#malec daily

[sharona1x2]

"I can't do this. I thought we were doing the right thing, but... this isn't it."

Malec – season 1, episode 12

[khaleesiofalicante]

About the TLND Sequel...

First and foremost, thank you - for all the asks and the kind words. Your messages and ongoing interest mean the world to me, and I genuinely appreciate each and every one of them.

I understand there have been many inquiries about this and I apologize for not being able to respond to all of them individually. I'll address it here instead.

To clarify, what I have is merely an idea— a nucleus scene and some classic music that sparked this whole thing. There's no assurance that it will evolve into a fic. If such a plan materializes, you'll be the first to know.

Some time back, I mentioned an interest in writing about a deeply personal subject— rape/sexual violence. This is a topic I work on (in my professional life) on a daily basis. As you're aware, my writing often aims to educate my audience, in whatever capacity I can. Unfortunately, there are numerous misconceptions surrounding rape/SA, even among survivors, owing to the pervasive misinformation in the world. This is why I wanted to write about it. A story not just touching upon it as a plot point, but delving into it comprehensively. It deserves this kind of attention, I think.

The potential for a sequel, if it happens, would center on Minerva and this challenging theme. I'm fully aware that some readers may find this unsettling, and that's a sentiment I've confronted before. However, this wasn't a conscious decision on my part; rather, it came to me randomly and it felt right. Should a sequel materialize, it would revolve around Minerva (and her family) navigating the journey of healing. I can assure you that, irrespective of the storyline, her parents and siblings will stand by her with unwavering support—a privilege not often granted to survivors.

As I said, it's angsty. But it's also difficult. That's the right word for it, I think. Difficult. It's difficult to read and it's going to be so very difficult to write. Keeping this in mind, I really don't want to go through the bullshit I did last time with TLND where people take sides and get EXTREMELY opinionated on how the characters should react. I';'m not willing to deal with that kind of bullying for a story like this.

Nevertheless, this topic holds profound significance for me. So, I do hope I find the strength to write it. The key thing to me is that this story is affirming. That's an important word/concept we must learn. If we see characters like malec and rafe and max and all our favourites affirming such an experience, I feel like it could be helpful - whether you've been through something like this or not.

You know I never write a sequel if I didn't plan for it in the beginning, but as always, I listen to my characters and not the other way around. So, if this story is adamant and demands to be told, I will of course write it. I don't know when and how, but I will do my best. Until then, please be patient with me.

With love and gratitude, Dani

[alexanderlightweight]

Wednesday prompt - Dark!Malec?

Magnus, makes Alec immortal using a ritual that calls for the blood of x number of people/creatures -as in he has to kill them. maybe one of each shadow world faction, or a combination of something similar, maybe more than the ones more talked about like the unseelies, sirens-

Alec uses the institute and its resources and his Shadowhunters to lead them away from Magnus while Magnus leaves a trail pointing to someone else -someone he like hates and is very much happy to set up, this someone does deserve it-

Later, when everyone realizes that Alec is immortal they both either find a way to explain it or go like oops! Who knows?!

I'm also thinking, what if the people they choose to kill for the ritual were like bad ones, and so everyone starts to think is a shadow world vigilante kind of thing but really is part of the cover up?

here we go! i hope you enjoy where i went with this. i really enjoyed your prompt and had a lot of of fun writing this!

lumine

-

“Any rumors?” Magnus asks as he paints red arrays over Alexander’s naked torso.  His boy’s chest is bare of hair and while Magnus does miss being able to drag his fingers through it, it’s a necessary sacrifice.

“No,” Alexander rasps, struggling to stay still when even just Magnus’ touch is enough to ignite passion in his veins. “You’ve been smart, crossing realms and continents. They’ll notice soon, but by then, we’ll have covered our tracks too thoroughly.”

Magnus hums in pleasure and drags his fingers through the last of the blood congealing in his olive wood bowl. He paints Alexander’s lips last, waiting for his boy to stick out his tongue and then he drags his fingers over the muscles, making sure not a single drop is wasted.

As much as Magnus wants to kiss him, he can’t, not until the blood has settled and absorbed into Alexander and Magnus can’t risk stealing a single drop of the unseelie blood he’s painted his beloved with.

“There, perfect.” Magnus murmurs and sits back on his heels, it’s been torture, being unable to touch Alexander sexually for the last two months. They still share intimacy, but they both are hungry for each other, the gnawing ache of carnal need growing with every murder committed, every sacrifice shared.

Magnus makes the kills, consecrates the blood with his magic and then paints Alexander with more arrays and runes than Alexander’s body should be able to bear.

His boy takes it all, with only devotion in his gaze as Magnus defiles him and desecrates him with a magic so old and grotesque that it’s been purposefully lost to time. 

Magnus kisses Alexander’s hair and wonders, darkly, if he can speed the timeline up.

—

“Magnus—” Cat sighs and rubs her forehead, “we agreed that you would take a year for this.  Even that is pushing it. Despite being across the world, it’ll be noticeable. You need to kill daily for this to work and that’s already risky. You’ll have to double it, if you want to be quick about this.”

Magnus shrugs across from her, a hungry, covetous gleam to his eyes and Cat sighs, already knowing that she’s at a loss for any way to convince him otherwise.

“I’ll see about contacting you if any patients I can’t save come my way?” She offers but Magnus, ever considerate for her, shakes his head.

“I have to hunt them, Cat. I have to stalk them until their heart nearly bursts with fear, to torment them without injuring them. To kill them with a single blow that doesn’t disturb the flow of their blood until I drain it.  To take their still beating hearts, filled with the terror of me, and feed them to Alexander bit by bit. As generous as your offer is, I fear it could hinder the process and I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be willing to wait.”

“Magnus, you aren’t considering—” and Cat trails off, eyes wide as she realizes what Magnus is planning to do. “How will you even accomplish that?”

“Several portals from Edom are about to mysteriously appear, an attempt of my father or Lilith, undoubtedly.  Attempting to gain access once again to this realm.” Magnus grins, dark and sharp and his teeth gleaming in a malicious smile. “What will terrify someone more than being swallowed by a rift and hunted by the king of Edom?”

They’ve all carefully concealed Magnus’ status and not a single person beyond Magnus, Cat and Alec know the truth of what happened in Edom.

Of what Magnus became, of what he’s turning Alec into.

However, Cat has no intention of stopping him and she just nods, reaching out to press her palm to Magnus’ cheek.

“When you need me, I’m always here.” She promises him, because she will be, whenever he needs her.

[busterkeatonsociety]

This Day in Buster…November 13, 1921

The Tacoma Daily Ledger prints the story of when Buster Keaton learned of his nickname in France - Malec.  “We call you Malec for one reason…You never smile and always look so sad.  Malec, well, that means Saphead.” And apparently, this made Buster smile!

[magnus-the-maqnificent]

Peak daily Malec content + saving the world

LMAOOOOOO YES 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Them staying in bed for like half the day 🥹🥹🥹

[michellemisfit]

TAG GAME: FANDOM EDITION

Tagged by the wonderful @energievie, thank you my love!

Your Name: Michelle (Mys for short)

Your Age: Just turned 38 🤟

Your First Fandom(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Your Current Fandom(s): Shameless is my current active fandom, but like, you never really leave a fandom, you just get distracted by a new shiny thing. There’s still Merlin (2008) and Shadowhunters (2015) fic open on my phone right this minute. And I go back and read some of my favourite fic from much older fandoms on a semi regular basis. I have hundreds of them saved in word. Because if you love something… don’t let it go! Save the ever-loving shit out of it and keep it on your current laptop as well as on multiple external hard drives for back up!!

How did you first get into fandom? I was looking for someone to talk to, and that wasn’t going to happen in real life. So instead I found myself on a German Buffy Forum, which led me to discover fandom, online friends, and fanfic… all of which changed my life forever.

How long have you been engaging with fandom spaces? Probably since 1998? It was during Buffy Season 1, but when it aired on German TV, so 98/99 sounds about right. I DEFINITELY lied to the ‘are you over 18?’ ticky boxes!!

How often do you read fanfics? Daily. I used to be that kid that would walk to and from school with her nose in a book. Now I’m that adult that walks to and from school reading fanfic on her phone.

Top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): Mickey Milkovich. Ian Gallagher. Lip Gallagher.

Have you ever written a fic for a fandom? if so, shout it out! I have. I’m not primarily a writer, but about once a year I get the urge. Here’s my AO3. Also, if you search very hard you may be able to find some German Buffy/Spike fic out there somewhere, from when I was a child, proof read by my mother, whose main comment was ‘Oh my. You could have a career in erotica…’ (They barely kissed! Sheesh!)

Have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? Yep. Back in the day I did the full range: Drawings, Icons. Wallpapers. Manips. Fic Banners. Fic Awards. Now I mostly stick with traditional art, and then once a year pumpkins haha Some of my recent stuff is on AO3. You can also find a lot of my art on my RedBubble Page or my Instagram.

Share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: For Shameless? The Gallaghers visited Ian and Mickey in prison. Yes, they are busy, but they love their brother, and by extension they love the person their brother loves! And there is loads of them!! If they visited on rotation, it would only really “cost” them one day a month each. Not a hardship, is it? Also, Lip went more often than everyone else. Send tweet.

You’re trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? Depends a little bit on the friend and on what aspect of a show I feel they’d vibe with best. 01x03 Aunt Ginger is a pretty good one. It’s got the full family working together to solve a problem. And it introduces Mandy and the itty bitty murder floof, which is a great bonus!!

And finally, what does fandom mean to you? Absolutely everything. You know Penny Lane’s speech in Almost Famous? “If you never take it seriosuly, you never get hurt, you never get hurt, you always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.”? I followed bands around for about half a decade, and that, and Oasis’ “Please don’t put your life in the hands, of a rock and roll band, who'll throw it all away” were things I tried to live by. But fandom doesn’t work that way. Fandom is all about emotionally investing. Caring too much is basically a requirement. And what makes it safe is the fact that we are all in this together. <3

~

My word that was fun!

Tagging @malec-crazed-author, @ohfreckle, @rutherinahobbit, @deedala, @rereadanon, @toughpaperround, @teawithjelly, @faejilly, @industrious-ian, @orca122, @poemsfromthealley, @allmyfantasiesarethirdperson, @darknutmeg, @glorious-spoon, @hellofavillain, @howlinchickhowl, @katspace, @lynne-monstr, @captainjowl, @crossmydna, @vintagelacerosette, @beatperfume, @nanf1c

[onetimetwotimesthreetimess]

Everyone thought Hiadt Malec were so cute when they got together until they had to see this every morning outside work.

Does HR even bother at this point

Apart from Malec, Clace and Sizzy and Haline also work at Edom. So just imagine the amount of paperwork HR has to deal with on a daily basis lol sashabaha

[myulalie]

Hello!! 🥸, 🌈, 🥕 please

Polarnacht 💙

Heey! Thank you 💙

🥸 Does anyone in IRL know you write fanfic or original fiction? If not, do you plan on telling anyone this year? I've told a couple people who seemed cool or because they asked about my writing. Most of the time I have to explain what fandom is first, then shipping, before they get it. Usually they're really open-minded and curious, in awe sometimes.

My family is a bit confused as to why I would write for something that already exists rather than original fiction I could sell, but they get very intense about copyright and the likes so we have that in common at least!

I've also been outed by an acquaintance who follows me on Twitter and just blurted out that I write Malec fiction at a social gathering... that was slightly embarassing but when I brush it off other people follow my lead so that's nice.

🌈 What research do you plan on doing for your writing? I often research literature genres to get the codes right, and of course your typical historical periods and customs. This year I've been quizzing a friend about Chinese New Year for a fic, that was fun, and I'll probably research a culture/country I don't know well for future projects.

🥕 What's one area of your writing that you think needs the most amount of improvement? ... so this is something I've been meaning to do for years and I do give it a try every so often, but I hope to stick with it! I want to get back into writing in French. Ever since I've started writing in English for AO3 I gotta say it's not going so well in French. Apart for daily life bilingual issues, I make a lot more grammatical mistakes than I used to and I've always been very proud of my skill in my native language so it bugs me. So yeah, I've been doing fun things like written role playing to get back into writing in French, so far so good!

and that's it for writer goals for the new year, feel free to send more questions my way!

[barrowsteeth]

Sobbing about HDM to @immortals-malec in my DMs on the daily.. Standard day-after life now.. 😭😭😭

[magnus-and-the-dragon]

When I finally got my life together and uploaded all my old pictures to OneDrive it started giving me daily ‘previously on this day!’ emails

They’re often fun, but I didn’t take time to filter out all the old fandom stuff, so I’ll periodically get an email that’s just old Tokio Hotel pictures or Malec art and it is such a shock every damn time

[catsplushellhounds]

Maryse: ok so let me get this straight--

Alec: see that's the problem, i'm not.

Maryse: what?

Alec: what?

[khaleesiofalicante]

not a syml song rec 😭😭😭 i only listen to those songs when i wanna wallow in sadness ( but where’s my love is a top tier song choice)

“Alec used to be called a weirdo in high school – but that was because he likes sucking cock, not because he attaches his horoscope to his CV.” this is reason 83627 that i love your writing

alec hating work events has the same energy as me hating school spirit rallies and assemblies, so i understand him. however, i would love a break room and meditation room at my current workplace. and school.

hippy clary is my fave. drunk izzy is also a fave.

malec are so in love with each other omg. falling in love over voice memos is such a malec thing

alec is the most relatable character ever, at least to me. cause who wouldn’t be down to be a sugar baby to a sexy kind rich person??

it’s not a dani fic if there isn’t your daily recommended amount of angst sprinkled in

alec punching asmodeus is actually a form of therapy, your honor

that painting exercise and the kiss at the end, lovely, lovely, lovely 🥰🥰🥰

alec learning poker with luke purely with the intention of playing strip poker with magnus, he is as gay as it gets

malec getting married is an excellent end to any fic 🩷

the one shot was a very pleasant surprise, thank you for all the love you have for these characters 🤍🤍🤍

thank you babygirl. we all needed this fluff and crack after the trying times we had recently with ao3 😭😭

see you soon 🩷

[busterkeatonsociety]

This Day in Buster…November 13, 1921

The Tacoma Daily Ledger talks of the reason why France refers to Buster Keaton as “Malec.” A French writer who visited Buster’s studio explained - “We call you Malec for one reason.  You never smile and always look so sad.  Malec, well, that means Saphead.”

[just-a-fantasy-head]

If they don't give us 'morning after the wedding' content with two husbands being fluffy and cuddling in bed then wow you are not ready to hear me wailing!

[hourglassmermaid]

or read chapter 4 on ao3

Alec can’t sleep. He hoped that after running across half the city, his bones would grow as heavy as his heart and sleep would come easy, but nothing ever goes how Alec wants. He tosses and turns all night, forcing himself not to think about Jace or his parents or the look on Magnus’ face when he reached out to Alec and Alec let him go — like a coward. Every time he feels himself slipping into unconsciousness, his stamina rune pulses, and it’s like he just drank 50 espresso shots simultaneously, and the torturous cycle repeats.

When 5:00 AM rolls around, Alec’s alarm blares to awaken him from a sleep he never experienced. Alec whacks his fist down to silence it, already showered and dressed, before heading out the door. He’s about half a block away from Starbucks when he realizes his glamour rune is active, so the barista won’t be able to see him.

“Dammit,” he swears, and a jogger removes her headphones and looks around, startled.

He scrubs over his face with his palm and makes his way back to the Institute. Izzy’s going to be testy without her pumpkin spice latte, but there’s nothing Alec can do to quiet his runes. He’s tried every trick he knows with his stele already.

Well, there is something Alec can do, but he’s not going there.  

He makes a pot of coffee in the Institute kitchen, even though he knows it won’t be as good as the Americano he was craving. He decides to try bribing Izzy with a cheese danish, but when he goes to grab the box from the top shelf, he overshoots and bumps his head on the ceiling, feeling a burst of energy at his agility rune.

“Fuck,” he swears under his breath, but the pain fades a moment later as his iratze rune soothes the ache. Alec narrows his eyes. He’s getting tired of this.

As the day goes on, Alec grows more and more frustrated. He sweats bullets under the thick layers of clothing he wears to try and hide his golden runes, because apparently even the New York weather patterns are conspiring against him today. But he can’t shed a single layer, can’t risk someone seeing. They’ll know immediately, and Alec won’t survive the questions. He’ll drown.

His eyes glaze over as he tries to concentrate on the page in front of him. He’s been reading and rereading the same paragraph for the last fifteen minutes and absorbing nothing. It might as well be a report on Jace streaking through the ops centre for all Alec knows.

He sighs and pushes away from his desk. He can’t sleep. He can’t focus. He might as well train with all of this nervous energy.

He changes into a pair of thick joggers and throws a bulky hoodie on over his layers, careful to keep his runes hidden beneath the fabric. He steps into the training room and hesitates in the doorway as he spots a familiar mop of golden hair on the sparring mat.

Jace lands blow after blow on the punching bag at the center of the room. He practices his left hook, even though his form has always been flawless. Normally, training with Jace is the best part of Alec’s day, but today he’d rather walk across a minefield than face him.

His eyes dart from Jace to the hallway and back to Jace. He hasn’t spotted Alec yet. Alec can still escape, try and avoid Jace for the rest of his life. It’s a solid option. Except it isn’t. Jace has to know something’s wrong. Their parabatai rune has been fucked up for hours, and Jace may be dense sometimes, but he’s not oblivious. He knows.

Alec bites at his lower lip, sucks in a breath, and clings to his fleeting bravery as he steps into the center of the room.

Jace jolts backwards when he finally spots Alec. “By the Angel, you scared me. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

Alec grips at the soundless rune on his wrist through the cotton fabric of his sweatshirt. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to.”

Jace studies Alec’s face, eyes tracing over him. Alec’s heart hammers in his chest as if he were on a hunt, and he might as well be, given the circumstances. Alec avoids his gaze, too overwhelmed at being caught in Jace’s scrutiny.

After the longest beat in recorded history, Jace asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Alec lies, still not making eye contact.

“Are you sure?” There’s a concerned — instead of accusatory — lilt to his voice, which is far better than Alec hoped for. “Things got… weird last night.”

“You mean besides you almost breaking the Accords?” Alec tries for banter, for normalcy. The longer he can pretend the better.

Jace rolls his eyes, and relief washes over Alec at being released from his gaze. “You ran out on us last night, and then we couldn’t track you. We were worried about you. Did you activate your deflect rune or something?”

Alec instinctively grabs at the prominent rune on his neck, the sleeve of his sweatshirt sliding down as he shifts. Jace spots the golden light pouring from his skin. He stumbles backwards, pointing at Alec with his mouth agape. As soon as Alec realizes his mistake, he slaps his wrist to close the pocket. He grips his wrist so hard it starts to ache. Doesn’t matter, though. His iratze will kick in, in 3… 2… 1… and a second too early.

He’s too late. Jace has already noticed, and he won’t let it go.

“I want an answer, goddammit!” he says. “What the hell happened last night?”

Alec sighs. There’s no point in hiding anymore. He rolls up the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Fuck,” he hears Jace breathe.

Shimmering sunbeams stream from Alec’s runes, shooting out in all directions and colliding against the walls of the training room in a prism of light.

“I met my fated last night,” Alec says as if that weren’t obvious.

“I can see that,” Jace says. “Congrats, man. Who is sh— are they?” He’s quick to correct himself.

Alec rolls down his sleeves, smoothing out the fabric, and plops down on the floor. He’s not sure he can manage to say the words standing. “Magnus Bane.”

“Holy shit.” Jace runs his fingers through his hair and joins Alec on the floor. “Are you kidding me?”

“Do you honestly think I’d joke about something like this?”

When Alec was younger, his mom used to tell him and his siblings bedtime stories about how someday they’d meet their fated, the person handpicked for them by Raziel himself to be their perfect companion. Alec used to dream about meeting them — that perfect complement, his other half. He yearned for that partnership crafted from fate, balance, and a hint of magic.

All Alec’s ever wanted is for someone to love him as fiercely as he loves them.

As Alec grew older and started to have feelings, he started to doubt he even had a soulmate. Why would the Angel find someone for him when what he wanted deep in his heart was wrong?

He had all but given up hoping for a future that was never his, but then a boy waltzed into his life and helped with his archery and taught Alec to believe in himself. For a brief flicker, Alec entertained the idea that Jace might be his someone, but that light went out before it could consume.

Jace knows how important soulmates are to Alec. He’d never joke about this.

“I know,” Jace says. “But fuck, the High Warlock of Brooklyn? Nothing’s ever simple with you, man.”

Alec grimaces. That’s an understatement.

“What are you gonna do?” Jace asks, his voice softening to try and chisel away at Alec’s defenses.

“What can I do?”

Jace swallows hard, and Alec can hear his sharp intake of breath. “You know, you could go visit Magnus—”

Fiery anger twists in Alec’s gut like a vice grip. “How could you even suggest that? Do you have any idea what could happen to me if anyone found out? I could be deruned or—”

“So, what, you’re just gonna live like this forever? Hopped up on stamina and nourishment runes?” Jace gestures at Alec. “It’s almost 70 degrees out, and you look like you’re ready to go bobsledding.”

“It’s not my fault mundanes aren’t fixing global warming,” Alec grumbles. “And it’s not like I’m enjoying this. Every fucking second is like sensory overload, and I can’t make it stop.”  

Jace places a tentative hand on Alec’s shoulder, and Alec suppresses the urge to flinch away from his comfort. “But you can make it stop.”

“Are you not—”

Jace holds up a hand to silence Alec’s protests. “Just hear me out. You don’t need to marry the guy. Just slip over to his place, give him a quick kiss, and you’re free.” Alec opens his mouth to speak, but Jace plows on. “Just because you’re soulmates doesn’t mean you’re obligated to be together.”

Alec’s heard stories about people rejecting their soulmate. Finding them after all that searching only to turn them away like a spoiled child returning a Christmas gift.

Alec feels hollow. This is worse than not having a soulmate — knowing his fated lives and breathes and has a heart that beats in time with his but he can never have them.

He was right. The Angel is punishing him, but it’s so much worse than he imagined.  

“People fall in love with people other than their fated all the time,” Jace continues. “It can happen to you too. You don’t have to be with… Magnus.”

Alec doesn’t like the way Jace’s voice twists when he says Magnus’ name, like it’s a dirty word.

Alec chews on his lower lip, thinking, before he says, “I guess you’re right.”

Jace squeezes Alec’s shoulder. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but you’ll find someone else. I’m sure of it.”

Alec doesn’t want to admit it, but he won’t, because he’s already found him, and he’s about to walk away.

Alec paces back in forth in front of Magnus’ apartment building. He digs his nails into his palms,  letting the subtle pain keep him from spinning completely out of control before his  rune soothes the ache. He sighs as he glances at his watch, plopping down onto the cool pavement below. He’s been waiting for over an hour, and the only thing he’s relieved is the cramp in his leg.

He gets up and buzzes Magnus’ apartment one last time before he decides that this was pointless and heads back to the Institute. Why he ever thought he could just show up at Magnus Bane’s doorstep unannounced is beyond him. He hears the screech of the ancient buzzer travel through the intercom system, but when he hasn’t been buzzed inside two minutes later, he finally accepts that Magnus isn’t home.

He picks his phone out of his pocket and starts texting Jace to let him know that this plan was a failure when he hears a harmony of laughter crescendo down the street. A woman’s voice blends with a man’s voice that forces Alec’s heart into a sprint. It’s the voice that has been playing in his head on repeat.

“I can’t believe you tipped the bartender $100 for two rounds of cocktails,” the female voice says, growing louder as they approach Magnus’ front steps.

Alec can see them now and panics. His eyes dart around his surroundings, seeking out hiding spaces, but then he remembers why he came and forces himself to project a courage he doesn’t feel an ounce of.

Magnus escorts a woman Alec doesn’t recognize down the street. He pats her arm gently. “She was a student. How else will she pay her rent?”

“You’re too much,” the woman says.

“Too much is my middle name,” Magnus responds with a wink then stops short. “Alexander.”  

Alec can’t breathe. He doesn’t know how Magnus knows his name, but he doesn’t care. He just knows that he never wants to stop hearing Magnus say it. Which is exactly why he has to end this before he makes a decision he can’t take back.

Alec swallows and tries to emulate all of the false confidence Jace is a master of parading around. “Magnus. Can we talk?”

Magnus and the woman he’s with exchange a look, and it appears as though they have a silent conversation. She raises her eyebrows and Magnus pulls a face. Alec gets the impression they’ve been friends for a long time.

“It’s getting late,” she says, “I better head home. Goodnight.”

Magnus says goodnight as she conjures a portal in the alley beside his building. The wind whips and cracks as it’s sucked into the swirling vortex until the portal closes with an abrupt snap, and Magnus and Alec are left in silence.

Alec captures Magnus’ gaze and stares into his brown eyes, but they’re not the same eyes he met at Pandemonium. They’re flatter somehow. No warmth. No depth. Synthetic almost. And Alec’s hit with the realization that they must be contacts, because Magnus is going through the exact same thing he is.

The thought comforts him. Magnus is probably just as eager to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all.

Magnus ushers Alec inside his apartment. They climb up a few flights of stairs, taking two steps at a time before arriving in front of an ornate set of double doors. Magnus tries unlocking them with a spark of blue magic, but the blast deflects and shatters an ornate vase down the hall. Magnus pinches the bridge of his nose before fumbling around in his pockets for a key and opening the door the mundane way.

He steps inside, keeping his back to Alec, and immediately sets off towards a drink cart on the other side of the room. The apartment is decorated as lavishly as Alec imagined based on the decor at Pandemonium, but it’s not overly flashy. It’s cozy. Homey. Alec shakes his head. Not his home, but somebody else’s. They really need to get this over with.

“What’s your poison? Gin? Vodka? The blood of fallen demons?” Magnus calls from across the room.

Alec laughs nervously and grips at the back of his neck. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Whiskey on the rocks it is.” Magnus gets to work pouring liquor and clinking glasses. “Make yourself at home.”

Alec takes a seat on the edge of couch. He starts to tug his jacket off but thinks better of it, shrugging it back into place. He won’t be here long.

Magnus hands a drink to Alec. Alec takes a sip and feels a shudder rip through his spine. He coughs as the burn of the alcohol courses through his sinuses. “This is stronger than the stuff they serve at the Institute Christmas party.”

Magnus nods. “That’s what happens when you drink straight liquor, darling.”

Magnus takes a sip of his drink without flinching, but Alec notices now that he’s shaking and the memory of Magnus’ broken voice calling out to him flashes in his mind’s eye.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Magnus asks.

Alec levels him with a look, and Magnus chuckles into his glass. “Fair enough.”

“I assume you’re having issues as well?”

“I almost charred a client this morning.”

“By accident?” Alec tries to be playful in his nervousness.

Magnus rolls his eyes. “By accident. I’d like to regain control of my magic before my practice’s reputation starts to suffer.”

“And I’d like to deactivate my runes before someone tells my mother, and she starts planning a wedding that won’t happen.”    

Alec winces, and he feels the room go both literally and figuratively colder. Magnus looks at him with a blank expression, considerably more steely than the easy banter they were falling into before Alec fucked it up, but it’s better this way. They can’t get attached.

“Right,” Magnus says, “let’s get this over with.”

Alec wipes his clammy hands on his jeans and tries to steady the drumming of his heart before it bursts from his chest. He crosses over to Magnus and hesitates. Magnus raises an eyebrow in challenge, and Alec takes the bait.

"This doesn't mean anything," Alec says before grabbing a fistful of Magnus' shirt and crashing their lips together.

A symphony of sensation explodes when their lips meet. The soft, addicting heat lights each of Alec's nerve endings on fire, simultaneously extinguishing each of his overactive runes in the sweetest mixture of relief and desire he’s ever felt.

Magnus’ lips are plush and warm and soft in all of the ways Alec imagined but also so much more. He melts into the kiss, losing himself in the feeling. Magnus tangles his fingers in Alec’s hair, urging them closer together and a shiver ripples down Alec’s spine. He parts his mouth, reveling in the wet, hot feeling of Magnus’ lips against his.

Magnus grazes his teeth against Alec’s lower lip, and Alec tries his best to suppress a groan from the back of his throat. Magnus’ body goes rigid, and he pushes Alec away suddenly.

Alec blinks back into reality and presses a finger to his lips when they part, the phantom touch of Magnus’ lips still igniting all of his senses.

“Get out,” Magnus says.

Alec yanks his hand down to his side. “What?”

Magnus snaps his fingers, and this time, his front door swings wide open. “My magic’s back to normal, and your runes have quieted down. You got what you came for, so get out.”

Alec nods before making his leave. He hovers in the doorway and takes a final glance at Magnus. He can’t suppress the feeling that he’s making a horrible mistake, but he still walks out the door.

[nebulein]

(Stars v Hawks, 2022-04-10)