Shadowhunters One-shots and Preferences

Disruptive Melody- Magnus Bane

I've started reading the Bane Chronicles and I'm loving it already, especially the first story when Magnus was in Peru. For those who haven't read it (spoiler alert), Magnus took up playing an instrument called the charango, which is similar to the guitar (belongs in the string family), and...well let's just say when he finally gave up on that venture, the local village threw a festival suspiciously the very next day.

So, for this one-shot Magnus had kept the charango as one of his special mementos (the man who tried to teach him was a love interest of his in the book) and he decides to try learning how to play it again, much to the dismay of the reader, who lives one floor beneath Magnus, and the people nearby.

Spoiler alert for the Bane Chronicles. Enjoy.

It was Saturday. Which, for you, was your day off and the one day of the week when you could sleep in and forget about the woes of working for this one day. Well you couldn't sleep in too long as you also had a dog that needed to eat, but it was still nice to not have to go to work.

As you prepared for your day of pampering yourself, you were completely oblivious to your upstairs neighbor who was currently reminiscing through his box of pleasant memories.

In the apartment above you, Magnus Bane found himself feeling somewhat nostalgic for reasons unknown. He found his old box of various objects he's kept over the centuries as keepsakes to remind him of the people he once loved, people who were dead and gone a long time ago. Such is the life of a warlock after all; he keeps existing as the same person while everyone around him aged and died.

Being preoccupied with his trip down memory lane, Magnus was soon interrupted by the sound of someone walking into his home. The warlock quickly  stood to his feet, half-expecting an intruder was breaking and entering, but relaxed when he realized it was a friend. "Oh, it's you," he sighs in relief. "You expecting someone to break in to your lovely home?" Catarina Loss questions in a playful manner. "I was simply distracted is all," Magnus admits bringing his box to the table, "Being immortal, one has a tendency to reflect on simpler times." "I know that feeling all too well," Catarina agrees, browsing through the antiquities that were stored.

"These really do take me back," Magnus states, picking up and holding each object, and then he finally came across a string instrument he hadn't picked up in literally over a century.
"Oh," he says picking up the charango, "Catarina, does this look familiar to you." "Oh no," Catarina's eyes widen, recognizing that accursed instrument in her friend's hands, "I thought you tossed that out the moment you quit playing that thing." "Oh, how could I when it brings so many pleasant memories of my life in Peru?" Magnus asks as he experiences a flashback.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Magnus had spent some time in Peru once again, this time with Catarina and Ragnor Fell. It was during this time Magnus had met and befriended a man by the man of Imosu Morales who tasked to tutor the warlock in the way of the charango. Magnus liked to think he had made progress with each lesson, but in truth his antics were the bane (pun intended) of the existence of the local villagers. Even the nearby, native llamas started to migrate whenever they heard him practice (which is saying something because llamas aren't migratory animals).
Although Magnus had sense to give up the charango, it was not a complete loss as the warlock had soon found himself pursuing a romantic relationship with Imosu which, for Magnus, was one of the best summer romances of his immortal life (it was also one of his worst heartbreaks but that's a story for another time).

"I used to spend nary a waking hour trying perfect this impossible instrument," Magnus states in the present as he strums a few notes, which also made Catarina cringe a little. "I'll admit I'm a little rusty," Magnus says, "but maybe with some practice, I'll be as masterful as I was back in the day." "Only difference is the local village was not in New York City," Catarina mutters. "What was that?" "Uh, you sure it's a good idea to start playing this thing again?" Catarina points out, "I mean, unlike in Peru, you were living on the edge of the village and not in some high end apartment in Brooklyn where the neighbors have half a mind to sign petitions to get you evicted."
"Once, I get the hang of the charango once again, the neighbors will be begging me to stay here indefinitely," Magnus assures, and even though Catarina smiled in response, she was still very much doubtful.