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Magnus sat in the coffee shop fiddling with his mobile, he wasn't using it for any particular reason he just felt like he needed to do something while waiting for his date to arrive. Date. The very word felt strange, in his head he was still a married man and even if the man he was meeting the man he believed to be the reincarnation of his beloved, it still felt odd.
Hearing the door open for the eleventh or twelfth time since he'd arrived, early he glanced up and this time it was Alec, the man he was waiting for, who glanced around and when he spotted Magnus a smile lit up his face and making his way towards him, weaving his way through the tables.
“You came.” Alec said, removing his jacket and hanging on the back of the chair opposite Magnus.
“Why wouldn't I when asked out for coffee by a gorgeous man.” Magnus replied instantly, and a little surprised when a hint of a blush crossed the other mans face
“Yeah, so … what would you like to drink?” Alec asked. “My treat.”
“Surprise me.” Magnus replied after a moment, his brain seemingly deciding not to work. “Nothing cold though.”
“Sure.” Alec grinned and Magnus watched him go to the counter.
He was tall, maybe a inch or so shorter than Alexander but still tall and obviously he had no idea what he looked like under his clothes but his build led him to think he looked after himself and he found himself wondering if he had Alexander's toned abs or if is his chest was covered in soft, black hairs until he realised that Alec was making his way back with the coffees on a small try and averted his look, pretending to be watching something out the window.
“Here we go.” Alec said, setting them down on the table and finally taking his own seat. “I got a caramel latte and a mocha, you get to choose which one you would like.”
“The mocha, thank you.” Magnus said with a smile reaching for the drink and taking a sip before setting it down on the table. “Do you normally go for such coffee concoctions?”
“Nope, normally black with a little sugar.” Alec replied. “I though it would be fun to drink something different for a change.”
“Oh. So tell me more about yourself, what do you do when not working?” Magnus asked.
“Well, I'm not one for clubbing, as you know.” Alec told him. “Or drinking, I'm more of a homebody really, I like to read I guess.”
“Do you like watching films or listening to music?” Magnus asked.
“Now and then.” Alec shrugged, sending a memory of Alec to his brain again when he had, after Jace had mistakenly meant him, called him pretty boy. “You're doing it again.”
“Doing what again?” Magnus frowned.
“Sometimes when I say something you seem to be distracted, thinking about something else?” Alec replied.
“Just memories that some to me sometimes.” Magnus told him with a sad smile. “But we are in the here and now. “So, you haven't seen many films?”
“No, not really.” Alec replied, wondering if he was competing with the ghost of the man that Magnus had lost.
“Then we may have to rectify that.” Magnus smiled.
“Perhaps.” Alec answered. “I … sorry.”
Alec took his mobile that had pinged with a new message from his pocket and glanced at the screen and his face lit up.
“Sorry, I know it's rude but I have been waiting for this text for days, do you mind?” Alec asked Magnus.
“Sure.” Magnus told him with a wave of his hand, wondering what was so important and why Alec's facial expression had turned to one of excitement, then a frown as the read the message, sent a short reply and then put it away again. “Something good? Not good?””
“About ten years ago my mother started researching our dad's family tree.” Alec told him. “My father passed away when we were still young and she wanted to see if she could trace his family line back like she had hers and it was going well for a while and then she got to a point where it was beginning to get harder and harder so I employed someone to help.”
“And they found something?” Magnus asked, truly interested.
“Yes and no.” Alec sighed. “So, she made it back to my great, great great grandfather and so, well my surname is hyphenated, Jones-Wood, which was my father name. Not his and my mothers a people assume. Tracing it back we discovered that the name Jones was added to wood when my great grandfather married, adding his wife's name. But what the man I hired found out today was that my great great great grandfathers surname was actually Lightwood, but he had dropped the first part of the surname and that's where we are now stuck.”
“Lightwood?” Magnus echoed.
“Yes, once he got that far all records of any other ancestors seem to have vanished.” Alec sighed. “Nothing, anywhere, it's like they never existed.”
“That's all a bit strange.” Magnus nodded, how brain working ten to the dozen about the possibilities.
“Exactly! My mum was hoping he would come up with something.” Alec replied. "she will be disappointed but he has promised to try and dig further, see if someone he knows might have another way to try and uncover the reason.”
“Whatever he might find, it could be fascinating.” Magnus nodded, thinking he knew the exact reason why the line couldn't be traced back any further and lifted his cup to finish his coffee.
“I know, maybe to cover a secret, a scandal?” Alec suggested, now sounding excited at the thought.
“You never know.” Magnus agreed, then changed to subject to try and stop his mind whirling. “So, do you feel like going for a walk, get some fresh air?”
“Sure.” Alec agreed, already getting up and putting his jacket back on.
Leaving the coffee shop they wandered along streets with no real destination in mind, talking about mundane things such as the weather until they found themselves outside Central Park, deciding to continue inside and they walked towards the duck pond before sitting on a bench overlooking it.
“I've enjoyed this afternoon.” Alec said, sitting close to Magnus. “I'd like to do this again, well see you again. That if you want to, too?”
“I would.” Magnus smiled.
“Hey look!” Alec said suddenly, pointing towards the pond.
It took a moment or two before Magnus realised that he was pointing towards a butterfly, their butterfly sitting on a leaf of one of the plants beside the pond.
“Is that the butterfly you asked me about?” Alec asked the other man.
“Yes.” Magnus replied, his voice barely above a whisper at the confirmation that they were both seeing the same species of butterfly. “I couldn't find it in any book, or on the internet.”
“Me neither.” Alec told him. “Maybe we have discovered a new species, that would be cool.”
“It would.” Magnus agreed, knowing that somehow it was just them that it showed itself too.
Alec got his phone and and focused it on the butterfly, but before he could snap the picture he flew away on the light breeze.
“Oh well, next time.” Alec said, glancing at the screen before he put his phone away again. “I'm sorry, I need to go, I promised my sister that I would go to her house for dinner tonight.”
“That's okay, I'm not going anywhere.” Magnus replied. “Maybe we can get together in a few days? We could go and see a film?”
“I like that idea.” Alec told him, getting to feet, Magnus following suit a moment later. “I really have enjoyed this afternoon.”
“Me too.” Magnus smiled, a little taken by surprise when Alec closed the small gap between them and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before Alec started walking away backwards.
“Call me.” Alec told him, before turning around and starting to jog towards the exit.
Magnus sat back down on the bench, touching his lips with his finger and a strange feeling came over him like he had been kissed by a ghost. After a few long minutes he fished his phone out of his jacket pocket and sent Clary a text.
“I'm hoping you can do me a favour biscuit, are you free in the next few days?”
Then with a smile, phone back on pocket he made his way home.
I feel it when you're with me,
It happens when you kiss me.
The End.