The Ethics of Power
For all the chaos that had surrounded them lately, one thing had managed to slip through the cracks: the first part of their semester-long ethics project on the morality of power structures.
And now, with the due date just days away, it demanded their full attention.
Glinda sat cross-legged on the floor of their common area, her laptop open, fingers drumming anxiously against her knee. Elphaba sat opposite her, a stack of notes balanced on her lap, flipping through them with practiced ease.
“We should have been done with this weeks ago,” Glinda muttered, scrolling through the half-written conclusion on her screen.
Elphaba didn’t look up. “We’ve been busy.”
Glinda snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”
They had spent so much time dancing around each other—between storms and unsaid words, between unspoken questions and lingering glances—that their original reason for being forced to work togetherhad fallen to the wayside.
Now? They were paying for it.
Elphaba sighed, finally glancing up. “We have everything we need. The research is solid, the argument is there—we just need to finish pulling it together. It’s just the draft.”
Glinda groaned, rubbing at her temples. “Remind me why we picked the abuse of power in historical governance?”
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “Because someone—” she shot Glinda a look, “—insisted it would be ‘a necessary discussion given the current political climate.’”
Glinda huffed. “It isnecessary. I just didn’t think we’d be finishing it on no sleep and bad attitudes.”
Elphaba smirked. “That’s academia for you.”
They fell into a familiar rhythm, trading notes, tweaking citations, reworking their slides. For the first time in weeks, there was no fighting. No tension.Just work, focus, the sound of keys clicking and pages turning.
By the time they finished, the sun had dipped low in the sky, the soft golden glow of evening spilling through their dorm windows.
Glinda exhaled, closing her laptop. “That… was actually good.”
Elphaba crossed her arms, pretending to look insulted. “You soundsurprised.”
Glinda rolled her eyes, nudging her playfully. “I just mean… we actually sound like we know what we’re talking about.”
Elphaba huffed. “We doknow what we’re talking about.”
Glinda grinned. “That remains to be seen.”
For a moment, they just stood there, the ease of the past few hours settling over them. No storm, no unspoken tension. Just them.
-
The next evening, the library was buzzingwith students, the air thick with late-night studying and quiet conversations.
Glinda was already waiting when Elphaba arrived, twirling a pen between her fingers as she flipped through her notes.
"Oh, look who actually showed up," Glinda grinned, not bothering to hide her amusement.
Elphaba scowled as she set down her bag. "Why wouldn’t I?"
"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you seemto be avoiding me lately?" Glinda said, her voice just a little too sweet.
Elphaba tensed for the briefest second before rolling her eyes. "Don’t flatter yourself."
Before Glinda could push any further, the sound of chairs scraping against the floorinterrupted them.
"Ah, there you two are!" Crope plopped down dramatically into the seat beside Glinda, while Tibbett and Boq took spots across from them."Hope you don’t mind us crashing your little study date—I, for one, think it’s positively adorablethat you two are working so closely together."
Elphaba groaned, but Glinda simply smirked."Oh, it’s veryclose. Isn’t it, Elphie?"
Elphaba shot her a look, but Crope and Tibbett were already exchanging amused glances.
"So, what are we working on?" Boq asked, oblivious to the undercurrent of tension rippling through the group.
"Oh, just some research," Glinda waved a hand dismissively, scooting just a littlecloser to Elphaba. Not enough to be obvious, but enough that their arms brushed. Enough that Elphaba noticed.
Her shoulders went rigid, and for a second, she looked like she wanted to move away. But she didn’t.
"Wait, wait—tell us how the project is going," Crope said, leaning forward with interest. "This is Elphabawe’re talking about. Did you two survive working together?"
Glinda sighed dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest. "Oh, it was just awful, Crope. She’s all bossy and serious and keeps insisting on accuracy—can you imagine? The audacity!"
Tibbett snorted. "Sounds terrible. Truly a nightmare."
Elphaba rolled her eyes, sipping her coffee. "Forgive me for wanting to pass the class."
Boq smirked. "Oh, come on, Elphaba. I feel like you secretly love having Glinda as a partner."
Elphaba scoffed, setting her mug down. "Hardly. She spends more time distracting me than actually working."
Glinda leaned in, her voice lilting with amusement. "You say that like it didn’t work out perfectlyfine in the end."
Elphaba pointedly looked away."It’s not the end, and that’s beside the point."
For the next hour, they actually managed to be somewhat productive—Glinda pretending to take notes while occasionally testing Elphaba’s resolve, and Elphaba doing her best to ignore it entirely.
At one point, Glinda let out an exaggerated sigh, stretching her arms above her head, her shirt riding up just enough to expose a hint of skin.
Elphaba’s jaw clenched.
Crope and Tibbett exchanged glancesbut said nothing.
Boq, meanwhile, was completely oblivious, muttering something about needing to cite their sources correctly.
When Glinda finally dropped her arms, she rested her hand on Elphaba’s thigh—innocent enough to pass as casual, but deliberate enough to test a boundary.
Elphaba went still.
"You okay?" Glinda murmured, tilting her head, eyes twinkling with mischief.
Elphaba cleared her throat, forcing herself to look back at the textbook. "Fine."
Glinda’s smirk widened.
Tibbett bit his lip to keep from laughing.Crope, meanwhile, looked like he was having the time of his life.
Fiyero was going to love this update.