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MAGNUS
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Magnus Chase hated the mornings. He hated getting up when the sun was trying to blind him. He hated having to get out of bed. Most of all, he hated getting up to find the apartment empty, with no note, and nothing explaining where anyone else had gone.
It seemed kind of ridiculous to hate being alone, yet enjoy the solitude. Sometimes Magnus wondered if there was something wrong with his brain.
So, to be awoken the next morning by his Uncle Randolph was one of the weirdest experiences of the past few years.
"Get up, we've got a new family to welcome," Randolph ordered, throwing the blanket off of his nephew.
"Why do I have to go?" Magnus yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Randolph owned the Chase Apartments in uptown Boston, and had made a habit of greeting new people living in the housing, simply to make them feel welcome and making them want to stay. Magnus, however, had never accompanied him, on account of not being a very people-y person. The result of him being there would be disastrous.
"Because they've got a boy about your age, and you need friends," Randolph explained impatiently.
"I've got friends," Magnus protested.
"Get up, anyway." Randolph left the room, leaving Magnus to actually get up and do things, which he was not interested in. Despite the prospect of going back to sleep, the boy decided to listen to his uncle, since he hardly ever invited him places, let alone speak to him. It was a nice change, though Magnus suspected it wouldn't last, and he was okay with that.
Dragging himself into the bathroom, he quickly showered and got dressed. The grey hoodie complimented his signature Chase eyes and blonde hair, which he hadn't bothered to cut in years and easily reached his shoulders. He also didn't bother combing it, much to the annoyance of his uncle.
"About time," Randolph sighed as Magnus came down the stairs into the entrance way. For the most part, their apartment couldn't even be considered an apartment. Randolph would settle for nothing less than flashy, and thus they lived in at the top of the tall apartment complex in a penthouse.
"Let's go, then," Randolph said, leading Magnus out into the elevator. They spent a couple minutes in silence as they went down a few floors and down the hallway to the third apartment. Randoplh knocked on the door a couple times, and it swung open to reveal a middle-aged man, his brown hair streaked with grey.
"Ah, hello! You must be Mr. Fierro," Randolph greeted. "I'm Randolph Chase, the owner of this building, and this is my nephew, Magnus. May we come in?"
"Yes, of course," Mr. Fierro said, stepping aside to allow the visitors to enter the apartment. It was clean and modern, with open windows, allowing a fresh breeze through the room. "Could I interest you in some coffee?" Mr. Fierro asks the two, leading them into the living room.
"That would be lovely. Magnus, would you like some?" Randolph asked, turning to the boy.
"No," Magnus said bluntly, somewhat bored.
"Dear, who's at the door?" A very female voice called from one of the open doors off to the side, probably an office.
"Mr. Chase, the owner of the building," Mr. Fierro called back. A woman about the same age as her husband with long auburn hair, woven in tight curls came out of the room to meet Randolph.
"Ah, lovely to meet you!" she greeted. "I'm Jasmine."
"Randolph. This is Magnus, my nephew. A pleasure to meet you as well," Randolph replied. Magnus sighed in boredom, doing a once-over of the room. For having just moved in, it was pretty well unpacked. Not too many boxes cluttered the space, even if it was rather large.
"Hello, Magnus," Mrs. Fierro said, giving the boy a bright smile. "Our children are around here somewhere, though I'm afraid they might be a bit too young for you. Where's Alex, James?" she asked, turning to her husband.
"I think he's in his room, making some more pottery," Mr. Fierro responded. "My son is quite talented with the pottery wheel, see. Gets it from his Grandfather." Mrs. Fierro seemed to wrinkle her nose at the mention of pottery, but quickly returned to her non-disgusted face.
"I think he's about your age. You might like to go meet him. If you'll go down the hall, his door is on the left. You can't miss it," Mrs. Fierro told Magnus, sighing. Taking that as more of an order than a suggestion, Magnus shrugged and went to go look for Alex Fierro's room.
She was right, it was rather hard to miss it. The door had been painted in stripes of pink, blue, and white in the order that Magnus recognised as the transgender pride flag, and over the white, painted in curly letters in pink and green was the name Alex. Magnus sighed and knocked on the door.
"If you're going to yell at me again, you can screw off!" a voice called.
"Uh... I'm not your parents," Magnus called back, trying not to laugh. A couple moments passed before the door swung open to a boy, definitely about Magnus' age with short green hair and black roots, in a green-and-pink checkered sweater vest.
"Who the fuck are you?" the boy asked.
"Bored out of my mind," Magnus responded. "Your parents are talking to my uncle and doing boring adult stuff. Alex, right?"
"Yeah. But, again, who the fuck are you?" Alex demanded.
"Magnus. Can I come in?"
"No, you cannot."
"Why?"
"Because if you do, I'll throw you out my window."
"Tempting, but I'll have to pass." Alex snorted.
"If you don't get out, I'll throw things at you," he said matter-of-factly.
"I ask that you not," Magnus replied. Alex reached to a shelf next to him, grabbing a terracotta vase and chucked it at the wall behind Magnus. "Holy shit!" Magnus yelped, turning around as the vase connected with the wall and shattered.
"I have more vases and I'm not afraid to throw them," Alex said, picking up another with a wild look in his eyes.
"Alex! Are you throwing vases again?!" Mr. Fierro yelled. "I told you to stop that!"
"Make me!" Alex called back. Randolph's nervous laugh echoed into the hallway.
"Well, we really must be going," he said. "So much work to do! Magnus, my boy, come on." Magnus was all too glad to get out of there, away from this green-haired goblin.
"Bye," Alex told Magnus, closing the door once again.
"Bye..." Magnus muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back down the hall to his uncle. Part of him was intrigued by Alex. He was far different from any of the other people he'd met. The other part of him wanted to stay the hell away from him. Something told Magnus that the boy was dangerous, and he did not want to get onto the wrong side of him.
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"He... threw pottery at you?" Samirah Al-Abbas asked Magnus a few hours later over coffee.
"Yeah," Magnus replied. "I'm telling you, it could have been lethal." Samirah, or Sam as she preferred to be called, was one of Magnus' friends from last year. She had shown Magnus around the school, since he was very lost, and had recently been adopted by Magnus as his annoying older sister, which she seemed to be okay with.
"Magnus, it's pottery," Sam said blandly.
"It could have been lethal," Magnus protested.
"Do you even know what lethal means?" Sam asked
"Like, dangerous, right?" Magnus asked.
"Well, you can't fix stupid," Sam sighed.
"Hey!"
"I'm merely speaking the truth."
"I'm not stupid!"
"Are you sure?"
"Very!"
"Well, I'm not."
"Samirah Al-Abbas! What will Amir say when I tell him you're being rude to his favourite customer?"
"Magnus, if you tell Amir, so help me-"
"Are you threatening me? Oh, Amir will love this!"
"Magnus Chase!"