Advice
Title: Advice
Link: On AO3
Fandom: Shadowhunters
Pairing: Isabelle & Alec; background Magnus/Alec
Rating: General
Warnings: Implied homophobia
Other Tags: Siblings, Teasing, Episode tag
Summary: Her life might be a mess, but she's glad Alec gets to have this. Episode tag for 2X07
*
She’s reasonably sure nobody else has noticed; Alec lives in the same half-dozen faded black t-shirts and combat pants, so it’s not immediately obvious that he’s wearing yesterday’s clothes, and he clearly did shower at some point before slipping back into the briefing room in the early morning hours. His hair is soft and unstyled, flopping into his eyes and making him look a hell of a lot younger than he usually does. He meets Izzy’s eyes briefly, blushes, and looks away.
The rest of the shadowhunters, yawning over coffee and complaining about the hour, don’t seem to have observed anything out of the ordinary, fortunately. Alec has a good deadpan, at least for people who don’t know him well.
She drops her head and smiles, but lets it go for the moment. They have more important things to focus on, and although ribbing her brother about his newfound sex life sounds infinitely more appealing than investigating Valentine’s apparent new habit of kidnapping angels, Izzy is, despite all rumors to the contrary, a consummate professional when it really matters.
Besides, she’ll have plenty of time for it later.
*
Alec tries to slip away without talking to her, but she intercepts him at the elevator, gives a quick glance around to make sure that the hallway is empty, then leans one hip against the wall and looks up at him expectantly. “So?”
“So what?” Alec retorts. He smells like sandalwood soap that definitely did not come from his room at the Institute, and Izzy gives up on any attempt to contain her grin. “Iz-”
“So how did it go?” she interrupts. “Come on. Everything else is terrible, at least let me live the thrill of a new relationship vicariously through you. Is Magnus as fantastic in bed as I bet he is?”
“Izzy,” he groans, cheeks flaming. It’s possibly the best thing she’s seen all week, a clean simple delight that briefly quiets the awful buzzing beneath her skin. “I’m not discussing this with you.”
“So that’s a yes.”
“It’s a ‘mind your own business’.”
“No,” she says, “it’s a yes.”
“You think I’d tell you if it was terrible?”
She can actually see the instant he realizes what he just admitted, the flash of fear that’s immediately stomped on. It’s reflexive, she thinks, a sudden twist of heartbreak in her chest, the legacy of who he is and what he is and the life they live-it’s not just that Idris had to be so hard for a gay kid, hard in ways she will never understand and Alec will never admit, it’s also Alec, the golden child, the perfect warrior, the one who always carried the weight of their family’s expectations, the reputation of the Institute, and all that other fucking bullshit.
“No,” she says again, gentle. “I think you’d ask me for advice.”
Alec smiles a little at that. “Yeah, well. You give good advice.”
“You’re damn right I do.” She cups his cheek briefly, then slides her hand up into his hair and ruffles it, deliberately breaking the moment. Alec bats it away with a snort of laughter, and Izzy adds, “You have a giant hickey right there, by the way. I can lend you some concealer if you want.”
“No,” Alec says, and tugs his shirt up to cover the purplish mark on his collarbone. And then, more seriously, “But thank you.”
He’s still blushing, but his face is softer. Happy. She’s glad of it; her own personal life might be a mess right now, but at least Alec gets to have this. It’s about damn time.
“Hey,” she says. “Anytime.”
Link: On AO3
Fandom: Shadowhunters
Pairing: Isabelle & Alec; background Magnus/Alec
Rating: General
Warnings: Implied homophobia
Other Tags: Siblings, Teasing, Episode tag
Summary: Her life might be a mess, but she's glad Alec gets to have this. Episode tag for 2X07
*
She’s reasonably sure nobody else has noticed; Alec lives in the same half-dozen faded black t-shirts and combat pants, so it’s not immediately obvious that he’s wearing yesterday’s clothes, and he clearly did shower at some point before slipping back into the briefing room in the early morning hours. His hair is soft and unstyled, flopping into his eyes and making him look a hell of a lot younger than he usually does. He meets Izzy’s eyes briefly, blushes, and looks away.
The rest of the shadowhunters, yawning over coffee and complaining about the hour, don’t seem to have observed anything out of the ordinary, fortunately. Alec has a good deadpan, at least for people who don’t know him well.
She drops her head and smiles, but lets it go for the moment. They have more important things to focus on, and although ribbing her brother about his newfound sex life sounds infinitely more appealing than investigating Valentine’s apparent new habit of kidnapping angels, Izzy is, despite all rumors to the contrary, a consummate professional when it really matters.
Besides, she’ll have plenty of time for it later.
*
Alec tries to slip away without talking to her, but she intercepts him at the elevator, gives a quick glance around to make sure that the hallway is empty, then leans one hip against the wall and looks up at him expectantly. “So?”
“So what?” Alec retorts. He smells like sandalwood soap that definitely did not come from his room at the Institute, and Izzy gives up on any attempt to contain her grin. “Iz-”
“So how did it go?” she interrupts. “Come on. Everything else is terrible, at least let me live the thrill of a new relationship vicariously through you. Is Magnus as fantastic in bed as I bet he is?”
“Izzy,” he groans, cheeks flaming. It’s possibly the best thing she’s seen all week, a clean simple delight that briefly quiets the awful buzzing beneath her skin. “I’m not discussing this with you.”
“So that’s a yes.”
“It’s a ‘mind your own business’.”
“No,” she says, “it’s a yes.”
“You think I’d tell you if it was terrible?”
She can actually see the instant he realizes what he just admitted, the flash of fear that’s immediately stomped on. It’s reflexive, she thinks, a sudden twist of heartbreak in her chest, the legacy of who he is and what he is and the life they live-it’s not just that Idris had to be so hard for a gay kid, hard in ways she will never understand and Alec will never admit, it’s also Alec, the golden child, the perfect warrior, the one who always carried the weight of their family’s expectations, the reputation of the Institute, and all that other fucking bullshit.
“No,” she says again, gentle. “I think you’d ask me for advice.”
Alec smiles a little at that. “Yeah, well. You give good advice.”
“You’re damn right I do.” She cups his cheek briefly, then slides her hand up into his hair and ruffles it, deliberately breaking the moment. Alec bats it away with a snort of laughter, and Izzy adds, “You have a giant hickey right there, by the way. I can lend you some concealer if you want.”
“No,” Alec says, and tugs his shirt up to cover the purplish mark on his collarbone. And then, more seriously, “But thank you.”
He’s still blushing, but his face is softer. Happy. She’s glad of it; her own personal life might be a mess right now, but at least Alec gets to have this. It’s about damn time.
“Hey,” she says. “Anytime.”