Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1.

Clumsy

There are many highlights of being in a relationship with Elphaba Thropp. She is sweet and caring and gives Galinda all of her attention. Galinda gets to fall asleep in the security of her arms with her heartbeat drumming in her ears and she gets to see her wake up in the early light of the morning. In those moments Galinda gets to appreciate all the details of her. The way freckles cover her cheeks like constellations. The way she scrunches her nose before she wakes up. The way the gap in her teeth shows when Galinda makes her laugh. But during those early mornings as Galinda is held in her arms, she finds what she appreciates most is the feeling of safety. And she has to admit that feeling is reinforced by the strength in those arms.

Galinda knows of course that her roommate turned girlfriend was strong before they got into a relationship. It was one of the annoying details that wouldn’t leave Galinda’s mind when they still hated each other. She would see the muscles of her arms ripple beneath her stupidly attractive shirts and she would have to work really hard to force down the breathless feeling. (Loathing, her heart snickers at the reminder.)

With no more pretense to uphold, Galinda appreciates her girlfriend’s arms any chance she gets. She makes her carry her bag loaded with way too many books just to see the muscles work. She caresses them or lovingly squeezes them to grab her attention. Sometimes when she simply wants to be held, she jumps into her arms and she knows Elphie will catch her. Arms wrapping around her to hold her up. Her girlfriend is endlessly indulgent. (Galinda knows she secretly likes the attention when she sees her blush any time she touches her muscles. Galinda doesn’t comment on it, shy and insecure as Elphie still is in her own skin. She hopes eventually Elphie can appreciate what she sees in the mirror as much as Galinda can. She loves every part of her.)

So Galinda takes every opportunity she can to be wrapped up in Elphaba’s arms. But sometimes it happens when she isn’t even expecting it.

Usually Galinda would spar with Elphie in their physical education class. Not so today. Somehow she has gotten paired up with Avaric and it makes the whole experience ten times worse. Galinda already isn’t someone who usually enjoys their mandatory physical education class, but at least it is not as bad if she gets to hang around Elphie. (She gets the added bonus of now being able to unabashedly ogle at her girlfriend’s physique.) Therefore having to spend this time with Avaric, a boy who annoys her on the best of days and is awful on the worst of them, brings down Galinda’s mood massively.

Perhaps that is the reason she gives for her distraction. Or perhaps she simply lost her balance. Or perhaps Avaric was too overzealous in their bout of sparring. What Galinda knows to be true is that one moment she is standing on her feet and the next moment she is flat on her ass with a stabbing pain in her ankle. She cries out at the sudden pain. Her vision tunnels and her ears ring with the sudden onslaught of awful sensations. She feels hot tears gather and drip from her eyes before she can blink them away. Distantly she thinks she hears Avaric apologize and through teary eyes she thinks she can make out his offered hand. It does not matter because in the next moment his hand is slapped away and her vision is overtaken by green skin and worried green eyes.

“Galinda, hey Galinda, look at me,” Elphie puts her hands on both sides of Galinda’s face so she is forced to focus on her. With her thumbs she carefully wipes away her tears. “Are you okay?”

Galinda tries to answer, but her chest feels tight, she is having a hard time trying to breathe through the pain. So instead she nods jerkily. Elphie must notice her discomfort for she carefully begins coaching her through struggles, “Breathe with me, okay? Just slowly in and then out. Try not to focus on the pain.”

The calm murmur of her voice and her steadfast presence help ground Galinda again. Her vision sharpens and her ears stop ringing. The pain in her ankle remains. She tries to look around Elphie to see how her ankle looks. Elphaba turns towards her ankle as well, “How does it feel?”

“It hurts,” Galinda offers unhelpfully. Elphie presses a kiss to the side of her head in sympathy. She is all soft caresses before she turns angrily towards Avaric who is still standingly a short distance away looking disinterested.

“And you–” Elphie stabs her finger in his direction, ready to tear into the boy with her bristling anger. If Galinda weren’t in such pain, she would have made a sly comment about how attractive Elphie looked when she was being protective of her. But alas Galinda is doomed to grit her teeth against the pain instead. 

(All Galinda wants right now is to get far far away from all the eyes on her. She dislikes their stares. She feels herself grow warm with embarrassment. She does not wish for them to see her pain or her tears. It feels too vulnerable, too real. The only people she allows to see her tears are Elphie and these days Fiyero now that they have become friends.)

So instead of allowing Elphie to provoke Avaric on her behalf, Galinda pulls on Elphie’s arm to draw her attention away, “It is fine. It was just an accident, you know I can be clumsy. Can you please just help me get up so we can go back to our room?”

Elphie immediately turns caring eyes back on her and nods readily. She can see the silent protest in her eyes, but she does not voice it. Galinda makes a grabbing motion for her staff that has rolled away and Elphaba reaches over to hand it to her. Slowly using Elphie’s arm and the staff she pushes herself to her feet. Carefully she tries to start walking, but as she puts the barest weight on her painful ankle she almost crumples to the ground again. She muffles a cry of pain.

However before she can drop to the ground in pain again, she feels Elphie’s arms wrap around her, “I got you. Come on, I will carry you back.” 

She moves to reach down to pick Galinda up bridal style, when she stops her to argue, “I can just use you and the staff and hop along, I just shouldn’t put weight on my ankle.” (Galinda doesn’t know why she argues. She likes when Elphie carries her when they’re alone and it would be useful in this moment. Perhaps it is all the eyes on them. The ones that are making her feel self-conscious about her reaction, about her feelings, about her relationship.)

Elphie will have none of it, “No, you will only jostle your ankle and hurt it more. Please let me carry you.” She looks at her with pleading green eyes, her hands still ready to pick Galinda up at a moment’s notice. She lets out a deep sigh and relents, knowing Elphaba is correct. Galinda lets herself lean into her warmth and adds a soft, “Okay, Elphie.”

Elphie immediately picks her up and Galinda lets the staff drop from her hand to the ground. From beside them Galinda thinks she hears Avaric snicker, but she has already buried her face in Elphaba’s neck and has closed her eyes. (Shutting out the world and everyone in it. It is only her and Elphie now.) Elphaba however will not ignore it, she feels her head snap towards the sound and her glare must be deathly for the snickers to stop immediately. In a polite, but dangerous hiss, Elphaba adds, “Be useful for once and put that staff away, will you?”

Then they are on their way. Galinda feels almost weightless besides the constant ringing pain coming from her ankle that seems to drag her down. Along the way they stop by the nurse’s office and an icepack is pressed into her hands to hold until they get back to their dorm. (Elphie is always so prepared. Galinda wonders how often she had to nurse her own wounds growing up.)

Once safely ensconced within the walls of their suite, Galinda can finally let herself relax. Elphie carefully puts her down on her bed, trying to make sure not to hurt her ankle. After that she moves down the bed. She peels off her shoe and looks at her ankle. It appears to be swelling up and Galinda can see a bruise forming on the side.

“Sorry,” Elphie says preemptively as she softly prods at the ankle to determine how badly she has hurt it, “Do you remember what happened?”

“I think it was a misstep. One moment I was standing and then the next moment my ankle sort of gave out,” Galinda offers.

Elphaba nods at her words and determines, “It’s a sprained ankle I think. I know how to treat it if you will let me?”

Galinda smiles at her girlfriend, she does so appreciate her thoughtful nature, “Please do.”

Elphie gets to work. The first thing she does is place the ice against the ankle. Galinda hisses at the sudden cold, but it does immediately help to alleviate the pounding pain in her ankle. Dulling it to a throbbing pain. She reaches over for a pillow, which she places under her foot to elevate it from the bed. When some time has passed, Elphie walks over to the first aid kit they keep in their room. She grabs a roll of bandages. With precise steady movements and apologies falling from her lips, she wraps Galinda’s ankle to help prevent swelling. As a final step she offers Galinda some painkillers which she makes her swallow down with some water.

Galinda looks at Elphie who is now standing next to the bed, moving from one foot to the other with indecision. Needing to keep moving, to be useful, to be helpful. “Elphie?” Galinda prompts her with a smile.

“What else do you need?” Elphaba asks as she carefully tucks a strand of hair behind Galinda’s ear. It has escaped her ponytail.

“Just hold me?” Galinda requests, patting the bed next to her. (All she wants is her arms around her.)

Relief crosses Elphie’s face as she agrees. She tries not to jostle her ankle as she lies down next to her. Her arms wrap around Galinda who burrows closer to her warmth. They let the silence linger, both of them content to live in the quiet. That is until she hears Elphie take in a soft tremulous breath before she whispers into Galinda’s ear, “I was so scared when I heard you cry out in pain.”

Galinda can only imagine the feeling, imagining Elphie crumpling to the ground makes her heart clench painfully. She tries to reassure her, “I am okay, my love.”

She feels Elphie nod before she kisses the side of her head and wraps her arms more tightly around Galinda. (Like the strength in her arms will make everything that could harm her go away. Like she can protect her with the sheer force of her will. She would let her try. Galinda lets herself settle into the feeling.) She does not look forward to having to rest her ankle to make it heal. Getting around will be a real chore for the next few weeks. But she supposes one of the positives is being able to lean on Elphie while she does it.

Chapter Text

2.

Tipsy

Galinda loves her friends. She feels inundated with the feeling, floating on a cloud of love. They had gone out for the night to one of the bars close to Shiz. It was wonderful. The lights were bright, the conversations were loud, the laughter was all-encompassing. With the night coming to a close, Galinda feels herself be pulled along by Elphie. They both come to a stop when Galinda sways a bit too much on unsteady feet. So perhaps she has had a bit too much to drink.

Elphie takes one look at her and rolls her eyes. Galinda brings her hand up to trace the freckles on her nose and cheeks. She hiccups, “Who needs the night sky when your cheeks show the most beautiful constellations of all?”

“Always the charmer,” Elphie shakes her head, but Galinda sees a blush starting to spread on her cheeks. Her hand migrates from the freckles to poke at her cheek, “And you love it if your blushing tells me anything.” (Or that is what she means to say, but her words all slur together. She is sure Elphie got the gist of it.)

“Such a smooth talker, but it doesn’t work as well when you are drunk,” Elphaba looks at her pointedly. (So perhaps her words did not come out right after all.) Galinda feels a smile pull at her lips anyways and she shrugs as if to say what can you do?

It is only after a moment when Galinda’s mind catches up to Elphie’s words that she protests, “Wait, I am not drunk.”

Elphie raises a questioning brow, “Seriously? Your words are all slurring together and you are trying to argue you aren’t drunk?”

“Not drunk, just tipsy,” Galinda argues.

“Not even you believe that,” Elphie looks at her in disbelief.

Galinda pouts at her girlfriend and she sees it start to soften her resolve. For good measure, Galinda throws in, “Besides you should blame Fiyero, he wanted to play a drinking game.”

Elphaba readily agrees, “Oh believe me, I will be having words with him. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”

“You think I’m pretty,” Galinda flutters her lashes exaggeratedly at Elphaba.

“Sweet Oz, you’re so silly,” Elphie tries to suppress the fond smile that is pulling at her lips, “Of course I think you’re pretty.”

“The prettiest?” Galinda insists, eyes widening at this super duper incredibly important question. She needs Elphie to give the right answer.

It gets her a fond shake of the head and an indulgent, “Yes, the prettiest in all of Oz, my sweet.” Galinda giggles before planting a sloppy kiss on her lips. (Or she tries to, her aim might be off when her lips land somewhere on the corner of her mouth closer to her cheek.) Having stepped closer to kiss her, Elphie quickly wraps her arms around her and looks at Galinda imploringly, “Now will you let me pick you up so we can get back to our dorm?”

Galinda nods and wraps her arms around Elphie’s neck. Strong arms pick her up from the ground. The world had felt like it was shifting on its axis before, but now it is well and truly skewed. Galinda has no way of knowing which way is up or down. As she looks out at the night sky and at Elphie, she determines that there is truly no difference. The constellations on her cheeks and the sky are one and the same, where one ends the other begins. Galinda nods in satisfaction at her research. She was correct in what she told Elphie before.

Elphaba’s footsteps are steady as she carries her through the night. They have reached the grounds of Shiz, they will be back home soon. Galinda feels her eyes start to drift shut, but she doesn’t want the night to end yet. So she starts asking questions to stay awake, “How are you so strong?”

“Exercise, darling,” she offers simply in reply.

“Mhm,” Galinda murmurs her question not yet fully answered, “But why torture yourself like that?”

Elphaba laughs softly at her antics, “It is not torture. Exercise helps clear my mind. You know it is good for you.”

“I disagree, my barely healed sprained ankle can attest to that,” Galinda tells her sulkily. Elphie simply bends her neck to kiss her forehead.

Her mind jumps from one topic to another, never quite settling, “Why don’t you drink?”

“I do drink,” Elphie insists.

“Only sometimes and only a little bit. So why don’t you?” Galinda inquires. There is no judgment in her question, only curiosity.

“Someone has to take care of you and I do it gladly.”

“Well you should let others take care of you sometimes. If you want to indulge, I would want to take care of you as well,” Galinda tries to carefully articulate her words, she wants Elphie to know she is in earnest.

“So you will carry me home?” Elphie teases her. Galinda pouts, knowing she couldn’t possibly carry Elphie. (Perhaps she should work on that. Her tipsy (read: drunk) mind thinks that is a grand idea. It does not take into account how that would involve the dreaded exercise she was just complaining about.)

“Elphie, please,” Galinda whines.

“Okay, fine, I will let you know so you can return the favor.”

Satisfied with the answer, Galinda lets her head fall heavily against her shoulder. Too tired to hold it up anymore. She nuzzles closer to her warmth and takes a whiff of her clothes. She smells so much quintessentially like herself. Even after hanging around at a bar and being around so many people, she still just smells like her. Galinda wants to burrow into that scent. It smells like home.

Time moves strangely to her intoxicated mind. One moment Galinda feels the wind on her warm brow and the next they are inside in the stuffy hallways. She blinks and they have moved up a flight of stairs. A door opens into their hallway and suddenly they are in their dorm already. Elphie carefully lowers her to her bed. She takes off some of her more uncomfortable clothing items, like her shoes and her jacket. Galinda lets herself be moved around like a doll, her head lolling to the side. 

When Elphie is trying to remove some of the clips from her hair, she is leaning so close to Galinda’s face. All Galinda has to do is lean in. With the alcohol running through her system, her carefully manufactured control is holding on by a thread. And truly who is Galinda fooling? She pushes herself up to her elbows and captures Elphie’s lips in a kiss. Their lips press together for a moment. Galinda tries to deepen the kiss, to open her mouth, let her tongue explore Elphie. But Elphaba pulls away almost instantly. Galinda lets a whine fall from her tongue and her hand shoots out to hold onto Elphie more tightly. She doesn't want her to go. With all the strength in her drunken state, Galinda leans up more so her lips can press sloppy kisses into the exposed column of Elphie’s neck. Sucking and licking at the skin to mark it.

“Galinda, darling,” Elphie forces out her words on a breathless gasp, “You need to stop.” 

In any state Elphaba would be stronger than her, but it becomes a truly unfair fight when Galinda is drunk. She pulls away from her and puts some distance between them. No more than an arm’s length, but that is far enough away that Galinda can’t reach her. Trying to sit up or move in her current state makes her feel like she is on board a ship during the worst storm of the season. Galinda groans and pouts at her petulantly as she looks at Elphie through narrowed eyes. (She wants her so badly. They have held off on having sex for the first time for various reasons. Mainly they did not wish to rush into anything. They needed it to feel like the right time. So they waited. But Galinda wants her, needs her, yearns for her. It is easy to admit when her mind is hazy with intoxication. Intoxicated on alcohol or on love she does not know if she can discern it. Is there truly a difference?)

Elphie continues undeterred with a pointed stare, “We are not having sex or making out while you are drunk.”

Galinda wants to disagree, her hand still lazily holds onto Elphie’s hand. But she knows she can’t put up a fight. Not when she knows Elphie to be right. In the end she relents, nodding at her words, “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Elphaba leans over and kisses her forehead, “It’s okay, Galinda, get some rest.”

She hums happily at the feeling of Elphie’s lips on her skin, at her smell that still clings to Galinda’s body. She drifts off to sleep immediately after closing her eyes. Dragged under the waves of sleep into the depths of her dreamless mind. She feels like she is floating, weightless. Galinda has never felt better, more free.

Perhaps the intoxicated mind is not to be trusted. Because when she wakes up the next morning, Galinda feels like death. She has never felt worse actually. Alcohol has made a fool of her. Her head is pounding and her mouth is dry. The only highlight is Elphie. When she notices Galinda has woken up, she walks over making sure her footfalls are silent as she tries not to make loud noises. She wordlessly hands her some painkillers. Galinda swallows the medicine as Elphie lovingly strokes her hair. She keeps playing with her hair until her eyes drift closed again. Sleep claims her once more.

(Galinda would later learn through complaints from her best friend that Elphie was not the highlight of Fiyero’s morning. After she fell back asleep, Elphaba marched over to Fiyero’s dorm to give him a piece of her mind, where she banged on the door until he opened it. So while Galinda was offered loving and caring treatment, Fiyero – who was also nursing a hangover – had to listen to her yell at him about his irresponsibility for dragging Galinda into his schemes and drinking games. Galinda has dubbed it the preferential girlfriend treatment and she will be taking advantage of it again.)

Chapter Text

3.

Needy

The poppies are beautiful now that they are in bloom. Endless fields of bright colored flowers. And the vision is enhanced by Elphie who looks delighted by the field of flowers. (Galinda wishes she had brought supplies to capture the moment in paint. She promises herself she will try to recreate the image from memory when they get back. Elphie would enjoy that as well. Poppies are her favorite after all.)

Their day was wonderful. They ran through the fields in a blissful escape from the monotony of their classes and chaos of their exams coming up. They ate the richest of foods and had the most joyous time. Surrounded by friends and the beauty of nature, Galinda’s heart feels full. Everyday she is filled with gratitution for her friendships that have turned genuine. Most of all she is grateful for her girlfriend whom she loves. After a long day spent in the outdoors they turn to trek back to Shiz. The others had gone ahead to take the normal path, but Fiyero had insisted he knew some kind of shortcut through a particular part of the woods. Galinda is never one to back down from their escapades. (In all honesty she goes along because she wants to get back to their dorm more quickly. The day has been long and all she wants is for Elphie to hold her in her arms.) And where Galinda goes, Elphie goes. Which is how the trio find themselves trekking through the woods, which are decidedly more muddy than the path they took to get to the poppy fields.

They are stopped in their tracks by a particularly large muddy pool, surrounded by even more muddy terrain. Galinda looks down at her outfit of soft pinks and whites while her delicate heels sink further into the mud on the edge of the pool. She doesn’t truly care that much about getting dirty. (Her parents would care for the lack of decorum and the stain on their image, but they aren’t here. Meanwhile her granny would tell her to jump in the mud pool just for the fun of it.) Galinda however will gladly play the damsel in distress if she can convince Elphie to carry her. And so her scheme begins.

“Oh, how will I ever get across this mud without getting my shoes dirty?” Galinda complains loudly as she casts a sidelong look at Elphaba. Her girlfriend seems to be distracted as she considers the best way to get around the worst of the mud.

Between her exaggerated complaints and her longing looks at Elphaba, Fiyero seems to understand exactly what she is doing. And instead of supporting her like a good friend would, he tries to sabotage her plans. He offers with a sugary-sweet fake smile, “I can carry you.”

“No, not you,” Galinda glares at him and turns up her nose at the suggestion before turning pleading eyes on Elphie. The other girl has chosen that moment to be blissfully ignorant and oblivious as she sometimes tends to be. (Why can’t her girlfriend pay attention to her? Galinda only just refrains from stomping her foot lest she stick her heel deeper into the mud.)

“Okay, princess,” Fiyero snickers.

Galinda immediately retorts, “Don’t call me that, I’m not your wife.”

Fiyero guffaws at the unexpected jab. Once his laughter dies down, he teases her, “No, you are not. Though if I remember correctly, Elphaba told me that when we were still dating you claimed we were going to get married.”

Galinda buries her head in her hands at the reminder of her own dreadful words. (Fiyero and I are getting married. She shivers at the thought.) “Can we forget I ever said that? I was not in a good place mentally, you know this,” Galinda responds without removing the hands from her face. She does not wish to look at his teasing smug face right now.

Instead of the teasing she expects, he flips immediately from teasing into earnestness, “I know, Galinda.” She feels his hand squeeze her shoulder reassuringly and his hip bumps against hers. She peeks out from behind her fingers to note the serious look on his face. She removes her hands completely and places a quick peck to his hand.

Galinda feels the icky feeling of past memories cling to her, embarrassment and shame mingling in her gut. So instead of lingering on the serious shift in the conversation, she moves to lighten the mood, “I still can’t believe Elphie told you that. Such a betrayal.” Galinda turns an accusatory glare on Elphaba who tuned into the conversation after she saw the exchange between her and Fiyero. 

There are hints of worry in green eyes, seeking out Galinda’s brown ones. She smiles at her, which seems to be reassurance enough. Elphie plays along with her ploy to move on to lighter topics of conversation, “In my defense, I did not know that was a secret.” She throws up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

Galinda gasps in mock offense at her audacity, “Now that is a lie! When I told you that we were exchanging secrets. You knew.”

Elphaba shrugs, “Yes, well it is not like your secret turned out to be true so does it really matter that I told him? I thought it was funny.”

“You told him to laugh at me,” Galinda pouts at her. She crosses her arms petulantly.

Elphie rushes to reassure her with kind words and even kinder gestures, “No, I never wish to laugh at you.” She leans over to press a kiss to pouty lips. Galinda immediately perks up. (She doesn’t truly care about Fiyero knowing about her embarrassing “secret” as long as she gets apology kisses out of it.)

“You two are too sweet, you know that?” Fiyero remarks as he has to bear witness to their affection again. (Perhaps they were overly affectionate on their outing today, but Galinda can’t bring herself to care. And besides she can see the smile that is trying to make its way onto his face even while he puts on a look of faux irritation.)

“If I remember correctly, you were the one that pushed me to ask Elphie out,” Galinda tells him sagely, “So you truly only have yourself to blame. We bear no responsibility in this.”

“And because of my lack of foresight, a deep sense of regret mars my soul ever since,” Fiyero dramatically puts the back of his hand to his forehead to mimic the toll this burden has taken on him.

Galinda rolls her eyes at him before she turns to goad him, “Such poetic language. Did you finally start paying attention in class?” Fiyero hits her shoulder before Galinda is able to step out of his reach. She barely feels the hit as she doubles over with laughter.

As she is wont to do, Elphie interrupts their banter, “Can we get moving again? I think I have determined the best way to get across.”

“Tell that to this one, who will not get near the mud,” Fiyero points at Galinda. At which point Elphie’s eyes settle on her and Galinda sees her opportunity for success. She turns pleading eyes on her girlfriend before making her request, “Carry me, please.”

Elphie shakes her head fondly, “You know I can never refuse you anything when you look at me with those eyes.”

Fiyero agrees readily, “They are quite a potent weapon indeed, such big brown puppy dog eyes.”

Galinda gasps and looks at him in offense, “You did not just compare me to a dog…”

“Firstly, dogs are great so jot that down,” Fiyero counts on his fingers, “Secondly, do you have another animal that works better to represent you?”

Before Galinda can refute him and tell him he shouldn’t make any comparison, Elphie interjects, “A deer, definitely.”

“I am not a deer either,” Galinda crosses her arms as her eyes shoot between Elphie and Fiyero, glaring at both of them.

Elphie simply smirks at her and nudges Fiyero as if to say do you see it? Fiyero hums in agreement, “I can see it, the deer comparison. Especially because you’re clumsy like a deer as well.”

Galinda lets her jaw drop to show her outrage at his claim. (She might be a bit clumsy, but that does not give him the right to comment on it.)

“Fiyero Tigelaar, I will get you for that!” Before she can move to get him back for his previous grievous assault on her person, he has jumped cleanly across the pool of mud and is giving her a proud smirk. (The show-off! He did not need to rub in his claim about her ineptitude and clumsiness by showing off how athletic he is in comparison.) Galinda does not move to follow him. She would only end up covered in mud and he would not let her live that down with her pride intact. Instead she stares him down with a deathly glare.

Galinda is pulled out of her reverie by Elphie’s hand tugging on her arm. Her next words remind Galinda of the goal she lost sight of in her rush to win this game against Fiyero. “Come on, princess, hop on,” she turns her back to Galinda and indicates she should jump on her back.

From across the muddy terrain, Fiyero yells back, “So she gets to call you princess?”

“Yes,” Galinda answers with a smug smile. She admits it as easily as if she is telling him grass is green and the sky is blue. A simple truth, offered as easily as breathing. Elphie smiles at her and Galinda moves to hop on her back. She feels strong arms wrap around her legs to hold her up. Galinda nuzzles into Elphie’s neck as she wraps her arms around her neck. (Success after all!)

Elphie navigates the muddy terrain around the edges of the mud pool with ease. Even with Galinda’s additional weight on her back she gets them across without any problem. She presses a kiss to her neck in gratitution. 

Once they are standing on the other side, Elphie turns her head to the side to look at Galinda from the corner of her eye, “So do you want to hop off or…?” (The question is no true question at all. She knows Galinda will never willingly leave her arms. And neither does Elphie want to let her go, or so it seems by the tightening of her arms around Galinda’s legs.)

“Carry me the rest of the way, please please please,” Galinda emphasizes her words by pressing a lingering kiss just behind her ear. Elphie agrees readily, it is after all the outcome she wanted. She presses her lips to one of Galinda’s arms that is wrapped around her neck. Fiyero takes one look at them and rolls his eyes at their antics. (Galinda doesn’t care about being too needy, not with Elphie. She feels warm all over as her girlfriend’s strong arms carry her the rest of the way home. This is where she belongs.)

Chapter Text

+1

Horny

And so Galinda loves being carried by her girlfriend. The only problem is that along the way her desire to return the favor has grown larger. Any time Elphie picks her up now – which happens more often than you might expect – Galinda is thinking about how she wishes she could do the same to her. Instead she stares in the mirror at the slimness of her arms and she sighs. Until she decides enough is enough, she will get stronger and she will be able to carry Elphie. (She might have been driven to make the decision by a particularly horny dream that left her yearning. And so she rushed from their room while trying to make sure Elphie did not wake up.) She just needs some help, which is how she finds herself knocking on Fiyero's door with a request on her lips.

He lets her into his room without question. Even though it is the middle of the night and she seems to have woken him from his sleep. They sit on the couch in the living area of his dorm. It is silent for a while, their postures relaxed. Galinda could almost drift off to sleep again, if she wasn’t filled with nervous energy. Though there is no awkwardness nor expectation to speak. They have grown closer as friends. He would sit with her and give her the time and space to find the words if that is what she needed. Sometimes she comes to his room just to escape the tumult of her day to day life. When she needs to be away from people, but her own dorm is too empty, only filled with an oppressive silence when Elphie isn’t there. They would occupy the space together, it would be enough to simply have another person there. (She finds it grounding.) In that way Fiyero’s space is as much his as it is hers. Therefore it is not unusual for her to come here and sit on his couch and do nothing. But not today, today she has a request she needs to make. Galinda sits up and turns towards him, indicating her intent to speak.

“I want to get stronger, build some muscle,” Galinda settles on keeping it simple, “I wanted to ask for your help with that.”

“Why do you want that?” Fiyero asks her. The question is asked in earnest without any judgment attached. Just checking in to see what her motivations are. (She knows it comes from a place of care, to check if this is not another act of self-destruction as she has been prone to in the past. As Fiyero well knows.)

“I like being carried by Elphie as you know,” Galinda begins to explain. Fiyero gives her a knowing look remembering all the times he has seen her either in Elphie’s arms or clung to her back. She continues, “I want to return the favor. To be able to pick her up as well.”

“Is that all? I mean this decision has to be quite sudden and urgent for you to arrive here at this time?” Fiyero looks at her intently. The sky outside of his window is pitchblack, the stars are their only witnesses.

“Why wouldn’t that be enough of a reason?” Galinda raises a brow, but the fidgeting of her fingers gives her away. He keeps staring at her. The silence turns from comfortable to almost oppressive. 

Eventually he breaks it, “You know I don’t mind if you show up here in the middle of the night, I don’t even mind if you wake me up, but I thought we agreed we would be honest with each other.”

Galinda sighs, she knows he is right. And so she bites the highly embarrassing bullet. She buries her head in her hands before mumbling from behind her shield of flesh, “I just woke up from a dream where I could pick her up and carry her to my bed and you get the gist of it, don’t make me say it, Tigelaar.”

Fiyero snickers at her embarrassment and decides this is the perfect time to tease her, “So let me get this straight,” (Galinda rolls her eyes at his obvious pun.) “You just had a wet dream and your immediate response was to come here to ask me to help you get stronger so that you can reenact that dream. Self-improvement as a result of horniness. How gallant of you, Galinda.”

She wishes she could hit him, but that would mean moving her hands away from her face and she decidedly does not wish to look at him right now. When she refuses to comment in her humiliated state, he decides to continue.

“I don’t understand how you two have held off on having sex for this long, especially when you’re so horny that you’re waking me up in the middle of the night for this,” Fiyero leans forward and flicks her in the head. 

“Ouch,” Galinda yelps as she slaps away his hand. The movement has forced her to come face to face with Fiyero who looks at her with decidedly more fondness for someone who is claiming to be annoyed. (She knows he is just happy she came to him instead of making rash decisions and somehow hurting herself as she would have done before.) “Will you help me?” Galinda pouts at him.

“If it will make you two finally have sex, then absolutely,” he replies immediately as he dramatically puts his hand over his heart, “The sexual tension is getting ridiculous, have some mercy on the poor souls around you.”

“Shut up please,” she closes her eyes and throws her head back at his dramatics. (Meanwhile she does reach out her hand to find his blindly. She squeezes it to express her gratitution for his help.)

“Alright, a few more questions,” Fiyero begins as he squeezes her hand back, “You want my help getting some muscle on those bones?”

“Yes.”

“Can Elphaba know we are doing this or is this some sort of secret operation?”

“Let’s keep it a secret for now,” Galinda insists. (What she doesn’t say, but what she feels within her bones is her lingering doubt in her ability to see this through. Let’s not tell her in case I fail and give up, I can’t suffer her disappointment. She doesn’t need to say it, she knows Fiyero knows her well enough by now to recognize her general hatred towards her failures being perceived by others. For a moment she can see sympathy in his smile until it quickly turns mischievous. Galinda knows no good will come from that.)

“One last question, besides help with getting stronger, are you also looking for tips on how to have sex with a girl or…?” Fiyero can barely contain his amusement at her mortification. (Though she knows if she were to say yes he would treat her wish for advice seriously.)

Galinda feels her cheeks grow bright-red and warm with embarrassment, “And we’re done here.” She quickly gets up from the couch and begins to rush towards the door. She is stopped by Fiyero’s words just when her hand grabs the doorknob.

“I’ll stop by your dorm tomorrow afternoon when Elphaba still has another class, but on some suitable clothing for exercise,” Fiyero implores. Galinda agrees with a wordless jerky nod before quickly leaving the room. (The entire conversation had been quite humbling. She is never discussing sex with Fiyero again if she can help it.) Her quiet footsteps are the only thing she hears as she makes her way back to their room. She lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of Elphie still fast asleep. Galinda gets back into bed. Tomorrow she takes the first step towards reaching her goal. With that sorted, she falls back asleep.

It doesn’t take Galinda long to remember why she hates exercise. Absolutely loathes it with all of her being. Her muscles get tired too quickly. She has no coordination. Sweat pours from every orifice on her body. Most of all weight-lifting as an exercise commits the most egregious crime: it is boring. And so she hates it, she hates it, she hates it. Fiyero’s cheery attitude as he helps her with the weights is not helping her mood. She doubles over to catch her breath.

Fiyero claps her on the back, “How do your arms feel?”

“Like they’re about to fall off,” Galinda whines.

“Well then you know it is working, use that as inspiration to keep pushing,” Fiyero tells her as if it is that simple.

Galinda lets herself collapse into a heap before forcing out her next words, “I hate this, are there no other options to gain muscle?”

Fiyero is silent for a moment. He moves over to put away the weights before returning. He sits across from her and she looks at him while he is deep in thought. “Perhaps we could try something you would find more engaging,” Fiyero starts, “What do you think about boxing?”

Galinda’s eyes light up at the thought. There would still be the general annoyance of exercise like sweat and sore muscles, but at least boxing could be more fun. “That sounds better,” she agrees, “That way I can work towards my goal, while also getting the opportunity to hit you. It is a win-win situation.”

Fiyero playfully kicks her ankle, “Then let’s try that next time.”

Boxing turns out to be a lot more fun. She gets to throw punches at her friend after he annoyed her that day, which is a wonderful way to spend her time. (She also likes it because she gets to spend more time with Fiyero and hanging out with her best friend is always a good way to spend the time.) It also helps improve her coordination, which results in less clumsy accidents. (Her ankle still twinges painfully sometimes.) Above all else, it is not mind-numbingly boring like weight lifting. Moreover, it is actually quite good for stress relief. She finds she doesn’t mind exercising too much after all.

The only annoying and unexpected side effect of her new exercise regimen is the increased hunger, which she is electing to ignore. Though perhaps as she later finds out she shouldn’t have. For however much she exercises she barely gains any muscle. It is after one of their sessions when they sit down to eat that Galinda plops her head down on her crossed arms on top of the table after groaning exaggeratedly.

“What’s wrong?” Fiyero inquires as he starts eating his food.

“None of it is working, I can barely see a difference in my arms from when we started like a month ago,” Galinda complains before lamenting her predicament, “This way we will be here for years before I can pick up Elphie.”

She peeks up at him after he is silent for a bit, appearing to be deep in thought and looking at her plate in consideration. Eventually he settles on, “What are you eating?”

“What I usually eat,” Galinda answers simply.

Fiyero looks at the salad on her plate again, “You’re going to have to eat more than that and you’re also missing certain foods that would help you build muscle.”

“But…” Galinda cuts herself off as she sits up properly to move her fork around the food on her plate like she is about to start eating, ready to forget the conversation altogether.

“What? What’s wrong?” Fiyero asks her, concern evident in his tone. His hand is already reaching out across the table to touch her arm.

“Nothing,” Galinda tries to brush him off.

But Fiyero knows her too well to simply let sleeping dogs lie, especially when it comes to her. “Galinda, hey, talk to me.” 

She looks over at his eyes that hold such worry for her. She does trust him, he is one of the people in her life she trusts most these days. Galinda couldn’t have imagined that when they first met, but she is eternally grateful for how everything turned out. And so she pushes herself to speak, stepping outside her comfort zone.

Her mind is racing, trying to think of the best way to put into words how she is feeling. Eventually the words come out stuttering and quiet, “I just…I was taught…if I eat…” She stops herself to sort through her thoughts, to make any sense at all in her phrasing, “If I eat differently or more then I get this tight feeling in my stomach and in my chest, this almost…guilt. Or it just means I am full and have had enough to eat.” (The lie she rushes to add at the end falls easily from her lips. She has known how to lie to herself for a long time.)

Fiyero does a double take of her plate, “But you’re barely eating anything.”

His words cause a spark of indignation in her gut. It makes her defensive. “I am eating enough,” Galinda replies taking umbrage at his words, at their implication, “My momsie does the same thing, I just followed her example. I am sure she knows what she’s doing.”

He furrows his brow and shakes his head in righteous anger on her behalf, “You mean she taught you to restrict your eating?”

Her response is immediate, a knee-jerk reaction. “No,” Galinda almost yells back in his face, “That is not what I meant.” She feels a roiling in her gut, embarrassment and shame mingling like a horrid concoction.

Fiyero’s eyes flash with concern and he immediately backs off, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.” They are quiet for a moment. She bites the inside of her cheek to feel the sting of it, a taste of blood on her tongue. He makes a softer admission, “You know I don’t much like your parents after the way they made you feel shame for who you are. This just seemed like another example of that and I don’t…I just want to help you.”

(She knows he is referring to her parents' expectations regarding her sexuality and sense of self. The way she had panicked when she told him about what she perceived to be her brokenness. Instead he had countered her claims of brokenness and helped her pick up the pieces of her jagged soul. These days the memory is not as painful, not when she can sleep with Elphie in her arms and kiss her openly whenever she wants. But the weight of her parents’ expectations still lingers. She doesn't know what they will say if she tells them. Best not to think on it for too long.)

“I know you just want to help–” Galinda offers in a soft murmur, not wanting to break the quiet.

“But that is no excuse for making unfounded claims,” Fiyero cuts in as he squeezes her hand. She swallows thickly before squeezing back.

She shrugs noncommittally and admits, “Maybe…you’re not wrong. But they do love me…” (I think, I hope, she doesn’t voice those doubts.)

“I don’t deny that they love you,” Fiyero runs his thumb in circles over the skin of her hand, a soothing gesture as much for him as it is for her, “But that doesn’t mean that they can’t hurt you in the process.”

Galinda’s vision gets blurry as she stares at the movement of his hand. She tries to blink away the tears, but there are too many of them. So instead of suppressing them they spill over and roll down her cheeks. She tries to disentangle her hand from his to wipe away the evidence of her sorrow, but he won’t let her hide from him. Instead he moves his other hand up to wipe at her cheeks. When the tears progress into quiet cries and suppressed sobs, he gathers her in his arms. “Come here, I got you, it’s okay.” His arms are warm and familiar and comforting. Galinda buries her face in his shoulders and lets herself cry. (She hates how this always happens, she hates the burden she places on his shoulders for having to comfort her. She voiced this once and in reply he had said he does it gladly. That he would hold her together so she can fall apart if that is what she needs. She doesn't know what she did to deserve to have him as a friend. She just promises to herself to make sure to return the favor if he ever needs it.)

Once her tears have dried up, she pulls away and takes a few deep breaths. He looks at her imploringly to check if she is okay. She nods in reply. (She will be okay.)

“So do you want any help with this?” he indicates the food still on her plate, “You don’t have to if it is too much, I’m sure Elphaba will not mind if you can’t carry her.”

Galinda straightens her back and strengthens her resolve, “No, no I want to do this. Not just for her, but for me. Knowing that I am able to do it.”

“Okay, then let’s start small.”

Fiyero enlightens her on which foods would be best to eat and how much of it she would need. Most of all he tells her to listen to her body and to stop ignoring hunger signals. It is hard in those first weeks, guilt stews in her gut when she feels she has eaten too much. But over time the routine helps her break bad eating habits. Some days are harder than others, but she allows herself that space to feel bad about it. What Galinda knows for sure is that she couldn’t have done any of it without Fiyero’s encouragement. She doesn’t know what she would do without him.

In the end his words prove true. Between the boxing and the changes in her food intake, Galinda does make progress. When she looks in the mirror she can see the definition start to take shape in her arms. Wiry muscles span them. Sadly she has to throw away some items of clothing which cannot be tailored to fit anymore. But in return she feels much stronger and better in her body. She likes how it looks. And she knows she is not alone in this when she feels Elphie’s eyes on her arms or her back when she is turned away. She found out about Fiyero and Galinda taking up boxing a few weeks after they started. Though Galinda has not enlightened her on her initial reason for taking up the sport. She does not wish to pressure her into anything, does not wish to rush Elphaba when she knows she has some hang-ups of her own regarding her body. But as she feels Elphie’s eyes linger, perhaps she is not alone in her desire to take things further.

It is on one evening as they are getting ready for bed that the tension finally snaps. She is taking off her makeup, carefully wiping the cloth around her eyes. Elphaba is already done getting ready for bed. She sits on the edge of Galinda’s vanity. Her gaze steadfastly on Galinda, her eyes following the movement of her hands, her arms. After Galinda finishes wiping off the last of the makeup she puts the cloth down and meets Elphie’s eyes. She looks so pretty and soft. All her defenses down, comfortably dressed in nightwear, her face clean of any traces of makeup.

“I want to kiss you.” The words slip from her tongue without any conscious thought put behind them. Out of the corner of her eye she can see her own face is dusted with a pink blush, though she knows for a fact that she already removed that bit of makeup.

“Then kiss me,” Elphie tells her with a soft smile.

That is all Galinda needs to hear, she leans up from her seat and kisses that pretty smile. The kiss soon becomes more intense. Craning her neck begins to hurt and so Galinda moves up from her sitting position. She steps closer to Elphie who welcomes her presence, opening her legs to give Galinda space to stand in between them. The new position allows for much easier access to those lips. Galinda gladly captures them in another eager kiss. She deepens the kiss and Elphie answers in kind. As it progresses, Galinda lets her hands rest on her waist, then drift to her hips before landing beneath her legs. Thinking the moment feels right with their lips still connected, Galinda more firmly grasps her legs and flexes her muscles to pick Elphie up from the vanity.

Their lips disconnect as Elphie pulls away with a gasp. Her legs have automatically wrapped around Galinda’s waist and she looks at her now with wide green eyes. Green eyes that seem to darken with every clocktick. Her hands squeeze her thighs. Elphie’s weight barely phases her, she really should thank Fiyero for his help. Galinda bites her lip to suppress the cheeky smile that is threatening to break out on her face. A questioning brow is raised and she simply shrugs at Elphie’s question. Success tastes wonderful on her lips as Galinda leans in for another kiss. Elphaba kisses her back eagerly as her legs tighten around her waist and her hand slips down her arm to stroke the tensed muscles in appreciation. Galinda carries her over to their bed before carefully laying her down. Elphie’s legs still wrapped around her waist pull her along, which is how she ends up hovering over her girlfriend.

“Is this okay?” Galinda checks in.

Elphie nods emphatically before verbally consenting as well, “Yes please.”

She lets out a giggle at her enthusiasm before kissing her again. Galinda eventually has to pull away from the kiss when Elphie keeps insistently pulling at her shirt. She unbuttons the blouse and throws it away without a care. Before she can remove another item of clothing she is stopped by her girlfriend’s hands on her arms. Her nails trace across the muscles which are much more defined than they were some months ago. Galinda shivers at the scratching feeling of Elphie’s nails and at the hungry gaze roaming over her body.

She bites her lip shyly, “You know I have wanted to do that for a while.”

Elphie smiles at her in return and hums, “Is that so?”

Galinda nods wordlessly.

“You know I will ask you to do that again, many times,” Elphie murmurs, “That was so attractive.”

“I will gladly, my love,” Galinda takes one of the wandering hands and presses a kiss to her knuckles.

Elphie asks, “Is that how you felt when I would carry you?”

“Absolutely,” Galinda lets out a giggle.

“No wonder you always randomly jump into my arms,” Elphie replies in a voice that cannot contain her mirth.

“So are you going to let me undress further or would you rather keep touching my arms?” Galinda nods towards her hand that is still firmly grasping her bicep.

“A tough decision, but I will let you undress,” Elphie removes her hands.

Galinda quickly shucks off the rest of her clothes and underwear until she is left naked with only the soft blonde curls as cover. She feels a blush spreading across her cheeks and neck under Elphie’s appreciative gaze.

Shyly she asks as she pulls on the nightgown Elphaba is wearing, “Do you want to remove this?”

She can see insecurity in those green eyes as she weighs up her options. Galinda waits patiently, her hand rubbing at the soft sleep-worn fabric. When it takes Elphie a while to reply, she adds, “You don’t need to if you don’t want to, it’s okay. But just know that I think you’re beautiful, every inch of you. Don’t doubt that.”

Her words of reassurance seem to help as Elphie sits up to help Galinda remove the article of clothing wordlessly. Together their hands get rid of the final layer of clothing between their naked skin. After the nightgown has been tossed aside, Galinda softly lets her hand run over the miles of exposed green skin. “Beautiful,” she murmurs before placing soft kisses across her neck, her chest, her breasts, “Gorgeous.” She feels the tension in Elphie’s body slip away, with each press of her lips, each word of praise. She eases her back into the pillows that cover their bed. After she is laying back down again, Galinda starts kissing down her body, but she stops just above her navel. 

Bashfully, she bites her lip and lingers for a while in that spot until Elphie asks her what’s wrong.

“Nothing is wrong,” Galinda demures, “I just…I did some reading at the book place.”

“Library,” Elphaba corrects her automatically as she has done many times before. These days Galinda mostly says it to annoy her, to lighten the mood. Elphie shakes her head to get back on track and teases, “You went to the library willingly…to read?”

“Hey now,” Galinda slaps her leg playfully, “I do read books.”

Elphie grins at her, “Okay, what did you read and why are you bringing it up now?”

Galinda feels the ever-present blush spread further down from her neck to her chest. (She is glad pink looks good on her or it would be a problem with how much she blushes when she is around her girlfriend.) She looks away from Elphaba’s eyes and instead focuses on her hand tracing verdant skin, “I looked up some stuff on how sex works between two women, because I wanted it to be good for you.”

Shyly, Galinda peeks up and she sees Elphie’s skin has darkened with a blush as well. It is good to know she is not the only person who is affected. (Why does this have to be so awkward? Galinda wants to bury her face in a pillow and forget she ever said anything.) She is pulled out of her reverie by Elphie’s hand stroking her cheek, “Always so prepared.”

Galinda lets out a chuckle, “It was between reading books or taking Fiyero up on his offer of advice and I would rather die than pick the second option, so I was doomed to reading.”

“That seems like the better option,” Elphie lets out a giggle before biting the inside of her cheek, “So what did you read?”

Galinda’s fingers tap nervously on her skin, “A few things, but there was one in particular I wanted to try if you were up for it.”

“Tell me.”

“I read that it is pleasurable to use your mouth to bring a woman pleasure.”

Elphie’s eyes widen, “Down there?”

Galinda nods hesitantly before turning more self-assured, “Yes, so would you…want me to?”

Elphaba seems to blush even more if possible at her words, but eventually she nods. A hand comes up to tuck a blonde lock of hair behind Galinda’s ear.

A bright smile appears on Galinda’s face, “Okay, good, good.”

Not waiting for another moment, she resumes her downward path of kisses pressed to warm inviting skin. Open-mouthed and sucking, leaving small marks leading to the apex of her thighs as she lets herself be guided by the trail of hairs that run down from her navel. After reaching her destination, the place where her wetness gathers between her thighs, Galinda tells her, “Just let me know if something feels good.” Elphie simply nods, petting the blonde locks beneath her hand as fingers intertwine to grip her hair.

Galinda takes an experimental lick of the wetness. The taste is musky, but also strangely sweet in a way. It tastes how Elphie smells. Delicious. Galinda lets her tongue glide through her folds more assuredly to get a better taste. In return Elphie bucks her hips and a soft moan greets Galinda’s ears.

“I take it you like how it feels?” she asks her. Her breath ghosts over Elphie’s exposed folds and she feels a shiver run through her body where her hands hold down her hips.

“Yes, Galinda, please continue,” Elphaba almost begs her. Desire and need so clear to see and hear, it makes warmth settle in Galinda’s own belly.

Galinda gives into her wishes and continues lavishing her sex with her tongue. Alternating between short licks and long strokes, using the tip of her tongue to poke and thrust into her entrance, running the flat of her tongue with broad swipes along the area. The more of her wetness she drinks in, the more appears to leak out of her. Eventually Galinda moves up to the place she knows should bring her pleasure from her cursory reading and her own wandering hands at night. She circles her tongue around her clit and listens to the moans that greet her. The hand that has become intertwined in her hair pushes her head closer to the bud. Galinda places her mouth around it and sucks on her clit. The stimulation and suction make Elphie roll her hips into Galinda’s face, pushing her ever closer, wanting her to continue. “Don’t stop,” she hears her whimper. Galinda wasn’t planning to. It doesn’t take long to push her closer to the edge. Her tongue keeps working in the area, moving to the places that get the biggest reactions. 

“Inside,” Elphie pants.

Galinda quickly brings up her hand and pushes two fingers inside her with ease. Elphie lets out a low moan. Her cunt clenches and flutters around the digits. She brushes her fingers against the wall of her cunt and puts her mouth to her clit again. Galinda feels it as much as she hears it when Elphaba reaches her climax. The sight is one she won’t soon forget. But regardless she makes sure to memorize the sight of her in ecstasy. Arched back, flushed chest, mouth dropped open and head thrown back. After she rides out her orgasm, Galinda pulls away and wipes at the remnants of wet slick on her face. She brings her fingers up to her mouth and sucks on them. Elphie’s dark eyes look at her dazed, but she insistently taps at Galinda’s hip, “Tell me what you want.”

Galinda doesn’t need to be told twice. Bringing her girlfriend pleasure had pushed her desire to the back of her mind, but her body is quick to remind her. She feels her own cunt clench around nothing and wetness coats the inside of her thighs. Galinda scoots up to straddle her and reaches out to grab Elphie’s hand which she guides between her own legs to get herself off. (She is grateful that in the past few months Elphie has elected to wear her nails shorter and less sharp. Though for a moment she has a thought of longer nails scraping at her insides, the sting that would make her bleed and Galinda shivers in pleasure at the thought. That is something to unpack for later.) For now she feels two of Elphie’s fingers prod at her entrance and Galinda grinds down against them to take them inside. She rolls her hips to get that pleasurable feeling of her fingers rubbing the inside of her walls.

“Your thumb,” Galinda instructs as she guides over the digit to rub against her clit. Elphie looks on breathlessly as her other hand holds onto Galinda’s hip. She raises herself up and lets herself sink back down on those fingers as dark eyes look at her full of want. She has never felt more desired or cherished. It doesn’t take long for her climax to reach her. She was already so close to the edge. She lets herself drop over that edge before collapsing on top of Elphaba with a moan. Her insides still fluttering around her fingers, Galinda presses soft kisses to her sweat-slicked neck. Eventually Elphie extracts her fingers and takes them into her mouth. Galinda immediately pulls her in for a kiss. Tasting the combined flavors of each of them on her tongue, she feels bliss.

When they break away, Galinda lets out a giggle, “Why did we wait so long to do that?”

“I have no idea,” Elphie replies, “We should totally do that again.”

There is a pause where neither of them speaks, then Galinda asks cheekily, “Right now?”

Elphie looks at her with exasperation, but also a renewed craving, “Sure, why not.” She leans up to capture her lips in another kiss. (Galinda feels a fluttering in her gut as if she is tripping and falling from a great height, but she knows Elphie will be there to catch her. So she lets herself fall.)