Distractions - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

It was not the rapid crescendo of Everest's alarm that woke her up, nor Alec getting up with the sun, or even Magnus and/or Alec moving about the apartment. It was the sound of muttered swears and frantic shuffling around the room that woke her up instead.
Everest turned under the mass of blankets she slept under every night, yawning and making a small whimper-like noise when her bare arms were exposed to the air outside her blankets. She pulled her head out from under a fuzzy purple blanket and rubbed her eyes like a young child in a cartoon. Her neck cracked when she turned her head to look for Alec or Magnus.
She found Magnus first, fast asleep beside her. His hair hung in his face, dark locks a stark contrast to the white pillows. His face twitched slightly, eyebrows furrowing and lines on his face deepening. Everest wondered what he was dreaming about.
There was another muffled sentence that Everest didn't quite catch and Everest turned halfway over towards the source of the noise, finding Alec rifling through the closet.
"Wha?" she mumbled, words clumsy and thick with sleep. "Too early."
Alec turned to her, giving her a smile and shaking his head. "It's ten-fifteen, Darling."
Everest stared blankly at him and then his words sunk in. "Oh no."
Her arms flailed slightly as she searched for the zip-up she had discarded the night before. She tugged it on as quickly as possible, not appreciating how drastic the temperature difference was from under the covers to the rest of the bedroom. Her slight panic at waking up late dulled slightly when Alec rested his hands on her forearms.
"Everest, it's alright. You don't have to be anywhere until noon."
Everest blinked up at him slowly, eyes heavy and only half-seeing. "It's Wednesday."
He smiled kindly. "It is."
"I have a workshop at noon and then meetings at three until four-thirty." Her brain whirled as it tried to rid itself of sleep and replace it with her schedule. It only sort of worked.
"You have plenty of time to get ready."
Her mind made a soft pinging noise as she remembered something she had wanted to do that day. "I wanted to get coffee and groceries before the workshop."
Alec's arm moved to drape over her shoulders and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "What time did you want to get groceries?"
"I don't know," she shrugged.
Alec hummed. "Why don't you get ready, have some breakfast and coffee, and pull together a grocery list and see what time it is?"
"So that I know if I'll have time?" Alec made a noise of agreement. "Okay. That'll work. I'll wake up Mags."
Everest crawled to the middle of the bed where Magnus was sleeping. She poked his arm but he didn't move. She kept poking his arm and poking his arm until she gave up after about a minute. She looked at Alec with an annoyed expression and he handed her one of those pointer sticks that Elementary School classes have. (Everest was pretty sure they only had it for when Everest made presentations because of offhanded comments Jace made so that she could aggressively point at the screen.) Everest poked Magnus in the shoulder several times and at last he woke.
Magnus stretched out like a cat in the sun and grinned lazily at Alec and Everest. "Morning," he yawned.
"No one set an alarm," Everest informed him, standing. She tossed the pointer under the bed where it would likely live for all eternity. Or until Magnus redecorated. Whichever came first.
Magnus groaned and rolled over until he reached the edge of the bed. He stood up with a grace Everest could only dream of. He pressed a kiss to Alec and Everest's cheeks and then they were all in various locations around the apartment in their quest to get ready.
Everest was in the kitchen first, setting the coffee maker to brew and putting the mugs on the counter. Then she was going through the bedroom to the bathroom to shower. Once she stepped out of the shower and began to dry her hair, she frowned at the faded sunset colors. She needed to recolor it soon. Maybe she'd do mint next, or maybe she'd do silver.
She kept her hair simple, clipping it with a large butterfly clip and pulling out pieces in the front to frame her face. Her outfit was also fairly simple, just a pair of black leggings, a black and blue button up, black flats, and her usual silver jewelry: a star necklace, rings, a stud in her right ear, and an ear cuff with little stars dangling from it in her left ear. She did light makeup, just concealer, mascara, a little bit of light brown eyeshadow, and lip gloss, and called it good.
As Everest went back into the bedroom, Magnus was looking between two outfits.
"Casual or extravagant?" he asked.
"Casual," she answered easily, knowing very well that his casual was very different from her casual.
He nodded and put the other outfit away, leaving him with black slacks, black boots, a black overcoat with silver studs on the collar and sleeves, and a sapphire blue dress shirt. Everest fluttered around the apartment, gathering notebooks and pens, books and notes, electronics and chargers in order to pack her bag a bit before she really had to leave.
While Magnus decided on what to wear and Everest somewhat gathered her stuff, Alec was in the kitchen making breakfast. He threw bread in the toaster, sausage on the griddle, and eggs on the stove. He moved around the kitchen easily, flipping this and turning that, setting out plates and jams, and later the food. He fixed coffee for all three of them, Magnus's with two sugars and creamer, Everest's with creamer and vanilla, and his own with sugar, creamer, and a dash of heavy whipping cream.
Everest was the first one in the kitchen, going straight for her coffee mug. She sighed happily at the comforting taste and grinned at Alec. "Thank you," she chirped, much more awake than before.
"Welcome, Darling."
She settled on the counter with her plate of food and coffee, eating fairly quickly so she could write down a grocery list.
"What groceries do we need?" she asked once her plate was mostly empty and Magnus had joined her and Alec in the kitchen.
"Creamer, flour, chocolate chips, coffee, honeydew and cantaloupe," Magnus said.
"We're almost out of the cheese cracker sandwiches," Alec added. "And bread and jams."
Everest nodded, frantically typing the list into her phone. After a few more minutes of eating, Everest was tossing her plate in the dishwasher. She gave Magnus and Alec each a short kiss, fixing Magnus's shirt and Alec's hair, before grabbing her bag and dashing out the door.
"Keys!" she exclaimed, just about to close the door. She ran back and got her keys from the table in the living room.
"Phone!" Magnus called out, amusement filling his words.
"Thank you!"
"Bye!"
"Have a good day!"
"Thanks! Have a good day you two!"
Mornings in the apartment weren't always slow and easygoing, or full of sunlight and fresh-made orange juice. Sometimes they were hectic and rushed, full of quick breakfasts and brief hugs. But mornings in the apartment were almost always wonderful in some way or another, and really, what more could they ask for? Because it certainly wasn't for Jace to be able to count how many dragons meant that the species was extinct enough. (Apparently Jace thought that 'nearly extinct' was extinct enough. It wasn't.)