Summary: Malec's relationship from Chairman Meow's point of view.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments, because if I did, Malec would have their own book. Mild spoilers ahead. Some parallels with the books, and a couple moments all my own. Enjoy. J

Chairman Meow liked Magnus, his warlock. He really did. But Chairman did not know what to think about Alec, the strange man with the black hair and weird blue circle eyes that had wormed his way into his warlock's life, much as the cat wormed his way into the warlock's arms when he was asleep.

When Chairman was a kitten, he had been abandoned by his owner and left to die behind a Dumpster. However, he had yowled so loudly and pitifully that the sound was picked up by the sensitive ears of the passing Magnus Bane. Magnus had been thinking about getting a new cat after The Great Catsby died and when this opportunity presented itself, in the form of a tiny grey kitty, Magnus was not going to say no.

He had picked him up by the scruff of his neck and cuddled him (which Chairman liked very much) and brought him home to clean him (which Chairman did not like at all). But that unpleasant part was over soon enough, and Magnus and the cat became companions.

They tolerated each other very well, and it extended to great liking on the days when Magnus fed Chairman twice, absentmindedly. Chairman Meow learned the rules of the apartment, such as don't jump on the counter (when the warlock was around), and don't chew the furniture (which Chairman thought was silly; it was replaced every week anyway). For the most part, Chairman Meow followed these rules to keep his warlock happy. However, there was one rule that was not strictly enforced, but that Chairman always kept to, having learned it the hard way. Never, under any circumstances, was the cat to go into the warlock's sleeping room when there were funny noises coming out of it.

Chairman, bored, had wandered in one night, foolishly ignoring the Noises of Death, and was promptly hit with a sight that was just too terrible for his poor kitten eyes and a stench even worse. He spent the rest of the night in a flurry, even after the noises stopped. He was so worried that something had happened to his warlock! He didn't want to be out on the streets again! Chairman was too tiny to be expected to defend himself against common street cats!

When Magnus had walked out of the room the next morning, unharmed, but with ruffled hair, Chairman had been annoyed about his pointless worrying and eventually learned that it was all right to go in the room after the Noises of Death had stopped. It was perfectly fine, and always quite warm, although the stench of sweat lingered.

Every time this happened, though, there would be a new stranger the next morning, never staying, rarely petting him. Chairman Meow was not quite sure what to make of this. Magnus didn't seem to mind, and so Chairman tolerated the strangers with dignity. Magnus petted him lots anyways. Chairman Meow, cat of the High Warlock of Brooklyn, was not to be cowed by some unfriendly strangers!

Soon after came the night of that party. Chairman Meow had learned the word "party" by then, as parties were quite common while living with Magnus. Chairman's name seemed to be mentioned a lot by Magnus during this one. The cat wasn't entirely sure why. He didn't like parties one bit. They were just too loud for his poor little kitty ears. But when Chairman peeped out of his hiding place (the kitchen cupboard) to check on the progress, he caught sight of a bunch of unusual people leave. All black-clothed and smelling like blood.

Normally Chairman Meow liked the smell of blood, because blood meant meat. But this stuff was nasty. Chairman had soon dismissed the odd bloody people from his mind, and concentrated on huddling far enough back into the cupboard to block out the awful noise, and finally go to sleep.

As Chairman hadn't really given the odd people a second thought, he was amazed several days later when one of them walked into their apartment. Chairman paused cleaning himself and glanced up to form an opinion on the visitor. He could not quite make one out. For a human, he was quite tall, and had black fur on his head like the warlock's. He was, however, much less sparkly, and wore no colors. He was like a tall shadow of the warlock.

As Chairman was contemplating this stranger idly, the person did something odd. He reached down and petted Chairman. He smelled vaguely of another cat. And man, was he ever a good petter! This one knew what he was doing! When he stopped petting Chairman to talk to the warlock, Chairman Meow rubbed against his leg and complained loudly. Magnus picked him up and stroked him. There was more talking, that Chairman did not follow at all. The shadowy one seemed to be stuttering his words – he sounded nothing like Magnus when he talked.

Magnus put Chairman down suddenly (the cat complained) and put his mouth against the shadowy ones'. Chairman watched with mild interest. That was something he'd seen Magnus do many times, but usually it was during one of the parties. The look on the human's face was strange. It was part embarrassed, part very happy. Chairman had never, in his admittedly short kitty life, seen such an odd expression.

He studied the stranger's eyes (Chairman heard Magnus call him Alec.) They were weird. Magnus had normal eyes. Normal colour (gold and green), and normal pupils (slits), just like any self-respecting being. Just like any cats'. Alec's eyes were blue, blue like the sky. Blue like the blue stones in Magnus' rings. The pupils were round, and at this point, slightly dilated. Chairman pondered that, but couldn't get a second look because Alec had stumbled out the door and was gone.

The next time Chairman Meow saw Alec was one Friday night, not too long after the first incident. He and Magnus had stumbled into the apartment with a bang, arms tightly wrapped around each other. They were doing that kissing thing again. Chairman sighed, as knowingly as a cat can. HE knew what was coming next. They would go into Magnus' bedroom and he would have to hide in the cupboard again. That was what always happened with this sort of guest.

So it was to Chairman Meow's great surprise when they broke apart, exchanged a couple words, and Alec left the apartment. Chairman paused, and from what he could hear, he surmised that Alec had just fallen down the stairs. Well. That was unexpected.

He picked his way over to Magnus, who was lying sprawled on the couch, still breathing heavily. Chairman jumped up onto the couch and pawed at Magnus' undone shirt, mewing for attention. Magnus stroked him absently.

"I think this one's different, Meow," Magnus said. "He certainly seems different."

Chairman didn't quite understand the words, but he sensed the feelings emanating from Magnus. It felt like hesitancy. It felt like hope.

As the weeks passed, Chairman Meow began seeing a lot more of Alec. He also began seeing a lot more of his black-clad, bloody-smelling friends. Chairman learned that his earlier conclusion of "shadows" was right, as Magnus called them Shadowhunters. Close enough, Chairman thought.

They always smelled like demon blood, even when they looked clean, and it was especially strong when one night Alec stumbled in covered with the stuff. Chairman yowled, alerting Magnus to Alec's presence, and retreated to a far corner of the living room where he could watch the proceedings without being too close to that infernal smell.

Chairman watched as Magnus tore the black fabric away from Alec's shoulder, revealing a deep, festering cut. They spoke in low voices, Alec gasping for breath, and they sank down to the floor. That blocked Chairman's full view of them, but he could still easily see the blue sparks that flew from Magnus' fingers and made the wound close. It now looked a few days old. Unfortunately for Chairman, the stench of demon blood remained.

Magnus spoke slightly louder, and Chairman caught his words. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Alec laughed shortly. "Not badly. You should see the other guy." He paused. "Well, actually you can't, since they've been technically sent back to the hell dimension, unless you can do a spell to see the hell dimens-mph!"

Magnus had cut him off, placing a hand over his mouth. "You sure you didn't hit your head, sweet pea? You're rambling."

"No, my head feels fine," Alec scowled. "And don't call me sweet pea!"

"Cupcake?"

"No!"

Chairman watched silently, curiously, as they embraced each other, lost in the relief that they were both all right, at least for another day. He wondered what they were saying, and how it was at all possible to look like you were very happy and very sad at the same time.

Chairman Meow knew that the moment he started disliking Alec was the same moment he realized Alec was going to be permanent. It had always been just him and Magnus, since Chairman was a kitten and Magnus had rescued him from that Dumpster, all those months ago. They were fine by themselves, thank you very much. It was just the cat and the man with the cat eyes. However, the cat could not pinpoint a specific memory. He guessed it had been coming on gradually.

Maybe it had been that time when Alec came over and stayed the night. Alec wasn't hurt; he just came over because he wanted to. He and Magnus had made dinner while dancing to some song on the radio. Chairman had been eating his dinner in the kitchen and had had to dodge their swirling footsteps once or twice. He had complained very loudly at that, but they were so wrapped up in each other and the music they hadn't noticed.

Later, Chairman had just finished a very exhausting game of "pounce on the catnip mouse" and was ready to snuggle up into the warlock's bed next to him. The cat had found that his space was taken by the blue-eyed Shadowhunter. Chairman Meow was surprised as there was no smell of sweat, only sleep. Chairman crawled in between them, only to be unconsciously pushed to the end of the bed. Chairman Meow slept there that night. Use the kitty bed Magnus had snapped to him? No! Of course not!

Yes, Chairman Meow was liking Alec less and less with every visit Alec paid. Sometimes he thought it was crazy that he should dislike someone who always fed him and often petted him, but reinforced the thought that Alec was stealing his warlock. He acted incredibly cute to try and remedy this, but only attracted Alec's attention! Yes, Chairman was almost at the end of his metaphorical leash.

Soon after came the day that everything changed. Alec came over, as per usual, but he was carrying a large box that could only be made for... a cat! Chairman nearly hissed. Was it not enough to overshadow him, he now had to bring a replacement cat?! And one that smelled like Alec did, at that!

But Chairman Meow found that this was not the case at all. The box opened to reveal a large Persian cat, who immediately came over to Chairman Meow and sniffed him, seemingly judging him. He introduced himself as Church, the cat of the Institute, but mostly Alec's cat. Ah, that explained the scent. Chairman took an instant liking to Church, and found it his duty to show Church around the apartment. They had so much fun in the bathroom, playing with toilet paper ("...you see, Church, you go close to the dangerous bathtub, but you never touch it!" "Chairman, this is amazing. I have to try this at the Institute,"), that they hardly noticed when the afternoon had passed.

Church went home with Alec that evening, but not before Alec and Magnus had noted how cute they looked playing together, the tiny grey tabby and the giant Persian cat. They also noted the toilet paper mess in the bathroom, but decided that it was a small price to pay for not having Chairman stare at them every time they were close.

Yes, Chairman Meow reflected, he did like his warlock. And if having Alec around all the time meant he could see Church regularly, he could like Alec as well. Chairman knew that Magnus was much happier than usual when Alec was here, and he could tell that they loved each other very much. He had the feeling that Magnus would do anything for Alec, and vice versa. Surely that was love. If that wasn't, what was?

Alec makes Magnus happy, and Alec was extraordinarily good at petting cats. Yeah, Chairman thought, I think I could keep him around here.

The End

A/N: Please review and tell me what you thought! I accept constructive criticism, but no flames please.