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Alec opens the door to Meliorn's cell, letting Lydia and Magnus enter first before following them inside.
The seelie looks up from where he is sitting on the floor, back against the wall, both palms flat against the ground.
"Oh, what a delight. Visitors in my cell," he notes mockingly.
"Meliorn," Magnus greets.
"Bane." A nod. "And the Clave representative herself. My, what an honor to receive such esteemed visitors in my cell, where I await my sentence for my dastardly deeds." His voice practically drips with sarcasm.
Magnus snorts. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. I've seen you stuck in situations much worse than this. This barely counts as a pickle in comparison."
Alec is honestly a little surprised at the lighthearted banter between the two Downworlders.
"As have you," Meliorn promptly returns.
"Oh, please don't remind me," Magnus waves a hand at him. "Last time I was stuck in a Shadowhunter cell really isn't a good time to remember."
"Is it ever?" Meliorn asks with a smirk before he finally sobers. "So, what brings you here, High Warlock."
Magnus promptly turns serious and gestures at Alec and Lydia standing beside him. "These two have a proposition for you. I'm here to vouch for their character and to ensure that this conversation stays entirely private."
Meliorn turns towards the two of them. "A proposition?" There is an almost impressive amount of skepticism in his voice.
Alec honestly couldn't care less what the seelie thinks of him as long as he plays along with their plan.
So, he just nods, saying, "We are about to negotiate a deal with the Clave and we would be willing to include your freedom without a transfer to Idris or additional questioning in that bargain."
"Hm." Meliorn pauses, looking thoughtful. "I assume this would be the deal surrounding the Mortal Cup, then?"
"Yes," Lydia confirms.
Meliorn turns back towards Magnus. "You are willing to just let them hand the Mortal Cup back to the Clave, Bane?"
"No, I am not," Magnus raises his eyebrows at him. "And please get off your high horse. The only reason the Clave knows about the Cup's location at all is because you told them. This is simply damage control. But no one here intends to just simply hand it over to the Clave."
The seelie concedes the point with a nod, turning back to eye Alec and Lydia intently, expectantly, clearly aware that if it were as simple as them just demanding Meliorn's freedom from the Clave in exchange for the Cup, there would have been no need to approach him beforehand. "So, some sort of plan then? And you need something from me to make it work," he states more than asks.
"Yes," Alec confirms. "The Cup as a bargaining chip will give us quite a bit of leeway with the Clave, but we still don't know what sort of motivation or even who might have been behind orchestrating your arrest."
Lydia adds on, "It would be much easier to assure your immediate freedom if we could reasonably claim we already got you to talk, even better if we can prove that whoever fed them the information about you working with Valentine was lying."
"Ah. You need information." Meliorn is now smirking rather condescendingly. "You need something at the very least relevant, preferably big, but definitely easy-to-prove. And in exchange, you would include my freedom in the bargain around the Mortal Cup."
Alec nods, "Exactly."
Meliorn nods slowly, watching them intently, before finally focusing specifically on Alec. "Your sister always claimed you are a man of your word."
"I am."
The faerie turns towards Magnus. "And you vouch for them?"
"I do," Magnus affirms.
Another few seconds of contemplative silence.
Then, Meliorn shrugs, nonchalance in every line of his body, even as a slow, rather devious, vindictive grin spreads over his face. "Well in that case, I could offer you the location of one of Valentine's lairs, the place where he murdered our scouts, where he conducts most of his experiments and where he is holding Jocelyn Fray."
Alec keeps his face impassive despite his surprise.
That's actually much better than he had ever dared to hope Meliorn would be able or willing to provide them with. Yes, they can definitely work with that.
They are currently in a meeting with Imogen Herondale, the Inquisitor of the Clave, and Magnus watches as Alexander calmly, confidently handles one of the most powerful figures in the Clave.
Once done with their plotting, the three of them - meaning Lydia, Alexander and Magnus himself - had quickly settled on the Inquisitor as the best option of who to approach about their plan.
Magnus might not particularly like her – her less than favorable views of Downworlder and uncompromising insistence on the law sees to that – but he can still admit that she is one of the few Shadowhunters he knows with true integrity. Imogen Herondale would never lower herself to working with someone like Valentine.
And while some of the bargains they want to strike might be somewhat outside of the Inquisitor's purview, her personal influence in the Clave is such, that if she signs off on it, it's still a done deal.
Personal dislike or not, she had simply been the best choice for what they needed.
So, Lydia had requested a meeting and Imogen had arrived at the Institute barely a few hours later, most likely assuming this to concern the Mortal Cup.
Sure, she clearly hadn't expected the meeting to also include a Lightwood as well as the resident High Warlock - her suspicion likely not helped at all by Magnus immediately raising additional, rather heavily fortified security wards around the room - but the thought of the Mortal Cup had clearly been enough of a motivation for her to at least hear them out.
And now, the four of them have been in this meeting behind closed doors for more than an hour, having already argued their way through Lydia and Alexander's bid for a joined Head of the New York Institute position, discussed the intel they got from Meliorn regarding Valentine's lair, and lastly they confirmed that they do in fact have the Cup and are even happy to hand it over to the Clave.
Just with a few conditions attached.
Admittedly, they have yet to tell her that Meliorn's information isn't actually accurate any longer, that the Cup isn't at the Institute anymore, hasn't been here for going on two days now.
Because the very first step of Alexander's - beautifully multilayered - plan had been to simply go ahead and move the Cup to a safe location, without anyone the wiser, before people figured out that it wasn't Clary but Alexander who had it and would thus start watching his every move rather closely.
So, Magnus had made a flawless - though entirely useless - copy of the tarot card Alexander handed him to be kept as a decoy in the safe. And then, in a perfectly clandestine meeting, Magnus and Lydia had taken the real card to his friend Zachariah of the Silent Brothers. And Magnus could practically see the relief in Alexander as soon as they had returned with the news that the Cup was safe.
So. Everyone in the Shadowworld might currently think they know the Cup's location, but they would all, collectively be wrong.
The third Mortal Instrument is already back in Idris, kept safe in the Silent City - or wherever Zachariah chose to hide it - and there are currently only four people who know about that fact. Well, soon to be five, once they've struck their deal and let Imogen in on it.
Which brings them to the next part of the plan.
"We suspect that we have a traitor at the Institute," Alexander asserts calmly, his face impressively calm, despite the fury Magnus knows he feels at that very fact.
"A traitor?" Imogen asks but there is no actual derision in her voice. Everyone knows that Valentine has his people everywhere.
"Possibly more than one," Alexander confirms. "Valentine is simply too well informed. But we have yet to figure out who exactly is providing him with the intel."
"We want to root them out," Lydia asserts.
Imogen watches them, her eyes sharp but her expression not giving anything away. "And how are you planning to do that?" she asks.
Lydia doesn't so much as twitch despite the intent, somewhat condescending stare she is faced with.
Magnus might have only officially met Lydia a few days ago, but the more time he spends with her, the more he likes her. She is the exact right amount of straightforward and devious, honest in general but cunning if needed, reliable, loyal and knows perfectly well how to choose her battles, knows which things in life are worth fighting for, even already knows true loss despite her age. Her hard shell exterior built out of necessity more than preference and hiding quite a bit of compassion and kindness underneath.
He can definitely see why Alexander gets along with her so well.
"We want to use the Mortal Cup as bait," Lydia says calmly.
"No," Imogen refuses immediately, her face set and her tone brooking no question. "That is not an option. The Cup is far too valuable for that."
"We agree," Alexander takes over again. "We don't intend to use the real Cup. But we would propose keeping its removal from the Institute a secret for another few days and claim there to be a sort of ceremony to be held around it here in a few days, where the Cup will supposedly be brought out of hiding."
Lydia promptly picks up where he leaves off, and this easy, almost natural rhythm these two Shadowhunters have developed despite only having known each other for a couple of weeks is honestly rather beautiful to watch.
"The real Cup will be nowhere near the Institute at that point," she says. "But the promise of the Cup being accessible during the celebration will make it the best time of attack and might root out anyone who would try to get at it."
Imogen still has her eyebrows raised with a skeptical expression but Magnus can see the consideration in her eyes.
It's a good plan. The benefits if it works are immense, and if it doesn't work they won't lose anything, no one even aware of there ever having been a scheme at all.
Alexander's mind truly is a beautifully devious place.
"A ceremony involving the more prominent members of the Clave, I assume?" Imogen finally asks, her face unreadable.
"Yes," Alec nods in reply to her question.
Imogen raises her eyebrows at them. "And who exactly is in on this plan of yours?"
"Only the people in this room," Alec replies.
This part of his plan for rooting out any traitors isn't really necessary, but the thought of anyone loyal to the Circle hiding in their midst, amongst the people he works with and trusts, giving out information to Valentine, putting Shadowhunters from his Institute at risk, makes him clench his teeth in fury. Whoever the traitors are, he wants them found and he wants them out.
"And I assume you don't want to tell anyone else going forward," she continues.
"No one aside from the people in this room," Lydia nods.
"What about your parabatai, Mr. Lightwood?" she raises her eyebrows at him almost challengingly.
"Absolutely no one," Alec reiterates firmly.
He knows Jace and Izzy would never truly betray him - no matter how irritated he may be at them right now - but they simply aren't the best at keeping their mouths entirely shut. Izzy tends to let information slip once she gets talking and Jace would at the very least tell Clary.
And if Alec has learned one thing about that girl it's the fact that she will use anything she can get her hands on for her own advantage. She'd trade the information away in a heartbeat if it got her any closer to her personal goals, no matter what that might mean for the rest of them.
Thankfully, Imogen is now nodding thoughtfully, at last indicating her general agreement with their plan.
Suddenly, for the first time since she got here, her eyes switch over to Magnus, sitting at Lydia's other side and having kept mostly silent until now.
There is something in Imogen's eyes as she focuses on Magnus that Alec can't quite identify. It's definitely nothing particularly positive but it also isn't the sort of hatred or even disgust he has seen from other Shadowhunters when looking at Downworlders.
And Magnus just watches her right back, entirely calm, unbothered by her stare, looking perfectly relaxed.
Finally, her lips curl slightly as she says, "I might not trust you, High Warlock Bane, but I do know about your history with the Circle and thus that there is simply no chance whatsoever of you ever betraying anyone to them."
Magnus just keeps his expression perfectly bland. "Indeed, Inquisitor."
She nods – rather grudgingly – and then goes right back to entirely ignoring him.
Magnus feels himself relax a little. He had been worried that his presence here might make her less inclined to go along with anything they brought before her today. Hence, his silence in this meeting so far.
So, he just continues to watch as the three Shadowhunters proceed to haggle over the details of their deal, fleshing out plans and striking bargains.
At this point, he is mainly just here to make sure that nothing and no one is listening in on this conversation. And, sure, he could maintain the wards just as well from the outside but then again, there is also no way he is leaving. Just in case something in the plan changes for some reason.
Because if Alexander is truly planning to go up against Valentine - the most wanted man in the entire Shadowworld – as well as any possible traitors hiding in his own Institute, then you can bet that Magnus will want to know every detail of what will be going on.
How else is he going to protect his boyfriend's back?
The first part of their plan commences entirely - almost surprisingly - smoothly and much sooner than they had honestly expected.
Apparently, Imogen sees no reason to delay making use of the piece of intel they managed to get their hands on and just has them follow her back to Alicante as soon as their meeting is done.
And once there, she promptly signs off on their raid on Valentine's lair, having them assemble a taskforce of twenty of Idris' finest right then and there. Alec is honestly relieved - they simply do not have this sort of manpower at the Institute, at least not without thinning out the personnel for guard duties, missions and patrols at the same time - and also rather surprised by just how willing she is to take immediate and efficient action.
Especially considering just how displeased she had been when they finally told her about having already moved the Cup out of the Institute and back to Idris.
Thankfully, she seemed to agree with their reasoning that it had been safer to move the Cup before anyone thought to focus too much attention on them, because a meeting between the Inquisitor, the current Head of the Institute, a High Warlock, and the Lightwood most likely in possession of the Cup won't stay a secret for long and they will likely be watched rather closely from now on for an attempt at remove the Cup from the Institute.
There was even something almost like grudging respect in Imogen's eyes when they told her about their solution for how exactly to hide the Cup.
Point is, instead of reprimanding them for moving the Cup without informing the Clave beforehand, Imogen had accepted their reasoning - if only because it put the Mortal Cup's security above everything else - and then just moved on to the next part of their deal, namely the raid on Valentine's hideout, and most importantly, putting Alec and Lydia in command.
Because this right here is actually one of the essential pieces of their plan and getting themselves appointed Heads of the New York Institute.
During their initial planning session, Alec and Lydia had quickly decided against using the leverage of the Cup for their own personal agenda.
It just feels cheap somehow, like being appointed Heads in exchange for returning the Mortal Cup where it belongs wouldn't be much of an actual success at all. They want to get there based on their own merits.
Sure, Alec might have been just as involved in retrieving the Cup as his siblings and Clary herself had been, but distracting some mundane police so others could sneak invisibly through their offices doesn't really feel like much of an achievement. Not to even mention that Lydia hadn't been involved at all and also how hypocritical it would have been to lecture Clary about abusing the Mortal Cup for her personal gain and then turn around and do the exact same thing.
And then, Meliorn had given them his intel and they had decided to gamble on this mission – a raid on one of Valentine's main hideouts – being enough to give them an edge over any other contenders for the title of Head of the New York Institute.
Hence, their need for today's mission to go well.
And for once, thankfully, everything just goes exactly to plan.
They assemble the taskforce for a spontaneously organized stealth raid, the mission parameters only being given out at the very last moment, no one wanting to risk some sort of warning getting to Valentine beforehand.
Magnus, as a powerful warlock already in-the-know - and somehow already having gotten the location from Meliorn - is officially commissioned to portal them all pretty much right to Valentine's doorstep.
And once their entire group makes it through the portal, Magnus promptly turns to face the warehouse they find themselves standing in front of and then proceeds to take down the rather impressive wards surrounding the building. By simply tearing them apart with his own magic.
Alec watches as that same glow returns to the warlock as the last time he saw him do magic, watches as his magic gathers in glowing strands coiling around his hands, watches Magnus look breathtakingly free and radiant despite his obvious focus on the task at hand and the seriousness of his expression.
Alec just can't rip his eyes away from the sight of him, surrounded by the blazingly bright, swirling tendrils of his magic, the air around them seeming to practically vibrate with Magnus' power.
And there are a few moments where Alec thinks he can almost feel the magic curl along his skin, can almost taste it in the air, as their surroundings seem to actually warm just from the sheer amount of power Magnus is emitting.
Magnus is breathtaking and Alec simply cannot look away.
Then, for just an instance, Magnus glances his way.
And Alec kind of forgets how to breathe.
Because, Magnus' eyes. Magnus' warlock mark - something Alec has admittedly spent more than a little time wondering about - is in his eyes.
Beautiful, golden cat eyes, ablaze with power, bright with his magic curling around him, through him, almost luminescent in their glow.
By the angel, Alec just wants to step closer, wants to reach out and touch Magnus, wants to run his thumbs along his cheekbones below those breathtakingly beautiful eyes, wants to see them close up.
They are stunning, so very, incredibly beautiful.
Magnus blinks, still focused on him. And Alec swallows.
They are also incredibly attractive.
There is a small, almost tentative smile quirking at the corner of Magnus' mouth now and Alec is so caught up in staring that he almost wants to protest when the warlock finally turns away from him again to fully focus back on the wards.
Alec manages to stop himself, though.
So. Yet another thing to add to the list of things he finds attractive about his boyfriend. Because that list clearly wasn't long enough already, he thinks sardonically.
The wards come crumbling down, seeming to simply buckle under the weight of Magnus' power. Alec makes himself focus forward again, hand tightening on his bow.
Later. I'll have time to think about those eyes some more later.
Another few seconds for the magical backlash of torn-apart wards to subside, and then, their group of twenty Shadowhunters presses forward.
The raid itself is almost ridiculously easy.
The seven Circle members guarding the warehouse stand absolutely no chance against them and are easily overtaken, not one of them given the chance to get away. Three are killed in the fight, two near-fatally wounded but two of them captured with barely a scratch on them.
And not a single Shadowhunter under Lydia and Alexander's command gets more than a few scratches in the fight.
The entire raid takes them all of thirty minutes from the moment they stepped through the portal.
Like he said, almost ridiculously easy.
Valentine himself isn't there - well, they hadn't really expected him to be - but just as Alec had hoped, they do find Jocelyn Fray, asleep under some sort of green-glowing spell, as well as the two dead seelie scouts, proving Meliorn's claim regarding just where Valentine had gotten the seelie blood for those creatures from.
They also find numerous other bodies, twisted, mutated in various ways from the experiments done on them. It's a gruesome sight and packing up everything they find here to be analyzed by the tech department later takes longer than the raid itself did.
Thankfully, they do have a warlock with them who makes the entire packing process much easier, or they might have been stuck here for quite a while longer.
And now, as Lydia and Alec sit through the usual post-mission debrief - Magnus just having taken off to Brooklyn instead of sitting through yet another Shadowhunter meeting - he can't quite help the quick smile flitting over his face.
Everything today went either exactly as planned or - ridiculously enough - even better than they had hoped. That's definitely not something you get to say all that often in their line of work.
But somehow, within less than just forty-eight hours, most of Alec's more pressing concerns have suddenly been taken care of. The Cup's safety, Meliorn's freedom, their bid for the Head position, Jocelyn' retrieval, his siblings' scheming and as a cherry on top, Alec was even able to bring in Magnus as an official, Clave-approved collaborator with their Institute.
So.
With all of this suddenly resolved, Alec could actually take a night off for once, could maybe even think about finally staying at over at his boyfriend's again.
Because he hasn't been able to get the image of Magnus with magic swirling around him, eyes - those beautiful golden cat eyes - aglow with power, so very easily tearing down the wards, out of his head. Magnus' magic had been so thick in the air that Alec thought he'd almost been able to taste it. And he can't help but wonder whether he would be able to taste the magic on Magnus' skin as well.
A low thrum of heat runs through him. And for the first time, there is nothing keeping him from doing something about it.
So, Alec decides he has plans tonight. Plans that involve him, Magnus, and hopefully a bed.
Now, if only they could please get done with this debrief, that would be great.
When they finally get back from Idris, Lydia and Alec are both still a little giddy from today's success.
They get to the Head office and then just stand there, looking at each other for a few seconds, before Lydia finally huffs a laugh. "Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I certainly never expected this rather convoluted plan of yours to work out this perfectly. No offense to our collective planning skills, of course," Lydia says sardonically, but unable to entirely suppress her smile.
Alec lets his lips quirk into an answering grin. "You're telling me. I didn't even know that plans could do that, just work out exactly as intended."
Her smile widens, even as she eyes the stacks of paperwork on her desk with definite exasperation, clearly not in the mood to just get back to work right now.
"You know what? I think I'm going to take the night off, reward myself. Take a long bath and maybe even get an early night. We certainly deserve it." She starts moving towards the door, throwing him a glance. "You should do the same."
He follows her out of the office, even as his grin widens slightly, "Oh, I intend to."
She side-eyes him, her eyes lighting with some humor as they come to a stop at a corridor crossing. "Going out to celebrate, then?" she asks, clearly knowing exactly just where Alec is going to be spending his night off.
He just ticks one of his eyebrows up briefly at her with a slight grin and then easily turns down the corridor in the direction of the Ops center. His smile widens at Lydia's quiet laughter sounding along the corridor as she starts making her way in the opposite direction towards the cells in the basement.
They don't even need to discuss that Lydia is going to set Meliorn free - as per their agreement - and Alec is going to let Clary know about her mother being safe. Sometimes it really is a little eerie just how easily they understand each other, how naturally they work together.
Now, where to find one Clary Fray?
Thankfully, he runs into Raj in the Ops center, who gives him a look that tells Alec he might still very much look like he came fresh off the battlefield, but at least points him in the right direction.
Alec finds Clary and his siblings in one of the training areas, Izzy apparently in the process of teaching Clary how to use a short-staff against a sword.
He stops a few steps into the room, having no intention to actually stick around for longer than he needs to. He definitely still has plans.
"Clary," he says, his voice carrying, immediately getting their attention.
The three of them turn.
And Izzy promptly does a rather obvious double-take at Alec's current appearance, clearly recognizing his post-mission look, immediately scanning him with her eyes, assessing him for any injuries he might be hiding. Jace steps up next to her, the same sort of worry in his eyes.
But their worry is entirely unnecessary.
Well, Alec did get a few scratches during the raid, even one rather deep gash in his thigh, but those have already been healed.
Hey, he is dating a possibly-all-powerful warlock. His wounds were gone pretty much the moment he walked within reaching distance of Magnus' magic. And he is sure that the only reason Magnus stopped short of also fixing the rips in Alec's clothing or cleaning the dust, dirt and sweat off him, was to avoid making his preferential treatment too obvious, lest it lead to some uncomfortable questions for Alec.
He barely manages to keep his smile suppressed, even as he nods at both of his siblings, telling them without words that he is just fine.
Clary speaks up, "Yeah? What is it?" She sounds rather wary, most likely at Alec seeking her out at all.
He doesn't bother with any sort of preamble, "We found Valentine's lair and your mother's location."
There is silence.
"What?" Clary takes a step towards him, desperation flitting through her eyes." How? Where?"
Alec skips right over the question of how exactly they managed to find her.
Because Alec understands bargaining chips, understands why Meliorn would have kept something like the hideout's location to himself, something to offer in case he ever needed to strike a bargain but not essential enough to be accused of betrayal for holding it back and he had certainly been proven right to have taken that precaution.
But Alec very much doubts Clary would see it that way.
"In an abandoned warehouse," Alec just answers her last question. "We organized a full assault to take the location and retrieve your mother-"
He doesn't get the chance to continue before Clary takes another step closer, exclaiming, "An assault? You can't! What if she gets hurt?" Determination lights her eyes as she pleads, "You have to tell me where she is, Alec!"
And he just wants to sigh. This is exactly why he didn't tell her about the raid beforehand.
Clary wouldn't care that Shadowhunters are all highly trained and that they literally do raids like this for a living, wouldn't care that an organized full-on assault by a group of Idris' best is pretty much unstoppable.
No, Clary would take the information and run with it, would disappear within moments to start her own unplanned, disorganized attempt at saving her mother, most likely dragging half of Alec's family along with her, put everyone in danger and in the end self-righteously proclaim it had been 'the right thing to do'.
Angel, he is tired of this.
But she also misunderstood what he just said, clearly assuming that the assault has yet to happen.
"That's not wha-"
"Yes, it is!" she interrupts. He feels his eyes narrow and Jace steps forward to lay a cautioning hand on Clary's arm, clearly able to tell just how thin Alec's patience is wearing with her right now. She seems undeterred, "You can't just put my mother at risk like that, Alec! You have to tell me where she is!"
Alec really wishes someone would finally explain to this girl that there is in fact an entire world outside of her self-absorbed little bubble of self-righteousness.
He keeps his face entirely impassive but his voice gaining a clear edge as he says, "We found Jocelyn Fray under an as of yet unidentified sleeping spell and she is currently in the process of being transferred from Idris to the medical bay upstairs, entirely unharmed."
There is a second of absolute stillness, before he can see Izzy's eyes actually widen and something almost like hurt flitting over Jace's face.
And Clary just stares at Alec, apparently speechless.
He raises his eyebrows at all three of them and then - before they have a chance to say anything - he just turns around and leaves. He has no interest in waiting around for them to get their bearings.
Alec has other things on his mind. Things like Magnus. Things like maybe finally getting to have sex with his ridiculously hot boyfriend, something Alec has been thinking about - daydreaming about - for literally weeks at this point, even since before they ever officially got together.
He isn't even particularly nervous about it anymore. Maybe because still being a virgin has never been this big thing to Alec or maybe simply because it's Magnus he'll be having sex with.
So. Shower first - to get all the grime and blood and sweat off himself - and then he very much intends to go by the loft to see his boyfriend and maybe finally take the next step in their relationship.
Even if they don't get around to actual sex tonight, Alec simply wants more, wants to have Magnus, wants to be able to touch him, taste him, see him, feel him.
Just something more.
Magnus is rather pleasantly surprised when he feels Alexander cross his wards.
It's been barely two hours since Magnus made a portal for the Shadowhunters to get back to Alicante and for himself to return home. And as he makes his way to the entrance to greet his boyfriend, he can't help but smile at the thought that it certainly is lovely to have someone so very clearly wanting to be around him and also entirely unashamed to show it.
Although, Magnus' vague thoughts about them maybe having a nice dinner together before spending the evening relaxing on the balcony again are promptly discarded as soon as Alexander steps into the loft. Only to immediately pull him into a kiss, the door barely having closed behind him.
And this kiss is different, weightier somehow. There is intent behind it, the sort of intent that has an immediate pulse of arousal run through Magnus, heat dragging through his veins.
He just can't help but respond to it, one hand coming to land on Alexander's chest, curling slightly into the fabric of his shirt, the other sliding around his hip, keeping him close.
And immediately, Alexander steps in even closer, deepening the kiss, quickly turning it from their usual, quick greeting kiss into something heated, hotter.
Magnus is powerless to just let himself sink into the heat, reacting to the obvious want radiating from the Shadowhunter.
Only when he feels Alexander start guiding them towards the bedroom, does he manage to make himself pull back a little. Well, not too far, not even letting go of his lovely Shadowhunters but enough to detach their lips, enough to speak.
"Alexander?" he asks, watching as the Shadowhunter glances down at his lips before he focuses fully on Magnus.
And what a lovely sight it is.
Alexander's eyes are slightly darker than usual, desire dilating his pupils slightly, and he clearly has no intention to withdraw in the least. If anything, his hold on Magnus only seems to grow a little tighter.
And maybe Magnus should pull back, should make them talk this through before they actually take this step.
But then again, they have been building up to this, have been dating a few weeks now, have been growing closer for months, building a solid relationship. They even talked about sex before - even if in rather abstract terms - and some of their make out sessions having gotten more than heated recently, so it's not even like they haven't done anything at all before.
But Magnus still has to at least ask. Not whether Alexander is sure or whether he has thought this through - his Shadowhunter never does anything without having thought it through beforehand - but simply to make sure that there aren't any outside reasons for Alexander deciding he wants to go further, nothing that makes him feel like he has to or that he should.
As long as this is a decision Alexander made on his own, simply because he wants to, then Magnus is absolutely, fully on board.
"Darling," he says quietly. "You know there is no pressure, right?"
"I know," Alexander says, both of his hands coming up to frame Magnus' face, fingers curling around to the back of his head, cradling his skull. "But I want this. I want you." He moves to press a kiss to Magnus' lips, this one warm, firm, just their lips moving against each other, unhurried. An assurance.
Alexander pulls back a little, meeting Magnus' eyes, saying quietly but without hesitance, "I want to take the next step." He leans in again. And this kiss is definitely a little firmer, a little more heated, though still mostly chaste.
And when he pulls back again, there is once more something in his expression, something that has electricity running along Magnus' spine, as Alexander murmurs against his lips, "Can we?"
And, really, how is Magnus supposed to ever say no to that?
So, he doesn't resist anymore, lets himself be pulled into another deep kiss, lets himself be pushed backwards in the general direction of his bedroom, his hands coming up to curve around Alexander's jaw on either side, fingers tangling in his hair.
The heat between them builds quickly.
Alexander is kissing him hot and deep and languid, and Magnus almost finds himself pressed against the door to his bedroom, too distracted by Alexander's hands running up underneath his shirt to remember to open the door behind his own back.
Alexander doesn't even seem to notice, one of his hands coming to press into the small of Magnus' back under his shirt, warm against his skin, heat spreading from the point of contact, as though to make sure that Magnus stays as close to him as possible. Magnus rather agrees with the sentiment.
And once in the bedroom, there is even a bit of laughter as they stumble around trying rather unsuccessfully to help each other undress while both of them seem entirely unwilling to actually stop touching, stop kissing, hands unwilling to really let go.
They tumble onto the bed, Alexander shirtless now, but Magnus only having succeeded in removing his boots so far, both of them grinning a little, and Magnus adores the lightheartedness, the laughter at their own eagerness shared in the space between them.
Alexander reaches out, hand settling at the back of Magnus' neck, pulling him down for another kiss, licks into his mouth, and within moments the kiss turns from giggly and eager, to slow and sensual, unhurried, hands brushing over skin still hidden beneath clothes.
He lets Alexander take the lead, lets him undress Magnus with large, warm, weapon-calloused hands immediately running over any exposed skin, easily, sensually exploring, leaving tingles of heat in their wake.
The reverence and heat and desire in Alexander's eyes once he finally gets Magnus entirely out of his clothes is more than a little heady, his absolute focus on Magnus sending shivers of heat along his spine, want curling through him, tingling across his skin.
And somehow, sex with Alexander is something else entirely, something entirely new.
It's heat and sweat and laughter. Intense desire and tender warmth. Alexander with his eyes dark and blown-out from desire, absolutely fixated on Magnus.
But it's the rosy-cheeked intrigue at everything new Magnus shows him that truly does him in, that has him so absolutely helpless to let Alexander do whatever he pleases with him, happy to only take over whenever he falters.
Magnus knows he has never had anyone quite as innocent as Alexander in his bed, but at the same time the Shadowhunter is so very clearly unbothered by his own inexperience, entirely unselfconscious, simply relying on Magnus, trusting Magnus to show him what he needs to know.
And, magic, if that trust doesn't do things to him.
There is just something about being Alexander's first in everything.
Something that has desire dripping through his veins like morphine, his fingers curling in want, possessive heat and warm adoration pulsing in his chest. It should be a contrast, but with Alexander it just isn't.
Oh, what this boy does to him.
Alec is tired, boneless, his limbs lethargic, feeling happily exhausted in a way he doesn't think he's ever been before.
He is lying mostly curled along Magnus' side, head resting on the warlock's arm, their legs tangled together. There is just enough space between them to be able to look at each other and Alec is warm and comfortable, and sleep actually sounds like a great idea right now. But he can't seem to make himself actually close his eyes.
Because Magnus like this - blissed-out and happy, skin still a little flushed, eyes mostly closed but open just enough for Alec to see the glowing gold of his cat eyes, pupils still slightly blown, blinking lazily back at him - might just be the absolutely best thing Alec has ever seen.
He watches almost absently as Magnus lifts one hand - the one currently not curled around Alec's back - lazily twirling it in the air above them, the glow in his eyes briefly flashing as his magic runs over them gently, cleaning them as well as the sheets they are lying in.
How convenient.
Because there is simply no way Alec is moving right now, not even to get clean or to switch off the light. He is staying right where he is, curled along the warmth of Magnus' side, comfortable and relaxed and happy.
Magnus tilts his head slightly forward to press a warm, lingering, tender kiss to his lips, his magic dimming out the lights around Alec feels his chest expand on a content sigh as he presses slightly closer into the warmth of Magnus' body and finally closes his eyes.
The world can just wait a while.
A/N: So. Stupidly long chapter with planning, plotting, a raid and then smut, at last! Well, at least kind of smut XD But since this fic has been perfectly pg so far and my smut tends to turn out rather explicit, I didn't want to just up the rating like that without any warning. Maybe I'll add another scene later on...
And I would love to know what you think about the fix-it for the whole stele-theft thing. Because I absolutely hated that in canon and thus I decided to fix it before anyone even has the chance to go behind Alec's back like that :)
Also, fair warning, there is likely going to be three more chapters (four at most) to this fic in total, so the end is drawing near now!
And thank you so so much for your lovely reviews! They are truly keeping me so motivated for this fic right now (*^^*)