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Growing up in the Institute had taught Alec a lot of things. Most importantly how to fight, go on missions and be a good shadowhunter. But there were also plenty of other things he’d learned without his instructors teaching him. For example, that trying to sneak in through the main entrance when Jace and him had been out late was of no use – no matter how small the noise, it would still echo off the old stone walls. Or to not even try and get a decent Wi-Fi signal in the infirmary wing – it was completely pointless.
However, the most important thing he’d learned was to always have warm clothes at hand as soon as the weather became chilly. The concrete walls of the Institute may be a perfect shield against the heat during summer, but they absorbed every bit of warm air inside as well. Moreover, the heating pipes in the Institute were ancient and didn’t help with heating up the rooms. And the electric heaters most of the Institute’s permanent residents set up in their bedrooms as soon as November rolled around could only do so much.
So warm clothing during winter it was. For Alec, that didn’t really pose as a problem, he had long gotten used to the quite chilly temperatures in the Institute.
Magnus, however, was an entirely different story.
Ever since they had made up after defeating Valentine, Alec had spent most of his nights at Magnus’ place. The warlock joked about Alec having practically moved in by now, and if Alec was being completely honest with himself, he was right. He rarely stayed at the Institute anymore, only when he was too tired to get to Magnus’ place and the warlock was already sleeping and thus unable to portal him over.
On even rarer occasions, mostly after late night cabinet meetings, they would refrain from going back home altogether and sleep in Alec’s room at the Institute instead.
It had been during one of those impromptu Institute sleepovers that Alec had found out how utterly sensitive Magnus was to temperatures. He had never noticed, since Magnus liked to keep his loft rather warm in order to walk around barefoot or with just a light shirt and sweatpants on (thank the Angel for floor heating). But the first time Magnus had stayed at the Institute, Alec had quickly learned that his boyfriend did not like cold temperatures. He downright despised them.
As soon as Magnus had gotten out of Alec’s bathroom, a cloud of steam trailing behind him, and set a foot onto the floor, he had breathed in sharply and then sent Alec his most judgmental look. “Seriously, Alexander, when will the Clave finally see the necessity of floor heating in a place like this.”
Alec had just chuckled before getting up from where he’d been sitting on the bed checking his notifications and dropped his phone on the nightstand. “Probably the day installing it in here will not cost a fortune anymore.”
“So…never.”
Alec had grinned when he passed Magnus on his way to the bathroom and stopped to drop a quick kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “Exactly.”
However, several minutes later, that smug smile had left Alec’s face quite quickly. As soon as he had gotten into bed, Magnus had cuddled up to him – and shoved his ice-cold toes underneath Alec’s calves.
Alec had hissed at the feeling. “Angel, Magnus! Your toes are freezing!””
Magnus’ voice had been muffled from where he had tucked his head into his pillow. “So is your floor. And this entire room, for the record. So hush and let me warm up.”
Alec had snorted. “Fine by me, but will you let me get comfortable first?”
Magnus’ hair tickled Alec’s face as he’d shaken his head firmly. “No. You suggested we sleep here, so it’s your fault that I’m cold in the first place. Now live with the consequences, darling."
Alec had rolled his eyes, but turned his head to kiss Magnus’ forehead anyway. Who was he to deny his boyfriend something as simple as this – especially when he sounded so adorably cute from where he was hidden underneath a good 70% of Alec’s comforter.
+++
After that night, they had gone back to sleeping at Magnus’ place for most of the time again. That way, Magnus didn’t have to worry about getting cold anymore, and Alec didn’t have to suffer through the consequences of his boyfriend being cold. Moreover, they both enjoyed this arrangement way too much to change it – Magnus’ spacious, but comfy Brooklyn loft beat the Institute at any time.
On the few occasions they did sleep at the Institute, Magnus soon found a way for himself to avoid being cold, besides always having at least two pairs of fluffy socks stored away in Alec’s closet: borrowing Alec’s clothes. Or, in Magnus’ case, taking them from Alec’s closet and never returning them. It became a habit which soon expanded to beyond the Institute’s walls.
It started out innocently enough, when Alec came home one evening, only to find Magnus standing in front of the stove, stirring the pumpkin soup he’d promised Alec for dinner. Alec had had a rough day at the Institute and was so happy to finally be home that he didn’t even pay attention to what Magnus was wearing. He only got suspicious when he had already wrapped his arms around the warlock from behind and found that the sweatshirt he was wearing looked a) slightly too big on him and b) was so well-worn that Magnus would have gotten rid of it months ago if it had been his.
When he asked Magnus about it, the warlock just shrugged. “I was cold and it was lying over the back of the couch. So I borrowed it. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, not at all. It looks kind of cute on you, to be honest.”
Magnus chuckled and turned his head so he could softly peck Alec’s lips without having to let go of the pot and the spoon. “Thank you, darling. You know how much I love a good compliment. Especially if they come from you.”
It wasn’t until another few weeks later that Alec realized why exactly Magnus seemed to love wearing his clothes so much.
They had gotten through another cabinet meeting, but this time, it had gone anything but well. That was mostly due to the Seelie Queen being present and making everybody feel uneasy, but there had also been some quite touch subjects on Alec’s agenda – topics that none of the downworlders had taken all too well. They’d had to negotiate every single point and as soon Luke was satisfied with the outcome, Raphael had thrown in a concern, which had Magnus go through the roof and so on.
They had ended up yelling at each other, until Alec had ended the meeting, resulting to his guests storming out of the Institute, Magnus included. Alec stayed back there for another while, trying to sort the tiny amount of results the meeting had brought despite the fighting, and got some paperwork done.
When he finally got home (after a very firm hint from Izzy that she would kick him out if he didn’t leave on his own really soon), the loft was quiet. Most of the lights were switched off, save for their bedroom, where Magnus was lounging on his side of the bed, legs crossed and reading glasses on, flipping through an ancient looking book. When Alec entered the room, he looked up and smiled at him. His voice sounded soft and relaxed when he spoke. “Hey.”
“Hi”, Alec sighed as he toed off his shoes and left them at the doorstep. He walked over to the bed and laid down on his own side. “Quite a day, huh?”
Magnus huffed out a laugh. “Quite a day indeed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Luke and Raphael be so angry at each other.”
Alec cringed at the memory of the vast amount of shouting and insults that had filled the Institute’s meeting room just a few hours earlier. Or the one of Magnus storming out of the Institute, absolutely furious. “Don’t remind me of that. Magnus, look, I –“
Magnus closed his book and put it on the nightstand, then turned on his side so he could face his boyfriend. “Alexander, I’m going to stop you right there. I know things didn’t go the way you wanted them to tonight and that I got a little…agitated, but I’m not mad at you. Today was just a rough day at work, nothing you have to worry about. Okay?”
Alec smiled, then leaned over to Magnus so he could give him a soft kiss. “Thanks for not being mad.”
Magnus didn’t reply, just shook his head and smiled at Alec. He leaned back against the headboard and pulled Alec into his chest, carding his fingers through his disheveled hair. Alec cuddled into him all too gladly, resting his head on his chest and draped an arm over his torso. He started playing with the half-opened zipper of the faded gray hoodie Magnus was wearing, until he suddenly stopped and frowned.
“Babe?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s my hoodie again, isn’t it?”
Alec craned his neck so he could look at Magnus, and was met with a downright bashful smile. “Uh…no?”, Magnus tried and brought up his free hand to fidget with his ear cuff. However, when Alec just sent him his most unimpressed glare, he sighed. “Okay, yeah, it is. I borrowed it again because…” He paused and bit his lip. “If I tell you, do you promise you won’t laugh?”
“You know I would never laugh at you.”
Now it was Magnus’ turn to tilt his head to the side and look at his boyfriend with one eyebrow raised, his eyes flickering with a silent, sarcastic Seriously?.
“Okay, sometimes I do”, Alec admitted. “But not when it’s serious. Which this seems to be. So go ahead.”
There was a small pause before Magnus answered. When he did, his voice had an odd, guarded tone to it, which Alec hadn’t heard in a long while. Magnus had sounded like that back when they had started dating and he hadn’t been sure about what to tell Alec and what rather to keep to himself.
Magnus sighed. “I suppose I always steal your sweaters because they make me feel…safe. I don’t really know how to describe it.” He breathed out and paused again. “But when I put them on, it feels like you’re there with me, even when you’re not. And that makes me feel better, especially after situations like tonight.”
“I make you feel safe?”
Magnus closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. When he opened them again, his gaze met an impossibly soft look from Alec’s hazel eyes. “Alexander, I love you. Of course you make me feel safe.”
Alec looked at him for a long moment, his expression turning impossibly soft. “I love you too”, he murmured as he pushed up on his elbow so he could lean in and press a gentle kiss against Magnus’ lips. “By the way”, he added when he pulled away, “you can totally borrow as many sweaters as you like. Whether you need them to make you feel safe or not.”
“Well in that case, I think I’m going to take you up on that offer”, Magnus chuckled and then leaned in for another kiss that made his heartbeat fasten and both of their skins tingle.
As Alec soon found out, Magnus was a man of his word. Alec didn’t really mind it, though – he always knew where to look for his clothes if a piece of them went missing. And to be fair, he quite liked the sight of his boyfriend wearing his clothes.
December had been quite cold this year, and more often than not, Alec came home to Magnus dressed down to sweatpants, a loose t-shirt and one of Alec’s hoodies, his face free of makeup and all the product in his hair removed so the black strands would fall softly into his eyes. The shadowhunter loved Magnus’ sense of style and tasteful outfits, but he enjoyed even more coming home to this relaxed, toned-down version of his boyfriend. Especially since he was the only one who got to see him like this.
+++
As much as Alec enjoyed sleeping at Magnus’ place, he didn’t really like it that much when the warlock wasn’t there. Unfortunately, that was precisely what he was going to deal with for a little while. Magnus had been invited to a warlock conference in London and would be gone for a couple of days. Which meant that Alec was going to have the place to himself. And which also meant that Magnus needed an entire afternoon to pack.
Alec always thought that to an outsider, watching Magnus pack his stuff must be hilarious. Magnus strode around the loft, transporting whichever objects he deemed necessary for his trip into the suitcase using his magic. While doing so, he made a point of dragging other warlocks he was going to see at that conference, and whom he couldn’t stand if his life depended on it. Alec was folding laundry in their bedroom and smirked as Magnus’ voice resounded through the apartment, going through tale after tale, sometimes louder, sometimes softer, depending on how far away he was.
After a while, and many different shirts and pants magically appearing in the opened suitcase on their bed, Magnus stopped dragging other warlocks and went on to complaining about warlock conferences in general and London in particular, how it was “way too cold there, right now. I mean, New York is no better, but still. Why couldn’t they do this in California? Could have been an excellent opportunity to check on my beach house, which reminds me – Alexander, how do you feel about spending a few days in California soon? If I don’t freeze to death in London, that is.”
Alec chuckled and shook his head as Magnus appeared in the doorway and went on to drop a bag of toiletries into the suitcase – without any magic this time. When Magnus had sauntered out of the room again, Alec blindly reached into the laundry basket and paused when he realized what he had just pulled out – it was the light gray, well-worn hoodie Magnus loved to steal.
He held the piece of clothing for a moment, looking at it, and after a split second decision, put it into Magnus’ bag. He managed to hide it underneath a few shiny silk shirts just in time before the warlock’s steps got closer to the bedroom again.
Busying himself with another sweatshirt that needed to be folded, he tried to make his voice sound as unsuspicious as possible when Magnus walked in with a pair of shoes in hand. “You got everything?”
“Yeah, I just need to put these in there and I’m not sure if I packed my purple belt”, Magnus replied, his voice trailing off into a low murmur towards the end. He bent over the bed and started going through the suitcase. “Have you seen it?”
Alec bit his lip and watched the warlock as he suddenly stopped rummaging through the suitcase and stared at something inside it, his brows furrowed and confusion written over his face. He pulled out a folded piece of clothing Alec knew all too well. “What’s that?”
“Uh…my gray sweatshirt. The one you always steal?”, Alec offered, a smirk already pulling at his lips.
Magnus rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know that. What I was aiming for with that question – how did it get into my suitcase?” He raised an eyebrow and looked expectantly at Alec.
Alec sighed and discarded the pair of jeans he’d held, so he could walk over to Magnus. He reached out and threaded his fingers through Magnus’ belt loops so he could pull him in. “I put it in there”, he admitted, eyes soft and voice barely more than a murmur. “So you won’t get cold in London. And so you won’t feel alone there.”
“So I won’t get cold in…”, Magnus repeated, and then just looked at Alec, speechless. The shadowhunter smiled at him, his gaze calm and sure. Magnus, however, seemed like he had frozen on the spot. He stared at Alec for a moment, his features being a neutral mask, before his lips pulled into a bright smile and he crashed into Alec, hugging him as tight could. Magnus hid his face in the crook of Alec’s neck and planted a kiss on the delicate skin there. “Thank you”, he mumbled and practically melted into Alec when the shadowhunter started rubbing his hands up and down Magnus’ back. “You’re the best. I love you so much.”
+++
It took Magnus another hour to get the packing done – which was partly Alec’s fault – but eventually, they stood in the hallway, Magnus with a sharp black coat on and the gigantic suitcase next to him – and Alec wrapped up in his arms.
“And you’re sure you will be back in time for Christmas? I know it’s…mundane, but I’d love for us to celebrate together.”
Magnus silenced his boyfriend with a sweet kiss. “Alexander”, he muttered, looking at the shadowhunter with an impossibly soft glance, “of course I’ll be here. It’s our first Christmas together. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Alec’s lips pulled into a soft smile. “Okay then. Have fun in London, don’t annoy Ragnor too much and make sure you’ll come back to me soon.”
The hallway got lit up by a soft purple glow as Magnus pulled up a portal. “Well, I obviously can’t make any promises about Ragnor – that old British grump hasn’t returned my calls for weeks, he’s due for some pestering.”
He turned towards Alec to kiss him one more time. “I love you. See you next week.”
“I love you too. Now go, before I change my mind and make you stay.”
+++
A few days later, Alec realized that being without Magnus not only made him miss the warlock like crazy, but it also made him grumpy.
Sleeping at the loft without Magnus there felt odd, so he had resorted to moving back into his old room for the week. As a result, people started realizing that Alec was back at the Institute 24/7 and that they could annoy him with silly requests and questions all day long again (which applied especially to Jace, who seemed to enjoy barging into Alec’s room at whatever day- or nighttime he deemed necessary).
This resulted in Alec getting hardly any sleep and being in a bad mood most of the time, snapping at everyone who dared as much as ask him something he was not responsible for.
By the time the day of Magnus’ return rolled around, Alec was a sleep-deprived, grumpy mess and couldn’t wait to get back to the comfortable, relaxed, Jace-free calm of Magnus’ apartment. He couldn’t wait for the place to feel like home again, and not just like some place that was missing its most essential piece. Although Magnus and him had texted and called each other throughout the week, it just had not been the same.
About an hour before Magnus would be back, Alec cleared his desk at his office, said goodbye to Izzy and then, finally, headed towards a certain glamoured loft in Brooklyn Heights. He was just about done setting the table for dinner when he finally heard the familiar whoosh of a portal opening in the loft and then the soft thud of feet stepping onto carpet. Dropping the cutlery he had been holding onto the table and ignoring the terrible noise that motion made, Alec turned on his heels and headed towards the living room. He let out a breath of relief when he stepped into the room and saw Magnus right there, in person and finally back home.
Alec didn’t even get the chance to huff out a greeting when he already had his arms full of warlock. His own arms looped around Magnus’ back on instinct, and hugged him back as tight as he could. The warmth of Magnus’ body seeped through his clothes as Alec closed his eyes and breathed in the familiar scent of cologne, sandalwood and laundry detergent. His heartbeat thumped against his ribcage rapidly and warmth bubbled up in his chest, as if his body wanted to let him know that, just in case he had forgotten, Magnus was finally back where he belonged.
When Alec opened his eyes, Magnus had pulled away from him and looked at him with a big smile on his face. “Alexander”, he said, the name tinted with affection.
“Hey”, Alec replied and tilted his head down so he could finally greet his boyfriend properly. He let the kiss linger, and it turned a bit more passionate than he had aimed for, but Alec was perfectly fine with that.
His voice sounded slightly breathy when he spoke again. “How was London?”
“Cold. Rainy. Ragnor is an old, boring man. I missed you. How was New York?”
“Terrible. I missed you too. Jace is an idiot.”
“Tell me something I don’t know”, Magnus teased and Alec let out a hearty laugh, feeling a weight lifting from his chest. The past week may have taken its toll on him, but now that Magnus was back, he could feel all the stored-up tension slowly fade away and leave only a light, happy mood in its wake. It was ridiculous, really, missing Magnus that much even though he had been away for barely a week, but Alec could not care less.
What he did care about though, was when he (quite a while later) found out that Magnus had brought him a gift. A purple Christmas sweater. The ugliest purple Christmas sweater Alec had ever seen, to be precise.
Alec snorted when he’d unwrapped it and held it out in front of him. “Really?”
Magnus smirked. “The color suits you. And it’s about time I start making up for stealing so many of yours, don’t you think?”
Alec laughed and then let the sweater slide back onto the comforter. He turned to Magnus, put one hand against his neck and let the other rest against his ribs, using the leverage to push him back onto the mattress. “Thank you”, he breathed against his boyfriend’s lips before closing the tiny bit of distance between them for another languid kiss. “I love it.”
The sweater may be one of the ugliest things Alec had ever seen in his life. But it was a gift from Magnus – so what did he care? It wasn’t that bad, and he was slowly starting to warm up to the idea of Christmas anyway.