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Alec’s favorite sweater is missing. He’s looked everywhere, the closet, the hamper, the washer and dryer, under the bed, twice. He even checked his old room at the Institute, which sat empty aside from the furniture.
His sweater is nowhere to be seen, and he’s beginning to suspect it’s been taken. He doesn’t usually lose things, but there a more than a couple people who are known to take his things without asking.
He studies the friends and family members he’s gathered in his and Magnus’ living room, trying to suss out the guilty party. He’d made a list of the most likely suspects in his head while walking to work earlier this week, annoyed at the autumn nip in the air that would’ve been enjoyable if he had his favorite sweater. He's going to get it back—as soon as he finds out who took it.
Suspect number one: Magnus Bane.
Currently reclining in one of the comfortable lounge chairs with a drink held lazily between his fingers, Magnus makes the top of Alec’s list.
They’re living together which means Magnus has unfettered access to Alec’s wardrobe. In fact, only a week ago, Alec came home from a late shift to find Magnus dozing on the couch, wearing Alec’s clothes.
He made an adorable sight, hair smushed against the armrest, body curled up, one arm dangling off the side of the couch. Alec paused in the entryway, a smile blossoming over his lips. He loved living with Magnus. He loved coming home to this.
He quietly closed the door and toed off his shoes before approaching. It was only when he got closer that Alec realized Magnus was wearing his clothes. The black tank top was unsuspecting enough, but there was a small hole near the hem from Alec’s repeated fussing. The sweatpants were familiar too, and too long on Magnus, the bottoms rolled up several times.
Alec’s smile grew at how cute Magnus looked in his clothes. It made something in his heart feel all light and fluttery, a familiar feeling when it came to Magnus.
As much as he wanted to let Magnus keep sleeping, he knew from experience that the couch wasn't ideal for sleeping on. Magnus would be much comfier in their bed. So Alec leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Magnus’ forehead, “Wake up, mi media naranja.”
Suspect number two: Isabelle Lightwood.
Isabelle, sitting on one end of the sofa, glances between Alec and Magnus with clear confusion. She has a penchant for his sweaters. More than once, he’s found her lounging about in his jackets.
As recently as a couple months ago, Alec entered the Institute cafeteria to find Isabelle at their usual table, one of Alec’s jackets draped over her shoulders.
She smiled, not a trace of guilt anywhere on her features. “Hey, Alec. How did you sleep?”
He raised his eyebrows as he sat beside her, ignoring her question in favor of asking his own. “Did you go through my closet?”
Izzy looked down at the stolen jacket. She tugged lightly at one of the sleeves that fell so far past her hand it was almost comical. She was absolutely drowned by his clothing. “I was cold.”
“And you didn’t want to use a rune or one of your own jackets?”
“None of my clothing is as comfortable as yours.” Alec wasn’t the least bit surprised by that. While he favored soft and loose-fitting fabric, Isabelle gravitated towards tight clothes, many of which looked like they had itchy fabric. At his unimpressed expression, Isabelle sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry I took it. Here, you can have it back.”
Alec stopped her before she could shrug out of the jacket. He wasn’t cold right then; he was wearing his favorite sweater. And his protective instincts went a little haywire at being the reason his little sister was freezing or uncomfortable. “Just wash it before you return it. And ask next time.”
Isabelle shot him a blinding smile as she tugged the jacket closer around her. “Thanks, hermano. I will.”
Suspect number three: Jace Wayland.
Jace, sitting beside Izzy, looks both unbothered and bored. Jace will never admit to stealing one of Alec’s sweaters, but he’s been doing it for ages.
It started the first time Jace sought Alec out after a nightmare. Alec held him like he was used to doing with Izzy and Max, until he’d finally calmed down. Alec fell asleep eventually, and when he woke up Jace was gone and, he soon realized, one of his sweaters was missing.
He figured it was lost somewhere, until he woke a few months later, panic yanking him out of sleep in the middle of the night. He knew as soon as he was fully awake that the fear racing through him wasn’t his own. It came through the still-new parabatai rune on his hip.
Alec grabbed his stele and seraph blade and race down the corridor to Jace’s room. He threw the door open and paused.
Jace was awake, curled into a tiny ball on his bed, arms tightly wrapped around his legs. He looked so vulnerable, so different to the overly-confident facade he often took on.
Shutting the door behind him and setting down his stele and seraph blade, Alec joined Jace on the bed, sitting beside him and pressing their shoulders together.
“You didn’t have to come,” Jace muttered without looking up.
“Whither thou goest, I will go,” Alec answered quietly. He glanced at Jace again and realized, suddenly, he recognized the sweater Jace was wearing. It was the one that had been missing from his room, since around the same time Jace came in after a nightmare.
Alec didn’t mention it, deciding if it helped Jace with his nightmares and anxiety, he didn’t mind lending it to him for a while.
The problem is, Alec doesn’t know which of them took his sweater this time. None of them look especially guilty.
Simon shifts from where he’s standing beside the sofa because Jace and Isabelle can’t seem to go anywhere without brining Simon and Clary along. “What’s going on?”
“Someone stole my sweater,” Alec announces, studying them all for any hint of a reaction. Magnus’ lips quirk in amusement, but Alec isn’t sure it’s a sign of guilt. He’d asked Magnus earlier about the sweater and Magnus was amused by Alec’s plans of bringing everyone together to find it. “You were all here last week for our dinner party, the same time it went missing.”
“Oh!” Clary lets out a surprised little noise from where she’s sitting between Jace and the arm of the sofa. She reaches for the backpack at her feet. “I totally forgot I—”
“Whatever this is, can it wait until—” Alec cuts himself off when Clary pulls something soft out of her backpack. His sweater.
He crosses the room to snatch it from her, and clutches it close to his chest where no one can take it. He makes a mental note that his future list of suspects is growing. He probably should’ve expected this. “Fray, why did you have my sweater?”
Clary at least has the decency to look guilty. “You and Magnus fell asleep during the movie and it was cold when we went back to the Institute. Your sweater was on one of the chairs and Jace said it would be fine if I borrowed it.”
“Of course he did,” Alec mutters, glaring at his brother.
Jace shrugs, “You always let us borrow your stuff, Alec.”
“The next person who takes something without asking gets put on ichor duty for a month. That includes you, Simon,” Alec adds when he sees the vampire looking a little too amused.
Simon gapes. “I've never stolen anything from you!”
“Keep it that way,” Alec grumbles before moving towards Magnus and perching on the arm of his chair.
Magnus leans toward him, an arm looping around Alec’s waist. “Your ichor threat doesn’t extend to me, does it, darling?”
Alec shifts closer. The grimace melts from his face. “Of course not.” He can’t make Magnus do anything the warlock doesn’t want to do, and he likes seeing Magnus in his clothes.
His words have the other Shadowhunters and Simon breaking out in a chorus of complaints. Alec ignores them and leans down to kiss his husband. It's his clothing, he'll decide who's allowed to wear it.