Hello everyone! ... I am so sorry this is so late ;-; I do unfortunately have quite a busy life that doesn't really allow much time for fanfiction (plus I'm the master of procrastination) so this is probably gonna be a really slowburning thing, maybe a chapter a month at a good time with no exams?
Anyway, I'm amazed at how many followers this has gotten (you crazy people!), so thank you all for following and leaving such nice reviews! Enough babbling from me. xD
I do not own the Mortal Instruments series or any of the characters.
"So... You've got nothing?" Magnus asked.
"Nothing but the foggy depths of my desolate mind." Alec confirmed. Alec was sat down at his desk, rubbing his temples lightly. He looked back at Magnus, who had made himself quite at home on his couch. Luke had of course suggested that the two came back here to work rather than sorting him out with an office of his own in the agency building. He guessed he wasn't important enough for that yet. Maybe it was only non-fiction authors that were important enough for that. The fact that Magnus had made it very clear that they knew each other may have also had an impact on Luke's choice to hold back on giving him his own office space just yet.
"What do you want me to draw then?" Magnus asked as he frowned at Alec. Alec sighed.
"I don't have- I don't really-"Another sigh. "Why don't you come back tomorrow? Maybe I'll have something for you to draw by then..." He mumbled as he turned back to his desk, chewing on the lid of his pen. Magnus pouted slightly and walked over to Alec. He leaned down, his fingers gripping the back of Alec's desk chair.
"You didn't call me again..." Magnus purred into Alec's ear, his coloured hair brushing against the pale skin of Alec's neck and sending shivers down his spine. Alec tensed up a bit, not daring to look at the other in case he was met with an extreme close up of the other's irresistible face.
"I... Huh..?" He mumbled, looking at Magnus out of the corner of his eyes. Magnus smiled a little and stood up again. At the loss of presence behind him, Alec looked up at the other, his face burning.
"Nothing. But, you know, if you don't want me to try and make you fall in love with me, say so now. Because you, Alexander Lightwood, are the most beautiful person I've ever met and I'm not going to stop unless you tell me to." Magnus informed bluntly, smirking that feline smirk of his. Alec decided on a metaphor for his face right now; It felt like lava, and he was pretty sure it looked like lava too. A long silence stretched through the small room, in which Magnus stared into Alec's eyes and Alec stared right back.
Magnus smiled, clearly taking Alec's shocked silence as consent for him to carry on with his courting.
"Good," Magnus said with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, Alexander."
Magnus tapped lightly on the door. When no reply came, he tried the door handle – Unlocked, as it had been when Magnus had left the previous day.
Magnus frowned, worry creasing his brow. Surely Alec knew to lock his doors at night? Unless someone else had unlocked it since. Magnus opened the heavy door quickly, walking into Alec's study. He knew his worry was pretty irrational, but he'd still been expecting to walk in on some sort of murder scene, or find a ransom note on Alec's old oak desk. Maybe a thief, trying to steal what were, in Magnus' mind, works of brilliance created by the most stunning man in the United States?
But, all he found was Alec, cheek pressed against the wood of his desk, fast asleep. Magnus couldn't help but smile. Alec was snoring ever so quietly, and every so often he would mumble incoherently. His hair was splayed across his desk messily, like the feathers of a raven. He was still wearing what he had been the previous night, the blue shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of black jeans. He must have been cold, after all, it had snowed overnight (A fact that Magnus was very, very excited about).
Magnus found himself wondering how he'd stumbled across someone like Alec. He'd been looking for someone to help him get over Will, sure, but Alec was something, or someone, else entirely. Not only was he gorgeous to look at, but he had that stubborn kind of awkwardness that Magnus had always seemed to be drawn to.
There were scrunched up pieces of paper littered everywhere around the room and Alec was still holding his pen loosely. Looking at the state of the room and the emptiness of the piece of paper that Alec was half using for a pillow, it was clear that Alec had not been struck down with a lightning bolt of inspiration last night.
Magnus took a quilt from the back of the sofa he'd been laying on the previous night, and draped it over Alec's shoulders gently. Then, he acted on Alec's statement from the previous day and 'made himself at home', assuming it still applied. He took his shoes off and wandered into the kitchen, making two cups of strong coffee. Then he walked back into Alec's office and put the mugs down on the coffee table.
Magnus leaned forwards and tapped Alec's shoulder gently, not wanting to scare him.
"Hey.." He whispered, at which Alec jumped.
"What?" He mumbled quickly, before he'd opened his eyes. When those icy blue eyes did open, he blinked a few times. "Oh. Hi. Yeah, I-"
"Fell asleep at your desk? A little cliché, don't you think?" Magnus teased, a sly smile on his face. Alec was just too adorable right now, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Alec didn't answer for a while and simply looked up at Magnus from his slouched over position at his desk with sleepy eyes. A small blush crept onto his pale cheeks.
"... Is that coffee I smell?" Alec said at last.
When Alec had deemed himself sufficiently fuelled with coffee and burned toast, the two sat back down in Alec's office.
"Judging from the ball pit of scrunched up papers, I'd say you're in an 'Argh! I have so many ideas but none of them work!' Sort of situation?" Magnus questioned. Alec laughed at the suggestion, rubbing at the shadows under his eyes.
"I wish. Take a look." Alec said, picking up a piece of nearly decimated paper from the floor and chucking it at Magnus, who caught it quickly. With a questioning stare in Alec's direction, Magnus slowly started unravelling the crumpled up mess of paper, a little nervous to see what was on this ominous, crumpled paper.
"Blank?" Magnus exclaimed, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide as he looked down at the frighteningly white paper.
"Blank." Alec repeated, sounding tired and defeated. "It gets to the point sometimes where you just have to get a new piece of paper, because it gets depressing, you know? Just staring at the exact same piece of paper for what feels like hours..." Alec mumbled, then sighed and leaned back in his chair. Magnus did know. It was the same for him and a blank canvas, but canvases were more expensive to change every hour or so.
"Ok, you're seriously depressing me." Magnus said bluntly and got up, going to fetch his stylish coat. Alec jumped up from his chair and watched him with wide eyes, frightened that he'd actually upset Magnus. What had he done to make him leave? More so, why was he so upset about the fact that he was leaving?
"Magnus, I-" Alec started, but he was silenced when Magnus threw his coat at him. Alec blinked, pulling it away from his flustered looking face to stare at Magnus.
"If an idea won't come to you, we'll have to go to the idea." He said as he started pulling on his black trench coat and boots. Alec smiled a little and pulled on his worn out green parker, then added a pair of black woollen mittens and a scarf to the equation. Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Remind me to take you clothes shopping. Soon." He said. Alec rolled his eyes, and started following Magnus out of the house, closing the door behind him.
"Whoa... I didn't realise it was snowing." Alec said, looking around at the unusually white surroundings of the city. He knew it would be cold, but not this cold. It wasn't just a layer of snow either; it was a thick covering that seemed to envelope everything. Alec was simply glad that he'd worn his booths rather than his trainers.
"Of course you didn't. You were too caught up in your little vampire den, all those curtains closed." Magnus joked, raising an eyebrow at Alec, who, even if he wouldn't admit it, was trying to look cool. Trying not to look like the slightly nerdy, loner author that he was, like Isabelle had advised.
Alec rolled his eyes, "Where are we even going?" He asked. Magnus was silent, a weird grin on his face. Alec frowned at the other's back, walking silently behind him. Eventually, Magnus stepped back so that Alec could see past him.
"The park?" Alec questioned, one eyebrow raised. "I'm pretty sure I've drawn just about every idea I can from-"
"Shh-shh! Just follow me." Magnus scolded as they walked through the park. Alec pulled his dark red scarf tighter around his neck. God, it was cold.
Magnus lead him down the frosty path, past snow covered trees and bushes with branches made of icicles, past frozen puddles and cold benches that nobody would sit on today. They walked for a while, perhaps a mile, with short conversations passing to and fro between them as they went. Alec, although curious, was enjoying the quiet. The two came to the edge of the park, and the beginning of a large wooded area, which had to be the only sight of green for miles. "Magnus, where are we going?" Alec tried asking again, as Magnus started to walk down a narrow path through the trees. No answer. Alec hesitated, before following after Magnus.
Then, Alec saw where they were going. There was a small clearing ahead, covered in pure, crisp white. When he emerged into the clearing, he found himself standing in front of a frozen lake. He could see himself in the ice, which seemed to glisten in the early morning sun, making everything in the clearing seem.. Magical. The sounds of the city seemed to be blocked out by the trees that surrounded them and everything was quiet, apart from the occasional scatter of an animal through the bushes.
"Welcome to my secret garden, Alexander." Magnus said in a low, smooth voice. Alec looked up at him, caught in those stunning eyes for a moment. Were they really green? There were flecks of... Something in them. Yellow? No. Gold.
Magnus grinned down at him. "Ever been ice-skating before?" He asked.
"... Ice skating? Where did that come from?" Alec asked, eyebrows furrowing. Magnus' smile grew as he grabbed hold of Alec's gloved hand and pulled him onto the smooth yet deceptively slippery ice. "A-Are you out of your mind!?" Alec yelled, cringing as his feet stomped down onto the ice. He waited for a second, expecting to be plunged into the icy waters below – But he wasn't. Alec opened his eyes and looked up at Magnus, who was still holding onto his hands reassuringly. His expression was soft, gentle encouraging. No more words were spoken as Magnus slid further onto the ice, Alec stumbling after him.
Alec held on tightly to Magnus' hands as he tried his best to slide rather than stumble. His right foot slipped, and Alec gasped as he started to fall, pulling Magnus down with him. They landed with an 'oof', Magnus quickly rolling off of Alec. Alec blushed as Magnus laughed at him, but soon Alec was laughing too, and their laughs formed a chorus of sweet sounds that didn't stop until they'd managed to get back up again – Which took more than a few attempts.
The two slipped and slid for awhile, until Magnus asked, "Inspired yet?". Alec smiled and nodded, letting Magnus guide him away from the beautiful ice.
Alec had the idea that he would let go of Magnus' hand once they got off the ice. But as they walked away from the lake and through the trees, Alec found himself reluctant to let go. So, with rosy cheeks, Alec held his hand all the way home.
Note: I know that finding somewhere like that in NYC is very unlikely, but gimme a little artistic licence xD I've never been to NYC though, so maybe there is somewhere like that..? I don't know, I'm just a silly British person xD