[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

[notaretriever]

"Oh, I do. I'm convinced, despite what he said, that he would have sacrificed Clary for the right amount of power and I know for a fact he would have killed Spencer if he'd been given a chance, so I know I did the right thing." But it isn't easy, for exactly the reason Magnus has said. Valentine was his parabatai and for a long time they'd been bound together in a way he knows he can't explain to anyone.

"Is he dead?" he asks, looking at Magnus suddenly. "I know there are things you're not telling me and for the most part I've accept that there are likely good reasons you're not, but can you tell me that? Is Valentine dead?"

[high_warlock]

Magnus stared into the middle distance, actively choosing not to look at Luke. He didn't have to try to turn his voice cold, tense his jaw with anger; it was a genuine reaction, pure dark pleasure at the fact that yes, Valentine was dead.

But he didn't want Luke to see the rest of his thoughts, the still blazing fire of hatred, not for the man but his son. He didn't want Luke to know that the war was still not won.

"Yes," he said coldly. "He is very dead."

[notaretriever]

Luke nods, watching Magnus for a moment even though he's turned away. He waits for the inevitable feeling of loss, the pain that should have come with losing the man who'd once been his best friend, his family, his leader, and his parabatai.

It's there, but it isn't nearly as strong as it had been in the moments and the days following their return to this version of Darrow. The ache that exists is more for the Valentine who had been his friend before everything. Before the death of his father, before he'd gone mad.

"Good," he says finally, his voice soft. "He needed to be stopped."