Work Text:
Poker face
Alec sat down at the table with the utmost confidence shooting the other four guys already sitting around the table a small smile. He’s been playing poker at his university once a week ever since he started here a semester ago – and he has yet to lose a single game.
His poker face was already the stuff of legend on campus. He didn’t need sunglasses or baseball caps or any of the other gimmicks his fellow players used to hide their excitement or disappointment over their hole cards. His face was all he needed. He had perfected a stoic façade and liked to joke that his face was the only thing about him he never had a problem keeping straight. So, it was a little ironic that the exact face his sister Izzy always complained about, gently teasing him with promises of early crinkles thanks to his perpetual scowl was now serving him quite well.
The other guys were open books as far as Alec was concerned. He noticed every slight twitch of eyebrows, every minute upturn of lips and he pounced on every opportunity like a deadly predator.
Take Adam for instance, the guy who first brought Alec into the game after having met him in his intro to English lit class. He always thought he was so subtle, keeping his face straight and hidden behind the inevitable shades. But every single time he had a good hand, his left hand would involuntarily wander towards his left earlobe. It was almost comical, and it cost Alec everything to not point it out every time he felt his affection swell for his very first friend in this all-new environment, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. And it wasn’t even that he was so hung up on having this tell and not wanting to lose it. He was fairly sure that Adam would be terribly embarrassed being called out on it and he didn’t want to even raise suspicions on being patronizing.
The other two guys who usually played with them, Alec still didn’t know very well. Mark and Ben were flag football buddies and seemed nice enough. But they were so aggressively outgoing that it intimidated Alec a little and so he kept their interactions to those weekly evenings around the poker table.
Their host and dealer, Sam, always graciously offered his single dorm room and was also the supplier of their drinks as he was already a Senior and could actually buy the beer they liked to indulge in. Not too much though, as Alec at least liked to keep a clear head. Sam just enjoyed the company and was not above making snide remarks and teasing the group for their continued losses since Alec had joined the games on a regular basis.
Apparently, there would be a new guy playing in their game for the first time since Alec joined today after a semester abroad. It wasn’t unusual that the fifth place on the table was filled by a different person now and then, but according to the whispers around the table, this mysterious returning player was supposed to be good. Alec wasn’t worried. As long as he was human, he would be able to get all the info he needed from the guy’s face. No one could really hide from his keen gaze.
So, when the door opened and the chair on the other end of the table scraped on the floor, Alec barely looked up. But look up he did, and he knew straight away that this would be his undoing tonight.
The new guy was gorgeous. And not just in an “oh this guy is kind of pretty” way of gorgeous. No, he was legitimately, objectively, and absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. From the flawless bronze skin that showed beneath the open buttons and rolled-up sleeves of his flowy button down to his expertly styled dark hair. And then he looked up at Alec with warm brown eyes that were twinkling with mischief and a whole array of other emotions that Alec couldn’t quite place, and he forgot how to breathe.
“Oh, you’re new!”, the guy said, and a friendly smile formed on his lips. He stretched out his hand across the table and started, “I’m Magnus. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced yet.” Alec swallowed thickly and reached for the offered hand. “A-Alec..” he stuttered and felt heat rising up to his cheeks. What the hell? He didn’t stutter. Or blush for that matter. At least not that easily. What was wrong with him and – focus Alec! You’re still holding his freaking hand, he chastised himself in his head and let go of Magnus’ hand so abruptly one would think he’d gotten burned.
An amused and knowing smile played around Magnus lips as he cleared his throat and asked the room at large “It’s good to be back. Shall we get this show on the road?”
Alec tried to get a hold of his emotions as the game started and only just avoided shooting furtive glances in Magnus’s direction every 10 seconds. He was proud of himself for toning it down and only succumbing to that particular temptation every 30 seconds.
As always, Alec started the game off playing conservatively, only betting when he had a strong starting hand and folding more often than not. He liked to get a read on his opponents, so he could exploit their weaknesses as the game went on. And he had three of his four fellow players figured out within the first four rounds. Their tells were glaringly obvious and he knew he’d be able to outplay them with ease.
Magnus though was a totally different matter. His playstyle seemed to follow no rhyme or reason. He would call when others obviously had strong hands and he would fold when no other player gave any indication of wanting to play and he could have easily won a small pot at least. Alec was starting to watch him more openly and intently and that he still wasn’t able to figure him out unsettled him.
A few more rounds into the game, after the first player (It was Adam, as per usual. The earlobe thing was always his downfall) had to leave because he depleted his stack, Alec thought it was time for his first bluff of the night. His cards weren’t terrible but it wasn’t a hand he would normally play. He knew that the other players would think that he had a strong hand again and would fall for his bluff.
So, he almost spat out his beer when he heard a couple of chips tumble on his bet and Magnus’ smooth voice announced, “I’ll call your bluff. Let’s see what you have.” Alec swallowed the liquid still in his mouth with great difficulty and looked over at Magnus with wide eyes. What kind of magic was this? How could he have known and called him out on it so blatantly?
All that came out when he tried to find his voice was “Wha..? How…?”.
“Oh, darling you’re very easy to read. Practically an open book in all capital letters,” Magnus announced, his voice a mix of mocking and fondness that wasn’t warranted for the short time they had interacted together. And still, it made something warm bloom in Alec’s stomach. He was miffed that Magnus could see through him so easily, but he also liked feeling seen by someone as beautiful as Magnus.
When Magnus saw three more pairs of surprised eyes turn in his direction and noticed Sam barely able to cover his snicker with an ill-acted cough, he asked; “What? Could you guys not tell?” There were minute headshakes and mutters of “not really”, but Magnus just shrugged and patiently waited out Alec and his next move.
Knowing that he was made, Alec tried to keep a surly scowl on his face as he showed his cards to reveal that he had indeed tried to bluff and had a hard time not blushing again as he saw the pleased smile on Magnus’ face and…did he just wink at him?
The game went on and Alec gradually lost all control over his poker face whenever Magnus shot him a look or an openly flirtatious remark. Like, when he told him that Alec would’ve already won the whole game had he been able to bring any of his pretty flushes into his poker hand instead of keeping them all on his gorgeous face. Alec was not used to this much attention being directed at him seemingly exclusively and to say he did not cope well would be the understatement of the century. Magnus continuously called his bluffs and seemed to know his every move and thought. On the other hand, Alec still could not get a read on Magnus’ plays.
Alec thought that he was maybe just having an off night, but he still had no problem easily outplaying the (not so) fearsome flag footballers and decimating their stacks with the same easy confidence that he had displayed all semester. So, it had to be Magnus. And what was so different about him?
Alec knew what was different about him, of course. Alec wasn’t attracted to the other guys and he found it much easier to conceal his emotions from them. But Magnus? He wanted to be seen by him and deep down he knew that he didn’t want to deceive him. Not even in the context of a game of poker. And wasn’t that just a fairly frightening realization about some guy that he met not quite 3 hours ago?
The game was on its way to winding down with Magnus and Alec being the only remaining players with stacks of chips. Magnus’ stack was much more sizable and Alec was already getting a bit forlorn at the thought that the game would probably soon be over and they would go their separate ways.
He was torn from his thoughts when Magnus looked at his cards and then pinned Alec down with a look that had him fighting to breathe. “So, what do you say pretty boy? Want to up the stakes a bit? Winner takes the loser out on a date tomorrow?”
Alec spluttered and felt a blush rise to his cheeks for the umpteenth time this evening. “But that would mean we’d go on a date either way.”
“Pretty and clever...” he barely heard Magnus chuckle and the heat in his cheeks intensified. “Okay” Magnus said, “Tell you what, I win, I’ll get to take you on a date. You win, I’ll never come back to play here, and you can freely continue to lighten these boys’ pockets.”
Alec didn’t want that. Did Magnus know he didn’t want that? His smirk suggested just that, but Alec couldn’t be sure. So, he did the only thing he could think of doing. He took a deep breath and a quick glance at his absolutely atrocious cards and said, “Fine, deal.”
Magnus nodded and pushed a sizable chunk of his remaining stack into the middle of the table. “I raise,” he announced confidently. Alec knew he couldn’t win this hand and if he wanted to stay in the game, he should fold.
What he did instead with a slight upturn of one side of his lip was, push his remaining chips to join Magnus' and quietly announce, “All right, I’m all in...”