#although I think I like the tv show isabelle and alec better

[babybluestan]

I just finished watching City of Bones on Netflix and it’s just as bad as I remembered it and I love it

[rhosyn-du]

Never make a mess when a total catastrophe will do - Chapter One

Pairings: Jimon, past Clace, background Clizzy, a bunch of other minor background pairings Rating: Explicit Art: @cor321​ Beta: @all-thestories-aretrue​ Tags:  Alternate Universe - College/University, fake dating, oh my god they were roommates, friends with benefits, idiots to lovers, pining, miscommunication, holidays, drinking games, mistletoe, symbolically significant Oreos, domestic fluff, brief mention of past character death, Jace’s self-worth issues deserve their own tag Summary: What do you do when you find out your sister is not only dating your ex and love-of-your-high-school-life but is also bringing her home for Christmas? Bring your annoying, hot, annoyingly-hot roommate as your fake boyfriend to show them you're totally fine with it, obviously! There's no possible way this could backfire. Link: AO3, Tumblr Master Post

Chapter One

“Lightwood’s Mortuary, you stab ‘em, we slab ‘em. How may I direct your call?”

“You know,” Izzy said, “that joke would land a lot better if you hadn’t turned green last week when I mentioned getting to do my first cadaver dissection.”

“First of all,” Jace said, abandoning his laptop in favor of flopping back onto his bed, “it’s creepy that you say ‘getting to’ instead of ‘having to.’ And second of all, no one wants to hear about how much fun you had slicing up dead bodies over Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Max wanted to hear about it.”

“Max also can’t wait to get to middle school because he heard you get to use actual fire in science class,” Jace pointed out.

“Max is just into science like his big sister,” Izzy countered breezily. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”

“Please,” Jace said with far more enthusiasm than the situation probably warranted. “I’m desperate enough for any distraction that will take me away from trying to memorize third declensions that I would love to discuss whatever family holiday drama is so colossal I’m hearing it from you instead of Alec. Is Robert planning to show up uninvited to Christmas dinner with his girlfriend again? Oh! Did Mom finally snap and kill him? Is that why Alec isn’t calling? Is he helping her hide the body?”

“Oh my god,” Izzy laughed. “Dad and Annamarie are spending the holidays in Provance with her family, and there are no bodies to be hidden. This is what you get for taking Latin instead of Spanish like a sane person.”

“This coming from a woman who’s studying both,” Jace pointed out.

“Yeah, because a basic understanding of Latin and fluency in Spanish will both help me get into med school, and I need all the help I can get if I’m going to get into Grossman. Besides, I’d never imply anyone in this family is sane. If you studied more, you’d know that ‘Lightwood’ is just Latin for ‘totally fucking cracked.’”

“Please,” Jace snorted. “It’s not even a Latinate name. It’s Germanic. ‘Lightwood’ is Old English for ‘totally fucking cracked.’ Speaking of which, what’s the Christmas disaster?”

“It’s not a disaster exactly,” Izzy hedged, and Jace felt a sudden frisson of actual unease. Izzy normally had no problem speaking her mind. “It’s not a disaster at all, actually. It’s just. I invited someone.”

“Oh.” Jace relaxed. He didn’t know why Izzy was making such a big deal out of this. In the years since the divorce, Maryse had often encouraged her kids to invite any friends without a place to go to join them for holidays. Izzy’s own roommate had come for Thanksgiving last year. “That’s cool.”

“No,” Izzy said, like he was missing something obvious. “Jace, I invited someone. Someone I’m seeing. Seriously.”

“Oh,” Jace said again, this time with dawning comprehension. “That’s great, Iz. I’m happy for you. Wait, Mom’s not doing her overprotective, no-one-is-good-enough-for-my-children thing again, is she? Is that why you called, you need me to run interference?”

“No, no,” Izzy reassured him, although her voice still held an underlying tension. “Mom’s been great, actually. They knew each other already, so that probably helps.” Jace heard a shaky inhale before Izzy continued. “You, um. You know her, too, actually.”

“Oh yeah?” Jace said with forced ease, wracking his brain for any clue as to what could have Izzy so freaked out. Whatever it was, Jace wasn’t going to add to her stress. As far as he knew, Isabelle had never even been serious enough about someone before to even use the term girlfriend or boyfriend, let alone bring them home for Christmas. “Who’s the lucky lady?”

“It’s Clary,” Izzy said in a rush. “I’m dating Clary.”

The world seemed to tilt on its axis, and Jace was glad he was already lying down.

“Clary?” he repeated. “M—” He just barely stopped himself from saying “my Clary.” Because she wasn’t, not anymore. Not for a long time. “Morgenstern?” It was a clumsy recovery, but it was the best he could manage. “You’re dating Clary Morgenstern?”

Jace and Clary had met at the beginning of Jace’s junior year of high school. Clary, a year younger, had just lost her mom, and the two initially bonded over the shared experience of having lost parents. But Clary was fierce and bold and so full of passion even in the depths of her grief that Jace really couldn’t help falling in love with her. They’d dated for nearly two years—practically forever in high school terms—and even though they’d both known they were growing apart by the time Jace had to choose between his first-choice college in Boston and staying in New York to go to NYU, Clary would always hold a special place in Jace’s heart as his first love.

“Yeah,” Izzy said on a heavy exhale. “For a while now. That—that’s why I called. I didn’t want it to be weird, you know? For us all to just show up and for it to be a surprise. But I guess I probably shouldn’t have done it over the phone, either. I just didn’t think—”

“Izzy,” Jace said, much more calmly than he felt. “Breathe. It’s okay.”

“God, I should have told you sooner,” Izzy continued as though he hadn’t even spoken. “I just knew it probably would be weird for you, so I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure—”

“But you are now,” Jace interrupted again. It wasn't really a question. “Sure.”

“Yeah,” Izzy breathed. “I’m so sure.”

“Then it’s not weird,” Jace lied. “I mean, come on, my sister is dating someone who makes her happy and who I know will treat her right. What kind of idiot would I have to be to complain about that?”

“Really?” Izzy pressed. “Because I told Clary I wanted to talk to you before we finalized plans. So, if it is weird for you, or even if you just don’t want to be the only single person at the table on Christmas—”

“I won’t be,” Jace interrupted.

There was a pregnant pause, and then Izzy squealed so loud Jace had to pull the phone away from his ear.

“Oh my god, Jace! That’s amazing! Why didn’t you just say you were bringing someone, too, you jackass? Do you know how worried I’ve been about telling you about me and Clary?”

Which wasn’t what he’d meant at all—he’d only meant that Maryse was single, too—but Jace couldn’t resist the excitement in Izzy’s voice, not after her earlier panic.

“If I’d known you were all freaked out, I would have said something sooner,” Jace improvised. “It’s kind of new, and I haven’t even had the chance to tell Mom yet.”

“Let me,” Izzy insisted. “I’ve been trying to get her to admit that she and Luke are an item for ages, and maybe knowing that we’re all happily attached will be the push she needs.”

“Hold up. Mom…and Clary’s stepdad?” Jace was starting to wonder if this was some bizarre stress nightmare brought on by impending finals.

“Yup,” Izzy confirmed, popping the “p.” “They’re not even subtle about how much time they’re spending together, but Mom keeps talking about how they’re ‘just old friends.’” Jace could practically hear the eye roll.

“Anyway,” she continued, “if I leave now, I can catch Mom closing up the bookshop and maybe finally get her to crack. Don’t worry about Christmas plans. I’ll take care of everything. Talk to you later!”

“Iz, wait,” Jace started, but he was interrupted by the telltale beep of the call ending.

Jace stared at his phone, wondering how, exactly, he’d managed to make such a disaster of things. He couldn’t deal with this right now, he decided, tossing his phone aside. He just had to get through finals, and then he could come up with some excuse for why his nonexistent girlfriend couldn’t make it for Christmas. An excuse that wouldn’t make Izzy suspicious. Or Clary. Or Alec. Or— Fuck. Not thinking about it.

He turned his attention back to his laptop only to realize after several minutes of staring blankly that he wasn’t prepared to think about Latin anymore, either. Fuck it. He was going to spend the rest of the evening on the couch, drinking beer and watching stupid people doing stupid things on TV and thinking about absolutely nothing at all.

Because Jace just couldn’t catch a break, he found both the couch and TV already in use. He wanted to be annoyed, especially since he knew this was at least the dozenth time this semester his roommate had watched Return of the Jedi. Part of him was annoyed. But another part of him was…not annoyed. And that was yet another thing Jace wasn’t going to think about.

Jace’s first impression of Simon Lewis, when he’d walked into History and Literature of Music their freshman year, had been that he was kind of hot, in a nerdy way. His second impression, when he actually talked to Simon a few days later, was that the guy was annoying as hell. Over the course of the year, as they somehow ended up hanging out with the same group of friends, it became a tolerable sort of annoying. So tolerable, in fact, that when Jace found himself desperate for a roommate the next summer when Raj bailed on him last-minute, he’d agreed to let Simon have the second room in the surprisingly affordable apartment he’d found.

Jace’s third impression of Simon came four days after they’d moved in together, when he happened to be walking down the hallway at the exact moment Simon stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, a stray droplet of water trailing down his surprisingly well-defined abs. In that moment, Jace must have lost his mind, because he had the sudden, almost overwhelming urge to follow the path of that droplet with his tongue and, oh. Oh no. Jace had been wrong this entire time. Simon wasn’t just annoying. He wasn’t just nerd-hot. He was annoyingly hot.

And Jace was maybe just a little bit in trouble.

Because he’d seen the kinds of people Simon dated. Thoughtful. Driven. Well-adjusted. Unlike Jace in pretty much every way that mattered. Not that Jace dated, but he wasn’t the kind of person Simon hooked up with, either, he was pretty sure.

(Jace confessed his fourth impression of Simon to Maia several months later, after many, many shots of tequila. Maia laughed at him for a solid five minutes, but she also poured them another round and never mentioned it again after they sobered up because she was actually a pretty good friend despite how much she always seemed to enjoy Jace’s suffering.)

“What’s wrong?” Simon asked around a mouthful of instant ramen. Jace refused to acknowledge that the way his cheeks puffed out when he ate was cute.

“Just.” Jace shook his head. “Holidays. Family stuff.”

“Your sister planning to make Christmas dinner again?” Simon asked.

“Worse,” Jace said, flopping onto the other end of their stained Goodwill couch. “She’s dating my ex.”

Simon winced. “Ouch, dude.” Simon poked at his noodles with a pair of well-used disposable chopsticks. “You still have feelings for your ex?”

“What? No, of course not. It was ages ago, and we were practically still kids. And the breakup was mutual.” He made a face. “But Izzy’s bringing her home for Christmas.”

“Okay, yeah, that could be a little awkward,” Simon conceded.

“It gets worse,” Jace admitted. “When she told me, I kind of panicked and said I was bringing someone home, too.”

Simon frowned. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

“I’m not,” Jace told him. “Which is kind of the problem.”

“Wow. You really know how to make things difficult for yourself.”

“Thanks,” Jace said. “Very helpful.”

Simon shrugged, then said, as casual as if he were offering to toss Jace’s towels in with his to make a full load at the laundromat, “You could always take me home with you.”

Jace stared. “What?”

“I mean, I’m going to be in the city anyway,” Simon continued, “and it’s not like my family does Christmas. I think Mom and Becky can manage the traditional Chinese takeout and Fast and Furious marathon without me.”

“Your family watches The Fast and the Furious on Christmas?” It was the only part of that Jace was emotionally prepared to process.

“It used to be Die Hard, but Mom’s got a thing for Vin Diesel, so now we alternate years.”

Jace stared a moment longer, waiting for any of this to make sense. On the television, Boushh threatened Jabba with a thermal detonator.

“Right,” Jace said when it was clear the situation wasn’t going to make sense of itself. “Okay. Rewind to the part where I’m supposed to take you home with me for Christmas and, what, pretend you’re my boyfriend?”

He could picture it all too easily. Simon wielding his enthusiastic charm to keep Izzy out of the kitchen while Jace helped Maryse make dinner. Simon joining Alec in coaxing Jace toward the piano when it was time to sing carols. Simon flushed and smiling after a couple mugs of Magnus’s deceptively alcoholic eggnog. Simon’s hand in his because that’s just something boyfriends do.

It was a horrifyingly tempting prospect.

Jace pushed those thoughts away, crossing his arms over his chest and directing all the scorn he felt at himself into the stare he leveled at Simon. “What’s that supposed to accomplish other than giving me a headache?”

“Hey,” Simon said, setting the dregs of his ramen down on their secondhand Ikea coffee table, “I’ll have you know that I make an excellent boyfriend.”

That wasn’t exactly news. The fact that Simon was friends with basically all of his exes said as much. But Jace wasn’t about to let on that he paid that much attention to Simon’s dating habits. Or to pass up such a good opening. “That why you’re single?”

“Not the one currently desperate for a holiday date here, pal,” Simon pointed out.

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty eager to be my holiday date just a second ago,” Jace said, adding a wink just to be obnoxious.

“It was an offer, jackass. One which I now deeply regret.”

“Which you should,” Jace told him, turning to the TV and pretending to watch. “Now we can both forget this conversation ever happened, and I can go back to figuring out what I’m going to tell my family about why my nonexistent significant other can’t make it for Christmas this year.”

“Right,” Simon muttered, picking up his bowl and turning his own attention back to the movie.

Jace told himself he didn’t feel just the tiniest bit disappointed.

“The thing is,” Simon said several minutes later, as Boba Fett tumbled into the Sarlaac pit, “my cousin Rachel is getting married on Valentine’s Day. And my Bubbe Helen is still pretty cranky with me for breaking up with Maia.”

Jace frowned at him. “You and Maia dated for like a month and a half. Over a year ago.”

“Yeah, well,” Simon said, “Bubbe Helen really liked her, but I think maybe that’s because Maia’s the only person I’ve ever brought to a family function. So, I was thinking maybe if I brought someone else to Rachel’s wedding, she’d get the hint and drop the Maia thing. And then you suddenly needed someone to take home for Christmas, and I thought we could, you know, help each other out.”

It was a terrible idea, and Jace meant to say so. He really did. But what came out of his mouth instead was, “You want to introduce me to your grandmother?”

“I mean,” Simon said with a shrug, “she’d probably be happier if you were Jewish, but I honestly think she’d be happy to see me with anyone who’s not a total asshole. Ever since she found out Maia and I aren’t together anymore, she’s been acting like I’m going to end up a lonely old maid or something, which I totally don’t get, because A, I’m only twenty-one, and B, she doesn’t think it’s a problem that Becky’s single and Becky’s two years older than me.”

“Glad to know I meet the very minimal requirement of not being an asshole.”

“Not a total asshole,” Simon corrected with a teasing grin.

“You’re really making a compelling case for trying to convince our families that we’re a couple,” Jace said drily. But he was maybe just a little bit weak for Simon’s smile, so he added, “But you might as well tell me how exactly you think this would work. Theoretically.”

“Theoretically,” Simon repeated. “Right. Well, we’d need to come up with a game plan, obviously. And rules. Rules that we actually follow, because that’s where things like this always fall apart, when someone ignores the rules.”

“Where things always fall apart,” Jace repeated. “Is this something you do often?”

“What? No! I just mean like in movies and stuff. Fake dating is practically its own genre, so we have a ton of examples for how not to do it, and…” Simon frowned as his voice trailed off. “And now that I’m saying this out loud, I’m realizing how dumb it sounds. You’re right. We should forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Or,” Jace said slowly, knowing he was going to regret it but unable to stop himself, “we could spend some time coming up with a plan and then decide if we think it will work.”

“Wait, really?” The slow grin spreading across Simon’s face did nothing to ease Jace’s sense of impending doom, but it did fill him with a soft warmth that made the doom easier to ignore.

“Why not?” Jace shrugged with practiced nonchalance. “I’m done with classes at noon tomorrow if you want to do it then.”

“I’ve got a break from then till three if you don’t mind meeting near campus,” Simon said. “Say, Java Jones at twelve-thirty?”

“Sure,” Jace agreed to the background of Jabba’s sail barge exploding. He hoped that was less metaphorical than it felt.

~~~

“I thought we were planning a couple of fake dates, not staging a major military operation,” Jace said as he surveyed the notebooks and stacks of paper strewn across the rickety cafe table in front of Simon.

“Oh, sorry,” Simon said, hastily shoving exactly one of the many notebooks into his backpack. “I was just reviewing notes for my econ final while I waited.”

“Is all of this really necessary?” Jace asked, attempting to clear enough room on the table for his coffee and the banana muffin that was attempting to pass for lunch.

“It’s so necessary,” Simon told him, reaching over to steal a piece of Jace’s muffin. “I don’t want to end up like Melissa Joan Hart in My Fake Fiancé.” He popped the piece of muffin into his mouth. “Or Melissa Joan Hart in Drive Me Crazy. Oh! Or even worse, Melissa Joan Hart in Holiday in Handcuffs.”

“I have no idea what you just said.”

Simon sighed heavily. “I’m saying we need clear, well-defined rules if this is going to work.”

“Is rule number one ‘don’t be Melissa Joan Hart’?” Jace asked, snatching his muffin away when Simon reached for it again and taking a pointed bite.

“No,” Simon said, with far more seriousness than Jace thought the situation warranted. “That’s rule number two. Rule number one,” he continued, opening a blue notebook to a fresh page, “is ‘absolutely no sex.’”

Jace choked on his muffin.

“If there’s one thing everyone seems to agree with, it’s that things always break down when that rule gets broken,” Simon continued as though Jace weren’t struggling to breathe around a mouthful of muffin and why Simon thought they even needed a rule for that.

Jace washed the remaining crumbs of muffin down with a generous swig of coffee, then leaned back in his chair with a deliberately cocky grin. “I mean, I know I’m damn near irresistible, but do you really think you need a rule to keep from jumping me?”

“Rule three,’’ Simon said, scribbling furiously in the notebook, “treat each other with the same respect we’d treat people we’re actually dating.”

“Hey, I would have the same question for someone I was actually dating.”

Simon looked up from the notebook. “That explains so much about your dating history.”

Jace flipped him off, and Simon flashed him a shit-eating grin. “Nope, sorry, rule one. But,” he continued, serious once again, “we should have rules about what kind of physical affection we are comfortable with. Like, I know we don’t normally do hugs, but it would be weird if we never hugged in front of your family if we were dating, right? What about holding hands, is that too much? And what about kissing? I’m definitely cool with cheek kisses, but I don’t know—”

“Simon,” Jace interrupted before he could get too worked up. Or make Jace think about more things he really shouldn’t be thinking about. “You’re allowed to hug me. And hold my hand. Honestly, I’m sure I’d be fine with anything you’re comfortable doing in front of my family, so how about we just go with this: casual touches are fine and for anything else, I’ll follow your lead.”

The look Simon gave him was so searching that Jace almost worried for a second that Simon would be able to see right past his crossed arms and feigned nonchalance to the part of him that was less worried about showing physical affection than how much he wanted it, the part that avoided hugging Simon because he liked it.

“Okay,” Simon said finally. “But you have to promise you’ll tell me if anything I do bothers you even a little bit.”

“You mean like singing Shake It Off at the top of your lungs in the shower?” Jace asked.

“That was one time!” Simon protested. “I was up all night studying and under the influence of too many energy drinks. We agreed never to mention it again.”

“No, you told me never to mention it again and I laughed at you.”

“See, this is why we need rules. You’re already breaking number three.”

“Yeah, because we’re not pretend-dating yet,” Jace said. “That one might be a little rough, but I’m sure I can manage with some practice.”

There was that searching look again, but then Simon nodded like Jace had said something particularly insightful. “You’re right, we should practice.”

“We—what?”

“If we’re going to convince people who actually know us that we’re dating, then we should practice first,” Simon said, like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. “Not just the rules we know are going to be hard, but all of it, so we can work out any kinks in the plan before showtime.”

And maybe it was reasonable, but it was one thing to put on a show for his family, for Simon’s family, for a few days at a time in places that might be familiar to each of them individually, but that weren’t theirs. It was entirely another thing to do it here, in the cafe they went to at least twice a week, or on campus where they’d first met and had to keep on attending classes for at least another year, or even worse in the apartment they shared, around their friends—

“I really should have thought of it earlier,” Simon continued, blissfully unaware of Jace’s inner turmoil. “My best friend back home, she’s an amazing liar. Like, seriously, she got away with everything when we were kids. But any time she needed me to back up her story, she’d make me practice with her like a hundred times until she knew I could convince her mom and stepdad, even after I got good enough that I didn’t have to practice to convince Mom. Man, those two could sniff out the tiniest discrepancy in any story. Like, if normal parent bullshit detection is a one, my mom’s is probably a solid three, but Fray’s parents? Eleven, easy.”

“I’m pretty sure no one I’m related to has supernatural bullshit detection,” Jace told him. “And it’s common knowledge I’m a better liar than you are, so if you can fool your mom without practice, so can I.”

“Maybe,” Simon conceded. “But a little bit of practice couldn’t hurt, right?”

Jace was pretty sure that it could hurt, actually, but he was also pretty sure he was the only one in danger of getting hurt, so it probably wasn’t worth consideration. Especially weighed against the hopeful enthusiasm in Simon’s expression.

“What did you have in mind?”

“We could start by pretending we’re on a date right now,” Simon suggested. “We’re already sharing a muffin. So, just treat me like you’d treat anyone you were on a date with.”

“My dates don’t usually involve this many notebooks,” Jace told him. “And if my date stole my muffin, the date would be over.”

“Come on, you’re not even trying,” Simon said, gathering up the papers and notebooks. “You’d really ditch your date over a muffin?”

“Absolutely,” Jace insisted. “They’d have to be seriously good in bed to make up for it, and I’m pretty sure rule number one says you’ll never get muffin-stealing privileges.”

“If the biggest benefit to sleeping with you is getting to share your muffins, then I’m not the one missing out,” Simon told him.

“You selling your body for muffins now, Lightwood?” an amused voice interrupted. “I bet I know a few people who’d toss a bran muffin or two your way for a chance at that ass.”

“Which is why you’re not my pastry-pimp, Roberts,” Jace said, smirking at Maia as she helped herself to one of the table’s empty chairs. “I only trade this ass for top tier, gourmet muffins. If your muffins don’t have at least two Michelin stars, I’m not interested.”

“I give him a week until he’s working corners for Entenmann’s,” Simon told her. “He was just threatening to walk out on our date over a bite of mediocre banana nut.”

Maia’s eyes widened. “Your— Oh, shit, sorry,” she said, scrambling out of her chair and throwing them both an apologetic smile that Jace was pretty sure wouldn’t be directed at him if he were sitting with anyone other than Simon. “I swear I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just thought you were studying or something. You guys have fun, and I’ll just—”

“It’s a practice date,” Jace interrupted, “not an actual date. And Simon’s a dirty muffin thief who won’t even put out, so I’m not sure it really even qualifies as any kind of date.”

Maia looked between the two of them, then slowly lowered herself back into the chair. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what exactly is a ‘practice date,’ and why are the two of you on one?”

“Jace needs a fake boyfriend to take home for Christmas, and I need a fake date for Rachel’s wedding,” Simon explained, snatching the last bit of Jace’s muffin without remorse. “And we thought we should practice dating before trying to convince our families that were actually, you know, together.”

“That’s a terrible idea, and I regret any part I played in the two of you becoming friends,” Maia said flatly.

“Yeah, that would probably worry me more if you didn’t say that like twice a week,” Simon told her.

“Oh god, Simon, what did you let Jace talk you into now?” another voice asked, and suddenly there were three more people crowding around their tiny table, because apparently all of their friends were at Java Jones today. Which, in retrospect, Jace should have expected, given how often they all hung out there.

“It was actually my idea,” Simon told Maureen, sliding his chair closer to Jace’s to make room for her, Bat, and Lily. “Jace is taking me home to meet his family over the holidays, and I’m taking him as my date to my cousin’s wedding.”

This proclamation was met with a stunned silence that was broken when Lily turned to Jace and punched him in the arm.

“Ow! What the hell?”

“That’s for abandoning me, jerk,” Lily told him. “Not that I can really blame you—either of you,” she added, giving both Jace and Simon an appreciative once over, “‘cause damn—but I thought we had an understanding.” She sighed heavily. “Now that you’ve gone over the dating Dark Side, who’s going to be my wingman? You’re probably going to start doing all kinds of relationship-y things and talking about feelings—” she said it like it was a dirty word “—and crap like that.”

“I am not going to talk about my feelings,” Jace said, at the same time that Simon said, “We’re not actually together. We’re just pretending.”

“They’re planning to try to convince their families they’re dating even though they’re not,” Maia explained. “Because they apparently think that’s not just a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Oh,” Lily said, sounding oddly disappointed.

“Fifty bucks,” Bat announced, “says that when this blows up in their faces, Jace is the first one to break down and call Maia in a panic.”

“Hey,” Jace protested.

“Oh, you’re on,” Maureen said, ignoring Jace entirely. “Sorry, Simon, but no one panics quite like you.”

“I’m in,” Lily said, “and I agree with Maureen that Simon will break first, but his call to Maia will be interrupted by Jace calling five minutes later.”

“Why am I the one getting all of the panicked calls?” Maia wanted to know.

“Because you’re the only person at this table who isn’t an asshole,” Simon told her, “but nothing’s going to go wrong, let alone panic-inducing levels of wrong, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Dude,” Jace said, “she’s an asshole to me.”

“You like it,” Maia and Simon said in unison, causing the rest of the table to collapse into laughter.

“Okay, fine,” Maia said around her giggles several minutes later, “if you’re all betting, then count me in, too. I bet that these fools,” she looked pointedly at Jace, then at Simon, “don’t call me when this whole thing goes to hell, but I somehow end up having to haul their asses out of trouble, anyway.”

“I rescind my assessment of you as not an asshole,” Simon told her.

“I’d think twice about calling the woman who’s going to haul your ass out of trouble an asshole if I were you,” Bat said.

“Back to this pretending to be together thing,” Lily said. “What exactly does that entail?”

“That’s actually what we were trying to figure out when you guys showed up,” Simon told her. “We started a list of rules, but we only made it to four so far.”

“Your list should definitely include making out,” Lily said decisively. “Having made out with both of you, I can say with confidence that you’re definitely missing out if you don’t. In fact, you should try it now so we can let you know if it looks authentic.”

“You just want to watch them make out,” Maureen said.

“Yes,” Lily told her. She didn’t add ‘duh,’ but it was implied. “I always want to make hot people make out. But in this case, I’m also being helpful.”

The ensuing argument over the line between helpful and self-serving was thankfully cut short by the opening guitar line of Blonde Redhead’s Barragan.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta take this,” Simon said, holding up his phone. “I’ve been playing voicemail tag with Becky all week.” He looked at Jace. “Talk more about this later?”

“Sure,” Jace told him.

“Tell your sister I said hi,” Maia called after Simon as he headed away from the cafe’s crowd.

“You know,” Jace told her in a low voice, “you could always tell her hi yourself instead of always asking Simon to pass messages.”

Maia gave him an unimpressed look. “After everything I just heard, I’m pretty sure you’re the last person in this room I should be taking relationship advice from.”

“Bite me,” Jace told her, but he didn’t disagree.

[malyen0retsev]

do you not like the shadowhunters tv show? personally i'm kinda meh on it, like the plot was wack and i did not like most of it but i do feel like they did some things and characters better then the books did, for example i loved how show isabelle was immediately ride or die for clary instead of the unnecessary girl hate of the first few tmi books

I despised the TV show, I’m sorry! I liked the casting of Izzy and Alec particularly because I felt they weren’t on point in the film (Simon and Magnus were perfect in both adaptations imo); but it reached a point where even they couldn’t save it for me. I genuinely didn’t mind some of the episodes but as a whole god no

Thing is, Clary and Jace as characters have the potential to be incredibly irritating, and there are times in the books I would really like to slam their heads on a desk; but Jamie Campbell Bower and Lily Collins really really got their characters. To the point I didn’t find them irritating. At all. Unfortunately for me, Kat Macnamara particularly I found emphasised the annoying parts of Clary, and Dom Sherwood didn’t balance out Jace’s brooding with sarcasm. They were both just so serious all the time aksjfdbhaljk

I get what you mean with Izzy being ride or die, but the thing is, what people like to forget is Izzy and Clary eventually are ride or die for each other. They adore each other by the end of the series. And in some ways I find that refreshing. It’s like hey, you can irrationally dislike someone at first and grow from it and develop a really really good friendship eventually. Plus, neither of them have grown up around girls, so not knowing how to act around another teenage girl is understandable (and in Izzy’s case, she’s seeing Jace put himself in obscene levels of danger for this girl they’ve just met, I don’t think her dislike of Clary in the books at first is irrational). 

I just don’t feel they encapsulated the characters or plot at all. Why is Luke a policeman. Why did they kill Jocelyn. What the hell was the Sebastian plot at first. Why did they make Izzy an addict (and reduce her to somewhat of a sex symbol in S1). Why did Simon and Clary sleep together when in the books that relationship was over so so quickly. Why was the New York Institute bustling with people when the whole point is the Lightwoods run it as essentially a form of exile. Why were runes appearing left right centre as handy plot devices that made no sense. Why did Jace become this brooding angry guy when book!Jace is sarcastic to veil a deep sense of insecurity that he hides with idiocy. 

I’ll forever be aggressively annoyed at the show because it made the same mistake the film made (only far far worse) of deciding it knew what sort of plot the story should be better than the books - whilst forgetting that the book plot is what makes the fans love it in the first place. So naturally, it bombed. And because that bombed, I don’t see any future Shadowhunter adaptations of any kind forthcoming, and that makes me so sad although it means I won’t have to see my TID and TDA babies mauled in an adaptation so small victories I guess

[yuncifang]

Whumptober, here I come

Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV)

Characters/pairing: Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane; malec is there if you squint

Prompts: 12. "Don't move”; alternative prompt 5. Fist fight; Check @whumptober2019 for more!

Assassins!AU that no one asked for. Lighthearted, because it's October, my favourite month of the year, and I like to spread love. Assassin!Alec and rogue assassin!Magnus. Alec is tasked with bringing Magnus in, Magnus has other plans.

*

Alec feels it before he sees it or even hears the intruder. He can't believe himself, he is supposed to be on his A game, there is a rogue in town and a bounty on Alec's head.

As it happens, he closes the door to his apartment, turns and comes face to face with a gun.

"Hi, honey," the man sing-songs, his voice deep and smooth.

Alec moves without thinking, gets out of the way and manhandles the gun from him. It's the rogue alright, Alec'd recognise that face anywhere. Bright eyes gleaming, jet-black hair styled up, a purple streak sticking out, the sharp features, the rueful smirk.

If the man in front of him ever wanted to get lost among the crowd, he'd have a hard time at it looking like that.

Alec's studied that face for hours while he was trying to pinpoint the man's location.

"Oh, you are good," the rogue says excitedly as they try to out-maneuver each other.

He manages to get his gun back, Alec kicks it out of his hands at the same time as he pulls the trigger. There is a silencer on it, but Alec hears a picture on the wall behind him shutter.

The flat is a rental set up, so he doesn't care much.

"Took you long enough," Alec says, kicking the gun further down the corridor.

The rogue takes a step back, eyeing him with a smirk as he shrugs his jacket off, the gun forgotten. Alec tsks. Show off.

"I had to make sure you were as pretty as your bounty picture was," the man says. "And I'm not at all disappointed," he winks.

They trade blows, slowly waltzing towards the living room.

"Besides, that's long overdue, isn't it? I've spotted you in Detroit."

Detroit was five months ago, and Alec's been on the task for six.

"Why didn't you stop and say hi then?" Alec mutters dodging another hit.

It was Isabelle's brilliant idea to get out a bounty on one of their respective heads to get the rogue to show himself, when it became clear that his apparent witchery worked as well in the US. He was called a witch by most for his unparalleled skill in getting in and out of restricted places and taking out some heavy-guarded figures. He made a lot of noise in Peru before landing on the American soil.

"I didn't mind the company," the man shrugs between blows, managing to sound nonchalant. "Although, you didn't follow me to Toledo, that was rude. There was an exquisite party in that club-"

Alec tries to clock him, once, twice, the third time the man grins wider catching his arm and yanks, hard. Alec stumbles, but blocks the blow elbowing him in the solar plexus. The man oofs.

"Good moves," he says, stepping backwards, into the living room. "But I can do better, mister Lightwood. Or can I call you Alexander?"

That has its effect. Alec misses a bit, because no one is supposed to know that name, it has been buried long ago, along with a plethora of things. The rogue catches him off, hitting him right underneath his Adam's apple with the edge of his palm. Alec coughs, chocking, and steps backwards, hitting the wall and going down slowly, seemingly losing his footing.

The rogue stands above him, and there is a disappointed look in his eyes, even though he is smirking winningly as he tries to even out his breathing.

"You've done your homework," Alec says when he stops chocking, "but so did I."

The smug expression on the rogue's face turns curious, but then Alec kicks him in the shin, hard, making him stumble backwards. Right over a glass table.

To be honest, Alec didn't just do the homework. He became mildly obsessed, all things considered, chasing after the mysterious witch-assassin all over America, watching him take out seemingly random people that actually had huge bounties on them, before the man led him right back to New-York. The Clave wanted to get their hands on him or be rid of him, they didn't appreciate disturbances on their soil and were not known for working well with outsiders.

Alec thought the rogue was... truly magical in his work. If such a thing could be said about assassins.

The man seemed chaotic, but was rueful and deliberate, picky at his bounties, not just jumping from one huge check to another. He was searching for someone, and judging by the state some of his victims were found in, he was moving somewhere with that hunt of his.

So, of course, Alec had to dig deeper. He even abandoned the watch altogether to fly to Indonesia (that's when Toledo happened, and Isabelle nearly tore him a new one for that) to run down a tiny, paper-thin hunch.

Of course, there was no way to confirm Alec's findings beforehand, but well, what else was new.

The man rolls, seemingly unfazed by the table that just broke into pieces under him, and jerks his head, getting his hair out of the way. His lower lip is split and his shadowed eyes are gleaming with a new-found interest.

"Do tell, darling," he says getting the glass shards off himself.

"You're Indonesian," Alec says blocking his next punch.

He smirks besides himself too, because the rogue is as good as he suspected him to be, better even. And he isn't even trying that hard, that's clear to both of them. He shoves a chair into his direction, but Alec avoids it easily enough.

"You do have eyes," the man almost laughs.

"Your first kill was an accident," Alec says.

That makes the rogue pause and give him a once-over. He spits some blood to the side, before spreading his lips in a cocky smile.

"Do you think I have a sob story?"

"Everybody has a story," Alec says.

"I knew you were special, Alexander," is his answer. "I feel the bond between us getting stronger by the second."

He deals a stinging blow to Alex's temple, and Alec retaliates by clocking the guy in the nose, and he steps backwards into a french window (glass, it's an old building). The frame budges easily.

Alec moves forward on instinct, grabbing the man's shirt, breaking his fall. Suddenly, they are close again.

"Is it a gun or are you just happy to see me, Alexander?" the bastard huffs.

He doesn't miss a bit, pushing back, and stepping away from the window. There is a gash on his left shoulder, where the glass got through, but he doesn't seem to care.

Alec breathes heavily, catching his breath. He has a gun in a kitchen drawer, but that's too far. He knows somewhere in the living room there is a throwing dagger, but his ears are ringing, and he can't pinpoint where exactly, because the room is ruined. There is of course, his bow on the wall, that most people would think an intricate decoration. It's not.

And yeah, he has his own gun on him.

"Both, apparently," Alec says, pointing the business end at the other man.

The sun showcases the room, casting speckles through the broken shards that seem to be everywhere. Alec is momentarily distracted by how the lights hit the man at all the right angles. He is tall and fit, and his white shirt, stained with blood all over, doesn't ruin the look in the slightest.

Alec wants the man on his team so badly.

The rogue wipes under his nose with his sleeve, smearing blood over the lower part of his face. He looks down at his ruined shirt and pouts, his lower lip already puffed, then glances back up at Alec.

"Well, that was fun," he says hoarsely. "Ooh, are you going to shoot me, Alexander?"

That does things to Alec, and even though he doesn't have time to unpack it all, he does file the fact away.

"Don't move," he says. "I'm not after you to kill you, but I will hurt you."

"Oh, I do hope so," the man smirks looking almost manic because of all the blood. He doesn't move to shield from a possible hit, but neither does he raise his hands in surrender. "So, I'm Indonesian and have a tragic background," he straightens his ruined shirt. "Say my name, Alexander."

"Magnus," Alec says, and the word rolls off his tongue leaving behind an iron taste, "Magnus Bane."

The man smiles, obviously, only too pleased with the development. He cracks his knuckles.

"Alright, that's a first. Let's talk business, pretty boy."

*

[the-sun-is-yellow]

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS/SHADOWHUNTERS: A Movie v TV Show Casting Comparison.

It's hard to chose which I like better overall because I actually really like the movie and the TV show (although neither stick to the books at all, they're so far away from it, so many unnecessary plotlines, why??).

CLARY: I definitely like Lily Collins more as Clary. Kat seems like a nice person, but I think her acting needs some work, she's often not very convincing. It may come with time though. Apart from the hair colour, Lily just embodied the character so much better, although she still annoys me, but I feel like Clary annoys everyone. 

JACE: Jamie would be my first choice for Jace, but Dom's acting certainly got better as the series moved on, so he's not too bad. I feel like Jace doesn't actually get very much screen-time in the TV show, maybe because Malec is the main couple right now, but Jamie really had Jace's snark and overall demeanour down, as well as the total 180 he does in his moods with Clary, much more than Dom does. I'm excited to see how that changes when (SPOILER) the whole incest thing stops being a thing. 

SIMON: I can't chose either actor for Simon because I love them both. Robert maybe had the character down a little better, but I do love them both. They're cute and they actually look kinda similar when they have the glasses on. I like Alberto's vampire portrayal better I think. 

ALEC: Okay, everyone's always mean to Kevin, and yeah he was kinda old to be Alec, but I actually really liked his portrayal, and he's such a sweetie. Malec wasn't going to be a big thing in the movie, because it was based on the first book, where Malec was basically non-existent. However, I must say, I love Matt so much, and he portrays Alec better than I thought anyone ever could. He's like my fave human whoops. But yeah, I love both these boys, I just think Matt is a better Alec simply due to age. His chemistry with Harry is great, in a way that Keven and Godfrey didn't have. 

MAGNUS: Magnus was also cast kinda old in the movie, and I love Harry's portrayal, so I definitely prefer the TV show casting there. Some of the effects were better in the movie in terms of his magic, and I like his cat eyes in the movie, so there's that, but overall, Harry wins. He has the charm and the flirting but also the care for Alec, and Clary as well. Also I love the initial Malec meeting in the movie and the TV show, always makes me laugh. I'm glad their story is getting more developed than it did in the movie and even the books, where they always took backseat to Clace, and even other couples as they started appearing later books. All that freaking gay erasure, am I right?

ISABELLE: I actually completely forgot what the Isabelle in the movie even looked like, showing how great her impression on me was (not very great at all). Em is great as Izzy, really has the sass and the flair, though her accent isn't amazing, but obviously that’s not her fault, and I feel like it’s getting better, particularly in season 2. A great choice for Izzy I think, and the family likeness in the Lightwoods is great (except Max, lol why is everyone else in the family clearly not white, but Max is the whitest kid I've ever seen, terrible casting).

VALENTINE: Valentine annoyed me in both movie and TV show bc HE'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE LIKE LONG HAIR. Idk why it bothers me so much, but it does, like wtf why is he bald in the TV show. No thanks??? I just don't think either characterisation of him did his villainous nature justice. Valentine is this sick, insane, twisted character, and it’s just not really shown. I get that maybe it would be too much for the rating of the show/movie to show the true extent of this horribleness, or maybe that’s to come when (SPOILER) our good friend Sebastian shows up, but like who knows, I just don’t really like it. 

SIDE CHARACTERS: Jocelyn doesn't bother me, she's not that key, tho (SPOILER) why did they kill her off in the TV show? Like no? Her and Luke get married? I need Jem to be there so he can steal Church? Luke is fine in both, I hadn't realised it was the actual love of my life Aiden Turner in the movie tho. I think I like Luke better in the TV show, he had more room for character development, and the image in my head of what he looked like has changed thanks to Isaiah. Maryse Lightwood casting is good, really looks like Alec and Izzy. (Are there more side characters I have forgotten? idk? idc? it’s 3am?) 

TV SHOW EXCLUSIVE/I FORGOT IF THEY’RE IN THE MOVIE: I can't really remember Raphael from the movie, but the TV show portrayal is great, got the snark down, though I'm worried they're going to make him straight? He’s having some weird moments with Izzy (SPOILER) with the whole Yin Fen plotline (also yeah that sucks, I hate it, wtf no, where did it come from it’s basically ruined their chance to make a Clockwork Angel series bc you’ve taken Jem’s plotline?) Like no, he's canonically gay, right? But yeah, A* casting, good job on that, he looks just like I imagined, though I feel like he's older than he's meant to be in the books.  Maia is cool, I want more of her storyline. Camille is just how I imagined. I can't even remember if those two were in the movie lol.

[hwanhee10]

Is the Shadowhunters TV show good? Cos I read the books when I was younger, really liked them, then looked back on them and they're a bit :/ tbh but the TV show looks like it goes in a different direction?

hi!! a lot of people think that the second season is much better than the first season so even if you think it sucks at first, i think you should stick around for the later episodes :p

according to the cast, the show’s ending is supposed to be the same as the books, but everything in between happens differently, and that’s one reason a lot of the book stans don’t really like the show bc apparently they changed too much stuff

however, since a lot of people (including me) also think that the books were a little :// eh, the show gets some praise for being different from the books (no slut-shaming toward isabelle, no biphobia from alec, more poc characters, better representation of queer characters & relationships, etc.) and although season 2B starts off a little shaky (poc characters started to get treated pretty badly??), the latest episode was REALLY good in terms of talking about things like racism and bisexual stereotypes, for example. it was so good and impressive that i’m still Shook

so basically yes, i would recommend watching it! i really think that the show’s getting better and better with each episode :)

[fonulyn]

Got tagged by the wonderful @noctschocobo  <3

Rules: Tag 20 blogs you’d like to get to know better.

Nickname: Jo, or Jojo, idek anything goes lmao

Zodiac Sign: gemini

Height: 173 cm

Last Thing You Googled: what makes cyanide so lethal and how it actually kills a person. (lmao)

Favourite Music Artists: oh my god so many. the default answer for me would be Sentenced, Apulanta, Turmion Kätilöt and Amorphis bc the finnish groups are closest to my heart tbh. but there’d also be classic stuff like ZZ Top, Metallica, AC/DC, Scorpions, etc, and kpop (ofc!) like SHINee, SuJu (M), 2NE1, (lately I’ve started listening to Spica?) etc, and idek i love Pink, and Bonnie Tyler, and Kari Tapio, and like a million others i am so so sorry i can never shUT UP.

Last Movie You Watched: uhmmmm. they showed Return of the Jedi on tv recently i think that’s the latest. before that, dad and i watched the Shawshank Redemption.

What Are You Wearing Right Now?: lmao bright orange pants w little black dots, a blue shirt with colourful notes, and a Kotiteollisuus-hoodie. i’m so stylish.

Why Did You Choose Your URL: bc of my brother. plus it’s never used by anyone else so i get to have it on every site. (as for the main blog, obviously, i can explain sideblog-names too if anyone’s interested)

Do you have any other blogs?: yes! a Shadowhunters-sideblog over at @varjomaailmani and a Supernatural-sideblog over at @thursday29th ...plus livejournal blogs do those count? not that i’m active there anymore tho.

Religious or Spiritual: idk honestly. i have my own relationship with faith and it’s not rly bound to the church but idek.

Favourite Color: IT CHANGES SO OFTEN. seriously, i have these phases that last maybe a few weeks or few months when i’m intensely in love with a certain colour. right now it’s blue, i love blue, all things blue. sometimes it’s red, sometimes it’s green... i love colours in general. i’m never returning to my ‘’only wear black’’ period.

Average hours of sleep: 8 would be optimal. sometimes more sometimes less.

Lucky Number: 86

Favourite Characters:  ...do you want to be here all night? because that list would be EPIC. i have like, ten faves already in the LoZ-universe alone. like, Link and Zelda (plus Sheik //sob) and NABOORU (//cries) and Impa and Ganondorf and Malon and Saria and I D K. i love a ton of Disney characters too, but my faves are probably Jasmine and Esmeralda, i love Leon and Luis from RE4, i love Aramis in every single version of the Three Musketeers, i love Alec and Isabelle and Magnus and a ton of others from Shadowhunters, i love Castiel from SPN, OH ALSO i love Black Sails it’s such a quality show srsly and in it Captain Flint owns my goddamn SOUL. plus Vane tbh such an interesting person. I LOVE LUIGI. SO MUCH. omg and Huey from Paper Mario Color Splash. i love Pinkie Pie from MLP, i love Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. and Moominmamma from the Moomins.

i just. love. i have so much love to share??? but i’m going to stop this word-vomit now. i’m sorry.

How many blankets do you sleep with: one usually, sometimes i take an extra one in the winter.

Dream Job: teaching. which is what i do already. whooooo. ALTHOUGH I would absolutely love to be a famous author too?? can i pick both?

I am going to be such a cop-out and tag “everyone who wants to do it” ;D but srsly feel free to fill this out and tag me in the replies!

[ameliaandmariaantonia]

Problems I have with Shadowhunters TV show

I have a lot of problems with it. I thought I hadn't liked the movie, and then I saw the TV show. I think they improved with the casting of Isabelle. But Mike Chang as Magnus? I mean.. sorry but no. Alec is okay, although the one from the movie was okay as well. Now, don't even get me started on Clary and Jace because there's more chemistry between a potato and me. Remember when Twilight was out and everyone said "still a better love story than Twilight"? Well... tv show Clace it's the same exact shit. And Hodge?! Why the fuck does he look younger than Alec? Oh well, because he probably is! And Jocelyn... I don't even have words for that, kill me already. But leaving all that aside... WTF the institute?! There's like 257 people everywhere and a bunch of technology... where's the music room? And the library? I mean, the movie might have had mistakes and the ending was confusing and didn't make sense with what happened in the next book, BUT, they at least kept the aesthetic and the whole Shadowhunters idea, and Jace's nature, and Clary's character itself. There was chemistry between them, Magnus was actually hot and did not act like a clown. Come on! Magnus Bane is one of the greatest characters of all time and they took that away from us. The movie could've been better? YES. But it didn't have Jocelyn floating in that cheap CGI effect,or the crapy demons that look like the Power Rangers' enemies! The movie will never be as bad as the show and I don't know what to do with my life.

[katwriting]

Fic: When in Paris

Magnus takes Alec on that first date. (2695 words)

Just some fluff I wrote before we can watch the actual Malec first date tonight.

Author’s note:  I know the Malec first date takes place in a bar, but I started writing this fic a couple of weeks ago when we didn’t know that yet. So I went for something different. Also, this is the first fanfic I published in years and English is not my first language, so sorry in advance if there are any weird grammar/syntax mistakes :)

Magnus blamed it all on Alec. Stupid shadowhunter. Stupid dark hair, stupid brown eyes, stupid cute smile. If it weren’t for all of those things, Magnus would never have been daydreaming and therefore distracted enough to completely mess up his eyeliner.

 Stupid shadowhunter, he thought again as he grabbed a make-up wipe to remove the smudged black liner from his face and immediately sighed. Now he had to start all over again.

 Sure, he could use his magic to get his make-up done. But if Magnus Bane enjoyed one thing, it was getting ready. And for his first date with Alec, he had to make sure he looked amazing. So his magic just did not quite cut it today. Besides, he’d probably have to use his magic later on anyway - redoing his make-up would take up a significant amount of time he’d calculated in for doing his hair. And Alec would be here within the next half hour.  

_

 “Trust me, you’re going to look good in this.”

“You sure?

“Alec, just because I picked this out doesn’t mean it’s totally unwearable. If this were black, you would have picked it yourself out without a second thought. You’ll be fine. Now get over here and let me have a look.”

 Alec’s bathroom door squeaked annoyingly when it opened, so Izzy didn’t exactly understand what Alec was grumbling when he came out of his bathroom. But that was probably for the best anyway – she highly doubted it had been something nice.

Granted, Alec had every reason to be annoyed with her. Izzy had been bugging him about what he would wear for his date with Magnus all day. And maybe insulted his preference for plain black clothing a few times along the way.

Nevertheless, Isabelle Lightwood was not someone to be sorry for making outfit recommendations. Not even the slightest bit. By the angel, her brother was going out with the probably best-dressed downworlder in entire New York, it was practically her duty to make sure Alec looked good for that. And if that required dragging her brother out of the Institute and into a shopping mall to get a nice outfit for him, then so be it.

Speaking of her brother, Alec looked pretty uncomfortable and also still a bit grumpy as he was standing in front of her. And he was constantly pulling at the collar of his new sweater. Izzy swatted his hands away and smoothed the fabric down.

“Stop that! You look great!”

“Well I definitely don’t feel like that”, Alec admitted and avoided Izzy’s gaze when she looked up at him.

Izzy’s stern impression immediately turned soft and she pulled her brother into a hug. “Aww, no need to be nervous, big bro. It’s going to be fine.”

Alec sighed and wrapped his arms around his sister. “I hope so.” He looked down at her, looking not too sure of himself. “Do I really have to wear this? Couldn’t I just put on my black –“

Izzy didn’t let him finish the sentence. She just huffed, grabbed Alec’s leather jacket from where it had been laying on his bed, shoved it into his hands and unceremoniously pushed her brother towards the door.  “Alec Lightwood, stop doubting my outfit choices. You may be older, but I certainly have the better taste in fashion. You look great. Now go pick up that warlock before I kick you out the door!”

Alec rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Arguing with Izzy about fashion-related stuff was pointless anyway.

_

Magnus put on the last bit of hairspray exactly the moment the doorbell rang. He put the can back into the cabinet, shooed Chairman Meow out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him. As he walked over to his front door, he quickly ran his gaze over his living room, removing his forgotten coffee cup and the slightly chaotic pile of magazines from the coffee table with a snap of his fingers. With a deep breath, he opened the door.

“Alexander. Please, come in.”, he said and smiled when he took in Alec’s appearance. Alex wore a dark red sweater that brought out his broad shoulders beautifully. The V-neck collar emphasized his neck and his deflect rune. Also, the sleeves were rolled up, giving Magnus an excellent view of Alec’s arms. To complete the look, the shadowhunter wore his usual black jeans and black boots. “Well aren’t you a sight for my sore eyes”

“Uh…thanks, I guess”, Alec said and then smiled shyly. “Shall we?”

“Sure, let me just grab my jacket”, Magnus said, snapping his fingers again and making a purple jacket appear over his shoulder that suited his black button-down shirt perfectly . “Let’s go. I hope you don’t mind if we use a portal. Traffic in this city has been a nightmare since they invented cars, and I refuse to use this disgusting thing they call public transport system.”

Alec shrugged and then started grinning as he imagined Magnus Bane, high warlock of Brooklyn, on a packed subway train with busy lawyers, crying babies and annoying teenagers. Definitely nothing that fitted together.

He then stepped aside so Magnus could close his apartment door and curiously watched as the warlock drew open a portal and gestured him to walk through.  “Come on, our reservation is in ten minutes.”

_

When Alec had agreed to grabbing dinner at this “lovely French place” Magnus suggested, he had expected some fancy place. Because, honestly, it was Magnus. He would not go for something below the extraordinary if he could avoid it.

What Alec had not been expecting was that “portaling to the restaurant” actually meant portaling to another country.

Needless to say he was pretty surprised when he stepped out of the portal and did not recognize a single building around him. Alec had grown up in New York and been on missions all over the city over the years, so he’d gotten to know his city pretty well. Well enough that he could tell when he was not in New York. Like right now.  

“Welcome to Paris”, Magnus said and smiled at Alec’s confused, but curious expression. They were standing in a narrow alley outlined by pretty, old-looking apartment buildings. Although he could hear TV noises and people talking through a few open windows, nobody was on the street. Good, Alec thought. If nobody saw them, nobody could start wondering how exactly the two of them could show up out of nowhere.

Judging from what Alec could see from his point of view, the alley went out onto a much busier street, the sidewalks packed with people and a sheer endless row of parked cars lining up next to the sidewalks. But before Alec could take a closer look, the warlock took his hand and pulled him into the other direction. They walked down the alley, over a bridge and then on a sidewalk along a river until Magnus stopped in front of a small restaurant. Although it was already evening, the sun was still shining, tinting the street and the buildings into a pretty glow and making the surface of the river glisten in the rays of the setting sun.

 Magnus looked up to Alec and chuckled at his stunned expression. Describing the shadowhunter as impressed would be the understatement of the year.  “Beautiful, isn’t it? Not as beautiful as my date, though.”

The downworlder bit back a laugh as Alec immediately started blushing. Instead, he continued talking: “I found this place when I lived in Paris in the early 1920s. And I kind of fell in love with it. Of course, the owners have changed several times since then, but the place remained the same and I love to come here when I’m in town. Although I haven’t been here a lot recently. I missed it.”

“Why didn’t you just come here, then?”, Alec asked curiously. “As far as I know, warlocks can portal anywhere as long as they have already been there, right?”

Magnus smiled. “I’ve been busy, Alexander”, he said, meeting Alec’s gaze.  “Also, there’s this really cute shadowhunter who has been taking up a lot of my spare time recently.”

Magnus’s smile got even bigger when he saw Alec trying to hide his slightly embarrassed but definitely flattered smile.  

_

Alec had never been much of a talkative person when it came to topics that didn’t involve demon hunting. He usually kept his thoughts and opinions to himself, only opening up to a very small circle of people. But talking to Magnus over dinner in this tiny little French restaurant was one of the easiest things he’d ever done.

The conversation kept flowing easily, they never seemed to run out of topics to talk about. And even when there were a few moments of silence Alec enjoyed them more than feeling awkward about. There weren’t many of those silent moments, though – most of the time they were laughing about Alec’s memories of Jace or Izzy (or both of them) getting them into trouble or one of warlock’s stories about London in the 1800s and how he met his dear friend Ragnor there. (“Who by the way you have to meet someday, Alexander. He’s a bit much sometimes, but I think you’ll like him.”)

Talking to Magnus was also fun. And definitely a treat for Alec’s eyes. The longer they kept chatting, Alec realized more and more how attractive Magnus was. Not only in the obvious, visual way – there were a lot of little things Alec had never noticed before that made Magnus so handsome. Like the way his eyes lightened up when he told Alec the story about the time he got almost run over by a carriage in the late 1800s. Or the way his gaze turned soft when he explained why he cared so much about a bunch of downworlders. Or the vivid gestures he used when he told a particularly funny story, making the jewelry around his wrist jingle. And of course, the intense, curious look in his eyes when he listened to Alec talking. That look was probably his favourite one, since it made Alec feel so special, like he was he only person Magnus wanted to be with right now. At this thought, Alec realized he felt just the same way about Magnus. It was a weird feeling, something different than he felt for Izzy and entirely different from his parabatai bond – but he liked it. And it made him smile.

Magnus, who had just been vividly describing how the driver of that damn carriage had yelled at him, “even though it was his fault, and he knew that!”, stopped talking mid-sentence and looked curiously at his date. “What’s wrong?”

One thing Alec really didn’t like about Magnus, though, was the way the warlock’s company often turned him into a stuttering, babbling mess. Just like right now.

“I – uh – nothing, it’s just-”Alec shook his head slightly, pretty embarrassed with himself and then looked back at Magnus. “You just look really good tonight. Actually, not only tonight.”

 Now it was the warlock’s turn to blush. “Why thank you, Alexander. You don’t look too bad yourself, if I may say so.”

_

When they were done with dinner, neither Alec nor Magnus felt like going home, so they opted for taking a walk along the Seine. After a while, Magnus led them over to a bridge and stopped in the middle of it, leaning onto the railing. By now, it was already night and the city had calmed down for the day. They were the only people on the bridge, save for the occasional car or bike passing by.

They stood on the sidewalk next to each other, looking out onto the river and the lights of the city, when Magnus broke the silence. “This used to be one of my favorite places when I lived here. I usually came here when I needed to think. Or just get away from everything”. Immediately after he’d said that, he felt a bit of guilt hitting him along with the reason why exactly he had to this place so often.

Alec did not reply, just kept looking onto the reflections of the street lights on the water. He sensed that something was up, but didn’t want to push Magnus to tell him. So he just kept quiet. If he had learn one thing about Magnus Bane in the few months he’d known him, then that pushing Magnus to do anything would only backfire. So he just waited, trusting that Magnus would come forward with whatever was on his mind. And he was right.

Magnus took a deep breath before he started talking. “Alexander, I haven’t been entirely honest with you earlier. There’s more to why I’ve been avoiding Paris than just me being busy.”

“I figured as much”, Alec answered, looking over to the warlock. “You don’t have to tell me what happened”, he added quickly, after he saw the pained expression on Magnus’s face.

But Magnus quickly shook his head and continued talking. “No, I want to tell you. I want to start this”, he motioned to the small space between him and the shadowhunter, “on honesty, not on secrets. Besides, it’s been decades. This shouldn’t matter to me anymore.”

By now, Alec definitely knew where this conversation was going. And he was pretty sure it had something to do with an annoying, super-bitchy vampire lady. But he didn’t say anything, just took Magnus’s hand in his and kept looking over the river.

Magnus interlocked their fingers and smiled shyly at Alec before he started to explain. “The reason why I haven’t been to Paris is not because I’ve been too busy to come here. I just tried to avoid the city. And a few other ones, to be honest. Paris, Prague, London…all of those are places I have lived together with Camille. But most of the time we spent here, in Paris.”

Magnus paused and tried to ignore the memories that immediately came up in his head. He may have a lot of history with Camille, but when he thought of his future, he thought of Alec. And he did not want to screw this up. So instead of giving in to the memories creeping up on him, he shrugged them off. “Long story short, I have a lot of memories of this city – unfortunately, a lot more bad than good ones. And they tend to come up every time I’m here. So I tried to avoid the city to get rid of them.” Magnus sighed, glancing over to where Alec was still quietly looking out onto the river. “Does that sound weird?”

The shadowhunter shook his head “No, not at all. I guess we all have parts of our past we’re not proud of. You just have to make sure they don’t define you.” Then, Alec smirked. “And about those bad memories – you can’t erase them from your memory. But - ” He stepped closer and put his arms around the warlock’s waist, pulling him against his chest. He put one hand under Magnus’s chin and gently made him look up at him. “But, you know, you could try to overwrite them with good ones.”

Magnus looked into Alec’s soft brown eyes and started smiling. . “Sounds like a plan”, he said and put his arms around the shadowhunter’s shoulders. “And I think I know just the guy who could help me with that.”

And when Alec leaned down for a gentle kiss that made Magnus’s entire body tingle with butterflies, he was pretty sure overwriting those bad memories would be much easier than he’d thought. Especially as he’d just made the first of many good ones.

Omg, I totally forgot how weird it feels to publish something you wrote yourself. Soo weird. But kinda good, though. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing it. Let me know what you think :)