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Riven just wanted to neck for a bit. Blow off some steam from training and get rid of his classmate’s whispers that swamped his head. It all started because Alastair, a moron who couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop pushing and pulling until Riven’s patience (which per se has always been thin) ran off. They had been in Hand To Hand Combat under Codatorta’s strict surveillance. He wanted them focused, wanted a fair fight, so Alastair, who had no chances against Riven and was a bragger by default, decided to play dirty by taunting him.
“So, Musa, huh?” he laughed, ducking to avoid a punch aimed at him.
Riven grunted at her name. Everything was about her -about them, nowadays. He hated it. Hated the attention. Hated the judgement. Couldn’t stand how he was reduced to who he was with despite his accomplishments as a Specialist.
It’s not like he and Musa were together, for starters. There had been kissing, a lot, during and after the party following Darkar’s defeat. If it had been up to Musa, who after drinking and dancing around sat in his lap and kissed him soundly -in front of the whole world to see, mind you-, they would have made out until everybody either passed out or went home. Thankfully, he, in his semi-sober state, was conscious enough to remove his tongue from Musa’s sweet mouth and carry their private party upstairs. They’ve also been caught in public more than once: walking, talking, but never touching below the waist. And up to this day, they hadn’t put a name yet to whatever they were doing.
That’s why Riven didn’t understand the reason she was brought up in every conversation.
“What ‘bout her?” He asked Alastair between pants. His forehead glistened, his hair was a sweaty mess and the burn in his muscles stopped being pleasurable a while ago. He was aching after a long day of training, which meant Riven wasn’t going to take anyone’s bullshit.
“You’re together, together?” Alastair wiggled his eyebrows and tried to kick him in the shin. Riven saw it coming and jumped out of his way. He cursed Codatorta for banning punches on the face. It’s not like the bad guys would be so considerate as to stick to the rules. But then again, it’s not like the bad guys would use their fists to secure world domination.
“What? Silence? Does that mean I can have a go at her, too?” It was said to anger him, he knew, but it damn worked.
It was easy to get on his nerves when he was tired and hadn’t seen Musa alone for a week and a half, almost. Riven knew Alastair wasn’t Musa’s type -not like he knew her type, anyway, but he was a jackass and Musa didn’t do jerks. Riven knew there was no way Musa would touch Alastair, not even with a stick as she was smart and actually respected herself, but fuck him and his stupid comment.
“I mean, there are hotter fairies, but I get you,” Alastair kept on, fists up to his face ready to throw a punch. “Those are nice legs.”
Riven wished Musa was here to blast him. But she wasn’t, so he’d have to do the job. The fight ended briefly after that last comment. Riven got him in the knees, kicked him down and twisted his arm behind his back.
When the class finished, Riven was quick to exit. He missed the shower and went straight to his leva bike. He wanted to see Musa, kiss her until his lips tasted like the chapstick she wore and then grab a bite with her in downtown Magix before lunchtime was over. Then kiss again. He hoped Musa was up to the plan.
That’s why Riven was stationed at Alfea’s gate, thinking of a way to sneak in and find her. He knew her shared bedroom had a balcony. He could text her, too, but that’d spoil the surprise. Lucky for him, he heard Stella’s screams from a window and the rest was a piece of cake. The hallways were empty at this hour, so he took advantage of that. While visits weren’t strictly prohibited, he didn’t want to push his luck and come across the nasty woman with glasses who seemed to be in a permanent state of constipation. He couldn’t bother with the name.
Riven walked quickly and stopped at the door that had a sparkly, big Winx HQ sign glued to the door.
Fairies, he thought, always so obvious.
He peeked into the room to see if the other Winx were around. Empty, save for the scattered plants, clothes, wires, sketches and cd jackets around the place. There were even some weights in a far corner -from the new girl, Layla, most likely. Riven knocked on Musa’s door and held his breath.
“Riven?” There she was, fresh from the shower with her short hair almost brushing her shoulders and wearing skimpy shorts that revealed so. much. skin. The smile that broke free on her small face made his stomach flip. Had her eyes always been so blue?
“Hey,” he said, aware that they were alone in her bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” She raised her eyebrows, still smiling. She had liked the surprise, then.
“Needed to see you,” he mumbled, and he lifted her chin to brush his lips against hers.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes to meet his hungry mouth. He acted by pure instinct, as always, when it came to her. His hands went to her soft thighs, squeezing them before hoisting her up so she could straddle his waist. Hips met hips and hot damn, Riven wasn’t in such a rush anymore. Musa’s hands were everywhere. His hair, his jaw, running up and down his chest.
“You’re sweating,” she pointed out between fast-paced kisses.
“Is that a complain?” he puffed right into her mouth.
“Fuck, no.” And her tongue took over.
Musa tugged them to her bed, where he laid her before falling on top. They were panting, swallowing each other’s breaths as Riven’s heart pounded inside him. Musa’s hair was spread around her in a fucking halo and Riven was sure this was the image he’d see every night before falling asleep. Her chest rose and fell heavily in a tight tank top. Riven’s fingers moved upward, beneath the fabric, caressing skin, skin, skin until he touched the underside of her breasts.
Fuck.
Riven snapped his hips forward when Musa arched into his touch. He hated to admit it but he hardened under her moan. She could stare at him with her alluring eyes and he’d just combust.
The kissing started to get messy when Musa tried to take his Specialist uniform off.
“Where’s the zipper?” she asked impatiently as she fumbled with the spandex, tugging until she freed a patch of skin below his collarbone that her teeth hurried to bite.
His hands brought her hips forward until she was sat on his lap.
“There’s no zipper,” he said against her neck, where he kissed and licked skin.
“How do you take it off?”
“That’s a Specialist's secret.”
“I could ask Stella,” she talked back, moving her hand past his abs.
Riven tensed up. They hadn’t, uhm, gone further than kissing and some groping. He wasn’t sure he wanted to take the next step now. Musa didn’t seem like she wanted to either, but this messing around could get out of hand quickly and he really wanted to have lunch.
He forced himself to stop. He disentangled from Musa’s limbs and held her at forehead-length. His thumb traced her stuck out, bottom lip pursed in a cute pout. She was flushed, divinely flushed and looking at him as if he was the sun.
“You hungry?” he whispered.
Her mouth curved. “Is that a sexual innuendo?”
“No. We could go to Magix.”
“Yeah,” she said, and pushed him until his back hit the mattress and her core was pressed against his hips, “but we still have time. Right?”
His hands found a secure grip on her waist. Riven swallowed hard. He wouldn’t mind dying right here, right now. “Right.”
“Excuse me?” A high-pitched voice asked somewhere in the room. Musa looked mortified and was quick to put some distance between them.
“Tune!” she chastised. She was talking to somebody. Riven followed her gaze to the small, young girl that floated next to his shoulder. He was glad he did or otherwise, he’d have smacked her with his hand -he mistook the buzz he was hearing from Tune's wings for a fly.
Shit.
He had heard about them, from Brandon and Sky mostly as they never shut up about anything (they were like an old housewives duo). This was a pixie, Musa’s bonded pixie, no less. It was a serious matter.
“Musa!” Tune cried out. She was dressed in a blue and pale pink dress that reminded him of royalty. She also wore knee-length gloves and her big eyes were confined in a deep frown. “You are supposed to be having lunch with your friends. Who is this man and why haven’t I been introduced yet?”
Musa cleared her throat and reached out her hand to her pixie. “Riven, this is Tune, the Pixie of Manners and my bonded pixie.” Tune flew to her and pressed her round head full of curls to Musa’s cheek. “Isn’t she a babe?”
Well, fuck. A pixie of manners. Couldn’t Musa have bonded with the pixie of silence?
Riven swallowed hard and extended his forefinger, which Tune shook gladly.
“Nice to meet you,” he greeted.
“Tune, this is Riven.”
The pixie ran her eyes over him and scrunched her nose.
“Your smelly…”
Musa and Riven stared at each other, wide-eyed. This wasn't the time to define their relationship.
“Friend,” Musa sputtered, eyes still on him. He nodded along.
“You should shower before seeing a lady,” Tune told him, fiddling with her small umbrella. “And you should ask Musa out properly before getting in her bed.”
“Tune!” Musa laughed. Riven wanted to dig his own grave. Why him? “Oh my gosh. Chill, baby. It’s okay.”
“It was she who threw us to the bed, actually,” he said with a shrug.
“Musa!” Tune called out again, “that’s not lady-like. A lady should not do such things.”
“Why not?” Musa asked although she didn’t look upset by the comment. In fact, she was smiling.
Damn, she’s beautiful. It struck him fast as lightning. Riven cursed himself for thinking just like Helia.
“Because...” Tune paused for a bit, “Is this another feminist topic you have to explain to me?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yes, babe. Why don’t you go with the others and I finish getting ready?”
Tune nodded and kissed Musa’s cheek. “Okay. Goodbye, see you soon.”
Once she flew out of sight, Musa laid again on her bed and stared at Riven with a lazy smile.
“So… lunch?”
“I don’t know if your pixie will approve, though.”
“Yeah, ask for my hand in marriage first, you sly heathen.” Her hands were drawing patterns idly in the front of his uniform. If Riven focused enough, he could pretend it was actually his skin she was touching.
“How did you end up with the pixie of manners?” he asked, tracing the waistband of her shorts with his fingerpads. “You’re the less proper fairy I know.”
Musa scoffed and threw her head back, revealing the elegant curve of her neck. He wanted to taste it with this tongue. He wanted to do lots of thing with her. “It was love at first sight, kinda like...” She stopped mid-sentence, averting his gaze.
His heart gave a wild and unexpected tug.
“Seems a bit prissy, don’t you think?”
“She’s reserved,” Musa defended her.
“Should I start calling her Mother Tune?” he joked, earning a hurtful cry from the pixie, who came bursting through the door, waving her umbrella like he’d carry his weapon.
Her big eyes shone with tears. “I’m not prissy, I’m reserved!” she wailed. Tune hit him with her umbrella before marching out the room in big cries.
“Told ya.” Musa pointed out.
Riven lowered his head. “Fuck. Sorry. I didn’t know she was around here.” Musa looked at him pointedly. “I messed up, didn’t I?”
“A bit.” He sighed. There went his plans for a nice lunch date. “You offended her, so go and apologize to her and you’ll be set.”
“What? No.”
“Yes.”
“Musa, no.”
“Are you scared of my pixie?” she teased.
“I...” Musa raised her eyebrows. The last thing he wanted was to make her mad. “Fine. Where did she go?”
“Ask the other pixies.”
The other pixies were reluctant to tell him where Tune had set off to. They threatened to hex him if he ever made her cry again, and again for the god-knows-what time, he thought about his inherent skill of making women angry.
Tune was somewhere in the back of Alfea. There weren’t many girls out there, so it was pretty easy to follow the sound of her wails.
She saw him first.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, blowing her nose with a handkerchief. Her eyes were rimmed in red. “This is my place to cry. It’s rude to invade other people’s privacy.”
Riven looked around to make sure they were alone. Then looked again just in case. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. Damn him and his feelings. And damn Sky for always being so chivalrous and damn him (again) for laughing at his princely manners so many times he learnt the whole protocol.
He bowed to Tune. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. It wasn’t my intention. May I sit with you?”
Tune nodded solemnly and patted the rock next to her. “You may.” She still gave him her back.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her curls.
“Okay, and what about if you say something mean to me in exchange? There’s a lot to choose from.”
“It’s not proper to offend somebody out of spite. Musa told me you were a bit difficult.”
“No,” he laughed, ignoring (just for now) the fact that Musa had talked about him with Tune, “I’m just a prick. Oh, sorry. I meant I’m insufferable.” So much wording irritated him.
“You are trying to be polite for Musa, that’s nice of you.”
“Hm, thanks. Do you forgive me, then? Are we friends?”
“I wasn’t crying because of what you said,” she commented, pocketing her handkerchief. “I know you didn’t mean any harm. It’s just...” Her small shoulders dropped.
“What?” he prompted, “Tell me.”
“A few girls have called me that, too. But not in a nice way. They laugh at me for being reserved and I’m sick of it!” she huffed, cheeks red. Her small hands were wrapped tightly around her umbrella.
“Why don’t you call them out?”
“I did! But they just laugh again,” Tune complained. “They don’t take me seriously.”
“Do you know what do I do when somebody laughs at me?” Riven asked.
Tune turned around to stare at him. “What?”
“I usually kick them, but given you’re small like Musa you could just hit them with your umbrella.”
“It’s not lady-like to go around hitting others.”
“Would you think Musa is less lady-like for fighting back?”
“No, she’s a fairy!” she answered in awe.
“And you’re a pixie. Show’em what you’re made of.”
Tune nodded and flew to his shoulder, where she grabbed his uniform for support. “Would you come with me?”
It was kind of cute, “Sure. Lead the way.”
It turned out the fairies that picked on Tune were a bunch of freshmen. They were huddled up against the wall, gossiping while staring at their screens, when Riven cleared his throat.
“What do you want?” one of them asked, clearly unbothered.
“Come on,” he whispered to Tune, “tell them.”
“I want you to leave me alone!” she demanded, “Or else I’ll hit you.” She shook her umbrella for better effect.
“You again?” another girl laughed and waved her hand, “why don’t you buzz off and find somebody else to boss around?”
“See?” Tune told Riven, “They’re so rude.”
“For such fairies, you sure have the personality of a witch,” Riven said.
They gasped and furrowed their brows. Tune laughed softly against his neck.
“What is it to you?”
“Yeah, piss off.”
“Wait, I know you,” Riven said to the last girl. A blonde one with braids that had a knack for stalking Helia during his drawing breaks. The girl pursed her mouth. “You’re always around Helia, aren’t you?”
She said nothing.
“I don’t know what he’d think if she saw you bad-mouthing a pixie,” he dared.
“I-I didn’t say anything,” she protested.
“Tune doesn’t think the same. Tell her you’re sorry. All of you,” he instructed, “and I’ll let you keep stalking my friend, which is fucking creepy, mind you.”
The girl nodded to her friends, urging them to apologize so she could fucking move on from this situation. Riven wasn’t having fun, either. He couldn’t believe he was defending a pixie’s honour, but then again, it was something Specialists did. He hoped nobody would hear of it, though. He wouldn’t live down the comments.
“Okay. We’re sorry. Happy?”
“Very much, thank you. And don’t ever laugh at me again or else I’ll fetch Helia next time,” Tune threatened. The girl in question paled a bit. “If I were you I’d mind my manners. You’ll have no friends if you’re so rude. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from me,” She finished, and then turned to Riven. “That’s it. We can leave now.”
Riven obliged and started walking out of their way. “That was great. Did Musa teach you the last bit?”
“Maybe.”
“She’s a great fairy, isn’t she?”
“The best!” Tune agreed.
“And I’m the best specialist, right?”
Tune hummed as she pointed to her friends from his shoulder. “You’re the best I’ve known so far. Let’s go that way.”
“Will you tell her that?”
“We have a deal.”