Invictus

First Draft

Magnus texted Alec the next day with a first draft of his drawing.

Shit. That looks so fucking good, was the only reply he got, and it came in the late afternoon, while he was slouched on the couch at his mother’s place, his sketchbook on his knees, working on enhancing every single detail.

It never seemed good enough, though. He knew there was something missing, but he couldn’t quite figure out what exactly, so he moved on to another drawing before he ended up tearing off his own hair.

Do you have any other request apart from the tree? he texted back. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and do something you’re not comfortable with.

I’ll tell you if you do , Alec wrote. But I’m sure I won’t have to. I trust you.

“You’re grinning like an idiot. I don’t like it.”

Magnus rolled his eyes, looking up from his phone to send a glare at Raphael. “I’m not.”

“You are,” Charles chimed in from the kitchen counter where he was peeling potatoes under his wife’s scrutiny. “Who’s the lucky one?”

“No one,” Magnus grumbled.

“Please,” his mother scoffed disbelievingly. “I know you. This is your ‘falling in love’ stupid grin.”

“Maybe I just saw a funny meme on Twitter,” he protested.

“I’m gonna tell Alec you called him that,” Raphael said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“How do you know it’s Alec?” Magnus asked, voice hitching up in affront.

“I didn’t,” Raphael replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “But now I do.”

Magnus huffed in annoyance.

“Alec, the florist guy?” Charles inquired, because his family was definitely set on pestering him.

Raphael hummed in confirmation and Magnus grinned back at him toothily, showing him his middle finger.

“Oh, baby, you have to let us meet him!” Barbara blurted happily. “I’m so glad you’re dating again!”

“We’re not dating!” Magnus snapped, more harshly than he had intended to. “We’re friends. I’m working on a tattoo for him. That’s it.”

Only silence welcomed his outburst and Magnus frowned, gazing up from his sketchbook to glance at his family and best friend. They were looking back at him with a combination of bewilderment and empathy and he cursed inwardly, chewing on his bottom lip and ducking his head again.

“Shit,” Raphael breathed out after a while. “You really like him.”

“And you’re scared,” Barbara finished for him, abandoning her cooking to walk to the couch and sit next to Magnus.

“I’m not scared,” he grumbled, but the lie was as obvious in his voice as it was in his trembling hands.

Barbara scoffed fondly and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her other hand grabbing one of Magnus’ for comfort.

“It’s okay, Magnus,” she murmured, carding soothing fingers in his hair. “It’s perfectly normal.”

“No, it’s not,” he choked out, clenching his teeth. “It shouldn’t be that way. Alec is…”

Every word seemed far too dull to really describe him, so he shut his mouth, his hand twirling in a flourish instead.

“Not Asmodeus,” Barbara finished for him, still gently stroking his hair, and Magnus squeezed her hand hard at the mention of his father. “And not Camille either.”

“You don’t even know him,” he mumbled. “How would you know?”

Barbara smiled softly, jerking her chin towards Raphael. “He knows him and he likes him. We all know Raphael doesn’t like anyone, so that’s enough for me.”

Magnus snorted, shaking his head fondly, and shifted to snuggle against his mother, resting his head on her shoulder.

“Not everyone is out there to hurt you, pumpkin,” she muttered, pressing a soft kiss on the top of his head. “And you have so much love to give. Don’t let the people who hurt you win by refusing to open your heart again. You deserve to be happy.”

Magnus hummed, relaxing in his mother’s familiar embrace.

“I do.”

“Sometimes, you just need to find the good person to help you chase your demons away,” she said.

Magnus scoffed. “Are you sharing a disgustingly sappy look with Charles right now? Because I’ll be offended if you do.”

Barbara laughed. “Oh, shut up and just ask your florist out so you can actually have an excuse to go to his shop all the time. I’m starting to have way too many flowers in here.”

“No offense, but your apartment is starting to look like a nightmare from Alice in Wonderland,” Raphael said, deadpan. “Mind you, Magnus does look like the Mad Hatter.”

“Screw you, Tweedledee.”

“Not interested,” Raphael retorted with a smirk. “Screw Alec in Wonderland instead.”

Magnus rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath, and his mother and Charles laughed at his expense, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way.