Rock Bottom

Magnet

Magnus watched as the happy expression on Alexander's face faded with the loss of his friend. In so many ways, Alec was easy to read - like a book with lots of pictures - but in so many other ways Magnus had absolutely no idea what the beautiful man was thinking. This was quite new for him. Usually Magnus found people easy to figure out. Most of them wanted sex in his experience, or money, or some variation or combination of those things. Some people might call his view on people jaded, but Magnus liked to think of it more as realistic. As far as Magnus could tell however, Alec wanted nothing of the sort. Alec was just Alec, genuine and kind. Alec didn't fit into Magnus's way of looking at the world, and he found that fascinating.

"You're really gonna miss her aren't you?" Magnus observed.

"She's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember," Alec stated, by way of reply. Then he returned to his seat at the table and his other guests, a smile fixed to this face. Magnus couldn't help but think that his smile was more for the others around him than what he was actually feeling.

Magnus had done nothing this evening, but make a study of Alexander. He'd spent half the night in conversation with Alec's best friend, and the other half watching Alec's face to try and learn the workings of the thoughts behind the expressions. He wasn't sure how long this interest would hold, but at the moment he was quite content to simply observe the blue eyed man.

Magnus watched as Alec smiled, and talked politely with his guests. He watched as those guests began paying their bills and collecting their coats. Alec hugged most of them as a way of saying goodbye, always with a smile on his face. Even sad as he was now, the joy this boy radiated was almost infectious. He was like the sun, or some kind of angel.

What surprised Magnus most was that Alec's smile persisted past the last guest walking out the door.

"Didn't even say goodbye," Alec laughed. "Wow, Jace must of really hit it off with Clary."

"Indeed," Magnus replied. "I hardly saw him talk to anyone else all night."

"Oh, and Jace is so not a five by the way," Alec chuckled. "Not that I'd expect a guy to really notice that."

"Are you calling me straight?" Magnus scoffed. He tried to tease, but the idea of Alec's thinking this didn't sit well with him. Magnus was no stranger to these feelings. He knew he was attracted to Alec, and yet he'd been attracted to people before without feeling the need to study them so thoroughly.

"Are you telling me, you aren't?" Alec replied. "Cause most people are."

"I am not most people," Magnus stated easily.

"Oh," Alec said, and once again Magnus was drawing a blank. No matter how he tried to figure the other man out, the inside of Alexander's mind remained a mystery to him. He had no idea what Alec thought of this new information, though still, the strangest part of all this was how badly Magnus wanted to know what Alec was thinking.

"Did you still want those driving lessons?" Magnus asked, giving up understanding the inner workings of Alec's mind for now in favour of securing more time with him instead.

"Oh yeah, that would be great!" Alec exclaimed, clearly delighted.

"When did you want to start?" Magnus asked.

"Whenever you want!" Alec replied. "I'm just really grateful you'd be willing to put up with teaching me."

"I quite enjoy your company actually," Magnus responded, feeling like he'd said a lot more than he'd intended to.

Alec grinned, clearly happy to hear such. Magnus sensed Alec did not understand the depth of meaning he'd accidentally conveyed, which he supposed was a good thing. It made Magnus feel less vulnerable somehow.