Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Magnus Chase was late for work, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he was late for work on his first day at the job. In terms of total disasters, this was somewhere between the apocalypse and telling the waiter ‘you too’ in response to being told to enjoy his food. He wouldn’t be surprised if his boss fired him on the spot.

He half-sprinted down the sidewalk, checking the address scrawled on a scrap of paper. Damn it, damn it, damn it. He was so late, and he was pretty sure he’d gotten off at the wrong stop. This was why he hated taking the T.

An old woman shouted as he just barely missed knocking over her coffee cup. Magnus waved apologetically, giggling nervously when she frowned back. Oops.

The commuter crowd had mostly cleared from the streets, which on one hand made it way easier to navigate. But on the other hand, the lack of people out and about only added to the feeling of lateness.

Magnus stopped outside a purple awning decorated in flowers. The sign hanging on the door read Runes Tattoos — Open Now! but the mailbox on the sidewalk clearly belonged to 78 Canal Street. And he was absolutely sure that he’d been hired to Alfheim Flower Shop, not a tattoo parlor.

Maybe he had written down the address wrong. Or maybe he was reading his own handwriting wrong. Perhaps it was 78 Camal Street, not Canal Street. Oh god, he was so late. This was it, this was the day Magnus Chase was going to die. Of embarrassment, and possibly of starvation since he would obviously be in need of a new job shortly.

He was so focused on his own mistakes that he accidentally walked straight into someone.

“What the fuck, dude?” snapped the person, staring down at what had been his coffee, spilled all over the sidewalk.

No, Magnus corrected himself, noticing the little pronoun button, her coffee.

God, his day was just going great. First he sleeps through his alarm, then he gets lost, and then he walks into a total stranger and spills her coffee. Just great. He was clearly thriving with this whole adult thing. They should give him a medal or something.

The stranger glared at him from under her wavy green bangs. “Thanks for the apology, asshole. Bostonians, I swear to …”

He realized too late that he had spaced out. “Sorry! I mean, I’m sorry, I was distracted. And I’m sorry for knocking your coffee out of your hand. I’m a little stressed this morning. Do you know how to get to Alfheim Flower Shop?”

The girl didn’t accept his apology, but she narrowed her eyes and pointed to the bright green awning next door. “That’s where you want to go.” Then she turned sharply and headed into Runes Tattoos.

“Thanks for the directions,” Magnus called out. “Have a good day!”

She didn’t turn around.

-&-

“I’m sorry for being so late, Mr. Alfen. I can make it up to you, I promise.”

His boss, a short African-American man with the best fashion sense Magnus had ever seen, smiled warmly. “It’s no big deal, I know this place can be kinda hard to find. And please, call me Blitzen. There’s no need for formalities here, kid.”

“Thank you, Mr. —” he stopped himself. “Thank you, Blitzen.”

Blitzen handed him a green apron and nametag. “Great, so you’ll meet my husband and the co-owner of this shop soon. His name is Hearth — he’s the one that responded to your application email, right? Yeah, he usually handles all that. So you’ll work some shifts at the counter, and then other shifts restocking and watering and such. Sounds good?”

“Sounds good.”

“Now I’ll give you a tour of the shop and greenhouses. How much do you know about flowers, Magnus?” 

He grinned. “I know quite a lot, sir.” 

Blitzen grinned back at him. “I know we’ll get along great, kid.”

-&-

Magnus had only been at Alfheim Flower Shop or two weeks, but he already loved it more than any other job he’d worked at. Blitzen and Hearthstone were both so nice and kind to him, and they definitely knew what they were doing. He had learned so much, not just about bouquets or vases, but about how to really sell a flower. 

“You can just tell they love what they’re doing,” he gushed to his friends during their weekly Saturday Game Night. “Like, they really, really love flowers.” 

Halfborn wrinkled his nose. “That’s weird, man. Not to kinkshame, but —” 

“No!” Magnus shrieked over his friends’ uproarious laughter. “ No , not like that . Gross! Get your mind out of the gutter, dude!” 

Samirah rolled the dice and moved her game piece seven spaces to the right, effectively obliterating Mallory’s previously-unchallenged path to victory. Ignoring the other girl’s angry “ Damn you, al-Abbas, damn you! ”, Sam smiled at Magnus. “Well, I’m glad you’re liking your new job. Actually, my half-sibling Alex works at the tattoo parlor next door. You two might run into each other sometimes.” 

Magnus squinted at the picture Sam showed him on her phone and blinked in shock. “Uh, I might have already run into Alex. Um, literally, I mean. I spilled her coffee all over the sidewalk. Oops.” 

TJ snickered. “Sounds like you, Magnus. Ruining all chances Sam has of enlarging our friend group.” 

“Hey, it was an accident!” 

“You know what else was an accident? Halfborn!” 

“Ay, Keen, why are you attacking me? It’s Sam over there who practically defeated you. Go take your misguided anger elsewhere!” 

“Well, I can’t attack Sam, she’s just too perfect. The girl can do no wrong, Halfborn! She’s setting me up for failure. It’s clearly a rigged system.” 

“Hey, I’m perfect too! Aren’t I too perfect to attack, TJ?” 

“Sure thing, Halfborn.” 

“Ha, here that? Screw you, Keen!” 

Samirah tucked her feet underneath her and took a sip of sparkling apple juice, because clearly they were adults who drink adult drinks. “I would like to enlarge our friend group, as TJ said. And Alex is … solitary. She could use some friends. But whatever. We’ll see.” 

Magnus opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted by Halfborn triumphantly sweeping his piece off the board with a great yell of “VICTORY!” 

TJ tackled Halfborn to the ground and all previous conversations were lost in the ensuing pillow fight, which also effectively ended the game, since no one could find the pieces that had been knocked away.

-&-

The bell’s musical jingle pulled Magnus out of his thoughts. He looked over and saw none other than Alex Sam’s-half-sibling walking into the shop. She frowned with boredom as she walked through the aisles, poking at plants with vague indifference. 

Magnus slipped out from behind the counter and approached her. “Is there anything I can help you find?” 

Alex didn’t look up at him as she dragged a finger over a carnation. “No thanks, Coffee Boy.” 

He blushed, subtly (or at least, he hoped it was subtle). “I was hoping you wouldn’t remember that,” he told her. 

“How could I forget such a wonderful interaction,” she said drily, rolling her eyes. She picked up another carnation and looked it over skeptically. “Your awkwardness was the highlight of my day, obviously.” 

Well, he was definitely blushing now. “I did apologize, didn’t I? And I’m pretty sure you called me an asshole, so…”

“So now I should be the one apologizing?” 

“Or,” Magnus suggested, “we could both admit that we were wrong, and forget about it. How about that?” 

“Oh, but I love holding grudges. It’s my sole motivation in life.” 

Alex seemed pleasantly surprised when he burst out laughing. “Well, that’s one way to live. I definitely know some people who would agree with you. I’m Magnus, by the way.” 

“Alex Fierro.” 

“Well, it’s nice to officially meet you, Alex.” He stuck out his hand and she took it. Her handshake was firm and quick. 

“Nice to officially meet you too.” She picked up a blue-potted flower and waved it at him. “Do these things need a lot of sunshine? Or water? Or is there anything else a flower needs? I’m pretty awful at gardening.” 

“Then why are you buying a flower?” he asked before he could help himself. 

That earned him an eyebrow raise. “Don’t you want me to buy a flower? Isn’t that part of your job description, to sell flowers to people?” 

“Well, yes, but I’m curious. Why would you buy something you don’t like? That’s like going into a ballet shop and buying a tutu even though you really hate dancers. Or going into a sports shop with a simmering anger for baseball players and then picking up a baseball mitt. Or —” 

“I don’t hate flowers,” Alex interjected. “I just don’t love flowers like I assume you do. But the reason I’m here is because my boss decided that we should add flowers or something as a decoration. ‘To give people something to look at’, he said.” 

“Oh, that makes sense. Anyways, that one should get lots of sunshine and a small amount of water each day. It should last for a good while, I think. Sound good?” 

“And do I need to buy some fertilizer or something? Plant food?” 

“Not if it’s in the pot. If you want, you can buy a small thing of soil, but what’s in the flower pot should be good enough.” 

“Alrighty then. Can I buy it?” 

He smiled. “Of course. Let me ring you up.” 

Alex paid for the flower and left, pushing the door open with her shoulder. For some reason, Magnus very badly wanted her to turn back and wave at him. But she didn’t. 

He watched her green hair bob out of sight as she left the shop and headed next door. Magnus was so distracted that he practically jumped when Hearthstone tapped his shoulder. 

Have fun talking? He signed. 

Getting to know customers, he signed back, ignoring his boss’ knowing look. Going to restock shelves now.

Very subtle, Hearthstone informed him.

Chapter Text

“You want to do what? ”

“Get a tattoo,” TJ repeated, bouncing his knee up and down. “Can you come with me to get it? I’m allowed to bring a friend.”

“Wait, okay — are you sure? What kind of tattoo are you going to get?”

“It’ll say ‘Live, Learn, Love’. In cursive. It’s gonna be so good, I can’t wait. So you’ll come with me?”

Magnus wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t that the saying that middle-aged white women hang up in their home? Why do you want that as a tattoo?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because reasons.”

“Because reasons ,” he repeated slowly. Then it clicked. “TJ, was this a dare? Are you getting a tattoo because of a dare?”

“Yes. No. Maybe?”

Magnus sighed and took a sip of coffee. He didn’t really like it that much, but his favorite cafe had closed down, so he was trying a new place. He might as well get used to it.

“TJ, are you sure that you want to get a tattoo? Are you sure ?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s gonna be great, just you wait and see!”

“Okay,” Magnus agreed reluctantly. “I’ll go with you.” He would always support his friends, even if he didn’t really understand their reasons. TJ was no exception. “Do you have a specific tattoo parlor you want to go to?”

“Actually, guess what! There’s this place right next door to where you work! Isn’t that awesome?”

That’s where Alex works, Magnus thought, and then blushed. And then he frowned. Why am I blushing? That was weird. He immediately decided to forget that this moment had ever happened.

“Magnus? Earth to Magnus Chase?”

“Right, sorry,” he said, snapping back into focus. “Yeah, that’s great! I get on break from twelve to one thirty everyday, and I leave at five, so when do you wanna go?”

TJ shrugged and scrolled through the calendar app on his phone. “Friday at five?”

“Friday at five works.”

TJ patted him on the shoulder excitedly. “This is gonna be great, Magnus. And who knows — maybe we’ll even meet Sam’s half-sibling! Didn’t she say she had a half-sibling who worked next door to you?”

“Yeah,” he responded. “She did say that.”

-&-

Magnus could see TJ bouncing on the sidewalk outside the shop. It was making it very hard to focus on his conversation with Mrs. Was-A-Soccer-Mom-Ten-Years-Ago. He glanced quickly at the clock to his right. Four fifty-three. Great.

“We can have the flowers ready for you to pick up tomorrow by eight,” he offered the lady politely.

“What? Why not now? I need this bouquet immediately, my daughter’s baby shower is in two hours —”

He tried to quickly and apologetically explain the shop’s policies, but Former-Soccer-Mom wanted none of it. After five excruciating minutes of arguing and Can I talk to the manager and I want a refund , and with the help of an increasing irritated Blitzen, Magnus managed to get the lady to leave at least mildly satisfied.

“People these days,” snorted Blitzen. “Back where I grew up, we had more respect for the many delicacies of a fine craft job. Now, it’s all ‘I need it now ’. You know what some people need? A punch to the nose.”

“What do you mean, ‘where you grew up’?” Magnus asked him. “You told me yesterday that you’ve lived in Boston your whole life.”

Blitz only winked at him.

Deciding that his boss was one of those Weird Adults, Magnus cleaned up the shop and headed out the door.

TJ didn’t even give him the chance to say hello before he was being dragged toward Runes Tattoos. Magnus allowed himself to be yanked through the doorway and the two of them came to an abrupt, and a bit undignified, stop in the waiting area.

He peered around curiously, surprised to find that the inside looked nothing like he had pictured it. Although, admittedly he hadn’t spent much time picturing what a tattoo parlor might look like.

It kind of reminded him of one of those nail polish places that his mom had taken him too when he was younger, where he’d get his feet washed and suck on a lollipop while her fingernails were painted with sparkly gels.

The waiting area was small but sunny, with several chairs and short end tables stacked with magazines. The walls were covered in pictures of various tattoos, clearly advertising or offering examples to curious customers. There was a large desk separating the waiting area from the actual tattoo parlor, where a short blonde girl sat, chewing gum.

Next to the girl, he noticed, was the yellow flower Alex had bought. It made him smile, seeing the little plant flourishing. It was a good pick on her part, he was sure.

TJ walked up to the desk and tapped on it lightly to get the girl’s attention. Magnus was ashamed to admit that he had to raise up on his tiptoes to see over the desk. He leaned his elbows on the wood, trying to look casual. He was probably failing.

“I have an appointment at five-oh-five under Jefferson?” TJ inquired.

“Right,” the girl said, blowing a bubble. She turned and shouted behind her. “APPOINTMENT FOR JEFFERSON!”

“That’s my appointment, it seems,” a familiar voice said from behind him. Magnus whirled around, forgetting that he was standing tippy-toed, and almost fell over.

Alex Fierro raised an eyebrow. “Is that you?” There was something a little different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Nope,” he squeaked. “I’m, um, I’m here for, I’m just…” He struggled to regain his dignity and probably lost even more of it in the process. Good job, Magnus, he told himself. Very smooth. Very cool. Definitely not the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done.

“It’s me, actually,” TJ interjected. “Thomas Jefferson Jr., nice to meet you. And this my friend Magnus.”

“I’m Alex and I’ll be doing your tattoo today. You both can follow me into the back.” And Alex set off, striding towards one of the stations. They followed behind, and TJ hoisted himself into the chair.

Alex turned, and he noticed that the pronoun button had been swapped out for one that read he/him/his .

“Alright, do you have a sketch or a picture?”

TJ and Alex negotiated about his sketch for a few minutes, deciding on colors, boldness, and size. When Alex was satisfied with how it would look, he started drawing it out on TJ’s arm. While he worked, TJ stared down at it, occasionally glancing up to give Magnus an excited look.

Alex looked up and nodded at Magnus. “We’re going to start with the needles now. It will hurt, so feel free to hold your friend’s hand or something,” he told TJ. “Ready?”

Now gripping Magnus’ hand like a lifeline, TJ nodded.

The whole process took shorter than he’d expected, and didn’t seem to hurt as much as he’d assumed that tattoos would. TJ kept up a steady stream of conversation, talking about everything from work to their upcoming Game Night to his favorite type of orange juice, and only squeezed Magnus’ finger three or four times.

Alex, for his part, seemed totally focused his work. His mouth was turned downwards into a concentrated frown as he nodded slightly in response to the conversation. It was almost magical, Magnus thought, watching his slender fingers steadily turn skin into words.

After a while, Alex sat up and leaned back in his chair. “Alright you two, you’re done. TJ, here’s a sheet to give you that talks about tattoo care. Any questions or problems, feel free to call in. Sound good?”

They shook hands and left, thanking Alex for his time. TJ was bouncing again, apparently oblivious to the pain in his left arm.

For some reason, or no reason at all, Magnus turned back just before they left. His eyes fell on the yellow flower, standing out against a wall filled with black and white ink. Alex was standing by the desk, talking with the gum-chewing girl.

He met Magnus’ stare. His expression didn’t change, but he raised one hand and waved.

Magnus grinned and waved back.

Chapter Text

Alex’s day was just going great. She really, truly hated working the double shift. Not because she hated her job — Runes Tattoos was amazing and there were few other places she’d want to work — but because she had spent all day desperately dreaming of going home to finish her latest piece of pottery, and now she was forced to wait.

“Do you think Short, Blond, and Weirdly Cute will be in again?” asked Sadie as she fished around in her bag for another piece of gum.

“I thought you said blonds weren’t your type,” Alex commented wryly. She avoided looking at the clock; the hands never seemed to move when she wanted them too.

“No, I said blonds weren’t your type. Because if they were …” she gestured in between the two of them and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Nope,” Alex gave her a friendly push, laughing as Sadie almost toppled off her stool. “And anyways, you’re wrong, blonds aren’t not my type. But I don’t have a type, I have standards .”

“Alrighty then, O Particular One. If you like Coffee Boy, ask him out. It’s not that hard, Fierro.”

“I don’t like him!”

Alex ignored Sadie’s knowing look as she finished filling out her weekly paperwork. “How are your boyfs?” she unsubtly changed the subject, “Are they still teaming up to steal your Chinese food?”

“Abso-bloody-lutely!” If there was anything Sadie loved more than teasing Alex, it was (lovingly) complaining about either her brother or her two boyfriends. “Anubis doesn’t even like chicken fried rice that much, he’s just doing it to show off for Walt.”

“And what does Walt say about this situation?”

“He thinks it’s cute, of course. Everything I do is cute, and everything Anubis does is hilarious to him. Honestly, the man would say — ”

She was interrupted by the phone ringing. Alex continued her paperwork as Sadie responded with a few “mhmm”s and “that’s fine”s. Finally, Sadie said, “Okay then. See you next week. Uh huh, yeah. Of course. Have a good day. Bye then.”

She slammed the phone down and turned to Alex triumphantly. “Guess what? Your wish has been granted! We’re closing early tonight!”

“Wait, what? Don’t we have another shift left?”

“Well, our five thirty appointment just canceled, and we have nothing else booked, so I say we close up shop. Do you agree, Fierro?”

Alex returned her smirk. “I agree very much, Kane.”

A few short moments later, they were locking up and Sadie was heading off down the street, her pink beanie sticking out against the grey backdrop. Alex checked her phone. 5:08. Only eight minutes after her regular shift would’ve ended.

She started down the sidewalk as well, but she paused when she noticed a certain Short, Blond, and Weirdly Cute Boy locking the door of Alfheim Flower Shop.

Now, Alex Fierro wasn’t a mean person. But she certainly wasn’t a nice person — that is, the type of person who was kind to everyone no matter what. The type of person who smiled at others on the train. The type of person who made small talk with strangers for no reason.

So she had no fucking clue as to why she decided to walk right over to Magnus.

“The flower I bought isn’t bad. It’s flourishing, I guess you would say.”

Magnus turned and smiled at her. “That’s great,” he said, and his voice was genuine, which she appreciated, deep down. “I noticed it when my friend and I came in.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, and discovered that she hadn’t thought of anything else to say. “Yeah. It’s cool. I mean, thanks for the suggestion.”

“Of course.” Magnus paused, the store’s keys still in his hand. “I’m going that way,” he pointed towards the train station, “which way are you going?”

“Same way, actually.”

“Would you mind having some company?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t mind.”

Wow, being polite for a change? said a voice in her head that sounded annoyingly like Samirah. She really hated when her conscience started acting like her sister.

And so they set off towards the station, Alex wondering what the fuck she was thinking, exactly.

“So you’re a tattoo artist,” Magnus spoke into the silence. “That’s really cool. I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo, but I’m too afraid of needles. I think I would probably pass out before the tattoo process even began.”

“The needles don’t hurt that much, actually,” Alex told him. “I think the anticipation of being pricked is more nerve-wracking for people. And having to sit still for a long time.”

“Yeah, but I’m a chicken. I wanted to be a doctor when I was younger, but the idea of shots scared me too much.”

Alex let out a snort as they turned the corner of Canal Street. “I got my first tattoo when I was around sixteen, and it was kind of terrifying. Mostly awesome, but kind of terrifying.”

The rest of the walk went by fast. When they got on the train, Alex slipped off her messenger bag to put her Metrocard away and Magnus grinned at the book sitting inside.

“Hey, I love The Sandman !”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I love that series!”

Alex leaned forward eagerly. “How far along are you? I just finished The Dream Hunters .”

“Oh, me too! I’m on Issue 2 of Overture, actually. Who’s your favorite character?”

And so they talked about The Sandman for the next fifteen minutes. Alex had to admit that she was disappointed when the train reached her stop. It had been nice to talk to someone who liked the same things she did.

She got up and almost laughed when Magnus waved at her, still smiling. She nodded back at him before stepping onto the station platform, the door closing behind her.

-&-

“What kind of anime? Like, Pokémon?”

Alex wrinkled her nose. “You did not just suggest Pokémon as an example of anime. Absolutely not, Maggie. Absolutely not.”

He shrugged. “Hey, I did say that I was clueless about anything in that genre. Okay, enlighten me. What’s a good anime show?”

“Uh, Fullmetal Alchemist. Sailor Moon. The Ancient Magus Bride. Please tell me you’ve heard of at least one of them?”

“Isn’t Fullmetal Alchemist that show about the kids who can control the elements? I’ve heard of that one.”

Alex shook her head in disgust. “You’re hopeless. No. The show you’re thinking of is Avatar: The Last Airbender , which is, coincidentally, not even anime.”

“I was close!”

“You were not.”

So this was a thing that was happening, now. Every morning for the past two weeks, Alex stepped onto the train and found Magnus with a seat already saved for her. Always in the third car. They walked to work together, and every evening at five, they strolled back to the T and sat in the same spots until Alex got off at her stop.

It wasn’t long before Alex considered the train rides a highlight of her day. And it was an even shorter time before she considered Magnus as one of her friends.

Currently, Magnus had apparently re-remembered his Dunkin Donuts, because he was reaching into the bag with an expression of delight usually unseen by commuters this early in the morning.

“How do you feel about blueberry muffins?” he asked her.

“I don’t have an intense hatred for them, if that’s what you’re asking,” she offered.

“Cool, here you go.” He plopped a muffin in her open hand before taking a bite of his own pastry. “I usually stop at Fadlan’s Falafel in the mornings, but I didn’t have time today.”

Alex picked a blueberry out and put it on her tongue. “My sister’s fiancé works there. His dad owns the restaurant.”

“Oh, I know Amir! I’ve been friends with him and Samirah — that’s your sister, right? — since high school.”

She was about to respond when there was a sudden burst of music from the other end of the car.

Four ginger-haired boys in bright pink pants jumped up and began a high speed, highly uncoordinated dance routine, complete with very unsynchronized jazzhands.

“Is this that ABBA song from that movie?” Alex asked, raising her eyebrow so high it was practically off her forehead.

“They’re doing the YMCA to ‘Dancing Queen’,” Magnus said incredulously. “It’s seven in the morning and I’m watching four teenage boys do the YMCA while ‘Dancing Queen’ from Mamma Mia! plays. This is really happening.”

“This is amazing.”

“But they’re kind of … bad at dancing.”

Alex snickered. “That’s exactly why it’s amazing, Maggie boy.”

“I wonder what the point of this even is. Is this for charity, or for fun? For a bet or something, or …. ?”

“No offense, Chase, but I don’t care. This is exactly the kind of entertainment I needed. That was possibly the worst cartwheel I’ve ever seen. Holy shit, are they going to flip him? Please try and and flip him!”

“He’s log-rolling on the floor. Dude. Don’t you know how gross the train floor? He’s going to get a disease or something.”

“Ah yes, the cliché White People Dance. Here we go.”

“What’s the cliché White People Dance?”

“The arm swing, the lean, the snapping.”

“That’s not —” He broke off as the four boys launched into that exact White People Dance, as the song switched from ‘Dancing Queen’ to ‘Sweet Caroline’. “Yeah, okay, point taken.”

The song concluded with a triumphant, if misguided, kickline, and a smattering of hesitant applause from the other passengers. The shortest boy took off his beanie and began asking for tips from those who looked the most enthusiastic.

The train lurched to a stop and Alex and Magnus both grabbed their stuff to get off. As they headed for the doors, the teenage boys started lining up for another dance routine, as the opening notes of ‘All Star’ began playing.

Magnus caught her eye and mouthed, “ the Shrek song!”

Alex burst out laughing. She stepped off the train, Magnus beside her, feeling a whoosh as the train zoomed away. They continued giggling all across the station.

And suddenly, her foot was meeting empty air instead of the cement steps and she was falling forward and oh no this was going to be so embarrassing and —

Magnus caught her before she  face-planted straight into the stairs.

“Thank —” Alex began, but then she trailed off. They were very close together, so close that if she moved even the slightest bit forward, their noses would touch.

Magnus had a sprinkle of golden freckles across his face, so light they were barely noticable. His eyes weren’t blue as she’d originally thought — they were grey, but not quite storm-cloud grey, she thought, more like a light drizzle of rain. His lips were puckered slightly, frowning in concern.

And Alex had one singular thought:

Oh no.