"Don't lick me." Alec said, squirming in his embrace.
"Why not?" Magnus replied huskily, his usually sparkly but now plain hair falling into his eyes.
"It feels…." he trailed off.
"Disturbing?" Magnus asked, grinning.
"No," Alec said uncertainly. "Just…" What could he say? He had, after all, kissed Magnus in front of everyone, including his parents. But this was different, somehow too intimate and playful, nothing of which he felt now. He had come to Magnus's place because he was feeling down and they were entangled together on the sofa. Which was basically Magnus's version of cheering him up. Magnus's cat eyes surveyed his worn black shirt and stained cargo pants, "Bah, we need to get you some decent clothes, darling. Maybe some designer suits while we're at it?" he suggested lazily.
"I already told you-" he was cut off by a glittering hand. Magnus had at least accessorized his hand if nothing else.
"None of that, Alec dear," His golden eyes sparkled. "We're going shopping."
Sighing, Alec let Magnus drag him out the door.
They're staring at us. They're staring at us, Alec thought nervously, glancing down at Magnus's hand clasped in his. Alec looked at the ceiling of the huge mall they were in to distract himself. They had arrived in Magnus's car. A hot pink sports scar with neon yellow stripes and padded spearmint green seats. Alec thought he had even seen some cheetah print somewhere. He shivered in remembrance as they entered a brightly lit store. The carpet was thick and luxurious and rows of clothes lined the walls. Alec looked up as a well-dressed employee stepped forward to greet them.
"Hello and welcome, Magnus. It's been awhile." he said warmly. Alec quickly glanced at his name tag. Felix. The man's eyes caught his. "Who's your friend?"
"Hello, Felix. This is my darling, Alec." Magnus smiled a tad triumphantly as Alec blushed and stuttered out a "N-nice to meet you."
"Hmmm, indeed." Felix winked and turned to the side a bit. "I know you know your way around this store, Magnus. So I'll leave you to it. Pick out something nice for your cutie."
Alec blushed beet red and tried his hardest to disappear as Felix walked away. He peeked up at Magnus, who seemed extremely amused.
"Come on, I think I know what you should get." Magnus said as he led him to a different section of the store. They were greeted several times by the employees, all of whom seemed to know Magnus well. Some even came up and introduced themselves or chatted for a few minutes. One told Alec to call him to which Magnus responded with an extremely rude hand gesture. Alec was seated on a leather couch in the suit section while Magnus rattled out lists of numbers mixed with words in a weird language (which Magnus later informed him was Prada) to the attendants there. His partner emerged from a rack with two suits draped over his shoulders.
"Here, take these and go change, darling," he said, handing him the suits and shoving him in the changing room.
Alec chose the first suit, a dark blue number, and put it on. Then Alec Lightwood encountered a tie.
(A violent five minutes later)
Alec presented himself to Magnus, bashfully cracking open the door. Magnus's eyes roamed over the extremely twisted tie that seemed to be choking his partner.
"Now, Now Alec dear," he said, arranging Alec's tie. "You really should have called me before you got into this."
Alec murmured an apology.
"But, anyway you look fan-tastic, darling."
"This is stupid. When am I ever going to wear a suit?" Alec asked, blushing as Magnus's fingers lingered over his neck.
"Anytime you want, dear." Magnus responded, and sent him in to try on the next set of clothes.
"Are we done yet?!" Alec said, noting the increasing number of bags they had been carrying with alarm. Alec had been outfitted with everything from cargo pants to designer shirts, and Magnus had already magicked several bags to his house in a vain attempt to save Alec from collapsing under the sheer amount of weight he was carrying.
"Actually," Magnus checked his list of things he thought Alec should have in his wardrobe, "Yes."
"Really?" Alec said, looking the happiest he'd been all day.
Magnus surveyed him with amusement. Alec looked…..dazzling. His hair had been neatly trimmed at a barber shop Magnus had taken him to and he was dressed in black jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt that complimented his eyes tremendously. The youth exuded charisma unconsciously, a trait shared by his sister, Isabelle.
To his annoyance Magnus realized that he wasn't the only one who had noticed. A couple of teenage girls were staring at Alec and giggling flirtatiously. Alec saw Magnus staring at something angrily and turned to look. All innocent Alec saw were some people staring at Magnus.
"Doesn't it bother you," he asked, "that people always stare at you?"
"Not really," Magnus said airily, taking in those gorgeous baby blues. "But in this case, darling, they're looking at you."
"Why?" asked Alec, bewildered. He probably did look ridiculous the ensemble that Magnus had forced him into but it wasn't that uncommon next to Magnus.
"I do believe they're 'checking you out.'" sniffed Magnus.
"Oh." he said coming into an astonishing realization. "Oh, so you're jealous."
"Of course," Magnus replied tersely.
Alec grinned, causing the girls behind him to swoon. Not that Magnus noticed.