#battletaught

malec on instagram

        If Magnus Bane had learned one thing about Alec Lightwood over the past few weeks,  it was that he was the most  DIFFICULT  man in the world to buy gifts for---  and,  truly,  Ragnor Fell had already set quite a high bar in terms of  THAT  particular competition.  The only  NEW  things he’d ever seen his boyfriend with were weapons,  and he hardly thought that new  ARROWS  would be a romantic birthday present---  whether enchanted to  INCINERATE  its target upon impact or not  ( that idea had been scrapped rather quickly when he’d realised how  DANGEROUS  that could be,  particularly when in the wrong hands ).  He’d made desperate calls to Ragnor,  Catarina,  and had even debated  asking  RAPHAEL  for advice,  before finally deciding that,  no,  he  WASN’T  that desperate.  

        He has one day left until his deadline when he gets called into the Institute for a routine check of the  WARDS,  and he’d been led into the weapons area  &  told not to touch anything until Alec arrived  ( and in a rather  SCRUTINISING  fashion,  at that )  when,  upon turning to examine his surroundings,  Magnus’ gaze had dropped to a rather  FAMILIAR  bow that had been left out on one of the tables.  A sly glance to the side informs him that no one is in his vicinity,  and he deliberates for only a moment before finally reaching out and grasping the weapon.  An experimental tug of the nocking point tells him that the draw power required for a bow like this is  IMMENSE---  and is clearly far from  e a s y  on the Shadowhunter’s fingers,  even when he  ISN’T  trying to distract himself from an issue with tangible pain.  The thought sends a burst of pain rippling through his own chest,  and he continues to stare down at the weapon before the idea finally occurs to him.  Of course. 

        There’s an  EXTREMELY  expensive potion in his stores at home,  purchased centuries ago  &  kept for the right opportunity,  and he summons it into his hand with a  SNAP.  Quick work is made of uncorking the bottle  &  tipping the liquid onto the bow,  before he hastily sends the empty container back to his loft with another click.  It’ll take the same amount of effort to draw the bow as it had previously  ( Magnus is well aware that different bows  &  draw powers have the potential to throw archers off ),  but the altered string will most certainly be much kinder to his hands--- and Magnus’  HEART,  at that---  from now on.  

alec  lightwood   &   magnus  bane   ( mafia  AU ).

                  ❝ Do  you  have  to  go? ❞   Alec’s  question,   quiet   &   unsure,   shatters  the  blanket  of  silence  that  has  stretched  over  the  pair  since  they’d  both  blinked  their  eyes  open  for  the  first  time  that  morning.  

                                                   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.

       He’s thinking of her again. The way she’d looked that final night, raven hair j u x t a p o s i n g beautifully against white as it had fanned across the crisp sheets of her bed. Magnus had hardly wanted to disturb her serenity, even though he’d been but a child, recently awoken from a nightmare (these days, it seemed as if he could never quite wake up from such horrors). She’d always seemed so much HAPPIER while submerged in an unconsciousness state than she ever could while awake.

       The tenuous illusion of peace, however, had ended when Magnus had pushed the sheets away and discovered all of the BLOOD.

       Crimson had stained his hands long after he’d discovered her, and it was only after the the white-hot rage that had aided him in murdering his stepfather had finally ebbed away that he had thought to wash his hands. He’d spent HOURS rubbing furiously at his skin until it was raw, hoping to eliminate his GUILT as well as the stains.

       It is only when he reaches this thought that Magnus realises he’d been gripping the keris dagger-- the same weapon that he’d found embedded in his mother’s heart 400 years ago-- so tightly that he’d drawn blood from his palm. She is still at the back of his mind-- she never leaves, not really-- when he makes reverent movements to place the dagger back onto its pedestal and s n a p s a finger to erase all traces of the wound. He’d been suppressing such memories for hundreds of years, but now--

       Well, his life has never been that simple.

       It’s late-- Alec’s breathing had long since evened out into barely noticeable snores when Magnus had finally given up on all attempts to fall asleep (which, really, had been more of a case of him staring u n b l i n k i n g l y at the ceiling) and crept out of bed-- but he’s has been sitting in this position for what feels like hours, and when he finally moves, it is only to gravitate through the threshold of the open terrace doors. He knows-- deep down, he KNOWS that Alec had not played any part in the torture he’d endured at the hands of Imogen Herondale, and had brushed the entire incident off as water under the bridge, but-- still. A small part of his heart is ACHING with pain, with betrayal.