Work Text:
Outstretched dirty hands just like a child
Hungry little fool, but you were mine
You're all I have
Body - Syml
☂︎
The words are on the tip of his tongue, the ring box gripped tightly in his pocket, metal cold against his overheated skin. He peeks around the wall and catches sight of Magnus standing in the middle of the room where they first kissed, arms limp at his sides as he stares up at where the altar was once decorated. Now the room is bare.
It’s rather fitting that this is where he’ll do it, Alec thinks as he approaches, a private smile spreading across his lips. They’ve taken many steps in this room, and they will take many more. They will paint it in a new light, one that is true to both of them, not shrouded in pretty things to hide ugly lies.
“Hey,” he calls out as he gets closer, his voice echoing between the walls.
He is ready to do what he never thought he could, ready to hand his heart over to a man he loves in front of the entire Shadow World.
And then he sees Magnus’ face, which is just as vacant as the room itself.
The spark that Alec had mentioned the day before is gone, trapped behind a gaze he doesn’t recognize. He meets Alec’s eyes, acknowledges his presence, but he isn’t there.
Magnus Bane isn’t there.
Not just the powerful, impressive, flamboyant Magnus.
The lively Magnus. The one who wakes up in the morning and stuns Alec with his sleepy grins. The one who speaks so softly to Madzie it could bring warmth to the coldest of hearts. The one who clutches his stomach with laughter every time he hears a new joke. The one who has been to hell and back and still manages to put a smile on his face every day.
Alec takes all of this in as Magnus forces his lips up into something that ends up looking more like a grimace, and he pauses.
He lets go of the ring box. He shoves the words back into his throat.
He takes another step, one of many more, and wraps Magnus in his arms.