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"Right. Sorry, I'd be happy to-"
"Mansplain it?" the girl asks bluntly. "No," Sky rejects the accusation, laughing in incredulity at her brazenness. "Sure. Kinda seems like your thing," she shoots back.
Sky is still looking at the red haired girl and searching for a clever rebuttal, when two hands snake around his waist and he hears a familiar voice speak. "Quit perving on the first years, babe."
An immediate smile makes it's way onto Sky's face as a small kiss is pressed to the side of his neck. "Hey Riv," he says and leans back into the boy behind him. The girl still in front of him now looks at them with a slightly surprised look on her face.
"Right, err.. I'll uhh, I'll leave you be... yeah." She's nodding to herself and starts to turn around, but stops midway, a conflicted look on her face. Sky's still wondering what's going on in her head when she turns back around with a resolute expression.
All the while, Riven has migrated from pressing into Sky's back to leaning into his side, one arm still firmly hugging Sky's middle. He's placed the other hand on his boyfriends shoulder and propped his head up on it, nosing at Sky's neck. Riven's affections make it hard for the taller to pay attention to what the girl is saying next.
"Actually, I kinda do have a question," she admits and it's a good thing that Riven is still listening, because Sky's head is blue-screening at the feeling of his boyfriends hand stroking his side.
"Yeah, and what's that", the brown haired boy retorts with a slight air of irritation at not being left alone. The redhead turns to the side and points to the entrance of the fairy hall.
"Who is that," she asks, and Riven openly rolls his eyes now because there's at least twenty people standing around the entrance.
"That's cute. Which one exactly," he implores despite his annoyance. The girl slightly turns her head back to them and responds. "The pretty girl with the blonde hair in the beige coat and red handbag." Now it's Riven's turn to be surprised, because the redhead is actually pointing right at Stella.
"Pretty girl, eh?" is what he chooses to focus on, a wicked grin on his face. She looks startled at being caught, her face turning slightly red, almost matching her hair.
"I mean, yeah, objectively speaking of course. She does have, uh.. pretty features," she finishes lamely, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. Sky, whose brain has decided to reboot during the conversation, makes big eyes and turns to Riven.
"She can't mean.." he starts, and is immediately interrupted again.
"Oh, she means exactly that one. The 'girls' name is Stella and she is a real life fuckin' princess," he says the last part to the girl. A small sliver of recognition crosses the redheads face. "She is also, incidentally, Sky's crazy Ex," he continues and immediately gets elbowed in the ribs by his boyfriend.
"Shut up, Riv. She's not crazy, she's just... having a hard time, with her mum and all."
Despite having broken up more than two years ago, he's still fond and fiercely protective of Stella. In that, he is probably one of only few people, one of the only ones who see the girl behind the facade of the princess. He looks at the fairy in front of him with a contemplative face.
"Stella is a good person. She just has a hard time showing it, what with the pressure from her mom and the crown and all," he tells her. "I don't want to tell you how to do things but.." he stops short. "Just be careful with her. She could use someone who's on her side." The red haired nods slowly, tucking the information away for later.
"Uhm.. okay. Thanks? I guess," she replies and starts picking up her stuff. "Now I actually kinda have to go." She points over her shoulder to the fairy hall. "Err.. Nice to meet you, Sky. And Riven," she declares and moves to go towards the entrance.
"Hey, what's your name? Seems unfair that you only know ours," Sky calls after her before she's out of earshot.
"It's Bloom," she shouts over her shoulder, tugging her suitcase behind her. Riven smirks, turning back to look at his boyfriend.
"Bloom, she says. Nice name for a fairy," he quips and Sky finally decides to properly envelop Riven in a hug.
He wraps his arms around the others neck, Riven's arms around him tightening fractionally. Then Sky buries his face into the crook of his boyfriend's neck, breathing in the heavenly scent of cedarwood, lavender and a smell that Sky had come to identify as just Riven himself. They stand there for a while, just enjoying the proximity, before Sky slowly pulls back to look at his boyfriend.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," Riven grins.
Sky lets his hands wander over the boy's shoulders to his neck, halting to cup Riven's face in his hands. He pulls him closer until their foreheads touch and their noses brush together. He can feel Riven's breath on his lips and it sends pleasant shivers down his spine. The brown haired's smile becomes softer and his arms around Sky tighten even more.
"I missed you," Riven confesses into the small space between them.
Sky looks at his boyfriend, who has closed his eyes, and lets his thumbs brush over the soft skin beneath them.
"I missed you, too," he replies and finally lets the last bit of space between them disappear as their lips meet in a soft kiss.
*
“Bloom.”
“Yeah... You must be Stella, Hi!” Bloom exclaims, trying for optimistic but landing on flustered and anxious.
Stella lets her gaze sweep over the girl before her. She is quite pretty, in her own, unrefined sense. Everything about her screams 'Please don't notice me' in a weirdly charming way.
“I was waiting. I just... I got impatient.” Bloom chuckles self-consciously. Up close, Stella's radiance is even more disarming, so Bloom chooses to stay quiet lest she embarrass herself any more.
“How very American of you. Shall we?” Stella says and turns around, walking into the hall without waiting for Bloom to follow suit. Bloom stares after her for a moment, before scrambling to pick up her stuff and rushing after her.
'This is going to be a long year,' she thinks as she hurries after her future roommate.