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Pretty much everybody knew about Magnus and Alec. Gossip in the shadow world got around fast, and they’d sucked tongue in front of pretty much the entire clave. Simon—the only downworlder present that hadn’t made out with Alec—had sworn Raphael to secrecy; Raphael had lasted all of five minutes before he was gleefully telling Nkechi that Magnus had fucked a Shadowhunter. Before the night was over, the Seelies in Kaunas were talking about the New York warlock and shadowhunter that had to participate in an ancient sex magic ritual to prevent a terrible demon from ravaging the eastern seaboard.
But despite the rumors in the overheard section of Shadowhunters Weekly, some people were blissfully unaware of the shadow world’s hottest new couple.
~
Jocelyn sighed. Clary was gone, again, and Magnus had stayed steadfast on her ban from Alec’s room, so she’d been left to pace and complain her guilt away to Luke and Simon. “But what I don’t get is why Magnus cares so much about a random shadowhunter,” Jocelyn said.
Simon winced. “Oh, boy.”
~
Lurch had been in the business a long time, and seen a lot of shit. He’d opened up his shop years ago; pixies were good at finding shiny things, and he was no exception. He’d just found a way to monetize that skill. Warlocks, seelies, sirens; Lurch didn’t really care what spells they would use the supplies he sold them for, as long as the money was good. But when a shadowhunter walked through his door, Lurch’s wings bristled.
He was tall, but packed with muscle; Lurch was no slouch himself, but it wouldn’t be an easy fight. The shadowhunter coughed, muttering to himself, before reaching into his pocket. Lurch tensed.
He tugged out a harmless piece of paper. “I need. . .” he glared down at the list in his hands, and Lurch half expected it to catch on fire. “Fox breath and cork blessed by a mermaid?”
Lurch narrowed his eyes. “What in the hell does a shadowhunter need that for?”
“My boyfriend needs it for a spell.” The shadowhunter shrugged. “He was in the middle of brewing a potion that he couldn’t leave, so he made me come get it.”
“Your. . .boyfriend?”
“Yeah. Magnus Bane.”
Lurch blinked. “Your boyfriend. . .is the High Warlock of Brooklyn?” Magnus Bane had a reputation for being into some kinky shit, but a shadowhunter?
“Yeah,” the shadowhunter repeated, as if Lurch was an idiot for not knowing that.
“Huh,” Lurch said. “Well, Magnus is a long time customer, so I suppose I can sell you the stuff if it’s for him.”
The shadowhunter rolled his eyes and tossed a brooch on the table. It was covered in diamonds—Lurch had complimented it the last time Magnus had been in the shop. “He sent that as payment.”
“Huh,” Lurch said again, tucking the brooch into his safe. There was someone out there for everyone, he supposed.
~
“So you’re saying Magnus Bane, Magnus ‘I should avoid Shadowhunters at all costs’ Bane, is dating a Lightwood?”
“Well, I don’t know if they’re dating, technically. . .” Luke hedged.
“Seeing where things go, I think,” Simon agreed. “Or maybe friends with benefits?”
~
Lydia was power walking down the hall, aiming straight for Alec. Judging by the look on her face, Alec was going to have to finally figure out where he’d left his extra arrows.
“There’s a group from Idris coming,” she said quickly.
“The clave?”
Alec swore her lips twitched. “No. A junior training envoy.”
He blinked. That didn’t deserve power walking in the heels she was wearing. “. . .So? We have training envoys come all the time.”
Lydia smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “Good! Then you won’t mind showing them around. They asked for you specifically.”
Alec sighed as he headed toward the main hall. “You owe me!” he shouted over his shoulder.
Training envoys from Idris were common. Teenage shadowhunters, just beginning to really come into their training, were often carted around Institutes across the world to see how different groups operated. Giving tours of the Institute wasn’t enjoyable by any means, but all the high ranking shadowhunters did it here and there.
He realized slowly as he walked into the main hall that Lydia had set him up. He was going to kill her.
Staring at him was a group of six teenage girls. They smiled at him, and Alec felt like he’d just walked into a pit of vipers.
“Uh. . .Hi?” He said, unsure.
They giggled in creepy unison.
Alec was pretty oblivious about women—he didn’t even like most of them that weren’t Izzy or Lydia—but these girls weren’t subtle. As they giggled and smirked their way through his stuttering tour, Alec grew more and more weary. When one of them asked if Lydia was his wife, Alec thought about demonstrating the efficacy of the seraph blade he was holding by putting it through his own throat.
What would Magnus do, he thought. Normally Alec was the more straight forward of the pair, but he doubted Magnus would let this charade go on. “No,” he said. He took a mental breath. “But she and my boyfriend are good friends.”
This time, when they blinked at the same time, Alec just found it funny.
~
“Wow, Maryse Lightwood has a gay son. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but poor kid.”
Simon nodded. “I don’t think you can blame all of the saltiness on the repression and the homophobia, but. I don’t think it helped.”
~
“Magnus!” the voice screeched at the door. Magnus couldn’t help but wince. His mundane neighbor was a lovely woman, but every time he had to interact with her he left feeling thankful for his immortality and the fact that he would never have to experience age-induced deafness.
“Mrs. Rosden,” he said, smiling as he opened the door. She smiled back from her gummy teeth. “How can I help you today?”
“Well, sonny, I was hoping you might have some sugar I could borrow. I’m making brownies.”
He waved her in. “Only if you give me one.”
She followed him in. He pretended to rummage in his cabinet—he didn’t actually have any sugar, but for Mrs. Rosden, he’d summon some up from the bodega down the street. He pulled out the bag and pressed it gently into her wrinkled hands.
“You’re a good kid,” she said. It always amused him when she called him things like sonny or kid; there wasn’t an easy way to say I’m actually a powerful immortal being several hundred years older than you. “A handsome young man like you shouldn’t be single.”
He paused. Even after all these years, despite that most people could look at his clothes and makeup and see he wasn’t entirely straight, coming out still made him a little nervous. “I’m not single, actually. I have a boyfriend.”
“That tall handsome young man that comes out of your apartment sometimes?”
Wow, Alec really needed to work on his discreteness a little more. “Yes, actually.”
Ms. Rosden did a little dance. “Hot damn! I knew you were tapping that! Ethel from bingo owes me twenty bucks.”
~
“Huh. Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. Who woulda thought,” Jocelyn said later that night.
“They work,” Luke said. “The world is changing for the better.” He intertwined his hand with hers and squeezed.