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Alec didn’t even have time to take his boots and jacket off before the door to his room flew open and Izzy stormed through it. She stopped a few steps away from him, with her arms folded over her chest and an expectant look in her eyes.
“So?”
Alec rolled his eyes. He loved his sister, he really did, but sometimes her endless curiosity was just unbearable. Especially when it came to his private life. More specifically, him dating Magnus.
Also, he was still holding a bit of a grudge against her for all that fuss about his outfit a few hours earlier. He decided that it was time for a little revenge for that. So instead of doing what she wanted and telling her all about his date with Magnus, he just shrugged off his jacket and pretended not to know what she was talking about. “So what?”
Izzy grinned, playfully smacking her brother’s upper arm. “Oh you know what I’m talking about. Your date with Magnus - how did it go?” She looked at him with big, curious puppy eyes and Alec almost caved in. He had always had a hard time saying no to that look.
Instead, he turned away from Izzy to store away the leather jacket in his cabinet and tried to pull himself together. Revenge, he reminded himself and grinned mischievously. He turned back to Izzy, seemingly unbothered by those puppy eyes. “Oh, that”, he deadpanned. “It was alright.”
Izzy gasped for air and stamped her foot onto the ground, which had Alec laughing. His sister was just too amusing when she was not getting what she wanted.
“Aright? Come on, Alec, you know how curious I am about stuff like that. Don’t be mean. I tell you everything about my dates.”
“Yeah, half of which I don’t even want to know about. Besides, you have been getting on my nerves all afternoon. So deal with the consequences”, Alec scoffed and flopped down onto his bed. He looked back at his sister and laughed when he noticed that she had changed tactics. Instead of deliberately trying to make him feel bad about not telling her anything, she had put on a disappointed face, all pouted lips and furrowed brows.
The sight was so endearing that Alec couldn’t keep up his unimpressed façade any longer – he let out a gentle laugh and patted the empty space next to him, motioning for her to sit down. Izzy put on a big grin when she sat down and Alec put an arm around her, squeezing her tight. “You are such an annoying little shit sometimes, Isabelle.”
Izzy didn’t even look the slightest bit sorry – she even had the nerves to put on a smug grin. “But it gets me what I want, big bro. Now, start talking. How was it?”
Alec tried to ignore the bubbling warmth in his chest when he called back the memories of his evening with Magnus. “Honestly, it was great. We went to Paris and – “
Isabelle’s eyes got big and her mouth dropped open in disbelief. “He took you to Paris for your first date? Well, that warlock sure knows how to make a good impression.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that”, Alec admitted and continued reluctantly telling her about the restaurant and their walk by the Seine. Izzy kept asking him for more details constantly and chuckled when she saw her big brother blush when obliged and after a short pause told her about their kiss on the bridge. Alec tried to keep his narration as short as possible, but by the time he was done talking, Izzy put both her hands over her heart and fell back onto the bed with a dreamy gaze in her eyes anyway. “By the angel Alec, that is so romantic, I am so jealous right now”.
“Jealous of what?”
Alec all but groaned when a familiar mop of blond hair appeared around the doorway. Being questioned about his date by Izzy was embarrassing enough, but apparently the universe hated him enough to send over his parabatai, who was no less curious than their sister.
“Alec went on his first date with Magnus tonight and they went to freaking Paris” Izzy blurted out before Alec could even open his mouth to tell Jace that he should go mind his own business.
But instead of a snarky or sarcastic comment, Jace barely even reacted to the news of Alec’s spontaneous trip to Europe. On the contrary, he didn’t seem to impressed at all. His face stayed calm, the only hint to him being surprised was the slight raise of his eyebrows. But apart from that, Jace hardly reacted. And that could only mean one thing – there was work to do. “Yeah, great. Alec, we need to get going. There’s been a demon attack about six blocks down from Union square. Shape-shifters, I think. Come on”, he said and nodded towards the hallway.
Alec released a breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding. Usually he hated late-night missions when he wasn’t even on patrol, but tonight he couldn’t be happier about the unexpected opportunity to get away from Izzy’s questions. Getting up, he shot Jace a thankful look and got a sympathetic smile in return. “Been there, buddy. When Clary first moved in here, Izzy wouldn’t stop interrogating me, so I know the feeling”, Jace said and patted his brother’s shoulder when the older shadowhunter moved past him and into the hallway.
Alec was pretty sure he’d never been happier about the existence of Clary Fray.
_
Magnus felt like he was a teenager all over again. Once he got back into his apartment, he felt like dancing all over the place and swooning over Alec for at least the next few hours. He tried to pull himself together, but he just couldn’t. The evening had just gone too well. Get yourself together Bane, you’re over 400 years old and this is not how you usually react to first dates, he scolded himself. Unfortunately, that didn’t help much either.
Again, Magnus blamed it all on Alec. From the moment that shadowhunter had shown up on his doorstep earlier that night, he just had known that this date would be special. And he had been right. Being with Alec just felt like second nature to him. There were no awkward moments, no embarrassing silence, not a single time when he’d doubted the decision to go out with the shadowhunter. Instead, Magnus had been able to let go and just enjoy the time with Alec.
He’d even felt comfortable enough to tell him a thing or two about his past – stuff that would usually scare people away instead of making them stick around. But again, Alec had surprised him in just listened, letting the warlock talk about those the shadows from the past, not judging him for a single second.
Long story short, Magnus Bane was pretty sure that Alec Lightwood was someone special. The warlock let out a happy sigh, shrugged off his jacked and carelessly threw it over the armrest of his living room couch, earning an angry hiss from beneath the fabric. Magnus slapped his hands in front of his mouth in shock and then rushed over to the couch. He was just about to remove the jacket with a snap of his fingers when a very displeased-looking cat crawled out from underneath the shiny purple fabric.
“Oh Chairman, I am so sorry. I didn’t see you there. Sorry, darling”, Magnus apologized, feeling bad immediately. He picked the Chairman up and cuddled him tightly to his chest. But apparently the Chairman didn’t feel at all like cuddling. All he did was squirm in Magnus’s arms until the warlock let him go. As soon as his paws touched the floor, the cat shot Magnus an angry look and returned back onto the couch, laying down in his usual spot. A few seconds later, Magnus heard a content, soft snoring from where his cat was rolled up into a ball of fur.
“Traitor”, Magnus murmured and walked over to the kitchen and his liquor cabinet. He could really use a drink right now. He quickly got a Martini ready and then joined the Chairman on the couch. Magnus put his feet on the coffee table and smiled softly when he reminisced the final moments of his date with Alec.
After they had decided to go back home, he had portaled them to a spot a few blocks away from the Institute. Just to be safe. After all, this had only been their first date and even though Magnus was pretty sure there were more to follow, he wanted to spare themselves the judging looks of the overly-conservative nephilim at the Institute, first and foremost those of Maryse Lightwood.
Not because he couldn’t bear those looks and all the judgement – he had stopped caring about what other people thought of him about 200 years ago – but because of Alec. Of course, the shadowhunter had stood up to the Institute’s far too conservative values more than once since the wedding, but still, there was no need to make this more complicated than absolutely necessary. So he had just opted for a short, but sweet goodbye kiss, leaving Alec a bit flustered and with the promise to call him the following day.
A promise he intended to keep, but when he looked over to Chairman Meow who managed to keep a frown on his furry face even in his sleep, he had a different idea.
_
Alec didn’t check his phone until the next morning. The demon Jace and him had chased near Union Square had proven to be much more of a challenge than expected, leaving both him and his parabatai completely exhausted after they finally had managed to eliminate it.
Once back at the institute, Alec had only taken a quick shower and fallen into his bed, passing out immediately and not wasting a single thought to anything, not even to Magnus.
So the surprise was even bigger when he woke up the next morning and, once he had turned off his alarm, noticed a new message from Magnus on the screen sent shortly after they had said goodbye to each other last night.
When he opened the message, he found not only a text but also a picture of a really cute, but somehow also really grumpy-looking cat sleeping in Magnus’s living room. Alec smiled at the cute photo before he started reading the actual text.
My cat is totally sulking because I didn’t introduce you to him yesterday. I think he hates me more than ever now.
Alec laughed to himself and started typing a reply.
Well, seems like we need to make up for that, don’t you think?
He hit send right away, without much thinking about what he’d just written. Overthinking made anything worse anyway. Instead, he put his phone back onto his bedside table and wriggled out of the sheets to start his day.
Throughout the day, Alec tried not to think too much about Magnus and their date. There were more important things to deal with right now, for example the war they had to win.
Still, he couldn’t completely shut the warlock out of his mind – whenever he had a moment to himself, no matter how short, his thoughts got carried back to Paris easily. But they came back to the present immediately when he heard the oh-so-familiar staccato of sharp steps approaching him.
Alec had stopped bothering about his mother almost never greeting him a long time ago. Maryse Lightwood had never been one of those mothers who showed her love for her children openly. Also, he figured that she was still kind of pissed at him about the wedding.
“Alec”, she just said sharply, “there was a demon attack in northern Manhattan. I already told Jace that you two should take care of that one. Go get ready.” And gone she was. Alec didn’t even try to argue and just nodded towards the door when Jace appeared in the main hall of the Institute. They had a demon to get rid of.
When he got the chance to check is phone again in the early afternoon, he found that his favorite warlock had already replied.
I got a few errands to run tomorrow, but how about dinner and a movie at my place? Does 8 pm work for you?
Again, Alec did not really think about what to answer and just typed back right away.
You need any help cooking? I could come over earlier if you want.
Alec didn’t cook very often, but compared to his siblings his cooking skills were pretty decent. Isabelle somehow always managed to either burn the stuff she was cooking or make it completely inedible. And as for Jace, Alec wasn’t even sure if his brother knew how to switch on a stove.
He was about to put his phone back into his pocket when another text from Magnus popped up on the screen.
Any excuse to see you earlier is fine, Alexander. Come over whenever you’re done at the Institute :)
_
When Alec arrived at Magnus’s loft the next day, he found the warlock leaning against his kitchen counter, flipping through what seemed to be a really, really old cooking book judging from the dust that rose from the paper whenever he turned a page.
Magnus looked up and rose his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that Alec was frowning.
“Has nobody ever told you that you should lock your front door? I mean, I could have been a burglar or something like that.”
Magnus chuckled before he put the book down onto the counter and walked over to Alec, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close. “No need to. The entire place is glamoured, only people I want to have here can come in. Believe me, if you were a burglar, you wouldn’t even have made it through the front door.”
He looked up into the shadowhunter’s eyes and relished in the feeling the soft gaze of those brown eyes gave him. He had been on his own for so long that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to care about someone so much. Now, his heart clenched a bit as if it couldn’t take it.
Judging from the soft smile on Alec’s face, the shadowhunter felt just the same. “Good thing I’m not a burglar, then”, Alec murmured, his gaze shifting down to Magnus’s lips when he ran his hand over he warlock’s cheek.
Magnus smiled softly. “Believe me, Alec, you have been on my list of welcomed guests since the day we met.” And then he finally leaned up to give his shadowhunter the welcome he deserved.
_
Cooking with a warlock was interesting, to say the least. That much Alec could say after watching Magnus whirl around his kitchen for a while, collecting sauce pans, knives and other kitchen tools, the blue sparks of his magic following him wherever he went.
Not only didn’t they have to buy the ingredients for the simple Italian pasta recipe they had decided on - Magnus just made the required groceries appear in his kitchen with a snap of his fingers.
But using his magic for making dinner also kept Magnus from actually cooking. With a wave of his hands, the tomatoes landed in the pot, a wooden spoon stirring the vegetables completely by itself while Magnus hopped onto the counter and poured himself a glass of wine.
“What?”, Magnus asked when he noticed Alec’s judgmental look wandering from the pots on the stove to him. He filled another glass and held it out to the shadowhunter. “That makes it so much easier.”
Alec took the wine glass, but kept a judgmental look on Magnus nonetheless. “Maybe, but that’s also cheating.”
The warlock let out an amused laugh. “Cheating? Come on, Alexander, I’m just making this much more enjoyable for both of us. No burnt stuff, no stains, no stress, just plenty of time for us to enjoy ourselves while the food is getting ready.” He reached out and pulled Alec close enough so that he could wrap his legs around the shadowhunter and steal a kiss from those pretty lips.
But Alec wasn’t done with this discussion yet, not in the slightest. “But it also makes cooking absolutely no fun. You know Magnus, there are people who actually enjoy making their food”
“Yes and you know what I enjoy? When the food is getting ready without anyone having to watch it, so I can spend more time with this insanely handsome shadowhunter right in front of me”, Magnus argued and leaned down to plant another soft kiss on Alec’s lips, lingering for a short moment in hope of Alec forgetting about the food. A plan that succeeded only partly. Just when Magnus thought he’d won Alec over, the shadowhunter pulled away and looked up to him with a smug grin on his face. “You really thought I could be distracted that easily? Come on Bane, let’s get that food ready.”
With a muffled sigh Magnus untangled his ankles from behind Alec and hopped off the counter. “Alright, if you insist. What am I supposed to do?”
_
“Now tell me that wasn’t just as easy as it would have been if I let you use your magic”, Alec said when they sat down on the living room couch after finally deciding on a movie they were both happy with.
Alec sat on the right side of the couch and Magnus flopped down right beside him. He put his bowl of steaming pasta onto the coffee table and made himself comfortable, leaning into Alec’s side and leaving the shadowhunter just enough space so he could eat his food in peace.
“Well it was definitely messier”, Magnus threw in and made Alec laugh loudly. “That barely counts as an argument, Magnus. It wasn’t my fault that the tomato sauce exploded all over your stove, I told you to watch it. Also, you didn’t have any trouble cleaning up, you just used your magic.”
“Oh yes Alexander, that was your fault. If you wouldn’t look so devastatingly cute, I would never have gotten so distracted.”, Magnus argued as he reached for the remote and turned on his TV.
“Shut up and eat your food, Bane.”
That, Magnus could do. Even though he completely failed the part about shutting up. Throughout the movie he kept commenting on the awful fashion choices for the main character, “I swear, Alexander, if I would have directed that movie, I would have kicked out the entire costume department. Seriously, look at those jeans! They do absolutely nothing for her legs”
One thing that Magnus was exceptionally good at, though, was using Alec as a pillow when watching a movie. As soon as Alec had finished his food, Magnus put their empty plates into his dishwasher with a snap of his fingers and then cuddled up into Alec’s side. He rested his head on Alec’s chest and placed his arm across Alec’s stomach (whilst totally not enjoying the feeling of those abs beneath that black t-shirt). Alec put an arm around Magnus and pulled him closer, until he had the warlock flush against his side as he quietly continued to watch the movie.
A few minutes later though, Alec found out that arguing with Magnus about which movie to watch had been a complete and utter waste of time.
With the warlock so close to his side, he could barely keep attention to whatever was happening on the screen. And frankly, he didn’t want to. Especially not when he shifted a bit to make himself more comfortable and felt the warlock’s hand tighten around the fabric of his shirt. When he looked over to Magnus, his eyes were met with a soft, fond look from the warlock’s dark eyes, making it absolutely impossible to focus on anything else. All he could do was focus on Magnus, his eyes and the slight shiver he felt running down his spine.
Apparently the warlock felt just the same because a second later, he tilted his head just a tiny bit upwards so he could catch Alec’s lips for a gentle, sweet kiss. Nothing too demanding, just the two of them, exploring whatever this in between them was. Nevertheless, the kiss got Alec’s heart beating twice as fast as usual and his breath hitching in his throat. Magnus had one hand on the side of Alec’s neck, right over his deflect rune. Alec held the warlock by the waist, his fingers grazing over the small patch of exposed skin where the warlock’s shirt had ridden up a bit.
And when Alec let his hands wander onto Magnus’s back, pulling him closer even though there couldn’t possibly be any more space left between them, the warlock couldn’t help but smile into the kiss.
He felt like back on that bridge in Paris all over again – his own heartbeat much faster than usually and his entire body tingling with butterflies. His smile got so big he had to pull away, only to be rewarded with the sight of Alec’s hazel eyes, shining with affection.
“You do realize you came here to watch a movie, right”, Magnus murmured as he shifted so he could put his arms around Alec’s neck.
“You do realize I couldn’t care less about that movie right now”, Alec replied and leaned in for another kiss.
That one didn’t last very long, though, because a few seconds later Magnus got distracted by a very familiar, very furry shadow hopping up into his lap and demanding attention.
Under normal circumstances Magnus enjoyed the Chairman’s company very much, but now he seriously thought about portaling him out into the street. “Go away, Chairman”, he muttered, his brow furrowed and his lips inches away from Alec’s.
But the Chairman wouldn’t be the Chairman if he followed Magnus’s orders. Instead of walking away as he’d been told, the cat just climbed over Alec and up onto the armrest, keeping the annoying meowing up.
With a deep sigh, Magnus broke away from Alec and looked at his pet. “Chairman Meow, you have a serious problem with your sense of tact.” He tried to make his voice sound strict, but somehow his cat didn’t seem impressed at all. But then again, the Chairman was hardly ever impressed by anything.
Magnus threw back his head in frustration and groaned. “I swear to god, why did I even get this cat. Shoo, Chairman! Leave!” He waved his hands at the cat in a poor attempt in shooing it away, but that attempt failed miserably. Instead, the Chairman just crawled into Alec’s lap, starting to purr loudly as soon as Alec started to scratch his head.
“Seems like he’s forgiven you for not introducing me to him earlier”, Alec stated matter-of-factly and looked over to Magnus with an amused smile.
Magnus really tried to be mad at his cat, but just as his attempts to get rid of him earlier, he failed terribly. The sight of Alec snuggling with his pet was just too heartwarming to really be mad. And so he just leaned his head on Alec’s shoulder and sighed happily.
“He’d better. I intend to keep you for a while.”