Dedicated to incomparable Charlotte W. ~ Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas PF partner *wink* now you're the same age as me ^^
"What do you want?" Impatience was all over Alex's face as she raised one of her eyebrows. No doubt she was working on pottery again. I was surprised she'd even answered the door.
"You remember. We're meeting Annabeth and Percy at a café in New London." She continued staring at me. I added, "In Connecticut."
"I know my geography, thanks," she replied coolly. "And secondly, I never explicitly agreed to go with you." I shrugged as I leaned against her door frame.
"You said 'okay' when I asked. I took that for a yes. And plus, no time to lose, I've got the tickets already," I said, waving two slips of paper at her.
Alex paused, and then decided to stall a little more. "Why didn't you ask Sam to go?" I shrugged again.
"Why not you? You've got a certain charm with strangers." Alex rolled her eyes as she turned back into her room, but didn't slam the door into me, which I counted as a small victory.
"Flattery isn't your thing, Maggie-dear," she called out. I didn't bother responding to that. I waited until she was done sweeping pottery shards into the trash.
"So are you coming or not?" I asked. "Train leaves in an hour." She rolled her neck, as if already bored with the idea.
"Only because you're so stubborn, and I'm up for some excitement after this boring month." She grabbed a pink and green jacket that I hadn't seen before coming out of her room again, this time shoving me away from the door frame before she shut the door.
"Valhalla isn't all that boring. You get to kill people and get killed every night!" I reminded her, as if that was something to be hyped up about. "And you need to socialize more." Alex looked at me in slight disbelief. My wandering eyes noticed that not only had her hair grown longer in the past month, but she'd also redyed her hair so that her roots were also green again.
"That's rich, coming from you. Who else do you hang out with regularly other than Floor Nineteen and Samirah and Amir?" I thought for a moment and actually went into deep-thought pondering.
"There's Jack." She snorted at my answer.
"My point exactly."
Alex Fierro looked at me, although not necessarily distastefully, when the train finally started moving. "I can't believe I have to sit next to you for one and a half hours."
"Then you should've told me to get tickets with separate seats." And plus, if Alex really didn't want to sit next to me, she could ask a stranger to switch seats, or just plop herself in one of the many empty seats on the train.
"Whatever," she decided, making no move to get up from where she sat to the left of me. Her head turned to me, her green hair swished behind her. "You never did tell me who exactly Annabeth and Percy are." She raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me they're your lovers." Her tone was teasing, yet there was something else under it.
"Haha, very funny. I don't practice polyamory." I smiled at her. "But I thought I did tell you about them." Alex let out an exaggerated sigh.
"First, I'm surprised you even know the word 'polyamory', but I suppose everyone has their genius days." I stuck out my tongue at her for that. "Childish," she chided. "And no, Maggie, you didn't tell me about Annabeth and Percy. And you wonder why I was reluctant to accompany you to see them."
I chuckled nervously. "I guess not. Annabeth's my cousin. Percy's her boyfriend." Alex waved her hand in the "go on" motion. "And they're Greek demigods. Annabeth's the daughter of Athena, the wisdom goddess. Percy's the son of Poseidon, the sea god." If I had expected Alex to look surprised, I didn't get it. Her expression remained the same.
"Interesting." Alex looked genuinely thoughtful, and I noticed that she was biting a corner of her bottom lip. That was cute. "So I guess Percy's going to help with the whole sailing thing?" I nodded grimly, already thinking about the dangers we'll all be embarking on.
"You don't have to come, you know. If you don't want to." Alex Fierro stared at me for a full minute.
"Magnus Chase, that is the single most ridiculous thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth. And trust me, I've heard quite a few ridiculous things." She poked my nose.
"Worth a try." I sighed, smiling.
"And plus, you'd die without me there."
"Hey!" I retorted, but I was still smiling. "I take offense to that!"
"Sure you do." Her face had leaned in, and I couldn't help noticing her twinkling eyes—one brown, one amber. It was strangely attractive.
"Do you remember when we first met?" I asked suddenly. Maybe it was my hearing, but my voice had gotten huskier.
"Yeah." She smirked at me, but she didn't move away. "You were drooling." I raised my eyebrow at that, but decided not to defend my ego for once. There would be plenty of opportunities to defend it in the future.
"Yeah. Maybe I was."
"Finally admitting your faults, Chase." Alex's eyes had flickered down to my lips. "Although... you're pretty cute. Especially when you're embarrassed." At that statement, butterflies burst in my stomach—something I'll never admit to lest Alex teased me until Ragnarok, which may or may not occur very soon, but still.
"Yeah? I think you're pretty cute too," I admitted. My eyes had also flickered down to her lips. "Ever since I first met you actually."
"Yeah?" That word was coming up a lot. I wasn't one for perfect moments, but here on crappy, old seats on a train going over a hundred miles per hour... well. I admit to be occasionally dense, but I wasn't that stupid to let a moment like this past.
I leaned forward and brushed my lips against Alex's.
My first reaction was that her lips were softer than I could have imagined. My second reaction was that she hadn't killed me with her garrote.
She deepened the kiss until we were both fighting for air.
I pulled away first, breathing heavily from the kiss—although, it might've been more a makeout session. "You're okay with this?"
"Gods, Magnus, did we not just kiss?" Alex rolled her eyes, but she was smiling and laughing.
"Aren't you glad I didn't buy tickets for separate seats," I drawled. Alex rolled her eyes and punched me lightly enough so that it still hurt. I winced.
"I don't know, Maggie," she replied, "if you keep being so aggravating, I might have to switch seats." Her threat fell on deaf ears as I leaned forward to kiss her again.
"How long have you had feelings for me?" I asked once I pulled away. She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"Like I'll tell you. That'll boost your ego even more, and I think my cute comment was enough for today." I laughed.
"Fine. But I think I always found you attractive." Alex—Alex Fierro who killed me with her garrote wire and is generally badass in every way, shape, and form—blushed slightly at that. "And I think I started crushing on you after the bowling tournament."
"You're such a sap." Alex paused a moment. "But I have a better question. How are you—"
I interrupted her, "How I'll deal with your male days?" Alex didn't berate me for interrupting him, or how I'd noticed that he'd just changed genders. I smirked at him. "Good thing I'm bi-, and I find you endearingly cute and hot everyday. I think I'll deal with your male days exactly like this." And then I leaned in and kissed him again.