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Magnus felt like his heart was going to burst with pure elation as he watched the parade travel on. Flags with multi-colored stripes waved through the breeze as people cheered and marched.
Magnus had gotten a small flag face-painted on him, just three simple pink, yellow, and blue stripes—the pansexual pride flag—a few inches below his right eye. Alex also had a flag on his face, but it was colored pink, white, purple, black, and blue—the gender-fluid pride flag. The pansexual flag was painted on his other cheek, while in his right hand he waved a small transgender pride flag.
Balloon arches with rainbow patterns seemed to float along the street. Magnus and Alex always cheered a little louder when someone with a pansexual and/or gender-fluid pride flag walked by. They had promised to meet up with Blitzen and Hearthstone in an hour at Blitzen’s Boutique, but Alex persuaded Magnus to spend just a few more minutes at the parade.
“I love this,” Alex said, squeezing Magnus’s hand.
“What?” Magnus shouted back. The loud music that was blasting from seemingly invisible speakers and the large cheering crowd made it difficult to hold a conversation.
Alex lifted Magnus’s hand to his lips and kissed it.
“I LOVE this!” Alex shouted.
“This pride parade or me?” Magnus shouted back, smiling.
Alex rolled his eyes but smiled as he leaned down to kiss Magnus.
“Yes,” Alex whispered into Magnus’s ear.
Magnus couldn’t stop the giggle that burst out of his mouth as he hugged his wonderful boyfriend.
At that moment, a very pretty girl walked by, passing out little handkerchief-like pieces of cloth, each decorated with the stripes of a different pride flag. Alex walked up to the curb where the girl was and got four flags (two pansexual ones, a gender-fluid one, and a trans one). He returned to Magnus, who wrapped an arm around Alex’s waist.
“Should we start heading up to Blitzen and Hearth?” he asked.
Alex was busy staring at the little square gender-fluid cloth with a bright smile and eyes filled with sunshine and rainbows.
Huh. His eyes are filled with rainbows both literally and figuratively because we’re at a pride parade and he looks so happy, Magnus thought to himself. I’m so smart.
“It’s usually a hit-or-miss with finding gender-fluid themed stuff at pride events, but this place is a treasure chest!” Alex exclaimed. He threw his arm across Magnus’s shoulders as they continued to make their way through the crowd that was blocking them from the relatively open sidewalk. Blitz and Hearth would probably be impatiently waiting for them. Magnus looked at his watch.
“Yikes, we’re twenty minutes late.”
“Oops,” Alex replied.
“Once we get out of this crowd, we should pick up the pace and—”
“Hey!” Alex interrupted Magnus.
Magnus turned to look at his boyfriend, who suddenly had a mischievous smile growing.
“Oh, gods. What now?” Magnus asked. “I know that smile, Fierro!”
Alex set down the bag full of the goodies they got at the parade and took Magnus’s face in his hands. Magnus couldn’t help but smile giddily.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Alex said before bringing his lips to Magnus’s. Magnus closed his eyes and kissed back, and for a moment, it was just him and Alex together.
Magnus’s period of zoning out abruptly ended when people around them cheered and applauded. Alex pulled away and bowed to the crowd. Magnus timidly waved and was finally able to catch his breath a few minutes after he and Alex joined hands and escaped the crowd of thousands.
“What do you mean ‘I’ve always wanted to do this’? We’ve kissed—” Magnus paused to count on his fingers “—nineteen times now!”
Alex’s eyebrows rose on his forehead as he began to laugh.
“You’ve been keeping count of the number of times we’ve kissed?”
Magnus felt the heat rising to his cheeks from embarrassment and from seeing Alex laugh. The sight of seeing him laugh felt like being able to breathe after feeling like you’ve been underwater for far too long.
As Alex turned to him, Magnus sensed his—no, her, now—gender change.
“Of course I keep track of the number of times my beautiful significant other and I have kissed.”
“You’re such a dork,” she replied.
They walked in silence for a minute, attempting to catch their breath as they walked up a steep incline. Magnus could just make out what he was pretty sure was the top of the neon Blitzen’s Boutique sign, glowing with the colors of the rainbow.
“You’re a girl now, right?” Magnus asked, rubbing his thumb in circles on Alex’s hand.
“Sí, mi pequeña bola de sol,” Alex replied, kissing Magnus’s forehead.
“Did you just call me a fireball?” Magnus asked, smiling.
“No, idiot, I called you ‘my little ball of sunshine.’”
“The sun is a ball of fire, so technically I’m not wrong.”
Alex rolled her eyes and smiled.
“How do you know?” Alex suddenly asked as they continued walking. The sun was starting to set, and the streetlights were starting to glow.
Magnus looked up at her brown and amber eyes.
“Hm?”
“How can you tell when I shift genders? Sometimes I feel like you know it’s happening before I do. So what’s your secret?”
Magnus shrugged.
“Well, when you shift genders, you kind of glow for a second. It’s super faint and it lasts for shorter than a second, but I guess I notice that, and something about your eyes change too. Like, they don’t change into something different or anything, but it’s like they sparkle a little more than they usually do, and then I just…have an instinct, you know?”
Alex stopped and took Magnus’s other hand into her own.
“Incredible.”
It was all she said before pulling Magnus into another kiss. Magnus happily obliged, but pulled apart and looked around.
“What is it? Monsters?” Alex asked, immediately on alert. She tightened her grip on Magnus as her multi-chrome eyes darted up and down the street.
“No, no it’s nothing like that,” Magnus hastily explained, feeling his face become warm.
Alex rolled her eyes. and looked past Magnus to make sure there weren’t really any monsters or other creatures that were out of the ordinary.
“Then what is it, Maggie?”
Magnus gently guided Alex’s face towards his own and leaned forward so their foreheads and the tips of their noses were touching.
“You’ve been so…open about me today. About us,” Magnus whispered. The sky was becoming darker, but Magnus and Alex had luckily found themselves under a streetlamp.
“You’re usually so…careful when we’re in public,” Magnus continued, taking each of Alex’s hands into his own.
“But today…kissing me in front of all those people…those strangers—”
“I’m sorry,” Alex interjected. Her head drooped. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m so sorry.”
“No no no! It’s okay! It was good! I mean, it was great, but I—uh, I was, um…” Magnus trailed off as Alex slowly lifted her head back up and Magnus’s eyes met her own.
“Gods, you dork, do you ever start a sentence on the topic you wish to speak about?”
“First of all, don’t use that adorable little pretentious professor voice with me, young lady.”
Magnus felt his heart breathe a sigh of relief as Alex restrained herself from giggling.
“Second of all, what I’m trying to say is that you’re usually so careful when we’re in public. Like, you’ll hold my hand, but if someone gives us a weird look, you either let go or shove your hand—and my hand—into your pocket. That time we and Sam were sitting in the park on that bench, you and I were being all lovey-dovey and gross and Sam got annoyed so she went to get some food and I followed her to the taco truck and we came back and you barely let our feet touch and Sam asked you what was wrong and you said it was nothing but then I saw a big white guy glaring at us with a Confederate flag on his shirt and an ugly MAGA hat and he looked like the type of guy to defend the rights of a gun to exist rather than the lives of children—”
“I remember the horrible conservative in the park, Magnus,” Alex interrupted. Magnus took a deep breath.
“The point is, you always seemed…well, scared in public when it was just you and me. For a while, I thought it was because you were embarrassed to be seen with me—”
Alex interrupted Magnus again, but instead of talking, she grabbed his face and kissed him.
“Don’t say things like that. I’m only embarrassed to be with you when you spill a milkshake on a poor waitress.”
“That was one time!” Magnus exclaimed. He paused to breathe before continuing. “I’m just wondering what made today different than any other day,” Magnus explained.
The sky was pitch black by now, stars were twinkling against the navy blue atmosphere, and the temperature had significantly dropped. Alex and Magnus still stood under the light of the lamppost, albeit closer together. (Whether it was human instinct to keep warm or some other reason, neither einherjar cared.) Alex looked into Magnus’s eyes and brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face.
“Well, that day in the park, the man approached me and said to me: ‘I don’t know what the hell you think you are, but you and your little lesbian friend and that terrorist are the reason this country is falling to pieces. It’s things like you that make me wanna start building a wall right here. To keep your people out, to keep those terrorists out, and to keep all those god damned fags out of this good country. President Trump will deport you, and then this country will become great again.’”
Alex was shaking by the time she finished recounting what happened. Magnus looked at her and then pulled her close into a hug. She started crying.
“Ever since then, I’ve always felt like we were in danger. Like we’d be holding hands one day, then suddenly some bigots come out of nowhere and start…I don’t know, beating us up. I know we’re already dead, but like…when we’re in Midgard…” Alex shuddered.
Magnus held Alex for a while as she cried. The street was thankfully empty (save for a few people) due to it being blocked off for a few days thanks to the pride parade.
“I’m just so scared that I’m putting you in danger. When I was homeless or in foster homes, I was always the target. I was always ‘the boy who thinks he’s a girl.’ I was always…abused. I…I can’t subject you to that. But today, when I kissed you in front of all those people, I felt safe. In public. For the first time in a long time.”
Magnus thought he might just die (for a second time) on the spot. He couldn’t think of what to say that could possibly console Alex, so he held her tighter and kissed her cheek.
“Let’s go find Blitz and Hearth. They’ll have some guava juice, and we can continue this talk at their place, okay?”
Alex sniffled and nodded.
When the couple finally approached the boutique they found a sleeping Hearthstone and Blitzen sitting on the sidewalk next to the door. The lights were still on inside the store, even though they should have closed an hour ago.
When Alex and I were supposed to meet them, Magnus realized, suddenly feeling guilty for making Blitz and Hearth stay up and fall asleep on the sidewalk. Hearthstone was the first to wake up, who immediately shot up and wrapped his arms around both Alex and Magnus at the same time. Then there was a thump, and Blitzen was awake.
“You silly elf! Pillows aren’t supposed to up and—” Blitzen stopped when he saw Alex and Magnus. “Let’s go inside,” he said while also signing for Hearth.
——————————
The moment Blitzen closed the door to his and Hearth’s apartment, he almost exploded.
“What were you two thinking?! Where were you? Why didn’t you let Hearth and I know where the Helheim you were?!”
Hearthstone gently took Blitzen’s hands—which were frantically waving around as he yelled and paced around the room—into his own. He kissed them, then gently put them down so he could sign. Calm down, dear. They were fine. I saw them. One block down that street. Being lovers. Cute. Gross. Hearth smiled at Alex and Magnus, who looked down in embarrassment.
Blitzen’s eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline as he exclaimed “You were one block away?! Kissing?! In the middle of the night?! Poor Hearth here wouldn’t go back inside until you two came back! And—wait.”
Blitzen stopped and turned back to Hearthstone.
“When did you notice them if you fell asleep outside?”
Hearthstone shrugged. I woke up and I saw them walking together. Then they stopped one block away. I fell asleep. I am fine. I used a rune to help me keep strength. Hearth pulled out a rune and held it up proudly for Blitzen to see. Blitzen only sighed, exasperated.
“You stupid elf, what were you thinking, falling asleep in the dark like that?! Rune or no rune, you could have died! What the Helheim was I thinking, letting you go outside when it’s so dark? Gods, why would I—”
Blitzen was interrupted when Hearthstone picked him up and kissed his lips. Blitz seemed to calm down and melt into Hearthstone before Alex cleared her throat.
“So…are Maggie and I grounded now?” Alex asked.
Magnus elbowed Alex in the side.
Hearthstone gently placed Blitz back down and kissed his temple before signing. We will talk in the morning. We are all very tired. Goodnight.
Blitzen almost started to say something before Hearthstone gently took his hands and guided him to their bedroom. However, Blitz looked right at Alex and Magnus and quickly signed: Don’t even think about sleeping in the guest room. You two are grounded for the night. There is one couch. Goodnight.
Alex and Magnus stood in the middle of the bright living room for a while before Magnus cleared his throat.
“I guess we’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Alex had no time to retaliate before Magnus fell face-first onto the couch.
“Magnus, if you think you get the couch, you’re dead wrong.”
“Only half of that statement was true,” Magnus replied, his voice slightly muffled from talking right into a pillow.
Having his face buried in a pillow proved to be a bad idea once Alex collapsed on top of Magnus.
“Move over, you couch hog.”
“I was here first!”
“I’m taller.”
“You’re the reason we’re sleeping on the couch in the first place!”
Alex only repeated what Magnus said in a mocking tone.
“Real mature, Fierro.”
“I know,” Alex smirked.
“Will you get off of me now? I can’t breathe.”
“Fine, but only so I can turn off the lights.”
Magnus arranged the couch and the ottoman to form a semi-functional bed while Alex found blankets and pillows and turned off the lights.
As the two einherjar got comfortable in their makeshift bed, Magnus turned to Alex and cleared his throat again.
“Do you have a frog in your throat, Maggie?”
“Do you have to start every conversation sarcastically?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
“Prove it.”
Magnus froze, realizing he couldn’t think of a time when Alex hadn’t started a conversation with a sarcastic remark.
“I can’t think of one right now, but I’m sure it’s happened at some point.”
“Sure, Maggie. If you say so.”
The couple was quiet for a moment before Magnus turned to face Alex.
“Alex, about earlier—.”
“I want to go to sleep,” Alex replied, turning on his side to face away from Magnus.
“Me too, but I think it’s important that we have this conversation sooner rather than later.”
“I’m going to go to sleep and you can’t stop me.”
“Oh, really?” Magnus slyly smiled as he climbed over Alex and laid down to face her. She had an amused expression on her face when Magnus took one of her hands and leaned in and kissed her.
“You have my attention,” Alex replied, rolling her eyes.
Magnus took a deep breath to prepare himself.
“Alex, you said earlier that you were afraid of putting me in danger for being with you in public. I understand, and I’ve thought about the same thing as well. But, here’s the thing…”
Magnus paused as he took a hand and gently tilted Alex’s face to meet his so that their noses were touching. It was one of the few things that made Alex giggle. (She claimed she wasn’t ticklish, but Magnus knew better.)
“There are going to be bigots, and we’re going to have to face them. But I know you’ll protect me, and I’ll protect you. Those bigots that hate us for who we are have much bigger problems than a dead boy dating a dead gender-fluid person, whether they themselves see it or not. my point is, when we’re together, we aren’t in danger, because I’ll always have your back, and I know that you’ll always have mine, okay?”
Alex was quiet as she took in Magnus’s words.
“Do you have nothing to say to that?” Magnus asked, jokingly offended.
“No, I do not,” Alex replied. Before Magnus could say anything, Alex closed the small gap between them and kissed him. She rested a hand on his face, and he held that hand and rubbed circles on it with his thumb.
“I like it when you do this,” Alex whispered.
“What, kiss you?”
Alex chuckled.
“No, like when we hold hands and you trace little circles on my hand. It feels good. I like it a lot.” Alex leaned up and kissed Magnus’s thumb.
“You know what I like about you?” Magnus asked.
“What?” Alex replied, smiling.
“I like it when we’re holding hands, and we both lean over to say something to each other, and then we kiss. And then we don’t stop.”
“You like accidental kisses?”
Magnus nodded.
“Gods, you’re such a dork,” Alex chuckled.
“Oh, I’m the dork, little Miss ‘I Like It When You Rub Circles On My Hand With Your Thumb.’ Please.”
Magnus and Alex couldn’t help but quietly laugh together.
“We should try to keep our voices low, Blitz and Hearth are probably trying to sleep.”
Alex yawned.
“Good idea, I’m exhausted. I had a great day.”
“Me too,” Magnus replied. “Oh! I just remembered something.”
“What?”
“I like you because you’re brutally honest with me, but you’re also such a softie on the inside that it’s almost confusing, but not in a bad way.”
“Is that the one reason you like me?” Alex jokingly asked.
Magnus was thankful Alex couldn’t see him blush. Magnus turned on his side so he could be the big spoon, and Alex held onto his arm and kissed his hand.
“Alex, I love you for an endless amount of reasons,” Magnus sighed. He only then noticed that Alex had completely froze.
“Alex?” Magnus asked.
“You said love,” Alex whispered.
“What?” Magnus asked again.
“You said love,” Alex repeated.
“What? Wait, didn’t I say—”
Magnus felt his heart drop.
They hadn’t said ‘I love you’ to each other yet. Alex wanted and needed time to adjust to being in a relationship, as did Magnus. They usually just said ‘like’ in place of ‘love.’
Gods damn it. Why do all my declarations of love happen when I don’t even know what I’m doing? The Ship of the Dead thing, and now this? Great.
Magnus’s thoughts raced around in his head like Mallory after eating fifteen Pixie Sticks in less than five minutes.
Alex abruptly sat up and turned to face Magnus.
“Do you mean it?” she asked.
Magnus sat up and took Alex’s hands into his own.
He could feel his heart beating at a million miles an hour. He was almost certain he could feel Alex’s heart beating through her hands.
“Of course I do,” Magnus replied, brushing away strand pieces of Alex’s hair so he could properly look her in the eyes. He wiped away a single tear as well.
“I’ve loved you since I first saw you, though I didn’t know what I was feeling. I realized that I loved you—or at the very least, had true romantic feelings for you—the day we fought that wolf at my Uncle Randolph’s house and we sat on those lounge chairs drinking guava juice. That was when I realized how much I truly care for you. And I finally admitted to myself that I loved you when you kissed me for the first time in Niflheim and you said that you weren’t going to die without doing that. I admitted it out loud on the Ship of the Dead during my flyting with Loki. And ever since then…I’ve always just known that…I don’t know, that maybe the valkyries had a reason to bring you to Valhalla.”
“Besides the fact that I died doing a heroic act?”
“I’m trying my best to be sappy, okay?”
“Oh, I can tell, and it’s making me sick,” Alex joked. She took his face in her heads and pressed their foreheads together.
“I just…I just hope that you—”
“Magnus.”
Magnus leaned away slightly and looked up at Alex when she spoke over him. He almost didn’t believe his ears when he heard what Alex whispered to him.
“I love you, too.”
Alex and Magnus looked at each other, and before they knew it, they had the biggest smiles on their faces and they were kissing each other and repeating the words ‘I love you’ back and forth, almost like a game of hot potato.
“So, am I allowed to say it out loud to you casually now? Because honestly, the fact that I haven’t been able to has been driving me up the wall.”
Alex chuckled as she laid down on her back and took Magnus’s hand into her own.
“I suppose you have my permission,” she replied.
“Oh, thank the gods, I was worried,” Magnus sarcastically replied.
“Shut up,” Alex said.
“Make me.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Is it?”
Alex immediately rolled over right onto Magnus and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her back as she gently held his head.
“This is exactly how I like you,” Alex whispered in between kisses.
“What, silent or the kissing?”
Alex chuckled.
“Both.”