#had to clean them up n make them transparent myself but anything for the orange

[vampkomori]

childe chibis from the xiaomi collab 🐳

[erricdraven]

this is ours

flufftober - day 6: quicksilver

ao3

A/N: set in this world inverted verse!

To: Magnus, 5:17pm

Hey babe, just got off work and I was thinking we could do Chinese and a movie at your place tonight?

To: Magnus, 5:30pm

I went ahead and ordered Chinese—and I got your favorite because I’m quality boyfriend material. Get back to me soon before it gets cold!

To: Magnus, 5:59pm

Okay, so I thought we had talked through the whole you blowing me off because you’re a warlock thing. Do we need to have another Talk? Because I’m totally down. It can be a Chinese and Talk night if you want.

Also, I’m getting really close to eating your vegetable Lo Mein because it smells amazing…

 Scrolling back through his earlier texts, Alec bit his lip contemplatively. He had been standing at the bottom of the stairs of Magnus’ apartment complex for ten minutes now as he argued back and forth with himself. Maybe Magnus was just busy and didn’t have time for him tonight; Alec certainly didn’t know what all warlocks got up to on an average day. But on the other hand, he had never known a more attentive texter than Magnus. He had thought about calling, but that just felt desperate after all the texts he had sent had gone unanswered. After a calming deep breath, he pushed open the door and headed for the elevator.

As soon as the doors to Magnus’ floor had opened, he saw a small pile of mail sitting just outside the door as if it had been abandoned there. Oddly enough, it lifted his spirits—Magnus very well could be busy working on a potion or a spell or a summoning, too busy to even get his own mail. Or answer the phone.

He rapped three times on the door with his knuckles. “Hey Magnus? It’s me. I don’t know if you—” The door abruptly swung open, but there was no one behind it. “Uh…Magnus?” He tentatively stepped in and was met with the odd smell of burnt sugar and ozone.

From somewhere in the back apothecary, he heard Magnus. “Alexander? I’m back here. Sorry, I’m working on something a bit—ouch—finnicky and I couldn’t come get the door without worrying about contamination.”

Alec froze mid-step. “Contamination? What the hell are you working on?”

“Don’t worry, it’s contained in here. You can come in. Oh, and would you grab my phone from the end table? I think I heard it ring earlier but my hands are a bit…occupied.”

With anxiety percolating in his stomach, Alec scooped up Magnus’ phone and pushed the apothecary door open with his free hand.

The large marble-top table sitting in pride of place had a large glass basin sitting on it, taking up nearly the whole surface and containing a strange viscous liquid that looked oddly metallic with its deep silver coloring. Magnus stood over it, moving his fingers in slow, fluid movements over it as his magic left his hands in serpentine movements. On the wall behind him, a small section of the wall was now charred in a strange sweeping pattern and at first glance, Alec could have sworn there was still a bit of smoke emanating from it.

“Wow.”

Magnus looked up from the basin and gave Alec a smile that made him forget everything he wanted to say. The exhaustion that dulled his expression was unmistakable, but that smile was still the one—the one that gave Alec’s skin feel all tingly and hot. “Hi, Alexander. Was that you calling me earlier? I meant to call you back but…” He waved his hand vaguely at his worktable.

“Well, actually,” Alec handed over the phone, “that was some other poor soul in need of the great Magnus Bane. I was the one who sent the three text messages an hour ago.”

With a furrowed brow, Magnus looked down at the screen and scrolled through his missed messages. “Oh. I am so sorry; I suppose I got more than a little carried away with my work. I should have at least taken a few breaks to—You got Chinese?” His eyes flickered over Alec’s shoulder in search of takeout bags that might be visible in the living room.

With faux-hurt, Alec clutched at his chest. “And here I thought you would be happy to see me.”

Magnus clicked his tongue pityingly and leaned over to press a tender kiss to Alec’s lips. “Of course I am. All the more so because you brought one of my favorites.” Right on cue, his stomach grumbled in discontent. “Yeah, I’m definitely glad you came by. The last thing I ate was my cranberry-orange scone with my coffee.”

“It’s almost 7 o’clock! No wonder you’re so hungry!” Alec grabbed one of his hands and towed him from the apothecary into the kitchen. “Let me just reheat these, they’ve gone a little cold by now.”

Before he could unearth even one takeout container, the whole bag had abruptly become moist with hot steam coming from inside. Magnus smiled modestly. “Nothing a little magic can’t fix.”

“I keep forgetting that.”

Alec grabbed clean plates and utensils while Magnus poured two glasses of chilled wine. With preparations made, they moved into the living room and settled into the opulently soft cushions of the couch. Magnus even flicked a finger towards the stereo, causing it to come to life with the vocal stylings of Nat King Cole.

Magnus moaned appreciatively with his first bite of food. “I am absolutely famished. I really should keep a little something to eat and drink in the apothecary so I don’t unintentionally starve myself.”

“Good thing I’m an overachieving boyfriend, I guess.”

“I’m sorry that I worried you, Alexander.” Magnus’ voice had gone solemn, and he set his chopsticks down carefully before continuing. “And the conversation we had about…me, and what you’re a part of when you’re around me, it is resolved. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be safe and secure here, when we’re together. That’s why we had the Talk, as you called it.” A shy smile started to warm up his face.

There were so many things Alec wished he could say simply and succinctly, but when he opened his mouth to explain, to say any of them, his mind was full of television static that obscured every intelligent word he had prepared. “My relationships in the past have just been pretty simple, living most of it independently of one another, and this is the first time I’ve found myself in a position of wanting to make promises. I want to have a relationship with a real future for the very first time, and that means being transparent and vulnerable, which I’m still learning how to do.”

Magnus was just looking at him intently with a thoughtful expression, and it didn’t help Alec feel any more confident in what he had managed to put together to explain himself. This precious new thing growing between them felt so fragile in his hands unlike anything he had had before.

Finally, Magnus pressed his warm palm to Alec’s cheek. “You’re new for me too. It’s been…a very long time since I’ve been in a position like this. But I want to be now, with you.”

Alec’s heart thrummed an excited cadence in his chest at his words.

Suddenly, Magnus stood. “I just had a thought, Alexander. Will you come with me to the apothecary?”

Alec raised one quizzical eyebrow, but took the proffered hand.

Magnus pushed the door open with his shoulder and returned to the strange silver liquid. “Come closer, it’s all right.”

Tentatively, Alec stood across from him and peered into the basin. “What is this stuff?”

“Broadly speaking? Mercury. This particular form, however, is called argentum vivum—living silver. Today we call it quicksilver. The ancient Maya are believed to have used it for divination. There are records that date back to the Maya Classic Period, and a few even prior to that.”

“What did they use it for?”

“It was poured in a basin and used as a mirror.” Magnus planted his hands on either side of the table and leaned closer to it. “It was believed that one could see their destiny within it. It takes discipline, but there was a time when I was able to do it for myself. It’s been more than a century, though, and it can be volatile to work with, but that’s why I was…practicing.”

Alec took a small step closer. “Are you talking about scrying?” Upon seeing the inquisitive look on Magnus’ face, he shrugged. “I’m dating a warlock. I did research.”

“Yes, I am. Perhaps it would set your mind at ease to get a glimpse of the future.” Magnus paused, as if contemplating his next words carefully. “Our future.”

He started to summon his magic back to his hands but Alec reached out and intertwined their fingers, allowing it to encircle them instead. “I don’t need it, Magnus. This is ours.”

[bangcrizpychan]

Tainted Daisies | ii.It Stalks

Chapters: | prologue | i | ii | iii | iv | v | vi | vii | viii | ix | x | xi | epilogue |

Genre:  psychological thriller, angst, mystery, crime, rich kid!stray kids au, college!au, slow burn

Word count: 2.9k

Ratings: 16+

⚠WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol

Tainted Daisies Masterlist

Tag list: @nightshade-minho @mikoto-ica-fics  @momochiiiiiiii @nowimyourdaisies @ravenlilshots @channiesmixtape @skzmnho​ @yutacchin​ @minnieflowers​ @xxbluestrifexx​ @mxxndreams​ @hshhj0620​ @kpopwritist​ (If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list, please let me know.)

The Friday sun rose and filled the sky with shades of pink and orange, its bright light illuminating your small yet somewhat spacious bedroom. The singing of birds filled your ears as you awake from your slumber. Stretching your arms high and releasing a huge yawn, you scrambled out of your messy bed and headed towards the bathroom. 

You could see bags under your eyes and a line of dried drool on the corners of your mouth. you turned on the tap and splashed the water your face, the cold liquid waking up your nerves, making you alert to your surroundings.

After finishing up and wearing a pair of new clothes, you headed out of your room . You see the old man was still knocked out on the couch and released a sigh, he shouldn't have drank those many bottles if he couldn't handle it. You made a mental note to clean those up later, it had been four days since school started and you would've cleaned those by now if it wasn't too much of a hassle. Something bubbled inside you, it wasn't because you hated him, but he was a grown man and is fully capable of taking care of himself.

Your favorite music blasted through your headphones as you walked towards your school since your apartment was not too far from it. The streets were busier than usual, it was probably because everyone was getting ready for a Friday night or welcoming the weekend. You felt a chill run down your spine and you quickly whipped your head back, you see pedestrians shuffling around but none of them seemed suspicious until you saw a hooded figure across the street from you, your feet subconsciously hurried towards the university with the figure lingering in your mind.

"Y/n!" A voice startled you and made you snap back to reality.

You looked at the source and released a sigh of relief when you saw Seungmin.

"You startled me, you idiot!" You said, hitting his arm and letting out a chuckle.

"Well I've been calling out your name but you seemed a little occupied," he said, while scratching the back of his head.

You let out a small "oh," and muttered an apology as a rosy tint painted your cheeks. You looked around your surroundings and noticed that you were already at the university.

"I was probably so absorbed that my mind went autopilot," you thought. Seungmin slung his arm around your shoulders and the both of you went inside the school.

He was separated from you when you headed towards your respected classrooms. You entered the room and saw that there were only a few students, you went to your seat and pulled out your notebook. You were engaged on your doodling that you didn't notice Felix sitting next to you.

"Hey Y/n," he said, causing you to look up from your notebook and gave him a small smile.

You became acquainted with him after he bought you a drink from a soda machine on a Tuesday morning. The money that you brought with you was not enough at the time and him helping you changed your views toward him.

"Nice," Felix suddenly murmured and you gave him a puzzled look.

"It's the second time I've seen you smile at me, it looks nice on your face," he continued.

"Thank you, Felix," you said and went back to doodling.

"Stop what you are doing and let me be your center of attention because I do not like repeating myself," A woman's voice boomed which caused you and the other students to shift your attention towards a tall woman with a stoic expression at the door.

The sound of her heels echoed throughout the room as she walked towards the desk. The woman was wearing a red pencil skirt that reached below her knee paired with a white ruffle blouse. She had a pair of spectacles resting on the bridge of her nose and a thin lips completed her look. Silence engulfed the room as her aura sparked fear and confusion among you.

"Silence. Good." She said, as she rested  a hand on her hip.

"Professor Park is on leave so I will be her substitute for today, I am Professor Choi," she said, while scanning the room as if she was waiting for someone to make a mistake.

"take out your textbooks and open it to page 382," she added.

You and the rest of the class immediately took out your books and opened it to the said page.

"Caught Red-Handed: The Art of Analysis" it read, confusion was evident on your face as this lesson was not tackled yet.

"Yes Mr. Lee?" You looked at Felix and saw him slowly lowering his hand.

"Professor, we had not discussed this yet, we're still at the-"

"-Introduction," she interrupted and pushed her spectacles a little higher.

"I see Professor Park still likes to take her time, well I'm not her, therefore we will start at where I want to begin." she continued, you noticed Felix and the rest of your classmates fidgeting in their seats, completely uncomfortable.

"Some of your professors are more concerned about the theories and all that, but me, I prefer you learn through hands on." Professor Choi said while turning on the television and flashed a picture of two letters.

"Now tell me, what do you see?" she asked and looked around the room.

You noticed most of your classmates avoided her gaze, which earned a sigh of disappointment coming out her mouth.

"Mr. Lee, what do you see?" Felix tensed up as he slowly rose from his seat. You notice his eyes darting between Professor Choi and the television.

"I-I see letters," he stuttered, earning a laugh from the class.

"Thank you for that wonderful insight, I wouldn't have known," Professor Choi retorted, rolling her eyes in the process.

You gave his hand a squeeze after he turned red from embarrassment. Professor Choi grabbed a pile of paper from her desk and distributed them by rows. When you received yours, it showed the pictures the same as the one in the television.

You noticed that the longer you stared at it, the more you see its features; the name of the sender, a stamp, smudged ink, and a horrible handwriting.

"Now, what do you see?" Professor Choi asked, you slowly raised your hand and she nodded at your direction. You stood up and looked at the paper.

"Um.. Based on the smudged ink, the letter could have been spilled by something liquid, there's some sort of stain at the top, and..." you stopped talking and stared at the two letters.

"and?" Professor Choi asked, while you continued to look at the picture.

"These are two different letters," you finally said after a minute of silence.

You looked at Professor Choi and saw the corner of her mouth twitch into a smile.

"the first one is different from the other letter, the handwriting looks the same but now that I look at it, the letter "q" is not written identically at all. It's putting an impression that the same person wrote this but it's two different people." You said, feeling quite amazed how you could spot it.

"Very good, you may sit down," Professor said and you obliged, she held up a transparent seal bag with the two letters inside it.

"This is where the fun begins, if you just glance at it, the letters look like any normal letters, but that's the art of analysis. Every little thing matters," she said, and instructed the first row to pass the bag around.

"As someone who studies forensics, a glimpse is not enough to make a deduction, you need to go deeper into the details and look where some people won't even glance at. Here," she continued, getting a laser pointer and pointed at the stain on the top right corner of the letter.

"Did anyone see this? This is saliva that was used to seal the envelope," she said as the bag finally reached you. You took a better look at it and you saw details that you didn't see on its printed form.

"This letter once belonged to a man named Charles Smith, he was a foreigner who committed suicide at his hotel, but it turned out to be a murder case. You see, the murderer did an amazing job, the note was identical to Mr. Smith's handwriting, it was almost perfect." Professor Choi said as you passed the bag to Felix.

"I never noticed these things, you did a great job earlier," Felix said, passing the note to the next row and you gave him a small smile.

"Oh shush, I'm sure you'll do better than me," you said, hitting his arm playfully.

"-but the murderer made a huge mistake, he used his own saliva to close the envelope, which gave the forensics team the upper hand, his DNA was recovered through it and he was captured in no time." Professor Choi finished and flashed the picture of the killer.

His deranged look caused your breath hitch in your throat, you remembered the hooded figure from earlier. Everything around went still and you couldn't hear anything but the sound of your ragged breath, million thoughts ran through your head about the identity of that hooded figure.

"-so yeah, I was wondering if you'd come," you shook your head and looked at Felix. He was smiling at you, you scanned the room and noticed that the two of you were the only ones left.

Felix noticed your look of confusion and chuckled at you.

"Class ended a while ago, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine. What did you say?" you said, stuffing your things inside your bag.

"I'm having a party later at my place, I want you to come." he said, standing up with you and headed towards the door.

"Sure, I'd love to come, it would be fun," you said, turning your back from him but he held your arm.

"You can bring your friends too, they know where I live," he said and you nodded. He let go of your arm and you headed towards the cafeteria where you mostly meet with Seungmin and Jeongin.

The cafeteria was crowded but you managed to spot your friends and happily joined them on the table. You took out a sandwich and ate while they shared a bowl of kimchi.

"Hey look at this," Jeongin suddenly said and you looked at his phone.

"-a student whose identity we hid claimed to have seen the perpetrator the night Ms. Kim Yunhae went missing. This opened a possibility that there is a kidnapper roaming around our lovely city." The reporter said.

"Ishmanakaway," Seungmin said with mouth full of kimchi.

"What?" you said, Seungmin gulped and drank from his bottle water, his pale hand wiping the red sauce off the corners of his mouth.

"It's Tanaka Rei, my classmate from Japan," Seungmin said, stuffing his mouth again with a spoonful of kimchi.

"How do you know?" You asked.

"I came with her when she reported it to the police," Seungmin said, grabbing my half eaten sandwich and taking a bite off it.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" you pressed, curious about this person.

"Why don't we ask her? She always goes to the extension building in her free time," Seungmin suggested but you shook your head.

"It's okay," you said, finishing your sandwich.

The three of you headed out the cafeteria and walked silently side by side.

"Hey, do you guys want to go to Felix's party tonight?" you asked, breaking the silence.

"We're not invited," Jeongin muttered.

"Oh, Felix said I can come with my friends, and you guys are my friends. Would you like to come with me?" you said, standing in front of them to stop them.

"That's very nice of you, Y/n but-"

"Oh come on Jeongin, you guys are my only close friends and it'll be awkward if I came alone." You said and gave them your best puppy dog eyes.

They looked at each other and sighed.

"Fine, we'll go. For you." Seungmin said and you wrapped your arms around them, laughing and saying 'thank you' over and over.

Time flew by and the next thing you knew, the three of you were already at Felix's house, but 'house' would be an understatement. Your jaw dropped at the sight of his mansion though the gate, it was only a two-storey house but it was wide, expensive cars were parked outside as you walked towards the front door.

Light strobes and loud music emitted the place and you rang the door bell but it took time for the door to open. It swung open and it revealed Hyunjin with a hand holding a bottle of wine and cheeks pink from his drunkenness.

"Oh hey new girl! Come in!" he slurred, even at his state, you couldn't deny that he still looked handsome.

The three of you entered and the place was packed. People snogging left and right, the dancing, the crowd almost made you feel dizzy. You noticed that Seungmin and Jeongin were a little uncomfortable but also a little intrigued to join the others.

"You guys should dance and hang out with them, I'm gonna look for Felix," you said and the three of you split up.

The reek of alcohol made you sick and you avoided touching people's sweaty bodies. You absentmindedly entered a room but felt relief wash over you because you managed to escape the hoard.

"You shouldn't be in here," a voice spoke behind you and you slowly turned your head. There stood Bang Chan, the man you felt drawn to.

Your face glowed red when you saw his unblinking gaze, his orbs that was filled with void and mystery, yet it was almost inviting. You turned to your left and noticed that you were inside the office of Felix's father. Their family portrait hung on top of the shelves with smiling faces.

"Neither should you," you said, finally gathering the courage to look at him.

"I don't like crowds that much, I went in here to breathe a little," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and walking around the room.

"My name is-"

"Y/n, I know,"

"Oh, Felix must've told you,"

"Once."

And there it was, total silence. You puffed your cheeks, feeling quite jittery.

"I should probably go-"

"Do you like champagne-"

You both spoke at the same time making you laugh, Chan released a chuckle and it made your heart skip a beat. It was beautiful.

"It's okay if you want to go," he said, you giggled and shook your head.

"I'd like to try a glass of champagne," you said and you noticed a quick flicker of spark in his eyes.

He slipped outside for a bit and was back in a second with two glasses and a bottle of French sparkling wine. He poured you a glass before pouring himself one.

"Cheers?" he raised his glass and you obliged, the sound of glass clinking echoed the room.

The conversation that exchanged between the both of you made you learn things about him, not a lot, but enough to know he was a good person even though his cold and dark eyes still makes your stomach do a flip. You felt a buzz in your pocket and you fished out your phone from it.

"Wer r u?" it read, the text was from Seungmin. You looked at the time and you cursed when you found out you were in that room for almost two hours.

"It was fun talking with you Chan, but I really need to go," you fixed your clothes and put the glass down on the nearest table.

"You too, see you at school," he said and gave you a small smile. You waved goodbye to him went out, his figure disappearing as you finally closed the door.

"Where have you been?" you jumped at the sound and look at the source, Jeongin had messy hair and a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Are you drunk?" you asked.

"No, just a little tipsy. Come on, Seungmin is waiting for us outside." he practically dragged you through the crowd until he came into a halt.

You could hear the crickets outside of the house, the music was not as loud and it felt a little peaceful. You see Seungmin and Felix talking as Jeongin dragged you behind him.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Seungmin said and rushed to hug you.

"Hi Felix," you said as soon as Seungmin had let you go.

"Did you have fun? I didn't see you inside," Felix asked.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun. Thank you for inviting us Felix." you said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. A red tint replaced your kiss as he began to stutter.

"M-my c-chauffeur will t-take you g-guys home,"

"Thank you." The three of you said in unison just as a black car stopped on your side.

You were the last one to reach home because you had to help carry the boys since they fell asleep in the car. You thanked the driver and tiptoed towards the stairs of your apartment. The landlady will be pissed off if she found out you stayed past curfew.

Before you could reach the first step, a hand covered your mouth and dragged you, you thrashed around, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall from your eyes. A sharp pain was jabbed on the side of your neck and you felt being thrown at the backseat of a car. You tried to stand up but your body felt putty, a cold and icy feeling rushed through your veins and to your brain, causing your visions to fade into black.