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justawanderer · 2 months ago

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The Mage’s Keep

A Magical Sanctuary for those Burnt Out on Life

Alec slams the car door a little too aggressively. He takes a deep breath and pinches his nose bridge to center himself. He takes a sip of the surprisingly delicious gas station coffee and refuses to feel guilty. He ignores the voices in his head of his doctors, his siblings, and his parents and enjoys the warm cup in his hands.

The coffee is Not what gave him an ulcer that presented as a cardiac event at the tender age of 27. No, he’s been drinking coffee since high school without issue….okay, maybe middle school…no one’s counting.

Anyway, point is, it wasn’t the coffee, it was the fault of the twenty people in Alec’s unit of the law firm who fucked up the County’s jump start to school initiative that Alec had spent all of the previous summer fighting to take lead on. His team fucked the paperwork up so grandly that the contract had to be pushed back a whole fucking year and now an entire grade of elementary schoolers in the city will be without the free laptops they were promised. And thinking about it is raising Alec’s blood pressure and he has to take a few more breaths to calm down.

The problem had been half of his team being freshly graduated lawyers from Harvard who only got there through daddy’s money and therefore having not a winks worth of intelligence in any of them. And the other half of his team being a group of raging racist bigots who intentionally sunk the program. He rubs his temples and tries to remember that his partner Lydia and his manager Jia both assured him that the problem would be fixed when he got back from his doctor recommended time off. The discovery of the sabotage and the people behind it-on the day it was to be sent to back to the county for official signing had lead to Alec keeling over in pain and waking up in the ER. Every single person in his life then took it upon themselves to ensure he’d make the most of the mandatory 2 weeks relaxation the doctor prescribed.

Which is how he found himself in this godforsakenly small car with no phone and an address preplugged into his gps. Izzy had been insistent that the retreat she had found was exactly what Alec needed and her and Jace and even his mom had all chipped in to pack him up and get him shipped out. If it wasn’t for all of them insisting that they had prepaid and max giving him the biggest sad eye in history-Alec would have turned around and checked into a hotel by the shore like he originally planned-with good WiFi and his work computer-but Lydia had taken his gear, and jia banned him from the premises for the foreseeable future and his dad packed the car and they all sent him off.

He just wishes they would have asked him about it. He hates the out doors-except the beach-but a two week stay at ranch upstate is not the beach vacation he would have preferred. Besides, don’t those ranchers hate gay people? Okay-he recognizes that that in itself is prejudiced but still-why should be be shipped 5 hours upstate to shovel horseshit when he’s in recovery? His doctor had the fucking nerve to nod vehemently in agreement to the retreat Izzy had presented him with on Alec’s behalf. So Alec is pissed about work, pissed about this retreat, and pissed that everyone in his life, including his parents have teamed up to send him away. He’s also a little pissed that they had the nerve to find him a retreat for and run by queer people. By a doctor who had had too much city life and opened a health retreat upstate.

It would be brilliantly diabolical if it wasn’t happening to him.

So instead of being impressed, he’s rage drinking his stupidly good trucker coffee and driving to the middle of bumfuck nowhere and going to have to pretend to not be terrified of horses, and horse shit, and who he is assuming are tough as nails butch lesbians taking care of said horses.

He angrily rakes a hand through his hair and calls himself out for his misogyny and assumptions. Anger turns him into his father and even his father has turned around. His new wife Annamarie is definitely the reason. His dad even paid for this retreat. Alec just likes to find reasons to hate things that don’t go his way. Which is right out of the Robert Lightwood playbook and whole turning into his father thing is not helping his blood pressure or his nerves.

The drive is mostly quiet, Alec not quite able to listen to anything and only just managing to abate his own feelings. He looks at the picturesque farmland around him and sighs. It’s beautiful….if you’re into it. He allows himself that he’s here voluntarily, if anything goes south or he really just can’t, then he’ll hop back in the car and drop down to the shore. And try to call Underhill and guilt the guy into faxing him work.

He nods at his improvised plan as he reaches the Mage’s Keep Ranch and rolls his eyes at the arcane symbols carved into the ranch sign that is also decorated with numerous pride flags and rainbows. He is pleasantly surprised by the polished look of the ranch and the numerous buildings on the grounds. Signs point him to a main building off set from what appears to be a large stable. He can see people riding horses and being coached by ranchers on the ground.

The clean earth smell that greets him when he steps out of the car is a surprise and he grudgingly admits to himself that he likes the fresh air. A beautiful woman with deep dark skin and long white braids smiles at him and waives him up the main building’s stair.

“Welcome to the Keep. I am Cat, I run the lodge for our guests. I am assuming your Mr. Lightwood?” Her smile is warm and welcoming and Alec smiles back, following her into the lodge.

“Your room is on the second floor, just up those stairs and down the hall on the right. Go ahead and get settled, your family paid for a suite so all of your towels and such will be in the bathroom. We serve dinner from 5-7 and you’re welcome at anytime. You can even take your food to your room or on the grounds if you wish. Your itinerary isn’t set in stone, but your sister I believe? Isabel? Informed me of some of the activities you may want to try so I curated a list for you. I have you set for archery tomorrow morning at our spring side range and a cooking class before lunch here at the main hall, then a few hours to rest and then a sunset ride for you. After that, you can pick and choose your activities for the rest of your stay.”

Alec is speechless, he had been terrified of force labor and group talking therapy but this really just sounds like a vacation. Not wanting to jinx anything, he takes his bags to his rooms, showers and then promptly crashes onto his bed.

He wakes up once, around midnight, groggy and alarmed by his unfamiliar surroundings. It all comes back to him as he turns on the bedside lamp.

Curious, he sees through the open bedroom door that a tray has been left on his sitting room table. He ambles out, sees a charcuterie board filled with heart healthy snack foods and what was once cold juice, but now room temp. There is card on the tray:

Alexander,

Welcome to the Mage’s Keep. I am sorry to have missed you at dinner, fear not, many of our guests sleep through their first night with us. This keep has healing magic if you let it. You will get all of the rest that you need here. I have left you a sampling of hand foods following your sister’s guidance, if you require anything else feel free to look around the kitchens.

I look forward to meeting you tomorrow.

Sleep well,

The letter is written it beautiful script on a piece of stationary with an embossed Dr. Bane at the top. Alec rolls his eyes at the pretension but does nibble on the food. After eating his fill and guiding himself through a stretch, he falls back asleep and dreams of demons and battles and magic and cat eyes.

The following day is one of the most relaxing yet invigorating days Alex can remember having. He wakes with the sun, runs around the whole of the perimeter of the ranch, enjoys the best whole wheat pancakes he’s ever had courtesy of Cat and hits every bullseye at the archery range under the watchful eye of a curmudgeonly Dr Fell who ensures he doesn’t over do it. He is walked through a delicious cooking class by a witty and charming Tessa and then spends the afternoon reading a book he had bought years before and never gotten around too. The other guest weren’t even as annoying as he thought they’d be. It seems as if everyone was healing from burnout or extreme work stress. Some of them had even had serious health incidents like Alec. But his first day had truly relaxed him.

Well, at the least the first part had. He was doing his very best to not think of the sunset ride and was trying to think of all of the logical reason he had for not needing to be on horse back. He’s arguing quietly with himself as he ambles down to the stable, surprised that he’s alone apparently for this activity. He comes to the open doors and sees empty stalls. They put him at ease as he cautiously walks through. Maybe the other people riding were already out. Which is a relief because he would not want the snarky teen punk Gretel-who was sent here by her parents after having a meltdown over college admissions packets- to see him fall off a horse.

A soft snicker brings his attention to the roan head sticking out at the end of the row. The horse is eyeing him and even if he doesn’t have any desire to ride her, he can appreciate her gentle beauty. He inches as close as he dares and exhales. “Hi beautiful” the horse lets out a whinny and tosses her head back.

“She’s asking if you have any apples to spare.” Says possibly the most alluring melodic voice Alec has ever heard. He turns as see a man hunched over a phone. He’s in jeans and a white tank with a large cowboy hat covering his face. Alec has to swallow three times to get moisture back in his throat at the sight of the man’s arms.

The man in question tips his hat with long delicate fingers calloused from hard work. He pulls his hat off and Alec has to touch his chest for the violent hard beat his heart skips at the sight of the most beautiful man he’s ever encountered. He feels his face drop into a dopey smile as the man smirks at him and stands up, almost to Alec’s own height.

“Delilah is a fiend for apples, she now thinks you have one.” The man moves closer to palm the horses noses. He fishes a green apple out of a side bag and hands it to Alec. Enchanted by why can only be a demo god before him, Alex reaches out for the apple. The man smiles, turns Alec’s hand palm up and places the apple there. He continues to hold Alec’s palm still as Delilah leans down to snatch it softly out of Alec’s hand. Her soft lips tickling his palm. Alec has too many emotions and sensations warring inside of him to panic.

He smiles, first at Delilah, and then at the mystery man still holding his wrist. The man speaks.

“Your sister Isabelle, was very thorough not only in the parameters for your menu, but also about how inspite of her belief that this place was for you, that you are scared of horses.”

Alec can feel the blush rush all over his face and neck. Made worse by the apparent appraisal of the man before him. The cowboy twists Alec’s hand around to be able to cup it in both of his calloused hands. Alec’s blush deepens at the wildly inappropriate intrusive thought his brain sends him about what those hands would feel like elsewhere. He clears his throat.

“Ah, not so much scared,” he says trying in vain to save face. “But uh, just not interested in getting on one.”

The man smiles. “Well, I’m sure we can find a ride for you. This place has a way of helping us all bend in the ways we need to.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Magnus, Magnus Bane. The founder of the Keep.”

Alec would blush even further at the fact that they never let go of each other in the first place, to be able to facilitate at handshake. If it weren’t for the appreciative up and down look the Doctor was giving him. The man’s warm hands in his had him convinced he could actually feel magic all around him, and Alec wondered if two weeks here would be enough.

@just-add-butter 🤷🏼‍♀️ this is your fault, your welcome.

#malec #I do Not know what this is #blame just add butter #this is for you #I literally cannot write anything without backstory #🤦🏼‍♀️#if y’all didn’t know coffe is half of my personality #this is a hallmark set up #Alec never leaves the ranch #it takes him months to get on a horse but don’t fret he spends them riding his very own cowboy

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