#lillytalons

“Whatever is distracting you, you can talk to me about it, or Jace, or Magnus.” 

“Goodbye, Izzy.” Alec replied, not looking up from the paper in his hand. 

Isabelle sighed and headed for the door, she knew that Alec would come to her if he needed her advice, but it didn't hurt to remind him. As she reached the door, she turned back to her brother. 

“I'm serious Alec.” 

Isabelle rolled her eyes at the lack of response and headed out of the office, leaving Alec alone with his thoughts. 

Alec continued to focus on his paperwork after Isabelle left. He knew she was right, and that he should just talk to Magnus. He knew that the warlock would never judge him, but at the same time this was different. It wasn't something that was known about the Nephilim, or something that came up often. Alec sighed, whether Isabelle knew what was bugging him or not, she was usually right about talking things out. As he finished the final report in the pile, he decided that this was it, that next date night he would reveal his wings to Magnus. 

As their next date night came around, Alec felt slightly nervous. He took a deep breath, checking his reflection once in the mirror, before leaving his room. Magnus was waiting for him just inside the doors. As the shadowhunter walked over, a smile made it's way onto his face. Magnus was wearing black skinny jeans, a burgundy shirt with the first few buttons undone and some gold chains around his neck. His make-up matched the outfit and Alec couldn't help but stare as he came to a stop in front of the older man. 

“Everything okay?” Magnus asked, smirking at the shadowhunter. 

Alec leaned in, placing a sweet kiss to Magnus' lips. 

“Just perfect. You look gorgeous.” 

Magnus smiled and raked his eyes over his boyfriend, “So do you.” 

Alec smiled shyly. He never got used to Magnus complementing him. Magnus, on his part, hoped that this reaction would never stop. The warlock softly kissed Alec's cheek before taking his hand. 

“We have a reservation at a little restaurant hidden out of the way.”

“Lead the way.” Alec replied, allowing himself to be pulled from the Institute and guided to their destination. 

Dinner was lovely and nothing too fancy. The pair laughed and talked about the day. Alec told Magnus about how Jace had sulked after Clary beat him in a sparing match; and Magnus had told Alec about a few of his clients. After dinner, they decided to walk back to the loft as they so often did. Alec enjoyed spending time with Magnus, he didn't have to be head of the Institute or a big brother, he could just be Alec; and Alec wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with the warlock. Smiling to himself, he tried to refocus on the story Magnus was telling about himself, Catarina and Ragnor. Magnus stopped when he noticed the look on the taller man's face. 

“Alexander?” 

Alec blinked, the sound of his name pulling him back to the present.

“Sorry, continue.” 

Magnus smiled and stroked his thumb across the back of Alec's hand. 

“If I'm boring you, darling...” the warlock started only to be cut of by the shadowhunter, 

“No, you're not. You never could. It's just...” 

Magnus raised an eyebrow at the pause in Alec's sentence. He waited patiently for the man to continue.

“I love you.” Alec finished, like it was the easiest and most obvious thing in the world.

Magnus smiled at him, his heart fluttering. He would never get used to hearing Alec say it. He wrapped his arms around Alec's neck, pulling him in for a sweet kiss filled with love. 

“I love you.” Magnus stated when they broke apart. 

The warlock took the shadowhunter's hand back in his and resumed his story as they continued to walk towards the loft. 

As they made their way along the streets, a group of mundanes were heading towards a building on the other side of the road. Magnus' attention was pulled to them by one of the girl's laughter. As the warlock watched the group, he tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“You know, I've never really got the obsession mundanes have with wings.” he stated, his eyes still on the group.

At the mention of wings, Alec's nerves returned, but he looked over at the group that had caught his boyfriend's attention. One of the girls was wearing what looked like butterfly wings on her back. 

“I guess, butterfly wings are a bit strange.” Alec stated, turning back to Magnus. 

“It's not just butterfly wings, though. It's all wings; fairy, butterfly, bee, angel.”

“Angel?” Alec inquired, his stomach twisting into knots. 

Magnus hummed in response, “Angelic wings are the worst, in my opinion.” 

“Oh?” 

“I mean, wings are just a huge waste of time, but wings from an angel? It's ridiculous, silly and let's be honest, completely unworthy.” 

Alec felt his blood run cold at Magnus' statement. Did he really think that angelic wings were unworthy? Magnus seemed to sense the shift in Alec's mood and turned back to him. 

“Darling, are you alright?”

Alec nodded stiffly, avoiding Magnus' gaze.

“Yeah, umm, look Magnus, I have to go. Something's wrong with Jace.”

“Oh.” Magnus stated, disappointed that their evening was being cut short. “I'll portal us there.” 

“No, um, it's fine. I'll go alone.”

Magnus blinked at the taller man, confusion and concern filling his eyes.

“I can still portal you, Alexander.” 

“It's fine.” Alec insisted, kissing Magnus' cheek softly before running down the street. 

Magnus watched him go, confused, concerned and a little hurt before sighing and heading home. Something didn't feel right about Alec's excuse and departure, but just in case, he decided to text Isabelle, letting her know that he was available to help if necessary. When his phone rang with the reply from the female shadowhunter, his heart dropped and his blood ran cold. 

What are you talking about? Jace is fine. 

The warlock sighed, tossing his phone onto a chair and poured himself a stiff drink. Once he settled down on the sofa, he began to replay the evening spend with Alec, trying to find out what he had done to make the shadowhunter literately run away. 

Alec had managed to sneak back into the Institute and to his room without being seen. His victory was short lived when Isabelle came barging in. 

“Yes, Iz?” 

“Why are you here?”

Alec rolled his eyes and shifted from where he had been lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. 

“Magnus has early clients tomorrow and I have a lot of paperwork to do.” 

As true as her brother's statement was, Isabelle knew that this wasn't the reason Alec was back at the Institute this early or at all. Sensing that Alec wasn't going to tell her anything and that her brother might just throw her out, she turned and headed for the door; only to stop just on the threshold. 

“Jace is fine, by the way.” 

Alec groaned, knowing that this meant that Magnus had contacted his sister, which, to be fair, he really should have expected. He turned over so his back was to the door and sighed when he heard his sister close the door and her footsteps moving down the hall. As hard as he tried, the shadowhunter couldn't sleep, Magnus' words swirling through his brain. 

A few days went by and Alec was still avoiding Magnus. He'd reply to the warlock's texts with a straight to the point answer, and on one occasion, a 'love you'. Magnus had come by the institute on multiple occasions, but every time Alec had work to do. Magnus slowly seemed to back off, hoping that his boyfriend was just over worked and that he would eventually come back to him

. 

Alec had just made himself some coffee one evening, about five days after the incident, when Clary came running over to him. 

“Alec there's a massive demon attack.” 

Alec nodded, taking a long swig of his coffee and placing his cup in the sink. He followed, the red-head to the Ops centre, and after clarifying the situation, he, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Underhill and a few others headed out. Isabelle messaged Magnus the information and told him she'd send a fire message if needed. 

As soon as they arrived, they realised that the situation was worse then they thought. More than a hundred demons were wandering around an alleyway while at least fifty of them were on the roof of a nearby building. 

“Izzy! You, Clary and Underhill take the roof. The rest of us, we're on the ground.” 

Everyone nodded, and the three assigned to the roof activated a rune and found their way up. Isabelle sent a quick fire message to Magnus asking for his assistance on the roof. As the two group were engaging the demons, Magnus portal onto the roof and helped fight with the trio. The roof was almost clear, while on the ground more kept appearing. As Alec's team started to gain the upper hand, Alec's focus was pulled by his sister's scream. 

“Magnus!” 

Alec, who wasn't even aware the warlock has come to help, watched in horror as one of the bigger demons got the better of Magnus and threw him off the roof. Without even thinking, Alec summoned his wings and launched himself at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him and bringing him safely down to the ground. As he flew down, he saw Isabelle's whip wrap around the demon's neck. After Alec placed the warlock on the ground, he suddenly realised what he had done. 

“Alexander” Magnus whispered, his words barely audible over the fighting. 

Alec didn't respond, just dismissed his wings and headed back to the fight. Magnus, after gathering his thoughts, followed him, magic swirling around his hands. 

After the fight, Alec turned to his team. Isabelle, Clary and Underhill had joined the others on the ground after clearing the roof. 

“Is everyone okay?” Alec inquired. 

“I think so.” Isabelle replied, scanning the team. 

There were a few injuries but nothing too serious, certain shadowhunters were already in the process of activating Iratze runes. Alec took in the surprisingly good condition of his team before Magnus caught his attention. The warlock was leaning against the wall, looking warn out. His hair wasn't quite as neat and his make-up was smudged but the way he was looking at Alec had the shadowhunter's stomach swoop. Alec glanced at the others, his siblings and Clary were still there talking about the fight, while the others had started to head back, before moving closer to Magnus. 

“You should go home and get some rest.” 

Magnus smiled softly at him; even when things weren't clear between them, Alec still cared about him. 

“I'll be fine, Alexander” 

“Magnus, you're warn out.” 

“Come back with me, please.” 

The lack of confidence, and the pleading in Magnus' voice broke Alec's heart. He knew that they had to talk. He'd been avoiding the man for days and had now shown Magnus that he had the one thing the warlock seemed to hate; but he wasn't ready to face the music just yet. 

“Magnus, I can't. I need to do the report for the mission.”

“Jace and I can...” Isabelle started only to be cut off by her brother.

“No, Iz. It needs to be done by the Head of the Institute.”

Isabelle blinked at her brother but Clary pulled her away before she could argue with him. Alec turned back to Magnus, who looked a little hurt before schooling his features to hide it.

“Magnus, go home. Have a bath, a steak, a cocktail. Regain your strength.” 

Magnus sighed, knowing that he didn't have the energy, or the will, to argue. 

“Fine.” 

Alec hid the flinch at the harshness of the warlock's tone. He gave Magnus' hand a quick squeeze before walking over to the others and back towards the Institute. Isabelle glanced back at Magnus just as he disappeared through a portal. Shaking her head, she took off after her brother. 

It was a few hours later when Isabelle and Jace both barged into Alec's office. Alec glared at the pair standing in front of the desk.

“Don't either of you ever knock?” Alec grumbled. 

“No.” Jace replied simply, making Alec roll his eyes. 

“Alec, what is going on with you and Magnus?” Isabelle inquired. 

“What makes you think that something's going on?” 

“Dude, you used me as an excuse to leave date night. You refused to go home with him tonight.” Jace stated, watching his brother's face.

“And you've been avoiding him for the past week.” Isabelle finished. 

“I've been working.” Alec tried to argue.

“Yeah, no. Alec, come on, talk to us. We can help you.” Jace said, moving to lean on the wall next to the desk and closer to Alec. 

“Magnus looked so heartbroken when you walked away.” Isabelle added, moving to sit on the edge of the desk. 

“Alec, we're parabatai. I can feel that something isn't right.” 

Alec sighed and buried his face in his hands. He missed the days when his siblings weren't so nosey and pushy about his personal life. 

“My wings” he mumbled. 

“Alec, what happened?” Isabelle asked softly, pulling her brother's hands away from his face. 

“I... I wanted to tell Magnus, to show him my wings, but things happened.” 

“Alec, when I showed mine to Clary, she just shrugged.” Jace stated. 

“That's different, Jace. She's one of us, she has wings herself so it's nothing new.” 

“I mean, Simon fainted.” Isabelle supplied.

“Makes sense.” Jace muttered, earning a glare from Isabelle and a half snort from Alec. 

Isabelle watched Alec for a moment before speaking, “You didn't get around to telling him, did you?” 

Alec shook his head, “No. We were walking back after dinner, Magnus was talking about one of his adventures when he mentioned mundanes being obsessed with wings. He went on about how angelic wings are useless and unworthy. And now, because I didn't think, I've shown him that I have the very thing he can't stand.”

Isabelle and Jace exchanged a glance before the female shadowhunter leaned forward.

“Did it occur to you, that maybe, Magnus was still talking about mundane wings?”

Alec blinked at his sister. That thought had never actually crossed his mind. 

“No...” Alec groaned. 

Jace moved behind Alec, pushing the man up. 

“Go and talk to him. Now.” 

Alec nodded, he grabbed his jacked and practically ran to Magnus' yelling a thanks to his siblings as he left. 

Magnus was lounging on the sofa with a cocktail when he sensed someone enter through the wards. When he heard the person knock, he placed his cocktail on the table and made his way to the door. He wasn't expecting to find an out of breath Alec on the other side.

“Alexander?” 

Alec blinked slightly, pulling himself back to the present. He hadn't expected to be greeted by Magnus with his hair flat and no make-up. The sight had taken his breath away, as it always did. 

“I need to talk to you.” Alec finally got out. 

Magnus nodded, gesturing for the shadowhunter to enter. Alec made his way inside, coming to a stop next to the back of the sofa. 

“Drink?” Magnus offered, trying to distract himself from what was coming. 

“I'm good, thanks.” 

Magnus hummed in response before crossing his arms across his chest. 

“Alec...” he started only to be cut off by the shadowhunter. 

“Look, Magnus, I'm sorry.” 

Magnus took a deep breath, waiting for Alec to continue with the 'this isn't working out' speech. 

“I shouldn't have avoided you for so long. I was trying to sort stuff out but I should have done it with you, not push you away.” 

Magnus frowned at the other man. “You're not upset with me?” 

It was Alec's turn to frown, confusion written all over his face.

“No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow at the question. 

“The avoiding...” he cut himself off to raise a hand when Alec went to speak, “Even with the 'love you' you sent, but mainly, you refused to come back with me tonight. It seemed like you couldn't get away fast enough.” 

Alec closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. 

“I thought you were going to leave me.” he stated, his voice barely audible. 

Magnus moved closer, ducking his head to meet Alec's downturned gaze.

“Why?”

“Well, our last date night, you said that angelic wings were ridiculous, silly and unworthy. I had planned on showing you mine that night, that's why I left. Then I went ahead and revealed them to you anyway.” 

Magnus reached out and took Alec's hand in his. 

“Alexander, I didn't mean yours.” 

Alec smiled at the warlock, squeezing his hand. 

“I know. After doing the reports tonight, Izzy and Jace came to find out what was wrong. Iz made me realise that you were probably just talking about the mundanes with angel wings.

Magnus nodded in agreement and Alec pulled the warlock into a tight hug. 

“Magnus, I'm sorry.” 

“As am I. I should have realised sooner.” 

Alec pulled back to look at Magnus, “You didn't know. Wait, did you?” 

Magnus shrugged, “I'd heard rumours, but I've never actually seen them. But Alexander, you should know by now that I would never judge you, about anything. And your wings? My Alec, you were breathtaking.” 

Alec blushed at the words, he leaned forward, pulling Magnus back into a tight hug. 

“I'm sorry. I sometimes forget that you saw me and not Jace or Isabelle. You are just such an amazing person, I don't always know what you see in me.” 

Magnus pulled back, cupping Alec's face in his hands. 

“Alexander Lightwood, you are an amazing person. I really don't know what I did to deserve you but I'm so grateful that I have you. You can always talk to me about anything.”

Alec smiled at the man wrapped in his arms. 

“I love you, Magnus. So much.” 

Magnus smiled back at the shadowhunter. “I love you too, Alexander.” 

Alec leaned forwards, capturing Magnus in a loving kiss, the tension from their misunderstanding seeping from them and the air around them. Magnus pulled back, keeping his eyes locked onto the taller man's. 

“Alexander, may I see them?” 

Alec nodded, stepping out of Magnus' embrace and summoning his wings. Magnus' eyes widened at the sight and a small gasp escaped his lips. 

“Darling, you are breathtaking.” 

Alec smiled softly as Magnus walked around him to get a closer look. 

“They're beautiful. May I touch them?”

“Yeah.” Alec breathed, a soft blush covering his checks. 

Magnus started running his fingers through the feathers and gently straightening the crocked ones. Something caught his attention and made him freeze, another gasp coming from his lips. 

“Magnus? What's wrong?” Alec inquired. 

Magnus summoned a full length mirror so the shadowhunter could see. As soon as Alec saw, his eyes went wide. Starting from the base of his wings, thin strands of gold were weaving their way through his wings, along with some thin blue strands. 

“Alec, I don't know what happened.” Magnus started but Alec spoke softly. 

“Magnus, drop your glamour.” 

Magnus looked puzzled at the request but did as Alec asked. Once the glamour was gone, and his real eyes were on display, the blush across Alec's face darkened. 

“Magnus, the colours threaded through my wings match your eyes and your magic.” 

Magnus gaped at Alec in the mirror, before the taller man continued. 

“A nephilim's wings will take on the colour or colours of a specific trait of said nephilim's destined other half.” 

“Alexander” Magnus breathed, his voice full of love and joy. 

Alec turned to face Magnus, pulling him close. 

“You're my soulmate, Magnus.”

Magnus smiled, leaning up to kiss the taller man, his heart felt like it would burst. Alec broke the kiss, leaning his forehead on Magnus'. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, darling”