Who: Elphaba and Glinda Where: Glinda’s home When Afternoon in July What Plotting after a slight mishap Status: Complete Rating: PG
Glinda had been delighted when she’d woken up to discover her wand was on her bedside table. She’d gushed on the internet and then set out to practice. Things hadn’t gone too badly until she attempted the bubble spell and now she was stuck. Inside a bubble. In the middle of her apartment.
But she wasn’t panicking. Elphie was coming over to discuss surprising Luthien and she knew her friend would be able to help her. If she didn’t run out of air first. Oh god what if she did and Elphie just discovered her wilted body in the bubble.
Elphaba was looking forward to planning with Glinda. Her friend was enthusiastic and creative, and that’s just the sort of thing Elphaba needed to pull this off. After speaking with someone outside of the travel agents, she had an idea of where she wanted to take Lúthien away to, but she really needed help hammering out the details.
Hitching her big bag on her elbow as she approached Glinda’s front door, she pushed her hair behind her ears and knocked. And waited. Then knocked again.
When the knock came Glinda shouted loudly for her friend to come in. Relief coursing through her until the knock came again. Really? She thought, great just great. She was stuck inside not only a bubble but one that muffled sound. Looking around she tried to move the bubble towards the table knocking over a few things in the process. Maybe that would be loud enough for Elphie to hear.
Elphaba frowned as she heard some things getting knocked over. “Glinda? Are you ok?” she called in concern, turning the handle on the front door. She pushed the door in and cautiously stepped through the doorway. She looked around the immediate area and came up short as she looked in the front room. She knew she was gaping, but she couldn’t help it. Glinda. In a bubble.
Glinda was thankful she’d left the door unlocked in preparation for Elphie’s arrival, and she felt that relief return as her friend stepped into the house. “Elphie! Thank goodness” she cried out loudly, hoping her friend would hear her, “I had a little accident” she explained with a sheepish smile.
“Glinda?” Elphaba asked, unable to stop a burst of laughter spilling past her lips until she clapped a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders wracking with laughter still, as she spoke. “What happened?”
“Elphie! Stop laughing!” Glinda said stamping her foot a little which caused the bubble to ripple but remain intact. “I wanted to see what the wand could do and bubbles are so easy in the dreams. But then I got stuck. I need you to help me get out”
Elphaba tried to stifle her laughter. “Ok, ok, what have you tried? I assume you’ve tried...popping it with your wand?” she asked, still grinning as she put her bag down on one of the seats.
“Of course I have” Glinda responded somewhat indignantly, and as if to prove it she raised the wand and smacked it against the bubble. It did nothing. “And i’ve tried kicking it, scratching at it and running it into things. Nothing’s working”
Elphaba shook her head and put her hands on her hips as she looked at the bubble encasing her friend. “You certainly do like to find these weird and interesting situations don’t you,” she chuckled. “Ok...I’ll be right back,” she held up a finger and headed out to the kitchen, grabbing a large glass and pouring some water from the tap into it. She returned to the living room with glass in hand. “I’m going to throw this on the bubble. If you get wet then...I’m sorry,” she held up her free hand in defence.
“Well it’s not as though I go looking for them. They just seem to find me. I didn’t know wandifying things would end up with me stuck in a bubble” she protested. Glinda tried to see what Elphie was doing but couldn’t tell until she came back. “It’s okay, I’ll forgive you if it gets me out of here” she told her friend generously.
“Wandifying?” Elphaba gave her a dubious look as she used that word. “If you’re going to use words like that I may just leave you in there,” she gave her an amused look.
“What are you...did I just say that?” she said honestly confused, “Damnit. That keeps happening. Please Elphie just get me out of here” she practically whined.
“Ok, ok, stay calm. Who knows what the air supply is like in there,” Elphaba remarked, putting her head down as she did. “Here we go,” she tossed the water onto the bubble and nothing happened. “Oh damnit,” she huffed before putting the glass on the coffee table next to her. Placing her hands on her hips as she looked the bubble over, she tilted her head and contemplated it. The Grimmerie came to her after a Dream the other day, maybe that had the answer. “Hmm,” she hummed to herself and turned to rifle through her handbag for it.
"Well how am I supposed to stay calm with you telling me I'm going to run out of air" Glinda said incredulously. Before covering her face as the water hit the bubble. Nothing. Crap. "Elphie what are you doing now?" She asked trying to look.
“I don’t know, alright!” Elphaba told her in frustration. She sat down on the couch with the Grimmerie and started to flick through the pages. The words swam in front of her but came into some sort of focus which she could understand, just like in the Dreams. “Just give me a minute to look through this,” she told her friend.
“Well you don’t have to yell at me” Glinda said quietly before going silent so Elphie could focus. She started prodding at the bubble with her fingernails but it still didn’t pop. How did she get herself into these situations?
“Ok, I think I may have something here,” Elphaba said, more to herself then Glinda as she examined a page closely. She ran her finger over the lines as if that would stop the letters moving in front of her eyes before sitting more upright in her seat and looking at Glinda. “Now…don’t freak out or anything, but this should work,” she told her. “And don’t make fun of me.” Taking a deep breath, she started to repeat the words from the book, foreign syllables rolling off her tongue like they did in the Dreams, not really paying attention to the bubble.
At first nothing happened but then the bubble started softly vibrating and as the ripples increased Glinda noticed it looked like it was getting thinner. She moved her wand to tap it once more and as she did so it popped and she let out a little ‘Ooh’ of shock as she was freed. “Oh Elphie, you’re amazing! You saved me from certain death” she declared dramatically before moving to hug her friend.
Still with the book in her hands, Elphaba could do little to either fend off or accept the hug, so just let Glinda do her thing. Soon enough the other woman pulled away and Elphaba could breathe again. “You’re welcome,” she told her friend shyly. “And you said bubbles wouldn’t be a problem,” she said pointedly.
Even if Elphie had tried to fend her off Glinda was a very determined hugger and it would have been a futile exercise. “Next time they won’t be. I just need to tweak the spell a little” Glinda told her with an easy smile, “And make sure my cell phone is in my pocket so I can call you to say the spell again”
“Oh god, you’re going to do it again aren’t you,” Elphaba sighed and closed her eyes. “You owe me for this you realise,” she said with a little grin as she shut the book, realising she could perhaps take advantage of the situation.
“Of course I am. Elphie, I was in a bubble. It was incredible!” Glinda gushed with a bright laugh, “Anything” she said instantly, “You know that”
Elphaba couldn’t help but laugh at Glinda’s enthusiasm. Not much seemed to ever deter her friend. “Good, good. Then you can help me plan my elopement,” she said happily, pulling out a huge ring-binder folder from her bag and dropping it theatrically on the coffee table. She looked up at Glinda with a smile.
Glinda wasn’t the sort of person to let things keep her down for long, it was much better to be happy. When the folder dropped onto the table she looked at it and then Elphie before clapping her hands excitedly and bouncing on the balls of her feet, “This is so exciting”
Elphaba chuckled at that, smoothing her hand over the cover of the Grimmerie before sliding it back into her bag. “Well, we may also have to include my friend Elsa and her girlfriend Kate into the plans too,” she told Glinda, opening up the folder to the page which showed the Black Forest. “I invited them to be a part of the ceremony, but I haven’t heard back yet. Think that’s going to be a problem?” she looked up at her friend expectantly.
"Not at all" Glinda smiled, "I think that will be lovely. Oh and the venue, look at how gorgeous that countryside is" Glinda smoothed a hand over the picture, "We'll make sure everything is absolutely perfect"
“Thanks, Glinda,” Elphaba let out a sigh of relief. “Now, I’ve made a list of possible venues that are all the in the front section and really I guess it’s just finding the right place for the ceremony. So if you can have a look through that section and give me your thoughts then I can book it. What I’m really struggling with is dresses...Lúthien obviously has to wear one because she will look amazing, but should I?” she rambled.
"Elphie breathe before you pass out. Everything will be fine. We'll look through the venues and we will find perfect dresses for both of you because, of course, you should wear a dress"
Elphaba took a breath and sat back from the folder. “Mind if I have a glass of water?” she asked Glinda, feeling a little flushed and overwrought.
“Of course, let me get it for you” Glinda said heading to the kitchen and pouring her friend a cool glass of water. “Are you okay?” she asked in concern as she handed it over.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine,” Elphaba took the glass from her friend. “I just get worried I’m not going to do it right for her and that she’ll resent me and kick me out or something,” she took a sip of the water. “Thanks.”
“You know that’s never going to happen” Glinda told her, squeezing her friends shoulder, “She loves you Elphie, the forever after kind of love”
“I know, but there’s still a part of me that thinks I’m going to screw up so badly she’ll never take me back,” Elphaba admitted. “I can organise this wedding. I know that. That’s not the problem….the problem is whether she’ll like it or not,” she said, gazing at the pages of the folder.
“Elphie, she’ll love it. Not because it’s perfect and not because it’s planned so well down to the last detail. She’ll love it because you were the one who did it all. You put so much thought and so much you into it that she’s going to adore it no matter what” Glinda said taking her friends hands in her own.
“Thanks Glinda,” Elphaba smiled with a happy sigh, tension leaving her shoulders. “Right, let’s choose dresses.”