter. She loved waking up with her, feeling their bodies pressed together from head to toe and how warm and cozy she felt. She’d never woke up feeling happy and relaxed before sleeping next to Galinda each night.

“Did you sleep alright, my love?” she asked in return, wanting to make sure Elphie was rested as well. “I haven’t gotten up to check if it’s still just as cold outside. I’m not sure what we’ll want to do about any of that, if we want to wait it out a bit or once we feel ready to go back to just go.” Galinda certainly wasn’t ready to jump out of bed and head back to the house in that moment, but she wanted to get an idea for how Elphie was feeling. There was plenty of firewood and they still had some snacks, so they could definitely stay out at the cottage for some time if they wanted. The question was just the weather and what the temperature might do. Galinda knew when it was cold like this it was clear, so there wasn’t any concern about it starting to snow any time in the next few hours. It was just waiting to see if it would warm up at all.

“I slept really well. I was more tired than I thought” she answered honestly “but the nap really helped I feel great”. When Galinda mentioned getting up to see if it was still as cold Elphaba wrapped her arms around her waist and held her tight “no don’t go anywhere” she pouted just slightly at the thought. “Let’s stay here for a while, like this. It’s plenty warm and when it’s time to go bavk I can try and cast the warming spell before we get outside so it’s already in place and I don’t have to work so hard on the way back. It should help us not be quite as cold on the way back.” She suggested then added “if you want to of course, I’m happy to do what you’d like” she offered with a kiss to her cheek.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

“Wait, is it more of those endorph things that cause me to feel sleepy when you do that?” Galinda asked, yawning after her question. She tried her best to hide her yawn, but knew she hadn’t done a very good job. Elphie just knew so much about science and how everything worked, it was no surprise that she had figured out exactly how to make Galinda feel comfortable enough to sleep. As Elphie assured her she wouldn’t be bored, Galinda let her eyes close for just a few seconds. “I mean, there are other things we do than sleep sometimes too,” she responded, opening her eyes again to look at Elphie. Closing her eyes for those few seconds had felt so nice, even if she wanted to try to stay awake. Maybe a few minutes of napping wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially if Elphie didn’t mind. Galinda smiled at Elphie before letting her eyes close again. “Just a few minutes,” she said, moving so her face was pressed against Elphie’s chest. Before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep against her girlfriend.

Elphaba snorted a little laugh at Galinda’s question “endorphins” she corrected adoringly. “It might be. But I think you tend to run on high most of the time. Either physically with a lot of energy, you never stop moving” she pointed out with a smile “or mentally, you always have a hundred things going on in your head worrying about what people see or think about you and making sure you look perfect at all times and keeping up appearances and proper behaviors for a young lady of your status” she knew that had been engrained in her at a very young age. “But when it’s just us, you can relax and be yourself and not worry about the rest of it because you know I love you” she kissed her head softly “and I would never judge you it leg anything happen to you so your brain tells you it’s okay to let your guard down and when your body gets that relaxed… you fall asleep” this was timed perfectly with the yawn Galinda tried to hide, she could tell she was teetering closer to sleep. She continued to move her hands over Galinda’s skin to keep soothing her. “There are other things besides sleep” she agreed with a knowing smile, Galinda was trying so hard to fight it. “A few minutes of course” she agreed easily kissing her hair and just waiting. Galinda was fully knocked out in less than thirty second afterwards. She loved how easily Galinda fell asleep when they were together. She loved being her safe space and knowing Galinda knew she could trust her enough to let her guard down and really relax her entire body. It always made her feel warm inside. “I love you” she whispered lightly, not wanting to wake her up. She laid with her for a while just enjoying the feeling of Galinda wrapped around her and getting to be the one to hold her like this. It took maybe twenty minutes for the rest of the day and how drained she’d been when they got to the cabin to catch up to her and she fell asleep as well.

After sleeping for some time, she felt herself waking up feeling much more refreshed. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she could feel Elphie sleeping next to her and didn’t want to move. Elphie, who had acted like it had been an obvious thing that she was looking back at her too. Who had mentioned Galinda’s inner and outer qualities, and always seemed to see her for who she was. How had Galinda gotten so lucky? Without thinking, she snuggled closer to her girlfriend, but then tensed realizing that the movement could wake her up when she was sleeping so peacefully. Just further proof that she never stopped moving, as Elphie had so accurately observed. She made herself lie still again, hoping that she could at least give Elphie a few more minutes of rest and recovery, especially after dealing with the extremely cold weather to just get to the cottage in the first place.

She knew right away Galinda was awake when she hugged her back. “How long have you been up?” She asked in a low sleepy quiet voice. Almost immediately she could feel Galinda moving around her. Her feet her legs her arms and hands “did you sleep well my love?” She asked her hand rubbing up and down her back, as she pulled Galinda a bit tighter. She loved waking up with her, feeling their bodies pressed together from head to toe and how warm and cozy she felt. She’d never woke up feeling happy and relaxed before sleeping next to Galinda each night.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

“Wait, is it more of those endorph things that cause me to feel sleepy when you do that?” Galinda asked, yawning after her question. She tried her best to hide her yawn, but knew she hadn’t done a very good job. Elphie just knew so much about science and how everything worked, it was no surprise that she had figured out exactly how to make Galinda feel comfortable enough to sleep. As Elphie assured her she wouldn’t be bored, Galinda let her eyes close for just a few seconds. “I mean, there are other things we do than sleep sometimes too,” she responded, opening her eyes again to look at Elphie. Closing her eyes for those few seconds had felt so nice, even if she wanted to try to stay awake. Maybe a few minutes of napping wouldn’t be the worst idea, especially if Elphie didn’t mind. Galinda smiled at Elphie before letting her eyes close again. “Just a few minutes,” she said, moving so her face was pressed against Elphie’s chest. Before she knew it, she had completely fallen asleep against her girlfriend.

Elphaba snorted a little laugh at Galinda’s question “endorphins” she corrected adoringly. “It might be. But I think you tend to run on high most of the time. Either physically with a lot of energy, you never stop moving” she pointed out with a smile “or mentally, you always have a hundred things going on in your head worrying about what people see or think about you and making sure you look perfect at all times and keeping up appearances and proper behaviors for a young lady of your status” she knew that had been engrained in her at a very young age. “But when it’s just us, you can relax and be yourself and not worry about the rest of it because you know I love you” she kissed her head softly “and I would never judge you it leg anything happen to you so your brain tells you it’s okay to let your guard down and when your body gets that relaxed… you fall asleep” this was timed perfectly with the yawn Galinda tried to hide, she could tell she was teetering closer to sleep. She continued to move her hands over Galinda’s skin to keep soothing her. “There are other things besides sleep” she agreed with a knowing smile, Galinda was trying so hard to fight it. “A few minutes of course” she agreed easily kissing her hair and just waiting. Galinda was fully knocked out in less than thirty second afterwards. She loved how easily Galinda fell asleep when they were together. She loved being her safe space and knowing Galinda knew she could trust her enough to let her guard down and really relax her entire body. It always made her feel warm inside. “I love you” she whispered lightly, not wanting to wake her up. She laid with her for a while just enjoying the feeling of Galinda wrapped around her and getting to be the one to hold her like this. It took maybe twenty minutes for the rest of the day and how drained she’d been when they got to the cabin to catch up to her and she fell asleep as well.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda’s eyes widened when Elphie admitted she knew how her touch could make her fall to sleep. “So you know? Do you do it on purpose then? Or is it just something you’ve picked up on over time?” Elphie had hardly touched her but Galinda could already feel herself getting tired. She made a slight whining sound when Elphie moved her hand, but reminded herself she didn’t want to sleep yet. “Won’t you get bored if I fall asleep?” she asked. Even though she was trying to stay awake, she cuddled in a bit more against Elphie. The cottage bed wasn’t as soft as her own or the one at Shiz, but it was still very nice with Elphie and all of the blankets. Her eyes were feeling quite tired, it probably wouldn’t take much if Elphie scratched at her neck in that way she usually did. She tried to keep herself from yawning but felt a small noise escape her, which hopefully Elphie didn’t hear.

Elphaba chucked at Galinda’s question “I don’t purposely put you to sleep, no.” She assured her “it’s just a byproduct of touching you in a way that makes you a soft and happy” she pointed out. “I noticed if a while back and tried it a few more times to see if it was coincidence or if it was directly related to what I was doing.” she felt slightly bad for turning Galinda into a bit of a science experiment but she was so cute when she was so relaxed and it was liked when she scratched at her neck like that. Galinda was like an adorable puppy most of the time, and it entertained her so much. “I won’t be bored” she assured her in a soft voice with a little shake of her head. “I’ll just spend my time looking at you which is one of my favorite things to do, then I’ll join you for a nap. I usually know I nap is on the book when you want to get into bed for any reason” she teased lightly.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

“I think it worked in both of our favors,” Galinda agreed. As she felt Elphie’s hands move, she realized it was going to start getting more difficult to stay awake. Was Elphie doing this on purpose? The hand at her neck wasn’t helping at all in her attempt to keep from falling asleep. “I’m warm too. You were the one I was worried about, remember?” It was very pleasant being cuddled under the blankets together, especially knowing they were safe from someone bursting in on them. No one would be out just strolling the grounds with the weather that day. When she felt Elphie’s nails scratch at her hairline, she let out a small noise of contentment. “You know that makes me fall asleep,” she said, looking back at Elphie. “Unless that was your plan, but I won’t be a very interesting companion if I fall asleep on you.” Her eyes were starting to feel a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to just fall asleep like she tended to do when they cuddled. It would be nice to be able to stay awake with her girlfriend and keep her warm while they were out in the cottage.

“I know you were worried about me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you” she pointed out “and your wellbeing is always my top priority”. Elphaba grinned at the little sound Galinda made at her fingers scratching her neck. “I do know” she admitted with an adoring smile “I just think you are so adorable when you instantly react to the way I touch you. I don’t necessarily want you to sleep. I just love the way you make your little content noises and cuddle in a bit closer, I love content sleepy Galinda. She’s so soft and sweet and cuddly, but if you don’t to sleep I’ll stop” she offered easily and pulled her hand down her back a bit where she could still touch but wouldn’t be tempted to put her to sleep. “But you’ll find I think you’re excellent company all the time, even asleep”

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda smiled at Elphie as she reassured her. “This is just another reason I’m grateful to be dating you,” Galinda said. “I guarantee any boy I dated in the past wouldn’t be okay with stopping in the middle. You always look out for me and treat me so well.” Tangling their legs together to add to their closeness, Galinda sighed, feeling completely content. She listened as Elphie told her how she helped her to feel safer as well. “Then I think we need to make a point to have plenty of snuggle time in our relationship. I think it’s good for both of us.” Galinda snuggled in just a bit closer to Elphie, although it would be difficult for them to get much closer than they already were. As they laid there, Galinda could hear the wind whipping through the trees and was grateful to be wrapped in blankets by a fire. “How are you feeling from the cold, my love? Have you recovered now that we’ve been inside for a bit?” Galinda still couldn’t believe how cold it had been outside as they had walked to the cottage. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt cold weather like this while in Frottica.

“Then they didn’t deserve you” Elphaba pointed out easily “which worked out well in my favor” she added with a smile. Elphaba’s hand dropped down to under Galinda thigh to pull her leg up higher when she tangled their legs together, just to have another place to touch her, before letting her hand come back up to slide to her spine fingers caressing at the back of her neck in the way she knew Galinda loved and often put her to sleep, especially when she started lightly scratching at the nape of her neck at her hair line, “I agree with that” she nodded with a smile “it’s a great use of our time, we should do it often”. At Galinda question Elphaba actually looked around then realizing she wasn’t cold at all. “Im good.” She answered easily then smiled “I have an excellent personal heater wrapped around me, keeping me perfectly warm and content. How are you feeling now that we are wrapped around each other?” She asked her fingers giving a little scratch at her hair line.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

As they laid in bed together, Galinda snuggled in close to Elphie. “Don’t get me wrong, I very much like the other things we do when we’re undressed together in bed,” she said, blushing slightly. “There is just something about lying together and being held by you that makes me feel so safe and secure.” She was already starting to feel more relaxed, especially as she felt Elphie’s hands run along her sides. Galinda hoped she didn’t fall asleep, which she knew was a potential risk of lying together like this, but she wanted to be able to enjoy the safety of just being in Elphie’s arms. “I know this probably wasn’t what you expected me to ask for, but I’m glad to know it’s your favorite thing too.” She looked forward to going back to school where they could cuddle like this freely without worrying about anyone walking in, but she also knew they probably wouldn’t have lots of time for this with school and homework. Schoolwork always seemed to get in the way of her doing things she enjoyed. She loved Elphie, so she would participate in studying and letting Elphie get all her work done, although it didn’t mean she wished they could skip out on things every once in a while.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry or embarrassed or feel like you have to explain yourself for asking me for what you want.” She responded when Galinda mentioned her being surprised by her request. “ there is nothing wrong with you liking when we have sex or pursing it with me . The same way there is nothing wrong with wanting to be held. You are under no obligation to preform for me. I just want you to be happy, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.” She promised her. She knew Galinda grew up with expectations on her behavior and presentation to the world but she didn’t want her to ever feel like she had to do or be one thing for her. “You can want sex and physical intimacy from me then decide in the middle of it that you want to stop and I wouldn’t be upset with you . I don’t ever want you to be worried I will be upset with you for speaking up for yourself and stating your needs” she just really wanted Galinda to know she didn’t have to do the things she though would make her happy if she didn’t want to. When Galinda told her she felt safe in her arms Elphaba felt her heart beat shift. She was so proud of that. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I love that I get to be a safe place for you. You make me feel safer and more comfortable than I have ever felt in my own skin in my life. Just being near you makes it easier to breathe and face the world” she told her truthfully.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda was about to get up so she could take her coat off when she felt Elphie’s finger under her chin. Looking at her, she listened to everything Elphie had to say, nodding when she let go. “Thank you. It’s just hard sometimes because I don’t want to let you down. I’ve never had anyone believe in me with schoolwork like you do.” Galinda stood up and took off her coat, pausing to think a bit about how she would be most comfortable. She looked down at her outfit once more before also pulling off her sweater, blouse, skirt, and leggings. “I’m not trying anything, I just want to be comfortable,” she explained, trying to justify what she was doing so Elphie wouldn’t think she secretly had other motives. Galinda pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, moving over so there would be plenty of room for Elphie. “Come hold me?” she asked, laying down while she waited for her girlfriend to climb into the bed.

She waited as Galinda decided how she would be most comfortable and while she got undressed. She hugged out a small laugh when she pointed out she wasn’t trying anything by taking off her clothes. “It’s okay I know” she assured her and began removing her own clothes to make Galinda state of undress before climbing into bed with hers “come here my love” she requested as she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her in close. She kissed her forehead and ran her hands up and down her side and her back for maximum contact. “I love you so much” she promised her softly. “I would happily lie fully naked with you like this and not worry about sex in any way, if that wasn’t what you wanted. You don’t have to explain to me what makes you comfortable or worry about me thinking you only think about sex. I know I joked with you about it earlier and prizes and anything else, but holding you and being close to you like this is my favorite thing.”

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

She watched as Elphie finished eating and started to look less tired. She seemed like she was feeling more back to normal. At her question, Galinda thought for a moment. “Honestly? I would really like to be held by you. I don’t like worrying that someone is going to walk in on us at any point, but during the day especially. Studying and working on magic still makes me worry and feel like I’m just going to be a disappointment. Really, the biggest thing that helps me when I feel like that is you, because you make me feel safe and secure.” She imagined that wasn’t what Elphie had thought she would ask for, especially after dragging them out to the cottage, but she loved any time she could be held by her girlfriend. “Would that be alright with you, my love?”

She was sure Galinda’s had brought them out here for sex. Unguarded sex where they could be as loud as they wanted Avco not worry about others. So when Galinda said she just wanted to be held Elphaba looked up st her in surprise. She was about to answer right away but Galinda kept explaining her concerns. Elphaba sat back to so she could fully turn to look at Galinda and brought her haves up to cup her cheeks before placing a gentle kiss under her eye along her cheek bone “of course that’s okay with me my sweet. I love holding you and being close to you. I would love that.” She assured her softly. “Why don’t we take our coats off and get some more blankets and we can curl up together on the couch. Unless you’d like to get undressed and get in bed?” She asked her willing to do whatever Galinda needed her to do to help her feel better. Just before they could move Elphaba lifted Galinda’s chin with a finger so she’d look at her “for the record, you could never disappoint me. No matter what happens with sorcery seminar, whether you can produce magic or not. I’m so proud of you for trying and for putting the work in before the class even starts.. we can tsk as much or as little about it as you’d like, I just wanted you to know that ahead of time.” She kissed her cheek again then let go of her so they could both get up and get ready where ever Galinda would be most comfortable.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

“I feel alright, just worried about you,” she said. “But as long as you’re feeling better, that’s what is most important to me.” Galinda finished her muffin and smiled at Elphie. She was about to say something else when Elphie mentioned how she was wondering why she got tired doing magic. “It hasn’t been in any of your books?” she asked. Galinda tried to think back to the reading they had done that day, but it hadn’t said anything specifically about this. “I felt tired yesterday after trying to sense when you did magic,” she offered, not wanting Elphie to think she was all alone in this. “I wonder if it’s because you’re doing something new and you’re being intentional about it. When you accidentally do magic, you’re not concentrating or thinking about what you’re doing. It just happens. But when you do it intentionally, you have to think and concentrate your energy.” She wondered why they hadn’t gone over that in Elphie’s seminar, but she also knew she wasn’t there so she couldn’t say why Madame Morrible taught certain things or didn’t. “Maybe something will come up in one of our readings about this.”

“I know Morrible said I have a powerful talent, I don’t know if that’s why it affects me more sometimes?” She asked out loud. She was thinking about what she’d told Galinda previously about feeling like she had to fight her magic to get it to do what she wanted and wondered if it was just a stubbornness to her magic that it didn’t want to do the things she did. But she also didn’t know if she thought it was a sentient thing that could decide things. After eating the rest of her food she was starting to feel much more normal “so?” She asked looking to Galinda out of the corner of her eye. “You got us all the way out here through a blizzard” she teased “what should we do with our day?”

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

When she heard Elphie mention she was ready to eat, Galinda looked up in surprise. “I have food!” she answered, reaching in her pockets and pulling out what she had grabbed from the kitchen. “There’s muffins and some fruit, you take what you want.” She offered both to Elphie, waiting for her to take her selection so she could start eating. Galinda just wanted to make sure she was alright, and she sat and watched as Elphie took a few bites of food. “Is that any better?” she asked, still holding the food in front of her in case Elphie needed more. The fire was definitely starting to make a difference now and Galinda could feel that she was much warmer.

She was starting to fell better but she was pretty sure it was due to the room warming up around them. “I do feel better” and told her after a few minutes “how do you feel?” She asked as she finished her muffin and got a few more pieces of fruit. Finally feeling like she was back to normal she took another deep breath before saying “I have to figure out why I get so tired all the time when doing magic. It’s never happened before and seems like something that would have come up in class if it was normal” she didn’t want to worry about it, but it did worry her a fair bit.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

“Elphie!” she exclaimed, making her way over. She wrapped a blanket around Elphie’s shoulders, tucking it around her as best she could. “I’ll get the fire going and then I’ll be back,” she assured her, moving quickly over to the fireplace. She found a box of matches and quickly lit one, holding it to the logs to get the fire started. After a few seconds all of the logs had caught, and Galinda could feel the change in warmth immediately. Turning back to Elphie, she knelt on the floor in front of her and began undoing her boots. “Let’s get you warm, my love,” she said, pulling one boot and then the other off before taking one of Elphie’s feet in her hands. She started rubbing warmth back into it, noting that the boots had at least kept her feet well protected. She rubbed the other foot next, and once she was satisfied that Elphie’s feet were okay she tucked another blanket over her legs and feet. “Let’s check your hands,” she said, sitting down on the couch next to Elphie. Removing her mittens, Galinda rubbed first one hand and then the other, ensuring that her hands were not too weren’t dangerously cold either. “Everything seems okay,” she informed her, relieved that she wasn’t in worse shape. “Let’s have you sit there and warm up, and then maybe we can have something to eat once you’re feeling a bit better.”

She kissed the side of Galinda’s head before pulling one of her legs into her lap to remove her boot before doing the same with the other one then draping half of her blanket over Galinda’s lap as well. “Are you warm enough?” She asked pulling her mittens off and kissing her palm. “Sorry about that” she tilted her head to the side to indicate her dropping into the couch. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just got really tired” she explained. “I didn’t eat anything then performed new magic while walking through the coldest weather of my life” she joked. “I think it’s just now blood sugar. I’m better now.” She added. She wondered why intentional magic took so much effort and energy from her when all her life she’d never felt this way when her magic took over and she did something on accident. She’d have to start looking into it, maybe ask Madame Morrible when they got back to school. She felt her stomach rumble then remembered they should eat. “I’m ready to eat when you are” she announced lightly after a few moments.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

“A warming spell would probably be a good idea,” she said, hugging Elphie a bit tighter. “But if it doesn’t work and you want to turn around, just tell me. I don’t want to freeze you.” Of course the weather would turn like this when they were starting to get close to heading back to school. “This shouldn’t happen at Shiz, it’s just we’re so far north here that it can get cold sometimes, especially if air blows in from the mountains.” Galinda tried to walk a bit more quickly to keep her feet moving and warm. The last thing either one needed was to get frostnip or frostbite. She was just glad she had bought Elphie warmer clothes because what she had come to Frottica with would have frozen in an instant in this weather. “If you need you can put your hands in your pocket to keep them warmer,” she suggested. Hopefully between moving a bit, the potential warming spell, and trying any tricks to stay warm would keep them both from freezing before they made it to the cottage.

They walked the rest of the way to the cabin and hurried inside. Elphaba’s bubble spell disappeared as soon as they walked through the door. She was pretty sure it was because she lost concentration. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be” she smiled easily. “But I still think we should build a fire before we do anything else.” She looked around to see nothing had moved since they were last here which was just further proof no one came out here. Elphaba disengaged from Galinda and moved over to the fireplace. She was about to pick up the wood from next to it but used her magic to levitate and move the logs into the fireplace. It was clunky snd not done well she’d almost dropped everything twice, but the logs got into the area she’d intended, so it was a success in her book. She could feel herself start to get a bit tired and maybe a bit light headed. “I need to sit for just a moment” she announced before turning to go sit on the couch.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

The first thing Galinda registered was just how cold it was. She had grown up in Frottica, she was used to colder weather and could handle it. It wasn’t like she was from somewhere further south; she’d spent her childhood going outside in the winter and having to cope with being a bit cold. But this was different. This weather wasn’t the normal Frottica cold, it seemed worse than usual. Was Elphie going to freeze? She was glad she hadn’t planned ice skating or sledding, those would definitely be too much, but a walk might be okay especially once they started moving. “If it’s too much we don’t have to be out for very long,” she assured Elphie. “We can try to just make our way to the cottage, and if that’s even too cold we’ll just turn around.” She squeezed Elphie’s hand and moved closer to her to try to share a bit of her own warmth with her girlfriend. Galinda then took a step out into the snow, trying to concentrate on just walking and not thinking about the weather. At this rate, Elphie wouldn’t want to leave the house again before they went back to school.

She waited as Galinda closed the door behind them then linked their arms together and pulled herself in closer. “It’s colder than normal right?” She asked her “I’m not just forgetting how cold it usually is right?” She could feel her teeth starting to chatter just a bit. She tried to seem like she wasn’t as cold as she felt, but was having a hard time keeping her self from shivering. Maybe she could try and perform a warming spell? “Do you think if I did a warming spell it would follow us?” She asked Galinda after a few moments.

Galinda put on her coat and boots, knowing that they would arrive for the luggage soon. “Are you about ready, my love?” she asked, smiling over at Elphie with her one item of luggage. Galinda couldn’t wait for the two of them to set off for break, and for all the time they were going to spend together.

“It has gotten better” she agreed easily “I think maybe that’s why I’m so worried” she explained “it’s so rare now, who knows how bad it could be” she really just didn’t want Galinda to get hurt or be scared of something that she caused to happen. She breathed in a little sigh of relief when Galinda said she was here to help her however she needed, “thank you my love. You make all the difference I promise” she assured her. She chucked at Galinda words then shuttered involuntarily when she kissed under her ear, her arms tightening around what waist slightly. “I never said I didn’t want you to make me feel good” she smirked “just that we need to be careful .” When Galinda added she would always be there to help her Elphaba held her a bit tighter. “Thank you my love, that means the world to me” she told her pressing a kiss to her temple. “I love you” she added after a moment or two as they both relaxed a bit more into each other.

“I love you, so unbelievably much,” Galinda assured her, feeling Elphie relax against her. She couldn’t help it, but she was starting to feel a bit tired. Snuggling with Elphie usually always made her feel very relaxed and sleepy, and the combination of their skin pressed together seemed to work to relax her even more. Galinda didn’t want to just fall asleep on her, she wanted to make sure Elphie felt completely better from earlier. She was about to ask Elphie how she was feeling when she let out an involuntary yawn. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I’m not tired, I promise,” she said quickly, trying to force herself more awake. “Are you feeling better now?” she asked, trying to distract from her yawn. “We can snuggle more if that would help you to feel better,” she offered, smiling at Elphie.

“I actually do feel better thank you” she promised with an adoring smile. “That accidental yawn really helped a lot” she ran her hands over Galinda’s back to help her relax a bit more. “You must be so tired , you’re usually snoring by now” she teased playfully with a kiss to her cheek. “Go to sleep pretty girl” she requested softly hopping to lure Galinda to sleep with soft low tones as one hand went up ti scratch at the nape of her neck. She knew she had the playbook when it came to getting Galinda to fall asleep almost instantly.

All too soon, Elphie was encouraging her to go to sleep and scratching at the back of her neck. Galinda sighed softly, suddenly feeling much more relaxed. How did Elphie always do this? She seemed to have all the techniques that served to cause Galinda to feel very sleepy. She tried to fight it a bit longer, willing herself to keep her eyes open even if her body had completely relaxed into the bed and into Elphie’s arms. The soothing feeling of her nails on her back was really starting to make her tired. Galinda could feel her eyes drifting shut more frequently now, as much as she tried to keep them open so she could stay awake with her girlfriend. But before she knew it, as so often happened, she was quickly drifting off to sleep, completely lulled there by Elphie’s attention.

She could feel it as Galinda got closer and closer to sleep again and when she did finally drift off. She kissed her head again, lips lingering at her hairline. “I love you” she whispered as her hands continued to caress her back and scratch at her neck respectively until she herself fell asleep a few minutes later all while thinking about how lucky she was to have such an amazing girlfriend like Galinda.

Galinda reluctantly opened her eyes, not wanting to move too much and bother Elphie. She quickly realized they had fallen asleep without putting pajamas on the night before, and she was still pressed against most of Elphie’s skin. She definitely liked waking up this way. A part of her registered that it would probably be good for her to move and stretch a bit, but that might also wake up Elphie. Galinda had nestled her head against Elphie’s chest a bit throughout the night and couldn’t see her face, so she had no clue if she was already awake as well. But she didn’t want to move and check, because then Elphie would definitely be awake. She would just have to wait and see when Elphie either woke up herself or noticed that she was up now.

As soon as her eyes opened she could tell it was late into the morning, much later than she usually woke up. She could feel Galinda still laying with her and ran a hand over her back gently as she slowly woke up. She felt Galinda move in a way that made her look down at the top of the blonde head on her chest "You're awake already?" she asked softly just in case she was wrong, but Galinda moved again right away and Elphaba smiled "How long have you been up?" she asked her hand coming up to run through blonde hair.

Rolling a few more times, Galinda reached the edge of the bed. “I’ll be right back, just another minute,” she said, standing up. It was cold now that she wasn’t under the blankets anymore. She rushed over to the restroom to use it before she splashed some cold water on her face and brushed her teeth. Throwing on her robe as she walked back out into the room, she made her way back over to the bed. “Okay, I’m back.” She climbed underneath the covers and moved so she could snuggle against Elphie again. “Hi,” she said, kissing her cheek. “It’s cold out there, in case you need to get up for anything. But I can bring you your robe if you want.” She knew at some point they’d have to get up, but it was nice to just snuggle together a bit to start the morning.

She watched as Galinda ran across the room naked with a smile on her face. She had the most ridiculously cute tiny stepped run Elphaba had ever seen, she was pretty sure it was no faster than her normal walking pace she just took four times as many steps. Elphaba pulled the warm blankets back around her body now that Galinda was gone she could feel how cold it was in the room. She stretched lightly in bed ave reached for her glasses on the nightstand so she could see properly. Before too long Galinda was getting back in bed with her robe on and Elphaba whined lightly “you’re bringing all the outside cold back with you” she complained even as she pulled her in closer to her body, “hello” she greeted gently once they were settled in. “I will have to get up shortly, but I think I can brave the elements on my own, no need for you to make another trip” she assured her reaching up to brush some of Galinda’s fly away blonde hairs out of her face. She took a few deep breaths to psych herself before pulling back from Galinda before she could talk herself out of it. “I’ll be right back” she assured her before following Galinda’s original path towards the end of the bed before throwing the blankets off then hurrying to the bathroom. She grabbed her robe first she wrapped it around herself. Once she could feel herself warming up she went about he business of using the restroom then brushing her teeth and washing her face. Once she was finally done she headed back out to the bedroom and hurried back over to climb into bed and under the covers with Galinda. She buried her face in Galinda’s chest as she tired to get warm again “it’s sooo cold” she insisted unnecessarily as she cuddled up to Galinda.

Galinda must have relaxed more than she thought, because the next thing she knew the blankets were moving and someone jumped into the bed next to her. She quickly blinked open her eyes realizing that it was Elphie. Her arms reached out to hold her, and she smiled as Elphie pressed her face into her chest. “It’s warm under the blankets,” she reassured her. “With the two of us you’ll warm up in no time.” Galinda held Elphie close, wanting to help her get warm as quickly as possible. After a few minutes had passed, she pressed a kiss to her hair. “Feeling any better?” she asked. Galinda knew at some point that day they would have to get out of bed, and that Elphie would probably insist they do some schoolwork as well. “Is there anything you’d like to do today?” she offered, hoping that maybe school wouldn’t be the first thing on her girlfriend’s mind.

She thought about Galinda’s question for a few moments before answering. “Well, we do go back to school in a few days so we should probably start packing some things we won’t need in the next few days” she mentioned as if thinking out loud “and I do think we should continue our study plan to get back into the rhythm of school” she added realizing she’d have disappointed her girlfriend looked up at her and smiled “just a couple hours, then anything you’d like to do after that we can spend the rest of the day doing” she offered knowing Galinda would complain about school work.

“You’re right about packing,” Galinda agreed, trying to distract herself. “You have many more things to take back with you. We’ll have to go through and organize everything and figure out how to best pack it.” She didn’t really want to admit that the household staff had done this for her before she had moved to Shiz, but it couldn’t be that difficult. It would just be sorting her clothes and possessions and seeing what would fit in the luggage Elphie had. “I can’t wait to see you wearing some of your new outfits at school. Won’t it be nice to have more options for everyday or when we go on dates?” The clothes storage situation in their room might be a bit more challenging, but there would be a way they could figure it out. “When do you think you’ll give Nessa her gifts?” she asked. They would have to make certain to pack those separately as well, so they didn’t get mixed in with all of Elphie’s new items. Oz, packing could take them multiple days! Perhaps this was why Elphie had been resistant against too many gifts in the first place.

Elphaba groaned just a bit when Galinda mentioned how much she had to take back with her “we’re not both going to fit in the train car with your luggage and mine” she jokingly lamented. If she had to guess Elphaba would say she was going back to school with three times as many belongings as she came to Frottica with. She smiled as Galinda mentioned her new clothes and their dates. “I think so, some of the warmer things you bought me will be really nice for the rest of winter. Now that I have proper winter clothes maybe I won’t get as cold” she mentioned even as she gave a shiver from the current cold around them. She tried to burrow just a bit further into Galinda. At the mentor of her sister snd her gifts Elphaba paused “hmm I don’t know. We didn’t make a plan to reconnect , I’m not even sure when she’s getting back” she frowned realizing how much she didn’t know about her sister at the moment. “Maybe we can take her to lunch, or dinner before school starts” she suggested “I can give her her gifts then. Of course if you’d prefer to spend some time with your friends I can take her on my own” Elphaba added realizing Galinda may want to catch up with Pfannee and Sheshen.

“We’ll fit, but that’s why they have a luggage car,” Galinda answered, smiling at her. How did Elphie think she had gotten all of her trunks to school at the beginning of the year? It had been significantly more than what they were bringing back with them now. “We’ll have to make sure to hire someone to help with our bags once we get back to Shiz. There’s no way we’ll be able to carry all of that ourselves.” As much as Galinda wasn’t looking forward to the return to schoolwork, she was looking forward to being back in their dorm together. “I always can help keep you warm,” Galinda offered, feeling Elphie move a bit closer to her. “I’m used to the cold, but I’m happy to provide any snuggles or to be a close escort if we’re outside.” She smiled thinking about Elphie wearing some of her new outfits while they walked together. She wasn’t entirely sure how to respond when Elphie suggested that she might want to spend time with friends. Galinda had barely spoken to Shenshen and Pfannee after she had gotten together with Elphie. Not only had Galinda wanted to spend as much time with her girlfriend as possible, but the two of them hadn’t been overly enthused about Galinda dating Elphie. “I wouldn’t mind going with you to see Nessa, if it would be alright,” Galinda said, not wanting to go too into detail. “Can we have another minute or two before we get up? I know we have to go study, but it is very warm in here with you.”

Frowning at thr idea of hiring someone Elphaba was about to say she could carry everything but realized she actually couldn’t “.yesh maybe “ she reluctantly agreed.she giggled when Galinda offered to help keep her warm “that’s so selfies of you , thank you” she teased finally snaking one hand under Galinda’s robe at her waist to press her skin against Galinda’s side. Hopefully her hands weren’t too cold against her skin. “I’d like that a loo” she smiled when Galinda said she wanted to come with her take Nessa out “I would love it if you came with us” she agreed easily . At Galinda’s request to stay in bed just a few more minutes Elphaba grinned and snuggled into her chest again. “I’ll give you ten minutes. Then we have to get up and study” she offered. She leaned up to press her lips to Galinda’s in a quick kiss then snuggled into Galinda a bit more. She did love laying like this with her soo much it didn’t take much to convince her to snuggle with her beautiful girl friend

Galinda let out a slight gasp when Elphie’s hand finally crept under her robe. Not because her hands were too cold, but mostly out of surprise at the feeling of her hand on her skin. “You’re going to distract me from studying,” she teased, grinning at her. Although she certainly didn’t mind if Elphie wanted to keep her hand there the entire time. “Then it’s settled,” she said, “I’ll join you when you give Nessa her presents. Hopefully she doesn’t mind me tagging along too much.” She didn’t know Nessa very well and honestly didn’t know what she thought of her dating Elphie, if she had a problem with it or if she didn’t really care. Elphie’s agreeing that they could stay in bed a bit longer caused Galinda to hug her a bit more tightly. “Ten minutes is perfect. Just so I can hold you a bit longer before we get up.” She relaxed against Elphie, content to just lay there together for a bit longer. After a few minutes had passed, she frowned, but knew Elphie would want them to get going. “I don’t want to leave the bed but I know we need to get up,” she said, looking at Elphie. She really didn’t want to move or have Elphie’s hand not on her skin anymore.

“I don’t know what you’re taking about” Elphaba pretended she wasn’t doing anything “I’m just keeping my fingers warm” she initiated with a sly smile up at her girlfriend. She nodded and smiled when Galinda said she’d come with her to give Nessa her gifts “ I’d like that a lot” she told her “I think she’d like it too, she’s always looking for more friends.” She explained “Nessa loves people and talking to people” then she frowned lightly “they just don’t always seem to want to talk to her, either because of the chair or because of me” she used to hate it when Nessa had issues with kids at school or in town because of her. As they laid together Elphaba relaxed nearly enough to drift off. The sound of Galinda’s heartbeat and the slow and steady rise and fall of her chest were enough to keep her attention the whole time. She was actually surprised Galinda was the one to call out the time, she leaned up on an elbow to look down at her for a moment “you just want your rewards sooner” she teased then reluctantly started untangling herself from Galinda so she could sit up. “We should get dressed so you’re not too distracted to complete your reading” she suggested with a smile at her.

After she ran a brush through her hair, Galinda went to find her textbook and sat down on the couch. Opening the book, she found where they had left off the day before. It all still looked quite dense, but she trusted Elphie to help her get through the material. Galinda looked up when she felt Elphie sit next to her, but she didn’t move any closer so she didn’t get distracted. “Alright, I’ll start reading the next chapter,” she said, looking back down at the book. This chapter definitely wasn’t any less dense than the previous chapters. It was talking about the time of day and seasons and how that could influence one’s magical abilities or how certain magics might be stronger at certain times. More theory, Galinda nearly complained. She kept reading because Elphie wanted her to work at it, but all she felt while she read was that this wasn’t really going to get her closer to magic. When she finished the chapter, she looked up at Elphie. “Do you notice any of that? Certain times of day influencing your magic more than others?”

She finally rolled out of bed and headed for the closet as Galinda got dressed she found a pair of pants that seemed warm to put on along with a sweater. She’d originally bought the pants to go under a skirt, so if they left she’d have to put one over them, but they would be good for just studying. After getting dressed she braided her hair into a single braid down her back and found her glasses behind grabbing her study materials along with her notebook she was using to keep track of this magic studies. Once she was ready she went and sat next to Galinda on the couch, then turned to put her back against the armrest so she was facing Galinda. There was a bit of distance between then, but she didn’t want Galinda to feel too separated or alone so she pulled her legs up on the couch and tucked her socked toes under Galinda’s thigh. It wasn’t enough to be distracting hopefully, but enough to remind her she was here with her and supporting her. She nodded when Galinda’s said she’d get started. She listened as she got going and opened her own notebook to take notes as she went. She noticed that Galinda seemed to be getting through the text easier today. She seemed more comfortable with the flow of the text and didn’t seem to struggle with the language as she read. She kept this to herself and just went about reading her own text book, pausing when she heard Galinda say something interesting to jot some notes down. When Galinda asked her if the chapter applied to her magic she paused and thought about it. “I honestly don’t know” she answered after a few moments “I’ve spent so much of my life trying to contain my magic I never paid attention to if it was stronger at any points of the day. I suppose it listens to me more during the day, when I’m well rested and have eaten a meal or two than at night when I’m tired from the day. But I’m far more prone to emotional magic than time related magic I think ” She wrote some notes in her notebook and looked back over at Galinda “we can test it if you’d like” she offered with a smile and a little wiggle of her toes under Galinda hoping it would make her smile or . “Do you feel like you notice more magic from me at certain points in the day?” She turned the same question to her interested to hear her answer.

“Anything else from the chapter I should think about? I think that was the basic premise,” Galinda said. Elphie had taken notes, but they mostly looked to be about the main points they had just discussed. “I guess I’ll keep going, and if there’s anything else we want to test we can do all of that at the end. That way if we’re tired we’re not interrupting the reading.” As much as Galinda wanted to interrupt the reading, Elphie would probably just make her study again later in the day. Galinda directed her attention back to the book and started reading the next chapter. This one almost seemed more boring than the first of the day. It was something about energy. The chapter seemed to reference something about the amount of energy it might take to do magic being different than the amount of energy without magic, or if they were the same. Now Galinda really didn’t understand. Of course they would take different amounts of energy? Magic took effort, it wasn’t just something that happened. Well, for Elphie it was sometimes, but then why was she so tired after doing a lot of magic? Was it just the amount of focus involved? “I think there’s just something I’m not understanding about this,” she said, looking back up at Elphie. “It seems like it should be one way, but the author is trying to make both points.”

She nodded as Galinda commented she’d keep reading, and moved on to the next chapter. She’d probably suggest they stop after this chapter since Galinda seemed so miserable. She wanted her to do well in school but not to the point of making her unhappy. She listened as Galinda read and realized this chapter focused on things that pertained directly to her and her own magic. She took notes like she did before, but never went back to her own reading at all she was far too interested in this chapter. She was particularly interested in the section about some magic taking more energy than others. At Galinda’s question she looked up to meet her eyes and nodded “I think the issue is we’re both only familiar with my magic, which is still developing as I learn about it. So what this chapter is explaining is that magic can do both things. Take lots of energy to produce and if so this is why, but it can also sometimes not take too much energy due to the power behind it and the level of magic?” She trailed off as she tried to explain. “For example I expend a lot of energy because I feel like I have to gather my magic and shift its current so to speak, to get it to do what I want. The effort is large because sometimes my magic acts of its own accord. But for those in better control or perhaps with less intense abilities it’s not as taxing?” She tried taking it out out loud. “I feel like sometimes I’m fighting for control with my magic, it’s always around me, but not always willing to listen to what I want it to do so I have to try harder to be specific in my desired outcome… if that makes sense.” She looked up to see if Galinda was following along. “It sometimes feels like I’m trying to change the direction the water flows in a river. If I want to go in the direction it’s going in, it’s so much easier. But if I want to do something other than what it wants, I have to force it to stop then change direction and do what I want.”

Galinda was about to thank Elphie for her help when she noticed her pants again. Were they a tight pair? She couldn’t tell with how Elphie was sitting next to her. She tried to look and see if they were one of her tighter pairs when she realized what she was doing, and she immediately blushed. “It’s all very interesting,” she said quickly, trying not to be too obvious that she was slightly flustered. “I don’t think I would have understood all of that on my own.” Galinda brought one of her hands down to touch Elphie’s ankle, trying to see if she could tell what pair she was wearing by the fabric. That didn’t make it any more apparent, so she moved her hand back to the book. “I guess as you keep learning we’ll have to see if you notice a difference in how you feel after you do magic. If you’re still as tired or if it gets any better.” Galinda flipped through a few pages to see if she could regain focus on the material instead of thinking about Elphie next to her. It seemed like she was fighting a losing battle, but she needed to at least try and get through the material before they went back to school.

But it hit her all at once, the pants. Elphaba nearly laughed when she realized, Galinda wasn’t upset about studying, or at least no more than normal, she was just trying not to get caught being distracted by the pants she was wearing. She should have realized what was going on before this, but she didn’t think much of putting on her leggings other than she wanted to stay warm while they studied. She wanted to tease her a bit, but felt maybe that was too mean given how she made her study when she didn’t want to, and Steve’s trying so hard to do a good job. She decided to give her girlfriend a bit of a break for the time being. “I think you would have” she answered dialing back into the conversation. “You’re very observant you’d have figured it out” she assured her. “Do you think you have one more chapter in you?” She asked leaning forwards towards her own knees to try and catch Galinda’s eye “don’t forget you get to pick you’re reward for each chapter you read” she smiled at her then gave a little wink at the mentioning prizes.

Galinda flipped to the next chapter and looked down at the words on the page. She began reading, taking her time so she could focus and not have her mind wander. This chapter started off by talking about magical properties and traces of magic. It seemed to suggest that magic had an energy that could be left on objects or people. It wasn’t always observable, but often there was a small magic energy left behind after something had been touched by magic. The book mentioned that people who were more attuned to recognizing magic might notice it, but not everyone had that innate ability. The book also said that different individuals’ magic had different energies. Galinda glanced up and looked at Elphie. “So this is saying, for example, your magic and Morrible’s magic would have a different energy? Even if you did the same thing, like levitate a coin? The energy left on the coin would feel different from each of you?” She wondered how one would realize it was magic energy she was feeling and not just part of the environment. Looking back at the page, she started reading again. Now the book was talking about how certain plants had magical properties and would absorb magical energy more easily. It didn’t seem to provide examples of the kinds of plants, just that some were better set up to take on energy than others. It then expanded this idea to say people were similar in that some people had innate magical energy and abilities on their own. As Galinda read those words, she frowned. She was sure she probably wasn’t one of those people, given that she had yet to show any magical ability. She read through to the end of the chapter before looking back up at Elphie. “Have you learned about any of the plants?” she asked, trying not to dwell on the other information about people and magical energy.

The next chapter was really interesting as well. She never really thought much about the energy left behind by magic. This must be what Galinda felt when she sensed magic. It also confirmed for her that sensing magic was in fact a rare ability, she wasn’t even sure she could do it herself. She took some more notes on the topic, very interested to see how much more she could learn about what Galinda could do. Elphaba listened to Galinda’s question and then nodded with a smile. She got it. “That’s correct. It seems like magical energy might be a bit of a fingerprint or signature even. Unique to the person who casts the spell. So I would imagine you would feel slightly different things if she and I did the same spell.” She thought about it for a moment or two then realized “I’ve never actually seen her do magic, so I’m not to sure how she does it, but it might come from a different place entirely then mine which would probably make it leave a different energy behind. She listened as Galinda read the rest of the chapter and shook her head at Galinda’s question “I don’t know much about magical properties in other items. We really have only focused on my magic and using it in specific ways, not different things with magical properties.” She told her then looked up at her again “or people with abilities to identify magical energy, like you” she pointed out. “I do think it’s an entry point to figuring out if you can produce magic, maybe identifying and being near magical energies and studying them will help you produce magic within yourself since you’ll know what it feels like.” She pointed out excited to have some where more concrete to start looking for ways to help Galinda.

“Three chapters, do you think that’s alright for today?” she asked, trying to change the subject. Galinda would keep reading if Elphie thought they needed to do so, but she really hoped they could be done. The book was dense, and reading multiple chapters started to make her head feel fuzzy. She didn’t really have any idea what else she wanted to do, she just knew she needed a break. “Did you have any work you needed to do for school today?” Galinda knew how much Elphie liked to work ahead and prepare. “If not, we can probably figure out something else to do. I’m not sure if you wanted to go outside or go into town again? I know we were just there last night.” Knowing that their time in Frottica was starting to grow limited, she wanted to make sure Elphie had the chance to do or try anything she wanted while they were so far north. Shiz might not have the same opportunities for winter activities as they did while they were here.

“I have just a bit more reading to do here, maybe another fifteen minutes or so, but after that I’m all yours” she offered with a smile at her girlfriend. “I owe you rewards for a job well done. So you should figure out how you’d like to collect while I finish my reading. Then because you’ve been such a good sport, I’ll do whatever you’d like to do for the rest of the day” she offered then added “with no complaints, no matter what it is.” She lifted her foot from under Galinda’s thigh and poked her side gently with a grin “do you have any ideas?” She asked with a smile before dropping her foot into Galinda’s lap. She wanted to flirt with her a bit and help lighten her slightly grumpy mood from having to do so much reading. “As long as I get to spend the rest of my day with you, I’ll be very happy.”

When Elphie moved her foot into her lap, Galinda almost laughed. “Did you purposely put on pants?” she asked, touching Elphie’s ankle again. Galinda didn’t think Elphie would have done that before studying, but she still wanted to give her a bit of a hard time about it. “Maybe you were trying to be encouraging about my rewards,” she laughed. After tapping Elphie’s ankle once more with her hand, Galinda stood back up. “I’ll let you do your reading but I’ll think about the reward. Probably nothing in the house. But maybe we’ll go outside for a nice walk and end up in the cottage. Or we could always go skating again. I don’t want to be too greedy but you did say whatever I wanted,” she said, looking back down at her. Galinda went over to their clothes and started looking at her own, trying to decide how best to start organizing everything for packing. As she went through the clothes, she glanced up occasionally, trying to see if Elphie was reading or if what Galinda had said had had any impact.

It only took about 40 minutes for Elphaba to read 4 chapters of the textbook she wanted to finish before school started. With these four out of the way she was able to only sit down to read once or twice more before school and be done. That would make Galinda happy, she figured, if she only needed one or two more study sessions. Closing the book she sat it on the table next to the couch and stood to stretch her back out. She looked around for Galinda and found her hovering over a pile of clothes she seemed to be collecting to pack. Moving over to her unsure if she’d seen her get up or not, Elphaba moved so she was behind her then wrapped her arms around her in the hug from behind and kissed her cheek “I’m all done, my sweet.” She told her then hooked her chin over Galinda’s shoulder “what are you doing here?” She asked watching what she was doing.

Squeezing Elphie’s hand once more, Galinda moved out of her arms to finish getting dressed to go outside. She pulled on a pair of leggings underneath her skirt and a sweater over her blouse. Once she had warmer clothes she applied a bit of makeup, not much, but enough that if they ran into Momsie she wouldn’t have to hear about it. After that, she brushed out her hair and decided that was good enough to go for a walk outside. She put on her boots and found her coat and gloves, deciding that she was ready. “I’m all ready, Elphie,” she said, holding out her hand to her girlfriend. She leaned in and kissed her cheek before leading them out into the hallway so they could head downstairs. As they stepped into the hallway, she realized they hadn’t eaten anything yet that day. “We can grab something small before our walk,” she suggested, not wanting to force Elphie to walk outside before letting her have anything to eat.

Elphaba went to go look for some warmer clothes if they were going outside. She changed her pants into some that were thicker and warmer for outside and got another sweater, one of the ones Galinda got her for Lurlinemas. Once she was dressed she found some of her newer boots and put them on, then her gloves and scarf, also from her girlfriend as a gift. The last thing she needed was her coat, which she picked up just as Galinda said she was ready. “Me too” she reached out for Galinda’s hand and smiled as she kissed her cheek. She still got butterflies in her stomach anytime Galinda did something like that. “Yes please” she nodded when Galinda said they could grab something to eat. She was getting more used to not eating right away when she woke up being here with Galinda and not wanting to have to make her face her parents right away in the mornings. But she was getting hungry. She followed Galinda into the dining room and was relived to see no one in there but a few various things left out for them to grab. She picked up a muffin and some fruit , she also put a few granola bars in her pocket which she usually did so they’d have something for later if they got hungry or missed lunch.