Smitten Boyfriends (M/A)

This prompt was requested by BrendaLightwoodBane over on Archive of Our Own.

An outsider's perspective (a Shadowhunter) of Magnus and Alec

Elijah Starkweather walked briskly out of the dormitories of the New York Institute, making his way in the direction of the cafeteria. He had just overheard some rather disturbing news and needed to find Andrew Underhill immediately.

Irritated, Eli found himself being slowed down in his progress by the steady flow of other Shadowhunters ahead of him, also heading to breakfast. With a low growl, he elbowed his way past the slow walkers and hurried around the corner, ignoring the exasperated comments behind him.

"Underhill!" Eli called, spying the blond man about to enter the cafeteria.

Andrew stopped at the sound of his name and waited for him to catch up to him.

"Is it true?" Eli asked, falling into step beside the Head of Security as they entered the room.

Andrew frowned as he grabbed a tray from the top of the stack and slid down the buffet line to reach the scrambled eggs. "Is what true?"

"That a warlock has moved into the Institute," he snarled. Catching the raised eyebrow that Andrew gave him, Eli attempted to get his anger under control before continuing. "I heard some people talking about seeing one walking out of the Head's bedroom with him this morning."

"Oh, Magnus?" Andrew asked, nodding once as the line slowly moved down. "Alec is dating him. I guess it's possible he stayed over last night."

Elijah blinked in surprise at this new information. He had only just recently transferred to this Institute and was still trying to get his bearings on the slightly different ways of doing things from his last location. The most baffling thing yet; the treatment of the Downworlders that resided in New York. But it was even more shocking to learn that one of their people, much less the Head of the Institute, was dating a . . . warlock.

"Alec Lightwood is dating a warlock?" Eli asked skeptically.

Picking up their trays of food, the pair walked over to an empty table to start eating.

"You really didn't know? People around here talk about it all the time." Andrew shrugged.

"I knew he was gay," Eli admitted. "Last time I visited Idris, I heard that Alec had walked away from his wedding with Lydia because he wanted to date a guy, but I didn't know . . . He's seriously dating a warlock?"

Andrew nodded. "There are definitely some mixed opinions about it amongst the Shadowhunters here. It wouldn't surprise me if the Clave was trying to keep that information lowkey."

Eli clenched his jaw at this new information. "As long as I don't have to live with him. You're sure he hasn't moved in?"

"If he was moving in, then as the Head of Security, it would be my job to get him registered into our systems. I haven't heard anything about that, so . . ." Andrew gave a small shrug before setting his fork down and scouting his chair back. "I'm going to grab some napkins. Need anything?"

Eli shook his head, playing with the food on his plate as he considered what Andrew had just told him.

It took him a moment to catch on to how quiet the cafeteria had suddenly gotten. The room, usually filled with chatter from busy Shadowhunters, was now silent aside from the occasional soft clanging of silverware against plates. Confused, Eli turned to follow everyone's stares to find that Alec had just entered the room with Magnus by his side, both of them were carrying trays of food.

Eli couldn't help narrowing his eyes at the warlock as the pair walked past his table on their way to join Jace, Clary, and Izzy.

"Not only is the Head of this Institute dating a Downworlder, but our boss also forces everyone to dine with him?" Eli snarled as Andrew returned to their table.

"This is new," Andrew admitted, who was staring, perplexed, at the scene in front of them. "Alec has never invited him to eat with us before."

The room had gradually returned to its original lively state after the initial shock, but Elijah continued to watch the strange pair from across the room in between bites of food. As he observed them, he caught the occasional touches between the two; Alec resting a hand on Magnus' arm, Magnus fixing the collar of Alec's jacket. Alec even leaned over to place a kiss on the warlock's cheek once. Right. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Institute.

"Disgusting," Eli mumbled to himself.

"What?" Andrew asked, sending him a weird look.

"Are you not watching this?"

Andrew turned in time to watch Magnus brushing a strand of hair off of Alec's forehead. He shrugged. "They are dating," he reminded him. "Them showing affection like that isn't a bad thing."

"You're okay with this?"

"Well, I'm gay too, so the fact that Alec is dating a man doesn't bother me at all. I get that," Andrew said. "As for the part about him dating a warlock? As long as they continue to follow the Accords, I don't care. Honestly, I find their relationship inspiring."

Eli stared open mouthed at man's admission. Before he could think of something to say to that though, a shadow drifted over their table and the two looked up to find Alec standing over them.

"Hey, Underhill," Alec greeted. "Mind if I join you guys for a minute?"

Andrew gestured for their boss to take a seat at the table.

"Clary just got a phone call from Luke,"Alec explained, after making himself comfortable. "The vampires attacked the Jade Wolf last night."

"What?" Andrew said sharply. Setting his fork down on his plate, he leaned forward over the table. "Why?"

"I don't know the details," Alec sighed, "but I need you to lead a team over to the restaurant. Luke said the police have already been by. We need to try and contain this situation from the mundanes as much as possible, along with checking in on the werewolf pack. I'm not sure how many, if any, survived the attack."

"Yeah, of course." Andrew nodded. "What about Luke? Is he okay?"

Alec gave a subtle shake of his head. "It sounds like the police found Luke alone at the scene. Everyone else was either badly wounded or killed. Luke has been arrested under suspicion of the attack."

"Oh, god," Andrew said under his breath.

"Clary and Jace are going to go by the police station to check on him," Alec reassured. "Just get a team over to the restaurant as soon as possible."

Alec moved to stand up and started to turn to head back to his table before pausing. "Oh, and one more thing, Underhill."

"Yeah."

"This afternoon, I need you to get Magnus registered into the system along with a set of keys to my room. He's going to be staying here for a while."

Andrew stared up at him for a moment. Realizing Alec was serious, he reluctantly resigned. "Um, sure."

With one last nod of confirmation, Alec turned and walked back to his table, which now was only sitting Izzy and Magnus.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Eli turned on him. "So, he is moving in? How could you agree to that?"

"He's our boss. What was I supposed to say?"

"Maybe remind him of the rules that the Clave has stated that all Institutes must follow," Eli pointed out. "You said yourself that you didn't have a problem with their relationship as long as they adhered to the Accords."

"He's our boss," Andrew repeated with a sigh. "I don't have to like it. Just do as he says."

Chugging back the rest of his juice, Andrew picked up his empty tray and left the cafeteria to get to work, leaving Elijah to scowl at the offending couple on the other side of the room.