Just Bite Me Already

Chapter 9

Alec sat Magnus down on the kitchen island and went on the hunt. Opening the fridge, he found that it was well stocked, and working. It seemed Magnus' magical power loop had worked. Grabbing a few ingredients, he closed the door with a bump of his hip and pulled a few pans from the cupboard that they were kept in.

"It's like we never left New York," Alec said, finding everything he needed to make Magnus' dinner, exactly where he expected it to be.

"If we are going to live in the loft, we might as well have everything that makes this place home," Magnus said, watching Alec set a pan of new potatoes to boil on the hob, thankful that he had an electric hob instead of gas burners. He wasn't quite sure how volatile gas would be here but the hob worked just fine.

Alec nodded his agreement, preparing Magnus a dinner of steak, potatoes, and asparagus. Snagging the glass of blood that Magnus conjured him, he sipped it appreciatively, leaving Magnus to the glass of red wine that his husband was sipping.

The scent of the steak wafted up when Alec set it into the hot pan, making him miss food. It didn't smell appealing in the slightest but he had loved food, not only eating it but the social aspect of sharing a meal.

"You know, some Vampires train their body to accept food and drink that isn't blood?" Magnus asked, seeing the longing on Alec's face as the steak sizzled in front of them. He knew the feeling, it smelled divine.

"What's the point though? It isn't like my body would gain any nutrition from it. And alcohol wouldn't really get me drunk," Alec said, turning Magnus' steak over when he saw the perfect griddle marks on the bottom of it.

"It's more about socializing, about looking normal and fitting in," Magnus said absentmindedly, sliding down off of the countertop to grab a couple of plates and some cutlery. It took his brain a moment to catch up to what he was doing, looking down at the two plates in his hands when he pulled them from the cupboard before he put one back.

"It's not like there are many people around here for me to fit in with anymore," Alec said, staring down into the pan. It wasn't like Magnus had meant anything bad by the comment but he couldn't help thinking that he wasn't normal anymore, either. Turning, and coming to Edom weren't things that he regretted but his entire life and everything he knew about it had changed and he was still getting used to what those changes meant.

"We will explore this together, love," Magnus said, setting his plate and fork down on the side and wrapping his husband up from behind. The slump of Alec's shoulders was something that he didn't like the look of one bit. "It's going to take time, to get used to who you are now. But you will."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about," Alec said, leaning back against Magnus' chest when Magnus' lips sought his cheek out, tilting his head to the side to let Magnus kiss him.

"I do," Magnus said with a tight smile, his arms tightening their hold on Alec's waist a little. He rested his chin on Alec's shoulder to watch his steak finish cooking, elaborating when Alec bent his head to look at him. "I wasn't born with my magic or my Warlock mark, remember?" he asked.

Alec nodded, understanding dawning as he thought back to the many conversations that they'd had about Magnus' early childhood. Magnus hadn't discovered his powers until he had been around six or seven. It hadn't been until Magnus' cat eyes had manifested that Magnus or his parents had even known that he was different.

"How did you deal with it? Just being different one day?" Alec asked, removing the pan and sliding the steak onto Magnus' magically warmed plate, letting it rest while he waited for the potatoes and asparagus to finish cooking.