A/N: This chapter was more self indulgent then necessary for story but i did want to add an alex chapter and make this whole little fic a tiny bit longer so eh - hope you enjoy!
Alex stared intently at the clay pot standing on her wheel. She'd been working carefully all day on a few different pieces and this was the last one she wanted to get the base of done today. Unfortunately, she'd pressed a little too hard with her thumb, causing a dip right under the lip at the top of the pot. It wasn't so bad, and occasionally she liked to keep those little "imperfections" in her pieces they could add a lot of fun and a little charm, but it hadn't been what she was looking for in this specific set. Which lead her to the all-important dilemma - to keep or not to keep?
She threw her head back with a sigh, green curls bobbing in and out of her vision with the motion. Now staring intently at her branch-covered ceiling rather than the offending pot, it often helped to go back to a piece after a little break but she honestly just wanted to get this done, so her break would be this. She tilted on her chair leaning on the back two legs to extend her recline. But misjudged, with an audible gasp she felt herself start to fall, quickly catching herself by locking her foot against the work table.
That ended the internal debate. The motion had caused the table to shake, sending the pot crashing to its side, ruining it entirely.
"Fuck." Alex groaned and let her head drop onto the table, her forehead sufficiently smushing the remains of the clay. If only all decisions could end up being that easy and straightforward.
She was struggling, not just with her pottery. A very stupid holiday and an even stupider blonde boy were giving her brains all sorts of grief. Valentine's day was quickly approaching.
Alex had already decided she was going to get Magnus some chocolate - the problem with that was she often gave him chocolate. It was his favorite food (at least tied with falafel) and it was easy enough to get him some often, that and the fact that every time she did give him some he got really flustered and cute; every time, he was surprised, even when it was twice in one day.
Who gave him the right to be that cute? She just wanted to talk. It was making things really unfair for her.
She had also already decided to get him a plant of some sort, sure the hotel would probably eventually materialise one for him and in the perfect place to boot but he'd been talking a lot about some chain of hearts plant he wanted and it seemed like the perfect little gift, plus she liked plant shopping so win-win.
And she'd probably give him some pottery she'd made. Half the fun of making them was gifting them (and breaking them but that wasn't the point right now). She especially loved giving them to the blonde sunshine boy (her blonde sunshine boy). Every single time Magnus reacted as if he had never been given a present ever before in his whole entire life.
But these were all things she could do outside of this cursed holiday; so was it not enough? Or, because it was Valentine's and gifts and plans took on a heavier meaning and they weren't dating (yet) was it too much? Would she look stupid if she got him something and he was completely caught off guard? Well, that last worry was a definite no. She never looked stupid. And worst case, she would definitely be able to pull herself together if he didn't have anything for her. Though, even the thought of that stung just a little.
Valentine's day was stupid. That was a firm belief Alex held it was all performative nonsense. But it was performative nonsense she 100% subscribed to, unfortunately. It was just a fun excuse to do something cute with your romantic partner; also to get dressed up and Alex would take any excuse to get dressed up. Not that she ever needed an excuse to get dressed up, or an excuse to go out if she felt like it.
However, this all lead to her next dilemma. She had already picked out two outfits, one if she felt like dressing more traditionally masculine, and one if she felt like dressing more traditionally feminine. plus she had pulled out a few random pieces if she felt like spicing things up altogether.
But gifts were more her speed, she wasn't big on making plans or setting up dates - she was more about dragging people onto random spontaneous adventures with her and calling them dates during or after the fact. So she really hoped Magnus would plan something. Which she recognized wasn't necessarily fair because if he didn't plan anything she would be upset even though she knew all she had to do was let him know she wanted him to set something up for valentine's day and he would - but that would feel less special.
So she didn't want to get her hopes up in case he made no plans, which would be absolutely fair because it was her fault they weren't just officially dating. Or more aptly it was the fault of her stupid parents and messed up childhood - curse you trauma. Alex shook her fist at the empty room as that thought crossed her mind.
Whatever the reason the lack of being official, while currently something she needed and appreciated, justly left lots of room for misunderstanding on valentine's expectations. She would still likely make some snarky comment if Magnus made no plans but that was it.
Though Alex also knew if he didn't plan anything it would likely be because he was trying to respect her wishes to take things slow (as slow as humanly possible it felt at times but she knew it was for the best). Finding an actually super kind sweet guy who was also super hot and super into her - male or female? Major swoon. And she had to wait to make things official because of her stupid brain and stupider past. She was terrified. And though she knew he really would wait as long as she needed she didn't want either of them to have to wait that long. She wanted to be with him it was just scary and hard.
So though the thought hurt her a little, she decided. Definitely yes on all the gifts. If the blonde dummy planned something for them sweet, really really sweet actually. She'd smooch him. A lot. If he didn't plan anything she would probably still smooch him (she just really liked doing that) almost definitely with an at least partially grumpy comment of some sort, but she would take him out to Fadlan's Falafel. That was cute enough to be an acceptable date for them while being casual enough to not make a thing of it. Perfect.
Now that, that was all figured out she just had to get back to finishing her pottery.
A/N: Cool that I got this chapter out when i wanted to, lets all hope that happens for the final chapter! It should be out on sunday but again please dont hold me to that lol
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