Brooklyn: Twenty- One Years Old

For you? I'll clear my schedule.

Okay. How about that place you suggested before?

The Ethiopian Place on 44th street?

Oh. What is Ethiopian food like?

Alec looked down at his phone. For the last few minutes, the ellipsis that showed Magnus typing back to him had come up immediately after every one of Alec's texts, but it wasn't coming up right now.

He glanced around his room while he waited. He really should clean. He always felt more relaxed when he came home to a clean room. Things had just been so hectic lately.

Jocelyn Fairchild was awake, Jace was gone, and the Inquisitor had come back from Idris to question all of them since Idris now thought the Lightwoods might be spies for Valentine. After all, Robert and Maryse were ex-Circle members who had taken in Valentine's son, daughter, and now his wife.

The ellipsis came up again.

Life is an adventure, Alexander.

Alec laughed.

Fair enough. Can we meet there at 7:00?

Absolutely not. I cannot be expected to get ready for our first date in 1 hour. I could meet you at the Institute at 8:00 and portal us to the restaurant from there?

Alec sighed. He had been hoping to avoid this for longer.

It would really be better for everyone if you weren't seen at the Institute right now.

I understand. I'll meet you at the restaurant at 8:00.

Looking forward to it.

Me too. I'll text you the address.

Alec tossed down phone down on his bed and flopped backward. Yes! He had finally, officially, asked Magnus out. They were going to go eat mysterious food and most importantly, they were going to do it far away from here.

What the fuck was he going to wear?

He got up and walked to the space in front of his bed, where he could see himself in the full-length mirror hung on the back of his door.

Black hair. Black tee shirt. Black pants. Black boots.

That was certainly what he looked like.

But… on a date. He should look different on a date.

"Relax, Alec," He said to himself. "You've been on a date before."

Sure. If you counted a picnic in Idris when he was 15, or one dinner with his fiancé before he left her at the altar.

Whatever. Clothes weren't his thing.

But they were Isabelle's thing.

He set his phone on silent, shoved it into his back pocket, and then he opened his door very, very slowly.

There was no yelling tonight. That was a good sign. He pushed the door open a little further and was just about to open it when he heard footsteps.

Shit.

He waited, listening hard. Whoever was walking down his hallway was wearing heels, which was not hugely helpful. Everyone he was looking for, or currently desperate to avoid, could be wearing heels.

He saw a flash of orange just before the click of heels stopped.

"Alec?"

He opened the door the rest of the way. "Hey, Clary."

"I was just looking for you."

He nodded. "Oh. I was just going to go see Isabelle."

"I just helped Isabelle get out of the Institute. I think she went to go see Meliorn."

"Why do you think she went to see Meliorn?"

Clary sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. "You know… as her brother you probably don't want me to answer that."

Alec sighed. "Right. Okay. Good instinct."

"Can I come in? Before anyone sees me?"

Alec opened his door, waved her in and closed it behind her. "What do you need?"

"I need to not feel like a prisoner."

"You're free to come and go," Alec said. "You're just like me right now. Not really enough of a Shadowhunter to worry about."

"I tried to meet up with Simon yesterday. Someone from the Institute followed me. I ended up calling him to tell him that we couldn't meet and spent an hour just wandering around Manhattan, practicing shaking my shadow off. Which I'm not good at, by the way."

Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't want Clary to think it was about her when really it was about the Clave. They had no leads, they'd royally fucked up, and their reaction was to spy on and terrorize the New York Institute, which was full of the people Valentine had hurt the most, just so they could say they were doing something.

"So what? It's not like you and Simon are doing any clandestine Valentine related nonsense." It occurred to him that a wild card like Clary could be doing that very thing. "Right?"

Clary shot him a nasty look. "No. We aren't. But look at how the Clave treated Meliorn before Izzy's trial. A lot of people who are important to me are downworlders. I don't want to lead the Clave to Simon. Or Luke."

"The Clave should know where Luke is. He's an important ally to the New York Institute and we're all supposed to be on good terms with him."

"Like we're all on good terms with our friendly neighborhood warlock?" Clary shot back. "They don't know where Luke's personal residence is. There are a few things I want to pick up. And it would be amazing to just get away from this place right now."

Alec evaluated his options. Clary was right. The way they were all being treated was completely unfair. And he didn't currently feel like he owed the Clave, or his parents, jack shit.

"Okay. Look," he said. "There's a way of getting in and out of the Institute without using the front door and I will show it to you, on three conditions."

Clary narrowed her eyes at him. "So why didn't Izzy use it? I just had to pretend I didn't know the difference between a heat rune and a speed rune to create a diversion for her. The table was still on fire when I got sent out of the room."

"Izzy doesn't know about it. Only Jace and I do."

"Conditions?"

Alec held up his index finger. "The vampire doesn't find out about it."

Clary scowled but nodded.

"You never, ever risk using it when there is even the slightest chance someone might see you. You keep it a secret from everyone."

"And condition three?"

Alec pursed his lips. "Izzy's really gone?"

"Yeah, Alec. She's really gone."

Alec dropped his head back and sighed before looking at her again. "How do I look?"

Clary's forehead wrinkled and her brows furrowed inward until they touched. "I don't know. Tall."

"I have a date tonight," Alec growled. "Magnus said he needed two hours to get ready. I don't know what to wear."

A slow grin spread across Clary's face. "You want me to help you pick out clothes for your date? Do you actually own anything besides black tee shirts?"

"A couple things." Alec pointed to the corner of the room. "The closet's open. Make a joke about that and I will trap you in the secret passageway and leave you there to die."

Clary laughed, went to his closet and start pawing through it. "What kind of restaurant is it?"

"Ethiopian."

"No, like is it a hole in the wall, sit down, high on the Zagat guide? What is the vibe?"

Alec gulped. "I did not understand anything you just said to me."

"Whatever. Google the address."

Clary came over with a few shirts just as google populated a search for the restaurant. Alec handed Clary his phone.

"Okay. So it's a casual place. You don't have to worry about a dress code or anything."

"Magnus is not going to be dressed casually."

"Magnus knows that 95% of your wardrobe is black tee shirts and still likes you," Clary replied. "Here." She laid the three shirts she'd retrieved from his closet out on the bed. His denim shirt, a sweater that was mostly black but sort of had a dark blue pattern on it, and a bright blue dress shirt. The three things he owned that Izzy had bought for him. Not exactly a confidence booster.

"I grabbed this because it's the only actual color in your entire wardrobe."

"Izzy got it for me."

"Of course. Well. If you want to look fashionable, I'd go with the denim. If you want to look… basically like you always do, but you're like, finally trying, wear the sweater, and if you want to shock him go with the bright blue. Can you show me the passageway on your way out?"

"I'm going out the front door."

"I'm not setting another table on fire."

"I'm not under that much suspicion. I can't be loyal to Valentine and in Magnus Bane's thrall."

Clary frowned. "Jesus. Did you mother really say that to you?"

"She hasn't talked to me in a week. The Inquisitor said that. Sneered, really."

"I'm sorry, Alec."

He shrugged. "Whatever. I knew this was coming." He looked at the shirts Clary had laid out on his bed. "Thank you. For helping me."

Clary nodded. "Are you coming back to the Institute tonight or staying at his loft?"

"You and I are not having that conversation."

"Right. Okay." Clary stood up and walked to the door. She stopped and turned back to him. "Alec? I would really like it if we could be friends."

"Yeah, well. Baby steps," he told her. But he smiled and she smiled back before she left.

It was going to take some time to get used to Clary Fray being part of his life.

Ethiopian food was good. The big spongey bread that it was served with had a weird texture that Alec wasn't a huge fan of, but everything else was spicy and flavorful. The booth was private and comfortable. The music was strange and upbeat. The company was beyond compare.

And the conversation was… ongoing.

"I don't like action movies," Alec repeated with a shrug.

Magnus laughed. "Alexander, even I have seen Star Wars. It was such a grand event, I convinced Ragnor to see it in the theaters."

"In the seventies?"

"Yes!" Magnus replied. He waved his arms dramatically as he spoke and his shirt's wide, dark red silky sleeves waved like wings. Alec wasn't sure, but Magnus actually seemed to be dressed down a little bit. His hair was all black, combed to the side and back instead of up over his head. He was wearing glittery black eye makeup, but not… like a lot of it. He'd complimented the shirt Alec had picked from the options Clary had set out for him. The denim one.

"At the time it was very exciting." Magnus's hands came down to the same place they'd been most of the evening— resting on the table top, a couple inches from Alec's. Alec kept waiting for Magnus to do something about that space between them. Tuck his fingers into Alec's palm, or set his hand over Alec's. Magnus never seemed to touch him. Alec had noticed that before… but shouldn't tonight be different?

Alec felt different. Everyone knew now. Only Jace, Izzy, Clary (and the vampire, for some reason) were happy for him, but the weight off his shoulders was still immeasurable. He didn't feel guilty about being out with Magnus at all. Anyone could see them here. Anyone who saw them would assume it was a date. And he didn't care.

And, most amazingly, he hadn't lied to anyone about where he was, or who he was seeing. This wasn't like when he was 15 and forever making up excuses for why no one had been able to find him and Edward Whitelaw when they weren't at their training. Or even like the last few months with Magnus, pretending every phone call portended urgent magical business when he knew damn well that Magnus was just making up excuses to talk to him.

Tomorrow, if anyone asked him where he had been, he wasn't going to lie about it, like he had a couple years ago when he'd flipped out after a mission and gotten drunk in a mundane gay bar. He'd just tell them. He'd had a date. A really excellent date.

Alec shrugged again. "I don't like action movies."

"Why not?"

"They're never realistic," Alec answered, grabbing his wine glass and tipping back the last little bit of red liquid at the bottom. "The fighting is ridiculous, the mundanes in them make ridiculous decisions that no one would ever make, and the last like… five I've heard about everyone just fell in love with a vampire. Gross." Alec realized what he'd said a little too late and cleared his throat. "Sorry… I didn't mean—"

"— It's fine," Magnus said with a dismissive wave. "There are plenty of days when I think the same thing."

"Okay."

The conversation up to this point had been fluid and easily and it stung to stumble so badly as they wrapped up such a nice meal. He and Magnus hadn't talked about Camille at all in the week since Jocelyn Fairchild had been woken up. Alec could accept Magnus at his word that Camille had been an important part of his life and now she wasn't. Magnus was over three hundred years old. Alec didn't expect to be his first anything. It wasn't like Alec was coming into this relationship as a blank slate either.

Across the couple of inches of table top between their hands, Magnus's fingers twitched to life. He started running one of his fingertips up and down a groove between the wooden slats.

"So you don't like action movies, you don't like comedies. What kind of movies do you like?" Magnus asked.

The waiter came back with their check. Alec reached for it, but Magnus snatched it before he got there.

"I insist," he said when Alec tried to protest.

He tucked a few bills into the black vinyl envelope, set it aside and returned his hand to the same place it had been before. Alec watched it move.

"Alec?"

"Uh," Alec snapped back to the topic. "I don't really know. I haven't seen a lot of movies. Shadowhunters are more into books. Studying. Training."

"Right," Magnus smiled. "Maybe we could find a movie that peaks your interest some time. I don't think I've been to a movie theater in…" Magnus looked to the side, eyes narrowed in thought. "At least thirty years."

"Yeah. Okay. I'd like that."

A small, warm silence fell between them. Magnus's chest rose and fell, causing shimmers along his shirt before he asked, "Would you like to come back to the loft for a night cap?"

"Yeah," Alec answered softly.

They slid out of the high-backed booth they'd been hidden away in for the last couple hours and walked out the front door into a pleasantly cool, dry evening.

"We could duck into the alley and I could portal us back. It's too far to walk."

"Can we walk couple blocks and then portal?" Alec asked. "I could use the fresh air."

"Of course."

They walked away from the setting sun since the direction they went didn't really matter. After a full minute of second guessing himself, Alec reached out and caught Magnus's hand in his own at the second intersection they came to.

Magnus looked up at him, and Alec could tell that he'd surprised the warlock again. He felt that warm glow in his chest he got so often around Magnus.

This had a price tag. Alec was paying it now, and he knew he'd be paying it for a while, maybe for the rest of his life, but right now, standing hand in hand with Magnus on a New York City street corner where no one was even slowing down for a second glance at them, it felt simple.

Back at Magnus's loft, he and Alec settled into the couch, and Magnus conjured them each a glass of red wine.

"So. You've been avoiding the topic for the duration of our lovely evening. How is the Institute?"

"Still standing."

"Alec."

Alec looked down into his wine glass. Magnus had turned the lights in the loft down low, and the wine was dark. Alec could see his reflection on the surface of the liquid.

"It's bad," he answered. "Like, it's uncharted territory bad."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. But I really want to be away from it for a night, okay. Can we just change the subject?"

Magnus held his hands out, palms up. "To anything in the world you'd like to talk about."

The wine Magnus had conjured was rich and sweet and much, much better than the wine at the restaurant had been. There was a fire crackling in the hearth. Magnus was lounging only a few inches away.

And they'd kissed now.

And they'd finally been on a date.

And Alec was feeling warm and happy and… daring. Maybe even a little wild.

"Okay," Alec said. He moved his wine glass from his right hand to his left and took another drink. "I want to know why, in the months you spent flirting with me, and calling me, and staring at me, and making up reasons to see me, you never touched me?" He punctuated his question by pressing the tip of his index finger into Magnus's knee.

Alec saw that way that Magnus's adam's apple dipped before Magnus scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. He certainly had Magnus's attention.

"I didn't want to coerce you with my raw, animal magnetism," Magnus answered, with a grin. "I was trying to play fair."

"Riiigghhtt," Alec replied, he pressed a second finger into Magnus's knee. "Try again."

Magnus laughed and leaned forward. "I'm old, Alec. When I was your age if you touched the wrong person in public church elders would just swarm you and perform a marriage right then and there."

Alec laughed so hard he snorted at that, which he felt compromised the in-charge and sexy vibe he'd been working toward. He pressed a third finger into Magnus's knee. "Try again."

Magnus paused, then took a long drink from his wine glass. His tone was much more serious when he spoke again. "I wasn't sure you'd let me."

Alec nodded, and pressed a last finger against Magnus's knee. They both looked down at the small space between them. Alec wondered if Magnus could hear Alec's heart throbbing in his chest.

Swallowing hard, Alec leaned, over plucked Magnus's wine glass out of his hand, then set both glasses on the coffee table, and his palms over Magnus's knees.

"You can touch me."

Magnus looked stunned for a brief moment, then caught Alex by the back of the neck and pulled him into a searing kiss. It wasn't quite like the one at that wedding, desperate and hot and hungry, but that was okay, better probably. It didn't have to be manic and intense this time. This one was just a warm up. They were going to keep going.

Alec leaned back, pulling Magnus with him, and after quickly sort their legs out, Alec had Magnus's body pressing down against his own, and they were making out.

His surprise at how easy it had been to get Magnus to kiss him again was about equal to his worry about what happened next. It wasn't like he'd never done more than make out— but this was different.

Magnus was older. More experienced. A downworlder.

And they were alone. They didn't have to hide or hold back. They could do absolutely anything tonight. Anything at all. Overcome with possiblity, Alec caught Magnus's bottom lip between his teeth and bit down very gently. It was enough to make Magnus growl and press down harder against him.

Without breaking the increasingly sloppy kissing, Magnus slid his hand underneath Alec's knee and gently moved Alec's leg out and up, then pressed his own body down against Alec's, tighter than before. Desire surged up in Alec a sharp, quick moan fell from his lips.

"He has not shied away from the pleasures of every era. His tastes are both exquisite, and quite excessive"

Alec stiffened at the voice, Hodges voice was clear as crystal in his memory.

Clave bullshit, Alec told himself sharply. What could the Clave possibly know about pleasure?

"Alec?" Magnus asked. "Are you alright?"

And they don't know him like I do.

"Yeah," Alec replied. He was already out of breath.

Magnus hung over him, watching his face. A big vein was pulsing in his forehead. "Maybe we should go to bed."

Yes, Alec thought immediately. Part of him, somewhere, almost wanted to say no. He hadn't told anyone at the Institute that he wasn't coming back. The Inquisitor was going to pitch a fit in the morning if no one knew where he was. His mother was going to go easily another two weeks without speaking to him if he waltzed into one of the Inquisitor's meltdowns after having spent the night with that warlock.

Too fucking bad.

"Okay, yeah."

Magnus smiled, dove in for one more kiss then pulled back, his hand extended out to Alec. Alec took it, allowing Magnus to help him up off the couch and guide him down the hallway off the the side of loft. He'd been down this hallway before. After he'd helped Magnus heal Luke Garroway, they'd stayed up way too late having a drink. And a second drink. Magnus had let him stay in the guest room. Last door the left.

Magnus opened the first door on the right and pulled Alec in after him.

When he'd stayed here before, Alec had thought the guest bedroom, with it's embroidered red silk duvet and satin sheets and four poster bed, had been almost ridiculously rich.

Magnus's bedroom made the guest bedroom look like a toolshed.

Warm sconce lighting along the walls illuminated cathedral ceilings, another four poster, king sized bed, this one hung with midnight blue silk curtains. The room had a fire place and a balcony. An old fashioned, beautifully carved desk was tucked into a corner. Carefully arranged shelves along the wall displayed a few vases of orchids, old books and silver framed, black and white photographs. Magnus pulled Alec a few steps further into the room, far enough to feel the ground under his feet change from cool stone to soft carpet.

Magnus let go of Alec's hand walked to the bed. He carefully folded back the top few blankets, revealing midnight blue satin sheets underneath, then came back and set one hand at Alec's waist.

"I'm going to go clean up. Make yourself comfortable."

Alec bent over to kiss Magnus again.

It didn't occur to Alec that the last few minutes had been a little strange until Magnus was already gone.

A few minutes ago they had been making out on the couch, pressed together up and down the full length of their bodies, heat building between them… and now Alec was alone in Magnus's bedroom.

While Magnus… cleaned up.

Alec took a deep breath. This had been a really good night. Looking over at Magnus's bed, the covers turned down, inviting him to lay down, Alec was sure the night was going to get better.

In fact, he was going to make sure it was. He walked to Magnus's bed, pulled off his tee shirt, unbuckled his belt, undid his fly and pulled his pants off. He stuck his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers and paused, but the moment of hesitation passed quickly He pulled those off too.

Naked, and still mostly hard, he laid down in the space Magnus had set aside for him.

For months, he'd been forcing himself not to think about this. About the way Magnus's hands moved when he did magic, or the way he moved through the world with total confidence, total grace. The way the glitter around his eyes sparkled when he laughed. About the way Alec knew Magnus wanted him, and how it felt to know that. Right now, at the end one of the hardest weeks of his life, he felt happy and peaceful, because of Magnus.

If Magnus wanted Alec, he could have him.

Alec watched the door, tensing with anticipation at every little sound until finally, the door swung back open and Magnus walked through it.

Seeing Magnus gave Alec felt the same tingling leaden feeling in his stomach that he got from jumping from a great height, or ducking a sword blow at the last minute. It was the same rush.

Magnus wasn't wearing any make up. At all. His hair was flat and glossy black. All his ethereal, other worldly pomp and circumstance was stripped away.

He looked devastatingly human.

He also looked pretty taken aback.

Alec finally noticed that Magnus was wearing pajamas. The fabric was the same as the sheets. Loose fitting pants under a tunic that came down to Magnus's mid thigh.

Alec finally breathed, and slid a couple inches down the pillows behind him. "Hey."

Magnus's eyebrows slowly lowered. "Hey."

He crossed the wide expanse of expensive rug with his arms raised up near his chest, circled around to the other side of the bed and sat down on top of the covers. "Alexander," he started, then paused. He picked up the blankets and pulled them back up, covering Alec from the waist down.

"Alexander," he started again. "In hindsight, I can see where what I said about going to bed was misleading." He pressed a hand to his chest. "Mea culpa… but I'm not going to have sex with you on a first date."

Blood rushed into Alec's face. "Oh…" He looked away from Magnus, his hold body tensing up. "I uh… you…you paid for dinner and… invited me here… and asked me to stay," he managed.

"Yes," Magnus said. He set his hand over Alec's where he was nervously knotting the blanket between his fingers. "Because I don't get paid what the Clave calls a salary, and I wanted to spend the evening with you, and I know how bad things are at the Institute. I thought you'd want to be away from all of that for a while. But you don't… owe me."

Alec shakes his head and, cheeks still burning, fights his way on top of the embarrassment. "I know that. That's not what this is."

"Alright," Magnus replies. "What about when we said we'd slow things down?"

"We did," Alec said, now overwhelmingly aware that Magnus's whole body was covered and his own was not. "Everyone was jumping down our throats about… love and romance movies and what we were thinking. We slowed down. We planned a date. We went on a date." He pressed his hand over his face. "Fuck. Okay. I just… I figured you would want to… you know. Go there."

He felt Magnus's hand close around his wrist, and let Magnus pull his hand away from his face. "Don't be embarrassed. It's fine. Why don't you go wash all this stuff out of your hair, and come back." He snapped his fingers with a flourish. "There are pajamas in the top drawer, right side of the sink."

Alec looked at Magnus's hand where it was still gently circle around his wrist. "Jace told me what you said. When you were trying to heal Luke and you told him that you needed me because of my Virgin Shadowhunter Energy?"

Magnus had the decency to look embarrassed. "There's no such thing as Virgin Shadowhunter Energy. I just couldn't use Jace or Clary's energy and didn't have time to explain why."

Alec's stomach twisted uncomfortably. "You don't think I'm completely innocent, right? That's not part of my appeal to you? Cause it's not true."

Magnus smiled and laughed gently, letting go of Alec's arm. "Alec, I don't care about any of that. That's not what this is about."

"Okay. What is this about?"

Magnus's smile faded slowly. He licked his lips and looked down at his hands for a second before turning back to Alec with a very rigid look. "Optimism," he finally answered. "I don't want to have sex with you now, because I want to have sex with you at some perfect moment, out in the future. After a lot of dates, and a lot of long, slow conversations over good food, and good drinks. After you've stayed here enough times to know where the towels and the cups are. After you've seen me," he waved a hand at his bare face and flat hair, "Like this enough times that you aren't surprised anymore."

"Oh," Alec replied. It was hard not to like the picture Magnus was painting. One where this wasn't his first time in Magnus's bedroom. Where he knew Magnus enough that he could read his tone and his expression easily. Where they could read each other well enough that this sort of misunderstanding didn't happen. "Okay. Yes. I'd… I'd like that too."

"Okay." Magnus kissed him once, gently. "Go. Take a shower. It's a rainfall shower. It's heavenly. I'll be here when you get back."

"Alright," Alec agreed. He shifted to get out of bed and stopped. "You magicked the pajamas into the bathroom. I'm still naked."

Magnus grinned and nodded. "Oh, I know. I'm going to watch you walk away."

Alec snorted and threw the covers back off of himself and over Magnus's head.