Work Text:
“You’re doing that thing with your eyes again”
Alec startled, giving the cat beneath his hand where he’d been stroking it a scare as well. Looking round he saw his sister, Izzy, giving him that knowing look once more. He rolled his eyes and went back to where he was gently brushing the long fur of the maine coon on the counter in front of him. “Don’t know what you’re talking about” He mumbled, trying not to look back to where his gaze had become fixed for the last twenty minutes.
“He likes you too...I can tell” Alec heard her say close to him, almost a whisper but maybe loud enough like she wanted the man he was staring at to hear. He shook his head and concentrated on the purring fluff ball again.
“You’re crazy…” he’d never be interested in me , he wanted to finish but he knew he’d be scolded for putting himself down again. “I think he’s just looking to adopt”. He gave his sister a smile and a shrug before she left to get the order of drinks the table in the far corner had sent through. He could still see the man out the corner of his eye and sighed softly, he’d been coming to the CaPURRccino, for just over a month now, Saturday mornings and Wednesday nights, staying for a couple of hours and playing with the cats while drinking at least three cups of coffee before leaving again. They’d never said a word to each other in all that time but they’d shared a few fond smiles in greeting.
The Cat Cafe was modernised in the way you booked your table online via the app and then you could sit and order, pay for the drinks from the comfort of wherever you sat with the furry companion you had that day. The difference with CaPURRccino was that all the cats and kittens were rescued, something Alec and his siblings had started doing since they found Church, the one currently being pampered like a prince on the counter, abandoned in a box down an alleyway.
It had always been his sisters dream to open a coffee shop of her own, so with Alec’s business sense and their brother Jace’s financial knowledge they helped her make the dream a reality. The cats were of course the afterthought when they were running out of space at the local Cat rescue, so had to resort to taking a lot of them in themselves to nurture.
The man was beautiful though, Alec was captivated the moment he stepped through the door, drenched from the rain outside and shivering. If his sister hadn’t been close by he would’ve run over to rescue the stranger himself. He was clearly surprised that the coffee shop he used to frequent had been transformed into what it was today, but he’d stayed anyway since it was a slow night. Keeping himself warm with a complimentary white chocolate latte (one of Alec’s specialities) and three of their more social cats.
He knew his name was Magnus, his sister would be the one to carry the drinks over each time, they’d gotten quite close which he was probably more than a little envious about. He’d stayed behind the servery, too anxious to introduce himself or make small talk, not when he was so handsome. He always wore a well fitted suit and dark khol around his eyes. Alec liked to play a game a guess with himself which colour nail varnish he’d wear, he never got it right though. Today for example, he decided the weather was nice so a simple maroon may be the right one. Magnus had come in wearing royal blue. The til pinged nearby, indicating an order. He placed the cat brush down and stepped away, narrowly avoiding an angry paw in his direction for stopping the attention. Washing his hands thoroughly he checked it over, table 14 was a tap water and a peach ice tea.
He prepared the drinks before sliding them onto a tray and dinging the bell on the counter before he headed to the pot wash to quickly rinse out the blender he’d used. “Table 14 Iz” He called back, assuming she was there, but when he looked back the order hadn’t moved and his sister was nowhere to be found.
Frowning he walked over to the front, peering through the display fridges to see she wasn’t even in sight, drying his hands he sighed and removed his apron. He walked through the small saloon door separating the front from the back and took hold of the tray. He wasn’t as familiar with the table layouts as his sister was, so he took his time to slowly find the right table, scanning until he smiled seeing 14.
“One tap water and One Peach Iced Tea!” He cheerfully spoke out, placing the glasses down gently and looking at his customer, swallowing and eyes widening a little as he realised who it was. “Oh” He spoke out in a little surprise, Magnus looked back at him with a curious smirk.
“Thank you Alexander”
The man’s voice was like velvet, his lips looked a little damp from where he may have licked his lips and he was looking directly up at him making his heart rate increase. How does he know my name?! Alec tried to keep his smile from straining. “Enjoy!” He gave a thumbs up, not really sure why and not wanting to know as he turned and quickly made his way to the back once more. Cursing himself for being so incredibly awkward.
Another two weeks had passed and Alec was in the office, he was supposed to be filling out adoption forms but instead he was watching the CCTV cameras, watching Magnus snuggled up with the pure black cymric kitten that had been brought in last week. Since their awkward moment, Alec had gotten the guts to actually interact with the older man. They almost had an entire conversation, until he ruined it by saying something stupid and had to run and hide again. He learnt that Magnus already had a cat at home, a siamese he called Chairman Meow. His name was a story for another time apparently. Magnus said his doctor recommended he came more often because he found cats to be extremely therapeutic and helped him with his peace of mind. His job seemed to be extremely stressful, he always came in with a heavy sigh and left with a beautiful smile.
Shaking his head he looked back to the forms and continued to sort through and fill them out, deciding to get his head out of the clouds for the time being.
It was getting late as Alec finally finished, he could hear his siblings cleaning up and catching the trickier of cats to get them into their sleep rooms. Stepping out the office, he apologised for not coming out onto the floor sooner, but Jace had quickly dismissed the apology since it was extremely important paperwork. He came through the saloon door and was starting to lift the chairs from the floor, stacking the ones he could and the rest he put to one side. They liked to completely scrub the cafe from top to bottom so the cats and the customers were in a safe and clean environment.
Just as he was about to grab a footstool to move, the customer toilets door opened and Magnus stepped out directly in front of him. Alec found himself blushing as he hadn’t expected him to still be here, especially after closing.
“M-Magnus” He stuttered and stood up straight as the other walked over, he looked tired but then again Alec must of as well.
“Oh I was just leaving, I got caught up chatting with Isabelle” He smiled a little shyly and Alec wondered if maybe his sister had gotten it all wrong and Magnus was in fact interested in her? Not him like she had been adamant about. “I was actually-”
Alec looked over Magnus’ form, the businessman seemed to almost shrink where he stood, his posture becoming defensive and a little on edge. “You were…?” Alec offered in aid of whatever was going through the man’s mind. He smiled to try and help him relax, seeing the way his shoulders tensed and wishing he could just help ease that tension with a quick massage. Blushing at his own thoughts now he paid 100% of his attention to Magnus.
“I was going to ask if you’re busy on Friday”
Alec frowned slightly, listening to the question. “I work seven days a week” He answered without a second thought, wishing he’d been a little less blunt when Magnus’ eyes seemed to lower in disappointment?
“But…” Alec swallowed, not really sure why he dismissed the question without hearing the full point of it. “W-Why do you ask?”
“Well, my Father offered for me the use his box for the classical spectacular at the Philharmonic Hall...I would usually go on my own but your sister mentioned you like classical music...there’s a meal included and free champagne” his smile that followed his words made Alec a little weak at the knees. He realised suddenly the whole cafe was silent, which meant his siblings had hidden away like they knew this would be happening.
“I- You won’t like my company” Alec answered without thinking again, laughing to himself and making Magnus chuckle as well, before she shook his head.
“Your sister said you’d spin a few lies and maybe even a few excuses to say no, she also told me not to worry because you like me as much as I like you”
Alec wanted the floor to swallow him up, he knew he must’ve gone beetroot red now. He didn’t realise he was so predictable and he had no idea his sister would tell Magnus how he felt when he hadn’t even told her. “I-I’ve never been on a date-If! If that’s...is that what you’re asking?”
“It is…” Magnus reached out and took his hand, Alec hadn’t even realised it was trembling until he found the comfort from the other’s gesture. “Please say yes...If by the end of the night your opinion of me changes, then I’ll respect that you at least gave me the courtesy of trying”.
The tone was so gentle, he didn’t even care that he was in work, probably sweaty and smelling of cats, this was one of the most romantic moments of his entire life. “Okay” He smiled and choked on a laugh as Magnus seemed elated, his eyes wide and excited.
“Okay?”
“Okay” Alec confirmed, if he’d known Jace and Izzy were behind the counter listening and watching everything, then there was a strong chance he’d have to kick their asses.
After exchanging numbers and messaging each other every morning and night, Alec found Friday came by without a hitch, they spent the one of the best evenings together after his sister had offered to take the early shift on Saturday. Magnus had walked Alec home and the two had shared a couple of sweet kisses before they parted ways with the promise of a 2nd date and the potential to make this official between them.
It turns out, the first time Magnus came into the cafe wasn’t to get out of the rain, it was because he’d seen Alec and had every intention of asking him out on a date. He’d come back twice a week just to try and build up the courage but Alec had always seemed unapproachable and uninterested. When Alec explained that he’d thought Magnus only wanted to try and adopt a cat from them, he felt a little foolish but he hadn’t been too wrong. The week after their date Magnus filled out the forms and adopted the cymric kitten, he had tried to resist its charms but with its black hair and hazel eyes he said reminded him of someone he held dear, he’d been too weak to resist.
Alec had been a little reluctant with starting CaPURRccino with his siblings but only 2 months in, he’d realised it was the best decision he’d ever made.