Conditional Love

Chapter 8

Alec walks into work with a scowl on his face. He's dead tired, and looking forward to this week being over with. They're finally at the end of their ninety day shift, and on top of him being sick of waking up so damned early everyday, he is also dealing with being sexually frustrated. He and Magnus have been seeing each other almost daily outside of work, but they have yet to move their relationship to the next level. They are exclusive with one another, but whenever their make out sessions start to progress, Magnus stops everything. Alec is starting to get a serious case of blue balls and it's killing him. He's never said anything to Magnus about it; he's too afraid of coming off sounding like a dick. He respects Magnus' boundaries, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Everything else about their relationship is going well. As predicted, Aline knew all along about Magnus' sexuality, due to her relationship with Magnus' mother, and Magnus did mention that Chief has known since day one. Magnus still isn't comfortable about mentioning it to any of the other guys at work, much to Alec and Aline's prompting. But once again, that's Magnus' decision, and Alec isn't going to go against that. He respects him too much to push the subject any further. Aline also knows about Alec and Magnus' relationship. They've been on a few double dates with her and Helen. Actually, Helen's older brother Mark has volunteered to be a sperm donor so Aline and Helen can start their family. That has been a process in itself and Magnus and Alec have definitely been kept in the loop, much to Alec's distaste. To him, hearing about all their conception attempts is very nauseating, while Magnus looks genuinely interested.

Alec takes it all in stride since they've become such close friends, but it takes some effort.

Magnus has also met Clary, Jon, and Holly. He adores Clary and Holly, but Jon has scared the ever living shit out of Magnus. The first time they met, Jon went all protective big brother on him, and gave Magnus 'The Speech'. Alec was there during it, and even he has to admit that it was quite terrifying. Magnus was so shaken up after their first meeting, that he made Alec promise to teach him self defense. The training sessions have been rather fun, and Magnus is a fast learner, however, the lessons also didn't help with Alec's little predicament. Alec has been taking cold showers for months, and it's getting old pretty quick.

Alec has also met Magnus' best friend, Ragnor Fell. Ragnor is originally from London and went to the same boarding school as Magnus. He's now living in New York as a Junior Account Executive Broker on Wall Street. Alec and Magnus met him at JJ's one morning about two weeks ago, and Ragnor is one grumpy Brit. Judging just from the two hour conversation Alec had had with the man, he seems to fit in at Wall Street seamlessly. The guy has been working on Wall Street for a little over a year, and he has more accounts than any other junior executive. He's also scary as fuck! Where Magnus was worried about Jon, Alec is more concerned over the brooding Englishman killing him. Although Ragnor has a very grumpy demeanor about him, he tends to look at Magnus with a brotherly affection. Alec can tell that the two are as close of friends as he, Clary, and Jon are.

Alec is brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Magnus and Aline arriving. Alec nods his head acknowledging the two, then sets to work on inspecting their ambulance for the day. He makes sure the vehicle is stocked, clean, then calls dispatch for their starting milage and shift change information. Once he's completed his morning tasks, he notices Magnus hovering off to the side. Magnus takes a quick look around then walks over, puts his arms around Alec's waist, and gives him a sweet kiss.

"Is everything alright, darling? You seem tense this morning," Magnus inquires once he lets Alec go.

"I'm fine," Alec sighs out, rubbing his hand over his forehead. "I'm just tired and I'm ready for this rotation to be over and done with."

"Just four more days, then you are free to sleep in for the next ninety days." Magnus smirks. He's fully aware of Alec's aversion to waking up early. He did tell Magnus that he wasn't always like this. Back in high school, he loved waking up early, doing his MMA training, or going out in the backyard of his parents' home and firing off arrows, but now, he just can't seem to want to get out of bed before noon. "I'll even take you out for a cup of coffee when we get off tonight, if you'd like, of course."