Chapter Text
Magnus yawned, rubbing his bleary eyes as he stumbled into the floor 19 common room. Breakfast was always delicious, and frankly after last week, he felt like he deserved to cram his face with as many breakfast pastries as he wanted to.
At a glance, it appeared he was the first one to make it there, but on closer inspection he noticed a small cat tucked up on one of the sofas. Since she had moved in (read: died), Alex had made a little bit of a habit of strolling around the place disguised as an assortment of creatures. It seemed to be her way of settling in, and Magnus wasn’t one to judge. Besides, seeing the faces of the other Valhalla residents as a giant Wooly Mammoth thumped down the corridor was quite hilarious. Cats though, seemed to be one of Alex’s go-to animals, for reasons unknown to Magnus.
“Morning.” He said, acknowledging his hallmate on the way to obtain his delicious treat. Alex for all intents and purposes, ignored him. As soon as he sat down on the sofa opposite the comfortable looking cat, T.J strolled through the door, wearing his familiar uniform and a warm smile.
“Hey Magnus.” He said, grabbing his usual breakfast of porridge oats and honey. Magnus didn’t understand why anyone would chose porridge when they could have a cinnamon roll, maybe it was a Civil War thing. T.J moved to sit down opposite Magnus, not realising that seat was already occupied. Alex hissed loudly and jumped out of the way before she could get squashed. She promptly transformed back into her usual self on the seat next to T.J, who looked very embarrassed.
“Sorry Alex,” He said meekly. “Didn’t see you there.”
“Look where you’re going next time.” She muttered under her breath. Before anything more could be said, Halfborn and Mallory showed up looking like they’d just dragged themselves out of bed, which thinking about it, was probably the case. They slumped down on ‘their’ loveseat, practically on top of one another and started inhaling their food.
Breakfast on floor 19 was a rather quiet affair, but Magnus enjoyed the time spent with his friends and honestly, he liked the routine of it. In the past, breakfast was a luxury he rarely allowed himself, instead saving what little money he had for more filling meals. It was really great to be able to sit down with good food, and good company before starting his daily routine of going into battle and inevitably dying.
“Hey, did we get new cushions?” T.J’s voice broke his thoughts, and Magnus looked up to find his friend holding up a cushion for everyone to see. Sure enough, their old ratty sofa cushions had been replaced with shiny new ones. The number 19 was crochet in the centre of a rather complicated design that flowed out to the corners. It was really quite pretty, and as Magnus looked around he noticed all the other cushions in the room had been replaced with the same design.
“Where’d they come from?” Mallory asked, mouth still half full of fruit-loops.
“I made them.”
Everyone turned to stare at the green haired girl, who was looking back defiantly as if daring anyone to laugh at her. Nobody laughed. T.J’s face broke into a huge grin, and he gently pat her on the pack, as cautiously as if he was petting a tiger. “Wow Alex, they’re really nice.”
“Yeah,” Magnus couldn’t help but agree. “They look awesome.”
“Must’ve taken you awhile.” Mallory notes, inspecting one of the cushions closely. “My mom used to crochet like this, took her forever.”
Alex seemed to shrug off the praise. “It’s not like I have anything better to do around here.”
“Well thanks anyway.” T.J said sincerely, going back to his porridge. That seemed to end the conversation, which Alex looked relieved about. Magnus smiled at her when she caught his eye, but all he got was a glare in return. At least she was making herself at home here. Truth be told, Magnus still wasn’t used to waking up in his own personal eden yet.
The conversation progressed into smack talking the other floors, and who would kill the most people on the battlefield today. Halfborn and Alex had a daily competition, loser received a forfeit of the other person’s choosing. Yesterday, Halfborn had to walk around with his hair and make-up done by Alex. He actually looked quite good, Mallory saying that he made a very pretty argr, which annoyed Halfborn but everyone else found very amusing.
The meal continued in the same lively manner, until everyone had finished eating. It was time for battle.
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“12!”
“18!”
“26!”
“32!”
“AHHH! 40!” Halfborn’s triumphant yell was the last thing Magnus heard, before he felt the familiar thump of an axe lodging itself in his chest. The world turned black before he even hit the ground.
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Manus woke up to the sounds of angry shouting. His eyes fluttered open, registering the fact he was now in his bed, back on floor 19. The commotion seemed to be coming from the hall. He signed, not really wanting to investigate whatever it was, but feeling like he probably should.
He wearily peaked out of his room, finding Halfborn and Mallory banging down Alex’s door.
“C’mon Alex, fair is fair!” Mallory called.
“Yes! It’s time for payback!” Halfborn agreed enthusiastically.
“Uhh,” Magnus hesitated, not sure if he should get involved. “Guys?”
The happy couple both spun around at the sound of his voice.
“Magnus!” Mallory exclaimed brightly, “Care to help us get Miss-sore-loser out of her den of despair?”
“Um, not really?” He answered carefully. Alex could literally tear him apart, she’s not someone he wanted to get on the bad side of. “Why is she ignoring you anyway?”
“She lost the competition.” Halfborn replied smugly. Magnus raised his eyebrows in shock, realising that this was the first time Alex had actually lost their little bet.
Before he could reply, Alex’s door flew open revealing the girl herself glaring so ferocious Magnus actually took a step back.
“I did not lose,” She practically spat “You cheated!”
Halfborn seemed to take offence to that, crossing his beefy arms indignantly. “No, I won fair and square.”
“Liar!”
Things were obviously getting out of hand, especially since Magnus could see Alex’s fingers inching towards her garrote.
“Okay, maybe you both should calm down.” He suggested, which only earned him a glare from both parties. “What happened out there anyway?” He asked, trying to distract them.
“Halfborn murdered me in cold blood.” Alex said iceily. Magnus blinked at the statement, turning to the Berserker.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.” He answered honestly. “We were tied at the end, so I killed her to win.”
Magnus frowned, slightly disheartened by the fact his hallmates would turn on each other so easily.
“The rules say that whoever kills the most people wins.” Mallory stated “And no where does it say you can’t kill the other person to get a point. So technically, Halfborn won.”
Magnus eyed her suspiciously as she spoke. She hadn’t shown much interest in the competition over the past week, even calling it dumb a few times. “Why are you so invested in this bet all of a sudden?” He asked her.
Mallory’s face lit up at the question, and smiled at Alex sweetly, which was kind of terrifying because Mallory never did anything ‘sweetly’. “Because I’m in charge of her forfeit.”
“I’m not getting a forfeit, because Halfborn didn’t win.” Alex interjected.
“Well you didn’t win either!” The Berserker retaliated.
“Maybe you guys could just forget the forfeit for today?” Magnus suggested reasonably. He was met with cold stares and blank looks.
“Magnus I think that’s the worst thing you’ve ever said.” Mallory deadpanned.
“Well then, how about Mallory, you give them both a forfeit.”
Her eyes widened, a grin spreading across her features. She looked like someone had told her Christmas had come early.
“Magnus, I think that’s the best thing you’ve ever said!”
She took hold of both Halfborn and Alex, who were protesting wildly, dragging them into her own room. Magnus thought he heard a cackle of delight before the door slammed shut behind them. He couldn’t help feel a sense of dread, not looking forward to the outcome of this whatsoever.