#( pure of heart » people / isabelle lightwood╰ izzy tag. )

[knightofthecourt]

Shards - Part 5

Final one!

A Handful of Malec snippets, based on various prompts. Alec Lightwood x Magnus Bane - Fluff and romance with a spot of angst.

41. Winter

“Don’t be mad.” 

Magnus glanced up from the book he was reading, to the face of the Shadowhunter in the doorway. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively. “Why would I be mad?” he asked. When Alec didn’t answer he sighed and placed his book down on the coffee table. “Alexander?” 

“I said don’t be mad.” The Shadowhunter narrowed his eyes and then glanced down. 

Magnus followed his gaze and noticed an odd-shaped lump in Alec’s jacket. 

“What is that?” Magnus asked, alarmed. He stood up and took a step towards Alec. “Did you get injured on patrol? Are you hurt? If you got hurt again and Jace didn’t call me I’m going to-”

“Stop.” Alec interrupted. He raised an arm towards Magnus, warning him to stay back, and then reached his other hand inside his jacket.

Magnus’ watched his boyfriend uneasily. If Alec clearly wasn’t injured, but he was still acting strange. If he’d brought home another newfangled weapon he wasn’t going to be happy. He’d almost burned down the living room trying to work out how to use a flamethrower last week and Magnus had finally put his foot down. The apartment was a weapon-free zone. Well, except Alec’s bow of course, but that was hardly a fire risk. 

But when the Shadowhunter’s hand emerged Magnus had to stifle a laugh. 

“I found her in the alley next to the subway station.” He said, gazing down at the small ball of white fluff in his hand. “Her name is Winter - she doesn’t have a tag or anything, I just thought it suited her. She just looked so sad, I couldn’t leave her there and we already have cat food and other cat stuff for Chairman Meow and… well, can we keep her?”

The expression on his face was enough to make Magnus melt. The warlock reached out a hand, slowly, as not to frighten the animal, and the kitten nuzzled her damp nose into his palm. 

“Well, seeing as you’ve already named her.” He smiled as Alec’s face lit up and then bent down to get a better look at their new friend. 

“Hi, Winter,” he murmured, “welcome home.”  

42. Film

“So -- what’s it like, being a vampire?” 

“Aline!” Isabelle looked appalled. “You can’t just go around asking people what it’s like to be a vampire!”

Alec snorted, drawing the girls’ attention to him. 

“What?” Isabelle asked, glaring at him. 

Alec shrugged. “Nothing, Gretchen Weiners.”

“Did you just call her a weiner?” Aline swiveled to face Alec. 

“Urm, no.” Alec spluttered. Weren’t they just fighting? Why was everyone staring at him now? “I just… it’s from a film,” he finished lamely.

“Yeah right” Isabelle scoffed, “Since when do you watch films?” 

“Yeah,” Aline agreed, “which film is it from?” 

“It’s… uh. A film about a mundane high school.” Alec could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. 

“Oh! Mean Girls.” Simon, who had been standing quietly in the corner, forgotten during their exchange, piped up. “It’s a chick flick with Lindsay Lohan in. Hey-,” he smiled at Alec, “that’s quite funny.”

Alec ignored the vampire’s praise and focussed on Izzy. As soon as Simon had said the words ‘chick flick’ a large smile had spread across her face. 

“Ohhh,” she said, grinning “Is this Magnus’s influence?” 

“Magnus?” Aline’s brow crinkled. 

“Alec’s sort-of boyfriend.” Simon supplied, helpfully. 

“Boyfriend?” Now Aline was grinning.  

“Urgggh!” Alec moaned, hiding his glowing face behind his hands. Next time Magnus requested a movie night, he thought, Alec was going to choose the film himself.

43. Green

Green will mend our broken hearts. 

Magnus winced as he caught a glimpse of his emerald green dress shirt in the reflection of a restaurant window as he made his way across the street. After another long, restless night he hadn’t put much thought into how he’d dressed that morning, simply pulling on the first thing his tired hands had dug out from the wardrobe. The irony, that on this day in particular, his random selection had turned out to be green hadn’t hit him until this moment, when the flash of colour bought that line from the old Shadowhunter nursery rhyme to the front of his mind. 

The corner of his lips quirked up ruefully, somewhere between a grimace and a smile, and he wondered briefly, as he weaved purposefully between the New Yorkers cluttering the sidewalk, whether his subconscious had pushed him towards this shirt. Maybe decades of living with a Shadowhunter, of upholding their customs and traditions had actually rubbed off on him. Maybe his unconscious yearning to heal, to mend, made him willing to believe in something as childish as the power of colours. 

The smile slipped from his lips as he walked through a set of tall iron gates, leaving the bustle of the city behind. He paused for a moment, adjusting to the heavy silence that enveloped the area like a fog, and then headed up the well worn path along the side of the cemetery towards the marble angel statue that he knew overlooked the rest of the grounds. The same statue he’d visited every day for the past five years. 

No. After all this time, if there was one thing Magnus had learnt, it was that nothing could fix a broken heart. There was no healing, no mending, no moving on. You simply had to bear the pain, and try to survive.

44. Punk

“What are you wearing?” 

Alec paused, mug of coffee halfway to his mouth, as he stared at his boyfriend. 

“Fabulous, isn’t it?” The warlock gave a wiggle and then twirled so that Alec could see the outfit from every angle. 

“No. I mean, you look good,” said Alec, abandoning his coffee on the counter. “Well, great actually. But you’re not going out like that?” 

“Of course not.” Magnus waved his hand dismissively at the Shadowhunter. “I’d freeze in this weather.” 

Alec nodded mutely, taking in Magnus’s clothes. Or rather, lack of clothes. The warlock was wearing a pair of black ultra-skinny jeans that appeared to be made entirely of scraps of material held together by safety pins and, Alec suspected, willpower. His oversized charcoal t-shirt had a large rip in the side that revealed more than a little of his toned caramel skin and his eyes were ringed artfully with a black glittery eyeshadow that matched the sparkles in his inky spiked hair. 

To Alec, he looked like pure, unadulterated sex. 

“I wore this in the ‘80s you know,” Magnus circled the kitchen slowly, so Alec could take in the full effect of his clothing. “I was quite the punk in those days, got myself into all sorts of mischief.” He dropped one eyelid in a single glittering wink and smirked when Alec almost choked. “I just wanted to see if it still fit.”  

“Uh-huh.” Alec was starting to feel like he was missing something, like he was an unwitting participant in some sort of game. “I thought that was kind of the thing with being immortal though, and, well you. You don’t exactly grow out of your clothes do you?” 

Magnus paused. He leaned forward over the counter and tilted his head as if deep in thought. Then he drummed a finger against his lips. Alec’s gaze dropped to the older man’s mouth and he swallowed unconsciously. Was it him or was the kitchen getting a little warm? 

“Well,” Magnus said, finally. “I guess you’re right, but you can never be too careful. I have a few more outfits I wanted to try on, maybe you can come and give me your opinion?” He raised an eyebrow at the Shadowhunter. 

“Oh?” Alec’s brow furrowed. Magnus wanted him to look at his outfits? But he knew Alec was useless with fashion - oh. He smiled as the realisation clicked in his head. “Oh,” he smiled shyly at the warlock who was now grinning openly at him, and took his outstretched hand. “Yeah, ok, sure.”

45. Paranoia

He was running, sprinting full out into the darkness, legs pumping, thundering down the street as if his only hope of escape was to keep running. And it was, his only hope. The creatures that had been following him for the past three days were almost upon him. He couldn’t see them, in fact he hadn’t managed to get a good look at them this whole time, but he could hear them. That shrill, screeching screaming sound that started as a low buzz and then exploded into ratcheting peals as they grew closer. This is what it would sound like if demons could laugh, he thought. 

Alec swerved left, cutting into the narrow path between two tall, dilapidated buildings and swore violently. It was a dead end. 

He must have gotten turned around. Years of patrolling the streets of Brooklyn with Jace and Izzy meant he knew the city inside and out, he’d never been cornered before, not unless it was part of the plan - using the tight space as a tactical advantage or luring whatever hell beast they were tracking into a trap. This time he was the one who had been caught. 

He ran his hands frantically across the rough, uneven surface of the brick wall in front of him, hoping to find a jutting stone, an exposed pipe, anything he could use as leverage. But there was nothing. 

With a start, he realised that the screaming had stopped, replaced by the heavy thumping sound of blood pumping in his ears. His body was exhausted, three days of hiding and running had driven him to the edge of his physical limits, now he’d finally stopped, he didn’t even have enough energy to defend himself. His legs shook and his muscles ached. The only thing that seemed to be working was his heart, he could feel it pulsing, pounding wildly in his chest as it pushed blood, thick and sluggish around his body.

When he heard it he almost wondered if he’d be able to move. But his body acted on autopilot, years of training kicking his muscles into one last burst that spun him out to the side, away from the dark, hulking shape that lurched towards him. He hit the side of one of the buildings and then sank to the ground, legs finally giving out. Through wavering vision he finally caught a glimpse of his attackers. The three looming beasts were unlike any demons he’d seen before. They had legs and arms, like a human, but their limbs were impossibly long, as if they had been stretched too far. Red glowing eyes were set deep into the thick, cracked black skin that coated their bodies and as one of them opened their mouth to emit a piercing shriek, Alec saw rows upon rows of sharp grey teeth. 

The tallest demon, the one that had shrieked, towered over him and raised one long, thin arm. As strands of blistering purple venom erupted from the creature, Alec closed his eyes and allowed his body to close down. Huh, he thought, as the world darkened around him and heat spread through his body, I always thought this would be cold. 

Izzy knelt beside her brother’s collapsed body and checked his pulse. 

“It’s there but it’s weak,” she said. “We need to get him back before he wakes up.” 

Magnus nodded in agreement and shot a few more flickers of magic into Alec before lowering his arm. “I don’t know if I can keep him under for much longer, although he seems pretty exhausted.” 

“Yeah, you’d almost think he’d been on the run for three days.” Jace commented dryly. 

Izzy cocked her head towards him. “It’s not funny Jace,” She chided, “that demon bite clearly did something to his brain.” 

“I didn’t say it was funny. If anything, it’s shocking - who knew Alec could outrun either of us for three days. He’s not exactly Captain America.” 

“Children.” Magnus glared at them. “Do you think we could do this when Alec is venom-free? Paranoia demon bites might not be fatal but they still pack a punch.” He watched as Izzy and Jace nodded, then bent to pick up Alec. 

“And,” he added as he conjured a portal and stepped through, “I really don’t fancy having to fight off a hallucinating shadowhunter again.”