#...well a happy ending for Jimon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rhosyn-du · 3 years

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Never make a mess when a total catastrophe will do - Chapter Five

Pairings: Jimon, past Clace, background Clizzy, a bunch of other minor background pairings Rating: Explicit Art: @cor321 Beta: @all-thestories-aretrue Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, fake dating, oh my god they were roommates, friends with benefits, idiots to lovers, pining, miscommunication, holidays, drinking games, mistletoe, symbolically significant Oreos, domestic fluff, brief mention of past character death, Jace’s self-worth issues deserve their own tag Summary: What do you do when you find out your sister is not only dating your ex and love-of-your-high-school-life but is also bringing her home for Christmas? Bring your annoying, hot, annoyingly-hot roommate as your fake boyfriend to show them you're totally fine with it, obviously! There's no possible way this could backfire. Link: AO3 , Tumblr Master Post

Chapter Five

Jace worried that things would be weird when they got back home. He and Simon hadn’t spoken since New Year’s. He’d thought about texting, had in fact written and deleted at least a dozen texts over the next three days, but he never actually sent one. After all, Simon was the one who left without a word, and Jace wasn’t the kind of guy who chased after a hookup who wasn’t interested.

But when he finally got back to the apartment, it wasn’t weird at all.

He arrived home late afternoon the day before classes were due to start again to find Simon and Maia on the couch playing Overcooked. Simon glanced away from the game just long enough to tell Jace there was pizza in the kitchen if he wanted some, and that was it. The three of them spent the rest of the evening gaming, Simon acting like nothing at all had happened and Jace trying to convince himself that it didn’t bother him in the slightest. If Maia noticed anything, she didn’t let on.

The beginning of the new term was busy enough that they didn’t see each other much over the next few days, and Jace threw himself into his new classes with an enthusiasm he usually reserved for more hedonistic pursuits. Thursday night found him at his desk, deeply immersed in his world history reading. He was in the middle of a very dry passage on the Byzantine-Norman wars when he heard a light knock on his bedroom door.

“What is it?” he answered, not looking up from his book.

“Hey,” Simon said, opening the door. “I was just wondering what you were doing tonight.”

Jace looked up from his book only to have his brain come to a screeching halt. Simon was standing in his doorway, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. A small towel. It was disturbingly reminiscent of that first week living together, when Jace had realized exactly how hot Simon was. Except now he knew what it felt like to touch Simon, to kiss him, knew how he liked to have his dick stroked and the noises he made when he came.

With great effort, Jace snapped his eyes up to Simon’s face. Simon, who was still talking like nothing at all was off about him just strolling into Jace’s bedroom mostly naked.

“Because I don’t have any plans, and I was thinking maybe you might want to do something. You know, if you’re free.”

There were many things Jace wanted to do, all of which involved divesting Simon of that towel.

“Were you planning to put pants on?” Jace was proud of how level he managed to keep his voice.

The look Simon gave him was somewhere between flirtatious and challenging. “Do you want me to?”

He didn’t. He really didn’t, but he also didn’t know what the hell was going on, and while Jace would never say he didn’t knowingly walk headlong into bad choices on a regular basis, he tried not to make the same mistake twice. Three times, tops.

“Simon,” Jace said levelly, “what are you doing?”

“Seducing you?” Simon seemed to deflate a little. “Or, you know, failing to seduce you, apparently.”

“Not exactly failing,” Jace admitted, standing to move closer to Simon, who gave him a tiny, hopeful smile. “But I thought you said this was a mistake.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it,” Simon said, “and maybe I was wrong.”

Hope rose like a cresting wave inside Jace’s chest, and he struggled to keep it from sweeping him away. “I had fun on New Year’s.”

“Me too,” Simon said, taking a tentative step closer. “Like, a lot. And I was thinking, you know, we’re obviously into each other, so maybe it wasn’t a mistake. Wouldn’t be a mistake.”

Jace found himself nodding. This could end in disaster, probably would end in disaster if his life thus far were any indication, but standing here with Simon so close, his smile so bright, Jace thought maybe it was worth the risk.

“I mean, as long as you’re not seeing anyone else,” Simon said quickly, and that rising swell of hope crashed like shattering glass. “Because I don’t really—”

“I get it,” Jace interrupted. He didn’t actually need a detailed explanation of why Simon was only interested in hooking up with him until someone better came along. It was all anyone ever wanted from him, and most of the time it was what he wanted, too. “We’re both hot and single, so as long as neither of us is seeing anyone, there’s no reason we can’t have fun together.”

Simon’s brows furrowed, and for a second Jace worried that he hadn’t managed to hide his disappointment, but then Simon was smiling at him again. “Yeah, of course. That’s exactly what I meant.”

“In that case,” Jace said, taking the last step that put him firmly inside Simon’s personal space, “my answer to your earlier question is no.” When Simon started to frown, he clarified, “I don’t want you to put your pants on.”

“Good,” Simon said, leaning in so that their lips just barely brushed as he spoke, “because I’d much rather take yours off.”

Their mouths met in a kiss that was surprisingly gentle, and Jace had to pull away after only a few seconds because of how much he wanted.

“Do you think we can make it to a bed this time?”

Simon glanced over at Jace’s bed, as though he were seriously contemplating the answer to that question. “I think we can probably manage.”

“Good,” Jace said, catching Simon’s gaze and holding it. “Because I really want to suck you, and you’re not going to be able to stay standing when I do.”

Simon kissed him, hard and fast. “If you keep talking like that, we definitely won’t make it to the bed.”

It took them far longer than it should have to make it across the room, mostly because Simon seemed intent on making sure Jace wasn’t wearing any more than he was by the time they got there, but Jace eventually felt the backs of his knees connect with the edge of the bed and pulled Simon with him as he tumbled into it. They landed in an awkward sprawl, half-laughing into the kiss they refused to break as Jace tugged at the towel that was somehow still knotted around Simon’s waist.

Simon made one of those soft, desperate noises that Jace was quickly becoming addicted to as the towel fell away, and Jace stroked a hand up Simon’s thigh, just high enough to tease. He left it there, unmoving, as he deepened their kiss, licking into Simon’s mouth with intent.

It didn’t take long until Simon’s hips were moving, trying to find friction for his rapidly hardening cock. It took only a few seconds longer for him to realize Jace was doing it on purpose.

“Should’ve known you’d be like this,” Simon said between kisses. “Just as much of a dick in bed as you are everywhere else.”

“Not much of an insult, considering that you like my dick,” Jace answered, finally moving his hand to trail lightly up the length of Simon’s cock, eliciting a shaky gasp. “Consider this payback for coming in here in nothing but a damn towel.”

“Oh, that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

That was all the warning Jace got before he found himself on his back, hands pinned to the bed above his head, Simon straddling his thighs. He flexed his arms experimentally, determined he probably could get free with enough effort and also that he really didn’t want to.

He cocked an eyebrow at Simon. “What are you going to do with me now that you’ve got me?”

Simon swallowed hard. “So much,” he said seriously. “You said you want to suck me and that works out because I kind of really want your mouth, but first I’m going to show you what happens when you’re a tease.”

“You’re one to talk about teasing. Do you ever bother to take clothes into the bathroom with you when you shower?”

Anything else Jace might have said was lost in a startled gasp as Simon’s mouth closed over his left nipple, a swirl of tongue punctuated by a sharp nip of teeth. Simon repeated the treatment on the right, and it was enough for Jace’s hips to give a tiny, involuntary jerk. Against nothing at all, since Simon was sitting far enough back to keep him from getting any kind of friction.

Jace managed to bite back the frustrated whine that wanted to escape. He wouldn’t give Simon the satisfaction.

“I wasn’t sure you noticed,” Simon said, before returning his attention to Jace’s nipples, and it took Jace several seconds to remember what they were even talking about. When he finally did, he lost any hope he’d had of keeping quiet. Simon had thought about whether Jace was watching him, had maybe wanted Jace to watch him. And that was…that was a lot.

“Fuck,” Jace gasped. His hips were moving again, unable to keep still. “Fuck, Simon.”

“Hmm?” Simon asked innocently as he finally ceased his assault on Jace’s nipples. “Something I can do for you?”

“You could try not being such a—” His words were cut off, lost into the ether with any possibility of coherent thought as Simon’s teeth sank into the skin just beneath his clavicle, hard enough to leave behind a pleasant ache. He wondered if there would be any hint of a mark left by morning. He hoped there would be.

Jace let his head fall back against the bed, baring his neck in invitation. Simon’s hands weren’t pinning his to the bed anymore so much as holding them. Simon seemed happy to take him up on his invitation, worshiping Jace’s neck with tongue and teeth, and finally sucking a deliberate mark into his skin, just above his collarbone, where it wouldn’t be obvious unless he wanted it to be.

“Simon, please.”

“Please, what?” Simon asked, all amused faux-innocence. “I can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell me what it is.”

“Want you,” Jace growled, finally breaking free from Simon’s grip to tangle a hand in his hair and drag him into an impatient kiss. Simon kissed back, just as desperate, and made absolutely no protest when Jace pulled their hips together to finally get some friction. The kiss slowed, no less wanting, but a little less frantic as they rocked together.

“You have me,” Simon murmured against his mouth, and Jace shuddered with the weight of those words, with how much he wanted them to mean so much more than Simon intended them. But he did have Simon now, and he was going to make the most of it. Which reminded him that he’d gone into this with a plan.

Simon made a noise of protest when Jace pulled away but quieted immediately as Jace moved down his body, tongue following the line of dark hair that led from his chest down to his belly button. He got distracted there for a minute, tracing the lines of Simon’s abs with his tongue, reveling in the way the skin tensed and relaxed under his mouth.

“What did I tell you about teasing?” Simon asked, breathless.

“Don’t remember,” Jace lied, sliding down so that his breath ghosted over Simon’s cock, making his hips jerk. “But you seem pretty into it.”

He didn’t give Simon the chance to respond, sliding his mouth over Simon’s cock and taking him down to the hilt in one smooth motion, swallowing around the head. It was almost too much, too quick, and Jace had to fight back his gag reflex, but it was totally worth it for Simon’s broken-sounding, “Holy shit.”

Jace backed off, tonguing at Simon’s slit and sucking at the head of his dick before sliding back down, then repeating the pattern. It wasn’t the first time he’d deep-throated a guy, but it wasn’t something he had a ton of practice with either, much as he enjoyed it, and he knew better than to rush himself. It got easier every time he took Simon into the back of his throat, spurred on as he was by Simon’s near-incoherent stream of curses and praise. He lost himself in the sound of Simon’s voice, the weight of him on his tongue, the taste of him as he leaked steadily into his mouth.

After a few minutes, Jace realized that Simon was holding back, thighs trembling with the effort of keeping his hips still, one hand fisted in the sheets beside Jace’s head. Jace pulled off Simon’s cock with an audible ‘pop,’ and Simon’s whole body jerked.

Jace met his eyes. “You don’t have to be gentle with me.”

Simon opened his mouth, closed it again, stunned into silence for once.

To illustrate his point, Jace took Simon’s hand from where it was tangled in the sheets and placed it on his head. “I don’t want you to be gentle.”

“Not gentle,” Simon repeated, eyes dark and steady as his hand tightened in Jace’s hair. “I can do that.”

Jace lowered his head back to Simon’s dick, never breaking eye contact, letting the head just rest against his parted lips. Simon gave a shallow, experimental thrust, and Jace moaned around him, relaxing his throat so he could take him deeper. Simon thrust again, and Jace let his eyes flutter closed as Simon began to fuck his mouth in earnest.

“Fuck,” Simon panted. “Do you even know…know what you look like right now? Like, you’re always hot, but this is just…fuck. Wish you could see yourself. Wish I could have you like this all the time, except…except I’m definitely not going to last that long, and you’re just. Fuck, Jace, you’re perfect.”

Jace would have been embarrassed by the noise he made at Simon’s words, except that Simon seemed very into it, thrusts picking up speed as he continued in a broken voice, “Oh god, you— So good. I can’t— Shit. Your mouth—”

With a half-voiced gasp that might have been Jace’s name, Simon thrust deep one last time and came in hot spurts down Jace’s throat. Jace swallowed it all, dizzy from arousal and lack of air. He didn’t think he’d ever been this turned on in his life.

And then Simon was tugging Jace up by his hair, kissing him hard and deep like he couldn’t get enough of the taste of himself in Jace’s mouth.

“Perfect,” Simon repeated as his hand closed around Jace’s cock, and all Jace could do was hold onto him and make desperate noises that he would absolutely deny later into Simon’s mouth as Simon expertly jerked him off. It would have been embarrassing how quickly he came, except that Jace was beyond embarrassment, beyond anything but the feel of Simon’s hand, his body, his mouth.

After, they lay together a while longer, exchanging lazy kisses until it became so much that Jace had to pull away. He couldn’t let himself get used to this.

Simon watched him, that tiny thoughtful furrow that Jace found so endearing forming between his brows. When he opened his mouth to speak, Jace cut him off.

“I was thinking, if we order Chinese now, we’ll have just enough time to wash up before it gets here. And after, I want to ride you until you can’t remember anything but my name.”

“I…” Simon blinked at him. “I think I am literally incapable of turning that down.”

“Cool.” Jace rolled off the bed, refusing to look back at Simon, all sex-tousled and sweaty in his bed. “I’ll grab the takeout menu.”

~~~

The Hunter’s Moon was busy for a Tuesday night. Not packed like it would be on the weekend, but definitely more than the usual crowd. Rock Solid Panda wasn’t a big enough name to draw a huge audience, but it was clear they were finally starting to make a name for themselves. It probably helped that they’d finally decided on and stuck with a name for more than two gigs.

Maia was working tonight, and Jace joined Lily and Bat at the bar so they could chat with her when she wasn’t too busy with other customers. It was the first time they’d all hung out together since they got back from break, and Jace had been both looking forward to and dreading the show. Looking forward to it because, despite anything he might say to the contrary, he’d actually kind of missed his friends. Dreading it because his friends knew him, knew Simon, and he really didn’t want to have the conversation he knew would happen if they figured out he and Simon were sleeping together. He wasn’t sure which would be worse, them making the same assumption they had in the coffee shop, that he and Simon were actually together, or them recognizing what was actually going on and knowing that Simon could so much better than Jace, realizing that Jace was willing to take whatever Simon would give him.

“You starting with beer or vodka tonight?” Maia asked as he slid onto a stool.

“Beer,” Jace answered. “I’ve got eight a.m. Latin this semester.”

“I don’t know what’s worse,” Lily told him, “that you insist on studying a dead language for fun, that you’re willing to be in class at eight in the morning to do it, or that you’re letting it keep you from getting properly drunk at your best friend’s show.”

“I took Latin in high school, and it just makes sense to stick with it for my language requirement, and Simon isn’t my best friend.”

“Oh, sorry,” Lily said, “your fake boyfriend’s show. Speaking of, seems like none of us has won that bet, yet. I’m impressed.” She looked up at Maia, who set a frothing pint in front of Jace. “Unless you’ve been holding out on us, Roberts.”

“Nope,” Maia said, shaking her head. “They both made it through the entire break without my assistance.”

“We’re proud of you, buddy,” Bat said, patting his shoulder.

“Oh, fuck off,” Jace said. “We were fine. Minimal family drama, and Simon charmed the hell out of my entire family.”

Maia’s eyebrows climbed almost to her hairline. “Even Maryse?” She’d never actually met Jace’s adoptive mother, but she’d heard more than her share of stories.

“Even Maryse,” Jace confirmed. “I think starting dating again has mellowed her out a little.”

At Lily’s prompting, Jace gave an abbreviated—and entirely sanitized—rundown of his visit home. Maia gave him an odd look when he mentioned Magnus’s party, but she didn’t say anything. Jace brushed it off, but it left him with an unsettled feeling.

“Hey, you,” Maia said to someone behind them just as Jace was finishing up his story.

“Hey,” Simon said. Jace could hear the smile in his voice even before he spun around to face him. “We just finished setting up and wanted to come say hi before we start our set. Becky says ‘hi back,’ by the way,” he told Maia.

“Did she say anything else?” Maia asked hopefully.

“Nope,” Simon said. “Well, she told me to stop being dumb when I suggested she, you know, actually talk to you. You guys know that’s an option, right? Talking to each other directly?”

Maia ignored him, turning to Maureen. “Excited about the big show?”

“Holy shit, you guys,” Maureen said, her own smile tempered by just a hint of panic, “there are so many people here.”

“Yeah, because you guys are awesome,” Maia said. “Seriously, you deserve this.”

“It’s true,” Lily said. “I don’t even like indie rock normally, but you guys are alright.”

“Ooh, ‘alright,’” Simon repeated archly. “High praise from the great Lily Chen.”

“And you better bask in it,” Lily told him. “It’s a shame you didn’t get here a little sooner. You just missed Jace telling us all about your New Year’s adventure.”

Simon’s eyebrows shot up. “Wh-what?” He threw a panicked look at Jace, who could only give a tiny head shake.

“Yeah,” Bat said. “We heard you got your ass kicked at Land Mines.”

“We lost by one shot!” Simon protested, visibly relaxing despite his scowl.

“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” Jace told him, smirking.

“Really,” Simon said, turning to look at Jace with a calm intensity that Jace had gotten to know very well over the past several days, one that had his dick twitching with interest. “I’ll remember that.”

“Let me know if you need a reminder,” Jace said, leaning back against the bar. He saw Simon’s eyes flick to his collarbone, where the fading mark he’d left was just visible above the open collar of Jace’s shirt. It was light enough now that no one looking at it would know what it was at a glance, but Jace knew. And more importantly, Simon knew.

“I don’t think I’m the one who needs a reminder,” Simon said, and Jace had to actively suppress a shiver.

“Anyway,” Maureen said pointedly, giving them both a dubious look, “we should probably get back on stage. We’re on in five minutes.”

“Right,” Simon said, tearing his gaze away from Jace. “Playing music. That thing that we’re doing in front of, wow, so many people.” His grin was back as he looked at Maureen. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit!” she agreed, pulling him toward the stage.

“I’d ask what that was about,” Lily said, “but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Jace said, sipping his beer nonchalantly.

“Wow,” Bat said. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re kind of a shitty liar?”

“If Jace had to explain every time he did something weird, he’d never stop talking,” Maia said, and Jace wasn’t sure whether to be offended or grateful. He was saved from having to decide by Simon stepping up to the mic and introducing the band.

Rock Solid Panda’s set was mostly music Jace knew, mostly their early songs with a few covers thrown in. As they played, Jace found himself paying less attention to the music and more to the way Simon’s hands moved as he played, the way he lost himself in the music. It wasn’t the first time Jace had found himself watching Simon, but it was the first time he let himself keep doing it.

“So, this last song is new,” Simon said. Over the course of their set, the crowd had gone quiet. “I just finished writing it a few days ago, and we’ve only played it a couple times in practice, so it might be a little rough. But, um. Well, I hope you like it. This one’s called Random Afternoon.”

As Simon plucked out the opening notes, Jace recognized it as something he’d heard vague snippets of over the past couple weeks, just the guitar line as Simon worked through it in his room. This was the first time he’d heard any of the lyrics, though.

It was a love song. Melodic and melancholic, it spoke of a love that didn’t sweep you off your feet but bloomed in a thousand tiny, mundane moments. A love that started as the faintest flicker and grew to a consuming inferno before you realized you were in danger of getting burned. A love that was wholly unrequited, because those moments didn’t mean the same thing to them as they did to you.

Jace drained the last of his beer, trying to settle the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t jealousy. He didn’t get jealous. It was just a song, and he and Simon weren’t even together really, so even if Simon was harboring feelings for someone he couldn’t have, it wasn’t any of Jace’s business.

He turned to the bar, intending to ask for another drink—something stronger this time, maybe—only to find Maia already there, sliding a glass of water over to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Don’t be stupid,” she told him, shaking her head like she knew exactly what he was thinking. Maybe she did. She was the only person he’d ever talked to about…any of this. But at least last time she’d given him tequila.

He looked back to the stage, sipping his water and wishing he’d insisted on tequila.

~~~

“Thanks for staying and helping us get all the equipment loaded back in the van,” Simon said when they got back to the apartment several hours later. “You didn’t have to, and I know you’ve got early class tomorrow.”

“It was wholly self-serving,” Jace told him. He still felt unsettled and far too sober. “You would have woken me up when you got home, anyway, and it would have taken you longer without my help.”

“Well, whatever your reasons, I appreciate it,” Simon said. “I still can’t believe so many people showed up.”

“I can,” Jace said, shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it over the back of the couch. “You played a good show.”

“You really think so?” Simon looked genuinely surprised, and it only added to Jace’s feeling of disquiet.

“Yeah,” Jace said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It should have been. Maybe he wasn’t as effusive in his praise as Bat or Maia, but he’d been to basically all of Rock Solid Panda’s shows over the past two years. “You put a lot of yourself into your music.”

As soon as the words were out of Jace’s mouth, he was thinking of the new song Simon had played. Maybe he’d been thinking about it the whole time. From the way Simon froze, Jace knew he’d hit a nerve.

“Sometimes,” Simon said. “But not always,” he added quickly. “Sometimes, I write songs about, like, random thoughts that come into my head, or stuff that’s happened to other people, or, you know, Maureen and I even collaborate on writing sometimes, so some of the songs are hers.” Simon was babbling. He was kind of a terrible liar.

“It was a compliment,” Jace said with an amusement he didn’t feel. “You should learn how to take one.”

“Oh,” Simon said. “Right.” He forced a smile that almost looked genuine. “Thank you.”

Jace shook his head. “I give that a C-plus at best. Come on, you can do better than that.”

“You know what?” Simon said, raising his chin. “I take it back. I shouldn’t be thanking you, because Rock Solid Panda is awesome, and our music is awesome, and you should be complimenting us, like, all the time.”

“That’s more like it,” Jace said, grinning.

“No, now I just sound like you,” Simon said, shaking his head.

“Exactly.” Because I’m awesome and people should be complimenting me all the time.”

Simon gave him an unimpressed look. “Remind me why I’m friends with you again?”

“We literally just went over this,” Jace said, lounging against the wall. “Because I’m awesome and people should—”

“Oh my god, stop talking,” Simon said, but he was obviously fighting back a smile now. “Seriously.”

“You going to make me?” Jace challenged, and this was probably the kind of thing Maia meant when she told him not to be stupid, because he knew now that Simon was in love with someone else. Or hung up on someone, anyway. And Jace was at least honest enough with himself to know that he was just asking to get hurt if he kept having sex with a guy he was maybe into as more than just a friend with benefits who didn’t feel the same way about him.

He was also honest enough with himself to know he was going to do it, anyway.

Simon shook his head. “Nope. That’ll just encourage you.”

“See, you say that.” Jace stretched his arms above his head, very deliberately arching his back and making his shirt ride up to reveal a sliver of skin above the waistband of his jeans. “But this is totally doing it for you.”

“I really kind of hate you sometimes,” Simon said without heat before stalking over and pinning Jace’s still-raised wrists to the wall above his head.

“Oh yeah?” Jace said, rolling his hips shamelessly against Simon’s. “Why don’t you show me how much?”

The kiss was hard and bruising, Simon’s body pressing him into the wall like he was trying to erase every millimeter of space between them. Jace kissed back just as hard, exerting just enough pressure with his arms to make a show of protest, but not nearly enough to break Simon’s hold. Maybe he’d never be the kind of guy Simon wrote love songs about, but like this, he knew what Simon wanted, what he liked, and he planned to give it to him.

They were both breathing hard when Simon broke the kiss to say, “Bedroom, now.”

“Yeah,” Jace agreed, a little dazed.

“Mine, not yours,” Simon added seriously. “I want you in my bed.” He put just a little more pressure on Jace’s wrists before releasing them entirely.

Jace felt like all the air had been punched out of his lungs. They hadn’t actually done anything in Simon’s room. They mostly ended up in Jace’s room, or on the couch, and there had been that one time in the bathroom when they had decisively concluded their shower was not big enough for anything other than getting clean. But never in Simon’s room, and the idea that he wanted Jace there, in his bed, made something inside Jace tremble.

Simon didn’t give him time to dwell on it, kissing him again before turning to walk down the hall toward his room, expecting Jace to follow. Knowing Jace would, probably, because somewhere along the line Jace had apparently lost any ability he once had to say no to Simon.

As soon as he made it to the bedroom, Simon was kissing him again, deep and filthy and full of promise as he quickly and efficiently divested Jace of his shirt and pants.

“Eager,” Jace observed as he kicked free of the pants that had pooled around his ankles, leaving him in nothing but a pair of black boxer-briefs.

“You wanted me to show you how much I hate you,” Simon said. His smile and tone were teasing, but there was something else in his eyes that Jace couldn’t quite identify. “So that’s what I’m doing. Get on the bed.”

Jace made a show of stretching out on the bed, reveling in how Simon followed his every move with his eyes.

“You just planning to look?” he asked when Simon made no move to follow him.

“You kinda deserve it,” Simon said, pulling off his own shirt. “But no.” He kicked off his pants and crawled up the bed until they were face to face, his knees bracketing Jace’s hips. “Because you’re right. This totally does it for me.”

He leaned down to bring their mouths together, and it was slow and gentle in a way Jace wasn’t expecting, wasn’t prepared for, and he felt like he was being unraveled by it, all the loose threads that made up the tangled mess that was Jace being pulled apart by Simon’s lips and tongue and breath.

“Here’s how this is going to go,” Simon told him, mouthing along the skin of his jaw. He took one of Jace’s hands and wrapped his fingers around the slats of the headboard, then did the same with the other hand. “You’re going to keep your hands right here like this, and I’m going to fuck you, and you’re going to take it.”

As close as they were, there was no hiding Jace’s full-body shiver at Simon’s words, no hiding just how much he wanted, but he still put on a cocky smile and gave his best shot at seeming unaffected. “Bossy. What makes you think I’m just going to go along with it?”

“Because you like me bossy,” Simon said, running his hands up Jace’s arms from his shoulders to where his hands still gripped the headboard and grinning down at him. “This is totally doing it for you.”

Jace’s denial was cut off by Simon reaching a hand down to cup his cock through his underwear, thumb dragging across fabric wet with pre-come. Jace bucked up into the touch, gasping. His hands stayed where they were.

Simon’s grin was smug as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of Jace’s boxer-briefs and pulled them down and off in a single motion. Jace made a soft noise—half relief, half impatience—as his cock sprang free from its confines to lie hard and leaking against his abdomen.

Simon’s smugness turned to something almost like awe as he sat back on his heels and just looked, and Jace started to feel that unraveling sensation again even as his cock twitched under the weight of Simon’s appreciation.

Jace licked his lips. “If you want me to take it, you’re going to have to give it to me.”

“I’d tell you to be patient, but I know that’s a lost cause,” Simon said, reaching over to grab condoms and lube from his nightstand. This meant leaning over Jace, close enough that Jace could feel the heat of Simon’s body, but still not quite touching. Until Jace rocked his hips up, rutting against Simon’s hip for the few glorious seconds it took Simon to pull back.

Simon sat back on his heels once again, his free hand moving to Jace’s hip and pressing it firmly into the mattress as he gave him an unimpressed look.

Jace smirked back. “I wouldn’t need to be patient if you weren’t taking your damn time about it.”

“You say things like that,” Simon said, uncapping the lube, “but I don’t think you’ve really considered the full implications of what you’re asking for.” He poured some lube out into his palm, coating his hand, before moving the bottle to spill directly onto Jace’s dick.

“Fuck, fuck.” Jace arched off the bed from the unexpected cold, and before he could even find the words to tell Simon what an absolute asshole he was, the cold was replaced with the heat and delicious pressure of Simon’s hand.

“And anyway,” Simon said, continuing to stroke Jace’s cock with one hand while the lube-slick fingers of his other hands circled Jace’s hole, “this is supposed to be about how much I hate you.” He pressed one finger just inside, teasing Jace’s rim. “So I’m going to take exactly as long as I want to.”

Then that finger slid all the way in, and for a while Jace’s entire world narrowed down to the feel of Simon’s fingers—around him, inside him—and the sound of Simon’s voice, teasing and praising in turn.

“God, look at you.” Simon had three fingers inside him, and Jace had long since lost the ability to form coherent words. Or do anything, really, besides cling to the headboard and writhe under Simon’s touch.

“You’re so hot like this.” He curled his fingers, stroking over Jace’s prostate for what must have been the hundredth time. “And everyone thinks they know how hot you are, but they don’t because most of them haven’t seen you like this, and that’s almost a kind of tragedy except that I do get to see you like this.” He sounded almost as wrecked as Jace felt. “I get to make you like this.”

“Simon,” Jace gasped, and he wasn’t sure whether it was Simon’s words or the curl of his fingers that brought him there.

“Okay,” Simon breathed. “Okay, yeah.” And then Simon was taking his hands away and Jace let out a desperate whine because Simon going away was the last thing he wanted.

“Shh,” Simon soothed as he tugged off his own underwear and fumbled open the condom wrapper. “I’m not going anywhere.” He dropped a quick kiss on Jace’s knee, then leaned back again so he could roll the condom on and slick up his cock. “I promise.”

“Don’t want promises,” Jace said, managing to drag the words out from somewhere. “Just want you in me already.”

Simon let out a faint growl, and then he was hooking Jace’s knees over his shoulders, pinning Jace to the bed with his own body, pushing into him in a single, relentless stroke.

“This what you wanted?” Simon asked when his hips sat flush against Jace’s ass.

It was. God, it was.

“Want you to move,” Jace said.

Simon did, fucking Jace like he wanted to break him, kissing him like he wanted to own him. It was everything, and Jace took it. Because Simon told him to. Because he wanted to.

“Feels so good,” Simon panted. “God, Jace, I just—”

He reached a hand between them to wrap around Jace’s cock, stroking in time with his thrusts, and Jace keened.

“Come for me,” Simon said. “I want to feel you come for me, baby.”

Jace didn’t know whether it was the command or the endearment that pushed him over the edge, but he was shaking apart with Simon’s next upstroke, spilling between their bodies as Simon swallowed the desperate sounds of his release. Simon fucked him through it, not slowing until Jace was trembling on the edge of overstimulation.

“Don’t stop,” Jace told him. “I can take it.”

“Jace—” Simon’s voice was wary, but Jace could feel how much he wanted in the way his body trembled, the way his hips never quite stopped moving.

“Want you to come with your dick inside me,” Jace said, locking his ankles around Simon’s back. “Please.”

“Fuck,” Simon swore as he started moving in earnest again. “How are you even real?”

Jace wanted to respond with something pithy and clever, but he’d lost all capacity for words, for thought as Simon fucked into him, chasing his own pleasure. It teetered on the edge of too much, would be too much if Jace let it, and all he had it in him to do was hang on until finally Simon’s hips lost their rhythm and Jace felt his dick pulsing inside him as he whispered nonsensical words of affection into the skin of Jace’s shoulder.

They lay like that for what felt like an eternity, yet still not enough time at all, until Simon finally sighed and pulled his softening cock out to deal with the condom. He looked at Jace as he tied it off and tossed it in the trash.

“You can let go now,” Simon told him. When Jace just frowned in confusion, he leaned over and tapped Jace’s biceps, grinning.

Jace felt himself flush as he uncurled his fingers from the headboard and lowered his arms, rolling his shoulders to ease the faint ache. He’d forgotten he was even still holding on. He wracked his brain for something to say, anything that would save him from having to think about how easy it had been to do what Simon told him to do, how much he’d wanted to.

“So, you hate me that much, huh?”

Simon’s bark of laughter was incredulous. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, exactly that much.” There was that look in his eyes again, the one Jace couldn’t place, but Simon tore his gaze away before he could tease it out.

“You could stay in here tonight,” Simon said with deliberate casualness, and Jace felt his heart stutter in his chest. “You know, if you want.”

He wanted it so much it was almost a physical ache.

“I’ve got early class,” he said instead. He was keenly aware of all those loose threads Simon had inadvertently spent the last couple hours pulling apart, ready to unravel him completely with just the right tug. He rolled out of Simon’s bed. “I’m just going to take a quick shower and head to bed.”

“Sure,” Simon said. “Of course. That makes total sense. Um. Sleep well.”

“Yeah, you too,” Jace said, grabbing his clothes from the floor as an excuse not to look at Simon. He knew he wouldn’t be able to say no if Simon asked again.

Simon didn’t.

#shadowhunters #shmb2021 #jimon #jimon fic #jace wayland #simon lewis

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spiltscribbles · 3 years

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Fic Writers Interview

I was tagged by the gorgeous souls @silversickles @mooncat457writing @omgcmere @bi-disaster-fsotus Thank you so SO much babies!

~*~

name: I’m Len and I’m also LupinMoons on AO3, though knowing me that’ll probs change soon enough RIP me and my dicey head

fandoms: The two main ships I write for are definitely Wolfstar and Firstprince, though I’ve got a bunch for Pynch as well— but yeah we’ll not discuss that fandom experience lmfao

where you post: So I’ve got a BUNCH of one shots ranging from like 2k to literally 10k on my writing tag here on Tumblr, Spilt Ink, but obviously the more polished up ones can be found on my AO3!!

most popular one-shot: Okay that depends I guess? On AO3 by hits and kudos it’s THIS little thing I wrote for Malec in my shadowhunters days, but on Tumblr I reckon it’s This one I wrote for Andreil?

most popular multi-chapter: So by Kudos it’s Look At You, Looking At Me which is a completed Amy/Laurie Two-shot, and by hits it’s hands down Come Back, Even As A Shadow, Even As A Dream, which is my beloved Firstprince Amnesia FIC that I fully intend on completing once my mental health is a bit more tolerable and I’m at a less busy time in my life.

favorite story I’ve written so far: This is so awks j becs this question can be taken in so many directions, and I’m always a self conscious little prick, but I guess probably

Head In The Clouds, But My Gravity’s Centered for Pynch because I think I really did capture their canon voices pretty well and it’s perfect winter vibes tbh

I’ll Breathe You In, If You Hold Me Close for Wolfstar because it’s such a guilty pleasure thing, and I remember being so terrified and embarrassed while writing it becs Victoria is such a remarkable author for Wolfstar and it was a belated Bday gift for her, but I think I had fun with it and that’s all you can ask for tbh

and lastly The One With The Marauders for it’s comedic value and how light hearted and fun it is to write and I get such amazing support for it by lovely souls whether on discord or Tumblr or AO3, notably RJ who’s like one of the top tear Wolfstar writers IMHO and has always given me ideas for it and just been a sweetheart<3

fic you were nervous to post: Okay this is two tear, becs apparently I don’t know how to make decisions lmfao. But like nervous over being judged is definitely from Metamorphosis which was ALSO a bday gift, and I wrote it for that dumb bitch Beth who is literally the most profound Firstprince author and author in general tbh and just beautiful inside and out! And I just remember staying up sprinting with Kathleen and shaking becs i was sure whatever I came up with would be pure shit and she’d hate it, but I think it was actually a catalyst which helped build the foundation of our friendship and she’s literally like one of the only people in my life that I trust wholeheartedly and love endlessly and I’m happy i ended up just going for it.

However, if we’re talking about like nervous to break into a fandom, it was hands down, I Tried Writing Your Name In The Rain for wolfstar, because I’ve literally loved the idea of them since I was a fucking child— like when I thought I was still straight bahahaha— and There is countless masterpieces within the Wolfstar fandom and it’s so fucking huge and immense and rich with substance and beauty and I love them so much and I was so afraid of ruining their characters and dynamic but I’m so thankful that i’ve found so many amazing people who helped me get more confident with my take on Wolfstar.

how do you choose your titles: They’re almost always a lyric from either a favorite poem or the song I was listening most to while writing. Like I can tell you right now that the next thing I post will definitely have a Stevie Nicks lyric as a title lmfao!

do you outline: Outlines tbh intimidate me, and feel a bit stifling, but it’s definitely something I want to start doing because I’ve got two long ass Multi-chaps planned for 2021, and right now it’s just scrambled scenes written on this messy ass doc bahaha.

complete: Oh lmfao I will not be posting each fucking one shot I’ve written, but ya’ll can find literally everything I’ve ever written on either my AO3 or Spilt Ink Tag, every ship I’ve written for are Wolfstar, Firstprince, Pynch, Percabeth, Kit/Ty, Malec, Jimon, Hamliza, Andreil, Dair, Steroline, Jackie/Hyde, Peter/Jason from BAPO, Marvin/Whizzer from Falsettos and maybe a couple others?

in progress: So I actually have quite a few things in the works, and I’ll just mention the ones that are close to being published.

Firstprince secret snowflake gift posted on Christmas day

Wolfstar secret snowflake gift posted on christmas day

Wolfstar train ride one shot in January

Wolfstar next one shot for Friends AU before January

Wolfstar selkie Au in 2021

Tag some folks: So a bunch of people I was thinking of were already tagged, and I’m sorta not in a great mood but please if you’re interested in this challenge just consider yourself tagged! And tag me when you post and just have fun bubbyy!!!!

#firstprince #wolfstar #pynch #tag game #about me #love ya'll

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vaguelyrotten · 3 years

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Like a Lily in a Flood

Title: Like a Lily in a Flood Artist: @myulalie Beta: @another-random-stranger Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, mentions of Jimon and Reyhill Word Count: 70k Warnings: Mild Gore, Beheading, Nearly being eaten alive and burned at the stake, Discrimination, Sickness Summary: Alec returns home to find his town plagued by a mysterious illness. Unable to find a cure, he ventures into the woods to seek help from an unlikely source. We must not look at goblin men... This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2021: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Chapter 6

Alec had chosen to approach on foot. He wasn’t sure how the people in this unknown town would react to a stranger but slow, steady, and with great care seemed to be the ideal way to go. He’d draw less attention on foot and could easily blend in with a crowd if needed. Observe first, his father’s voice repeated in his head. Observe your target and then come up with a plan of attack.

The town was far too quiet as he approached. This time of day, children should be running home for dinner and shops should be closing. Alec frowned, his senses instantly on high alert.

Something was wrong here. It was very, very, very wrong.

The silence had him reaching for the knife that he’d slipped into his belt as he slowly made his way through the apparently deserted town. He kept to the edge, slowly moving against the row of shops in the center of town and keeping his back against the wall. There was nothing here. No sign of people, no sign of life.

It was like the entire town mysteriously...vanished.

A creak from his right startled him and he sent up a silent prayer that he’d managed not to make a sound in his surprise. It had only been a door, swinging open on abused hinges as it caught the wind that had been blowing gently through the street. It was odd that it hadn’t been locked — appearing to be the entrance to someone’s home — but thus far everything about this town had been odd.

He pushed the door open and poked his head inside. “Hello?” He called quietly, straining his eyes to focus in the darkened room. “Is anyone home?”

No response came, but Alec hadn’t really been expecting one. He stepped inside and let the door click quietly behind him. “Hello?” He tried again, this time a little bit louder, as he took his first tentative steps into the foyer. “Your door was open...are you alright?”

Still no response. Alec stepped into the sitting room and tugged a curtain open, giving himself a little more light as he investigated further. He really should go back and get Magnus. Who knew what dangers were lurking in a strangely deserted town?

Just a quick look at the first floor for any sign of what happened. After that, he’d go get Magnus.

The sitting room was dusty and empty. There was no sign of an apparent struggle though it did look like the house had been picked over by thieves. Artwork was missing from the walls where the discoloration in the wallpaper showed where paintings had once been hanging. A few books were tossed carelessly to the floor like someone had been moving them aside to look for far more valuable trinkets.

Finding nothing else of interest, Alec continued to move through the first floor of the house, room by room, until he reached the kitchen. There was a horrid stench coming from behind the door and he pulled his shirt up over his nose to try and block some of the strongest odors. Afraid to find out what he would find behind the heavy oaken door, he pushed.

The smell hit him first, nearly making him gag and bringing tears to his eyes. It wasn’t a corpse, by some small miracle, but a long-forgotten meal that had been abandoned halfway through the cooking process. There were side-dishes on the table that no longer resembled anything close to edible and the carcass of some sort of bird, perhaps a goose, that appeared to have been picked clean by mice and other small scavengers.

So whoever had lived in this house hadn’t planned to disappear without a trace. Why go to all the trouble to prepare a meal if you weren’t going to eat it? He coughed, trying to keep the smell out of the back of his throat and made his way further into the room. In a darkened corner of the room was a small table and…

Alec felt ice cross his heart.

There was someone at the table.

“Hello? Are you okay?” He asked, knowing that with the state (and smell) of the rest of the room, there was no way that whoever it was was okay. There was a very good chance that the body at the table was nothing more than a corpse.

The figure was hunched over the table, her head resting on her hand and her eyes closed as if she’d just briefly taken a seat to rest in the middle of cooking dinner. Unlike the food, the woman — the housekeeper or the cook, most likely — seemed to be frozen in time. She wasn’t decaying or mummified. Her skin looked pristine if not a little grey…

Oh.

Oh no.

He bent down to get a closer look. Her skin wasn’t just grey… it was stone. “Fuck,” he muttered, gently brushing the back of the woman’s hand with shaking fingers to confirm his suspicions.

He needed to get Magnus. He needed to get Magnus now.

He dashed back through the house and out the front door, no longer worried about disturbing someone or getting caught. The strange quietness of the town, the state that house had been in… the illness that had taken over Idris had hit here too...and it seemed it hadn’t left a single person unaffected.

He hadn’t even known there was a town on this side of the woods, let alone one affected by the illness that had been plaguing his town over the last few months. It was a very real look at what the future of Idris was if they didn’t find a cure.

And soon.

“Magnus!” He shouted, once he was close enough to see the purple ribbons hanging from the trees that signified the outer edge of the half-goblin’s wards. “Magnus!”

“Alexander?” Magnus asked, turning with wide eyes as Alec skidded to a stop next to the crackling blue fire that had been started. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he huffed, bending to put his hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. “But — you need to come quick. The town —“

“Alec, calm down. I told you, I can’t go to town. What’s the matter?”

“Magnus, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. There’s no one there. It’s nearly a ghost town. I found a house where the door was left open. Inside was a disaster...almost like it had been looted? But that’s not the point. The kitchen was a nightmare. There was rotten and decaying food like someone had left in the middle of cooking the meal, and Angel did it reek but there was a woman sitting at the table and her skin was stone. I think the illness has taken over the entire town...like it’s doing to Idris.” He panted, trying to get the words out in between gasping breaths. Angel, why was he so tired?

Magnus blinked, his eyes growing even wider at Alec’s statement. “The entire town?”

Alec nodded, standing and grabbing the half-goblin’s hand to lead him back in the direction he’d come. “I saw no one outside of the one woman in the house I’d poked around in. This time of day the shops should have been closing up, kids should have been outside playing...there was nothing but silence. I thought it was odd so I wanted to take a closer look before I came and found you. I never expected to find that.”

“This town is by the river too…” Magnus replied, letting Alec quickly pull him back towards the brick houses. “In fact, it’s probably their main source of water...this close to the spring, whatever was poisoning the water would have been stronger and more potent. Who knows how long they would have been stuck like this…”

“The good news is that they aren’t dead. Like the people back in Idris, they’re… in stasis almost. However, it paints a grim picture if we can’t figure out what’s going on and stop it...and then find a cure.”

Magnus didn’t reply. Instead, following Alec into the house on the main street, hesitating only briefly in the doorway before stepping inside. He wandered through the maze of rooms as the rancid smell from the kitchen grew closer and closer. “Come on, this way.”

Once inside, Magnus flicked his wrist and two glowing balls of light emerged from his fingers and hovered in front of us.”It’ll give us more light — especially as the sun is now setting.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You certainly weren’t kidding about the smell.”

“Who knows how long this stuff has been rotting,” Alec replied, steering them around the large table to the small one in the back corner of the room. “Come on, she’s over here.” He knelt down so he could get a better look at the woman’s peaceful face as Magnus cast his diagnostic spells.

“Well,” The half-goblin said after a few moments, withdrawing the familiar blue aura of his magic and glancing around the room. “It definitely is the same as whatever is tainting the river. Is she the only one or have you found others?”

Alec shook his head. “I haven’t gone farther than the first floor and I came to get you as soon as I found her. We can take a quick peek upstairs to see if there’s anyone there...but I’m guessing we would certainly find others who have fallen ill if we opened the door of any house in this town. It’s… empty.”

Magnus didn’t wait for Alec to lead the way, following the twisting hallways back to the foyer and the staircase at the front of the house. He took the stairs two at a time and jogged down the hallway to the larger room at the end, skidding to a stop right before the door. If, by some miracle, there was an alive and conscious human in what he was assuming was the master bedroom, then letting himself into the room, especially after essentially breaking into the house, could be incredibly dangerous.

Here he was, once again, possibly risking his life for this sweet human boy that stumbled into the forest looking for hope.

Magnus really wanted to give him hope. Hope and happiness and love...oh, the things Alexander was doing to him. He didn’t know the effect he was having on the four hundred year-old half-goblin. One day, when this was all said and done, Magnus would really like to show him.

Alec stepped up beside him, twisting the knob and letting the door swing open with a creak. The room was dark, but Magnus’ magic orbs of light were still following them so they took a step inside. Once they were close enough, Magnus could clearly see that there were two figures lying prone on the bed.

“I’m guessing we found the owners of the house,” Alec muttered under his breath, stepping close enough to illuminate the sleeping figures. Much like the woman downstairs, their skin was hard and ashen. They were both lying on top of the quilt fully dressed in their Sunday best like they had just sat down for a few minutes before they succumbed to the illness.

With the exception of the rancid food that had been left out, it was nearly like this entire house, and, Magnus was willing to guess, the entire town had been frozen in time. He waved his fingers, a steady stream of blue spilling from his fingers once more, and let his magic take a closer look.

Like with the woman downstairs, he felt the same wrongness that he’d felt first in the river and then in his quick diagnosis of Alec the night before. Whatever was in the river was too diluted to really get a good grasp on what exactly the poison was but what he felt in Alec had been a seed — young, dangerous, and eager to take root. What Magnus found in these people was more like an ancient tree whose taproots extended so deep into the earth it would take a force of nature to end it.

He opened his mouth to reply but the heavy front door downstairs swung open with a forceful thump, causing them both to jump. Magnus held his breath, trying to push the fear and negativity out of his mind until they had more information. There was nothing but silence for a few tense moments before the sound of boots echoed on the floorboards downstairs.

Alec held up a finger, taking a few cautious steps closer to the bedroom door and peaking through the crack that he’d left. “This place has been mostly picked over already. I don’t know why he’s got us coming back. I doubt we’re gonna find any more gold and gems in a place like this.”

“It’s not just about gold and gems, you moron.” A second voice answered, though it was muffled by the door and the distance between them. “Anything that could be useful to his campaign...weapons, old family heirlooms that might be magical, land deeds, military intelligence...we’ve found all sorts of shit in these trashy little towns.”

“Yeah but we’ve already been here twice this month. If we were gonna find any of that stuff, we would have done so by now. This is just a waste of our time.”

“Quit your whining, Victor. It’s not like you have anything better to do anyway...and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I, for one, don’t want to be on the other side of Valentine’s temper. Go check the cellar again.I’m going to take a poke around upstairs.”

They heard the thump thump thump of a man trudging his way upstairs and Magnus glanced at Alec with real fear in his eyes. He had his magic, of course. He could defend himself if need be, but they still didn’t know who these men were or how they were armed...not to mention, Magnus was still a half-breed monster in a very human town where he was not supposed to be.

Alec glanced between the door and the window before pulling Magnus to the other side of the room and pushing open the glass. A quick glance outside had Alec hissing as he watched another small group of men stroll down the street, pushing in doors or peeking in windows. This situation had just gotten very dangerous very quickly and they didn’t have time to dwell on it.

They needed to get out.

Now.

Beside the window was a drainpipe and Alec reached around and gave it a good shake as the boots on the stairs came closer and closer. “I assume you can climb considering I first met you while you were halfway up a tree,” Alec asked, already shoving the half-goblin in the direction of the window. Magnus merely nodded, bracing himself on Alec’s shoulder as he climbed on the windowsill and reached for the drainpipe. “Good, then go up. Stay low on the rooftops.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to buy us a little extra time and then I’m going to follow you,” Alec replied, already glancing around the room for what he could use to put his plan into motion. Magnus hesitated and Alec tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Go, Magnus. I’ll be fine, I promise. Like I said, I’ll be right behind you. I wouldn’t lie about that.” He left Magnus to his climb and disappeared back into the room.

The stepswere louder now, echoing in the hallway instead of on the stairs, pausing every once in a while to open the doors that Alec and Magnus had walked right past earlier. He’d noticed a wooden dresser across from the bed when they walked in and he was planning on using that to help stall the men. He knew that he barely had a minute before the bedroom door would open and he would be caught. He needed to act quickly.

Biting back a grunt of effort, he managed to get the dresser to slide a few inches, but he needed it to move at least a few feet. The man in the hallway paused, the sound of the wood grinding against wood having caught his attention, and Alec knew that his time was up. It was now or never. He leaned all of his weight against the dresser and pushed.

The dresser slid across the floor, protesting every bit of the way, but thankfully it didn’t have to go far. When it was finally in place in front of the door, Alec paused for only half a second to make sure it was truly where it needed to be before bolting towards the window.

The man in the hallway had finally realized that he wasn’t alone and had bolted to the end of the hallway. The bedroom door rattled as he tried to push it open, stopped entirely by the dresser that Alec had just pushed in its way. The man shouted — screaming at whoever was in the room to open the door and for his partner who had gone to the cellar — as Alec reached out the window for the drainpipe and began to climb.

The roof wasn’t far; it was only a two story house with an attic, but the drainpipe was smooth with very few foot- or handholds. Alec had never been the best climber in his family — that had been his sister who somehow always to find a way to be exactly where she was never meant to be — but he did have the benefit of pretty decent upper body strength thanks, mostly, to the archery training he’d had when he was younger and had kept up with after he had moved to Alicante.

Magnus was laying on his stomach at the top, having listened to Alec’s order to stay low. The half-goblin grabbed the back of Alec’s jacket and helped pull him the rest of the way up. He lay panting on the terracotta tiles, listening to the shouts of the two men still in the house. They’d give up, eventually, and would call for back-up. Once that happened, Magnus’ magic or not, they would be outnumbered.

They still needed to get out of here.

Out of this town; out of the woods. They needed to put some distance between themselves and Valentine’s men.

Valentine, he recalled, shuddering at the name. He’d have to dwell more on that when they were out of danger. That was a problem for much later in their evening.

“Come on,” he replied tiredly, pushing himself to his feet but remaining in a crouch. “We need to get moving. The dresser in front of the door trick will only work so long before the men get smart. We need to be long gone by the time that happens.” He hadn’t really planned farther than ‘get out of the room and onto the roof’ nor had he been paying too much attention to what was above him when he’d first entered the town but he was praying that the architecture of this town was similar to what it was in Idris.

Close, slanted roofs to help hide them as they moved from housetop to housetop, chimneys to hide them if they suspected they were about to be seen, and a few well placed balconies to help them get down far more gracefully than they’d gotten up...that was what Alec was hoping to see.

He crawled to the edge of the roof, paying particular attention to any tiles that looked loose so that they didn’t draw the attention of the other men that he’d seen below, and let out a sigh of relief when the next roof over appeared to be no more than six feet from where they were currently sitting. Six feet...that was laughably doable almost.

“How do you feel about jumping?” He asked, even though Magnus’ response didn’t really matter. They had one way off of this roof without going back in through the house and that was getting across to the other’s roof.

“I don’t terribly mind the jumping, it’s the falling that I don’t think too highly of.” Magnus replied, glancing down at the cobblestones below with wide eyes.

“You’ve got magic if you fall at least,” Alec replied, taking a few steps to the left where the tiles on the other side looked a bit more secure. “I just have to rely on the fact that I’ve done this a time or two before. One rooftop is just like all the others.” Except the last time he’d done this he’d been twelve and mostly fearless; and he and Jace had been running from a woman in the market because Jace had stolen a pomegranate from her stall. Alec had been innocent but if Jace ran, Alec didn’t want to be left taking the fall for his brother’s messes. Miraculously, they had managed not to kill themselves even though it had taken them an extra half an hour to get home that way. Unfortunately, the woman had beat them to their house and his mother had been waiting for them when they got home.

“Are you telling me that your particularly cautious self has taken an alternate route through the city just for the hell of it? I find that hard to believe.”

Alec laughed softly and took two steps back to give himself a bit of a running start, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Something like that — maybe if you catch me, I’ll even tell you the tale.” He took two long steps and leaped, landing gracefully on the other side of the gap. Magnus gaped, looking between the two rooftops. Alec stood with a smirk, raising an eyebrow in jest.

Magnus finally seemed to get over his nerves and joined the game as he took a running leap and landed not quite as gracefully on the other side, sending a tile crashing to the ground. Alec grabbed his arm to keep him from meeting the same fate, and they both listened as one of the men looting the town raised the alarm. “Well, come on then. We best be getting a move on if we hope to outrun them. Catch me if you can.”

From that point on, it was a game. Alec nearly forgot that they were trying to outrun Valentine’s men, get to their horses, and get the hell out of dodge before they got caught. Magnus’ movements got more fluid when he stopped worrying about being not-so-human caught in a very human town and when he forgot that one misstep could send him hurtling to the ground below.

It was fun.

Alec slid to a stop at the end of the last roof, having long since stopped worrying about giving their position away. Once the first tile had fallen, all attempts at stealth had gone out the window. The slanted roofs, the chimneys, everything had gone according to plan. Except this. He’d been counting on another drainpipe or a balcony or a tiered roof...something at the edge of the very last house to help them get down. He hadn’t been counting on there being nothing.

Magnus glanced behind them as the men got closer to the location and looked back at the trees surrounding the town. “Do you trust me?” He asked, his golden eyes brighter than normal in the setting sun and his hand already outstretched towards the treeline.

“Of course I do,” Alec replied, wondering to himself what kind of question was that? Of course, he trusted Magnus...just as much as he’d trust Jace or Izzy.

The half-goblin grinned and twisted his hand, a steady stream of magic leaving his fingers and disappearing into the woods. The nearest tree creaked, it’s branches twisting and growing rapidly until they were mere inches from the edge of the roof. “Let’s go.” Magnus stepped onto the branch and walked down it as quickly as he could manage without losing balance. Alec heard the men turn onto the nearest street and followed suit.

Once into the woods, they were in Magnus’ playground now. This might not be Edom Forest, but Magnus’ magic was made of the very heart and soul of the forest. From every flower and tree to every bird and bee, they all carried the same spark. Magnus could pull on that now to keep them out of the situation they currently found themselves in.

They jumped off of the tree once they were safely in the forest and darted to where the horses were waiting. There was a shout from behind them as the first of the men reached the trees. Alec nearly threw himself onto Flame’s back, and he watched as Magnus did the same to Elias. Once they had both safely mounted, they took off deeper into the woods. The half-goblin thrust his hand out behind them and Alec twisted in his saddle to watch as thorny vines emerged from the ground to twist themselves around the feet of their pursuers.

“Do you have a plan?” He shouted, trying to make himself heard over the sound of the horses crashing through the undergrowth.

“Not really! I figure if we can get away from the river and put some distance between us and them, that’s a pretty good place to start. We’ll have to set up camp in the dark, but it’s better than the alternative.” Magnus replied, glancing back in the direction that they’d come from to make sure the vines were doing their job and slowing the men down.

The rest of their ride was silent. Alec followed Magnus’ lead, trusting that half-goblin’s sense of direction since he himself had never been in this part of the forest. Magnus brought Elias to a slow walk as a dark shape loomed ahead of them. “It’s an old hunting cabin,” He replied, sending out a wave of blue at the house and letting his magic investigate without either of them risking detection. “Abandoned too, by the looks of it,” he added with a frown, trying to translate exactly what his magic was telling him.

Alec brought Flame to a stop and slid out of the saddle to get a closer look. The door opened with a groan of protest and he strained his eyes against the darkness of the room. It was simple — a bed, a table, some chairs, and a fireplace — but it would be a good place to stay for the night as long as Magnus thought they were safe.

“Did we lose Valentine’s men?” He asked, stepping back outside to find that Magnus had untacked Flame and had tied the gelding on a long lead around the side of the house. He carried Alec’s saddle into the house so it wouldn’t be exposed to the elements and dropped it gently by the front door.

“Between the vines and the horses, they’d need a miracle to catch up with us. We’ll be safe here for the night. We’ll leave at first light to make up for having to go so far out of our way.” He collapsed into one of the chairs and blinked wearily.

Alec frowned, crossing the room and tipping Magnus’ face up. “Are you alright? You look…”

“I’m fine, Alexander, or I will be, but I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help with dinner and the wards tonight,” Magnus replied with a sigh. He folded his arms across the table and rested his head on them. “My power is strongest in Edom. I’m afraid I used too much magic too quickly. I just need to rest.”

“Rest, Magnus. I think we can manage without magic tonight. Why don’t you lie down? I’ll see if I can find some game and we’ll cook dinner tonight the human way.” Magnus didn’t appear to be moving anytime soon, so Alec reached down and scooped him up. The half-goblin let out a squeak of annoyance, but his eyes were already closing as he cuddled up to Alec’s chest. “The bed has seen better days, but I’m sure it’ll be more comfortable than falling asleep at the table.” Alec explained softly as he deposited Magus on the old bed. “Rest. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Magnus mumbled incoherently and rolled onto his side, already losing himself to the realm of sleep. Alec watched him for a moment, wishing that there was more he could do to help Magnus recover his magic. The half-goblin opened one eye and wearily rummaged around in his pocket. “Here,” he muttered, holding out a handful of the purple ribbons. “Just… put these up. It’s not a lot, but it’s better than nothing.”

Alec took the offered ribbons and placed them in his own pocket. When he turned his attention back to Magnus, the half-goblin had already fallen asleep. Alec bent down and placed a gentle kiss on Magnus’ forehead before he realized what he was doing. “Sleep, Magnus. Let me take care of us tonight.”

He grabbed his bow from where he’d placed it by the front door and disappeared into the night.

Two hours later, he’d managed to hang Magnus’ ribbons around the edge of the property and had managed to catch three rabbits for their dinner. Magnus had woken from his nap at some point, though he hadn’t moved from the bed. He had pushed himself into the corner and had his knees against his chest and his arms wrapped around them. “You came back,” He whispered in shock as he bolted from the bed and pulled Alec into a tight hug.

“Of course I came back; I told you that I would. I just needed to catch our dinner first.” He replied, confusion written in every line of his face. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t come back?”

Magnus tensed at the question, burying his face in Alec’s chest. “Most people would,” he replied softly, his voice muffled. “I’m only as good as my magic. Right now I’m no good to anyone like this. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had.”

“Magnus, look at me,” Alec said, pulling away just enough so that he could tilt Magnus’ face up towards him. Wide golden eyes stared back at him and Alec noticed that the half-goblin’s face was red and puffy. He’d cried while Alec had been gone, truly terrified that Alec would leave him in his weakened state. “I will never leave you, alright? We’re in this together...and even after we find a cure for this thing, I intend to stay. I love you, Magnus Bane.”

Magnus blinked, trying to process Alec’s words. “I...love you too, Alexander.”

Alec smiled and pulled Magnus into a passionate kiss. When they parted, Alec forced his attention elsewhere, knowing that if he didn’t, he’d lose himself in Magnus once more. “Not that I wouldn’t like to continue, but I’m starving. We should eat before it gets too late, and you should probably rest some more afterwards. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

“If you want to get them skinned and gutted, I’ll get a fire started,” Magnus replied, pulling on the jacket that Alec had draped over the chair when he’d first entered. “I do know how to start a fire without magic, Alec.” He replied, noticing the baffled expression on Alec’s face. “I’m not entirely useless without my magic — you don’t get to be as old as I am without learning a thing or two. I’ll go collect some firewood.”

Once they’d eaten and cleaned up, Alec steered Magnus back towards the bed. “Come on, we’ve got an early start and you still need to rest. I’ll keep watch tonight,” he stated gently, guiding the half-goblin back into a sleeping position. Magnus’ eyes were already half-closed as his head hit the pillow. Alec smiled and stepped back, intending to spend the night at the kitchen table repairing his arrows.

“Alec?” Magnus muttered even though his eyes remained close. “Stay?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Magnus. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

“No,” The half-goblin whispered, opening his eyes just enough to glance up at Alec. “I mean stay here next to me?”

Alec found himself moving before he even had a chance to think it through. The bed creaked and dipped under him as he climbed in next to Magnus. He leaned against the headboard as the half-goblin cuddled close, a relieved smile on his face. “Sleep, Magnus. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

#shmb2021 #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #fanfic #like a lily in a flood

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thehuntersmoondiscord · 4 years

Photo

A trope is a trope is a trope.

And that’s why we all love them! Every single writer’s interpretation is slightly different even based off the same exact trope and we want to celebrate that. This event is themed around the tropes we all know and love, whether that be OMG they were roommates! Or there was only one bed or something as tried and true as College AU and Coffee Shop AU. The possibilities are endless and the tropes are your oysters.

An event hosted on the Hunter's Moon Discord Server

The official collection can be found HERE

My Heart Burns by @miss-shiva-adler

Luke/Valentine | Explicit | Tumblr Post Summary: Some people celebrated the day they were turned, owned the day where their lives were turned up side down. He didn’t. He never would. Tags: Emotional manipulation, extremism, cheating, jealousy, parabatai feels, mutated parabatai bond, Eros AU, drunk confessions, in vino veritas, Drunk sex, Dark fic, sex magic, come swallowing, Unrequited feelings, Angst, dubcon, anti-family, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, blow jobs, oral sex, unprotected sex, Dom/sub undertones, Domination & Submission, mention of blood

Next Stop: Love by @christophers-lightwood

Simon/Jace | General | Tumblr Post Summary: Jace is late for work, and meets a cute guy on the subway. Turns out, subways are magical places for music, lip syncing, and romance. Tags: Subways, Subway AU, There's so many caller tunes, Yes I like cheesy songs, Listen I'm the kind of person to mouths along the lyrics, And so does Simon and you can't convince me otherwise, Jace is in love, Alec is a good brother, Jimon are cheesy af, Idiots in Love, Shadowhunters Bingo, Free Square

Drowning by @jesseywoodhunter

Magnus/Alec | Teen Summary: Alec has been keeping a secret from his family, from himself even. He's sick, disgusting. An embarrassment to the family. He's supposed to be the perfect big brother, a role model. A pillar of strength. One day, Alec makes a choice. The repercussions are set to change his life forever. One moment you're downing, the next, you're learning to swim. Tags: Hurt Alec Lightwood, Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Angst, Supportive Magnus Bane, Mental Health Issues, Rescue

Amor primo conspectu by @sivan325

Magnus/Alec | Explicit | Tumblr Post Summary: Translation from Latin – Love at first sight Omegas are meant to be thrown into the thick of battle to defend Alphas, but when the battle is over, they are treated like cast offs. Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega, Alternative Universe, Soulmate, Wingsfic, Love at First Sight, discrimination against omegas, Hurt Alec Lightwood, Omega Alec Lightwood, Alpha Magnus Bane, MPREG, Self-Sacrificing Alec Lightwood, Time Skips, Violence, Sharing Body Heat, Hurt/Comfort, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Knotting

Disce ut semper victurus, vive ut cras moriturus by @sivan325

Magnus/Alec | Teen | Tumblr Post Summary: Translation from Latin – Learn as if always going to live; live as if tomorrow going to die. This was supposed to be a happy day of union for Alec and Magnus, instead they are apart, Alec is missing and there’s a serial killer on the loose. Tags: Human AU, Cop!Alec, Coroner!Magnus, undercover missions, break up, angst, serial killers, fear, doubt, Ambiguous/Open Ending, swear word for Camille, Team as Family, Blue-eyed Alec Lightwood

Hidden Desires by @sivan325

Magnus/Alec | Teen | Tumblr Post Summary: Alec is just watching what he cannot have, but he didn’t know that he is also being watched. Tags: Mermen AU, Merman Alec Lightwood, Warlock Magnus Bane, Fluff

The Place in Between by @polarnacht1

Alec/Jace | Teen Summary: "Whenever Alec had thought about dying, he had thought it would be painful. He had thought that maybe he would die in a battle, slit open by a blade or by the claws of a demon, fighting alongside Jace against the evil. Frankly, he had always thought that there would be something heroic about the way he died. He had never thought he would die in his sleep, never really considered that one day he just would close his eyes, fall asleep to never wake up again. Yet, here he was." A story about death and life, love and letting go. Tags: Afterlife, Alec Lightwood-centric, Protecitve Alex Lightwood, Parabatai, Parabatai feels, Love, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Coping, Cancer, Moving on

Not the Way I Dreamt of by @sivan325

Magnus/Alec | Explicit | Tumblr Post Summary: That is not the way Alec dreamt his first time would be. Tags: Alternative Universe, Fuck or Die, dubcon, Evil Seelie Queen, Post-Episode: s02e10 By The Light Of Dawn, Time Skips, Humiliation, Virgin Alec Lightwood, First Time, Protective Magnus Bane, Magic

Don't flirt with me (I'm working, dammit) by @thelightofthebane

Magnus/Alec & Jace/Simon | Explicit | Tumblr Post Summary: Alec and Magnus take a moment to just breathe. Magnus is above him, straddling his waist, and that… shouldn’t be bothering him that much. Well, could someone blame him? His chaotic job and his even more chaotic ass don’t exactly help him to go on dates, and now the most beautiful man he has ever seen in his entire life is sitting on his crotch. -- Alec goes undercover into a maximum security prison to get information about a serial killer. It doesn't help that one of his inmates, a mob boss, keeps distracting him. Tags: Alternate Universe - Prison, Mention of crimes, nothing graphic, Undercover Missions, FBI agent!Alec, Inmates, Even Simon was arrested, How to catch a serial killer, Having Magnus as a partner is not helpful at all, All the flirt, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood, Major Character Injury, Light Angst, Gratuitous Blowjob, thirsty boys, Happy Ending, Trope Celebration Event, Gay Disaster Alec Lightwood, Flirty little shit Magnus Bane

A Kickstart To the Morning by @phoenixStar73

Magnus/Alec | General Summary: Barista Alec Lightwood hates waking up so early for work. But hates it a bit less this particular morning when a certain someone just happens to walk in... Tags: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Fluff, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Mundane Magnus Bane, Flirting, Fluff, College Student Alec Lightwood, Barista Alec Lightwood

From the ashes of shattered dreams by @brightasstars

Magnus/Alec | Explicit Summary: “Yes, Magnus. I do. Whatever it takes, whatever you need.” Magnus’ golden eyes blazed in the dark, then he chuckled softly. “Angsty proposal, isn’t it?” Alec giggled. “It’s a proposal, anyway. It implies forever.” “If there ever will be a chance, I will make you the proper one,” Magnus added. Tags: Shapeshifting; Alternate Universe; Emotional Hurt/Comfort; Angst and Hurt/Comfort; Rebirth

This Body of Mine by @tobythewise

Magnus/Alec | Explicit Summary: When Alec and Magnus get body swapped, Magnus suggests a fun way to pass the time. What starts as an admittedly weird exploration of each other’s bodies quickly turns heated. In the end, Alec realizes that though his body wasn’t what he wanted when he was born, this same body has slowly become HIS, and that makes it perfect. Tags: Bodyswap, Omegaverse, Trans Alpha Alec, Alpha Magnus, PWP, Mentions of past dysphoria, Happy Ending, Fluff and Smut

Art by @foxymoley

Maia and Clary Witch AU

Pony Up Alexander! by @dmcanonymous

Magnus/Alec | Teen | Tumblr Post Summary: Mix Jace being an idiot, Alec saving him again, and some magic mischief and poor Alec is all hooves. Hopefully Magnus can jump to the occasion to help out his boyfriend. Tags: Centaur!Alec, trope transformation, Centaurification, centuar!Magnus, Magnus stop horsing around, why the long face Alexander?

travel the universes with me (let's find out we're meant to be) by @jimonsprettyface

Jace/Simon | Explicit Summary: When Jace and Simon touch a mirror that Magnus Bane instructed them not to, they're yanked from their world and scattered through many others. Along the way, they find familiar faces, different times, and new feelings. The journey to get home is unknown, and they're not even sure they will, but what they learn along the way threatens to change them forever. Tags: Canon, But also AU, Multiple AU’s, Traveling through different universes, This World Inverted, Genderswap, Arranged Marriage, Huddling for Warmth, Canon Setting, Porn with(out?) Plot, Pining, Tropes, Crack Treated Seriously, Humor, Fluff, Slight Angst

#hmdiscord #masterpost #malec #jalec #jimon #maia/clary #fanfic #fanart #luke/valentine

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starline148 · 4 years

Note

please tell me which digimon goes with each teikoku kid-

This made me so happy, as I love so much both animes... So, here it’s their Digimon lines as I think they could be, and why.

Reassons under cut because long.

Genda Koujirou: Frimon- Liollmon - Leomon - GrapLeomon - BanchoLeomon

I have always asociated Genda to big cats like lions and panthers but in Digimon World I see him with a Lion partner and who better than Leomon? This time Leomon doesn’t die though. BanchoLeomon is a badass Digimon just like Genda. And they are protective and loyal, I think it’s amazing.

Oono Densuke: Wanyamon - Bearmon - Gryzmon - Zudomon - Vikemon

Oono is a big defender guy so I though or give him a little fairy digimon or a cute beast and I went to the second. Bearmon is adorable and cute, I think they can be a great partner to Oono. Sadly there’re no more nice bears in higher levels so I moved with Zudomon and Vikemon because they continue to be adorable and powerfull.

Banjou Kazumichi: Xiaomon - Labramon - Dobermon - Cerberumon - Anubimon

Banjou is said to play as a dog or that his game can be like a dog bite so I thought about a dog digimon partner. I didn’t want to go with any digimon too much popular like Gabumon or Gaomon so I chose Labramon (I like them a lot) and I really like this line.

Narukami Kenya: Pagumon - Gazimon - Youkomon - Doumon - Kuzuhamon

This one was because they both are like purplish but also because I truly like Narukami with a fox digimon. Also Kuzuhamon (and Sakuyamon) can sing when battling as far as I know, and the other digimon music related is Gekomon line and I didn’t see they fit Narukami.

Gojou Masaru: Missimon - Hagurumon - Guardromon - Andromon - Mugendramon

Gojou is said to be mysterious, like the machine digimons. I think Hagurumon fits him amazingly and Mugendramon even better as it’s cold and not so easy to read onto him.

Henmi Wataru: Cupimon - Lucemon - Pidmon - HolyAngemon - SlashAngemon

Henmi is one of my favs in Teikoku and I can see him having an Angel Digimon but I went with Pidmon and SlashAngemon because they’re prider and more into fight than Angemon regular line. And I think this fit better him.

Sakiyama Shuuji: Tsumemon - Tsukaimon - Witchmon - LadyDevimon - Lilithmon

I find so funny Sakiyama description in the games, and I went after this. With digimons that are beautifull (at least to my eyes) deadly and in the dark side because Sakiyama is said to be rough and foul play. This digimon fits this.

Doumen Shuuichirou: Tokomon - Bakumon - Wizardmon - Mistymon - Dynasmon

I wanted to give him a magic/intellectual line because he is said to not be so physical strong but intelligent. And I like this line, I absolutly love Wizardmon (he is my fav digimon). And Dynasmon is loyal, intelligent and courageous.

Jimon Daiki: Kyokyomon - Ryuudamon - Ginryumon - Hisyaryumon - Ouryumon

This line is one of my favourite lines in Digimon World, and I think the honor-samurai-dragon line fits Jimon well, he is ace striker and a key member. Honor and loyal for both of them.

Sakuma Jirou: Chicchimon - Penmon - Saberdramon - Garudamon - Valkyrimon

He needed to have the Penguin Digimon. But I don’t like so much their line so much and the regular one go to marine digimons. So I chose this line that even if it’s a bit stranger I think fits Sakuma. Also Garudamon and Leomon are buddies :D And Valkyrimon was perfect for Sakuma.

Kidou Yuuto: Sunmon - Plotmon - Airdramon - Megadramon - Gallantmon

This is the stranger line I chose and I want to explain why. First thing, I wanted him to start with a fire/red digimon as baby because yes. Plotmon is said that is an artificial digimon and can turn good or evil depending on how they’re tamed... This fit Kidou so much with Kageyama rol... Then Airdramon, why? Because they’re digimons that can’t be tamed normally, only genius can tame them, also they have red wings (Kidou’s red cap). Then Megadramon, megadramon is inestable and more dark, also blue wings (Kidou’s blue cap). And the last one is Gallantmon/Dukemon that is a royal, intelligent, powerfull Digimon but prone to become evil. And I just think this line fit Kidou and his self growth-evolution a lot.

Fudou Akio: Yaamon - Impmon - BlackGatomon - NeoDevimon - Belzeemon

I doubt about giving him a Belzeemon or a Piedmon, but I chose Belzeemon in the end. Impmon is like a joker digimon, or at least I feel like it, and this fits Fudou. Belzeemon is powerfull, mischievous, intelligent and also they have the story of being lost and recover oneself. Like just Fudou too.

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consoledacup · 8 months

Note

Can you talk about the song choices for Jordan and Layla’s storyline?

Can I??? Yes. Some of these might be extrapolating, and some were there to specifically tell their story. But I love it all. Music is so important for enhancing story. Not gonna include all the songs, but here's most.

Wanna start with 2x10? The song's called "Simmer." Or, you know, a slowburn.

Even diagetically, the songs fit. When Jordan finds Layla in 4x01, the song "Meet Me in the Middle" is playing. Hints to them coming together. And then you got the line from the song "Circles" playing at the end where Jordan looks at Layla as the three of them hug:

Seein' it now

At the prom, they dance to a song called "With You on My Shoulder" where the singer is reconnecting with someone they had history with.

The song "Call Me When You Get Home" is playing softly when Layla, her father, and Jordan all have dinner together. And what does she do at the end of the ep?

I mean, 4x15 is pretty blatant, but the song "FIGHT" is Jordan screaming his insecurities.

Then in 4x16, you got "Trust" after their confrontation. And the song is all about trusting yourself first, so it's actually more of Jordan's song in the moment, than Layla's. But it works for Layla and her friendship with Jordan, too.

In 1x09 hc, the song "Good Part" is playing when Simone sees Jordan on the phone with Layla. It's a song about someone desperately wanting to salvage a relationship and get to the happy moments and ignore the rest.

And I always thought it was cute that the song "Go Out" abruptly ends with the title lyrics when Jordan and Layla are high-fiving.

I REALLY love the song choice "No Surprise" in 4x18 at the apparel launch. It works so well with all the different pairings and storylines. And it's pretty on the nose, but the jimone break up song is "The End." And "Cloudy Day" is the perfect closer for the core four on the football field.

And for Jordan's confession, "Til the Light Breaks Through" has these gorgeous lines,

I swear you′re gonna find it

I promise it′ll be alright

And I will be with you there

On the other side

Go lay down your heavy armor

There's peace in the valley where it lays

I know that you hide under the dark to be safe

Just know that I′ll be waiting with you

Darlin' know that I'll be waiting with you

'Til the light breaks through

In 4x20, you have the fabulous choice of "Could You Be Mine" when they're on the porch in front of the fire. And at the game, it's all about Jordan killing it on the field with "Game Time" that hypes up the QB.

Could anything be more perfect than "Lean Into Love"? The leaning thing obv, first... but ALL they lyrics fit them so well. This ship has so much light. And they bring so much light to each other. And this song beautifully details what they've been through and how they feel about each other. I can't, so here you go:

All the times

We've been here before

Caught inside

The never ending storm

All the scars I hold

On a string no one can see

And the pieces broke

Stained with hollow guarantees

When the floor falls out

And the walls crumble down

When you're feeling weak & afraid

When you can't escape

All of your mistakes

Oh you're not alone to carry the weight

Lean into love

We all need to lean into love

Let it shine

With Cam's open mic song "Ordinary People," Jordan's infamous "look" at Layla happens at

Take it slow

Which is exactly what they've been doing for six weeks.

And then at the end of 5x02, you got this sweet little line in the song "Feel Good":

I've been waiting for this moment so long

Honestly, you got a lot of songs with this kind of happy, cheerful feel with their scenes in 5x02-5x04.

And then the beautiful handhold during "Why I Love You" at the wedding ceremony with:

Because you love me

The song "playing tricks" has these lines while jordayla is dancing. Kinda speaks to Layla's inner dialogue:

Is this the real thing?

Not just a feeling?

Or is my mind playing tricks on my heart again?

In 5x08 after their fight, from "Lay Low," we have:

No way I'd find another girl like you

When we weren't with each other

If I only knew

With Shawn Stockman's song "I'll Be on My Way," Olivia sees jordayla during the phrase:

Like the seasons are made to change

That's why we appreciate each one

"Seasons...” hmmm. ;)

Jordan's inner turmoil is reflected in "Beyond" with lines like:

The best is still ahead

I'm keeping calm

And "Jagged Stars" is meant to be a surprise choice. You hear the opening notes of "Lean into Love," and you're like, this is a kissing song. With "Jagged Stars," that ily was supposed to be feel disjointed in its normalcy. But the song does celebrate youth and brings them both back to more levity.

And the placement of the cover "O-o-h Child" is perfect for the end of Jordan's ep.

The only song that rivals and overtakes "Lean Into Love" is "Quietly Yours." The opening notes, the lyrics, the romantic overtone, and it's Birdy??

White sails and offshore lights

We were passing ships in the night

Now I'm tracing shadows on your back

Like I dreamt so many times

Oh, for so long I've been waiting

For so long, for a love like this

And I was so sure, baby, I'd

Lost you for a minute but

There's the sweetest

Spring at my door

Can you feel it?

Just the same as before

Many years have gone by

But I knew you'd come

It is the absolute perfect song to conclude their love story this season. Even the title "Quietly Yours" hits on so many levels. And I could go on and on about the wording. <3

#jordayla #all american

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maiaisbia · 5 years

Note

jimon with 42~

“I’m going to save you from the terrible date you’re having.”

Ah… Anon this is probably not what you were thinking of when you sent this request. This ended up having a pretty big focus on identity, with romantic fluff. I had a great time writing it though, so thank you! I hope you enjoy!

from this prompt list | on ao3

It was going on thirty minutes now, and Jace didn’t know how much longer he could take watching the trainwreck. He couldn’t guess which one of them thought a date together would work, but it was clear that it was not going well. Simon looked uncomfortable and Meliorn looked bored.

“Are you going to do something, or am I going to have to get involved?” Maia asked, leaning on the bar across from Jace. “Because I can play the jealous ex lover, but I would really rather not.”

“If I do it, will you promise to stop spitting in my drinks?” Jace joked, glancing at his beer.

“No, but I’ll reduce spit drinks by 50%,” Maia grinned.

“Does that mean 50% less spit in the drinks or half my drinks will be spit free?”

“Let a girl have a little bit of mystery,” she pushed off the counter with a wink and moved to attend to a new customer.

Jace could only shake his head and smile, before downing the rest of his beer. Standing up, he moved to the corner table Simon and Meliorn were sitting at. They both looked up as he approached with relief. Jace didn’t know if he should be worried or flattered.

“Which one of us are you coming to whisk away?” Meliorn asked, resting his chin on his hands and turning his pretty eyes up to Jace. Simon was just watching Jace with a soft smile, a little bit of fang sticking out.

“Ah, Simon,” Jace said, resting a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Should I even bother coming up with some excuse like a mission he is needed on?”

“No…” Meliorn pouted dramatically now, “Pity you didn’t choose me. One day, Jace.”

“Nah man, you slept with my sister, that’s a no go,” Jace laughed. “Come on Simon, you have a video game to beat my ass at?”

“Yeah, okay!” Simon stood, slipping his coat on. Jace dropped some cash on the table to cover for both their drinks. “Um, see you ‘round Meliorn.”

“Goodbye daylighter,” Meloirn said, waving at them both as Jace ushered Simon out the door.

“See it’s things like that why it wasn’t working!” Simon said, gesturing at Hunters Moon. “He kept calling me daylighter. That’s like. The most uncool pet name ever. Plus who even uses pet names on a first date?”

“I don’t know why you even went on a date with him,” Jace said, and fell in step as Simon turned in the direction of his apartment.

“I don’t either, I guess I haven’t really dated guys in the shadow world and he seemed like a pretty safe start,” Simon said, running a hand through his hair and messing it up. “I dated a couple guys in highschool, so back when I was a mundane. It was pretty common to be queer in the artsy circles I was in, you know? Accepted, normalized. Then I end up a fucking vampire, and it’s a whole new set of rules! Shadowhunters, big no go, though that’s changing a bit. Warlocks, seelies, and vampires? Very accepting. I mean, you can see it in the leadership! Werewolves, pretty much like mundanes. Gotta be careful, some are chill and some are assholes.”

Jace tried to keep up with all that, because Simon’s hands were moving and he was talking pretty fast. But he thought he got it. “So you’re bisexual like Magnus?”

“I identify as pansexual,” Simon caught Jace’s look of confusion and continued. “It’s pretty similar, yeah? Bi you’re attracted to your own and other genders. Gender comes into play in attraction, like people may feel attraction differently towards men vs. women vs. nonbinary folks. Pan, it’s like… gender doesn’t play a big part in your attraction to someone. So in both cases, bi and pan people tend to be able to fall in love with people of any gender, but they feel the attraction to the person or people they love a little differently.”

Jace nodded, again not sure he was picking up all the nuances but understanding the gist. “Okay man.”

“Too much of a crash course?” Simon asked, nudging Jace with his elbow and grinning.

“Nah,” Jace said, and then huffed. “Okay I’m going to say something and it might sound shitty.”

Simon visibly tensed but nodded. “Okaaayyy? Not ominous at all and I reserve the right to punch you.”

“I always thought my attraction to guys was bleed through from Alec,” he muttered, glancing to Simon. Simon didn’t seem upset, so Jace took a deep breath and tried to explain what he had only ever thought about. “I didn’t live around a lot of people until the Lightwoods adopted me, and I didn’t really think about crushes until years later. Alec and I were bonded pretty young, so I just assumed that when I thought a guy was hot or cute or whatever, it was from him.” Jace snorted, shaking his head. “But you know what I’ve realized since? Alec and I have a completely different taste in dudes. Like he’ll be zeroed in on Magnus and I feel nothing except his distant happiness.”

Jace didn’t add that Simon was probably the last (male) person on Earth Alec would be attracted to. But boy, did Jace find himself watching Simon, smiling at his jokes, feeling butterflies when he was around, all that dumb shit. That was definitely just on Jace.

Simon, to Jace’s surprise and relief, was nodding, “That actually makes sense. You Shadowhunters are such a heteronormative culture… It’d be confusing.”

Jace shook his head. “Well thanks for the validation I guess.”

“Dude,” Simon just rolled his eyes, turning and jogged up the steps to his apartment. Their conversation had certainly killed some time. “I appreciate you trusting me to come out to me.”

“Whatever,” Jace huffed, though he felt oddly lighter. “I don’t know I like any of the labels you’ve said.”

“That’s fine,” Simon held the door open and Jace slipped passed him. The stairs creaked as they went up to the second floor. “You’ll just find what works for you.”

Jace drew the unlock rune before Simon pulled out his keys. Walking in, he found the place was changed from the last time he was there. “There’s a fish tank and it’s cleaner in here.”

“Yeah, if I don’t do my share of the chores Maia makes me pay a bigger portion of the rent,” Simon flopped on the couch. “Which is fair, and a good motivator because I don’t make much from my gigs.” He gestures to the TV setup. “But she’s a great roommate, and Maia means the game and console collection has doubled!”

Jace crouched and flicked through what was there. He didn’t know how it had been so easy to talk to Simon about things he hadn’t ever tried to put into words before. And now they were just going to play games, maybe order out, like nothing had changed.

Because it hadn’t. And that was just what Jace wanted. He slipped Call of Duty into the PS4 (he had started to figure out all the systems), and grabbed two controllers. Tossing one to Simon as he walked to the couch, he whacked at Simon’s legs. “Move over.”

“No,” Simon said, snagged the spot of player one. He remained firmly lying across the whole couch. He lifted his legs up after a moment and Jace sighed. As soon as he sat, he found Simon’s legs in his lap.

Jace didn’t push Simon away, in fact it felt… nice. Jace relaxed, resting his arms on Simon’s legs. “We’re playing the zombie version.”

“Oh player 2, you will be doing whatever I dictate,” Simon said, but selected the zombie campaign anyway. “Aren’t you tired of fighting these types of things?”

Jace shrugged. “I find it weirdly relaxing. No one’s life is actually on the line.”

“That’s fair,” Simon flicked through the options, yawning. As the game loaded, Simon said, “Hey thanks for the save back there. This is a much more fun way to spend the evening.”

“Any time,” Jace said, and took a breath. “For the record, if I took you out on a date, it would have been much better.”

“Oh yeah?” Simon said, and he wasn’t laughing like Jace worried he might. “If we were on a date, what’d we do?”

“Something like this,” Jace said, stabbing a zombie on screen. “Sometimes a fancy restaurant or a movie or something, but mostly just this. I would have planned ahead and brought good beer though, that’d be the difference.”

“You know? That sounds pretty nice,” Simon paused the game. He sat up and pulled his legs away. Before Jace could mourn the loss of contact, Simon was nearly in his face. “We’re all so busy, any downtime is precious.”

“Yeah,” Jace said, and it came out a lot breathier than he wanted. His eyes flick down to Simon’s mouth before quickly looking back at Simon’s eyes. “Um.”

Simon’s smile was soft. “You know what would really salvage my date night?”

“Take out?” Jace asked, but let Simon take the controller out of his hand.

“I was thinking more along the lines of you kissing me,” Simon said, little shrug of his shoulders. “If you wanted to.”

“I could do that,” Jace swallowed.

“Too late, I’m going to kiss you instead,” Simon’s smile was a little lopsided now.

Kissing that smile might just be the best thing Jace had done in a very long while.

#jimon #simon lewis #jace lightwood #jace wayland #my fic #welcome to my identity headcanons for simon and jace idk that's just how the fic went #we stan bi-pan solidarity everyday in this house

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malecstele · 5 years

Note

3x22 jimon friends to lovers where sizzy broke up in that year we skipped and simon frequently visits jace to show him some support, have someone to cry on, or to talk to can you make it after their training where jace talks abt clary? simon HUGS (!!! i wish it also happened on screen :c ) jace and tells him its ok to miss her but she'd want him to try and be happy now jace wants a change of scenery so they go to simon's at his invitation and they deepen the discussion 1/?

2/4 about how they both miss her and it was unfair of raziel to take her memories when she only ever helped people to make him smile, simon also tells him abt happy climon memories and he kinda accidentally makes it awkward when he subconsciously begins to talk abt crushing on her & how he got over his crush, which both know abt, and how "she is still here" and touches his heart like the goof he is then jace admits no one ever "broke up" w/ him, only he did that

3/4 so he doesnt know how to get over clary and maybe consider other romantic prospects simon feels bad but he know he'll have exploded if he continued keeping his crush on jace a secret and jace is like "oh..." then long awkward silence simon tells him when the crush started and that perhaps it wouldnt be so horrible if they dated since they're clary's fav ppl then jace confesses he also liked simon a LIL bit

4/4 but he was confused about how we should feel abt simon in contrast to missing and "grieving" clary then simon tells him its nice that they both feel the same but that its ok if they dont rush into anything jace looks so impassive & simon has no idea what he'll say then jace says, in an awful simon voice, "do you want to be the leia to my han solo?" simon bursts out laughing but then they argue abt who's who in the end they arrange to meet at simon's for a home-date

Thank you! I don’t normally write anything but Malec so this was a nice challenge (:

“She’d want you to move on. To find someone else,” Simon told him. He could see how much Jace was hurting.

“There is no one else.”

Simon could feel his heart breaking for him, he was so convinced that Clary was the one for him. Although they were good while they lasted, Simon knew better. He reached over and hugged Jace, silently expecting him to push him away. However, Jace hugged him back.

“You have to let her be, Jace. You have to,” he breathed.

Jace was silent before he replied, “I know. It just hurts.”

“It’s okay to miss her. I miss her too. Obviously in a different way!” he quickly adds. “But she would want you to be happy, even if that means you’re not together.”

Jace pulled away, “I just need to get out of here. I need some fresh air, or a change or scenery.”

“We can go to my place, it’s quiet and you can have some time to yourself if you need it.”

Jace smiled slightly, “Thanks, Simon.”

As they walked over to Simon’s apartment, Simon couldn’t help but feel a little nervous flutter in his stomach. The circumstances weren’t right, and Jace was so caught up on Clary that it was impossible that he would ever even consider liking Simon. Simon didn’t even have a clue if Jace even like guys or not!

Simon took a deep breath before saying, “Sometimes I see things that I know she would like and so badly want to bring them to her but then I remember that I can’t.”

“It was so unfair of the angel Raziel to take away her memories like he did. It’s not her fault that she used the gift they gave her in the first place. They should have thought of what she could do before they gave it to her. It’s their fault.”

“Yeah...the angels kinda seem like dicks,” Simon smiled. “All she ever did was try to help others. She was great. That’s why I was in love with her. When you’re with her, you just know that she cares about you and would do anything for you. I remember when we were kids and we snuck out at night to watch the stars. It was her idea, but I ended up slipping and hurting my leg. She ran all the way back home and told her mom everything and took all the blame. She’s always been great. Even after we broke up, I was worried that things would be different between us. But, they weren’t and she treated me the same way before we got together. Even when my feelings for her started to fade away, I still loved her.” Crap, Simon thought. I’m fangirling over Jace’s ex-girlfriend!

“Sorry, that was awkward. I hope you know that I don’t have any feelings for her and haven’t in awhile.”

“I know, Simon, don’t worry about it.” Jace waved his hand.

“Sometimes when I miss her, I like to think that she’s still with us.” Simon put his hand on his heart, tapping his fingers against his chest.

Jace snorted, “Nice, Simon. You know, I think what gets me the most is that I’ve never actually been broken up with. It’s always been the other way around. I just don’t know how I should feel about it. Sometimes I think about moving on to someone else but then I think of what could have been with Clary and if she didn’t go away…”

Simon nervously clasped his hands together. This was such bad timing. What is it with him and bad timing? Why couldn’t he just be indifferent? Why did he have to feel like he was going to explode if he kept his secret any longer? “Well, um, I know that there is someone that would be interested in going out with you...if you were okay with it.”

Jace raised an eyebrow. “Really, who?”

Simon opened his mouth and closed it. He thought that that was obvious! How could Jace still be so oblivious?

Jace’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh,” he said.

The silence that followed him was unbearable. Simon knew that he screwed up. He should have just kept his mouth closed. Now his friendship with Jace is ruined.

Growing more uncomfortable, Simon blurts out, “I’ve liked you for a few months now. When we started to actually get to know each other and not just through Izzy or Clary. I knew that you were a good guy but I didn’t realize that you were a good guy until we became friends. I’m sorry that I made things awkward.”

“It’s fine, Simon. Don’t stress about it.”

“I mean, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if we were to...you know. We are Clary’s two most favorite people and I think that she would be happy.”

Simon studied Jace for a reaction. He was surprised to see him smile a little bit. “I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind before.”

“Wait, what?”

“I kinda like you, only a little bit. But I wasn’t sure if I was just, like, rebounding my feelings for Clary onto her best friend.”

“Well, we don’t have to rush things. We have time. To be honest, it’s nice knowing that you feel the same way.”

Jace didn’t reply. It made Simon’s stomach drop. Did he say something wrong?

Jace looked at him and said in a mocking voice, “Would you like to be the Leia to my Han Solo?”

Simon couldn’t help but laugh at the terrible imitation. “You’ve actually seen them!” he cried out excitedly. “Like legitmately seen them?”

“I mean, yeah. I’m not totally clueless when it comes to mundane culture.”

“Oh my god! That’s great. We should watch them together! Also, if we’re going to be together, you’re going to have to work on your imitation of me.”

Jace chuckled, “I’ll work on it.”

“The real question is...who’s who? Solo or Leia?”

“I’m totally Solo,” Jace replied like it was the most obvious thing ever.

Simon shook his head, “Really? I don’t think so.”

Jace scoffed, “You think you’re Solo? You’ve needed more saving than I have!”

“Maybe, but I him in every single other way.”

“In your dreams!”

“You want to have a marathon of Star Wars movies? At my apartment this weekend? Then I’ll prove to you that I’m Solo.”

Jace grinned, “I’d like that.”

#jimon #jace wayland #simon lewis #shadowhunters #requests #asks #headcanon

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malecsecretsanta · 4 years

Text

Merry Christmas, @Usurix!

Your gift, featuring soulmates, background rizzy and jimon and a mixture of fluff and (angst - mainly the, uh, supernatural stuff) with a happy ending overall, is hopefully something that you enjoy! There is also some sort of supernatural element going on here - hope the malec brings you joy!

Read on AO3

******

as the storm passes, can you hold this fragile heart of mine?

Chapter 1: bronze

Alec and Magnus are sitting on freshly painted stools in a quaint cafe off 5th Avenue, perched above bumpy grey and blue cobblestones.

They had met five weeks ago, Magnus accompanying Izzy's boyfriend, Raphael, to her most recent dance recital as his plus one.

He had been dressed in a burgundy coat with brass buttons and wool thick enough for the pervading chill of late winter.

He had been enchanting, so Alec had asked him out on a date, and here they are today, on their fifth in the tentatively warm dawn of spring.

The spring sun glints against Magnus' warm brown eyes as he sips his iced coffee.

The moment dips and spins, in the sugary light of the dappled afternoon sun, before Alec next speaks.

"So what do you do for work?" Alec asks as he sips his extra-large hot chocolate in a pink and white ceramic mug. They haven't breached the topic of work yet: there is no time like the present, to sneak past the idleness of talk about blockbuster movies and books of classic literature.

Magnus hums, putting down his coffee. "Oh, this and that. Mainly I work as a consultant."

"Right," Alec says, "and how is that?"

Magnus rips open a brown paper packet and starts stirring in the sugar flakes. "Tiresome, at times - some of my clients can be particularly aggravating - but rewarding, nonetheless. It's mainly confidential, I'm afraid. What about you?"

Alec sighs, blowing on his hot chocolate. "I work for the New York government. Nothing terribly interesting, but it pays the bills and is important work, I suppose, in its own way."

Magnus stops stirring his coffee. "Don't put yourself down, Alexander, it sounds fascinating. What do you do, exactly?"

"Oh," Alec says, and wishes for a second - a mere instant - that he had chosen a more interesting major at college, despite his current comfort in his job, "I'm a crime statistics analyst."

"Should I be worried about the level of crime in New York City?" Magnus asks.

Alec laughs, shaking his head. "It's confidential."

Magnus' beautiful eyes widen. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"I'm kidding," Alec says, "all my work is available to the public somewhere on the government's website. And nothing to note as of recent."

"Ah," Magnus replies, taking out his spoon and picking up the coffee again, tilting it towards Alec almost as if in a toast, "well, that's a relief, then."

"To us, and everyone else," Alec says as the moment heats and thickens, to another wonderful date in an imperfect world.

The sky is dark by the time Alec comes back to his apartment, and he can hear laughter even when he unlocks their door, which is a lovely bright magenta.

The perils of living with your siblings and their jarring colour choices.

"I'm coming in," Alec calls out as he hangs his jacket in the hallway, "so you two better not be making out in the living room again, I really don't need to see that."

When Alec turns the corner into their living room, Jace and his soulmate, Simon, are thankfully just sitting on their black leather couch and playing Mariokart.

Jace crashes off Rainbow Road and curses, before looking up at Alec. "Izzy said she'll be home from the gym in half an hour and that she'll bring dinner from that Italian place."

Alec sighs. "Will Simon be staying?"

Simon, who Alec has had the unfortunate luck to now know for two years as Jace's boyfriend and, since last year when Jace's words glowed gold, as Jace's soulmate as well, crosses the finish line with a whoop.

"Yes," Jace answers, scowling as he dives off the road again, "how was your date? Will we be meeting him soon?"

"You've already met Magnus,” Alec says, dropping down on the couch next to Jace. “So shove it.”

Alec thinks that he will let a few more weeks pass before he unleashes his siblings on Magnus, who is sweet and charming and who Alec would rather not be spooked.

Jace quietens, in some sort of weird and uncharacteristic twist of the darkening night, and crosses the finish line five minutes later as the night dissolves into another of simple mundanity.

Two weeks later, in the midst of April’s sunny days, Alec scowls as Izzy refuses to move from her place, sprawled on the living room’s couch.

Her head is tilted back, long black hair a tangled mess, glinting in the late afternoon sun.

Izzy’s headphones - white, with silver gems embedded, a gift from their mother two birthdays past - are in her ears, plugged into her phone.

She laughs, bright and clear, and Alec may have thought it was beautiful if he didn’t want her gone.

“Iz.” He taps her on the shoulder. “Get out.”

Her laugh is cut off. “Sorry, Raphael,” she says, before glaring at Alec. “What?”

Alec shrugs. “I would like to watch the TV. Which is in here. You are not doing anything. Therefore, please go.”

Izzy sighs, rolling her eyes. Her eyeshadow is a reddish-bronze today, the same colour Magnus was wearing in his latest Instagram post. He wonders if they've been swapping tips. “I am talking to my boyfriend, Alec.”

Alec can’t help but roll his eyes right back, asserting his dominance as the older brother. “Please, skedaddle.”

He sits down on the couch and turns on the television.

Izzy gets up with a sigh. “Fine, whatever.”

Alec puts on some TV program or other - The Good Place, which Magnus had mentioned, once or twice.

The first episode opens with the declaration of soulmates, which are almost mundane in this world.

Soulmates, he thinks, and he is glad that he is alone, for a sappy smile is surely forming on his face that his siblings would tease him for.

Magnus has good taste, is what he next thinks, and he ignores the stark correlation as the show rolls on.

Ten weeks have passed since Alec and Magnus first met, since Alec first saw Magnus in all of his glamour and splendour: he thinks they have been on enough dates, now, to be dating, technically speaking - boyfriends, if labels must be pinned to it.

Which is terribly exciting, a joy for Alec in all honesty.

They are sitting in a secluded area of Central Park, where the leaves rustle and squirrels run about, and they are kissing, their pretzels long forgotten and cold.

Alec closes his eyes, leaning into the kiss.

Warmth spreads, it melts, rising throughout his body.

Magnus’ hand, no longer gloved because of the ever-increasing warmth of spring, rests on Alec’s cheek.

The heat rises, it deepens and spins, all in the space of one spring afternoon.

Summer dawns, sticky and humid.

Alec is glad that he resides inside, these days, with the rising and the setting of the sun, where there is the icy blessing of air-conditioning.

But Magnus has other ideas.

With the coming of June, they have been dating for three months.

They are getting more comfortable with each other, more relaxed and less censored in their actions and words.

Which means, in the natural order of things, Magnus decides to drag Alec outside on one burning Saturday - to swim, yes, but outside nonetheless.

"Come on," he says, pushing back his gleaming golden sunglasses, "it'll be fun."

"A crowded public pool?" Alec asks, with a deadpan look, as if Magnus' ideas are wilting like rotten fruit in this stuffy and oppressive summer heat. "Yeah, right."

Magnus' smile is blinding. "Now, who said anything about it being public?"

He pats his black Telsa, glittering in the midday scorching sunlight. "Come on."

Not for the first time, Alec wonders about what, exactly, Magnus does for a living - but Magnus' answers, whilst polite, are surface-level and thin, revealing nothing.

Magnus is wealthy, rich, loaded, whatever you want to call it, and Alec is curious to find out why.

Not for the sheer sake of curiosity - but because this is Magnus, and he is a mystery Alec wants to unravel.

Alec, still grumbling, gets into the passenger seat, pulling down his own dark sunglasses from the nearby two dollar shop so that they cover his eyes, which betray him by sparkling with mirth. "Fine."

If he didn't trust Magnus, didn't really want to get in, he wouldn't have gotten in. But that's the thing. He does trust Magnus, secretive as he is, and not just because he is stunning. Because he is polite, kind, generous and-

He is Magnus Bane, and that says it all.

So when they drive up to a secluded beach with pristine water lapping gently at the sandy shore, he smiles and jumps right in.

At the edge of summer’s end, Alec thinks he may be falling in love.

They lay together in golden sheets, and Magnus cuddles closer.

Alec can't help but smile, drifting back off into a blissful sleep.

Maybe.

Maybe, this is the one.

September dawns with a frostiness that Alec had long forgotten.

He’s reading after a tiring day at work - really, couldn’t Barbara turn up to meetings more often than once in a blue moon? - when Izzy bursts into his room.

She’s glowing.

“Alec,” she says, beaming. “I think he said them! Can you check?”

Ah. Her words.

Alec can’t say he’s surprised. Izzy and Raphael have been dating for nearly three years, longer than Jace and Simon have been. Raphael, to be fair, is a lot more guarded - he has been burned too many times, or so he says, tired of all of society’s ingrained aphobia.

“Sure,” he says, putting down his latest book. It’s a dry read, really, but so few people publish books on queer history in 13th century England - anyway.

She’s already twisted her hair into a bun.

The gold glow pierces the thin fabric of the grey shirt.

Izzy lifts it up with an unsteady hand.

“What did he say?” Alec says as he picks up the worn corner of the gauze, which is a horizontal strip of white across her back.

Izzy bites her lip. “I texted it to you.”

“Okay, cool,” Alec says, unrolling the gauze.

The words shine bright.

I think you are something exquisite, Isabelle Lightwood, and I don’t mind admitting it.

The tightly looped cursive burns like an ember from an eternal fire.

Alec drops the gauze, and goes to find his phone and switches it off aeroplane mode.

Magnus is oddly knowledgable about queer history, pertaining from the early 17th century or so, and is a much more eloquent narrator than this bore - so the phone had been left in his wobbly cedar cabinet to take away the temptation to talk to his boyfriend instead.

The words match, and Alec smiles, snapping a picture of Izzy’s back.

“You’re right,” he says, as Izzy turns around to face him, still glowing like the sun, “he’s the one.”

One’s words are terribly important.

They show the time your soulmate first meant to say I love you.

They are often hidden behind white gauze before they are spoken to offer privacy, to prevent misuse and abuse.

Alec’s words curl across his ribs.

He looks at Magnus’ sleeping form on Friday night and wonders.

Is this the one?

December comes in a flurry of rain, of crowds and frantic shopping.

Sometimes, looking out from his office window when he's on a break, Alec thinks it romantic. But he has Magnus, now, so he thinks that looking at the Christmas rush through rose-tinted glasses is permitted.

It is already dark when he finishes work with his burgundy scarf - a gift from Magnus - wrapped tightly around his neck.

The coolness still seeps in, but that is New York.

Tonight, he's going to shop with Izzy at a night market: just the two of them, in the speckled darkness that comes past dusk.

Alec curses when he looks down at his watch.

It's nearly six.

He didn't mean to stay so long at the office - but Mark had brought coffee, and it was so warm, whilst outside was so cold.

Izzy will be waiting for him.

He finishes buttoning up his brown leather gloves and zips up his bag, before slipping down a nearby side street.

It's not his favourite place, but it'll do the job and get him there quicker.

He's still thinking this when a massive grey dog runs into the street.

"Hello," he says, because he's always had a soft spot for dogs.

The dog growls.

Alec backs away. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

But the dog leaps forward, and slashes at Alec's chest with sharp silver claws.

Alec tries to push the dog away.

The dog growls, biting him instead.

It stings. His vision blurs.

Alec tries to get up. But instead, everything slides away into a soundless blackness.

Chapter 2: silver

He wakes amongst the chaos of a hospital.

A woman with thick black hair and dark skin is in front of him in nurse's scrubs.

"Good evening, sir," she says. "I'm your nurse, Catarina Loss. Would you like anything? And your name, please?"

"Alec Lightwood." Alec shakes his head. "Thanks, but not right now."

He goes quiet, before nausea takes over him, and drifts back off into an uneasy slumber.

“You need to calm down.”

Catarina’s voice floats down into the ward, and Alec’s vision swims.

“I can’t.” A man’s - it sounds as if it is Magnus - voice cracks. “I can’t calm down, I knew we had to stop Russell and now.” There’s a broken sob. “Look at what’s happened - what I let happen to Alexander .”

It’s Magnus.

Alec can’t speak, hooked up with a million or so tubes, his tongue heavy.

Don’t worry, he wants to say, it’s just a bad dog bite.

Instead, he falls back into a restless sleep.

Next time he wakes, it is morning - early dawn, the light slipping past the hastily drawn blinds.

Catarina walks in and closes the door shut.

“Alec,” she says, hesitantly. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he replies.

Catarina nods, biting her lip. “Magnus is outside. Would you like him to come in?”

Alec frowns. He wishes that the lights were less bright. “I mean, yes, but what about my family?”

Catarina can’t seem to meet Alec’s eyes, fidgeting with the black ballpoint pen clipped to her notebook. “You can see your family, but first - first there is something we need to tell you, about your attack. Well - I’d ask you to sit down, but you’re already lying down in a bed, so.”

The door clicks open once more, and Magnus steps inside.

His face is bare of make-up except for the faintest trace of eyeliner around his eyes and his hair is hanging limp. His clothes look slept in and there’s this wild, harried look in his eyes which Alec has never seen before. In short, Magnus is a wreck, absolutely dishevelled.

“I.” Magnus gulps, unshed tears glittering in his eyes. “I don’t know where to start. Can I sit?”

Alec nods, sitting up against the white starched pillows.

Magnus sits down on a rickety white plastic chair, the farthest from Alec’s bed. “I understand if you never want to see me again, but you do have to know that I never wished you any harm.”

Alec’s ribs burn, but that’s not what really registers, in the here and now: instead he watches Magnus’ fingers twist and turn in his lap, ringless and slender.

What has Magnus done?

“I should have never started seeing you,” Magnus continues, “it was foolish of me, but it was so lovely. I forgot.” He swallows. “I forgot why I stayed away.”

Alec pulls up the blankets closer to his chest.

“The wolf that bit you was no ordinary wolf,” Magnus finally says, after a long moment of unbroken silence.

“A wolf? In inner-city New York? I thought it was a dog,” Alec cuts in, rubbing at the bandages wrapped across what seems his whole midsection.

Magnus looks up, and Alec doesn’t think he has ever seen him so shaken, so frightened. “It was a werewolf,” he whispers, “a werewolf named Russell, to be precise, but that doesn’t really matter. And - there’s a high chance that you will become a werewolf, too, in a few weeks.”

“Oh.”

He’d laugh at the absurdity of it all, but Magnus is crying, silently but heavily.

Alec wants to reach out and hug him, but he still doesn’t know if he can trust Magnus, he's acting so out of character.

“All the legends,” Magnus says with a cracked voice, “are true.”

Alec doesn’t understand, lying there still in shock.

“I’m sorry.” Magnus stands up, the scrape of his chair echoing across the room. “I can’t - I can’t do this.”

He runs out of the room and Alec looks, wide-eyed, at Catarina.

Catarina sighs, putting down her notebook. “It’s hard for him.”

“How do you know Magnus?”

Catarina smiles, but it is brittle. “I’m his best friend. I know he hasn’t told you much because he wanted to protect you, but that’s all null and void now, I’m afraid.”

She closes the door again.

“The thing is, both Magnus and I - we’re not exactly human, either.”

The world halts, stops spinning on its axis for a precarious second.

“We’re warlocks.”

Catarina talks, explaining this hidden Shadow World which Alec is now irreversibly part of, and Alec blinks blearily at her.

Not in disbelief, no, or shock - just in a kind of a weary realisation, like some sort of flimsy tarp is finally being removed and the world is becoming so much more clear and vivid.

Magnus’ reluctance to share anything remotely private. The malicious - malevolent, even - intent in the wolf's green eyes as it bit him.

Everything he has ever thought as true - it’s false, isn’t it?

He’s lived in a web of lies - a false reality, a fabrication, for all of his life, and now is to be roughly pulled out into an even harsher reality than the one he thought he knew.

"But I'm a warlock," Catarina finishes her explanation with, in a roundabout kind of way, "so I'm not the best person to explain the intricacies of being a werewolf. I-"

Alec holds out his hand. "Thank you, Catarina, for the detailed explanation, but I would like to rest now."

Catarina nods, and leaves the room.

Alec doesn't know what to think, how to feel.

He falls into an uneasy sleep, and dreams of red flashing lights and the cracking of bones.

It is late evening when he wakes, and Max, Maryse, Jace and Izzy are all already there.

"Alec, honey," Maryse says, who is standing at his bedside and absentmindedly running her fingers through his limp hair, "how are you feeling?"

Alec tries to sit up, but it's pointless - he's too tired, so he simply slumps down further instead. "A bit rough," he admits, though he wishes he could draw the curtains around himself, hide his weakness from his siblings, protect them from all the horrors of the world even though they are all now adults. "Not going to lie, that wolf took me by surprise."

Izzy, who Alec can't help but note is not wearing any make-up, gasps. "A wolf? In central Manhattan?"

Alec laughs, though it is weary and strained. "I was surprised too. Sorry about missing our appointment, by the way."

Izzy shakes her head, taking one of his hands and rubbing circles into it, her crimson nail polish chipped. "Don't apologise, Alec. We're just glad that you're okay."

Alec thinks about how he may be a werewolf.

How Magnus up and left.

Okay? Maybe physically, if that.

But his family has already fretted too much, so instead, he simply nods and lets their chatter sweep his thoughts away to a happier place.

The next day, a young woman wearing a studded leather jacket visits him.

Catarina closes the door. “This is Maia Roberts, the head of the New York werewolf pack.”

Maia's eyes flash green. "Alexander Lightwood, is it?"

Alec slowly sits up. "I prefer Alec, but yeah."

Maia sits down on the rickety chair Magnus had abandoned the previous day. "If you are a werewolf, you can come to my pack. There's about twenty of us, and we live down by the docks."

"Thank you for the offer - can I keep my job?" he asks. "I live with my siblings - do I have to leave?"

Maia sighs, rubbing her fingers together absentmindedly. "It's a bit complex. Not an outright no, like it would be if you had become a vampire - burning up whenever the sun touches you is a little obvious - but it's not easy, mixing these two worlds."

"Do you still keep in touch with your family?"

Maia stiffens. "No, but that's more on them then my transformation."

Alec nods. "Okay. Am I allowed to tell them?"

Not telling Jace, Izzy, Max or his mum isn't really an option for him - but, he would rather not be dragged up before some supernatural law court.

Maia shrugs. Her burgundy boots clack against the grey speckled linoleum floor. "You can if you want."

Alec sighs, and listens half-heartedly to a complex discussion of werewolf politics and abilities.

She is nearly finished when she reaches the topic of soulmates.

"You are allowed to tell your soulmate about the Shadow World," she says.

The scars on her neck are silver. He wonders if they cover up her words.

"Though," she continues, with an all too casual shrug, "they are often a member of the Shadow World themselves."

Alec nods.

And tries to not think of the burning of his ribs when he last saw Magnus, and what it all may mean for a man who seemed terrified of everything since the events of yesterday.

A man who Alec may, despite all of this wretched secrecy, be in love with.

After Maia leaves, Alec stares at the ceiling.

"All this secrecy - is that why Magnus didn't tell me he's a warlock when I was a mundane?"

Catarina takes away his tray. "Partially. It's frowned upon, dating a mundane."

"Oh," Alec says, trying with little success to ignore his own rising disappointment.

He's had many shocks on the last 24 hours, but the biggest so far has been Magnus walking out, and not coming back.

He's discharged three days later, just in time for New Year's Eve.

He still hasn't seen Magnus, not since that harrowing day when everything changed.

Jace picks him up, in the rambleshackle vehicle otherwise known as Simon's yellow graffitied truck, with a resounding thumping hug, worry lingering in his blue brown eyes.

Alec's scars are now a thin silvery red, hidden under his many layers of thick winter clothes forced onto him by his mother.

Catarina said that's a sign of being a werewolf - healing too fast to be human.

Alec shudders in the back of the truck.

"Do you need anything?" Jace asks as they turn into the highway. At this time of night, the orange lights are glowing, their shine reflected on the road wet with winter's rain.

"No," Alec says, "but thank you."

He can't be a burden on his family.

He can't.

When he gets home, Izzy, Max and Maryse are all waiting for him.

Izzy is the first to hug him in greeting - she's barefoot, and her naked nails strike Alec as odd - her hair loose and curly.

"Missed you," she says into his chest.

Alec pulls her closer. "Missed you too."

He lifts one hand and waves everyone else over. "Come on, I'm not fragile."

Maryse hugs him from behind, burying her head into his hair and stifling her sobs.

"Mum, I'm okay," Alec says.

Maryse rubs his neck, almost as if she is checking for a pulse. "Honey, I know - but seeing you in that hospital bed was absolutely dreadful."

"I'll try to avoid it in the future." Alec sighs, closing his eyes. "There's something I need to tell you all. But it won't be easy."

He sighs, disentangling himself from his family.

"We love you," Jace says, in a rare moment of vulnerability, "through thick and thin."

"Thank you," Alec says, "but be careful what you promise, for I might be a werewolf."

He says it firmly, decisively, looking directly at his family

Maryse is the first one to speak. "If you are to become a werewolf," she says, because of course, she believes him without hesitation, "then we will be with you every step of the way."

A smile, small and a little cracked, creeps onto Alec's face. "Just not on the full moon," he says.

The relief is euphoric.

And then, it's like the breaking of a wave: everyone crashes in to hug him again, with reassuring whispers and declarations of love.

Alec closes his eyes.

Maybe - maybe this isn't the end of the world, and his life can continue on, imperfect as it is.

If only one other person was here - he may even call this a rare moment of perfection.

When Alec wakes up the next morning with the bird calls of dawn, he unwraps the gauze covering his soulmark because it is burning - has been burning, since his worldview was skewed into a vastly different trajectory, and this is his first moment of true privacy.

He hasn't looked at it in ages.

And now, it glows gold.

I understand if you never want to see me again, but you do have to know that I never wished you any harm.

Alec texts Magnus right away.

we need to talk.

Hours pass, and night falls.

There is no response, and he falls asleep alone.

Luke Garroway is a tall, muscular man.

He is wearing a sky blue button-down shirt with navy suspenders and a police badge is clipped to his cloud patterned tie.

He doesn't look like a former werewolf alpha. Instead, Luke looks like a total and utter dad. His hair is starting to grey at the edges and he has this ease of talking, of being.

But he is here to take care of Alec if a transformation does befall him. And if need be, he can turn into a wolf and control Alec that way, and lessen the blow of what may be a harrowing night.

If he turns, but it feels like a guaranteed certainty at this point in time.

It has been three weeks since he was bitten, and he still hasn't seen Magnus or heard from him since that dreadful morning.

His heart aches.

Alec doesn't blame Magnus for what happened - a rogue werewolf bit him, randomly, on his way home from work through a shady shortcut - but he knows Magnus, maybe loves Magnus, and knows that Magnus blames himself.

The shackles on his hands are rubbing his wrists raw.

It's quiet, the dust motes settling in the dark blue evening light.

It has been a waiting game so far, words and pitying glances.

But tonight, those words will be tested.

"Stay calm, son," Luke says, breaking the stillness of the deepening night. "It's not as painful as the movies would make you think, and I won't let anything bad happen to you or because of you if you do become a werewolf, trapped in a vulnerable state."

"Thanks," Alec says. "Um, I was wondering, do you know Magnus Bane?"

Luke nods, in his fatherly and reassuring manner. "Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn? Hard to miss. He's a great guy. Why'd you ask?"

"Um." Alec bites his lip. "Well, he is - or was, I guess, I don't know, my boyfriend, before this whole debacle, and I'd like to get in touch with him, but he's been avoiding me."

Luke sighs, shaking his head and rubbing his beard flecked with grey. "Sounds like Magnus," he replies, and he sounds so weary, so bone-deep tired. "I'll try to get through to him, but no guarantees. I'm not the alpha anymore."

Alec half-smiles. "Thanks," he says, blinking, trying to not let the tears fall, "I miss him."

"It's a complex situation," Luke says, as the moon's first rays slide through the dusty window and Alec grits his teeth in pain. "Alright. Stay calm. I'll take care of you."

Alec's world creaks. Tilts.

It explodes, until the darkness of oblivion wrought on by agony befalls him.

Chapter 3: gold

When Alec wakes the next day, he is weary, and his muscles ache.

Luke is gone.

He must have had to leave for work.

Someone has placed a thick grey and blue blanket on top of him, keeping him warm as the midday sun, a slither of warmth amongst the ever present coolness of winter, filters into the room through the one lone window.

Still, Alec shivers. It is mid-January, and last night the full moon rose.

He is a werewolf.

And there are no ifs or buts or maybes, not anymore, not after this first tiresome transformation on a frigid winter night.

What is to be done now, with this now certain eternal bleakness? The world of before torn out of his reach, and the world of the future one clouded with instability.

Alec sits up, letting the blanket pool at his waist, the rumbling of a nearby heater filling the room.

If he had any energy left, he may have gasped when he notices the person sitting on the nearby wooden chair with peeling blue paint.

But as it is, he blinks, and that is to be enough.

"Magnus?" he croaks.

Magnus is dressed in a ruffled but close-cut burgundy suit, with tiny golden buttons shining in the weak winter light.

Magnus nods, and he looks as afraid as he did those three weeks ago, when Alec woke with poison in his blood.

"Where have you been?" Alec continues, his voice cracking.

Magnus waves his hand - a flurry of icy blue sparks, and then a glass of water materialises into the silent place, which he hands to Alec. "Here."

Alec accepts it with trembling fingers. "I've missed you, Magnus."

"I've missed you too," Magnus says, with downcast eyes which are devoid of his former confidence and flirtations. "I have been busy - Russell has been imprisoned, and it took a while to clean it all up."

"Three weeks, Magnus?" Alec asks. "Did it take that long?"

Magnus flinches.

"I'm scared, Magnus. I don't blame you for what happened. It's not your fault. But I want you to be here."

Magnus looks up. For once, his face is bare of make-up, and his hair lies flat.

"I put you in a dangerous position by dating you," he says, restlessly rubbing together his ringless fingers with chipped copper nail polish. "As a powerful figure of the New York Downworld community, people look at cruel ways to manipulate me. And you, as a mundane, so vulnerable-"

"I can look after myself," Alec cuts in, "and you cannot hold yourself responsible for the actions of others."

Magnus sighs. "I know this - rationally, but irrationally all I can think of is a world where you are dead, or here and now, where you must resent me."

"I don't resent you," Alec says, his voice softening. "I could never resent you."

I love you , is what he thinks. Please don't make me live without you. I couldn't bear it.

Magnus' hand moves to his side. "Oh," he replies. "I - can I still see you?"

"I would very much like to continue dating you," Alec says. "I care for you immensely, and would love for my entry into this new world to be by your side."

"Okay," Magnus says, softly. "Okay, Alexander. Text me when you want to next meet up. I." He blinks back tears. "Thank you, for not leaving me now that the truth has been so callously revealed."

"Please don't thank me, when it is a blessing to be with you," Alec says, as exhaustion takes him over once more, "and I'll see you soon."

There is the rustle of clothes, and then silence.

When he gets back home, a fortnight after his transformation, to a meal cooked by Jace - spaghetti and bolognese - some of his life has resumed to some semblance of normality.

Simon - of course, Simon is here, he may as well live here by now, as attached to Jace as he is - is sitting at the table and chatting to Raphael.

Simon, who lives with his best friend Clary Fray, who happens to be the daughter of werewolf Luke Garroway.

So much entanglement in the Shadow World, that he now knows of it. Luke has been like a dad to Simon - and now, three more mundanes know because of one bite.

And he's nagging Raphael, who, as it happens, is the head of the New York Vampire Clan.

It has been a time of revelations.

Izzy had reassured him that Raphael had told her that he was a vampire about six months after they had started dating: not the full complexities of everything, but somethings that couldn't be very well explained away.

As Catarina had so aptly put, vampirism is a hard trait to fully conceal, more so than magic running through your veins or sleepless full moons.

Raphael is scowling, faced with Simon's nattering as he is. Looping around his wrist are Izzy's words shining in silver: I love you, and I don't care about the rest .

Alec hangs up his coat next to four others.

He's invited Magnus to tonight's dinner: and it is to be an interesting one, no one having to hide anything.

Well, except for the words burning underneath his shirt.

The words have glowed gold for nearly a month now, yet Alec is still filled with this strange apprehension of confrontation.

They haven't met since the day Alec had woken up definitively a werewolf, a member of the Downworld.

Soulmates. What a strange, fate driven concept.

You would think that it would make things easier, more clear-cut and definite, not more complex.

The doorbell rings.

Alec walks to the door and opens it. It's Magnus - of course it is Magnus, with his silk blue scarf wrapped around his neck and an expensive bottle of champagne in his hand - and he steps in and hugs Alec tightly.

"I've missed you," Magnus mumbles against the crook of Alec's neck.

Alec knows that they are cloaked in darkness, that no one is watching him, so he holds on tighter. "I've missed you too."

His heart aches, and he wants to kiss Magnus, hug him until the end of time, but.

His siblings insist on some sort of social presence and engagement from him, sometimes, and unfortunately tonight is one of those times.

"Right," Alec says, as he reluctantly pulls away and takes the bottle of champagne off Magnus. "Let's go."

Alec can't help but grab, hold on tightly to Magnus' hand.

He's here, and he's not going away.

They walk into the teasing joviality of his family, maybe their family.

Raphael and Magnus have been best friends for decades: for Alec, it is his siblings and their soulmates.

And his, too. Maybe.

Maybe, tonight is the night when everything will finally fall into place.

After dinner, after the chatter and endless ribbing has passed, Magnus tugs Alec to the side.

"Um," Magnus says, biting his lip, "Alexander, could we please talk somewhere private?"

Alec nods, stifling the urge to ruffle his hair which he let Jace, for some God-forsaken reason, gel to the high heavens this morning. "Sure."

He's already scrubbed his room down in anticipation and nerves, the navy blue sheets uncrinkled and his mirror shining.

It's not like this is the first time Magnus has come into his home, into his room - they have been dating for ten or so months. But it has been around a month since that terrible night, and Alec feels rough and raw - exposed to a thorough and brutal scrutiny as if his scaffolding, his skeleton, is now on display to the world.

Magnus is a kind man. A generous man.

But. Soulmates are a finicky, touchy business, even for someone as compassionate as Magnus Bane.

They are intimate, revealing. Once the bond settles and sets, it is said that emotions of the other can be felt, experienced fully and boundlessly.

They are both guarded men, with layers hiding their hearts: even in a normal situation, this is not an easy task.

But this is far from a normal situation - he is a werewolf, now, and Magnus is a centuries-old warlock.

"Sit down," Alec says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of his too neatly done up bed.

Magnus sits, almost delicately as if he is afraid of taking up too much space, on Alec's bed.

Alec sits on his desk chair and pulls his grey woollen blanket onto his lap, so he can twist it in his fingers and do anything but think of what is to happen, in a few short seconds.

"So," Magnus says. He starts to pull off his jumper, then stops. "May I?"

Alec tries not to stare, to not second guess. "Sure."

Magnus carefully pulls off his dark blue jumper threaded with silver, then starts to unbutton his shirt.

This isn't the first time that Alec has seen Magnus undress. But it is the first time that it has been so fraught with nerves, so full of uncertainty and fragility.

Words, where there had been none before, now curl in sparkling golden glory across Magnus' chest.

"Oh," Alec says, softly. He's not surprised, exactly, but he is scared. Scared that Magnus doesn't want him anymore, that this is his gentle way of letting him down.

Feelings can change, in particular after the whirlwind of a month they have had.

Alec reads I don't resent you, I could never resent you and wishes he could carve his heart out.

One thing he's never liked about soulmarks: they can betray your feelings before you're ready to confront them - to even acknowledge their mere existence, sometimes.

Alec cannot bring himself to meet Magnus' eyes, and pulls the blanket further up his chest.

He's never felt more exposed.

"Well," Alec says, swallowing, "they're true, Magnus. I - I do love you, Magnus, most ardently, but-"

"But what?" Magnus cuts him off. "But what, Alexander?" His voice softens. "I love you, too. Isn't that enough?"

Alec sighs. "I hope." He takes off his own jumper and shirt, carefully with fingers that yearn to shake and tremble but somehow stay steady, twisting to the side so that Magnus can read the glittering words. "We're soulmates, aren't we?"

Magnus looks at him with shimmering eyes. Tears sit in them, but they do not fall. There's a slip, a blur, and the familiar warm brown eyes are replaced by gleaming golden cat eyes. "Are we?"

There's such hesitancy, such apprehension and hope in his voice.

Everything is so complex, so uncertain.

But maybe this doesn't have to be.

Alec gets up. Walks a few steps. Sits down almost on top of Magnus.

He tugs Magnus towards him, runs his hands through Magnus' hair. "I think so, soulmate."

"Oh God," Magnus say, putting his hand on Alec's shoulder, idly tracing circles with his fingers, "I hope so, Alexander, I really do hope so. I love you so much."

"I love you too." There is no other answer that Alec could have given. "Magnus, your eyes."

Magnus leans back, almost as if he is ashamed. "What about them?"

Alec can't help but stare, enraptured by their beauty. "They're gold."

Magnus takes his hand off. Turns to the side. "I'm sorry you have to see them," he says, his voice now muffled, "they're my warlock mark - I lost control."

"Don't apologise," Alec says, "they're beautiful, Magnus. You're beautiful. There is nothing ugly about you."

Magnus looks back up, and Alec swallows.

Magnus looks so vulnerable now, but evermore so trusting and willing to place his heart etched from diamonds into Alec's earnest but scarred hands.

"I love you, no matter what," Alec says, because if there is one thing he will do, again and again, is forevermore remind Magnus how much he is loved.

Magnus' hand cups Alec's cheek. "Thank you, Alexander." He meets Alec's gaze with his eyes still unglamoured. "I love you - unconditionally."

Then Magnus pulls him in.

A blink, a second of hesitation.

And then they are kissing, like it is the most natural thing in the world.

Alec slips back into the freezing office on the top floor of the red and brown brick building, and it is like he never left.

His boss - Lucy, a middle-aged woman with thick spectacles and wiry blonde hair streaked with grey - nods when she spots him.

"It's good to have you back, Alec," she says, "Mark had to pick up a few of your time-sensitive projects, but other than that, business as usual."

Alec nods, placing his coffee down on his desk next to Coralie, whose manicured nails tapping on the keyboard will be a welcome reminder that his life is normal, as normal as it can be as a 21st-century werewolf dating an immortal warlock.

Time to take back some blessed mundanity.

Spring comes again in a flurry of new growth, of new life, of rejuvenation and sunshine.

A year has passed since he last sat at this café with his beloved: the chalkboard out front is now navy blue, and the cobblestones are somewhat more crowded.

The same waitress with auburn hair places his hot chocolate in front of him, laden with white and pink marshmallows.

"Thank you," Alec says, unlinking his and Magnus' hands.

Their silver rings glitter in the late afternoon sun.

Magnus smiles, sipping his own black coffee. "Love, do you need some hot chocolate with your marshmallows?"

"I'm fine," Alec says, "it's enough, you need to appreciate marshmallows more."

"Hm," Magnus replies, "if you say so, fiancé."

"Of course." Alec puts down his cup and links their hands together. "Why wouldn't I?"

Magnus' smile broadens, like the golden yellow rays of the sun on a perfect day. "Aren't you sweet enough?"

Alec can't help but smile when Magnus' other hand curves around his neck and pulls him in for a kiss.

Magnus may taste like black coffee, but he is Alec's soulmate.

More than that, he is Magnus Bane, Alec's love - forevermore, until everything fades away into oblivion.

Their kiss deepens, and Alec sighs, his mark tingling with pleasure.

Come sunshine or rain, mundanity or the crazy world of the supernatural, they are to be immortal lovers.

Alec Lightwood loves Magnus Bane.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

#Usurix #malecsanta19 #*fics19 #*gifts19

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