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Somehow, between the Valentine mess and every other shit show in between, Alec and Magnus finally got around to that first date. Then a second. And now Magnus was getting ready for a third. It was strange, in a way, dating like this. It had been over a hundred years since Magnus had been in a serious relationship with someone and the dating world was completely different. Sure, he’d wined and dined and fucked people since Camille and now but dating is a whole other thing entirely. He may have a reputation for having many lovers, but lovers don’t exactly equate to relationships. Most of those lovers Magnus rarely felt the desire to see much of outside of a bedroom.
And while, of course, he wanted to take Alexander to bed – have you seen Alec? – he also wanted the other side of it, too.
To be frank, of the two, Magnus had more of a clue of what he was doing dating-wise but he still felt so out of practice. Alec wasn’t any savvier with modern dating. Well, to be honest, Alec had never experienced dating at all. Ever.
Magnus was his first kiss, his first date, everything.
It gave Magnus no small amount of joy to know that he got to be the one to introduce Alec to the world of being in a relationship and hopefully, eventually, in love.
Which is why Magnus felt so much pressure to make sure it all went perfectly. The first few dates had gone nicely. Alec had been nervous at the start on their first – they did end up at the Ethiopian place on 44th – but eventually eased into Magnus’s presence. Their dates had consisted of flowing conversations. Alec was honestly so easy to talk to, so open and honest, especially with Magnus. And Magnus got off on making Alec laugh because he knew how rare and special it was when Alec really laughed.
Both dates had ended with a lot of kissing. As much as they could get away with while still being in public. And while it was nothing new – their first kiss had quite the audience – Magnus hadn’t really had the chance yet to be with Alec alone. Really alone. So he’d thought – where better to have their next date than the loft? It would be perfect, a time for them to just be together.
So Magnus decided he’d surprise Alec by making dinner. That was a grand romantic gesture, right? That was a great idea.
Except Magnus in the kitchen was a nightmare.
Listen, Magnus was very skilled at a lot of things, even without magic, but cooking somehow had never been one of them. You’d think with 400 years to perfect the art of it, Magnus would’ve at least been a decent cook. But there was no such luck.
He’d considered doing his usual of magicking something from somewhere else as dinner, it’s what he did in his every day life, but that felt like cheating and Magnus didn’t want to lie to Alec.
So he called Tessa.
“If you were making dinner for a 21-year-old Shadowhunter, what would you make?” Magnus asked without preamble as soon as she picked up.
“I haven’t been with a 21 –year-old Shadowhunter since the 1800s Mags, we both know this,” Tessa replied. He could hear the smile in her voice. She’d come a long way since she’d lost Will in the ‘30’s, but Magnus would never forget how distraught she had been.
Magnus considered himself and Alec and wondered if they’d be together long enough for him to have to bear that pain. He wanted them to be, but considered if the pain would be easier if things ended between them sooner rather than because of Alec’s mortality. Would it be better to love Alec all of Alec’s life, only to lose him in the end?
“Magnus,” Tessa said gently on the other end of the line. “I can hear you thinking, even over the phone.”
Magnus cleared his throat. “Sorry, I was, uh, trying to pick out a wine for tonight from my collection.”
Tessa hummed and Magnus knew there was no fooling her.
“I…I’m not ready to talk about it yet. We’ve only just started dating, you know? He stresses about it enough for the both of us so me stressing about it too would only make it worse.”
“Okay,” Tessa said. “But I owe you for Paris and if anyone knows how to deal with this, it’s me. So when you’re ready I’m here. But as for tonight, make something Italian. It’s romantic, pairs well with pretty much any wine, and a lot of the dishes can be fairly simple to make.”
“Italian, right,” Magnus said. “Thanks Tessa. I’ll text you and let you know how it goes.”
So, thanks to his conversation with Tessa, Magnus had bought (acquired by magic, left payment) a cookbook and groceries - that were not mostly consisting of wine for once – and was in his kitchen staring at a recipe for chicken cacciatore. Looking back, he should’ve done something a little simple, like spaghetti or hell even a scampi of some sort. But no Magnus was an idiot and decided to go all out.
The noodles were the easiest part. Except when Magnus went to put them on a serving bowl after straining them in the sink, he somehow managed to drop the entire colander of noodles all over the floor. Magnus bit back a curse and cleaned the noodles up with the flick of his fingers. Checking the time, Magnus was relieved when he saw that he could probably swing making some more pasta.
Except he didn’t have any more pasta. Good lord, this was turning out to be a disaster. Magnus sighed, but remembered the cook book had said it could be made with or without pasta, so it looked like he’d have to serve it with the already-baked bread he’d bought.
The sauce and the chicken was another thing entirely. It looked okay, but what if it tasted awful? Magnus was contemplating this when he heard Alec come through the loft’s door. Which was incidentally when the pan with the chicken and the sauce caught on fire. Like actually and legitimately went up in flames.
Magnus cursed and Alec rushed into the kitchen, hearing the noise.
It was over in a flash. One flick of his power and the fire was out, however their dinner was definitely ruined.
“Angel, Magnus! What the hell just happened?” Alec asked, after a moment of staring at the stove, wide-eyed.
“I was going to surprise you with dinner…and the entire thing caught on fire somehow?” Magnus didn’t even know how the hell it had happened. He moved around the kitchen as he spoke, tuning his back to Alec to try to clean up the mess as well as hide how upset he was getting. “Also I dropped all the noodles earlier and then was going to make more but didn’t have any and, well, it looks like it doesn’t even matter now because the chicken is ruined and wow. I’m really sorry, I just wanted to make you a nice romantic dinner and now I’ve royally screwed up – ”
“Magnus,” Alec cut him off, patiently.
Magnus turned to look at Alec, who was looking at him so fondly that Magnus lost his breath for a moment.
Alec walked over to Magnus laughing and gently pushed Magnus’s hair, now in disarray, back from his forehead. He cupped Magnus’s cheek and kissed him lightly on the lips.
“Magnus,” he said again, laughter in his voice this time. “It’s fine. I appreciate the effort. I really do. I think it’s sweet. The only person who’s ever cooked for me before is Izzy and I’ll have you know this,” he gestured at what was supposed to be the chicken, but was now a burnt lump in the sink, “looks far more edible than anything she’s ever made me.”
“I just wanted to do something thoughtful and nice for you,” Magnus sighed.
“The sentiment is received,” Alec said with another soft laugh. “I really do appreciate it Magnus, but I’ll have you know I’m just as happy with takeout. Or anything, really. Shadowhunters are a little more of a meat and potatoes kind of people, but we were raised not to be picky when it comes to food. I’ll happily eat pretty much any kind of food. And I’ll be even happier if I get to eat that food with you. Hell, I would’ve been just as excited to come over for dinner if you told me we were having ramen.”
Magnus faked a gasp. “How dare you think I’d ever eat ramen. Alexander, you wound me.”
“You know what I meant,” Alec said, nudging Magnus’s shoulder playfully. “So, takeout?”
Magnus thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.
Two plates of chicken cacciatore appeared on Magnus’s table, along with a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. Another snap and the candles already on the table were lit.
Alec raised an eyebrow at Magnus, looking at the plates on the table.
“Don’t worry,” Magnus said. “I have a deal with the Italian place on Kent. Shall we?”
The dinner was far better than anything Magnus could’ve cooked himself. Alec kept looking at him softly, the flickering light of the candles playing off the colors in Alec’s eyes.
At some point, Alec laughed at something Manus said, throwing his head back, skin warm in the candlelight and Magnus nearly had to pinch himself that this was his reality now.
So, yeah, it definitely wasn’t perfect but with Alec looking at him like that and a loft all to themselves for the evening, Magnus was not going to complain. Screw perfect, anyway.