Alec always loved stormy days. He always felt calmed by the constant hammering of rain on the roof of his and Magnus's apartment, and the beautiful strikes of lightening that split the sky every so often. On this particularly dreary day, Alec was curled up on the couch, a book in his hands, and Chairman Meow curled comfortably in his lap. Magnus had left with a client an hour or so ago, and both of the boys had fallen asleep after roughhousing all morning. It was a rare quiet moment for Alec.
"What are you reading?" A voice came from behind him, making him jump and scaring Chairman Meow off his lap.
"By the Angel, Magnus. I hate it when you sneak up behind me!" Alec said angrily, spinning around. His boyfriend stood behind him, a devilish grin on his face. Rain glistened in his hair, and his clothes were damp as well.
"Did you not bring an umbrella out there?" Alec continued, helping Magnus out of his wet, green blazer and hanging it on the coat rack.
"It wasn't raining that hard." Magnus replied, taking a seat on the coach and pulling his cat into his lap.
"Magnus, if you get sick then you'll get the kids sick, and Max just got over him cold." Alec continued, padding into the kitchen. He picked out Magnus's favorite tea and placed it in a cup of hot water to steep. He knew that his boyfriend could've done that easily with magic, but he like to be able to do things for him.
"I won't get sick, Alec, I'll be fine." Magnus assured him. He was wearing fresh clothes now, a plain white t-shirt and pink silk paisley pyjama pants. It was the simplest thing Alec had seen him in.
"If you're so sure then." Alec mumbled, taking a place on the couch next to him. Magnus scooted closer, casually tossing his arm over Alec's shoulders, pulling the Shadowhunter closer. Alec picked his book back up, determined to finish it, Magnus reading over his shoulder.
Alec had read three chapters by the time he realized that Magnus had fallen asleep. Work must've taken a lot out of him today, Alec thought with a smile, before turning back to his book, careful not to disturb his sleeping warlock. The pattering of little feet sounded behind him, and Raphael came bounding up and jumped into Alec's lap.
"Quiet, Raph, you'll wake daddy." Alec said in a hushed tone, although he knew it wasn't necessary, Magnus could sleep through anything. He just wanted the house to stay as quiet as possible for as long as it could.
"Sorry, daddy." Raphael said sheepishly, running his small fingers through a lock of Magnus's spiky hair. The little shadowhunter was always fascinated with the feeling of the gel the warlock put in it. Alec smiled at the cute sight, before continuing his reading.
"Daddy?" Raphael whispered after a moment, still playing with Magnus's hair.
"Yeah, Raph?" Alec replied, not taking him eyes off the page. He was almost to the climax of the story, and things were getting good.
"The storm is loud." Raphael answered, his voice barely audible. Alec glanced down at his son, raising an eyebrow. Was he scared of the storm?
"Don't worry, my brave little boy." Alec said, an idea forming in his mind, "I know what will help you. C'mon." Raphael jumped off his lap, and Alec gently disentangled himself from Magnus, who was still fast asleep. Alec took Raphael's hand, leading him towards the kitchen.
"Close your eyes." Alec instructed, and Raphael did as he was told, covering his big, brown eyes with his hands for extra emphasis. Alec reached into a drawer, pulling out a sharpie. He uncapped it, pressing the marker to Raphael's forearm, who squirmed away, but kept his eyes closed.
"Hold still." Alec said, sketching out the familiar shape into his son's arm. It took a minute or so, and Alec was surprised at how still Raphael could be.
"Okay, open your eyes now." Alec said, returning the sharpie to it's drawer. Raphael's eyes widened as he took in the shape that was drawn on his arms, his head snapping up towards his father.
"But I'm only six, daddy!" He squealed, and Alec chuckled.
"Just don't tell anyone that I gave you a rune, okay? I'll be our little secret." Of course Alec would never give Raphael a real rune, but a sharpie one would serve the purpose all the same.
"It's a fearless rune." Alec explained, "it'll make you not afraid of the storm." Raphael grinned and flung his arms around his father.
"I'm not scared anymore!" He shrieked happily, and Alec shushed him gently. A smile still plastered to his face, Raphael dashed down the hall, presumably to wake his brother. A moment later, Raphael returned, leading a sleepy Max by the hand.
"Max wants a rune, too!" Raphael announced, his brother nodding happily.
"Which rune, then?" Alec asked with one last glance at his book, which was sitting, pages down, on the coffee table. There goes his quiet time.
~*~
Magnus sat up, still groggy from his nap. He really hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he had been so busy helping Maia and the werewolves this week, he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. Rubbing at his eyes, the sounds of Max and Raph's giggles drifted towards him, and Magnus smiled, wondering what the boys were doing. He turned around, and his mouth dropped open. There were his boys, wrestling on the floor, Alec standing over them, occasionally giving them fighting tips. But that wasn't what gave him pause. Across the boys' necks and arms, dozens of black runes were inked, standing out especially on Max's blue skin.
"Alec!" Magnus cried, dashing over to the trio. Alec's glanced up at him with a smile, but it quickly faded as he saw his boyfriend's unhappy look.
"What's wrong? They wanted runes." Alec said nonchalantly. How could Alec do something so dangerous?! He was never this careless!
"Yeah!" Raphael piped up, tugging on Magnus's pant leg, "We aren't supposed to tell anyone so that daddy won't get in trouble." Magnus was fuming now. How could Alec have thought that this was a good idea?! Without a word, Magnus grabbed Alec's arm, tugging him into their bedroom and out of earshot of the boys.
"What were you thinking?!" Magnus hissed, lowering his voice so that it wouldn't carry to Raphael and Max, who had resumed wrestling, "Raphael isn't of age yet, and incase you've forgotten, Max is a warlock! Those-" he broke off, as Alec had busted out laughing halfway through Magnus's rant.
"This is serious, Alexander!" Magnus said sternly, which only made Alec laugh harder.
"Mags." He said, once he caught his breath, "it's sharpie. I'm not going to go around drawing real runes on our children." Alec said with a small giggle. Magnus raised an eyebrow, a puzzled expression crossing his face.
"The runes aren't real?" Magnus squeaked, taken aback slightly. He had been so ready to yell at Alec, he was surprised to see that he had no reason to. "Oh, well then."
"C'mon Mags, let's go watch our boys wrestle." Alec said with a small laugh, taking Magnus's hand and tugging him to where their sons were waiting.
So this is my new one-shot book! Hopefully y'all will enjoy, and don't forget to vote and comment ❤
<3 ryan
