Chapter 3: Because Red Fountain boys are pansies!
Darcy squinted at the vial of snake scales. Her peers told her that Madama Dame was having an end of midterms sale, but was having doubts on how much she was spending per gram. It's not like the shopkeeper could be trusted: there were the times she would forget that she marked down some of her scrolls sixty percent off and often trick witchlings to buy certain amount to get a useless item. The fairies that would end up in Madama Dame's shop were the most gullible and easy scores once, but word traveled to Alfea and after a rumored nasty conversation between the discipline office and the shopkeeper, business from that end ceased. Darcy glared at Dame, weighing the vial with the ingredients in her hand. She then told the shopkeeper to measure an empty vial.
"Look dearie, buy the scales! They'll be gone soon!" Madame Dame's crackled, scraggly voice echoed in the shop, but that didn't startle Darcy.
"Weight the damn vial!"
Icy tried take one of the simpler ingredients but was interrupted by a fly swatter. "You don't touch anything you ole thief!"
Stormy eyed the powder, most on reduced price. Some translucent, others red, black or blue. All for basic needs: sleep, pranks or tricks for the typical untrained witch. A mirror hung on the side of a bookshelf and Stormy inspected her rash, most of it being gone and her skin returning to its normal hue. Icy grabbed one of the blue powders, shoving it quickly in her purse.
"Fine, fuck it, I'll take the scales."
She glared at the sisters and rung Darcy up. "Raised in the barn…no manners…. Witches these days…." She mumbled.
Flora rubbed her sash as she and her friends sat on a big round table in The White Horse. Musa took an extra shift at Alfea's library, especially since the midterm season left the reference center in a mess and the only people that could organize were Knut and Barbatea. The music fairy mentioned that she'd play classical music during her cleaning, the librarian's favorite style. Riven was still coming, beside his absent girlfriend and the crowd at the store. Bloom worked here so she wasn't absent, she'd talk briefly until she had to wait another table or clean spills. That only left the three princesses and Flora.
Tecna, Stella and Aisha might live through their lives never having to do too much manual labor, willingly maybe. Tecna and Aisha had water while Stella ordered cookies, enough for the table but she refused to share. She needed to either binge eat or go on a shopping after knowing she failed her Spellcasting 2 midterm. "I know daddy's going to have a fit," Stella said, nibbling on her oatmeal cookie. Tecna sighed, telling her sulking friend that they all drilled for Du Four's exam and if she would've actually put her mind to it, she'd share her cookies. Stella stuck her tongue out.
The mix of witches and fairies started a bit of tension: side-eyes, glared, gruff sighs and other mostly harmless sounds with the occasional incidental bump. The boys from red fountain stayed on the fairy side of room, the stigma of witches making the worst girlfriends and would most likely hex you remained a prevalent mindset. The exceptions were the loner and sometimes more aggressive red fountain students. It bothered the fairies to see one of the boys and group of witches clamoring to him for attention. Stella made a throw up motion and the other girls laughed. The Specialists arrived soon, taking their seats by their girlfriends. The group chatted about their midterms dilemmas and the how much people where here to relax. Bloom stopped by the table more often and Sky joined her serving.
It wasn't that bad." Timmy and Brandon told the group about their experience of Cordatorta's exam with the ginger mentioning how easy some parts were if you studied them.
"Well It's good to know while I'm ahead never to command an Owl."
Stella hugged her boyfriend. "Failures should stick together."
"…That doesn't make me feel any better."
"So how are things with you, Helia?" The group looked at the technology fairy, who's tone cut the air to Helia. "I'm just curious since you've said nothing since we've spoke."
"It's okay…? I think…I'll go to the restroom."
The volume of the café paused for a moment and the faint sound of clacking heels of tile came.
"No need to stop the party. It's just started." The Winx and specialists took a collective groan. Riven tried to avoid looking at the witches, but eyes crossed with Darcy. The Dark Witch winked and blew a kiss at him.
"Great…just what we needed…" Aisha stood up. "I need some fresh air." Riven got up from his chair and started walking to the nearest exit. "I guess Riven needed some air too."
"All we really need is peace, love and tranquility." Stella clapped her hands together in her own mock meditation. "Walking away from the trash only fuels the trash."
"Welp, I'll be back in a few."
The fairy of the dragon flame marched to the three witches. She pushed Darcy's feet off the table, starling her cool demeanor and attracting more attention from the customers. Stormy's eye brows raised from the scene and she would've laughed if it was one of their instructors, instead she blew her bubblegum causally. Icy inspected her nails, ignoring the pixie that approached their table. "Are you going to order anything?"
"Sisters look." The ice witch sprawled her delicate fingers, tipped with long sharp nails. "Saw this color and it was to die for." She looked up at the redhead, showing her nails. "I believe it's called 'Glacial Poison.'"
Both sister's clamored to Icy, admiring her nails. "They said the old formula was made with snake venom. Kinda a shame now…I would have like to claw some pesky fairy's wings off if they still had that ingredient." The trio laughed together. "Water for all three of use. Now go away."
The attention from the witches and the server ceased after Bloom gave them what they requested and walked off. Helia returned to the table and started conversation with his girlfriend and Tecna seized her prodding for now and turned her focus to Timmy. Aisha returned but Riven left.
Stormy's eyes wondered to the Winx and Specialists' table. When her eyes caught to the long-haired specialist, she rubbed her nails. "I couldn't have never guess you were into the quiet types," Darcy said.
"Baby sister's looking for her balance. Loud and abrasive with calm and quiet… seems plausible if you were one of the idiots around here." Icy added. She dropped her glass on the floor. "Someone needs to clean that up."
Darcy crossed her arms. "I'd expect you'd be interested in someone with power. Red fountain boys can be such pansies…"
"Riven, of course." Icy froze her spilled water. "I do enjoy taking his aura. Made for some potent spells."
"I don't like him, okay." They weren't going to believe that. The storm witch had her eyes set on Helia and from there a wicked idea sparked from Icy. The Winx and Specialists left as Bloom's shift was over and Stormy's eye candy was gone.
"Okay then, let's have some fun." Icy put her hand on Darcy's shoulder. Darcy smirked. "I'm quite tired of those pixies…"