A/N: -hides- I just watched Tangled and oh my gosh aww it was so cute and all I could see in my head was a tangled!au for TMI, malec of course. I have problems. OOC!Everyone. Yeah.

(Also, because I was preparing for the TMI movie and rereading the series, I was completely frustrated with Alec's refusing and ignoring Magnus' advances and affections for the first seriously 3 books. So this entire fic is basically an excuse to have Alec adorably naïve and have no hang ups on his sexuality and Jace, you dig?)

Alec stepped back to appreciate the painting at its fullest. It was a seascape, a snapshot capturing a roaring wave, high and folding on itself just before crashing on the sunny shore. It was a warm scene, a majestic scene that screamed fierceness and happiness and Alec yearned for it, he wanted to roll into the warm sand, feel the sun beating down on his back and most of all, most of all, he wanted to feel the water rush around his body, cocooning him in the cold freshness.

He traced a finger over a lighter stripe on the wave, the oil paint an almost white-blue as the highlight, and he wished that he felt real water instead of the rough canvas he was touching.

It was his dream, ever since he was a little kid to see the ocean. A dream he knew would never become a reality.

The door slammed shut loudly behind him, jostling him out of his daydream. "Alec. My Alec, come here." He was home. Alec turned around to see Valentine collapsed on the armchair rubbing his temples, looking more tired and pained than Alec's ever seen him. He walked tentatively to him, his fingers twitching at his side.

"Hello, father." Alec smiled thinly as he stood in front of him. They're relationship was strained and awkward, and Alec didn't really understood why. His father was the only person in his life, and maybe Alec thought it was normal.

It was weird to call him father, as if something in his mind was strangely not okay with this man being his father. Like it didn't belong, the title didn't belong. Even though he was the only person he's ever known his entire life. Which was sad, in a way.

And Alec could see why he didn't feel right as his father, as the man sitting in front of him looked nothing like him. Where Alec was pale with extremely dark hair and piercing blue eyes, Valentine was a light brunette, almost sandy blond with brown eyes. He looked nothing like him. But he was always told he looked like his mother, who died in childbirth. Alec stopped questioning long ago. It was better not to, he had learned.

"Hello, son. I'm sorry for leaving you alone so long. Work needed me, you know how it is. How were you holding up?" He greeted in an almost dismissing manner, pausing the fingers massaging the sides of his face to quirk an eyebrow at Alec questioningly.

Work. Work always needed him. He was always at work, and Alec to this day doesn't know what his father does. Doesn't know anything besides the fact that he has some disease with his brain that required Alec's 'help'.

"I was fine, the usual I guess." Alec replied easily, watching his father warily.

"I do feel very guilty for leaving you alone so long all the time, you know that right?" Valentine smiled a noticeably fake fond grin at him and Alec smiled back softly, mimicking the falseness.

"Of course." He said because of course, he was his father.

"So, get on with it." He motioned quickly to his head and Alec swallowed, closing his eyes in concentration.

He placed his fingers on either side of his head, feeling his father's pulse beneath his fingers.

He imagined the ocean; wishing for the feeling of sea salt brushing his cheek, salt water clinging to his eyelashes, the sand beneath his toes, and the sound of seagulls crowding his ears. Then he heard the sound of waves, at first a soft rushing just above a whisper.

The bubbliness is building up in his chest, making him feel lightheaded and out of touch with his own body. Then the sounds of waves turn to a loud roaring and his fingertips are buzzing and the magic is fizzing up like a spring geyser, bubbling up and over filling. He can see the blue magic running through his arms like veins, but it doesn't look like his arms and the fingertips that glow like little stars right in front of his eyes look like they belong to someone else.

The magic is flowing right from his fingertips into Valentine, and he can see his father's face visibly relax, his feature returning from their tight tenseness to a relaxed, eerily calmness. Alec could always tell when he needed to stop, when he stopped feeling that darkness suck its way out of his father's body and could only feel that magical carbonation. He pulled away, letting the magic slip out of him.

"Thank you, Alexander." Valentine got up from the armchair and walked over to the seascape painting resting on Alec's desk. He studied it with a critical eye, with an almost glint and a half smile, like this is a huge ironic joke Alec didn't understand. "It's beautiful. Good job." He commented tracing that same white highlight that stood out explicitly against the mosaic of blues and soft greens.

"I love the ocean, father." Alec smiled softly, facing the picture and how well it fit with the hundreds, if not thousands of drawings and paintings and collages of oceans and seas and water. He just knew he belonged there, that it was more home than the quaint little cottage he spent in his entire life in, never to feel the sunlight besides the walks he takes in his backyard. "I want to go see it. Can I go see the ocean?"

He shouldn't have asked. He's asked before but not like this.

Valentine slammed a fist on the painting suddenly, and for a moment Alec was scared he ruined the paint or creased the canvas. "No, Alec. You are not leaving this house. Not today, not tomorrow. Never. It's not safe out there."

Alec frowned and bit his lip. He knew it. He knew he couldn't leave but he had to hear it like this.

Valentine brushed the sides of his face with his palm. "I'm sorry. It's just very dangerous out side, son. People, bad people, want to take your magic. They want to steal it. You can never leave. You're not strong enough."

"I am strong enough! I'm about to turn eighteen, father!" Alec protested weakly, the anger slowly slipping from him. He just wanted to see the ocean, is that so bad? Is chasing his dreams so bad? They were never bad in the movies he watched or the books he read. They encouraged it even!

Valentine just shook his head. "Look at you, Alec." He breathed incredulously, as if the thought that Alec, eighteen-year-old Alec was ready to step outside.

He took steps to Alec, forcing his son to back up further and further until his back hit the wall. "You've been sheltered your entire life. You don't know about people, or how to talk to them, you would walk away with some criminal, because in here—" Valentine jabbed a dull, thick finger on his chest, "You're still a child." He hissed with more hatred in his eyes than Alec's ever seen him.

He backed away suddenly, chest heaving as he panted as if that was as emotional for him as it was for Alec. "I'm sorry. It's been a hard week away from you, Alec. I understand so much more than you. It's dangerous out there. You won't like it. You trust me enough to know that, right?" He asked so honestly and genuinely that the only thing Alec could do was nod furiously.

"Yes—Of course. I just feel a calling to the ocean. Like I need to go to it. But I get it now, I really do. I'm not leaving." Alec soothed and admitting those words, hearing himself hear it just made his heart pound, and he really didn't want to believe the words. He wanted to leave. But he couldn't.

Valentine nodded, and he did look genuinely contrite. "I'm sorry, son. But it's not just about you, I need you too. What if I needed you and you weren't there? What would happen to me?" He questioned and immediately Alec was guilty for even thinking about leaving.

"I'm sorry." Alec muttered, eyes downcast, focusing on a fray on the crocheted carpeting.

He didn't get to see the small smirk playing at Valentine's lips. He only felt the hands petting his hair softly. "I have to go now, I'll see you in about a week. Be good, son. And lock the door behind me."

And then he was gone, and Alec was alone. Again. He stared wistfully at the walls and walls of paintings of crashing waves and ocean shores and he pushed away the prickle in his eye and the sudden thickness in his throat.

He was fine. He was fine with his days alone painting pictures of dreams because that was all they will ever be, dreams. He was fine. Honestly.

Alec really just should have locked the door, like his father said.

As most hilariously terrifying situations start, Magnus found himself deep in the woods with a dead cellphone and not a soul in sight. He was only supposed to be in town long enough to work one more night cleaning some stupid traveling carnival in some stupid one stoplight hick town in the middle of Arkansas, because really, Arkansas?

And now he was on the run. Again. Because apparently the extremely religious anti-gay leader of the entire fiasco didn't take to him too much when he caught him and his supposedly straight son kissing and touching rather intimate parts on each others body. Oops. But Magnus lives and learns.

And now there was a complete search party out for his glittery ass and conveniently, there was a welcoming patch of woods just waiting for him to explore and hide just twenty minutes on foot from the carnival. And Magnus was never one to take opportunities like this for granted when he had an entire angry mob of bigoted assholes wielding pitchforks chasing him down like a dog after a squirrel.

And honestly, his feet were hurting from these pair of Italian leather shoes and the sequined shirt that he was wearing rustled and honestly scared the shit out him every time he moved. He needed a shower, his makeup was smudged and he could feel the glitter clinging to his every pore.

He wasn't so much walking anymore, so much as falling and catching himself just before his knees buckled underneath him over and over. At now, everything hurt and it was dark and he could still hear the outraged yells of the entire immediate family of the leader of the carnival, as in two hundred red necks who knew how to shoot. He's tired and slightly scared and then he saw it.

It was a cottage in the middle of a dark and creepy forest, yet it didn't look dark or creepy at all. It seemed the doom and gloom surrounded the little house, but sunlight shone through in a little halo around it and Magnus almost heard the sound of Angels singing in the distant background.

Him, being the always mannered and poised man that he was knocked twice. Or three. "Hello? Anyone home?" He called hesitantly and listened. Nothing.

"Hello?" Still nothing, even though the house lights were clearly on, illuminating the entire woods in a soft glow, the only light for miles. Magnus hesitated. "Hello?" He repeated, knocking again with a stronger fist.

"I'm going to take your silence as an okay for me to enter. Okay?" Still nothing, so Magnus turned the golden knob that seemed to have a very intricate, heavily locked defense mechanism, and was pleasantly surprised to have it open with ease. He sucked in a breath and pushed, ignoring the slightly creepy creak of the door as he swung it open slowly.

The first thing he heard was a strangely adorable hiss-yell and the last thing he saw a flash of beautiful blue eyes that he would've been so down for if they weren't filled with terror and slight anger and even a smidgeon of pride. Then a fist, and then seriously, he saw the floor come towards his face and then darkness.

As all ridiculously terrifying things, Magnus found himself face down on a stranger with surprisingly stunning eyes, slipping out of consciousness. Was he supposed to hear chirping? Or maybe have a halo of ducks spinning around his head?

And then darkness. And really though, this was an almost relief, because his shoes were killing him.

Admittedly, Alec shouldn't have punched him that hard.

And now he had no clue as to how to handle the situation further, no idea what to do with this intruder.

The Intruder looked like a human, but Alec couldn't be sure. He was dressed like a human, if a bit too colorfully, all sparkly. And the hair on his head looked too hard to be like Alec's softer ungelled locks.

He prodded the Intruder with a meter stick. No response. Alec was wary. He dragged him gently by the ridiculous mess of sparkles on his shirt through the door and let him lie on the carpet of the foyer.

And looking down at the unconscious body, Alec felt a niggle of pride wiggle up to the surface. See, he could defend himself! He even knocked him out. But now, he was tasked with another arduous task, figuring out what to do with the body. But first, he must figure out if he was really human.

He kicked the Intruder in the chest and watched him groan and roll over on his back. Which gave him the first real view of his face and—Oh. He's actually really… Alec blushed and took a step back. He was unlike anything Alec's seen before. The black and white movies on TV and even described in books had nothing on Magnus.

But his good looks might be some scheme into making Alec lower his defenses so Alec, being the rational person that he was, tied him up.

And then he had a maybe-criminal home intruder who might or might not want to steal his magic sitting in a chair bound by ropes on a chair. And god, he was so sparkly. Every time he moved the glitter shed from his body like a giant storm. It was fascinating to see. He moved back to the intruder to examine him further. He had a rather tan face, extremely long eyelashes that were slightly hard to the touch, like his hair, which was gelled, Alec found.

He was… Alec didn't know how to describe him besides strangely… Pretty. But not feminine, not like a girl, not that Alec's ever seen a girl besides on television. And he definitely didn't look like his father; he was warmer in a way, more welcoming.

The man was holding something in his pants, Alec realized by the bump in the tight glittery black jeans he was wearing. He retrieved it immediately and found a small black leather bag. Maybe his pants were the magical kind, because it looked rather dubious that a bag that large could fit in the small pocket in the man's extremely tight jeans.

In it held some sort of brick. It was a light brick, strangely silvery and had all sorts of holes and indentations and button like things along the perimeter, and a little screen attached to center. Maybe the man was an alien, and this was his communication device! Alec nodded at that, it would explain his glitteriness, for starters. Right, so his Intruder was a sparkly alien. Alec could deal with that.

Alec placed it gently on the table next to the chair he had the man tied up in. Next he pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Alec unraveled it hesitantly, scared that something might pop up at him. Instead, he saw a huge advertisement for a carnival that was supposedly in town today. And wow, the pictures were in color! Alec's only seen newspaper clippings in black and white. Definitely an alien.

Alec really wanted to go to this carnival; it looked so pretty with its sparkling lights, Ferris wheel and swarms of people.

Alec pouted slightly. He didn't want the Intruder to be an alien.

The last thing in the little black drawstring bag was a wallet, Alec recognized. Valentine had a few of those too. He opened it, looking sideways at his prisoner in case he was watching. No, the man is an alien; Alec shouldn't feel guilty for prying.

Inside held a lot of money, Alec realized. It was just paper, what was so valuable about it? Alec would never understand. He also had tons and tons of cards, all about the same size. He even had a couple with his picture on it. (Also in color!) And gosh, Alec couldn't help but focus on his eyes. They were every bit as sparkly as the rest of him, but they were actually an astounding green. Like the grass he never got to feel under his toes.

Apparently, the Intruder's name was Godfrey Gao. Godfrey. The man didn't look like a Godfrey. Or feel like one either.

Alec's always had this intuition that names connected with people. A Godfrey sounded calmer, like a small, gentle waterfall. Majestic, but this man didn't look like a Godfrey. He was wilder.

He heard a gentle groan from the chair and looked up immediately. The Intruder was waking up and Alec totally forgot to heal his nose, because this guy was probably some sort of kind alien. He didn't get bad vibes at all from the guy, so of course Alec had to fix his nose. The magic slipped out of his fingers and slowly Alec could hear the bones crunching back together and the slight amount of blood vanished completely.

Alec always wanted to know what it was like to bleed. His entire life, he has never gotten hurt. Never got scraped up knees or little mosquito bite scars. He wished for it sometimes, because he knew that was what made people human, their ability to hurt.

He pulled back when he heard the snuffle again, arming himself with the yardstick. Slowly, Godfrey opened his eyes.

"Godfrey!" He looked up confusedly at Alec, but then recognition glinted in his eyes.

"Who?" He asked, eerily calm for being tied up in a chair.

Alec was confused. Does he suffer amnesia? Does he not know his own name? "Godfrey. You're Godfrey, aren't you?" Alec questioned curiously, taking a step forward.

He eyed the ID card lying on the table next to his wallet. "Oh! That's not me, love. Just some guy's name I use to get into the clubs." He said chirpily, and did it not register that he was tied up?

Alec looked at him blankly. "What clubs? Why do you need to steal somebody else's name to get into an organization?" He asked, terribly confused by the entire thing.

Magnus looked at him blankly, furrowing his brows. He opened his mouth to say something, but Alec cut him off quickly. "And if your name isn't Godfrey Gao, who are you?" He questioned, walking closer to jab the yardstick into the man's chest, and the only reaction that received was an amused eyebrow being raised.

He twisted slightly in his bounds, then looked at them in surprise. As if he didn't even notice he was being restrained. "Magnus Bane, blue eyes. Happy to be in your service." He smiled at Alec unnervingly.

"And loverboy, if you wanted to tie me up, you could've just asked." He purred and Alec just looked at him in confusion.

"Why would I want to tie you up? You were the one who tried to sneak in my house! You glittery, alien, HOME INTRUDER!" Alec yelled whacking Magnus across the cheek with the yardstick.

"OW! God, you damn near slapped the glitter right off me. And I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone was home and I was being chased! Please untie me?" He begged with a ridiculous pouted lip and wide eyes.

"Why were you being chased? Are you from this world, alien?" Alec questioned lowly, eyes glittering in curiosity. Magnus threw his head back at that, revealing a long tan throat, and laughed deeply.

"I'm not an alien, love. Even if I am out of this world sexy." He grinned wolfishly. "And oh it's a hilarious story. See I was working in this carnival—"

"—Carnival! You worked in the carnival?" Alec asked excitedly, smiling and Magnus got an almost fond expression on his face.

"Yes, I did. Anyways, such a funny story. Apparently the circus leader's son—who was such a twink by the way, was completely and utterly closeted, and we were doing a little bit of canoodling—not too much, mind you, and then get this! His father! Who was like an ex preacher caught us-" Magnus babbled on and Alec stared at him strangely, only catching bits and pieces.

"Do you always speak in a different language, Magnus?" Alec asked and Magnus just blinked.

Magnus just shrugged. "Well anyways, the entire family was chasing me and I was lost in the woods and I guess I just found your house. Sorry for attempting to break and enter?" He offered. "Please untie me?"

Alec hesitated but undid the knots holding him to the chair. He stretched, all catlike grace and long limbs. "Well, thanks for that." He grinned at Alec, bowing lightly.

He just smiled back. "No problem. Um, here's your wallet and your bag and this brick thing. What is this?" Alec asked, picking up the silver brick and handing it to Magnus who just laughed.

"You're a strange one, what's your name again? Don't believe I caught it." Magnus raised an eyebrow as he took the brick from Alec's hand.

"Alexander. Or Alec. Morgenstern." Alec introduced himself awkwardly, feeling the intense gaze on him.

"Well, Alexander. This is a phone." He shook it, tossing it from hand to hand. "Do you have an outlet for me to charge it? Or wifi? Or hell, do you even have connection?"

He just looked at him blankly. "I have no idea what any of that means."

Magnus squinted at him. "You don't seem to go out a lot."

"I don't. I've never left this house." Alec replied easily, thinking it was pretty normal. But Magnus just looked appalled.

"No way," he breathed and Alec just shrugged. "Yeah."

Magnus looked around, not saying anything. "Did you paint all of these?" He gestured to the walls, all completely covered by art pieces in many different sizes. All seascapes. Alec nodded. "I really want to go to the ocean. It's my dream, you know what I mean? But I can't." Alec said sadly, looking at the paintings in self-pity.

"I can take you. I would take you. To California, or Florida, wherever you want." Magnus offered and Alec just shook his head.

"I can't." He repeated with an air of finality, but all he wanted to do was jump for joy and cry tears of happiness and thank Magnus and take him up on his offer. Because he trusted Magnus. But he can't. He promised his father.

Magnus looked at him as if that was the wrong thing to say, but didn't say anything. He looked almost somber now, and Alec had no clue why. "Well, I'll be taking my leave now, Alexander. I wish you the best." His voice wasn't as fun or bubbly, it had gone flat, like a soda that was left out too long.

Alec frowned, feeling dejected and panicked but he couldn't do anything, because Magnus wasn't going to stay. And he didn't think he could go with him.

He saw the glittery man lean in suddenly, pressing a lingering kiss to Alec's cheek, which warmed immediately under this lips. "If you please, could you point me to the main road? Or a place to charge my phone?"

And Alec couldn't say anything. Because he didn't want Magnus to leave at all. Once he had someone to talk to, he realized how much better it was than being alone. He realized just how lonely he was.

A/N: Yay, done! Everyone's completely OOC in this, don't expect it to change at all through it. I usually don't like such obvious OOC-ness, but I have to say, naïve!Alec is so fun to write and really adorable.

Please Review?