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Magnus Bane let himself into his loft with a flick of his wrist, too busy sorting through the potions in his bag to notice anything around him. One of them had spilled over the rest and he was using a considerable amount of magic to stop cross-contamination from becoming a serious problem.
A small noise, an agitated sound, caught Magnus’ attention. Placing the entire contents of his bag into a state of magical stasis with a snap of his fingers, he shrugged the strap off and discarded it on the console table just inside the door.
It didn’t take a genius to recognize who was making the noise. Many a time he had come home to find his stressed-out boyfriend waiting for him.
“Alexander?” Magnus asked, peering into his dark living room. It was late but Alec hadn’t turned the light on. Only a soft glow from the hallway illuminated the room.
Magnus found Alec on the couch, curled into a ball, a blanket wrapped tightly around him. Soft snores, mixed with deep rumbles of discontent, floated across the room. Toeing his boots off and shucking his coat, letting the garment fall in a heap on the floor, he crossed the room.
Magnus’ shirt followed. He knew exactly what Alec needed. Snapping his fingers, he removed Alec’s blanket. Even in sleep, Alec’s arms were wrapped tightly around his torso and legs. His pants were the last to go, leaving him in just his boxers.
Letting his tentacles snake out from his body, Magnus rolled his shoulders and back, relishing the freedom and stretch of his muscles. It was good to let them out. And they hated being stuck inside his body all day.
Each tentacle encircled Alec’s body when Magnus slipped onto the couch. Tugging Alec’s hands, he unclamped them from around Alec’s body and snuggled in, wrapping Alec in a many-limbed embrace.
Alec rose slowly to consciousness, already feeling warm and relaxed before he’d even opened his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled his boyfriend’s familiar scent, sandalwood clinging to Magnus like a second skin.
Alec snuggled into Magnus’ embrace, relishing the cocooning feeling of Magnus’ tentacles. The burrito he had turned himself into with the blanket didn’t compare to Magnus’ touch. These were his favorite kind of cuddles, soothing. Opening his eyes, he pouted his lips out to brush against Magnus’ nose.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, what’s got your hackles up?” Magnus asked, brushing the tip of his nose down the bridge of Alec’s.
“Nothing,” Alec grumbled, his voice sleep gruff. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep when he’d come to Magnus’ loft. When he’d found that Magnus was absent, he had stripped down to his boxers, wrapped himself in a blanket to mimic Magnus’ tentacles, and snuggled down on the couch, just resting his eyes for a moment.
“Mhm, so you aren’t sulking?” Magnus asked, brushing his thumb over Alec’s pouting bottom lip.
“Nope. Not now you’re home,” Alec said, snuggling further down into Magnus’ embrace. His eyes floated closed when one of Magnus’ tentacles brushed the hair out of his eyes, reminding him that he needed a haircut.
The soft caress of the silky limb had Alec turning his head, pressing a small kiss to the sensitive tip of it. A smile lit his face up when Magnus sucked in a breath.
Magnus wondered if Alec had even realized he’d said the word “home”. Alec was doing that more and more often lately, whenever Alec spoke of the loft, always calling his place home. And with that single word, he knew exactly why Alec had been sulking in the dark.
“Talk to me,” Magnus said, tracing small figure of eight patterns into the small of Alec’s back with one finger. A tentacle traced the same pattern into Alec’s bare shoulder, another still, tracing the pattern into Alec’s right calf. His tentacles had missed Alec as much as he had today.
“It’s nothing. I don’t want to bother you with my problems,” Alec mumbled, burying his face in the crook of Magnus’ neck.
“Talking about your feelings will never be a bother to me, Darling,” Magnus murmured. When Alec refused to talk, he bent and whispered in Alec’s ear, “If you don’t start talking, they will make you submit.”
Alec couldn’t suppress the laugh that escaped him when Magnus’ tentacles started tickling him, rather than tracing the soothing patterns on his skin. “Fine!” he said, pulling his head from Magnus’ neck.
“It’s the Institute. I feel stifled. Every time I turn around, there’s always someone there, always wanting something from me, always heaping their problems onto my shoulders,” Alec admitted.
Alec had lived at the Institute his entire life. But it didn’t feel like home to him anymore. Not since he’d met Magnus. Instead, the warlock that was wrapped tightly around him felt like that home.
Magnus studied Alec’s face in the dim light, weighing up the pros and cons. There were many pros and hardly any cons. And they had been together for almost a year. It was time.
“Well, there is a simple solution to that problem,” Magnus said with a snap of his fingers, making his decision then and there. He didn’t even know why it had taken so long to come to the foregone conclusion.
Alec looked around when Magnus’ tentacles eased their hold a fraction. Boxes and boxes of his stuff surrounded them. It looked like everything he owned.
“You can say the word and I’ll send it all back. Or, you can help me find space for all of your things,” Magnus said, chuckling when Alec blinked at him.
“Do you mean it?” Alec asked, looking into Magnus’ unglamoured eyes. The nod of Magnus’ head had him sucking in air. Hard. “Can we look for a space for all my stuff later?” he asked.
“Why? Did you have something else in mind?” Magnus asked, biting into his lip when Alec melted into him.
“Maybe,” Alec said, pressing his lips to the tentacle that swept over his bottom lip. His breath cascaded over the sensitive tip, raising a trail of goosebumps on Magnus’ skin.
“Later is fine,” Magnus murmured, replacing his tentacle with his lips.