Snowflake, the writer and the vet

Chapter 8 - Next morning

"I'm just myself. I only have my dad and a few friends. I gave up social life a few years ago for some reasons. I'm mostly alone at home. I practically never go out. I work from home, so I don't go out of the apartment much." 

"What's your job?" 

"I work for a book publisher. I'm an editor."

"Oh that must be interesting. I love books. Do you want coffee? I made it this morning." 

"Mhhh" nodded Magnus with the last bite of pancake in his mouth. 

Alec smiled at him. "how do you drink it?"

"3 sugars, lots of milk, and a little whipped cream on top" said Magnus 

"Jeez Magnus, you're going to get sugar poisoning" laughed Alec.

"Why? How do you drink it?" 

"Black." Alec said. "What does an editor do anyway? How is it you work at home?" 

"Reading is a big part of my job. I read what the author writes, and from time to time I make suggestions for small changes if necessary. " Magnus said, sipping his coffee. Hmmmm Alexander, this is so delicious. Did you put anything else in it?"

"The secret is a touch of cinnamon. I thought you'd like it." Alec said and took a sip of his own black coffee. "Reading a lot can be the best job in the world. I love to read. So you help the authors with their books, you never thought about writing an own book?" Alec asked. 

Magnus's eyes widened, he swallowed the last sip of coffee and started coughing. 

"Are you okay?" asked Alec

Magnus looked confused, blinked a few times and said "let's go and bandage your hands." 

They sat down on the couch. Magnus disinfected Alec's hands again, then bandaged them." I should check to see if the bruise on your chest has healed. Do you allow me? " 

"Yes." Alec said and took off his shirt. 

"It looks better, maybe faded, but it needs some more bruise cream." Still hurt?  "

" It hurts but it's much better. If nothing's touching it, I barely feel it. If something presses it, it hurts. " 

" I'll put some bruise cream on it, okay? Give me the ointment, please, it's on the table next to you." Magnus started to apply the cream. They were staring at each other. After a while, the creaming became more like caressing. Alec shivered at the pleasure. A barely audible moan left his lips.

Magnus suddenly came back to the present, cleared his throat and withdrew his hand.

"Your eyes are beautiful ." he said to Alec, and they both blushed.  "You know we should talk." Magnus said softly. " Alexander, tell me, what's going on? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you're here. It's good to have your company. Glad to be of help. My life has been a little bleak lately, but that's another story... But can you tell me what's going on? Why is your father acting like this? 

Alec closed his eyes. He sat up on the couch, put his shirt back on. 

"You're right, I owe you that. " he said. "Do you want a short story or a long story?"

"We have the whole day ahead of us, Alexander.  You have my attention."

"It's very hard for me to talk about it, but I'll try. I realized I am gay when I was 16. I was terrified because my father, as you experienced, homophobic. I didn't know what to do, who to turn to for help. My siblings and mom accepted me. "

"Do you have more siblings? "

"Yes, Jace, and Max. From then on, my father and I were estranged.  He has a violent temper anyway, but after that I could hardly stand him. He hurt my mother and me. Not the others. He never laid a hand on Izzy. He never dared Jace. Max was always his favorite. I was slowly coming to peace with myself. My books helped me do that a lot at the time. I realized that being gay is natural, and it's nothing to be ashamed of.  But I couldn't stand the violence at home. Animals and books always brought me comfort. Since then, whenever I feel insecure or have a problem, I turn to my favorite books. They give me strength. That's how I ended up at the shelter, where I finally met Ragnor and he took me in. He started teaching me, for which I will always be grateful." 

"Ragnor somehow manages to find people who need help. It's like that's his mission on earth. What did he say about all this? Can't he help?" asked Magnus.

"He doesn't know anything about it. I never told him. I'm so ashamed that my family is like this, it's hard for me to talk about it," said Alec, staring blankly at the floor.

I didn't want to be a lawyer, I wanted to study to be a vet. But my father has a law firm, and he wants me to work there.  But when I finish studying law, I'll start studying to be a vet.  My father doesn't know I work with Ragnor. There was a call at the animal shelter on Friday. A cat gave birth to her kittens, and that's why I knew what to do with Snowflake's lifeless kitten, because the same thing happened there. When we got in the car, my father's business partner saw me.

"Why didn't you want me to call the police and ambulance?" asked Magnus

"Because I know - and he knows, because he's a lawyer - that just because he hurt me, he wouldn't go to jail right away. So the police would have released him in a few hours, and then he and his rage would have been unstoppable. 

At this point Alec's eyes began to blur, but he held back his tears. He told Magnus everything that had happened since Friday. By the time he got to the end, he couldn't hold it in and burst into a loud sob. He cried and cried. Years of repressed tension had been released from his soul. Magnus pulled him closer, held him in his arms. He didn't try to calm him. He knew he had to let these emotions out to Alec. He'd had plenty of experience with that before. He just let Alec cry on his shoulder. He stroked his messy hair gently, calmingly, and said nothing. It was just what Alec needed. After sobbing for a long time, he finally began to calm down. He sobbed some more, a louder sob bursting up and down, but finally he calmed down. His head rested on Magnus' shoulder, he stroked his hair quietly, Alec's breathing suddenly becoming calm. Too calm. So exhausted was he by this emotional outburst that he fell asleep right there on Magnus' shoulder. Magnus didn't mind. He liked Alec's soft breathing, the warmth of his breath tickling the back of his neck with every exhale. He reached for his book on the table and began to read, letting Alec sleep peacefully at last.