Licorice Scented Roses?

It was a stupid idea. It was a stupid ridiculous idea. It was a stupid ridiculous unbelievably badly planned idea. One that Darcy would probably hate so much she would send Musa to the nether realm, never to be seen again.

So why exactly am I here? Why am I outside a known CloudTower hangout holding an armful of flowers probably risking my life in the process? The fairy thought, sweating through her red crop top.

Honestly? She didn't even know how it happened. One minute she was walking down the street of Magix, bopping along to some tune playing through her head, trying not to trip on her bell bottoms when a flower cart caught her eye. She stopped, and came closer to the sweet scented blooms. Most of them were shimmering shades of pastels except for a clump of dark purple roses situated towards the back. Their shade of violet violently stood out from the rest of the flowers, drawing Musa's fingertips to the petals.

Kind of like the first time I saw Darcy. She stood out from pretty much everybody. The fairy idly thought as she fondled the velvet petals. They were soft and strangely enough almost sticky in texture.

"Good eye, my dear! These blooms are quite rare!" An excited high pitched voice said muffled from behind the cart.

With furrowed brow, Musa leaned forward the leaves tickling her bare arms. When she parted the colorful stalks and peered down she saw a small elven woman with strachy red curls, and a face full of freckles over her pinched face. Her chilly green eyes staring into Musa's own dark blue ones.

"They are really nice," Musa admitted, taking a step back from the cart.

The elven woman beamed, showing off her gleaming sharp teeth coming around the side of the cart to stand in front of her customer. Now in front of the fairy she came to about Musa's chest and was dressed in a green gardener's jumpsuit with a lavender apron. Her brown work boots were covered in mud probably from working her greenhouse before coming to sell her wares in Magix.

"And they're half off!" Musa raised an eyebrow at the offer.

Half off? Not bad, but who would I give it to? The fairy wondered, biting her bottom lip.

"A perfect deal on the perfect gift for a sweet heart!" The other woman continued seemingly reading Musa's thoughts.

"A pretty girl like you has to have a sweetheart!"

Musa snorted. She didn't necessarily have what some would consider a "sweetheart". No matter how hard Riven tried. But there was ...someone. Someone special whose unfocused violet eyes haunted the corners of her mind.

She chewed her bottom lip for a few more seconds before she slowly nodded. With a hop the little shopkeeper grabbed the entire bunch of roses. Then with a flourish, she threw them in the air. Musa watched as they hovered in mid air while black crepe paper flew out from the pocket of the elf's lavender apron, wrapping up the roses. The fairy followed the bundle's movement until it came into the shopkeeper's hands where she tied a satin ribbon around them as a finishing touch.

Now here she stood outside the Witches Brew café, arms full of roses, wondering if she could just drop them and run. Maybe keep some of her dignity or avoid being sent into the nether realm. While she was pondering her course of action her decision was made when a soft lyrical voice spoke up from behind her.

"Musa?"

Her face draining of color, the music fairy turned slowly on the heel of her red Converse. The scent of lilies snaking its way through her nose until she was confronted with the darkest of the Trix, Darcy.

The tall pale brunette stood on the sidewalk. Well standing wasn't quite the right word. She was actually swaying; her whole body moving side to side like a willow reed in an ocean breeze. Mellow and slow. Her head was lolling around her bony shoulders, circling to the front then to the back, until she could peer down at Musa through her tinted rose half glasses.

The fairy swallowed, and fidgeted under the other girl's gaze. Darcy was a breathtaking girl. She had been ever since the opening ceremony for the schools, where Musa had noticed the sullen witch sprawled in her seat next to her mother Headmistress Griffin. Even now, in just her street clothes of purple bell bottoms, a matching crop top, and purple platform sandals she was hauntingly beautiful.

"Musa?" Darcy sing-songed again taking a step closer; the lily smell intensifying around the fairy.

"What are you doing here?" The witch raised her hands and ran her fingers through the other girl's short black hair. Musa closed her eyes as the long acrylic nails scratched against her sensitive scalp.

Darcy cooed as the fairy cuddled into her grasp. She was curious what the other girl was doing outside a cloud tower hangout. Most fairies avoided it, not wanting to fight any of the other witches on a level playing field.

But not Musa, she thought, cupping the other girl's smooth face in her hands.

"Darling you have to tell me what you're doing here," Darcy asked, keeping the other girl's face encircled in her hands.

Musa felt a few strands of Darcy's long silky auburn hair tickle her face. The light sensation made her eyes flutter open, so she was once again staring into a deep pair of violet eyes. Still in a trance, she mutely brought the roses in her arms up, so that it was now between the two of them.

"For me?" The witch pointed to her own chest with a long purple fingernail. Musa nodded, holding the flowers higher. Her red crop top riding up, revealing more of her unblemished smooth stomach.

Darcy pulled her hands back and wrapped her skeletal fingers around the black crepe paper. It crinkled under her light touch. She brought them to her face while Musa watched. Heart rattling against her ribcage as she wiped her sweaty palms on her light blue jeans. The sweat stains drenching the material. The witch buried her face further into the flowers, an interesting scent coming up from the velvety petals.

"Are they meant to smell like licorice?" Darcy finally asked once she pulled her face up.

Silence prevailed over them for a sharp moment until Musa's jaw dropped, and face turned a bright red. Darcy smiled at the cute sight.

It seems I have my answer, the witch mused as she shifted her roses to her other arm.

"I swear I didn't know! I just saw them and thought wow these are really pretty and not too pricey. Not that I think you deserve cheap things! It's just I don't have a lot of money, and you have so much so it's like what can I even buy her!"

With each stuttered word from Musa, Darcy's crocodile grin grew. Allowing the fairy to ramble for a good few minutes until she ran out of breath. Finally she dropped her eyes to the ground, scuffing the sidewalk with her worn red sneaker. Gently, the witch raised the other girl's chin with her forefinger.

Now eye-to-eye Musa saw an affectionate glimmer in the other girl's hazy gaze. Hypnotized, the fairy watched as Darcy leaned forward the flowers still between them. The sickly sweet scent clouding Musa's brain. She watched in a dreamlike state as Darcy came even closer until her lips settled on her burning cheek. Then for the world's longest second the witch's cool lips stayed there.

"Thank you," Darcy whispered the vibrations caressing Musa's cheek.

"I love them," the witch finished as she pulled away.

Still dumbfounded, Musa just nodded unconsciously, stepping closer to the other girl, missing the warmth that had been stolen away. But Darcy was done now, and she wiggled her fingers at Musa from under her bundle and walked over to the cafe door. Alone with a click of a door Musa's fingers grazed the sticky purple stain on her hot cheek, smiling as the smell of licorice remained.