Part Two (from Magnus's POV I guess)
"OWWWW" Magnus yelped. (He may have exaggerated this for dramatic effect).
"Hold still. You're making it worse," Alec chastised.
He had Magnus's left foot in his lap and was trying, as gently as possible he might add, to undo and remove the boot encasing it.
"How do you end up tripping over your own feet before you've even made it onto the ice?" Alec asked, trying to keep a smile off his face. He was failing miserably.
"Oh, you can hardly talk, Mr 'I fall down stairs for fun'" Magnus said, wincing as the boot was finally removed, to be placed alongside the other one on the floor.
"That was one time! Besides, I didn't sprain my ankle in the process."
They were in Central Park. It was the middle of winter, and New York had come alive around them. They had retired to a side bench, skaters continuing to circle the rink around them, completely oblivious to the fact that they were in the presence of a warlock and a shadowhunter; two people that protected them, unpraised and unappreciated, on a daily basis.
"It's wonderful to know that you take such joy in my sufferings, Alexander," Magnus said, any annoyance lost as, almost surprisingly, he found himself smiling too.
"Hold on two seconds, I'm going to get some ice," Alec said, shifting out of his sweater, standing up and placing it under Magnus's feet in the place of his lap.
Truth be told, Magnus admitted to himself, he was enjoying the attention. He wasn't used to being cared for. And no. He hadn't fallen over on purpose. Though, as things were going, he wouldn't put it past himself to attempt it again sometime in the future. It had all just worked beautifully in his favour.
After he had face-planted, Alec had helped him up with concern and something akin to relief on his face. Why he should be relieved at his misfortunes was a mystery. Maybe Magnus had read it wrong. Either that or he was currently dating a sociopath. He had dated worse over the last couple of hundred years if he was being completely honest with himself. Mild sociopathic tendencies he could deal with.
He watched as Alec returned holding a blue packet in his hands. He moved with such ease, balanced on the thin edges of his skates. He moved like a shadowhunter, Magnus thought. It shouldn't shock him, but it did. Alexander was tall (like really tall), beautiful (although he didn't seem to know it) and held himself with a new-found confidence. But if there was one thing that he thought Alexander would never be, it was graceful. But there he was. With all the grace and poise of an angel. Yes, Magnus thought, the fall had made him mildly delirious. That was it.
The sheer intensity of emotion that he felt for this boy terrified him. The implications of which he was currently unwilling to dwell upon.
"Here," Alec said, placing the ice pack gently down on Magnus's ankle in a practised manner.
"Ah, much better," he said, clearing his head, "thank you. I can feel it getting better all ready."
Alec smiled then, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Magnus asked, becoming increasingly concerned that Alec had seen something in his gaze that he wasn't quite ready to reveal yet.
"It's just weird, that's all."
"What is?"
"I just always thought-" Alec blushed then, "you know- you're the height of sophistication. And it's just strange to see you falling over, like a normal person. No wait- that came out wrong- I just mean-"
"Even Warlocks are capable of falling, Alexander. And we do, from time to time."
Alec looked around quickly at the mention of warlocks, keenly aware that they could be seen and heard by mundanes.
Magnus snapped his fingers and suddenly the noise around them dimmed, became muffled. Alec snapped his head back around, eyes wide.
"How did you-"
"Magic," Magnus said, waggling his fingers dramatically. "They can still see us, but they can't hear us."
Alec looked him in the eye, before averting his gaze, something clearly playing on his mind.
"Look, Alexander. I know we never finished our conversation." He didn't need to specify which conversation for them to know they were on the same page.
He reached out and took Alec's hand. To his credit, Alec let him, though he still wouldn't look at him. Magnus was about to give up when Alec finally relented.
"I shouldn't have brought it up- I know th- I don't know much about any of this, really. I thought I knew exactly where my life was going, Magnus. I would live until I was thirty something, probably married to some shadowhunter that my parents had picked out-" Magnus was looking at him with increasing alarm, "Don't look at me like that- that's just how it is. And I was okay with that. I was okay with that."
"But now you're not." It wasn't a question.
"I found myself wanting something more- needing something more. Thinking that I deserved- You must think me completely selfish, and I am. I'm disgusted at myself-"
"Alexander, stop," Magnus snapped. "Don't you ever say that. Don't you ever dare say that."
Alec looked at him shocked. "But-"
"No buts. You are not selfish. You are not disgusting. You are one of- if not the most amazingly selfless person I have ever met. You walked into that party that day and you saved my life. You may not think that means anything, but it does. And I saw you, Alexander, I saw you. Trying so hard to- to please everyone else. You didn't even see yourself as someone worthy of the same treatment. But that's just it- you don't see how absurdly incredible you are. And it's okay to have these doubts. It's more than okay, it's what makes you human. It's the thing that makes me l-" he caught himself quickly, he couldn't scare him off, not now. "You're a careful person. And that's okay. But you don't need to pretend with me, Alexander. That's what I'm trying to tell you," he said, nudging Alec gently with his left foot.
Alec looked at him in absolute awe, his ears a charming shade of red.
"Your-" he began, smiling, "Your ankle seems a lot better."
"Whatever do you mean? I'm in crippling agony," Magnus said, surprised at Alec's response.
Magnus looked down to see his right ankle still adorned with the ice pack.
"I'm pretty sure you 'sprained' your left ankle. The one you just kicked me with."
"I didn't kick you, I affectionately nudged you. There is a difference. And why, then, is there an ice pack on my right foot?"
Alec looked at him smugly. Magnus thought for a beat before his eyes went wide.
"You played me," Magnus said shocked, if not a little impressed.
"Hey, you played me first. Did you even hurt your ankle?"
"I- Well, yes. But I healed it within a few seconds."
"Okay then. That means you can ice skate."
Magnus looked at him and then and burst out laughing. Before Alexander, such jubilance had been rare. He was happy to note that it was now a regular occurrence.
"Was I really that obvious?" Magnus asked.
"Positively see-through"
Alec got up then and offered Magnus his hand.
"You're really going to make me do this aren't you?" Magnus asked.
"Yes."
"Where has this new found confidence come from Lightwood? I like it," he said, snapping his fingers so that his skates were suddenly on his feet.
Alec blushed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.
"Somebody today told me that I was worth something."
Magnus took his offered hand, smiling at their mutual understanding. "Wise words. Sounds like he was trying to hit on you though. Where is he so that I can turn him into a Kakapo."
Alec smiled, dragging Magnus towards the ice rink.
"Mmhmm. And what in Raziel's name is a Kakapo?"
As soon as they got onto the ice, Magnus may or may not have fallen over again. And he may or may not have pulled Alec down so that he landed on top of him.
As Alexander looked down at him in shocked bemusement, warm breath landing ever so lightly on his boyfriend's lips, Magnus could feel his bum start to freeze; the melted ice soaking through his trousers and more than likely permanently ruining them. And he couldn't bring himself to care. Ice-skating was his new favourite pastime.
So yeah, leave a review if you want!
