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Magnus walked through the doors of the Institute with his natural poise and a smile on his lips. Unlike most other times, his visit today was not requested nor it was work related at all. He walked through the halls of the Institute at a quick pace, mostly trying to get to Alec before he could be stopped by anyone. He was turning towards where he thought the offices were when he was stopped by a young small brunette girl that he faintly recognised.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him with a somewhat stern look.
“I’m here to see Alec” he said, his voice calm and slightly amused. The girl seemed new at the job.
“Mr. Lightwood said that he doesn’t want to be interrupted by anyone” she said, matter-of-factly.
“I’m pretty sure he can make an exception” he said, preparing to go around her and keep walking forward, but the girl quickly took some steps back and planted herself in front of him once again.
“Like I said, Mr. Lightwood…”
Suddenly, Magnus saw a blond-haired man coming in their direction.
“Magnus. Hi, how are you doing? Did Alec ask for your help with the last demon attack?” asked Jace, stopping to talk to Magnus.
“No. Actually my visit here is not work related, just for pleasure” he answered, a smile still lingering on his lips.
“Oh, I see…” said Jace, a suggestive tone in his voice.
“No, it’s not…” he said, slightly blushing. “I’m just here to see him, it’s all. But someone” he said looking at the girl that was still standing there, listening to them talk, refusing to let Magnus pass “won’t let me through and I was trying to refrain myself from causing a scandal” he said, half teasingly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll walk you there”.
“But Mr. Lightwood…” started the girl again.
“I can assure you he won’t fire you because you let his boyfriend through. Now can you please just let him go? I can take care of it from here” said Jace.
The girl looked at Magnus apologetically, clearly unaware of the relationship status of her new boss.
“Sure. I’m sorry, won’t happen again” she said, honesty in her voice.
“Don’t worry darling” Magnus said, appreciating that she was just trying to do her job. “I’ll give him a splendid review of your effort when it comes to keeping people from disturbing him” he said, winking.
The girl kept on her way, her head slightly down, and Magnus and Jace walked in the direction of Alec’s office. They stopped at the door as Jace knocked. A frustrated yes was heard from inside the room. Someone wasn’t in the best mood…
“He’s been a bit stressed out with all his new responsibilities… which I’m pretty sure you’re aware of” Jace said in a lower voice.
“Nothing he can’t handle. Or that a quick visit can’t fix” said Magnus, confidently. “Now, let’s not keep him waiting” he said, hand on the handle ready to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Alec’s head moved from the papers in front of his desk to the door. His frustration was rising, unable to focus – and hadn’t he asked Sarah to not let anyone disturb him unless it was a life or death situation? – he shot a “What do you want?”. It clearly wasn’t who he was expecting; as soon as his eyes landed on Magnus his expression soften immediately, a smile curving his lips like seeing Magnus had literally lifted a weight off his chest, making it somehow easier to breath.
“I can see you’ve been keeping yourself busy” said Magnus gesturing towards his desk, leaning on the door. “Maybe I could come another time…” he said half-jokingly, half letting Alec decide whether he actually had time to spare from work.
Without missing a beat, Alec said, standing up from the chair and going around the desk, “No, no… I mean, I’m not that busy…” he lied, wanting anything but for Magnus to go away.
Magnus saw clearly through the lie but he wasn’t actually expecting anything else. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Suddenly he heard a loud cough from his side.
“Well… I think I’m gonna…” said Jace, looking at the ground, clearly feeling like a third-wheel.
Alec turned to Jace, suddenly aware that he was still there.
“Yeah… wait! Did you want anything or…?”
“Nah, don’t worry, just here to drop him off” said Jace, patting Magnus on the back. He quickly dropped his hand, feeling uncomfortable again, turned around and said “Anyway, have fun” closing the door behind him as he left, the suggestive tone from before back in his voice.
Magnus had been side-eyeing Jace through the entire time.
“I’m sorry about him” said Alec, relaxed again, steeping closer towards Magnus, who was leaning against the wall.
“You know, this wouldn’t happen if your new… – I don’t know what you call’em, secretary? – hadn’t been so bent over not letting me see you…” he said, a smile on his lips, eyeing Alec up and down, no actual heat in his voice.
“She did what?” said Alec, his voice a bit louder, his brows furrowing, completely forgetting that he had been the one giving her these orders and hadn’t exactly specified any exceptions.
“Oh, don’t worry about it” he said closing the distance between them, an arm pushing Alec against him by his side, his hand staying there over his hip, the other pressing soothing circles in his furrowed brow with his thumb, his elbow supported by Alec’s shoulder. “She was just trying to do her job. Besides, I’m pretty sure she won’t do it again”. His right hand was now trailing his brow, following a path down Alec’s eyes, his cheekbones, down to his jawline, his left hand still keeping him close. Magnus seemed intent on following his thumb with his gaze, more worried about looking at Alec’s face than discussing his secretary.
Alec let himself be held, his hands leaning between Magnus’ shoulders and pecs, melting at the proximity, his brows unfurrowing as soon as Magnus’ thumb brushed his skin. “Still, I’ll talk to her”. His head leaned towards the touch of Magnus’ hand, his eyes closing for just a split second, relishing it. “Just so it’s completely clear, you can come by whenever you want. Like, really, whenever you want, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes. And I’ll make sure no one bothers you while you’re here” said Alec, a smile curling his lips.
“Have I just been given complete access by the Head of the New York Institute?” he asked, teasing, his right hand reaching the collar of Alec’s jacket and toying with it, grabbing it. “You should be careful, you know? Some people might not have the best intentions” he said, lowering his head and looking up at Alec, faking a mischievous look.
“Oh, I know” Alec said, his hand cradling Magnus’ neck and brushing his thumb through his jawline, turning his head slightly upwards and leaning in for a kiss. “But I don’t really think I have anything to worry about” he murmured, his breath hitting Magnus’ lips before their lips met, Alec sucking on Magnus’ bottom lip, a slow kiss that quickly became more heated.
He suddenly realised that he had pinned Magnus against the wall, completely forgetting where they were, their tongues exploring each other’s mouths, their bodies in permanent contact (maybe too much contact!). Magnus seemed to realise that they weren’t actually in his loft and Alec felt the absence of his hand on his side followed by the click of the door locking.
Alec started planting little kisses down Magnus’ neck, taking advantage of the unbuttoned buttons at the top of his shirt to go a little lower, the hand on his shoulder trailing down Magnus’ body. Magnus gasped for breath when their mouths separated, his right hand moving towards Alec’s hair.
“Alexander, sweetheart” Magnus murmured, his voice lower from the kiss, still slightly out of breath.
“Hum” Alec hummed in his neck, causing shivers to curse down Magnus’ back, making the task of asking Alec to stop even more difficult than it was before.
“As much as I love the idea of doing it here, I think we should stop before it becomes too hard to do it… no pun intended”
Alec sighed, detaching himself from Magnus’ neck but realising that he was right and that he didn’t want someone to knock on the door and think that he was unprofessional. He stepped away a little bit, trying to clear his head from the lusty fog that was starting to numb his senses to the outside world while sharpening them to everything Magnus. Nevertheless, he still kept a point of contact, intertwining his fingers with Magnus’. Now that his head was starting to clear, he realised that making love to Magnus in his new office in the middle of the day was definitely not the best idea.
“Sorry… I just got carried away” said Alec, blushing.
“I’m pretty sure we can post-pone it until tonight at home… or perhaps we can just wait for everybody to fall asleep” teased Magnus, an eyebrow lifting suggestively.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea” said Alec, his blush deepening and trailing down his chest, a wide smile in his lips.
“Well, you certainly didn’t think so a couple of seconds ago… It would definitely be a first for me, sexcapades in the Institute…” he said, his mind going places it probably shouldn’t go when he was trying to avoid having sex with his boyfriend at his workplace.
“You’re not really helping to make an argument for why I should have stopped” Alec said, giving a chaste kiss to Magnus’ temple and guiding him towards his desk to let work flood his mind. He let go of Magnus’ hand and tried to organise the papers on his desk to keep his hands busy with something other than Magnus. “Maybe when the whole being Head of the Institute thing is not so new” he said taking his eyes away from the papers and looking upwards to Magnus, a suggestive smile on his lips.
Magnus was leaning on the desk, his arms crossed on his chest, looking at the papers on Alec’s desk. “Right, which brings me to why I’m here” suddenly remembering that he hadn’t come here to just make out with Alec (even though it had been a very nice bonus).
“Why, is anything wrong?” he asked, his face going immediately into business mode, realising that he hadn’t actually asked whether Magnus was here for anything work related.
“Nothing’s wrong” said Magnus, his hand reaching for Alec’s arm reassuringly. “I just thought I’d stop by to see how the Institute’s doing under new leadership” he dropped his hand from Alec’s arm, and started to walk around the room. “And obviously take the opportunity to look around your new office” he said, picking up random objects in the shelves, inspecting them meticulously and putting them back in their place. “At least Shadowhunters have always had great taste in decoration”.
Alec looked at Magnus walking around his office. His office. It suddenly downed on him how many times Magnus had probably been here without feeling welcome, probably under some threat or suspicion that relied more on his Downworlder status than on actual proof. Or maybe to do some sort of job that people ended up on really appreciating him for anyway. And then he realised how his presence here, the fact that it was now his office, had changed it for him. And how he could change it for all the other Downworlders. By the Angel, there was a lot of work to be done here!
“I’m glad you like it” said Alec sincerely. He finished organizing his papers and went around the desk towards Magnus. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to hang out much, but it’s been a hard transition. Imogen didn’t exactly leave things in the best shape. And with so many people as Head of the Institute in the last few weeks, everything’s a bit chaotic” he said, dropping on the couch and patting the space next to him.
“It’s okay, I understand” said Magnus, sitting next to Alec, his body turned slightly in Alec’s direction, their legs touching. “Which is precisely why I’m here, to rescue you from this pile of work and take you out for lunch” he said, more like a fact and less like a suggestion, grabbing Alec’s hand with his two hands and resting them atop his leg.
“Hum, lunch… I like the sound of that” he said dreamily. “Unfortunately, it will take us forever to leave the Institute. Whenever I step outside, if I don’t have a specific and work-related place to go, there’s always someone ready to stop me and talk about something that they need or a mission that went wrong…” he said, exhausted just think about it.
“Welcome to my world” said Magnus, brushing his shoulder with Alec’s. “Those are the times when having the ability to create portals really comes in handy” he said, a movement of his hand opening a portal in the middle of Alec’s office. “So” he said, getting up with Alec and pointing towards the portal “where do you wanna go?”.
“Anywhere. Just as long as I’m with you” said Alec, a smile on his lips, looking longingly at his boyfriend.
Magnus gave him a quick peck on the lips and said, “Than I know just the place”.
Still holding each other’s hands, they walk through the portal, ready to relax and forget the rest of the world, even if just for a few hours.