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He’s always surprising him.
Magic is deeply personal to warlocks. It’s their very essence, crystallized into a tangible form. Magnus has always been fond of his azure toned magic when he’s healing, has found great satisfaction in the crimson glow of it when he’s dangerous and downright deadly.
Some warlocks flaunt their magic while others prefer to keep it known to only their chosen few. Magnus learned early and well that his power needed to be displayed. For so long it was a survival strategy-- people saw red and knew to shrink away. They saw blue and welcomed him into their homes.
Magnus has had plenty of relationships. There have been those who were attracted solely to what he could do as a warlock and plenty more still who were uncomfortable with that side of him.
He tries not to dwell on the people who were obviously repulsed by his magic or who were too terrified to ever come closer, to ever see the man behind the power.
Resigning himself long ago to never finding a partner who could just accept him, magic and man together in a perfectly conventional package, was a tough pill to swallow but he did it and he didn’t look back. Well-- not too often at least.
He’d never imagined that it would be a shadowhunter that would bring his walls crashing down. He never thought that it would be a man who was so closed off and so buttoned up who would reach inside him and decimate the walls he’d worked himself into the ground building.
His magic serves as many things, including a sort of personal vetting system. While it obeys Magnus’s will, he prefers to give his a bit of a leash. Always in command, but free to wander.
He’d been surprised, then, the first time that he’d met Alec and his magic had tentatively reached out to the unexpected shadowhunter and hadn’t been instantly rebuffed, hadn't retreated at what was usually instinctive disgust by their kind. Instead, it had crept closer and Magnus had been helpless to do anything but introduce himself and earn such a lovely smile from the Lightwood boy.
Sharing strength wasn’t unheard of, but it was a deeply personal affair. Magnus had never done it except in cases of extreme need. He’d mostly been having a private joke when he’d called for Alexander to come to his loft to help in healing Luke. However, by the time Alec had arrived, Magnus had been tapping into his reserves to stave away the alpha’s venom.
Reaching out, he’d expected a virulent rejection. Shadowhunters of all people would hardly give their strength that they so pride to a warlock. He’d been surprised when Alec had simply walked over, coming to a stop at Magnus before crouching down and wrapping Magnus in his surprisingly warm embrace.
Take what you need, he’d said and Magnus hadn’t wasted a moment. It felt like the first deep breath after being underwater. Shocking and overwhelming but deeply grounding.
Strength was such a vague term for what Magnus had needed. He’d reached into Alec, touching his very soul and taking that energy, transferring it to himself and then to Luke. It was an exhausting process, usually made much more difficult because souls were almost always incompatible.
It had been a shock to his system, then, when he’d immediately latched onto Alec’s strength. It had poured into him without reserve or any sense of self-preservation. Alec had been selfless and with anyone else, that would have been incredibly stupid.
Magnus had been so focused on Luke but something had stopped him, tapping hazily yet insistently at the edges of his consciousness. He’d dialed back the magic as Luke had started to heal in earnest, then withdrawn the connection he’d opened up with Alec as soon as he’d realized Alec’s strength was waning to dangerous levels.
He hadn’t time to think about it much until he’d come out of his bedroom to see Alec trying to clean the furniture. He’d paused for a minute, watched this solemn but good man and tried to reconcile him and what had happened earlier to what he should be like from Magnus's past experience.
It hadn’t meshed and Magnus had invited him for a drink, even more surprised as they spent hours talking.
Now that they’re in a relationship, Magnus is still constantly surprised by how his magic behaves around Alec, though it’s become a matter of course by now.
Alec is always so enthralled with it. One of the biggest hesitancies Magnus had first had when they'd started dating was Alec seeing just how much he relied on his magic for mundane tasks. His boyfriend had taken it in stride, though. Citing convenience and a simple enjoyment of watching Magnus do something that was so obviously second nature, Alec had no problem with watching him work or summon takeout or clean with his magic.
Much to his chagrin, Magnus had a damned hard time controlling his magic in bed. That first time, he could feel his magic actively struggling to get out from his ironclad grip, yearning to reach out and wrap around Alec.
His glamour had fritzed, and he’d panicked, but Alec had been nothing but perfect. After that first time, Magnus had worked on giving his magic more room and these days, he mostly lets it go when they’re intimate.
Certainly, Alec has no complaints. Lately, they’ve even discovered that Alec has a penchant for being restrained with his magic, which had delighted Magnus as much as it had embarrassed Alec.
More than that, though, it constantly surprised Magnus just how much his magic seemed to recognize Alec. There have been a few times when Magnus has lost control in the heat of battle and had decimated entire industrial complexes-- leaving Alec unscathed.
Once, just a few months ago, Magnus had been in the grip of a rage as they’d hunted a rogue warlock who was torturing mundanes. Magnus had unleashed hell when they’d found the woman and as he felt the other shadowhunters shrink away from him, he’d felt a visceral satisfaction.
He didn’t want to come down. He wanted to destroy.
Except, there wasn’t anything else to hurt and no one to protect. His magic had taken more than it could chew and it was a live thing, refusing to be contained. Wrestling with it, Magnus hadn’t been able to calm down until Alec had stepped close, reaching out an arm and placing a hand on his heart, settling his magic almost instantly as it hummed contentedly at his touch.
It’s taken centuries but Magnus has found someone who accepts him. Alec knows his past and still stays, still wants to stay and build their future.
Magnus will never admit it but privately he occasionally ruminates. In his deepest conscious, he wonders whether Alec was meant for him all these years. It’s silly and undoubtedly his whimsy getting away from him, but privately Magnus can’t help but wonder if there’s truth to the idea of soulmates after all.
There’s no denying that his magic, his very soul, has reached for Alec since that very first moment. Alec doesn’t just tolerate his magic, which has the same affectionate nature as Magnus himself. During lazy mornings and quiet evenings, Magnus will call his magic to him and it flows out in wispy tendrils, flowing over Alec and Alec just hums, sinks deeper, and enjoys the blue warmth that envelopes him. He’s never frightened or worried about Magnus’s magic, always so wild and temperamental.
A warlock’s magic is as personal as their very soul and there’s no denying that Alec has reached into him and wrapped both Magnus and his magic around his damned finger.
It’d be embarrassing if the very thought didn’t fill Magnus with such warmth and affection and an aching, all-encompassing love.
It’s the best gift that Magnus has ever been given-- someone who loves him, unconditionally and without limit.