The rest of the week passed in a blur. Morning training with Jordan. Evening training with Tony. Sleep in between, when he could get it.
Jordan's sessions were relentless: structured, precise, and utterly uninterested in his comfort. Tony's were worse in a different way — quieter, sneakier, increasingly focused on moving without being seen, heard, or noticed. Between the two of them, Magnus found himself burning through stat points with all the grace of someone patching leaks mid-shipwreck.
STA. AGI. More STA. A handful into STR and SPD just to keep up with the training and stop Jordan from looking at him like he was a personal insult to the concept of speed.
It wasn't elegant or planned. It was survival.
The only real silver lining was that these days, finishing Jordan's training almost always meant finishing his daily Saitama-Lite quest as well. The System didn't care how he suffered, apparently, only that he did.
He had to admit, though: having someone like Jordan correcting his form, adjusting his posture, barking at him before he could build bad habits — that helped. A lot. Whether it was her expertise or the steady drip-feed of stat points making his body less awful to live in, he couldn't say.
Probably both.
The monthly quest, on the other hand, remained stubbornly unimpressed.
Jordan scowled at him less now, which felt like progress in the same way fewer stab wounds counted as improvement. But her Interest had stalled at 8%, a mere 3% increase from the 5% he earned during the first session on Thursday, no matter how hard he pushed himself. And that was including a couple of calculated "Fortuitous Alignment" that resulted in a few stubbed toes and tripping over thin air later — which thankfully, didn't hurt too badly.
Sunday's session ended the same way most of them did lately: Magnus leaning against a tree at the edge of the track, sweat-soaked, lungs burning, water bottle trembling slightly in his grip.
The System chimed.
[Daily Quest Completed]
He didn't smile. He just exhaled and mentally opened the menu.
[Name: Magnus Chane
Interest: N/A | Popularity: 40% | Sexual History: 19 times (4 known partners)
STR: 9 | AGI: 18 | STA: 21 | INT: 6 | SPD: 9
Powers: Telekinesis Lv4 | Invisibility Lv2 | Animal-Linked Comprehension Lv3 | Fortuitous Alignment Lv2]
As usual, the daily quest rewarded him with 2 stat points. Only two, but they were familiar — comforting in their predictability. He threw them both into STA.
The numbers ticked up, and something in his body eased — not the pain, exactly, but the sense that the pain might not kill him today.
"Don't lock up after you stop," Jordan said, appearing beside him without ceremony. She dropped down to sit on the grass, stretching one leg out with casual efficiency. "That's how you seize later."
"Good morning to you too," Magnus said faintly.
She snorted, unscrewing her own bottle. For a moment, they sat in companionable silence — if you ignored the fact that Magnus was still fighting for oxygen.
Advice echoed in his head.
Lean into her competitive nature.
Ask what drives her.
Tony and Alex agreeing on something should have been his first warning sign, but here he was anyway.
"So," Magnus ventured, staring at the track instead of her, "what keeps you going?"
Jordan paused mid-drink. Slowly, she lowered the bottle and looked at him — not sharply, nor suspiciously, but like she was recalibrating.
"…That's a weird question, Chane," she said.
"Yeah," he agreed quickly. "Feel free to ignore it. I ask dumb things when I'm oxygen-deprived."
She studied him for another second, then leaned back on her hands, gaze drifting forward.
"Beating yesterday's version of myself," she said at last. "And everyone else who thinks they can keep up." A corner of her mouth twitched. "And proving I didn't peak early."
Magnus absorbed that.
"Huh," he said. "That sounds exhausting."
"It is," Jordan replied without hesitation. Then, after a beat, "That's kind of the point."
She glanced sideways at him. "Why? You looking for motivation?"
"More like… trying to understand what I'm signing up for," Magnus said. "Since this seems to be my life now."
Jordan's lips curved — not a smile, exactly, but something close.
"Good," she said. "Because tomorrow starts earlier."
Magnus groaned, tilting his head back against the tree. Somewhere in the distance, Tony sneezed loudly, like a bad omen.
Yeah. This was definitely his life now!
***
Magnus met Alex for breakfast an hour later, still sore in places he hadn't known could ache independently.
They grabbed food from the cafeteria — nothing fancy, just enough calories to convince his body it wasn't under attack — and claimed a quiet corner by the windows. Sunlight spilled across the tables, warm and lazy, at odds with how his muscles felt.
Afterward, they headed back to Alex's room.
She kicked off her shoes, flopped onto the bed, then shifted until she was leaning back against him, her shoulders fitting neatly under his chin like they'd practiced. Magnus rested his forearms loosely around her, careful of the lingering soreness, and let himself breathe for a moment.
"Somehow," he said, still sounding faintly amazed, "that little exchange at the end bumped Jordan's Interest to 10%."
Alex smiled without looking back. "See? Told you she'd warm up to you in no time."
"It's not nothing," Magnus admitted. "I'll take any win I can get. But raising her Interest mostly helps with recon." He hesitated. "And I don't know how useful that really is, since… you probably know her better than anyone."
Alex shook her head. "I thought I knew everything about Sofia, too," she said lightly. "And then the System proved me wrong about that, didn't it?"
As if summoned by name, the doorknob turned. The door opened slowly.
"I'm coming in!" Sofia announced loudly, one hand clapped over her eyes — though the spaces between her fingers very clearly allowed her full vision. "You lovebirds decent?"
Alex groaned and grabbed the nearest pillow, hurling it on instinct. "Don't even pretend!"
Sofia dropped her hand just in time to catch it, laughing as she did. "Rude! Accurate aim, though."
She stepped fully into the room, grinning at the sight of them, then flopped onto her own bed.
After a few rounds of easy teasing — mostly at Magnus's expense, which felt increasingly like a constitutional right — Sofia leaned back, hands propping against the mattresses.
"So," she said, "you two got plans today?"
Alex shrugged. "Not really."
"Well," Sofia said, brightening, "there's a party this afternoon."
Alex frowned. "On a Sunday? We've got classes tomorrow. College parties usually happen on Fridays or Saturdays for a reason."
"Yeah, yeah," Sofia waved her off. "That's why this one's early in the afternoon. No hard alcohol. Maybe light stuff, if any. Sort of boring." She glanced pointedly at Magnus. "But probably more suitable for your boyfriend."
Magnus opened his mouth. Closed it. Thought about it.
"…Not going to comment on whether I'm boring or not," he said at last. "But why do I even want to go to this party?"
Sofia leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Well, if your System's going to keep throwing quests at you that involve girls anyway, you might as well make yourself known. Makes your life easier in the long run." She smirked. "People are curious about Raccoon Boy right now. You could use the momentum to your advantage."
Her gaze flicked to Alex. "Unless that's too awkward for you two."
Alex considered that, expression thoughtful rather than defensive. Then she turned slightly, looking up at Magnus.
"She does have a point," she said. "If we're going to deal with the System's nonsense anyway, we might as well make it easier on ourselves."
Magnus's instincts recoiled immediately. Loudly. Viscerally.
Crowds. Attention. Unknown variables.
Then his mind supplied a much worse alternative: deadly quests, blind luck, no preparation.
He sighed.
"This feels like a bad idea, but… yeah," he said. "Sure. Let's go!"
Sofia clapped her hands together, triumphant. "Excellent. I'll spread the word that Raccoon Boy is gracing us with his presence."
Alex laughed. Magnus groaned. Somewhere deep down, his survival instincts were already updating the risk assessment.
***
Alex insisted on stopping by his room first.
"Five minutes," she said, already opening his closet like she owned the lease. "You are not walking into a party full of strangers wearing whatever this is."
Magnus glanced down at his shirt defensively. "It's clean."
"That's not the bar. We're going to battle, and I'm picking out your armor."
He leaned against the doorframe and watched her work, mildly amused and mostly relieved. He trusted his fashion sense about as far as he trusted the System's idea of reasonable difficulty. Alex, on the other hand, moved with purpose — pulling things out, holding them up, making quick judgment calls.
"This," she said, tossing a shirt at him. "And those jeans. No, the darker ones."
He changed then stepped back out. She gave a satisfied nod. "Perfect! Let's go."
They met up with Sofia so they could all walk over together. She took one look at the two of them and blinked, then turned to Alex.
"Seriously? Couple-fit?" She turned away, hand clutching her chest dramatically, like the sight physically hurt her, then pointed a finger at Alex. "This is why Carol says you're annoyingly in love!"
Magnus blinked, glancing between their outfits again, the similarities suddenly impossible to unsee. "That wasn't—"
Alex shrugged, entirely unapologetic. "I didn't plan it."
"Sure you didn't."
Sofia rolled her eyes and waved them along.
***
The party was already loud when they arrived.
Not music-blaring-through-the-walls loud — there was music, but this was an afternoon thing, kept just shy of obnoxious. Still, it was crowded enough that the house felt too small for the number of people packed into it.
Magnus slowed at the entrance, eyes sweeping the space.
He turned to Sofia. "I thought you said it was just a small party."
Sofia paused, clearly recalibrating in real time, then shrugged like this was all perfectly reasonable.
"I guess everyone really wants to see Raccoon Boy."
Magnus exhaled through his nose.
Alex didn't hesitate. She took his hand, fingers lacing with his — grounded, familiar.
"Let's go," she said quietly. "I've got you."
They stepped inside.
Heads turned. Not all at once — but enough that he noticed. Conversations dipped, then resumed at a slightly higher pitch. Whispers trailed behind them as they moved deeper into the room.
"Is that really him?"
"He's actually pretty hot."
"They look good together."
"But what about his personality? Don't you think it's weird he talks to raccoons?"
"He's dating Alex Reyes. He's gotta be doing something right."
"Who knows? Maybe he's just really good in bed."
"You really think so?"
"I don't know. But I've heard rumors."
There were party games. Of course there were. Not the organized, everybody-circle-up kind — just loose clusters forming and dissolving around card decks, drinking games with watered-down alcohol, and whatever competitive nonsense someone could explain loudly enough over the crowd and music.
Someone near the kitchen called out something Magnus couldn't quite hear, the tone expectant, like they were waiting for a trick. Last Sunday, in the quad, he had felt like a monkey at the zoo: curiously observed.
This was worse. Now he felt like a monkey in a circus.
People didn't just want to look. They wanted a performance.
Every few steps, someone tried to engage him — questions half-formed, jokes lobbed his way, bait disguised as friendliness. And every time, Alex was already there. Redirecting. Deflecting. Answering without answering. Her hand never left his, her body subtly positioned between him and the worst of it.
She handled it all with practiced grace.
On the edge of Magnus's vision, a few people had already drifted to the edges of the house, pressed together on couches or half-hidden behind doorframes, intent on each other and nothing else.
Magnus tried not to stare. He wasn't judging, he just couldn't help noticing.
And maybe it was the atmosphere. Or the adrenaline still buzzing through him from the morning. Or the fact that Alex hadn't let go of his hand once since they arrived. Whatever it was, awareness crept in — of how close they were standing, of how often her thumb brushed his knuckles, of heat that had nothing to do with the packed room.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one feeling it.
Between conversations, Alex tugged him gently away, weaving through bodies until they found a quieter corner near the back. She turned into him without warning, arms sliding up, pulling him into a deep kiss that knocked the air out of his lungs. For a very long moment, the noise of the party fell away entirely.
Then she broke it off with visible effort, forehead resting against his.
"Later," she murmured, breathing a little too hard to sound casual. "My period's ended."
Magnus swallowed, nodded, and didn't trust himself to respond with words.
As they reemerged — Alex still half-flushed, clearly making an effort to look normal again — someone approached from the side.
"Alex? Holy shit, it is you!"
Alex turned and immediately relaxed. "Riley! Wow. It's been forever. I didn't know you were coming."
They went for a half-hug. Alex didn't entirely let go of Magnus's hand; Riley was holding a drink.
Riley Novak grinned as they pulled apart. "Sofia mentioned it might get interesting tonight. She undersold it."
Her eyes slid to Magnus — not lingering, just curious.
"So this is the famous Raccoon Boy?" she said lightly. "The reason half the art department is pretending they're 'just here to socialize.'"
Magnus sighed. "I was hoping it was for my sparkling personality."
"Oh, I'm sure that helps," Riley said easily. "But no. Mostly it's because you two are dating. And the whole mysterious raccoon thing."
Alex snorted.
Then Riley blinked, like a realization catching up to her.
"Wait! Was that a Magnus Bane reference?" A beat. "You actually kind of look like the illustrations."
"So I've been told," Magnus said dryly. "You should tell my mom that. She named me after him."
"Seriously?" Riley laughed. "Neat. Full circle."
Alex glanced between them. "Okay, what am I missing here?"
Riley waved it off. "Nothing important. Just… maybe look up Cassandra Clare sometime."
She leaned back against the wall, comfortable again. "Anyway. I won't take long. Now that I've seen you two together, I wanted to ask, purely hypothetically, if either or both of you would ever be open to modeling for me."
Magnus tensed, but Alex noticed immediately and answered first.
"Probably not," she said, calm but polite. "At least not right now."
Riley nodded without missing a beat. "Fair. Had to ask."
She tilted her head, studying them — not like a predator, more like someone solving a composition. "You two just… read well together. From an artist's perspective."
Magnus glanced at Alex. "I feel like I'm being assessed."
"You are," Riley said cheerfully. "But in a very non-threatening, academic way."
Alex laughed, then squeezed his hand. "We'll keep it in mind. No promises."
"That's all I can ask for." Riley lifted her cup in a small toast. "If anything changes, you know where to find me. Enjoy the circus."
She pushed off the wall and disappeared back into the crowd, leaving behind nothing dramatic.
Magnus exhaled slowly. "…That could've gone worse."
Alex leaned into him. "See? Not every conversation here is a trap."
He wasn't convinced. But he was learning not to panic at every unknown variable.