Alec woke up quickly, his eyes shooting open and revealing a blurry image of the institute infirmary. His vision cleared, revealing a face very close to him. A smiling face, surrounded by tangled black hair.
"Are you in my bed?" He asked Magnus, who was indeed lying on the blankets next to him, propped up on an elbow and smiling down as if nothing in the world could make him happier than Alec's blinking stare.
"I suppose I am," Magnus said, still smiling. "I did consider sitting over there," he waved his spare hand vaguely in the direction of the other side of the room, "but I was just going to watch you anyway, so I thought why not give in to what I want and keep you warm at the same time?" If anything, his grin seemed to grow wider.
Magnus's comment made Alec suddenly realise that he could feel warmth from the warlock's skinny figure, a pool of heat spreading from where their sides touched, and that the rest of his own body felt deathly cold. But all he said was, "your subtlety astounds me."
"Of course it does" replied Magnus, bending his head and kissing Alec lightly. Their lips barely touched, but it was enough for Alec to feel another explosion of warmth spreading through his cold form, until he felt he might actually be able to regain use of his limbs. He tested this by trying to flip his hand into Magnus's, but although their fingers were only centimetres apart on the blankets, it still seemed like he couldn't quite reach.
"So am I all fixed now?" He asked, trying not to think about the last things he remembered, pain and burning and screams, and Isabelle reassuring him that everyone was ok, her face betraying her true anxiety.
Magnus blinked at him. "Yes," he said. "You'll be fine, though some of your, ah, injuries, will take a bit longer to heal." He placed a hand protectively on the bandages over Alec's heart.
Bandages. Alec looked down at his chest and saw that the fabric he had assumed was a shirt or his gear was only a thin line of bandaging, and that otherwise his body was bare until the line of the blankets, folded neatly at his waist. That gave him a thought. "Um, Magnus, what am I wearing?" He asked, not sure whether he wanted the answer.
"Not much" Magnus smiled, grin back in place. He levered himself up so that he lay on his side, taking Alec's hand in his own and rubbing small circles on it. Alec could feel warmth returning, and with it his ability to move. "I didn't mind," Magnus said happily, "but as you know I'm hardly shy"
"Oh, I know that all right" Alec found the strength to twist himself so that he faced Magnus, and then he was leaning in and pressing their lips together, gently at first, just a brush, but then more strongly as it deepened to a proper kiss. He felt proper heat spread throughout his body as Magnus started kissing him back, their tongues touching as he shifted closer and wrapped his socked feet around Alec's ankles, hooking their fingers together as if to make them inseparable. It was bliss, relief after so many hours of pain and worry and terror.
"Okay, I'm going to pretend I didn't see that," a sudden voice cut through their imagined paradise, and Alec fell back as Magnus practically jumped out of the bed, raising his head just in time to see his sister swing out of the room.
"Izzy, come back!" he called, scrambling to sit up as Magnus straightened his clothes and looked at the floor. Was it possible he was embarrassed? But by what?
Alec was spared his next thoughts as Isabelle turned round, her face lightly pink. "So." Her gaze sent daggers in Alec's direction. "You two." Her eyes darted between them, as if looking for some sort of clue, and rested on Alec's feet; a sure sign she didn't want to talk. "Whoever would have guessed." Her voice sounded high, half hysterical.
All Alec could think to say was "Iz, it's..." He almost felt like saying 'it's no big deal', but how could he when it meant so much to him, when another person had decided to love him just as he was, without him even trying, and when that person was standing next to him, still staring sheepishly at the floor.
"I'm fine with it Alec, I am. You can do whatever you like. Could you just, like, warn me next time? I was expecting you to be asleep, not making out with someone I didn't even know you knew." She sounded both angry and close to tears, not a good mix, but Alec carried on regardless.
"That's hardly fair. I mean, I know that was a bit ridiculous but how many guys have you slept with and not even mentioned to me? And don't say you haven't, I've covered you to mum and dad enough times.."
But his point didn't seem to have got through. "You're sleeping together?" Isabelle asked incredulously.
"Yes, um no, well we haven't actually.. I mean no, we are not sleeping together" Alec stole a glance at Magnus, who smiled encouragingly.
"Yet" Izzy snorted, the single word echoing across the room. Alec tried to shrug it off with a smile, but Izzy's unhappy expression didn't change.
Alec tried a different route. "So, what's going on? Where is everybody?" He asked Izzy, simultaneously holding out a hand to Magnus, who took it and sat down next to Alec, though this time his feet were firmly on the floor.
"Ah," said Izzy, her face changing from blankly unhappy to truly grim in a way that made Alec's stomach turn. "That might take some explaining."