“Well, have you tried telling them that?” Magnus barely looked up from his tarot reading, knowing that if he did look at Alec fully, he wouldn’t be able to look away. “You could always ask for more funds. Or figure out DIY versions of what they want. If anyone can figure out a way to plan a fantastic party on even the shittiest of budgets, I know you could.”
“Telling the daughter that is the hardest point of my career.” Alec rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “It’s just an engagement party, but she wants diamond encrusted champagne glasses. There’s no way to simply DIY those into existence, babe. It’s convincing her father to see me without her that’s the problem. He seems to understand the situation and she….she’s an absolute bride-zilla already and the engagement was a month ago.”
“My…mother kind of took a lot of pictures of me growing up. So being in front of a camera is easy for me,” Alec replied with a small bashful smile. His mother had taken a lot of photos of her children, but he knew that as her first, she probably had a bit too many of him in scrapbooks around the manor. “Thank you, though. I’m glad that you like my work.” And maybe, if he was lucky, this shoot would lead to something more. Alec wanted to act, but he hadn’t found the right film or show yet. Alec nodded and smiled, pleased that his sister had done so well. “She’s always been like that. People flock to her without her even having to try, though trust me when I say she tries. She’ll have you charmed in no time at all.” Alec had always been a bit protective of his sister too, but he trusted her to do what she knew she needed to do.
Venice. He was looking forward to going from place to place on a boat. Maybe he’d stay a day or so longer after the shoot just to enjoy the area. Alec chuckled and replied, “Perhaps you should give them some incentive to use a better background. Though I suppose they think the plain ones look nice in their catalog’s.” He stood and followed after the man, eager to see what he would wear. Alec didn’t entirely have the best fashion himself, but he could dress nicely when he put his mind to it and when he’d started this career, he’d gotten a lot better at it. “Woah,” Alec said as he walked toward the rack of clothes. “This is more than any of my other shoots had.” His fingers trailed over a dark, black leather jacket that was just his style. Jace would be so jealous if he brought this home. “Did my sister tell you I like leather?” He asked as he turned to look at him. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had. “Okay, let’s get started then. Where’s your changing room?” He didn’t pull anything off the rack, though he was tempted to take the jacket now. He saw a nice shirt that would go well with it too, it had a little more frills than he would’ve liked, but it would blend well. Despite all that was in front of him, he could already imagine taking an outfit home, maybe two if Magnus let him buy the second one off of him.
Magnus listened to the other, nodding as his lips curved upwards. “Well, having an early start has definitely come as an advantage.” he assured. The work Alec had done was marvelous, and pictures did no justice to the full beauty of the younger man. He looked up as Alec talked about his sister and he nodded. “She really looks up to you. You’ll be the first siblings I’ve ever used for my personal line.” he explained with a smile. “Well, as charming as she is, I’m sure you’re just as wonderfully charming.” It was a subtle attempt at flirting, because Magnus had a serious weakness for the dark hair and blue eyes combination but he really wanted Alec for this shoot in particular.
Magnus shrugged. “They see what I’m capable of, but they want to line to stand out more on the promotion posters. Which is foolish, but let the cooperate idiots remain blind to true vision.” He let Alec look around, giving a little shrug of one shoulder. “This particular line I wanted to have something more people could afford, my line has become immensely popular in the last two years.” He replied, as Alec looked through the rack, smiling as – just as he’d been told to expect – Alec fell in love with the leather jacket. “She did. She has a slight taste for it herself. She took the women’s leather mini jacket with hardly a glance and built the outfit to go with it.” he chuckled. He motioned to the area curtained off by tall black curtains. “There’s a three way mirror, let me know when your done and we’ll see if anything needs to be changed.”
Oh, God. This was…so incredibly embarrassing. What sort of grown ass adult forgot their keys at home? What sort of grown adult got locked out of their own apartment? Definitely Magnus Bane, who tended to have poor luck most of the time, and if one believed in karma, it made no sense for all the good he did saving others. Alas, c’est la vie. Eyes making a slow and shy accent up to the other’s gaze, Magnus swallowed hard and nodded, blinking away the bit of daze he got whenever he looked at A.Lightwood.
“Yeah, hi, I’m okay,” He managed, head tilting extremely far back just so he could meet his eyes; sitting on the floor didn’t always have its advantages. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Magnus heaved a sigh, “I kind of…locked myself out? And my brother isn’t answering, so I’m stuck out here. But don’t worry about me–I’m sure he’ll be home soon.” Magnus offered the other a smile.
Alec was never one to turn away when people needed help. And despite the words, he couldn’t help but be concerned for his neighbor. This was Magnus, if he wasn’t mistaken; the one he observed from afar and his siblings teased him about asking him out instead if watching. But Alec wasn’t sure if he was ready for that. He had to finish college so he could start his business and then he could worry about coming out.
“Well, it’s a little chilly, you can get sick if you stay out here too long.” He began. “There’s a guest room and a spare bathroom if you’d like to come in and stay warm?” He offered with a faint blush.
A small blush could be seen on Alec’s cheeks and he ducked his head a little. He knew what he was saying in that, that he’d been looking at him and not the others. “Thank you,” he murmured to him. “I think I’ve had enough heartbreak to last a lifetime.” Not to say the guy would break his heart, but he didn’t trust anyone right now where his heart was concerned. “You’re sweet. And don’t worry, I won’t drive. Not like this. I walked here anyway. Need to clear my head.” The walk hadn’t helped much either, not that it mattered. He knew he’d probably feel like this for awhile. “You say that like you’ve been through it before. I’m sorry if you have. It really sucks.” He almost wished Jace was hurting too, but then that wasn’t really nice and Alec knew he wouldn’t want Jace to hurt no matter how much he’d hurt him. He’d let himself get too caught up in Jace though. It hadn’t helped that he’d dreamed about them getting married and adopting a bunch of little ones. Alec took another gulp of the alcohol as he tried yet again to get rid of such thoughts.
He shrugged before he said, “Pizza sounds good. I’ll take a couple slices of that. Give me your favorite order, please.” He lifted a brow, surprised that he’d seen worse than him. Then again, Alec had seen worse as well and that was just people watching when he’d been here. A small chuckle escaped his mouth and he nodded. “Uh, yeah. It’s a weird situation. And a long story.” Chances are Magnus would call him a freak if he knew about Jace, anyone would. “What? No no…I…couldn’t intrude like that. I’m a stranger.” Technically, though it seemed like Magnus had truly been keeping an eye on him longer than he thought. “Cats, huh? I like cats. I suppose that wouldn’t be so bad. If they think I’m bad, then I’ll go.” Not that he was bad, but he trusted an animal’s judgement more than his own right now. “Thank you. I”ll owe you big time. Really. You’ve been….,” his words slurred even more at this last bit, “Really really nice to me. You shoulda been my boyfriend. Not Jace. Jace is an ass.” He reached for his glass only to find that it was empty. “Can I get some water with that pizza, please?” He was already planning on leaving a big tip too, Magnus deserved it.
Magnus knew that his comment had been decoded when Alec blushed, and he smiled at him. He hummed and nodded. “Believe me, I understand that sentiment very well.” he assured, drying a glass and putting it back on the rack. He nodded a little, listening to the other. “I have. Although to be fair, the relationship I got free of was abusive.” he mused, shrugging. “I’ve been single for six years.” And doing a lot of PTSD therapy, but that wasn’t something he needed to talk about. “Sometimes you need to find some kind of hobby to get your mind off of it.” he replied.
Magnus nodded and ordered a fresh pizza to be made, glad that he wasn’t the only one behind the bar. He smiled and brought a couple of slices back, setting the plate down and getting a tall glass of water. “Trust me, if it helps you get over your ex, I don’t mind at all. You shouldn’t be upset like this.” he explained. “I have another hour before my replacement gets here, if you want to eat and relax?” he offered. He seemed a little taken back by the comment, blinking for a moment. “As flattering as that is, Alexander, you should really get some rest tonight.”
“Aku cinta kamu,” Alec murmured back. Now that he knew what the words meant, he said them around Magnus sometimes when he didn’t want to use them in English. This way they felt like they had a little more meaning than the others. Though both he said often. “Yeah yeah, I’ll sleep. You and Izzy both get on me about working.” And maybe it was true that he was a workaholic, but he couldn’t help it. He felt like he had to keep busy. He brushed his fingers soothingly through Magnus’s hair and the motion made himself close his eyes a little. “I suppose an hour of sleep wouldn’t hurt.”
Magnus chuckled sleepily, holding Alec close. “We don’t want you to overwork yourself, Alexander.” he explained. “You need to take time to relax, you can’t just keep going and going.” He yawned again and pressed closer, relaxing further as he got closer to sleep. “Just…stay…with me….a while.”
themusechronicles 