Haha, wow! My first new piece of Malec content in about 8 months! I realize I've had Malec pieces posted here, but those were reposts from my Tumblr, so I don't count those as new content for here. I hope you guys enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mortal Instruments

Palmistry and Tarot Readings

Magnus thought the new customer was cute. Alec wondered why he got sexually harassed everywhere he went. Aline was unhelpfully making out with the girl who did the Tarot Readings. Malec, Heline

It was a half-broken LED sign that flickered on and off, half of the letters not working. Occasionally, the sign suggested things to passerby such as "try Tar" and "Palm rot", and other humorous suggestions. Still, despite the malfunctioning sign, the shop did get a steady influx of customers, whether they were regulars or tourists or persons just down on their luck hoping to have some psychic scam bullshit put a positive spin on their day.

Aline, apparently, had stumbled upon this place last time she was downtown trying to find her way back to campus. She had had tea with a nice young lady who read her tea leaves, and saw something that apparently Aline thought was really positive or something, and she wanted to come back. Alec wasn't really sure, because he hadn't paid much attention – he had been mostly concerned with the fact that Aline had been wandering around in what most consider to be a dangerous part of the city by herself.

Still, Alec was fairly certain that Aline's reason for wanting to take him to the shop wasn't because she wanted to show him it. He also was fairly certain that it wasn't because she wanted her tea leaves read again either. Aline had talked a lot about the blonde haired girl who did tarot readings at the shop, practically waxing poetic about her. Naturally, Alec assumed that Aline just wanted to go back and see the girl, but didn't call her out on it.

"Hi!" Aline chirped as she opened the door to the store, Alec trailing behind her. It was just as cluttered as someone expect a store like this to be. And by "a store like this" Alec meant a store wedged in a space where theoretically it would have been more efficient to place an alley rather than a store.

"Hello!" A brunette behind a counter beamed. "Aline, right? It's great to see you again! And you brought a friend with you!"

"Yeah," Aline nodded. "Tessa, this is Alec – Alec, this is Tessa. She does tea readings."

"Or coffee, if that's what you prefer to drink," Tessa said, coming around the counter to give Aline a hug and shake Alec's hand. He momentarily wondered how long Aline was here to become so acquainted with Tessa. "So, are you here for a tea reading or something else?"

"Ah, well, I was wondering," Aline hedged, confidence fleeing her for bashfulness. She chose to look at the ceiling rather than Tessa. "Is the girl who does tarot readings in today?"

Awareness dawned on Tessa's face, coming to the same conclusion that Alec had and what Aline didn't want to admit.

"Helen?" Tessa replied, a sly look appearing on her features. "She just went out on errand, but it shouldn't take her too long. Feel free to hang about until she gets back. Do you need anything else?"

Alec shook his head, but Aline nodded, reaching up to slap him on the shoulder in what was supposed to be a friendly gesture.

"Can he get a palm reading done?" Aline asked, and Alec looked at her, confused as to what she was doing. He didn't believe in any of this mumbo jumbo, unlike her.

Tessa glanced over him, and he suddenly felt as if he was being appraised for something. Still after a moment, she smiled and nodded, and jerked her head to a table on the side.

"Of course," Tessa said. "Go ahead and take a seat over there and he'll be right with you."

He'll?

"You're setting me up!" Alec hissed at Aline, who laughed and pushed him towards the table.

"Me? Never." She played innocent. "I'm not your sister, I would never set you up against your will!"

Except she would. And she had. On multiple occasions.

Still, Alec reluctantly took a seat if only to make Aline happy.

He looked around, and Aline had disappeared around a shelf, and Tessa had disappeared completely.

"You must be Alec," A velvety smooth voice greeted, causing Alec to jerk his gaze from the store to the seat directly across from him. Where before it had been empty, now there was a man sitting across from him.

"Yes," Alec replied, "And you are?"

"Magnus," The other man said easily, and held his hand out. "I understand you're here for a palm reading?"

"I guess," Alec's voice was lackluster as he took Magnus's hand to shake. Instead, Magnus grabbed it with his other, turning it so it was palm up.

He really should have seen that coming.

Alec couldn't deny that there was a feeling of electricity that skittered from his hand to his spine. Any other person would say that that was a sign of him feeling attraction to the other man. Alec dismissed it as static electricity.

Yes, sure, Alec could, would, and did admit that Magnus was attractive. Was he attracted to him however? Probably, Alec was bad at determining things like this. Still, he would say he wasn't attracted to Magnus until he was blue in the face if only to spite Aline and her attempts at setting him up.

"So, which is dominant?" Magnus asked, tracing small, light circles on Alec's upturned palm, eliciting small shivers through Alec's frame.

"W-We're not dating," Alec replied immediately, thinking that Magnus meant him and Aline, and then wanted to slap himself for jumping to that assumption. Why would Magnus be referring to him and Aline? That made no sense.

"As grateful for that clarification as I am, I meant which hand is your dominant one," Magnus laughed Alec's slip up off, and Alec pretended that he wasn't hugely embarrassed.

Still, he managed a shrug in response.

"Both?" He said. "I'm ambidextrous, I don't really pay attention to which one I use more. Why, does that matter?"

"Ah," Magnus hummed. "Typically, your dominant hand shows how you present yourself to the world, while your non-dominant hand shows the more personal aspects of your life. However! I can manage," He batted his eyelashes, and Alec felt very much so like he was being hit on but that could have been the embarrassment or paranoia speaking, "I always do."

"So, we'll start with your head line," Magnus continued without preamble. He rested the tip of his index finger on what Alec assumed was a random part of his palm, tracing it. Magnus' head was bowed down over it. "Your head line describes what type of thinker you are. See here?"

He tapped his finger, and Alec looked, feeling vaguely stupid. Really, he didn't believe in any of this, didn't know what he was even supposed to be looking at.

"This line shows that you tend to analyze things for a long time before you reach a decision," Magnus explained. "You're prone to overthinking things, and aren't very likely to make spontaneous decisions. With how much you dwell on things, you most likely tend to talk yourself out of decisions, or take too long and allow someone else to make the decision for you."

It wasn't exactly true, but… yeah, Magnus did hit some of his character points. But then, he could have gotten lucky. This didn't make a believer out of Alec.

"Okay," Alec said slowly, not sure if he should be saying anything.

"Next up is your heart line," Magnus, once again, batted his eyelashes at Alec, and Alec felt very much like he was about to get hit on. Instead, Magnus frowned at it, tracing it a few times before speaking. "See how it splits? This means that you have the unfortunate habit of ignoring your own feelings in desires and instead cater to the needs of others. By doing this, you drain yourself and don't focus on yourself as much as you should. Your relationships, how few you have had, have suffered as a result." Magnus tutted. "Can't really keep a relationship going when you don't share and open your heart, can you?"

Alec hadn't felt as offended in his life before as he did in this precise moment.

"Excuse you," He couldn't stop himself from snarling. "But I don't think you have any right to be criticizing me on how I handle my relationships."

He attempted to yank his hand from Magnus's grasp, to stand up and leave, but Magnus held fast. Giving a cordial smile to Alec, he apologized, saying,

"Please, I meant no offense with what I said." Both men took a deep breath, and Alec reluctantly returned to his seat as Magnus continued speaking. "I only interpret the lines, Alec, whatever I say isn't what I may think about you in particular. And believe me when I say that you seem like the type of person who appears to need a strong emotional connection with someone before opening up to them completely. Or," Magnus' eyes had a sly, familiar gleam that wouldn't have been out of place on Alec's sister, eyeshadow and all, "someone willing to be with a locked chest such as yourself."

Yeah, Alec was definitely feeling very hit on by Magnus, and he was fairly certain it was paranoia of any sort speaking. Hopefully this couldn't get worse…

"Next up is your Life Line," Magnus pressed on when Alec didn't form a vocal reaction to his words. He dragged the tip of his index finger in a long arch around Alec's thumb. "From how yours looks, you are the one in your family that stays emotionally steady during troubling times. When difficult times come, you're the person everyone counts on to stay strong." Magnus lifted his gaze, and stared long into Alec's eyes, green meeting blue.

"It must be difficult," Magnus said at last, "To have so much hanging over your shoulders. How do you manage to sleep at night with the weight of everyone's burdens on them?"

"Alone," Alec replied flatly, not sure how else to handle the situation, "Happy that my family trusts me enough to help them with their problems."

Magnus muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Touché", and Alec wondered where Aline was. Ah, that was right, she had wanted a tarot reading, whatever that was. Even though he was pretty sure it was a vague excuse for her to come hit on someone – probably the tarot reader – in the store.

"Is that all?" Alec asked, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. He really didn't want to be here, to be all that honest, he didn't believe in this mumbo jumbo, and he also didn't appreciate being the third-wheel to Aline and whoever she was trying to hook up with.

"There's one more thing," Magnus said, tracing another part of his palm, giving Alec a sly look that he wasn't sure how to interpret. "See this line here?"

"Yes?" No, no Alec didn't. Still, he was going to humor Magnus because it seemed to be the polite thing to do.

"This line means your hand belongs on my butt."

Alec stood up so fast it was a miracle he didn't topple over the table they were sitting at. Sputtering, he swore his face had never burned this hot before.

"A-Aline," His friend's name came through his throat mangled, Alec struggling to compose himself over the embarrassment he was feeling. "We're leaving. Now. Aline?"

Choosing to look around the store for his friend rather than stare at Magnus – who he was fairly certain was looking like the cat who ate the canary – Alec's eyes fell upon a sight he probably would not be able to get out of his mind without liberally washing his eyes with bleach.

Aline was pinned to the side wall, rather, er, enthusiastically kissing a blonde girl who Alec could only assume to be the tarot reader. He kind of expected that, but the expectation did not brace him for the reality, or the scandalized "Aline!" that spilled from his lips not quite unlike a horrified mother.

"I'm leaving!" He announced to no one in particular, averting his eyes to the floor as to not witness the spectacle occurring on the other side of the store, and to not have to confront the Magnus situation either. "You can find your own way back to campus Aline!"

At least, that was his intention as he stormed from the shop.

But guilt settled in not half a block away, and Alec found himself turning back to wait Aline out until she was ready to leave. When he got back to the store, Aline was sheepishly waiting for him outside the store. As soon as she saw him, she hopped the distance to meet him, waving farewell the blonde girl as she left, who blew Aline a kiss.

Neither of them said anything as they left, but once they arrived on campus, Alec informed Aline,

"I am never going back there."

Aline giggled in response, and just gave a fluttering hand wave goodbye as she left for her own dorm building. That was that, Alec had thought.

But then that night he found a slip of paper on his nightstand in his dorm, with just a number and a message scrawled on it in a glittery blue gel pen.

Come back sometime Alec.

And damn them all to hell – Aline, her blonde girlfriend, Magnus in particular – Alec was actually considering it.

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