Alec could always tell what Magnus was feeling by what he was wearing- and today it was red. People would say that red could be happy, the color of love, the color of anger, of pain. Magnus had many meanings for each of them and depending on the color, the shade, Alec had come to learn what they meant, and how to deal with Magnus when he was feeling this way.

Light Red.

When Magnus was wearing light red, Alec thought of passion; love. Magnus had a flair for bright colors, everyone knew that. But when he wore bright red, Alec was almost sure it was Magnus's way of signaling to him. As went this occasion:

Alec had a tough day. Well not tough, in that sense, just tiring. Three errands for his parents that he had been repeatedly told by Magnus not to do (they could do their own dirty business), and two separate Shadowhunter duties. There had been demons spotted over by the werewolf territory that the Institute had wanted him to check out, and a private call from god knows where about some bloodthirsty vampires causing terror among Brooklyn. But by the time they had got there, Magnus had sorted it out, stating that it was not, in fact, Shadowhunter business and that he could deal perfectly well with his own people. Magnus hadn't cast a glance at Alec the whole time that this had happened and that was half the reason Alec was so down today.

Now, light red. This was where it had first come in. When Alec had seen Magnus he had been bombarded with red. And judging by the way his fellow Shadowhunters avoided looking anywhere other than Magnus's clothes, he imagined that they felt the same. Magnus was wearing a dark pair of pants but the brightest shirt Alec had ever seen. It was ridiculously tight and low, doing the opposite of what it was supposed to be doing (covering him up). The jewelry was tinted gold but mostly red, glowing stones that seemed to light up Magnus's whole body with a light red hue. Red makeup was used around his eyes instead of the usual dark purples and blacks, glitter framing the corner of his eyes and, well- everywhere. Magnus had even taken enough of an effort to dye the tips of his hair a light red and to even to paint his nails. Alec couldn't figure out why he was so shocked, Magnus could snap his fingers and it would all be done but he somehow knew that Magnus had taken his time this particular occasion. That didn't change the fact that he was still feeling down, however.

But yet, he still headed over to Magnus's, reasoning that he probably just hadn't seen Alec standing there and that they were still okay. And so he let himself in, curiously peeking around the door, not seeing his boyfriend anywhere. So he walked in, shutting the door in such a way that the sound reverberated around the large apartment. Wincing, he walked into the hallway, glancing into every room, looking for Magnus. And he wasn't there, Alec hadn't seen him until he got to the last room. He heard Magnus's voice before him. And then, as he finally walked into the room, he realized that he was fucked.

"Alec," Magnus's voice was a purr that Alec was barely able to make out, "I've been waiting for you." And his eyebrows rose up as he glanced around the room, the light red almost hurting his eyes. Magnus had even taken it in him to light candles around the room, giving it a sultry air of love. And then his eyes widened as he looked at Magnus, who was wearing nothing but one of his shirts that he had somehow dyed red, hanging past his thighs and undone. Alec felt his mouth watering slightly.

"Y-You have?" He tried not to let his voice shake but it was hard when Magnus looked like that. He was almost certain his mouth was dripping by now.

"Of course I have, darling. I haven't seen you in so long." Magnus's eyes trailed over Alec's body and licked his lips almost as if he knew what was to come.

"You- You haven't seen me in so long? Magnus, I saw you this morning? Do you not remember?" Alec took a step back, remembering now how Magnus had ignored him.

"Of course I remember." Magnus's eyes went wide, almost as if he hadn't quite registered Alec moving away- and look confused as to why.

"Really? Because from what I recall, Magnus, you ignored me. The. Whole. Time."

"No, Alexander," Magnus laughed and smiled fondly at Alec, who only frowned in retaliation. "Can't you tell that I only did that to hold myself back? I want you so bad, Alexander, and looking at you, touching you, feeling you would send me over the edge. Understand that I had to do it."

And so Alec couldn't help but smile again because his dramatic boyfriend had yet completed another stunt in favor of him. And damn, did it feel good. So when Magnus leaned up to kiss him, he graciously accepted it and smiled, because the light red really must be sending him over the edge-Magnus had dyed one of his black shirts red and he couldn't even find it in him to care.

Dark red.

And when Magnus wore dark red, Alec thought of anger. The red burning sort of anger that concealed the darkness of it, the intensity of the pain and true power underneath all of the flames. And Alec knew that Magnus was an expert in this, as went:

Magnus stormed into the institute, opening the doors with such flourish and anger that the sound echoed throughout the institute, though not that he cared. Shadowhunters stopped in their paths to only stare at the obviously angry warlock, no one saying anything for a few minutes before a man walked up to Magnus, raising an eyebrow. "What, exactly, do you think you're doing here?"

"Excuse me, would love to chat, but-oh wait, I really don't want to." Magnus knew that he was being ridiculously rude but couldn't find it in him to care, his boyfriend was hurting and he needed to fix it. Magnus remembered getting the call:

He had just been walking around, it was early in the morning. He was 'petting' Chairman Meow, coffee in one hand and phone in other. He was moments away from calling alexander when he was interrupted- by Alexander. Magnus thought that this was strange- He always called Alexander, not the other way round. But, of course, he still picked up but dropped his cup of coffee as soon as he heard Alec's voice.

"Magnus…?" Alec's voice was weak and quite obviously, was in quite a lot of pain.

"Alexander?" Magnus was worried, but he tried to keep it back from seeping into his voice, he knew it would only work his boyfriend up- he really was the protective type. "What's happened- are you in pain? Do you want me to come?" But even as he was saying this, Magnus was locking the place up, he knew Alec would need him- until he heard something that made him stop in his tracks. "They're not what?" His voice was cold, but he knew it was justified.

"They're not letting you in, Magnus, I'm sorry, I need you, but I- I just-"

"Don't worry, Alexander. I'm on my way. You don't have to worry about me, I'm the high Warlock of Brooklyn, a few Shadowhunters," he paused, sneering, "can't hurt me." And so he snapped his fingers, dressed in what he liked to call his 'appropriate battle attire' and headed towards the institute.

The Shadowhunter that had dared to confront him raised his eyebrows yet again, and drew his blade out of it's sheath and pointed it towards Magnus's neck, motioning him to go to the door. Magnus noticed other Shadowhunters also drawing their weapons. He smiled and looked at the Shadowhunter in question, who had begun to speak.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"As polite as that offer is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline it. You see- I don't care and chances are I could kill you with one snap of my fingers," he paused to laugh at himself, a cold laugh that echoed uncomfortably, "what do I mean 'chances'? Of course, I could." He surveyed the whole room. "All of you. Dead in one second. Anyway- so I advise you that you kindly step out of my way and never confront me like that ever again."

"I'm afraid that if you don't leave now, I will have to force you." Apparently, the Shadowhunter hadn't quite heard Magnus.

"And I said no." Magnus was getting angry- his boyfriend was in pain, and he wasn't even allowed to see him? Who did these people think they were? He was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, they couldn't fight him!

Well, Magnus reasoned. 5 Minutes must be a new record. 15 Shadowhunters lay on the floor, breathing but still unconscious. His eyes were still glowing a faint red and magic still swirled around his body, the color of blood. He daintily made his way through the bodies, picking up and moving them when necessary. His eyes moved upwards when he saw a figure moving towards him from the hallway.

"Alexander! Oh my god, what's wrong- Are you okay?" He knew that his speech was rushed and that he didn't make much sense and that he probably wasn't making much sense and-

"Magnus. Hey, hey, hey... Calm down, I'm here, you're here, everyone is okay."

First thing Alec noticed about Magnus was his clothes, yet again. He wore tight, dark red pants made out of what seemed to be silk, barely covering him up and just past being see-through. He wore a dark red t-shirt and if Alec looked closely he could see spots of blood dotting the already blood-coloured shirt. The collars were long and around his neck, Magnus was wearing what Alec remembered being called as a 'choker', yet another fashion statement he supposed. Next thing to notice was the bracelets that lined Magnus's arms all the way up to his elbow, all studded and the color of blood or black. His boots were large combat boots, steel toed and very, very deadly-looking. Magnus had the darkest makeup on that Alec had ever seen, red fading out to back in such a manner that Alec wondered that if he put his finger to it it would be sharp enough to cut him-it sure looked as though it could. Magnus's face was drawn into the sort of face that you never want to be directed at you- 'looks that could kill' was coming alive. As for his magic, it swirled around his body like the ocean, dangerous and able to kill but also beautiful and enchanting. Magnus's eyes were faintly glowing red, cat eyes drawn into angry slits...

"Well…-"

"Magnus! What are all of these bodies doing here?"

"Well- I-i," Now that he was confronted with it, he didn't quite know what to say. "They wouldn't let me see you." His voice went quiet and he looked away, uncomfortable and worried as to what Alec would think of him.

"You did all of this...Because of me?" Magnus scoffed as if the answer was obvious.

"Of course, Alexander, you needed to see me- Speaking of that, how are you?" Magnus quickly scanned Alec's body, looking for injuries.

"No injuries. It- It was a venom. Some sort of liquid that made me delusional."

"Valentines?" Magnus's face drew into one of pure shock at hatred. "He experimented on you?"

"No. It-it wasn't supposed to be me. It was supposed to be Jace."

"But you saved him, didn't you." Magnus didn't ask, he didn't have to.

And once they had both escaped the Institute, leaving a crude note for the Shadowhunters when they woke or when someone found them, they smiled and laughed together, because throughout all of this they were still strong as ever. And when they looked into each other's eyes they didn't need to say 'I love you', it went unspoken. And that was how they liked it.

And so Alex figured that Magnus was easy to read, when you knew him as well as yours truly did. Red. Dark and Light. This wondered Alexander-what colour would be next?