Thursday morning started bright — or rather, dark and way too early for Magnus.
His phone alarm buzzed insistently. He silenced it with a groan, blinking blearily at the ceiling for half a second before forcing himself upright. The room was still dim, the kind of quiet that only existed at hours most people refused to acknowledge.
Behind him, the girls stirred, but neither woke.
Magnus paused, glancing back at the bed. Alex had one arm draped loosely over Brooke, both of them still deep in sleep, breathing slow and even. For a moment, he considered crawling back under the covers.
Then reality — and Jordan — caught up with him. Yeah. No!
He slipped out of bed as quietly as he could.
Most people wouldn't get up at this hour. But Jordan wasn't most people. And apparently, thanks to her, neither was he anymore.
Magnus padded out into the hallway, heading for the nearby bathroom. The cold water helped, barely. He brushed his teeth on autopilot, staring at his reflection like he was trying to figure out where things had gone wrong in his life. Supernatural System. Life-or-death quests. Early morning training sessions.
Yeah. Definitely somewhere along the way!
By the time he got back, he was marginally more awake. He changed quickly, pulling on a fresh set of clothes from the small pile he'd long since started keeping in Alex's room. They'd both done that, actually — left things in each other's space for convenience.
Though, if he was being honest, it was mostly him sleeping over here. Alex only came to his room occasionally.
Which… fair.
Living alone in a room nobody wanted — thanks to the early morning noise — was great for daytime visits. Not so great for overnight stays.
Magnus stepped back toward the bed, hesitating for just a second before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Alex's temple. She shifted, murmuring something unintelligible.
He chose to interpret it as "I love you."
"Yeah, yeah," he whispered, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Love you too."
Then he straightened and slipped out, chuckling under his breath.
Jordan's training was brutal. More than usual. Because, apparently, now that she knew he had superpowers, she'd decided he could handle more.
Magnus had tried to protest. He really had.
"I don't need superhero training," he'd argued at one point, somewhere between regretting every life decision he'd ever made and questioning his will to live.
Jordan had just stared at him. Then scowled.
"If I were actually subjecting you to 'superhero' training," she'd said flatly, "you wouldn't even have the breath left to complain."
…Fair. Deeply unhelpful! But fair.
So Magnus suffered. Because that was his life now.
Tony perched nearby the entire time. Watching. Judging. Enjoying himself far more than any raccoon had the right to.
At one point, Magnus shot him a glare. "You're supposed to be helping me."
Tony just blinked at him, entirely unrepentant. If anything, he looked smug. Which, frankly, was offensive. The raccoon had already made his position clear anyway — he was only here to remind Magnus about their deal. Magnus had asked to skip yesterday's training, which meant he owed extra time.
Half of which had already been paid back on Tuesday. Half of which still hadn't. Meaning tonight was going to be just as bad.
For a brief, deeply sincere moment, Magnus considered the possibility that Tony and Jordan would kill him before the System ever got the chance.
Honestly? It felt likely.
By the time Magnus dragged himself to class, he looked like a man returning from a war he'd just lost. Decisively.
Alex took one look at him… and giggled.
"I'm not sure if I should give you a hug," she said thoughtfully, "or try to end your suffering."
He shot her a flat look. Then, despite everything, managed:
"If you changed your name to Death, those would be the same thing."
She laughed immediately, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug.
"Sorry," she said lightly against his shoulder. "Still just Alex."
Magnus sighed, letting himself lean into it for a second.
"…Unfortunate."
***
With the trimester winding down and deadlines looming just over the horizon, their Power, Media, and Society group project had entered that strange, anticlimactic phase where everything important had already been decided. Roles assigned. Slides drafted. Talking points outlined. What remained was less work and more… maintenance.
So when the four of them met up after class, it felt less like a meeting and more like habit.
They took their usual table. Laptops came out. Documents were opened.
And then… mostly ignored.
"Okay, so I'll polish the conclusion tonight," one of their groupmates said, scrolling absentmindedly. "Just make sure your sections don't contradict each other too much."
"Low bar," the other added dryly.
Alex nodded along, offering the right responses at the right moments, but Magnus could feel it. The slight delay. The way her attention drifted just a fraction too often. Distracted.
He didn't comment. Didn't need to.
By the time their "meeting" dissolved into casual chatter, the other two exchanged a look — half amused, half long-suffering.
"Alright," one of them sighed, closing their laptop. "We're clearly not getting anything done with you two like this."
"We were never getting anything done," the other corrected. "Let's be honest."
They stood, gathering their things.
"Try not to traumatize the rest of campus too much," one of them tossed over their shoulder with a grin.
"No promises," Alex shot back automatically.
Then they were gone. The moment they left, Alex's expression shifted. Subtle, but sharp.
She pulled out her phone and typed quickly. "We need to talk. Now."
Magnus saw the name at the top of the screen.
Sofia.
He said nothing. Didn't ask. Didn't interfere.
He could guess. And more importantly, he knew better.
…
Sofia showed up to lunch like nothing was wrong. Like she hadn't just received that message. Like she hadn't been summoned. She dropped into her seat with her usual easy energy, setting her tray down and glancing between them.
"Wow," she said casually. "You two look intense. Should I be worried?"
Alex didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she leaned into Magnus. Close. Closer than necessary. Her hand slipped into his, fingers lacing deliberately as she rested her head against his shoulder.
Magnus blinked. "…Uh."
Sofia's eye twitched.
"If you two just called me here to watch you being lovey-dovey," she said, already pushing her chair back, "I'm leaving."
She slammed a hand lightly against the table as she stood.
"Sit down!" Alex snapped.
Sofia paused.
"After what you did," Alex added, narrowing her eyes, "you deserve this!"
A beat. Then Sofia slowly sat back down.
"Oh?" she said sweetly. "Whatever did I do, bestie?"
"You know what you did!"
"I do know what I did," Sofia agreed easily. Then tilted her head. "But which specific things are you referring to?"
Alex's eye twitched. "Mia's post."
Sofia blinked.
"Mia Chen?" she said, all innocence. "Your number one fan? What about her?"
"Sofia—"
Sofia studied her for a moment. Then her expression shifted. Just slightly.
"Oh," she said slowly. "So you finally heard about that post."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Who told you?" A beat. Then, realization. "Ah. Brooke, right?"
She leaned back, crossing her arms. "Saw her leaving our room this morning. She's the latest target?"
Her eyes flicked to Magnus. He froze. That was enough. Sofia's lips curled.
"So you really did do something," Alex shot back immediately, pointing at her.
Sofia raised a brow.
"Shouldn't you be thanking me instead of being mad?" she countered. "I helped."
"Oh, I'll be the judge of that," Alex said flatly. "Tell me exactly what you did."
Sofia held her gaze. The tension stretched. Magnus shifted slightly in his seat, suddenly very interested in literally anything other than the staring contest happening next to him. Then Sofia exhaled.
"Oh, I'll do you one better," she said. "I'll show you."
She unlocked her phone, tapped through a few screens, logged in, then slid it across the table. Alex took it. Magnus leaned in. And immediately wished he hadn't.
Thread after thread. Comments. Speculation. Stories — some real, some very obviously not. About him, and his supposed skills and techniques in the bedroom…
His face burned.
"…Oh my god," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face.
Alex didn't react right away. She just kept reading. Processing. Calculating. Then, finally…
"How many accounts do you even have?" she asked without looking up.
Sofia smiled.
"Bestie," she said gently, "don't ask questions you don't actually want the answer to."
Magnus groaned into his hands. Alex pressed her lips together, thinking silently.
Then she exhaled. "You're enjoying this way too much."
"But I helped," Sofia shot back immediately. "Think about it! This builds curiosity. Lowers resistance. Makes future targets more open."
She leaned forward slightly. "That increases your success rate. Keeps him alive. Makes your lives easier."
Alex looked at her. Really looked.
"…Suuuuure," she said slowly. "And you're sure you're not just doing this because you enjoy the chaos?"
Sofia grinned. "Oh, I never said I didn't."
A beat.
"But it helps you," she added. "Which is why you didn't come at me immediately. And why we're talking instead of you exploding."
Alex's jaw tightened. Because she couldn't argue that. So instead…
She leaned into Magnus even more, practically draping over him. Nuzzling her head against his neck like a cat.
"Babe," she said, voice suddenly soft and exaggerated, "Sofia hurt my fweewing. I nweed pampering to recover."
Magnus froze.
"…I—uh—"
He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her. Patted her shoulder.
Across the table, Sofia clutched her throat dramatically. And made the most exaggerated gagging noise possible.
***
There were classes where attendance mattered. And then there were classes like Audio Culture.
The kind where the professor talked, a handful of students engaged, and everyone else existed in a comfortable gray zone of "present enough to pass." Today's session was one of those days: discussion drifting, participation optional, expectations minimal.
Magnus sat there, notebook open, pen in hand. And for once…
He wasn't thinking about the System. Which, ironically, created a whole new problem. Because the moment that constant pressure eased, everything else rushed back in to fill the space.
Small things. Normal things. The kind of thoughts that got pushed to the background when survival was at stake, but refused to stay quiet forever. Like…
Alex's period.
Magnus stared at his notebook: Blank. Because he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
He knew it was coming up. Soon. Probably. In… ten days? Two weeks? Somewhere in that vague, dangerously imprecise range.
And beyond that? Nothing. Which was a problem. Because this was the kind of thing you were supposed to know. The kind of thing a good boyfriend just… handled.
He grimaced. A few weeks ago, he'd tried Googling it. That had been a mistake. Because when he'd assumed what he read was correct and brought it up with Alex, it had been a disaster.
Correction, embarrassment, and a very clear indication that while she didn't mind correcting him, she did not want to be his primary educational resource on the topic.
So he'd shelved it. Temporarily. Which, in hindsight, had turned into two weeks of doing absolutely nothing about it.
"Great," he muttered under his breath.
Now it was back. And he still had no clue where to even start. So…
Authority figures!
Magnus tapped his pen against the page, thinking.
Option one: his mom.
He winced immediately.
Pros: experienced, knowledgeable, probably very helpful.
Cons: she would instantly know he had a girlfriend.
And then?
There would be a conversation. A long one. A very thorough one.
He wasn't ready. Not even a little bit!
Option two: Sofia.
He paused.
Pros: also knowledgeable. More importantly, she knew Alex. Probably better than anyone else.
Cons…
Magnus slowly lowered his pen.
She would never let him live it down. Ever!
Not to mention, he'd be voluntarily inserting himself right back into the aftermath of whatever war she and Alex had started at lunch.
He could practically hear it already. The teasing. The weaponization. The gloating.
"…Yeah, that sounds like a terrible idea," he muttered.
Option three: Jordan?
Hahahahaha, no!
Nope! Option three wasn't an option at all. That was just his brain supplying intrusive thoughts to troll him.
So it was either his mom or Sofia.
The class wrapped up around him, students packing up, conversations picking back up as people filtered out. Magnus didn't move immediately. He just sat there. Thinking.
Then…
Decision made. He pulled out his phone. Contacts. Scrolled. Mom.
His thumb hovered over the call button. One second. Two. Three…
Nope!
He locked the phone. Stuffed it back into his pocket. And stood up.
Sofia was already halfway out the door, walking with her friends, laughing about something.
Magnus hesitated for exactly half a second…
Then jogged after her.
"Sofia!" he called out.