✧･ﾟ:* @leadertaint *:･ﾟ✧
SOMETHING INSIDE OF HIM TWISTED AT MAGNUS’ WORDS, & HE TRIED not to think too much into them as he always did. overthinking was his weakness & even though he was wrong about things more than half of the time, he still hoped it would be different the next time. instead of replying, he rolled his neck until it CRACKED & popped enough to relieve the tightness that had settled in his muscles & leaned his forearms against the bar counter. he wouldn’t give himself away without knowing the other’s true intentions ————— he wouldn’t make a fool of himself again as he has in the past; desiring things he knew he couldn’t have, though thinking enough he could to be bold & seek it out. that time, then fifteen year old alec, had gotten a broken arm from robert & was sent away for the remainder of the summer. when he returned, the boy that he PERSUADED was nowhere to be found; him & his family had disappeared into thin air — or so it seemed.
❛ pleasure’s for fools who don’t have a family to carry on their backs, ❜ he said simply, turning the conversation somber before it TURNED into something else. the corner of his eyes still took in magnus’ visage very carefully, trying not to stare at the lips that he had imagined kissing on many different nights. it was the allure that the enemy was this forbidden fruit; or so alec believed. he didn’t want to think of a world where he actually decided the other man CONSIDERING he hated everything him & his family stood for.
when his eye was mentioned, alec looked away completely pretending to let his gaze fall over the rest of the busy bar. ❛ i didn’t come here for make up tips, bane, but thanks for the advice. i’ll be fine, though. just a few friends & i ROUGHHOUSING the other day, that’s it. ❜ it was a lie he told often that probably no one believed. it was known how heavy handed robert lightwood was, even against his daughter & youngest child. but with alec being the oldest, he had no doubt everyone knew about the abuse that he had to endure, especially if he DISGRACED the family name. it was him, after all, that would be the leader of the new york mob family once robert either died, or passed the torch. his father called the beatings ‘lessons’, to teach him how to be a manworthy of leading an empire as big & strong as theirs.
he lifted his hand towards the BARTENDER then pointed back & forth between him & magnus’ cups for another refill, reaching for his pocket to take out his wallet & placed a black card on the counter. ❛ take care of the both of us, darlin’, & take the necessary tip needed. ❜ he muttered when the bartender returned with their drinks & he once again DOWNED the contents without so much of a thought & placed the cup upside down on the napkin resting on the counter. ❛ between the two of us, & if you ever repeat this bane, i’ll deny it like hell — but not shooting you was the best decision i’ve ever made. ❜ he wouldn’t expand on that; he wouldn’t tell the man that he was rarely in control of his life & the slice of freedom he got that came with CHOOSING not to kill magnus meant more than he could ever understand.
❝ Business can be just as ENJOYABLE as pleasure, if you treat it right, ❞ Magnus rebukes, glancing over at Alec from beneath his lashes ( but still, something in his chest threatens to pang with something that feels suspiciously like SYMPATHY—- he’d identify it as his heart if he wasn’t ALL TOO aware that the offending organ was something that he KNEW he had to IGNORE when it came to any kind of dealings with the Lightwoods, no matter how innocent they seemed to be ).
When the man looks away, he easily downs the remainder of his drink, and listens on with somewhat of a disbelieving gaze as the hasty correction is put forth. If he’s being fair, however, it’s rather clear that they’re BOTH dancing around the ugly truths surrounding their families—- so he lets Alec have this, lets him maintain his grasp on the ILLUSION of power that they both seem to so desperately maintain while out of the reach of their fathers. ❝ If you DID come for MAKEUP tips, I think you’re in the wrong place—- but arnica will still work wonders on the aftermath of a little ‘ roughhousing. ‘ ❞ Regardless of whether the heavy hand had belonged to a friend or a father.
A brow lifts in amusement when Alec makes movements to pay for another round, and Magnus is already preparing to inquire if he treats ALL his rivals this well ( or perhaps, if it’s to simply lull them into a false sense of EASE ) when the man is speaking again. ‘ Not shooting you was the best decision I’ve ever made, ‘ he says, and Magnus BLINKS, slow & catlike. Usually, he prides himself on his ability to read situations & the people INVOLVED within them, but Alec is … Well, a small voice at the back of his mind had told him that Alec was DIFFERENT from the moment they’d laid eyes on each other. ❝ Does this mean I’m exempt from having to show you any gratitude? Since, really, it seems as if it was a favour to YOURSELF, ❞ he comments, though with an apparent lack of resentment---- a small smirk quirks his lips upwards as he speaks, and he doesn’t quite have the strength to neutralise his expression once more.