#simon lews

The journey his face made was a gift, almost embarrassment to dawning recognition to a sort of stuttering glee softening into adoration as he thought about why he'd lost track of time. He straightened up, smiled, and spun around, his hand waving above his head in a delicate spiral as he walked away.

Catarina stepped inside, the doors closing silently behind her. The boots in the middle of the living room slid sideways out of their path and up against the wall with only a bit more noise.

Magnus picked up a notebook and a small bundle of herbs from a shelf and then flung them behind him as she followed him into his workroom. She flicked her magic to aim them sideways onto the desk so she didn't step on them.

"Here we go!" Magnus turned around, handing her a small glass jar that was still half-full of the familiar silver and grey crystals, just a tiny bit larger than the regular salt they were named after. "Let me know what Madzie comes up with, will you?"

"Of course." Catarina tucked it into her bag as she turned around, glancing up barely in time to miss walking right into Alec where he'd silently materialized in the middle of the living room. "Oh, sorry."

"Morning, Cat." Alec smiled, warm and sweet, and she had to admit it was easy to see why Magnus was so taken with him. "Would you like some coffee?"

He stepped backwards as he gestured toward the kitchen, and there was something oddly surreal about it all, warm morning light against angelic runes and messy hair, a Shadowhunter moving comfortably through Magnus' home in bare feet and loose jeans and a faded green t-shirt.

An inside-out faded green t-shirt.

She grinned, and shook her head. "Thank you, but no. I'll let you get back to... what you were doing?"

Alec ducked his head, his smile widening, and he wasn't quite blushing but he wasn't quite not, and she had no idea how someone even taller than Magnus managed to look adorable, but he pulled it off quite nicely.

She heard the depth of Magnus' exceedingly dramatic sigh behind her, and turned to look as he sadly shook his head. "If only."

"I'm leaving, don't worry." She even started walking towards the main doors to make her point.

"Very thoughtful of you." Magnus' voice was a fascinating blend of dry amusement and regret, with just a shiver of warmth beneath it all. "But as you so adroitly pointed out, we have rather lost track of time and will have to leave soon ourselves."

"That is a shame." Catarina shook her head, trying to keep her voice steady. "I'm sorry to hear it."

"No you're not, darling, but I forgive you." Magnus gestured quite grandly before them, and escorted her towards the door.

"I do hope your day improves, Magnus."

Magnus' face shifted again, this time into something warm and quiet, and he gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. "I've seen you today, how could it get better?"

"Orgasms." She laughed aloud at the startled snort of a laugh from Alec somewhere behind them, and slipped out to go to work.

Luke had known Magnus Bane for something more than twenty-five years, but he couldn't say he'd known him well, even after all that time. Maybe because it was barely any time at all for Magnus?

Magnus had always been... smooth. Unchangeable, even for a warlock. Luke would have bet, only a few months ago, that almost no one made it past the flicker of magic on his fingers and the controlled walls of his smiles and flirtations.

But they'd respected each other, worked together, toasted over drinks now and then. Shared the occasional weighted glance over their disagreement about Jocelyn's methods, even as they both did what she asked. Even at a distance, Luke had thought he'd known Magnus well enough.

He never would have believed this, if someone had told him. He never would have expected the soft tone of his voice, the clear affection on his face, Magnus holding hands with a Shadowhunter in front of the Institute.

Especially not a Lightwood.

Alec's hands turned in Magnus' grip, his thumb rubbing against Magnus' knuckles even as he leaned in a little closer, his mouth moving around words too soft to carry, words clearly just for Magnus.

Luke blinked at the memory of a young Maryse Trueblood perched on a wall, tugging at her brother Max's hand to tell him about her day, her whole face alight, Max's teenager voice cracking around his laugh before he tugged his hand free in order to lift it up and ruffle up her hair. She'd swatted back, laughing so hard she almost fell back off her perch.

Oh.

Maryse's son wasn't just a Lightwood.

None of them were who they used to be.

When Lucian Graymark became Luke Garroway... Luke wasn't one of Magnus' Downworld adoptees, but he wasn't entirely NOT one of them either. Once he was a wolf, he could never go back home. The wolves hadn't wanted a Shadowhunter, especially not one they could blame for the ones Valentine had used, the ones Valentine had killed, the ones that had made Luke. The vampires certainly weren't going to shelter a wolf. And Warlocks? Warlocks were generally too solitary, too scattered. They didn't have the structure Luke needed, not if he was going to learn control, not if he was going to do anything with this life, whatever it turned out to be. Not if he was going to stay by Jocelyn, by Clary after she was born.

Wolves needed their pack.

Magnus Bane though. Magnus wasn't someone anyone could ignore or dismiss, not even the local Alpha. Magnus made sure everyone he knew in the Downworld had a place, not just the warlocks. Magnus made sure Luke had a place, a job, a cause, even before he knew he needed them. And he did it with a drink in his hand and eyes rolled at Luke's every attempt to say thank you.

Luke bet Magnus didn't roll his eyes when Alec thanked him.

Not that that was any of his business. Not that the look they were sharing seemed like anyone else's business either, so tender and honest something ached in Luke's chest. He felt like he was intruding, more so than any "indecent" behavior he'd had to break up as a cop, more so than any time he'd stumbled across people having sex in any temporarily empty room they could find back when he'd been living in over-crowded barracks as a Shadowhunter or with the Circle, and no one had enough room for privacy anywhere.

Luke stepped closer, letting his boots hit concrete hard enough he felt the sting, could hear the impact. He saw Alec sigh, watched his eyes close as he rested his forehead against Magnus' for a moment. Alec let Magnus' hands slip out of his grip and rolled his eyes in Luke's direction once Luke stopped beside them.

"Sorry," Luke shrugged. He was, but it wasn't like any of them could just stop doing their assorted jobs.

The expression hiding behind Alec's half-a-smile reminded Luke of five-year-old Clary when she stuck her tongue out in annoyance after Jocelyn told her she had to wash the paint off her hands before dinner. Luke coughed away a laugh. He didn't think Alec would appreciate that comparison. Magnus might. Later.

Alec turned back to Magnus, and Magnus lifted a hand to rest gently against his cheek. Alec covered Magnus' hand with his own, and neither of them said anything. Not that they needed to; it was a very clear I love you. Alec stepped back and turned to enter the Institute, shaking his head a little as he went.

Luke waited until the door closed, giving Magnus a chance to watch Alec leave before being expected to think about something else. If Luke asked him to lead them through a portal too soon, they'd probably end up in Alec's office instead of the Jade Wolf.

"And what are you smiling about?" Magnus lifted an eyebrow at him, and Luke couldn't quite stop a grin.

"Not a thing. Shall we go?"

Magnus' expression was more eloquent and long-winded than most people could manage in a monologue, but he lifted his hands and called the portal without another word.

Maia was looking back at Simon, laughing at his latest terrible pun as the went through the door, so she didn't see them right away. Instead she saw Simon see them, a widening of eyes, a hint of a smile, a sudden awkward glance around. "Maybe we'll try somewhere else?"

She glanced in the direction he was looking before he'd finished talking, and saw Magnus and Alec. They were leaning close together over their food, half-eaten sandwiches and a single pile of fries, and holding hands over the top of the table. She'd never seen them like that, so quiet and relaxed, so close, not even on one of their semi-regular pool nights.

She'd never seen them somewhere where no one knew them, rather than everyone.

She started to turn back around with Simon, but it was too late, Magnus leaned back with a smile, saw her, saw them, and his eyebrows lifted. She saw his elbow move, as if he was going to pull his hand free. Alec's fingers tightened, holding him in place, even as he turned his head and saw them too. Alec's shoulders shifted, but he smiled at them, small and tilting up more on side than the other.

"Did you see they only had one milkshake and two straws?" Simon leaned over her shoulder, his voice low enough even she could barely hear it. He sounded happy and sad, both at once, and yeah. It was nice, that they got to be normal. Not so nice that Simon couldn't be that normal, no matter how much he tried.

She turned just enough to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll raise you that one. Did Alec Lightwood just smile at us even though we accidentally ruined his date?"

"The world is a strange and wondrous place?" Simon shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't know how to scowl when Magnus is holding his hand."

"Ha."

Simon just shrugged again, but his eyes were smiling at her, and she realized she wasn't entirely sure she could scowl at the moment either, no matter who might walk in the door next.

Maia waved over at Alec and Magnus, and stepped further into the deli. She and Simon had already broken the mood, she could tell by their posture, settled more firmly back in their chairs rather than still leaning forward. Alec had picked up his sandwich and taken a bite, while Magnus was waving a fry around as he started telling a story of some sort.

She really wanted some corned beef on rye. No reason not to eat, right?

She'd get it to go though.

No reason to be a dick about it.

"Hey." Jace swung around the door-frame and saw Alec and Magnus kissing in the middle of Alec's office. "Whoops, sorry."

They didn't stop. He'd sort of walked in on them a few times before, and they'd always broken apart almost before he even realized they'd been kissing. Jace cleared his throat.

They still didn't stop, and Jace was pretty sure he could see Alec's tongue in Magnus' mouth. Magnus lifted a hand from where he'd been holding Alec's arm and flipped up his middle finger.

"Hey!" Jace blinked and spread his hands. "Don't shoot the messenger."

Alec pulled away from the kiss, but he was still holding Magnus' face between his hands, looking into Magnus' eyes, and Jace could see the shift of his shoulders as if he was having a very hard time not laughing. "That is very rude, Magnus."

"Is it?" Magnus gasped as if horrified. Jace tried not to snort. Magnus pulled his arm back until his hand was right next to his face, right where Alec could see it, the middle finger still raised. "Are you jealous? You should know this is a standing offer for you. You don't have to wait until I've asked."

Jace sighed. "Standing right here."

"And whose fault is tha--" Magnus' voice cut off with a short, sharp, gasp, rough from the back of his throat, as Alec's head tilted and he put his mouth around the entirety of Magnus' finger, lips against Magnus' knuckles, still staring Magnus right in the eyes, and he sucked.

Jace turned around and took a step out into the hallway. Apparently this was going to take some time.

Alec had never let him take some time when he got interrupted. Alec threw jeans at his head instead.

Then again, they hadn't gotten to the not wearing pants stage.

He could still hear them, wet against skin and the edge of Magnus' breathing and what the hell, Alec had game? When did that happen?

Alec had game. Jace smiled, and shook his head a little.

"So impulsive." Magnus said, his voice low and rough. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"That's a terrible line." Alec was amused, Jace could hear it in the lift of his voice. Jace had to admit that it was a nice sound, and it had been much too rare before Magnus. "But you know very well who I'd rather have in me."

Jace couldn't stop the strangled grunt from escaping. He wasn't sure if it had almost been a laugh or a groan.

There was a low and rumbling thinking about sex note which he'd never heard in Alec's voice before and never thought he would and then he just said that and it was. It was weird. Not bad, of course. But weird. Not that it wasn't dramatically obvious they were having sex, because you could sometimes see them thinking it when they looked at each other across a room. But knowing was different than it being right there three steps behind him.

"I think you're going to make your brother's head explode." Magnus sounded delighted by that possibility.

Jace stared up at the ceiling and started picturing every rune he'd ever memorized. Maybe they'd stop before he got through the entire Gray Book?

"The number of girls he's been in, you'd think he'd be less prudish."

Jace forgot what an iratze looked like.

Magnus Bane, powerful and occasionally terrifying warlock, giggled. "Go, go, listen to your messenger."

No one would ever believe him if Jace tried to tell them about any of this. It was like he was in a parallel universe. How had he gotten to a different dimension by accident? Was there a way back?

"Save that invitation for later?" There was a hint of something wistful in Alec's voice, almost a whine of complaint. Alec hadn't whined ever, not even when Jace had first met him and they'd almost been young enough to get away with it.

"Of course. As well as your requested variation." Magnus' voice pitched just a little louder, as if making sure Jace could hear, and of course now he couldn't help thinking about who in who and he was going to die. Izzy was going to come try and find him later and there he'd be, dead in the hallway, dead because Alec's sex life seemed to be considering exhibitionism, Alec, who didn't used to let anyone besides family even see him smile, and that was too much information for one afternoon.

There was the soft sound of a kiss, blessedly short this time. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Finally, finally, Jace heard Alec's footsteps, and he dared a half to turn to look at Alec as he approached. Jace ignored Magnus wiggling his fingers in a mocking sort of wave in his peripheral vision; he turned back and walked away as quickly as he could instead, calling over his shoulder. "They need you in Ops."

Alec, of course, had no trouble catching up in only a couple strides. Jace side-eyed him as hard as he could.

"What?" Alec looked back, eyes wide and innocent, but he couldn't keep the edge of a smile off his face.

Jace rolled his eyes.

Alec just lifted his eyebrows, as if repeating that what.

"You sucked his finger right in front of me and he made a noise." Jace trailed off and waved his hands and tried not to think of any obscene gesture he'd ever used because now they all seemed to mean Alec & Magnus fucking. "I can never unhear that noise."

"Why would you want to?" They'd reached Ops by then, and Alec turned and started backwards down the stairs, still looking right at Jace. He was smiling, bright and evil. "It's one of my very favorite sounds."

"Yeah, fine for you, but I don't need to hear his sex noises." The sudden absence of background chatter made Jace realize he'd been raising his voice as Alec backed up, and he'd clearly raised it too much before he was done.

Jace dropped his face into his hands with a groan.

Alec laughed, loud enough it echoed up, filling the cathedral ceilings. It echoed down, warm and rumbling, until he could feel a whisper of it through their bond. Jace lifted his head, breathed in deep, out again, almost smiling as he watched Alec turn and continue walking across the room.

Jace had never felt anything like that from him before, and judging by the continued silence around him, no one in the Institute had ever heard Alec Lightwood laugh like that.

Maybe this was a decent alternate universe. Worth staying in, after all.

It was fun watching Magnus work, even if Isabelle only had the slightest idea what he was doing. She wondered if Alec had picked anything up yet. He tended to focus very much on one thing at a time, and clearly he liked focusing on Magnus. She smiled, and leaned back in her chair with a sigh. There were probably about five different sex jokes she could make in there if she tried, and it'd be fun to see if Alec frowned or squirmed or blushed at them, but it'd been a long day.

Maybe she'd give him a break.

Or not, she thought, as she noticed the reflection of a tall shadow approaching in the windows. Alec strode almost silently through the doorway. He still had his boots and his coat on, his stele in its sheath on his thigh, had clearly barely paused on his way through the doors to here, to Magnus. It was too adorable for words.

Magnus started to turn, clearly having felt some slight shift in the air, having heard some quiet step, brandishing his wooden spoon in one hand, a slightly glowing crystal in the other, and a widening smile on his face. "Alec."

Alec didn't speed up, didn't lunge, but somehow he was there, hands pulling Magnus close by his belt-loops so he could kiss him, and there was one startled moment of stillness before Magnus just flipped his spoon behind him with a soft clatter against the table, and the crystal fell to the ground with an odd fizzling sound as the light went out, and his hands were in Alec's hair and he was kissing him back.

Very kissing him back, and very pushed up against him. Alec was still moving forward, one step, two, and his hands were sliding down the backs of Magnus' thighs and they lifted and he stepped and Magnus was sitting on the table and Alec was leaning his whole body into him. It was so practiced, fast and smooth, and neither of them had had to check for the table at all.

"Wow." Isabelle whistled softly. "That table's way sturdier than it looks."

Alec pulled back as she started to speak, and she could hear their lips part with the sudden shift of his weight. By the time she finished her sentence he was very gently thumping his head against Magnus' shoulder.

"Long day?" Isabelle asked, trying to hold in her laughter.

Alec just groaned, though he did stop trying to beat Magnus up with his forehead.

"You could have warned him I was here, Magnus."

Magnus sighed, his fingers gently stroking against the nape of Alec's neck. "I forgot."

Isabelle did laugh at that, and it felt so nice, throwing her head back against her chair, relaxing completely. Alec lifted his head, his fingertips just brushing against Magnus' jaw, and he kissed Magnus just once more, so gently that Isabelle thought her heart might break.

Alec sighed, and tilted his head to the side to look at her directly, half a crooked smile on his face. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Oh." Magnus sat up straighter, and pushed gently at Alec's shoulders. "The potions!"

Alec obligingly stepped back, and back again as Magnus slid off the table and spun around with a delightful flare of his coat-tails. He swirled his arm around until the spoon and the crystal both started rising into the air, and reached forward to grab them both. And then he was working again, a bit of this and a bit of that and the crystal was glowing and Alec turned to look at Isabelle, his eyebrows lifted.

"The armory''s low on a couple of our more obscure anti-demon poisons, so I decided it would be faster to buy them from Magnus than try and get another order from Idris before the regular drop next month."

Alec frowned, and she could just see him wondering why he hadn't known about it, why he hadn't done anything about it, why she had to pick up after him, and she rolled her eyes.

"They're very obscure Alec, they only show up on one of the inventory lists, but." She stopped, waited until he was focused on her, his eyes clear of that temporary flare up of guilt. "Since we don't know what was corrupting the ley lines, I figured it couldn't hurt to be extra careful."

There was a pause where she could practically see the thoughts being lined up in his head, whether to still consider this his failure or not. But then he smiled, and she let out her breath. "I have such a brilliant sister."

Isabelle grinned. "Yes, you do."

"Thank you." He stepped over, and kissed her forehead. He glanced back over to Magnus, who was stirring about three different things at once, fingers twirling as he kept it all organized. "Want to order some take-out while we wait?"

"Som tum thai for me, please."

Magnus didn't even glance their way, which was a shame, as Alec's grin was bright and happy, and Isabelle was pretty sure Magnus would have liked it even more than she did. "Extra spicy?"

Magnus did shoot him a quick glance at that, a sideways smile lighting up his face. "Always."

Isabelle swallowed another giggle as Alec offered her a hand and then almost lifted her bodily up out of her chair. "I like Thai," she agreed, and she followed Alec over to the kitchen to look at menus.

Clary hadn't seen Alec since the morning meeting, when they'd gone over the night's patrols and then sent anyone who'd been on them off to get some sleep. She had a question about the shax demon nest Underhill had mentioned, since it was on her patrol route today, but she didn't want to wake Underhill up to ask, and the patrol reports hadn't updated in the computer yet.

Alec always knew where everyone had been, knew where everyone was going.

Alec wasn't in his office. He wasn't in Ops. He wasn't in the armory, and Izzy looked busy enough Clary didn't want to interrupt. He wasn't in the infirmary; they said he'd already done his daily check-in. She didn't want to ask Jace, because. Well. If he was sleeping he needed it even more than Underhill, and if he wasn't? Having her notice him not sleeping again was just going to make him jumpier. If that was possible.

Alec wasn't in the mess hall. To be fair, there was no real reason to be in the mess at this time of day, so she wasn't entirely sure why she'd even tried. Except to steal some cookies before they all got eaten.

She headed out again with a sigh. At least she'd gotten some good gossip going with almost everyone, circling her way around the Institute. She'd been asked to show off her angelic rune, and collected a bunch of congratulations and only a couple rolled eyes. It'd been a nice change. She could almost pretend they were all having a lovely day and there was nothing else to worry about.

Almost.

She did another quick loop, with no success, and at this point Underhill was probably awake. But it felt oddly like surrender not to keep looking for Alec, not to complete the goal. That was probably ridiculous. She was going with it anyway. One more try. She practically bumped into Izzy and Jace on their way towards food as she backtracked to Alec's office.

"Join us for an early lunch?" Izzy asked, nudging her elbow against Clary's arm.

"I had a quick question for Alec, actually." Clary smiled at both of them. Jace looked better than he had this morning, so she hoped he'd gotten some sleep. "Meet you after?"

"Alec works too hard." Izzy spun around and took Clary's hand as she started walking again. "Let's make him come to lunch, too."

Jace shrugged, and almost smiled, which was about as good as it got lately, and turned around as well. "You two can ask. If Magnus met him for lunch and I interrupt them again, Magnus might turn me into a toad or something."

"You too?" Izzy looked over her shoulder with a grin. "Whoops. They're not going to want to see me either."

Clary laughed, and swung the hand that was holding Isabelle's. "I guess I'll knock then. Which is fine, since I'm the one with an actual question."

Alec's office door was closed, which it usually wasn't. Clary reached up to knock, and her knuckles stopped a half-an-inch from the door without making a sound. She blinked. She tried again. It felt like the air just sort of didn't want her to keep going? She poked at the door, and her finger stopped in the same place.

"I can't knock."

"What do you mean, you can't." Isabelle stopped talking as all three of their cells made an uneven chime of varying alert tones at about the same time.

Jace got his out first, looked at it, and his face went entirely blank for half a second before he snorted a laugh and shook his head. "Don't think Alec's interested in anything the mess is serving today."

By then Isabelle was digging her phone out too, and Clary managed to get at hers at about the same time. It was a text from Alec. Out for lunch, send an alert if there's an emergency.

He'd sent the same one yesterday, actually. But yesterday his office had clearly been empty. Rather than whatever nifty magic trick this was, muffling and protecting the door from interference.

Isabelle giggled.

Clary almost did too. "Are we going to tease him mercilessly about this?"

"Hmm." Isabelle turned around again, her smile bright and wide. "Let's discuss over lunch. It might be more fun to hold onto this one for awhile."

"Let him think he's safe?" Jace grinned, and Clary felt her breath catch in her chest. It'd been awhile since he'd managed more than a half a smile, much less anything like this, so open and happy.

"Oh, Alec should know better than to ever think he's safe from family." Isabelle almost looked like she was going to break into song as they all traipsed back to the mess hall.

Clary couldn't stop smiling. She knew she was included in Isabelle's mention of family, and she didn't know how or when it had happened, but she felt the same way. There was something about these Lightwoods. Something about this Institute. Something more like home than she ever could have expected.