To the outside

There is a slight pause right after the introductions - almost as though the man is giving him a chance to say something else - but Alec honestly doesn't know where to go from here.

What is the next step supposed to be after introductions? Do they just start making small talk right here?

Magnus waits just long enough to give the Shadowhunter the chance to take the lead if he wants to. But when nothing is actually forthcoming after a few moments, he just fluently skips right over the brief pause. After all, he is quite happy to take the lead himself.

So, he just takes another step closer. "May I buy you a drink, Alec?"

At that, a slight smile breaks out over Alec's face, as he nod. Magnus easily smiles back at the beautiful sight, despite not actually getting a verbal response.

Definitely not the chatty kind, this one.

Drinks actually sounds good, Alec thinks. Nice and casual.

He watches as Magnus' grin turns slightly amused and only then does it occur to Alec that he might have to work on actually verbalizing his thoughts tonight. He flushes slightly.

By the angel, he's so out of his depths here.

But thankfully, Magnus doesn't actually comment and just gestures for Alec to lead the way to the bar with a smile.

xxx

They quickly find a spot at one end of the bar, a little out of the way, a little quieter but still close enough to the crowd that it doesn't feel too intimate. It also lets Alec put his back to the wall, so he doesn't feel the need to continuously check for potential threats over his shoulder.

Alec approves. And he is getting the feeling that Magnus might know Pandemonium quite well going by how easily he sought out this particular spot.

They settle at the bar and Alec is shaken from his observations by Magnus asking, "What would you like to drink?"

He throws out the one thing his brain comes up with from Jace's various stories of going out to clubs and bars.

"Beer?" It's more of a question than a statement, but once more Magnus just easily smiles at him and the bartender appears as soon as Magnus turns in his direction to order.

Pretty good service, Alec observes absently as their drinks appear in front of them within moments - a beer for Alec and something clear, probably-high-in-alcohol-content in a stemmed glass for Magnus - despite the large crowd surrounding the bar.

Then, Magnus casually snaps his fingers, leaving blue flames covering the surface of the drink. He is watching Alec, clearly waiting for some sort of reaction to his display of magic, even as he picks up his drink.

And Alec just shrugs internally. A warlock then. Good to know.

It's not like Alec is particularly surprised by this revelation. He already knew that Magnus had to be a Downworlder simply due to the fact that the other man could see Izzy and him despite their activated runes which make them invisible to mundanes.

Then there is the fact that Pandemonium is a known gathering spot for warlocks and seelies especially. So, he had kind of assumed that there was a fifty-fifty chance of Magnus being either. Still, good to know which one.

The idea that he is about to have drinks with a Downworlder simply doesn't bother Alec in the least, as uncommon as that particular opinion might be amongst Shadowhunters.

But, well, Alec also isn't a hypocrite, thank you very much. He's had to listen to Izzy describe her various 'encounters' with Downworlders for years now - his sister definitely has a thing for seelies in particular - and at no point has Alec ever thought there to be anything wrong with it. So, why would that change now?

Thus, Alec just reaches for his beer and then looks over at Magnus. The watchful, almost cautious look in the warlock's eyes is already dissipating and instead that small, warm smile is once more curving his lips as they finally clink glasses.

Magnus then turns slightly away from the bar - crossing his legs, glass in hand - to face Alec more fully, his warm, intense eyes unwaveringly focused on him.

"So, tell me," he asks cordially. "Is Alec short for anything?"

Okay, casual conversation it is then, Alec thinks. I can do this.

And as much as he despises small talk on principle, Alec is determined to at least make something of tonight, if only to figure out whether he likes this sort of thing at all.

So, he resolves to make himself stay for at least half an hour, no matter how banal the conversation might turn out to be. Just thirty minutes of this and then he can go home and call it a successful night, one experience richer than he was before. He can manage half an hour.

xxx

The next time Alec checks his phone, it's already half past two in the morning, more than three hours since Izzy took off.

And, sure, Alec knew it must have been longer than that half hour he had first planned on staying, but he hadn't been aware of this much time passing. Because talking to Magnus is just easy, almost ridiculously so.

They've talked about anything and everything, exchanging stories and anecdotes, covering so many topics that Alec has kind of lost track of all that they talked about at this point. There was something about hobbies and interests, about favorite foods, and even some heavier topics relating to Downworld history or Clave politics strewn in.

But they also talked about some personal information, like Alec's daily routine of missions and training as a Shadowhunter and about Magnus' clients and him actually owning Pandemonium, which also explains a lot about the things Alec observed tonight, like the always instant service they get from the bartenders and the fact that most people here seem to somehow know Magnus.

The two of them just talked, barely any lull in their conversation at all.

Alec is honestly surprised just how comfortable he is - sitting here at the bar of a night club with someone who was a complete stranger until just a few hours ago, talking. How much he is enjoying himself.

But it's also late. Really late. And he has to get back to the Institute soon, has to get at least an hour or two of sleep if he doesn't want to be entirely useless tomorrow.

But by the angel, he also really doesn't want to go.

Well, tonight is certainly not turning out the way I had expected it to.

Magnus has been actively ignoring how late it is for a while now. He doesn't actually have to check the time to know that it has to be the not-so-early morning hours by now, just based on the crowd. You develop an eye for that sort of thing after a while. But he is nothing if not good at ignoring reality.

And he is just so captivated by this Shadowhunter, it's almost a little ridiculous.

Magnus doesn't even remember the last time he just talked like this to someone. No agenda, no hidden politics, no cat-and-mouse, nothing to gain beyond enjoying each other's company, but still so far beyond just small talk, the topics ever-changing, the conversation entirely engaging throughout.

He usually gets bored far too quickly to enjoy talking to people for any extended amount of time, with very few exceptions. But several hours of talking to Alexander and Magnus is a little stupefied by just how much he likes being around this one.

It's been a long time since he met someone this honest and open and straightforward. And Alexander is a beautiful amalgam of contradictions. Entirely open but also reserved about some things, no guile but also anything but naive, almost brash in his straightforwardness but careful in his observations, his every opinion showing that he is driven by rationality but also backed by pure empathy for anyone he meets.

Magnus is honestly fascinated.

And if he could he would make the night stretch a little longer, steal a little more time with this beautiful, adorable man.

But it's reaching that point of the night, where they will leave soon anyway, only leaving the options of going home together or separately. So, the only way to keep Alexander any longer would be by trying to seduce him. And as much as Magnus would certainly like to have this one in his bed - oh, would I ever - a quick tumble in the sheets seems like an entirely unsatisfactory end to a pretty perfect night.

No, this night deserves a proper ending, one that doesn't leave a slightly stale taste in your mouth the next morning. An ending that lets Magnus ask for another date at a later point in time.

So, when Alexander finally signals that he really has to leave - and after having heard the Shadowhunter describe his rather grueling daily training schedule at some point during their discussion, Magnus already feels a little sorry for him and how painful it will be to get up tomorrow - he just smiles, nods and gets up with the Shadowhunter.

And then he promptly insists on exchanging numbers.

Hey, it's been years - decades - since Magnus has felt this drawn to another person. Only a fool would leave something like this up to chance. And Magnus may be many things, but a fool he is not.

Then, he follows Alexander outside, happy to wait with him in front of the club for a cab. And just when the Shadowhunter is about to get into the car, he pauses and then turns around once more. Magnus can see something like determination light his eyes, as he takes a step closer.

"I had fun. Maybe we could do this again some time?" Alexander asks quietly.

And at seeing the slight blush on the Shadowhunter's cheeks combined with the careful determination in his expression and the tentative hope in his eyes, Magnus feels something twinge in his chest, something warm, a tug right where his supposedly impregnable, oh-so-fortified heart resides.

It's a feeling he hasn't felt in a long, long time. It should probably scare him.

But Magnus just feels an entirely helpless smile spread over his face in response.

xxx

Alec gets back to the Institute some time after 3am.

Thankfully, he manages to get back to his room without actually running into anyone. Well, no one would have given him even a second look if he had, seeing as missions that go until all hours of the night are really not unusual in the least. Unsurprisingly, demons do not care for their sleep schedules.

But still.

Because Alec isn't sure he would have been able to keep anything even resembling a straight face right now.

He just can't seem to keep the smile off his face, can't seem to keep himself from pressing his fingers to that still slightly tingling spot on his cheek where Magnus pressed a light kiss in goodbye.

Alec thinks to himself that for someone who hadn't even let himself look at another guy before, he really did quite well tonight.

And if he falls asleep with a slight smile on his face, well, it's not like there is anyone around to see.

The next few days are chaos and Alec barely finds the time to breathe.

When Alec gets up the next day he is informed that Jace not only found the angel-blooded, non-Shadowhunter girl, but he also saved her from a demon in her own home and then he brought her back to the Institute.

And now she is apparently part of their group.

At first, Alec is simply a little confused as to why this girl they've known for less than a day apparently gets as much say as any of them in how they are to go about anything. But he is getting increasingly irritated with every new lecturing rant about a world she literally knows nothing about, with every rough-shod mission his siblings and him are dragged into because of it.

But apparently, he is entirely alone in that.

To his ire, his siblings have also apparently decided that even the most basic rules don't apply to them anymore. Like the 'no mundanes in the Institute' rule. It's a rather simple, obvious rule, one you'd think wouldn't be that hard to follow. But apparently, Clary's rants about what is 'right' trump everything else currently, even basic common sense.

And 'what is right' also coincidentally includes the presence of her best friend, which leads to yet another, just-as-opinionated and even chattier non-Shadowhunter running around the Institute.

Although, as annoyed as Alec is, he doesn't actually protest against the chatty kid's presence all that much, at least not once he realizes that it's Izzy who is apparently fascinated with this one. He owes her that much, even though he really really doesn't get what she sees in the mundane. Well, it's too late now anyway, seeing as they've already explained the Shadowworld to this guy for some reason that still isn't apparent to Alec in the least.

He is torn between exasperation and frustration and irritation at the absolute mess his siblings are currently creating.

Although, he can even find a certain level of amusement in the fact that all three of them currently have rather unusual love interests, even if Alec is the only one who knows about all three. Jace who is crushing on the angel-blooded non-Shadowhunter, Izzy who is fixated on the mundane. And Alec who really likes Magnus, a warlock.

Because Alec has definitely started developing a rather serious crush on Magnus, as much as he would like to deny it. But, well, Alec has never been in the business of lying to himself, so at least to himself he can admit that he definitely likes Magnus a little. Or more than a little if he is entirely honest.

And his crush only gets worse with every conversation they have, which are actually surprisingly frequent.

Because the day after they first met, Magnus had called him. Called to ask Alec out.

He still flushes slightly every time he thinks about it. Still doesn't quite know what to do with the knowledge that someone like Magnus - so dazzling and bright and captivating and more than slightly breathtaking - seems to really be interested in Alec of all people.

Because the warlock definitely has other options.

While they had been in Pandemonium - sitting at the bar, talking - Magnus had been continuously approached by others, Downworlders and mundanes alike, flirting, offering drinks and company, sometimes including Alec but more often than not ignoring him entirely or even glaring at him.

Admittedly, the glaring might have been mostly due to the fact that Alec had been a Shadowhunter in a Downworlder club, but still.

And it would have been a little daunting for Alec to see just how popular Magnus seems to be if it hadn't been for the fact that the warlock hadn't spared any of them even the slightest bit of attention, at most greeting those whom he knew by name, but over all remaining entirely focused on Alec.

And yeah, that had been quite the ego boost if Alec is entirely honest.

Alec just isn't used to being at the center of anyone's attention. He has long-since gotten accustomed to letting himself be eclipsed by Izzy's brightness or Jace's magnetism. He is used to being in the background, watching, observing. Which is actually not a bad place to be at all. Going ignored until he himself decides to actually make his presence known, honestly doesn't bother him.

But, this – having someone's undivided attention, someone who could apparently have pretty much anyone he wanted – is definitely new. It flusters Alec. But he would be lying if he said he doesn't also enjoy it.

At least when the attention is coming from Magnus.

But point is, that Alec had an utterly frustrating morning of chasing after Jace and his crush - cleaning up their messes but getting lectured whenever he dared to actually express his opinions on anything - and he had just been pacing through the Institute's deserted corridors in irritation, when Magnus had called.

And Alec had been so damn glad that there had been no one around at that point, because he is quite sure his blush wouldn't have gone unnoticed by anyone.

A blush which hadn't gotten any better, when Magnus then just casually asked him out for lunch - and Alec truly is no expert on how this whole dating thing works, but it has to mean something that the warlock had called him less than twenty-four hours after they had seen each other last, right? - and Alec had agreed before he even really had a chance to think about it, possibly sounding a little too eager if he is entirely honest.

And maybe he should actually feel guilty for agreeing to go out right now - what with everything that's currently going on - but, dammit all, his siblings can deal without him for an hour. There is such a thing as a lunch break even for Shadowhunters, even if Alec practically never makes use of it, usually just grabbing something to eat between meetings and missions.

So, Alec is going out for lunch and his siblings can just call him on his phone if they really need him.

Which brings him here, a bistro in the middle of New York, about ten minutes away from the Institute.

xxx

Magnus is delighted.

When he called Alexander, he knew he had been ignoring usual 'dating guidelines' of waiting for a few days until calling, lest you show just how eager you really are. But screw the procedure. Magnus wanted a date - wanted to make it clear just how truly interested he is in Alexander - and he has never had a problem with going after what he wants.

And going by how well they had gotten along last night, Magnus had actually been pretty confident that the Shadowhunter would agree to meet again.

But he certainly hadn't expected to get that date pretty much immediately.

He had just been intending to ask Alexander out for drinks at some point in the coming days, but then the Shadowhunter hadn't only agreed in general but also clearly assumed that Magnus's question of whether he would like to meet again meant 'right now' rather than 'whenever works for you'.

Not that Magnus is complaining in any way. Quite the opposite, really.

So, he had simply ignored the misunderstanding, skipping right to naming a good place for lunch for them to meet at – he knows the owner of that bistro, so Magnus is sure he'll be able to get a table despite the incredibly short notice – as though meeting Alexander right now had been his intention all along. No need to make the Shadowhunter feel awkward about the misunderstanding when Magnus is quite happy to meet him right now anyway.

And he is so not considering right now what Alexander being so unfamiliar with things that are considered pretty standard when dating – something he had already noticed at Pandemonium, having felt endlessly endeared at the Shadowhunter's obviously perplexed reactions at some points - in combination with his general shyness might mean about his dating history. Or rather his lack thereof.

Yep. Definitely not a thought for right now.

That's something to think about tonight when Magnus is back at his place. Alone. And with some time to himself.

Instead he quickly calls the personal number of the bistro's owner, arranges for a table – unbothered by the fact that it is the middle of the lunch rush and that they will mostly have to 'lose' someone else's actual reservation to make room – and after a glance in the mirror, a snap of his fingers to perfect his outfit, he is out the door to go meet his adorable Shadowhunter for lunch.

Today is turning out to be a rather excellent day.

xxx

Walking up to the bistro, Alec feels a little nervous – unsurprising, seeing as this is the first time he has actually gone out with anyone – but strangely enough it's not actually in a bad way. Well, he doesn't particularly enjoy feeling nervous but there is also something like anticipation and almost eagerness mixed into the feeling in his chest. It's new and strange, but again, not in an entirely bad way.

Then he spots Magnus waiting for him out front and Alec lets himself get briefly distracted by how incredible the warlock looks. Magnus isn't quite as spectacularly dressed as he was at the club last night, but his hair is still elaborately styled, he is wearing a heap of accessories and the blue highlights in his hair perfectly match his eyeshadow as well as the color of the silk shirt underneath the vest he is wearing.

Suddenly, Alec wonders whether he should have made more of an effort and not just have shown up in what amounts to his work clothes of jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket.

Although, going by the obviously appreciative once-over Magnus gives him as soon as he spots Alec, the warlock clearly sees no reason to complain. Alec can't help but blush slightly under the attention.

But before he can do anything to actually embarrass himself, a waiter appears to lead them to a table. The restaurant Magnus chose is really nice – and apparently quite popular going by the long line out front - and they quickly decide on their orders. And once the waiter has disappeared once more, Magnus smiles and leans forward slightly.

"So, how has your day been so far, Alexander?" he asks lightly.

Alec just sighs, as his mind automatically wanders back to the Institute and his siblings and the thought of just how many new messes they might manage to get into in the one hour Alec allotted himself for lunch.

"Ah, it has been a rather busy day, then, I take it?" Magnus asks - his eyes just as warm and intense as yesterday - and Alec finds he still quite enjoys being at the center of this man's attention. Really enjoys it.

"You have no idea," Alec finally replies. A pause, then he sighs once more. "Having siblings is stressful."

Magnus' laughter is warm and Alec simply can't help but smile in response, already feeling some of his frustration ebbing away, his mood lifting.

And after that they just talk, Alec's nerves almost entirely disappearing as he relaxes once more. Because talking to Magnus is apparently just as easy now, as it was when they were at Pandemonium. They talk and eat and Alec might be starting to get a little bit addicted to the sound of Magnus' warm laughter.

Time passes far too quickly and before he knows it one hour has already passed.

And Alec would honestly love to just stay a little longer, but he does in fact have a job he can't just ignore. So, they say their goodbyes, but it's not quite as reluctant as yesterday. Because this time Alec doesn't have to wonder whether they'll actually see each other again.

He finally gets what people mean with words like 'chemistry' or 'spark' when talking about compatibility. Because Magnus and him definitely have that. In abundance.

And when his phone pings with a new message from Magnus before he even makes it all the way back to the Institute, Alec just smiles.

A/N: So. Much. Damn. Fluff.

Seriously, how? I mean, yeah, this is a fix-it (which really just translates into a chance for me to make them happy right from the very start without all the drama), but still! This seems a little excessive, even for me... Well, whatever. Malec deserves all the nice things anyway and apparently they are getting it in this fic :D

Would love to know what you think :)

And thanks so much for your reviews (*^^*)