Notes: Written by a prompt on tumblr; just a drabble. I hope you enjoy it!
Alec stared at the pile of paperwork in front of him and sighed in despair – the words on the document on top had lost meaning a while ago and he realised that he'd read the same sentence about five times now. He suspected that at least part of the reason why his parents had finally left the Institute entirely in his hands was so that they wouldn't have to deal with this, but it was far too late for him to go back on his wish now.
Not that he had any desire to do that – his new position was sometimes too all consuming for his tastes, but he enjoyed most of it. He was allowed to assign himself all the missions he thought he'd be best at, and he could do the same for the people in his immediate surroundings, which meant that everything in the Institute ran as smoothly as possible. The thought was enough to bring a smile to his lips and Alec leant back in his seat for just a moment, just enough to make sure that when he looked at the contract in front of him again, the words would make sense this time.
There was a knock on the door soon enough – he'd already got used to the fact that everyone seemed to want his opinion on even the smallest things now – and Alec straightened up again. "Come in," he called and found himself relaxing again when Jace was the one to step through the door. "How did it go?" He asked immediately. Jace being back meant that the apology to the Seelie Queen about Meliorn's interrogation had went at least relatively smoothly. Alec had given up trying to communicate with Seelies ago; their blunt honesty when paired with his never resulted in anything good.
"As good as it can with the Queen," Jace shrugged. He pushed some of the files in Alec's direction, ignoring his parabatai's glare, and sat on the edge of the desk. "She accepted the apology when paired with a decent amount of the Institute's antiques, but it was worth it. Now we can hope she won't bring it up again."
Only someone overly optimistic would hope that the Seelie Queen wouldn't come back to haunt them if they'd wronged her in any way, but maybe Jace had actually managed it, so Alec reached up and squeezed Jace's hand quickly in acknowledgment. "Didn't Izzy come back with you?"
Jace shook his head and his expression was all too knowing for Alec's liking. "She left with Meliorn after we were finished there."
"Thank you," Alec said and was just about to inform Jace that he could try to use the chair like everyone else when his parabatai leant closer, somehow manoeuvring himself between the stacks of paper until he was close enough to kiss him.
"Jace!" Alec protested, but they could both hear how half-hearted it was. "Anyone could walk in!"
"Worry about that in a minute," Jace said, and his smile was wide enough to stop Alec from worrying about anything for just a moment. "'Thank you' only counts if it goes with a kiss."
And really, how could anyone argue with that?
