Sunday's training with Jordan was… different.
Not lighter. Nor easier. If anything, it was just as brutal as always — sprints that burned his lungs raw, sets and reps that left his arms and legs trembling, that same relentless, stopwatch-driven pace that didn't care how human he was. Jordan didn't suddenly discover mercy overnight, no. Rather, the difference came from the fact that her mind wasn't entirely there. Her gaze would occasionally drift, her eyes unfocused, her attention elsewhere. Even for someone whose observation skill was criticized heavily by Tony, Magnus noticed it.
The way her corrections came a half-second late. The way she snapped less — not because she was calmer, but because something else already had her. And it wasn't hard to guess what it was. Her family dinner. The one Alex had sprung on her tonight. Whatever was lying in wait, it had her looking at the horizon instead of the ground in front of her. Which, for once, meant Magnus wasn't the most immediate problem in her life.
He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Relieved, maybe? But at the same time, watching Jordan now, he was eerily reminded of an expression: "the calm before the storm."
And if this was indeed the calm before the storm, then—
Yeah. Nope! He wasn't finishing that thought.
***
Judging by what Alex announced at breakfast, though, she probably had the same thought he did about Jordan.
"Today's ours," she declared, setting her mug down. "Last normal date before everything goes to hell!"
Magnus, still halfway through recovering from existence, just stared back at her.
"What? It's true!" she continued. "Tomorrow, whatever fallout from tonight's dinner with her parents is probably gonna hit. And on top of that," she stole a piece of bacon from his plate and pointed it at him, "your System's gonna assign a new girl for you tomorrow as well."
"Ugh!" he groaned into his hands. "Don't remind me!"
"But all of that is tomorrow's problems!"
Still hiding his face in his hands, he protested with a muffled voice. "…That's not how problems work!"
"It is, though. Whatever is happening tomorrow, it hasn't happened yet. There's no point thinking about it now when we don't even know what it's gonna look like."
He moved one finger and peeked one eye out at her. "I hate that you're making sense. Sort of."
"Of course I do. It's like my dad used to say, 'Just because you know bad things are coming doesn't mean you should let it stop you from enjoying the good things in life now.' So, we enjoy today, together, by going on a normal date!"
"Huh, my mom says something similar all the time, too," Magnus said, then hesitated. "Also, normal?"
Alex's lips twitched. "As normal as we can get."
"So," she added, pointing at him, "no doom spiraling!"
"…I wasn't—"
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"…Okay, I was about to," he admitted.
"Alright!" Alex clapped her hands together. "Planning!"
***
Planning the date turned out surprisingly — almost suspiciously — easy. The indie band Alex followed was playing in a pub in the City Center that evening. There was also a new Superman blockbuster Magnus had been wanting to see. One thing for each of them. It was so normal and perfect, Magnus almost blurted out a meme that had been viral when he was a teenager years ago: "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be."
They split up briefly to wrap up any outstanding assignments like responsible college students and to get ready, before meeting again around noon to head out together.
The bus ride to the City Center was… uneventful. They took seats near the back, the quiet hum of conversation and engine noise wrapping around them. Alex leaned slightly into him, casual and warm, while Magnus sat just a bit too straight, eyes flicking every now and then toward nothing in particular.
So, naturally, about five minutes into the ride, Alex decided she had had enough of that. She huffed exasperatedly and turned to him. "Babe!"
He blinked. "Yeah?"
"You're doing it again."
"…Doing what?"
"Being tense. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Bracing for catastrophe to hit. All of them. Take your pick."
"I'm just… being prepared."
"For hypothetical disasters that haven't happened yet?"
"…Yes, because my life has the habit of—"
"—going completely off the rails?" she finished.
"…Yeah."
She sighed. "Magnus."
"Yeah?"
"We're on a date!"
"…I know we are, I haven't forgotten—"
"A date to temporary not worry about things that haven't happened yet."
"They are not the same thing—" he started to protest but she cut him off again:
"They are, though!" Alex turned him to lock eyes with her. "Look, whatever happens, we'll face it together. Nothing's gonna ruin this date!"
"Don't jinx it! With my luck, you'd probably just triggered the universe."
Alex closed her eyes for a second. Exhaled. Then said:
"Even if that's true and our date is somehow ruined — which for the record, I still don't think is the case — but even if it was, one bad date is not going to change how I feel about you! So, just… relax! Please!"
He nodded uneasily.
"Also," she added sweetly, "as your girlfriend, I should warn you that if you don't stop focusing on things that could go wrong and focus on me, your girlfriend, instead—"
He swallowed.
"—you will have a very angry girlfriend on your hand. And that, unlike one bad date, is actually something that I — as your girlfriend — will be holding over your head for a very, very long time."
"…That sounds like a very immediate and tangible threat."
"It is! So, between unreal threats that may or may not happen and a very real, very immediate one that will very likely happen, do I need to tell you which one you should be more worried about?"
Magnus gulped. "…No, ma'am."
She giggled. "Good!"
He shifted, a little less stiff this time, and let himself lean back. A little.
And once he followed Alex's advice and focused on her instead, he found it wasn't very difficult to relax after all. The conversation drifted. Tony inevitably came up. And somehow, so did the disaster run-in with Brooke Harlan and Emily Carter the other day.
"…and as we were… strategically retreating—"
"You mean you ran away?" she giggled, clearly amused.
"I did not run away!" he protested. "Just walking away. Very fast."
"Uh huh."
"Anyway, as we were going, Tony kept saying he wanted to recruit them as proxies and assistants to," he made air-quotes, "help with my observation training."
Alex snorted. "Honestly? That might not be the worst idea."
"Excuse me?" his head whipped at her.
"What I meant is, I may not watch people as a hobby like Brooke," she said, "but I can do it too. Want me to be Tony's TA instead?"
Magnus narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you trying to curry favor with Tony? He's just a raccoon. And after your pizza bribe yesterday, he likes you now."
"Firstly, I'm still not convinced he's just a raccoon."
"We're still on that? He's just—"
"Secondly," she continued, ignoring him completely, "honing your observation skill is actually not a bad idea."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were the one who can talk to Tony, not me. Because you sounded exactly like him just now."
She laughed. "Maybe it's a sign that we're both onto something and you should listen."
"Or maybe it just means I attract weirdos."
"Rude!" she smacked his shoulder lightly.
He leaned in, pressed a kiss on her cheek, then whispered, "Don't worry, I still love you despite that!"
She turned on him and started hitting his shoulder repeatedly.
After some teasing and bickering, Magnus had to take back what he said and actually try observation training under Alex's supervision to ease her obviously faked anger. They spent the rest of the bus ride watching people and trying to deduce things about them.
The guy two rows ahead tapping his foot — impatient. Late, probably.
A couple near the front leaning into each other — comfortable. Familiar.
A student clutching their bag too tightly — anxious about something.
Magnus wasn't great at it. But surprisingly, when he was doing it with Alex, it didn't feel like such a bad idea after all.
***
The City Center greeted them with noise, movement, life.
Lunch was at a Subway. It was peaceful: late lunch, window table, no looming crisis, no new System threats. For a little while, the world shrank down into their own little two-person universe — sharing food, trading bites without thinking, laughing over nothing in particular.
The movie theater came next.
Big screen. Loud sound. Explosions, flying, dramatic music. Superman saving the day.
Magnus had opinions. A lot of opinions.
"See, that's the part I never get," he said as they exited, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Clark Kent is constantly helping people—like, constantly. In or out of the cape. He's everywhere. And nobody notices? Nobody connects the dots? Real life doesn't work that way!"
Alex just looked at him. Magnus kept going, holding the door open for someone in a wheelchair without stopping his rant, barely nodding automatically when the guy thanked him. "Seriously, the guy's basically a one-man emergency response team. How do people not go, 'Hmm, Clark is suspiciously heroic all the time'?"
They stepped out into the street, the day easing into evening. Magnus flicked a small slipping hazard out of someone's path and into a nearby trashcan without looking, his other hand already moving to steady an elderly couple as they passed. Smooth. Casual. Automatic.
He didn't even register it. He was still entirely engrossed in the conversation. "I mean, even if he's not wearing the suit, you'd think someone would be like, 'Man, Clark is always at the eye of the tornado.' It's so unrealistic!"
Alex glanced around. No one was looking. No one noticed anything out of the ordinary.
She huffed a laugh. "Oh, I don't know. It might be more realistic than you'd think."
"Oh, come on!" he protested. "In real life, if a guy was constantly in the exact spot where something dangerous happened, and then he magically saved people? People would definitely, you know…"
He paused, gesturing around. Alex raised an eyebrow.
"…notice," he finished, nodding with absolute certainty. "Impossible not to!"
She didn't say anything. Just smiled.
They continued to walk the rest of the way to the pub. It wasn't too far, just a few blocks away. The band was already setting up when they arrived.
They grabbed a small table and ordered something simple. The food was fine — not great, not anything they'd remember for years to come — but it didn't matter. The music started as they ate. It filled the space: loud enough to feel, soft enough to talk over if you leaned in close.
Alex enjoyed it. Of course she did; this was her pick. Magnus… watched her more than the stage. The way she relaxed into it. The way her expression softened, then lit up at certain songs.
At some point, she leaned into him. At some point, he leaned back. For a while, they just… stayed like that.
And for once, neither of them was thinking about all the complications in their lives. Not the System, the quests, nor any death countdown. Not whatever storm Jordan was going to unleash on them come the next morning for the stunt Alex had pulled, either.
They were just there, in the moment, enjoying each other's company and the live music.
***
By the time they left, the night had settled in fully.
The late-night bus back was quieter. The kind of quiet tiredness that came after a good day. They still occasionally kissed and whispered to each other, but neither of them minded the shared silence in between.
When they got off near campus, Alex stretched slightly.
"Convenience store?" she asked. "We should grab stuff before heading back."
"Yeah, right!" Magnus said. "We're running low on—"
"—snacks," she cut in.
"…And other essentials."
"Snacks," she repeated, completely innocent.
"…Right."
The fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead as they stepped inside.
Snacks, drinks, and instant noodles: Every college student's essential!
Magnus grabbed a basket. Alex wandered a little ahead, tossing things in without much thought.
It was normal. It was quiet. It was the perfect wrap for their perfect date.
Or so Magnus had dared to hope…
They were teasing each other over how many packs of condoms they should get and whose fault it was they were running low so fast that Sofia kept teasing them about it when—
"Alex?"
They both turned. A woman stood a few steps away, mid-thirties maybe, composed, familiar in a way Magnus couldn't quite place.
Alex blinked. Then her face lit up. "Harper?"
They closed the distance quickly, easy familiarity bridging the years between them.
"Wow," Harper said, smiling. "Look at you. It's been—what—forever?"
"Something like that," Alex laughed.
They talked for a minute — catching up in fragments.
Magnus hovered just behind, listening, piecing it together.
Family friend. Close and probably important.
Above her head, a menu already popped up:
[Name: Harper Ellis | Level: 9
Interest: 5% | Popularity: 75% | Sexual History: 600 times (5 known partners)]
Then Alex turned back to him.
"Oh! Right—Magnus," she said. "This is Harper Ellis. She used to—well, basically grew up around my family. Mom babysat her, she babysat me. And she used to work with my dad."
Something in her tone softened just slightly on that last part. "Harper, this is my boyfriend, Magnus."
"Look at you! Boyfriend and everything. Does your mom know about him yet?" Harper lightly teased Alex before turning to Magnus fully, assessing but warm.
"Nice to meet you," she said, extending a hand.
Magnus stepped forward. "Nice to meet you too—"
But just as their hands touched, another menu slid into place in front of his vision while a familiar, dreadful ping chimed in his head:
[Conquest Quest Initiated: Seduce and Sleep with Target — Harper Ellis. Time Limit: Complete by Sunday at Midnight.]
And just like that, the next crisis had hit earlier than expected…