A/N: I know I should be working on The Bane and Gray Days, but I'm out of ideas for that for now, and this came to me. Hope you enjoy! :D
The apartment warlock Catarina Loss lives in was simple. A little bedroom and a bathroom. A kitchenette. That was pretty much it. She didn't need all the grand space or extra rooms like her friend Magnus Bane.
Currently, she was waiting for him. He had finally come back from Idris after the awful Mortal War. She hadn't participated in it for two simple reasons: she wasn't a fighter, and she had lives to save in the hospital in New York.
When Magnus had called her earlier, he had sounded quite distressed. When she had asked him about it, he said he was coming over, so she asked him to get Thai food along; not because she didn't have money, but because she was too tired after an exhausting day of work to deal with more mundanes.
About ten minutes later, he showed up, Thai food in hands. She hugged him, took the food from him, and dug in. While they ate in silence, she noticed he was wearing relatively plain clothes: a blue sweater and black pants, though his hair was done up anyway.
"Alright," she said, putting her empty container down, "What is this about? Is it about that Lightwood boy again?"
Magnus laughed a sad laugh, "Oh, no. In fact, things are going pretty well with him. This is about something else entirely."
The expression on his face let Catarina know there was something awfully wrong, something he dreaded telling her. It only made her want to know more.
"This is about Ragnor," he went on.
Catarina froze. She had tried contacting Ragnor, but he was living in Alicante where phones don't work, and he hadn't answered any of her letters. She didn't know whether he participated in the fight or not; he probably did. She hoped it wasn't hurt, but then why would Magnus look like this…?
"Tell me. Just be blunt and tell me."
"He's dead."
Dead, dead, dead, the word seemed to echo in the room.
"But he- he can't be… he's immortal…" Catarina felt a tightening in her throat, but it can't be.
"Immortal, Catarina, is not invincible," said Magnus in a soft voice.
Her voice rose up, "He's not. You're lying to me. You're taking revenge for the time we pranked you on your birthday."
Magnus moved closer to her, "I wish. I wish it were funny. I wish I could laugh and he could walk in any minute now, but I can't. I'm so sorry, Catty."
He rarely called her that; it meant that he was very, very emotional at the moment. That only added up to her theory of his revenge.
Magnus held her, and she tried to push him away, but he was stronger than her. Finally she gave in, welcoming his warmth, hoping that maybe it would mend her heart, which felt like it was literally shattering to pieces. It made sense, she guessed, since Ragnor had never failed to respond to her.
The tears fell, and with them she fell endlessly into an abyss of sadness. She remembered all the times she had spent with Ragnor; those precious moments flashing before her closed eyes like a movie. The jokes, the smiles, the words and breaths and secrets. Even the few times he had kissed her and she had pretended to get annoyed and scold him, while secretly enjoying them.
She had taken him for granted, she pondered, she had thought she had him forever, that maybe someday he would ask her out and she would tell him she was flattered. Too late too late too late now.
She was still crying into Magnus's chest when he started telling her what had happened, how Valentine had attacked Ragnor and the latter had called him, and how Magnus hadn't told her immediately because he was hoping that maybe he could save him somehow if he got there on time. Catarina found that very stupid considering the fact she was the one with the healing talents. He went on to tell her about the war, fighting next to Tessa, Jace being a Herondale, and Tessa freaking out about it. She asked him if he had told her about Ragnor, and he said he did, and that she was sorry. But of course Tessa hadn't felt as much grieve as her; she hadn't been his best friend for centuries.
"I never thought I would miss him," Magnus whispered in her ear, "We used to argue a lot. I guess I never really understood how much of a great friend he was."
"Tell me about it," she answered laughingly, "You two used to get on my nerves when you fought."
"Yeah. You could almost say we made you feel blue."
Catarina punched him lightly on his arm, and smiled. Even though she felt empty at the moment, she knew she would have to move on eventually. That's what they always did, immortals. They moved on.