Familiar Face

[Tecna]

OOC: Occurs a little bit after Riven's return to Red Fountain

Settling down into her favorite corner seat in Connected, the best wireless cafe in all Magix, Tecna flipped open her laptop and absently began surfing the Realm Wide Web, every so often lifting her cup of black coffee to her lips. But despite the bustling atmosphere of the cafe where the sound of fingertips clicking over keyboards blended in with the murmurs of conversations that were occasionally interspersed with shouts of laughter, on that particular day, it did nothing to enliven Tecna's mood.

The truth was, too much had been weighing on her mind as of late. She had thought that taking a trip to town would do wonders for herself, but it turned out that she couldn't just leave her troubles behind at Alfea. With a grim smile, Tecna sighed. No, it seemed as though they had the irritating manner of following her wherever she went.

First there was Bloom to consider and the fact that her memory was shaky at best. And then there was the fiasco with Stella and Brandon, not to mention Tecna was beginning to suspect that something had happened to Flora too. Though she hadn't spent very much time in the nature fairy's company as of late, Tecna had noticed her in class and she had seemed rather...strange. Not at all like her normally sweet natured self. And then on top of it all, there was the matter of Timmy, who had seemed to positively drop out of existence. Tecna had long ago grown past feeling like there could be something romantic between the two of them, but she was concerned about his well-being. He was a good friend, after all, and the fact that he hadn't even been on-line in the past week to receive her IMs disturbed her.

Exhaling deeply, Tecna rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she briefly closed her eyes in an attempt to block the images of her friends' faces from flashing across her mind. It was useless, though, and finally in her frustration, Tecna rose from her chair and left the cafe. Clearly, this excursion to Magix was not serving its purpose and so there was little use in staying in town-

Lost in her thoughts, Tecna didn't notice the figure in front of her and promptly collided right into him, sending her flying back down against the concrete sidewalk. Worse, though, was the terrible metallic crunching sound that accompanied her fall. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Tecna cried out in dismay, "My laptop!"

Gingerly opening the laptop's case, Tecna groaned when the sight of a cracked display screen met her eyes. Knowing, however, that she was the reason it was shattered, she muttered underneath her breath, "Well, Tec, that's what you get for not paying attention to where you're going." Rising to her feet as she continued to cradle the shattered piece of equipment in her arms, Tecna said, too absorbed with inspecting the computer for other damage to look up, "Sorry about that. I should have been more careful."

[Tag: Riven because he needs a little less drama and Tecna is about as undramatic as you can get]

[Riven]

He hadn’t been back to Red Fountain long, and Riven was already regretting his decision. He had left to escape the drama, but things had only gotten worse in his absence. Now that he was back he was being thrust right back into the middle of it all, no matter how hard he tried to tell everyone that he didn’t care. He was there to learn and to fight. Any other problems his team had they could take to a shrink because he didn’t want to hear them.

Needless to say, he already needed to get away, so at the first moment he could slip away, he took his levabike into Magix for a little downtime. No worries of wizards, or crying teammates or death glares from his “leader”. In Magix, all he had to worry about was where to get a drink.

...and apparently distracted fairies with expensive technical equipment. His hands firmly in his pockets, Riven didn’t have time to react. All he could do was wince when the girl ran right into him and fell backwards to the pavement. Looking down at her with a disgruntled expression, he quickly recognized the unique hair colour and distinct accent when she spoke. At least it wasn’t Stella or Bloom.

Or Musa.

“That would have been the... logical thing,” he remarked snidely, the side of his mouth curling up into a smirk.

[Tecna]

Immediately placing the familiar voice, Tecna's eyes nevertheless shot upward in mild surprise before she quickly masked her reaction behind a dryly spoken, "Yes, well, even I sometimes break out of the one-dimensional box people so often place me in." Arching a brow, Tecna countered as she dusted her skirt off, her voice without malice despite her cutting words, "Clearly, however, you prefer to stay in your box at all times as I do not believe I've yet to hear you mutter one word that didn't support everyone's belief that you're - what's that nickname? Captain Moody?"

With a snort, Tecna shook her head. "Certainly you can't argue with me on that point, can you?"

[Riven]

Oh, she was a feisty one! Not the person he would have expected such a jibe from, but then again she’d rarely hidden her distaste at his own snide comments. And her comments tended to annoy him the most because they weren’t based on emotion like everyone else. It was offputting.

“Well, someone’s got their panties in a bunch,” he chuckled. He purposefully avoided her question. He didn’t need to defend himself to her, and what reason did he have to try to be different? He wasn’t going to be some pansy smelled the flowers and wrote sappy love songs.

[Tecna]

Slightly surprised at herself for her remark, something that sounded more like something Stella would say, Tecna then brushed the feeling aside. True, it was a bit out of character for her normally more aloof, stand-offish nature, but with all the things weighing on her shoulders, it made sense that she should be affected somehow. If everyone else was changing, why couldn't she?

Giving Riven a cool smile that was more akin to what he ought to be accustomed to coming from her, Tecna then answered matter-of-factly, "It's my accent that leads you to believe that, I think. Everyone always says it makes me sound incredibly stuffy."

[Riven]

Blinking, Riven found that he didn’t immediately have a reply ready. Had he made that comment to any other girl, they would have gotten all indignant and berated him for being a pig or something similar.

He couldn’t think of another girl actually agreeing with his assessment of them.

“Yeah, that’s it,” he replied lamely. Still no snappy comeback, but what could one really say to that? “But I bet there are people that think it sounds sexy.”

He winked at her. If he couldn’t throw her off one way, there were always others.

[Tecna]

Although a faint pink color crept into Tecna's cheeks, she managed to keep herself in check as she replied, injecting her voice with just the right amount of bland distaste, "Yes, I imagine you are correct in that assertion, Riven. And as a matter of fact, I could very likely calculate the probability of such an occurrence since, as you said, I am so logical."

This time, as she placed emphasis on that particular word, Tecna's voice was infused with a great deal of distaste. She herself could see nothing wrong in being logical and as such, she simply hated the way others so easily mocked that aspect of her personality. Honestly, it was as though they all thought that the world ought to be ruled on silly whims! Though there was nothing wrong with, as Stella would, 'just acting on impulse,' there was a time and place for it. And truly, where would the great rulers of today be if they didn't use their heads?

It was for that reason that Tecna had always secretly wondered why Sky had been put in charge of a team at Red Fountain. He never seemed to use his head to its full capacity and he always seemed to get caught up in things that didn't matter. And though Tecna found Riven rather insufferable, at least he seemed to understand that hard work and straight thinking were the only ways to accomplish anything worthwhile. It was a shame he had abandoned his team, although she couldn't blame him for it. Hadn't she essentially done the same thing with her friends before Bloom's return had slowly pulled her back into their lives?

[Riven]

Score one point for the Rivenator! Although the blush was faint, it was there. He hadn’t lost his touch. There were many ways to get under someone’s skin, he just had to find what way worked on each person. This time it wasn’t just a chuckle; he actually laughed.

“I’d be interested in hearing the results of that little calculation,” he said. Reaching out, he hooked one finger underneath Tecna’s chin and tilted her head up slightly. “I know of one person for certain that you can add to those statistics.”

Hopefully this wouldn’t end the same way it had when he’d tried hitting on Bloom that one time to get at both her and Sky. He was not in the mood to get drenched today.

[Tecna]

"You really ought to develop new tactics," Tecna remarked before reaching up and pushing his finger away from her face. "Haven't you already tried that particular move on Bloom and half Magix's female population? It may have worked on flustering them, but in case you haven't noticed, I am not exactly the average female. I would have pinned you as someone intelligent enough to know that specialization is absolutely critical, but clearly I miscalculated. In any event," Tecna said with a short laugh, "let me summarize in most simple terms: what works on one person does not necessarily work on everyone. Variety should be your best friend."

Despite her matter-of-fact words, however, Tecna felt herself growing agitated. What redeeming quality Musa saw in him was beyond her - why, the man's sole hobby seemed to be attempting to get under people's skin!

[Riven]

Snap, she was quick. Glowering as she not only resisted his advances, but completely shattered them, Riven took a step back. She could see right through him and he didn’t like it.

“Oh believe me, I’ve noticed,” he grumbled to himself. She was as far from the average female as she could get. It was highly irritating. Musa would have been a pile of goo at his feet by now. Hell, all he had to do was look at her the right way and she practically got hearts in her eyes.

“One has to size up everyone to find out what works on each person, and in the meantime, this... tactic is the most amusing one to experiment with until I get the right one,” he countered, forcing the aloof smirk back to his face. It wasn’t supposed to work both ways. He was supposed to get under her skin.

[Tecna]

Folding her arms over her chest, Tecna tapped her foot impatiently as she exclaimed incredulously, his muddled logic temporarily overriding her belief that this was quite possibly the most ridiculous conversation she had ever had, "Well, it's no wonder that you haven't found the 'right' tactic! You can't call it experimenting if you do the same thing each time!"

Honestly, how utterly foolish and illogical could a person be?

Giving her head a firm shake, Tecna nevertheless suddenly had the urge to laugh. He was insane, she was insane, they were both insane for having this asinine conversation. She ought to be putting her mind to better use instead of filling it with this garbage. And yet, Tecna couldn't help but admit that she was enjoying herself.

Because, for the first time in what felt like forever, she realized that she had finally gotten her mind off of her troubles.

[Riven]

Tecna’s outburst gaining them some odd looks from passer-bys, Riven just gave them a “what’s your problem?” look as they went on their merry way. What, people couldn’t stand in the middle of the sidewalk and yell at each other anymore? What a sad world this was becoming.

“And when was the last time you experimented, Tecna?” he asked, taking a step closer to make up for the step back he had previously taken. “And I’m not talking about science or magic. Everyone experiments with that.”

[Tecna]

At Riven's next attempt to ruffle her feathers, Tecna grimaced. So he was going to play that card, was he? Well, unfortunately for him, it wasn't going to work. She had no qualms about admitting just how boring and uneventful her romantic life had been thus far; it wasn't as though it truly mattered to her, anyhow. And perhaps even, to some extent, she took great pride in the fact that she wasn't like all those other fairies who had their heads about as far stuck up in the clouds as possible - a place where the only topic to ever think about or discuss was boys this and boys that.

Giving Riven a cool smile, Tecna promptly replied, "I am afraid you will have to go to another source to hear about experimentation as I have no stories to share with you. I am sorry to disappoint you, but my time is better spent on subjects like science and magic than in the laps of dimwitted boys that can barely tell their right hand from their left."

[Riven]

Holding his hands out in front of him, Riven looked from one to the other before bringing his eyes back to Tecna’s face. Just as she said, there was a look of disappointment on his features. Whether it was genuine or not, though...

“Damn, and here I was hoping you were like one of those stuffy librarians who appears so prim and proper, but with the right incentive...” Leaning in as if to reveal a secret, he lowered his head slightly to her level. “They’re the wildest girls you’d ever meet.”

[Tecna]

Tecna didn't believe for one minute that the look of disappointment that crossed Riven's face was anything more than a farce nor did she fancy herself to be the type of girl that any member of the male sex would fantasize about - excluding the computer nerds, of course. But even then, Tecna thought with a wry smile, she imagined that they probably found more excitement in thinking about upgrading their computer systems than girls. As such, Tecna responded to Riven accordingly by reaching up, planting her hands against his chest, and giving him a firm push away from her.

"Clearly, you have a thing or two to learn about something called personal space, Riven."