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It had all started with a smile, as most good things in life did. For most of his existence, Magnus Bane had considered a smile to be the food of the soul. His mother had told him that he had come into the world with a smile and a cry, and had decided to keep one forever, and shed one for good. It wasn’t that life was always happy or that bad things didn’t happen, but Magnus had long ago decided that he wanted to be remembered as the guy who always had a kind word for everyone, who always cheered up his friends and loved ones, and who made the world a better place, even in the most basic of ways.
It was rather ironic that his downfall would also happen with a smile. See, Magnus Bane was used to seeing the world through people’s smiles, but he was not accustomed to angels’. Maybe that was why his life had changed the day he’d seen it, that beautiful stretch of the lips from across a busy room, half hidden by pages of a book, half hidden by its owner’s perpetual shyness. All he knew was that that smile had changed everything.
He’d been sitting at Java Jones, as he usually did every day after school, a book in hand and a hazelnut latte on the table, filling up on his daily dose of peace and quiet before he braved another round of social interaction. It wasn’t like Magnus hated people, but unlike his friend Isabelle who thrived around them, he was the kind that came with a rechargeable battery. It fed on the quiet and burned on the noise, and it fit him just right. He was blessed with people who understood his need to sometimes take a step back and just exist, and who usually gave him a few hours before they demanded his presence. It usually took them a couple of hours at best. He didn’t blame them. His company was better than most.
On a day such as that, he’d happened to look up across the coffee shop, and that’s when he’d caught his eye. Kai. He’d been sitting there, his dark hair mussed with tracks his fingers had carved running through it, his eyes that reflected the light in a riot of degrees of amber shining even from across the room, and his lips spread in a smile as he read the paperback in his hand, wholly immersed in the experience. It had been that smile that had done Magnus in in less than five minutes. He’d seen it, and his usually stoic heart had legitimately skipped a beat. He’d looked so alive reading that book, eyes dancing across the page, fingers caressing the tome like it was a precious heirloom, that it had made Magnus buy the entire series just to experience a shard of that joy. He’d be embarrassed to admit it, if that series hadn’t ended up becoming one of his favorites, which brought him back to the name.
See, the truth was, Kai’s name wasn’t Kai. Or it was. For all Magnus knew, the guy could be called Adultery Pulsifer, but after the first month, he’d needed a name to call him in his head, because Tall, Dark and Handsome had been a mouthful, even in his subconscious, so he’d chosen Kai, because he reminded him of one of the main characters from the book he’d been reading. Sweet, kind looking, mighty dependable, and with an air of refined authority about him. Isabelle and Clary had given him so much shit for naming the poor guy, that he regretted ever slipping up and saying it in their presence.
“He’s not a stray pet you found on the street. He already has a name, and if you weren’t such a chickenshit, you would have asked for it”, Izzy had argued, and well, Magnus couldn’t exactly disagree with her point of view, but at the same time, there was a lurch in going up to Kai and actually exchanging words. What if he sucked?
See, people who watched plenty of romantic comedies forgot that people who looked interesting didn’t necessarily live up to those expectations. In fact, most of the time, people that looked as good as Kai did, lost their appeal the minute they opened their mouths and said shit like “Global warming is just a corporate scheme”. So no, Magnus didn’t want to talk to him, or at least, he wasn’t ready to shatter the illusion of his awesomeness, so he remained on his side of the coffee shop, slowly sharpening his stalker skills with his constant ogling. If there was a stalking boy scouts, Magnus was certain he’d have earned his stripes by now.
The only thing that reassured him was that his stalking was somewhat reciprocated. See, when Magnus had bought the book series based on Kai’s unintentional recommendation, he’d brought the first book with him to Java Jones to see if he would notice, and lo and behold, a few chapters in, he’d flicked his gaze up across the room, and his irises had caught on those hazel hues and stayed, because Kai had been looking at him in bemusement. A small smile had played on his beautiful face, and he’d ducked his head as soon as their eyes had met, a blush signaling his embarrassment at being caught. Magnus had wanted to laugh in triumph, but had simply let his gaze drift back to his book, feeling elated and ridiculously pleased.
The situation had kickstarted from then on. Nowadays, Magnus and Kai basically had a silent book club, one where they never talked to each other, never exchanged more than silent glances and gentle smiles, and an unwritten agreement to keep being each other’s reading companions. Through held up book covers, Magnus had recommended Madeline Miller’s The song of Achilles, and Kai had bought him a latte in thanks, via a very amused curly haired bombshell of a barista, then Kai had recommended Ann Brashares’s My name is memory, and Magnus had glared at him for two days after reading it, while Kai had looked faintly amused, then bought him another latte, probably to make up for how much that book had crushed his soul. It kept going like that, pages blending into others as they built a full library as a form of flirtation.
Not once did either of them make an effort to learn each other’s names or broach a conversation, and yet somehow, Magnus knew this guy better than he did most of his classmates. At the risk of sounding extremely creepy, Magnus had to admit that he’d learnt to slot Kai’s smiles into three types. His absent smile, the one he wore while reading. Magnus thought that that smile had little to do with the content that he was reading, and more with the activity itself, like he was happy just sitting there, doing something he enjoyed. That smile made Magnus’ heart melt into a puddle, because it said a lot about the person he was, a person that took joy in the little things, a person that was content, just sitting quietly in the bustle, coffee scent around and a book in hand. His second smile was his people smile. Magnus loved that one. It was a bright smile that told him of caring and love for the people in his life. Kai usually wore it around the barista, who joined his table during her breaks.
Over the past year that he’d been coming here, he’d learnt that her name was Maia, and that she was also a student, but that had been the extent of it. Magnus would have worried for the nature of her relationship with Kai, were it not for her cute bespectacled boyfriend that came in from time to time to gaze at her lovingly and demand kisses, or annoy Kai at his table, while the other just looked at him in fond exasperation. He’d debated going up to Maia and asking her about her friend a hundred times, but had stopped himself for every one of them. She seemed friendly, and always managed to lure a smile out of his dark angel on the other side of the room. Magnus rewarded her efforts at making the sun shine a bit brighter by tipping extra on such occasions. It was his duty and pleasure.
Kai’s third smile was Magnus’ favorite. It was his shy one, and call him presumptuous, but Magnus considered that smile to be his, and his alone. It was the smile that had come over Kai’s face when he’d seen him with the first book they’d shared, and it was the one he bestowed on him every time their eyes met from across the room. It was the quirk of the lips as he took off his coat and settled in at his usual table, his hair still adorned with flurries from the snowy landscape outside, and it was the dipping of his brow as he smiled into his book when Magnus hurried to his table after Professor Fell had kept the class for an extra ten minutes after hours.
In fact, Magnus couldn’t wait to see that same smile when he made it to the coffee shop, he reckoned, as he lengthened his strides in a hurry. He’d forgotten about a history study group he’d agreed to go to with Clary, and had ended up being thirty minutes late to his usual timing. Clary had had to forcibly drag him to the other side of campus, as he’d sulked, looking off in the direction of the coffee shop like he could see into it. He couldn’t wait to see his face, which was dumb because he’d literally seen him the day before, but there was no logic to this whole situation, so Magnus wasn’t going to question his feelings on this particular matter. Would Kai be relieved that he’d made it? Would he care at all? Had he noticed Magnus’ delay, or was he already off in his book, completely unbothered by his absence? The nagging worry that he was building this guy up in his head to more than he was plagued Magnus constantly, but the exhilaration upon seeing his face won every single time.
Magnus heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the cursive lettering of the shop, Java Jones written in bold black, its cozy brown brick walls beckoning in the chilly afternoon. He pushed open the door, his body shivering slightly at the sudden change of temperature, his eyes zeroing in on a particular table, his brain foregoing subtleness in the face of eagerness, but to his chagrin, the table was empty.
His eyes scanned the rest of the place in hope, his spirits sinking by the minute as he failed to find those bright eyes looking up at him. He trudged to his table and plopped his messenger bag on the seat across from him, then sat there for a minute to catch his breath. He’d hurried for nothing. He couldn’t help but wonder what had made Kai break a three-month streak. His brain started envisioning accidents and hospitals and he cut that train of thought right there. He was getting way ahead of himself.
He left his bag on the table and moved up to the counter for his usual order. His delay meant that he’d missed the rush hour, and the line was practically nonexistent, which was the only bright spot in this day so far.
Maia was wiping the counter when he approached, and she smiled at him knowingly when she saw his face “Hey there. Your usual?”, she said gently, and Magnus almost burst out with the question slithering under his skin. He tightened his lips together to stop it and nodded at her.
With a twinkle in her eyes that Magnus failed to understand, she started the process of brewing his latte, being generous with the hazelnut and even sprinkling cocoa powder on top, because she knew he loved it. It was only when she plopped the paper cup in front of him that Magnus realized that in his preoccupied haze, he’d forgotten to pay her.
“Sorry, I spaced out”, he apologized, shoving a bill at her.
Maia waved his money away and said “Your drink is paid for, and I’m under strict instructions to deliver this”.
She produced a note from her apron and shoved it his way, and Magnus felt his heart pound in his chest. There was no question as to who this message was from, but this was new. This was unusual. This wasn’t a glance, a smile or a flick of the brows. This was communication. Tangible written communication, and fuck if Magnus didn’t love that this guy had managed to surprise him.
He took the note gently, trying to stave off the shaking of his hand. No need for Kai’s friend to know just how monumental the gesture was to him. He stared at the folded piece of paper, still failing to pick up his cup and leave, and Maia snorted and shook her head “You two, I swear”.
Magnus lifted his head, his courage sparking at her words, when a customer cleared their throat pointedly. He turned to see that a line five people deep had formed while he’d been stupefied at the counter, so he quickly thanked her and moved away, settling at his table and staring at the paper some more.
It took half his drink and rereading a paragraph five times before he finally cracked and opened the piece of paper. It was written in bold arresting font:
I finished Circe today, and I feel like a latte isn’t enough to say thank you, so I’ll have to get creative with that. It sounds stupid, but I didn’t want you to find an empty table and think I don’t keep my commitments. I just had a last-minute thing to deal with. Read some more chapters in my stead. See you tomorrow.
-A
“Adam”
“Too mundane”
“Aaron”
“Too douchy”
“Asher”
“Oh, unique”
“Ashton”
“Have you ever known someone with that name other than Kutcher, though?” Izzy asked, giving some serious thought to the question.
“You make a fine point”, Clary replied, crossing it off the list along with Isabelle’s other interjections.
Magnus just sat between them, looking back and forth as they tried to figure out Kai’s real name, because unless the guy had been an extra on Pretty Little Liars, his name started with an A, so the girls had taken that and run with it.
“Wait”, he spoke up for the first time since he’d told them about the note and they’d ooohed and aaahed accordingly. Well, Clary had. Izzy had just shaken her head and called them both idiots. She and Maia would probably be best friends.
“Why is Aaron too douchy?”, Magnus continued, more for the sake of argument than any real attachment to the name.
“It just sounds that way”, Isabelle shrugged, and Magnus and Clary just stared at her silently until she rolled her eyes and muttered “My brother dated an Aaron in High school and he was a douchebag”
“Oooh, what did this asshole do?”, Magnus leaned forward, trying to find some distraction from Kai with an A and the pitter patter of his heart.
“Well, other than outing my brother to our parents to force him to introduce him to them, not much”
“Holy shit, what a prick!”, Magnus exploded, feeling for a guy he’d never met. Magnus had never had to officially come out to anyone. From the first day he realized he could be attracted to someone, he realized women and men both fit into that category, and so had everyone in his life by some miracle, but he knew that it was a very personal experience. To have someone take that away from you, and for it to be someone you actually trusted and were involved with. Ugh, he wanted to wring this Aaron guy’s neck.
“Yeah”, Izzy nodded in agreement. “I mean, my parents were cool. I’m pretty sure they had already suspected, but it was still shitty. Alec almost broke his nose, except I got there first” she smirked in triumph. Magnus and Clary chuckled at her blood thirsty expression, and Clary snapped her fingers “Alec, that’s a name with an A. What’s his full name? Alexander?”
She added it to the list while Magnus thought it out “It fits him in a way. It sounds regal, but not pompous. Plus, I don’t know. It’s sexy”. He realized they were both looking at him with arched brows and couldn’t help the reddening of his cheeks. He could feel the heat in them as he muttered “What?”
Izzy just smirked and raised her hands in surrender “I’m not going to comment because I can see that you’re both weird about each other, but dear God, don’t talk about my brother’s name and the word “sexy” in the same sentence”, she finished with an exaggerated shiver that had Clary cracking up.
“In full disclosure, her brother really is handsome, Magnus. Maybe he is your Kai”, Clary added, waggling her brows in a comical fashion. Isabelle poked her in the arm, and she shrugged, unrepentant “What? I’m gay, not blind. Simon says that your brother has the entire Law department in perpetual awe”
Isabelle rolled her eyes “As if you don’t know Simon’s antics”
Magnus knew the people they were talking about from passing conversation, but hadn’t really met any of them before. It was the problem with being on a big campus. The different factions didn’t really find time to mingle. The Law school building was so far from the Art department where he and Clary studied that it seemed to be in another school all together. If Isabelle didn’t make the trek to see her girlfriend every day, Magnus was sure they would have never had met in the first place. The science building was also on the other side of campus. They’d invited him along on their many outings on multiple occasions, but for some reason, he still hesitated every time. People didn’t take easily to his weird humor and flair for dramatics, and there was honestly nothing worse than having to hang out with people after you decided they weren’t compatible with you.
“All I’m saying, is that Alexander stays on the list until proven otherwise” Clary said, disregarding Isabelle’s disgusted groan, then looked at him wickedly “I’m going to keep working on this list. Meanwhile, what’s your next move?”
“What do you mean?”, Magnus asked in bewilderment, and Isabelle started hitting her head against the table, completely forgetting that hygienic regulations were not really a big thing at The Jade wolf, or just not caring. “Babe, why do we hang out with this moron?”, she asked Clary, who laughed quietly at the pinch Magnus delivered to her girlfriend’s side, making her squeal and move further away from him.
“Well, regardless of his name, he made the first step. You’ve both been radio silent for what? Months? It’s huge that he actually started a conversation. Maybe it’s time you took your relationship to the next level?”
“What she means is, answer his note, for God’s sake”, Isabelle cut in, still rubbing her stinging side and glaring at him.
Magnus would laugh at her disgruntled expression if his mouth hadn’t gone completely parched at the prospect. Answer him? Like, with words? Dear God. The idea filled him with equal amounts of thrill and dread, because if it didn’t work out, he was out a book club partner, but if it did, then he would be able to find out just how many smiles Kai (He was not calling him A in his mind. Deal with it) really had, hear the sound of his voice, maybe even brush his hair out of his eyes like he had wanted to do on many occasions. Maybe they’d be able to trade books in person, their fingers brushing and electricity zinging between them like fireflies on steroids. Damnit, why did he have to go and change the rules like that? An idea sparked in Magnus’ brain, and he smiled. He had the perfect answer.
Alec walked into Java Jones with his heart beating overtime. It was probably excessive to be this nervous, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something monumentally stupid yesterday. What was he thinking, leaving that note with Maia? What if the guy hadn’t given a flying fuck about his existence or lack thereof? God, he probably sounded like the complete serial killer. See you tomorrow… What a dumbass!
His eyes skimmed the coffee shop without his explicit consent. As soon as they adjusted to the somewhat dark atmosphere inside, he was assaulted by the smell of coffee and had to breathe in through his mouth to keep from gagging. He was a masochist for coming here every single day when he absolutely despised the smell of coffee and couldn’t stomach the taste of it, but he’d come here to wait for Maia’s shift to be over one day, and found a guy sitting in a corner table with a book and a smile and the most refined features he’d ever seen outside of a painting, and well, he really couldn’t be blamed for coming back. He didn’t know what it was about him. The relaxed elegance he exuded, the almost chaotic order to the way he carried himself, or the contained grace in his movements, but Alec had been mesmerized by him from day one. He’d come back just once, just to see if he was a regular customer or just a fluke, and lo and behold, there he sat again, reading the same book series Alec had been at the time, and well, Alec didn’t much believe in fate, but he did believe in opportunity, so he’d chased his, and had come back time and time again.
He’d be loathed to admit it, but he called him Thorne in his brain, mostly for the books that had started this whole backward courtship of theirs, and because he reminded him of the character. Bold, brash, with a twinkle in his eye that spelled out a world of trouble that Alec wanted to dive into, headfirst. He made him feel like a giddy child with his first crush, and fuck if the feeling was utterly enchanting in its simplicity. Yesterday had been a novelty, though. He’d had a sudden bout of courage, and had elected to put it to good use before he squandered another chance to get to know the beautiful guy across the room. Maia had been all too happy to help, considering she’d ben nagging at him to do something about it for months now, so there he was now, trying to find that dark gaze settled in the corner, trying to gauge a reaction to his advances. He was flabbergasted to find the table empty. Telling himself not to worry, Thorne sometimes got in later than usual, he moved to his table, nodding at Maia who was taking a customer’s order.
It was merely five minutes later when a hot cup of tea was plopped in front of him. Black mango by the smell. His absolute favorite. He looked up at his best friend to see her smirking at him.
“I still haven’t ordered”, he argued, and she rolled her eyes “As if you ever order anything else, anyway”
True, but still, Alec had asked her a long time ago not to buy his drinks. He felt weird taking advantage of her.
“Before you open your mouth and piss me off like I know you will”, she started and he promptly shut his mouth. Maia was a mean mug when he got on her nerves. “This isn’t my treat. This is lover boy’s”, she whispered in near awe, using her designated nickname for Thorne, since he hadn’t shared his own moniker with her, basically turning Alec’s brain to mush. Oh God! The butterflies in his stomach were taking sporadic flights, making him queasy with anticipation.
“He got my message, then?”, he whispered, twisting his fingers around the strap of his bag.
“Do you doubt my skills as delivery woman?”, she asked in mock affront, then laughed and said “Yeah, he got it, and I have to say that he looked like a kicked puppy when he didn’t find you yesterday”, she added, bolstering his courage in leaps and bounds. “Much like you did just now, if I had to guess”
Okay, fine, he was whipped. He liked this guy. Like, really really liked him. He read great books, was beautiful beyond belief, and smiled like the sun coming out of hiding. Alec was human for Fuck’s sake. Of course, he liked him.
“Anyway, I aced my delivery so well that I got another job today” she teased, taking another piece of paper out of her pocket, not unlike the one he’d handed her yesterday, and waved it at him “If this continues, I’m going to ask to be paid. One has to find business opportunities when one can”
If Alec had thought that his heart was beating fast before, it had nothing on the gallop it was currently doing. Was it pathetic to be this excited about a piece of paper? Maybe, but well, Alec had been trying to find a way to approach this guy for months, and he was finally making progress. He wasn’t going to curb his enthusiasm now. Maia put the piece of paper on his table, and left him to go back behind the counter, and it took him merely a second to unfold it and read:
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I would have been severely disappointed otherwise. I have a study session today, and it runs pretty late, so I’m not going to see you, but I figured out what you can do to thank me for the book. How about, the next time you want to recommend a book to me, you bring it to my table yourself? I reckon it would be the greatest gift. Hell, I might even learn the second letter of your name, how about that?
-Ma (as a show of good faith)
Magnus was about to have a heart attack. Or at least, it felt like it, when he came into the coffee shop after skipping his session yesterday. He didn’t know why he’d listened to his crazy friends. He had probably just ruined whatever he had with this guy spectacularly. He pushed open the door and practically froze in the doorway, until someone bumped into him from behind and grumbled, shaking him from his catatonic state. He wasn’t here. Again. God, he’d really fucked it up, hadn’t he?
He wanted to run back outside and just disappear, but the barista was still here. Maia. She was wiping the counter, her eye subtly on him as a small smile played on her lips. Magnus didn’t want her to tell her friend that he’d gone back running with his tail tucked between his legs just because he’d botched up the opportunity to talk to him, so he squared his shoulders and moved to his table, feigning nonchalance and probably failing miserably. It wasn’t until he was about to take a seat at his corner table that he noticed the paperback.
Hand shaking in excitement, he reached down and held the book, Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. The copy looked used and well loved, and Magnus couldn’t temper his smile if he tried. He skimmed his hands through the pages, only to have a piece of paper flutter to the floor. Unwilling to wait even a moment later, he unfolded it promptly and read:
You didn’t say that I had to bring you the book while you were sitting at the table, did you? Is it mean that I want to keep this going? In any way, I couldn’t make it today, and I wasn’t going to leave you hanging. Although, maybe include a picture of yourself in whatever note you respond with? I miss seeing it. Haha, just kidding, unless…
-Ale (See, I can be a team player too)
Another day, another convoluted way to communicate with the gorgeous specimen across the coffee shop. So far, Alec knew that Thorne’s real name was Magnus, and honestly, that name felt like an answer to every question he’d ever been asked.
He just wanted to keep saying it over and over again. Earlier today in his criminal law class, he’d even used it.
“Lightwood, what’s the precedent to the Bacculi case of 1985?”
“Magnus, Professor Loss. The answer is Magnus”
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t how that conversation had gone, but Alec had been thinking of him when Professor Loss had asked the question. In fact, there were very few instances when Magnus “Thorne” wasn’t on his mind, and today, Alec had decided, was the day when he would stop playing the cat and mouse game, and legitimately ask this guy out. It was his day to leave a note, which meant that he was supposed to stay away from the coffee shop for Magnus to find it, but well, he was impatient, and it was high time he started using actual spoken words to converse with the guy, which was why he was now hurrying across the busy sidewalk, the sign for Java Jones winking at him in the distance.
He made it there in record time, pushed open the door and looked straight at his table. Empty. Good. He’d beat him there. Maia, who had been keeping a goddamn schedule chart to keep track of their antics looked surprised to see him. She beckoned him over.
“What are you doing here? I already planted your note at the table, numb nuts. He’s going to be here any minute”
“I know”, Alec said, trying to keep up his courage, and Maia looked him over, then smiled in triumph, clapping her hands together in glee “Hot damn, it’s about damn time. Simon is going to hate the fact that he missed this”.
“Don’t even think about it”, he warned when he saw her gaze grow contemplative, “If you film this, I will tell Simon that you know how to fart the entire Harry Potter theme song”
Maia gasped in outrage “That is slander, mister, and I told you that in confidence”
“I don’t care. Keep your phone away, Maia”, he replied, slipping away to settle at the table while she grumbled at his back.
The coffee shop looked different from this vantage point, and his eyes went straight to his usual spot, seeing the view from Magnus’ side. He couldn’t believe that they’d been at this for months now. What did Magnus think when he looked at him? Did he count the seconds until he could settle across from him and steal glances like an addict, the way Alec did? Was he afflicted with the same reverent awe?
He didn’t have more time to think on the subject, because right then, the door to the coffee shop was pushed open, and there he was, strolling through, his eyes going straight to Alec’s table. The gesture filled Alec with a sense of relief. It wasn’t just his blight; He wasn’t in this alone. At least, he didn’t think so. His theory was further confirmed when Magnus turned to walk to his table, and their eyes caught, and held. He stood frozen in the middle of the busy shop, and Alec found himself with a prominent thought. He’d missed seeing his face. Ever since they’d started leaving each other notes, they had stopped actually seeing each other, and fucking hell, he missed him.
He didn’t know what expression he was making, but he assumed his face was spreading into a smile, because Magnus’ lips unfurled in one as well, and with a breath that left his chest in a rush, he fingered the strap on his messenger bag and started walking forward, closing the distance between them, eyes still locked in an ultimate stare off.
“Hi”, he said softly, his voice both smoky and tangible, a voice Alec wouldn’t mind listening to for a long long time.
“Hello”, he replied, fully aware that he was smiling like an idiot.
“Can I join you?”, Magnus said hesitantly, and Alec laughed. “Sure. I mean, it is your table after all”
The laugh he got in response sent goosebumps skittering across his skin, and Magnus put down his bag, and settled into the chair across from him.
“I’m Alec”
“Magnus”, he replied, then his brows dipped in a frown “Wait, on the note, your name was going on Alexan”
“I may have used my full name just to find enough letters to keep the notes going”, Alec replied sheepishly, rubbing his neck in embarrassment while Magnus looked at him fondly.
“I’m glad you did. There was something about the back and forth that was oddly enticing”, he replied with a hint of excitement in his voice, and Alec just smiled and said “I could leave, you know. Today’s note is already coming with your latte. We could keep talking through written words. I have no trouble wooing you that way”
“Is that what you were doing? Wooing me?”
“If you have to ask, then I’m not doing so good a job”, Alec confessed, and Magnus laughed, shaking his head slightly.
“No, I reckon that your efforts aren’t proving as effective simply because I’m already wooed. Thoroughly”, he added, his eyes conveying the message along with his words.
“How about you let me buy you a drink?”, he asked, eyes wide in inquiry, and Alec just looked at him steadily and went for it “How about you let me buy you dinner?”
Magnus kind of opened his mouth and closed it again, before just starting to laugh “That was so freaking smooth, I feel like I have no other choice but to say yes”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, buy me dinner, Alexander”, Magnus teased, eyes twinkling in amusement and Alec’s entire being soared, his heart settling into the rhythm of Magnus’ smile. And to think, it had only taken them a library to get here.