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The smell hit Magnus’ sinuses before the sight did. Something chemical tried to attack his nostrils. It reminded Magnus of the bleach they would use to clean the floors of a shelter he stayed in once. The scent had given him a wicked headache for days afterwards. This smell wasn’t as bad, but Magnus covered up the bottom half of his face anyway.
“Alex?” His muffled voice rang out in the empty space.
There didn’t seem to be anything amiss in Alex Fierro’s room. The mysterious Hotel Valhalla cleaning crew hadn’t visited yet, so the floors were littered with books and clothes. Alex’s pottery studio had a half-dozen pieces drying on the floor. One unfinished bit of clay was sitting on the wheel. Alex was nowhere to be seen. Magnus called Alex’s name again.
Finally summoned, Alex’s head appeared in the doorway of her bathroom. Magnus suddenly had an inkling on the source of the smell.
“Yo.”
“Are you dying your hair?”
Magnus had never dyed his hair. He felt it safer to ask rather than assume the blue gunk covering Alex’s scalp was hair dye.
“Technically, this is bleach.”
“Ah.” That definitely explained the bleach smell.
Alex opened the bathroom door fully. “Come on in. I’m tired of craning my neck to talk to you.”
The smell was even stronger in the confined space, and it made Magnus’ eyes water as he sat down on the edge of Alex’s bathtub. He watched as Alex faced the mirror. She held a plastic bowl in one hand and a narrow brush in the other, painting the blue gunk onto the back of her head. Magnus thought it risky to apply bleach without a direct line of sight, but who was he to criticize? Again, he’d never dyed his hair before.
“Why is the bleach blue?”
Alex caught Magnus’ eye in the mirror. “Keeps my hair from turning yellow,” she said.
“How?”
“Do I look like a beauty school dropout to you?”
“Honestly? Yes.”
“Don’t make me flick this brush at you.” Alex brandished the bleach brush menacingly in Magnus’ direction. Magnus knew she was kidding. Or, at least, he hoped she was kidding.
Alex’s gaze turned back to her task. Magnus took the reprieve to look at Alex completely: pink tank top, forest green shorts, toe nails painted black.
“You staring at my ass, Chase?”
“No.” Yes.
Alex snorted. She turned and leaned on the counter, placing the bowl and brush beside her. Magnus was only slightly disappointed.
“I know I’m interrupting movie night for this, I’m sorry. I got tired of seeing my roots growing in. This’ll only take another hour at the most.”
Magnus shook his head. “Don’t sweat it.”
“I won’t.” Alex cocked her head to her right. “I’m gonna put you to work, actually.”
Magnus considered asking, but instead let Alex continue.
Alex kicked Magnus’ leg. She gestured for him to get off her tub. “Literally all you have to do is spray my head until the water runs clear. Massage my scalp for a bit if you’re cool with that.” While she was talking, Alex handed Magnus the silver shower head and knelt on the floor; her head over the tub, her arms crossed for her to lean on.
Magnus panicked only for a moment, staring at Alex and the shower head in quick succession. He shrugged, pointed the shower head at Alex’s head, and turned the water on.
“Shit, fuck, tits, c—”
Magnus laughed at Alex’s reaction. “Technically, you didn’t tell me to wait until the water was warm.”
“I will murder you when I’m done with my hair.” Her voice was stifled by the running water, muffled in the crowded room.
Magnus kept laughing, kneeling down next to Alex to get a better angle on the rinsing.
“Also, joke’s on you, cold water is better for hair dye.”
Magnus didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned forward even more, massaging the back of Alex’s head. The blue was slowly fading out, leaving Alex’s roots bright blond. Combined with the existing green hair, it wasn’t the greatest look. But Magnus had faith in Alex’s ability to bring back the iconic green.
Alex was also quiet before murmuring, “You don’t have to do that.”
It took a moment for Magnus to realize she was talking about the head massage. Magnus shrugged, and then immediately realized Alex couldn’t see him. “It’s fine.” It was.
Eventually the water ran clear. Magnus turned the water off. Before he could hand Alex a towel, she leaned up and shook her head, spraying the room, and Magnus, with water. And maybe trace amounts of bleach.
Magnus only protested after she finished, and that didn’t last long. Alex’s laughed at Magnus’ confused annoyance, which left them both giggling on the bathroom floor. Magnus had a sudden wish to never leave this bathroom, which he could safely say was something he’d never said before.
Eventually, Alex did stand up. “Time for act two.”
Once again, she turned back to the mirror. In a second bowl that Magnus hadn’t noticed before was a generous glob of green goo. Magnus could only assume was the secret to Alex’s iconic green locks.
Instead of staying by the tub, Magnus moved to sit on the counter beside Alex. Overcome by a sudden desire to be as close to Alex as possible, Magnus hoped the want wouldn’t show too much. For months, he had survived on strength and will alone to not seem too desperate to be close to Alex. He still struggled with the boundaries, the wanting so much and being terrified of that want. Over his short and long life, Magnus was drawn to people. Captivated by his mother’s energy, pulled in by Hearth and Blitz’s protection, hanging onto Samirah’s steadfast will. Then, Alex. Just Alex.
“What was your first day in Valhalla like?”
Magnus hadn’t been paying attention. During his thinking, Alex pushed ahead and dyed half of her head a deep green, her blonde roots melting to emerald.
“Funny, I was just thinking about your first day.”
“When I decapitated you? Or when you super didn’t understand the intricacies of my super complicated gender fluidity?”
"You also stepped on my toes, let's not forget."
"I think I turned into a few animals as well? Showing off slash avoiding reality."
“The whole of our introduction was brimming with romance, truly.”
“You’re an ass.” Alex was smiling. She made eye contact with Magnus in the mirror before painting another streak of blonde to green. “No, seriously. I know all about your first few months, what got you into the Hotel, et cetera. But that first day...” Alex trailed off.
“What makes you ask?”
“I can’t ask questions?”
Magnus didn’t answer, just kept his gaze on Alex until she looked back at him.
She sighed and put the bowl and brush in the sink in front of her. “At any other time in my life, I would’ve owned up to stealing this hair dye, right?” She gestures vaguely in front of her. “I stole this from the salon on floor thirty, something like that. But I didn’t.” Alex looked away, turning instead to her own reflection. “Actually, they have a wicked selection at the salon. And a Cher Horowitz-esque selection system for choosing color combinations. I’ll tell everyone at dinner I stole the green dye, and they’ll know I’ll be joking." Alex paused, considerate of her words. "I did actually steal green dye, once. I spent a dollar I found at McDonald’s, and I stole cheap box dye in the same hour.” Alex laughed again, but with no mirth behind it. “My hair looked like shit.”
“Alex.”
“No, I know. I’m making zero sense.” Alex busied herself with washing out the bowl and brush. The green-tinted water swirled before it disappeared down the drain. “Tell me your first day here was as shitty as mine. That’s all I want to hear.”
“It was.”
“Yeah, right.” Alex turned the water off. “Golden child, hero of the apocalypse, literal sunshine boy. You don’t have to lie to me.”
“Fuck you, Alex.” Alex turned, faced Magnus, eyes wide with shock and interest.
Magnus huffed out a breath. “First, don’t accuse me of lying to you unless I’m actually lying to you. Second, I’m sorry for cursing at you.”
“You’re good, my dude.”
“Third, my first day was shit.” Magnus wanted to turn away, and he didn’t want to turn away. A scary thought filled his head: Magnus never wanted Alex’s eyes off his. Another thought: the first thought really wasn’t that scary to begin with.
“That first day, I would’ve died with an empty stomach if I hadn’t stolen food from my uncle. I judged any and every authority figure I’ve ever come across and fooled myself into thinking that made my shitty actions acceptable. And then I fucking died, and none of that changed. I was forcefully checked into Hotel Valhalla, trashed my room, and closed myself off. I wasn’t interested in anything, and I especially wasn’t interested in becoming a better person in my afterlife.”
Alex, for all her worth—and Magnus placed more worth on her that he thought himself capable of—didn’t look away once. Her heterochromatic eyes stayed locked on his, not one color betraying the other. Magnus wondered why people assumed her duplicitous. Fluid and independent, yes, but not to keep people out. Not anymore, anyway.
Magnus, in contrast, needed people. Maybe not physically, too many years by himself left Magnus wary of touch, but he depended on people. Desperately clung to friendships and held love tightly in clenched fists until it hurt.
“This place, your death, didn’t make you a better person, Magnus. You were already good.”
“So were you.”
They were speaking in past tense, but Magnus had a distinct feeling that they both meant their words in the present tense as well.
“Are you still angry?”
“Every day.”
Magnus was surprised at himself for answering so quick, but Alex didn’t seem to feel the same. She nodded. “Me, too.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Alex, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Glad I’m dead?”
“See, that’s exactly what I mean by taking that the wrong way.”
Alex smiled. “I’m glad you’re here, too.”
Alex kissed Magnus, light, so quick he almost missed it. Not to be caught off guard by her again, Magnus made to hold her head, bring her closer to him. Alex grabbed hold of Magnus’ wrist, inches away from her hair. She pulled away, but not by much, and grinned. “Do you really want Ion Brilliance Semi-Permanent Shamrock dye all over your hand?”
Ah. Hair dye. Right.
“Worth it,” Magnus mumbled. With that, Magnus reached out for Alex again, but she pulled away completely, laughing.
“I promise you, it’s not. Your magical healing powers are no match against hair dye, I guarantee you.” Alex kicked Magnus’ shin, and he took the hint, jumping off the counter. “Makes your hands all dry, I learned from experience.”
“More than working with literal clay 24/7?”
“I’m not talking about me, dumbass. It’s your baby-soft hands I’m worried about.”
Magnus looked offended, and actually was a little offended. “Baby-soft?”
“Everyone knows you don’t actually wield Jack when you fight together. Thus, your hands have no calluses. Baby-soft.” She kicked him again, and Magnus walked toward the bathroom door on autopilot, fascinated by Alex’s ranting about his hands. “If you’re going to keep on kissing me, I’m going to insist you keep having baby-soft hands.”
“Say baby-soft one more time.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “I’m taking a shower now. Put on The Little Mermaid, and I’ll be my normal, gorgeous self by the time you get to the main menu.”
“But you’re always—”
“Shut up, Magnus.” Alex’s satisfied grin stayed with him for a while after that, lingering on his brain, dyeing his memories shamrock green.