Magnus let out a shaky breath, his gaze running over the teen's face, his fingers petting his head in praise. He risked a glance at Sebastian, watching as his face twitching slightly in mixed approval and annoyance. Magnus shifted slightly, his leg sliding out. He let the boy, Alec, rest his head against his thigh, his fingers still running through the soft, black hair. He met Sebastian's gaze, studying the teen for a long moment.
"This boy is my bonus?" He asked, his voice carefully neutral. Sebastian nodded at him. "What do you mean by bonus? An hour? A night?" Magnus asked, worried about the grin that sprung up on Sebastian's face.
"Depends..." Sebastian's expression changed to one of mild satisfaction, like he was circling his injured prey. "How long would you like to keep him?" Magnus blinked once, his cat eyes fixed on Sebastian's face. In all honestly, he found the boy entirely charming physically, and as far as...experience went, he was obviously well trained. That bit was often a turn off for Magnus. The broken ones were always rather depressing.
"I wouldn't know yet." Magnus mused aloud. "It's hard to tell the full scope of a person's...potential when you've only known them for roughly fifteen minutes." He sent Alec a small smile, as if to reassure him. Sebastian studied the warlock for a long moment.
"Well, how about this. A sort of...trial period." Sebastian waved his hand lightly through the air. "You keep him for one week. At the end if you still want him, we'll work something out. If not, well, I'm sure someone else will take him eventually." Sebastian sighed, as if the thought was a minor annoyance to him. The idea of Alec serving another didn't sit well with Magnus, he frowned looking back down at the boy.
"I suppose that sounds fair." He murmured, tugging lightly at Alec's hair. "When does this little bargain begin?" He asked, earning a laugh from Sebastian.
"Oh, tomorrow at the earliest. We still need to discuss a few things, Alec and I." Sebastian replied with a sinister grin. Magnus paused, his gaze snapping to Alec's face to see the boy's reaction.
"I see..." Magnus replied, glancing back up at Sebastian. "How long have you had him?" He asked, wondering just how worn down the boy was. He could see a faint glimmer of light in Alec's eyes, though he didn't know if it was his imagination or not. He did know that with every day that passed that flicker of light would die more and more, until there was nothing left.
"Oh, at least six months or so." Sebastian said absentmindedly, stabbing his fork into a thick cut of steak, moving it to his own plate. He began to cut into the meat, it was cooked rare, the blood flowing out onto the plate. Magnus reached out, settling for a dinner roll. He tore the bread in half, holding one half out to Alec. "Oh, come on, Magnus. Don't feed him scraps." Sebastian sighed like a disappointed parent, taking a bite of the steak. Magnus glanced over at him.
"It'd be bad hospitality to send me a half-starved gift, wouldn't you say?" Magnus replied, letting Alec take the roll. "Eat it." He smiled at Alec, watching Sebastian roll his eyes.
"I suppose." Sebastian busied himself with his meal, talking idly about everything from the weather to his latest victim, the one Magnus had just healed. "He's a ridiculous mundane, but the leader of the Boston pack has a thing for him. Recently her pack attacked a group of my men, so I figured retribution was needed." Magnus had busied himself with his fourth dinner roll, methodically tearing off pieces of bread to share with Alec.
"Foolish thought." He muttered, worried for Alec when he left. Sebastian's views on cruelty was skewed, twisted and broken beyond repair. The warlock worried for the teen's future.
"I know, but I suppose finding the scraps of her lover on her pack's doorstep will by more than enough incentive for her never to cross me again." Sebastian finished his steak, wiping his mouth and setting the napkin aside. He stood, Magnus mirroring the movement. "It's always a pleasure to have your company, Magnus. You seem to know exactly what to say in order to avoid getting yourself killed." Sebastian grinned, shaking the warlock's hand. "I'll have Alec dropped off at your loft around noon tomorrow, let's hope things go well for the two of you, yes?" Magnus nodded his head, dropping his hand the second Sebastian let it go. His gaze slid over to Alec, worried, nodding his head.
"Yes, I suppose we'll see." He replied, watching as Sebastian pulled a manilla folder from his pocket. It was heavy with the weight of Leviathan claws, the nearly priceless alchemical ingredient important for heavy duty scrying spells. "Thank you." He nodded his head, accepting the folder. "I look forward to tomorrow." He flashed Alec a reassuring grin, before turning to the exit, completely worried for the teen. He could take solace in the fact that Sebastian had to deliver Alec to him in once piece tomorrow, meaning he couldn't do anything too bad to the teen.
...right?
