Shadowhunters || Jimonael || Light of Their (After)Life || Jimonael || Shadowhunters
Title: Light of Their (After)Life – How Jace Accidentally Got Two Sugar Daddies
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: polyamory (m/m/m), alpha/beta/omega dynamics, wingfic, hurt/comfort, courting, fluff, BDSM, kneeling, spanking, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, knotting, sex toys, f/f, m/f
Main Pairing: Raphael/Simon/Jace
Side Pairings: Magnus/Alec, Lydia/Izzy, Luke/Catarina
Shadowhunters Characters: Jace Herondale, Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, Lily Chen, Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Max Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood, Lydia Branwell, Clary Fray, Luke Garroway, Madzie Loss, Catarina Loss, Imogen Herondale, Rebecca Lewis, Elaine Lewis
Original Characters: Hal Armstrong, Tim Jeong, Grace Oriol, Salvador Salazar, Phoebe Nightingale
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, the New York Institute wants to strengthen its bonds to the local Downworlders by assigning permanent liaisons to each fraction. Jace becomes the liaison to the vampire clan and thus starts spending much more time with the mated Alpha clan-leader pair, Raphael and Simon. At the same time, he's come to the decision to start embracing his omega nature and get off the suppressants he'd been on his entire life.
Light of Their (After)Life
How Jace Accidentally Got Two Sugar Daddies
Chapter 7: The Wings
It had been a week since the mission together. The first time Jace came over for his weekly check in since they'd gotten home. Not seeing Jace for days had been weird, after getting the excellent experience of waking up and having Jace just be there.
Simon had liked that, a lot. It was his favorite thing about being with Raphael too. Waking up in his lover's arms, receiving a gentle kiss in the morning, sharing coffee and breakfast quietly as the day – well, night – started. Those were the things Simon cherished the most about being in a relationship and though Jace hadn't woken up in their arms, he'd been just one room over and they had shared their morning routine with each other. Jace, just woken up, with his golden hair all messy and sticking up, was way too adorable and Simon thought that him and Raphael deserved to be treated to that visual every morning, quite frankly.
"Bosses," Hal sounded troubled as he knocked on Raphael's office door.
Hal was a tank of a man physically and a total puppy-dog of a boy when it came to his personality. Big, happy softy but Simon was fairly sure he could take down a house in one punch. But the huge, bald man with his bulging muscles did intimidate on first contact.
"What's wrong, big guy?" Simon asked.
"Your, uh…" Hal paused, scratching his head. "Jace is here. But Lily's losing her mind because he's dripping all over the floor. Should I get a towel and bring him to you, or…?"
Furrowing his brows, Simon shook his head and turned toward Raphael. "No. No, I'll… get a towel for Jace. Raph? I'll meet you downstairs, you go and greet him?"
Nodding in confirmation, Raphael put aside the file he'd been reading and went to follow Hal downstairs. And Hal had not been exaggerating. Jace was indeed dripping wet, hair matted and clinging to his face, his shirt just a thin sheet sticking to his chest, a puddle at his feet. In front of him, Lily, berating him rather irritated at all the mud and water he'd dragged into the hotel.
"Lily, that's enough," Raphael intervened. "I'll take it from here."
Lily glared at him. "I know you have a soft spot for him, but he's like an untrained dog who comes barreling in after playing in the rain. Train him if you want to keep him, Raphael."
She'd spoken so low, only Raphael could hear her, with his vampire hearing and standing so close to her. Clearing his throat, he turned to look at Jace. It was… hard to argue with her. Especially after Lily's berating, Jace stood there with his head tilted and that soft little pout on his lips. Like a guilty puppy. Before Raphael had the chance to say anything, Simon finally joined them.
"Jace! Why are you wet?" Simon asked, distressed and concerned.
"Simon," Jace gasped, looking shocked. "You can't just ask an omega why he's wet."
All the blood in Simon's system from this evening's feeding went to his head, making him blush as hard as a vampire could blush, accompanied by embarrassed sputtering. Lily barked out a laugh at his clan-leader's expense before she left the three of them to it, while Hal shared Simon's awkward embarrassment. For another moment, Jace tortured Simon, before cracking a smile.
"It's called rain, Lewis," Jace rolled his eyes. "It is raining outside. I didn't just take a shower in my clothes and decide to head straight over. I do not control the weather."
Shaking his head, Simon tried to rid himself of the embarrassment, instead giving himself a task. He wrapped the huge towel he'd brought around Jace's shoulders and wrapped him up in it, ruffling Jace's hair a little dry. The tender, caring motion made Raphael smile a little.
"That will be all, Hal," Raphael turned toward the head of their security. "Thank you for calling us."
Hal nodded, turning toward Jace. "I'll see you around, Jace."
"Yeah," Jace grinned at him. "You still owe me drinks."
Hal laughed as he walked away and once it was just the three of them, and once Simon was satisfied with how much he'd gotten Jace dried up, did the vampires usher Jace upstairs to their loft.
"I figured it's rain, I'm not an idiot," Simon glared sideways at Jace. "I mean why did you come over in the rain! You should have asked Magnus for a portal."
"First of all, Mag isn't like a private portal service," Jace rolled his eyes. "Second of all, it's just water. What, you think that we don't go out on patrol either when it's storming? C'mon. It's weather, you gotta get through it and do your job."
A distressed noise of frustration escaped Simon, prompting Raphael to kiss his temple in an appeasing manner. The extend to which Simon cared about those he loved was his most wonderful feature, in Raphael's opinion. Jace shrugged, though the motion looked much more adorable than defiant considering he was still cocooned into the fluffy towel.
"Do you prefer a shower or a bath?" Raphael asked.
It took a moment of Jace blankly staring at him before the blonde reacted. "What."
"You are still wet, and cold. I will not have you sit through our meeting freezing and clammy," Raphael raised an eyebrow at him. "So, what do you prefer. Taking a hot shower or a bath?"
"Oh yeah, I love bubble baths, do you have rose petals and chocolate and cherry scented candles? I'll just be an hour," Jace spoke sarcastically before offering Raphael a deadpan. "I'm not going to take a bath at your place, I'm here for work. If you insist, I'll take a shower."
"Good," Raphael nodded pleased, resting a hand on Jace's back.
He guided the omega into their suite and toward the bathroom.
/break\
Jace hated that Raphael was right. After the hot shower, he felt much calmer and better. He hadn't even noticed just how cold he'd been. Though as he stood in the bathroom and dried off, he wondered what exactly he was supposed to wear. Getting back into the cold, wet clothes would definitely defeat the purpose. Looking around, he found a shelf where a bunch of comfy clothes were laying, most likely for the couple to get changed after a shower themselves.
He shouldn't take their clothes without asking. But then again, what else was he supposed to wear. Taking something off the shelf, he unfolded it. Black sweatpants. Then he took a dark-blue band-shirt of some band Jace had never heard of. Didn't take much to guess who that one belonged to. When he pulled the shirt over his head, he had to pause. The scent of Simon was so intense, he'd never been this close to it before, this surrounded by it. Once the shirt was on, he followed his nose. Now that he had Simon's scent, he wanted Raphael's scent too. He found it, in a dark-gray hooded jacket with a soft inside that smelt the most like Raphael, so he put it on over the shirt.
For just a moment, Jace closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. This felt – smelt – nearly like being hugged by them, which might be the saddest thought Jace had ever had. He was working so hard on himself, but here he was, in the bathroom of his crushes, approximating what a hug from them would feel like. Didn't feel like progress at all. Felt like he was still that snarky asshole who kept everyone aside from his siblings at an arm's length. This wasn't who he wanted to be anymore.
/break\
Simon grinned, dopey and teasing at the same time, as he watched Raphael. He didn't have to say it aloud, Raphael was acutely aware of what he was being teased for right now. Which was why Raph kept ignoring him, but Simon didn't mind. It was incredibly cute. As soon as Jace had entered the bathroom, Raphael had gone to the kitchen and started preparing everything to cook something.
He'd suggested this before, that he would like to have Jace over for dinner. Cook for their chosen omega. Because aside from buying expensive things for those he cherished, cooking was Raphael's other primary love language. And particularly after the meal they'd share last weekend, when Jace had commented on them spending money on apologizing didn't have the right gravitas, after ordering expensive meals, Raphael had grown all the more determined to put love into food, to not woo Jace with bought meals but with home cooked meals that showed he cared.
It was super cute and sappy and made Simon grin. Raphael looked up from the sauce he was working on to throw a warning glare at Simon. He did not appreciate being teased so excessively.
"Why don't you set the table, amor? It… keeps you busy."
Laughing softly, Simon leaned in to kiss Raphael's cheek before he went ahead and set the table for three. Raphael with that badass vampire leader vibe, he was just a big softy on the inside too. The bathroom door opened, drawing both their attention. The first thing to cross Simon's mind was: Oh shit totally forgot to give him clothes! Is he gonna wear the wet clothes because he can be a stubborn idiot sometimes or will he be naked – oh I do not think I can actually handle that – maybe he took one of our robes. He couldn't tell if reality was better or worse.
"So, I grabbed some of your clothes," Jace explained, shuffling just a little.
Nearly nervous. Awkward. Huh. Simon was the one who was awkward usually. Not Jace. Never perfectly composed Jace. But here he was, ruffling his still slightly wet hair, looking down at the floor unsure. Jace was wearing their clothes. Jace was wearing their clothes. Simon's sweatpants and Raphael's hoodie and from beneath the hoodie did one of Simon's shirts poke out.
"Good," Raphael nodded, clearing his throat. "We should have told you to do so before you went in anyway. Yours are wet. Simon, would you mind bringing Jace's clothes down to laundry?"
"Right. Yeah. I'll just… go and do that. Yeah."
Jace was wearing their clothes. Simon's brain wasn't coping well with that. It looked too cute. He rushed off to take the clothes from the bathroom and downstairs to the laundry room, hurrying to get back upstairs. Jace was no longer awkwardly standing around, instead he was scowling at Raphael, with his arms crossed. Which looked way less intimidating and much cuter when he was wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants, as opposed to his leather-jacket and hunter gear.
"I feel like the part where I'm here for business is entirely lost on you two today."
Raphael shrugged, not even looking at Jace as he continued cooking. "Knowing you, you haven't eaten dinner yet, I suspect. I was feeling like cooking anyway. I don't get someone to cook for all that often, unless we have guests. We can as well debrief while eating, can't we?"
Heaving a sigh, Jace sat down on the armrest of the couch. The next moment, he dropped the glamour on his wings. Mighty, white wings with gold dust on the cover spread out behind him, shaking a few times, like he was trying to right something. This time, Raphael did look up, and he seemed unable to look away. He'd told Simon, how mesmerized he was by the wings. Simon had to admit that they were incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring. After all, they were a sign of Jace's angelic heritage. He was a literal angel. Half-angel, but that was semantics.
"Is… this going to take a while longer until it's ready?"
"It needs to cook for at least another half hour to develop flavor," Raphael replied.
Jace shook his wings again, causing a few feathers to fall onto the floor. The Shadowhunter tilted his head to look down at one of those feathers. His arms were still crossed in front of his chest, he stood nearly hunched over. He was definitely being weird. Simon furrowed his brows and turned to look at Raphael, asking without words if Raphael knew what was going on.
"Si," Jace spoke, but he still wasn't looking up. "You're best friends with Clary. She ever… teach you how to… groom a Shadowhunter's wings…?"
"Yeah. I mean. Luke taught me how to groom her wings properly, when she and I were dating," Simon paused, his eyes widening. "Wa—ait. Are you asking me to groom your wings?"
Jace actually bit his lower lip for a moment, before nodding courtly. "I just showered. We do tend to wash our wings too, but they get… it's uncomfortable if they dry ungroomed. I could just… leave it for now, until I get back to the institute and ask Alec-"
"What. No. That's stupid. If you're staying for dinner, you'll be here for at least another hour," Simon stared at him bewildered. "Stop being emotionally constipated. I can totally do it. I swear."
Even though the request had come from Jace, the Shadowhunter looked still as tense. At least he was finally looking up, his eyes wandering over toward Raphael, looking at him for a long moment.
"You said it just needs to develop flavor now, so you don't need to stand next to it, right?" Jace licked his lip, tracing where he'd bitten earlier. "Two people would be faster than one, since I do have two wings. If… you… don't mind. Just copy what Simon does."
Raphael stared at him in surprise. He had to admit, he knew nothing of a Shadowhunter's wings. As brief as what he had with Isabelle had been, he'd never gotten to the point of touching her wings, and aside from her, he'd never been with a Shadowhunter before. He also wasn't close to any Shadowhunters aside from her. When seeing Jace's beautiful wings, he had instantly wanted to touch, but not dared to. That it was now offered to him made his undead heart race.
"Of course," Raphael was quick to put the spoon in his hand down.
With a sigh did Jace get up and walk over to simply sit down cross-legged on top of the living room table, facing away from the couch. He spread his wings far, their wing-span truly impressive from up-close like that. Raphael searched Simon's face, fully following his mate's lead on this.
"Okay, so, what Luke told me is that it's most important to right the feathers," Simon explained, both for Raphael's benefit and to show Jace he knew what he was doing. "They get outta sorts when flying and cleaning, right? And that itches, or so Luke said."
"It does," Jace grunted his confirmation, but he still sat as tensely. "It's… uncomfortable."
"And occasionally, feathers get loose, but not… fully fall out?" Simon frowned a little. "So those need to be, uh… pulled, Luke said. So, just… be thorough and careful."
His fingers were systematically carding through Jace's feathers. For a little while, Raphael simply watched, studying the way Simon was touching the feathers, was righting them. Only when he felt surer what to do did he sit down in front of the other wing and started copying his mate.
"They're…" Raphael trailed off for a moment, his voice gentle and filled with awe. "They're so soft, and so… warm… I didn't expect that. And they're beautiful. You have beautiful wings."
Despite the words, Jace didn't seem to relax. His posture was tense and stiff, his fingers still clawed into his jeans. Raphael didn't quite understand, considering this had been Jace's request. He turned to look at Simon, wondering if his mate had more insight here, after all, he had groomed a Shadowhunter's wings before. Was this behavior normal? Was this uncomfortable for Jace?
"You know you could relax a little, I know what I'm doing, Clary was always very pleased with my services," Simon joked lightly. "And Raph is a very quick study."
Jace cleared his throat, but he didn't answer verbally or relaxed either. Raphael didn't know what to make of it, but he was going to make the best of it. He was enjoying the privilege of getting to touch those stunning, soft wings. He also enjoyed this moment, just between himself, his mate and their chosen omega. It felt very domestic and comfortable. The fact that Jace was currently wearing both their clothes only added to that. Like he belonged right here, with them.
/break\
Alec froze when he spotted a feather on the floor. A distinct feather, white with a golden-dusted rim. He'd recognize these feathers anywhere. While Magnus was engaged in greetings and small talk with Raphael and Isabelle, Alec bent down to pick up the feather.
"Why is one of Jace's feathers in your suite?"
The idle small talk ceased and the other five turned toward him. Lydia raised a curious eyebrow and exchanged a look with Isabelle, while Simon looked confusingly flustered. Magnus tilted his head and stepped up to his mate. They were meeting for a little triple date, Raphael and Simon were hosting and Raphael had cooked something that smelt delicious, but the question of the feather intrigued Magnus far more than the warm meal. Especially when he saw the look on Raphael's face.
"When he was over on Friday, he had gotten into the rain, and after a quick shower, he asked us to groom his wings," Raphael recounted, his voice sounding too neutral and casual. "I thought he'd gathered all the loose feathers, but apparently he missed one."
"Jace let you groom his wings," Isabelle sounded shocked, her eyes wide. "Jace?"
"I… uh… yeah?" Simon looked unsure. "I've done it for Clary plenty times before?"
"But Clary isn't Jace," Isabelle put so much emphasis on Jace's name.
"What does that even mean," Simon stared at her bewildered. "I mean, yeah, he was being kinda weird about it, but then it's Jace. The guy would probably throw a fuss about a hug, right? Too emotionally constipated for physical closeness and all that?"
"That is not-" Alec's voice was a barely suppressed growl.
Magnus reached out to grasp his mate's hand in a soothing manner. Isabelle furrowed her brows.
"Jace doesn't let anyone aside from Alec and rarely me groom his wings," Isabelle stated, voice soft. "Even I only ever groom him with Alec. He doesn't let anyone else touch his wings."
Raphael paused, staring at her in surprise. "What…? I… know very little about Shadowhunter wings, but I thought wing-grooming was a thing shared between family and flock."
"It is," Lydia confirmed. "But ever since I joined that flock, I've only ever groomed Isabelle, Alec and Clary. Never Jace. He… excludes himself from this. I take no offense."
Alec crossed his arms over his chest, his eyebrows drawn deep as he regarded the two vampires. Both Simon and Raphael looked confused, like they couldn't grasp the implications. They couldn't. But was it Alec's place to explain…? He knew of Jace's infatuation with Simon, quite frankly he'd thought that was mostly physical attraction though. This? This meant Jace had not shared the depth of his feelings for Simon with Alec yet. And Raphael too? These two had no idea just how precious and special this was, what a gift it had been. And while part of Alec thought it wasn't his place, a far larger part needed them to understand, to fully appreciate it. Partially also because he wanted his parabatai to be happy, he wanted to help Jace. If his feelings for Simon – and Raphael – ran that much deeper than physical attraction, then Alec wanted to do whatever he could to help.
"I don't know how much you know about the way Valentine raised him," Alec paused.
"Well, when he became our liaison, he told us a bit, about how Valentine tried to train the omega out of him and was the one to put him on suppressants?" Simon frowned. "But what…?"
"Valentine used to break his wings," Alec spoke softly but with barely restrained anger. "As a punishment. Valentine used to break Jace's wings, to 'ground' him, whenever he disobeyed. Now, looking back at it, he most likely did it to discourage Jace from taking to the sky and flying too far, running into other Shadowhunters who would discover the lies."
Alec paused for a moment, regarding them intensely. The atmosphere had dropped, Magnus' grip on Alec's hand tightened, angry and sorrowful himself, Isabelle leaned against Lydia a bit.
"Our wings, our ability to fly, it means a lot to a Shadowhunter," Alec continued. "It's not just about the pain of having them broken, it's about the mental aspect too. For Jace, for the first ten years of his life, someone touching his wings meant pain, meant a cut into his freedom, meant having his ability to fly taken away from him. It took me months, nearly a year, to coax Jace into trusting me enough to allow me to groom his wings, longer until Isabelle was allowed to join."
Raphael's jaw set tightly as burning hot anger overtook him. That was what the tenseness had been about, the weird behavior from Jace during the grooming, the nervousness. Because even after all these years, that fear was still there. Because he never let anyone aside from Alec and Isabelle touch his wings at all. But he had… chosen to allow Simon and Raphael to touch them, not just touch, but groom, spent half an hour touching them. It… had meant so much more than they had thought.
Author's note: Hiii. It's me again! My hand slipped and I accidentally wrote another whole chapter ahead of the schedule! :3 I really was eager to write the meaningful wing-moment of Jace letting them touch the wings but them being unaware of just how much this means to Jace. Which IS going to lead into the boys actually talking about their feelings next chapter! :O