A Simulation of Marriage

December 2011

Disclaimer: I do not own the Winx Club.

There was no snow. Magix the city was ever soaking up sunshine-filled days. It never snowed in Magix thanks to the Meteomagic Office's meddling with the atmosphere. It was an ordinary day in the city. There was nothing unusual to report.

It was early afternoon. Two people did not stand out in the crowd of dozens roaming down a particular avenue. They were one man and one woman. The woman had dazzling pink-tinged amethyst hair and turquoise eyes that shone like opals. She wore it short and had a gold clip keep her hair out of her face. There was a glass-like quality to her eyes, like those of a porcelain doll, that betrayed an emptiness in her soul or the ersatz quality of her existence. Her movements were stiff and calculated. Her companion was a man of maybe twenty-five. He was youthful and wore a smile on his face. He had choppy orange hair with dull brown eyes. He wore thick spectacles with thick red frames that were more or less passé. He betrayed the quality of being made of flesh and blood and being able to express emotion. He looked socially inept at first glance, like any awkward man who had a difficult time socialising during childhood with his peers because of his intellect, but there was a quiet physical strength in his posture that alluded to a more dangerous personality. Nonetheless, he looked polite and approachable but one would have to be careful when coming near him.

However deceiving they seemed, for the woman who looked like a doll made by a inspired scientist and the gentleman seemed like a mild-mannered man about to go insane for he knew all the dark secrets of the city of Magix, they were quite in love with each other.

The two of them stepped into the lobby of a nondescript hotel. They checked in quickly for they had made a reservation several weeks ago. Without further delay, they stepped into a dull room. The decoration was nice but boring. There was a pristine bed, a television, a writing desk in the corner, a table decorated with a vase of fake flowers, a wet bar, miscellaneous furniture and whatnot. A well-informed person could easily guess what usually went on in this sort of situation.

The man parted the curtains where they could see magical metropolis below them. They were on the fifteenth floor. He sat on the couch and looked out the window. He rummaged through his backpack to fish out a bottle of wine. The woman inspected two glasses from the wet bar before handing them to the man. He poured a generous amount into each glass and handed one to the doll. She sat beside him and they both stared at the metropolis for a long time. After finishing their glasses and placing them on the coffee table, they spoke.

"It's Christmas time on Earth again," the doll started. "I'm sure Bloom is going to give us all presents this year again."

Tecna was correct. It was Christmas time but since celebrating Christmas was not a tradition for the woman or the man, it can be noted that that this meeting of the two would not have any sort of joyous Christmas overtones. Furthermore, since it rarely snowed in Magix, any sort of wintery activities were not on this couple's mind.

"Her gifts seem to get more extravagant every year, don't they?"

The doll kept silent as she contemplated the city outside the window with disinterest. One of her hands played with the hem of her worn off-white summer dress.

"It's because of her newfound wealth being the princess of Domino…and being Sky's…'lover,' I suppose is the right term," the man said. He had voiced the doll's thoughts.

"That's horrible," she reprimanded.

The man shrugged. "It's what everyone thinks."

"Why aren't those two married anyways?"

The man smirked. "You don't know Sky. He is actually much more dangerous than he seems. He is not the kind of guy who could give Bloom that romantic ending she is looking for. I pity him for catching such a difficult creature."

The doll let the snide remark slide. "So what do you want to do today?" she asked. "It's rare that they you off the base these days. Are you sure you don't want to go back and just rest? I know that those assignments can be tiring." Truly, she was lying. She did not know how difficult her lover's assignments could be, but with a little bit of creativity, she had an inkling

"I'm sick of being pent up in the facility or being on assignment. I don't want to waste today. I want to take a look at the world and catch up on my internet memes," he said. He stretched his arms to the sky and yawned like a cat. He plucked his glasses off his nose and wiped them with the hem of his shirt meticulously. "Personally, I'm happy to just talk to you, Tecna."

She smiled shyly. She would not admit it but his words warmed her heart.

"At the same time, I really don't know what to talk to you about. I can't really tell you about my job. What did we ever talk about in school? Gadgets? Our newest mods to our computers? If we started talking about that now, it would just end up with us talking about work." The man sighed and then brought his face close to hers. "I'm a shitty boyfriend, Tecna. How are you still with me?"

"You are not that bad."

"I am so. We both have a day off but we don't know what to do. I barely know about what's happening these days because I'm always away on assignment. I don't even know how you're doing."

"Well, this is why we have today. I can gripe to you about my job, Timmy. I'm sick of my job. It's repetitive and I hate what I do."

The man rolled his eyes but he was pleased with such a mundane-sounding subject. Sometimes, he liked to think that these sort of conversations were those expected between a man and his wife. "Tecna, you're basically a hero to Zenith," he reasoned.

"I hate it! I hate the attention. Being a fairy, I realise that I am too powerful. I can't stand being able to do anything I want. I never feel fear anymore because I can just a weave a spell in which I know that I can't get hurt. I feel like haven't left school yet because all I do is study and wait for a new bad guy to appear for me to fight. I'm just a cop. I keep everyone in my world in line. It's so controlled, so rigid. I see the way things actually work on Zenith and it's sad. I can't stand it anymore. I want to be normal again." The doll looked at her hands helplessly.

Timmy cupped her hands in his much bigger and calloused ones. Grateful the contact, Tecna leaned her head on his shoulder.

"But you do so much good for your world. Aren't happy about that?"

"No. I ache for chaos and destruction." Her voice was monotonous but her body spoke volumes. He could feel her tremble with malicious excitement.

He froze. His instincts were alert. There was a repressed darkness in her that was aching to explode. If she continued on her path, she would one day become his enemy. "So you want do something bad?" he said incredulously.

"All I ever do is good. I want to know if I am capable of something equally evil. I've been thinking about it for a bit."

The man paused to think of how to best say his thoughts. "Tecna, sin is delicious, but you have to remember that it is also a poison to the mind and its ideals."

"I…no, I would never—I would never stoop to Valtor's level!"

"When they say 'opposite's attract,' those two opposing objects are usually equal in weight but opposite in value. Wanting to be 'equally evil' means doing the exact opposite of, let's say, saving the universe."

Tecna opened her mouth to speak but could not form words. He was right of course. Perhaps she had worded her feelings improperly. She was setting herself up for disaster.

"So what do you mean by 'thinking about it for a bit'?" he continued.

She was awed to hear no judgement in his voice. "Well…I once did this very bad thing that you told me not to do. Promise not to be mad," she said nervously.

"Tecna…no, I told you before that I can't keep any promises like that in this relationship."

The doll stilled. She felt betrayed but she knew years ago that when they had finally seriously established their relationship as lovers that there would be underlying "no strings attached" sort of clause in which Timmy's unsupportive will was to be expected. Things had changed drastically after they had left their respective schools.

Timmy had joined the military not long after his graduation but the exact nature of his position was always kept a mystery. Tecna could sometimes hypothesize what he did considering some of the things he did at Red Fountain, but she sometimes knew that it was better not to know. She knew that his scruples were not his to make most of the time. How he could be so flexible about it yet have a personal standard of his own was beyond her. Before, she had been curious about the enigma of Timmy's darker past but scared to broach it. Despite his nerdy appearance, she knew that he was capable man.

"So what was this 'bad thing' that you did?" he asked.

"I…well, when I first started doing what I do, I was curious to know what you did at your job so I decided to…um—"

"Hack the system with your powers and find out what I do," he groaned. "Which I told you not to do unless you wanted to risk your life."

Tecna shivered. She felt the hands tighten around her wrist painfully. She looked into his eyes and saw only a coldness. Quietly, she saw a monster in her lover emerge. His eyes scrutinised her every twitch. His face was unexpressive. She could even say that she saw the emotional wall that he built for himself every time he went on assignment. She was awed yet scared to see it.

"You made yourself my enemy by doing this," he said sharply.

"I-I only did it once and when I realised what you did, I never dared to check again. I never realised how hard a specialist's life was. I'm sorry," she apologised quickly.

"That doesn't make it better."

"I know. At this point, you're only choice is to kill me right now. I know you always carry a knife with you. It's practical but that is not the reason why you carry it. I realise that it was foolish of me to do something like that years ago. I thought I was invincible in that regard—because of my powers, I am digitally untraceable—but I wasn't emotionally prepared to deal with what I read. It's just we're always so distant with each other. We're like a surgeon and a lawyer. We have fulfilling careers but we never see each and when we do, it's like we don't know each other. Eventually, we get sick of hearing each other nag, start to cheat with our coworkers and then we end in a divorce, you know…."

"That's one hell of an analogy. That's a sitcom, right? Where's the child that we have a custody battle over?" he said playfully but she could see the killer waiting to pounce.

She ignored his verbal jab. "And lately, I've been thinking about what I read in your profile. It's not as bad as most would think, I believe. I'm interested in what you do…. It's just so much more exciting than what I do."

"Alright, I'll cede that it is exciting but that doesn't change the problem that you read my file."

"I've been thinking that I want to leave Zenith and work with you." The doll's pale face was bright red with embarrassment.

The man kept silent for a long time. "Why?"

"I want to try something new, Timmy. I'm a fairy, for pity's sake. Being a fairy is not exactly a marketable trait for any sort of career. If I become an IT specialist, it's not as if it'll be a challenging job. Fairies today aren't made for this kind of modern world. I'm sure your people would love to have a technology fairy in their ranks. I know that I'm probably not getting across to you now." Her voice was hoarse as she looked at Timmy's disbelieving eyes.

"It's not that, Tecna. I simply just have no perspective for someone as godlike as you."

"I'm not a god!" she screeched straining against his iron grip.

"I know. The way you talk about this worries me. I don't know how to help you. I realise that you need to find a semblance of normalcy. Being a fairy and having so many expectations piled on to you can't be easy. You have so mach power but you don't know how to use it for everyday life. You want an outlet, I'm guessing. Helia is so much better at these Freudian psychoanalyses than I am." He said the last part to himself.

"I don't know how to say it either, Timmy…."

"Tecna, sin is delicious, but you have to remember that it is also a poison to the mind and its ideals. Some of the things I do are not very nice in the least. If you joined me, you would see parts of me that would disgust you. You might hate me at the end of the day because what I do could be considered just as evil as what Icy did."

"But it's all part of you. I have to accept that there I things about people I don't like. I didn't think you would be an exception."

"I suppose that you've read more about file recently. This is why you're approaching me about this now."

"Actually...no. I haven't touched it since then."

"So you're being driven to this madness because of your job?"

"Well, yes..." she whispered.

"Do you realise how insane you sound?" Timmy chuckled heartily. He brushed some loose hairs out of his face and rested an arm on the couch's back.

Without realising it, Tecna saw he had let go of her wrists a moment ago. She blushed. The serious tone of their conversation had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. She could not help but think of how Timmy's actions were often ambivalent. It was not just him either. His former teammates from Red Fountain were just as enigmatic as him. One moment they could be joking and next moment they could be working instantly. It was strange how flexible they were but it was their lifestyle.

"So what are you going to do now?" she asked. She was not sure if the killer in him was still out and waiting.

"My boss is going to be very happy to have you on the team. If you're serious about what you're saying, then you can rest assured that my tails heard all of this."

"They did?"

"Yes."

"And you have tails?"

"Yes."

"That follow you even on your days off?"

"Yes."

"So does that mean that even when we...?"

"Yes." Timmy kept a straight face and poured himself another glass of wine. "Don't think about it too hard though, Tecna."

"Isn't that against your rights?"

"I have rights, Tecna? You read my profile then. I don't rights like you do. I'm not a free man. I was born into this life. Just drink." He offered her the bottle of remaining wine in jest. "Seriously, don't think about it too hard. Just have fun with the idea that they're watching your every move."

She looked at the bottle as if it were poison. She held it with her two delicate and nimble hands. Shyly, she took a sip from the bottle demurely. She was not one to chug beer or do other crass actions so for Timmy, he supremely interested in the simple sinful gesture.

She put the bottle down on the coffee table and turned to Timmy embarrassed of what she did.

"Keep drinking," he said. "It'll make everything better."

"Timmy!"

"I'm joking." The man adjusted his glasses.

The doll pouted. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask, but why do you have glasses?"

"Really, Tecna? How many years have I been with you and you still don't know? They're prescribed."

"Timmy, you shouldn't be able to do the things you do if you have imperfect vision."

The man paused to look at his lover with an impertinent stare. "I don't have perfect vision, I'll admit that."

"You don't?"

"No. I need them to help me see details because I'm farsighted. It's only for reading. I think about here I'm perfectly capable of reading." He took off his red frames and brought his face about the length of a pencil away to hers.

"You're joking."

"No, wait, I think my eyesight is getting worst." He brought his face uncomfortably close to hers.

Without looking, she took his glasses in her hands.

"Crap, my eyesight is getting worst by the second." His nose touched hers.

She closed her eyes because he was too close to her face. Smirking, he touched her lips with his. It was simple contact. Nothing too crude. He was playing with her, joking about his eyesight. She smiled against his kiss and pulled back just the barest to speak. She found her back leaning against the couch's arm.

"You've had those glasses for so many years, Timmy. Why don't you get some new frames? It's kinda weird how it looks like you never change." She brought the glasses up to her face. She knew that wearing the glasses of other people was bad for her eyes but she could not help but try them on and imagine a life in which she had to wear glasses.

"It's geek chic without the effort to wait for it to go out of style before it becomes the in thing again."

"Geek chic is still in."

"Then why are you telling me to change my glasses?"

"Why do you even wear glasses?"

"You know why, Tecna. You read my profile."

"I know..." She could see perfectly well through the lenses. She placed them on her nose knowing that nothing would happen. It was not often that she saw his face without the glasses. There was a boyish quality about him that could not help but think was cute. "Still, you should consider getting new frames—even for a fake prescription."

She looked out the window at the sprawling metropolis of Magix. It had remained unchanged for the duration of their private conversation. She then turned to Timmy who had left the couch to stand near the hotel phone. He was perfectly fine without his glasses.

"I'm surprised that you're not refuting me," the doll said. "Aren't you going to tell me to not join you?"

"No. I don't expect us to have a normal relationship like in those sitcoms. Even now, I'm sure that what we just said is not ordinary in the least. "

"The phone is going to ring," she said.

"I know. It must be nice to know those kinds of things with your powers."

"Very useful when I want to avoid talking to certain people. The call is being received at the front desk. It's those people who always call you when you're with me."

The man smiled. "It's a call from the base." The phone rang and he picked it up immediately. He kept silent as he listened. "Yes, I'll do it," he said after several minutes.

He kept listening and looked at Tecna curiously. "I'll ask her right now."

The doll sat up. One eyebrow was raised. "What is it?"

"Are you serious about what you said?"

"Yes."

"Well, tomorrow you're coming home with me to the base."

"'Home'?"

"Yes, home."

She paused and then blushed. "That sounds nice."

"It does, doesn't it?"

The two of them smiled. The doll turned to look back at the magical metropolis before realising with her hand that something was amiss in her white dress. He watched her fret over loose thread. Knowing full well that she would go search for a sharp tool, he pulled out his pocket knife and tossed it to empty seat beside her. Surprised, she looked at him questioningly before unfolding the knife and using the blade to cut the loose thread. The man listened to the phone as he watched this unfold. He gave a quick response, hung up the phone and joined the doll on the couch to look out the window with her.

This was my attempt at a winter fic but as it was already mentioned in the narrative, Magix doesn't experience winter nor do Tecna and Timmy celebrate Christmas because they are not from Earth, making this somewhat difficult. I also don't imagine them enjoying winter activities.

I'm deliberately vague about the subjects of their conversation. The reader can use their imagination to fill in the blanks.