Written By: Anonymous
Winter Fic Exchange Gift For: @paradise145
Beta’d By: @storytellerandstorytold
Pairing(s): Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Rating: Teen
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Length: 4014 words
Summary: Max's mission clearance ceremony is coming up and she's the only one going anyway, and Simon is filling in for Raphael at some Downworld representatives meeting, so why not offer him a room? That's what friends do, right?
Summary: Alec loves his and Magnus’ apartment. The feeling is mutual.
Tags: established relationship, curtain fic, fluff, domestic, magical apartments are the best, innuendo, canon-compliant, post-S1
[Read on AO3!]
Alec moves in with Magnus the day after they defeat Valentine.
His parents protest, of course, but Alec is past the point of caring. He’s an adult, a portal can have him back at the Institute in seconds if needed, and after the past three horrific months (where Alec almost died twice, and Magnus once), he’s done making personal sacrifices for other people’s approval.
Magnus welcomes him with a soft smile and a warm kiss, and Alec feels himself crumble, right there in the hallway—tension seeping out of his body as he sags against his boyfriend. Magnus smells like sandalwood and a variety of spices. Alec buries his face in his neck and breathes in deeply: cilantro, chili, lime and lemongrass, a hint of garlic and butter underneath.
“Are you making dinner?”
“Figured you should get a proper welcome,” Magnus replies. “It’s nothing fancy, just some shrimp and vegetables over rice.”
“It smells heavenly.”
“Well, I’m glad. Come on in then. Let’s put your things away so we can eat.”
Slowly but surely, the loft starts to change. Alec doesn’t know if Magnus is doing it purposefully, or if the magic he’s poured into the space has added a hint of sentience to the walls.
He first notices it when he’s in the kitchen making breakfast, ducking his head automatically when reaching for the frying pan to flip his eggs, only to realise that the fan he’s bumped his head against more times than he can count has moved about ten inches up the wall.
The next thing is his favourite chair, which magically heats up whenever Alec’s cold and feels like curling up in it with a book and a blanket. The books he wants to read start appearing on the side table around the same time, and the blanket feels a little fluffier.
It’s definitely helping Alec feel like he belongs in the space—slowly but surely turning the loft from ‘Magnus’ place’ to ‘home’ in his mind.
Alec likes it. Really, really likes it.
“This place is the best,” he tells Magnus one day, after he comes back into their bedroom after his morning shower. “I mean, the shower has always been a thing of glory, but today? It gave me a soft, warm rain and hot mist. And a stool to sit on while enjoying it. It was heaven, you need to try it straight away.”
“It sounds lovely,” Magnus replies, sitting up in bed and pulling Alec down for a kiss when he gets close enough. “Care to enjoy it a second time together with me? I’m sure we can get the floor to transform into a pool temporarily. Have ourselves a warm bath in the rain?”
“I—um—really wish I didn’t have to go to work right now,” Alec says, groaning softly when Magnus’ hand moves from his neck to stroke a path down his chest. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be in Rio in an hour? For the warlock council?”
Magnus makes an unhappy sound and pulls a face that Alec really shouldn’t find as adorable as he does. “Oh, alright. I guess duty must come first. But please note that I’m extremely unhappy about it.”
“Noted,” Alec replies, grinning happily as he leans in to catch another kiss. “What time will you be back?”
“Not until very late, I’m afraid,” Magnus sighs. “Possibly not until tomorrow—it all depends on how the negotiations with the Seelies develop. Tessa and the others in the Labyrinth are putting pressure on the Queen to greenlight an amendment to the new accords.”
“Anything I need to know?”
“Only what I just told you, for now,” Magnus replies. “I hope to have more information after today.”
“Alright,” Alec says, pulling himself away and walking over to the closet to pull out his clothes for the day. The shirt and jeans he had in mind are already at the front, together with a matching belt, jacket and a pair of socks and underwear. He dresses quickly and heads back to the bed, jumping on top of Magnus and pressing him down against the mattress for a long, slow kiss goodbye, chuckling against his lips when he feels the blankets between their bodies start to—’melt away’ would probably be the most accurate description.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he tells Magnus. “Finish up early and we might both still have the energy to take that shower together.”
“I’ll do my best,” Magnus replies, his words ending on a gasp when Alec can’t resist grinding his hips down, just once—a potential promise of ‘later’.
“Be safe today,” Alec says, the same way he’s done every morning since the first one they woke up together, almost a year ago now. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“I will,” Magnus tells him in reply, sealing his promise with a kiss, just like always. “You too. Be careful.”
“I will.”
He gets off the bed and walks out of the bedroom, grabs a travel mug and fills it with freshly brewed coffee as he passes the kitchen. The lock on the front door clicks as he approaches it, the wards surrounding their home parting to let him out. A portal shimmers into place as soon as he closes the door behind him, the perfect height and width for Alec to walk through.
He steps into it and out again in the familiar entryway of the Institute. People are already up and about, the hallways filled with Shadowhunters getting ready to start their day.
Alec takes a sip of his coffee and starts walking towards the Ops Centre. It’s going to be a good day, he can just feel it.
“You look awfully chipper today,” Izzy says when he steps up next to her in front of the main monitor. “Good night last night?”
“Good shower this morning,” Alec replies, rolling his eyes when Izzy wiggles her eyebrows meaningfully at him. “Actual shower. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Then don’t make it so easy for me,” Izzy says, rolling her own eyes right back at him. “Now, let’s track the demon Raj’s team ran into yesterday, put a team together, go slay it and then we can all go home again.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Alec agrees, thinking back at the loft—his home—with a small, growing smile on his lips. “Let’s get started.”
