Work Text:
Alec doesn’t really consider himself the clingy type.
He doesn’t think he is, and by all means, he doesn’t want to be.
But there’s something about the way Magnus sits on the couch, regal and carefree, arms empty with the space between them that practically beckons Alec to clamber on in. He wants to, truly feels the need to be surrounded by those welcoming, strong arms he knows so well. How easy it would be to just crawl over along the cushions of the couch and sneak his way in, to feel Magnus press a kiss to the top of his head like he always does.
But Jace and Clary are waiting, expectant eyes that watch him with brows raised and the light tap-tap-tap of their shoes against the floor.
The time for contemplation of clinginess and cuddles will just have to wait.
The next time Alec sees Magnus, it’s late into the evening and the exhaustion hits him so hard he doesn’t realize he’s dropping onto the bed until he’s already sunk into the softness of fluffy pillows and silk sheets. There are hands against him, moving lightly, turning and prodding and getting him ready for the sleep that’s already heavy beneath his eyes.
He wills himself to stay awake, desperately seeks to wrap himself up in Magnus and bury his face to the warmth of his chest and breathe in the calming scent of body wash that brings forth the fluttering in his heart. There’s a lot he wants right now, a lot that doesn’t receive the opportunity to make itself known because the distracting fatigue of his limbs and lethargy of consciousness makes it almost impossible to do much more than let out a soft noise of gratitude.
The afternoon sun sits low on Alec’s face, warmer than the mornings where the hottest thing in the room is Magnus and not the light that peeks through the blinds.
But save for Alec and the probing brightness of the sun that rouses him awake, the room is empty.
With a sigh, a drawn out stretch that cricks the bones in his back, and a resolute grumble, Alec leaves the bedroom in search of his boyfriend.
Short, shuffled strides lead him to the kitchen where he finds Magnus hunched over and peering into the refrigerator, a sight that Alec allows his bleary eyes a gratuitous moment to take in. Magnus in all his bent-over splendor is gorgeous, and hard as he tries to just stop and appreciate the sight he’s been granted, Alec can’t help but step closer. The pad of his feet across the kitchen floor alerts Magnus to his presence, and with a slow turn he lifts his arm to rest atop the refrigerator door, smiling wide in the way he saves only for Alec in the earliest of mornings.
Alec is increasingly aware of the pounding of his heart against his ribs as he smiles back up at Magnus, tentative and sleepy in his wakefulness, and again when his eyes catch sight of the small strip of exposed skin at Magnus’ hip where his shirt lifts from the rise of his arm. It’s distracting enough for him to reach out, to brush a light touch before he slinks closer, anchored in by the point of his hand that refuses to leave from its newfound home.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Magnus murmurs, pressing his lips to Alec’s forehead in a delicate kiss.
It’s sweet and loving, everything Alec wants right now, everything he needs if he’s being honest. Fighting demons around New York with his siblings, spending countless hours holed up at The Institute with files and reports in front of him and words that jumble together into nonsense that stops being legible the longer he looks at them... It’s too much, sometimes. And this, being encompassed by every sense of Magnus, this is all Alec wants to do.
There are just a few breaths between them, mingling and warm in the torturous space of hesitancy, and then Magnus is pulling Alec close with an arm around his waist and a finger under his chin.
Just when Alec allows himself to ease into a moment of peace with Magnus, a moment without obligations or problems that don’t belong in their kitchen on an early afternoon, the universe reminds him once more that it has absolutely no regard for his needs or desires with a harsh knock on the door.
Magnus hums, offering a chaste peck that does nothing to quell the ache in Alec’s chest, and flounces off to answer the door with a cheery “Coming!”
Alec doesn’t realize when he begins to lose the very loose hold he has on his temper, when the thud of his temples begins to grate monstrously on his nerves and cause snappier responses to even the simplest questions than he normally gives.
He isn’t trying to be an ass; he’s not seeking out annoyed jabs about his mood or the fact that he’s been exceedingly irritable lately. Alec’s just... stressed.
The tense of his shoulders becomes a permanent fixture lately, with Magnus busy when Alec isn’t and the seemingly constant way the world seems to find every opportunity to toss another wrench in Alec’s plans to just relax. It should be enough for him; he knows he should be grateful for the moments where their free time overlaps and they’re allowed just a few minutes of shared space and roaming hands. But with the way Alec’s frayed mind is constantly on edge and whiplashed from being tossed back and forth between time with Magnus and without, it’s not.
Magnus notices, of course. Alec can always tell when Magnus watches him with careful eyes and presses an inquisitive thumb to the crease between his brows that he senses something is wrong, that for some mysterious reason just a single spot on Alec’s face tells him everything he needs to know.
Fingers press down gently on the strain of Alec's shoulder, smooth down the spine of his back high-strung and doubtlessly knotted with the tension of incessant availability to help. It’s only going to last a few minutes, Alec knows, only a few more strokes of fingers kneading his aching muscles and then Magnus will be out the door. A hopeful thought to ask Magnus to stay filters into his mind, almost spills out into existence, but Alec pushes it down quickly.
“Let’s go lay down.” The slump of his body against Magnus’, the languid receding of tension, is likely what prompts the whispered words against his ear.
“I thought you had to go?”
Magnus pulls back with a frown on his face, the furrow of his brow and stern gaze fixed on Alec’s letting him know exactly what he thinks of that question. “And leave you here like this?”
“Magnus, I’m fine,” Alec protests around the fluttering of giddiness that begins to blossom inside of him at the realization that they may finally have a night to themselves.
“Nonsense,” Magnus says, shushing the beginning of Alec’s response with a firm kiss.
Alec sighs in a defeat he’ll gladly succumb to, melting into the kiss and allowing himself to be guided back towards the bedroom, an act that takes hardly a thought.
It’s only a few minutes later, when Alec is grasping the hems of Magnus’ shirt and lifting it off, that his phone rings.
Because of course it rings, of course there isn’t a day that goes by where neither of them are being hounded, pressured and coerced into assisting the needs and pleas of literally everyone around them. With a huff, Alec sits back on his heels and pulls the phone from his pocket, sharp words on the tip of his tongue for whoever dares to interrupt them.
Only, the moment he swipes his thumb to answer the call his phone is snagged from his grasp and Magnus is speaking into it, rushed and just as exasperated as Alec feels. “ Hello, Alexander is busy and can’t come to the phone right now. Normal scheduling of Shadowhunter duties will resume... late tomorrow evening.”
He can hear the cry of ‘Magnus!’ from the other end of the phone, indignant and squeaky and sounding very much like Jace, before the call is ended. Magnus makes quick work of the device, fingers pressing against the buttons on the side until it’s powered off and tossed aside, carelessly and without a second thought as he is with most trivial objects.
The giddiness is back in full force now, a jittering of emotions that threaten to tumble out from inside of him at the grin Magnus offers and the insistent tug of his hands as he lays back against the pillows and pulls Alec with him. And he follows without a word, shifts and twists until he’s snugly fit in the spot between Magnus’ legs, head pillowed atop the warmth of the bare chest in front of him.
There’s a familiar comfort to being in Magnus’ arms, to being enveloped in the strength and undercurrent of magic that calms Alec’s racing thoughts and vast capacity for overthinking. The tension that was coiled around him and bundled in his shoulders from the day is smothered out, extinguished with the patient working of Magnus' fingers that return to their earlier ministrations.
He’s content, happy, finally able to release the building stress in the exhale that ghosts across Magnus’ skin. There’s a second where he feels guilty, where he lets the worry creep back in because he knows Magnus is probably just as wound up as he is. But as he tries to lift himself up, he’s prompted back down with a warm palm pressed flat to the small of his back and digits that curl into the strands of his hair.
“Let me hold you,” Magnus’ voice brings him in, soft and honeyed against his ear, allowing him to let go and nestle his nose into the crook of Magnus’ neck. It’s the one place he’s wanted to be all week, and unfortunately the most elusive.
There’s a fullness in his chest, not the ache of loneliness from the week missing Magnus, or the pang of anger from stolen moments littered with interruptions, but from Magnus with the ability to effectively shut him out from others. Magnus, who will cocoon him in the warm affectionate embrace that Alec never seems to have the courage to ask for himself.
“Tell me when you need me next time,” Magnus whispers, pressing slow, gentle kisses to the edge of Alec’s jaw.
I’ll try, Alec thinks, but doesn’t speak aloud. His only response is the slide of his hands up Magnus’ chest until they twist into the space between his neck and the pillow behind him. It produces a low rumble of content that Alec feels against his cheek, feels against his heart and all around him.
Being here with Magnus, snuggling close together oblivious to the rest of the world outside the walls of their bedroom... that’s all Alec needs.
Decidedly, no, Alec is not clingy. He just requires cuddles.
Preferably with Magnus. Frequently.