Chapter Text
8:27 AM Monday March 10th, 2014
Alec was staring up at the huge logo in front of his new part time job: The Edom Toy Factory. It was the oldest toy factory in Idris, producing toys since 1801. Thousands of toys were made each day in the factory and Alec was somewhat proud to land a job on the assembly line. The hours were perfect. He would only work late evening shifts during archery competitions in Alicante or nearby cities and afternoons any other time. Today was different since he had orientation and training. He arrived 30 minutes early to make sure he found a great parking spot near the building. He looked around the area and noticed a group of people sitting on a bench outside of the factory. They were laughing while drinking coffee and two more groups of people walked pass him to head inside the building. Everyone looked happy to be at the factory and he was actually starting to feel excited even though this job was temporary until his archery career took off. He saw the group in front of him still smiling as they walked inside. Throwing their coffee cups in the trash bin next to the entrance, Alec proceeded to follow behind the group. He was greeted by security when walking inside the building. The group in front of him scanned their badges at the gates blocking access to the rest of the building. Alec signed in with security and was told to go to a small classroom that was only a few feet away from security.
The new hires were greeted by one of the hiring managers, Jia Penhallow. She interviewed Alec for his new position and she arrived exactly at 9am to start the orientation. She welcomed the small group of twenty to the toy factory and guided them to an auditorium that was at the end of the hallway on the first floor. Alec thought the auditorium looked like a historical toy museum. There were dozens of famous toys encased in glass on the walls and each chair had a different toy painted on the seat. Alec and a few other new hires looked around impressed by the sight. Everyone sat in the first two rows while Jia talked more about the factory and history. She had a stoic but yet friendly demeanor and smiled throughout the orientation. Alec thought Jia was very kind throughout the interview and knew he would get along well with her.
Minutes into the orientation, after going over how long training was going to be and testing required to be part of the assembly line, Jia introduced all the trainers briefly except the last one.
“The assembly line trainer who will put all the knowledge to the real test on the line is Magnus Bane. Magnus has been a part of our factory family for three years and is one of our best trainers and assembly line workers. He currently has a 99.5 percent pass rate, which is in the top 1 percent of our company. You will be trained by the best so we expect nothing but the best from you. Join me in welcoming Magnus to our orientation!” Jia stated proudly at the crowd.
Everyone clapped as Magnus walked in smiling boisterously to the crowd, not appearing shy in the slightest. Alec stared at the man and swore his heart momentarily stopped. He stared with his mouth open. He noticed the palms of his hands were moist as he gripped the chair handle. His appearance was uniquely striking. Purple eyeliner with matching streaks in his hair that was slicked in a spiked mohawk. The fade on both sides had a lightning bolt pattern that was purple as well. He wore silver snake ear cuffs and his lips had a glossy shine. They appeared so wet and juicy that all Alec wanted to do was feel his lips pressed on them. His black and purple suit and vest matched his hair perfectly. Even his nails were painted in a deep purple. And his golden eyes... He never seen anyone with a similar pair. It was just the icing on the cake. The man was unbelievably hot.
He instantly knew he was going to love working at the Edom Toy Factory.
“Thank you Jia and everyone for the warm welcome. I will definitely make you proud and produce another great bunch of assembly line workers.”
“I know. You have the best record.”
“Welcome, everyone. I know there's twenty of you here but I will be training you in smaller groups of five for a more individualized experience over the next three days. There's a lot of material you have to read during this time and I will make sure that what you learn in the books is applied on the assembly line. Since we are going to spend a lot of time together over the next three days, I want to break the ice. I was once in those seats so I want you to feel comfortable. A fun fact about me is that I am a medical doctor and I love going to the theater. I've been to over 100 plays to date. I definitely look forward to getting to know every single one of you.” Magnus took a moment to look at everyone in the group and suddenly locked stares with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he's ever seen. He found himself speechless on his memorized introduction speech.
“Umm... Thanks so much and welcome to Edom! You're going to have tons of fun here!” Magnus almost stuttered the last sentence, making Jia stare puzzled at him. Magnus was always unflappable when it came to giving speeches to new hires. Magnus quickly left finding himself out of breath. He never felt like this before and it almost scared him. The man was simply gorgeous. He had a black motorcycle leather jacket that screamed sexy, black denim jeans, and a grey buttoned down dress shirt that fit him perfectly. Shaking himself to pull it together, he laughed thinking it was nonsensical to feel this way so quickly. He was a professional and no one was able render him speechless no matter how beautiful they were.
After Jia finished orientation, Magnus headed back to the auditorium with a few papers in his hand. Looking through the names, he asked for everyone's attention.
“Hello everyone. Everyone will be headed to room 102 to started reading more about your current positions except for the following five people.”
“Bartholomew Valasquez”
“Emma Carstairs”
“Will Herondale”
“Helen Blackthorn” and “Alexander Lightwood” Seeing Alec stand up, Magnus smiled sultrily, finally putting a name to that gorgeous face and body. He personally introduced himself to the five and when he walked up to Alec he extended his hand to shake. They both noticed the firm grip the other had. Magnus let go seconds later, keenly aware that it lasted far too long.
“Hello Alexander. Welcome to Edom!”
“Mostly everyone calls me Alec but-” Alec stopped his train of thought thinking he actually loved how Magnus said his full name. It was so suave and seductive.
“But what?” Magnus asked. Alec could feel the eyes of everyone in the group staring at the two of them and quickly replied.
“Nothing! It's nice to meet you.”
“Great! Now that we all know each other by name and introduced ourselves, let's get to the “fun” part! Magnus used air quotes to describe fun as he started walking towards the doll assembly department, giving them a tour of all the inspection sections. After the tour, he had the group watch other workers assemble toys to give them a visual of what their position entailed.
During lunch, Alec sat by himself in a corner towards the back of the cafeteria and was staring at the window. Thinking about his upcoming archery competition next week, he didn't notice Magnus walk up to him.
“Hey!” Magnus said smiling down at Alec.
Alec looked up and dropped his sandwich. “Uh... Hi, Magnus!” Trying to formulate words was increasingly becoming a challenge for Alec when in the presence of Magnus. He couldn't try to remain cool, calm and collected if he wanted to.
“I saw you were alone and thought you might want some company.” Alec preferred to be alone but couldn't deny the presence of this beautiful man wanting to sit with him.
“Sure! Take a seat.” Alec said extending his hand to gesture Magnus to sit down.
“Thanks. So do you like it here so far?” Magnus said while opening his lunch bag.
“It's very nice here. Everyone has been friendly. This is my first job after graduating college.”
“Nice. When did you graduate?”
“Last May. I took a small break after graduation and then jumped into my career.”
“Starting as an assembly worker and working yourself up to CEO of the Edom Toy Factory?” Magnus questioned while deepening his smile when he saw Alec almost laugh at his reply.
“No. This is only part time. I am a professional archer. I travel around the country competing. In between competitions, I need to make additional income so I thought to find a job that would suit my schedule. This job is perfect because I don't have to work weekends and Jia let's me have a flexible schedule during the week. It's also great because it's not stressful. There's really not much brain power involved in assembling small toys.
Magnus stared surprised at Alec, not expecting he played a sport. Then again, while staring at Alec's arms, he does look very toned and muscular. It only fueled his desire for the man.
“Wow... that sounds amazing! How long have you been competing?” Magnus asked thinking it was best to continue the conversation and not gawk at Alec's body.
About six months full time. I use to compete in college for the archery team. However archery is not a popular sport in Idris so I needed to find something else to help pay the bills. I do hope one day I am able to save enough money to travel around the world and compete. It's a passion. There's not much money involved but I love it. Alec smiled buoyantly at Magnus thinking about his pure love and joy for the sport. He couldn't hold back the excitement he felt about his next competition.
Magnus was in awe, finding himself as a cliche and already falling head over heels for Alec. He never met anyone this passionate about anything. Staring at Magnus genuinely interested made Alec's smile falter a bit.
“If only everyone sounded just as enthusiastic about my career. My mom and dad didn't care much about archery throughout college. As long as I was getting a degree in business so I can some day take over the family business they didn't care what I did outside of studying. Once I told them that I wanted to do this on a professional level they laughed at me and then flipped out when they saw that I was serious. So they cut me off and here I am. But... they always did say that once I get over this "rebellious phase" I could come back and start over in the right direction.”
Magnus sighed sadly thinking about his dad.
“Yeah.... I know what you mean. My dad runs a large medical practice. He's affiliated with the training hospital in Alicante. He's trained some of best doctors in all of Idris. I highly respect him but I wanted to go down a more homeopathic route. I love working with herbs and I specialize in making healing potions. My best friends are my only patients but I hope to open my own medical practice with an apothecary someday. I've been saving up since I started working here 3 years ago, right after med school. I figure in another four years I'll have enough money to buy a small space. I am trying to do this without asking my dad for help. Not that he would give it. He doesn't support the alternative methods and what I'm doing is not considered real medicine to him. As you know already, I have a medical degree but I want to focus on medicine found in nature."
“That certainly is admirable.” Alec replied, piqued by the fact they both could relate to each other in following dreams that their parents didn't approve of and was definitely more intrigued by Magnus the more they talked.
“Following your dreams despite loved ones discouragement is hard. Sometimes, I wonder if it's worth it. I love them both and don't want to disappoint them. I worked as an intern at the institute all throughout college but there's no joy in numbers for me. I don't want to be an accountant. Sitting at a desk, staring at numbers all day for the rest of my life is not me. I want to do something that's fun and exciting but can also be a challenge.”
Magnus smiled enthralled at Alec trying hard to hold back his feelings and remain neutral but he couldn't help but fall deeper for the man. His eyes alone were sinking him further into the abyss. He suddenly snapped out of it when he saw two new hires in his group walk pass their table and towards the time clock.
Magnus looked at his watch and stared back up at Alec.
“Wow, look at the time. An hour can go by so fast when having great conversation!” Magnus stated while getting up from the table. He thrown his lunch that he barely touched in the trash thinking the sushi sitting out for an hour wasn't go to be very nice to eat the next time he took a break.
“Yeah... I... never...” Alec shook his head searching for a suitable speech pattern. He thought he never revealed this much about his life to someone he just met so quickly in his life.
“We should get back before the boss notices. Don't want to start your first day breaking rules. Jia hates when people are late from breaks.”
"Yes, you're right! Let's go." Alec replied, tossing the remnants of his lunch in the trash.
“Alexander, I was wondering if you want to continue the conversation tomorrow, maybe? During lunch?” Magnus asked, hoping Alec would make his day complete by saying yes.
"Sure! I would lo... like that!" Stopping himself from saying love he smiled at Magnus thinking it was never so easy talk to anyone. He didn't want to stop staring at his golden eyes. Magnus smiled slightly, about to turn in the opposite direction towards another trainee that was in his new hire group. He thought being friends would be the best decision. It was an added bonus that the man was insanely beautiful.
“Cool... Well, see you tomorrow on the assembly line! Magnus said watching Alec's smile widen and for a moment they were both lost on each other's smile.
“See you tomorrow, Magnus!" Magnus nodded still smiling at Alec as he walked away. Alec stood for a minute replaying Magnus' smile and was caught in what he thought was a mind numbing trance that he suddenly found himself wanting to stay in forever.
End of Chapter One