Jalecweek Day 5: Domestic
“Did you put my leather jacket in the washmashine again?”
- Jace Wayland to Alec Lightwood in Shadowhunters 01x05
(This comment is highly underrated!)
“Alec, did you see my leather jacket? The one from last Thursday’s hunt?”, Jace asked as he let himself into Alecs room, already scanning the familiar quarter before he even closed the door.
It was far from a strange sight, having his Parabatai burst into his space like that. They had given up on courtesies like knocking or announcing themselfs even before their bonding ceremony. After all, if you willingly shared a part of your soul with someone there is hardly anything that could be more intimate or private afterwards.
So usually Jace walking into his room like that wouldn’t even have made Alec look up from the book he was reading. Not even the question was that unusual considering the amount of time they spend in each other’s presence and therefore rooms. A whole bunch of clothing articles lay at the bottom of Alecs drawer that were too short for him since he was sixteen. How Jace had cursed his growth spurt back then. And Alec was completely sure that Jace still held on to one of his favorite t-shirts. He hadn’t seen it in months.
Therefore the situation was hardly out of the ordinary. Definetly no reason for Alec’s shoulders to tense for a second. It was short and a normal person wouldn’t have noticed. But for the blonde who could read the archers tiniest movement in the haze of battle it must have been like a flare. He abandoned the examination of Alec’s room, asking: “You ok?”
This time Alec visibly flinched and Jace raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. “Yeah - and it’s here”, he mumbled quietly and put his book away. Carefully the archer rose from his bedside and walked over to the laundry basket, all the time avoiding eye contact with the other Shadowhunter. After a moment of rummaging around Alec pulled out a slightly faded garment. Jacket in hand he walked over to Jace and held it out to him, his eyes darting nervously between his friends chin and the ground.
Still looking confused Jace took it from him. His eyes widening in surprise as he touched the once smooth material. “Wow, I didn’t remember the shax ichor to be that bad”, he said at the detaching seams. “It wasn’t just the ichor - I - I tried to wash it”, Alec confessed.
Eyeing the jacket from both sides now Jace snorted: “How? Did you put it in the washmashine?”
Silence.
To Alec’s surprise it took Jace mere seconds to go from light amusement to downright laughter. “By the angel you did! Alec half your own wardrobe is made of leather, what compelled you to do that?”, he cackled.
“I -”, Alec started but his voice broke before he could say anything more so he just turned his gaze and mumbled: “It’s not as sturdy as it looks, ok. But you can’t really complain until you start doing your laundry yourself.”
“After seeing this I should probably do both our laundry from now on”, said Jace and raised the ruined jacket that still failed to keep his huge grin.
Heat was setting his neck ablaze but Alec used every training lesson he ever had about self-control to keep his stoic look on his face. However the blush stayed ignored by his partner, just as Alec’s embarrassment about the whole situation. Jace simply threw the jacket away without another glance. Standing there in complete surprise Alec watched the other man walking over to his closet and pulling it open. “Jace?”, he asked carefully but the blond had obviously decided to ignore him. Just as Alec made a few steps to stand behind him the other turned around with a triumphant: “That will do.”
In his hands he held one of Alec’s own jackets, simpler then Jaces and obviously too large for him. “I don’t think so”, the ravenette started but was immediately interrupted by Jace. “Bullshit, thy people shall be my people, thy gear shall be my gear remember?”
“The oath I remember sounded a bit different”, Alec noted with sceptically raised eyebrows. Still he took a step back so Jace could pass him while throwing his jacket on.
Surprisingly Jace actually managed to fit into the gear piece quiet nicely undoubtably thanks to his melee fighting style. The arms stayed too long though. But Jace simply rolled them up a bit as if it was completely normal to wear unfitting gear. “That’s dangerous. It could end badly if you can’t move properly while your in battle”, Alec commented.
“Relax Alec, it will be fine. And you’ll have my back anyway, right?”
What a needless question.
Even Jace seemed to have realized that as he turned around with a cocky grin. “Or are you just jealous because it suits me better then it does you?”
Another pointless question.
Where Alec was concerned everything as well as nothing suited Jace better then him. And the other knew it. That damn smile was proof enough as the blonde looked over his shoulder. Shaking his head the archer asked: “Your going out then?”
“Yeah, shapeshifter in Manhatten. You comin?”
“Don’t get greedy Wayland. You already got my jacket”, Alec replied but non the less went to grab his own gear, casually of course. No need to make his lack of resistance obvious.
“Well you destroyed mine, more effectively than any demon I might add. So I need compensation! Or do you want me to walk gearless and alone into battle. Probably getting killed by some lowly shapeshifter.”, Jace mocked him but Alecs voice was sober as he replied: “You know I’d rather cut my own hand off then let that happen.”
Mischief sparkled in Jaces mismatched eyes as he grabbed Alec and pulled him forward. “What a waste. Let’s put your hand to better use.”
Alec didn’t resist, there was no point when Jace was like this - enthusiastic about even the most routine missions. And the ruined jacket lay abandoned in the corner of his room so he couldn’t really complain. “Do you actually have a permit for this mission? -”, he started and was quickly interrupted by Jace: “Come on Alec, stop wasting time. It will be a quicky. And afterwords I shall introduce you to the four proper ways of using a washmashine.”
Alec flinched but the others smile and touch were calming. The younger man once again managed to put him at ease without actually trying and Alec couldn’t help but return the gesture. Amused he asked: “There is more then one?”
His Parabatai snorted and pulled him out of the room, probably right into their next daily mess. But Alec wouldn’t want it any other way.
