An offer to share clothing? Okay, Magnus must be dead. There was no way in hell that his cute neighbor was offering up his own clothes to wear, that was ridiculous. He probably froze to death in the hallway waiting for Ragnor, yes, that had to be it! “That’d be nice, thank you,” Magnus had seen the other two, although rather fleetingly, and he tended to avoid the blonde at all cost because he almost always had a surly expression on his face. “I’m Magnus, and the grumpy guy you’ve probably seen around is Ragnor. His parents adopted me when I was a kid, so I live with family, too.” It wasn’t like he really had a choice, the two had always been inseparable.
Cheeks a soft pink, Magnus followed Alec to the kitchen, uncertain and nervous. Head tilted curiously as Alec moved a sketchbook to the side, Magnus approached and touched careful fingertips to graphite covered paper. “Woah. These are amazing.” Well, he thought he’d said that in his head, but.
Alec smiled a little as he moved to get two tea cups down once the water was on. “I’ll be right back.” he assured. “Feel free to look around.” He went to his room, finding a long sleeved black shirt and black and blue plaid flanel pants, bringing them back out. “The bathroom is right there.” He pointed, handing the clothes over to Magnus. “The lawyer, right? Or is he a CEO?” he asked, pulling the tea pot off the stove and pouring the water over the little bags. He looked up and blushed a little, smiling. “Sometimes siblings make the best roommates.” he offered, moving to lean forward on the island as he waited for the tea to steep.
Dark blue eyes looked over and he smiled shyly, a blush on his cheeks. “Thank you. Fashion design isn’t usually my forte, it’s Izzy’s, but sometimes I have an idea and it comes out pretty decent. Izzy touches them up and she’s saving them for when she has enough for a compliation line.” he laughed a little and ran a hand through raven hair, licking his lips. “Most of my stuff in interior design and party planning. I plan to open a company once I graduate this spring. Two more classes.”
It wasn’t as though A.Lightwood was wrong (Magnus hoped he’d learn his name at some point)–it was fall, soon to turn to winter, and despite how much they both must be shelling out for their expensive, top floor apartments, the hallways were just as freezing as the lobby was when the front door was ajar. Magnus was vaguely surprised that he hadn’t been shivering, especially because of his own discomfort when faced with cold, but at the mention of it by the other, a small shiver ran up the nurses’ spine.
Blushing at the offer, a bit of panic rising in him at the idea of being alone with his mysterious and crushworthy neighbor when he’s barely been able to get three words out without stuttering in the past. “O-okay, thanks.” Standing on his feet, Magnus brushed his palms on the back of his scrubs and followed the man into his apartment.
Alec smiled as Magnus accepted his invitation to a warm place, closing the door behind them and taking his scarf and jacket off. “I can get you something to wear for now. My stuff might be a little big on you, but I doubt you’d want to wear my brother or sister’s clothes.” he chuckled a little. “I’m Alec, by the way. The blonde you’ve probably seen is my brother Jace and Izzy is our sister. Their rooms are down to the left. The guest room is to the right near me.” he replied, pointing as he spoke. “Let me put on some tea, it’ll help warm you up.” he offered, going to the kitchen and moving his sketchbook of designs.
“Are you really, though?” Luke crouched beside Clary’s seat, gaze full of concern. “Clary, you’ve been missing for months. T-they thought you were dead. How can you possibly just show up perfectly fine after so long?”
Clary tried to keep the memories to herself, and she suddenly understood why Jace trained so often. “I just…I need people to stop asking me questions, Luke.” she replied, but her vision blurred as she watched him. “I don’t know how I got back and I don’t care. I just want people to be happy I’m home.”
“Mmm, but when are you ever, big guy?” Clint mused, lifting his feet up onto the desk and crossing them over one another, “Either way, I think someone needs to figure out the whole “half the population turned to ash” thing, and Steve and Tony are kind of catatonic.”
While he had adjusted to life in the tower before Ultron…coming back had had its ups and downs. He watched Clint for a moment, sighing. “I’m not doing too well right now myself.” Mainly he’d been avoiding Natasha and focusing on trying to understand what it was that had happened, how one snap could devastate the world. And then Hulk was just…refusing to help. “I don’t doubt that. They lost a lot more than I did.” Bruce had been on his own long enough that really, he hadn’t had a lot of time to bond with everyone.
“Well, have you tried telling them that?” Magnus barely looked up from his tarot reading, knowing that if he did look at Alec fully, he wouldn’t be able to look away. “You could always ask for more funds. Or figure out DIY versions of what they want. If anyone can figure out a way to plan a fantastic party on even the shittiest of budgets, I know you could.”
“Telling the daughter that is the hardest point of my career.” Alec rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “It’s just an engagement party, but she wants diamond encrusted champagne glasses. There’s no way to simply DIY those into existence, babe. It’s convincing her father to see me without her that’s the problem. He seems to understand the situation and she….she’s an absolute bride-zilla already and the engagement was a month ago.”
“Define home,” Simon hefted a sigh, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, “I mean, I’m definitely here, but this studying is killing me,” No one had ever said that college was going to be easy but this? Simon was well past exhaustion. “No, no, I’m here, and I miss you too. Come on up and tell me all about it.” Simon shuffled through his papers for a minute before resting his head in his hands, beyond frustrated.
Bram felt bad that Simon seemed to be struggling while he’d been with the soccer team for competition. He opened the backdoor to his car and grabbed his duffel bag, slinging over his shoulder and closing the door before hitting the button to lock the car. “It sounds like you need a break.” He mused, making his way to the stairs and walking up. “What are you stuck on? We can look at it in a little bit, before youbdrive yourself crazy trying to study so hard.” He stopped at the door and pulled out his keys, unlocking the door and opening it. “Because I’m home now and I don’t like you stressing out.”
Oh, God. This was…so incredibly embarrassing. What sort of grown ass adult forgot their keys at home? What sort of grown adult got locked out of their own apartment? Definitely Magnus Bane, who tended to have poor luck most of the time, and if one believed in karma, it made no sense for all the good he did saving others. Alas, c’est la vie. Eyes making a slow and shy accent up to the other’s gaze, Magnus swallowed hard and nodded, blinking away the bit of daze he got whenever he looked at A.Lightwood.
“Yeah, hi, I’m okay,” He managed, head tilting extremely far back just so he could meet his eyes; sitting on the floor didn’t always have its advantages. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Magnus heaved a sigh, “I kind of…locked myself out? And my brother isn’t answering, so I’m stuck out here. But don’t worry about me–I’m sure he’ll be home soon.” Magnus offered the other a smile.
Alec was never one to turn away when people needed help. And despite the words, he couldn’t help but be concerned for his neighbor. This was Magnus, if he wasn’t mistaken; the one he observed from afar and his siblings teased him about asking him out instead if watching. But Alec wasn’t sure if he was ready for that. He had to finish college so he could start his business and then he could worry about coming out.
“Well, it’s a little chilly, you can get sick if you stay out here too long.” He began. “There’s a guest room and a spare bathroom if you’d like to come in and stay warm?” He offered with a faint blush.
“The competition was fun and all, but I miss you. Are you home?” Bram asked as he parked outside the apartment he shared with Simon, unplugging the auxiliary cord so he could hold his phone.
themusechronicles 