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“You guys have an interesting relationship,”
Raphael shoots him a questioning gaze from where’s sitting at the other end of the booth seat, feet on Jace’s lap, “You say that like you’re not part of this relationship yourself,”
Jace huffs and gestures vaguely to where Simon is animatedly talking to Bat and Maia, “I meant before I came into the picture,”
Raphael nods as he takes a sip of his drink, “You mean when your pining was reaching horrifyingly pathetic levels it could rival the gods?”
Jace smacks his arm but his scowl holds no venom so Raphael grins at him.
He looks back to where Simon’s now throwing back shots with Magnus and Maia like it’s water, “You wouldn’t guess it by looking at him but the boy can seriously hold his liquor.”
Jace snorts, “Yeah unlike some people…” he trails off, shooting Raphael a cheeky grin as he takes a swig of his drink, “Why’re you looking at me like that?! I’m not the one who rambled on about “Jace’s infuriatingly beautiful eyes” while Simon tried to get them to sit down.” He makes air quotes,
Raphael rolls his eyes, “Right and I’m not the one who babbled on about how Simon was probably a marshmallow and then proceeded to rip Simon’s second favorite shirt off in an attempt to seduce him,” he doesn’t bother biting back his laughter as the blond blushes.
Jace scowls before quickly changing the subject, “Either way Simon is the only one who can hold his liquor in this relationship.” He gestures vaguely between the two of them.
Raphael nods sagely.
Magnus chooses that very moment to walk up to them, having given up on challenging Simon’s ability to hold his own against the cold dead hands of the blackout-stage of getting drunk. Over his shoulder, Raphael can see Maia reaching her limit as well. Simon, the little shit that he is, is now moving his hands to the rhythm of the song blaring out over the speakers.
He’s broken out of his thoughts with a groan from Magnus who is now slumped down in the seat opposite them, “Your boy should not be able to drink that much and still be standing. Forget drinking people under the table, there’s no table left!!!”
Jace and Raphael crack up, “You should’ve known better by now,” Jace manages, cracking up even more under the glare Magnus throws his way, “Simon is the only one who can really hold his liquor in this friendship.”
The other man scowls and shakily gets up, “Of course you’d take loverboy’s side, I’m going to find Alexander and go rant to him. At least he won’t laugh at me.”
Raphael grins at the retreating figure, “That’s debatable.”
The sound of Jace clapping his hands brings Raphael back, “What?”
“I’m bringing back my original conversation starter to discussion again. You two have an interesting relationship.”
But because he wants to rile Jace up, Raphael pushes, “Relationship?”
Jace sighs, like he can’t believe he has to explain this again, “Yeah that, or dynamics, roles whatever you wanna call it. Yours are interesting.”
“How so?”
“Well,” Jace pauses, carefully thinking, “You got this whole 'thing'" He says, making air quotes as he continues to speak, "Going on. You know with you being Broody McBroodster, murder glare and resting bitch face and all that jazz and then you have him,” He points to Simon, “Personification of sunshine and puppies and all that is good and pure in this world. The whole ‘Bad guy, good guy’ thing. You know? It’s a fixed dynamic and it’s cute.”
Raphael nods, “It’s not a fixed dynamic, it’s just that I’m mean and Simon isn’t, either way, what does that make you?”
“The overprotective asshole,” Simon quips as he plops down on Raphael’s lap, planting a kiss to the man’s cheek and shooting Jace a cocky smile.
Jace glowers, finishing his drink, “I’m telling you that dude was flirting with you at the bar, you can’t blame me for interrupting your conversation to correct his assumption.”
Simon rolls his eyes, “Jace, pressing me up against the bar and making out with me for the next 5 minutes wasn’t “interrupting” the conversation, it was a public display of indecency and I’m still not sure how Raphael stopped Maia from kicking us out of the bar.”
Raphael takes a sip of his beer, “I shall never reveal my secrets.”
Simon and Jace share a knowing look.
“Blackmail?”
“Definitely blackmail.”
Raphael huffs, “Am I not allowed to have any privacy in this relationship?”
“Nope,” Simon says at the same time as Jace says, “Absolutely not.”
“Ugh stop being all cute and shit, I already feel like puking. Thanks for that by the way, Lewis.” Maia and Bat come up to their booth, Maia heavily leaning on Bat as the other boy is practically the only thing keeping her upright.
Jace clicks his tongue, “You should’ve thought about that before you challenged Simon to a drinking game of all things. So no, I will be “all cute and shit” with my boyfriends if I want to.” He punctuates his statement by leaning over and pressing an obnoxiously loud kiss onto Simon’s cheek before leaning back.
Bat sighs, clearly used to Jace and Maia’s banter, “Ok babe, I think it’s time we headed home. I need a shower and you definitely need sleep.”
“Bye Maia!!! Bye Bat!!!” Simon yells at the retreating couple.
He’s not drunk but going by his flushed cheeks and glossy eyes, he’s most definitely buzzed. Which also means, it’s time for them to go home, because Raphael’s been craving a Simon Lewis featuring Jace Herondale cuddle fest all day and he’ll be damned if he’s gonna pass up an opportunity to cuddle his boyfriends to death.
So they take their leave.
Simon bumming a piggyback from Raphael, according to him Raphael deciding to play basketball was the smartest decision ever because Raphael’s height was “a gift from the deities above.” since it was the perfect height for piggybacks. Jace walks besides them occasionally letting out a laugh at Simon’s inane comments, his hand warm and solid in Raphael’s.
Getting Simon to sleep ends up being a very trying task because a buzzed Simon has an energy level that can only be rivalled by a toddler riding a sugar high and he and Jace spend a good 15 minutes chasing Simon around their apartment before they catch him and get him to eat and drink something before he changes into something more comfortable (namely Raphael’s hoodies because he’s the only one who uses fabric softener out of them all ).
An hour later, Raphael’s wish for a cuddle fest is granted as he lays on the bed, back against the headboard, Jace laying on him, his back to Raphael’s chest while Simon dozes on him, humming in content as Jace runs a hand through his hair.
“You know, I’m starting to think we should get him buzzed more often, he looks adorable like this.”
Jace grunts, “Yeah, just make sure that next time you don’t put him down until we’ve reached the bedroom and locked the door. I don’t wanna play Tag at 2 in the morning anymore.”
Raphael laughs softly, trying his best to not disturb the sleeping boy, “Deal.”