#malec ficlet

aw my immediate mental image was that magnus had like. some sort of magical shield protecting them, you know, but as they’re kissing he’s so emotional and he gets so into it he kind of. forgets to keeps it up. it’s not even unrealistic because he canonically couldn’t even keep his glamour up when alec kissed him so like. if they just kind of got lost and are in the rain laughing and alec is giggling and kissing the living daylights out of him, of course he’s going to forget to keep them dry

or if it’s the dramatic version, you know, he’s all upset and feeling terrible because him and alec had a fight, and it sucks and he feels so lonely and all his insecurities are creeping up on him (this is why no one can stand you, why everyone leaves, soon he’ll get tired of you and leave too, and it’ll be your fault, because you couldn’t just keep quiet-) and then alec runs after him and puts his hands on his shoulder and apologizes and they work it out as they always do, and then alec kisses him, slow and sweet as he cradles his face in his hands and holds him tenderly, and magnus gets lost in it and overwhelmed by everything that he’s feeling and then alec suddenly lets out a little noise of surprise and he looks and sure enough, rain is falling over them again. also his glamour is down. what a mess

but he doesn’t even have the time to be embarrassed or try to fix it because alec just laughs and kisses him again, holding him by the waist with one hand, the other on the back of his head, and magnus melts all over again and he isn’t even feeling the rain anymore. and alec brings their foreheads together and says, “did i ever tell you that i love it when i get you to lose control of your magic?” and magnus is like “i didn’t lose control, it was a lapse,” and alec laughs and keeps kissing him over and over until magnus is giggling and it’s just so sweet aaaaaa

Written for the @malecdiscordserver​ advent challenge - join us here

I ended up getting behind again, damn sickness / work stress. But Sunday’s are for catching up (again) and hopefully getting ahead too...

(Read on AO3)

~~~

Alec threw a final punch at the heavy bag chained to the loft ceiling, ignoring the sweat trickling down his back. At this time of year he was grateful Magnus had created this space for him, saving the need to drag himself through the cold and miserable weather daily to the Institute to train and keep his fitness up. OK, Magnus would always offer to make him a portal but he felt cheeky asking sometimes.

Grabbing his water bottle from the bench by the door, he drained it almost in one gulp before proceeding to remove the wraps from his hands. He wiped a towel over his face to remove the worst of the perspiration before flicking off the lights and heading towards the shower.

When he’d gone to train a few hours ago, he’d left Magnus on the sofa translating a particularly irksome text from Sumerian for a client so it surprised him now to see the living area dark and silent. The sun had set less than an hour earlier, and the lights of the city filtering in through the tall windows were only enough to cast deep shadows over the room.

Soft snuffling breaths emanated from the sofa where he could just see the tips of Magnus’ hair poking out over the plump cushioning of the arm. He smiled to himself and slowed his steps to avoid any unnecessary noise. This close to Christmas, Magnus had been working overtime helping clients with everything from enchanting jewellery to locating rare ingredients for gifts, he was long overdue a break.

Alec crept forward and flicked the switch on the Christmas tree lights, bathing the room in a soft, yellow glow. Turning, he had to bite back a coo at the sight of Magnus curled up with his knees tucked close to his chest and arms wrapped around Chairman Meow. The fluffy cat perfectly cradled in the space in front of Magnus’ chest.

OOH, this is a good one. 

Here’s Alec’s POV from Time is Just a Mundane Construct:

“What are you doing?” Alec asked softly, glancing up toward Magnus’ hand that was still brushing through his hair. Alec hadn’t felt so content, so full of joy, in weeks. When Magnus was swept up through the portal to Edom, Alec was convinced he would never feel like he did at that moment. Alec hummed softly and leaned into Magnus’ touch, watching as Magnus played with his hair. Magnus pressed a gentle kiss to his nose and pulled away with a frown. 

“Your hair has gotten longer,” Magnus noted. His tone was filled with sadness and Alec knew exactly how he felt. The short time he was in Edom felt like a lifetime. Any second with Magnus in his arms, in his bed, in his life, felt like a lifetime. Alec smiled at him as he opened his eyes, shaking his head so his hair could flop forward. Magnus laughed as it brushed against his nose and Alec couldn’t help but smile wider.

“Yours, too. Any higher and you’ll need more than magical intervention to keep it up like that,” Alec teased as he ran a hand through Magnus’, flattening it with his palm. Alec grabbed Magnus’ hand as he playfully patted Alec’s cheek and searched it. Magnus’ hand fit perfectly in his, as it always had. As he laced their fingers together, his shoulders relaxed and he pressed a gentle kiss to the ring on Magnus’ fingers. Their ring. He smiled warmly over at Magnus before shaking his head, truly not believing that Magnus was in front of him again. “We should get up. We have a wedding to plan, after all.”

“Darling, can you please hold still, it’s very distracting.” Magnus commented, flipping the page idly. His foot bounced slightly where his legs were crossed at the knee. He was perfectly lounged and quite comfortable, if he did say so himself.

“It’s not my fault that’s where you decided to read.” Alec responded a bit breathily. He had been training all evening and his muscles were, finally, beginning to fatigue as his stamina rune flickered warningly.

“It’s the most comfortable spot in the loft and we both know it.” Magnus responded, waving a dismissive hand toward Alec who simply scowled in response.

“He who sits in comfort while his boyfriend trains does not get to complain.”

“He who ate his boyfriend's last Oreo does not get to pass judgement.” Alec paused, mid-push up, before nodding slightly.

“Fair enough.” His chest nearly hit the ground on the trip back down.

“How many of those are you intending to do, Alexander? We have dinner plans with Jace and Clary this evening, and I’m sure they won’t be pleased if you show up drenched in sweat. I, on the other hand,” He purred out, his voice practically dripping with the smirk plastered on his face. “I don’t mind seeing you drenched in sweat. Of course, ideally, it would be a much different circumstance, but I don’t mind this either.”

Alec snorted his way through a few more push-ups and rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure you don’t. I’ll shower when they get here, then we can go. They’ve made us late to dinner more than once, they can wait for us this time.”

As if on cue, there was a loud knock on the front door. Magnus waved a hand to open the door and Jace and Clary made their way into the loft, idly chatting about a training session they had from what Alec could hear. Their conversation abruptly came to a halt when they walked into the room far enough to see them.

“Um,” Jace started, one of his eyebrows quirking upward. “Hello?”

“And hello to you, Trace,” Magnus greeted. It was a herculean effort for Alec not to laugh every time Magnus called Jace that. “Alexander is going to finish up his push-ups, shower, and then we’ll go.”

“His push-ups.” Clary repeated, cautiously.

“Mhm.” Magnus gave a matter-of-fact nod. Jace vaguely gestured toward Alec.

“And this is how he normally does push-ups?”

“Of course. It helps keep him sharp.”

“Plus, it’s the most comfortable spot in the loft.” Alec added, turning his head enough to look up at Magnus who was lounged across his back as if he was a rune-covered chaise.

Word count: 500 Set during the finale’s time-skip. 

~oOo~

‘You’ll never believe what Underhill told me.’ Magnus looked up at his husband, amused by all the excitement. ‘And hello to you too, Alexander. How was your day?’ Alec had the decency to look sheepish. ‘Sorry. It was okay. Normal, until – I’ll tell you in a minute. How was your day?’ Magnus briefly considered launching into a long, drawn-out tale of everything he’d done today, because few things in life were more entertaining than winding up Alexander. But curiosity was starting to get the better of him, so he just said, ‘Oh, same old, same old. Just tell me what Underhill said.’ ‘He’s been seeing someone – someone we know.’ Alec paused dramatically. ‘Lorenzo. He’s dating Lorenzo Rey.’ 

Magnus’ shaking hands cradled his head, and Alec tried his best to focus on the scared, golden cat eyes above him, but they started to blend with the lit lanterns hanging behind them so he shut his eyes and focused on his hands instead. His left hand, specifically.

Sometimes Alec liked to look through Magnus’ jewelry, and he once asked Magnus how often he bought new accessories. He had laughed softly and said, “Whenever I see something that reminds me of someone or something good I had in my life, whether I can pinpoint who or what it is, I buy it. Sometimes I never quite know what’s so special about it, but I like to think I at least have that one thing to remember it by.” He slipped off the silver ring around his left ring finger that Alec had consistently seen over the last week. Magnus held it up for him to see a small arrow etched on the inside, and Alec smiled. “Any guess on who this might be for?”

At the time he tried not to think too much about the significance of the placement of the ring. But now, Alec felt it press against his own ring finger as Magnus gripped his hand, whispering, “Please, stay with me, Alexander. Help is on its way, please.” And with his eyes closed and reality off center, Alec could pretend that a matching ring adorned his hand as well. That a small heart, representing Magnus’ infinite kindness and love for the good things in the world, was carved into the underside of the circular band. That the love of his life wasn’t watching him die, but instead waking him up in their shared bed in their shared home in their shared life. That they were finding treasured moments in their forever instead of desperately searching for a forever in this moment.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus murmured, “I should have gotten here sooner.”

Alec tried to push the blood pooling in his throat to protest but only coughed. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he raised their joined hands to his own heart, and then Magnus’. “...you,” was the only word Alec could mutter, forcing his eyes open to see only a swirl of dark red and quickly shut them again.

Magnus leaned down, shakily pressing his lips against Alec’s hand before resting their foreheads together. “I love you, too. Please, please, Alexander, stay with me just a little bit longer.”

Alec opened his eyes for a third time, surprised to see Magnus’ face in focus, eyes closed and tears hanging on his lashes. “I’m glad you’re here,” he tried to say, but he only mouthed the words.

NOTE: The first conversation between Alec and Magnus after the alley scene where Magnus lost his magic and Alec almost lost his life. 

Magnus is circling the whiskey around in his glass, while sitting on his sofa in the loft. Still not comprehending what happened in the past twenty four hours. He fought with Lorenzo, took himself to Edom, traded his magic for Jace’s freedom and on top of it all almost lost the love of his life in the process. He’s done with this day, that’s for sure. He’s still not able to shake the feeling of being utterly useless when Alec was dying in his arms. Feeling useless is not something Magnus is familiar with. But he figures it will be a feeling he’ll has to learn to live with now. Although he’s not sure how he’ll do that.

The sound of someone stumbling into the room makes Magnus look up from his thoughts.

‘Alexander, no. You need to lay down. You can’t –’ Magnus immediately stood up to support his boyfriend back to the bedroom, but Alec halts him just before Magnus is able to reach him, by holding up his hand.

‘I’m not going back in there.’ Alec announces. ‘Just help me get to that sofa, please.’

‘No. Catarina said –’

‘Catarina healed me. And I feel much better already.’ Alec tries to hide the fact that there still is some pain involved, and Magnus isn’t buying it. He could tell. But to his own surprise, Magnus doesn’t make a fuss about it. Instead he supports Alec to the sofa, just like he asked.

‘If the pain gets to worse, I’m going to drag your ass back in there. You understand?’ Magnus firmly warns him, while taking his whiskey back in his hand and sitting himself in the armchair in front of Alec. A short, agreeing nod of him, bring the two men to an understanding.

A then there’s silence. Both of them searching for words to make sense of this mess. Magnus’ eyes are back to staring at his glass. And Alec’s frown grows deeper while watching the man he loves in more pain than the arrow in his chest probably could ever cause.

‘I need you to talk to me.’ Alec chooses to say first, desperately longing for eye contact but Magnus keeps avoiding his gaze. ‘I haven’t seen you since the moment Catarina arrived. I know you haven’t left the loft. But still you avoid me. So talk to me, Magnus.’

‘There’s nothing to talk about.’ Magnus states. He tries to end the subject before it even started. But Alec is not having any of that.

‘You lost your powers. I think there’s enough to talk about.’

‘It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.’

‘None of us would’ve expected you to do that, Magnus. It’s –’  

‘Alexander, it happened. I lost them. So stop bringing it up.’ And with that, Magnus brings the glass to his lips and empties the whiskey in one go.

‘Fuck that Magnus, you – Argh. Ow.’ Magnus’ eyes shoot up when he hears Alec painful grunt. But Alec holds his hand up again, telling Magnus it’s okay. He wanted to stand up, but clearly that’s not the best idea. ‘Magnus, I’m not going to let this eat you away. Don’t you dare to shut me out.’

But instead of talking, Magnus chooses to pull himself up and reach for another glass of whiskey. Again, avoiding any form of conversation. Alec lets him and just watches him as he pours out the drink. Seconds are flying by and from the moment Magnus sits down again, Alec makes a new try.

‘If you’re not going to talk, I’m going to stand up from this couch and make you.’ He threatens him.

Magnus takes another sip before he answers. ‘You are going to take it easy like Catarina told you.’

‘Okay, well in that case…’ Alec sits himself up, ignoring the stinging pain in his chest and just before he wants to pull himself up, Magnus explodes in front of him.

‘No, STOP!’ Magnus raises his voice in anger. ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY, ALEXANDER?’ He shouts across the room after he stands up in bitterness, already pushing Alec right back into the sofa only with the volume of his words. ‘BY WANTING TO SAVE YOU AND JACE, I ALMOST LOST YOU ANYWAY. I COULDN’T SAVE YOU. I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING. I COULD JUST SIT AND WATCH YOU DIE AND IT HURT ME MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE.’ He empties the glass of whiskey in his throat again, before throwing the glass behind him. The clattering noise of the glass hitting the floor, startled the both of them. But Magnus continued, this time his voice more restrained. ‘My magic defined me. It made me, me. Feeling as helpless as I did in that alley is something I’m not used to, Alexander. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that. I don’t want to be this vulnerable. I would do it all over again to save Jace, but there’s a part of me missing and it just doesn’t feel right. I feel weak and powerless and helpless and I don’t know how to live with that.’

With those last words, Magnus sits himself down again. And now the two of them are looking at each other. Both staring at the one thing that would hurt more to lose than losing any form of power. Alec’s first instinct is to tell Magnus is wrong. Because there will never be a Magnus who’s weak, helpless or powerless. Even without his magic, Alec still thinks Magnus is the strongest man he knows. But he also knows that Magnus doesn’t think like that right now. And he doesn’t want to downgrade his feelings. Alec just wants to help. 

‘I’m going to bring them back you know.’ Alec says instead. ‘I’m going to do everything I can to bring your powers back.’

And that’s the first time he sees Magnus smile. But it’s not a genuine smile. It’s far from that. Magnus is heartbroken. ‘It’s over, Alexander. We can’t turn this back.’

‘Well, it’s not over to me, Magnus. So either you’re going to help me with this or I’m going to do it alone. There’s no other option.’

Magnus knows Asmodeus won’t do another trade. And he figures he’ll have time to make that clear to Alec. Now he just wants him to stay calm and heal first. So Magnus just nods, pretending to agree with the offer. And Alec definitely takes it as a permission.

‘You’ll have to learn some special shadowhunter fight skills though.’

‘Do I ?’ Magnus grins, already guessing where this is going. ‘Maybe I should find myself a teacher then.’

‘I know a couple.’ Alec winks at him. ‘The best one is a tad busy with healing from an arrow wound right now and after that he’ll probably need a couple of days to make up with his boyfriend, but he’ll be free next week for sure.’

The sound of Magnus’ laugh suddenly sounds so calming in the midst of all these problems. And it’s a sign to not only Alec but also to Magnus that as long as they have each other, in the end it will be alright. And when Magnus moves himself forward to kneel down in front of Alec and kiss his lips so effortlessly, losing his powers suddenly seems not as important anymore.

At first, Magnus did not answer - Alec started to wonder if he had even heart him, or if he was too deep in some dream-like trance to recognize his voice. It was when Magnus answered - voice deep and hoarse, as if he had cried just minutes ago - that Alec realized just how scared he’d been.

“You could have died, Alexander, you could h-have..., you could have died in my arms and there would have nothing left to do but mourning.”