#cuubism

[magnusbae]

I said it was human au Dream, @cuubism said it was 1589 Hob, and that is precisely right.

[mayhemspreadingguy]

How did this happen? @cuubism came up with the incredibly enticing idea to put Dream in the black leather pants. Then @magnusbae dutifully passed this brainrot into my brain. Brainstorming this was so so wild :D.

tiredly stretching in the classroom...

also, after I finished this drawing the pose reminded me of that one Flashdance scene (the chair dance with... the water 😳)

how is he able to squat like that in the skintight thick-leather pants? how did he even put those on in the first place? - and no zippers??

who knows, who knows xD

[im-not-corrupted]

oooh! trust issues!

Hi hi! This is one I started forever ago, for the Dreamling Bingo, and I just never got around to finishing it. I picked it back up again recently though, so yay! This one's about a Hob who's been looking for a way to contact his Stranger and ends up being among the cultists when Dream is captured, and a Dream who is still angry after 1889 and doesn't know whether to trust Hob yet.

It's quite short at the moment, with about 3k words and nowhere near completion, so I'll post shorter snippets for it.

A jewel, red as blood. A jewel he recognised, one that often adorned one man's outfit. Often the only spot of colour on him, for the rest of him was skin pale as snow clothed in midnight black. It was a ruby he thought about often, when trying to work out just what his Stranger was, when his thoughts often found himself back to the man who offered him immortality.

Back to the man who walked out on him in 1889, the very reason Hob was even here. And now that ruby hung from Roderick's hand. It was different than he saw it last time, an uncut stone hanging from a black cord. Stolen from the body that fell out of the fucking air during a summoning spell that included chanting here in the darkness and I summon you in poison and in pain. Stolen from his Stranger, who might've been Death itself. His Stranger, currently trapped in Roderick Burgess's basement. Fuck.

[mirrorofliterature]

“How many years do I have?” Alec asks quietly. “Fifty, if I’m lucky? Probably way less. You know how it goes with Shadowhunters. That’s only fifty anniversary gifts, fifty birthdays… I have to make them count. Maybe it wouldn’t matter so much if we were both on the same clock, but—I have to make them last. I have to make them last for when I’m not there.” Magnus slumps against the wall, suddenly breathless with pain. He doesn’t know why it hurts so much to know Alec’s also been thinking like this, but oh, it does. He doesn’t want them to be consumed by thoughts of what will happen when Alec dies, but consumed they are all the same. . Would you like some malec immortality angst with the perfect resolution by the most wonderful writer? Read Stay with me by @cuubism.

[fistsandfangs]

For the malec prompts, 7, t, 22 ? Feel free to change stuff if you prefer!

*so i used this to my advantage a bit so this can be read as a prequel-sequel to my previous fic the number of heartbeats between here and there. also it's a bit canon divergent because of the parameters of the request!* 7. deleted scene | t. secret relationship | 22. "i'm going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else."

To: Alexander – 1:23am

Did you still want me to come over tonight? I know it’s later than we had planned but…been thinking about you 🥰

To: Magnus – 1:26am

Sorry I was in the shower but yeah please come if you still can!

To: Alexander – 1:27am

Pretty boy.

To: Alexander – 1:27am

Handsome.

To: Alexander – 1:27am

Angel.

To: Magnus – 1:28am

…yeah?

To: Alexander – 1:28am

I always want to see you. Do you want to see me?

To: Magnus – 1:28am

Yes definitely

To Alexander – 1:29am

Then I’ll be over quicker than you can say my name

Magnus made his way around the sprawling architecture of the New York Institute, looking for the wing of living quarters. The buttresses that framed the familiar third-story window would have made fair footholds for scaling the building, but there were better methods available to him. Twisting his index and middle fingers, he summoned a dense amalgamation of magic beneath his feet that expanded upwards. Fortunately, Alec had left the window unlatched and slightly ajar, allowing Magnus to slip through and land soundlessly in a crouch.

Just as he straightened up, the bathroom door opened and damp steam from the shower billowed out. Alec emerged, naked save for a towel wrapped around his waist, but when he caught sight of Magnus, an almost smug smile pulled at his lips. “Hey,” he greeted, striding over to kiss him softly, one hand gently cradling Magnus’ cheek while the other held the towel in place at his hipbone.

“Is this for me?” Magnus teased, running the soft outer part of his forefinger along the damp skin of Alec’s bare chest. “How thoughtful.”

Alec laughed boisterously, his ears faintly pink with a warm blush. “Sorry to disappoint you but that was just a happy accident. Patrol ran late and I had to deal with— Well, that doesn’t really matter.”

Clicking his tongue in disapproval, Magnus shook his head. “How can I be disappointed with this outcome, unintentional as it may be.” He skated his palms up to Alec’s upper back and reverently drew them down across the planes of muscle until he got down to the small of his back. His fingertips dug into the soft skin above his buttocks needfully, pressing just hard enough that his blunt nails would leave behind little crescents if one were to look hard enough. “I still come out victorious in this scenario, I think.”

>> READ ON AO3

The way that Alec smiled at him, tired and weary but endlessly soft, made Magnus feel like his heart were being squeezed just this side of painful. It was the most vulnerable he had ever seen him, and it was simply theirs to share.

“Hey, Magnus… Why did you agree to this, us, like this?” Alec gestured vaguely. His eyebrows drew tightly together in consternation, and Magnus fought the urge to kiss the skin between into relaxing. “Why are you willing to hide with me?”

It had been a few weeks since their conversation about an arranged marriage for the sake of preserving the Lightwood legacy and foothold in the New York Institute. Maybe it was some kind of desperation that had driven Magnus to be so cavalier about his willingness to accept the “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality of shadowhunters. The thought of losing the first spark of hope in love that he had had in over a century was excruciating, and concealing it so meticulously was a high price, but he was paying it. In a way, though, keeping this fragile thing between them a secret, left to grow in discretion, felt a little like a relief. Whatever it may be with time, it was theirs alone.

At the silence, Alec licked his lips nervously and started to say something.

Instead, Magnus held up a finger to his mouth to quiet him anticipatorily. Through a roguish grin, he said, “I’m going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else. I want to give that question the answer it deserves, but that’s a tremendous ask when you’re up against me like this.”

Alec rolled his eyes as if it were nothing more than a line, but there was something in his eyes that betrayed his self-satisfaction. And that was exactly what Magnus had intended. “All right, well then, look away.”

Magnus turned his back with exaggerated movements and crossed his arms over his chest with a smile. It was nice to have someone to be this way with again; it felt like liberation to have someone with whom he was free to be himself without the burden of titles and expectations. He was exposed when he stripped away the personas and facades that were like secondary skins. They were facets of himself that people expected him to have, but Alec never seemed to want him to be anything but Magnus. Not Magnus Bane, not High Warlock Bane, not Prince Regent of Edom.

“Are you decent?” Magnus teased after the sounds of fabric on skin had subsided.

In response, Alec came up behind him and leaned in just enough that his chest brushed Magnus’ back. “All done.”

Magnus shifted his weight to lean back into Alec lightly and reached back to thread his fingers into Alec’s still-damp hair. Softly scratching his nails through the soft strands made Alec hum contentedly. “We should sit so we can discuss your question.”

“Can we lay down?”

“Of course.”

They climbed on the bed over the sheets and comforter, and Alec immediately rolled over so Magnus could curl up behind him. He even lifted his arm away from his chest so Magnus could slide an arm over his hip bone and anchor his hand on his abdomen. This was something they had done once before—bearing their heart to anyone was hard for both of them, but this way made it a little easier.

Magnus took a slow breath, gathering his thoughts appropriately. “You’re a possibility, Alexander. A beautiful, liberating possibility that I’ve never had the fortune to come across in all my life.”

Ever melancholy, Alec replied, “How can you feel that way when I’m basically shoving you back in the closet with me, and asking you to sneak around and be ashamed of something that should be so simple. It makes me feel like a child to ask you to…stoop this low.”

“It was my choice, Alec. I chose to put myself in the position I’m in. And for the record,” Magnus added, pressing his lips to the back of Alec’s ear, “I’m glad that I did.”

Alec pressed back perceptibly closer to him, ducking his head to press into the crook of Magnus’ neck in a self-soothing gesture. “You’re not just saying that so that I feel less guilty, right? Because it doesn’t work if you don’t mean it.”

Many times throughout Magnus’ life he had been in the position of feeling at the disadvantage with the people he loved. He worried himself sick over whether he was being too clingy, too transparent, too vulnerable, and then he overcorrected and worried about being too aloof, too distant, and too unavailable. The cyclical questioning and self-doubt had ruined a lot of encounters before they even had the chance to become something concrete. Even now, there was a seed of doubt about what he was doing with Alec—maybe he was giving him too much credit, and maybe putting his own heart on the line was naïve.

“I don’t have the luxury of knowing what will come of this, Alexander,” he said carefully, “but I am certain that never giving it the chance would be something I would always regret. Will I always be content to be the soul of discretion in regards to you and what we may feel? Likely not. But you didn’t ask me for forever, and I’m not asking you either. I think both of us just needed the chance to be worth the risk of seeing it through to whatever end it might reach.”

Warm calloused fingers made their way down Magnus’ arm to lace between his own and squeeze gently. “I can live with that.”

Magnus chuckled and pressed a kiss to Alec’s hair. “I hope you can do more than that.”

“Mmm.” Alec yawned and rolled slightly, taking Magnus with him. “For now, though, I’m just going to sleep with it.”

“‘It’ being me?”

“By the angel,” Alec groaned, exasperated yet fighting a smile. “You talk too much sometimes.” Before Magnus could reply, he had captured his lips in a languorous kiss. Each one they shared felt like a discovery that Alec relished, unrehearsed and uncertain but wholehearted in the best way. The anticipation and enthusiasm of each new moment they shared was somehow so much better than any shared with Magnus’ most experienced ex-lovers.

Magnus pulled away just enough that their lips parted but their noses still touched. “I thought you wanted to sleep.”

“This is even better than my white noise machine. Having you here is…peaceful.”

“Aren’t you a romantic,” Magnus said dryly. But when Alec pulled him close again, he was helpless to resist.

>> PROMPT LIST

[malecsecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, cuubism!

For @cuubism. Oof, so when I discovered I had to write for you, I initially freaked (I love your work!). Then I saw the tropes you listed, and I freaked again. Anyway, I ended up attempting to write 2 (because my brain is weird that way), this one found its way to completion, the other one didn't make it in time. But if I feel like it, that one will be gifted to you at a later date.I'm not sure if this fits your requirements, but I was told it was decent. Anyway I hope you enjoy this. = ) xx

*****

About Last Night...

Alec Lightwood awakened with a start.  The room was pitch black, and he was in bed, the silky sheets hitched up under his arms.  Still naked…and still shellshocked at what happened a few hours ago.

Turning, he glanced down at Magnus, who was curled in bed next to him, snoozing away softly.  He was fast asleep.

Magnus Bane -- his best friend, whom he had the biggest crush on since last summer.

Somehow, on tonight of all nights, decision-making ability compromised by one too many vodkas, heightened by the devastating discovery of Magnus’s girlfriend being in bed with another man, Magnus had called him up, despite many months of being MIA, his voice racked with grief.

Of course Alec answered the call.

Continue on AO3

[ladymatt]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 19/? Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood, Maryse Lightwood, Ragnor Fell, Jace Wayland, Valentine Morgenstern, Catarina Loss Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alliance Rune (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Soul Bond, Angst, Mutual Pining, Discrimination Against Downworlders, Developing Relationship, Slow Burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Clave Politics (Shadowhunter Chronicles), mentions of canon-typical homophobia, Misunderstandings, Sharing Magic, Devotion, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Protective Alec Lightwood, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Flirting, Battle Couple Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Sharing a Bed, Alcohol, Near Death Experiences Summary:

The ceremony is over. The halls of the Institute are quiet, somber, in mourning maybe. Alec feels alternately completely numb and like his heart is about to beat out of his chest.

And his husband is nowhere to be found.

a Soul Bond/Arranged Marriage AU

[faejilly]

[spotify / youtube]

accompanying the fic Cradling The Sun by @cuubism as part of the @malecdiscordserver​ Mini Bang 2020.

Tracklist:

Sunlight // Hozier

In The Shadows // Amy Stroup

Fade Into You // The Moth & The Flame

Shadow Preachers // Zella Day

The Archer // Adam Melchor

Romeo // Until The Ribbon Breaks

Heartbeat // Julian Moon

Life In Dark Water // Al Stewart

The Horror and The Wild // The Amazing Devil

Mirror Mirror // Juniper Vale

Stone // Jaymes Young

All Through The Night // Anna Nalick