First Date
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments series, or any aspect of it. They belong to Cassandra Clare. This is just a fic I wrote after being inspired by it.
"Now you've been kissed," he said, reached behind him, and yanked the door open. "See you Friday?"
Alec cleared his throat. He felt dizzy, but he also felt alive — blood rushing through his veins like traffic at top speed, everything seemingly almost too brightly colored. As he stepped through the door, he turned and looked at Magnus, who was watching him bemusedly. He reached forward and took hold of the front of Magnus' t-shirt and dragged the warlock toward him. Magnus stumbled against him, and Alec kissed him, hard and fast and messy and unpracticed, but with everything he had. He pulled Magnus against him, his own hand between them, and felt Magnus' heart stutter in his chest.
He broke off the kiss, and drew back.
"Friday," he said, and let Magnus go. He backed away, down the landing, Magnus looking after him. The warlock crossed his arms over his shirt — wrinkled where Alec had grabbed it — and shook his head, grinning.
-Cassandra Clare, Kissed. /cms/kissed
Alec took a deep breath, and cursing his own nervousness, he pressed the buzzer of the man who seemed to be taking up more of his thoughts than he cared to admit. "Wasn't it a bit early to feel this strongly about someone?" He thought. After all, he was just meeting Magnus for their first date, was it really possible for someone you barely knew to take up that much of your brain space? Brain space, he might add, that was usually reserved for work, family and his damn parabatai (who also took up more brain space than Alec could ever bring himself to admit out loud).
"Is this a certain blue eyed shadowhutner?" A voice asked, no purred.
Alec felt himself blushing. "Yes," he replied, his voice nearly a whisper.
"Well then by all means, come on up darling." Magnus replied, buzzing him in, and after a moment's hesitation Alec went up the staircase to the second floor landing of Magnus's apartment. "Well then by all means, come on up darling." Magnus replied, buzzing him in, and after a moment's hesitation Alec went up the staircase to the second floor landing of Magnus's apartment. Like the last time Alec had been there, the door was open, as if inviting him in, however unlike last time Magnus Bane was not awaiting him in the entryway.
He leaned in the doorway, looking to his left and right in search of the sparkly warlock. Giving himself a moment, and after in internal warfare of whether he should just walk in or wait for the warlock to invite him in like last time, he stepped inside the apartment. He had buzzed him in after all.
He still didn't see the man, but he couldn't certainly hear him, cursing in a language he did not know, but recognized its demonic origin. For some reason, this comforted Alec, maybe the warlock was as nervous as he was? Of course, this though was quickly replaced, what would Magnus Bane possibly be nervous about?
Alec also found his senses assaulted with the scent of something he couldn't quite but his finger on, but it made his mouth water. Part of this was because the smell, another part was because Alec hadn't eaten all day. Not only because he was extremely nervous, but Magnus had told him (via text message) to "save room" for a meal he was preparing. By "preparing" Alec thought he meant he was going to conjure/steal something.
"Feel free to make yourself comfortable Alexander; I'll be out in a moment!" Magnus called from wherever he was.
Alec made his way to the golden velvet sofa he sat on last time and did just that, well to the best of his ability. His palms were sweaty, and the chocolate bouquet he had brought kept crinkling uncomfortably his hands (Izzy's idea, out of desperation, and because Izzy being Izzy had discovered his date. He wasn't sure what to do, and figured Magnus was a colorful guy and would like flowers, but he didn't want to be too girly. Izzy suggested chocolate, and Alec being his unsure self, found a mix between the two, hence the chocolate shaped flower). Even now, Alec was unsure of what he brought, but there was no turning back now. After all, what could he do, feed them to the cat?
As if the cat could hard Alec's thoughts, Chairman Meow came up and rubbed against his leg. Alec, always fond of cats, reached down and scratched its back, remembering Magnus's comment about not dating someone his cat didn't like. Damn, he thought way too much about someone he barely knew.
Chairman hopped up into his lap, purring and rubbing against his chest.
"Chairman Meow!" A voice shouted, startling Alec, and apparently the cat as well, as he hopped off the couch and scampered off.
Magnus strutted over towards Alec, glaring at his cat as he did so, "He was cuddling up to you in an attempt to get your food."
"I don't have any food." Alec replied, confused.
Magnus smirked and placed his arms across his chest, "Not yet, and I don't think you're being entirely truthful Alexander, what is it you've in your hand?"
Alec flushed, he had forgotten the chocolates in his hand due to the distraction.
"Oh um . . . I bought these for you. I wasn't quite sure what you liked, of what was appropriate but Izzy said it'd be rude to come over here empty handed."
Alec was almost certain he had never blushed so hard in his entire life, he could actually feelthe warmth his face and neck. It felt like an eternity for Magnus to take the flower shaped candies from him, when in actuality it had taken less than a second.
"Chocolate flowers, that's a unique one."
Alec wasn't sure what that meant, it wasn't an insult, but it certainly wasn't a compliment either, in his opinion. Magnus must have noticed his inner turmoil or maybe he looked slightly crest fallen because he turned to him and smiled, "They're lovely Alec."
Alec smiled, and when he did so Magnus noticed he had dimples, it made the boy even more endearing. He also began to gnaw on his lower lip, as if he wasn't sure of what to do next. Alec, Magnus noticed, was painfully self-aware; it sort of made his heart ache because the boy was breath taking.
"So, um, what did you prepare?" Alec asked, needing some sort of conversation because the silence just made him overthink everything.
"I wasn't quite sure what you liked, however I did conclude that spaghetti seems to be a favorite amongst most people, and decide to cook that. You do like spaghetti, don't you? If not I couldn't conjure up something else, save the spaghetti for a rainy day, but I am quite proud of my culinary skills to be honest …"
"Wait, you cooked it?" Alec asked in slight disbelief.
Magnus smirked, "Of course. I've had hundreds of years of practice, I don't just magic up every little thing, you know. I do occasionally like my human side to roam free."
Magnus was of course teasing, but Alec felt his face grow hot and he looked at his feet ashamedly.
"I didn't mean . . . "
Magnus felt his heart constrict again at how utterly conscious this boy was.
"I was only teasing Alec."
"Oh," Alec blushed again, "sometimes I'm a bit slow to those things. Jace thinks I'm a 90-year old man stuck in a Shadowhunter's body…"
Magnus just stared at the blue eyed boy a while, taking in everything he'd seen and heard thus far. His mind flashed back to when Alec had come over, and Magnus asked about Jace knowing, the way Alec unconsciously smiled as he said his name… he was in love with golden haired warrior. If it weren't for Magnus's load of experience, this would have been a deal breaker. However, Magnus knew the crush for what it was- a safety net. A safety net, Magnus would be more than willing to help break, if the boy was willing. Honestly, it felt Magnus had no choice in the matter, Alexander Lightwood had captivated him in such a short period of time it was a new experience, even for a warlock of his age.
Magnus snapped himself from his reverie, and smiled. "So how do you feel about getting some of that spaghetti Alexander?"
Alec returned the smile, "Sounds great, and it's Alec."
Hmm, so he could speak up when needed, oh he was falling for this boy by the second. It was a scarily lovely sensation.
Alec followed the warlock into his kitchen, looking at everything with great interest but careful not to touch any of it. Magnus was a warlock after all he didn't need to witness the mundane as a rat to know what could happen if the touched or ingested the wrong thing.
He glanced around and noticed something different, something he once again couldn't quite figure out . . .
"It's a lot cleaner in here than in the living room." Alec stated.
Magnus shrugged as he prepared two plates of spaghetti, a slice of toast as a side.
"I had to clean up a bit in order to cook."
In truth, he had spent a good part of the week cleaning up his entire place, with the exception of the living room clients got the wrong idea if a place was too tidy, the more uncomfortable they felt the quicker they left. And besides, maybe Alec would also be uncomfortable and would prefer they speak in his bedroom, which was nearly immaculate. Of course, he wouldn't push the boy into anything too soon, with his questionable affection for his step brother . . .
"So, you don't clean often?" Alec asked, doing his best to keep the conversation alive, thinking if he didn't he might not be seen as interesting. Jace always said interesting things, why couldn't he just be a bit more like his parabatai?
Magnus smirked, "No, I find my times are better spent doing other things. Besides it's not like I'll ever lose anything in the mess." He wiggled his fingers, in explanation.
Alec chuckled, thinking of how nearly OCD-neat Jace was, but Izzy was a bit more like Magnus, clothes strewn everywhere. However, he didn't want to keep bringing them up . . .
"Besides," Magnus added, "it keeps people on their toes. They won't stay long if they're unsure if that pile of dirt is just that or an angry vampire."
Alec found himself laughing again, unaware that Magnus watched in near amazement at how beautifully his eyes lit up as he did so.
"You should consider you and your Shadowhunter friends lucky I let you into my bedroom on the first night." Magnus added, winking as he did so.
Alec looked down at his food as he came down from his laughter, but instead of blushing he just had a shy smile. But it made him think; maybe he wasn't the only one in the room with walls up around his heart.
As the dinner neared its end, Alec found himself more and more reluctant to go. He knew he had to be home soon, Jace would get suspicious and Izzy could only hold him off for so long- the two tended to be at each other's throats a lot of the time, Alec often playing peacekeeper. Of course, Alec somehow doubted Jace cared too much, with Clary on his mind so much. Ugh, he couldn't even bring himself to hate her anymore; she was actually a good person in her own right.
"Well, Alex- Alec, it has been a wonderful time, but I suspect that you probably have to be getting home soon? Demons to slay, or something along those lines?"
Alec figured Magnus was just being nice, maybe it was his way of saying 'you're boring and need to go before I face plant in the spaghetti, which I wasted my time cooking'.
Alec nodded in agreement though, feeling himself getting embarrassed as he wasn't quite sure what to do when he left . . . his exit last time was one for memory, but an experience he doubted he'd get again. Throughout the entire dinner Magnus had made him laugh, smile, think and so on and so forth, Alec was sure he had done none of that. Most of his stories were about his family or Shadowhunters he had met, he was sure most of Magnus's laughter was just faked out of politeness.
As he neared the door, however, he felt himself pushed against it, two slender tan arms on either side of him. Cat eyes boring into his own, and Alec felt his heartbeat speed up, and he unconsciously licked his lips.
Magnus leaned in close, "Are you going to leave me without a goodbye kiss?"
Alec felt himself stammering; maybe the warlock was just really affect-
Before Alec could even finish his thought the warlock pressed his lips to his, it was like the last time but longer, harder and much more satisfying. When they pulled apart Alec found himself breathing hard, and noticed Magnus was almost glowing.
"So this wasn't a terrible date?" Alec couldn't help it, confusion got the best of him.
Magnus chuckled, leaning in for one more kiss.
"Alec, it was absolutely wonderful, from the flowers to the adorable way your noodles to this very second."
Alec felt a feeling wash over him he couldn't describe, relief mixed with hope mixed with something else.
"Would you like to do it again?" Magnus asked.
Alec just nodded, too giddy to properly reply, and Magnus smiled.
"Give me you hand." Magnus instructed. Alec gave him a strange look but complied.
Alec watched with great interest as a blue sparks sprang from Magnus's fingertips and he felt his hand warm, but then he felt a cold metal plop down in the center of his palm and Magnus closed his fingers over his object, adding a chaste kiss to tips of them.
"How does tomorrow evening sound? You can let yourself in."
Alec opened his palm to find a thin silver key in the middle of it, he unconsciously placed it to his chest, and nodded, making Magnus smile even more.
"See you then." Alec choked out, opening up the door, before pausing and stepping slowly towards the warlock placing a small, short kiss on his lips and resting their foreheads together, blue eyes staring into gold-green ones.
"Goodbye Magnus." Alec whispered, and turned to hurry down the stairs, leaving a warlock with a glow the best make up or magic couldn't bring.
As Alec neared the street he placed the key in his left shirt pocket, just above his heart.
