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Dating a shadowhunter was not something Magnus Bane would recommend. At least that was what he said whenever one of his friends – whether shadowhunter or downworlder – asked him. Endless patrols, risky missions and countless work shifts that either started or ended in the middle of the night. Not something to really look forward to – at least as far as relationships with shadowhunters in general were concerned.
However, dating Alexander Lightwood was most definitely one of the best decisions Magnus had ever made – for so many reasons. But most definitely also for the fact that he was the only one who got to witness what an absolutely adorable grump the Head of the New York Institute could be before his first coffee of the day.
This morning was no exception. Magnus had to hide his smirk behind his teacup when he heard the bedroom door open, turned around and saw his boyfriend pad towards the kitchen. Alec was not even trying to hide that he was barely awake yet – his face scrunched up adorably as he tried to get used to the bright light, one hand held up in front of his eyes to keep the sunlight away.
“Morning”, he grumbled when he brushed past Magnus, on his way to the coffee machine.
Magnus chuckled as he watched the shadowhunter work on his first mission of the day – getting some caffeine into his system as soon as possible. “Good morning to you as well, Alexander. What are you doing up already?”
Today Alec was supposed to have one of his rare days off, and on those occasions he usually liked to sleep in. However, when Alec didn’t reply immediately and Magnus realized the tiniest hint of guilt in his sleepy eyes, Magnus knew that there was something up. Actually, he was already pretty certain of what that something was.
Alec sighed, put his mug back onto the counter and walked over to Magus, wrapping his arms around the warlock’s waist as soon as he was close enough. “The Inquisitor called for an impromptu video conference with the new Consul and a couple of other Institute leaders. I fear I can’t miss that if my job means anything to me. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, Alexander. I have an awfully long list of appointments today anyways. It’s just you I’m worried about.” He raised his hand to Alec’s neck and ran his thumb over where Alec’s pale skin met the dark color of his deflect rune.
“This was supposed to be your first day off in weeks. You have barely taken a moment to yourself recently. You need to take better care of yourself. I’m not always around to make sure you get what you need.”
There was a wicked spark in Magnus’ eyes and a sly grin pulling at his mouth when he said those last words, and Alec rolled his eyes, but smiled back nonetheless.
“I know. And I’m trying, it’s just…a lot recently. Next week doesn’t seem so busy, though, maybe I can sneak in a free day then and we can do something together – maybe another day trip? I’m sure there’s a couple of corners in London or Paris or Prague you haven’t yet shown me.”
“Damn right there are”, Magnus agreed and leaned up to softly kiss the shadowhunter. Alec hummed against Magnus’s lips and the warlock’s lips and pouted when he pulled away. “Breakfast?”
Magnus smiled. “Breakfast.”
+++
“I’m going to be back around six, I think. Maybe a bit earlier if I’m lucky. When’s your last appointment done?”, Alec called out from the bedroom when they were done with breakfast.
Magnus tried to recall his schedule for the day while he put their mugs into the dishwasher. When he remembered how packed it was, he sighed. “Around the same time, I suppose. Don’t remind me of how many appointments I have today.”
Alec walked out of the bedroom, pulling a sweater over one of his countless black t-shirts, sporting that lopsided smile which always made Magnus weak at the knees. “Sorry. Dinner tonight? That new Italian place around the corner seems nice. I think they even deliver.”
“Sounds good.” Magnus turned around and tilted his head up to receive a quick good-bye kiss from his boyfriend and then watched him walk towards the door. He frowned when he saw the shadowhunter walk straight past the couple of wardrobe hooks on the wall in the hallway without even sparing a glance at his jacket.
“Alec? Don’t you want to take your jacket with you?”
The shadowhunter turned around, frowning and looked past Magnus through the windows into the city. It was still sunny outside, but the sky was getting cloudier by the minute.
“No, I don’t think it will rain. Besides, I’ll be in the office all day anyways. And if it really does rain, I know just the guy who can portal me home without getting a single drop of rain onto my clothes.”
Magnus grinned at the reference and shooed Alec out the door. “Get going, you adorable shadowhunter, you. Get to the Institute before I lock you up in here and don’t let you leave all day.”
Alec laughed happily. “Doesn’t sound so bad to me. See you tonight then. I love you!”
“Love you too”, Magnus called out as Alec pulled the door closed behind him and then smiled to himself.
Sometimes he really felt the urge to pat himself on the shoulder for crashing Alec’s wedding all those months ago.
+++
A few hours later, however, he was on the verge of painfully regretting that decision. More precisely at the moment when a soaking wet Alec knocked at the door of the loft a couple minutes after 6 pm. It had been raining all afternoon, but for the past half hour or so, it had been pouring down as if the weather god wanted to drown entire New York. It was one of those days that Magnus was very grateful good old Henry Branwell and him had started fantasizing about alternative ways of transport after one too many martinis all those years ago. He had gotten home from his final appointment of the day without getting a single thread of his expensive coat wet.
Unfortunately, Alec had not been so lucky, judging from how absolutely miserable he looked standing in front of Magus’ apartment door, his drenched clothes sticking to his body and a couple of soaking wet strands of black hair hanging into his face.
When Magnus had recovered from the worst of his astonishment, he quickly pulled Alec into the apartment and then looked at him one more time from head to feet, hardly able to suppress a smirk. Alec looked just too adorable, like a wet cat who absolutely hated the water.
Catching the warlock’s amused look, Alec sighed. “Spontaneous demon hunting mission. Don’t ask.”
Running his hand over his goatee in a not very successful approach to hide his smirk, Magnus chuckled. “I’m going to ask. What on earth happened?”
He watched amusedly as Alec grabbed the seams of his sweater and tried to pull it over his head, without much success, since the soaking wet fabric was clinging to his body. “Long story short”, Alec explained while his head and arms were still caught in the fabric, “Jace had to go on a mission, Izzy wasn’t home, Clary is sick and I didn’t have anything to do that was important enough for him to accept a no. Couple of shax demons at Brooklyn Bridge, took us longer than we expected, and we got caught in the rain. Now, if you would please help me out of this goddamn sweater before I lose my mind, I would be forever grateful.”
With a giggle, Magnus snapped his fingers once and disposed of the sweatshirt. He walked up to Alec and ran a hand over the cold skin of his face, healing a scratch on his cheek and what he could already feel was going to be a nasty bruise in the process. Alec’s skin was chilly against his fingers. “You should take a shower, Alexander. You’re freezing.”
“Yeah, just give me a second, I need to fix my bow first and there’s something wrong with the strap of my quiver. If you just – “
Alec did not get a chance to finish his sentence, Magnus took care of both of those problems with a flick of his wrist. “There, all good. Now, shower and dry clothes, I don’t want you to be sick tomorrow.”
“Aye, sergeant”, the shadowhunter joked, but with one more telling look from Magnus did as he was asked. He made his way toward the bathroom, hopping on one foot while he was pulling off his sock off the other. “By the way, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a shadowhunter. We do stuff like this all the time. I won’t get sick.”
+++
Alec did get sick.
Magnus noticed it right that night, when he was woken up by Alec snoring. And this time, it was not the soft, adorable little snores he’d long gotten used to, but a mix of what sounded like the last couple of breaths of a dying whale and a dozen of jigsaws working their way through a rainforest.
With a deep sigh, Magnus snapped his fingers and made his phone and headphones appear next to him on the mattress, plucking them in and flicking through his playlists to the one that always helped him relax and wind down after a long day – soft classical music seemed to be just the right thing to drown out the noise next to him.
Next thing Magnus knew, he was woken up by the obtrusive beeping of Alec’s alarm and the feeling of Alec shifting beneath him. He cracked open his eyes just as Alec turned around to switch off the alarm. When the obnoxious noise finally stopped, the shadowhunter fell heavily back into his pillows, groaning. Magnus felt worry creep up in his chest as he watched how Alec pressed his eyes together and pressed a hand against his forehead.
“Morning”, Alec croaked out, his voice raspy as if he’d smoke 40 packs of cigarettes every day.
“Good morning”, Magnus replied, turning onto his side and looking worriedly at the shadowhunter. “How are you feeling?”
All he got for an answer was another muffled groan, since his boyfriend had now decided to pull the blanket over his head and hide underneath it.
Magnus chuckled and pulled the blanket away, taking in Alec’s tired features that were even paler than usual, making him look like a ghost. “I take it you didn’t sleep so well, then? Which is odd, because judging from how you snored last night, you should be more well-rested than ever.”
“How often do I have to tell you; I do not snore.”
“Oh, last night tells a different story, my dear. I should have recorded it, for future purposes. Who knows what I may have needed that tape for.”
Alec was shaken by a couple of nasty coughs. “I am not talking to you ever again.”
Magnus raised an eyebrow, sending Alec his most unimpressed glare. “Darling, I highly doubt your voice would last that long anyways.” He reached out and rested the back of his hand on Alec’s forehead for a few seconds, checking his temperature. But Alec pulled away, pushing the covers back and attempting to sit up and get out of bed.
“I need to get to the Institute.”
Magnus shook his head firmly and pulled Alec back onto the mattress. “No way. You are not going anywhere today. Sorry to break it to you, Alexander, but you look like death and – “ He reached out one more time to feel Alec’s temperature, just to be sure, “yup, and you have a fever. You’re staying in bed today.”
Alec shook his head, wincing when the movement caused his headache to get worse. “I can’t. I have an Institute to run, Magnus, there’s- “
Magnus didn’t let him finish his sentence. “Just call Jace or Isabelle and tell them you’re sick. They will manage. The Institute has survived hundreds of years of the world ending, it won’t burn to the ground just because you’re calling in sick for a couple of days.”
“One day.”
“However long it takes you to recover”, Magnus corrected lightly, but with a tone in his voice that didn’t allow being disagreed with. He liked people who knew what they wanted, but sometimes Alec’s stubbornness could drive him mad. Especially when he was being too proud to accept that even the strongest shadowhunters needed a day off from time to time. He then pulled the covers back over Alec and smiled softly at his boyfriend.
“Tell you what. If you take the day off, I will as well. We can stay in bed all day, cuddle as much as you want to, and I can cook us some chicken noodle soup if you’re hungry later. Sound good?”
Alec looked at Magnus for a couple more moments, but then surrendered and cuddled into the blankets and Magnus’ open arms. He yawned and then closed his eyes, resting his head on Magnus’ chest. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
+++
Alec was asleep in no time, which gave Magnus the chance to start on clearing his schedule for the day. He had a few calls to make and appointments to cancel. Smiling at the fast-asleep shadowhunter next to him, he readjusted the blankets around Alec, so he wouldn’t be cold, dropped a kiss onto his messy dark hair and then got out of bed.
His usual cup of tea in hand, he sat onto the couch and scrolled through his phone, checking the texts and e-mails he had received over night from clients all over the world. Luckily, he didn’t have all too many appointments that day, and none of them were so pressing that they couldn’t be postponed to a later date. He set to work, getting the most urgent calls out of the way, cancelling appointments and making new ones, answering e-mails and taking up orders for potions.
With Alec being asleep and Magnus caught up in his work, the warlock didn’t realize how fast the time passed. It was already noon when he took a break and was just about to check on Alec, when he already heard him coughing in the bedroom. Magnus cleared up the coffee table, then conjured up two fresh mugs of tea and made his way toward the bedroom. Alec was just calming down from the cough attack and was settling back into the pillows, but held himself up on his elbows when he saw Magnus come in.
“Hey handsome”, Magnus smiled and with a snap of his fingers got rid of the mountain of tissues scattered all over and around Alec’s side of the bed. “Brought you something.” He placed Alec’s mug on the nightstand and then took a sip of his own tea. “How are you feeling?”
“Not like I’m dying anymore? So I guess better. Still not too good, though.” Alec reached for the teacup and took a sip, then looked up at Magnus confusedly as he didn’t recognize the sort of tea. “That one’s new.”
Magnus just shrugged and sat down on the bed. “I got a couple new flavors last week. This one’s Ginger-Mint, it’s supposed to help with colds. Do you like it?”
Alec nodded. “It’s good. A bit sweet maybe, but that’s fine.”
“That’s because I may or may not have put a ton of honey in there, so your voice gets better.”
Alec smiled gently at Magnus and reached out so he could take Magnus’ hand. Magnus put his own mug onto the nightstand and then reached over to feel Alec’s temperature again, brushing a stray strand of hair aside in the process. The shadowhunter’s skin was still warmer than it was supposed to be, but had cooled down a bit. “The fever’s gone down a bit. You’re still not free to leave this apartment, though.”
The shadowhunter just sighed. “As if I would ever dare, High Warlock. Thank you for taking care of me” His gaze then got soft. “I would really like to kiss you right now. But I don’t want you to get sick too.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m an expert in healing magic”, Magnus muttered and then leaned in to softly brush his lips against the shadowhunter’s. “Besides”, he mumbled against Alec’s lips before he pulled him in for a real kiss, “I don’t really care.”
+++
Alec stayed in bed all day, sleeping most of the time. It was already late afternoon and Magnus was in the living room again, updating his list ingredients he needed to get for the potion orders from earlier that day, when the bedroom door opened and Alec shuffled out.
Magnus covered his mouth with his hand to hide his amused grin when he took in his boyfriend’s appearance. Alec was still awfully pale, even though a bit of color had come back to his cheeks, his eyes were glassy and his nose red. And he had the big, fluffy comforter from their bed wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. He made his way over to the couch, dropped down in his usual spot in the corner and cuddled into the pillows.
The sight was so adorable that Magnus finished up what he was doing and dropped onto the couch next to Alec, and let the blanket burrito that was his boyfriend lean into him. “Hey”, he mumbled, softly pecking Alec’s cheek. “I take it you’re feeling well enough to get out of bed? That’s good.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve slept enough for today”, Alec replied, voice still thick with sleep. “Also, I wanted to be with you, not all on my own in the bedroom.”
Magnus’ heart fluttered with how adorable that sentence was. “Well, if I cuddle with you on the couch or in bed doesn’t really matter, I suppose.”
Alec just hummed in approval and shifted closer to Magnus, letting his head rest against the warlock’s chest and putting his arm over his stomach. Magnus could barely keep himself from melting at how absolutely adorable he found that sight, instead reached for the remote and switched on the TV. “Do you mind if I turn on a movie?”
Alec just shrugged. “I don’t care. I can’t watch it anyways; the bright light makes my head hurt even worse.”
Magnus frowned, looking down at his boyfriend. “Still? Why didn’t you say something, I could have helped you!” He lowered his voice when he realized how Alec cringed at the noise. “I’m sorry, darling. Do you want me to help you with the pain?”
Alec looked up at him with tired hazel eyes and nodded. “Yeah. That would be great.”
Magnus hummed and then raised his hand to Alec’s head, running it through his disheveled hair. He closed his eyes for a second to focus and then let light blue waves of magic flow out of his hand, running his hand over Alec’s head, over his temples and forehead, letting the energy linger where he felt the worst of the pain. He kept tracing his hands down the side of Alec’s face, over his neck and down to his shoulders and then back up again, feeling the shadowhunter relax more and more under his touch.
Alec sighed and leaned into his touch, eyes closed. “That feels so good.”
Magnus smiled at him and let the last traces of his magic run out over Alec’s temples, then moved his hand to Alec’s neck. “Do you feel better now?”
He was rewarded with a soft kiss. “Yeah, a lot. Thank you. I’ll remember this for next time I’m sick.”
Magnus let out an unimpressed laugh. “Next time you’ll just take a jacket with you when I tell you to, and you won’t get sick at all. How does that sound, huh?”
Rolling his eyes, Alec straightened up and then settled back into the cushions, unwrapping the blanket and putting it over both of their feet. He then and put one arm around Magnus’ shoulders to pull him close. “I’m not going to comment on that.”
Magnus didn’t either. He just smiled to himself and settled into Alec’s embrace, letting his thoughts drift off and let himself be entertained by the cheap romantic comedy on TV.
Maybe dating a shadowhunter wasn’t a thing he would recommend in general. Maybe Alec’s job sucked, his working hours were a nightmare and he risked getting hurt more often than not. Maybe he was still a bit mad because his shadowhunter had been so carelessly risking getting sick. But when said shadowhunter turned into a cuddly, attention seeking koala when he was sick – who was Magnus to complain?
It wasn’t like he had a problem with it anyways.