Fading Scars: A Series of Malec One Shots

Shades of Red

Alec had no intentions of trying on Magnus' makeup. It was an accident. A fluke. A spur of the moment sort of thing.

He was actually looking for Chairman's hair brush when he opened a drawer that had always been locked for as long as he could remember and saw all kinds of makeup inside. Lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, concealer, foundation, glitter. All the essentials and every woman's dream collection of various expensive brand names.

But what was all this doing in Magnus' dresser?

Alec sat down in front of the vanity, taking out one beauty product at a time. This was what Isabelle put on every day before going out on a mission?! This seemed like a waste of time, putting on makeup then taking it off at the end of the day. Alec didn't even bother combing his hair most days. He couldn't even imagine taking the time to sit down and apply all this to his face. It seemed too tedious.

He looked down at a small vial of nail polish in his hands. The cover alone seemed too small to even fit in his big hands as he held it and read the instructions on the side.

"Keep out of reach of children. Keep away from eyes. If any reactions occur, please contact your doctor right away. Wash away with soap and warm water." He flipped over the vial to see what color it was. "Midnight Red. Surprise your lover at the stroke of midnight with heated red colors-is this thing serious?"

He placed the polish on the vanity and cringed. What was Magnus doing with all this? He knew Magnus loved wearing nail polish and eye liner but that was it. He didn't wear much else besides some jewelry here and there. He was confident like that.

Alec reached for the vial again and opened it. The smell of the polish nearly knocked him out as he pulled out the small brush inside. He looked at it, then at his nails. It didn't hurt to try.....right?

He gently and slowly applied the brush to his nails, surprised by how easy it was to mess up and get red polish all over his fingers. He swore under his breath as he got his knuckle instead of his nail, moving slower with more gentle strokes. Once he was finished one nail, he raised a hand to admire his work. Not too shabby for his first time. A bit sloppy but overall it was a lovely color.

He decided to do the rest of his nails, seeing how he finished one. Once one hand was done he blew on them so they'd dry quicker (not that it worked very well) and waved his hand around in the air, hoping the natural air would help them dry too. Neither method worked.

Putting nail polish on his dominant hand turned out to be a challenge. He was right handed. Holding the tiny little brush in his left hand wasn't something he was used to. Of course, he was trained to use weapons in his left hand in case anything ever happened to his right but this was different. Much different. The brush was too small in his massive hand and it was giving him cramps in the muscles in his hand and arm.

Finally, he was finished. He waved that hand around too and waited for to dry and when it was, he held both of his hands up to get a good look at his hard work. He smiled. He did a good job of applying nail polish for his first time. Not to mention the color looked fabulous with his pale skin. Magnus would be proud.

Going through the drawers again, Alec picked out an eyeliner that caught his eye (no pun intended) and a shade of lipstick that looked like it matched his nails. Were you supposed to wear lipstick that matched your nails? He wasn't sure. But he was going to do it anyway.

The eyeliner was tricky. He was wasn't exactly sure how to apply it, mainly because he just discovered he couldn't close one eye without having the other follow suit. Try as he might, what one eye did, so did the other. So with a finger on one hand, he held one eye open while applied the eyeliner with the other. He looked absolutely ridiculous. But it got the job done. That's all that mattered.