This was sort of a run-away prompt I took from Tumblr. I started it on Friday night foolishly thinking it would be a little thing, done in about 2k, but I was bullied and beaten up and this came out to be 8426 words. Kudos to anyone who figures out why the shop is named Bewitching Bouquets. There are references to characters from The Infernal Devices, and I vaguely reference what little I know of the Raphael-Magnus situation that is talked about in City of Heavenly Fire, but you don't really need to have read TID or CoHF in order to understand.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments
Bewitching Bouquets
All Magnus wanted was the cute blue-eyed man's phone number. All Alec wanted was to be able to breathe.
Quite honestly, Magnus felt that it was a clever name for the flower shop. Caught the eye, subtly promoted the fact that they sold very good bouquets- and other flowers as well, though bouquets were their main selling point. Other things that the shop sold were individual flowers and potted plants, and corsages, which were high sellers during Prom season.
Located above the shop, on the second floor, was a small apartment. Magnus had been ecstatic at first when he was told about it- seeing as he was the primary owner of the shop, he could have the shortest commute to work, if he lived above the shop. Unfortunately, to his great dismay, Magnus was told that the apartment above the shop was already taken. He hadn't had the pleasure of meeting the resident yet, and it'd been two months already since the shop opened up.
The first time Magnus had seen the elusive resident in the apartment above the shop, three months after opening, he hadn't known it. Honestly, Magnus didn't really see much of the elusive resident during that first meeting either. He had seen the black hair, the bouquet of peonies in the left hand as the right slammed a twenty on the countertop, a flash of the most stunning blue eyes that Magnus had ever seen in his life, and then he was gone. Didn't even stay to collect his change. Magnus fell hard and so very, very fast that it wasn't funny. It was actually quite tragic, seeing as he didn't even get a name, and Magnus lamented this fact to Catarina when they switched shifts.
"Yes, yes," She said, not even looking up from the crossword she had brought with her. "It's absolutely a crime, even though you'll forget about him by tomorrow."
"Hey!" Magnus was offended. "I would never-"
"Ah, but you would." Catarina cut him off, and waved him away with her hand. "Now shoo, before you scare away any customers."
Magnus forgot about Blue Eyes. Honestly, he hadn't meant to, but when you spend a night drinking away your sorrows for forgetting to ask for a number, let alone a name, you're bound to forget some things. The heart, however, never forgot, which was why Magnus' went positively aflutter three days later when he caught a glimpse of Blue Eyes entering the store.
Blue Eyes didn't stay long this time either. He- because this time Magnus could definitely tell that Blue Eyes was most decidedly male -grabbed one of the premade bouquets by the entrance (lilies, this time), and made a beeline for the checkout. Again, he just slammed a twenty down on the counter, and made his exit without waiting for his change. This time Magnus at least had the presence of mind to call after him about it.
"You forgot your change!" Magnus received a waved hand for his trouble.
"Keep it!" Blue Eyes called back, voice hoarse, sounding like he was sick or had been crying. Judging from the watery eyes Magnus had spotted in his split-second close up, and that lilies meant death, Magnus figured it was probably the latter. A death in the family, perhaps.
Magnus still didn't have a name (or number), but he did have the knowledge that Blue Eyes had one of the loveliest voices he had ever heard. It matched his brilliant blue eyes.
"It's revolting how besotted you are with that boy," Ragnor had the presence to tell Magnus the following Friday as he lamented the fact that he had not seen Blue Eyes at all that week to Ragnor.
"I am not besotted," Magnus replied, which was a bold faced lie if he ever heard one. Ragnor looked like he was about to refute that claim, but before he could say anything the bell above the door chimed, and Magnus turned to it so fast that Ragnor probably got whiplash. Instead, Ragnor chose to cough delicately into his fist, and Magnus shot his friend a glare as he pretended he wasn't sagging against the countertop in disappointment because it wasn't Blue Eyes.
The customer who had come in was a pretty, short, red head, and after a moment's glance around the shop, headed straight for the counter. She eyed Ragnor and Magnus before getting straight to the point.
"I have to do a still life for my art class," She cut to the chase. "And I wanted to know if you had any suggestions for bouquets that would be good for it."
"Several," Ragnor answered, while Magnus studied the girl. She looked no older than maybe sixteen. Cute, but definitely too young for Magnus, and decidedly not his type. Not to mention the whole part where he was definitely but not hung up on Blue Eyes. "Though I'm not sure you'd really want to put forth the money for a bouquet for a high school art class."
The girl scowled, and Magnus became a mite more interested in the conversation. They always did describe red heads as 'fiery', didn't they?
"I'm taking classes at the Tisch, thank you very much," An imperious tone had been taken up in her voice. "Besides, I'm not the one paying for it." Magnus raised an eyebrow, and watched Ragnor do the same before the girl continued. "My…" She paused like she was looking for the right word. "…uncle is. He's going on a date tonight and wanted me to pick a bouquet for him. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone."
"Well that changes things," Ragnor slid out from behind the counter, and walked the girl through the store. Magnus remained by the register more for ease of staring at the door, than in case of someone actually needing help.
"Where did you hear about us?" Magnus asked as the girl paid for the bouquet Ragnor had picked for her. If she was taking classes at the Tisch, she was most likely closer to that side of town, and Magnus could name three flower shops that were on that side of town that were definitely closer than theirs. Not that he was complaining about business, but one could not help simple curiosity.
The girl blinked, as if she was caught off guard, before saying,
"My boyfriend's brother keeps buying bouquets from here, and they were all pretty nice ones, so I thought I'd give it a shot." She shrugged. "Besides, like I said, it's not my money I'm spending." She turned on her heel and left, and Magnus stood there a bit dumbly before Ragnor spoke up.
"I'm fairly certain she was talking about your boy there," Ragnor said mildly as he drummed his fingers on the countertop. Magnus scowled at him.
"He's not my boy." Not that he didn't wish he was, though.
"You wish he was though," Ragnor spoke his thoughts, and Magnus wished that Ragnor didn't know him as well as he did.
"Shut up," Magnus said instead.
"He could always have a lover of his own," Magnus' personal fifteen year old stalker but not pointed out two days later as he trailed after him through the park. "That could be who he is buying all those flowers for."
"Thank you for the insight," Magnus responded sarcastically, "But I don't remember asking you for it Raphael." The year before Magnus had quite heroically yanked the Spanish teen off of the subway tracks saving him from an overly dramatic death-by-subway train. Like he said, it was quite heroic, but there were times Magnus regretted saving Raphael if not because Raphael always seemed to know where he was, what he was doing, following him, and just being a general nuisance. Actually, speaking of that…
"How do you even know about this?" Magnus couldn't remember mentioning any of this to anyone but Catarina and Ragnor, so there was no logical reason for Raphael to know any of this.
"That is the great mystery, isn't it?" Raphael gave a toothy grin, showing off his abnormally sharp canines. Magnus swore that Raphael filed those things. "But if you desperately insist-"
"Which I don't," Magnus cut in, but it was useless. Raphael just surged forward.
"-I met a guy who knows a girl who's dating a guy who is siblings with your boy toy."
"Really, that was the best you could come up with?" Magnus deadpanned. "The utterly cliché 'I know a guy who knows a guy' answer?" His brain caught up with the rest of what Raphael said and Magnus scowled and added, "And he's not my boy toy."
"Yet," Raphael shot back, and dodged Magnus, laughing, as Magnus attempted to push him into the fountain behind them.
It wasn't until Tuesday until Magnus actually got a name other than 'Blue Eyes' for Blue Eyes.
"Oh, you mean Alexander." Tessa finished ringing up the customer, and bade her farewell. Neither Catarina nor Ragnor were working today, so Magnus was forced to lament his woes of Blue Eyes to Tessa. He had seen Blue Eyes the previous day for all of five minutes, but he had taken three steps into the shop before leaving again.
"Alexander?" Magnus perked up. Alexander. He liked it. It was a beautiful name for an extremely gorgeous man.
"Yeah," Tessa nodded. "At least, I'm pretty sure. Sophie- you remember her, right? -well, she's dating Gideon, and she said that he mentioned how his cousin keeps buying flowers from here. I mean, you might be talking about a different person with blue eyes, but I'm pretty sure you're pining over Gideon's cousin." Magnus nodded along with Tessa's story, before realizing just who's cousin Tessa said Alexander was.
"Wait, you mean Gideon Lightwood?" Magnus did his best to keep the incredulity out of his voice. He didn't want to offend Tessa by accident; she was a very nice girl and best friends with Sophie. And even though Magnus did not care for the Lightwoods all that much, he had the presence to keep it to himself when Tessa and Sophie were around.
"I'm fairly certain we only know one Gideon in real life Magnus," Tessa answered. "So yes, I am talking about Gideon Lightwood. His cousin is Alexander Lightwood."
Magnus resisted the temptation to groan. He was pining over a Lightwood. There had been a thin tendril of hope, maybe that Alexander was a maternal cousin, so while he was related to the Lightwood's, it'd be a different last name, and a chance that maybe he wouldn't be as self-absorbed as the rest of his family.
"You know," Tessa remarked casually, "You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover."
"What?" Magnus was thoroughly confused by the abrupt change of topic.
"Don't think I can't tell what you're doing." Tessa's voice was still casual, but her words were very accusing. "You're already making a judgment on him without actually meeting him just because he's a Lightwood. Don't you think he deserves better?"
Damn it, Tessa was right. Magnus was passing judgment on Alexander already just because of his last name. Just because all the Lightwoods Magnus knew were assholes didn't mean that Alexander was one too.
"You're right Tessa," Magnus acquiesced, sighing. "That was wrong of me, I apologize."
It was another week before Magnus even got a chance at saying anything to Alexander. He had come by the shop a few more times for flowers in his usual manner, but each time Magnus had either not been there, or had been on duty. Really, it was quite tragic, regardless of whatever Catarina or Ragnor said.
Thursday found Magnus once more hanging around the shop, while Catarina pointedly ignored his presence at her elbow. The afternoon started slow, but it got immensely better when the bell above the door chimed and in came Alexander. He looked gorgeous, like always, and as per his norm, picked up a bouquet- different from any of the others he had grabbed, as usual -put the money down on the counter in his typical fashion and was leaving the shop before either Magnus or Catarina could say anything. Magnus may or may not have been taking the time to be not-so-subtly admiring his ass.
That was, until Catarina not-so-subtly coughed, and jabbed her elbow into his side. Affronted, Magnus pulled his attention to glare at her instead, and she gestured toward the door, sliding the money Alexander had paid with toward him.
"Well?" Catarina nodded impatiently at the door. "What are you waiting for?"
Oh. The light bulb decided to turn on. After the idea was brightened, Magnus didn't hesitate in grabbing the money Alexander had placed on the counter and went out of the shop after him. Never could he say that Catarina was not a good friend.
Magnus barreled out into the light just in time to watch as Alexander gave what sounded like a thoroughly disgusted sigh, tossing his freshly bought bouquet on the ground. Magnus felt more offended at the action than he probably should have. Alexander walked a few steps away from the flowers to sit on the nearby bench, and didn't take any notice of Magnus as he walked forward and picked the bouquet up. He was speaking very angrily into a cellphone.
"I still haven't found it," Slender fingers pinched the bridge of Alexander's nose, and even though he shouldn't have, Magnus found himself eavesdropping. "It's driving me nuts, Jace, and I'm running out of antihistamines. I'm just going to throw in the towel and-" Magnus unceremoniously, and probably quite rudely, shoved the flowers into Alexander's face. Now had seemed as good a time as any, and while he found himself increasingly attracted to the angry look on Alexander's face, a smile was always worth more than its weight in gold.
"I believe you dropped these," Magnus made eye contact with those gorgeous blue eyes, which stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment. They blinked twice before apparently realizing what they were. A beautiful blush broke out across his cheeks before those slender hands were pushing the flowers back towards Magnus.
"Keep them," Alexander said, before directing his attention back to his phone. "Yes, I am giving up, that's what I just said. I can't take it anymore!" Now that wouldn't do. Magnus fancied himself a bit of a narcissist, and he found himself preferring Alexander's attentions on him, more than whoever he was on the phone with.
"Nonsense," Magnus interrupted once more, dropping the bouquet on Alexander's lap this time. "I insist." And before Alexander could say anything, Magnus held out the twenty that he had used to pay for the bouquet. "And, you forgot your change. Again."
The confused stare was back, along with the blue eyes staring at Magnus. Alexander hesitated, before saying into his phone, "Let me call you back, Jace," and snapping it shut. Before he hung up though, Magnus could hear quite clearly a female voice yell,
"Get his number!" From the other side of the line, and the blush was back on the cheeks.
Magnus waved the twenty, gracefully pretending for Alexander that he did not hear what his female friend said. Honestly, it was more of a relief than anything, because with what the girl said and the blush across Alexander's face, it erased about ninety percent of Magnus' doubts of Alexander having a 'lover' as Raphael had put it. Alexander just stared at the money, like he didn't understand, but took it after Magnus waved it a second time.
"Thank you?" Confusion colored his voice. "But I don't really understand- I should have only gotten four or five dollars back as change, not twenty."
"Consider it compensation," Magnus answered easily, seating himself on the bench next to Alexander. "For all the other bouquets you've bought and not taken the change for. Speaking of which, you have bought an awful lot of bouquets. Not that I'm complaining, of course."
Magnus watched as Alexander twitched his fingers along the side of the bouquet, and his eyes slid in and out of focus, like he was thinking of something. Probably about all of the bouquets he had bought. After a minute, he returned to the present.
"It hasn't been that many," Alexander protested weakly. "Only about six or seven, I think."
"Only," Magnus snorted, and watched as red flared back to life across Alexander's pale cheeks. "You're the most regular customer we've had at my shop since we opened, and you only started showing up about three weeks ago."
"Your shop?" There was a scowl on Alexander's face aimed at him, and Magnus felt it would be a bit masochistic of him to say that it wasn't all that an unpleasant experience. "You're the reason I've been suffering for the past three months?!"
Months? Magnus had only sort-of known Alexander for the past three weeks.
"Maybe?" Magnus offered cautiously, not afraid to let confusion color slip into his voice. "But quite honestly, the first time I met you was three weeks ago, so I don't know how I could have been tormenting you for one month, let alone three."
"You," Alexander jabbed an angry finger at Magnus, rising from the bench. "Own that shop," an angry point at said shop behind them, "that is located underneath my apartment!" A third angry point at the vicinity above the shop.
Oh. So Alexander was the elusive resident that lived above Bewitching Bouquets. Magnus wasn't quite sure what he (or the shop) had done to make Alexander so upset, though that question was quickly answered, as he continued his angry tirade.
"The first month was fine, I didn't mind it, but then you got something, I don't know what," Alexander stopped a moment to let out a series of sneezes, "That I am allergic to! I haven't been able to breathe properly in months! Do you know what that's like, not being able to breathe?"
Incidentally, Magnus did, but that probably wasn't an appropriate track for the current conversation to leap to. He just remained quiet, and let Alexander shout. Magnus had a feeling he had been bottling this up for a while.
"I tried to stick it out at first, thinking that it was just a seasonal thing," Alexander was huffing for breath, and Magnus was fairly certain that the red coloring his face now was more from lack of breath than anything else. He did hope that Alexander didn't pass out; that would be awkward. "But after two months it didn't get better, it just got worse, so for the past three weeks I've been trying to figure out what it was-" Alexander broke off, eyes watering in a way that made Magnus sincerely hope he didn't start crying, and started a coughing fit that sounded truly horrible.
Magnus stood up slowly, and wondered if it would be awkward for him to pat Alexander's back. Before he could come to a decision, Alexander's fit ended, transitioning into a short spell of heavy mouth-breathing instead. He decided to place a friendly hand on his shoulder.
"Terribly sorry about that," Magnus apologized, both for the fact that he was depriving a despairingly gorgeous man of breath because of things other than his mere presence, and for the slightly underhanded, and most decidedly cliché, tactic he was about to use on Alexander. "How about I make it up to you?"
"What?" Alexander wheezed, breathless. "Make it- what?"
"Make it up to you," Magnus repeated calmly, unsubtly raking his eyes across Alexander's figure. "Please, allow me to take you to dinner to apologize."
"I-, wha-," Alexander stumbled over his words, red finding its way back on to his face as he looked anywhere but Magnus, before settling on, "You don't even know my name!"
Au contraire, Magnus did, but he knew from experience that it was not a good idea to tell Alexander that. He had knowledge from when Raphael did that to him, and he knew quite well how creepy that came across.
"Then why don't we fix that?" Magnus didn't bother suppressing the grin on his face as he held out his hand. "Magnus Bane, owner of Bewitching Bouquets, and, pardon the pun, the apparent bane of your existence." Alexander looked deliciously dumbfounded, but still accepted the hand offered.
"A-Alexander Lightwood," Alexander said, shaking his hand lightly. "My friends call me Alec. It is nice to meet you." The last part sounded more like a question, but Magnus decided to ignore it.
"The pleasure is all mine, Alec." Magnus tested the name on his lips. Alec. It wasn't quite as lovely as Alexander, but it had a certain… appeal to it. He could definitely get used to it. "Now, about dinner…"
Magnus Bane was not nervous as he waited outside the shop front for Alec. His fiddling with the bouquet in his hands was just something for his hands to do while he waited. Gloxinias were almost out of season, as it was the tail end of summer now, but there were still a few located in the shop. They didn't have blue to match Alec's eyes, but the purple Magnus chose did flatteringly compliment them very well.
He had been waiting a half an hour already. Magnus had arrived fifteen minutes before he and Alec had agreed to meet, and it was already quarter after seven and Alec hadn't arrived. Sure, Magnus could have always just walked up to Alec's apartment and knocked, but he thought himself a patient man, and told himself he'd wait fifteen more minutes. If Alec hadn't come down by them, Magnus would just go with the tragic presumption that Alec had changed his mind and effectively stood him up.
Just as Magnus was about to give up hope, Alec came barreling down the stairs, nearly tripping on the bottom step connecting with the sidewalk. Magnus' arm shot out to catch Alec before anything other than his feet made contact with the ground. Still, it was a prime opportunity, and Magnus did not care for wasted opportunities.
"My," He grinned, despite having waited nearly an hour for Alec. "I hadn't expected to have you falling all over me quite yet." Magnus' comment was rewarded with a blush, and Alec refusing to meet his eyes as he wiped his palms nervously on his jeans, muttering an apology.
Waving the gloxinias in the vicinity of Alec's eye sight, Magnus captured Alec's attention, drawing his eyes up to his own.
"For me?" Alec asked unnecessarily as Magnus handed him the bouquet. "You do realize I am allergic to something in your shop, right?"
"I'm sure these are perfectly safe for you," Magnus reassured Alec. "You said your allergy started acting up after we'd been open for a month, and we've had these since we opened." Alec raised a delicate eyebrow.
"If you're sure," He said hesitantly, raising the bouquet a taking a cautious sniff at the flowers.
"I am," Magnus agreed, before adding, "And might I add, you sound better today than you did before." Alec's voice, since Magnus had last spoken to him, had cleared up significantly. Before it had been nasally and hoarse, and retrospectively extremely obvious that he was suffering from allergies. Now it sounded relatively clear, in a gorgeous tenor that Magnus found himself positively enamored with.
"Thank you?" Alec responded, probably uncertain as to whether or not Magnus was complimenting him- which he was. "My sister somehow found out about this and," Alec waved his hand as if it was supposed to hold the rest of the statement, as he did not elaborate further. Still, Magnus understood the gist.
"As much as I appreciate the gesture, you didn't have to put yourself out of your way for me," Magnus grinned, eyes glittering. Alec huffed, rolling his eyes, but Magnus spied a shy smile curling his lips as he crossed his arms, flowers brushing against the unprotected skin of his forearm.
The first part of the evening went better than Magnus could hope. Despite Alec having run late and being behind half an hour, things had looked bright. Yes, Alec was still sneezing during the walk to the restaurant where Magnus had placed a reservation, and was absentmindedly scratching his arm during dinner, but Alec had reassured Magnus that it was (most likely) not because of the gloxinias.
"So, love at first sight?" Alec prompted conversation for the first time that evening, albeit a bit hesitantly. Magnus blinked, confused at the sudden train of thought. Where had that come from? As if hearing Magnus' unvoiced question, Alec nodded at the gloxinias that were residing off to the side on the table. "Gloxinias in flower language mean 'love at first sight', right?"
"Yes," Magnus nodded, surprised that Alec knew that. He seemed to loathe flowers so much that Magnus hadn't expected him to know any trivia about them. It was part of the reason why Magnus had subtly been steering the conversation away from them for most of the night. That, and Alec's unknown flower allergy.
"I'm guessing that was a conscious decision on your part?" Alec had averted his gaze once more, and Magnus could see the frail dusting of red speckling his cheeks as he looked at the flowers instead. He was scratching his arm again.
"Not really," Magnus denied, because it hadn't honestly passed through his head as he picked them out. "I was thinking more along the lines of what you would most likely not be allergic to when I picked them out, honestly. I didn't want to cause you any undue duress." Magnus smiled slyly. "But, it would be an enormous lie on my part to say that it wasn't love at first sight when I saw you, Alexander." He watched as Alec shivered, and the red that speckled his cheeks turned into a full face blush.
"You don't mean that," Alec mumbled into his hand, before adding on, "And don't use my full name." He sneezed, grimacing.
"But it's such a lovely name," Magnus insisted. "It would be a shame not to use it, Alexander." Alec moaned, and buried his face in his hands. Hmm. Embarrassment did look nice on him. Magnus made a mental note to make sure to do that more often.
"Come now Alec," Magnus acquiesced for the moment, prodding at the man across from him. "I didn't bring you all the way out to dinner just to talk to your hands, as nice as they are."
"I'm pretty sure this entire thing," Alec paused to sneeze, "was just supposed to be an apology." Magnus chose not to answer that, and instead commented on Alec's continued scratching of his arm.
"You know, I'm pretty sure when your arm itches, you're supposed to leave it alone and it'll go away." Because Alec had resumed his absentminded scratching of his arm in lieu of nothing else to talk about. He had moved higher with his scratching, more toward his inner elbow than his wrist area where it had started.
"It's distracting," Alec responded, a plaintive whine borderline in his voice, and didn't stop the action. Magnus hummed and reached across the table and grabbed the arm Alec had been scratching.
"Regardless," Magnus replied, swatting away Alec's other hand when he tried to resume his interrupted action, "I'm fairly certain if you continue scratching it, it will make it worse." Magnus turned Alec's arm in his hand, showing his inner forearm.
"See how red it is?" Magnus tutted, as Alec rolled his eyes. "All because you keep scratching at it." Magnus shook Alec's hand lightly, and, sighing, Alec looked down at his arm. Then Alec actually stopped, and stared at his arm, like it was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. Magnus had to agree for the time being; it would have been half as bad if Alec hadn't continually been scratching at it all evening.
"I," Alec started hesitantly, voice hoarse, "I don't think that's because of me scratching at it."
"Nonsense," Magnus replied loftily when Alec took a moment to sneeze.
"No," Alec swallowed, and Magnus noticed for the first time that Alec was breathing rather heavily through his mouth. More so than he had been earlier in the evening, at least. His free hand distractedly scratched at his nose as he continued. "Magnus, I'm pretty sure those are hives."
"Hives?" Magnus questioned as Alec's hand came down to press sharply on his forearm. The area he pressed his fingers down on blossomed white underneath his touch. Alec jerked his head up to stare at Magnus.
"Magnus, I'm breaking out in hives." Alec repeated, with emphasis. "Hives."
"Hives?" Magnus echoed, not quite following Alec. "Why would you be breaking out in hives?"
"It's normally a common allergic reaction," Alec answered fingers twitching on the table top where he had laid his free hand. It seemed that after realizing that he had been scratching at hives, Alec had decided to excise restraint and not scratch his arm. "But I don't understand why I would be getting them-" He cut off his sentence as he looked to the side, and Magnus watched as the color drained from Alec's face for a moment, before refilling with the same vibrant red that he had witnessed when Alec had chewed Magnus out for his flowers causing him to not be able to breathe. Magnus followed his line of sight and saw him glaring at the gloxinias like they personally wronged him.
Which they had, Magnus realized just as Alec angrily stood up from his chair, both the gloxinias and he had. He left the flowers on the table as he chased Alec out of the restaurant.
"I should have known," Alec was muttering out on the sidewalk, throwing his hands up in the air. "I should have known!"
"Alec," Magnus approached cautiously, feeling like he was the prey approaching the predator. Which, in a sense, he was. "Alec, look, I'm sorry, I had no idea-"
"Sorry?" Alec whirled around to face him, fury clear on his face. His nostrils flared, but it was obvious to Magnus that Alec was mainly breathing through his mouth. "I've been tormented for months with not being able to breathe, and then you come along, saying you want to apologize, and of course that is too good to be true!" Alec took a few steps toward Magnus and jabbed a finger in his chest. "I trusted you! And this is how you repay me? By tormenting me?"
"Alec, I swear," Magnus grabbed Alec's hand before he could pull it away. "I had no idea that there was a chance you'd be allergic to those gloxinias. Like I said, we've had them since we opened shop."
"Right," Alec snorted, rolling his eyes, but he didn't pull away. "I bet you're just saying that to save your own skin."
"No really," Magnus continued, staring Alec down. "I remember; they were in the shop front when we first opened, but after a while in order to accommodate for the other flowers we…" Aw shit. "…moved them toward the back." Magnus groaned, and slapped his forehead.
"And?" Alec asked hesitantly, looking at Magnus with wary eyes. It was very apparent that he could tell that there was something that Magnus just realized.
"And I just realized that it is my fault," Magnus groaned, dropping Alec's hand. "The entire thing, including when your allergies first started acting up."
"Hey wait," Alec's attitude seemed to do a complete one-eighty, flipping from the sheer fury he had been just moments ago to hesitant reassurance. "Like you said the other day, we hadn't even seen each other until a few weeks ago, after my allergies started acting up. There is no way this entire thing is your fault."
"But it is," Magnus pushed. "I had the gloxinias in the shop moved right by the ventilation system. Which gave the pollen prime access to your apartment." Alec blinked.
"Oh," He said in a small voice, but he wasn't reverting back to the fury he had been moments before, so Magnus considered that a good thing. "Well, you had no way of knowing that it would set off my allergies." Alec placed a hesitant hand on Magnus' shoulder. "Besides, I didn't even know I had allergies until this happened, so I guess, thank you?"
"Thank you?" Magnus was positively confused by this point. "Why are you thanking me? Like you said, I've been tormenting you for the past three months with this- what is there to thank?"
Alec blinked, before moving his hand from Magnus' shoulder to ruffle his hair, forearm a stark red against the rest of his pale skin, and offered a shy smile.
"Well, I guess," He offered nervously, "I mean, what I'm trying to say is…" Red was blooming on his face again, and he looked away and mumbled something under his breath that Magnus didn't quite catch.
"What was that?" Magnus asked, even though he had an idea of what Alec probably said.
Alec mumbled louder this time, and, even though Magnus caught it, Alec still wasn't looking at him, so he allowed himself a wicked grin and asked Alec to repeat himself once more. Which he did, at practically a shout.
"I wouldn't have been able to meet you, okay?" His fingers twitched at his side, restraining himself from scratching his arm.
"Oh," Magnus answered loftily, "I'm sure we would have met at some point. You do live above my shop, after all."
"True," Alec agreed, before continuing nervously, "Could we, um, try again? If possible?"
"Try again?" Magnus asked, and Alec caught his eyes, nodding.
"I mean," Alec shrugged, before gesturing to the air around them. "I'm no expert on first dates- this being my first and all, but I'm fairly certain it's not supposed to end with one side having an overreaction because of an allergic reaction. I was just wondering if, you know," Alec shuffled awkwardly, but he maintained eye contact, which certainly was an improvement, "If you would consider a second date? Or at least a re-do on the first one?"
Magnus was delighted; he hadn't expected the opportunity for a second date. Certainly, he had been interested in pursuing it, because Alec was absolutely adorable, but Magnus had been sure that he was going to have to press for the second. Instead, it was Alec asking for it, and if that wasn't a golden opportunity, Magnus didn't know what was.
"I would be delighted," Magnus answered honestly, a smile on his face, placing a hand gently on Alec's shoulder. Then, something hit Magnus, and he cocked his head to the side, studying Alec. "So, first date ever, huh?"
"Uh-huh," Alec nodded, and Magnus watched as Alec tried to force the red on his face back down, and failed. "That's not, not a problem, is it?"
"Quite the opposite," Magnus studied Alec, before deciding to just dive straight in. "So I suppose that means you've never been kissed, either?" The dams broke, and Alec's attempts were all for naught as the blush he had been trying to suppress covered his whole face and crept down his neck.
"No," Alec finally broke eye contact, staring off to the side. "That- that doesn't change anything, does it?"
"Quite the opposite," Magnus grinned, taking the hand that wasn't on Alec's shoulder, and cupping his chin with it, coaxing Alec to look at him. The hand that was on Alec's shoulder moved to the small of his back, gently pulling him closer to Magnus. Alec seemed surprised, but he was willingly pliant as Magnus tilted his head to the side just a tad. Really, it was the perfect moment.
"HEY! No getting to first base on the first date!" A girl's voice cut through the night air like a bullet. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Magnus, but he couldn't place. Really, he wouldn't have thought it was aimed at them, except for the fact that after the girl started speaking Alec leapt away from Magnus like he had just touched a live wire.
"Izzy!" Alec yelped, visibly twitching. Magnus watched as girl stalked predatorily towards them, flanked by a group of teens. She was a good three inches shorter than Alec, but had the same dark hair as him, and green eyes that glittered in the darkness. Judging by Alec's reaction to her, and the similarities, there was no doubt that this was Alec's sister. "H-How did you find me?"
"Ah-ah-ah," Izzy waved her index finger, "A woman never reveals her sources!"
"Remember that Hispanic kid Simon bit the other week when he was drunk off his face?" The redheaded girl next to Izzy offered sympathetically. "He told us."
"Clary!" Izzy hissed, skirt whipping as she turned to glare at the much shorter redhead. Magnus placed where the redhead looked familiar from; she had come into the shop during that pining period Magnus had gone through.
"I'm pretty sure he's been stalking me," A dark haired boy with glasses standing next to Clary said. That was probably Simon, but Magnus didn't really care because he saw no reason at that moment to remember his name. Any of their names, really, aside from probably Izzy's. And she was only important because she was Alec's sister.
"I'm fairly certain nobody in their right mind would want to stalk you," A blond offered disinterestedly, scrolling through his phone.
"Good thing nobody asked you." Things looked to get interesting, or at least provide an opportunity to escape; from the looks of things Glasses and Blondie were gearing up for a fight. While Magnus normally didn't condone that sort of thing, while the females were busy breaking up the fight he'd be able to grab Alec and slip away unnoticed.
Unfortunately, a fight did not break out, and Clary just stepped between the two and said in a sharp voice,
"Simon. Jace." And the boys backed off. Alec buried his face in his hands in a mute scream, while Magnus marveled the wonders of female dominance.
"This is all very interesting," Magnus decided to speak for Alec, seeing as his date had decidedly buried himself in his hands, and was refusing to come out. He feigned disinterest, studying his nails. "But none of this explains why exactly you all are interrupting our date."
"Chaperoning, of course!" Izzy explained, waving a casual hand in the air as she turned back to face Magnus and Alec. She eyed Magnus with distasted, like she did not care for what she saw. "Obviously, you two need it."
"I am eighteen, Isabelle," Alec hissed, removing his hands from his face, which was still burning red, right up to the tips of his ears. "I don't need a chaperone." Alec started scratching his arm again, and Magnus swatted his hand away.
"That's what I told her," Clary said, while Probably-Jace threw an arm around her shoulder and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I dunno," Probably-Jace had eyed their previous exchange with a mixed sort of look, and spoke with a disinterested tone like he was commenting on the weather. "Seems to me we came at the right time. From the looks of it, they were just planning to skip first and jump straight to third base with the kinky stuff." Magnus blinked, and Alec let loose a muted, strangled, scream into his hands.
"Isabelle," Clary seemed to be the voice of reason of the group, and Magnus made a point to at least attempt to remember her name as well as Isabelle's. Magnus was quickly finding that Clary was becoming a favorite of his in the group. "I think you've tormented your brother enough."
Isabelle shrugged and let loose a suffering sigh, like she was the one who had her night ruined, instead of Magnus and Alec.
"I suppose so," Isabelle acquiesced at last, and Magnus finally, finally, thought he and Alec were about to get the chance to finish their evening in peace, when she took two hopping steps forward. Quicker than a snake, she had snagged her brother's wrist in her hand, and was dragging him against his will away from Magnus.
"Hey!" Alec protested, stumbling after his shorter sister as she pulled him along like a wagon. He shot a pleading look over his shoulder that begged for assistance. "Izzy, you're embarrassing me!"
"I would never!" Magnus could hear the fake offense in Isabelle's voice without needing to see her face. "Now shut up and move along, brother dear. Your evening is over."
"You don't get to decide that!" Alec gave Magnus another pleading, suffering look. Magnus looked at the others in the group- Clary who was shaking her head like she was just as annoyed, Glasses, who had the decency to appear a little embarrassed, and then Probably-Jace who looked at Isabelle and Alec with amusement on his face, then turned to Magnus with a raised eyebrow that seemed a bit challenging. As much as Magnus loved Alec, he did not want to prolong his suffering. It was quite obvious that his sister wasn't going to give him up without a fight.
Magnus gave a jaunty wave, and called after the retreating siblings, "Call me!" Probably-Jace gave a nod, and then turned, following after the siblings, Clary and Glasses trailing after him.
"So I hear your date last night was an unmitigated disaster." Magnus raised an eyebrow, pruning shears in one hand as he stared at Raphael.
"Where did you hear a thing like that?" Magnus asked. It wasn't often his personal stalker actually showed up at his workplace and showed himself. Already it was shaping up to be an interesting day. "And since when did you know words like 'unmitigated'?"
Raphael scowled, showing teeth, and not for the first time Magnus idly hoped Raphael didn't bite him. If so, he at least hoped he had had his shots. Magnus had heard that rabies was utterly dreadful.
"I've always known 'big words like that'," Magnus could hear the air quotes in Raphael's words.
"Of course you have," Magnus wasn't really paying attention. As much as he welcomed the company, as it had been a dreadfully slow morning, Magnus had kept himself occupied with other, more important things. He had taken the time to move the shop around a bit, moving the gloxinias away from the ventilation system, and instead moving them toward the front. Seeing as they were almost out of season anyways, Magnus saw no harm in putting them on sale for the time being. He could always raise the prices back up once they were out of season.
"Mind you," He idly tapped the shears against the counter, "That doesn't explain to me how you knew my date was a disaster. Not that it was, of course. I'd ask how you knew I had a date in the first place, but that would be a moot question." Because Raphael wouldn't answer it anyways, and Magnus had already resigned himself to the fact that Raphael would always, always, know things about Magnus and his life, regardless of whether Magnus wanted him to know them.
"I know things." Raphael shrugged. "Too bad for you that you won't be getting a second date." Magnus hummed, very much like the cat that had snagged the canary.
"That, my suspensefully secretive Spanish friend, is where you are finally wrong." Magnus took a moment to relish the look of surprise on Raphael's face, momentary as it was. "For your information, Alec already agreed to a second date." He probably shouldn't have told that to Raphael, but he was probably going to sniff it out on his own, and Magnus would rather knowing where he got at least some of his information from.
"Now either buy something or leave," Magnus shooed Raphael off. "I don't have time or patience for your riddles today." Raphael scowled at Magnus once more before turning and walking out. He was in such a prima donna huff as he stalked out that Raphael caused one of the customers who had just entered to hastily step to the side to make way. A customer, who, Magnus noticed upon closer inspection, was actually Alec.
Magnus' day just kept getting brighter and brighter.
Alec stared after Raphael a moment, like he was puzzled, before making his way to the counter. He didn't stop and pick up a bouquet, but Magnus thought that last night's revelation made it unnecessary.
"Hi," Magnus greeted brightly, studying Alec carefully. The hives on his forearm were mostly gone now, but Magnus could see lingering lines of red on his arms.
"They, uh, went away," Alec answered, noticing where Magnus' gaze had landed, shuffling. "Once I was away from the gloxinias for a while and I stopped scratching it so much." Magnus nodded, but rather than giving a deserved 'I told you so,' he instead said,
"I moved the gloxinias," And gestured toward the front of the store where he had moved them.
"You didn't have to," Alec insisted, though Magnus didn't miss the look of utter relief and gratefulness that covered his face.
"Nonsense," Magnus waved his hand flippantly. "I wanted to. Besides, it's my shop, and they're almost out of season anyways. Moving them has a better chance of getting more people to buy them." And it got them away from the vents, but both Magnus and Alec were casually not mentioning that.
"So," Magnus gazed into Alec's gorgeous blue eyes- he'd never get enough of them, really. "What brings you here? It's obviously not to buy yet another bouquet for your unknown allergy. And your sister- I am guessing that girl from last night was your sister-" Alec winced and nodded as Magnus continued onward, "-strikes me as the type who has and upholds a 'no contacting the date earlier than three days after' policy."
"I am sorry about that," Alec ignored the question. "I honestly had no idea they would do that. I swear, Izzy and Jace aren't normally like that, it's just," He did that helpless flail of his arms again that conveyed exactly nothing yet exactly what it was that Alec wanted to say at the same time. Magnus nodded.
"It's quite alright, I understand," Magnus assured Alec. "Besides, you're not the only one who has people knowing what's going on in your life without your knowledge. Granted, he didn't ruin our date, but somehow Raphael knew that last night was quote-unquote an 'unmitigated disaster'." Not that Magnus expected Alec to know Raphael- quite the opposite, in fact -but Magnus was trying for solidarity. Alec hummed in response, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Raphael?" He repeated, before saying, "Wait, is that the name of that Hispanic kid that just left?"
"Yes," Magnus nodded hesitantly, a bit confused as to how Alec had made that connection. Had Alec and Raphael met before? It was possible, and Magnus wouldn't put it past Raphael to get to know Alec just to screw with him. "Why?"
"I thought he looked familiar," Alec continued. "That's the kid Simon- the dark haired kid with glasses from last night -swears has been stalking him."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Magnus commented dryly. "Though I don't see why Raphael would be interested in stalking him." Magnus vaguely remembered who Alec was talking about last night, but honestly, he hadn't put any effort in remembering anyone other than Alec's sister and the redhead.
"I think it's because Simon bit him when he was drunk once at a party," Alec offered, and Magnus snorted.
"I always knew that kid had a problem with biting," Magnus muttered into his palm, and Alec shot Magnus a slightly alarmed look. Wisely though, Alec decided not to comment on it.
"You told me to call you last night," Alec said instead, "And while I was going to, I realized that I did not have your number. So I could not call you." Alec had averted his gaze once more, and there was a light speckling of red across his fair cheeks. My, that was happening a lot, wasn't it? Magnus did hope that it wasn't something that went away with time.
"My, are you asking me for my number Alexander?" Magnus grinned coquettishly, delighting in the light tremor he saw go across Alec's shoulders and down his back at the use of his full name.
"Maybe?" Alec asked, the red darkening on his cheeks. He fidgeted his hands, twisting a ring on his right ring finger. His eyes were looking down at the counter, so Magnus dropped so his chin was resting on it, and looked up so he could catch Alec's eyes with his own. Alec squeaked, lifting his head up, eyes away from Magnus'. Magnus followed, grinning.
"You know, you could always just ask," Magnus suggested, relishing in the redness of Alec's face. He wondered idly if he placed his hand on Alec's cheek if he would be able to feel heat radiating off of it. That, definitely, would be something worth investigating. Some other time however, not right now.
"Could I, um," Alec swallowed nervously, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Could I have your number? Magnus?" Magnus beamed.
"Why, of course, Alexander," He replied, pulling a post-it note off the nearby pad and scribbling his cell number on it. Magnus held it out to Alec, who took it. Before Alec could back away properly, Magnus snagged his free hand with his own, intertwining their fingers and yanking Alec closer.
Those blue eyes were even more gorgeous up close, and Magnus decided to believe that, yes, he could feel the heat from Alec's blush radiating off of his face.
"Just don't take your sister's advice," Magnus leaned closer, "And wait three days to call me, alright?" As close as they were, Magnus could feel Alec nod his head in agreement, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, they'd finally-
The bell above the door clanged loudly, and Alec jerked away from Magnus, startled. Scowling, Magnus leaned to the side to look past Alec to see who had entered the shop, rudely interrupting their moment. There was nobody there.
Still, Alec backed a step away, post-it note finding its way into his pocket.
"R-Right," Alec stuttered, stumbling over his words. "I should get going. I'll call you later?" The last part was squeaked more as a question than anything, but Magnus did sincerely hope that Alec did call him later as he watched Alec quickly exit the shop.
After all, Magnus hadn't gotten Alec's number.