Snowflake, the writer and the vet

Chapter 7- Secrets

Alec went into the bathroom, washed his hands and face. He changed his clothes and looked in the mirror. A rather tired face looked back at him from the mirror. Was strange to him that he felt calm and peaceful around Magnus. As if nothing mattered but the moment they were in. He looked down at his hands. It brought him thoughts back to the present. His lower arm and the back of his hand were badly injured. He tried to clean the wound.

He left the bathroom, went to Magnus. "Thank you Magnus for the clothes. Where can I put my dirty clothes?" Alec asked.

Magnus had just finished their tea, took it into the living room and put the cups on the table in front of the couch. "Put it in the washing machine, we'll wash it tomorrow."

Alec sat down on the couch. Magnus sat next to him, everything was already set up. Magnus put a dry towel on his lap and took Alec's hand. The familiar tingling sensation again ran pleasantly through them both. They smiled shyly at each other, barely visible. Magnus first cleaned and disinfected the wound, which made Alec hiss as the disinfectant stung his skin. Magnus blew gently to cool Alec's hands. Alec really liked the care. His hand ached, yet he had probably never felt such sweet pleasure. It was a good, exciting, heart-warming feeling of touch and care. Sweet as honey.

"I guess it's not as bad as it first looked. I'm sure it's not broken because you can move it. You feel the same way, don't you? " he looked at Alec.

"Yes, no break, I know that feeling, and believe me, it's not that feeling, that's much worse."

Magnus got that strange feeling again " Alexander, have you had many fractures? Magnus asked cautiously, knowing he was treading on sensitive ground.

"A few...but if you don't mind I'd rather not talk about it right now" said Alec.

"No problem, I understand. Now let's bandage your hand, because it's not broken, but your skin is pretty badly bruised, so it's important to keep it clean. We'll put a little wound ointment on it." Magnus gently bandaged Alec's hand, and he was going to tape the gauze off at the end, but the tape was far away, on the other side of Alec. Without thinking, he reached over and touched Alec's chest. Alec hissed out in pain again.

"So sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Did you hurt your chest? "

"It's okay, it's not today, it was Friday. But not...."

" I know, it's okay, I understand. I won't even ask, I promise. But please take the shirt off and let me see if it needs some medicine." said Magnus

Alec's eyes widened. "Take my shirt off? "

Magnus smiled " Alexander sweetheart, we helped my cat giving birth to her kittens. You revived one of her kittens with your own hands. And then I rescued you from your father's hands. You think that's a problem at 2:00 in the morning? No, it's not. No reason to be shy. After what we've been through together in the last few hours- and I notice I didn't have a panic attack during it- it doesn't matter that I can see your bare chest. And since this is the second time I've seen you in pain, I insist on looking at that too, to see if any medication is needed. "

"Okay, I can't really argue with that," Alec said, a small smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He took off his shirt, and Magnus' eyes widened at that moment, his jaw dropped. There were exactly two reasons for this. One was Alec's beautifully crafted six-pack abs, which were impressive even with the injury, and the other was the injury itself, which looked pretty bad.

"WOW, and another WOW" was all that came out of Magnus' mouth at the moment.

"What? " asked Alec, confused.

Magnus shook his head, cleared his throat and tried to concentrate.

"Sweetie, one of the WOW was for your beautiful six pack abs," Magnus said, to which Alec blushed slightly. "And the other one was for that shoe impression that's actually visible on your chest. It's horrible. Did your father do that to you? "

"Yeah, but that was on Friday, not as horrible as it looks. Izzy helped me. We iced it and put some bruise cream on it, which I got earlier and of course don't have with me now. And yeah, I don't really want to talk about that either, I'm really tired. My last two days have been very long, I'm sore all over. I just want to curl up and sleep. Can I have some of your tea? "

Magnus was surprised, Alec became very talkative after his shy one-word answers. He seemed to need a little time to relax.

"I'm glad that despite the looks of it, it's not that bad, and I'm glad that you're finally calmed down and talking. However, even though it's better than on Friday, this shoe impression still needs some care. The bastard, how could he do that to his son. I'll look for something for it, I think I have a similar bruise cream. I bruised my shoulder a few months ago when I was archery. I bought it then."

"You do archery? Wow."

"I do it very rarely now, but I used to do competitions, and I did pretty well. I've got a couple of prizes. Magnus said.

"Why did you stop competing? "

"I had...I had an accident a few years ago. Since then I can't hold the bow for any length of time. I had to give up competing."

"I'm sorry. What happened?" asked Alec.

Magnus was lost in memories for a few moments, but he wasn't ready to talk about it yet. At least not today. He cleared his throat.

"As long as I find the bruise cream, drink the tea, please." With that Magnus got up and went to the bathroom, handing the tea to Alec. Alec sensed he had stumbled on a painful memory, and preferred not to push it any further. He began to sip the tea. At first the delicious smell hit his nose, and when he took a sip, he moaned a little. It was so delicious.

"Hmmm, Magnus, what kind of tea is this? The smell is only surpassed by the taste. It's simply divinely delicious. "

Magnus found the bruise cream and returned to the couch. "This is jasmine tea, from Indonesia. My favorite. As well as being delicious and fragrant, it has a bit of a stress relieving effect, which we've had plenty of today, so it's just what we need." He lifted his cup and drank the tea.

"Well, yes, there's been a lot of stress. It's all so surreal. We practically barely know each other, I'm sitting on your couch beaten up, and yet somehow everything is so calm and peaceful now, something I haven't felt in a very long time, or maybe ever. I don't know what to say, Magnus. Thank you."

And for the first time, a real smile appeared on Alec's lips.

"Indeed, it was a messy night, but I like a challenge and I'm not against the end result."Magnus winked at Alec. "Well enough of the chatter," Magnus cleared his throat. I'll apply the bruise cream to your wound, and then we'll sleep, because it's almost morning.

"May I?" Nodding towards Alec's chest, Magnus held the ointment in his hand.

"Yes, thank you," said Alec. Magnus gently rubbed the cream on Alec's chest. They were staring at each other. Magnus had just noticed Alec's beautiful hazel eyes. A few moments passed before they both came back to the present, broke eye contact in confusion and cleared their throats.

"Um, ...I'll,... uh..., show you the guest room." Magnus stammered, surprisingly for him, because he never stuttered. " It's right next to my bedroom. I keep my unpacked, unused clothes in the closet here, feel free to use whatever you find here, and it's the right size. You're taller than me, but I think you'll find something to wear.

Alec sat down on the edge of the bed, Magnus went to the door. "I'll be in the next room if you need anything. Feel yourself at home. Good night. "

"Magnus," Alec called after him. Magnus turned back in the doorway. "Thank you. I really appreciate everything you've done for me. Good night. Sleep well."

They smiled at each other and Magnus closed the door to the guest room behind him.