The sound of rattling clothing racks and scraping of chests being pushed around the floor filled the suite. They had been at it for two hours now, rearranging everything in the room - at Galinda's insistence - to give Elphaba more space on her side of the room. Elphaba was surprised at how hands-on Galinda was being in this effort. While it was the blonde's idea, it was ultimately for Elphaba's benefit, and she had assumed Galinda would be taking on more of an advisory role. But no, the younger girl was bustling around the room, hair up in a ponytail, wearing shorts and a loose shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
"Elphie, can I keep these here? You can put whatever you want on top of them. They're all empty now," Galinda gestured toward a stack of five white and gold travel chests. Elphaba nodded, wiping her brow with the back of her hand.
"Fine by me," she said, waving a hand to fan at her face. "When did it get so hot in here?" She wondered aloud, walking over to their tea station to pour herself a glass of water. "Water?" she offered to Galinda, extending the glass she had just poured when the blonde nodded.
Galinda took a careful sip, turning around to double-check and make sure the balcony door was open. She sighed, mildly disappointed to find it was, in fact, open. "There's no breeze today at all. How unusual." Her eyes fell to the large circular window on Elphaba's side of the room. "Does that window open?"
Elphaba glanced up to see where she was looking. She cocked her head. "I'm not sure. I've never tried."
Galinda took another sip of water before putting her glass on Elphaba's desk. She stepped over a few of her chests and carefully scooted around the other girl's bed to access the window. She felt along the edges of it as high as she could and let out a triumphant "Ah ha!" Unlatching a hidden lever on the right side, Galinda stepped back, pulling the ornate window open inward.
Despite the lack of breeze outside, opening this window created an outlet for much of the warm air that had filled the room, and relief was almost instant. Elphaba groaned, letting her head fall back and her eyes close while she held her glass of water to her cheek to revel in the cooling sensation. "That's so much better."
Galinda also closed her eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath of the fresh air she now felt entering their overheated room. She spun around to face Elphaba, opening her eyes, feeling refreshed. "Let's continue! I think we're nearly done," she squealed, quickly stepping over to the other girl's desk to grab her water. Taking a long drink, she scanned the room for her next task.
The blonde spotted a white covering hanging on the far wall on Elphaba’s side. Frowning, she set her near-empty glass down and quickly padded over to that side of the suite. Elphaba's eyes followed her curiously, and she set her own glass down to follow. "What is it, Galinda?"
Galinda frowned when she reached the hanging white cloth. "I think this is covering another window! I thought you had pulled them all down that first night." She reached for it, her fingers running along the thick canvas, feeling the layers of dust coating it. She grimaced. "We need to be careful pulling this down."
Elphaba leaned to the left to look around Galinda, taking in the musty condition of the canvas wall covering. "Let's each take a side," Elphaba said, moving to the left and reaching up high to grab the canvas as close to the top as possible. Galinda copied her movements on the left, and they locked eyes. "Okay, slowly. One, two…" They pulled the canvas off the hooks and walked backward a few steps before lowering it to the floor to be folded to contain as much of the dust as possible. More light flooded the room immediately, and Galinda stepped back and searched for the lever to unlatch this newly discovered window.
Elphaba carefully dragged the folded canvas out of her sleeping area and toward the front door. Opening the door, she slid the folded canvas into the hallway for the porters to pick up with some of the other items they decided to dispose of that day. When she reentered the room, she felt a sharp tingle spread across her sinuses, and her eyes quickly began to water. She sniffed harshly, trying to dispel the tickle, but to no avail. Elphaba felt her breath hitch once before she was ducking down to the left, not having the time or the presence of mind to lift her elbow, and she sneezed openly down toward the ground. "Hhh'hh tschhh!"
Galinda's head popped around the tower of chests that functioned as the main wall separating Elphaba's sleeping area from the rest of the suite. "Did you just sneeze?" Her eyes were twinkling with delight and amusement.
Elphaba nodded absentmindedly, waiting for the next one. She never sneezed just once. “…Tschh!….hh’hhiii-tschh-Tschh-tschhiew!” She had pulled her shirt over her nose at the last minute, so she wasn't sneezing openly in their room. Dropping her shirt, she sniffled lightly, bringing her index finger up to touch her nose and check for any wetness. Thankfully, there was none.
There was an odd silence in the room after she finished sneezing, prompting her to look back toward Galinda - and she startled slightly at what she saw. Galinda's eyes were wide, her hands covering her mouth, and she looked ready to burst.
A squeal came from behind Galinda's hands. "Elphieeeee!" The blonde fell into a fit of giggles. "Oh my Oz, that was the cutest thing I've ever seen—ever!" Galinda came bouncing over to her. "Do you always sneeze like that?"
"Like what..?” Elphaba asked, a little flustered at the attention, feeling herself blush.
"Like what? Like that!” Galinda’s eyes were sparkling as she gestured wildly toward the older girl. "I've never heard you sneeze before!"
Elphaba felt her blush deepen. She cleared her throat, feeling an itchiness creep in that made her realize she was likely reacting to the dust they had just kicked up while removing the canvas covering. "Um, yes, I suppose? I never…." Oh, what timing. Her voice trailed off as she felt another tickle blossom behind her eyes.
"You never what," Galinda giggled, voice taking on a teasing tone. She watched green eyelids flutter shut, and the other girl's lips part as she prepared for another sneeze (or two orthree - Galinda was ecstatic about this development). Elphaba turned partially away from the blonde, but not entirely, leaving Galinda a perfect view of her profile as the sneeze took over.
"I never… hh'tschh! Sneeze just o-once - tshhchh! Tschhh!….hh’hhii…hhh’tshieww!” Elphaba fell into another fit of itchy sneezes, ducking down, this time into her elbow, carefully containing them to avoid sneezing on Galinda.
"Bless you!"
Elphaba shook her head from side to side as the tickle grew. "I think… the dust…" her breath hitched, and she realized she was likely taking in more and more dust the longer she stood here. "I think I need to… hh'Hshhiew!" She sneezed again, snapping forward and sneezing toward the floor.
Galinda felt rooted to the spot as she watched Elphaba struggle through what was clearly becoming an allergy attack. Her fingers and toes were tingling, her body growing warm as she watched Elphaba…lose control. Well, this is new. Galinda thought, recognizing the warm feelings stirring within her as she watched her roommate succumb to a sneezingfit, of all things.
“Hh’hh…hh’tshiew-tschiiew!”
Do I…like this? Galinda wondered as Elphaba's eyes fluttered open, seemingly trying to orient herself in the room, looking for the way to the balcony to try and get some fresh air. Galinda saw this and shook herself out of her stupor, stepping forward to help Elphaba to the balcony quickly. She pressed a steadying hand to the older girl's back and gently took hold of her elbow with the other, guiding her to sit in one of the chairs at their small table.
Galinda still had a hand on Elphaba's upper back when the girl dipped forward into her hands again, sneezing sharply. "hh'ktschh—Tschh—Tschh!" Her sneezes were beginning to sound more urgent and stuffy. "Hehh'ktschh!"
Oh. Yes, I like this very much. There was something about watching Elphaba —confident, unflappable, almost uncomfortably formal and proper, Elphaba - fall apart just a bit during a fit of easily the cutest sneezes Galinda had ever heard.
Galinda quickly stepped back into their room to open her desk drawer and withdraw a handkerchief for her poor roommate to use. As she watched Elphaba wind up for another set of sneezes, Galinda impulsively brought the handkerchief to Elphaba's nose. "Here, Elphie," she said sweetly, placing a hand on her upper back and holding the handkerchief just in front of her face.
Elphaba briefly tried to move away to avoid sneezing directly into Galinda's hand, but she was so overwhelmed by the growing irritation and unbearable tingle that she couldn't do much besides lean away.
“…Tschh—Tschh—tschhiew!” She snapped forward as she rapidly sneezed through another fit of three, this time sneezing directly into the handkerchief held by Galinda. Her cheeks flushed at the realization, but Galinda's softly whispered, "Bless you" and gentle back rubbing somewhat took the embarrassment's sting away.
Elphaba took control of the handkerchief from there, and after a few more minutes and a dozen more sneezes - the last stuttering, rapid fit of six sent Galinda into a squealing run of "oh my Oz oh my Oz ohmyOZ!" Over how precious she found Elphaba to be during it — the attack finally seemed to calm. A light breeze was finally making its way across the Shiz waterways, and the two girls breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief.
Elphaba quietly blew her nose and glanced shyly at Galinda as she finished cleaning herself up. "So. I'm allergic to dust."
Galinda tossed her head back while laughing. "Oh?" Her smile turned to something more gentle and sweet as she took in Elphaba's bloodshot eyes, messy braids, and irritated nose from all the rubbing she was now doing to relieve the itch. "Let's stop here for today. Give your sweet little nose a break."
The blonde stood from her chair, motioning for Elphaba to stay seated. "I'm fairly certain you just sneezed more in the last few minutes than I do in a whole month!" Galinda returned to the room to grab a nail file, needing to do something with her hands while waiting for the new tingling sensation to leave her body.
As she turned back to the balcony, a nail file in hand, she caught Elphaba stifling a set of sneezes silently into her handkerchief. She frowned. "Now that'senough of that, Miss Elphaba." She marched over and looked down at Elphaba, hands on her hips. "You'll give yourself a headache if you hold them in like that!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes, handkerchief still covering her nose. "Yes, madame."
Galinda felt herself flush. Warm, tingly feeling back in full force.
Well, this is new.
~~~