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It’s an early morning on Thursday, usually Magnus doesn’t get up very early but lately he’s been waking up at 9 am like clockwork. The new rise time is very peculiar because Magnus doesn’t work until later in the evening so he wouldn’t wake up until noon and hasn’t changed his sleep schedule either. He would wake up at noon, go to work at 3 pm, sleep at 2 am then the cycle would repeat until the weekend when he would just sleep the day way so he could attend wild college parties at night. But ever since Chairman Meow has been missing things have been haywire for Magnus because his precious cat is gone.
Magnus guessed that his life cannot be complete until his cat is returned to him, bad things have been happening since his baby has been missing. For three weeks after the Chairman’s disappearance unfortunate events keep occurring. Magnus broke his phone by dropping it down the stairs, got a huge ticket for accidentally parking in a red zone, and many other things that involve misfortune.
And to be honest without his cat Magnus has been pretty down which had been messing up his date game. He’s barely been interested in anyone even when they so blatantly flirt with him, he’s turned down many opportunities to get laid by many cute girls and boys. It just didn’t feel right without Chairman Meow who was an excellent judge of character. So instead of getting all made up and attending fabulous parties with lots of booze, cute people, and questionably tasteful music, Magnus has been slumming around his apartment drinking tea and watching reruns of Project Runway. Of course he had friends who wanted to get him out of his place every so often to take his mind off his lost pet but most of the time he declined unless they wouldn’t take no for an answer like Tessa, Will, or Woosley Scott.
Tessa, Will, and Jem would take Magnus to the pier or for little trips around New York City to keep him busy, it was nice to return home and not think about his cute cat roaming the dangerous streets. Woosley, however, took a more direct approach using casual sex as a distraction which was very interesting to Magnus, and also kind of endearing. At least it kept him from going to Camille, to be completely honest that’s probably what Magnus would have done if his friends had not stepped in. Woosley’s approach worked for about a week and a half and then Magnus just felt even worse using his friend to make himself feel better so quickly ended that for the moment. Other friends decided that they also wanted to help out Magnus so that he could find his cat knowing how important that animal was to him.
Magnus’s friends helped him create and post flyers around the surrounding neighborhoods with his number and address on it just incase anyone happened to find Chairman Meow. There had been a few dead end calls that left Magnus feelings a bit poorly since the cat found was not his or it was just a huge prank. Jem, Tessa, and Will had also taken Magnus to almost every pound/animal shelter in Brooklyn be there a chance to find the missing feline. But Chairman Meow was no where to be found and Magnus was starting to lose hope in every finding him in such a big city.
Magnus had brought Chairman Meow with him to the United States from his home village in Indonesia when an American family had adopted him. The cat had been with him for so long even though it appeared to look like a small kitten. Chairman Meow remained with him even when his first adopted family abandoned him at 10 years old because they could no longer afford to take care of him. And Magnus even had the cat when he was kicked out of his sixth foster home due to the fact that his foster father walked in on him kissing the neighbor boy at age 15. Magnus and his cat battled through their struggles together being misfits off and on the streets until finally finishing school, turning eighteen, being able to leave the shitty town he thought he was stuck in. Not once did the cat leave his side or seem to judge him, they survived together when things seemed hopeless. When there was no warm bed to sleep on or clean water to drink, or even any food to eat, they were always together. Chairman had been there through it all, he was Magnus’s best friend. So no Magnus was not getting upset over some dumb lost pet he was getting anxious about losing his longest friend. Magnus would do anything to have his cat back.
...
Which brought him back to the strange Thursday morning when he woke up at 9 am yet again but this time it came with a surprise. There was tapping coming from the front door of his flat, someone was trying to get his attention. But who would it be this early in the morning? Tessa wasn’t up until at least 9:40 maybe even 10 because her boyfriends like to let her sleep in on the weekends so it wasn’t her. Woosley is away for a business trip to mentor troubled teens in different states and he wouldn’t be back for a few weeks. That brought Magnus back to his question of who was pounding at his door so early in the morning.
There was only one way to find out. Magnus hauled himself out of bed, bothering to only slide on a clean pair of boxers (which had little paw prints on them) before crossing over to the door. He was pretty sure his mascara was smudged under his eyelashes and his hair was probably a disaster of mass proportions but he decided to answer the door anyways. After unbolting the three door locks he had (one could never be too careful living in New York) he yanked the old door open. It gave away with a loud groan of the wood against the doorframe, Magnus sighed he knew he had to get that fixed… eventually. Magnus moved his gaze over to the person standing on his doorstep and he froze before he could even get a word out.
The man standing at the door was absolutely gorgeous, there simply was no other way of putting it. While Magnus was all lean, gold, and green this man was all about the darker tones, the calmer hues of blue and black. Everything about him was subtle as if he hoped no one would notice him or as if he could fade into the background of everything but that just made him stand out to Magnus. He was tall but not taller than Magnus he seemed to fall short just an inch or so height wise though Magnus would very much like to find out what he was like in other areas. Magnus took notice of his inky black hair that seemed to make this bottle blue eyes stand out in the dim foggy morning. And the last thing Magnus noticed was that the man was holding a white and gray tabby cat with a bedazzled collar.
“Is this your cat? I found him on my jog he kind of darted out of an alley being chased by a dog. He lost his tag but I recognized him from the missing cat posters…. Is this the right place?” The man’s voice was quiet and soft, he had an anxious look on his face as if he were expecting Magnus to slam the door in his face. The next thing Magnus noticed was he was shirtless showing off his pale muscular chest, he wearing nothing but black jogging shorts and an old pair of vans. It looked like he had been on a run like he had said.
For a few seconds Magnus could not say anything he just stared at the man in front of him, briefly considering giving the man a huge kiss but deciding against it before the man called the police for harassment. “Y-yes that’s my cat. Chairman where have you been?” Magnus reached out for his cat and the man hastily handed the feline over to him. The tabby mewled loudly in response to being reunited with its owner then it leaned up and nuzzled Magnus’s cheek. Magnus buried his face in Chairman Meow’s fur and let out a happy relieved laugh, he was now fully awake. The man stood awkwardly as he watched the exchange between the two, which the other man picked up on. Also realizing how this must look because Magnus was still standing with his door open in only his boxers.
“Thank you for finding my cat, I’ve been looking for him everywhere. I had almost given up hope that I would ever find him.” Magnus looked down and the cat purring in his arms, “What a troublemaker you are.” He clicked his tongue but the cat just meowed innocently back at him.
“Not a problem, I’m glad to get your cat back to you, it was nice to meet you…” The man trailed off and Magnus realized that he hadn’t introduced himself to the man that returned his beloved cat to him. He had be distracted by the man’s beauty as well as getting his cat back after almost a month of searching.
“Oh how rude of me. Magnus, my name is Magnus Bane and this is Chairman Meow. It’s nice to meet you Mr…??” It also dawned on him that he hadn’t got the beautiful blue eyed stranger’s name as well.
The man extended a hand to him, “Lightwood. Alexander Lightwood. But you can just call me Alec, everyone does.”
Of course Magnus could not resist taking this attractive man’s hand to shake. “I like how you introduce yourself, Alec. It gives you that air of mystic. Like Bond, James Bond.” Magnus gave the man a winning smile which was returned with a confused look. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen those movies, Alexander. Everyone has seen those movies even the old ladies who live next door and they’re ancient.” Magnus added a teasing tone to the end of his words, then looked down to their hands that were still linked.
“I’ve never had much time for t.v. between work and school. I’m not really that up on the latest trends or whatever else is popular now a days, I barely just bought an Iphone. So sorry I really don’t know what you are talking about, but I’m sure it was really clever.” Alec said sheepishly as he drew his hand from Magnus’. He seemed to be avoiding looking at Magnus, there was a light flush over his cheeks. Magnus decided to drop the subject because for whatever reasons Alec didn’t get out much it was obvious it was not the time to share them.
“School eh? How old are you, Alexander?” Magnus looked genuinely curious, mostly because he wanted to know if flirting was off limits. While he may have some questionable morals, he was not going to flirt with anyone underage even if they were as attractive as Alec was. He was not ready to be arrested for flirting with a minor, though Alec didn’t look like much of a minor it was always better to be safe than sorry. There’s a story behind Magnus’ cautiousness but that was a story for another time and place.
“Yeah I’m nineteen, I’m studying at NYU to get my general degree I’m not really sure what I want to do but I’ll figure it out.” Magnus breathed a quiet sigh of relief at hearing the other man’s age, now he knew there wasn’t a huge age difference. Magnus was only 22 but he looked like he was Alec’s age which confirmed that looks can be deceiving.
Chairman started to squirm in Magnus’ arms towards Alec’s direction with a protesting mewl, Magnus smiled because he knew that Chairman Meow had taken a liking to the nineteen year old. “Why don’t you come in, you look like you could use some water after all that exercise,” Magnus saw that Alec was about to protest but he cut him off, “ It’s the least I can do after you returned my cat to me. And it looks like you are bleeding.”
Alec looked down at his forearm where there was a bleeding bite mark that was glaring an irritated red. “Oh. I guess the dog must have got me when I was getting Chairman Meow away from it? I wonder how I didn’t notice that?” Alec asked in an incredulous voice, he also looked like he was going to be sick at the sight of the wound. Magnus took Alec by the hand and led him into the flat, realizing too late that he hadn’t cleaned up because he wasn’t expecting visitors. Then he mentally kicked himself for thinking about his uncleanliness rather than the fact that Alec needed help. He paused for a second and dropped his cat onto the couch real quick.
“It was probably the adrenaline from being charged at by a feral dog, you probably don’t have rabies but it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out.” Magnus chimed in as he led Alec through his flat to the bathroom closest to them, he rifled through a few drawers before producing a first aid kit. Alec was already going through the process of washing off his arm, looking even paler as he saw his blood swirl down the drain. “I’m no doctor but you seriously will want to get that looked at you never know what kind of things you can catch nowadays. This is going to sting.” Magnus warns before pressing an alcohol pad to Alec’s forearm causing the other man to gasp in pain. Magnus gently shushed him then quietly hummed a song he vaguely remembered, his birth mother had sung to him a few times when he was young; Alec seemed to relax immediately. Though Magnus did not notice that he had switched from humming to actually singing in his native tongue.
Once Magnus was done cleaning up the bite he grabbed the roll of gauze from the kit and wrapped up Alec’s arm. The singing slowly came to an end as Magnus finished up the wrapping, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Alec’s wrist. “There you go, good as new. And I’m about 99.9% sure you are going to live.Though I’d be very disappointed if you died before I could see you again.” Magnus blushed as the last part slipped out of his mouth. Alec blushed even more than Magnus did, it was easy to see because of the paleness of his skin. The nineteen year old opened his mouth then closed it as if deciding against what he was going to say then just as Magnus was thinking that he had sized Alec up wrong he spoke.
“You want to see me again? Why would you want to see me? I’m nothing special just ordinary- well almost ordinary Alec Lightwood.” Alec rubbed his upper arm, looking at Magnus as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It made Magnus feel a little bit sad because it sounded like Alec didn’t have that high of a self esteem.
“Being extraordinary is nothing to be ashamed of, Alexander. Everyone is different because the world is so vast we all experience varieties of life because of the largeness. If every human being was exactly the same we would probably still be living in caves and acting like primates. So don’t be afraid to show the world who you are even if the world tries to beat you down at least you were honest about yourself. “ Magnus took a small breath in between sentences as Alec listened quietly to what he had to say. “The reason I want to see you again is because you showed up at my doorstep, shirtless and sweaty from your morning run just to return my lost cat, getting bit by an aggressive mutt in the process. It’s all very lovely because no one has ever done that for me and I want to show you how grateful I am by taking you out sometime. Honestly I’d like to get to know the man that gave me back one of the most precious things in my life. If you thought that I was going to let you just return him without becoming your friend at least then you are wrong.”
Alec said nothing because he was looking for the falseness in Magnus’ monologue and then after finding no deception, “And at most?”
“What?”
“Y-you said ‘If you thought that I was going to let you just return him without becoming your friend at least…’. Then what’s at most, Magnus?” Alec’s voice quavered slightly but Magnus could tell he had confidence underneath all of that. It made Magnus’ lips curve into a smile, the kind of smile that wasn’t teasing or leery, it was kind and content. Now Magnus really wanted to get to know the gorgeous man that was Alec Lightwood.
“At most could mean a lot of things, but if you would like me to define it a little more perhaps once we get to know each other better we could talk about what at most could mean for us. I for one would like there to be a conversation about the meaning of those two words but it is too early to properly label it. You can’t cage the imagination because imagination is a free spirit.” Magnus looked Alec straight in the eye when he was talking to him and he meant every word.
Alec cracked a smile, “How did you even know about me being you know… gay?”
Magnus tapped his forehead with his index finger which was sporting chipped black nail polish, “I always just know, Alexander. You could call it intuition of a wise one or whats that other thing called… ah yes the good old fashion gaydar.” A snort and a startled laugh followed soon after, Magnus could hardly believe that such an adorable sound came out of Alec. Alec clapped his hands over his mouth but it was too late the laughing would not stop. Alec’s pale blemish-free shoulders shook violently as peals of laughter slipped past Alec’s kissable lips. Magnus decided that Alec’s laugh was his new favorite sound, and that the shade of blue that colored Alec’s eyes were his new favorite color.
Alec started to calm down, waving his hand to fan himself so he could catch the breath he had lost from laughing so hard. “Oh my lord, I’m sorry that I was just..” Alec giggled, actually giggled, “ I’m probably one of the straightest looking people I know, and you are just so flamboyant, it’s just funny to me that I would register immediately on your gaydar.” His lips tremble as he is trying to hold back more laughter.
“Maybe you didn’t exactly strike me as the exact type at first but I suppose I just go for it when I see someone attractive as you, again, standing shirtless on my doorstep. Plus you blush a lot especially when we’re in physical contact, it’s quite adorable.” Magnus tilted his head slightly, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Before Alec could even object or anything Chairman Meow thought that this would be a great time to dart inside the cramped bathroom to pet himself against Alec’s legs. “The Chairman likes you. Then it’s official you’re definitely a keeper.” Magnus whispered quietly to himself as Alec kneeled down and scratched Magnus’s little cat under his chin.
...
When it was time for Alec to go it was an hour later after the two men had talked a little bit more and exchanged numbers. Magnus learned that Alec had three siblings, two brothers and a sister; Alec explained that only two of them were actually blood related and one was adopted. There was Isabelle Lightwood, Max Lightwood, and Jace Herondale. Isabelle looked like Alec except she had dark brown eyes and wore expensive clothing. Jace looked nothing like Alec or Isabelle because he was the adopted brother, Jace was golden blond with amber gold eyes to match; it gave him an avenging angel look which Magnus had to admit was intimidating. But when it came to Alec talking about Max, he got real quiet. It was a sad sort of energy that rolled off Alec in large waves, it was a hard subject for Alec to talk about but when he finally did Magnus could understand his grief. Max Lightwood was no longer alive, he had died on the way to the hospital after he was hit by a drunk driver just a few months ago. Alec said Isabelle was the one having a really hard time with it because she was there when it happened.
After that Magnus told Alec a little about him, how he came to America as a kid, how he struggled through high school only to make it to where he was now. Alec showed much interest in Magnus’s brief overview of his life and his culture. There was much that Magnus wanted to tell him and he knew Alec wanted to open up to him but it wasn’t the right time. They barely knew each other but Magnus vowed that he would get to know Alec better so he could tell him all the things he wanted to. So once the clock at struck 10 Magnus sent Alec off with his number and a cold water bottle.
“I seriously can’t thank you enough for returning my cat. You are truly my own personal knight in shining black spandex.” Magnus teased, nudging Alec’s arm as he passed by to open the door for Alec.
“Hey at least I’m not the one wearing nothing but paw print boxers.” Alec shot back, nudging Magnus back in the ribs before turning to face him.
“Fair enough, they probably aren’t the best fashion choice when one is going for elegance. One might expect silky drawers and maybe some lace?” Magnus laughed at Alec’s flushed face. “I suppose I’ll be hearing from you, Alexander? Perhaps we could set a day aside to have coffee? At more decent time I presume?”
Alec nodded with a shy smile, “I would like that, to have coffee with you sometime. My college is on summer break so I’m free at the moment-” There was a sharp buzz that interrupted what Alec was going to say. “That’s probably Jace and Isabelle, I should get going they’ll be wondering where I’m at… But I’ll text you when I get the chance which will be soon I promise. Sooner than you may think.”
“I do not doubt it. Farewell dear Alexander.”
“Bye Magnus.” And with that Alec turned around and jogged down the steps, taking two at a time. In less than 5 minutes his was halfway down the street, making a turn onto the next street and then Alec was gone. Magnus had to admit Alec had a great butt and that he was looking forward to the next time he’ll be able to get lost in Alec’s gorgeous blue eyes.
When Magnus returned to his room he noticed his phone was alerting him about a new notification. With an amused roll of his eyes Magnus unlocked his phone. Through the cracks of his broken screen Magnus read the new message.
From: Alec
I’m free on Saturday. So… 1pm Taki’s? I’ll see you there? You don’t work on Saturday right? I mean if you do that’s fine but I can take a raincheck…
And now Mangus really can’t wait to see Alec again because that man was an entirely new experience. He’s different and Magnus thinks it’s a perfect kind of different.
To: Alec
Saturday it is then.