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Magnus Bane closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the tips of his fingers. There was a hint of a headache starting to nag him and listening to the arguing in front of him wasn’t helping in the slightest.

The week had been busy enough without having to deal with the consequences of the worst thunderstorm of the decade, which had fried up every piece of technology plugged to an electricity source in Pandemonium office. Everything inside his three-floor office was sent back into prehistoric era after the whole building had a short circuit and entered the dark ages.

How did one of the most prominent buildings on Times Square go kaput under a little bit of rain, Magnus would never know. He was too busy being a fashion genius and saving his magazine’s newest editorial spread from utter tackiness to care.

“I’m sure something can be saved,” Ragnor all but screamed against the phone. As Copy Editor, Ragnor was Magnus’ best bet to talk his insurance company into covering all of the thousand-worth loss. Also, Magnus had zero knowledge of technology, so all that talk sounded like a foreign language that he didn’t know.

Something that, as Editor in Chief of Pandemonium, one of the most successful fashion magazines in the world, Magnus wasn’t willing to undergo. He had a reputation to maintain and looking stupid in front of a tech wasn’t a part of that.

Magnus was an artist. An analogical artist who loved to have paint under his fingernails and dreaded anything remotely similar to Photoshop.

Ragnor huffed, obviously irritated, but he didn’t look as green as he did when the call started. Whatever Ragnor was hearing, wasn’t making him sick anymore. “I’ll have to get back at you about that. Alright, thank you,” he said dryly and hung up, looking at Magnus with an annoyed grimace. “They managed to recover most of the files, but the hardwares are gone.”

Catarina, who was sitting on Magnus’ desk, crossed her arms. “It means we lost the computers,” she explained as she saw his puzzled expression.

“At least we still have the tablets, right?” Magnus asked almost afraid of the answer. He hated tablets with a passion.

“Technically,” Catarina conceded. “But since we use an integrated system between desktops, laptops, and tablets, that’s like having one third of the pizza, and not the topping or the dough or the sauce. Just the dried out, less appetizing olives people don’t eat because it’s not worth the calories.”

Sighing, Magnus rose up as gracefully as he could. “I get it, you’re hungry. Let’s call it a day and go meet Biscuit.” He ignored the empty hallways outside his office and how haunted they looked. The usually colorful and populated floors were devoid of any life, since apparently everyone needed a computer to work.

Magnus hated the twenty-first century. If they lived in the fourteen-hundreds, there would be no such problems. Only horrible early deaths, and that’s a much lesser inconvenience.

At least he would see Biscuit tonight. It had been years since he’d last seen Clary, when she was still his student at that Art Academy in Brooklyn. Magnus’ years as a design teacher had been great and Clary Fray was one of the best things that had come out of it. Her and his first shot at the fashion industry, as Magnus was offered to write a spread on New York Fashion Week after unknowingly roasting the entire thing to one of its sponsors when she came to take a look at his gallery.

It was good that Clary had reached out and scheduled a dinner. Magnus needed something nice in his life after the disastrous last couple of days and Biscuit would bring just that. It came as a surprise to no one when he ran to her and lift her up off the ground when they met at Magnus’ favorite restaurant.

“It is so good to see you, Biscuit,” Magnus said once he had let her go. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman.”

Clary smiled her scrunch smile, and greeted Ragnor and Catarina with a hug each. “I’m so glad you all came. It’s been too long.” She held Magnus by his hand and guided them to a table at the back, where a young blond man was already seated. “There’s someone I want you to meet, Magnus. This is Jace, my fiancé.”

Jace, the fiancé, stood up and offered a hand to Magnus. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said in the confident voice of those who knew how attractive they were. And he was very attractive.

Magnus hated him on principle. “Likewise,” he said nonetheless, accepting the firm handshake. “You are a lucky man, Jace.”

To his surprise, Jace shot an adoring look at Clary, who was chatting with Catarina. “I know,” he said simply.

Maybe Magnus had judged him too harshly. They all sat down and it soon became clear that Jace was as arrogant as he was in love with Clary, so Magnus found him annoyingly endearing. He was good at conversing and never overstepped himself when they were talking art and fashion, since those subjects were clearly out of his knowledge range.

Overall, Jace was passing the test.

“How about next week’s issue?” Clary asked when the conversation turned to Pandemonium. When she saw the looks on Magnus’, Ragnor’s and Catarina’s faces, she arched her eyebrows in worry. “What happened?”

“The last storm washed away all of our tech,” Magnus admitted bitterly. “We basically lost everything. We’re finished.”

Ragnor, who was boring and too practical, chimed in. “He’s being dramatic. The insurance company will pay for a whole new set of tech for the office, whichever Magnus chooses.”

Clary and Jace exchanged poignant looks and Clary turned to her ex-teacher. “You’re buying Light tech, right?”

Magnus deliberately ignored the stares he was receiving from his friends. As someone who despised technology as a whole, he had decided to purchase the cheapest computers he could find that would not break in less than a semester. That meant vetoing any discussion around Light Inc., the biggest name in technology there was. Their products were known for high quality, but also for high prices and for operating in their exclusive system. Which Magnus simply didn’t understand.

He knew that argument had gotten old, though. The fashion industry, just like any other field that dealt with digital art, had been taken over by Light Inc. in the last three years, so Magnus couldn’t make a point about incompatibility.

Thankfully, he had another trick up his sleeve. “Pandemonium has a name to uphold. We stand for innovation and high fashion, yes, but first and foremost, we stand for inclusiveness and the celebration of equality in an overly exclusive field. I will not endorse an old-fashioned, money-seeking company founded by known bigots just because they’ve made their token gay son the CEO at the beginning of the semester to re-brand into the twenty-first century. Maybe he’s sold himself to his parent’s whims, but I will not.”

The silence that followed was extra awkward, as Jace gasped in clear offense. Magnus frowned without understanding. Everyone knew the owners of Light Inc. were closed-minded millionaires who were more than willing to use their own son’s very publicized sexuality to keep their firm grip around power. Magnus didn’t know the kid, but he pitied him until his ascension to CEO showed his true shark nature, just like his parents’.  If he was willing to monetize such a personal struggle, then Magnus had nothing but contempt for him.

“You know nothing about him,” Jace exploded, protective rage written all over his handsome features, “you don’t get to talk about him!”

Magnus blinked, in shock. Whatever reaction he was going for, it wasn’t that. He looked at Clary for clarification and felt his blood freeze in his veins when he mouthed the word ‘brothers” to him.

That really wasn’t his week.

“Jace, please,” Clary intervened, laying a hand on her fiancé’s tensed arm. “You’re right, Magnus doesn’t know Alec. I’m sure he wouldn’t have said any of that if he did.” She turned to Magnus, her expression serious. “I’m working at Light Inc. now, at the App Developing Department with Simon. Whatever the company once stood for, they are truly changing it. I’m not saying you should buy from Light Inc. just because they have the best products for digital art and design. I’m saying you should buy from them to show support to the new board. Exactly because it’s not a sham, it’s the real thing.”

Magnus bit his lower lip, considering those words carefully. There were only a few people in the world whose opinions truly mattered, and those were his friends. Both Ragnor and Catarina were big fans of Light Inc., traitorously buying their new fancy-looking phones at every up-date, and even Raphael admired the company’s capacity for innovation.

Clary was not only working at the place, she was defending it. Worse of all, she was marrying into it. But if Magnus had to say only one good thing about Clary Fray, it would be her great ability to judge character.

Magnus sighed in defeat. “I’m not saying that I’m wrong, but maybe I’m not completely right. Jace, I apologize for what I said about your brother. Biscuit is right, I do not know him. It was an unfair assumption based on the media’s opinion, and I should know better than to believe what magazines have to say.” That seemed to appease the man, who relaxed a little.

“Is that an okay for us to replace our computers with Light tech?” Ragnor asked warily.

Looking at everyone present at the table at a time, Magnus narrowed his eyes. He felt he was going to regret his next words one day. “Yes. Buy it all.”

---

Magnus regretted his words. Bitterly.

Sure, Light tech was pretty. They had a signature elegance and were shapely, full of curves and lines that made Magnus’ office look even more glamorous than it already was. Since the colors were mostly white and silver, they went with the ambience marvelously, both fitting in and disappearing at the same time.

Everyone seemed happy, with their new desktops designed to be easy on the eyes, their light laptops with extended memory capacity, or their functional tablets that had everything one could possibly need at the tips of their fingers.

Everyone but Magnus, who had never felt more stupid. He had been trying to turn on his tablet for the better part of twenty minutes and now the rectangular piece of crap seemed to be staring at him mockingly, daring him to try again.

Huffing, Magnus searched for the company’s phone number on the contract he had just signed. He was not a vain man. If he needed help, he would ask for it, no matter how stupid it made him seem.

The receptionist answered the call on the second ring. “Light Inc., my name is Lily. How can I be at service?” If it wasn’t for the name, Magnus wouldn’t know if it was a man or a woman on the other side, judging by the dead monotone of the speaker.

“Hello, Lily,” Magnus tried to sound only half as annoyed as he felt. “I’ve recently acquired a rather large set of Light products and they just don’t seem to work. Who should I talk to in order to set this right? I’ve tried my lawyer already, but he seems to think my options are someone there at Light Inc. or the press. I’m sure a scandal on the media would solve this very quickly.”

To her credit, this Lily person seemed unperturbed by the threat. “I can redirect you to Technical Support, sir. Could I get your name and date of purchase, please?”

“Sure thing. I’ve bought it yesterday. The name is Magnus Bane.”

“Magnus Bane as in Editor in Chief of Pandemonium Magnus Bane?” This time there was a little life on Lily’s voice.

Magnus smirked. “The one and only.”

“Oh shit.”

Oh shit indeed, dear.  Magnus was very aware that Light Inc.’s shares had raised considerably after he attached Pandemonium’s name to them openly in the market. “So, are you going to help me, Lily?”

“Yes, sir. Just a minute.” Her voice went away before Magnus could thank her and was replaced by an awful elevator melody for just a few seconds before a second voice picked up.

“Alec speaking.” This time it was undoubtedly a male. His voice was deep, not exactly husky, and there was a sense of competence about it.

Magnus put this guy between twenty-five and thirty years old. “Hello, Alec. You should know, I’m getting really annoyed here.”

“Ahm,” Alec said tentatively, “okay. Who are you?”

“Magnus Bane. I would think someone ought to inform you techs these things. Anyway,” Magnus didn’t let Alec start his protest at the other side of the line, “I need some assistance, otherwise I will not hesitate to go public with my outrage about Light tech. This is absolutely ridiculous.”

Alec had the nerve to sight before dignifying an answer to that. “Alright. What do you need assistance with?”

Magnus arched his eyebrows. If some tech boy thought he could get sassy with him, he was going to regret it. “My new tablet won’t turn on. This is quite offensive, because I’m usually very good at turning things on and I’ve never had a problem like this before. Never.”

To his immense disappointment, though, Alec answered straight away. “Have you tried pressing the flame-shaped button?”

Frowning, Magnus stared at the tablet in his hands. At the very bottom, there was an embossing flame that he’s assumed was just the company’s logo. The screen shone and a second flame appeared, this one flickering as the device slowly turned on. “Oh.”

“Is it on?” Alec asked with a hint of smugness that Magnus didn’t like.

“Yes. And so am I.”

“Right,” Alec said absently. “If you don’t need anything else, I-”

Magnus gasped. “It’s asking me stuff! What do I do? It’s asking my name. Why does it want to know my name?”

“It’s a personalized system. Enter your information and it will connect with any other Light devices you own.” Alec was good at explaining, at least. Right to the point.

Magnus narrowed his eyes at the beeping tablet on his hands, but followed the instructions that appeared on the screen. “Should I name it?” He asked out of a sudden.

That clearly caught Alec off guard. “What?”

“The tablet. It's calling me Magnus, but I have no name for it. I’m naming it Sparkles.”

“Okay.” Alec sounded very much like he’d rather be staring at a blank wall than in that conversation.

“Once you’ve enter all your information, your tablet will-”

“Sparkles. It has a name, Alec.”

“I’m not calling your tablet by a name. Especially not that one.”

Magnus gasped. “Is that how you treat customers at Light Inc.? So inconsiderate.”

“Oh dear God,” Alec said with exasperation, and that definitely didn’t sound as hot as Magnus thought it did. No, sir. “Once you have all your information in, then Sparkles will load all of your files and will be ready to go. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Look at that.” Magnus smiled wildly. “Sparkles doesn’t take long to load up. Just like me.”

Alec clearly chose to ignore him. “Do you need help with anything else?”

Magnus sighed. This guy was no fun. “For a tech boy, you’re not very patient.”

“That’s probably because I’m not a tech boy. I’m the CEO.”

Magnus blinked. Wait, what? “Then why are you giving me technical support?”

“That’s a good question,” Alec admitted after a few seconds of silence. “One I intend to find out the answer for after we hang up. You should’ve been redirected to Tech Support. Not my office.”

“Well, this is awkward.” Magnus blinked, but shrugged his discomfort away. “Anyway, say hi to Clary for me.”

“Clary? Clary Fray?”

“Soon to be Lightwood, as I hear it. She’s an old friend of mine.”

“She’s marrying my brother,” Alec said almost automatically. “But of course you know this. S-sorry.”

Magnus chuckled fondly. “Don’t be. You know what, Alec? If this CEO business doesn’t work out for you, you’d make a hell of a tech boy.”

“Good-bye, Magnus,” Alec said and hang up, though with the smallest hint of a snort in his voice, if Magnus could trust his ears.

Sparkles buzzed, showing a torrent of incoming emails. Magnus sighed and snapped his fingers. Fun time was over, he had to try to recover the lost ground. Pandemonium was already behind on schedule and there were a few articles left to be revised.

---

On Friday, everything seemed to be back to normal. People had adapted well to the new technology and its fancy system, and there were almost no incidents to delay the magazine’s issue for that month.

Magnus was supervising a photoshoot for an editorial article when Catarina stopped at his side, her eyes glued to the screen of her new phone. “There’s someone in your office waiting to see you. I told him you were busy, but he said it wouldn’t take long.”

“Did you get a name?” Magnus asked as he compared two pictures. Those angles weren’t quite right.

Catarina shrugged. “Tall, dark and handsome. I’d say he’s your type. Probably some model trying to look daring in a suit.”

Magnus smirked at her. “And you sent him to my office? You’re too kind.”

Smirking, Catarina took the pictures from his hands. “Go distract yourself, my friend. You’ve been working too hard.”

Magnus winked at her, ignoring just how true those words were. He couldn’t remember if he had stopped for lunch or not. Well, maybe he could get the hot thing waiting in his office to buy him dinner later. The night was young.

Since his office was on the top floor, Magnus opted to take the elevator and get a chance to fix his hair. It proved to be the right choice, since he definitely wanted to be on his top game to meet the man that was sitting in his office, idly typing on his phone.

Tall, dark and handsome were no exaggerations on Catarina’s part. Through the glass walls, Magnus had a great view of a young man with cheekbones so high, Magnus could cut himself in them. Those sharp manly features were balanced out by the sweetest eyes, which, impressively, were the first thing Magnus noticed, and not the body wrapped up in an elegant suit.

Though Magnus would like to see the body too, if at all possible. “I’ve been told you were looking for me,” Magnus said as he opened his door. The guy was oddly familiar, but he couldn’t quite pin-point from where.

The man looked up and his eyes took a second to focus, but when they did, Magnus felt himself being undressed by that gaze. It was a really nice feeling. “Magnus, hi.” The man stood up, standing almost a head over him as he offered a hand in greeting. “I’m Alec.”

And then the penny dropped. Magnus had seen pictures of Alexander Lightwood, the oldest of the Lightwood children and heir to the Light Empire. Everyone with internet connection had, especially when some paparazzi discovered him at a gay club with his then boyfriend. It was scandalous, a real blow to Light Inc.’s reputation; the prodigal son, the one sent to the country’s top schools and set to uphold the family name, was gay.

Well, lucky Magnus. He shook Alec’s hand. “Alexander! It’s nice to put a face to your voice. To what do I owe the honor of your presence in my humble office?”

Alec smiled a little, not a shy gesture but endearing just the same. “I thought I could stop by and make sure everything was working out fine. If it’s okay with you.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Magnus exclaimed and picked up his tablet from his desk. “As you can see, Sparkles is alive and well.” He chuckled at Alec’s disconcerted expression when he realized Magnus had, in fact, decorated his tablet with sparkly embellishments to match its name. “Do you pay personal visits to all of your clients?”

Alec shrugged. “Not all my clients are old friends with my future sister in law. Besides, I have a meeting in this building in thirty minutes, a few floors down. Pandemonium ’s support has been invaluable for Light Inc.’s building reputation, so it’s the least I could do.”

Magnus arched an eyebrow. “So it’s all business motivated?” That seemed to confuse Alec, so Magnus just sighed. “I haven’t had lunch yet. Will you buy me a sandwich to make up for selling me unusable products? There’s a charming cafe just below the building.”

“Hm.” Alec frowned slightly. “Sure,” he eventually said, after deciding Magnus wasn’t making fun of him.

“Marvelous.” Magnus clapped once and grabbed his coat, leading the way. “Now, CEO of the biggest technology company of the world. That should be exciting for a twenty…?”

“Six,” Alec finished, following him. “It’s been great.”

Magnus smirked at him. “Oh, darling, I was once a young man trying to take hold of a multi-million dollar company. It is not great.”

Alec smiled that sweet smile of him. “What are you now? An old man?”

“An experienced man succeeding in taking hold of a multi-billion dollar company, thank you very much.” Magnus winked at him and stopped the elevator. He could see Catarina staring at them from her office and only gave her a thumb up when he was sure Alec didn’t see him.

Half-an-hour and a chicken sandwich later, Alec had to leave him to an undoubtedly boring meeting with investors, but Magnus didn’t mind. They had a good time together, albeit short. Alec was not only unfairly handsome, he was witty as the devil and twice as smart. They found common ground in sharing stories about Clary and Jace, but their conversation quickly jumped to more personal topics. Alec wasn’t much of a talker, but he was a great listener and bit by bit, Magnus could see him open up besides an occasional comment. He left Magnus wanting more.

He also left Magnus his phone number, and that was all Magnus needed.

---

Alec’s day had started out bad, so he expected things to at least level up to normal as the hours went by. They, naturally, didn’t.

The previous week had been good, way better than the usual, so of course the universe was taking its revenge on him. Since he assumed the CEO chair, Alec had had few reasons to celebrate, but the unexpected contract with Pandemonium had turned things up in a way he hadn’t been able to until then. It wasn’t for nothing that Light Inc. desperately needed a change of image; they were losing ground in the market and fast.

The support of a known and well-respected fashion magazine was very welcomed, especially one run by someone as iconic as Magnus. He had revolutionized the take on the fashion industry, not only establishing new values to be cherished, but also proving everyone who ever doubted him wrong.

Alec had a great admiration for Magnus’ life story, ever since Isabelle had blabbered about him when Pandemonium became the very epitome of high fashion journalism. It was very easy deciding to pay him a visit and ensure their business relationship wasn’t going to crumble over a small inaptitude with turning on a tablet.

But meeting the guy in person had been an experience on itself. Magnus was flashy and confident, and completely authentic. He made power look easy, though there was nothing light about his views as an opinion-maker. Magnus bore the responsibility he had created for himself with grace and respect.

Alec wondered if he would ever be this comfortable in his own skin.

His divagations were interrupted by the buzz of his phone and Alec went to high alert mode at once. Only his family and a couple of close friends had his number, and they all knew he preferred texting. If someone was calling him, it must’ve been an emergency.

“Alec speaking.” He answered rushly.

“Oh, Alexander! Thank God!” A familiar voice said in absolute despair. Alec didn’t recognize it at first, but what came next helped. “Sparkles is dead! I killed him!”

Alec frowned. “Magnus? Calm down. Did you remember to recharge it?”

“Of course I did, I’m not completely inept,” Magnus answered with a hint of annoyance. “I pressed something and he was gone. Forever.”

“Okay.” Alec got his own tablet and ran his fingers over its black case. This was why one didn’t name devices. “What were you doing before it went out?”

Magnus giggled on the other side of the line. “That sounds oddly intimate, I like it. I was using one of those infernal apps. I guess poor Sparkles was overwhelmed with the great beauty that was my idea for next month’s cover.”

“Images, then,” Alec thought out loud. “Can you give me Sparkles’ serial number? It’s the sixteen number code below the flame logo.” He waited for Magnus to do as instructed and entered the number on his locating system. Sparkles was easily found and everything seemed to be running smoothly with it. Alec frowned and tried something else. “So, I’ve checked your logs-”

“Yes, you did,” Magnus said, interrupting his line of thought. Or was that just the heat that prickled on his cheeks?

“Anyway,” Alec continued, “it seems like the system overheated with so many heavy images. I’m going to upgrade your memory space. It should function properly from now on.”

“The system is not the only thing heating up,” Magnus purred. “Are you speaking difficulty on purpose or do you just want to impress me?”

Alec just rolled his eyes. “Just turn it on.”

He regretted his choice of words the second they were out of his lips, but thankfully Magnus kept whatever he thought of to himself but for a giggle. The familiar Light melody sounded in the distance and Magnus exclaimed. “It’s alive! Oh, Sparkles, I’ve missed you!”

Alec couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him. “Can you open the app? I want to make sure it’s working.”

“There are so many things that I want to open,” Magnus said absently, but before Alec could even react, he exclaimed, “It’s all here! Just like I left it!” There was a loud sound of smoothing. “And a kiss for you, Alexander. Come and collect it whenever you want.”

Alec smiled a little. “You know, there are people I pay to do exactly that, help the customers. Maybe you’ve heard of IT guys. I could refer some good ones to you.”

“Alexander, please.” Magnus’ dismissal of the idea was absolute. “Why would I want anyone else when I can have you? And don’t give me the ‘I’m the CEO’ bullshit. You clearly know your stuff.”

“I have a major in computer engineering,” Alec admitted. “Still, I am the CEO, so I have to go. CEO stuff to do.”

“Sounds official, I shall not detain you any longer,” Magnus said almost seriously. It was hard to tell with him. “We’ll talk again in my next technology-related crisis, my darling.”

Before he could protest, Magnus hung up. Alec was starting to wonder if giving Magnus his personal phone number hadn’t been a mistake. He was relatively certain it should be fine; if Magnus was friends with Clary, he had to have at least a modicum of common sense. It wasn’t as if he would expect Alec to solve every little problem he had. Right?

Three days later, Alec found out he was wrong. He had been running through Times Square to get back from a meeting when his phone buzzed in his jacket, interrupting the audio book he was listening to. He had been waiting for an important call from Jace regarding their new publicity campaign, so Alec didn’t bother to check the caller’s ID before answering. “Alec speaking.”

“I really like how you announce your name.” Magnus’ voice filled his ears, making Alec come to a full stop with the surprise. “It’s cute.”

“Magnus,” he sighed the name. “Did Sparkles misbehave again?” Alec ignored the scandalized look he received from an elderly lady as she passed by him and got out of the way so he wouldn’t be run over by rushed new yorkers.

“Oh, no! Sparkles is behaving beautifully. It’s his older brother who is giving me trouble now.” Magnus probably moved the phone from one ear to another, judging by the noises. “I’ve decided to give it a try, but this computer has an attitude problem. I’m calling him Kanye.”

Alec frowned, mostly because he wasn’t at all surprised. “What is Kanye’s problem?”

“He won’t open Photoshop. After the fancy case I gave him, I’d expect he would be willing to put out.”  

“Light tech is classy. Kanye’s virtue can’t be bought.” Alec looked up. He could see the building where Pandemonium’s headquarters was from where he stood. “I have some time until my next appointment. Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.”

“Alexander!” Magnus’ smile was as bright as the sun when Alec met him at his office. The place looked like a bomb of glitter and colors had exploded in there and Magnus had to kick some clothes out of the way for Alec to reach the desktop. “My knight in technological armor! Come and rescue me!”

Alec suppressed a smile and sat on Magnus’ chair. Everything seemed normal with Kanye, but just as Magnus had said, clicking on the Photoshop icon amounted for nothing. Alec typed a few commands under Magnus’ anxious gaze, changing a couple of codes. “Weird,” he murmured to himself.

“What is?” Magnus leaned over his shoulder, staring at the screen with glassy eyes.

“That’s not the standard configuration.” Alec shrugged. “It’s fine now. Do you know if any other desktops are having this malfunction? I’ll have a tech come and fix it.”

Magnus just shook his head. “Kanye is special. Can I take advantage of your unexpected and much appreciated visit?” He pointed at the Internet icon. “Can you make this become the multi-colored one? Ragnor was nagging me about using this blue one.”

Thanking Max mentally, Alec went back to work. His experience with his little brother was very helpful in understanding Magnus’ chosen terms. “Internet Explorer is the standard navigator, but that’s easy to change.”

“Please do. The only exploring I want to do is in your pants.”

“Mhm,” Alec answered absently, not really listening. He found the right website and downloaded Chrome, quickly installing it. “Can I hook it up with your info? This should link it to your Light login, downloading your emails automatically, synchronizing the calendars from your phone and Sparkles. It’s very useful.”

Magnus had been staring at him with a disappointed look, but his face lit up. “Sure, let’s hook up.”

Alec arched an eyebrow at him and took that as a yes. “Done. You should probably find a more suitable name for him. Kanye is going to behave like an angel from now on.”

“Maybe I’ll call him Al,” Magnus said with a wink.

That could only be meant as mockery, so Alec ignored it. “Anything else you need help with?”

Magnus smiled deviously and Alec couldn’t help but notice he looked dangerous and hot and he did. “There’s an opening I know you could f-”

Someone knocked on the office’s door and both Alec and Magnus looked up. A young man was standing there in a well-adjusted jacket and the most annoyed expression Alec had ever seen. “Bane, you’re late for the meeting,” he informed in a dead tone, colored only by the slightest of accents. “Everyone is waiting for you.”

“As they should,” Magnus said with a smile, but sighed and turned to Alec. “Seems like our time together is over for now. I’m required somewhere else.”

“Sounds official,” Alec said, getting up. “I’ll show myself out.”

Magnus grabbed Sparkles with excessive care. “Thank you for coming all the way here, Mister CEO.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Alec warned. “I was on the streets already, but if you really have something I can’t help you with through the phone, you should find yourself an IT guy. ”

Raphael, who was shamelessly listening in, glared at Alec. “There’s remote access. You can take a look at whatever piece of crap Magnus manages to break from your office.”

Alec blinked and he didn’t have time to deny it since Magnus exclaimed loudly, his beautiful eyes turned even more entrancing by the excited light in them. “Is that a thing?!”

“Yes. You will enjoy it, it’s like there’s a ghost using your computer right in front of your eyes,” Raphael said, completely ignoring the desperation on Alec’s face. If Magnus didn’t look like a child on Christmas’ eve, the whole scene would be horrifying.

“That sounds wickedly intimate,” Magnus announced after a few seconds of consideration. “I’m fine with Alexander unzipping my files from afar, though I would still rather he’d do it in person.”

That was it. Alec faked receiving a phone call and excused himself, charging directly to the elevator door. He didn’t know if he was being mocked or not, and even if his gut feeling said Magnus wasn’t the kind of person who would do such a thing, he wasn’t willing to stick around and find out.

---

Magnus stared at the. bright screen in front of him, wondering what to do. In the last five weeks, he had came up with all kinds of excuses to call Alec and coerce him into helping, either through the phone, by a personal visit when he was near, or through that magical thing he did to take over Al. Magnus even put Ragnor and Catarina to the task, asking them to find reasons to bother Alec.

Between not so accidently turning Sparkles’ language to Chinese, earnestly mixing up his speaker’s and webcam’s cables and getting his phone stuck into airplane mode after a trip to California, Magnus had called Alec almost everyday. He wasn’t ashamed of any of those times, save for the day Magnus forgot his accounts were all connected and sent a list of dirty jokes to the entirety of Pandemonium ’s employees instead of just to his friends.

Now that he was having a serious issue, though, he felt trapped like the boy who cried wolf.

He was probably being ridiculous, and it was Light Inc. CEO’s fault. Alec had sent that Samuel kid the last time he called asking to make those insulting penis enlargement ads go away, but Magnus made sure that would never happen again. He almost felt bad, since Sean was very helpful, even if Magnus only understood about 4 out of 10 words that came out of his mouth. He had set up pretty accounts on Twitter and Instagram for him and even taught Magnus he could type what he was searching for on the link bar, instead of searching for Google’s website first and only then typing the words, but Steve was not Alec.

So Magnus unleashed Raphael on him and poor Stanley was out of the building in a matter of minutes, running for his life. If Alec valued his employee’s lives, Sheldon would never set foot on Pandemonium 's offices ever again.

Still, Magnus hesitated. Alec never told him to stop calling him and he was always polite, if not patient. More often than not, their talks would go beyond of whatever technical problems Magnus was having and Alec would even talk about his day when Magnus asked about it.

Magnus had been the first person Alec called when he needed advice on what to buy for his sister’s birthday and they had drunk texted each other more than a couple times. Alec always seemed ready to help Magnus, or at least point him into the direction he needed.

And now that Magnus actually really, really needed the help, he was hesitating.

Magnus frowned. “Excuse me,” he said to himself. “I am Magnus Bane, I do not hesitate.” And so he pressed the number 1 on his phone until Alec’s name appeared on the screen.

A couple of rings later, Alec’s voice sounded on the other side. “Give me a sec, Magnus,” he whispered.

“I’ll give you anything you want, my dear,” Magnus said with a smile and waited. By the sounds coming from his phone, Alec was moving. For the split of a second, Magnus wondered if he had come to pay him a surprise visit, but that was just silly.

“Hey,” Alec said again, his voice louder. He had gone to a quieter place, so clearly he wasn’t anywhere near Pandemonium. “What’s up?”

“I’ll tell you if you promise not to laugh,” Magnus said, doodling on a piece of paper.

Alec snorted. “Is it the mouse again? I’ve told you, just because it’s wireless, it doesn’t mean the plug doesn’t have to be connected to the CPU.”

Magnus grimaced. “It’s not that.”

“Have you changed the battery? They go out eventually.”

“It’s not the mouse, Alexander. I can control something called after a rat, thank you very much.” Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know it’s usually my fault, but this time I think there’s something wrong with Al. Like, seriously wrong.”

“Okay,” Alec sounded very serious out of a sudden, just like the situation required of him.

Magnus looked at his desktop with sympathy. He had been a great friend, but sometimes sentiment alone wasn’t enough. Some people just weren't meant for the long run. “He keeps freezing and he won’t load the sites I open. I think Al’s gone senile.”

It took Alec a few seconds to reply. “Magnus, how many tabs do you have open? And programs?”

Now, that was rude. “Alexander, I’m talking about the loss of an important ally here and you change subjects? It’s hard for me too, but we have to stay strong and face reality, not matter how much it stings.”

“Magnus,” Alec said with exasperation, but he held back and sighed. “Just answer my questions, please.”

Magnus rolled his eyes. That was rather disappointing; Alec didn’t seem like the type of person who would run from problems. He started counting. “Three, four… Seven… Eleven… Twenty three open tabs. And I would like to point out I remember what ‘tabs’ mean. Programs are the little drawings spread over my screen, right? The ones that appear on the bottom of the screen?” Alec just cursed, so Magnus interpreted it as a yes. He often imagined that was how it would go in bed as well. “There will be, hm, five programs open.”

“H-how many files on each program?” Alec asked and he sounded half afraid. “How many images and word files?”

Magnus wasn’t sure he liked it. “Well, let me count. Hm, about… Yup, fifty eight, in total. Why, darling?”

“Oh my God,” Alec said simply. “Close something! It’s a computer, it can’t handle so many things open at once. It’s overloading.”

Magnus blinked. “Oh my, I didn’t know Al was so sensitive. Now I feel bad, like I’ve pressured him into doing something he wasn’t ready yet.”

“Just, please, close some tabs.” Alec sounded really distressed. “Why do you need so many anyway?”

“I was watching cat videos, of course.” Magnus pouted as he closed the windows featuring fluffy kittens. They seemed sad to go. “They help me relax.”

There was a long, judging pause before Alec spoke again. “Just close the tabs once you’ve watched the video, okay? Same goes to files you’re not using. Otherwise, Al will get overwhelmed.”

Magnus nodded, but then realized Alec wasn’t there to see him. “I’ll remember that. Anyway, I feel like I’ve stolen you from something.”

“Oh.” Alec sounded like he had just remembered something important. “It’s nothing,” he added in a small voice, “just a board meeting. We do this every month anyway”

Magnus’ jaw dropped. “I’ve interrupted your meeting with Light Inc.’s board. Alexander, I’m s-”

“Magnus, please, it’s fine,” Alec reassured him, his commanding voice back to its place. “If anyone interrupted it, it was me. Besides, Jace and Izzy are both present, they can handle it without me being there for the whole thing.”

“But just yesterday you were telling me some of the board members were giving you shit for being too young,” Magnus argued, not buying the chilled response. Facing the closed-minded and traditionalist investors was one of the few things that made Alec anxious and he had shared his insecurities with Magnus about it more than once. He had grown up knowing them as his parent’s business partners, and it was hard to make them stop treating him like a child.

It was easier to attribute their contempt on his age instead of on something else, so Magnus didn’t feel in the right of contradicting Alec on that regard.

“Believe me, I’d rather be talking to you than listening to their infinite hoard of complaints,” Alec said. If it wasn’t for the slight tremor of his voice, he would’ve been able to sound as unaffected as he intended to. “It’s like… It’s like it doesn’t matter what I do, there’s always something wrong with it.”

Magnus bit his lower lip, minimizing everything on the screen to be able to pay full attention to Alec. “My dear, I’ve done some research. Would you allow me to share the results? They are most interesting.” He grabbed a printed file, because he had indeed researched this and waited for the weak positive sound Alec emitted. “Light Inc. lost over 30% of its market share. Sellings dropped in half and general public distaste for the publicity and overall experience with the products reached critical levels, with Light Inc. receiving backslash after a disastrous racist statement from one of its founding members was released to the public. Over 20% of Light employees around the globe were let go, due to the internal crisis. That, my darling, was the scenario when you assumed the position of CEO. In half a year, Light Inc. recovered 74% of that lost ground, product sells and acceptance have increased in a rate higher than when the first Light phone was presented and public opinion has approved of the new management and what it represents. I believe you are hiring again?”

There was a smile in Alec’s voice. “Computer engineering and designers, mostly. The majority of those that were let go have joined competitors, but a few have come back.”

Magnus smiled too, as a reflex. He wasn’t surprised that Alec had reached out for former employees. “Fuck anyone who doubts you, Alexander.”

Alec chuckled and it was a beautiful, carefree sound that lit up Magnus’ office. “Thank you, Magnus.”

“You can thank me over dinner,” Magnus said and then blinked. He hadn’t meant to ask Alec out, but now that he had, he didn’t regret it. “I have to thank my personal IT guy properly.”

It seemed like an eternity before Alec’s answer came. “Is this Friday good?”

Magnus smiled and circled the date with a red heart on the physical calendar he kept by his desk. “Perfect.”

---

The loft smelled like peppers and saffron when Alec arrived. He had felt increasingly nervous as he crossed Manhattan down to the address in Brooklyn that Magnus provided him and standing in front of that luxurious door on the top floor of a bohemian building did little to sooth his insecurities.

But then Magnus opened the door with a huge, welcoming smile in his lips, and Alec felt right at home.

Magnus’ loft was as tasteful as the Pandemonium magazine itself. It was a mix of coordinated chaos and elegance, made of huge open space filled with Magnus’ expansive personality. It felt like half a museum and half a mansion, as if Magnus owned time itself and decided to make the best of it.

Just like he made the best of his already impressive looks. For the night, Magnus had ditched the expensive-looking jackets and tailored. trousers for a silky shimmering blouse that left most of his chest exposed but for the variety of necklaces he hanged around his neck. He had gold splashed over his dark hair and drawing a thin line under his eyes, just enough to make his bronze skin pop with its own gorgeous color. He had finished the look with tight black pants that revealed shapely legs and a nice sandal that allowed him to walk free through the house.

Magnus looked so utterly beautiful and comfortable, Alec almost tripped over his feet as he walked in. He showed Magnus what was in his hands. “I-I brought wine. White wine. L-like you asked,” Alec said, incapable of taking his eyes of his friend.

Friend. Magnus was a friend. A ridiculously hot friend, but a friend nonetheless. This was a dinner between two friends. Get your shit together, Lightwood.

If this was part of Magnus’ persistent crusade to embarrass Alec, he was definitely achieving his goal. Ever since their first talk, on that fateful day Lily had misunderstood Magnus request and thought he had wanted to speak business with Alec, the Editor in Chief appeared to made it his mission to come up with the most inconvenient comments he could think of, just to mess with Alec. He didn’t mind them too much, though. Once Alec passed through the exasperating attempts to disconcert him, he got to know Magnus. He enjoyed their talks and how Magnus made him laugh. How he seemed to understand Alec much more than Alec himself.

They had become friends and Alec’s building crush on Magnus wasn’t going to ruin it for him.

“Someone is looking dashingly handsome tonight,” Magnus purred, taking the bottle out of his hands.

Alec looked at himself. He was wearing a black and navy shirt, paired up with dark washed jeans and black sneakers. Not exactly fancy, but he had combed his hair on the way to the elevator. Shrugging, Alec gave Magnus his leather jacket for him to hang. Really, he should’ve thought this through. One doesn’t go to the Editor In Chief of the world’s greatest fashion magazine’s home looking like it’s just another Tuesday night. He should’ve listened to Izzy and worn the purple shirt.

Thankfully, something fluffy and warm rubbed against his legs and diverted his attention. “You have a cat,” Alec exclaimed in surprise and squatted down to pet it.

Magnus smiled proudly. “Alexander, meet my most precious possession, my son Chairman's Meow. Chairman, meet your future dad, Alexander.”

Alec snickered and picked up the cat when it nibbled at his fingertips. “Does that mean I get to take him home with me?”

“Only after we get married.” Magnus batted his dark eyelashes at him.

“Reasonable,” Alec conceded. “He’s so small. Is he a kitten?” He brought the Chairman closer to his face. There was something in the cat’s eyes that made him look astonishingly like Magnus.

The sound of a photo being snapped brought Alec’s attention back and he found himself in front of a triumphant Magnus holding a Light phone to his face. “Ha! And Ragnor said I would never learn how to take pictures with Estella. Take that, England.”

Alec stared blankly at him, and so did the Chairman. “You named your phone Estella.”

Magnus waved the comment away with a flourish of his hand, focusing on taping aimlessly on his phone. “How do I tweet this? The world has to behold this cuteness.”

A second later, Alec felt his own nameless phone buzz in his pants. There was a Twitter notification and he sighed, wondering if he should tell Magnus or not. Sighing again, he went if the decision he knew he was going to regret. “Magnus, you DM’ed it to me.”

“In this house, Alexander, we speak English. Get used to that.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “You’ve sent the picture to me in a private conversation. I look weird in this angle.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes at his phone in dismay. “Estella, why do you betray me so?” He threw the device over the couch, almost rendering Alec a heart-attack in the process, and gestured for them to go to the kitchen. “Alas, seems like I’ll be the only one privy to this photograph. Or maybe I’ll just publish it on Pandemonium. Are you hungry, darling? I hope you like spicy food.”

Nodding, Alec followed him. “Izzy digs Mexican food. We go out for chilly tacos every other week.”

“I’ve seen photos of your sister.” Magnus served them on the counter, pouring the wine Alec brought and laying a plate of colorful entrees between them. “It is unfair that she can have tacos twice every month and keep that shape, but I guess your family has been blessed in the genetic department.”

Alec shrugged. “She works out,” he said simply and picked up a roasted almond. It smelled heavenly and tasted even better. He couldn’t suppress the sounds of appreciation that escaped his lips. “This is so good.”

Magnus blinked, looking disconcerted for a second, but soon recovered. “Oh, darling,” he seemed to consider something before shaking the thought away with a wave. “How about we move this party to the balcony? It’s a beautiful night and I love to watch the New York skyline.”

“Sounds nice.” Alec grabbed his glass and helped Magnus move everything. They sat on the floor, over cushions Magnus had spread through balcony, and talked and ate for hours. The fish Magnus had prepared tasted just as good as the almonds, like a million different flavors exploded on Alec’s mouth. It was spicy and sweet, and it felt better with every bite. The wine had been a good choice and it enveloped their conversation long after the food was all gone.

Alec felt all his worries from the day melt away as he talked to Magnus. It was easy to do so, because Magnus really listened. He didn’t make it seem like he was interested in hearing what Alec had to say, he actually was; even if it were stupid IT instructions. Magnus could have a lot of problems with technology, but he never needed to be taught twice. He was smart, and hardworking, and so ready to take in the world, it made him seem timeless.

But he didn’t make Alec feel less in comparison. On the contrary, he challenged Alec to be better, without ever disregarding his feelings in the process. Alec trusted Magnus just like he trusted his siblings; irrevocably.

“You seem a little tense, darling,” Magnus said in a low voice. They had been staring at the night sky in silence, just sipping on the rest of their wine and enjoying each other’s company. “Hard day at the office?”

“No more than the usual.” Alec finished his drink and brought a hand to his shoulder. “I think I slept wrong or something.”

Pouting, Magnus cocked his head to look at him. “Of course you did. I wasn’t there.”

Alec arched an eyebrow at him. “You know, you keep saying these things, one day I’m going to believe you mean them.”

To his surprise, Magnus didn’t seem to get the joke. He huffed, as if he was annoyed. “My bright Alexander.” Magnus sighed. “So intelligent and so frustratingly dumb. I do mean them.”

Silence hovered over them like a dead weight. It wasn’t the comfortable silence of a couple of minutes ago, but one wanting to be filled. Alec searched for words as they all escaped him. He didn’t want to mess things up between them any further, so he decided to pretend that part of the conversation never happened. “So, hm, my neck was hurting like hell during the day, but now it’s better.”

Magnus shot him a sympathetic look, but then his face brightened with an idea. He turned to Alec, sitting right in front of him with his legs crossed. He too seemed to be ignoring their last exchange. “How about I give you a massage? I’ve been told my hands are magical.”

Or not. Alec knew for a certain it was a bad idea. “Okay,” he said and moved to turn his back at Magnus.

But was stopped right away. “No, no,” Magnus said. “You may be the tech lord here, but I know about human contact. Stay put.” And with that, his fingers were moving over Alec’s shoulder blades, pressing and lining and simply touching. There was a rhythm to them, and an intention. They contoured the shape of Alec’s shoulders, raising to the muscles of his neck, warm and certain. His skin was surprisingly soft and the edges of the hard rings he wore only made the touch feel realer.

Sometimes, Magnus’ fingers would brush over Alec’s parted lips, too quickly to last, but too often to be an accident. He traced the line of Alec’s jaw, idly scratching his skin down to his neck. Alec breathed in through his mouth, trying to maintain his composure, which drawn a little giggle from Magnus.

As he refocused his attention to what he was doing, Alec stared at him. His light makeup was beginning to smudge around his eyes, but it still shone just like the round earrings in his ears. Besides them and the rings brushing on his skin, Alec was suddenly very aware of the pedants clicking every time Magnus shifted. They made a delicate sound, but it was enough to shut out any other noises, shielding them from the world.

Magnus hadn’t refrained on his jewellery options for the night, choosing to adorn himself with earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets. None of them, however, were nearly as beautiful as his eyes.

Alec’s gaze traced from Magnus’ face to his extended arm, still working on the massage. The bracelet was there, a huge golden thing with a lateral opening. Alec touched it with both hands, barely noticing when that made Magnus stop. Carefully, he took off the bracelet, opening it slowly at the closing and revealing the bronze skin underneath it.

It was Magnus’ turn to stare in silence as Alec moved on to the pendants hanging over his chest. He touched and polished every one with his fingers, tracing the hard edges and soft curves, only to remove chain by chain until there was nothing left.

Kneeling, Alec got close enough to work on the earrings. They turned out to be a one piece and he took it off with a precise move of his finger, laying it beside the rest of the meticulously discarded jewellery.

Finally, Magnus offered him his hands and Alec slipped each ring from his fingers, never moving an inch away as he did it.

“Why did you do that?” Magnus finally asked, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. He was still sitting on his cushions, his legs crossed and his back straight, between alertness and a trance.

“They were distracting me,” Alec said, licking his own lips and not caring for how deep his voice sounded.

Magnus closed his eyes and, with a swift movement, he kneeled to meet Alec face to face. “From what?” His eyes were dark and dangerous, with a hint of hunger in them, as if he was just barely restraining himself.

Alec wanted that restraint to vanish. “You.”

Magnus smiled, touching his face. The warmth from his fingers caused Alec to tremble, especially when they reached for his hair, entangling with his dark strands. “Well,” Magnus purred and his voice vibrated against Alec’s lips, “here I am.”

Their mouths clashed together and Alec lost his breath. They were touching and licking and exploring. Magnus tasted even better than his food did, like an explosion of a thousand colors. He was fresh and rich at the same time, intoxicating every inch of Alec’s body.

Gasping, Alec had to move away to catch his breath. Magnus chased after his mouth, just stopping to look at Alec and make sure everything was alright. “Do you want to stop?” He asked quietly.

Alec shook his head, laying his hands on Magnus’ arms. He pulled him closer as he laid his back over the cushions. Magnus leaned forward, towering over him and getting comfortable between Alec’s legs. They weren’t touching, as Magnus waited for an answer.

“No, I don’t want to stop.” Alec smiled and traced his fingers up Magnus’ arm until his shoulder and then down his torso, feeling the silk adapt to each curve of his body. “I want you to keep going.”

“Alexander,” Magnus said as if the name was a prayer. “You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that.” He lowered his body until every inch of them was touching. His hands traced down to reach the rim of Alec’s shirt, pulling it up to gain access to his loop belt. Alec felt a shiver run up his spine as he heard the clasp open and felt Magnus working his zipper down.

Alec bit his lower lip at the same time as Magnus buried his face on the curve of his neck, sucking on the tender skin, hands moving over Alec’s cock. “You’re kind, and sweet, and so infinitely good.” Magnus planted little kisses as spoke, biting just occasionally to make Alec tremble under him. “And brave. So, so brave. Maybe you don’t believe me just yet, but you’re making history and opening doors for many others like us. And I think you should be rewarded for doing it while still managing to look sinfully hot.”

“N-not really sure... On h-how to answer that,” Alec said, or tried to.

Magnus smiled and kissed him again, long and hard. “Answer me this: was that ambiguous or do you believe how much I want you now?”

Alec wrapped his legs around Magnus, digging his fingers into his shirt. “Quite hard to misunderstand that.” He could feel Magnus’ satisfied laugh vibrate against his skin and his warm tongue tracing a line as further as he could down the collar of Alec’s shirt.

“Get rid of it,” Magnus murmured into his ear, hands still busy. Alec didn’t waste time and pulled the shirt over his head, smiling at the way Magnus looked at him. There was still hunger in his eyes, but it had mixed with want and admiration. “Alexander,” he said with a smirk, “you should change your name to Google, because you are everything I’ve been searching for.”

Alec full on laughed, but the sound turned to a moan as Magnus went back to moving his hands. “M-Magnus, you…”

“Yes, darling?” Magnus smiled sweetly.

“You,” Alec had to inhaled sharply to be able to talk, “are boosting my system.”

Magnus chuckled, licking his lips. “Get ready to overheat,” he said deviously and dove down for a second kiss.

---

It was Saturday afternoon when Alec went back to his apartment. The place looked empty and impersonal compared Magnus’ loft. Everything was there for practicality, mostly because Alec used the place for sleep and then he was out of the door for work. If he needed somewhere to feel like his home, he would go to his sister.

Anywhere Isabelle was felt like home.

Except when she was texting him nonstop, like right at that moment. Alec groaned and grabbed his phone. Fourteen texts wondering how he was, what was he doing and who he was doing. He answered just the first one, informing Izzy he was fine and back at his apartment.

There were texts from Jace and Clary, and even one from Simon. He ignored them, but smiled when his Twitter icon popped with a notification. Magnus had figured out how to tweet pictures and he had successfully tagged Alec this time.

After liking the tweet, Alec turned off his phone and went to take a long steamy shower. His body was covered with hickeys and a few scratches, not of all them from the Chairman’s claws. There was an insisting sting of pain as he walked, but even that felt good.

What didn’t feel so good was the fact that neither Alec nor Magnus tried to clarify the situation after they had had a go at each other. Not even after several other goes. They woke up in the morning entangled over each other, still on the balcony but wearing way less clothes, and just decided to make omelets. They exchanged kisses; chaste good-morning kisses, happy kisses between laughs, hot kisses after they ate.

What they didn’t do was talk, not about them anyway. It seemed unimportant at the time, but now that Alec was alone, he felt a little lost. Was he supposed to call Magnus? Were they dating, or had that been just a onetime thing?

Alec felt a shiver run down his spine, but not a pleasant one. What if Magnus didn’t want to talk to him anymore? He had a bad reputation when it came to lovers, everyone knew that. But Alec didn’t care, because the people who said awful things about Magnus didn’t know him. Alec knew him, they were friends.

But what if sleeping together had messed up their friendship?

Alec shut his eyes closed. He was overthinking it, drastically so. He needed to take a shower and make a list of his priorities. Once he did that, things would clear up. What Magnus and him had done felt too good to be wrong. Even if it never happened again, Alec knew for certain he didn’t regret it.

It didn’t make the next couple of days pass by any faster, though. Magnus didn’t call or text, though Alec objectively knew he was very busy getting ready for Paris Fashion Week, the event of the year. He was boarding a plane on Thursday and only coming back in ten days. There was much to prepare, and little of it had to do with technology.

Magnus didn’t need Alec’s help, so there was no reason to call. No reason at all.

Alec stared at his phone, lying there useless on his desk. He had two more meetings and a ton of paperwork to go through before the day was over, but his eyes kept being drawn back to his phone. He wanted it to ring so bad, but he couldn’t be the one to call. He couldn’t bother Magnus, not before Paris Fashion Week, so Alec decided to stay put and suffer in silence.

So, when his phone buzzed and Magnus’ gorgeous face shone on the screen, it took him a while to realize he wasn’t imagining it this time.

Launching himself over his desk, Alec grabbed his phone and brought it to his ear. “Magnus?” He tried to sound composed.

“Alexander, thank God!” Magnus cried out. “You won’t believe it, Al is misbehaving again. I can’t seem to find the article I was writing the other day. I think he simply doesn’t want to share it with Sparkles. The sheer egoism, just because I can’t take him to Paris with me!”

“Hm,” Alec said, trying to ignore the bitter taste of disappointment creeping in the back of his mouth. A tech problem. Magnus needed help with his computer. Of course. Alec forced himself to speak. “Do you remember what you’ve named the file as?”

Magnus hummed for a second. “Do you mean the article’s title?”

“No. The file’s name.” Alec shook his head. “You know what? Forget it. Open your file manager and type down any sentence you remember from the article on the search bar.”

“Darling, you lost me there.” Magnus chuckled, as if there was nothing wrong. “Who is this manager you’re talking about? Should I be jealous?”

Alec clenched his teeth. “I can’t help you right now. Important meeting.” He hung up before Magnus could say anything and make him change his mind.

And he only felt half hollow for doing it. The other half was filled with rage.

---

Magnus narrowed his eyes, pushing his lips together as he exited the plane. Paris Fashion Week was his favorite week of the year, for as long as he had been Editor in Chief of Pandemonium. Magnus even planned his year around it. Aside from his home, Paris was his favorite city in the world and Fashion Week elevated it from perfect to sublime.

This year, however, he was less than excited. His traditional week of preparation seemed monotonous, like he was doing everything automatically instead of enjoying the anticipatory moments before diving head first into a week of high fashion and celebration of beauty.

Actually, it hadn’t started that way. After his wonderful dinner and subsequential breakfast with Alec, Magnus had felt like he was floating through Sunday and Monday. Between getting everything ready to go, he kept trying to find a few moments to escape and pay Alec a visit, but there was never time.

When Al decided to hide his article, though, Magnus saw a window of opportunity. It was not that he couldn’t have asked Raphael or Ragnor for help, but Alec had become his reference for anything IT related.

He couldn’t wait for him to become his reference for romance related things too.

But it seemed that Alec had been having a busy week of his own. He had never hanged up on Magnus before, and if that wasn’t weird enough, he had stopped answering calls. The only thing that would get any response was texting, and Magnus hated it with a burning passion. Especially since Alec would only acknowledge his torrent of cute emojis with a borderline rude ‘I’m busy, Magnus’.

He had spent the entire flight trying to come up with reasons for Alec to be mad at him. Their time together had been nothing short of perfect, in Magnus’ opinion, but maybe he had done something wrong without noticing. Alec was still wearing that sweet smile of his when he left, and Magnus knew him enough by now to know that if there had been anything wrong, Alec was too single-minded and blunt to hide it.

So the fact that he was avoiding Magnus was clearly a sign that something was wrong and he didn’t want to talk about it. But what?

“Come on, dearest,” Camille’s voice brought him back to reality. She had been waiting for him in the airport’s lounge, looking fabulous as always.

A fashion icon and the Editor in Chief of her own magazine, DuMort, Camille Belcourt was Magnus’ French equivalent and biggest rival. She was also his Fashion Week fling, or at least that was what they told each other every time they hooked up during Fashion Week. “You didn’t call me to let me know when you were going to arrive, but I still have contacts on American soil,” she said with a suggestive smile.

Funny. Usually, seeing Camille was one of his most anticipated things to do during Paris Fashion Week. This year, however, Magnus had completely forgotten about her.

He checked his phone, taking it off airplane mode because now he knew how to do it. No messages from Alec. “I knew I could count on you to pick me up,” Magnus said, because it felt like what she wanted to hear. He wasn’t feeling very flirtatious, but he was polite enough not to disappoint a lady.

Camille’s smile grew wider and more artificial on her blood-red painted lips. “Évidemment,” she said, crossing her arm with his and guiding them out of the airport. “Now, tell me how things in New York are.”

Magnus sighed and let himself be dragged away. “Complicated.”

They went to the welcoming dinner together and everything seemed the same; beautiful people paraded around, modeling the apex of fashion for the season and exchanging dishonest pleasantries until they all sat down and pretended to eat delicious food. Magnus didn’t know why he was finding this dinner, a perfectly good socializing time, such a terrible bore.

Magnus checked his phone again. Still nothing.

“So.” Camille leaned to his side and she was close enough for Magnus to smell her breath. “Are we finishing this night in my apartment or what?”

“Actually,” Magnus said, completely calm, “I’m heading to my hotel. Long flight and all.”

Camille pouted, though it wasn’t as cute as he remembered it. “That is too bad. But I do prefer it when you’re well rested and ready, so let’s raincheck it for tomorrow then.”

Magnus didn’t answer that because he had nothing to say. He excused himself after twenty more minutes of listening to frivolous talk and found a taxi to carry him and his bad mood to crawl over a cold bed and huff himself to sleep.

Paris Fashion Week was going to suck.

---

His week was sucking so bad, Alec was seriously considering locking himself in his apartment and only leaving once it was over.

It started on Friday morning, after he had tracked down Magnus’ flight to Paris to make sure he had arrived well in France. He had set his email up to receive every piece of news related to Paris Fashion Week, in hopes of hearing from Magnus and so he had. Apparently, the Editor in Chief was having the time of his life surrounded by beautiful people who knew how to dress to impress.

On the weekend, Alec spent two days agonizing over whether or not to track Magnus’ phone through Light system, but ultimately decided against it because he might be worried and sad, but he was not a stalker.

The next Monday consisted of sulking in his office with splashes of lashing out over the smallest failures. Jace had to come with a peace offer in the form of Alec’s favorite beer and even so he endured a lot of undeserving eye rolling and scoffs.

On Tuesday, when Alec arrived at his office, he found his sister sitting on his chair. “Izzy,” he greeted her, arching an eyebrow when she dramatically spun the chair to face him, legs crossed and arms rested on the armrests in an imposing way.

“Alec,” Isabelle enunciated every syllable. “How are you feeling on this lovely morning? I hope less murderous than yesterday.”

Alec crossed his arms against his chest, narrowing his eyes at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Isabelle glared at him. “You made a baby cry by staring at her during lunch. I haven’t seen you this altered since mom and dad learned about you being gay and demanded that you saw a shrink to fix it. So, if I remember it correctly, your next step is telling someone to fuck off and suggest a very graphic way for them to do it. That was funny with mom and dad, but it won’t be as funny if you go full psycho on one of our innocent employees’ ass.”

“What do you want?” Alec asked dryly.

Isabelle stood up. Even in her seven inch heels, she was a head smaller than him, but she was still the one standing tall. “I want you to get your head out of your ass and do something about your troubles. I want you to face your problems. I want you to act, Alec, because that’s what you do best. Take action. Fix whatever is wrong.”

Alec swallowed hard. He was still angry, and growing angrier every day. His mind was a turmoil of self-doubt and regret, for hanging up on Magnus, for not answering his calls, for blowing his texts off. He was hurting too, hurting himself and others.

Above all, Alec was tired. “That’s what I want to do too,” he admitted in a small voice, leaning against his desk, “but I… I don’t know how, Izzy.”

Isabelle’s expression softened and she laid a hand on her brother’s arm. “I know you’ve probably thought of a hundred ways to do it and found flaws in every one of them, but how about you start small? Have you tried calling him?”

Alec pressed his lips together and shook his head in a small ashamed move.

Smiling a little, Isabelle picked up his phone from his jacket’s pocket and handed it to him. “Come on, big bro. Get this over with.” She lifted her chin and planted a kiss on Alec’s cheek. “I want my happy brother back, not this awful rage-filled version. You’ve fought so hard for that happiness. Don’t lose the last battle now. Not to yourself.”

“Thank you, Izzy,” Alec said, taking the phone from her hand.

Isabelle winked at him and fixed his collar before leaving the office with a smile on her lips.

Alec didn’t make the call right away. He put his jacket on his chair, making sure it wasn’t wrinkled. It was strange, because he never cared much for his clothes, but it seemed important to do that. Alec walked up to his window and stared at the busy streets of Manhattan. It was barely over 9 am and the city was already up and about.

His phone look dead in his hands when Alec looked at it. His wallpaper was a picture of his siblings and him and they all look happy, without a care in the world. That was how Magnus made him feel too.

Alec hit the list of his last calls. Magnus used the be either number one or two in there, but lately his name had gone far down on the list and Alec had to scroll down to find him and that felt plain wrong.

Time to make it hit the top again. Alec pressed the name, but instead of calling Magnus, he decided to make it a video chat. He wanted to see Magnus. Just hearing his voice didn’t seem like enough.

It took Magnus about three rings to answer, and when he did, Alec had to bite his lip not to laugh as he was greeted with a magnificent view of the interior of Magnus’ ear. “Alexander!” he said, obvious of his mistake.

Alec smiled fondly. The little mistake was enough to cheer him up, but the sheer joy on Magnus’ voice set his heartbeat racing up. “Hey,” he said quietly, not quite sure of what to say. “Why don’t you look at your phone, just for a second? I have a surprise.”

Magnus frowned, or at least that what it seemed like from what Alec could see. When his face appeared on the screen, it was from a weird angle, but Magnus’ smile made up for it. “I can see you!” He exclaimed, pulling the phone closer until he found an angle that he liked. “I’m so glad you called!”

“Yeah, I…” Alec looked away, but shook his head and turned his eyes back to Magnus. “I’m sorry. I should have answered you. Or called you back. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, darling,” Magnus was still smiling as he spoke, like it was glued to his face. “It’s okay. You’ve called now.”

Alec nodded. “I didn’t want to interrupt your preparations for the Fashion Week.” He grimaced. “Shit, now I’m interrupting the Fashion Week itself.”

Magnus chuckled fondly, waving away the concerns. “It’s fine, I’m waiting for the next event. I still have an hour or so.” He sat on a bed and Alec supposed he was in his hotel room. He could sworn Magnus had mentioned he always stayed in a friend’s apartment when he went to Paris, so that was weird. “How are things going at Light Inc.?”

Alec shrugged. He didn’t want to waste time with small talk. “Magnus, I have something to say to you. It’s important, so if you have a minute I’ll just… I’ll just say it.”

A confused frown colored Magnus’ features, but he nodded. “I promise not to interrupt.”

“Okay,” Alec said, mostly to himself. He breathed in, closing his eyes and making himself relax. “After we…” Alec breathed in and out, and opened his eyes. “After I went home from your place I… I realized we forgot to talk about… About us. I didn’t know if what we did was the start of something, or if it was just a one-time kind of thing. I started to overthink it, I even considered you would stop talking to me after it.”

“I would never-” Magnus tried to speak, but one sharp look from Alec made him stop. “Right. No interruptions.”

Alec cleared his throat. “So, when you called, I thought it was to make things clear. But it wasn’t. I got mad, and then I started acting like a child. S-so, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was stupid and childish and I really hope this hasn’t ruined my chances with you, b-because I would really like to see you again, as soon as possible. And not through a phone. Or a tablet. Or a computer.”

He waited for an answer, suddenly feeling exposed. He trusted Magnus though; after everything that happened, he still did, so he wasn’t afraid Magnus was going to laugh at him or berate him anymore than Alec already berated himself.

When Magnus chuckled, a sound of pure relief, Alec couldn’t help but smile too. “Oh, Alexander.” As he spoke, Magnus didn’t seem to be able to contain small giggles from escaping his lips. “I was so worried I had done something wrong or offended you somehow. I wanted to surprise you in your office for a change, but I couldn’t find the time. I should’ve sent you flowers, like Ragnor suggested. Or a cologne. I’m not sure which one you like better.”

Alec snorted. Just a couple of words and he felt like the weight of the world had lifted from his shoulders. Magnus was smiling and the last few days didn’t seem important anymore. “We’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously adorable.” Magnus winked at him. “I’ve missed you so much! You have to make it up to me. I know about sexting, but I want to learn about nudes.”

“Not doing either of those,” Alec informed. “There’s a thing called hacking and another one called leaking. Light tech is supposedly impenetrable, but I’m not taking chances. I have a sexual scandal in my record already and I was just kissing someone. Not going through that again. And do not say the word ‘penetrate’ in any shape or form. I know you want to.”

Magnus pouted, but nodded in the end. “Fair enough. How about sweet messages every now and then? Maybe some cute selfies?” He arched his eyebrows suggestively until Alec sighed.

“Oh, wow,” he said in a monotone, “my most sincere congratulations. You’ve learned how to talk in youth language. I’m so impressed and proud.”

“As you should be,” Magnus sounded really impressed and proud with himself. It was adorable. “Step by step, I’m getting used to the twenty-first century.” His expression turned shocked. “Oh, Alexander, you won’t believe what happened. A tragedy. A full blown tragedy.”

Alec frowned, worry making his blood freeze in his veins. “What?”

“I forgot to bring Sparkles! After all that trouble, I just left him in my office! At least he has Al to keep him company, but the poor thing had been dreaming to come to France ever since I’ve told him about the trip.”

Fighting the urge to facepalm, Alec just sighed. “I could send him to you, if you want me to.”

Magnus pretended to think about it. “Would you come with?” He asked with a innocent bat of eyelashes.

Alec smiled and leaned against his window. “Can’t. I’m a little busy with, you know, running a company.”

“That is just too bad.” Magnus sighed. He was about to say something else, but there was a loud knock on his door and he grimaced. “Duty calls, my darling. Can I call you later tonight, before I go to bed?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Alec answered right away. “Have fun.”

“I will.” Magnus smiled and blew him a kiss. “Have a boring responsible day.”

Alec smiled. “I will.”

---

Magnus hated technology. He had always hated it, ever since he was a little boy and all the other kids had stupid gameboys to play Pokémon and Mario Bros on. He didn’t have a Tamagotchi and it took him two decades to get a phone. Another decade to start carrying it with him.

It was not that he didn’t see their utility. He did. One didn’t become Editor in Chief of the biggest fashion magazine of the world without learning how to work Photoshop and a couple of others similar image or text editors. He simply didn’t understand it or had never been too willing to try anyway.

But now, technology allowed him to talk to Alec. Every day, the whole day. Magnus spent the rest of his week calling and video chatting with him, sending him pictures of himself with Ragnor, Catarina, and Raphael, and receiving pictures of Alec with his siblings, or with Clary, and even with Steven. If neither of them could talk, they texted. Magnus woke up to a new text every day, and he only closed his eyes at night after Alec had wished him good-night.

Fashion Week was half spent with him staring at a tiny screen, and Magnus considered it to be the best time he ever had in France.

Magnus had been on his phone during the better half of the after-party of his last party, snickering at Alec’s desperate texts during a particularly dull meeting, when two meticulously done fingers lowered his phone to get his attention.

He looked up and, sure enough, Camille was there, staring down at him. She wore a dark purple dress that left little to the imagination. “I have a proposition for you,” she said, offering him a twin flute of champagne to the one she was holding.

Magnus accepted it and took a sip. “And what would that be?”

Camille smiled and sat beside him, crossing her legs and revealing a great part of her thigh through the opening of the dress. “Remember two years ago, when you ditched your flight back and stayed with me for a couple more days?”

“I remember I almost lost two exclusives by doing that,” Magnus said calmly. It looked like it didn’t matter how much he tried, Camille was always lurking in the corners. He didn’t recall her being this persistent before.

But then again, he was usually the one who went to her. After a week of avoiding her at every cost, it seemed like the roles had changed.

Camille laughed that off as if it was a joke. “But you had fun. How about we repeat that? This time I promise to warn you before I have to travel. No more kicking you out of the house in your underwear, I promise.”

“It is common courtesy to tell your guests when they have to leave,” Magnus said with the most pleasant smile he could muster. “Preferably before the date, so they can figure out a place to stay or buy a flight to go home with a little bit less desperation.”

“Is that a yes, then?” Camille ignored the sarcasm dripping off his voice, as she often did when it concerned her.

Magnus stared at her, realizing he was seeing her for the very first time. He wasn’t impressed. “I wouldn’t delay my returning home for you even if my life depended on it. In fact, the only reason I’m not back yet is because all flights were full. All of them. I have someone who actually cares for me waiting back home.” Magnus smiled to himself. “And I can’t wait to see him. So, if you'll excuse me.” He returned the flute to her and stood up. “I have an early flight to catch.”

Magnus was still laughing at Camille’s expression when he boarded his plane on the following morning. Alec had stayed up late just to wish him a good flight, complete with a selfie of him with his messy hair as he yawned. After that, Magnus was dreading that idea of facing the eight offline hours ahead of him, but they were worth it. Especially since Alec had cancelled his lunch plans and was going to meet him for Ethiopian.

Since he wasn’t going to be able to sleep, Magnus spent his flight making plans for Alec and him to make up for the lost time. Sure, technology was great, but Magnus was still an analogical type of guy. It didn’t take long for the plane to land and Magnus collected his luggage quickly enough since most of his things were scattered on his friend’s bags anyway. After an emergency stop to the bathroom to freshen up his makeup and let everyone know he was alive and well, he prepared himself to fight for a taxi against some vicious New Yorker, or worse, a tourist.

Magnus was very focused on being the first one on that taxi line, so it wasn’t so surprising that he gasped and almost caused an accident when he saw him and stopped the exiting line all of a sudden.

Alec was standing there, looking as dashing as he always did in a horrible worn-out sweater, unintentionally ripped jeans and old boots. His hair was messier than Magnus remembered, as if he had literally walked there straight out of bed. Alec was grinning so bright, it lit up the impersonal airport lounge and made it feel like Magnus was step into his home.

In Alec’s hands there was Sparkles in all its flashy glory. “Magnus Bane” read on the bright screen, written in the exact same font Magnus used for Pandemonium in every edition of the magazine.

Magnus dropped his bags and ran. He was half laughing half crying when he threw himself against Alec’s open arms, hugging him tight. He felt Alec’s chuckle vibrate through his body and he chuckled with him. When he looked up, Alec was there, smiling at him.

So Magnus did the only sensible thing he could think of. He crashed their mouths together, taken and claiming Alec to himself. He shivered when Alec kissed him back, every bit as urgent. Everything else seemed unimportant as they stood there, holding each other as tight as physically possible, as if doing that would tear apart the walls of distance they had unwillingly built between them before.

“Hey,” Alec finally said, after they had let go of each other just enough to catch their breaths. “How was your flight?”

Magnus giggled and laid his head against Alec’s shoulder. “Eternal. I want a bath and a massage. Not necessarily in that order, or separately.”

Alec snorted and moved to grab Magnus’ stuff from the floor, throwing it over his shoulder and giving Magnus a nice view of his biceps. “Sure, whatever you want.”

“Well, what I actually want is to crtl shift del your clothes,” Magnus said with a smirk and laughed at Alec’s painful expression. “But I can wait until we get to somewhere more private. Your homepage or mine?” Alec stared at him, utterly unimpressed, so Magnus took it as a challenge and laid his hands on his hips. “Come on, darling. Don’t block my pop-ups.”

Groaning, Alec rolled his eyes so hard, it was a miracle he didn’t lose balance and fell on his face. “I can’t believe I’m dating you.”

Magnus giggled, liking the sound of that. “Wait until we get married and I’ve hooked my USB header to your motherboard indefinitely.”

Alec shook his head, too exasperated to dignify that with an answer, and just kept walking to the airport’s doors. Magnus chuckled and followed him happily, but not before snapping a picture of that angry ass on full display. It was past time he changed his phone’s wallpaper.

So maybe Magnus hated technology, but he made an exception for Light tech. After all, it did bring Alec into his life and for that he would be eternally grateful.