HeartBLOOD

Chapter six

"Hey, can I talk to you?", Magnus said as he grabbed Alec, who was just rushing out of the bathroom by his sleeve. "Is it urgent?", he replied, "I mean we have class in half an hour and I promised I'd help Raphael tape and warm up and be there early. But if it's important I can tell him to wait." "Oh, no, go help him out.", Magnus replied with a fake smile. "We'll talk tonight?", Alec asked already half way out of the door. "Deal!", Magnus replied and sighed. With Maureen not here anymore, Raphael had been struggling a bit to get back into the mindset he needed for the season. Especially with the nutcracker and the photoshoot coming up, the pressure was on. Thankfully Magnus wasn't to worried about the shooting- he had been exercising all throughout summer so there wasn't too much body sculping to do. He knew Alec was worried and self conscious though- he had gotten a bit out of shape which was completely normal but he didn't like plain workouts too much anyways and had never been a big fan of taking pictures of himself- especially not shirtless. Even though there were few things in the world Magnus enjoyed more than his boyfriends still present sixpack. With a sigh he picked up in his phone. Like expected he had a few notifications- none of them was from Asmodeus. Instead, he found a text from Camille asking him if he was ready to talk now. Magnus took a deep breath- he really needed to talk to some before speaking to Alec, just to figure out what to say and how to say it. And with Ragnor gone, Camille was one of his closest friends still here. Besides, they were over each other and he could really use a friend right now. So, he texted her back, saying to meet him in their room.

Minutes later she was there and sprawled herself onto Magnus' bed. "So, spill.", she said. Magnus noticed she already wore her workout clothes- all the seniors had basic training next and by her outfit you could tell she wasn't planning on going to her dorm before that. "Well.", Magnus sighed and suddenly the words started pouring from his mouth. He talked about the jobs, he talked about Asmodeus' confession, the way he lied to him. And before he could have done anything about it, he started talking about Asmodeus' deal- reconnection with Magnus in trade for money to pay for Alec's education. "Damn Bane.", she laughed, "You got yourself into some serious struggle here.". "I know.", he sighed, out of breath from his speech. "But that's why I told you- maybe you can help me figure this all out a bit? I mean I have to tell Alec..." "You do.", she interrupted, "But you can't tell him everything at once. He'll go nuts." "That's what I thought.", he sighed. "How about you tell him the business point of view first- tell him he isn't a manager.", she suggested but Magnus shook his head:" He'll ask questions. Alec will wondering why Asmodeus did what he did." Camille sighed:" Then you'll have to open up about his being your dad. But this is already too much. There you'll have to make a cut. Let him ask questions, let him process, let him understand. He'll be overwhelmed already." "So I tell him about the offer later?", Magnus asked. It was initially what he thought himself but he wanted to make sure Camille was advising him to do that as well. He didn't want to screw this up. Not again. "I think you should see whether Alec is ready for it. Maybe it will only take a few days for him to process, maybe he'll need a few weeks. Give him time and don't drop it on him like Asmodeus dropped it onto you. You don't proclaim three huge news on one day.", Camille said. "Thank you.", Magnus smiled weakly and pulled her into a hug. Her points made sense and he was hoping it was the right thing to do. And he was happy he talked to her- at least that cleared up some things for him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's go! We have some defining work to do!", Jocelyn yelled and everyone obeyed. The basic training lesson had just started and Magnus could already tell it was going to be a rough one- Jocelyn wore her green tracksuit which was never a good sign. And Magnus was right- ten minutes into the workout he already felt sweat running down his face. "You know I usually prefer doing core, upper body and legs separately but with the photoshoot coming up we will have to work on the entire body. So be ready to be sore everywhere.", she joked and clapped her hands, signalizing they were allowed to take a quick break between exercises. Everyone was panting already- she really was in the mood for torture. If you looked at Jocelyn you wouldn't think she was such a beast- slender, smile, delicate hands- but nobody would dare messing with her. Not out of fear, but out of respect- she was respected and loved by the entire student body. "Okay get up, legs are next.", she commanded and without a single complaint everyone obeyed. "Alec?", she said and he whirled around:"Yes?" "We'll be doing squads next, you bend your knees to around ninety degrees and try holding it, okay?", she said and started the countdown. Magnus saw Alec frown which proved his Assumtion- he had no idea what was going on either. But, you didn't ask questions in the middle of a workout. So Alec just did was he was told.

More then an hour and almost an entire water bottle later they were finally done with basic training. "Good job.", Jocelyn said, "Make sure you stretch a bit." "Jocelyn, can I talk to you real quick?", Alec asked and with a nod she followed him outside of the room. With a sigh Magnus emptied his water bottle- apparently there were more things to talk about this evening then he had imagined.