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Magnus woke up to a dazzling golden light in his eyes and the memory of a voice he hadn't heard in a long, long time. He got up blearily, head pounding, and took in his surroundings. White walls, white floor, white doors, white windows showing a beautiful landscape, an open ceiling showing a starlit sky, Alec in white clothes standing over him, and-
Wait. What? Thought Magnus, his head whipping around to stare at Alec. For a moment, everything became still- well, stiller- as the two separated lovers stared at each other intently. Hesitantly, Magnus raised his hand to cup Alec's cheek, effectively shutting him up (it was then that Magnus realised that he had been speaking at all). "Is this some kind of twisted dream?" whispered Magnus, fearful that if he moved too much, this illusion would shatter.
"No, Magnus, this is very real. I'm real, you're real, and we are really here, together." Said Alec.
Somewhere inside, Magnus still dint think that this was reality, and knew that he ought to make the most of this opportunity and catch up with Alec. However, he found himself incapable of doing anything but staring at Alec, drinking in the facial features that had blurred in his memory over time. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out but garbled gibberish. It was then that Magnus passed out, Alec's frowning face the last thing he saw.
When Magnus came to again, he was lying on a couch, head in Alec's lap. He jumped off immediately as if Alec had scalded him, and then looked at him apologetically. He paced in front of the couch, stopping repeatedly to stare at Alec with a mixture of accusation and curiosity.
Finally, he turned on to Alec, glaring at him suspiciously. "look, Jon, if this is some kind of trick you're playing on me to get me to pay you back, then it's not going to work. I already told you, I'll do it when I get a job! Now can you stop this and reawaken me?" he said.
Alec shook his head, looking at Magnus with amused eyes. "This is no trick, Magnus. And I have no idea who Jon is. Tell me- why do you own him money? I thought you had an inexhaustible stash of it! You know what- forget it. You can tell me about all of that later. For now, let me clarify. This is not a dream or hallucination. This place is, I'm pretty sure, afterlife. And you have just joined me in it." He said, bringing his face close to Magnus' and pecking him lightly.
Magnus was struck by an onslaught of memories, those of lazy early morning kisses, embraces shared when they met after a long, hard day, time spent goofing around in the most domestic way, passionate, fiery kisses shared after a night out, and all the little things he had tried so hard to forget and not at the same time. He didn't even realise that he had been crying until Alec pulled back to wipe his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I know that we just met and you probably don't want a blubbering mess but- Alec- it's been a century! A century away from you, a century of dying every day, of holding on to memories and wanting to let them go all the same. I know I broke my promise, Alec, but I did try to keep it together, at least for Max and Rafe, but after Rafe's death a year ago, I just couldn't take it anymore, and- and-"
"Hey, Magnus! You don't have to apologise! I understand. As much as I wanted you to keep your promise, things did get quite dreary here. I missed you too, darling. I've been stuck in this place for a century now, though time does pass differently in this place. I meet Izzy and the others almost every day, but I spent most of my time being lonely and missing you. I don't care about the promise, I'm just glad that we're here together."
Magnus looked up with watery eyes to Alec. He leaned in, planning on catching up on all the time they had missed, and his lips almost touched Alec's just as an obnoxious voice broke them apart-
"Hey sparkles! Miss us much?"