The Many Faces of Alec

Just many different versions of Alec and therefore many different versions of Malec

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

The Introduction

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

“No, I’m not sure I could call that a compliment.” His lips pursed but he couldn’t hide the upward curve of his lips betraying his smile. “I am going to venture a guess and say you’ve never had to speak it before. More than a word of two.  It wasn’t surprising. Most of the type, people would figure out how to speak the language of the white person, rather than the other way around, so if there were enough people to get by on them translating, many didn’t bother to learn the native tongue of countries they were in. It was just a simple fact, not something he had given much thought.

“I’m from the Dutch East Indies… though I am told one of my parents must have been from China. I don’t remember them that well.” Magnus didn’t say that to garner any pity, nor did he have a great sadness about his voice. He would never have survived very long if he hadn’t had to push down all the sadness and fear that had been involved in him leaving home. “I was very surprised that you were and Englishman… most of the English have titles, come here for pleasure, or work in some sort of business. But you, you make money for this?” He looked at Alec curiously, thinking he would have had to have been from money to travel here, but then why work?

Even though it wasn’t a laugh or anything major, Alec was able to pick up on the small smile on Magnus’ face, and he couldn’t help but feel some pride in knowing that he was the one who caused it. Alec wasn’t known to be witty or funny, something that he long ago accepted about himself, so knowing that he was able to get at least a small reaction of amusement out of the other man was a huge win for him. “No, even though I’ve been here a few years, I’ve always been able to get by with speaking English. I guess it helps that I’m an artist because I’ve always been able to use images if I couldn’t find the right words.” If Alec thought about it, there was a deeper reason why he had no desire to learn the native language. He used the language barrier as an emotional barrier to keep other people out of his life. 

As Alec listened carefully to Magnus’ story, Alec was utterly intrigued with the other man. He had so many questions for Magnus, the main on being exactly why he didn’t remember his parents, but he was also perfectly aware of how delicate the relationship one can have with their parents and didn’t want to pry too much and make his muse uncomfortable. He was also nervous that asking the other man too many questions meant that he would receive some as well. A fear that turned out to come true when Magnus started to talk about English titles and why he was there. “Yes, I am very good at what I do so I make a decent living from my art.” He knew that Magnus was probably looking for a better answer, but Alec wasn’t one to give up personal information willingly. 

[mraleclightwood]

Another Chance Encounter

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Alec was just so quiet. Magnus had no idea whether the other man wished he was a million miles away, not at Alec’s party, ruining it by being an awkward reminder. Perhaps Alec was bisexual as well, but that wasn’t what Magnus was reading from his body language with Lydia. Yes, she was his “date” but they hadn’t touched and he had barely looked at her. In fact, most of the time when Magnus looked over at him, Alec was looking at him. No, he didn’t get a vibe that the two of them were actually anything together, but that of course didn’t mean Alec was pleased to him. Why would he be, when he was with his sister, after all?

A slight grimace appeared on his face when his thoughtless words caused Alec to choke on his drink, which he failed to cover up with the cough, though he didn’t think Lydia or Izzy knew what that choke was about. Perhaps they thought he was just startled to have another man ask him to show him where the bathroom was. After all, it was an odd request, rather than to just be pointed in the direction. Izzy might guess something, since he knew he himself had been acting odd and was not specifically asking Alec to show him, but he couldn’t be bothered to care what she was speculating at that point.

Nodding once when he agreed, Magnus turned and followed behind him, depositing his empty glass on a passing server’s tray with an apology. He swallowed when Alec looked back toward him. God, he had to think of something to say. What could he say to make this any less awkward or strange? Once the bathroom was in sight, he followed Alec in, looking around to see if any of the stalls were being used, but luckily they appeared to be alone, for the moment. He walked nearer the sinks, stopping and looking at himself in the mirror before turning and looking at Alec. “I hope you know I had no idea she was your sister. I mean, I couldn’t, I didn’t even your name and I never saw you there again. But we haven’t really done anything, honestly.” 

Once he was finally alone with Magnus in yet another bathroom, Alec felt almost overwhelmed with conflicting feelings. He was still confused about how in the world Magnus could possibly end up at his party and irritated that he was here as his sister’s date. However, the moment he stepped into the bathroom, the main feeling rushing through his body was pure, unadulterated lust. Alec was having flashbacks of the last time they were around stalls, and his body definitely wanted to relive the experience. He knew it wasn’t possible though. Even if they weren’t at his own party with his parents lingering somewhere close by, there was still the issue that this man was pretty much dating his sister. Sadly, Alec was reluctantly aware that Izzy was very much a sexual being, and the thought of  Mangus and Isabelle sleeping together definitely extinguished any lingering flames of desire.

It seemed like Magnus wanted to clear the air quickly concerning the whole Izzy situation, which is something that Alec appreciated even if he knew he had no real claim on Magnus so there was no reason for the other man to explain. “Yeah, no. I know there’s no way you could have known...” As a clear sign of just how awkward Alec found this whole situation, he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands. “And a- well, it’s not like you owe me an explanation or anything. You can- you can do whatever you want.” That last sentence was much harder for Alec to say than it should be. Up until tonight, he didn’t even know the other man’s name, so he had no right to feel like he had a say on who Magnus dated or not. “Oh, I believe you... Izzy’s the type to not hold anything back about her love life just because she knows how uncomfortable it makes me, so I would have heard about it. And speaking of Izzy, she’s going to know that something is up between us, so I guess we need to get our story straight.”

[mraleclightwood]

Round 1 - Begin

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse: 

Magnus felt drained as he tried to help the man, but something in him was telling him he wasn’t strong enough and the other man wasn’t strong enough either, that together, it wouldn’t be good enough. Still, he didn’t stop, on the hopes his gut feeling was mistaken. He listened between the two of them as the dying man tried to explain, though his eyes were closed in concentration. He couldn’t even muster up feeling smug about his being correct in that moment. Was this even a real person? Alec claimed to be, but what about this one? He’d said “newbies” that made him think he might be, which made him more desperate to try and help him. He’d seen Alec in massive amounts of pain and he knew that this not being reality didn’t seem to stop them from feeling pain, maybe actually dying.

He forced his eyes open to try and see what Alec was doing with the stele, but he noticed his healing energy had started to feel like it was no longer working, and was about to stop to check on the man who had become eerily still when the body started to disappear in front of their very eyes. Magnus’s eyes widened in shock, falling backward out of his crouched position and onto his ass before he shuffled back. Blinking, he looked over at Alec, who had clearly seen it too. Fuck. It made him have more questions than answers. “Where did-… where do you think he went? Do you- think he got to wake up?”

Magnus was asking him what seemed like a barge of questions, but sadly Alec was asking himself the same ones, so he didn’t have any answers for the other man. Of course, he had a good feeling that all those questions were rhetorical since the other man knew full well that Alec knew just as much about what was going on as Magnus did. It didn’t stop Alec from attempting to answer though. It was still hard for him to accept all this was real, so Alec had to constantly re-shift his way of thinking as he tried to process everything that had happened so far. Alec mimicked the other man’s motion and fell back on his ass. “Seems too easy though, wouldn’t it? Whatever the hell this is had to take a lot of time and effort to pull off, so why would someone make it that easy to escape.”  He reached up to run a hand through his hair in frustration as he made a futile attempt to gather his thoughts. “I don’t think I want to take a chance just to find out, do you?”

He couldn’t dwell on what could have possibly happen to the other man after he disappeared or else he felt his head for literally explode. Instead Alec chose to focus on the new information that the man was able to pass on to them. He picked up what he now knew was a stele and looked at it with a new sense of understanding, even if it all still didn’t make sense. It lit up almost instantly for him without him having to really concentrate on it, and he instinctively brought the glowing tip down to the skin of his arm. He traced on of the black marks there, and it started to glow before changing back to the usual black. Alec was expecting it to hurt, and yes it did burn some but it was nothing unbearable. 

As soon as the glowing faded, Alec instantly felt - or rather heard - a difference. All of a sudden his hearing improved by an inordinate amount and his senses were overwhelmed with noises. “Woah...” It was as elegant of a reply as Alec could muster as he tried to sort out everything he was hearing. The main noises he could make out was his and Magnus’ heaving breathing, the creaks and groans of the old house, and some smaller animals scurrying around both in and outside of the house. “Well good news, I think whatever attacked us earlier is gone. Now we just have to decide if we actually want to go out there or just hole up in here.” 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

It Could Happen To You

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:   

“Is making sure some city boy knows how to ski something important?” He chuckled at the thought, but even though he was amused, he couldn’t help but feel flattered. His smile faltered when he realized what Alec was pointing out, about him leaving when the storm passed, which wasn’t untrue. “Well,” He started to say, looking down at his drink to be coy. “Now that I know this place exists, there’s no real reason why I couldn’t come back around here.” He shrugged his shoulders like it would be the easiest thing in the world and looked back up at Alec. Laughing in surprise before his brow furrowed in confusion, he shook his head. “You have someone who thinks she can raise the dead? That’s nutty.” Tutting, he couldn’t help the smile that remained on his face, since it was all too easy to sit here and be amused. That, plus looking at Alec’s face just made him want to smile. It was a good face, after all.

Magnus was definitely a little relieved neither of them made a big deal about him writing for fashion, but at the same time, it confused him. He was used to someone being at least a little starstruck that he had literally gone to another country to write an article, but they were both surprisingly chill. But then, maybe they were distracted. Alec seemed to be, since he was watching his sister instead of looking like he even heard what Magnus had said. Still thinking of things he could do with her there, he chuckled, taking up a napkin. “Why would I not be interested to hear about that? I am… what’s the restaurant called?” He looked over at Alec and back at his napkin, doodling at first so if either of them paid attention they would hopefully not find it that interesting or curious. He didn’t want them to be paying too much attention as he started to write the name of the hotel he was staying at and the room number in cursive over the paper. “I suppose that depends on what you mean by a lot? A few times a year, yeah, but I also get sent to other countries. They like me to write about the different fashion based on culture or parts of the world.” He sucked some of the flavor off his thumb and used a different napkin to dry his fingers off completely before he pushed his hand into his pocket to try and fish out his wallet. He did want to make sure he paid for his meal.

Alec merely shrugged his shoulders when Magnus asked why Alec seemed so intent on teaching him to ski. He had given up any pretenses that he had any skill at talking to attractive guys, but he knew he had to save some face by not appearing too overly-eager. “My two big loves are cooking and skiing, so if I have the chance to share one of those loves with someone else, then I’m going to take it.” He knew he could offer to teach him to cook, but that was almost sacred to Alec and he didn’t know if he had the time or the patience to properly teach him. Maybe he had more time than he thought though when Magnus mentioned the possibility of coming back for a visit. “Well, I’m sure I’ll still be right here if you do decide to come back for a visit.” Alec laughed along with Magnus about Iris’ antics, and he nodded his head to affirm his question. “She really does... Sometimes it gets so bad that she starts to carry around dead animals. She even tried to bring a few of them into the diner with her, but we put a stop to that because that would definitely be a code violation right there.”

As he was sitting on the stool next to Izzy, he could see her leg bounce in excitement and knew that it was taking all her willpower not to jump in and monopolize Magnus’ time with a barrage of questions about the fashion industry. He made himself a promise right then and there to make sure to give the two of them some time for her to give him the third degree. Magnus surprised Alec when he actually seemed interested in Alec’s restaurant talk.  “I don’t know... It seems like even though most people love to know where they best places are to eat, they just want the basics. They would much rather hear about interesting museums or clubs... But his restaurant is called Dinner by Heston. He has another one outside of London called The Fat Duck that’s supposed to be even better though.” 

The jealously of hearing Magnus’ travel opportunities was there but it wasn’t overwhelming and didn’t have Alec feeling any ill-will towards the other man. Although he might have felt a little differently if Magnus told him that his travels were food related. “So where all have you been then or would it take you all night to name them?” Having a fashionable sister seemed to actually work in his favor as knew just enough about it to carry on a small conversation without her help. “So do you work for Vogue or another magazine like that?” Soon enough they had all finished their meal, which cleared Alec’s standards so he was satisfied even though he knew he needed to make a few changes the next time he prepared it. Alec figured that now would be the perfect time to let his sister have full access to Magnus, so he started to pick up their now empty plates. “It’s too cold and too late to have you walk so if you give me a bit to clean up,  Izzy and I can give you a ride.” 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

The Introduction

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

It was a shame to think Alec would soon be done needing to position him and Magnus would have to just lounge there moving very little and getting colder without the large, warm hands passing over his body, but he figured as long as he knew Alec was having to look at him, and perhaps enjoy what he was looking at, it couldn’t be all bad. He briefly stretched his legs before moving them back where they had been before. His eyes dropped to where Alec was having trouble deciding where to put his arm and he smirked.

Once he spoke, it was almost comical how Alec looked around to make sure it wasn’t someone else speaking to him, even though he knew that Alec couldn’t be that direction challenged. Watching him and admiring his face when he turned it back to Magnus’s, he breathed out and was relieved to see the smile on his face. He could easily be cross with him, so Magnus was just glad to see it. He looked very good when he smiled. “I speak several languages,” He murmured with a lazy nod. “I’m not Indian, but I speak it well, don’t you think?”

Alec caught the movement of Magnus’ legs from out of the corner of his eye, so he naturally turned his head to follow it. That was a very bad decision on Alec’s part. He was already too close to this gorgeous man for his own personal comfort, but he had been doing such a good job at keeping focused on the job at hand while he was positioning his muse. That all flew out the window as his eyes took in the man’s long legs and smooth, flawless skin. Alec subconsciously licked his lips before shaking his head a bit to try and clear the very inappropriate thoughts that had poured in at the sight. 

Even though Alec knew that Magnus purposefully deceived him about not speaking English, he already knew it wasn’t done to be deliberately mean which was why Alec wasn’t upset at all about it. He was mainly just glad that this meant that hopefully they would now be able to avoid any long, awkward silences caused by a language barrier. When Magnus told him that he spoke several languages, Alec was impressed but not entirely surprised. In just the few minutes that he had spent around him, Alec could see that Magnus carried himself with confidence and seemed quite intelligent. “Much better than I do, but that’s not saying much.” Alec laughed lightly at his own self-deprecation and jumped at the chance to get to know that other man better. “If you’re not from here, where are you from?” 

[mraleclightwood]

Another Chance Encounter

[mraleclightwood]

mraleclightwood:

Izzy knew something weird was happening. It was impossible with how well she was able to read Alec for her not to. Luckily, even if she like to act out sometimes just to irritate their parents, she knew now was not the time or place to confront Alec about it. She gave him that look though that made it clear to Alec that he was going to get the third-degree from her the second that she could. That gave him some time to try and pull together a plausible story, although he knew that it was almost futile to waste the time and effort to do so because for one thing, Alec was a horrible liar, and another thing, Izzy knew him way too well. The other problem that trying to come up with a lie to tell his sister created was that he would obviously have to talk privately to Magnus about it to coordinate their stories since the other man and Izzy were so close, which was something that Alec did not want to dwell on too much.

Alec was glad that Magnus choose to address Lydia first because it gave him a bit more time to pull himself together, something that Magnus seemed to have no problem doing which caused Alec to resent him a tiny bit. The way Magnus seem to so casually move the conversation between all of them proved that while he clearly remembered Alec, he also wasn’t as affected by their short time together as Alec was. His ego instantly deflated at the realization, and it made him almost embarrassed at all the time he spent fixating about their hook up over the past few months. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he Magnus began speaking directly to him. “Thanks.” Alec took the time to clear his throat to stop the stuttering that he felt was getting ready to follow. “Izzy told me a bit about you, but not a lot. So um- how did you two meet?” 

Even though he didn’t have the experience yet to back it up, Alec thought one of his best assets for being a lawyer was that he loved to observe people. Most people thought he was so quiet because he was shy and anti-social, and while that had a bit to do with it, the main reason that Alec didn’t speak too much was that he was too busy trying to get a good read on the people around him. No matter how long he watched Magnus though - and yes he realized he was definitely watching him far too long if he didn’t want anyone to figure out something was off between them - Alec just couldn’t get a good read on the man. His memory of the night they first met may have been skewed by alcohol, but Alec clearly remembered Magnus being cool and confident. The fact the the man currently standing in front of him was quite fidgety meant that maybe Magnus wasn’t so unaffected like Alec first thought. He was finally able to pull his gaze away from Magnus when he saw Izzy wrapping her hand around his arm. In Alec’s mind, it was almost as if Izzy was trying to stake her claim even though the logical part of his mind knew that his sister wasn’t the type to be that petty.

He was looking around the room, purposely trying to avoid seeing Magnus and Izzy together. When he heard Magnus say that it was Clary who set them up, Alec couldn’t help but to roll his eyes. Of course she was the cause of this... She always did seem to be a pain in Alec’s ass. Alec looked back over at the two of them when Magnus apologized for something and was pleased to see that Izzy’s hand was no longer wrapped around Magnus’ arm. Sadly, he decided to take a drink of his champagne right as Magnus asked Alec to show him to the bathroom which caused him to choke. He desperately tried to hide his faux pas as a simple cough, but he knew it wasn’t very convincing. He could have just pointed Magnus in the right direction, that was what he should have done if he didn’t want Izzy to be even more suspicious, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend some time alone with the guy he’s been fantasizing about for months. “Sure...” He excused himself from Lydia and turned in the direction of the bathroom, glancing back to make sure Magnus was following him. Maybe by the time they reached the men’s room, Alec would finally figure out what the hell he was going to stay to the other man when they were finally alone.

[mraleclightwood]

Another Chance Encounter

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Magnus could only hope that his face wasn’t giving everything away, how shocked he was, how his shaking Alec’s hand was more automatic than he looked like he even realized he was doing it. After the shock stopped being the all encompassing feeling, the awkwardness of the situation began to settle into his stomach. He glanced at Izzy but while she did look like she thought something was off, she clearly didn’t have a good enough excuse or strong enough feeling to pursue the subject, for which he was grateful. Magnus had always imagined meeting this man again in a setting like the club, of it being some sort of movie style, time stopping moment where he saw him from across the bar and slow motion walked over to introduce himself and make sure he left with Magnus’s number programmed into his phone, if not left with Magnus himself, that is. Now, it was sinking in that all of those plans were thrown out the window, as he was literally here as this man’s sister’s date. The idea that he could give him his phone number now seemed completely shot down,  and so did his mood, in turn.

Distracting himself by introducing himself to the pretty blonde standing next to Alec, his mouth quirked into a joyless smile when she said she was here as Alec’s date. Of course. All kinds of obstacles. “It’s nice to meet you, Lydia,” He nodded once to her before his eyes moved back over to Alec’s face. “And you too, of course. I wanted to say congratulations. Isabelle-” your sister. Fuck. “Said you just graduated law school. That’s quite impressive.” At this point, he wasn’t sure if he’d prefer the floor swallow him up or just the two girls  standing beside them. If they weren’t there, he could apologize, he could try and tell him that he hadn’t stopped thinking about him, but wouldn’t that just sound tainted now? Magnus nodded along to his words, his hair somewhat falling into his eye as he moved his head. He glanced at Lydia again as if she was the obstacle here, and hadn’t even seemed to remember Izzy was still there until she tried to take his arm while he quickly switched drink hands and used that arm to lift the drink up to take a sip.

Izzy knew something weird was happening. It was impossible with how well she was able to read Alec for her not to. Luckily, even if she like to act out sometimes just to irritate their parents, she knew now was not the time or place to confront Alec about it. She gave him that look though that made it clear to Alec that he was going to get the third-degree from her the second that she could. That gave him some time to try and pull together a plausible story, although he knew that it was almost futile to waste the time and effort to do so because for one thing, Alec was a horrible liar, and another thing, Izzy knew him way too well. The other problem that trying to come up with a lie to tell his sister created was that he would obviously have to talk privately to Magnus about it to coordinate their stories since the other man and Izzy were so close, which was something that Alec did not want to dwell on too much.

Alec was glad that Magnus choose to address Lydia first because it gave him a bit more time to pull himself together, something that Magnus seemed to have no problem doing which caused Alec to resent him a tiny bit. The way Magnus seem to so casually move the conversation between all of them proved that while he clearly remembered Alec, he also wasn’t as affected by their short time together as Alec was. His ego instantly deflated at the realization, and it made him almost embarrassed at all the time he spent fixating about their hook up over the past few months. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he Magnus began speaking directly to him. “Thanks.” Alec took the time to clear his throat to stop the stuttering that he felt was getting ready to follow. “Izzy told me a bit about you, but not a lot. So um- how did you two meet?” 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

The Introduction

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Seeing the way the artist’s face turned red and how he adverted his eyes made Magnus smile to himself. So he did find him attractive. Surely the raj hadn’t known about Alec’s preferences though, Magnus thought, or he might not have ever left him in a room with Magnus needing to strip or be touched. He probably thought nothing of it. Magnus knew the raj liked to think of himself as being rare or special for this particular interest and wasn’t always likely to think of anyone wanting Magnus as well if they had testicles. Knowing, however, that Alec was shy or embarrassed about seeing him like this did please him and just made him more convinced that he had to have Alec position him himself, wanting to feel his hands on him, so he looked as clueless as possible even while Alec was shrugging at him.

Watching him come over to him, Magnus slowly breathed in and let Alec move him any which way he thought would be best, just enjoying the touch and being pliable in his hands. Smiling slightly to himself when he felt Alec’s hands shaking, he glanced at him, hesitating as he thought about it, but he decided to wait until Alec seemed mostly done positioning before he spoke quietly, in perfect English. “You are very good with your hands.” His gaze flicked from Alec’s nearest hand and up to his face, wetting his lips as he admired him.

Alec wasn’t a blushing virgin, sure he wasn’t all that experience, but he wasn’t new to seeing a naked man. He sure felt like one though as he tried to maneuver the other man into the best possible position. Magnus didn’t have a bad side or angle and from the little movements that he witness the man make, he knew exactly how to move his body to perfectly accentuate his fine features, so Alec probably didn’t need to do much. However, even if it made him look and feel like a nervous wreck, Alec wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to literally get his hands on the beautiful man. 

Doing a full body portrait was going to take time, and since Alec was meticulous about details, he knew that Magnus needed to be in a comfortable position to withstand long sessions that would be necessary to finish. For the most part, he was pleased with how he had him, but one of Magnus’ arms was giving him issues. Alec had just adjusted it one more time when he heard someone speaking English to him. He knew the sound was coming from Magnus, but it still came as shock so Alec looked around the room to make sure he didn’t miss someone else entering. After he confirmed that they were indeed still along and deduced that it was Magnus speaking to him, he looked down at the other man. “Wha-” Even if he was completely surprised at hearing him speak a language that he actually understood, he felt a sense of relief and a small smile crept on up on his face. “So you do speak English?”

[mraleclightwood]

Round 1 - Begin

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

At first, aside from jumping back, Magnus didn’t react, seeing Alec out of the corner of his eye raising up the bow that he had just snatched out of Magnus’s hands, and he thought about raising his own hand up. Sometimes shooting things out of it happened. Once he saw the blood, however, he seriously doubted this person was any sort of threat, and clearly the man didn’t think they were either since he let his guard down and heavily fell back and down the door. Magnus winced when he saw the blood smear left down the door. Alec reacted quicker, rushing over to him. A bad feeling twisted in his stomach about this man’s chances. He felt worn out from healing Alec and the man already looked so pale, but fuck, he had to try.

When Alec called him over, it reminded him how far away he still was so he hurried up and along over to him, crouching down by the man. His blue mist was certainly fainter this time, but he put all his energy and thought into it, though it didn’t seem to be working that well. Perhaps making the man feel less pain. He furrowed his brow as he focused on it, hearing the man as he weakly shoved an object strikingly similar as Alec’s “magic wand” at him. “Please. Activate my healing rune.” Magnus heard the man utter at Alec, turning his head slightly to present his Iratze rune that was on his neck to him, as if he expected him to know what to do. “I’m not strong enough. Never thought i’d meet another Shadowhunter or- or a warlock in here.”

He had seen the blue mist coming from Magnus’ hands several times now and had been on the receiving end of it, but he still jumped back just a bit after Magnus joined them and began to do his thing to the other man. It was just so fascinating to him that he almost got so caught up in watching his hands that he almost forgot about the severely injured man by his side. As the stranger was rambling about healing runes and warlocks, Alec was seriously considering checking him for head wounds because clearly there was some damage. Then Alec remembered exactly where they were and what he’d already experienced so of course something that sounded completely irrational was actually possible. 

After the man passed on his mini-flashlight, Alec just stared at it, trying desperately to just somehow know exactly what he was supposed to do with it to help the other man. “Fuck. Of course you’re newbies.” Alec was raised by parents who didn’t believe in failure, especially for their children, so it killed him not to know what to do. “Sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say in the moment, but maybe they could get some answers. “This,” the man reached out a bloody hand and pointed at the object now in Alec’s hand, “is a s-stele and it activates these rune,” he then pointed down to a symbol on his neck, “that give us certain powers.” The strangers was struggling to get out each word, and even though Alec could tell that Magnus was doing everything possible that he knew to do, it wasn’t helping. “We’re stuck. In a video game.” It’s sad that even with watching a man fighting to survive, Alec was irked that Magnus’ theory about the video game seemed to be correct. “Need to collect the Mortal Instru-” 

Mortal Instruments. Alec knew that was the main goal in the video game that he was playing before this mess happened. However, he had just started playing the game and didn’t read too much about the details of it, so he wasn’t actually sure what the Mortal Instruments were. Alec was too busy trying to rack his brain to try to remember everything he could about the video game, he didn’t even realize that the stranger had stopped talking until it was too late. He quickly brought the stele up towards the rune on the man’s neck that he indicated towards, which immediately lit up when it was close to the rune. The dark tattoo began to turn red and looked like it was burning, but then the light quickly faded and the rune turned black once more. Alec didn’t see the man’s chest rising and was reaching out to check for a pulse when the man’s body began to fade. Alec instantly pulled his hands away and scooted back a foot or so. “What the fuck...” Just when Alec thought he may finally be able to make sense of things, this place threw him another curve ball. 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

It Could Happen To You

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

“Luckily, I think I might have found my man. Unless the diner keeps you too busy to teach someone to ski?” His eyebrows raised as he asked, wondering if he was just pushing his luck. So far, he was nudging forward to see when Alec would shut him down, but he hadn’t yet, so Magnus could help but seeing where he could get. Shaking his head at Alec’s words, sure that he hadn’t understood, he chuckled. “No, I didn’t mean all this,” He waved a hand over himself. “I meant my behavior.” He was starting to wonder if it was not that Alec wasn’t hit on ever, but that he just didn’t see it when it was happening. At this point, that conclusion seemed more likely.

Magnus easily made small talk with Izzy while Alec was in the kitchen, asking her about the people she had just been serving, how long she had worked there, etc. As soon as he heard Alec coming back, however, his head lifted and he straightened up his posture somewhat, watching him come back and giving him a smile. There was something very charming about him, plus he thought Izzy and he might be fairly too similar, and as much as he loved himself, he didn’t really want to date himself. He’d be much too insecure.

He watched Alec settle on the stool between them and did a double take when he noticed the look Izzy was giving him, wondering if any of this was uncommon for him. He smiled to himself at the thought and finished off his coffee, setting it aside. When they both seemed happy enough eating in silence, he picked up some of his fries and quietly munched them down. Letting his lips, his head turned back toward Alec. “Oh, London. I was writing about a fashion event over there.” Magnus considered his position, wondering if it wouldn’t be weird and disrespectful for him to keep trying to hit on him with his sister right there, so he started brain storming ways to get around that as he ate the rest of his ribs quite happily.

Alec perked up immediately when Magnus made it more than obvious that he would have no problems with Alec teaching him. “Yeah... no, I would make the time for something that important.” However, the reality of everything quickly set and he remembered why he didn’t originally want to get his hopes up any. “But I guess by the time this storm passes to where we’d actually be able to hit the slopes, you’ll be on your way back to NYC...” Alec just shrugged when Magnus tried to clarify what he thought he would find outlandish about him. “Well even if you are, it’s not like that’s a bad thing or anything. Just makes you more interesting than pretty much everyone else around here... Except for Iris, who thinks she can raise people from the dead...” 

He knew that Izzy was on to him the minute that Magnus mentioned writing about a fashion event and she didn’t immediately jumped in to pick Magnus’ brain apart about what it was. Alec could tell she was really fighting herself not to though as he watched her aggressively shovel a large bite of polenta into her mouth to stop herself from asking a multitude of questions. He would have to make sure that he did something very special for her on her next day off to show his gratitude. “Cool. Heston Blumenthal has a restaurant there that I would love to go to. Well that, and several others because London has a great food scene... that you’re probably so not interested in hearing about...” Once again Alec mentally kicked himself for being so socially inept. While he knew almost everyone loved food, there weren’t too many that were passionate about it. “Do you go to London a lot?”   

[mraleclightwood]

Another Chance Encounter

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:. 

Magnus had woken up the morning after with a headache and an emptiness in the pit of his stomach, longing and sadness that he told everyone and tried to himself was only about having broken up with Camille. He went to the same club a couple different times, always looking around for a certain man and ending up going home if he didn’t find him. A dew weeks later, he had been helping one of his clients for his side business, Ms. Fray, when her daughter had come to join her and started asking Magnus questions as she liked to do. She asked him if he was seeing anyone and he scoffed with a smile, saying no. Later he got a call from her asking him if he wanted to meet someone. Confused but curious, he let her send him a picture of a Miss Isabelle Lightwood. She was definitely beautiful and there was something about her large eyes and dark hair that attracted him, and since he had nothing to lose, even if Isabelle looked about ten years younger than him, he decided to agree to go on a date with her. Maybe the youth would be a plus. She perhaps wouldn’t be bitter about love and romance the way Camille had become, or maybe always had been.

He went on a couple dates with her and genuinely enjoyed talking to her. She apparently was getting a little tired of just hooking up with people so she asked him if they could go slow, which he didn’t mind in the least, since he wasn’t really looking to get a quick fix. Or, he was, but perhaps not the kind Isabella could give him. She was surprisingly strong, but he wasn’t sure whether he was really ready to be with another woman. Still, no men were on the horizon and he did like hanging around her, so he didn’t think  there was any harm in seeing her. It had been in the middle of kissing her at some bar that she pulled away, saying she had forgotten to ask before, but asked him if he’d come to her brother’s graduation party, because her parents expected her to have a classy male escort but “you would piss them off in a way that they wouldn’t be able to comment on without making themselves look like the bad guys,” she had excitedly explained. While Magnus was not thrilled about this as a reason, he still agreed to go. He hadn’t been to a good party in a while, at least one that wasn’t a club scene.

Excited to dress up, he ended up owning the idea of being attention grabbing but not in a way that her parents could bring up. He pulled a red velvet coat over a black button up and messed with his hair until it was classy but just the right amount of tousled, with a bit of pink, temporary hair dye staining the tips that fell in front of his eye if he didn’t push it backward. He was slick and put together, and Izzy seemed very pleased with his appearance when he picked her up. He had been at the party a couple minutes, having naturally already found himself a drink, and was eating an olive off of the toothpick when Izzy who had been looking around the room suddenly bounced on her heels. “Oh, there he is! Come on, I want you to meet my brother.” Magnus smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded, figuring he could go over and congratulate him on his degree, after all, the law sounded hard. 

She lead him through people and he was looking around, a little distracted so thankfully she had hold of his arm. He had seen a flash of ginger in the crowd and smiled, giving her a congenial wave before Isabelle stopped them, letting go of Magnus’s arm. “Alec! You look so good! I wanted you to meet my date. This is Magnus.” Magnus looked  back around, snapping into social mode, getting his ring laden hand up and ready to shake the other man’s hand, when he had turned and Magnus took a moment before he realized why he looked familiar, then he froze, his heart suddenly hammering against his rib cage. “Do you know each other?” Izzy had asked, a little confused, and Magnus quickly threw in a, “we’ve not been introduced before,” figuring that wouldn’t be a lie, but might also throw tracks over their previous meeting.

Even though the party was supposed to be for him, just from looking around the party soon after arriving, told him that this was indeed all about his parents. It didn’t really surprised him though. His parents weren’t evil, but they always make sure to look out for themselves at the expense of their own children. Although there were a few people that Alec would consider friends at the party, most of the people were complete strangers to him. He instantly knew that his parents used his graduation as an excuse to try and drum up new clients for the law firm.

Alec wasn’t the most social person, but he knew what was excepted of him and how to handle himself in these kinds of situations. He put on a fake smile and guided Lydia around the room as he accepted congratulations from the few people he did know and introduced himself to the many that he didn’t. Alec knew that his parents, especially his mother, was keeping a close eye on him to make sure he was fulfilling his Lightwood duties, and Alec was relieved to see that they looked pleased at him.  

Between finishing up school and starting to work with his parents, he hadn’t been able to talk to his sister as much as he would like. There wasn’t much to keep her updated about on his life, but he did hear about a guy that she had started seeing. Alec knew that he was older than she was, a fact that made him a bit wary about the guy already, but he assured him that it wasn’t serious and that they were taking things slow, so it calmed his nerves some. He was talking to some current clients of the firm when Izzy approached him, so it wasn’t that big of deal to excuse himself from the conversation. Alec first focused in on his Izzy, leaning over to press a quick kiss to her cheek and returning her complement before turning his attention to her guest.  

Even though Alec thought it was rude that his sister’s date wasn’t even paying them any attention, he decided to be cordial and hold out his hand. His breath hitched once the man turned around. He had way too much to drink that night at the club, but his memory of the man he met was crystal clear. He never thought he would meet this man again, but now he had name to go with the face that had been visiting his dreams almost every night in the past few months. Magnus... Alec barely even heard what anyone said after he realized just who is sister’s date was, but he was still well aware that he parents were keeping a close eye on him. He tried to gather his composure and shook the other man’s hand, refusing to acknowledge how the contact sparked something deep inside him. After clearing his throat, he was finally able to speak. “Um, yeah. Never did get your name.” He tried to keep everything vague and prayed that Izzy wouldn’t be her usually nosy self. 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

The Introduction

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Smiling over at the young artist, he couldn’t help but feel that the other man was just as enchanted with him as he had been as soon as he saw the man from behind the others. He was tempted to say something in English, but decided he wanted a better reason than simple pleasantries. He wasn’t sure what kind of art it would end up being, if it would only be a portrait of his face, or if it was going to be more of his body. He could have simply asked, but where would the fun be in that. When Alec told him and gestured for him to hold on, he let go of the tie and turned his head to watch him move about the room. With a faint grimace of the sound of the lounge dragging across the floor, he didn’t offer and suggestion or help, instead looking sympathetic, not sure whether he should offer or not. 

Magnus dipped his head down slightly when he heard the other man trying to catch his breath, soaking in the sound of it and what went through his mind with the sound. Lifting his head when he saw him moving, noticing him nodding toward his robe. He looked down at the lounge and back at Alec, not sure how he’d want him to place himself, but he figured he’d deal with that shortly. Slowly pulling open the tie, he rolled his shoulders back and drew it off of his body, tossing it onto the floor. Turning his head back to look at Alec, to gauge his reaction, since nothing would be more telling than that, he figured. After he turned, he took a seat, shifting a little to lie back somewhat, asking, “Is kadar?” which was him asking him if he wanted him like that.

Yeah... Watching Magnus take off his robe - and of course he had to take it off so slow that it felt like some form of torture - affected Alec just like he thought it would. Part of him wanted to rush over there and pull the robe back up for his own sanity, but he knew that he needed to be a professional about all this. That meant keeping his eyes from zeroing in on certain parts of his subject’s body and keeping his hands to himself. Even though he averted his eyes quickly, Alec knew his cheeks, and most likely his whole face, was quickly turning red as he tried to refocus on the job in hand. Of course, seeing that his current job was trying to capture this perfect specimen in front of him and put it on canvas meant that he’d have to stare at this man who affected him so much on hours on end. That thought made a part of Alec want to turn around, pack everything up, and run away because nothing good could come out of this intense physical attraction that blindsided him. However, there was no way that he was going to walk away from the chance to being in Magnus’ presence.

It may have been easier on him if they were actually able to converse with each other. Alec could use words to distract himself, but the silence meant that Magnus’ body would be his sole focus. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Magnus talking which caused him to look back at Magnus with a confused look plastered on his face. He knew from the intonation Magnus used that he was asking a question, but Alec had no clue what he was saying. He could only shake his head and shrug his shoulders to try to let the other man know that Alec couldn’t understand. After forcing himself to get back into the artist mindset, Alec closed the difference between the two of them. If they were able to understand each other, he would have been able to tell the other man how to pose to make the best use of the lighting and his features. Since that wasn’t an option, Alec reached out to position him himself. He internally cursed at the fact that he could see that his hand was shaking because he knew that it would cast doubt on his skills as a painter. 

[mraleclightwood]

Round 1 - Begin

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

 “I, uh, I don’t- know?” His brow furrowed when Alec asked him if he had tattoos, realizing he hadn’t even thought to look at his own body when Alec had been surprised about his own, so he moved to push up his sleeves a bit, then to pull his tucked in shirt to lift it to get a good look at his torso, but it was all his own normal skin, though he felt like in this world he might be wearing a tiny bit of bronzer. “That… would be a pathetic flashlight.” Magnus quietly agreed as he got up to his feet, furrowing his brow. “Maybe there’s something else, a missing piece, like it only works in certain situation? Like maybe it’s- something like Doctor Who has?” He looked confused and shook his head, not really sure what it was good for besides looking pretty. Though he looked doubtful when Alec handed over his bow and arrow, he carefully took them from him, staring at them. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with these.” 

Frowning, he turned away from Alec so he wouldn’t be pointing it at him, attempting to notch the arrow but it was nothing as fluid as Alec doing it. He drew the string back, feeling self conscious and also nervous, not sure how far to pull back the bow string, so he didn’t do as much as he should, which meant when the arrow “flew” it was only a couple of yards before clattering to the floor. He winced in embarrassment and quickly handed over the bow. “I just don’t think it’s in my skill s-” He froze as a thought came over him, but before he could really ruminate with it or explain it to Alec, the door burst open and though he was fatigued, he managed to jump back like a scared cat, staring as a humanoid with marks very similar to Alec’s, if not identical but in different places came in with a sword, gripping their side. His eyes dropped and he saw how a big portion of their shirt and the top of their pants were soaked with their blood and he swallowed thickly, going pale.

Nothing made sense to Alec. If he and Magnus were going through the same experience then why was everything so different for them. They were both trapped in his hell, so it would only be logical for Magnus to have the same markings that he did, and he just couldn’t fathom why he didn’t. With everything that was going on, Alec was desperately trying to grasp onto any sense of rationality that he could find, but this place was determine not to let him have even a little bit. He looked down at the useless object that was still in his hand. “Maybe it’s just a worthless piece of shit.” In his frustration, he almost threw it away, but his subconscious stopped him. Even if it didn’t seem to be of any use to him now, he could find it’s purpose later one, so he put it in his back pocket. 

Even though Alec hadn’t picked up a bow and arrow before today, it was almost excruciating for him to watch Magnus fumble around with it. He took a few steps forward, wanting to correct his stance, but Magnus let the arrow go before he could reach him. He wench at witnessing the bad shot and was reaching for the bow as the door crashed open. Alec grabbed the bow from Magnus and cursed about the fact that his quiver was too far away to get an arrow out, so he held the bow out in front of them to try and give them some protection. He knew it was no match for the sword that he saw the other person carrying, but maybe it would provide enough protection to at least help Magnus escape. However, after the bloodied and beaten man gave Alec and Magnus a quick look over, he dropped his weapon and collapsed against the door. For some reason, Alec knew that the man wasn’t a threat, so he quickly rushed over to see if he could help. “Magnus...” Alec called out to the other man because if he was able to save Alec, maybe he could save this stranger as well.

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

It Could Happen To You

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Smiling kindly at Alec tripping over his words trying to make up for laughing, he shook his head. “You’re fine, I wasn’t offended. You’re absolutely right, I’m not one to fall on my face, which is why skiing hurt my ego so much.” He gave him a more rogue-ish smile as he lightly shrugged his shoulders. When Alec mentioned him needing another instructor, he nodded his head, wondering if he could possibly hope that was an invitation as well as a suggestion. “I think I do. Someone whose been doing it since they were young, probably.” Winking at Alec, his smile widened and he had another sip of his coffee.

Magnus’s eyebrows raised when Alec denied being hit on, but when he explained, he simply went, “ahh,” as he looked back past him and to the kitchen. Lifting his eyes back to Alec’s face, he tilted his head. So he was an introvert, and perhaps a workaholic. “Well, then I must seem positively outlandish to you.” He gave him a smile and then looked back toward Izzy as Alec insisted neither of them would mind. Of course, with his sister being there, it would be a different ball game all together, since he wouldn’t be able to focus all his attention on trying to get the man to open up. Then again, perhaps the comfort of his sister being there too might loosen him up a little. 

“If you’re- sure.” He started to say while he saw Izzy locking the door even while he was still in there, idly wondering why they didn’t worry he might be a serial killer. Or maybe he should be worried about them. Shaking his head to himself at that thought. “All right.” He smiled at Alec before Izzy came over to her and made her introductions, and he made his. Izzy was very lovely as well, and he could tell if he had met her without meeting her brother first he probably would have happily flirted with her, but he had met Alec and so far he was too intrigued and attracted not to want to focus his attention on him.

Once Magnus assured him that he wasn’t offended, Alec let out a small sigh of relief and was able to relax some. He tensed back up though when Magnus made it clear that realized exactly what Alec was hinting at. It wasn’t that the thought of teaching him made him uncomfortable, but he was almost afraid of getting his hopes up. “Umm. Y-yeah. That would probably be the best.” He hated stumbling all over his words, but he just hoped he wasn’t making too big of a fool out of himself. Alec squinted his eyes in confusion when Magnus thought he might find him outlandish. Unique, yes, but that wasn’t a bad thing in Alec’s eyes. “More like extravagant...” 

As he was back in the kitchen, Alec began to panic about leaving Magnus alone with Izzy. His sister was gorgeous, and unlike him, she knew it. Anytime she walked into a room, she knew how to capture and hold everyone’s attention, while he gladly faded into the background. But he didn’t want to fade this time. Alec quickly made up two plates, for once not caring about presentation, and rushed back to the dining room. He was pleased to see that Izzy and Magnus hadn’t started to make out on the counter top in the time that he was gone, an actually honest fear that Alec had in the back of his mind. 

There was one stool in between Izzy and Magnus, so Alec set one plate in front of his sister and then took the empty seat, glad to be able to form some kind of protective barrier between the two. Izzy instantly gave him a weird and almost knowing look since usually he wouldn’t choose to sit so close to other people, but he just ignore her and took a bite of his food. He knew it was going to taste good, but even he was impressed at just how good it was. However, as he was eating, he was already picking out all the flaws in the dish and making mental notes of how to improve it. He also wasn’t one to converse while eating, letting the food be the center of attention, but he didn’t want to waste any valuable time getting to know the other man. “So, you said you were heading to New York, but where were you coming from?”

[mraleclightwood]

Another Chance Encounter

It had been almost three months since that night in the club and not much, but also everything, had seemed to change in Alec’s life. The main change in his life is that he finally finished law school and was now waiting around to be able take the bar exam. He still had two more months until the test was administered, so that meant he had two months of being completely stressed and worried. In the meantime, he was reluctantly interning at his parents’ law firm, so needless to stay, spending so much time in close range of his parents was not doing good for his temperament. Everyone seemed to be walking on egg-shells around him just waiting for him to snap. 

The thing that hadn’t change was his love life, or his extreme lack of one actually. If anyone could use a release, it would be Alec, but since his encounter with the gorgeous stranger in the bathroom, no other guy seemed appealing to him. He had to settle for his hand when the pressure was just too much for him to handle because he knew a random hook up wouldn’t be enough for him. Upon his graduation, his parents decided to throw a party to celebrate, even though he insisted to wait until he at least passed the bar, His parents never turned down a chance to show off though so it was futile to argue with them about it. 

Alec was required to bring a plus one to the party, more specifically a female from a respectable family who his parents approved of, so he asked his fellow law school graduate, Lydia, to be his guest. They had known each other all throughout law school and usually searched out each other as study partners because they had very similar mindset on the importance of school. Like everyone else in his life, Alec never told Lydia that he was gay, but like most people, it seemed like she already knew although she never said anything about it. She was happy to accompany him, and she gave him an added boost of confidence as they walked into the ballroom of the hotel that his parents had rented out. They both looked great, she in a beautiful dress and he in his high dollar suit, so maybe he would come out of this party unscathed. 

[baneoftheuniverse-blog1]

The Introduction

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

Magnus had to purse his lips to keep himself from smiling, or reacting to Alec’s words. He felt a tiny bit guilty for playing with him, but he was very curious to see how he would handle the situation. It really was quite arrogant of the English to never bother to learn Hindi even while occupying the territory, but he supposed they were as rightly entitled to it. Since he had tried not to react, he just kept his eyes following Alec around the room as he started to move and get things set up in the room. He had to admit, he was curious if Alec would stop bothering to talk to him now that he thought he only spoke Hindi, which would disappoint him, but he knew he’d just have to change tactics. Once the artist headed toward him with a paint brush and did his best to say “paint,” Magnus couldn’t resist a small smile on his face as he nodded.

He was slightly disappointed when Alec stopped himself from touching him, which he had been looking forward to. Maybe he shouldn’t be, but the younger man looked like he had very capable hands, and he wondered what they felt like. When Alec introduced himself, he made it look like it took a moment to realize what he mean and then went, “Ahh,” and touched his own chest. “Magnus.” He dipped his head toward him before looking back up at him. God, his eyes were gorgeous. He always assumed the English would have blue eyes or maybe just simple brown, but these were something else entirely and went perfectly with the rest of his coloring. Magnus cleared his throat and touched his robe’s tie, tugging it a little while directing a question to Alec. “Main ap’nay kap’lay utaar?” trying to ask Alec if he wanted him to take the robe off as he drew attention to it and its tie.

It felt weird having the man’s eyes following him around, watching him closely, as he walked around the room setting things up. One of the things he loved about being an artist is having the focus shift on to someone else while he could stay behind the canvas because he was always uncomfortable being the center of anyone’s attentions. Alec was pleased when the other man seemed to understand why he was where and even more pleased to get his name. “Magnus...” He let the name linger on his tongue and felt that such a strong, unique name was befitting of the man standing in front of him. 

When Magnus reached down towards the tie of his robe, Alec found himself in a bit of a conundrum.  Alec had painted and sculpted many nudes before and could appreciate the human form from a strictly artists view point, but he knew things would be different with the man in front of him. Alec had never been so physically attracted to someone so immediately as he had been with Magnus, and he knew that it would only be worse when he dropped the robe. And he also knew that with how the raj interacted with Magnus, any attraction Alec felt towards the other man could be dangerous. However, this was to be a personal portrait for the raj himself, so Alec knew he’d have to get over it but he could at least delay the inevitable for a few more minutes.

“Hold on...” Alec momentarily forgot that the man wouldn’t be able to understand him, so he held up a finger to hopefully get the man to wait a moment before disrobing. He didn’t want to lose the perfect lighting that was already bathing the man, so he looked around the lavish room to find what he needed. There was a chaise lounge off to the side, so Alec walked over to it and began to move it over to where Magnus was standing. The furniture made a horrible, squealing sound as he dragged it across the floor that Alec could only assume was marble, and cursed under his breath at the thought of ruining the floor. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally maneuvered the chair over to where the other man was waiting and took a few minutes to catch his breath because the lounge was much heavier than he first thought. He took a step back, steeled his nerves, and nodded his head while indicating towards the tie of the other man’s robe to let him know that he was ready for him to remove it.  

[mraleclightwood]

Round 1 - Begin

[mraleclightwood]

baneoftheuniverse:

“Yeah,” he replied quietly, still looking over the marks, mentally kicking himself for admiring Alec’s forearms, “Almost like hieroglyphics, but not.” Frowning, wishing there was a book lying around that could explain what was happening to them, or what the tattoos were. Or were they just there to look cool? Maybe that was all it was and there was no real mystery? Magnus looked startled when the crystal lit up, looking around to see if anything about them had changed, but he couldn’t tell. “What did you do?” He murmured, even though he really knew Alec couldn’t explain it any more than he could explain the mist and blasts of light that had come from his own hand. Magnus gave him a sympathetic smile when he said there was no owner’s manual before he used the wall behind him to climb back up to his feet. “Yes, we do need a new game plan. You’re done trying to kill yourself now, right? Because from your skill with your weapon and my- whatever it is, maybe we’ll just survive, if we try hard enough.”

As Magnus described the tattoos looking like hieroglyphics, Alec nodded in agreement. “Close but not quite... I just wonder what they point of them are. You don’t have magically appearing tattoos, do you?” Even though Alec couldn’t see any of them on Magnus, there was no way he could see what was on his skin underneath his coat. Even though he was able to get the crystal to light up, there didn’t seem to be anything else that happened because of it. “I don’t know... I just concentrated on it. Maybe it’s just a fancy flashlight, albeit a crappy one at that since this thing doesn’t put out much light.” Alec followed Magnus’ lead and stood up on his face. Although he was a little shaky at first, he quickly gained his footing and rolled his eyes at Magnus’ question. “Yes, I’m finished.” He through a patronizing smile in Magnus’ direction before continuing, “I think we need to figure out what all we can do before we go any further because we’ve had enough surprises. You don’t have any other weapons on you, do you? I still feel like the bow and arrow are for me, but are you able to use it as well?” Alec reached down to pick up his bow and drew an arrow out of his quiver before reluctantly handing it over to Magnus. “And how do you do that think with your hands? Maybe I can do that as well.”