#fiyeraba february 2025 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gemsofthegalaxy · 2 months ago

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Dancing - Fiyeraba month 2

[To preface, I am already late, because I misunderstood the timeline of the prompts. and I also was not finished this on the weekend. oops.

My contribution is the WIP Chapter 3 of my Yet Unnamed Regency!AU fic. Full disclosure, I am not sure yet exactly how the relationship between Glinda and Elphaba will shake out, if they're more qpr or Elphaba simply has romantic feelings for both Glinda and Fiyero, but the focus of the fic is Fiyeraba I promise, so hopefully this still countes!! That being said, the chapter starts off with Glinda and Elphie dancing, and ends with Elphie and Fiyero dancing and talking about marrying, ft. jealous!Fiyero in the middle because i love that.

Without further adieu~ ]

“Elphie! You were gone so long,” Glinda said, reaching out to grasp her hand, always so outwardly affectionate.

“I decided to get some air in the gardens,” Elphaba explained, and Glinda smiled.

“You have a flower in your hair,” Glinda observed, lifting her hand as if to touch it but not quite disturbing it, “and it’s pink!”

“That it is,” Elphaba agreed.

“Pink and green do go so- well- together,” Glinda said, and Elphaba smiled, more earnestly, glancing down at the ground, and then back up again.

“That they do,” she said softly.

For a moment, it was as if they were the only ones standing in the ballroom. Other than Fiyero, Glinda was the only person who made Elphaba feel this way, her undivided attention having a way of creating a bubble around the two of them, lowering her defenses, making them the center of the universe.

Then, Glinda spoke again, “Oh, let’s dance, Elphie! Please.”

Elphaba stiffened slightly, as Glinda made her eyes big and wide. She threw in a pout a moment later, hand skimming along Elphaba’s dance card, which was empty, as usual.

A few times, the prior season, Glinda had roped Elphaba into a dance with her. It was always at least mildly begrudging. Dancing just brought so much attention to them, and Elphaba generally preferred to be ignored rather than regarded with scorn.

But, Glinda was a difficult person for anyone to resist, let alone Elphaba, who had become her best friend.

“Oh- just once,” Elphaba said, and Glinda’s face lit up like a firework.

“Oh, Elphie, thank you,” Glinda said, taking her dance card to scroll her name in big loopy letters along it.

Then, Elphaba wrote her name on Glinda’s as well, and they took to the floor.

It was not quite as common for two women to dance with each other, but it was not at all unheard of, either. It could become an odd dynamic, at times. All across Oz, it was perfectly acceptable to marry someone regardless of their gender; save for when one person involved was an heir. Most of the ton fell into that category, or else they would not be involved in the social season. The entire point of the season was to bring together the youth of the upper echelon, so they could get to know the other political figures, build connections that would help their own communities prosper, and it was all introduced and orchestrated by the Wizard.

In fact, these balls were said to have occurred in the place the Wizard came from, before he arrived by balloon. So, he knew it was a method that worked well. And, to his credit, a great number of good matches had been made at the balls and in society. It was rare, by now, that any political match was determined outside of the people invited to partake.

Of course, the fact that they were both women was far from the only reason people stared and gawked as Elphaba and Glinda started to dance. The colour of Elphaba’s skin was a constant point of contention in her life, causing strife, sowing mistrust from those around her because they did not know what to make of a person like her.

Still, Elphaba held her head high and looked only at Glinda, as much as she could manage, and danced to the song played by the band in the corner. Glinda was smiling, both soft and bright, and that helped things.

At the end of the dance, though, Elphaba did see something she was not quite expecting, but ultimately glad that she caught.

As they stepped away from each other, Elphaba saw Fiyero at the edge of the dancefloor, and at the moment their eyes connected, hurt flashed across his face. Bitterness, and dejection.

Elphaba blinked, startled at the raw emotion, and stood still for a moment. He turned, and walked between some other people.

“Thank you, again, Elphie,” Glinda said, placing a hand on her arm. Elphaba looked towards her.

“Of course,” Elphaba said, but she glanced back again, at the direction Fiyero had started off in. “Now. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, run along! I know how you hate being center stage,” Glinda said, smiling good-naturedly. Elphaba gave a weak smile back, and scurred off indeed.

One advantage to being so ostracized was people did tend to move out of the way for her, so Elphaba was able to dart through the crowd quite easily, and walk down the hall at as fast as pace as would acceptable.

Thankfully, her guess as to which direction Fiyero went in was correct. After turning another corner, she saw he was stood with his arms crossed, observing a rather large painting on the wall.

“Fiyero,” she said, and he did not look at her at first. She placed her hands on her hips, ever-so-slightly winded after dancing and speedwalking, not used to doing either. “Are you- what- what was that look for?”

Slowly, Fiyero turned his gaze on her, quirking a brow. “Look? What look?”

“Don’t play coy,” Elphaba said, huffing once. It was lost on her that she should not take such a tone with a prince. Fiyero did not acknowledge it either.

“There’s no look, Elphaba, nothing is wrong. Nothing at all. It’s not as if I hadn’t asked you for a dance, earlier tonight, to which you refused for no reason, and yet you took to the floor with the very woman you pawned me off onto when you would not dance with me.”

Elphaba pressed her lips together, and regarded him with confusion. “You’re- upset that I would not dance with you?”

“No, as I said- I am not,” Fiyero said, “upset. But I do find it curious, Elphaba dearest, that you would deny one of your oldest friends something that you so easily do with someone you met mere months ago, because I was away-”

“It’s- it’s not a competition between you and her. You are both my friends.”

“Then why dance with her, and not me?” Fiyero asked, his hands on his hips now, while Elphaba’s were across her chest.

In truth, she could not come up with a good reason, only that Fiyero’s status as a prince would garner more attention than even Glinda. And that she had, in his absence, danced with Glinda a couple of times last season; something she had only done with Fiyero once and only once.

Elphaba sighed. It was so rare that Fiyero had ever taken issue with her, it was a strange feeling to have. While it was childish that he said one thing and clearly felt another, Elphaba could acknowledge that he had a point.

“No, you’re- you are right, Fiyero,” Elphaba conceded, and Fiyero blinked. “Please. Let’s- let’s go back, we can dance.”

Fiyero scoffed, and then looked down. “No, I- I don’t wish to- I don’t want you to feel obligated or-or to do it just because I’ve thrown a fit, Elphaba, I- never mind it, please.”

Elphaba shook her head, “It’s not that. I- you’re right, it’s unfair, that I should dance with her and not you, you’ve both treated me kindly and been a friend to me. It’s- it’s not as if I don’t wish to dance with you, it’s more- the reaction of others, I am wary of, but I do not wish the opinions of others to cause me to mistreat a dear friend. So, I ask again, Fiyero. Please come dance with me.”

Fiyero blinked again, and looked up, giving her another small smile, a bit unfamiliar again. It was- hopeful, or something of the sort. “If you’re certain.”

“I am,” Elphaba said, lifting her hand. Fiyero squeezed it, and they walked a moment before thinking better of walking into room holding hands.

Thankfully, they could slip back into the room at the very edge of it, and Fiyero took Elphaba’s card to write his name. Elphaba held her breath, knowing they did not yet have the attention of everyone in the room.

As the next song started, though, he led her onto the dancefloor with their hands held high, looking poised and regal in a way he often did not evoke.

As expected, the reaction of the room was not only noticeable the way it was when Elphaba stepped out with Glinda, but outright palatable. People actually gasped, and Elphaba did her best not to show any sort of weakness on her face.

“Look at me,” Fiyero whispered to her, as if he could read her mind. “Not at them.”

Elphaba gave the subtlest of nods, and they began to dance.

It was slow, calculated, Elphaba tried not to be too stiff in her movements, but she wasn’t quite used to dancing. And while she looked at Fiyero, she was still keenly aware of the eyes on her at all times, and the whisperings that had started in the crowd.

“If- if anyone says anything to you, regarding this, please tell me,” Fiyero said, giving her a twirl. “I will have it- handled.”

Elphaba allowed the side of her lips to lift, “I will not have your secret guard kill my detractors or- any such thing.”

Fiyero scoffed, “Killed? I won’t have anyone killed on your behalf, Elphaba,” Fiyero insisted. “Perhaps, just...’

“Thrown in the dungeon?”

Fiyero smirked, making a noise of amusement, and Elphaba smiled back more readily.

It wasn’t like their private conversations, where she could forget herself and who he was all too easily, for she could not shake the sense of being watched, but his words to her did help ward off the bulk of the insecurity.

“Oh, please, that’s- the dungeons of the castle have not been used for many years,” Fiyero started to explain, in a playfully defensive tone. All the while, he spun her again, skirt getting just a bit of air. The style was not as swishy as it had been in years past, but it still moved with her in a pleasant fashion.

“But they are still in existence,” Elphaba challenged, and Fiyero raised his brows.

“Well, it takes a long time to renovate an entire castle, you see…” Fiyero defended, again.

Turning to face him in the very center of the room, Elphaba gave him a look that was ever-so-slightly unimpressed.

Fiyero grinned, at once. “Were some people to find themselves down there, surely, I would not have anything to do with it. However, yes, if people- if harm comes to you in any way, I will see it dealt with somehow.”

Elphaba smiled again, “I appreciate the sentiment, Fiyero, but I am capable of fighting my own battles. And, really, you do not need to throw around the authority you hold, it’s quite…”

“Quite..?”

“Distasteful is not the word I am searching for, I know you cannot help your birthright, but the fact you could so swiftly have people ‘dealt with’ for relatively minor offenses-” Elphaba scrunched her nose, and Fiyero laughed again, changing the direction of the dance in step with the music.

“Having the might of potential martial law behind my authority is not so appealing to your sensibilities, Elphaba? You know the military training I just concluded was quite informative.”

Elphaba continued to give him a look, “You know very well it is not, as you say, ‘appealing’ to me. I believe the amount of power concentrated in your position is rather concerning.”

Fiyero raised his brows, grinning widely now, “Well, when you’re Queen-“

“Excuse me?”

For a moment, Fiyero used a moment in the music to draw himself near, speaking close to her ear, “You offered, earlier tonight, to marry me. You realize, Elphaba darling, that would inevitably end in your becoming Queen?”

Elphaba took his hand and stepped back in the next move of their dancing, holding his gaze. Hers was steady, his was teasing and mirthful. “As I said, the intention is not to actually marry- it would not be seen through, your parents would never allow it.”

“And if they did?” Fiyero asked, eyes flicking up and down. “Would that change your proposition?”

“Well- no,” Elphaba said, truthfully. She would not go back on her word.

“Then, in theory, you just may become Queen,” Fiyero said, and Elphaba narrowed her eyes at him.

“Well. I should like to make a great many changes, in that case. I hope you realize what you would be getting into, if- if it all of that were to transpire.”

“Oh, believe me,” Fiyero said, eyes almost blazing. Elphaba felt her cheeks grow just a tiny bit hot under the unexpected heat of his gaze, “I do.”

Fiyero always had such a rebellious spirit. Elphaba wondered what she may have gotten herself into. It occurred to her, at that moment, Fiyero might wish to tell his parents they were marrying just to see their reaction, how aghast they would be. At the same time, he was not a cruel man, so he would not wish to use her to just get a rise out of them. Although, that was exactly what she herself had proposed. She had given him permission to do that very thing, or an approximation of it.

Furthermore, maybe he would want to marry her just for her political ideas, the thought of shaking up the royal family line being appealing to him because it went against the traditions he so abhorred. They could, in fact, be surprisingly well-suited as a political match, although Elphaba was not sure how she would be received as Queen of Winkie Country.

As her head spun with thoughts, the music slowed to a stop, and so did they. Fiyero lifted her hand to kiss the back of it, smirking at her through his lashes. Elphaba wanted to roll her eyes at him, but seeing as everyone was looking at her, she smiled demurely and dropped into a deep curtsey to show her appreciation for his kindness.

Finally, she righted herself, and walked at a normal pace off the dancefloor. She grabbed a flute of champagne as Fiyero went to speak to another person.

For the rest of the evening, people whispered about her, having danced with two of the most eligible people in all of the ton.

What an exciting start to the season indeed.

#fiyeraba #my writing #my fic #my au #Fiyeraba February 2025 #fiyero tigelaar #elphaba thropp

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