Princess | Riven (Fate: Winx Saga)

Act Two: Chapter 7

"Such a disappointment." The Headmistress sighed heavily, shaking her head ever so slightly, "Andreas tried to make a decent Specialist out of him, but..."

"Blood from a stone." Andreas concluded through a mouth full of food, and Mor didn't bother concealing her cringe.

Neither did Stella's uncle, it would seem, "Andreas! One of these days you must come to the Capitol and let Stella's old etiquette teacher give you a lesson. Cute little My Fair Lady moment. At least Sky was lucky enough to be raised by Saul, although, talk about the blind leading the blind." 

"Uncle Arthur!" Stella chuckled nervously, subtly sending Sky an apologetic look.

"Oh, come on, now! You know it's true." The Royal Pain in the Arse slurred on, "I mean, no fault to you, but you and my niece had stayed together... scandal! Granted, you seem to have landed on your feet. Landed the fairy that transformed, or one of them at least. There's still time yet, though."

An incredulous laugh burst from Mor's lips as her head snapped in the man's direction, "Excuse me?!"

She was gripping her knife so hard, she thought it might snap, and her jaw was clenched so tightly, it was wonder her teeth didn't shatter. 
The nerve of this man.

Silently, Riven placed a firm hand on top of Mor's, flattening her fist so that she dropped the knife. He curled his fingers around her own, then, squeezing them comfortingly, and as she glanced over to him, she could see just how pissed off he was as well.

Arthur's eyebrows skyrocketed, as if he was surprised she'd talk back to him, "Well, don't you have a short temper?"

"No, I just have a quick reaction to bullshit." Mor shot back, earning a proud snicker from Riven, a subtle smile from Stella, and a not-so subtle glare from Rosalind.

"Miss Chambers!" The Headmistress scolded sharply.

But Sky cut in, grinding out through gritted teeth, "I didn't land anything."

"Maybe some water?" Stella offered, gesturing for a waitress to hurry over.

"Oh, no, don't be that girl!" Arthur tsked condescendingly, and Mor's irritation grew tenfold. Riven gave her hand a firm squeeze, reminding her just where she was and that she definitely was not allowed to kill the man.

Luckily - or not so luckily, depending on the perspective - Rosalind's phone chimed, and the woman took it as a cue to start standing up, "If you'll excuse me a moment."

It took barely a minute before Bloom was up as well, placing a hand on Sky's shoulder as she strode after Rosalind and efficiently avoiding Mor's questioning glance.
Again.
This was beginning to become tiring.

"So..." Riven pursed his lips, and Mor dragged her attention away from Bloom to settle upon him, "how have your friends taken your sudden reappearance?"

She paused, glancing back over to where the redhead had walked off to, "They're... suspicious."

"I don't blame them."

Frowning, Mor turned back to him, but Riven simply shrugged.

"What? It's true, I don't blame them for being suspicious!" He reiterated, "Fuck it, I'm a bit suspicious. But you know what the truth is. You just have to be patient enough for them to see it as well."

She sighed. He was, after all, annoyingly right. 
Mor did understand why her friends were being so hesitant to let her back in, and in truth, it was less the secrecy that bugged her, and more the stark absence of what it used to be like between them. The general ease they had with each other, despite only knowing one another for a term - that was what Mor missed.