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Valhalla was hosting a summer party. Why Valhalla was hosting a party, and a summer party, at that, don’t ask Magnus. He obviously doesn’t know. But he wasn’t exactly complaining. Aside from the “ omg what am I gonna wear it’s a sort of formal party Blitz please help me I’m gonna die of embarrassment in front of Alex-” crisis, he hadn’t faced any difficulties he’d expected to face. Even asking Alex to the party was easy. She had just rolled her eyes and told him “Who else was I gonna go with, idiot?” and punched him after. Typical Alex.
Oh yeah, did he mention? Magnus Chase was dating Alex Fierro. So officially, that even Alex herself had thought he didn’t have to ask her to the party. They were like, on the lovers/partners/girlfriendboyfriend/boyfriendboyfriend level. Suck that, literally everybody else! Magnus got the hottest einherji all for himself.
The day Alex actually told him that he accepted his “proposal”, Magnus might have lost himself a little and told everybody in Valhalla that they were dating. Well, as many people as he could considering there were too many people in that questionable hotel.
By the time dinner came, he had calmed down a little. He was only telling people who striked a conversation with him that Alex Fierro was his lover now. By the time Alex took the seat next to him, their hallmates were all curiously eyeing them.
“Why are you staring? Is my hair brown?” Alex had questioned.
Halfborn just wiggled his eyebrows.
“Oh for fucks sake,” Alex sighed. “Maggie, did you tell people that we are dating?”
“No,” Magnus immediately lied. “I mean yes, I have no self control and told everybody in Valhalla that we were dating.” he tried smiling innocently.
Alex rolled her eyes. “Haha. Very funny.”
“No, I seriously have no control and told almost everybody in Valhalla that we are dating.”
Long story short, Alex killed him the next battle with lots of yelling in his face. (Magnus didn’t mind, angry Alex was on his list of ‘hot Alex stuff’)
Now, it was 2 months after they officially started dating, and one month after being incredibly close to Alex while she did his makeup. He was waiting for her outside the door to pick her up for the party. Alex had been a woman that day, and she was probably going to stay as a woman throughout the night. But it was hard to tell, sometimes it could switch in a few minutes and sometimes it could last for days. The reason Magnus was thinking about this was because, well… He had no idea what Alex was gonna wear and it was making him lose his mind. He knew that Alex liked gender neutral fashion, but (sort of) formal clothing was not gender neutral. Would Alex wear the clothing assigned to the gender she currently has? Would she wear the opposite to piss people off? Would she wear one for an hour and the other next? He didn’t know, and it was driving him crazy.
Magnus himself was dressed pretty simple, a white shirt and dark blue trousers. He wasn’t wearing a suit jacket, because in Hundig’s words: (‘ It isn’t that formal, but don’t wear casual clothing. Also, don’t overdress!’) , a suit would be too much. (Blitz had gone crazy trying to find something actually nice and fitting the description. He had eventually given up and had gone for a really simple look.)
Magnus’s mind was flooding with all the clothing choices Alex had, and how good she would look in all of them. He had always been a sucker for formal clothing, sue him. He just thought that suits were neat, okay? As long as he wasn’t the one wearing it though, they were pretty uncomfortable. And they looked sexy as fuck, fitted too nicely and made boys’ figures look always better than they were. The way a dress hung on a girl’s frame so nicely was just another proof of formal clothing being superior. Girls and their ability to make a simple piece of fabric into a work of art never failed to amaze him.
After what felt like an hour, the door was opened to reveal Alex in a suit. Well, technically Alex in a simple white shirt and emerald green trousers.
Okay, wow . Magnus had underestimated the power of Alex in a suit.
“I’m ready, he him now,” Alex announced. Magnus couldn’t comprehend that he was talking to him at first, so he just settled with staring. Good job, Magnus. Way to flirt with a guy.
“Maggie, you there?” Alex snapped his fingers in front of his face.
“I-uh,, yeah. You ready?” Magnus stuttered.
Alex smirked. Smug bastard.
“Just said I was, Beantown. Did you catch my pronouns?”
“Uh…” Magnus had no clue, but he had a 50/50 chance. He decided to roll with it. “He him?”
“Hmm, correct,” Alex cocked his head to the side. “I guess I should go change, then. This didn’t affect you that much.”
Magnus sighed. “No… I lied,” he admitted.
Alex chuckled at that. “All right, pretty boy. We should get going,” he said finally, offering his arm to Magnus who eagerly took it.
They took the elevator and walked to the party hall arm in arm. Magnus tried striking up conversation to justify staring at Alex.
“So.. why not pink today?” he asked, using the advantage to look at him and take in his appearance.
“Not a formal color, don’t you think?” Alex asked back. He turned his head to Magnus. “Also, the hotel decided for some reason to make all my pink shirts disappear.”
Magnus hummed, trying to stay focused in the conversation while Alex’s eyes pierced him. It was so hard not to get lost in those eyes.
“I bet it was Blitz’s doing,” Alex murmured, turning his head to the entrance of the hall. “We’re here.”
The hall was full of people, which was actually surprising. Magnus didn’t expect Vikings to like formal parties, but they were full of surprises it seemed. The party design was simple, a huge dance floor was surrounded by a few cocktail tables and an occasional snacks and drinks table. There were no seats at first glance, but Magnus could see a few couches at the end of the room when he looked hard enough.
“So,” Alex clapped his hands together. “What should we do now?”
“Uhh.. Find our friends?” he suggested.
Alex shrugged. He pulled Magnus’ hand, and started walking around the room, searching for their hallmates. Magnus was too busy… Well, Alex’s hand was occupying him. The gesture seemed incredibly romantic, and he wanted to scream “HE’S MINE, FUCKERS!!” at the top of his lungs. Of course, Alex wouldn’t like that. He settled with smiling dumbly.
Finally, Alex spotted Mallory, Halfborn and TJ around a cocktail table. Halborn and Mallory seemed to have an eating contest, with TJ standing between the two. He waved them over. As they got to the table, Alex let go of his hand and Magnus tried not to think about it too much.
“Hello!” TJ greeted them enthusiastically. “You took a bit of time.”
Alex pointed at Magnus. “Beantown right here couldn’t walk straight because he was too busy staring at me,” he declared, smiling smugly.
Magnus tried joking like he was offended. “I did not!” he exclaimed. This earned a laugh around the table, with Mallory rolling her eyes and mumbling “ walk straight, terrible pun”
They got their drinks and came back to the table. The whole group chatted a little, since the party wasn’t at full swing yet.
One of the honored Valkyries came on to the stage, effectively silencing the crowd. “Welcome,” she said to the microphone, gazing into the audience for a bit. “We don’t have anything planned, unfortunately. Apparently, not everything in Valhalla should be done to death,” this earned her booing and angry murmuring. “I know, I know,” she raised her hands in surrender. “It’s fucking stupid. But this is part of the training, too. Some people here aren’t exactly on board with dying for everything.”
“Well no shit,” murmured Alex, causing Magnus to snort.
“This event will also help our old guests here to learn about modern culture,” she continued. “Or something like that. I don’t know, it wasn’t my idea. Anyway, have fun! Try not to kill someone!” she exclaimed. With that, she left the stage, everybody cheering after her.
Party music started blasting. Magnus had always hated that kind of music, so he had to busy himself with other stuff. Luckily, his favorite distraction was right there.
“Wanna dance?” Magnus managed, his voice small.
Alex took a sip from his drink. He didn’t answer.
Magnus cleared his throat. He had to be a bit braver it seemed. He turned to actually face Alex.
“Wanna dance?” he tried again. Alex turned his head to him.
“What?” he exclaimed. Oh, he couldn’t hear because of the music.
“I asked, if you wanted to dance,” Magnus tried raising his voice.
Alex shrugged, smiling a little. “Sure, why not?”
They got to the dance floor, both unsure what to do at first. Magnus saw TJ giving him a thumbs up at the corner of his eye.
Alex started bopping a little to the Britney Spears song. Magnus was sure it was Britney, but he had no idea which one it was.
Alex raised an eyebrow. “ You were the one that wanted to dance, Maggie,” he stated.
“Yeah yeah..” Magnus trailed off. “Gimme a sec.”
Alex did not give him a sec.
He cupped Magnus’s face with one hand, and slowly pressed a kiss on his lips. Not caring about his shock, Alex hooked his arms around Magnus’s neck and started dancing again.
Magnus shook himself out of his daze, and gave him his best smile. Then he did his best trying to match Alex’s skills. It wasn’t much work, seeing as Alex wasn’t good at dancing either but Magnus was the worst .
Soon, they were both laughing and doing ridiculous dance moves to make each other laugh. Magnus was doing the macarena to a Taylor Swift song, then the song ended to switch to an Avril Lavigne song.
Even Magnus knew what this was. Alex’s face brightened.
“Wow, I love this!!” he exclaimed, raising his fist as if it was a microphone. Then something even crazier happened, he started singing the song at Magnus.
Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way, I think you need a new one
Hey, hey, you, you, I could be your girlfriend
Magnus laughed out a little, joining him. Soon, they were both putting on a full performance. Maybe some people turned to look at them, but they didn’t care. Not when they were wrapped in their own bubble of joy and love.
Later, they were too tired to dance so they decided to sit a little. Alex was laughing uncontrollably, like he was high or something. They managed to find a small couch empty.
“Didn’t know you had a singer inside you, Alex,” teased Magnus.
“I don’t,” Alex answered, not laughing anymore but still smiling. “It’s the Avril effect.”
Magnus nodded, his smile matching Alex’s. They were sitting close, shoulders and arms and thighs touching kind of close, but Alex didn’t seem to care. Maybe Magnus would have freaked out if this happened another time, but after enjoying themselves on the dance floor like that; it only seemed natural.
They sat for a while, just enjoying each other’s company and their new drinks. Then Alex shifted in his seat.
“She her now,” she murmured. The music was still too loud, but they were close enough for Magnus to understand her. He nodded. “Okay.”
“You have no problem?” she asked. Magnus turned to look her in the eye. “With what?” he asked.
Alex sucked in a breath. “This sounds silly but.. I have to ask. You don’t think it’s ridiculous for me to wear a suit as a girl?”
Magnus almost laughed in disbelief. She must be joking. “Girls in suits are hot, though.” he said. Wow, he could flirt after all.
Alex grinned. “Exactly,” she said. “Just wanted to make sure. If you had said otherwise, I would’ve dumped your ass.”
Magnus shrugged. “Then I would have deserved it, though.”
Alex laughed, throwing her head back. She put her hand on his shoulder, still grinning. “You’re really something else, Magnus Chase.”
“For being a decent human being?”
Her smile turned into something soft. “No.. for being the first man I’ve had a crush on, and just happened to not be a bigot. What are the odds?” she put her hands up, like questioning and shrugging at the same time.
Magnus laughed a little. “Yeah, what are the odds?” he said, then got curious. “Wait, first man? ”
Alex nodded. “I like girls more,” she said. “Though that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll have a more total count of girl crushes, it doesn’t work that way.”
“Okay, cool.” Magnus said, he honestly had no idea how he should reply to this. Should he ask Alex’s sexuality? But that would be just nosy, wouldn’t it? It’s none of his business, after all. Or maybe Alex was talking about it to be open to each other. In that case.. he should start with giving himself away. Yeah, that made sense to him.
“I don’t think I have a preference,” Magnus continued. “I guess it’s more of a vibe thing, rather than body or gender.”
“Vibe thing?” Alex questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah.. you know how it’s a personality thing for pansexuals. I’d say I’m pansexual too, but it’s more of a vibe thing instead of personality thing for me.” Magnus shut his mouth before he could ramble more.
Alex laughed out loud. “That’s the BEST way I’ve heard somebody explain their sexuality. Like, vibe? It makes so much sense.” she started giggling. It was really cute, if you asked Magnus.
He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Magnus hadn’t even realized he’d been keeping this as a secret. He smiled, trying to match Alex’s enthusiasm.
“I think I'm bi,” said Alex, after her giggling finally stopped. “I do have a preference, although don’t ask me how it works.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.” Alex patted his shoulder. “Let’s go dance.”
***
Around 11 pm, the music had gone slower and Magnus and Alex were tired as fuck. They were just standing by the cocktail table and occasionally talking to people that came by. The problem was that, because of what Alex was wearing, people kept on assuming that she was currently a man. After being called “he” for the like, 6th time, Alex had had enough.
“Okay, I don’t give a fuck about abolishing gender roles,” she declared, slapping her hands on the table. “I’m gonna go get changed.”
With that, she stormed off the party hall. Magnus gaped like a fish for a moment after her, then came to his senses and followed her.
Magnus finally caught Alex at the elevator. But she refused to meet his eyes and closed the door.
Okay, that was Alex’s way of actually saying ‘fuck off’ . Because simply saying ‘fuck off’ was normal for her.
He stood by the elevator, waiting for her to come out. (Pun not intended) At around midnight, like an anti-Cinderella, Alex came out of the elevator.
Magnus really thought he’d be fine with seeing Alex in a dress. After all, he’d seen her in a beautiful wedding dress, for fucks sake.
He was wrong. He wasn’t going to be ready for anything Alex does, apparently.
The girl had changed her simple white shirt and green trousers for yet another simple clothing: An emerald green sleeveless dress with a black belt. She was wearing fuchsia low-heeled shoes, apparently the hotel or Blitz had overlooked them. Her lower hair was tied back into a small ponytail, but her green bangs were freely framing her face. Her eyelids had glitter, and Magnus could make out a small black liner on her eyes if he looked hard enough. And of course he looked hard.
Alex sighed a little, shifting her dress. “Let’s go,” she said. “The dress should be fine enough.”
Magnus made an embarrassing noise. A grin appeared on Alex’s face, and Magnus could feel himself burning with embarrassment and something else.
He cleared his throat, and wordlessly gestured the way. Alex chuckled and leaned to hold his hand.
“I’ll take your reaction as a compliment,” she said, swaying their hands together a little. “Unless you can learn how to talk again.”
Magnus cleared his throat once again, looking down at his feet to avoid stuttering. “You look amazing,” he said. “Like a beauty goddess.”
Alex hummed. “Are you talking about your feet, Maggie?” she teased.
Magnus was sure that at this point his whole skin looked red. He forced himself to take a deep breath and look Alex in the eye. At least, her eyes were something he was familiar with. The new exposure of her lower leg and the teasing exposure of her upper leg… Those were new and they made everything else hard to focus on.
“You look out of this world, Alex. Like you were put here tonight by a love god or goddess to torture me,” he shot back. He didn’t stutter. He mentally patted himself.
Alex grinned, her eyes searching his gaze. “Good, I was afraid I’d have to compliment myself,” she said. And then turned away to look at the end of the hall.
Magnus took another shaking breath. He was gonna die again tonight, even after surviving the battle practice.
They arrived at the party hall. At this point, people were either partying hard or going to their rooms to rest. A few people were playing party games to death. Finally, something typical for Valhalla.
Alex looked comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. Magnus couldn’t figure out what was wrong, unless having gorgeous legs was a crime.
Alex drew in a breath and entered the room. They walked to the table where currently Mallory and Halfborn were wrestling and TJ was munching on food. The sight made Magnus smile.
They spent an hour or so just talking, occasionally dancing and beating each other up. They were all tired at this point, but the party seemed to be going on. And Alex was no quitter. Magnus was a quitter sometimes, but tonight he was determined to enjoy himself with her.
At some point, they’d ended up on the couch. Alex was sitting next to him, so close, and Magnus didn’t even realize this for a second. Maybe he was lightheaded because he was tired, or maybe he was getting used to her being close to him.
Alex shifted her legs to get comfortable, and that’s when Magnus realized they were pressed side by side. He was at the end of the couch, and Alex was pressed between Magnus and Halfborn with Mallory sort of on his lap.
Magnus noticed that Alex was getting uncomfortable. He stretched his head out to look at the other side of the couch, and found out that Halfborn was taking too much space.
Magnus cleared his throat. (He was definitely getting a sore throat tonight.) “You can come closer to me,” he managed to say. Alex turned her head to raise an eyebrow at him.
“Really?” she asked. “You won’t combust from embarrassment if I do that?”
“Good point,” Magnus admitted, lowering his head. “But it’s worth a try.”
Alex smiled, not devilishly this time. Maybe she was tired. She shifted in her seat to rest her legs on his lap, and reached out to hold his shoulders. It seemed a bit awkward, but Alex seemed like she was relieved.
“Thanks,” she said and sighed.
“What for?” asked Magnus. “I’m obviously the one blessed here.”
Alex laughed out loud. “Shut up,” she said, hitting his shoulder a bit.
Magnus was smiling from ear to ear.
***
Later, they were all too tired and couldn’t wait to go to their rooms and rest a bit. Tomorrow's activities were optional to those who attended the party, and Magnus couldn’t wait to enjoy a day off. Maybe he’d go to the Chase Space, that would be nice.
Alex’s room was at the end of the hall, so she stopped at Magnus’s door to say goodbye. Magnus unlocked the door, and turned around to look at her.
“Good night,” he said, trying his best to smile. “I really enjoyed tonight.”
Alex returned his smile. “Me too,” she said. Then paused for a little.
Magnus figured he should do something, and his brain wasn’t working properly after that night. So he reached down with one hand to take Alex’s hand, and with the other to cup her cheek.
The time seemed to slow down, as he leaned to kiss her. Alex smiled into it at first, then returned the kiss.
When they seperated, Magnus was still feeling dizzy because of the kiss. Alex smiled, and squeezed his hand a little. “Good night, Maggie.”
Magnus Chase could never imagine what dating Alex Fierro would be like. Because the real thing exceeded every dream of romance he had ever had.