youfeelluckypunk | [turkey day, nov 21]

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[turkey day, nov 21]

They've graciously been invited to Derek's Thanksgiving celebration on the actual day itself, but Reid had gotten to thinking after Luke had told him of the invitation that it would be nice to throw a small get-together of their own. Halloween at the bookstore had been a success, after all, and in spite of the fact that they'd been sent to a hellish version of Darrow for the next ten days, Reid had really enjoyed planning and decorating for the holiday with his boyfriend. In a way, it also serves as a bit of a housewarming, even if nobody else needs to know that. They've been officially living together for a week now, though the only real difference is that he's handed over his keys to the Dimera apartment back to the landlord.

Still, being able to call this apartment home, knowing that he gets to spend every night with the man he loves, it means something special to him, and he wants to share that sense of home with the rest of the people he cares about.

So he sends out texts to Alec and Magnus, Peter and Jason and Hild, telling them all to save the date for the twenty-first so they can have an early Thanksgiving celebration. Others are welcome, of course, and Reid suspects they'll have more than enough food because he'd made arrangements for one restaurant in particular (one that he visits often and had already been promoting take-out for Thanksgiving Day) to set him up with a turkey dinner early. There are all the expected fixings, though he'd ordered four turkeys because Luke still needs to eat more to make up for all the weight he'd lost in the alternate version of Darrow, plus a couple pumpkin pies and various other desserts strewn out across the table. The wine Peter had given to him on Halloween is out, available for consumption to those who want it, but Reid will be sticking to water tonight.

If anyone asks, he's been slaving away in the kitchen all day long, brewing coffee after coffee as he and Luke make sure everything looks nice and neat for their first Thanksgiving dinner together. The food is set out over the counter in the kitchen, china and utensils and glassware placed at the very end so people can take what they want and find a place to eat in the living room, where they've placed extra chairs, and it isn't until they hear the first knock at the door that Reid finally decides he's satisfied with the way everything looks.

Every single person who will be here tonight has been through so much, seen more than one person ever should, but tonight, Reid is just grateful that they're all still here.

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"I can take care of myself," Alec said immediately and automatically. The words were there before he even realized it, tumbling out in a rush, in an assurance that Peter hadn't asked for. He could take care of himself and he didn't need anybody to adopt him or care for him or invite him to holidays that he didn't even celebrate.

Except maybe he did. In the absence of his sister and his parents, he had Luke and Reid and he had Magnus. In the absence of the Institute, he had Luke's bookstore and his small apartment and though none gave him the comfort and the feeling of familiarity as the Institute did, it was still somewhere he found that he liked being.

"I don't think that matters to Luke or Reid though. They're gonna do whatever they can to help me when I need it," he said, lightening his tone and shaking his head. He'd said those words to Luke plenty, told Reid that he was 'fine' and that he needed no help and yet, they'd continued to be there, be around and hadn't asked for anything in return except his occasional presence every so often.

"I'm pretty sure Magnus would do the same thing," Alec said, glancing over at Magnus as covertly as he could. He'd tried to keep the looks to a minimum, brief and subtle, but sometimes he slipped. Sometimes he couldn't help himself. "It would just involve more glitter where Magnus was concerned."

Alec is the first really guarded person Peter has met since his fateful train ride to Darrow and Peter finds himself really wanting to find out why. Likely it also has something to do with the fact that Magnus is obviously extremely taken by this insular (and ridiculously attractive, just like nearly everyone else here) boy who isolates himself but perhaps doesn't enjoy it. This is all conjecture and Peter is prepared to be completely wrong; really, he just wants to know more.

"Oh my God, he leaves glitter everywhere!" Peter laughs. He looks over at Magnus, too, following Alec's lead, though not nearly with the same intention -- not that Peter knows that. "We went to my work to shop and I found glitter in the dressing room like three days later." Peter's fondness for Magnus is utterly uncomplicated, and that's something Peter's never been afforded before. Nadia and he had a similar friendship, but there was that one big, glaring thing that sat between them unaddressed. Even before Jason and Peter were playing their dangerous game, they were already pretty flustered -- that had begun extremely complicated. Magnus knows everything, doesn't give a shit, and what's more, he can relate on a scale that blows Peter's own understanding out of the water. The combination of Spencer, Luke, Magnus, Beth, and Jason has given Peter a support system he's never had. It's something he wants to share with the world, and it's a little amalgamation of affection that Peter wants to incorporate others into.

His gaze finds Alec again and he smiles serenely, like he's high off of comfortable living. "So, what do you do around here? I'm still trying to get settled and I'm not totally sure how to pass the time." He's got a job, now, and friends to visit and maybe he'll start school in the spring, but that doesn't account for recreation or hobbies. This silver platter that he seems to be living on is confusing as hell.

"Everywhere. That is not an exaggeration," Alec agreed, amused. He'd found glitter on his clothes after he'd spent time in Magnus's loft when Jace and Isabelle had gone to the Seelie Court. Even when all he'd been doing was sitting on the couch, talking to Magnus, glitter had ended up on his pants and sweater. When he'd been...closer, the glitter had buried itself in his hair and on his skin. He tried to shower it away but gave up eventually, leaving the glitter alone until it fell away naturally.

"I do a lot of training," Alec answered, pulling his mind away from glitter and Magnus for a second. "Physical training. Fighting, running, gymnastics. The park's got some good open space for it when the weather's nice."

Even when it wasn't, Alec still went out there, taking the nasty weather as a challenge. Demons went out and terrorized people whether it was raining or snowing or the sky was filled with sun so Alec liked being prepared.

"I read a lot too," he added, glancing over at Luke. "I borrow a lot of books from Luke's store but I miss the library back home. This place doesn't have as great a selection."

The type of book was vastly different too. The Institute library held things exclusively about Shadowhunters and their history while Luke's bookstore was a little more varied than that.

"And I try to avoid glitter," he joked since he knew it was futile to try and avoid glitter. "What about you? You've got a job it sounds like?"

The word "training" does more to pique Peter's curiosity about the mysterious boy that Jason and Magnus are both so taken by. The only thing Peter does understand about where Alec, Luke, and Magnus come from is that he doesn't understand it at all. He's picked up on the fear, the oppression and the magic. When he asks questions, they seem to get answered without hesitation, but he's afraid of overstepping. Living in an adult world is hard enough to navigate, but now he has a whole new set of manners to try and adapt. He'll get there, he's sure.

"Are you training for something? Or keeping up your home routine?" This seems like a safe enough way to word the question so Alec doesn't feel like he has to reveal too much. Obviously Peter is nearly dying to know, but he understands the need for trust to build; he'd had a hand in ruining Jason's life by confiding in Matt without enough thought about whether or not it was a good idea to do so. Once again, Peter finds himself realizing how incredibly low his stakes are.

"You can't find books from home here?" Peter asks, wrinkling the line of his mouth in thought. Maybe there's something he can do to bring home to Alec, should that be something that he wants. Thanksgiving joy has seized him mightily and he has a fervent desire to spread the wealth.

"I do! I work at The Dressing Room on Parliament." He is obviously excited and feels foolish about it all of a sudden. He flushes. "I've only had one job before and it was bagging groceries. This one is way better.

"But that's really all that I do. I stay at Jason's, most of the time, and sometimes I play music with my friend Beth, Disney movies with Magnus, and not much else." He hadn't realized how little he does, actually, and that embarrasses him even more. "I'm thinking maybe about school, but I'm not sure what to study."

"It's a routine I had at home," Alec confirmed with a nod. The Institute had large open spaces where they'd been able to spar, jump, climb, and fall without hitting another person, a wall or the ceiling. It was just another in the long line of reasons he missed the Institute. He wasn't used to feeling so caged sometimes, feeling the walls so close around him when the Institute had been so big and sprawling.

"I used to train with my brother and sister but it's just me here so I train alone," he continued, shrugging. He hadn't found anyone to spar with and that was on him. He knew how strong he was and he didn't want to just choose anyone and end up hurting them because of said strength.

"Not some of the more...specialized books, no," Alec went on, shaking his head. He didn't think Luke's store held too much on demons, Shadowhunter history, and the lore of Downworlders but he hadn't looked through the whole of the store just yet. He'd been sticking to more mundane literature lately and found that while some of the stories were trite and dull, a lot of them were enjoyable. Max would have loved them.

"You're doing better than me because I haven't ever had a job," Alec lied. Being a Shadowhunter, that was a full time job, one that he never clocked out from. He was always on duty, always on alert for a demon attack, a Downworlder uprising, anything. It was the only job he'd had and it was the only job he would have if he had his way. He didn't want to do anything else.

"You watch Disney movies with Magnus?" Alec asked, glancing over at Magnus once again. Considering some of the prints on his clothing and his love of bright colors, it's not a surprise but it's still amusing. "He hasn't told me about this."

Alec is continuing his home training, which confirms a few of Peter's suspicions about what kind of place his friends come from based on what Luke has told him. It could be Peter's flair for the dramatic, but he imagines a war-torn place, lit up by fire and fraught with a lot of fear. He can't imagine. Instantly, his heart is filled with sympathy for these people, especially this one who doesn't seem to have let Darrow erase his fear the way it seems to have with most -- including Peter. Maybe this is another reason why Jason and Alec found each other.

He wants to ask more about the books, but he also knows he was lucky to have asked Luke first; not everyone would have been so forthcoming, and even so, Peter doesn't know a whole lot, still. What he knows doesn't even scratch the surface, and that's cool. Peter can wait.

"I'm not sure it's necessary to work here, anyway," Peter concedes. "Everything's pretty taken care of but I just wanted to. I had one summer job so I thought I was prepared." He laughs. "I wasn't. It's tedious. I wish I'd put it off longer." He's also lucky that he got a job in clothing retail at an upscale store: he knows it could be much, much worse. Like poor Jason's stock job that sends him home exhausted and sometimes very frustrated.

He flushes, "I didn't think it was a secret, but maybe it was." His eyes slip over to Magnus as a post-traumatic fear washes over him. It's stupid -- it's just a Disney movie marathon -- but he wonders if he's revealed something he shouldn't. In his own way, he's still recovering from pretending to live in the light while lurking in the shadows. How weird that he felt less socially awkward when he was in the closet. "He also puts up with my music and lets me talk his ear off. He's a good guy." All at once, again, he's gripped by anxiety that he's talking about Magnus too much, so he goes back to that topic that's always on his mind.

"Jason said you were there when he found his diploma." His eyes move from Magnus to Jason, who is holding up a wall mildly sipping at something that is mostly likely alcoholic. God, look at him: irresistible and yet somehow hopelessly awkward underneath it all. What a dork. What a perfect specimen. "He really likes you -- he trusts you, I think." Peter finds himself looking at Alec again, smiling as he figures out how to calm down. "I really appreciate you being there for him."

Alec knew he'd never be able to make himself get a real, mundane job. Even if he somehow found himself in a position where he had no money, he still couldn't see himself getting a job because his duties as a Shadowhunter would be sharply impeded. The need for Shadowhunters was different in Darrow but still there and Alec refused to let something get in his way of going out and stalking demons when the situation called for it. The other, less important factor was that he just could not see himself in a position where he had to interact with customers on a daily basis. He barely functioned in social situations such as this so he knew that situations where people yelled or nagged at him would not go well.

"There's not much that's a secret with Magnus," Alec said, trying to sound reassuring. He wasn't great at it but it was hard to miss the flush, the quick look, and the sudden explanation. "It doesn't surprise me, he just hasn't told me about it. I think some of his clothes probably have Disney characters on them. If they don't, they probably will now."

There was a disappointment bubbling in Alec, a disappointment in himself that he wasn't equipped to watch Disney movies or listen to music with Magnus (or anyone fro that matter). He wasn't the type to find that very enjoyable and that had to be frustrating for someone like Magnus who lived off social interaction and fun. "I'm glad he can have fun with you. I'm glad he's trying to be the same Magnus here as he was in Manhattan."

Alec did mean that even if he hated that he was having trouble being the same Alec. Without the Clave, he should have been more relaxed, more open but he'd seemingly retreated further into himself, unable to let his guard down for one second. This wasn't a test but Alec was almost treating it as such.

"He was laughing, he looked happy," Alec confirmed with a nod before slight surprise washed over his face. "I...like him too. I didn't know he trusted me, though. I think I scared him the first time we met so that's...that's good to hear."

Jason was a mundane but he was one of the few Alec could tolerate and actually didn't mind being around. "He's excited about college. I'm not going to go to college but it was interesting to hear what it's like from him."

Really, Peter wouldn't be surprised if Magnus shows up one day dressed more or less accurately as a character from Alice in Wonderland -- maybe even Alice. Peter figures him for more of the White Rabbit, though, partially because the Mad Hatter is a little too obvious. Maybe he'd even make himself look like a rabbit.

How absolutely bizarre that this is even a possible train of thought for him. Magic and half-demons and whatever it is that Alec feels he has to train to fight, these are things that exist, now, and Peter is pretty scared that he'll come across it soon. He hopes he'll have any idea what to do. He wonders if he should be preparing himself for this.

Another conversation for another day, he estimates, and he doesn't say anything about Alec's painfully relateable, stolen glance. Some time is spared, however, for Peter to hope that Alec has someone to talk to. What a difference it would have made if Peter did; what a different it does make here. He wishes there was some way for him to tell Alec that he's not alone without being too presumptuous. Really, he doesn't even know if things are the way he thinks they are, not for sure. Maybe one day, he'll find the words.

"I can't imagine him trying to be anyone else," Peter says fondly, considering that way Alec talks so cautiously about Magnus -- it hits so close to home. How many afternoons had Peter spent trying to hide behind the best friend card, saying safe things in place of the geyser of effusive worship Peter wanted to display. Only now does he dare, and even then only in extremely controlled environments like this one. Poor Alec. Poor Magnus. Peter's not sure he's ever had this much trouble keeping his mouth shut.

"Oh yeah, he's over the moon," Peter confirms, laughing a bit in his joy and the statement's obviousness. "I don't know if he told you that he didn't think he'd graduated but his sister made sure it happened." Actually, Jason's father had been one of the most insistent ones, but Nadia's intentions far outweighed her father's and Peter didn't want to give Jason's father any credit where it certainly wasn't due.

"He was just scared in general," Peter continues, reassuring Alec in his own turn. "I think you made him feel safe." He smiles mildly, feeling warmer now that it seems Alec is warming up, himself, however slowly. Patience is a blessing that has been bestowed upon Peter in spades. "Or at least convinced him it was real. Things like... where we come from, people don't usually come back from death." He wants to ask if that's something Alec has seen a lot, but he knows if the tables were turned, that would not be a question Peter would take kindly to if the tables were turned.

At his core, Magnus was always going to be Magnus. Alec knew that he'd had to adapt and adjust far more than anyone else because of his age. He'd lived through so much and the Magnus that everyone got to see now wasn't exactly the same as the Magnus who'd been around a century ago. He'd had to change his behavior and his appearance but the private, rarely seen parts of him had stayed the same. Always the same. Alec had seen those parts briefly so he knew they were there, just waiting to be discovered by someone.

"I think even if he tried, he'd fail," Alec remarked with a shake of his head. He didn't look at Magnus as he said this even if a part of him wanted to. "He's too unique to pull off anyone but himself. Maybe he'd be able to fool a mundane or two but I think he'd get bored even with that. He likes who he is."

Alec thought he did, at least. They just hadn't had enough time to explore much before Valentine had put his plan in motion and things had fallen apart.

"I...didn't realize I'd done that," Alec said, sounding mildly surprised. His duty was to absolutely keep mundanes safe from the Shadow World but sitting with Jason hadn't been about that. He didn't know what compelled him to sit and stay instead of walking away but he had and apparently, it'd helped.

"I didn't think this place was real when I first got here," he shared quietly, comfortable with letting Peter know but not anyone else he wasn't familiar with. "I'd just been tossed into a river pretty violently. Still had the stink of it on me when I ended up here. It didn't seem real. It took time."

After the other city, he'd felt almost like he was back at square one, not trusting his own instincts, his own senses. Things had righted themselves after a few days but Alec hated when he didn't know if what he was seeing was real or fake.

"What's not to like?" Peter asks, however rhetorically and dramatically. He's a gregarious, well-seasoned flirt who needs to magic to sway people in his favor. He's the imaginary friend Peter wished he'd invented to get through being so different from all of the other kids. That was before Catholic boarding school, and before Jason. Peter feels a guilty satisfaction when he thinks about how his parents shipped him off to Catholic school to find God's love and he'd found it. He's thankful his mother made peace before Peter found himself in Darrow and he wonders for the hundredth time if his father knows yet. He still doesn't care if he ever sees that man again.

Peter's pleasantly surprised by the admission, grateful for it. In fact, the friendliness of it seems to relax him at the shoulders, and he catches sight of the cider near them. He sets aside two cups and is mid-pour into the first when Alec's words stop him. "You... were thrown into a river? By who?" That's not the point of the story, Peter knows, but it does stand out. Peter's never been tossed in a river, just under a few proverbial buses -- that's a much less interesting story and, even with all things considered, even less traumatic as being tossed into a river.

"So, you thought it was a hallucination?" Peter asks. By now, he's filled one cup with the warm cider and is offering the cup to Alec.

Alec knew that he had to keep the truth to himself because Peter, as nice as he was, as easy as he was to talk to, was still a mundane. Covenant Law continued to forbid him from discussing the Shadow World with mundanes and Alec had yet to let go of many of the Clave's rules. They'd helped mold his life for over eighteen years that deciding to completely ignore something that was of the highest of importance to his people was not easy. Alec didn't know if it was something he could do.

"A bunch of guys who wanted to rob me," Alec said, taking the cider and sipping it carefully. It made for a nice cover of the lie he'd just told. He couldn't very well tell Peter it had been a demon especially in the middle of a dinner like this. "I put up a fight, they knocked me over the head and tried to kill me."

The last part, at least, was true. The demon had tried to kill him but only after Alec had made sure to injure it fatally. He hadn't gone down without a fight.

"I thought this was the afterlife," he corrected. "Where we go once our bodies are dead and our souls are free."

Hearing about this kind of violence is unusual for Peter even in a strange place, so he takes a few moments to let what Alec says sink in.

"Wow. That's awful," Peter finally replies, shaking his head as if it may solve the bewilderment he feels about how people can be so cruel. Even if it wasn't some kind of random robbery, even if this has something to do with whatever Alec is training for, the question still stands. Peter can't imagine (partially thanks to privilege but also in terms of his own nature) being driven to steal or to physically harm another person. The most aggressive he gets happens when they topic of Jason's dad comes up, and even that tops out at a stamped foot over a fantasy of punching him in his bigoted face. And yet, to some, violence is the first line of defense. Cruelty breeding cruelty is what it is, he supposes.

It sounds like Alec is talking of Heaven and Peter finds himself studying Alec's face again. Peter, too, found himself thinking about Darrow as the big finish -- in fact, he still does, from time to time. He knows Jason should have been dead. Spencer mentioned he might've been near death. Beth was kidnapped. Now, Alec seems to have a similar story. Maybe there's a train crash Peter doesn't remember, or maybe he doesn't remember taking one of Lucas' little pills and he'd met a fate similar to Jason's.

"You don't anymore?" Peter's voice goes soft, like he's ashamed of the question. Hearing his own suspicions echoed in Alec's, even if only in the past tense, it's disarmed him.

Alec shook his head very slowly. Thinking this was Heaven had been so easy the first few days after he'd arrived. He'd concocted this fantasy in his head that he would be mourned as a hero, given a Shadowhunter's burial and provided honor to the Lightwood name. The days had passed and each day felt more real, less gauzy, less like a dream. His body was whole and his mind wouldn't stop tossing logical reasons this wasn't the afterlife at him.

"Not anymore," he answered quietly. "I don't know what that might be like but it's not like this. This is all too normal, too mundane. This is life. I'm alive."

That realization had hurt for awhile. Being alive meant he might be seen as a deserter to his family, to his people. The Clave could crush the Lightwoods, do worse than exiling him and it was all his fault. He couldn't go back and he couldn't stop it from happening. He got to live what he guessed some people thought was an idyllic life while people took his punishment for him. He hated being helpless.

"I'm not dead. You're not dead. Jason's not dead," he added after a moment. "We're all alive but that's about all I'm sure about when it comes to this place."

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[turkey day, nov 21]

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