3 months later...
"You honestly didn't have to bring me to the airport Iz, I could've grabbed a cab," Alec said for what felt like the millionth time, shouldering his hiking rucksack and grabbing his suitcase before Izzy could reach for it.
"It's the middle of the night Alec, of course I had to make sure you got here safely then see you off!" Izzy nudged him before slamming the car boot and linking her arm through his. "Besides, I haven't seen Magnus in years and I want to know if he's still as hot as ever!"
"I already told you, he hasn't changed all that much," he grumbled, striding towards the departures terminal. He checked his watch, despite his flight being scheduled for 4 AM he had still insisted on leaving plenty of time 'just in case', so he was a full 20 minutes early for when he'd arranged to meet Magnus.
"Translation: He's still breathtakingly gorgeous and you still turn into a stuttering mess when faced with him!" She grinned up at him, eyes full of mischief.
"No! Well, not the stuttering part. Thankfully I've moved on from that at least."
While Alec had come to terms with his sexuality as a teenager, it had taken a long time for him to feel comfortable talking to his sister about men. But she was persistently nosey, so all it took was one visit to him during his PhD and she instantly knew he was head over heels for his colleague. At first, she'd teased him mercilessly for his crush before she'd realised just how useless he was at anything remotely involving romance, then she'd tried her best to encourage him to ask Magnus out. She'd met the man maybe four times and was convinced that he was as mad about Alec as Alec was about him. But Alec knew that wasn't the case. Magnus was friendly with everyone, Alec wasn't anything special to him. It was still nice to be able to talk to Izzy about this though and know that someone was in his corner, no matter how delusional she may be.
"I took the liberty of packing condoms & lube for you, you can thank me later," Izzy whispered in his ear, causing his cheeks to heat.
"This is a work trip, not spring break Iz."
"That it may be, but you're still going to a tropical island with someone as handsome as Magnus. Best to be prepared!" She snickered at him.
God Alec hated his siblings sometimes. He wouldn't change them for the world but he could do without the incessant teasing. At least Jace had to open the shop later that morning so had stayed home, that was one less person to give him a hard time.
Ever since Magnus and he had been there for coffee, Jace had brought him up at every opportunity. The last few months as they'd been preparing everything for the trip, Jace had been merciless. Alec would argue until he was blue in the face that he and Magnus were just friends, and now colleagues. It still didn't make a difference. He had even at one point accidentally given Jace a black eye throwing a potato at him one evening. Jace deserved it for his juvenile sing-song voice chanting at Alec, "Magnus & Alec, sitting in Nassau, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" while Alec happened to be preparing dinner. Jace hadn't been able to duck out of the way of the projectile in time.
They entered the terminal and Alec studied the departure board, their flight was still listed as leaving on time. He made a mental note of their check-in desk numbers and pulled out his phone to text Magnus. The other man, clearly as punctual as Alec was, had already texted him to say "See you at check-in" with the same desk details Alec had been about to send him.
"Well I guess this is goodbye," he said, unlinking their arms to pull Izzy in for a hug.
"No way Alec, I'm sticking around until you've made it safely through security. Anyway, I want to see Magnus too," she glanced around before making a beeline towards the correct desk.
Even from a distance, Alec could already spot Magnus leaning casually against a concrete pillar. His breath caught at the sight. Even in travel attire, Magnus was the picture of elegance. His loose cotton shirt open at the chest and maroon trousers still looked fashionable to Alec's untrained eye. His hair was softer than he was used to seeing, not styled to its normal heights, and his make up was simpler. But to Alec, he looked perfect.
Alec hoped his sudden urgency had been subtle but judging by Izzy's barely concealed snort, she'd noticed his increase in pace. He bit his lip slightly, if he was swooning over Magnus before they even boarded the plane then this trip was already heading for disaster. 'Get it together Lightwood' he thought, trying to school his face into something approaching professional friendliness.
"Alexander, you're early," Magnus' musical voice cut through the quiet of the terminal, the other travellers all shuffling around sleepily. "And Isabelle, how long has it been? Five years? Maybe six? You look exquisite as always, dear. I love those boots."
Alec smiled at Magnus' ability to adapt to any given social situation as his sister swooned next to him and twisted her body slightly to accentuate the thigh-high boots she was wearing. No wonder his sister and his colleague got on so well, considering they were both the type of people who would turn up to the airport dressed to impress in the middle of the night!
"Thank you! In answer to your question, too long," she stepped forward to pull Magnus into a hug, air-kissing each cheek and mouthing over his shoulder at Alec 'Still gorgeous'. He glared in response. Stepping back to Alec's side, she continued, "So you've finally convinced my brother to take a holiday I see? That's quite the achievement."
"My darling, this will hardly be a holiday. I intend to work your brother hard," Magnus threw Alec a wink causing his face to heat instantaneously. "Though I do also hope there will be some opportunities for pleasure too. Take advantage of the sun and maybe enjoy a few cocktails. It would be a shame to be in such a paradise and not have at least a few days off to enjoy it."
"Well yes, but we do also need to find the long, lost treasure. That's not going to be an easy feat," Alec reprimanded him flatly.
"Relax Alexander," Magnus dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I have it all under control. Not even an hour into the adventure and you're already taking that authoritative tone with me. I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to boss me around over the next few weeks, on my own trip no less. There's no need to start so soon."
Another wink, another heart-stopping moment. Alec was doomed. So very, very doomed.
"Right," Alec cut in awkwardly, clearing his throat with a soft cough. "Shall we get checked in?"
"Yes, yes. The adventure begins!" Magnus exclaimed with a grin. He pulled Izzy into another hug, "It was a pleasure to see you, dear. When we're back from the high seas, we shall have to meet for dinner and I can tell you all about our escapades. I don't trust your brother not to turn it all into a simple academic exercise and leave out the fun parts about rum and dancing."
Izzy giggled. "You're right not to trust him. Good luck Magnus, I hope you find all you're looking for on this trip," she told him, giving Alec a pointed stare.
Alec simply stared back at her, face unamused but unreadable. He pulled his sister into a big bear hug, "Keep Jace out of trouble please, I would like an apartment to come home to when we're done with this trip," he joked.
"I'll try. We're going to miss you, Alec." She squeezed him tightly as if to keep him close for every second she could.
"I'll miss you too Iz, I'll call and text when I can."
"You best do." She finally released him from her grip. "Look after him Magnus. Anything happens to him and you'll have me to answer to."
"I'll do my best," Magnus said with a slight chuckle.
Alec gave Izzy one more tiny wave before once again picking up his bags and following Magnus to the check-in desk.
Once their bags were safely rolling away from them down the conveyor Magnus pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Great, we have about an hour and a half before boarding. I know it's a lot of time but thank you for meeting me early. I hate feeling rushed when I travel."
"No problem - I'm the same. I would have suggested meeting around now anyway, I don't trust the security lines!"
"Speaking of, shall we?" Magnus gestured ahead of him, in the direction of said security line.
Falling into step with each other, they joined the back of the short queue and made pleasant small talk discussing the end of the semester for Alec, including amusing anecdotes about how he was pretty sure one of the first years had been blind drunk in their exam, given their essay about 18th century pirate trades had included multiple references to CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow.
"They'd not only capitalised every letter but also underlined it too, in case we could forget," Alec explained with a fond chuckle, stepping forward to put his hand luggage and belt into the tray for x-rays.
Magnus wiped at his eyes, breathless with laughter. "You almost make me wish I'd stayed in academia to be honest."
"It does have its bright moments I'll admit," Alec said, feeling grateful to witness the sheer joy in Magnus' expression and the knowledge that he had been the cause of it. Well, OK one of his students had been the cause but Alec was the one who told the story and got to witness the way Magnus' entire face lit up, how his smile threatened to split his cheeks in two and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened. So lost was he in admiring the other man, that he almost didn't notice the impatient security guard trying to wave him through the scanner.
He stepped through with no issues and once Magnus had joined him and they collected their carry ons, they made their way through to the departure gates.
"Shall we grab a coffee while we wait for the gate to be announced and you can fill me in on the plan?"
"That sounds good to me."
They wandered in the direction of the Starbucks sign, and after a brief argument about who would pay for the coffees, which Alec won by just shoving Magnus' hand out the way, they found a free table to sit at.
"So once we arrive in Miami, we won't have long until our connection to Nassau where we'll meet the rest of the team. I had them fly out a few days in advance to make sure that everything we would need would be ready for us. Tents, equipment, food, water, etc" Magnus listed off.
"You mentioned that this trip would be relatively self-contained. So will I know any of the others joining us?"
"Perhaps. I've arranged for two research assistants to join us, Maia and Simon. Both are recent graduates. In fact, Simon studied at the same university that I managed to snag you from," Magnus said with a wink.
"Simon Lewis?" Alec said, internally groaning. "If so, that kid has never learnt to shut up. He was enthusiastic enough and worked hard, but he was always the one whispering through lectures, constantly."
"That sounds like our Simon. But you clearly had a good influence on him because he was incredibly keen to sign up, even when I warned him much of what he would be doing would be more manual labour and 'camp management' than actual historical research."
"What about Maia then?"
"Maia Roberts. She's an interesting one. I met her towards the end of her degree, she interned at the museum I was working at. Her story is her own to tell but she had a tough time through her studies, let's just say her boyfriend was a piece of work. She seemed like she needed to get away for a while and reset. She's tenacious and intelligent and will be an asset to the team, I have no doubt." Magnus paused before adding, "And I figured she might be useful when it comes to keeping Simon in check," grinning at Alec.
"Hmm, I'll believe it when I see it," Alec returned his smile, trying to ignore the warm feelings washing over him. They were about to spend six weeks on a remote island in the Caribbean, he really had to keep his feelings in check!
They relaxed into a comfortable silence, both happy to observe the early morning travellers moving around the terminal. Occasionally Alec would allow himself to gaze at Magnus out of the corner of his eye. Occasionally Magnus would catch him looking and they'd exchange a soft smile. Each time, Alec's heart would stutter and his cheeks would warm. But it still felt relaxed, normal even, to share a space without the need to fill every silence with conversation. This was promising given they were about to spend so much time together. As long as Alec didn't completely lose his mind to lust along the way.
They'd both finished their coffees by the time a crackly voice over the Tannoy announced the gate for their flight would shortly be opening.
"Shall we?" Magnus gestured in the general direction of the gates.
Alec stood and hoisted his rucksack back onto his shoulder, "After you."
They joined the queue of passengers already at the gate, both ready with passports in hand and boarding cards tucked neatly inside to bookmark the photo page. Alec, ever practical, found it incredibly endearing that Magnus was the same level of organised and efficient when it came to air travel. It might be weird to most, but there was something wholly attractive about being in the company of someone so competent. Or maybe he'd just travelled with Jace one too many times...
They shuffled forward in the queue until it was their turn at the desk.
"Ah sir, you appear to have an emergency exit seat, you understand that you may be required to assist in the case of an emergency?" the woman checking his passport asked.
"Yes, we're both aware of the responsibilities. I just wanted to give my colleague here a more comfortable experience given he's as tall as a tree," Magnus joked, handing over his boarding pass and passport.
The flight attendant laughed politely with them both and gestured them onto the plane. Alec found himself marvelling at just how thoughtful Magnus could be. The flight would only be about 3 hours long in total but he was still grateful to have space to stretch out. Now he only had to pray for no screaming children nearby!
They found their assigned seats, Alec pulling out his headphones and the murder mystery Izzy had bought him for Christmas and chucking them onto his seat.
"Would you like me to put that up here?" Magnus asked, gesturing to Alec's rucksack.
"Thanks," Alec said.
Magnus' shirt lifted slightly as he stretched to reach into the overhead locker revealing a tantalising strip of golden skin. Alec would vehemently deny that he used the opportunity to check out Magnus' abs. Absolutely not. Definitely wouldn't be so unprofessional. Nuh-uh.
Alec got himself settled as the usual plane-boarding scuffle continued around him, firing a quick text into the sibling's group chat to let them know he had boarded and would message them again when he landed. Almost instantly he got replies from both of them.
Izzy: Enjoy your romantic getaway, Alec! Send us lots of pics (and not just of Magnus)
Jace: Remember to drink lots of water! Drooling constantly on a desert island will leave you dehydrated!
Alec: You two are the worst.
He flicked his phone into flight mode before either could reply and cause him further embarrassment. In the inevitable traffic jam that had formed in the aisle next to their seats, a woman was very rudely making a phone call, talking entirely too loudly for such a confined space. The combination of her obnoxious voice and too strong perfume made Alec's face wrinkle in disgust.
"Are you ok Alexander?" Magnus murmured, leaning in with a look of concern on his face.
"Absolutely fine," Alec gritted out. Staring resolutely straight ahead and praying that the woman with the grating voice was seated far away from them.
"Are you a nervous flier?" Magnus asked gently. "You can hold my hand during take-off if you need to." He laid his arm, palm up, on the armrest between their seats.
Alec's heart fluttered in his chest at the display of genuine kindness. He looked down at the hand offered to him, the skin looking so soft in contrast to the gleaming silver rings decorating the fingers. He could pretend that he was indeed nervous, use this as an opportunity to know just what it felt like to hold Magnus' hand. But he also knew if he did that, he would be tempted all the more. And already, Magnus' presence was far too intoxicating.
"No. Just not a big fan of people," Alec managed to respond. Surprising himself by his ability to keep his tone even, despite his internal screaming. He clenched his fist against his thigh, determined not to give in to the temptation of Magnus. This was his colleague after all, he wasn't here for a 'romantic getaway', no matter what his siblings might joke about. Magnus had invited him along in a purely professional capacity and he would behave as such.
God, this was going to be a long trip.