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Language:
English
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Published:
2019-05-04
Words:
690
Chapters:
1/1
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7
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372
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Shadowhunter Instincts

Summary:

Shadowhunter instincts are hard to shake, even on a date night, and it warms Magnus’ heart to have felt the arm around his shoulders tighten in an attempt to protect if the need arises.

Notes:

My 100th fic for this fandom!!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

They are walking back from Hunter’s Moon, heading towards the loft with a tranquil pace. It’s a new thing Magnus has learnt to appreciate now when he’s dating Alexander. His boyfriend’s insistence that they don’t always need to portal everywhere had felt redundant at first, because why waste time walking when they could spend that time in the loft.

There were still nights when they were in a hurry to get back, but more often than not when the distance wasn’t too long, they walked.

The air around them is cool, not cold enough to bite their ears and cheeks but chilly enough to make sure that they are staying close to each other. Although Magnus thinks that would probably be the case even if the weather was scorching hot.

Alec has his arm wrapped around Magnus’ shoulders, Magnus’ own arm securely around Alec’s waist. The streetlamps cast shadows on their faces as they are smiling lightly, content in the silence that has fallen over them.

They walk past a dark alley, and Magnus feels Alec’s body tense next to him. For a moment Magnus tenses up as well, thinking that maybe Alec hears something. But as they continue their walk to the direction they were going for instead of turning to the alley to kill some demons, Magnus relaxes again.

Shadowhunter instincts are hard to shake, even on a date night, and it warms Magnus’ heart to have felt the arm around his shoulders tighten in an attempt to protect if the need arises.

Had it been someone else, Magnus would have given a long speech about how he was centuries old and definitely did not need protection, that he was capable of taking care of himself, thank you very much. Anyone who would think that Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, the most powerful warlock in the city, would need help fighting off a few demons, would be underestimating Magnus. It would feel like an insult.

But with Alec he knew that the move had been a reflex, not an act born from doubt towards Magnus’ own skills. His boyfriend was used to protecting those he loves, and Magnus felt humbled to be counted into that group.

His smile widens at the thought.

“What are you thinking?” Alec asks from beside him, apparently noticing the change in Magnus’ expression.

“Oh, nothing,” Magnus says, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Just happy our date wasn’t interrupted by demons this time.”

Because that had happened before. They had been walking back to the loft, similarly to this, when they had both heard a scream. A brief look at each other and they had been running to the direction of the sound, Magnus with magic ready at his fingertips and Alec with a blade in hand. Had it not proved to be needed, Magnus would have teased him about bringing a weapon to a date.

They had found a mundane trapped in an alley, four Ravener demons preventing him from running away.

The job had been easy. They hardly broke sweat when they worked together, killing the demons and making them disappear. While it was not the type of physical activity Magnus had hoped for the end of their date, there was a certain charm in fighting together, protecting each other while working in unison. Another way the two of them clicked.

After a quick spell to make the mundane forget what he saw and to black out for a moment, the two of them had fled the scene and continued their walk back to the loft, ready to shower the ichor away.

“I’m happy about that too,” Alec says, bringing Magnus back from his memories. “We’ve both been so busy lately, a night off from demons is definitely what we both needed.”

“Agreed,” Magnus says, and the silence falls over them again.

They are both busy - that is to be expected from two focal people in the New York Shadow World - but Magnus is glad that they are able to find calm moments like this, where it’s just the two of them and the quiet city around them.

Notes:

Tumblr!!