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It shouldn’t have been a problem.
It hadn’t been a problem, not at the beginning. Magnus had asked him to watch Chairman Meow while he was off doing…something. He’d agreed; the Chairman seemed to tolerate him well enough, and if he had to be honest, the little fuzzball wasn’t so bad.
Everything was fine, for the first few days, and Alec even found himselfenjoying his presence. He may or may not have lay in bed for an extra half an hour on the second day, unwilling to disturb the Chairman where he was curled up against Alec and definitely not melting a little on the inside. No one could prove anything, anyway.
So he was watching the cat, and everything was fine, and Magnus would be back tomorrow, and it shouldn’t have been a problem.
Except now Chairman Meow in missing, and it is definitely a problem.
—–
Tracking him doesn’t work. Of course it doesn’t, of course Magnus would magically shield his cat, obviously, why wouldn’t he?
“Okay, don’t panic, don’t panic,” he mutters to himself, “do not panic.”
—–
He panics.
It’s two in the morning and he’s searched all through and around the Institute and been over half of Brooklyn, and there is no sign of his boyfriend’s cat, and he is panicking.
—–
He gives up just after dawn, leaning against the door of Magnus’ place, slides down and curls in on himself.
Just a moment to rest, and then he’ll restart the search, just a few minutes to gather his wits.
He falls asleep.
—–
He jolts awaken to someone standing over him, barely manages to rein in a knee-jerk strike when he recognizes him.
“Darling, what are you doing?”
“Magnus,” he breathes, “hey. I was just- I fell asleep, I was looking for- I am so sorry Magnus, he got out somehow and I can’t find him and- you don’t…seem worried?”
A huff of laughter against his neck, a hand in his hair, “Come inside, Alec.”
—–
The Chairman is waiting for them inside, loafing on the sofa without a care in the world, as if Alec hadn’t been worried sick about him for the last thirteen hours.
He meows indignantly when Alec scoops him up, cradles him to his chest carefully.
“Perhaps I should’ve mentioned,” Magnus says, sprawling across the sofa and watching them adoringly, “he always finds his way home.”
Alec reaches over, still snuggling the cat- yeah, alright, he’s grown attached- and throws a pillow in Magnus’ direction.