"Alexander? You okay in there?" Magnus questioned, lightly knocking on the bathroom door. It had two weeks since Alec had been returned home, everything was going smoothly, aside from clinginess and a few nightmares Alec had been recovering well.
"Alec, you've been in there for ten minutes, is everything alright?" Magnus questioned again, anxiety grew heavy in his stomach by the second. Alec had gone to take his daily shower after the two of them had returned from the institute, what had normally been three minutes had quickly turned into ten minutes and it was beginning to worry Magnus
"I'm coming in alright?" Magnus announced before placing his hand on the door handle, hoping to hear a response, when none was given Magnus quickly opened the door and walked in. Upon walking in, Magnus saw Alec standing in the shower scrubbing himself the loofa.
"Sweetheart? Is everything okay?" Magnus asked softly, walking a little closer to Alec not sure what state he was in. Alec continued to scrub himself, staring forwards, not even noticing Magnus was in the room with him. Magnus' eyes widened when he looked at Alec's skin, it was a harsh red color in comparison to the normal pale it was; some of his runes were even beginning to bleed
"Alec you're scrubbing yourself raw!" Magnus exclaimed quickly rushed forwards, snatching the loofa out of Alec's tight grip. The quick gesture startled Alec causing him to cry out and jump back. Magnus watched in horror as the young Nephilim slipped and fell with a loud thud into the bathtub below, his head thumping against the edge of the tub
"Oh my gods Alec!" Magnus exclaimed quickly turning the water off and jumping to the bathtub himself, keeping a distance between him and Alec. Alec had recovered from the fall and had curled up into a shaking ball, attempting to protect himself from any sort of threat.
"Okay, okay, remember what she said, ground him" Magnus quickly mumbled to himself before clearing his throat.
"Alexander you're having another flashback, what you're experiencing isn't real" Magnus stated quietly, trying his best to stay calm. It was the worst feeling Magnus had ever felt in his entire 400 years on this earth, watching Alec go through a flashback was torture, he couldn't imagine how Alec felt
"Whatever you're seeing or hearing isn't happening, you're at home in our apartment in the shower. You slipped and hit your head sweet pea, could you look up for me?" Magnus asked softly, hoping Alec would comply
"D-Do-Don't... p-please" Magnus heard Alec reply as he shook his head quickly, his whole body was trembling in the tight ball he had curled himself into
"Please my darling, no one is trying to hurt you I promise" Magnus continued. Relief flooding Magnus' chest when those bright blue eyes appeared from behind Alec's arms, they were wide and tear filled but there nonetheless
"That's good Alexander! Now tell me what you see" Magnus smiled a little, watching Alec intently. His eyes darted around the room as he took in his surroundings, Alec lifted his arm and pointed to the other side of the room
"T-The to-towels" Alec mumbled quietly, his voice sounding unsure and on edge
"That's right, the fluffy ones you really like, what else do you see?" Magnus urged him on, progress was beginning made and he didn't want it to stop
"Make-Makeup…" Alec continued, pointing to the sink were multiple makeup products laid out from when Magnus had last used them
"My makeup, I always say we should try some on you someday" Magnus smiled looking back at Alec who smiled a little as well, he was finally coming back
"Can you take some deep breaths for me? Like the ones we've been practising?" Magnus requested, even though Alec was finally beginning to come back his breathing still wasn't steady. Alec nodded silently and took some deep breaths, his shaking ceased and he uncurled from the ball he was in.
"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Magnus asked knowing Alec was fully back in the present due to his body language
"My head hurts…" Alec grumbled rubbing the back of his head
"You slipped and hit your head on the tub, do you want me to get you a towel so you can dry off?" Magnus offered
"Yeah" Alec nodded as Magnus got out of the bath, heading over to the towel rack to grab one of the fluffy towels. By the time Magnus had grabbed the towel, Alec had gotten out of the bath. Magnus handed Alec the towel allowing him to begin drying himself off.
"How about you go get dressed and I'll make us some tea and wait in the lounge for you" Magnus proposed beginning to leave the room
"Sounds great Mags" Alec replied with a lazy smile, one thing was for sure, Alec's flashbacks took a lot out of him and left him mentally and physically exhausted. Magnus returned the smile and went to the kitchen, promptly flicking the kettle on. After about ten minutes, Magnus had made his way to the lounge room with his and Alec's tea on the coffee table.
"Hey" Alec said quietly as he walked into the room, he was dressed in comfortable gray sweatpants and a plain blue shirt
"Hi there" Magnus returned. Alec promptly sat down next to Magnus and nuzzled himself into his boyfriend's side, another side effect of the flashbacks: a serious need for cuddles, from what Magnus was guessing it made Alec feel safe again after he had come down from a flashback
"Feeling a bit better?" Magnus questioned as he began playing with Alec's still slightly damp hair. Magnus felt Alec nod against his side.
"Good, do you know what caused this one?" Magnus questioned lightly, not wanting to push the subject if Alec didn't want to talk about it
"I'm not sure, I was washing my arms and the next thing I knew it just… happened" Alec shrugged, a yawn following the statement
"Hmm, when I came in you were scrubbing yourself so hard your skin was turning red. I must have startled you when I grabbed the loofa off you since you fell down, is your head feeling alright now?" Magnus explained
"A bit better, it's not too bad" Alec replied slowly. Magnus looked down and smirked when he saw Alec was fighting to keep his eyes open
"Go to sleep my love, you must be exhausted" Magnus soothed quietly
"'Mm not… tired…" Alec slurred as he began to go limp once more. Magnus smiled lightly and placed his lips against Alec's forehead
"Sleep my angel, you're safe with me"