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Lorenzo hated department meetings. He understood why they were necessary, of course, but they mostly went over the same topics every time, leaving him bored out of his mind and wishing he were doing something a little more interesting.
Honestly, the only reason he attended them was that he was hoping to be promoted as Head of the department sooner rather than later and he knew that, for now, he was only second on the list of professors up for the spot. He needed to do everything he could to prove he deserved the position more than his professional rival and worst enemy, Magnus Bane, did.
The two of them had known each other for over a decade. They had started university at the same time, had attended lectures together for years on end, and had started their theses the same year. They had finished at the same time, too, and had eventually been given the titles of ‘Doctor’ and ‘Professor’, starting their tenures during the same semester. And at every turn, it seemed Magnus got everything that Lorenzo wanted without even trying.
He got the praise, the students’ love and admiration, the men, all of it. Lorenzo was left to stare at him from the side-lines, wondering if anything he did would ever be good enough to get the amount of attention Magnus did. Even their colleagues preferred Magnus, telling him he was an amazing researcher and an even better professor, asking if he could help them, constantly going out with him for drinks and parties and inviting him to their weddings and-
It made Lorenzo sick, honestly, to see how the man had so easily enthralled the entire department and made them believe he was this perfect man. He wasn’t perfect, no one was, and Lorenzo was determined to prove there was more to Magnus Bane than people believed. Or at least, he was determined to prove he was better than bright, charming, beautiful Bane.
“Professor Rey, Lorenzo, are you listening?”
Lorenzo blinked and stared dumbly at the current Head of the department, Ragnor Fell, before realising he had missed a good portion of the conversation whilst he was busy daydreaming about finally taking down Magnus. And maybe he had been staring at the man a little bit as well, but surely no one had noticed that.
“I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment,” Lorenzo smiled brittlely, hoping his grimace came off a little more genuine than it felt. “Was there something you wanted to ask me?”
“We were talking about the inter-class lectures and projects we’ll be hosting this semester,” Fell said sternly, shaking his head at Lorenzo in disappointment. “The Social Studies department tried it out last year and it was a raging success, so I thought I would bring it over to the Humanities, starting with our very own History programs. As a senior professor who specialises in Spanish Art History, I thought it would be interesting to pair you up with someone from another Art History course.”
Oh no. No, absolutely not. Lorenzo could see where this was going even before Fell opened his mouth to pronounce the damning words. Ever since Magnus and Lorenzo had joined the faculty, the man had made it his mission to push the two of them together at every turn, smiling gleefully as he did so.
He was also one of Magnus’ best friends and mentors, which did nothing to endear him to Lorenzo. If anything, the favouritism was only one more thing on the long list of things Lorenzo disliked about Magnus Bane. As though it wasn’t enough for him to steal the students and the other professors; he had to be close to the Head of their department, too. Icing on the cake, truly.
“I think a partnership between the Spanish and South Asian courses would create fantastic opportunities for both yours and Magnus’ students,” Fell finished, smiling brightly as he spoke and completely ignoring both Lorenzo’s suspicious glare and Magnus’ loud groan. “You’ll have to share a lecture once every two weeks for an entire semester and come up with a group project for your students to execute that focuses on both your subjects. Now, Professor Underhill…”
Lorenzo tuned the rest of the meeting out, too busy seething internally to focus on what their Head had to say.
Truth be told, he knew he could have done a lot worse than Magnus. Although he hated the man, he had to admit he was a great professor who knew what he was doing and always took things seriously, which Lorenzo couldn’t say about everyone in their department. He was also good with students, which Lorenzo knew would help them tremendously in making sure things ran smoothly between their classes.
However, he just- He couldn’t believe Fell had had the nerve to purposefully pair them up, knowing they had a terrible past. They had never gotten along, and either Fell was delusional and thought they could learn with time, or he was sadistic and just wanted to see them suffer. Either way, Lorenzo didn’t appreciate it.
Besides, why on earth would he pair something like Spanish Art to South Asian Art? Both were colourful and somewhat abstract at times, but so were hundreds of other types of art. He knew his students would be intrigued and interested to study something different for once, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He had chosen his specialty because that was what he had wanted to study, and now he was being forced right back into his Masters’ years when he still had to deal with topics he wasn’t particularly enthralled by.
Although he would be lying if he said he hadn’t like his South Asian courses. They had all been fascinating and, quite frankly, some of his favourite lessons. His passion for the art had only disappeared once he had realised it was where Magnus came from and what he intended on studying. He had been second best all throughout their years as students, and he wasn’t about to be second best as a professor, too.
But even considering his love for the southern Asian art style and his relief not to have been paired with one of the newer professors who didn’t quite fit in yet – or with the older ones who thought they held all the answers in the world – Lorenzo still couldn’t believe he was going to have to work with Magnus for an entire semester.
Almost six months spent working together and holding office hours together and having to act like they didn’t hate each other when their students were around. Although, realistically, Lorenzo knew that their students were well aware of the rivalry that existed between their two professors. It wasn’t like either of them tried to hide it, constantly annoying each other with petty problems, stealing each other’s classrooms and supplies, blocking the photocopier just to piss the other off… They weren’t children, of course, but their colleagues often told them they bickered like toddlers, which- Was fairly accurate, honestly.
By the time the meeting came to an end, Lorenzo had resigned himself to a semester of painful lecture hours and even more painful office times. So when Magnus came up to him, smiling as brightly as he would have had he been paired with anyone else, Lorenzo couldn’t even find it in himself to start their conversation with one of his usual jibes. He would have plenty of time to pull those out when his fellow professor started really getting on his nerves.
“Lorenzo,” Magnus greeted him, throwing his jacket over his shoulders in a way that made his muscles bulge – not that Lorenzo noticed. Not at all. “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting us to have to work so closely any time soon, but I’m looking forward to our partnership.”
“Oh, I’m sure you are,” Lorenzo snorted, rolling his eyes as he turned to leave the room, Magnus catching up to him as though he hadn’t noticed Lorenzo’s barely-veiled attempts at ignoring him. “Did you want something, Magnus, or are you just following me around because you forgot where your office was?”
“The semester starts in two weeks, Lorenzo,” Magnus raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. “If we don’t get started on the project and lecture plans soon, we’ll find ourselves with nothing when the time comes for us to present it to our students. I know we have our little schoolyard rivalry going on, at your insistence, but surely we can put that behind us for a few months?”
As much as Lorenzo hated to admit it, Magnus had a point. If they didn’t communicate, they would be punished by their department and would have greatly disappointed their students, which was the last thing Lorenzo wanted. Besides, maybe if he worked hard enough on this inter-class nonsense, Fell would see that he was serious about his job and would be a shoo-in for the Head position.
“Maybe we can,” he smiled as sincerely as possible. “Although I can’t promise I won’t continue stealing your freshman essays to give them a second look every once in a while.”
“Oh please,” Magnus huffed. “As though I’ll ever complain about having someone else look over the work these kids put in. I’m far from perfect, and I know I tend to get sloppy in my corrections when it’s too late at night.”
“You wouldn’t have this issue if you just did your work during the day, like the rest of us do,” Lorenzo pointed out, his lips curling up into a truly satisfied smile when Magnus laughed at his words. Anything he could do to make Magnus admit he wasn’t perfect was a win in his book. “You know, perhaps you should spend less time out with all those friends of yours and more time sleeping. Then you wouldn’t be quite as tired.”
“Worried about me, Lorenzo?” Magnus chuckled lowly, sending a shiver – of revulsion – down Lorenzo’s spine. “I promise I’m taking care of myself, I just sleep in for a little longer on week-ends and during the holidays. Speaking of which, I should get going, I promised the Lightwoods I would go out with them tonight. But we’ll talk tomorrow, alright? Your office, at 10!”
And just like that, he was gone, leaving Lorenzo feeling strangely bereft – annoyed. Not that he cared what Magnus did with his spare time, of course. If he wanted to go out with the Lightwood professors, a pair of geniuses who couldn’t care less about art history, then so be it. Lorenzo had better things to do with his time, like go home, take a long bath, and make sure everything was planned for his weekly dinner with his friends.
Magnus Bane’s personal life was none of his damned business.
Magnus glanced at his watch and cursed when he realised he was running late to his first joint lecture with Lorenzo.
He rushed out of his office, barely remembering to grab the documents he would be handing out during the period, and sprinted down the corridor, sliding into the elevator just as it was about to close.
He had been so excited to start working on the projects and lectures he and Lorenzo had come up with that he had stayed up all night, only to fall asleep on his desk in the middle of the day. He should have gotten more coffee, but his friends always glared at him disapprovingly when he forgot to eat and only drank caffeine, so he had been trying to stick to three cups a day, maximum.
(He had hit his limit at 9 am, when a student had knocked on his door asking for advice and he had almost face-planted when he stood up to shake her hand.)
Now, though, he wished he hadn’t listened to his friends at all. This first lecture would be key in building the foundations of what Magnus hoped would be a strong partnership between Lorenzo and him, but also between their students. The class they had chosen was one for senior undergrads, which meant almost all the students there already knew what they wanted to study and had at least gone through a semester with either Magnus or Lorenzo.
There were a lot of positive aspects to choosing older students; they already knew the professors, already knew each other, wouldn’t be too scared to speak up, would take their work seriously… But there was also one serious downside Magnus hadn’t thought about before it was too late.
These students knew him, just as well as they knew Lorenzo, which meant they knew about the strange dynamic the two of them shared. And Magnus wasn’t a fool, he knew exactly what his students thought of their relationship. He had followed the gossip mill ever since he had started here as a professor, and he wasn’t too old that he couldn’t decipher the gazes his students sent his way.
Lorenzo thought what they had was a rivalry and, although Magnus agreed to a certain extent, it certainly wasn’t what their students believed. Magnus wasn’t scared of a lot of things but getting teased by his students was definitely something he would rather have avoided. Unfortunately for him, he had a feeling a few of them wouldn’t hesitate to call him out on his strange behaviour, no matter how professional he tried to be around them.
They knew he would never truly punish them for saying things other professors – Lorenzo, for example – wouldn’t accept, which meant they took liberties at times. He couldn’t blame them, of course, but it did make his life infinitely harder. One student, in particular, was undoubtedly going to call him out, and he was not looking forward to it.
He burst into the lecture hall with one minute to spare, smiling dazzlingly at Lorenzo when the man narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, and greeting all his students by name – those he knew, at least. A few of his favourites were waiting for him in the third row, the same position they had occupied since they had first attended one of his lectures, back when they were just tiny freshmen in an introductory course to Art History.
“Professor Bane!” Clary Fray exclaimed happily, her green eyes sparkling with delight. “We were starting to wonder if you had abandoned us to Professor Rey’s harsh lectures, but I’m glad to see you made it! Is there any reason why your ‘rival’ is here today, or did you just want some eye candy?”
“Miss Fray,” Magnus sighed long-sufferingly. “Mister Lewis, Miss Lopez. I would say it’s a pleasure to see all of you again, but you seem to have lost even more of your respect for me over the summer, so it would be a lie. And I do not need eye candy, nor would I have asked Professor Rey to come along if that was what I had been looking for. I would have been better off with… With Professor Underhill, for example.”
“Right,” Simon Lewis laughed, trying to school his features into something slightly more serious when Magnus stared at him, unimpressed. He didn’t quite manage, but it was the effort that truly mattered. “But if he’s not here to be admired, then why is he here?”
“Please tell me we’re not going to be put through one of those social experiments the psychology students had to do last semester,” Ella Lopez said pleadingly, groaning when Magnus shrugged defeatedly. It wasn’t like he had had any say in the matter; his students would have to deal with it the same way he had: with a lot of patience and a fair amount of understanding. “This is why I should have gone for a science major; at least they don’t have to deal with this bullshit.”
“Language, Miss Lopez,” Magnus chuckled, raising his hand in Lorenzo’s direction when the man tapped his watch impatiently. “We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble over it, now would we? I may be lenient, but I’ve heard my colleague can be a bit of a hard ass in class.”
“But we’ll have you to defend us, won’t we, Professor Bane?” Clary pleaded, and Magnus only raised his eyebrows briefly before walking towards the front of the room, grinning at his students’ panicked reactions behind him.
As soon as he reached Lorenzo’s side, however, the smile slid off his face. He had nothing against his co-worker; in fact, most of his friends thought he was a little too obsessed with him. Lorenzo, however, was determined to make his life more difficult and act like they hated each other. Not that Magnus could have ever hated Lorenzo; he hadn’t disliked the man for years and, even at first, he knew his feelings had been more jealousy and envy-oriented than anything else
“You’re late, Magnus,” were the first words out of Lorenzo’s mouth. Magnus had known the man for years, though, and he knew how to spot the hint of worry in the man’s eyes, whether Lorenzo realised it was there or not. “I was starting to think you had bailed on me and were going to make me take care of this project myself. Stay up too late partying, did you?”
“No, actually,” Magnus rolled his eyes. Why Lorenzo refused to see there was more to Magnus than glitter and parties, he would never understand. “I was focusing on today so much that I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up working on three cups of coffee and a power nap at 5 this morning. I sort of passed out over lunch and had to rush here, so excuse my terrible bedhead.”
Lorenzo mumbled something along the lines of ‘not a bedhead’ and Magnus’ lips ticked up. Whether the man was complimenting him intentionally or unintentionally, he appreciated the words. It was always nice to know someone didn’t think he looked like a mess, even though he probably still had coffee stains on his pants and crease marks on his face.
“We should get started,” Lorenzo cleared his throat, breaking the eye contact Magnus hadn’t even realised they were maintaining. “We wouldn’t want to make our students wait even longer. You have three superfans who seem particularly eager to hear you talk, if the way they’re staring at you right now is any indication.”
Magnus didn’t even have to turn around to know he was talking about Clary, Simon, and Ella, but he still took the time to shoot them a death glare. They were all slightly older than his other students, having gone through another cursus before settling on Art History, which meant they wouldn’t be afraid of one dark stare, but he could still try to intimidate them.
But of course, since the three of them were terrors, they only laughed and waggled their eyebrows suggestively, as though they were seeing something between Lorenzo and he that definitely wasn’t there. Yes, he had had plenty of students ask him if he was dating their Spanish Art History professor, but the answer had always been no.
The tension between them was purely professional, nothing more, no matter how much Magnus wished Lorenzo saw him as something other than a rival. He didn’t know why the man was so determined to despise him and act as though everything was a competition, but it made any hopes of a relationship impossible for Magnus to maintain. Not that he had ever seriously considered dating Lorenzo.
They were too different for that.
“Alright class!” Lorenzo started, speaking loudly and grinning at the assembled students in front of them. Magnus had never seen his colleague lecture before, but if this was how all his classes were, he couldn’t understand why anyone complained about them.
What was wrong with dealing with a man like Lorenzo Rey on a regular basis? Yes, he was slightly arrogant and self-centred at times, but so was Magnus, so that couldn’t be the problem. He spoke clearly, patiently, and even took the time to answer questions, and Magnus was starting to wonder if the rumours going around were just that, rumours. Maybe his students wanted to keep him all to themselves and had decided to start rumours to make sure no one stole their places.
It would be a devious plan, but Magnus could see it happening. Especially with a professor as charming and entrancing as Lorenzo.
They worked together seamlessly, their teaching styles freakishly similar for two people who had been called polar opposites more times than Magnus cared to remember. Maybe Ragnor had been onto something when he had paired them together because, if every lecture was like this one, Magnus didn’t think he would have anything to complain about.
By the time the lecture came to an end, their students were looking ecstatic at the thought of exploring something different, and Lorenzo was smiling so softly that Magnus thought he had hallucinated the entire thing, just for a moment. And then the man turned to look at him and his smile softened even more – for a millisecond, but still long enough that Magnus caught it – and Magnus prayed this wasn’t a dream, because he really wanted this to be true.
“I think we did good, Magnus,” Lorenzo said quietly as their students filed out of the room, Clary, Simon and Ella taking the time to wink at Magnus as they left the hall. “I mean, no one complained, which is already better than what I expected. I’m sure Fell will be impressed by our performance.”
“Oh yes, I’m sure Ragnor will be delighted to hear we didn’t tear each other into pieces quite yet,” Magnus snorted. “I’m pretty sure the entire purpose off this pairing was for us to fail, so I’m glad we’ll be able to show him we’re perfectly capable of working together.”
“Right,” Lorenzo nodded slowly, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Wait… He thought we were going to fail?”
“Well, we don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to working together, what with you constantly sniping at me,” Magnus pointed out. “But I’m glad you were able to put that aside for the duration of this semester; I appreciate it, and I’m sure our students will too.”
“I was able to put that aside?” Lorenzo exclaimed, staring at Magnus incredulously. “I’m pretty sure it was a group effort.”
“Sure,” Magnus huffed. “Whatever you say. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have office hours to get to, and so do you. We’ll meet up next Tuesday for our joint time together, just as we discussed, in your office.”
“That’s fine by me.”
And then he was walking away, his brows still drawn together, and Magnus was left to wonder if Lorenzo was truly that clueless about how little Magnus actually disliked him, or if he was just too afraid to admit they could easily be friends.
Lorenzo hadn’t been avoiding Magnus, not at all.
He just happened not to spend a lot of time near the man’s office that week and avoided the cafeteria as often as possible. For some reason, their first lecture together had bothered him, and now he was wondering if he had missed something in their conversation, or if it was just Magnus being his usual annoying self.
Whatever it was, Lorenzo didn’t want to think about it quite yet, so he stayed away from the other professor, although it was completely accidental. Mostly. Except that one time when he hid in a supply closet just so he didn’t have to face Magnus and the Lightwoods as they left the library. And that one day when he locked himself into his office because one of his students had told him Magnus was looking for him. Other than that, the lack of Magnus in his life was absolutely incidental.
Then Tuesday rolled around, and Lorenzo knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away from Magnus and the strange things he made Lorenzo feel – hatred, jealousy, repulsion – anymore. Their joint office hours were set for late that afternoon and, since it was the first one of the semester, Lorenzo already knew it was going to be a long session. One he really wasn’t looking forward to.
He tried to get himself ready for his harrowing evening, slipping into something professional but slightly more comfortable than what he wore to his lectures, and making himself a huge cup of coffee to last him however long the meetings would last. As he waited for Magnus to arrive, he tapped on his desk nervously and wondered – for the hundredth time that day – why he felt so out of sorts.
It wasn’t like Magnus and he hadn’t interacted before; in fact, Magnus was probably the professor Lorenzo spent the most time with, despite their long-lasting rivalry. They were the same age, had known each other for a long time, and there was no reason – none whatsoever – for Lorenzo to feel awkward about seeing the other man again. They had been working on the same staff for four years now and had spent almost a decade of studying in close proximity.
So why was his heart hammering so hard in his chest, and why had that lecture set him so off-kilter?
A knock echoed throughout his office and Lorenzo jumped in his seat, clearing his throat before calling out to Magnus. His colleague walked into the room with a confidence Lorenzo envied, because even though he was just as handsome and charming as Magnus, he lacked the natural grace Magnus had always had.
“Good afternoon, Lorenzo,” Magnus said, sending goosebumps down Lorenzo’s arms for yet another inexplicable reason. Whatever was happening with his body, Lorenzo didn’t approve of it. “Sorry I’m a little bit early, I thought we could go over how we want to handle our students, what we want to say, and where you want me to sit.”
Close to me, please. The thought rose in Lorenzo’s mind completely unbidden, and it took all of his self-control to force it back down and not let it slip out of his lips. What on earth was going on with him lately?
“My desk is big enough to have both of us on it,” Lorenzo said, then cursed himself for his terrible wording. “Behind it, I mean, obviously. Anyways, you know what I mean; feel free to make yourself at home. Not that it’s your home, or my home really, but yes, just sit, please.”
Lorenzo wasn’t a rambler. Even when he got nervous, he tended to go silent rather than talkative, which his friends told him was a good thing. Now, he understood why. Because apparently, his brain had decided not to function, and the last thing he needed right now was a loose tongue blurting out everything that came to his mind. He had been acting strangely enough as it was, and he really didn’t want this evening to make things worse.
“Are you… alright?” Magnus asked him slowly as he dropped his belongings next to the desk and dragged a chair next to Lorenzo’s, leaning back on it with his body angled towards Lorenzo. “Have you had too much coffee, or are you just that nervous to be meeting up with all the students?”
“A bit of both, probably,” Lorenzo mumbled, not wanting to admit that he had no idea what was going on with him. First, his inability to face Magnus all week long, and now his brain and mouth playing games on him? Something was going on, and Lorenzo wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what. “Although I hope our students won’t notice it as fast as you did. I had no idea I was that easy to read.”
“You’re not,” Magnus snorted, shaking his head at Lorenzo as though he had said something particularly amusing. Lorenzo just stared at him confusedly, unable to make sense of anything at the moment. “Oh come on, I’ve known you for 15 years, Lorenzo, of course I know how to read you better than most. I would be a terrible fri- colleague if I couldn’t tell when you were feeling off. Besides, it’s not like you don’t do the same thing to me.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Lorenzo hissed. “Magnus, I don’t notice anything about you. Hell, we barely ever see each other given how busy we are with work and friends and… everything else.”
“Well actually, we usually see quite a lot of each other,” Magnus raised his eyebrows, a smile curling at the corner of his lips. “However, now that you mention it, it’s true that I haven’t seen much of you this week. Is everything alright? Does it have anything to do with why you’re currently dosing yourself with ridiculous amounts of coffee?”
“Everything is fine, Magnus,” Lorenzo insisted, although his voice was weaker than he might have wanted it to be. For the first time in a very long time, Lorenzo didn’t know how to act around Magnus Bane, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a terrible one. “I’ve just been having a strange week, that’s all. I’m sure talking to all our wonderful students will cheer me up, as will knocking the arrogant ones down a few pegs.”
“Lorenzo…” Magnus said warningly, although he wasn’t fooling anyone. Lorenzo could clearly tell he was trying to hold in his laughter, the corner of his eye twitching as it always did when he was-
God, since when did Lorenzo notice these things? Since when did he pay attention to Magnus Bane, the centre of the goddamned universe, and since when did he think about him as anything other than a rival? Maybe his body wasn’t the only messed up thing; maybe his mind was playing tricks on him too.
Their first student knocked at the door, and Lorenzo let out an inaudible sigh of relief. He didn’t know what was going on with him, but the least amount of time he had to spend alone with Magnus, the better. He called out for the student to come in and greeted the young woman with a bright smile and his usual cheery attitude.
Somehow, he managed to keep it up for the entire duration of their evening together. Students streamed in and out, some coming with genuine questions and others clearly fishing for extra credit even before the grading criteria had been announced. Magnus and he worked as well together as they had during their lecture, and Lorenzo couldn’t help but wonder if that was what was bothering him. Magnus and he had always competed when it came to academia, so perhaps their similarities were getting on his nerves and messing with his brain.
It was certainly a lot more logical than some of the other explanations he had come up with over the last few days. Maybe it was just another case of his jealousy – not jealousy, just frustration – since it was becoming clear Magnus and he were almost the same person in the classroom, which meant the only reason Magnus was more popular was because of something else. Something more personal.
(Maybe it was just because he was prettier than Lorenzo.)
“Anyways, thank you for seeing me, Professors!” Lorenzo blinked lazily and smiled at the young man in front of them. He was their last student, which meant Lorenzo would finally be able to relax and get the hell away from this university and the infuriating professor next to him.
The professor who, might he add, had been getting closer and closer to him as time passed. Maybe Lorenzo was imagining things, but Magnus had definitely been shifting towards him, and he had no idea whether it was intentional or not, but it was setting him on edge for another one of those inexplicable reasons.
He had had to deal with far too many inexplicable things over the past week, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to add something else to the mix.
“You’re welcome, Simon,” Magnus said, and Lorenzo was suddenly reminded that this was one of the students Magnus knew better than most. He had noticed him talking to him both before and after their lecture together, and he straightened up at the thought of finding out more about the professor through someone else’s eyes. “Feel free to come back whenever you want to. Well, during our office hours, of course.”
“I’ll probably take you up on that, Professor Bane!” Simon grinned. “And really, you guys make such a cute couple!”
And then he was out of the door, leaving behind a wide-eyed Lorenzo and an exasperated-looking Magnus. It was almost as though he had been expecting the boy to say something like that, which didn’t make any sense.
After all, Lorenzo and Magnus were rivals, and all their students knew it. The entire university knew about the animosity they held for each other, and there was no reason, none whatsoever, for a student of theirs to mention a relationship. A relationship between Magnus and Lorenzo, of all people. It was preposterous. It could never happen.
They were opposites, had nothing in common, and had hated each other from the very start. They were rivals in everything, and they couldn’t be in the same room together without literal sparks flying. Magnus was confident, arrogant, bright, stunni-
Oh.
Alright. Alright, so maybe he could see why someone might think it could happen. Not that it would. Not at all.
Right?
Something had changed between Magnus and Lorenzo after their first office hours together, and Magnus had no idea what it was.
The man had been acting off the entire week leading up to that evening, avoiding Magnus and sneaking around campus as though he didn’t want to talk to anyone, and Magnus would be lying if he said he hadn’t been worried about the other man. Lorenzo was hardly the type to make himself small. He liked being in the centre of attention, liked shining brighter than everyone around him, and Magnus had known something was wrong even without talking to the man.
Then they had had their first student-professor talks, and everything had shifted. Suddenly, Lorenzo was everywhere, looking at him strangely, as though he were trying to figure a puzzle out. Whatever had happened that evening, it had made Lorenzo a lot more interested in Magnus than he had ever been before, and that was saying a lot.
No matter how hard Magnus thought back on the conversations with their students, he couldn’t pinpoint a single comment that might have made Lorenzo want to act differently. None of them had compared the two of them, none of them had acted untowardly, and it just didn’t make sense for Lorenzo’s behaviour to have changed so drastically over nothing at all.
Which meant there was something, and Magnus had missed it.
Honestly, he had been too busy talking to their students and casting secret glances in Lorenzo’s direction to actually pick up on any undertones in the discussions they had had. The other professor had looked so good, dressed more casually than Magnus had ever seen him and looking completely at ease, and he had been entranced as soon as he had walked into the room and Lorenzo had blabbed at him as though he were a first-year student.
The only thing he was sure of was that, whatever had changed for Lorenzo, it was a good thing. Their second lecture together went even smoother than the first one, and Magnus hadn’t thought that was possible. Lorenzo didn’t snap at him once, and their banter was a lot less insult-heavy than usual. In fact, Magnus would go as far as to say it had been playful, which wasn’t something he would have ever dared associate with Lorenzo in the past.
Even outside of the lecture hall, Lorenzo had been surprisingly pleasant, asking Magnus questions about himself and his day and generally being a lot kinder than usual. It got to the point where Magnus was starting to wonder if he was being wooed, but he dismissed that thought immediately.
Lorenzo was a proud and confident man. If he wanted something, he worked for it and made it very obvious he was aiming for that particular thing. He wasn’t the type of man to just subtly worm his way into someone’s life; Magnus had seen him flirt before, and it was always done in dramatic speeches and grand gestures that made Magnus smile every single time, even when those gestures weren’t meant for him.
Still, if he wasn’t being flirted with, then what on earth was going on with Lorenzo Rey? Magnus had asked his friends if things had changed on their end, but they barely interacted with Lorenzo and hadn’t been able to tell him anything. He had even been desperate enough to ask his students for their opinions, but Simon, Clary, and Ella had remained suspiciously silent of the matter, shooting amused smiles at each other when they thought he hadn’t been looking.
Magnus had spent years pretending to be Lorenzo’s rival and taking his hatred-laced-banter in stride just to let Lorenzo believe they truly hated each other. Lorenzo had always been the oblivious one. He was the one who thought Magnus was trying to surpass him, the one who thought Magnus was interested in the Head position, the one who started all their petty wars just to prove a point, the one who hadn’t realised Magnus was in love with him and had been for a very long time.
But for once, Magnus was the one out of the loop. There was something going on and he knew it, but he couldn’t pinpoint what that something was and it was driving him insane. For a moment, he even considered ignoring Lorenzo until he figured out what was going on with the man and what his own feelings on the entire situation were, but he knew he couldn’t run away from his problems forever.
It all came to a head after their second office hours spent together. Lorenzo had been tense the entire time, his back ramrod straight as they talked to their students and his eyes sliding towards Magnus every few seconds, as though he couldn’t stand to look away.
Magnus was starting to rethink his reasoning, because if that wasn’t wooing, then he didn’t know what was.
Once again, Simon was the last student to meet with them, and he smirked smugly at Lorenzo as he walked in, clearly knowing something Magnus didn’t. He acted normally throughout the entire meeting, keeping things professional and only asking questions about the project they had been presented with the week before. But right as he left, he looked over his window, sighed long-sufferingly at the two of them, and addressed them one last time.
“No offence, professors, but you’re both idiots,” he grinned at them cheekily before speeding out of the room, the sound of his footsteps fading as he got further away from them.
Just like that, it was just Magnus and Lorenzo again, as it had been two weeks earlier. The sun had set and the moon had been up for quite a while, and although Lorenzo’s desk light was on, there was still something dark and heavy about the atmosphere that settled on their shoulders and wrapped itself around Magnus’ heart. A feeling sparked in him, something that felt an awful lot like anticipation, and then Lorenzo was leaning closer to him and he couldn’t remember how to breathe.
“You know, there’s something I’ve been trying to figure out for two weeks,” the man said, frowning at Magnus and pressing his lips together tightly. “Ever since that damned Lewis boy mentioned something about the two of us being in a relationship, I’ve had questions circling around my mind on loop, and I’m no closer to finding the answers I’m looking for.”
Magnus’ heart stopped. He hadn’t even thought about Simon’s comment, because the young man had made plenty of them over the past few years. He loved teasing Magnus about his not-so-subtle crush on Lorenzo and loved joking about the sexual tension in the air. The sexual tension Magnus had thought was a complete scam, because how could there be tension if one of the involved parties only felt hatred?
And yet now, there Lorenzo was, talking about a relationship between the two of them and how the mere idea of it had made him so curious he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. It wasn’t quite an admission of feelings, but Magnus didn’t think he would have to wait much longer for that to happen.
“At first, I thought it was just a joke between the two of you, or some sort of misunderstanding,” Lorenzo continued, tapping his fingers against his desk in what Magnus knew was a nervous tick. “After all, I’ve always hated you, and you’ve always hated me. It’s as simple as that. Except, then I realised it isn’t, in fact whatever is going on between us is the very opposite of simple, don’t you think?”
All Magnus could do was nod dumbly, a croaked out ‘yeah’ barely making it past his lips. Lorenzo was looking at him with that same soft look Magnus had caught a glimpse of on the first day of their partnership, and he couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had missed something like that. How many times had he missed the clues and crumbs Lorenzo had lain in front of him? How many times had he been just as oblivious about the other man’s feelings as Lorenzo himself had been?
“Because really, you’ve never hated me,” Lorenzo added breathlessly, his gaze flicking from Magnus’ eyes to his lips and back up again. “And I- I’m not sure I’ve ever hated you either. Oh sure, there was plenty of envy on both our sides, but how much of it was true jealousy, and how much of it was just-”
“Sexual frustration?” Magnus suggested weakly, grinning when his words made Lorenzo laugh, a real burst of laughter that illuminated his whole face.
Magnus’ breath caught in his throat at the sight. Lorenzo was the kind of person who projected an image of himself and never let himself truly be around other people, and this was one of the first times Magnus saw him tear down those masks and show Magnus who he really was. It was the most addicting feeling Magnus had ever felt, and he wasn’t sure he would ever get enough of it.
“Sure, let’s call it that, although it was mostly just you pining after the most amazing man in your life,” Lorenzo smirked, pointing at himself just to make sure Magnus understood who he was talking about. As though there had ever been any doubt about that. “Point is, although Lewis shouldn’t have talked to his professors so freely, something which I’m blaming entirely on you, he isn’t wrong. We really have been acting very obliviously for the past few years. I should have realised what I was feeling was lo- wasn’t just hatred.”
“And I should have noticed my feelings weren’t quite as unrequited as I thought they were,” Magnus breathed out. “I guess we deserve each other, huh? Years of dating other people whilst secretly falling for the very person who was there all along, it’s very cliché. Very you, too.”
“What do you mean?” Lorenzo huffed. “I’m usually not that oblivious and we both know it.”
“Oh, indeed I do,” Magnus laughed softly. “You’re one of the brightest and most unabashed people I have ever met, so I am well aware you’re not usually this oblivious. No, what I meant is that the cliché suits you. Underneath all that arrogance and all those smarmy smiles, I know you’re quite the romantic, Lorenzo.”
“You fool no one, Magnus,” Lorenzo snorted, leaning in impossibly closer to Magnus, their lips practically brushing together as he spoke. “You may like to hide underneath all those layers of glitter and coy smiles, but I know you’ve got just as big a heart as I do.”
“It’s not the only big thing I-”
Lorenzo’s lips descended upon his before Magnus could even think about finishing that sentence. Not that he was complaining, not at all. He would have plenty of opportunities to make innuendoes and watch Lorenzo either roll his eyes or blush – he was pretty sure both had happened in the past – or simply preen at the compliments – the likeliest option, honestly. However, he would only have one first kiss with the man he had fallen in love with years ago.
Just once chance to feel those soft lips against his for the first time, to gasp at the feeling of a tongue swiping at his bottom lip, to moan when Lorenzo’s teeth nipped at Magnus’ mouth ever-so gently. They would have hundreds of other kisses – thousands, if Magnus had any say in it – but he wanted to remember this one in particular. He wanted to remind himself of the day when Lorenzo Rey and Magnus Bane, sworn enemies and rivals from the very start, had realised they were both as foolish as the other.
He wanted to remember this kiss and the feelings it ignited in him for as long as he lived. And more than anything, he wanted Lorenzo to remember it too, so he poured all of his pent up frustration and all the love he had accumulated into that one kiss, hoping it would be enough.
When they broke apart, Magnus was smiling more sincerely than he ever had in Lorenzo’s presence, and the other man was staring at him as though he had never seen someone quite as beautiful, and the world felt right again.
“Well, partner,” Magnus whispered, resting his forehead against Lorenzo’s. “Maybe it’s time to give our students what they really want.”
“Oh really?” Lorenzo asked innocently. “And what would that be, partner?”
“Why a relationship between the two most amazing professors in the world, of course,” Magnus beamed. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would we?”
“Oh no, we most certainly wouldn’t,” Lorenzo nodded mock-seriously. “Perhaps a relationship would be the wisest course of action, since it would certainly strengthen our partnership as professors.”
“It would, wouldn’t it?” Magnus hummed. “And maybe you’ll finally admit that you love South Asian art just as much as you love Spanish art but are just bitter than I beat you in our finals.”
“Never,” Lorenzo muttered, shutting Magnus’ next comment up by covering Magnus’ mouth with his own again.
So maybe they were rivals, in a way, but Magnus didn’t think that was half as important as the other thing they shared. A partnership, a relationship and, he hoped, love.