S P A R K Y • riven

The Delinquent.

The door shut softly behind him and Marlene began to move around the room, caught off guard that there was a sudden stranger (whom she didn't particularly like) in her room. Riven, however, remained still as he watched her. He smoothly plucked a smoke from his back pocket and lit it with his other hand.

"For the record, I don't need an escort." She said in a loud voice from the bathroom as she pulled her hair out of its high bun, letting her loose curls spill down her shoulders, down her back like ink.

"Sky doesn't know, does he?" He answered, ignoring her previous statement, "None of them do." He added, a small smirk playing on his lips, eager to have something over her since during their last encounter she had been the one to have the last word and he had been left flustered. Which did not happen very often for Riven. "About your little training sessions? Because despite your little playful exterior..." He pondered, looking about her room, "you're a sneaky minx."

"Why? Is that a confusing archetype for you?" She taunted and he couldn't help but scoff.

Marlene exited the bathroom and watched as Riven looked about her things. She stood in front of the boy and took the rolled piece of paper from his hands and proceeded to throw it out the open window. He was about to complain when she gave him a glare that had the potential to cut him.

"I do have roommates so I would prefer if you could refrain from doing that in here." Her part of the room wasn't particularly big but it consisted of her bed, her bookshelf, and a dresser in the corner of the room.

It was a space flooded with warm light and Marlene liked to keep some of Terra's plants in there as well, they were everywhere anyway so why not add a few more? The wall was complete with star charts and photographs of her with her friends, suitemates, and a few of Sky with her and Stella.

"And no, none of them know and I would prefer to keep it that way." She added, her voice snapping Riven out of his rapt state. "Are you done snooping around?" Marlene added and moved towards her desk, snapping a notebook closed so its contents weren't exposed to Riven's eyes.

He, however, had moved to her dresser and left off where Sky had started, rummaging through her clothes that he deemed 'presentable'. He had tossed a tight-fitting top and a pair of jeans onto the bed before Marlene slammed the drawer and put herself between him and the furniture.

"That counts as snooping around." She muttered and gazed up at him, he wasn't ugly, she'd give him that. Marlene hadn't gotten a good look at his face up close before and there was something about it. About him, a certain gleam about his features, something in his eyes or his smile which told her he was trouble.

"So, why don't you want your friends to know about your little midnight sparing sessions? Got something to hide, have you?" He asked, his voice low and rough, he outstretched his arms and placed them gently on the dresser behind her. Trapping her in a sort of cage. He was suddenly hit with the sweet scent of her, a subtle blend of lavender and something else he couldn't quite place but it had a metallic tinge to it.

"Are you flirting or trying to start a fight?" He seemed to consider this, tipping his head from one side to the other.

"Maybe a bit of both."

"Stella and Sky don't need to know- it's just something I like to do." She lied, "So I would appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself- if that's possible." And she pushed past his arm, she scooped the clothes from the bed which Riven had picked out and shut the bathroom door behind her to change.

"I don't get it though..." He said to her through the bathroom door as he continued to look around. "You're a fairy so why learn to fight in the first place? And why don't you want them to know?" He asked and approached her desk, a small piece of paper had slipped out of the notebook she had shut so abruptly. He picked it up and realized it was a newspaper clipping from a year ago:

Four Orphans Attacked, One Missing. It read, Last December, in the St Bryor Home for Girls five were attacked by an unknown figure. Four of the girls were viciously electrocuted and burned, one remains paralyzed. The fifth remains missing, local authorities remain alert as they believe she jumped out the second-story window.

Riven pocketed the clipping when he heard Marlene emerge from the bathroom, caught off guard, and turned to look at her.

"Come on." She instructed, slinging on her jacket but Riven was still admiring how she looked, "Let's get this over with." She mumbled and opened the door.

"Why should I keep this to myself anyway?" Riven thought out loud and she stopped in the doorway, turning to look at him. He had made himself comfortable in an armchair in the shared living area, showing no movement of getting up.

"Because Stella and Sky worry enough about me as it is and they don't need to. But if they found out- well I don't know- and I'd rather not find out. And if you value your tongue, I suggest you keep it still." She threatened, standing in front of the chair.

"You're all talk." Riven stood, looking down at the girl.

"Then try it, it was easy to knock you off your feet the other night, I'm sure this time it will be much easier." She told him and Riven scoffed as he watched her leave the suite, the door open for him to follow. Which he did.

"Don't fucking bark if you can't fucking bite, Sparky... Un-fucking believable," he said, but she didn't hear him. Marlene was too focused on the task at hand. Her first college party. 

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ooooooooooooo, enemies make the best lover- my opinion.