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When Magnus declares that he’s having a masquerade party for Halloween this year, it isn’t the dressing up that has Alec anxious. He can handle a nice suit or even a more elaborate ‘costume’ piece - it’s the mask that he’s dreading. No matter how many he tries on, styles ranging from ones he can hold up against his face to the ones that wrap around the back of his head with a band, but he hates all of them. They feel awful against his face, even the satin and lace ones.
It isn’t until he’s walking through the park to grab a coffee on one of his breaks that an idea comes to him. Passing by a woman doing facepaint for children at a little table off to the side of the walkway, Alec looks at some of the designs and wonders if he couldn’t do something similar instead of a proper mask for the party. Would he hate the feeling of paint on his face as much as the masks? There’s only one way to find out, he reasons.
Not about to let a stranger on the street paint his face, Alec turns to someone he trusts.
Clary’s in her room when he gets back to the Institute and he knocks on her door with an extra coffee in hand.
Clary eyes it suspiciously. “...what happened?”
“Nothing! Can’t a guy visit his friend with an extra hot coffee on a chilly fall day?”
“Not when that guy is you,” Clary points out, taking the coffee from Alec’s hand. “So spill.”
Clary has a smile on her face, though - she’s ready to listen to whatever he came here for, and to help if she can. The two of them, despite their rocky start, are actually friends now, and not just because Alec feels obligated to be nice to his brother’s girlfriend. Once he gave her a proper chance Alec realized Clary’s actually pretty cool, and no one else has ever taken to his dry sarcasm well enough to give it back in equal measure the way that she has, which he appreciates the most.
“I did have a favor to ask,” Alec admits. “I wanted to know if you could paint my face.”
Clary looks even more surprised than when she opened the door to his offer of coffee.
“You do?”
“For Magnus’ party. But first I just need to see how it would feel. I can’t stand any of the masks and I can’t just show up with nothing…”
Clary’s expression brightens considerably. “Can I paint anything I want for the test?”
“...no one will see, right?” Alec asks.
“I want a photo, but just for myself. I won’t show anyone else,” Clary promises.
“Not even Jace?” Alec makes sure, because he knows how those sorts of relationships work. He and Magnus share a ton of things that are probably assumed confidential otherwise. He trusts Magnus not to say anything, and vice-versa, but there’s no way Alec’s letting Jace get ahold of a photo of whatever Clary has in mind for this test.
“Not even Jace,” Clary swears.
“Fine,” Alec agrees.
“Great! Are you free now?”
Alec isn’t really, but it’s been a slow day and he figures he wouldn’t be missed for a few extra minutes. “Sure.”
“Okay. I’m going to try a mixture of makeup, mostly wet eyeshadows, and actual paint for some detailing.”
Fifteen minutes later Alec can feel the paint on only half of his face. “It doesn’t have to be elaborate, you know. You could’ve just slapped one color on,” he points out.
“I could’ve, but where’s the fun in that? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Alec. Let me have this,” Clary says, dipping her brush in some pink before moving it back to Alec’s face. She’s used a concerning amount of pink and purple, but he doesn’t know anything else because Clary won’t let him look at a mirror.
Fifteen minutes later the other half of his face is done and he’s told to let it set for at least another ten before looking at it.
“How does it feel?” Clary asks. “I could use different paints depending on what you like or don’t like - these are non-toxic and will definitely stay the night, but they aren’t the only option.”
“It actually doesn’t feel terrible,” Alec is pleased to realize. “I prefer the makeup to the paint but both are better than the masks, at any rate. If you’re willing to come up with something to match my outfit, I can pay you to do it before the party-”
“Absolutely not,” Clary says, shaking her head as she snaps a photo of Alec’s face just as it drops into a frown. “Oh, no, not that I won’t do it! But that I won’t let you pay me for it. Friends help each other out! It’s no problem, really.” Clary glances down at the photo on her phone and bursts into laughter. “Plus, this is all the payment I’ll ever need. My new instant bad-day cure for the foreseeable future.”
Alec finally goes to look at the mirror - and while Clary’s artistic talent is undeniable he can’t help but feel jarred by the bright, pastel butterfly adorning every bit of skin across his face.
“I cannot begin to express the joy this has brought me, and will continue to bring me until the day I die,” Clary adds.
“Not a soul,” Alec reminds her, but he can’t help a smile because if this is what she can do with zero planning, he can only imagine how great his look for the party would be.
---
Alec refuses to tell Magnus anything about his plans for the masquerade.
“I have it covered,” Alec says.
“I’m sure you do,” Magnus says, and Alec can tell he’s trying his best to be supportive of Alec’s confidence but also hesitant to believe his ‘I only wear black and slightly darker black’ Shadowhunter boyfriend actually has a masquerade look under control. “But if you wanted a little assistance…”
“I have assistance,” Alec says, rolling his eyes when that information immediately eases the worried look on Magnus’ face. “Just trust me on this one. I promise I won’t be late or look terrible.”
“You’re incapable of looking terrible,” Magnus points out with a suggestive wink. “I’ll see you there.”
---
Alec allows plenty of time for Clary to work, but it takes all of his self-control to sit still when he’s so eager to see the end result. The sketches she showed him were stunning and perfectly suited for his outfit, not that he expects anything less from her.
“Thank you again for doing this,” Alec tells her for the seventh time that day.
“Thank you for trusting me with it,” Clary replies. “You know I’m always willing to help out a friend.”
Alec isn’t sure exactly when they crossed over into being ‘friends’, but he’s glad that they did, especially now. Clary finishes the look and Alec can finally move to see the end result.
It’s stunning, to say the least.
“Anything you don’t like, or need me to change? I deviated a bit from the sketch once I was working on your face but hopefully-”
“It’s perfect, Fray,” Alec says, eyes wide in awe. “Holy shit.”
Clary beams. “Really?”
“Really,” Alec confirms, turning to face Clary and wrap his arms around her - careful to avoid instinctively leaning his face down into the motion so he doesn’t risk ruining any of her hard work with the hug. “I owe you big time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Clary says with a smirk. “Now go knock ‘em’ dead. I need to get ready myself”
---
When Alec walks into the party he isn’t ready for the attention his outfit receives. He can barely find his way over to Magnus because he’s being stopped every few steps by someone new complimenting his ensemble.
He’s the only one there without a proper ‘mask’, but that doesn’t seem to take away from the overall look of his outfit: wearing a mostly-black suit with subtle accents of gold, blues, and greens woven into the fabric, it’s the perfect complement to the peacock-inspired design of the makeup that starts under his eyes and over the bridge of his nose, over his eyes and reaching his hairline.
Finally reaching Magnus, Alec can’t help the spike of pride he feels when Magnus’ jaw quite literally drops open.
“You did not disappoint,” Magnus says, running a thumb over Alec’s cheekbone and stopping just shy of where the mask’s design begins.
“Clary gets most of the credit,” Alec admits.
“It certainly helps that she had such a stunning model to work with,” Magnus points out.
Alec gives a light laugh. “Are you going to be like this all night?”
“With you looking like that?” Magnus asks, very pointedly giving Alec a full up-and-down look of appreciation. Magnus places his hands on Alec’s hips and pulls him close to whisper in his ear, “I’m just getting started.”