strongest_faith | The Course of Second Dates

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The Course of Second Dates

He's on time this time, at least. And he has Magnus's shirt, neatly folded, in his hand. He'd thought about keeping it, but that seemed silly somehow. He wasn't ever going to wear it. (And he wasn't sure he'd ever tell Magnus that he lent it to Cecil. He had it back now, and it was clean.)

He clears his throat quietly and tugs at his shirt, another blue one, a sweater this time, but one Izzy had given him, so it was mostly free of holes and not too faded. He thinks he probably shouldn't be so nervous. It had gone really well last time, once they'd gotten through dinner.

Still, his hand is trembling a little when he presses the buzzer.

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"That sounds perfect." he hasn't actually gone so it should be an adventure.

Alec has never been to a movie at all, so it will certainly be an adventure for him. When they get to the theatre, he heads for the ticket booth. "I don't know what you like, but there's a funny one, a romantic one, and an explosive one, I think."

He'd read reviews of them, but a lot of the reviews talked about actors or directors he's never heard of.

"What would you like to see?" he suspects the explosive one but Alexander has surprised him more than once.

If Alec were more like Jace, he'd say the explosive one because that's the one he's supposed to say.

But he's not, so he can only be sincere, and he says, "The romantic one looked interesting."

And once again Alec has surprised Magnus, "Romantic sounds perfect."

The warlock loves that Alexander is willing to be himself with Magnus.

Alec smiles and buys their tickets. It's a period piece, Regency England, and there's some fighting in amongst the romance.

"Okay, so...popcorn, right? We should get popcorn?"

He's done some research, but his resources have been limited.

"Allow me" he offers, since Alec bought the tickets. "And I think some Red Vines."

"Are you thirsty?"

Alec almost protests. Magnus paid for the last date, after all. "I'd love a Coke, yeah," he says instead, because things are going smoothly so far, and he wants them to keep going smoothly. "Thanks."

He's trying to be better about the mundanes around them, but he's still a little jumpy, feeling like kind of a lot of them are staring? Do mundanes look at each other that often? Is somebody else going to ask him to be a model?

"So," he says to distract himself from all the mundanes, "is this something you do often? Movies, I mean," he adds quickly. "Not...dates. That's none of my business, of course."

Many of the mundanes are staring but Magnus is used to it. He likes being the center of attention, though right now only Alexander Lightwood has his attention.

"No this isn't something I do often, Alexander." he smiles warmly, "Movies or dates, at least not lately." not much since HER.

There's something about being the center of Magnus Bane's attention that makes Alec feel...grounded. Seen. In a way he rarely is around the Institute.

"What about Richard the idiot?" Alec asks, thinking of their dinner last time.

Magnus sigh's recalling Richard's outburst. "That didb't last long. And my heart wasn't in it." a smile, "And as you say he is an idiot." Magnus does have some standards.

Alec can't help thinking that this hasn't lasted long yet either. He wonders how long it has to be before it has lasted long. Magnus is probably hundreds of years old. Maybe it doesn't count as long until it's been years.

Not for the first time, Alec wonders if this is a good idea. He watches Magnus interacting with the mundanes at the concession counter, and he thinks about their last date and this week and how he's been thinking about this night all week, and by the time they have popcorn, soda, and candy, he's back in.

"Okay...where do we go from here?" he asks because he's really never done this. He turns to survey the flow of mundane traffic and sees they're all headed toward someone who seems to be taking tickets, so he heads off in that direction.

Magnus worries that the different sides of Alec may lead him to turn away from his own happiness. Something Magnus hopes the Shadowhunter will find with him. How much Magnus wants that is something he is still trying to deny to himself.

"The middle will give us the best view of the screen, up high will give us the best opportunity to make out" he says playfully, "and up front gives the best opportunity to be around as few mundanes as possible."

It's Friday night, so even the front is filling up with mundanes fairly quickly, and Alec would much rather have them in front of him than behind. Having the entire room to his back just doesn't make strategic sense, so he heads for the top, his cheeks flushed. "I just...like to be up high," he mumbles as they shuffle in toward the middle of the row.

Magnus smiles at him, daring to touch Alec's cheek. "Suppose it's a more strategic position too."

He knows that he can't take things too far and being immortal he can go at Alec's speed. Though his whole body is a buzz with energy.

Alec blushes a deeper red as he settles into the seat. It's not that he doesn't want to make out. He just doesn't want Magnus to think that's the only reason he chose the back.

"What's...um...what's the last movie you saw?"

Alec won't know it, but small talk is good, right?

Magnus tells Alec about a comedy that he went to go see, "I tried to talk Catarina into coming along but she was too busy saving lives."

He describes it best he can, suddenly finding the movie far more interesting telling it to Alec then when he was actually sitting in the theater alone.

The lights start to dim so Magnus breaks off mid-sentence, "They are about to start the previews."

Alec relaxes as Magnus talks. Magnus has a way with words and stories that makes Alec smile, and by the time the lights start to dim and the room quiets, Alec is relaxed enough to settle against Magnus, shoulders pressed together.

Magnus settles in happy to let Alec relax against him and watch the film. Glancing at Alec from time to time to see how he is doing.

Alec is sort of entranced. Shadowhunters have nothing even resembling films. No plays, no poets, no storytellers. Creation isn't a thing the Nephilim have time for. He eats his way through the popcorn without even realizing it, and once it's gone, he--after a long internal debate with himself--reaches for Magnus's hand.

Magnus happily and easily accepts Alec's hand and turns to watch the movie. Perhaps the best movie he has ever seen.

It's...nice. To sit like this with Magnus, holding hands, doing something so perfectly mundane as seeing a movie. It's a lot like being in Milliways, the way he can relax and not worry about being a Shadowhunter or Robert and Maryse Lightwood's son.

When the lights start to come up at the end of the film, Alec sits up with a smile. "That was pretty good, wasn't it? I...liked it."

He's a little surprised.

"It was good. Perhaps the best I've ever seen." the company might have something to do with that.

This whole experience was so strange, a date, a mundane date with a Shadowhunter. This is something he would never have thought possible.

"Really?" Alec asks. He has nothing to compare it to, so it's definitely the best he's seen.

As they file out of the theatre, he says, "So...I didn't really have plans after the movie. We could get dinner or coffee? Or go back to your place...?"

"This is your date, your turn to choose." he smiles. As much as he would love to take Alec back to his place he doesn't want to rush Alec.

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