Alec hates Sebastian. He hates the way he's leaning back in his seat, a grin on his face as he watches two downworlders try to kill each other. He hates listening to Sebastian spew comments that make his blood boil; that makes him itch for a bow to shoot the bastard with.
Through no choice of Alec's, they've ended up in a box at a pit match between a vampire and a werewolf somewhere in the South of France. Sebastian had called it a date, though Alec was gripping his glass to refrain from killing his soulmate. If he called another vampire a leech, Alec was going to kill him.
The man next to Alec snorts, and his light eyes glance at Alec. "Your friend is very excited over this affair," he says with a very thick accent
"Il n'est pas un ami, (he is not a friend)" Alec says compulsively. "I don't know why he's trying to rile them up. All it's doing is making me want to kill him."
The man shrugs, his dark red jacket shifting on his shoulders as feathers fall from his sleeves. A warlock, then. "Doesn't matter. He's only using dirty names for dirty players."
Alec gives the man a small smile. He hasn't spoken to anyone in days (besides Sebastian, and he just really wants to murder him now), and it's nice to be companionable with someone, if only for a moment.
"I'm Marceau," the warlock says, nodding at Alec.
"Alec," Alec says with a smile.
"Short for Alexandre? That's a French name, you know, though your accent gives you away. You're an American." Marceau grins.
"It's actually Greek," Alec says, taking a sip of his wine. "But you caught me. I'm from New York."
"You're a long way from home," Marceau says, though Alec can hardly hear him over the cheering of the crowd below their balcony seating and Sebastian next to him. The werewolf has somehow gotten the vampire on the ground, and they're tussling there.
"Yes," Alec says, then lowers his voice. "And not much by choice. Do you think you'd be able help me out?"
Concern reflects in Marceau's green eyes, and he nods. "A fire message, perhaps, if you'd give me their names."
Alec opens his mouth to respond, but Sebastian's hand clenches on his thigh.
"Alexander," Sebastian says in English, "I thought we agreed you weren't contacting them until you'd earned it."
Alec turns to Sebastian, his body shaking with anger. "Why can't you just leave me alone for, like, five minutes?"
"You know why," Sebastian says, eyes shining. "Now say goodbye to your little warlock. We're leaving."
Sebastian stands, and pulls Alec by the wrist, lurching him out of his seat. He pulls a struggling Alec away from Marceau and toward the door.
"No," Alec says, hatred in his voice. He throws his wineglass against Sebastian's back, where it splatters against his white shirt, leaving a stain of red. It shatters against the ground. "You don't own me."
Sebastian turns around and snarls at him, "Don't make me force you," and pulls him out of the arena and into the travelling house. Shoving Alec to the ground, Sebastian paces the entryway.
"Why are you so resistant?" He asks, voice hard with anger. "I haven't done anything to you, and I try and treat you to a good time, and you try and go behind my back and get in touch with your siblings. What did I do, Alec?"
"You're hardly innocent and you know it," Alec yells, climbing to his feet. "You killed my brother. You took a mallet and took it to the back of his head, and he died. You hurt my sister, scattered our family to pieces, not to mention you kidnapped me."
"I was on orders!" Sebastian screams. "I didn't have any choice! Valentine raised me to be what I am, and so what if I'm exceptionally good at it?"
"So you'll never be with me if you continue to act like a monster! I will never be with someone as awful as you." Alec says, steel in his response. "I will not be in a relationship with someone who treats downworlders so horribly, and I refuse to wake up every day wondering what you're going to do next. I won't do it."
"Alec," Sebastian says, his breath evening. There's something that almost looks like regret in his eyes. "I didn't mean to kill him. It wasn't supposed to… I am sorry for the hurt that I've caused you. I want you to be safe with me, to feel protected. I'm sorry that I hurt you so much."
There's silence for a few moments.
"I'm not going to accept your apology," Alec finally says, stepping away from Sebastian. He walks to the end of the entryway.
"What can I do?" Sebastian's voice, soft, stops him. "What can I do to make it so you don't hate me quite so much?"
"Let me send letters to my siblings," Alec says.
"Anything but that," Sebastian says. "I can't grant you that until I can trust you."
"Fine," Alec says, irate. Thinking over the time he spent at the match, talking to Marceau, his mind is made up. He needs companionship."Get me a cat."
Xenia is a tabby with delicate paws who loves trying to sit on whatever Alec's looking at, being petted, and using Sebastian as a scratching post. Alec kind of wants to give the cat a medal for her ferocity when she isn't getting orange fur stuck between the pages of his books.
As it is, he's been slowly working his way through Sebastian's library, tucked under a blanket with Xenia curled in his lap. The cat is hiding from the lamplight by positioning herself so Alec's book shrouds her in a shadow, and she starts mewling whenever Alec stops running his hand over her head. It's not particularly conductive to reading, but it's keeping Alec in a good mood. He likes feeling needed, and since he was abducted three weeks ago, all he's really been feeling is rage, frustration, and confusion. Xenia is a relaxing break from all of that.
Sitting up and stretching, Alec moves his book so the light hits her. She gives him a betrayed look and a halfhearted hiss before scampering off his lap and out the kitchen door.
As she leaves, Sebastian walks in, a plate of food in each hand. He makes his way over to the couch, handing Alec a dish of tortellini with broccoli and a fork. He wordlessly sits in the chair adjacent to Alec's feet.
"Thanks," Alec says, a lot less on edge than he had been a week and a half ago. Before he asked for Xenia, he had felt like he was completely at Sebastian's mercy, helpless. But with the acquisition of the cat, Alec's realized he can ask Sebastian for things. If Alec asks after a specific book, it'll be in the library the next day. If he says he wants to learn how to make a soup instead of another pasta dish, Sebastian will do his best to teach him.
"Don't worry about it," Sebastian says, popping a speared tortellini in his mouth. "You sure do waste a lot of time with books."
"Hey," Alec frowns. "I like books. Besides, it can't possibly be healthy to spend every waking moment with you."
"Wouldn't want to catch 'monster'?" Sebastian says, and his eyes gleam like a fight that's waiting to happen.
Alec eats a piece of broccoli, ignoring Sebastian's comment. He doesn't really want to fight tonight, not after feeling so good from petting Xenia for an hour. "The food's good."
"Thanks," Sebastian says. "Even with my demon blood I can still make a decent meal."
Alec snorts. "I don't think I'm the one with the hatred against demon blood here. I'm currently dating a warlock, if you haven't forgotten."
"How could I forget," Sebastian says, his nose crinkling.
"It's not my fault we're soulmates," Alec says.
"But we're soulmates. This shouldn't be so hard." Sebastian says, dejectedly spearing a piece of pasta.
"Solid relationships aren't easily built, Sebastian," Alec reminds him. "Besides, this is getting easier. I don't want to stab you every time you walk in the door anymore."
Alec is trying to lighten the mood, keep away from anything that'll disturb what he's got going on, but Sebastian only sinks further into his seat. Alec sighs.
"You want to talk," Alec says, and it feels utterly bizarre. Usually, Magnus or Izzy are the ones demanding he open up to them.
"I want you to think better of me," Sebastian corrects.
"Rome wasn't built in a day," Alec says, feeling weird about the whole comforting-his-brother's-murderer thing. Not as weird as he should.
"But it was burned in one," Sebastian says, stabbing his last piece of pasta.
"We're not destroying each other yet," Alec shrugs. Looking at his empty plate, he says, "Now come on, we're going to bed."
That night, there isn't a two-foot gap between them as they sleep. Alec wakes up the next morning with a cat on his head and his face pressed into Sebastian's collarbone.
Alec actually kind of enjoys learning to cook. If nothing else, he'll know how to provide for his siblings when he gets back to the Institute. The days of take out for every meal will be over. If he ever gets to leave, that is. And it's not like he could take Sebastian with him. What with him being legally dead and all.
Alec laughs when Xenia launches herself at Sebastian's calf as he adds the cauliflower the stew, her jaw snapping at his jeans as he attempts to shake her off. She lets go, hiding behind the kitchen island and waiting to strike again.
"Why did I let you get a cat," Sebastian mutters, but Alec can't hear any actual malice in his voice. "I should just kill the thing."
"You wouldn't," Alec says, and it's more a statement than an exclamation.
"You're right," Sebastian says, turning to face Alec. "You'd be heartbroken."
Alec chuckles. "Absolutely heartbroken. I wouldn't recover."
"We couldn't have that," Sebastian says, and though his smile is small, it's real. It makes Alec's stomach flutter, and warmth spreads through his body like honey spilling from a jar.
"I…" Alec says, shaking his head. He forgot what he was going to say. Instead, he takes a step toward Sebastian and places his hands on either side of his face. He pauses, scanning Sebastian's confused features, and pulls their lips together.
This kiss is different than the last. For one thing, kissing is a lot nicer when one can actually breathe, and it's even more fantastic when it's one's choice.
Though Alec can tell that Sebastian is initially shocked, he quickly gets into it, nipping at Alec's lower lip. Alec opens his mouth and nearly moans as Sebastian's tongue brushes against his, as his hand reaches around and pulls Alec closer by grabbing his ass.
Sebastian's body is hard and hot against his, and Alec moves his hands from Sebastian's face to feel the muscled planes of his back, the curve of his spine and the swell where his butt begins. Alec pulls Sebastian closer to him, the want want want pounding through his body like a needy rhythm.
Sebastian has left his mouth, instead licking and nipping and sucking at the pulse point on his neck. He's pushed Alec back against the counter, and the dig of the counter into his ass is just turning Alec on more. Alec realizes how much he wants this, and it almost makes him freeze.
Instead, he reaches between the press of their bodies and into Sebastian's jean's, grabbing at his half-hard member. Sebastian moans, and as Alec's just starting to work his hand up Sebastian's shaft, Xenia attacks.
She hits Sebastian on the leg, pulling at the fabric and startling him. At Sebastian's flinch, Alec's hand is pulled forward, and he looses his balance. He falls forward onto Sebastian, knocking the both of them to the floor.
"How do they even make Shadowhunters as clumsy as you," Sebastian says from beneath Alec as Xenia scampers off. "That damn cat."
Alec can't help but laugh at their misfortune.
He's still laughing when Sebastian flips them over and ruts against his thigh. "If you keep laughing, I'm going to kill that damned thing."
Alec's cheeks are still puffed from his laughter when he thrusts his hips up to rub against Sebastian. "Like I can't multitask," Alec says as he pulls open his own pants and kisses Sebastian hard.
He grabs Sebastian and pulls their lower halves together, and they leave each other's mouths only for breath as they rock back and forth, grinding to their own beat. They swallow each other's moans as they thrust, release coming closer and closer as each second ticks by.
Finally, Alec looses it, back arching as his orgasm spits between them, ruining their shirts. Alec doesn't care about the mess as he tries to keep pace, to ride it outso he can make this as enjoyable to Sebastian as it is to him.
Sebastian pushes him down on the floor and holds him there as thrusts up once, twice, then he's moaning above Alec and mixing their cum. He eventually stops his lethargic thrusts on shaky legs as he fall onto his back next to Alec.
"Angel," he says after a minute has passed. "I can't wait to do that again."
Alec laughs, caught in the afterglow, then the world starts coming back to him. Guilt runs through him, making him feel disgusting. Like the come on his shirt is the harbinger of sin, he tries to wipe it off.
"Sebastian," Alec says, panicked. "I have a boyfriend."
Sebastian tenses, face sour, and he mutters, "I can never do anything right," and Alec is left feeling guilty on both sides.