#(he's aware)

It was a short moment, barely noticeable at all. But when Magnus first began to unlace his fingers from Alec’s own, he could feel the Shadowhunter slightly grip tighter onto his hand, as if Alec wasn’t going to let go of him—

But eventually, he did.

After that night, Magnus waited for it to come back. He wondered if he’d somehow gotten it wrong. Maybe Alec was just having an off-day, maybe it truly wasn’t a cemented part of Alec’s personality...

But it soon returned with full force, in a way Magnus hadn’t expected.

There’d been a hurried knock on his loft door, and with the Shadow World always on the brink of another war, Magnus had learned that answering doors in a timely manner was imperative to keeping his head above treacherous water.

When he’d discovered that it was Alec at the door, Magnus was ecstatic for the company, even though he didn’t recall Alec mentioning anything about coming over that evening—

However, Magnus’ thoughts were soon interrupted by Alec’s hands moving to rest against Magnus’ neck, as he gently pulled Magnus in for a desperate set of kisses. It was strange, the way Magnus could feel the intention behind Alec’s lips. Magnus would swear that he could’ve heard Alec’s thoughts, then, too, loud and clear.

Touch me.

Please.

Touch me again.

Touch me more.

Please.

Alec’s utter transparency gave Magnus pause, as he didn’t want to take advantage of the Shadowhunter when he was so clearly in need.

But Alec insisted, over and over, that he wanted—

That he needed—

To have Magnus, in a way that Alec had never had anyone before.

After their night of shared passion, Magnus was the first to wake, with his head lying on Alec’s chest. When Alec finally stirred awake beside him, Magnus could feel Alec’s arm wrapping tighter around his frame, enclosing him even further against the Shadowhunter’s warm skin.

And in that moment, Magnus couldn’t help the bright smile that spread across his face.

It was still there, still guiding Alec’s thoughts and feelings, even while he was half-asleep.

Over time, Magnus learned to embrace it. He became accustomed to seeing Alec heading off to work in clothes from his loft’s closet, casually wearing Magnus’ ensembles as if they’d always been his own. And Magnus didn’t bat an eye at his rapidly depleting sources of shampoo and cologne, already knowing that Alec had been using the products, too, their scents now appearing to be strikingly similar.

Magnus also became used to the late-night texts he’d receive from his own bedroom, if he happened to be working a bit too late in his study.

When are you coming to bed?

I don’t want to wake up without you.

It’s so late, Magnus. Please.

On one, particular night, Magnus found himself stumped by a bit of ancient text, lining the bottom of a spell book. Even after all his centuries of life, there were still some languages that escaped him, ones that were born before him and had since died on the people’s tongues. Without any, true references, he was forced to piece together the meaning of the text, using his own knowledge of various phonemes and morphemes...

And somewhere between his educated guesses at the meaning of the words on the page, Alec had wandered into his study, now openly staring at Magnus, who was still hunched over the spell book. Magnus didn’t notice his presence, until he heard the familiar clink of Alec’s engagement ring lightly tapping against the mahogany of his desk.

“I know, I know. Staying up so late is bad for my health, immortal or not.” Magnus was already waving away Alec’s concerns, before he could even voice them. “I promise I’ll get to bed, soon, Alexander. I just need to finish translating the rest of this sentence...”

“Maybe I can help you.” Alec moved to stand beside Magnus, before he peered down at the spell book...

And he soon began to chuckle to himself, his laugh echoing deep in his chest. “Magnus?”

“What? What is it?” Magnus’ tone was low and serious. “Were you able to decipher it?”

“Magnus, this isn’t a real spell book. This language...it’s like Shadowhunter Pig Latin. It’s something The Clave devised to lure shady warlocks into sting operations...but we haven’t used it in decades.”

“Ah. So, that’s why the seller insisted that this spell book was rare and unused. Because it’s never been used by anybody. Because it’s unusable.” The realization that Magnus had been duped slowly sank into his psyche. “Excuse me, Alexander. I need to go make a quick phone call to Tokyo. I’m embarrassed to admit that I spent quite a small fortune on this book—”

“No.” Alec took Magnus’ hand into his own, already heading back towards the bedroom. “You can make that phone call in the morning. Right now, we’re going to bed.”

Magnus chuckled under his breath, as he followed behind Alec’s every step. “Alexander Lightwood, you are filled with surprises. Who knew that you would ever be so—”

Magnus stopped himself short, as another realization hit against his chest.

It was never just in Alec.

It was all over, all around Magnus, too, from the way he hesitated to leave Alec’s side when they woke up in the morning, the way he slightly fretted whenever he didn’t receive a late-night text from Alec, the way he was holding onto Alec’s hand right now, like it was a constant lifeline, perpetually saving him from his lonely study and making up for all those decades he’d spent without feeling love, without being loved...

“Who knew that I would ever be so what, Magnus?” Alec asked the question, while they rounded the corner to their bedroom. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing, Alexander. Nothing at all.” Magnus moved ahead of Alec, until he was standing in front of him, his gaze landing on Alec’s own. “I just...I think I need you...in my life.”

“Oh.” Alec smiled, before he bent to give Magnus a soft kiss. “I think I need you, too.”

“Good. Then we’re both needy then.” Magnus’ response was lined with a grin.

“Needy? I’m not needy.” Alec firmly shook his head back and forth—

And Magnus’ resultant smirk took up his entire face. “No, of course not, Alexander. You’re not needy at all. It’s kind of like how you don’t snore, either...”

“I don’t snore.” Alec’s answer came out very serious—