He often gets the feeling that it would be useful to have some sort of alerting device - like the ones that the police have in films. But now isn't one of those times. The terrified, shrill, feminine cries slice through the cold air and assault his ears. He smiles grimly. Magnus gets the feeling that he is going to have a productive evening.
He starts running. His equipment weighs him down, so it is difficult to move quickly. His sword is like a partner in trade. Its aged, dirty handle feels sturdy and reliable in his hands. It's weight is like an anchor, that balances him somehow. The blade contradicts the handle; it's shiny and pristine. He never draws blood. To do so would be to defy all that he stands for.
He turns a corner, and a quintet of covered heads rotate to look at him. They are all wearing masks. But in the midst of the dark-attired villains, there is a dash of colour. Stupidly, he wastes a few seconds looking twice. He is good at absorbing battle scenes quickly, even in the dark, shadowy alleyways.
She is easily the most beautiful woman he has ever had the pleasure of laying eyes upon. Her platinum hair is tangled and messed, and her formal dress has been ruffled… but she still has an aura of superiority. It seems a sin for her money and jewellery to be clutched in grubby, thieves' hands. He tears his eyes from her terrified face, and scans the sinister group. They are smaller than him. He slaps two of them with his blade, and kicks a third. The two other men stumble to get away, gripping their bounty despite their fear. Had they dropped the valuables, they could have avoided their imminent defeat.
He turns around, searching for their victim. She has disappeared. He feels a pang in his chest - disappointment. He hasn't felt like that in years. But then he catches a glimpse of another flash of white blonde, as her shining hair lingers in the amber street lights. Smart lady. She had taken advantage of the fray, and the participants' distraction. If only she didn't seem to… glow.
She emerges, and he notes snatches of her personality. She walks with grace and calm, like the upper-class citizen he knows she is. She reaches down, and retrieves a long green ribbon from the grubby street floor. She looks up at him nervously, and he shuffles uneasily, attempting to appear less frightening. He reprimands himself inwardly, for feeling so vain. He feels grimy.
He reaches down awkwardly, his equipment halting his movement. He plucks the jewellery from each unconcious villain's hands, and holds them out for her. She smiles a little, and whispers her thanks before clipping them on, each in turn.
A torrent of questions bombards his mind as the sun peeks out from behind a building, peeking over the horizon. Who is she? Why is she out at this time in the morning? And how could one person wear that much jewellery?
She rapidly ties back her hair in a loose bun, and steps away. He realises that he's been staring, and has the good sense to look away. He starts to leave, but she stops him with her gentle voice.
"Thank you very much, Magnus."
He raises a questioning eyebrow. "You know who I am?"
"I think you may find that your reputation is making its way out of these alleyways." She takes the last piece of evidence that proves that the robbery ever occured. "You should be careful."
"I should be careful?" He scoffs, his voice sounding impossibly gravely against hers. "Look who's talking."
She frowns, but there is amusement in her expression. "Vigilantes like yourself can only own the streets for so long."
"Yeah well, I've been getting on fine. For two years."
"I'm pleased for you. And thankful." She replies evenly.
And she leaves. She disappears around a building, and is gone.
0~o~0~o~0
Magnus doesn't seem like the sort of person who can afford his flat. People with his uncivillised, agressive appearance are rarely allowed access to buildings like that, but he can. He's good at what he does, and as uncertain as his 'job' is, it pays well.
He enters the reception, scattering crusty chunks of mud onto the grey carpet. It's so early, that nobody is there to greet him. Just as he likes it. He steps into the elevator while counting the night's prizes. Four different events. Three rewards. He hadn't taken anything from that woman, like he normally would. He is too soft.
The elevator chimes as it reaches the twelfth floor, and the doors open. He walks heavily to his own door, and fishes the keys out of his pocket. His flat is quite spacious, with a wall of glass to look out into London through. It's too stylish and modern for him, but it works. It's close enough to the crime-riddled alleys for exceedingly few people to stay, and for lodging to be incredibly cheap.
Magnus discards his armour, and changes into some slightly less conspicuous clothes. He doesn't have a second identity, like civillians would expect. He just lies low, doing his work when needed, and leaving London to fight for itself when his participation isn't necessary. And he's been doing that for years - ever since Gaol. He stops, and looks out the window while pulling on a grey jacket. The early morning drivers are filling out the gaps in the traffic quickly. He looks down at the far side of the road, at a few of the older, brick houses. And stops still.
She's there. Her glowing white-blonde hair, jumping out of the gloomy lighting far below him. There's a flopping sensation in his stomach, when he realises that she's walking towards his building. But she stops on the other side of the road, and walks along the pavement. For one, two, three, four steps. She knocks on a door, and waits. He waits too, unconsciously holding his breath. The door opens. And she gets enveloped in white-clothed arms.
He knows that man, he's sure of it. Or at least, knows him from afar. Magnus finds it difficult to place his face or name, but very few people lived down that road. Both oblivious subjects of his vision make their way off the pavement, and into the house. He wonders who lives there. He wonders why she visited that house, at half past three in the morning.
0~o~0~o~0
Magnus peers at his reflexion in the mirror. There is an uncharacteristically shy expression on his rugged face, that he really hates. He's wearing quite fine clothes - at least, finer than usual. He glances out of his window, and spots the woman leaving the smaller house. She visits almost every day.
He frets constantly that she's going to return to that house one morning, and their paths will tangle. But he fears that their paths will never cross even more. He doesn't wear a mask. If she sees him, she'll know who he is instantly. But, although he is almost sure that she has a spouse already, his curiosity gets the better of him.
He leaves the building. The woman has already left the house - he saw that earlier. He crosses the road. And just as he steps onto the pavement, the door swings open. Magnus's muscles tense, but his battle reflexes subdue the effects of shock. It's the man.
"Oh, hey," he says brightly. He's carrying a briefcase, and wearing a beige work suit. Magnus knows this man. They speak very rarely, but he's an early riser, like Magnus himself.
"Hey." Magnus grunts.
"I haven't seen you in ages." The man says.
"No, I guess not, Angelface."
His smile falters a tiny bit.
"My name's Pit, remember?"
"Yeah, but Angelface suits you better." Magnus grins. "We've already established this."
Pit thinks for a moment, looking skyward with wide blue eyes. He really does have an angelic quality about his appearance - all soft, pastel colours.
"I'll take that as a complement, I suppose." Pit replies. Magnus walks along with the young businessman subconsciously, getting caught up in the young man's easygoing demeanor.
"So, you look nice." Pit makes conversation. "Smart. Where are you going? Someplace special?"
Magnus's mind blanks. "Uh, yes."
"Yes? Please - oh no! Tena left her keys inside. Poop." He smacked his forehead. "Now I'm gonna be late."
Pit turns around, and hurries back down the pavement to his house. Magnus tags along a little, vaguely curious. Partly enjoying company. He hasn't spoken to people properly in so long.
"Wait there." Pit instructs his follower, and he dashes into the house, leaving the door open behind him. His house is narrow, and consists of worn, white bricks. It's pretty, as far as houses go.
He can hear Pit rummaging around upstairs, and slamming drawers and doors. He waits outside awkwardly, as Pit had told him to. But then he hears light, feathery footsteps. And knows in a terrible split-second that it's her. Tena.
He starts to scramble away, knowing that if she saw him, it would be game over. But he turns back, and he sees her turning around a corner from the alley she always takes. His head snaps forward, praying that she hadn't seen him. He crosses the road frantically, and doesn't slow down until he's safe on his floor. He dares to peek out at the street below him, and sees the two animated figures. Pit, gesturing towards the spot where his friend had vanished, and Tena looking around, bewildered. He groans. Idiot.
And then he sees them laugh. And then kiss. He looks away, but when he closes his eyes, he realises that she's still there. His fleeting glimpse of her was stamped into his eyelids. She had had her hair tied back into a professional, elegant bun on the top of her head, secured with an emerald green ribbon that matched her ferny irises. She was dressed in a crisp, white summer dress, that complemented her. Totally in her element.
Magnus punches the glass in front of him, with fiery force. Unfortunately, it was layered too thickly for him to do real damage to. How can he feel that way, about somebody he doesn't know? How can he possibly feel that way at all? He had always believed that there was no way he could feel again after Gaol.
0~o~0~o~0
There's a knocking sound, ringing in the silence of the flat. Magnus sits up on his recliner, and looks around anxiously. He hasn't heard that sound many times before. His senses feel hazy - he had only returned half an hour ago. He is an almost completely nocturnal creature. The door is rapped a second time, and he jumps from his chair, fully adorned in his armour.
He curses. And the potential guest hears.
"Woah, Hunter, are you okay?"
Magnus responds with a few more curses, and rushes to equip his everyday clothes. He digs around in his chest of drawers, finding nothing but leather, weapons and toothbrushes.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn." He repeats with every toss of a temporarily useless object.
"You okay?" Pit repeats, rattling the door handle.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Magnus snarls at long last. He evens his tone, finally grabbing a set of more casual clothes. "What's up with you, Angelface?"
"Just wondering if you wanted to come to that Summer fair with me?"
Magnus sniffs. "What, is this a date or something?"
Pit gasps. "No, no, no, no, no! Not a date! I have a girlfr - fiancé! Fiancé. Tena."
Magnus's heart sinks, as he combs his hair rapidly. Tena was his fiancé. He shouldn't care.
"So, why'd you want me to come?"
Magnus could practically sense Pit shrugging, through the door.
"I don't know. Just thought it would be fun? I can't remember the last time you actually went out, Hunter."
Magnus hates that name. Hunter. But people who live so close to his 'workplace' could get a whiff of his darker side if he doesn't minimise damage.
"Yeah, I'll come." Magnus relents. He isn't sure why.
Magnus opens the door, dressed appropriately. Pit doesn't ask why he took so long. He just beamed.
"Great!"
0~o~0~o~0
"So yeah. Have you been here before?" Pit asks.
Magnus shakes his head. "No."
"D'you like it?"
Magnus looks up, as if finally contemplating his surroundings. "Yeah, I guess. It's pretty."
The area is floral, and like an oasis in a desert. The city skyscrapers tower all around them, in the distance, but sunlight filters through the trees, unhindered. It is pretty.
"I can't believe you bought that." Pit refers to the brick phone that Magnus twiddles idly in his fingers.
"What?" He replies defensively. "I've been meaning to get a phone for years."
"Yes, but why from a street vender?" Pit questions, exasperated. "It's probably dodgy, and definitely overpriced. I tried to warn you at the time! Amazon next time, alright?"
"Yeah, whatever Angelface. I probably won't get this up and running anyway."
Pit laughs, and takes his own smartphone from his jacket pocket. Magnus assumes that he's answering a text or something.
"What about that jewellery, Angelface?" Magnus jabs. "For your mom?"
"Why would you say that? It's for Tena!" Pit splutters, offended.
"Let's be honest Pit. Tena's way too much of a classy lady to wear string and copper bangles." Magnus says tactlessly, but Pit ignores the blow.
"You know Tena?"
Magnus winces. "No. No, but I've wat - seen her. Around. Once."
"It's a small world, isn't it?"
"Not really." Magnus snaps. "She visits you most days, and you live across my road."
Pit gives him an odd look, and Magnus suddenly wishes to divert conversation from himself.
"So… how long have you been engaged?"
"I proposed a couple of weeks ago." Pit supplies readily, with a dreamy smile. Magnus hates that expression. "Tena and I have known each other forever though. She helped me through a difficult time when I was a teenager, and helped me earn a job in her company."
"You're pretty young, don't you think? To be getting married?"
Pit shrugs. "Well, I'm twenty-three. I know I look younger. And she's like twenty-five or something."
Magnus lets that information settle. "You have a job in her company?"
"I did. I worked out of it."
"She has her own company?"
"Oh yeah. She has a massive publishing house for children's books. It's ridiculously successful."
"Oh." Says Magnus conversationally.
Pit stretches back on the bench. "You should meet her. She's amazing. Really, really amazing."
"I bet." Magnus answers.
"You hungry Magnus? I could totally go for some fried goodness right now."
Magnus shakes his head dismissively. "Nah. I'm really not in the mood."
"Woah, woah, woah. Not in the mood for eating?"
"No."
"I can't pretend to understand that."
Magnus yawns. He has to work tonight, and he's been up for hours on end already. He can't get her out of his head.
0~o~0~o~0
Author's Notes: What on Earth is this? It literally came from the strangest, most mysterious parts of my imagination, and I have no idea what to make of it. There isn't much else like it in the Kid Icarus fandom… so why not give it a go? I can always delete it. I just wanted to try something new. And this is very, very new.
And this pairing… I don't know what to think about it. And the setting… Do you like it? I'd really like to know if somebody does.
There will be three chapters of this length posted, so it's just a short thing. I just hope that people enjoy reading it :)