Japhael || Shadowhunters || Japhael || Mountain Vacation || Japhael || Shadowhunters || Japhael
Title: Mountain Vacation – Writer's Month 2023
Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments
Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: m/m, getting together, fluff, vacation
Main Pairing: Raphael/Jace
Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan 'Jace' Herondale, Raphael Santiago
Summary: Prompts: vacation + in the mountains. After the war, Magnus invited them all to a well-deserved vacation in his cabin in the mountains. Among so many couples, Jace finds himself spending a lot of time with Raphael, the only other single, and they grow closer.
Mountain Vacation
Writer's Month 2023
The war was won and Magnus Bane decided that ought to be celebrated with a nice little vacation. A well-earned one, he said. And who was Jace to disagree with that? He had about a dozen traumas to deal with from the war, catching a break sounded genuinely so good.
Magnus owned many estates all over the world and in the end, after a lot of debating, they settled on his big but cozy ski retreat in the Swiss alps. Skiing, snow, hot chocolate, fireplaces. Beautiful idea.
Awful execution, actually. Or so Jace came to realize once they went to the mansion in the mountains – because that was what it was; it was so large and luxurious. As was to be expected from the hospitable Magnus, who loved hosting big parties. And this place? Couldn't just throw a party and go home then, no, one wanted to stay over to enjoy the skiing.
So rooms weren't a problem. A problem was the line-up of people coming along. Magnus and Alec, the freshly engaged. Simon and Clary, the childhood sweethearts. Izzy and Lydia, who had fallen for each other when Lydia had first come to the institute and had gotten together when Lydia got injured. Catarina and Luke, who had met through Magnus and got together during the first, premature celebration of their victory, before Jonathan. And where Catarina went, her adopted daughter Madzie came with too, of course. And lastly, there were Raphael Santiago and Jace. The only two singles in the group – not counting the child. Which meant that Jace was alone with four couples, a kid and a vampire he had never really interacted with before.
"Care for a game?"
Jace had wandered back into the living room, bored out of his mind. He'd already finished all the books he had brought along with him, and there was only so much mindless mundie TV a Shadowhunter could watch. But every evening, it was either activities paired up with everyone, or the couples retreating. Raphael seemed equally bored as him though, since he sat in front of the fireplace with a bottle of wine in front of him, setting up a chess board.
"What?" Jace smirked. "Were you going to play against yourself before I came in?"
Raphael gave him a look. "Depending on your skills, I may make a better match for myself."
Jace snorted but took the bait. "Fine. I don't have anything better to do anyway."
Jace went to get himself a wine glass before he went to join Raphael and sit down opposite him.
/break\
Turned out what it really needed was one push. Just once, them being alone, spending hours with each other and nobody else, to talk and really get to know each other. Two days later and they even voluntarily worked together during game night, allowing Alec and Magnus to team up – they had so far split up, Magnus pairing with Raphael, Alec pairing with Jace, both aware that Jace and Raphael had never quite interacted. After two long evenings of wine, chess and conversation, Jace found himself more open to playing alongside Raphael though, because he was coming to appreciate the vampire's mind and intellect.
And sure, he got to spend time with Alec, Izzy and Clary a lot too, but there was the addition of all their romantic partners also being present. A bit like an extended third wheel situation. With Raphael, it felt less bad. Someone else who understood. And there was so much to talk about. Raphael had quite some interesting stories about Magnus that would serve Jace well later on. They also talked about books with each other, once Jace mentioned being through with the books he'd brought. Unsurprisingly, Raphael was quite well-read himself.
"No," Jace huffed, elbowing Raphael lightly. "The book club is real."
"Mh," Raphael raised his eyebrows. "Both Isabelle and Simon gave me the impression this was some form of innuendo on your part."
"Look," Jace rolled his eyes. "It's a good laugh, for others. But I do love reading."
"Mh," Raphael actually smiled, albeit small. "As I've come to realize."
There was something strange in the air between them, something Jace couldn't quite name. All of his previous entanglements had started with heat and passion. Yet somehow, he didn't feel that from Raphael? Though there was something between them, Jace didn't get the usual vibes. It didn't feel like Raphael wanted to pin him to the nearest wall and ravish him. Which was confusing.
"I'll be honest with you here," Jace's voice was soft but firm. "This is the moment that feels like we would be kissing and then heading off to the bedroom usually. But I'm not really sure if I'm reading your vibes right, so… I would like to kiss you right now. If that's not what you want, let's forget about this and continue with a game of chess, okay?"
Raphael looked up genuinely surprised. They'd been meeting up in the evening for the past week now and he did feel like he'd gotten to know Jace better. Yet he couldn't help but be positively surprised by this. On the matter of sex, he'd thought Jace was more impulsive.
"I… do think you caught on right there," Raphael admitted reluctantly after a moment. "On both ends. I think I… wouldn't mind a kiss, however… I'm not interested in sex. Not just with you, in general. If that makes it less appealing to you, then-"
"Listen, I heard kiss and that you like me too, so I'll go ahead and kiss you now, okay?"
A genuine smile from Raphael, this time. "Okay."
Jace grasped his face and pulled him in for a kiss that was surprisingly soft.
/break\
The mountain vacation got much more enjoyable with a boyfriend of his own. Which was still a very new concept to Jace, but he enjoyed being curled together on the couch in front of the fireplace after a long day of skiing in the cold snow – skiing outfits were surprisingly practical for vampires, covering all of his skin and protecting him from what little sun there was these days.
"I… do enjoy this, a lot," Jace whispered against Raphael.
Raphael hummed his agreement, tracing a hand down Jace's spine. He had to agree. He enjoyed spending time with Jace much more than he ever expected to. And these little moments, of just the two of them, were so serene and in them, Raphael felt strangely understood.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: Love the idea of Raphael and Jace forced to bond due to Too Many Couples and these prompts worked well for that xD