Receiving a way to contact Magnus may not immediately solve everything, yet it let Alec breathe a little easier. It wasn't as if he was planning to stalk him day in and day out, but it was a small part of Magnus' new life. It made him feel, stupidly, like he was a part of it. As if it would be just as easy as tapping a few buttons and he would have his husband back. But sadly, reality was almost always not that simple. It was complicated as fuck.
Alec crossed his feet in his office chair, which was not a throne, no matter what Jace and Luke said. He regretted not getting lunch hours ago, but the thought of eating no longer appealed to him at the moment.
Oh Raziel, what if Magnus had someone? Alec would never step in the way of them, but he wouldn't lie that the thought drove a blade through his heart. You spoke as if you hadn't done the exact same thing, Alec.
Tyler might've broken up with him ages ago, but something he'd said that night stuck with him. "We both had, in our own way, used each other." It was the truth. While Alec didn't regret any of it, what they had was incomparable to what he had with Magnus. The latter was much more precious.
If Magnus had shared it with someone else, Alec wouldn't force himself into his life. He could handle being a bystander to every milestone Magnus would have, every one of those he might share with someone else. It was far from ideal, but he would still take it.
Anything to keep Magnus happy, even if it meant keeping himself away.
He understood his own brother a little better now, of what he went through when Clary was lost to them. There was no rule forbidding him from meeting Magnus, nothing except his own hesitance on whether Magnus even wanted him in his life again. It wouldn't be fair of Alec to upend it all, with no regard to Magnus.
However, the selfishness in him was insisting he went to Magnus and never let go, acting like a troublesome bow-and-arrow-wielding barnacle.
Magnus would either hate it and miraculously find a way to detach Alec from his person or, even more miraculously, gain back his memories.
But with the latter came a whole new set of problems. Particularly, how Magnus would react to being a mundane again. It was a possibility that it might break him, which might break Alec in turn, especially when he knew that he was the one responsible for it.
Either way, even if he wasn't planning on introducing himself to Magnus, he still had to visit New York next month for a work trip scheduled weeks ago. Despite all of his current vehemence and certainty, Alec knew that it would be a different matter entirely once he set foot in New York.
Aside from the new friend he had acquired, that day remained otherwise bleak for Magnus. The next day was when things started looking up. For example, he had a new job. It wasn't the most rewarding job in the world, especially in terms of salary. But for someone who had been dubbed many a time as a bookworm, working as a librarian was a real joy.
Magnus adjusted his glasses from where they almost slipped off the bridge of his nose, and he lifted his eyes from the words on the page to his surroundings. His view from the circulation desk was limited, bookshelves blocking his line of sight in most directions.
The library he had been working at for a month stored their huge collection of books in 3 sections, one for adults, another for teenagers, and also one for kids. It was a big library, but today was not a busy day and there were scant visitors except in the kids' area.
It was his personal favorite spot in the entire place. There was something heartwarming about seeing a bunch of kids sitting on the puzzle piece carpets while someone would read a story to them.
Magnus wasn't the only librarian currently on duty today, so he closed the book he was reading after bookmarking the page, and went to volunteer for the next "story time".
He was shocked when one of the children excitedly called out to him. "Uncle Magnus!" said the little girl with her dark hair in two small braids. There was something really familiar about her, he just couldn't place a finger on it.
"Hi, sweetpea. I think you have the wrong person, I'm not your uncle." Magnus leaned down until his face was in her direct eyesight, his lips tugged up into a kind smile.
She giggled, "You're silly, of course you are."
He felt bad about trying to burst her bubble. After all, what was the harm of her thinking that he looked like her uncle? Just as he was about to say something else to the adorable child, the previous storyteller wrapped up her tale and called Magnus to the front.
He was aware that most of the storytellers used books as their direct guidance and read from them word-for-word. But there were others, like Magnus, who loved to make up their own fantasy story on the spot. The children loved his story much more than the storybooks - at least, that was the case the last time he volunteered.
Magnus stepped up onto the slightly raised platform where an armless chair sat, but he chose to sit cross-legged on the floor instead, to be able to see almost two dozen children eyeing him with the wide-eyed excitement only people that young could afford.
Magnus began spinning his tale. "Once upon a time," most of the children leaned forward in rapt attention. "There lived an archer and a warlock." He whispered the next sentence, "Little did they know, they were soulmates." The kids' reactions never failed to amuse him; they immediately crowed with delight. Romantics, the lot of them.
He continued after a short pause, "They couldn't be more different, but it didn't stop them from falling in love at first sight." Magnus might be exaggerating that part, yet the kids certainly loved it. "The archer shot one of his trusty arrows and saved the warlock's life, who asked him in turn, 'Who are you?' Then, their eyes met across the crowded room. They kept staring at each other and didn't say a word, but their gaze was broken when the warlock had to leave."
He looked at them from above the rim of his glasses. "The next time they saw each other, the archer came in just as someone was - yet again - trying to kill the warlock. They defeated him together with their combined badass magic powers and amazing aim." Magnus couldn't keep in a chuckle when he heard one of the kids' lowly spoken "awesome".
Magnus shrugged. "But, their path wasn't easy from there. When the warlock tried to ask the archer out for a first date, he refused." His enthralled audience grumbled in dismay, so Magnus laughingly responded, "Come on guys, it wouldn't have been fun at all if they had it easy. Would it?"
"Just continue with it, Mister," demanded a particularly impatient girl, her gummy smile taking all the insolence out of her words.
"Aye aye, madam," Magnus mock-saluted her. "As I was saying, the archer turned down the offer. It was because his people would've never approved." Homophobia was a more correct term, but he thought it was too dark a subject for his current company. It'd be like opening a brand new can of worms; he'd rather avoid it if possible. "Then, the archer proposed to someone else instead." They all gasped; one of the younger ones almost fell over in his surprise, but he still managed to remain upright - Magnus shot him a smile for his efforts.
"This story has a happy ending, right Mr. Bane?" A small voice piped in from her spot in the back; it was none other than the young girl who had greeted him earlier.
"Of course it does, sweetheart. Everyone has their happy endings in fairy tales." The girl seemed pleased enough with his answer, nodding to herself in satisfaction. Magnus didn't even notice that he never gave the girl his last name.
He resumed the telling of his story. "The warlock tried to convince him to call it off. After all, the archer was only getting married to please his parents, but he was stubborn and tried to go through with it. The warlock was heartbroken, but he eventually gave up on his unfruitful endeavor. The night of the wedding, an old friend appeared to give the warlock some needed words of advice. He said to him, 'Someday, someone will come along who will tear down those walls you've built around your heart. When that love comes back to you, you must do everything in your power to fight for it.' That was enough to convince the warlock to try one more time, one last-ditch effort to win back his own Prince Charming." Magnus waggled his eyebrows and winked at them, succeeding in drawing chuckles from his young audience.
Magnus shifted his numb leg from underneath the other, making himself more comfortable before continuing. "When the next day arrived, it was time for the wedding. All the important dignitaries were already in attendance. The archer was looking dashing in his tuxedo, dressed head to toe in white. The door opened, and in walked his bride-to-be wearing the most beautiful dress. He was already having second thoughts, about whether duty to his family was more important than his own happiness, but the archer pushed it aside."
"Not for long, though. Just as the bride and groom were about to state their vows, the warlock slammed the door open and stood at the end of the aisle just to stare at him. They didn't need to say anything to each other, but he was silently asking the archer to make a choice."
"The warlock was hoping that he would make the right one, but he still doubted that the archer would. It was a very tense moment, the attendees were confused, but they all could feel something in the air. They were watching something important unfold. After some whispered words to his bride-to-be, the archer marched back down the aisle. The warlock was steeling himself, so sure that he was going to get kicked out." All the children looked heartbroken, and dozens of wide eyes greeted Magnus' own.
Time to put an end to their suffering. "The archer kissed him instead." The small crowd collectively gasped. Magnus even saw one of them beating his purple monkey plushie against the carpeted floor repeatedly in his happiness.
"Oh yes, he did, and his siblings were happy for him, but the same couldn't be said for his parents. But the archer didn't care anymore, he was finally following his heart and the world just needed to accept that," Magnus said, smiling fondly at the group in front of him, who were not even trying to hide their own grins.
"Then, they lived happily ever after." A girl cut in through the cheers of happiness, sighing dreamily to herself.
Magnus tutted and shook his head. "Not so fast, missy. There are still many more stories in store for them." He winked at her. "Hell, there may be enough to fill a whole trilogy of books." He pretended to rub his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Or at least, four seasons of a TV show," Magnus guessed, while tilting his palm left-right in a so-so gesture.
"Why not three? Four is too long," exclaimed the youngest of the bunch.
"Four is just the number after three, sweetpea," Magnus gently explained, aware that the child was prone to bursting into tears at the slightest hint of strictness.
The young boy only innocently answered, "But I can barely count to ten, Mister Bane." He caused the other children to giggle.
"We have barely started and you're already cutting the story short? Low blow, mister." The children fell into hysterics seeing Magnus' exaggeratedly offended gasp - complete with a palm to the chest for extra theatrics.
Magnus' eyes fell to the clock on the wall, and he noticed that his shift was coming to an end and he would have to hurry if he was going to be on time for his appointment. He ended the story then and there. "Well, that's all from me today, guys." Which the children were unsurprisingly miffed about, if their grumblings were to be believed.
"I know, I know, you all hate unfinished stories, but at least it's happy?" Magnus offered as he stood from his cross legged sitting position. He sighed to himself when they seemed to accept it well enough.
He was grateful to avoid consoling a flock of crying kids, especially when he was on a tight schedule as it was. "I'll be back tomorrow, anyway." He looked around to find someone he would obviously not put up as a scapegoat, eyes brightening immediately upon catching sight of his not-victim strolling idly after inspecting one of the shelves. "For now, you can hang out with my friend Elowen here." He walked to her and dragged his smaller colleague loosely by the wrist to stand in front of the kids, her glare boring holes into his skull. Magnus knew how much she wanted to do it, she had already told him as much, but the woman had always needed a bit of a push. What kind of friend would he be if he didn't provide said push?
Elowen had always been timid, and she was dressed like the stereotypical librarian, but it was obvious to anyone how kind she was. The kids apparently agreed given their enthusiastic greetings to her. After the fifth butchering of her name, Magnus took pity on both her and the children. "You lot can just call her Elle." She shot a bright grin at him in thanks. Elowen's iridescent smile and her poorly hidden crush on him had Magnus unbiddenly musing, 'Another life, perhaps.' In that other life, he wouldn't have hesitated to try to get close with her.
As it was, Magnus felt in his bones that he was only waiting for something - for someone truly special to enter his life. He could only hope that whoever it was would accept him in his entirety. And well, it wouldn't hurt them to quicken the pace a little, would it?
Just as he was almost at the exit, Magnus' shoulder bumped into an unknown woman in his haste. He had another peculiar feeling that she should've been more blue.
The woman seemed shocked to see him, her jaw dropping to her feet. Magnus didn't have time to question her, but he made sure that she was alright before leaving the premises.
Magnus didn't know if it was only his own wistful thinking, but there was a palpable something lingering in the cool evening air - as if the universe was holding its breath in expectation, and he had an inkling that he was as deeply entrenched within their machinations as could be.