Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Galinda Upland. Shizney’s modern-day princess. Rosy-pale skin. Gold hair with a gentle curl. Brown eyes that shone with golden flecks (widened at the moment; Galinda was clearly as surprised to meet Elphaba as Elphaba was to meet her).

It was impossible to be Elphaba’s age without hearing the name. Nessa adored her. Elphaba did not, if only because Galinda was everything she wasn’t: beautiful. Charming. The list went on, probably. Almost without her noticing, Elphaba’s eyes narrowed. Galinda’s eyes got even wider (Elphaba didn’t think such a thing to be possible) at the hostility ( she probably wasn’t used to someone not immediately loving her, Elphaba thought) then her eyes, too, narrowed.

Then, she took in the obvious.

“You’re green !”

Elphaba wrapped her arms around her chest in a way that’s halfway self-conscious, halfway defiant, before she stuck her nose up.

“I am.”

“Elphaba, this is Galinda Upland, your co-star. I’ve mentioned her before, I believe.”

You failed to mention that my ‘co-star’ would be GALINDA UPLAND!!!! Elphaba thought, but she held her tongue, untangled her arms, and, begrudgingly, nodded.

“Galinda, this is Elphaba Thropp - your new co-star.”

Galinda did the opposite of what Elphaba did, instead echoing her movements from a few moments ago: lifting her chin and crossing her arms with a ‘humph’.

This was going to be fun, she could already tell.

Chapter Text

Rehearsal

As much as it stung, Elphaba understood why she had been cast as the Wicked Witch. Still, it didn’t make it any easier to watch Galinda practically glide on set in her sparkly pink ballgown.

“And…action!” the cameraman (Boq? Elphaba was fairly certain his name was Boq) declared. Glinda’s arms wrapped protectively around the young girl — who for the life of her, Elphaba could not think of her name — who played the girl in the movie (whose name, ironically enough, Elphaba could also not remember) and she delivered her line with a smirk.

A smirk, that seemed pretty out of character, in Elphaba’s opinion; a smile that said ha! I’m the good one, and you’re not! I’m pretty, and you’re not! I have a boyfriend, and you don’t! I-

Elphaba was so fixated on it, in fact, that she completely forgot her line. Galinda’s expression went from smug to confused to desperate, and by that point it was too late and Morrible pulled them aside.

“What was that about?” she demanded. Though Elphaba was usually good with people yelling at her, this time she felt herself tremble and her eyes drop to the ground.

“I-I’m not sure,” Elphaba said, trying to keep her voice steady. Morrible hummed, then turned to face Galinda instead. Despite her hatred of the blonde, Elphaba couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt at her relief to have Morrible’s eyes off her.

“Is it because of your co-star?” Morrible demanded, voice icy. It took Elphaba (who’s eyes were no longer fixed on her shoes, though that didn’t really matter) a moment to realize that she was the one Morrible was speaking to, for Morrible’s eyes were still glued to Galinda. Elphaba couldn’t think of a good response, because… yeah, it kinda was. This left Galinda to sputter out her denials.

“N-no! Madame, that’s not it! I swear! I-”

Morrible cut her off with a dramatic wave of her finger, leaving Glinda’s large brown puppy eyes wide with desperation.

“You two,” said Morrible coldly, “talk this out.” And she whirled out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Elphaba and Galinda exchanged a glance, then both made a break for the door.

Locked.

“Locked?!” Galinda moaned. She found a chair and fell dramatically into it, and Elphaba fidgeted with the doorknob for a moment before following her example.

“What kind of door locks from the outside, anyway?” Galinda huffed after a moment, which was, admittedly, a more intelligent thing to say than Elphaba expected from her.

Elphaba thought for a moment, before replying, drily; “a prison.”

Galinda let out a sharp laugh that was quite unlike her “Shizney princess” laugh, but still somehow ethereally lovely. Elphaba couldn’t help but smile at that; it seemed that Galinda hadn’t expected her to say something to say something funny, the same way Elphaba hadn’t expected Galinda to say something smart. The laugh was short lived, though, and she looked away after a second, paling slightly.

A beat passed, and Elphaba felt her brows furrowing. “That was a joke. You’re allowed to laugh.”

“Oh,” Galinda said. She looked back up at Elphaba. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, and opened her mouth as if to say something else, but the only thing to come out was another “oh.”

She looked shockingly vulnerable, and Elphaba frowned, feeling the urge to say something, but the door opened again and there was Morrible once more.

“Will you two be getting along now?” she asked, and Galinda nodded vigorously. Elphaba half-wanted to talk longer, but she couldn’t see a way to do that now, so she just nodded along, too.