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It’s really no surprise to Magnus that Alec is completely gone after about three drinks too many. He was starting to regret allowing his incredibly manipulative boyfriend to convince him that “he was fine, Magnus” and could “handle a few more drinks.”
He’ll admit seeing Alec drunk is amusing and something he always secretly hoped he’d get to witness; however, he was mildly concerned that Alec wasn’t going to be able to move in the morning.
Currently, Alec was spinning, well attempting to spin, around the living room; but, it was more stumbling in haphazard circles than anything else. His head was tilted back, deflect rune stretched across his neck, and a blissful smile painting his face.
Magnus shifted his position on the couch so that both of his feet were now tucked under him.
“Magnus,” Alec sing-songed, tripping a little on his way over to Magnus. He threw himself down onto the couch next to Magnus, rather unceremoniously, Magnus might add. He struggled to get comfortable, pouting when his long limbs wouldn’t fit exactly the way he wanted them to. “Magnus, I don’t fit,” he whined.
“Darling, you know you’re a giant. Why are you suddenly so surprised that you don’t fit perfectly?” Magnus asked and tried to stifle his laughter at Alec’s disappointed expression. He watched as Alec’s eyebrows furrowed tightly together, his bottom lip jutting out into a pout even further than it already was. He reached forward and used his thumb to smooth out the wrinkles between Alec’s eyebrows, slowly letting his hand caress the side of his shadowhunter’s face.
“I’m not a giant,” Alec mumbled, burying his head into Magnus’s shoulder.
“You’re a tree-man, Alexander,” Magnus replied, carding his fingers through Alec’s sweaty, messy hair.
Alec’s eyes shot open and he jerked away from his position against Magnus’s chest. “I’m a tree?” he asked, eyes widening to a comical size. “I can’t be a tree. Trees can’t be shadowhunters.”
Magnus couldn’t help it, he started laughing. “Not an actual tree. I was just comparing your size to a tree.” He grabbed onto Alec’s arm, pulling the younger man back into his chest.
“I really, really can’t be a tree, Magnus,” Alec slurred and attempted to pet at Magnus’s chest, but only succeeded in slapping his chin lightly. “The Clave would kill me.”
Magnus paused, allowing the small, soft smile he wore to grow into a much larger one. He and Alec had been through a lot together these past few months. Between Valentine, the Soul Sword, and Sebastian, things had gotten a little out of control. He knew for a fact that Alec hadn’t truly let himself relax since the night Clary ended the threat of Valentine once and for all, so he couldn’t even be the slightest bit annoyed that Alec had let himself get to this point of inebriation.
“You’re not a tree, love,” Magnus assured. He tightened his grip on Alec, pulling him impossibly closer. The drunken heat radiating off of Alec was almost too much to handle, but the feel of Alec’s body against Magnus’s was too intoxicating to let go of.
“Oh, thank the Angel,” Alec muttered. There was a second of silence before Alec yawned. “I’m tired.”
Magnus moved out from underneath Alec, which earned him a few protests, but quickly lifted Alec into his arms bridal style. Alec’s ridiculously long legs hung comically off of Magnus’s arms, making it look like Alec was harder to carry than he actually was. In reality, Magnus didn’t struggle at all in carrying his boyfriend, it was something that came as naturally as breathing.
Alec’s head lolled to the side, collapsing against Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus could feel Alec’s breath coming out in warm little puffs against his neck, something he found incredibly endearing. There were a few hums coming from Alec as Magnus laid him gently on the bed, but it was nothing intelligible.
Magnus moved away from Alec momentarily so that he could grab a pair of sweatpants to put Alec in, which earned him a loud, unhappy moan from the half-asleep man on his bed.
“Nooooooooo, don’t leave me,” Alec whined, making grabby hands at the air. Within seconds, Magnus was back at Alec’s side, chuckling to himself as he began to undo the clasp on Alec’s jeans. “Hey, I have a boyfriend,” Alec warned and slapped at Magnus’s hands.
“Yes, you do. Said boyfriend is trying to get you ready for bed, so please don’t fight me,” Magnus said and started tugging Alec’s jeans down his legs.
Alec squinted one eye open and smiled. “Oh, there you are.” He closed his eyes again, but kept the happy smile.
Magnus slid the sweatpants on Alec and then pulled the sweaty t-shirt up Alec’s chest. “C’mon, lift your arms up for me,” he said, and Alec complied. Soon, Magnus had Alec under the covers and ready to go to sleep, which was something Magnus knew he needed desperately. He reached out a hand to brush a few sweaty strands of hair off of Alec’s forehead. “I’m going to call Isabelle and tell her to hold down the Institute tomorrow. You’re not going anywhere.”
“You take such good care of me,” Alec said without opening his eyes. “I really love you.”
“I love you, too,” Magnus smiled a pressed a kiss to Alec’s nose. Before he could pull away, warm hands were clasped around his neck and pulling him against Alec’s mouth. The kiss tasted of cranberry juice and alcohol, and was also slightly sloppy, but there was no part of Magnus that minded.
He loved moments like these where Alec was just so unapologetically…Alec. Normally, the stress of heading the Institute or fighting a horde of demons or trying to take down the biggest threat to the Shadow World’s existence, caused him to close in on himself, only allowing his mind to focus on the task at hand.
But sometimes, Magnus got to experience these rare moments of Alec without a guard up and he felt so unbelievably lucky knowing he was the only one who ever got to witness this side of him.
This was not saying that Alec had to be under the influence of alcohol to tell Magnus how he really felt or what was on his mind, because those moments were not in short supply. This was saying that he enjoyed witnessing any moment that Alec was carefree and relaxed. And if this particular moment happened to be occurring under the influence of alcohol, well, Magnus wasn’t complaining.
Magnus could feel Alec’s lips form into a pout underneath his. “No, I love you.”
“I love you, as well,” Magnus mimicked, pressing his mouth into Alec’s once more.
“I love you more,” Alec whispered and nudged his nose against Magnus’s.
“That’s not anywhere near possible, but I’ll let you have it.” Magnus grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, leaving him in nothing but the pair of black sleep pants he’d been wearing since he and Alec arrived home hours ago. He heard Alec suck in a breath right before he felt long, familiar fingers dancing over the warm skin of his abdomen.
When Magnus looked down, he saw Alec’s eyes were glazed over and completely focused on the movement of his fingers across Magnus’s golden skin. “So beautiful,” Alec murmured while continuing his motions. “So lucky.”
“What has gotten into you, you sap,” Magnus laughed as he climbed over Alec to his side of the bed where he quickly slid under the covers. He snapped his fingers, causing the room to go pitch black and eliciting a noise of approval from Alec. In a practiced move, he slid his arm underneath Alec, pulling him into his side and letting Alec’s head fall into it’s familiar place on his chest.
“Hmmmmm, alcohol.” Alec’s voice was muffled by Magnus’s chest, but Magnus could still make out exactly what he was saying.
“It was a rhetorical question, angel.”
“I’m not an angel.”
“You’re my angel.” Magnus kissed the top of Alec’s head, letting his lips linger. “My very intoxicated, beautiful angel who is going to have one killer head ache in the morning.”
Alec groaned, snuggling into Magnus. “Just wanna sleep. Stay here with you forever.”
Magnus really couldn’t believe that Alec was his and no one else’s. Alec was so purely himself at times that Magnus found it hard to wrap his mind around. He wasn’t used to someone being so vocally and unashamedly in love with him. “So sleep, darling. I’m not going anywhere.”
Alec’s breathing was starting to become slower, heavier. Magnus knew this was a clear sign that it wouldn’t be long before Alec was completely asleep. He was expecting the conversation to end there, content with just running his fingers up and down Alec’s bare back until they both drifted off; but, with Alec it was never over.
“Please don’t ever leave me,” Alec whispered into the dark. It was so quiet, Magnus almost couldn’t hear him. “My heart…” he trailed off, obviously trying to fight off sleep so that he could finish whatever it was he was saying. “Heart…couldn’t handle it. Would die.”
Magnus’s breath caught in his throat as he was brought back to a night less than a month ago when Alec’s entire heart had poured out of his mouth and onto the ground in front of Magnus.
I don’t think I can live without you.
Now, here Alec was, essentially repeating the same thing in different words, just this time begging Magnus not to leave him. A small piece of Magnus broke and he found himself holding Alec impossibly tighter, trying to convey that there was no way he was ever going to let him go again, not without one hell of a fight that he would either win, or die trying.
Alec’s breathing had evened out, signaling that he was officially asleep. Even if Magnus knew Alec couldn’t hear it, he felt it necessary to say:
“I’m yours forever, Alexander. Forever.”
It was a very loud, disgruntled groan that Magnus woke up to the next morning. He inhaled deeply against Alec’s neck where his head was buried, breathing in the familiar scent of sandalwood and Alec. Chuckling lightly, he pressed a gentle kiss to Alec’s neck before peeling his eyes open.
He could only see the side of Alec’s face, but it was enough to tell that Alec was not happy at all. His face was set into a typical Alec scowl, except this time it was accompanied by the tell-tale grimace of a hangover.
“Why?” Alec moaned, gripping Magnus’s hand tighter where their fingers laid intertwined against the red silk sheets.
“Why what, darling?” Magnus asked and rubbed his thumb against the skin of Alec’s hand.
Reluctantly, Alec let go of Magnus’s hand so that he could turn around to face the warlock. It was Alec’s favorite thing to see in the morning, Magnus with no makeup, no jewelry, no hair product. “Two things. First, why does alcohol exist? Second, why did you let me drink so much of it?”
“Let you? Alexander, you insisted,” Magnus laughed.
“Ugh,” Alec groaned. “I feel like I have a seraph blade between my eyes. Can you magic this feeling away?”
“I could, but I think I’d rather take care of you the mundane way. I’ll make you a nice, greasy breakfast and cuddle you all day long. How does that sound?”
“I like the sound of food and cuddling; however, I didn’t hear anything about getting rid of this headache in there,” Alec replied, slipping a leg in between Magnus’s as he cuddled closer. “Also, I have to get to the Institute at some point today. There’s a ton of incident reports that need to be filled out.”
“Already called Isabelle. She’s taking care of it. You’re all mine today.” Magnus watched as Alec pulled away from his chest to look up at him, big hazel eyes full of wonder.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Alec’s playful tone had faded away. His voice was soft and serious.
Magnus absentmindedly traced patterns and declarations of love across Alec’s back, occasionally outlining the runes he remembered the exact placement of. Being next to Alec in the morning like this was a feeling Magnus couldn’t describe. In all of his centuries of living, there wasn’t another person he could name whose simple presence made him feel so alive. “You have, but it doesn’t matter because there’s no way you love me as much as I love you.”
Magnus closed his eyes when the velvet skin of Alec’s lips pressed wetly against his pectoral muscle. “Oh, come on, Magnus. We’re not having this argument again.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem fighting me on this last night.”
“Really? Did I win?” Alec asked, blinking up at Magnus.
“I let you have it,” Magnus said with a hint of laughter bubbling up in his throat. Before he could register what was happening, he found himself flat on his back with a disheveled Alec straddling his waist. Fingers calloused from years of archery trailed from Magnus’s shoulders down to his abdomen, nails scratching lightly, something Alec knew drove Magnus crazy.
“I’m suddenly very dizzy,” Alec chuckled and laid down flat on top of Magnus, resting his head in the crook of Magnus’s neck. Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec, letting warm sparks of magic emit from his fingertips. He knew that warm, tingling sensations were traveling throughout Alec’s body at the moment, causing the shadowhunter to go completely pliant on top of him. “Hmmm, you should do that to my head.”
Magnus smiled fondly and buried his fingers in Alec’s hair, massaging his scalp with sparking fingertips. Alec moaned loudly, a high pitched whimper following it. “Feel better?” Magnus asked, trying not to laugh.
“Mmmmm,” Alec hummed. “Do we have to get up at all?”
“You need to eat, love. If you don’t, you’re going to end up feeling worse than you already do.”
Alec briefly lifted his head to look at Magnus with hooded eyes. “I really, really, really don’t think that’s possible.”
“Trust me, it is,” Magnus scoffed. “Barcelona, 1985. Not eating the next morning was the worst decision ever.”
“I believe you,” Alec sighed. “But, I feel like I’m going to throw up if I eat anything.”
Magnus tightened his grip around Alec, something he found himself doing quite often whenever Alec was in his arms. He always wanted Alec to be as close as possible, wanted Alec to feel safe, secure, loved… “Well, how about this? We go back to sleep for a little while and when we wake up, you can have a greasy lunch in bed and then a nice, hot bath? And after that we can cuddle the rest of the day?”
Alec smiled. “Only if you join me for the bath.”
“Well, of course I’m joining you. Can’t have you falling asleep in there and drowning on me. I kind of need you, you know.”
“I think you do alright without me,” Alec joked, poking Magnus’s cheek playfully without moving from his position.
“You’re insane. I couldn’t possibly go on without you, Alexander.” Magnus felt Alec tense in his arms at this admission. He realized that though Alec had said it many times, in many different ways, Magnus really hadn’t said it himself.
“Really?” Alec whispered, his voice cracking a little.
At that moment, Magnus realized how true it actually was. There was no way he could live without Alec in his life. He didn’t even want to think about the day when he would eventually have to. “Really,” he confirmed.
“I don’t think I can ever drink cranberry juice and vodka again,” Alec said, randomly changing the subject.
“That’s a shame. I like the way it tastes on you,” Magnus stated bluntly.
Alec laughed a little breathlessly. “Well, I guess something could be arranged then…”