Chapter Text
Magnus pulled his coat tighter around his body as he stood in front of the entrance to the New York Institute, waiting for his boyfriend to meet him at the steps for their scheduled lunch date. It was not often that Alec managed to escape the hectic life of the institute and Magnus had made it his mission to make the other man take as many breaks as possible, where it was possible.
When Alec had first taken over as Head of Institute, Magnus had noticed a worrying decrease in the amount of food he was eating. The Shadowhunter simply stated that he ‘wasn’t hungry’ or was ‘too busy’. Magnus had since made it his mission to feed his boyfriend, conjuring huge pizzas from the takeaway place a few blocks over from his loft that they both loved, arranging lunch dates, and routinely magicking a feast of a breakfast after lazy morning sex.
Alec had jokingly started to say that he was soon going to struggle fitting into his gear, but Magnus had only given him a no nonsense look and asked him what he had eaten that day. The sadly expected but no less disappointing reply had been an energy bar. One single energy bar for the hulk of muscle he liked to call his boyfriend.
Alec probably burnt through the calorie intake of an energy bar in minutes with his ungodly strict training regime.
Earlier that morning, Magnus had been delighted to receive a text from Alec saying that he had time for a long lunch with the Warlock. Apparently, the institute was having a surprisingly quiet day with demon slaying at a minimum and work efficiency at an all-time high. Magnus was not about to look the gift horse in the mouth, that was for certain.
He shivered as a breeze of crisp air passed through him, and let his magic gently heat his skin. Alec always loved when Magnus heated them up with his magic, stating that his boyfriend was the best portable heater and proclaiming that cuddling would only ease the amount of work his magic had to do. Magnus, don’t exhaust your magic, you might need it later.
It was the most pathetic excuse for wanting to cuddle Magnus had ever heard but he had happily gone along with it. After all, Magnus benefitted from the barefaced lie. He would be offended but he knew with utter certainty that Alec knew the true extent of his power, was even proud of Magnus because of it. His boyfriend’s back always seemed to straighten and his face glow with pride whenever Magnus did something impressive with his magic. It was deeply endearing.
The front door of the Institute opened, and Magnus blinked in surprise at the sight of a smiling Isabelle in the doorway. His heart sank. He hoped Alec could still make lunch.
“Hello, dear Isabelle,” Magnus said warmly. He may be disappointed it wasn’t his Shadowhunter, but he always enjoyed the younger Lightwood’s company.
“Magnus,” Isabelle beamed, ushering him into the building. “Come in for a bit, Alec is just finishing up with some new recruits, he should be done soon.”
“Ah, how bad have they been this time?” Magnus asked, amusement tinting his tone. The Lightwoods often took pleasure in breaking down the new recruits, especially if they were the prejudiced kind. And unfortunately, despite progress being made, there was still plenty of them around.
Isabelle snorted. “Awful, the worst we have had in ages.”
Magnus grimaced. “More work for Alec?”
Chocolate eyes flitted over to him, watchful and contemplative. “He has been working a lot lately,” Isabelle stated, brow furrowed.
“Yes,” Magnus rolled his eyes fondly, “It’s a never ending battle to get him to eat three meals a day. I swear Isabelle, I’m becoming a feeder.”
A tinkling laugh filled the hallway they were walking down, amusement in her eyes.
“We’re going to Taki’s for a long lunch, it’s been a week since we last spent more than an hour together that wasn’t sleeping,” Magnus sighed.
The dark haired woman frowned and stopped, encouraging Magnus to stop too by placing a hand on his arm. “Be honest. How tired has he been? It’s so hard to tell because he’s so stubborn and good at hiding how he’s feeling, especially when he uses that damn energy rune.”
Magnus cringed at the mention of the rune. He loathed it with a passion. Whenever Alec used it, he crashed so hard afterwards, almost falling right over from exhaustion when he walks into the loft and finally allows himself to relax. The mornings had become Magnus’ favourite part of the day, despite the awful hour Alec wakes up. They often start the day with soft kisses and lazy sex, toes curling blissfully in silk sheets and laughing over breakfast, both thankful to have their own bubble of time together. Magnus just wished he could spend more time with the man he loves.
“Honestly? Not great.” Magnus said. “He’s always worked hard but this is just ridiculous, he’s dead on his feet when he comes home.”
Magnus let out a shaky breath. “He doesn’t eat properly, and I know he doesn’t give himself enough breaks when he’s here. And when he is here, he’s probably training until his body bleeds.” Magnus sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “And I can’t help worrying that one day he’s going to be so exhausted but be so pig headed that he puts himself in danger, hurting himself or worse, dying.” His voice breaks on the last word.
“Oh, Magnus,” Isabelle whispered, pulling the Warlock into a hug. Magnus couldn’t help but sink into the embrace, feeling exhausted.
She squeezed him tight before pulling away, keeping her hands on his arms as she looked him in the eye, gaze serious and heavy. “This stops now.”
Magnus frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but she bulldozed on. “Alec is going to take the rest of the day off and tomorrow, Jace and I can look after the institute.”
Hope rose in Magnus’ chest.
“Magnus,” she spoke softly, “you need to tell him how you’re feeling, how his frankly unhealthy behaviour at the moment is effecting you. Alec’s always thrown himself into his work but that was before he met you. He has been so much happier since and I don’t want him to let pressure off our parents or the Clave ruin that happiness. He chose you at his wedding Magnus, over everything, the expectations, the responsibilities, he risked it all. He will understand if you explain, you just need to tell him how this is hurting you. It isn’t fair otherwise.”
“I don’t want to hold him back from his people,” Magnus voiced quietly. He knew what it was like to be a leader, he was one himself. He was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and it came with so many responsibilities, lives depended on him and his actions. He couldn’t ask Alec to step away from that, it would be selfish. No matter how much he missed his boyfriend.
“And what about you?” Isabelle persisted. “How would you feel if Alec felt this way and didn’t tell you? Wouldn’t you want to know how he was feeling, so that you could work towards fixing it?”
Magnus frowned. “I suppose.”
He had never thought of it that way. Magnus wouldn’t ever want Alec to feel he was choosing his role of High Warlock over spending time with him. Maybe he owed it to their relationship, the one they had already worked so hard for, to tell Alec how he was feeling.
Successful relationships are built on honesty after all.
Magnus huffed and smiled at Isabelle. “It’s surprising how a centuries old Warlock still isn’t an expert at relationships.”
Isabelle’s eyes creased. “No one ever is. It’s a universal mystery.”
Magnus hummed his agreement, holding his arm out. “Shall we?”
Isabelle beamed and linked her arm with his own, guiding him to the training room.
A wonderful view welcomed Magnus when he walked through the arched entrance to the training room. Alexander was effortlessly fighting hand to hand with a slightly shorter blond Shadowhunter, who looked to be struggling under the attack of his opponent. Alec moved with surefooted movements, body moving gracefully and with little effort. Years of practice and painfully honed techniques were effortlessly used. It was poetry in motion. Muscles rippled under fair skin, making Magnus’ mouth go dry.
“Oh, I had almost forgotten,” Isabelle commented airily, “training together is your foreplay.”
Magnus only smirked. “If you were aiming to embarrass, my dear Isabelle, then such words would be better said to your brother. I do so love how riled up your brother gets in a fight.”
“I wish I could forget,” Jace grumbled from the side, leaning against a stone pillar, and scowling deeply. “I’m gonna have nightmares for years.”
Isabelle scoffed and Magnus’ smirk only deepened.
His eyes were soon drawn back to the heavenly sight of Alec kicking the ass of his fellow Shadowhunter. Damn, it was a shame he needed to talk to Alec, he would love to just portal straight to his bedroom and ravish the raven haired Adonis.
The moment Alec noticed his presence became clear when a brief pleased smile passed over his features before a newfound determination to end the fight arose. Within seconds, Alec had swept the feet out from under the recruit, causing him to crash to the ground with a loud thud. Magnus felt a flush of arousal at the move, it was one he had taught Alec himself and his boyfriend had been so turned on by the show of power he had led Magnus straight to his Institute bedroom. It was quite clear his boyfriend had used the move on purpose to rile the Warlock.
Speaking of conniving boyfriends, his Alexander grinned over at him, running his hand through his black locks, and looking unfairly attractive before starting to make his way over to greet him.
That was until one of the recruits decided to make a regrettable comment.
“What’s a Warlock doing here?” It was said with great distaste and a curled lip of disgust. The tone used was not unlike how someone may describe the shit on their shoe.
Magnus, unfortunately, was used to such treatment from a Nephilim.
He felt Isabelle’s grip tighten on his arm and saw her back straighten, her features sharpening into something dangerous and angry. Jace had straightened out of his lazy lean against the pillar, eyes flinty and focused on the mouthy Nephilim.
The most captivating had been the instantaneous change in Alec’s demeanour. The previously breath-taking smile had disappeared, replaced by the hard set of his jaw and lips. His tired posture no longer remained, his body was coiled into a tight line, arms crossed and figure defensive. His hazel eyes were flinted and filled with rage. Magnus pitied the soul that bore the brunt of that gaze.
But then he remembered the way the word ‘Warlock’ had been said with such easy disgust. One word that meant everything to him, it encompassed everything that he was down to his very soul. His magic, his friends, his job, everything he was proud of. Contorted into an insult, into something wrong and twisted.
Any pity he felt vanished.
Alec walked over to the recruit in two sure footed steps, piercing him with his cold glare. The sneering Nephilim faltered slightly, a hint of surprise colouring his features, clearly unsure as to what had warranted this reaction from the Head of Institute.
“That Warlock is my boyfriend.” Alec growled.
The Nephilim flinched slightly, and the other recruits backed away subtly, distancing their association with the offending party. Smart move.
“He is the High Warlock of Brooklyn and he has more talent in his finger than you do in your whole body. You will treat him with respect, and you will apologise,” Alec demanded.
Despite feeling quite furious himself, Magnus could not help but feel hot under the collar at the sight of his boyfriend coming to his defence so easily. Alec was always in his corner, fighting for him, for their relationship ever since the almost wedding to Lydia.
Magnus watched in satisfaction as the recruit swallowed nervously, clearly quite intimidated by the imposing figure his boyfriend made. With an obviously hard won slither of resolve, the offending Nephilim met the gaze of cold hazel directly.
“I will not.”
Isabelle sucked in a breath next to him and Jace fisted his hands at his sides, taking a step forward. Magnus felt a rare spark of affection towards the blond. For all his annoying words and cocky attitude, running headfirst into danger and usually dragging an unsuspecting Alec along for the ride, he was at heart a good man. Magnus couldn’t help but feel touched that such a comment, and quiet frankly far from the worst insult Magnus had ever received, had drawn such a response from the emotionally stunted parabatai.
If Magnus had thought Alec had looked angry before he was now a picture of fury. His muscles had tensed further, and his jaw ticked in annoyance. Alec stepped closer to the other man, clearly squaring off and entering his personal space.
“I am the Head of this institute and a Lightwood. My parabatai is a Herondale, Shadowhunter royalty. We won’t hesitate to make it so you never rise in the ranks within any institute, it won’t matter where you go, you’ll always be a subordinate. I do not condone ignorance in my Institute, ever. I suggest you apologise, and I’ll be kind and only put you on ichor duty for a month,” Alec growled lowly, gaze unwavering.
Magnus watched in delight as the Nephilim dropped his gaze, clearly thinking through his admittedly shit options and looked at Magnus with a pained expression. He swallowed and with an obviously painful amount of effort he spoke up. “Sorry.”
“Hmm,” Magnus inspected his painted nails with a disinterested air. “I suppose I deign to accept your apology.”
The indifferent act was worth it to see the look of outrage on the Nephilim’s face. He seemed to think better about saying anything though with Alec still staring him down.
Alec finally broke his gaze and looked to the rest of the new recruits. “I want to be crystal clear. I don’t tolerate any Downworld hate, if you have a problem with that you can walk yourself out of my Institute.”
With those words and a final withering glare sent to the asshole, Alec turned around and walked over to Magnus.
“Hey,” Alec said, his posture starting to lose some of its tension and his hazel eyes warming.
Magnus smiled up at him fondly. “Hello darling, ready for lunch?”
“Definitely,” Alec sighed. His gaze flitted over to his siblings. “Good luck with these recruits.”
Izzy laughed. “Nothing we can’t handle, big brother.”
“Besides,” Jace piped in, “I think we’ll enjoy breaking them in after that debacle.”
Alec looked immensely pleased with this comment. “Don’t go easy on them.”
“We never do with the assholes,” Izzy said with a glint in her eye.
Magnus chuckled softly and held out a hand to Alec. “Shall we?”
Calloused fingers wrapped around his own, a familiar and comforting feeling.
“I just need to send a couple of reports off and then I’m all yours for a few hours,” Alec said and for the first time Magnus saw the tiredness in his eyes.
“No,” Izzy demanded. “You’re going with Magnus.”
Alec opened his mouth to protest but Isabelle cut him off. “Alec, you’ve been working non-stop for weeks now, this isn’t healthy. You’re having a couple of days off, Jace and I can handle things here.”
“But-”
“Don’t even start. You need to rest. If you try to come back to the Institute we will call Magnus and make him portal you home, I mean it,” Isabelle planted her feet, crossed her arms and looked up at her giant of a brother with determination.
Magnus was surprised to see Alec sigh, clearly giving in quite easily.
“Fine, but only because I know you mean it,” a slight smile tugged at his lips this time. Isabelle looked quite pleased with herself. Jace looked amused with the outcome.
“You need your rest, Alexander. And once you are rested, I plan to thoroughly ravish you after that immensely attractive display of power,” Magnus declared.
Jace groaned in despair.
Isabelle laughed brightly.
A light blush dusted Alec’s cheekbone but he smiled, nonetheless. “I suppose I could take a couple of days off.”
Magnus laughed delightedly. “We will make the most of them, darling,” Magnus winked.
Alec wrapped and arm around his waist and kissed the crown of his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet you love me,” Magnus said.
“Yeah,” Alec said softly. “I do.”
After leaving the Institute, Magnus had commandeered their plans for lunch at Taki’s and took Alec to the loft, ordering takeaway instead. The Warlock had hovered and made sure he ate before demanding that they watch TV and cuddle, in an obvious bid to get Alec to take a nap.
Alec had seen through these thinly veiled plans but had happily surrendered. There wouldn’t ever be a day he turned down cuddles with Magnus, and besides, he was tired. He felt as if he had been running on low fumes for weeks now, living his endless days of paperwork and hunts robotically and through a haze of fatigue.
It was well into the evening before Alec awoke on the comfy sofa of the loft, Magnus nowhere in sight. He frowned and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Mag’ns?”
No reply.
Alec stretched and started to move, planning to see where his boyfriend had disappeared too. Maybe the apothecary? He was no doubt mixing questionable items from ancient jars together, the familiar look of deep concentration on his face.
Standing up, he ran a hand though his sleep tousled hair and made his way to the apothecary entrance. What he saw caused his lips to tug upwards into a fond smile.
Magnus had a work-look about him, his hair was slightly mussed, as if he had run his hands through it a few times whilst in the depths of his work. Golden cat eyes glimmered behind kohl lined lids, a reminder of how the Warlock felt relaxed enough around Alec to be himself, something the Shadowhunter never ceased to be proud of.
Although all of this was extremely attractive it was not what had made Alec smile. It was the sight of Magnus pointing a serious finger at Chairman Meow – a cat Magnus claimed to be one of his balcony strays when it was glaringly obvious he was more than that – and speaking in low tones. “I won’t tell you again Mister, you aren’t supposed to be in here, I swear I will turn you into a dog if I catch you eyeing up my potions again. A big slobbering, smelly, disgusting, Basset Hound, that’s what I will turn you into.”
Magnus finished off his threat with a wriggle of his fingers, imitating the use of his magic in a similar way to how Alec does. Alec found this amusing, considering that when he did it, Magnus gave him a stern look and admonished him for ‘wrongfully trying to replicate his graceful and awe-inspiring magic use’.
“I don’t think he can understand you,” Alec said, catching the man’s attention.
“Hmm, you’d be surprised,” the Warlock hummed nonsensically and waved the Chairman out of the apothecary.
The older man beamed at Alec and swayed over to him, wrapping his arms around his waist, and looking closely at his face. “You look much more rested, darling.”
A ringed hand reached up and a thumb brushed the skin under his eyes gently. “No more bags.”
Alec rolled his eyes but could not contain his smile. “I did not have bags.”
Magnus’ eyebrows quirked.
A few beats of silence passed.
“Okay, maybe I did have small bags.”
The eyebrows lifted higher.
“Shut up,” Alec grumbled.
“I didn’t say anything,” Magnus said.
“You didn’t have to,” Alec laughed, kissing him softly on the lips. He felt Magnus’ lips twitch under his own, curving up into their own smile.
When the kiss ended, they stood there, simply holding each other and breathing the same air. “I missed this,” Magnus whispered.
“Missed what?”
“This, spending time with you, holding you,” Magnus said, a hint of vulnerability to his voice.
Alec had missed it too but had gotten so caught up in his paperwork, making sure the people of New York were safe, impressing the Clave, his parents, there had been so much he was trying to do. More than once he had felt he needed multiples of himself just to get half the work done that came across his desk, being Head of the Institute had been a lot of work before Valentine, but now that they were in the middle of a war, it was near unbearable.
The increase in workload had meant less time with Magnus, and it was something he had never wanted but only now he got a glimpse at how much Magnus may have been hurt by this. The Warlock was a professional at hiding hurt under layers of humour and smiles, but it had never been impossible to read the signs, not for Alec. One only had to pay enough attention.
The hint of vulnerability in Magnus’ voice spoke volumes to Alec, the softness in his eyes, and tightness in his embrace, as if he didn’t want to let Alec go.
“I’m sorry, Magnus,” Alec said softly, looking earnestly into golden eyes.
“You don’t have to be sorry-”
“No. I do,” Alec interrupted, of this he was certain. Magnus was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and he had made time for Alec, always, for dates, quiet moments under silk sheets, lending a hand on missions, in anything Alec needed. The role of High Warlock was as demanding as being the Head of Institute, and Magnus had made time.
“These past few weeks, with everything that has been happening, I haven’t spent as much time with you as I would have liked. Magnus, I- I growing up, all I ever knew was training, working harder and harder to become the perfect son, the perfect soldier. I am so used to giving every piece of who I am to the Clave. Then you came into my life and I finally felt what it was to love someone so much it consumes you, loving you, Magnus Bane, is a delight every single day and I am so sorry for making you feel any different.”
Cats eyes glistened in the dim light, making Alec’s throat tighten.
“Lately, I’ve lost sight of what you’ve taught me, to enjoy life, not just endure it. It is one of the things I admire most about the Downworld, you thrive, you live every single second as if it is your last, even if you are immortal. And-and Shadowhunters, we live as if the mission is life, we give every piece of ourselves until we don’t even know who we are anymore. But Magnus, you mean the world to me, you come first, before the Clave, before being a Shadowhunter. I love you and I am so sorry.”
“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus whispered, “come here.”
Strong arms pulled Alec into a warm embrace, holding him tight. “I love you too,” Magnus whispered into the shell of his ear, voice cracking slightly.
“I promise I’ll do better,” Alec said.
“I think you’re doing just fine,” Magnus said fondly, “you don’t even know how remarkable you are, darling.”
“You’re the remarkable one,” Alec argued. “You handle all of this so well,” he waved his hand around the workload in the apothecary, “the stress, the lives depending on you, you make it look effortless.”
Magnus laughed drily. “Centuries of practice, darling.”
“And learning to delegate,” Magnus said with emphasis. “Isabelle and Jace are there for you Alexander, they want to help you, so let them, don’t run yourself into the ground, give them paperwork and new recruits to work with, you don’t need to do it all.”
“I promise,” Alec agreed. “After all, we have plenty of lost time to make up for.”
Magnus smiled delightedly, a glint of heat in his eyes. “You, me and our bed sounds like a wonderful use of our time.”
“Now that, I can get behind,” Alec said.
“If you’re lucky you can get behind me,” Magnus winked.
“Magnus,” Alec laughed, leaning into kiss Magnus again.
“Ah, ah,” Magnus admonished, holding a finger to Alec’s lips. “Food first, don’t think I haven’t noticed your terrible eating pattern as of late.”
Alec pouted and pressed a kiss to the finger touching his lips, making Magnus smile. “Fine, but afterwards-”
“Oh, don’t you worry, Shadowhunter, I’ll even do that thing with my tongue you love so much,” Magnus said sultrily, cats eyes blazing heatedly.
Alec could not wait.