Chapter Text
She’s got an armful of fabric and just so happens to be dumping it all onto the poor cashier’s empty counter when a gloved hand slams onto the wood in front of her. Bloom stares down at it and then looks up, and it’s Darcy.
“I’ve been told you’re tolerable.” She says without preamble, and Bloom raises her eyebrows. Ignores the tense, frightened silence that’s descended over every visible corner of the store.
That café? The one where she met Stormy? Is apparently one of the few places where witches and fairies intermingling doesn’t catch eyes. Bloom’s become increasingly aware of the – social, class, whatever politics of Magix. And she’s learned ignoring it is the best way to cope, as much as that burns her.
“That’s…a ringing endorsement.”
“You should be flattered.” Darcy deadpans. Bloom is, not that she’s going to say that. Darcy’s perfectly painted lips twist into a sneer, and so she assumes she doesn’t have to say it. Mind magic or whatever, right.
She hasn’t actually spent time with Darcy yet. She lingers in the background of Icy’s calls sometimes, and sometimes shows up to collect Stormy at the end of their sessions, but they haven’t…interacted.
“What do you need?” She asks, and wiggles out her credit card as the cashier finishes cramming her fabrics into a plastic bag.
“…First. What are you doing.”
“I’m an art geek. I make things. Fabric here is weird and on sale, and I want to experiment. Tecna’s gonna help me.”
Stella had offered, right up until she’d seen the designs Bloom had sketched out, and then quietly noped her way out. Stella has impeccable fashion sense; that means she’s something of a snob. This means that Bloom is relieved Stella’s recused herself – fashionable isn’t the intent, and so she doesn’t need to hear critiques every ten seconds. Once she’s finished experimenting, it’s fair game – but until then, Stella’s gone.
“Make things like…?”
Bloom tugs at her jacket shoulder without thinking, waiting for the cash register to finish processing her card, and Darcy’s eyebrows climb sky-high.
“What the hell is that made of?”
“Denim.” She says, and then accepts her bag with a smile and lets Darcy start trying to nudge her out the door without actually touching her. The shop seems to breathe a sigh of relief once they’re gone.
“…Right. Well. I want Tall, Dark, and Brooding.”
“…Riven?”
“It’s his aura.” Darcy says like that’s supposed to explain anything, and okay, well, maybe it does.
Riven’s a dick, but he’s not really an ass. He’s…careful, sometimes. About what he says. So – she could see how that’d be appealing to another absolute douchebag.
“I need you to know that I have never met anyone who screams disaster bi more than him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
That stops her cold.
“Do you not have…like…is Magix homophobic?”
Bloom is genuinely – shocked. She hasn’t even thought of…
“Not technically. A couple of the Realms are. What’s that got to do with anything?” Darcy asks impatiently, and – wow. Okay. That’s…a relief.
Probably the rainbows on her backpack don’t make sense here, she realizes, and that’s kind of…painful.
“Okay but homophobic like ew, or homophobic like murder?”
“What?”
“’Cuz on Earth it varies from like, I swear, street to street.” She’s not joking. Her mother’s shop is on a street with a queer bookstore and an adult store; the block over is a place she’s not allowed to walk even in daytime, not after Mitzi had outed her in middle school, not even with her shiny new pepper spray and absolutely-illegal taser stuffed into her pockets. Gardenia is many things; a small conservative city chief among them.
“And you just – put up with it?”
“So not murder.”
“No!”
Interesting.
Something jabs her brain, and Bloom narrows her eyes and turns to actually look at the witch. She looks entirely unrepentant, but it feels like she’s got a brain freeze now and –
“Focus. Your fucked up planet aside, what about Tall, Dark and Brooding?”
“Wear some fuck-you heels and beat the shit out of him at something and he’ll literally drool over you.” Bloom says, because – well. Darcy seems like the kind of girl who Riven would like.
“I’m serious.” Darcy says sharply.
“So am I. The – Darcy, everybody thinks someone who can kill them without trying is hot. That’s like, your whole thing at Cloud Tower, that’s not a turn off.”
“Sweetie. You’re from fucking Earth. There’s real prejudice against witches – “
She considers, for a moment, not doing something stupid. But. Theoretically, this should be fine. And Darcy seems to think she’s been flippant or something, because she’s getting angry.
So – she thinks as hard as she can about game night last weekend, about Musa casting every silencing spell she knew over their dorm and the boys still managing to almost get them caught because Riven brought a fucking vape, about Timmy setting up enough weird magic-world game consoles and screens to fill a store, about how excited Tecna had been to hook Bloom’s own Earth system up with her power, and how hard she’d laughed, how she’d choked on the pop Sky had snuck in and then again on the popcorn she’d made, when Riven’s eyes had all but bugged out of his face when the villainess of her favorite horror game had finally made an appearance.
He’s got a thing for dangerous ladies. Darcy is. Literally. A dangerous lady.
She throws the memory at Darcy. Or tries to. The witch jerks, sharp and sudden, and then folds her arms across her chest.
“How’d you do that?”
“Icy gives me homework. And anyway – some of our spells are the same as yours, just…modified weirdly.” Also, memories are easy. Bloom’s done enough reading on the theory behind memory manipulation to be very concerned about the fact that its so effortless for her, but that’s not something she’s worrying about. Today is a break day.
“…You don’t think he’ll care?” Darcy finally grinds out. Bloom shakes her head as she readjusts the bag in her grip. It’s a little heavier than expected.
“I think he’ll like you. That’s why I’m helping. But the witch thing? No. He’s kind of an edgelord and perpetually terrified of giving Brandon a chance to call him a little bitch and not be wrong.”
He’s the only normal one, him and Timmy. Brandon and Sky are nice and all, but they’ve got – weird hang-ups. She assumes it’s a magic realm thing, but it’s – off-putting. Timmy and Riven are normal. Remind her of home. They’ve both been to Earth, previously, too. Timmy for the gaming scene, Riven because Red Fountain has a buddy system for off-world activities.
“So if I were to call him a little bitch…”
“They’ll be in town for that race thing. The boys are all participating, I think, but Riven’s really excited about it.” Bloom offers, and ignores the considering look on Darcy’s face. She doesn’t know if Riven’s into that, and she doesn’t want to know. She especially doesn’t want to know if Darcy is into that.
Darcy’s grin is near demonic.
“A race you say.”
Bloom takes that as her cue to leave, and chirps out an absurdly bright bye before turning on her heel and booking it to the nearest bus stop.
X
Darcy repays the favor with a hand on her shoulder and a roll of her eyes, a you know he’s lying right and the feeling of her stomach’s bottom dropping out. She says his name and keeps walking and doesn’t look back and Bloom closes her eyes and remembers how to breathe.
He’s not with them, neither of them are, when she makes it back to the group. Tecna catches sight of her and frowns.
“Are you okay, Bloom?”
She swallows, hard, and shakes her head. Tecna’s skin is cold and too firm, but she lets the other fairy press her against her side without complaint.
“What happened?” It’s Timmy who asks, and Bloom has to swallow back bile before she says anything.
“Did you know they’re lying?”
“Who?” He asks, and his confusion is genuine, and that’s – that makes it worse.
“Brandon and Sky. Or – Sky and Brandon.”
Tecna’s eyes shutter for a moment. It’s strange to see, but the look of pure horror on her face a second later is enough to wipe that thought from Bloom’s mind, and –
“Oh my realms, they did – Bloom, I am so sorry, where is Stella? We need to – “
Musa finds them an instant later, Flora in tow, and Timmy is screeching at his phone in disbelief and it’s genuinely one of the worst nights of her life, but Flora is there to hold her and Musa disappears for twenty minutes and comes back with a case of faun-brewed beer she says will help and they manage to find Stella just before she goes to meet Sky – Brandon? – and –
She would’ve found out eventually, even without Darcy’s help. Magic knock-off Google is shittier and nowhere near as intuitive as Earth’s version, and she’s been focusing on Alfea and Magix in her research, but she would’ve looked eventually, even just out of curiosity – she wants to know what her friends’ homeworlds look like.
She tells them who told her. And shrugs when they ask why, and then hesitates, and then hesitates again and says she’ll tell them in the morning, because Tecna is literally sparking she’s so angry and Stella’s kind of mute with shock and Timmy’s already smashed his phone and apologized and asked them to please not say anything because he needs to go find Riven and figure out how they’re going to beat Sky and Brandon – Brandon and Sky – into smithereens for this, and they all agree.
It’s just – a lot.
A lot a lot.
Something cold touches her hand, and Bloom starts. It’s Musa, with a beer.
“C’mon girl. We don’t have class tomorrow. We’re gonna get wasted, and then plan our revenge, and then when Riven and Timmy give us the okay we’re gonna blast those assholes sky-high.”
“At this point it’s not revenge, Musa. It’s justice.” Flora says hotly, and – Bloom lets out a watery laugh, and cracks the can open.
They get Stella to mash herself on their laps about twenty minutes later, and Bloom falls asleep with her head spinning and Stella’s hair soft beneath her fingers.