Disclaimer: I do not own TMI. If I did, it would be Magnus Bane: The Musical. I also do not own the cover image. Alec and Magnus are both 19 and mundane in this fic. Inspired by the amazing Klaine Serendipity AU by ariablair.
"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." -T.S Eliot
Sometimes there are glitches in the universe.
Sometimes when the snow sets in and the city goes in circles, and your security dissipates into the snow, miracles do happen.
Sometimes there's a certain magic about the way New York unfurls slowly and your universe unfurls with it. There's a certain allure, about the way the universe sings out its anthem of serendipity, and sometimes, just sometimes, all it takes is a casually dropped smile, a jacket, and a cup of chai latte.
Alec Lightwood's Guide to Surviving the Universe
1. Never maintain eye contact for more than 3 seconds.
2. Never let anything degrade you.
3. Never draw attention to yourself.
4. And never, ever, trust whipped cream.
Alec had been a part-time barista for four years now- he knew the inner workings of making milk just perfectly steamed (or skimmed); what to do for coffee to form two distinct layers; and how to pipe beans on cappuccino just so. He liked his job- it was a steady repetition, day after day, only being continuously refined, and at night, all he would do was daydream and draw out more pipe designs and inhale pickles.
Because that was, well, how Alec Lightwood just was.
Sometimes his sister would burst into his apartment and moan that he didn't have enough human interaction, that he had a Face for a Reason so why didn't he use it, but Alec was happy how he was.
Until the dark-skinned, glitter-doused stranger walked in.
It was raining more than snowing, and the snow was turning into a sort of weird, disgusting slush obscuring the still-blazing neon. The snow stuck onto clothes, and inside jacket pockets, and everywhere you wouldn't want watery sludge to be on. The coffeeshop on Middle Street was brimming with sleet-and-trenchcoat-covered people who left wet trails on the ground, but the warm strings of lights and DIY setup and cheery Europop were enough to keep everyone happy. Alec preferred to think that the coffeeshop was a humble, fuzzy abode for them, just like it was for him.
Alec was just piping hazelnut whipped cream (he hated whipped cream) and contemplating on the benefits of adding spaghetti to the menu, when he walked in.
He was dripping in sludge, which was made even worse by the fact that he was covered from head to toe in tight, sequined black clothes. And a phoenix-printed silk jacket.
Alec was wondering why he was so obsessed with jackets when he realised that the whipped cream was overflowing and damaging his perfect duck-printed tea cloth.
He hated whipped cream.
The stranger walked closer to the counter and Alec wondered why he still looked so glamorous, even with his hair dripping with sludge. His charm meter steadily increased when he broke into a boyish grin, green cat eyes twinkling. Isabel should have taken lessons from him.
"May I have a tall chai latte to go, please?"
Alec swallowed.
He nodded and moved to clear up the whipped cream on the counter. Then he whipped around again.
"I'm sorry- what's your name?"
"Magnus. Magnus Bane."
Alec thought it was a pretty name, and he proceeded to write it on the cup with the overflowing whipped cream.
He hated whipped cream.
After all the mess had cleared up, Alec didn't see Magnus Bane for a week. Some part of him wished to meet him again- it wasn't every day that oh-so-boring Alec Lightwood found a drenched, glitter-soaked, charming stranger in the coffeeshop. The universe rumbled; and Alec began to crave difference. For starters, he began to actually eat his pickles, and not just put his face up to the jars to sniff them. When Isabel came over on Saturday, she laughed at his new taste for "adventure", and Alec felt, for the first time in his life, that he was missing a certain something.
Funny how Magnus Bane hadn't stayed in his life for even a full five minutes.
Yet.