#it's out there on ao3 for all manner of freaks to find i'm just not actively trying to tie my two usernames together

[frostiifae]

actually since someone asked, yeah, i was referencing something specific in my tag on the toxic yuri post, in the unlikely event anyone else wants info about what i was referencing you can just send a (public) ask or message or something

[ravenelyx]

Apple Of My Eye - Sebastian Sallow

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1k

Warnings: Fluff, headaches, Sebastian is concerned in true Sebastian-fashion

Summary: You've been getting headaches for a while - far too long for Sebastian’s comfort, and he can't help but worry.

A/N: another indulgent work - enjoy <3

Masterlist

You can find the full fanfic on ao3 as well <3

Ominis' version

Sebastian was positively, utterly, completely freaking out.

Sitting on the couch in the Common Room, he stared at the fireplace musingly, his hand tapping rhythmically on the armrest. He was pretty sure Ominis was on the verge of grabbing that hand and severing it from his wrist if he didn't stop soon.

He didn't care.

The only thought swirling in his mind was her — and how, just a few minutes before they had parted ways, she had pressed two fingers on her forehead, wincing slightly.

Sebastian couldn't stand it anymore.

He had spent the past two weeks with her, studying together for their upcoming N.E.W.T.s, carrying her books around, soothing her with small kisses whenever she began to rub her tired eyes, and watching helplessly as she took painkillers after painkillers. He had tried to reason with her and tell her that taking so many potions everyday wouldn't be good for her health in the long run, but she wouldn't have it, insisting that she was fine. It broke his heart.

"Sebastian, if you don't mind, can you still your hand or have you suddenly caught that one muggle disease that won't let you stop moving?" He heard Ominis' sarcastic voice next to him, and it snapped him from his thoughts.

"Perhaps I did catch that," the brunet grunted back.

Sebastian's movements didn't cease as his friend dearly wished, and the blond only sighed tiredly, muttering a few curses under his breath as he stood up.

"Well then, I hope you recover soon," the boy snarked sarcastically and walked away.

Sebastian's eyes didn't move from the fireplace, his skin tingling with the impelling need to find her again and drag her to the bloody Hospital Wing to make her better. Whatever her problem was, he would find a solution to it, even if he had to swim to the moon and back for a mere hint.

"Screw it!" He suddenly muttered, jumping up and storming out of the Common Room, not caring that curfew was near and he would probably get them both into trouble.

"Come with me," he declared once he saw her, ignoring the usual good manners and, above all, saccharine talk he only reserved for her.

"Sebastian?" She asked, surprised at both his presence and his unusually harsh tone. "Is there something wrong?"

"Don't act like you don't know," he spat, and she flinched for a second, before registering the subtle, underlying worry in his tone.

"Is this about my headaches again?" She crossed her arms and shifted her weight on one leg. "I already told you, I'm fi–"

"Don't you dare," he interrupted, walking closer to her and placing his hands on her arms. Given his tone and the words he had just spoken, she had expected him to grab her and drag her to the Hospital Wing rather harshly. But his hands were soft, his touch gentle as he guided her closer to his body. "Tell me the truth. Why? Why do you get them so often?"

Her eyes softened at the distress in his gaze, and she lifted her hands to cup his cheeks.

"It's just my eyes, Sebastian. I… I think I've been studying too much, and my eyes are always tired," she sighed, tracing circles on his cheeks with her thumbs.

"But how do you know it's about your eyes? It could be something else," he retorted, shifting even closer, the concern unwavering in his eyes.

"I feel it. I recognise the pain," she explained. "It's directly behind my eyes, and it increases the more I use them."

"Then close them," he pointed out, and placed his palm on her eyes to cover them like a blindfold.

She laughed and gently moved his hand away. "Look, I'll stop taking so many potions if that's what worries you–"

"But then you'll be in pain," he protested, interwining his fingers with hers. "I'm sure there is a way to kill two birds with one stone."

She bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes slightly twitching every now and then when the brightness of the torches around them felt overwhelming. He noticed and moved his body to shield her from the light.

"Sleep," she mumbled. "Going to sleep helps… but it has to be a deep sleep, not like a slumber, more like — from a nap upwards, in a scale of sleep…"

His eyes fleeted over her face and then moved to the ceiling, as if expecting the old stone to morph into a pyramid scheme of resting protocol.

"Then let's go to sleep."

"Wha–" she had no time to protest as he tightened his grip on her hand and began to guide her to his Common Room.

"Sebastian, wait–"

But it was no use: he walked all the way to the dungeons, making sure she would follow as his hand never left hers, and then through the door once they reached the entrance.

Her eyes widened once he aimed for the stairs of the boys' dormitory.

"Sebastian, I can't go in there, I–"

"You can and you will," he cut her words. "The stairs allow you to."

She bit her lip. "B-but–"

"You'll sleep. And I'll make sure of it," he pulled her closer, placing his palm on the small of her back once they reached the landing of his dorm and gently pushing her to the door, not stopping until they reached the bed.

He obviously gave her privacy as she changed — despite her having to wear his clothes to sleep as the suddenness of the situation made her completely unequipped — and then joined her once she was safe under the covers.

"Never hide from me again," he whispered, pressing two fingers on her forehead to rub soothing circles.

She only nodded, and he wrapped his arms around her, making sure she was comfortable as she rested her head in the curve of his shoulder.

He kept his touch light and soothing on her scalp and back until her breath evened and became soft and heavy.

"You'll feel so much better soon," he kissed her forehead, and joined her in sleep.

[bears-ao3-blog]

Requested by ExoGooba_e on AO3 - Gossip

CW WARNING!! - Mild gore!

 "would love to see scout telling medic and heavy about him and sniper, and potentially all of them meeting up to gossip about the rest of the team because yes they would do that"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Herr Scoouuut~ it iz time for experimental surgeryyy!~" 

Medic's slightly muffled voice sounded from behind Scout's rickety door and the runner huffed, slamming his flimsy comic shut and setting it on his bedside table. Goddamn it. He shouldn’t have agreed to be Medic's little guinea pig, no matter how bad he wanted to see Sniper that day. He slid out of his bed, grumbling and mumbling about how stupid and unfair it all was as he reached for his door and threw it open to find Medic...and Heavy? Scout raised a brow at the big guy's presence, and Medic followed his gaze only to snap back to him, smiling cheerfully. 

"Oh, Heavy vill be joining us today!" 

Scout's brow raised further, resting against the doorframe and crossing his arms. 

"I thought ya worked alone?" 

Medic dismissed the question with a small wave of the hand. 

"Zat is for emergencies only, Junge! Besides, me und Heavy talk while I operate on him all ze time. Since you owe us a little explanation on how you und Sniper began courting, I figured ve could hit two birds vith one stone!" 

Heavy piped in with a small smile. 

"да, is best time for conversation." 

Scout's jaw dropped to the floor in horror. 

"Ya expect me ta chat wit ya like you don’t got ya hands in my insides?" 

Medic waved off his statement yet again, pshooing like Scout was being dramatic. 

"Ahh do not vorry, I'll administer local anesthetic. Just for you!" 

Scout's questioning look dropped to a humorless expression. 

"Wow. Thanks. I'm honored." 

Heavy looked down at the doctor with a small pout, muttering quietly a: 

"Doktor does not give me anesthetic." 

Medic leaned into the taller's hear, his hand covering his mouth as he replied, though his harsh whisper was still very clear to the runner as he spoke. 

"Scout iz a big baby, Schatz. He cannot even handle a couple stitches vithout making a fuss! You can take it just fine, zough, can't you, Mein Starker?" 

They both began giggling and looking at each other in an affectionate manner, their faces gravitating towards the other before being interrupted by Scout's groan, his face pinched in disgust. 

"Eugh, can ya save ya lovey-dovey shit fa when I'm not directly in fron'a ya?" 

Medic cleared his throat and nodded curtly as Heavy stood up straight, eyes averting. 

"Right. Komm, komm, let us go!" 

The three trailed down the hallways until they arrived at the Medical bay. Medic shoved open the doors, not bothering to hold them open for the two men behind him. Apparently used to this, Heavy's arm immediately shot out to hold open the door before it could shut in front of him, and gestured for Scout to go in. Scout nodded in thanks, following quickly after the doctor. Heavy finally let the door go as he walked in. Scout cringed at the overwhelming scent of rubbing alcohol, disinfectant, and the ill-hidden undertones of blood and gore. He hated it in the Medical Bay. But, a deal's a deal, and he had to make good on it. 

Scout clambered onto the examination table and flinched when he felt the sting of Medic immediately jabbing a needle into his right arm, the sensation making Scout's stomach swirl. He freaking hated needles. The arm went completely numb in a matter of seconds, and Scout swallowed nervously before speaking. 

"Whaddaya doin' dis time?" 

Medic hummed, poking and prodding before smiling, now that he knew the limb was sufficiently numbed. 

"Just finicking around vith nerves und such. Me und Engineer have been vorking on a new prosthetic hand for him zat can respond to external stimuli and provide sensation! Exciting, iz it not?" 

Scout eyed his arm skeptically. 

"And dis aint gonna have any like...side effects?" 

Medic gave him an unamused look. 

"Scout. I have reattached entire limbs to your body. I sink you know ze answer to zat qvestion." 

Heavy chuckled, sitting comfortably in a rolling chair next to them and watching with mild interest. 

"Doktor is very good at job. No need to vorry, leetle man." 

Scout shrugged, convinced. 

"Alright den, whateva ya say." 

Medic immediately began asking questions as the scalpel pierced flesh, and a small part of Scout wondered if it was to distract him, since the runner's breath and pulse noticeably spiked as he watched blood gather into a large blob before trailing down his arm. 

"So. You und Sniper. How did it happen?" 

Heavy rolled a bit closer, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward a bit to hear better, clearly more interested in the conversation than the surgery. Scout's eyes darted between the two before they looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the best way to approach the question. 

"Uhh...ya want me ta start from the beginnin'?" 

They both nodded, eyes shining with curiosity. 

Scout sighed, wracking his brain before he spoke again. 

"I just got curious, really. He never talked to nobody so I decided to strike up a chat in da mornin' ta see what his problem was. Den I come by again later an' he's got a chair out for me! My mind was freakin' blown, I never really expected it." 

Both the older men's faces softened, thinking about it, their grins widening. Medic hummed as he searched for the white strings among the tendons, hunks of flesh, and white of bone in the runner's arm. Scout seemed sufficiently distracted at this point. He'd never miss out on an opportunity to ramble. Heavy seemed to know this as well, as the Russian also chose to remain quiet and let the speedster speak. 

"We didn't really see each other often, at first. I'd just check if he was out n' about on my runs an' join 'im if he was." 

Scout's eyes went distant as he recalled it all, his heart squeezing and an involuntary smile tweaking at his lips. 

"I helped him out in battle one time an' I think it was then he realized I actually wanted to be his friend. Man, it took a lot ta get 'im outta his shell. We had a lil' bonfire, went huntin', stargazin' twice- the second time is when I think I realized I was inta the guy. Then I got...weird about it. Yelled at 'im." 

Scout finally looked over at the other two with a somber look, and Heavy and Medic's mouths formed their own sad frowns, remembering how devastated the Bostonian had been about it. Scout's lips pursed before he quickly moved on, not wanting to linger on the feeling he got every time he thought about taking his anger out on Sniper. 

"Den he almost died...fuck, dat scared me. Real bad. He forgave me for bein' a douchebag an' we made up real quick aftah dat. He was...different with me from den on. I think...I think maybe he made some realizations of his own, if ya know what I mean. Den he got scared an' pushed me away after I tried tellin' him my name." 

Medic gasped at that, head snapping up to look at Scout, eyes shining. 

"You tried saying your name?" 

Medic look back at Heavy, who looked similar with his mix of shock and endearment. Medic looked back at Scout, his facial expression now reading more of a "you sly dog". 

"My, my, Scout. Very forvard." 

Scout flushed at that, grimacing abashedly as he avoided the piercing gaze of the doctor. 

"Whateva! I didn't realize it was dat big'a deal den, alright? He did, though, for sure. Den I nearly died an' I guess he pulled 'is head outta 'is ass cause he told me 'is name and finally freakin' talked ta me once I recovered." 

The two men gasped, and Medic muttered a small "aww...mein Gott, zat is precious, is it not, Heavy?”

Medic turned to look at Heavy, attention being pulled from the dark red and white of Scout's open arm. Scout risked a look and nearly fainted while Heavy responded in a similarly soft: 

"Yes, yes. I remember when Doktor told me his name. Vas one of happiest days of my life." 

Medic "awwee"d once more, turning back to Scout's gutted arm with a slight blush. 

"Oh hush, you." 

Medic then eyed Scout, a silent urge to continue spurring Scout to keep speaking, the runner desperate for the distraction. 

"He uhh...he apologized, a'course. Den I said his name and I guess dat really got 'im goin' cause next thing I know he's pulling me in for a kiss, an' he pulled away cause he got embarrassed and den I was pulling 'im in for a kiss, and then we got pretty handsy and uhh...yknow. Yeah." 

Medic looked a little disappointed at not getting the smutty details, but Heavy was grinning like an idiot, obviously satisfied with what Scout had offered in explanation. 

"Ve are very happy for you two, leetle man. Companionship is hard to find around here." 

Heavy had rolled up next to Medic to place a large hand on his waist, making Medic jump slightly and hiss: 

"Heavy, not vhile I am vorking!" 

Heavy chuckled, pulling back, successful in his attempt at flustered the healer, obvious with the redness tinging the German's cheeks. 

Scout smiled slightly, eyes still purposefully avoiding the gorefest that was his forearm at the moment. 

"Right. Right. Uhh, hey doc? When is this gonna be over?" 

Medic hummed contemplatively, brows furrowing as he thought while working away. 

"Ehh, half an hour or so...In ze meantime, I have some information zat I think vould interest you about Spy und Engineer..." 

He grinned slyly at the runner, whom gawked at him, wide-eyed, a slightly horrified expression etching his features. 

"Huh?" 

[some-pers0n]

You do realize Ao3 is inherently a proship space, right? Like one of the people who created it was an incest shipper. I'm not even saying you HAVE to like all content that's on ao3, but getting upset when people on ao3 related forums are talking about the things that ao3 was built for and refuses to censor is nonsensical

Okey now on my PC so I can actually respond to this in a coherent manner. General TW here for talking about pornography relating to minors and sexual topics.

I've seen this argument countless of times from pro-shippers. I do understand it. I know about the history of Ao3. It's mostly a space used because of areas like FanFiction.Net censoring 18+ works and generally leaving way for sexuality of any kind being censored for being deemed too mature, including same-sex couples at some point.

I am not anti-censorship. Not in the slightest. I think there should be sites like Ao3, where people are allowed to post whatever the hell they want. It's the site full of Freaks and Weirdos. It's the place where Freaks and Weirdos made to host their own freaky and weird content because everywhere else was censoring the word "dick". Censorship is a slippery slope and I think it's bad to simply say: "We should ban this" since it leads way to loopholes that our oppressors would want to exploit.

That being said: it's still disgusting to see people making and posting writing of IRL children who had been forced into the limelight have porn made of them. "Oh it's the internet of course it's going to be there" IT'S STILL FUCKED UP THAT IT'S THERE TO BEGIN WITH AND SHOULDN'T BE ENCOURAGED OR CONGRATULATED. It's like seeing somebody make deep-fake porn out of a picture of a child and being like: "Well I mean it's not really being done to an actual child, only a picture of it, and besides it's the internet what can you do :P" THAT IS CHILD PORN.

I'm not sorry for thinking it's hysterical and absolutely pathetic to come whining to a bunch of people that your fic where you wrote a child being raped and turned into a sex toy for a 50 year old man is getting "mean ol' antis" telling them that it's disturbing and gross. Holy shit please find a better way to cope with your trauma than to make writing that is designed to titillate and arouse people with this stuff happening to teenagers.

Not to also mention that Ao3 itself can censor stuff too! Recently that one volunteer got kicked off because they had "from the river to the sea" in their bio because it ""promoted violence"". So it's perfectly okay to have people post about nazis and racist pedophilic shit on there, but to have somebody have a message in their bio??? Shut it down folks.

I respect Ao3 on some level for its insitance on censorship (most times)(unless you support Palestine and don't want an entire culture wiped out then apparently that's bad), but I still find it disturbing and incredibly disgusting how its normalized and how these people have a victim complex. I've seen how they act whenever they're called out for writing gross stuff.

Self-proclaimed proshippers will make antis out like they're moronic teenagers who send death threats to people over writing enemies-to-lovers. Obviously, no, you shouldn't harass people over fictional ships. You shouldn't harass people in general. Harassment over something as simple as a person making a kinky smutty oneshot is dumb. Sending death threats is worse.

It's a mentality that antis are just hysterical and can't think for themselves, brainwashed by sex-negativity and can't just let people be people. Yeah, obviously that's bad. Anybody who sends hate, death threats, and harassment to a person who's just writing normal smut with nothing really bad about it (ie, no children, no incest, nadda nothing), is just stupid. It's ESPECIALLY moronic when it's a ship that is only a smidge problematic. That's stupid.

What isn't stupid is being upset over extremely taboo content being hosted on the site and people just being like: "Well you're just a snowflake anti for saying the author is weird for liking this". I don't think you should deliberately seek content like this out just to hate (again, harassment dumb), but it's so disgusting to act like it's completely fine and dandy for smut of real children to be hosted there and just be like: "Eh, what happens happens".

I'm here on those subreddits just to talk about fanfic and tropes. I like being silly and doing the funny little stuff. What exhausts me more than anything is when people will come whining about getting a hate comment when, surprise surprise, their fic that is mostly children being raped is being hated on for being a fic about children being raped for the sake of sexual pleasure.

Write as much as it as you want, just don't act all surprised and like you're the victim here when people think you're vile.

[thefallenangelsgang]

15 Lines Challenge

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture their character/personality/vibe. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well. @fablewritesnonsense strikes again! As always, no pressure, I just really admire these lovely folk's work: @helena-bug @just-another-wasteland-merc @roystory4 @druidgroves @heylittleriotact

(I'm going to be completely honest, I'm working of off 5 incomplete scenes if I just do BG3, so I'm also going to throw in some By Any Other Name quotes. It's technically the same character from a different story. The backstories vary a little but I'm confident the character is still there. By Any Other Name quotes are marked with an asterisk * at the end)

Wynleth Reiden

“Lathander isn’t going to strike me down if I don’t stop and kneel."

“Are you stupid?”

“Of course I’m not going to kill you!”

“And I’m still not sure you are actually what I think you are or just some freak with filed teeth and a biting kink!”

“My faith is entirely a different matter.”

“I am going to drown myself in the Chionthar.”

“It is precisely because you are a depraved beast that you get the juiciest gossip.”

“Yes, good sex!”

“I was married, he died… fifty-four years ago come Mirtul?”

“I- I think I need to be alone for a bit. I need to pray. I need to do something or I’m going to fall apart.”

“Is that why I took up the role of a garden water feature when I tried to dominate it?"

“Becoming a Paladin, beginning a life in politics, was how I could take control back. I never had a connection to Lathander like you did. I didn’t find him when I lost. He was never there for me in my darkest moments. He was forced upon me because it was expected . He inundates every single one of the worst moments in my life. Because of them .” *

"Here, every second of every day is focused on the words and what they mean and it's been like that for centuries. We are like an ouroboros. The dogma is causing us to consume ourselves.” *

"You are a soldier with faith, I am a priest sent to war. They are entirely different things.” *

"I have Saints, Martyrs, Prophets, all manner of Holy Persons in my family line. I was supposed to follow in their footsteps. But I didn’t. Not totally.” *

If you would like to see more of my writing (or some of the incomplete scenes these are pulled from) check out my tag on my account #Jericho Writes

If you are a Legends of Avantris and Edge of Midnight fan, By Any Other Name is a published oneshot about the Chapter 17 memory ritual you can find on my Ao3!

[andypantsx3]

Hii I just wanted to say always love hearing you talk about books!

As much as I love reading the biggest downside for me compared to fanfic is that there aren't any people immediately available to talk about a story with. I love that most often I am actually able to tell the author how much I loved their writing and seeing everyone in the comments express what they thought and felt is something I am so so grateful for!

But after I finish book that I have opinions on, whether I am freaking out over how great it was or if it made me once again question the publishing house that allowed it to go into print I am just like?? What am I supposed to do with myself now? most like i stare at a blank wall for about an hour to process and then try to move on with my day, it just not the same as being able to hear other peoples opinions on it. So, if you have any more book recs or just book thoughts please share them, it's really entertaining to read!

I hope you have/ had a good day :)

Ahhhh Archer you are such a good lil egg!! I I love talking books with other people too!! It drives me nuts because some of my faves are so niche and no one else I know has read them, because very few other people share my tastes.😭

I'm curious what your fave books are?? It's so hard to make recommendations without knowing your faves because I think book recs should be personalized to the recommendee's preferences. I would never rec my faves to the vast majority of readers, because they don't really appeal to the majority of people!!

But I guess that being said my all-time fave book as everyone already has heard me say ten million times is The Goblin Emperor, and I almost died of happiness when my beloved @acerathia read it too and I got to chat about it hehehe.

People are shocked when they learn this, because I am a silly idiot romance author and this book is very much not that. It's a meticulously-planned hurt/comfort fantasy of manners that is heavily character-driven. But to me, it is perfection. It is the pinnacle of literary achievement. It is so contemplative and explores the unique grief of losing people who were cruel or indifferent to you, about being kind in a world that makes it extremely hard to be, and about finding/making your own family in the face of social norms that would isolate you!! I just like how it gives you space to learn and process things with the MC, and how by the end of it you feel like you've grown as much as he has!! It's so earnest and hopeful and good and makes me want to rip apart a phone book with my bare hands!!!!

Another fave I semi-recently read is Winter's Orbit, which I think I have talked about on here too. It's another hurt/comfort-y found family narrative, only this time with real romance and space gays!!! The author actually first published this novel as an orig fic on ao3, and I think you can tell that by how much they seem to love and respect the tropes they employ. We get a little bit of the classic sunshine/raincloud dynamic with the two MCs, but the author does some absolutely fantastic character work and turns that right on its head, fully fleshing out both characters' buried personality traits, insecurities, and personal histories so that you end up with these two absolutely lovely good people who your heart totally aches for. It very much reads like an ao3 fic in the absolute best way, but polished and shined to perfection.

Another fave that I always blab about is the Pink Carnation series. This one is exactly what you would expect from me. It's silly idiot regency romance shenanigans, with several scoops of academia and historical espionage!! I think the author does such a good job at balancing the silliness of a fun romance with the intrigue of an actual historical thriller, and the characters are hilarious. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about with MCs who have major side character energy, as our first novel's protag Amy is good-hearted and smart enough in specific ways, but she is also unfailingly a horrible detective with a very limited perspective determined to be something she's not, and it also gets her into tons of sexy fun trouble.

So yeah!! If I had to blab about anything and rec things without knowing your specific tastes, it would be my holy trinity lmfao. But tell me more about ur faves, I wanna know!!!!

[magnusbane-lightwood]

It's me again :D 1. How seriously amazing is your header? I'm so very in love with it, I've been staring at your tumblr page for 5 minutes :DDD 2. I've started to read your number prompts and they are all so cute

And for the anon who asked: Can I have 17 written?Hi sweetie!

First of all: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Seriously, I tend to go back to this message and just get this incredibly goofy smile on my face. You’re seriously so damn sweet, thank you so much for, well for liking the things I write basically. It seriously means the world.

Second of all: This one got really long and since my day fucked up entirely and I won’t have time to write the last 1000 words right now, I thought I’d post it in chapters (hopefully I’ll be able to post chapter two tomorrow - since it’s almost finished - so you won’t have to wait long at all, please forgive me!)

Anyway, here’s chapter one! I hope it was at least somewhat along the lines of what you wanted (It takes place in the shadow-world still, but in this story Magnus and Alec didn’t meet because of Clary…):

You can read it on AO3 HERE if you’d like to!

17. “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…”

Isabelle frowned when she walked into the dark loft. Magnus and her had decided to meet up for lunch two hours prior and when the warlock hadn’t shown up, Isabelle had assumed he’d gotten caught up in work and forgotten about the time again. So she’d gone to his apartment to find him, but seeing the empty space had her instantly worried. It wasn’t all that unusual for Magnus to forget about the time whenever he was caught up in some spell, but he was a gentleman and if he would be out of his apartment for work and risked being late, then he’d always make sure to tell whoever he was meeting up with as much.

She’d met the High Warlock of Brooklyn at a downworlder party she’d gone to for her previous boyfriend, Meliorn, a few months back and their mutual interests in both fashion and science (as Magnus had explained - mixing potions wasn’t all that different from what she was doing in her lab) had the two of them instantly clicking. Despite the night having ended with a breakup for her, after she found Meliorn in bed with two vampires, she’d still considered it a success after Magnus had invited her over to his loft for drinks to “celebrate her getting rid of the trash”, as he’d called it. Although they both knew that the Seelie had never made any promises of exclusivity to the Shadowhunter, Isabelle had still found herself appreciating the supportive sentiment. They’d been best friends ever since.

Which was why she knew something most definitely wasn’t right with the picture before her.

Picking up her phone from her pocket, Isabelle dialed Magnus’ number and waited for the dial-tone, praying to the Angel that he’d pick up - Only to have the call cut off almost immediately. Her heart beating slightly in panic, she started looking around the loft for any indication to where her friend might be. After looking through the entire apartment without any results, she picked up a shirt to try tracking him. The light flared around her hands and an image of Magnus flashed before her eyes. He was in what looked to be a cage, shouting something she couldn’t hear. She tried to focus on getting a location, but before she could get so much as a hint, something slammed into the vision and it blinked out. With a curse, she stuffed the shirt into her bag and ran towards the institute.

She needed a stronger tracking.

***

“Alec, I need your help!”

Alec looked up from where he’d been planning out next week’s patrol-schedule and raised his eyebrows in question to his sister’s abrupt entrance.

“I thought you were having lunch with your friend?” he said, straightening up and looking his sister over. “What’s wrong?”

“I was, but something is wrong. He didn’t show up and he wasn’t at his apartment. I tried tracking him, but I got cut off by something. I need you and Jace to use your parabatai bond to track him”, Izzy explained and Alec knew better than to question his sister’s instincts. So he simply pushed off the table and started walking towards the training-room, where he knew Jace would be - especially since Raj had walked by earlier with a put-upon sigh that told the oldest Lightwood-sibling that his brother had roped the poor guy into training with him again.

“Sorry to interrupt guys”, he announced their presence when they walked in and almost smiled at the sight of Raj throwing Jace down on his back and pinning him with a knife to his throat before they both looked up at them.

“That”, Jace panted, his eyes on Raj’s smug face, “Does not count. Alec distracted me!”

The other man just huffed a laugh, helped him to his feet with a roll of his eyes and turned to Alec with a rise of his eyebrows.

“What’s up?” Jace voiced Raj’s unvoiced question.

“Izzy needs our help to track her friend, she thinks he might be in trouble”, Alec explained and Jace nodded as he started to remove his training-gloves and walked towards them.

“I could use a small break anyway, you want us to go out with you to find him too?” he said and Alec shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go with Izzy to check it out, call you if we need backup. You should probably go make sure Clary’s doing okay with her rune-studies anyway, leave Raj alone for once?” He gave Jace a pointed look and Raj mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him from where he was packing away the knives they’d been using.

“I have some work I need to get done anyway. You can try to beat me some other time, Blondie”, he said as he walked past them out of the room, patting Jace on the shoulder. Alec shook his head at Jace’s frown as he watched his retreating form.

“Still beating you, huh?” Alec asked and Jace returned his eyes to his parabatai with an exasperated look that made the corner Alec’s mouth lift, amused.

“I don’t know how he does it, the man is a freaking ninja! I figure out how to block one move and he’s already on to the next. It’s insane!” he answered and Alec just shrugged at him in a ‘what can you do’-manner.

“As much as I enjoy this little fanboy-moment of yours, Jace, we need to hurry up. Magnus is in trouble and I need to get to him”, Izzy spoke up, thrusting the shirt she’d brought towards them and Alec went into mission-mode as he grabbed the shirt along with Jace’s hand and started focusing on tracking the warlock.

The familiar feeling of Jace’s energy surged through him as the light swirled around their joined hands and a blurry picture opened up in his mind. He could make out the siluett of a man sitting cross-legged in a leaf-filled cell, light coming from somewhere above him. Magnus, Alec assumed as there didn’t seem to be anyone else around. He redirected his focus from the image to get a feel of where this cell was when a force slammed into him and both him and Jace grabbed the other tighter as they fought it to stay on the track. A symbol on the side of the cell caught Alec’s eye and as Jace gave his hand a small tug, he knew his parabatai had seen it to. Breathing out slowly, he felt Jace’s energy leave and slowly opened his eyes as he let go of the other’s hand.

“He’s in the Seelie-realm, in a cell of some kind. Doesn’t seem hurt though, but you’re right - we should hurry to get him out”, he answered his sister’s questioning look before walking away to get changed.

***

Magnus Bane was bored out of his freaking mind. Bored and irritated. He’d been stuck in this cage for hours, unable to do anything but wait for someone to notice his absence and come save him. He really hoped Isabelle hadn’t left him a message to cancel their lunch, because unless she noticed that he was gone no one would come for him in the next 24 hours. The prospect of sitting in this muddy room, with his magic drained enough to keep him from breaking out, for an entire day had him letting out another groan and letting his head fall back against the wall.

“If someone could send me a knight in shining armor to save me, that’d be great”, he grumbled towards the man-sized hole in the roof where the light was being let in. It was too high up for him to reach and possibly escape from and Magnus wasn’t too keen on risking a broken ankle in trying either, so he simply stared longingly at it and wished for a grand rescue of some kind.

***

“We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way”, Alec suggested and with a confirming nod from his sister he broke away to search for her friend. He wished he could say that it was a surprise to hear that the Seelies had thrown the High Warlock of Brooklyn into a cage for some reason, but considering that during Alec’s last meeting with the Seelie Queen, she’d been just about ready to do the same to him for not wanting to sleep with her, he really and truly wasn’t. Honestly, what was a surprise to him was how the rest of the faerie-folk were still accepting her as their leader. If Valentine and his people were what gave the Shadowhunters a bad reputation, then people like the Seelie Queen most definitely was what gave downworlders theirs. He’d discussed the matter of damaging downworlder-leaders with Luke and Raphael a few days prior, and the two of them had suggested they’d bring in the High Warlock to their monthly meetings, since he apparently had the most sway over the downworld as a whole.

Alec had never met Magnus Bane, but from what he’d heard about the man he seemed like a good person with a rather wild reputation. The latter was just from what he’d been told by his parents though. Izzy had protested wildly as they’d argued that her new best friend was, in their father’s words: ‘Somewhat of a lothario who is nowhere near fitting for a young shadowhunter woman to be socializing with’, and Alec couldn’t blame her. Especially since his father, who followed Valentine blindly for years, most certainly wasn’t in any position to judge anyone else. Alec sometimes thought back to how he’d viewed downworlders only two years earlier, before befriending Luke and Raphael after Clary had stumbled into their lives and turned it upside down, and felt ashamed of his past self. He hadn’t known better at that time, of course, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d thought of himself as above so many people when he’d had no right to.

Stepping over a few fallen branches, Alec surveyed the area around him, trying to see if anything looked even the slightest familiar to what he’d seen in his tracking-vision. It was no use though, they’d been forced to leave the vision too soon and hadn’t had a chance to see anything above ground from where the warlock was held. Alec heaved a frustrated sigh and continued moving forward at a swift speed.

He didn’t even make it another two yards before something sounded behind him and Alec whirled around, bow drawn and at the ready, only to be immediately blinded by a flash of light so bright he had to shield his eyes. In the shock he took a step backwards, and where he was certain there had been solid ground just a second before, were now nothing but air. With a surprised scream, Alec fell through the gaping hole in the ground.

***

Magnus looked up with a frown at the bright flash above him, just a second before something - or rather someone- fell through the hole in the roof of his cell with a scream and landed right in the middle of the little room. The man looked up towards the hole with a frown, obviously cursing its existence, before rubbing slightly at where he’d landed on his hip, grimacing slightly.

“I’m not at my full power because of the stupid wards on this place, but I’m pretty sure I could heal that for you if you want?”, Magnus spoke, rising and walking towards the man, surveying him calmly as he did so.

He seemed to finally notice that he hadn’t fallen into an empty cell and snapped his eyes up towards Magnus’ voice. The warlock felt his breath catch as the light from the roof-opening hit them, making them appear almost golden, but gathered himself quickly and reached out his hand with a gesture towards the man’s hip.

“So? You want some help with that, then?” he prompted, with a rise of his brows. That appeared to be enough to shake him out of where he’d been outright staring blatantly at Magnus - obviously still surprised that there was someone else in this stupid cell, not that Magnus could blame him all that much for that - and he started rummaging through his pockets until he finally drew a stele from one of them.

Ah, a shadowhunter then, Magnus thought and finally noticed the rune running up the man’s neck as he bent over to activate his Iratze.

“Or you can do that, I guess” he mumbled and dropped his hand before returning to sit against the wall. When the man had finished healing his hip, he returned his gaze to Magnus, cocking his head slightly to the side, and the warlock was once again struck how gorgeous this man truly was. In the shadows, his eyes appeared almost green and Magnus reached his hand out again:

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck down here together, I feel like we should at the very least know each other’s name. I’m..”

The man rose slightly from his seat to grab Magnus’ hand this time as he interrupted.

“Magnus Bane, yeah I know. I’m actually…” he started, before looking around, a frown etched on his face once again.

“Uhm… Well, I’m here to… To rescue you, actually. I came with my sister, she was worried when you didn’t show up for lunch and…” he looked at Magnus again and, to the warlock’s delight, seemed to forget what he was talking about the second their eyes met. Magnus raised his eyebrows in question at the statement and hummed in acknowledgement before he spoke:

“As much as I appreciate the whole ‘handsome knight in a not-so-very-white and shining armor coming to my rescue’, they usually tend to avoid falling into the cage with the princess. Well, prince in this case”, he teased and smiled as a blush rose on the other’s cheeks.

“Yeah, that’s… That wasn’t exactly part of the plan”, the man admitted and Magnus squeezed his hand where he was still holding on to it, dragging him slightly towards him to lean against the wall instead of sitting in the middle of the room. The shadowhunter followed without complaint and Magnus smiled to himself at that.

“Well, since it looks like we’ll be trapped here for a while why don’t you…” he started and then the man’s words from earlier registered with him and he looked up at him with a huge smile blooming freely on his lips.

“Wait, did you say sister? Isabelle sent you? She’s here?” he asked, more than excited about the prospect of the man not being all alone on this rescue-mission.

“Yeah, we split up and she went the other way. I… I’m not entirely sure when she’ll be here though”, the man confirmed and then muttered something about hoping she was smarter than him and didn’t accidentally fall in here with them too. Magnus cocked his head as he regarded this new information. Isabelle had told him she had three brothers and looking at the man before him he registered the physical attributes his friend had used to describe them all with. He hummed slightly to himself before saying:

“Tall, dark hair, gorgeous hazel-eyes and a preference for the bow… You must be Alexander then?” he purred and the blush on the man’s cheeks deepened furiously.

“Alec”, the man - Alec Lightwood apparently - corrected him with a nod.

***A/N: I hope you like it thus far and I’ll try to hurry up and get chapter two up for you by tomorrow! Also: I’m writing some other fluffy malec-things that were supposed to be posted during the day, but since my day just got completely fucked up they might have to wait until the weekend… ugh, life! Sorry!If you have any prompt you’d like to send me (or simply share your thoughts on some matter), my ask-box is always open! If you’d like to give me one of the number-prompts, then you can find the different numbers HERE!