This is the second part of this story. This time it's Alec describing Magnus' habits.
Magnus' habits by Alec
One thing I find ridiculously mundane about Magnus is his habit of dancing in the kitchen. That in itself isn't that surprising, he has a wonderful body and knows how to use it. But the way he dances is hilarious. He only dances when he's making dinner. You will never find him dancing in the morning, mostly because he's too tired to dance, or do anything other than grumble about the sun shining in his eyes. You will also never see him dancing in the middle of the day. Mostly because he's still too lazy to do anything but gripe about making lunch. So he snaps it from the local bakery, and ignores my disapproving looks about stealing being wrong. At dinner, when he's finally awake enough to be coherent when he talks, he lets it all out. He wiggles his butt, which makes my face get hot and my pulse skyrocket. He also rotates his hips which makes me want to rip off his clothes and make out with him right there. He will throw his head back and roll his shoulders while lip-syncing with the music in the background. Half the time he doesn't even know the words, so he makes his own up. Which is almost as hot as his interpretive dancing. And he knows it too. So every night as he's making pasta or whatever, he dances seductively, making sure I see him from my place on the couch. Which happens to have a perfect view of the kitchen, and the strip show Magnus puts on for my benefit. I don't know if he's done this with all his past lovers, made them watch as he struts around the apartment pretending to work at a club, but when he looks at me with those cat eyes practically glowing with desire, I find for the first time, I don't care about the past. All I care about his Magnus' body as I follow him with my eyes around the kitchen. His eyes never leave mine, and I know mine are glowing with lust as well. We both know it's a battle of wills when Magnus dances; who will break first. Who will give into the heat and desire, and the plain need we have for each other. Although I'm extraordinarily stubborn all the time, I know he's waiting for my self-control to snap. And so far it's been every night that I've launched myself at him, ripping his shirt off and grabbing those talented hips hard enough to leave faint bruises that look suspiciously like fingerprints.
A habit that I've always had a love/hate relationship with, is that Magnus likes to spike his hair. Don't get me wrong, he is incredibly sexy with his hair sticking up in a million spikes, all dyed a different color, and covered in glitter. But I also love to run my fingers through his hair when it's down. It's strangely soft and silky, despite the crap he puts in it to make it stay in place. And I know he loves the feel of my fingers on his scalp. He once admitted to me that he loves it when I pull on strands of it, but it makes him insane if it's not consistent. After that, I made a point to always pull on his hair when we kiss, but when he decides to tease me, I show him that two can play at that game. But any way he does his hair would not change the way I look at him. His spikes are just another way for him to say "I'm a sexy warlock and nothing you say can change that." It's another way of showing, both to himself, and to others, that he is strong, and nothing you say can affect him. I think the way he dresses, and the spikes are really just masks he puts on so no one can see he does care, and he is terrified of caring too much. He's lost so much, and been through so much that he can't bear to get too invested in anything, because he knows it won't last for long. So when Magnus lets his hair down, and takes his make-up off, he looks vulnerable without the tough shell to keep him safe. I'm always surprised to see him with his guard down because his outer mask is so thick even I had trouble breaking it. But when he lets his walls and his hair down, and lets me in, I'm filled with love for him. He thinks I'm important enough and he loves me enough to open up to me and no one else. And it makes me feel special and loved like I've never felt before.
What Not to Wear has got to be Magnus' favorite TV show ever. When it comes on at 10:00, he bustles around the apartment, popping popcorn in the microwave (when I asked him why he didn't just snap up some popcorn he said it wasn't as "mood-setting" as manually doing it, then glared at me like he was ashamed of me for even suggesting magic), gathering blankets, pillows, me, and dumping us on the couch. I don't know why he doesn't just keep the blankets and pillows out during the day, because he's always scrambling to gather everything before the show starts. But I would probably get kicked out for "insubordination" as Magnus likes to call it every time I question why he does something the hard way. But I will never forget the one time we missed an episode and Magnus couldn't be consoled for a week. That year for his birthday I got him all 10 seasons on DVD and the grin that split his face could have caused wars and saved lives. I always tell him he's beautiful when he smiles, but he just smirks at me and says, "I'm beautiful all the time darling." But I wasn't lying. There's a special kind of smile that Magnus has that brightens up not just the whole room, but the whole world. And that's the smile I received when I gave him his present that year. His special smile rarely graces his face, but when it does, you can tell. That's the kind of addiction he has to that blasted show. When he smiles at me like that, I want to kiss him, even though I hate the show with all of my being.
One habit that Magnus has that I would never guessed in a million years is his unconscious decision to bite his nails. It just surprises me that someone who spends five hours getting dressed, only to look the absolute same as when he started can have that kind of habit. He spends forever working on his appearance, making sure there are no flaws in his outfit, everything is in its place, his spikes are magically held in place, then ruins his nails by biting them. I think it's more of a nervous habit than anything. Like, he has nothing else to do with his mouth, so he sticks his nails in it, and chews. He doesn't even realize he's doing it until it's time for his next manicure and his nails are bitten down to stubs. He's always horrified that he could have done something like that to himself, but never does anything to prevent it. But it's really bad when he is stressed. The first time he met my parents, he had a toned down outfit so he wouldn't scare them off, and he spent the entire dinner playing with his food, and biting his nails. I knew it was really bad when I noticed it was the day after he had gotten his monthly manicure. I would be hearing about his ruined life for the next couple of weeks until he got over himself and just rescheduled his appointment.
Another nervous habit Magnus has is his inability to stay still for long periods of time. Just like with the nail biting, he doesn't even know he's doing it until I point out that he's going to create a trench by walking back and forth across the floor. He paces when he's stressed, and fidgets when he can't walk. In addition to biting his nails at the family dinner, he kept jerking his knee up and down, jostling my leg that was beside it, thereby making the entire table shake. I found it interesting that a man as confident looking as Magnus had such nervous twitches and habits that he couldn't seem to get rid of. No matter how many times I remind him that he's going to make a hole in our floor, or he's going to completely chew his nail off, he never changes his habits, and continues pacing and biting. With anyone else, this would drive me insane, with the gentle (or sometimes not) nudges as he bounces his knees up and down, or the constant click of teeth against nails, but not with Magnus. His habits remind me that he's human, and has the same emotions as everyone else. They remind me that although he's had centuries more experience in life than I have, he still gets nervous. All of these together make up who Magnus is, and I wouldn't change him for the world.