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The first time it happens, Magnus knows he has a right to be annoyed. Alec had taken the night off for him, to spend some time together at a nice restaurant, and suddenly Jace Wayland thinks he can just strut in and haul Alec off?
“Jace, come on, just give me like... half an hour.” If Magnus didn’t know better, he would almost think that Alec was pleading.
“We don’t have half an hour Alec, Clary and Izzy need backup now.”
Alec’s shoulders slump and Magnus knows he’s lost this battle. He turns back to Magnus apologetically.
“Go,” Magnus says gently, because he knows Alec doesn’t really have a choice. It’s not his fault, it’s just how things are.
Alec looks back at Jace. “All right. You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
Jace nods and runs off, while Alec faces Magnus once more. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s quite all right, Alexander.”
“Really. If I had a choice, I swear I’d much rather spend tonight with you.”
“I know,” Magnus says earnestly. “A rain check, perhaps?” he suggests with a smile.
Alec seems relieved. “Yeah, of course.”
He gets up, but then stands there for a moment, as if he was unsure what to do next. Magnus is about to speak up when he leans forward to kiss Magnus on the cheek.
“I’ll text you later,” he says, then rushes off. Magnus smiles to himself, despite not quite getting the date he had wanted.
+++
“Alec, Victor Aldertree is looking for you.”
Alec tries not to sigh too exasperatedly. Magnus had just gotten here. “Why? What does he want?”
Clary shrugs. “I don’t know, he just said he needs to speak to you.”
“Well... can it wait?”
Clary looks surprised. “Alec Lightwood, questioning authority?” She turns to Magnus, amused. “Is this a first for you? Because it’s a first for me.”
Magnus spreads his arms. “What can I say? I’m a catch. Shakespeare once wrote over a hundred sonnets about me. Inspiring Alexander Lightwood to question authority is no big feat.”
Alec’s face reddens. “I’m not – I was just – ” he splutters. He takes a deep breath. “I’ll be back soon,” he says to Magnus, and hurries out, leaving Clary giggling and Magnus smiling after him fondly.
“Really? Shakespeare?” Clary asks, once Alec is out of the room.
“Well it’s true, my dear. He once compared me to a summer’s day. You think I’m not going to brag about that? What Shakespeare didn’t know is that you don’t have to have children to immortalise this beauty.”
+++
They’re lying on Magnus’ couch together. Alec has his arm around Magnus, who is resting his hand on Alec’s stomach. They had been watching a movie, but now they’re mostly just lying on the couch.
Alec wonders for a moment why his boyfriend had been so quiet for so long now, before realising he had fallen asleep. He doesn’t know what comes over him, but for one reason or another, Alec has apparently decided he needs a new lockscreen for his phone.
Careful not to move his left arm and wake Magnus, he pulls his phone out and holds it above his face, tapping on the camera app.
He takes one with his eyes closed, pretending he’s asleep as well, one nice one with him smiling, and another when he accidentally presses the button as he turns his head slightly to glance over at Magnus. And while the last one turned out surprisingly well, he makes a silent promise to himself that, although he won’t delete it, he won’t ever show it to anyone else, because he’s worried his expression in the picture might ruin whatever badass-Shadowhunter reputation he’s managed to cultivate over the years.
He’s taking another with him pressing his lips to Magnus’ forehead when the phone starts vibrating. In his surprise and scramble to answer the call, Alec not only accidentally hangs up on Izzy, but also lets the phone slip through his fingers and fall onto his face.
“Ah!”
Magnus sleepily opens his eyes to look up at Alec, who is desperately trying to call his sister back. He can faintly hear that it’s actually Clary who answers Izzy’s phone with, “Hi Alec. Izzy says you better have a really good reason for hanging up on her.”
Magnus closes his eyes and turns to bury his head in the crook of Alec’s neck. Surely even demons have a bedtime. It was 3 am. Can’t they deal with whatever ‘emergency’ they supposedly have in the morning? Magnus groans grumpily as he grumbles, “Fucking Shadowhunters.”
Alec is frantically explaining that it was accident when he feels Magnus wrapping his arm around his waist tightly. He responds by tugging Magnus closer as well. They both know Alec is going to have to get up in a few minutes, because for some shitty reason, Shadowhunters are expected to be on call at all times.
“All right, Clary, calm down, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Alec sighs at his phone screen, which is telling him Clary had already hung up. Then his eyes flicker over to Magnus, who is staring up at him. “I’m sorry.”
“If you save her life, tell Clarissa that she owes me.”
Alec laughs lightly. “I will,” he says, and Magnus loosens his grip.
By now, Magnus was used to Alec cutting their time together short because of work, but he always seemed to make it up to him, even if it was in the smallest of ways. Today, Alec replaces his body heat with the fluffy blanket he usually uses at Magnus’ place, and although it’s certainly doesn’t come close to actually having Alec there, it’s warm and smells like him, so it’s probably the next best thing.
And as per usual, Alec leaves Magnus with a soft kiss to the forehead before hurrying out the door.
+++
Magnus’ head is in Alec’s lap. They are sprawled out on Alec’s bed in the Institute, talking about anything and nothing as Alec plays with Magnus’ hair. Usually Magnus is very particular about his hair, but for Alec, he makes an exception.
Then, of course, Jace comes running in. “Alec I – oh. Sorry, I should’ve knocked.”
He turns to leave, but Alec calls out, “It’s okay, Jace, you can come in.”
“Okay, uh, we’ve got a mission. I haven’t been briefed yet but I think Lydia said something about some demons terrorising a couple of Mundane kids.”
Alec sighed. “Okay, I’m coming.”
Jace walks out and Magnus sits up. Alec frowns when Magnus stands, like he’s getting ready to go help Jace. “What, are you joining us?” he questions him.
“Well, I set aside my afternoon for you, so I’ve got nothing better to do. Might as well.”
Alec tries not to smile too much at the prospect of going demon hunting with his boyfriend. “All right then.”
He grabs Magnus’ hand and leads him to Lydia to be briefed on the mission.
+++
Alec would have been quite content in lying in Magnus’ bed for several more hours. But, as he had found over the past several months, it was always when he didn’t want to leave that he would have to.
His phone starts to buzz. If he was honest, Alec was starting to dread that noise, and it was not just because it meant his friends were probably in trouble.
Luckily, his phone was to his left, because Magnus was asleep on his right arm. He picked up his phone awkwardly and answered Izzy’s call, trying to keep his voice down. “Hey, Iz, what’s up?”
He winced slightly at how loud her voice was, afraid it might wake the sleeping beauty next to him. “Hi Alec. Sorry to wake you, but we’ve got a mission.”
“Okay, give me 20 minutes to get up and I’ll be there.”
“Why are you whispering?”
Alec hesitated. “Magnus is asleep next to me.”
He could hear Izzy’s smirk over the phone.
“Shut up, Izzy. I’ll be there soon.”
Somehow, he managed to carefully wriggle out of Magnus’ embrace without waking him.
It wasn’t until Alec was fully dressed and walking out of the room that Magnus began to stir. “Alexander.”
“Hey,” Alec replies softly. “Magnus. I have to go, duty calls. I... left a note.” He hadn’t wanted it to seem like he had just walked out, even though this happens often enough that Magnus could’ve guessed where he was.
Magnus opens his eyes and reaches out to grab Alec’s hand. “Come back to me safe.”
Alec squeezes his hand. “Of course.”
He always did. He always would.
+++
Alec picks up the phone. “What now, Iz?”
“Mom and Dad are back from Idris. There’s a mission and they want to see you.”
Alec glances over at Magnus. “I’m busy, can’t you cover for me for a few hours?”
“You really think that will work on Mom and Dad? Besides, you know they’re more tolerable when you’re around.”
“I’m sorry, Izzy. Not today. Please, I... Magnus puts up with this enough. Just for once I want to spend a day with him without getting a call about some mission.”
“I want that for you too, Alec, but I can’t help it if demons decide to run amok. What do you want me to do about it?”
“Tell Clary to take my place, I’m sure she’s gotten enough practice by now.”
“And what should I say to Mom then?”
Alec starts to get frustrated. “I don’t know, tell her the truth, that I’m busy making out with my boyfriend and I won’t make it back to the Institute until tomorrow.”
Izzy scoffs. “Yeah, she’ll love that. You know this is Mom we’re talking about, right? Are you sure you want me to say that?”
Alec sighs deeply as he considers it. “Yes. Whatever happens, I’ll deal with it tomorrow. Goodbye, Izzy.”
Alec hangs up, then turns his phone off completely. He walks back to a solemn Magnus. “You got a mission?”
“Nope.”
This makes Magnus frown. Usually Alec’s phone buzzing means their time together is over. “What was the call, then?”
Alec shrugs. “Just Izzy checking in. She said I’ve got until tomorrow afternoon off. I’m all yours.”
The look on Magnus’ face makes the 29 missed calls Alec gets from his mom worth it.