[turkey day, nov 21]

[youfeelluckypunk]

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.

Comments

[high_warlock]

Truthfully, Magnus did not know if Luke had moved on completely from Jocelyn. He loved Spencer, absolutely, and Magnus would not question that for a second. But if Jocelyn were to show up in Darrow tomorrow? He imagined that would hurt. Moving on, truly moving on and leaving someone behind, meant, in Magnus' mind, that they couldn't hurt you anymore.

But this question wasn't really about Luke at all, and so Magnus did not bother to quibble.

"He never thought that someone could love him back," Magnus pointed out calmly. He followed the profile of Alec's down-turned face with his eyes, marking the strong cheekbones, the curve of his lips, the long dark lashes. It ached to look at him sometimes, both here and in New York. "Maybe I know different."

[deflectere]

This was a dangerous conversation for them to be having right in the middle of what Alec assumed was supposed to be a happy get together. They were delving into things that Alec wasn't sure if he was ready to hear or deal with. At the best of his times, his emotions were muted and controlled, pressed down into a dark box where he could keep an eye on them. At the worst of times, that control was lost, frayed and broken, and he had no idea what he'd end up doing.

"How do you know different?" That was the question, the risky, risky question that he almost hadn't asked. But, Magnus had made the statement and Alec was nothing if not thorough when it came to investigating an issue, getting to the bottom of a problem.

He brought his gaze back up to Magnus's face and settled there, watching. Maybe he didn't know this face as well as he wanted to but he could spot the most minute of changes when he really looked.

[high_warlock]

Suddenly it seemed his choice of words were stupid in the extreme. It would all be easier, or at least clearer, if Magnus simply said what he meant. He was in love with Alec, would be for the foreseeable future, and could not move on from him any time soon, even if he wanted to. But he was scared that that level of directness would send Alec running for the hills. Now he'd talked himself into a corner where the simplest course of action was to explain that they had been together, happily together, for a good span of time. But, again, Magnus did not want to send Alec running.

"Maybe I don't," he hedged, forcing a stiff-shouldered shrug, letting his eyes wander over the small party. "Not for certain." Maybe things were different in Darrow. Hell, Alec was reticent at the best of times. Maybe he had found someone else to fix his attentions upon and Magnus didn't know about it because no one knew about it.

"Maybe it's different here. But back home, I knew. It was said and shown, and I knew." Magnus worried the inside of his bottom lip and glanced nervously at Alec, hoping that that wasn't too much.

[deflectere]

Alec didn't run but his mind whirled with the possibilities, with the potential of what Magnus was telling him. He didn't use names and kept everything very, very vague which only increased Alec's desire to know more. He knew they were from different times (a fact which he still did not understand) and it was so hard not to ask Magnus about what he was missing, plead that he needed to know because he couldn't live with the not knowing.

"There's a lot that's different here," Alec said, erring on the side of caution and keeping his questions to himself. He didn't know if Magnus would be willing to share so much detail and he didn't want to end up in an argument about why he needed to know in the middle of Luke and Reid's. He already felt off balance enough both without the new knowledge that Magnus could provide and the possibility of an argument if Magnus refused to tell him.

"I'm...glad you had that security back home," he continued, looking down as he said it. The tone was sincere there, lacking the superficiality that some of Alec's words could have. "Maybe this place won't be so different for you."

[high_warlock]

"I hope so." The words snapped out of him, automatic, with such naked, earnest desire that Magnus actually felt himself blush. His cheeks warmed and he immediately dragged his gaze away from Alec, to pull himself back together. It was only a minor slip, but Magnus was better at hiding himself than that and Alec was not stupid.

He took a sip of his coffee, which was now well on its way to cold, and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I should go freshen this," he mumbled, ignoring the fact that he was a bloody warlock.

[deflectere]

Alec nodded and glanced around, trying to find some place where he could go and stand since this conversation had...seemingly ended. He'd asked too many questions and he'd made Magnus uncomfortable which he wasn't surprised about. It probably wouldn't be the last time. There hadn't been a lot of specifics but what had been said was enough to fill up Alec's chest and make his stomach twist in some strange ways.

"Okay," he said, nodding once again. "I should go see how Luke's doing, anyway. Thank him for letting me stop by for dinner."

His mug was empty but he kept a hold of it, deciding he could fill it up later or just leave it somewhere before he left. He nodded again and stood there awkwardly before angling himself in Luke's direction.