"Okay, can you please not do that?" Alec asked.
"Do what?" Magnus inquired half-heartedly.
Magnus was making himself a martini, he had been absently mindedly reminiscing to Alec about a past lover who had introduced him to the drink, relaying how glad he was that he didn't have to keep searching for someone who wasn't a total and complete ass to spend his life with, to have a forever. Alec, however, was not comfortable with that idea, not yet at least.
"The whole soul mate thing, its just…look Magnus," Alec took a deep breath, and stared at the wall behind Magnus' head, "everything you do is big, and grand, and you go full out for everything because you've done everything before, you've had so many experiences and probably been with lots of…people, but I-I have nothing to base this on. Everything is new, you're my first everything so you saying all this stuff about being soul mates and forever is just so-so much pressure."
At this point Magnus seemed taken aback, he opened his mouth to say something, but Alec kept going, having been practicing this speech for weeks now: "I have nothing to compare us to, I don't have any experience, so I can't- God I don't know how to say this… I'm just not feeling what you're feeling, and that's not to say I'm not feeling things, its just that its like you're expecting me to feel EXACTLY what you feel and I can't because I just…I just don't have the foundation for knowing that you do…Does that make any sense?" Alec asked breathlessly, he hadn't inhaled any air in at least a minute.
Magnus was silent and still, but he didn't seem upset. Instead, he laid his martini glass gently on the table beside the couch as he sat down and crossed his legs. He let out a sigh, and chuckled to himself: "That does make sense." He rubbed his eyes, "I'm sorry, you're absolutely right. You're only 18, I shouldn't be pressuring you into feeling more deeply about us than you do."
At that Alec hurriedly answered "No, but I do feel –"
Magnus interrupted, "Ah - there I go again, I'm sorry, I keep saying things that make you feel guilty. I know you feel…deeply for me, at least I hope-
"I do," Alec chimed.
Magnus smiled, "I'm just getting ahead of myself, that happens when you're as old as me. I have a pretty good knack for telling how things will turn out, given my age and infinite wisdom," Magnus flipped his hand around to indicate that he was, in fact, joking, "but like you said… you're young. And you don't have anything to base this on."
Alec let out a deep sigh, his body relaxed, "…Thank you, for understanding."
Magnus stood up and faced Alec, just inches away. "Of course," he answered. "However-" Alec inhaled, "I hope this doesn't mean you want to slow down…other parts of our relationship…" Magnus used one hand to straighten Alec's collar, and then allowed that hand to follow the line of buttons all the way down to-
"I definitely do not want that," Alec smiled mischievously. It was a smile Magnus had only recently come to know, as it only came out when Alec was at his most comfortable with himself, and their…relationship.
"Well then," Magnus took his hand off Alec's belt to lift the young archer's hand to his mouth," why don't you and me try to build up your foundation in… well, something other than emotional attachment," he glided his lips across Alec's knuckles.
Alec smiled as made the inches between them mere centimeters, "I don't why we can't do both at once."
And at that, Magnus smiled knowingly. Alec may not realize it yet, but they were soul mates. They were forever. And he was willing to do whatever necessary – especially what they were about to do – to help Alexander Lightwood figure that out.