"That is always how Tessa talks about Will," Magnus said rolling his eyes, though Alec noticed the warlock's underlying affection for her.
"I see," Alec said, not sure what else to say. In his mind, great-great-great grandson meant a crazy long time since this Will person had been alive, yet she spoke as if she'd seen him yesterday.
"If Jem had had children I'd keep track of them too," Tessa said as if defending someone who wasn't present to defend himself. "He had nephews, though the lines seems to have died out. You die so easily." She sounded sad like she wished all Nephilim could live long peaceful lives. Alec couldn't help, but be amazed by the obvious way she cared for his kind. Magnus was different; he cared for Alec, but very clearly not for all nephilim in general like Tessa seemed to.
"Who's Jem?" Alec asked.
"Will's best friend," Tessa replied wistfully.
"She dated them both," Magnus laughed and Tessa's lost in the clouds expression quickly shifted to an annoyed one.
"Oh, and you're one to talk!" Tessa huffed. "With a nephilim here."
"Alexander is my guest for the week," Magnus replied, casually as if this was of no consequence.
"Oh and how did you arrange that?" Tessa asked. "Isn't he the prince or something?"
"I saved his life, actually," Magnus told her, a little smug. "And yes, he is."
"Hmm," Tessa eyed her friend. "What are you up to?"
"Must you think I'm up to something," Magnus sighed, covering his face with his hand dramatically.
"Yes," Tessa replied curtly. "You, my friend, have spent the better part of a century complaining about shadowhunters and here I arrive to find you housing one."
"I don't complain that much," Magnus defended himself. Alec wasn't sure what to make of this interaction, though it fascinated him to no end. He hadn't thought about it this way. Why was Magnus with him when Magnus hated the rest of his kind? It either showed a great meaning behind Magnus's actions or a greater attraction to Alec than he'd realized.
"Oh please," Tessa scoffed, with a dismissive wave in Magnus's direction. She then turned her attention to Alec. "If you are in any way, shape or form here against your wishes tell me now and I will help you escape."
"Umm," Alec mumbled unsure how to reply. Technically he hadn't chosen to be here, but that didn't mean he didn't want to be here. Even if Magnus hated his kind, Alec wanted to be here next to Magnus.
"Alexander is free to leave whenever he wants," Magnus snapped at her.
"Good," Tessa replied as if that settled the matter.
"You hungry?" Alec asked her, trying to lighten the mood. "There's leftover bacon sandwiches." And just like that Tessa was laughing; the tension was gone.
"I like you, Alexander," Tessa said. "And I'd love a sandwich." Alec smiled at her and together the three of them went back to the kitchen.
It turned out Tessa was good company. She praised Alec's cooking though he'd done little but cook the meat. Tessa was very interested in learning about current Shadowhunter society.
"It seems not much has changed since I lived in the Palace," Tessa said after Alec gave her a summary.
"How did you get past the shield?" Alec asked, curious. "Magnus couldn't enter."
"They lowered it for me," Tessa explained. "Then once I was inside it went back up which, of course, meant I couldn't leave, but I didn't care because I had Will and Jem."
"You said Will is Jace's ancestor," Alec replied. "And you dated Will, so does that mean your Jace's ancestor as well?"
"Oh no," Tessa said. "No, warlocks aren't fertile. Will had a wife to give him children. Jem never married, though. I like to think that in his heart he was married to me." There was such affection in her voice when she spoke of them and Alec quickly learned Tessa could talk of Will or Jem for hours without much prompting. She'd clearly loved them both passionately and missed them deeply, despite the many years since their deaths.
"I don't regret it," Tessa continued her monologue. "I couldn't leave the Palace and I had to watch Will with his wife, but Jem never looked anywhere else, even when his peers wanted him to. They were the best years of my life."
"You're so young," Magnus whined at her.
"Oh, shut up," Tessa snapped at him.
"How old are you?" Alec inquired. "If you don't mind me asking."
"Just over a hundred," Tessa replied. "Though Magnus seems to think that means nothing." Alec didn't know what to say. He wasn't even twenty yet. In fact, Alec didn't think there was a single shadowhunter in the Palace at the moment over fifty years of age. His parents were in their forties, Alec was fairly sure. And Alec's grandparents had long since died.
"Not nothing," Magnus sighed. "Just not much." Alec kept his strange philosophical moment to himself as he tried to enjoy spending time with these two ancient beings.
Alec gazed at Magnus for a moment, ignoring the squabbling friend's words. He never wanted to forget Magnus's face, but he knew his life, his memory was fleeting. If Magnus remembered him, Alec could live forever in the warlock's mind, as Will and Jem lived forever in Tessa's memories. It was an oddly marvelous and mind blowing concept to him. The more Alec learned about Magnus the more extraordinary Magnus's interest in Alec become to him. Alec had never really understood his family's prejudice against warlock, but now Alec was truly confused by it. There was no reason for it. The memory of Max's death floated across his mind, but Alec had a feeling there was more to that story than what his mother believed.
Tessa remained with them for the better part of the afternoon, but graciously took her leave when Magnus began hinting for alone time.
"Ah, is that why he's here then," Tessa grinned wickedly at her friend. "To please you?"
"Says the woman who's spent the better part of her life just there to please," Magnus mocked.
"You know sometimes you are cruel," Tessa snapped before she left sharply, slamming the door behind her.
"That was kind of mean," Alec said, but he tried to soften his words further by placing a hand on Magnus's shoulder.
"I know," Magnus sighed. "It's just-" But he didn't continue. Alec had to prompt him before Magnus said, "Tessa makes this feel more real. I don't like her implying I just want sex from you."
"I care about you too," Alec whispered. "I am not here just for that, though I quite enjoy it." Magnus smiled and pulled Alec into his arms.
"Now that we are finally down a third wheel," Magnus began. "What would you like to do?"
"Oh, I can think of something," Alec said grinning as he connected their lips, deepening the kiss until Magnus moaned. Magnus gently pulled Alec across the room and down onto the couch, without breaking their kiss. Alec straddled Magnus as they continued kissing, slowly. The world stood still and Alex existed only within the bubble of this moment as his lips moved leisurely with Magnus's.
Hands moved freely and lips often shifted, but despite the new hickey on Alec's neck and the way Magnus's hands were holding Alec's lower back, they didn't move past deep kissing.
If not for his stomach Alec thought he could have actually stayed like that forever. Instead, they had dinner, accompanied by pleasant conversation and casual touches. After Magnus cleared the dishes away with a wave of his hands and a soft blue light, he scooped Alec up into his arms. Alec could feel a slight tingling sensation over his skin that he thought was caused by just Magnus's touch, but soon noticed the way the warlock was moving.
"Are you magically making me lighter so you can carry me to bed?" Alec asked, grinning. Magnus was indeed walking like he carried a parcel of feathers in his arms.
"Maybe," Magnus smirked. He leaned down, kissed Alec briefly then the two of them fell into bed together.
Alec worked quickly to get Magnus's clothes off and he could feel Magnus's hands following his lead. This wasn't like earlier on the couch. There was no lazy zen to their actions now. Every muscle in Alec's body was on edge, a desperation within him as Alec clung to Magnus. Placing his hands on either side of the warlock's face, Alec kissed him with all the overwhelming and confusing emotions Magnus invoked in him.
"Alexander," Magnus gasped into Alec's mouth. Alec had no idea what he was doing, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt what he wanted. He'd never been so in tune with his body before, not even when he trained with his bow and arrow.
"How is it that I can never get enough of you?" Alec whispered as they enjoyed each other's touch.
"Is that so?" Magnus purred. Alec pulled away, gently placing his fingers at Magnus's temple as he gazed into those beautiful eyes.
"It is," Alec said seriously. Magnus's moan communicated perfectly how he too was overcome as they slammed their bodies together again, giving in to their need for each other.
It was a perfect night. The slight teasing of fingertips over bare skin sent tingles up Alec's spine. The gentle caress of Magnus's touch did things to Alec he hadn't the words for, leaving them panting for air. Long slow kissing until they fell asleep in each other's arms.
Alec awoke to see Magnus sleeping beside him. Rather than disturb Magnus, Alec just lay there enjoying the warlock's presence beside him and thinking through every moment of the previous night. Remembering his hands tangled in Magnus's hair, his lips against the skin of Magnus's neck and so many other places. Gently moving a few strands of the warlock's soft black hair out of his face, Alec gazed more completely at the man he was falling in love with. Alec had no other way to describe the feelings within him, but surely it was too soon. After all, not even Jace and Clary had moved this fast and they'd been sickly adorable from the moment they'd met.
He never wanted this moment, or this week, to end. Why hadn't Magnus asked for months or years? Why did they have such a short time together? Alec knew the answer was his parents. They'd barely accepted a week and mostly because they'd had no choice. Still, Alec found himself more and more scared of the day he'd have to say goodbye and return to his dull life of duty and responsibility.
So Alec studied the curves of Magnus's face, the way his eyes were shaped differently, his skin a more pleasing olive colour than his own boring pale skin. He tried to burn into his memory the feel of Magnus's silky hair between his fingers, the way his lips felt against Alec's everything. There was not a single thing about this man Alec ever wanted to forget.
Alec had a feeling his killing a pig for breakfast had quite surprised Magnus so this time he decided to wait for the warlock to wake up. He was, after all, perfectly content to lay here and listen to the warlock's even breathing forever.
By the time Magnus woke up Alec had moved his eyes over every plane on the warlock's face so many times he was sure he had it memorized. Magnus kissed him good morning and summoned them breakfast.
They spent the day lazily, both in and out of bed, talking of the mundane aspects of their lives between kisses. Magnus summoned all their meals. It was so freeing to be able to just do nothing. Alec usually spent so much time worrying about the people around him, that he'd never had the opportunity or the mere thought of spending an entire day lounging about before. And honestly he'd been missing out. It was glorious.
But despite the happiness there was this constant fear beneath everything of when it all ended. When their time would be up.
For the most part, though, Alec ignored that. He learned as much as he could about Magnus's world and tried to explain his world to the warlock. He ate magically summoned food and kissed every inch of Magnus's skin before noon each day.
Alec even managed to convince Magnus to come hunting with him for wild pig. Magnus hadn't been to enthusiastic to start with, but when Alec explained that it was an exercise in getting to know each other he agreed.
Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days.
Time was passing whether Alec wanted it to or not — and it was doing so rapidly. Falling asleep in Magnus's arms every night was a joy he looked forward to as in the same way he loved waking with the warlock beside him, but every day that passed was one day less they had together.
With only two days left until Alec had to be dragged back to reality, there was a great thud as something hit Magnus's front door hard. Then again, bang. Magnus went to the door, clearly confused as to why he had a visitor.
When Magnus opened the door, Alec could see a woman with red puffy eyes standing on his doorstep, a bundle in her arms. Alec didn't recognize the woman, which meant she had to be a mundane. She placed the bundle into Magnus's arms before she turned on her heels and ran, sobbing so loudly Alec could hear her from where he stood, meters away from the whole scene. Magnus closed the door and turned to Alec, cradling the bundle in his arms.
"We have another guest," Magnus said.
"What do you mean?" Alec asked. Magnus beckoned Alec to come closer and then Alec heard it: the muffled sounds of distress. Magnus was cradling an infant in his arms, but not just any infant.
"Blue," Alec exclaimed. "That baby is bright blue!"
Sorry for my long absence. When the fanfic email notifications were broken I was kinda like 'why update if no one knows I am updating' so I do confess I wasn't working on this story. But I can happily say I have made up for that because chapter 8 and 9 are finished first drafts. One round of editing and then I will send them to my beta. I was actually working on chapter ten of this story when my beta sent this chapter back. ^_^ I completed my Klaine fanfic so I am done to just updating two again. If I can get this story done I will be updating one story. Such a concept. lol. Been so long since that was a thing.
Sneak Peek Chapter 8
With a wave of his hand Magnus captured the moment on paper. It appeared in his hand, but Alec was too distracted by Max to notice. Magnus quickly vanished the image to his desk so Alec wouldn't see.
Their perfect day ticked by. Magnus watched the sun set bitterly, as if the bright ball should have known better than to abandon them like this. Their time was up. Alec had to go home, but all Magnus wanted was to hold Alexander close and never let him go. Magnus wanted to lock his doors and say that Alec couldn't leave, that Alexander was his forever.