"I don't undersssstand the point of your present," said Elyaas. "He isn't even going to know about it? You should have just gone with flowers. Red rosssses are very romantic. Or perhaps tulips if you think roses say you just want him for ssssex."
Magnus lay upon his golden sofa and contemplated the ceiling. The sun was low in the sky, a flash of golden paint inscribed with a careless hand over the New York skyline. The demon's shape had become more and more gelatinous as the day progressed, until he seemed nothing like more than a lurking pile of slime. Possibly Caroline Connor would never come back. Possibly Elyaas was going to live with Magnus now. Magnus always thought Raphael Santiago was the worst possible roommate he could ever have. Possibly he was about to be proven wrong.
He wished, with a profundity of longing that surprised him, that Alec were here.
Magnus remembered a town in Peru whose Quechua name meant "quiet place". He recalled even more vividly being obscenely drunk and unhappy over his heartbreak of that time, and the maudlin thoughts that had recurred to him over the years, like an unwanted guest slipping in through his doors: that there was no peace for such as he, no quiet place, and there never would be.
Except he found himself remembering lying in bed with Alec---all of their clothes on, lounging on the bed on a lazy afternoon, Alec laughing, head thrown back, the marks Magnus had left on his throat very plain to see.
Time was something that moved in fits and start for Magnus, dissipating like mist or dragging like chains, but when Alec was there, Magnus's time seemed to fall into an easy rhythm with Alec's, like two heartbeats falling into sync. He felt anchored by Alec, and his whole self felt restless and mutinous when Alec was not there, because he knew how different it would be when Alec was there, how the tumultuous world would quiet at the sound of Alec's voice.
It was part of the dichotomy of Alec that had caught Magnus unaware and left him fascinated---that Alec seemed too old for his age, serious and responsible, and yet he approached the world with a tender wonder that made all things new. Alec was a warrior who brought Magnus peace.
Magnus lay on the sofa and admitted it to himself. He knew why he had been acting dememted and pestering his friends over a birthday present. He knew why, on an ordinary unpleasant workday, his every thought had been punctuated with a thought of Alec, with insistent longing for him. This was love, bright and new and terrifying.
He had been through a hundred heartbreaks, but he found himself afraid when he thought of Alexander Lightwood breaking his heart. He did not know how this boy with the messy black hair and worried blue eyes, with his steady hands and his rare sweet smile that was less rare in Magnus's presence, had aquired such power over him. Alec hadn't tried to get it, had never seemed to realize that he had it or tried to do anything with it.
Maybe he didn't want it. Perhaps Magnus was being a fool, as he had been so many times before. He was Alec's first experience, not a boyfriend. Alec was still nursing his first crush, on his best friend, and Magnus was a cautious experimentation, a step away from the safety that golden and much-beloved Jace represented. Jace, who looked like an angel: Jace, who, like an angel, lime God himself, would never love Alec back.
Magnus might simply be a walk on the wild side, a rebellion by one if Idris's most careful sons before Alec retreated back into secrecy, circumspection. Magnus remembered Camille, who had never taken him seriously, who had never loved him at all. How much more likely could a Shadowhunter to feel that way?
His gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer.
Caroline Connor offered no explanation for her lateness. Indeed, she breezed by Magnus as if he were the doorman, and began immediately to explain her problem to the demon.
"I am part of Pandemonium Enterprises, which caters to a certain substance of the wealthy."
"Those who have used their money and influence to purchase knowledge of the Shadow World," said Magnus. "I'm aware of your organization. It's been around for quite a long time."
Ms. Connor inclined her head. "My particular area is providing entertainment for our customers in a nautical environment. While there are other cruises in New York Harbor, we provide our customers with a gourmet meal served on a yatch with a view of the more magical denizens of the city---nixies, kelpies, mermaids, various and sundry water sprites. We make it a very exclusive experience."
"Sounds classy," gurgled Elyaas.
"However, we do not want to make it a very exclusive experience in which rebellious mermaids drag our wealthy customers to the bottom of the river," said Ms. Connor. "Unfortunately some of the mermaids do not enjoy being stared at, and this has been occuring. I simply want you to use your infernal powers to dispatch this threat to my company's economic growth."
"Wait a second. You want to curse the mermaids?" Magnus demanded.
"I could curse some mermaids," Elyaas said agreeably. "Sure."
Magnus glared at him.
Elyaas shrugged his tentacles. "I'm a demon," he said. "I could curse a mermaid. I'll curse a cocker spaniel. I don't care about anything."
"I cannot believe that I have spent a whole day watching slime rise for no reason at all. If you had told me that the problem was angry mermaids, I could have fixed it without summoning demons to curse them," said Magnus. "I have several contacts in the mermaid community, and failing that, there are always the Shadowhunters."
"Oh, yeah. Magnus is dating a Shadowhunter," Elyaas put in.
"That's personal information I'd thank you not to repeat," Magnus said. "And we're not offially dating!"
"My orders were to summon a demon," Ms. Connor said crisply. "But if you can solve the problem in a more efficient way, warlock, I am a for it. I'd prefer not to curse the mermaids; the customers like looking at them. Perhaps some monetary recompense can be arranged. Do we need to amend your contract, warlock, or are the same terms agreeable to you?"
Magnus felt somewhat tempted to argue for a pay rise, but he was already charging them a satisfyingly outrageous sum of money, and he did not want a curse to fall upon all the mermaids in New York. That seemed like it could get really conplicated really fast.
He agreed to sign the amended contract, he and Ms. Connor shook hands, and she departed. Magnus hoped that he would never have to see her again. Another day, another dollar. (Well, another huge pike of dollars. Magnus's special skills did not come cheap.)
Elyaas was looking extremely sulky,around the tentacles about being denied the opportunity to cause chaos in Magnus's city.
"Thank you for being useless all day," said Magnus.
"Good luck with one of Angel's choosen, demon's son," said Elyaas, his voice suddenly considerably sharper and less slimy. "You think he will ever do anything but despise you, in his heart of hearts? He knows where you belong. We all know it too. Your father will have you in the end. Someday your life here will seem like a dream, like a stupid child's game. Someday the Great Dark One will come and drag you down and down, with ussss..."
His sibilant voice trailed off into a shriek as every candle flame streaked higher and higher, until they licked the ceiling. Then he vanished, with his last cry hanging on the air.
"Should have bought him a sssscented candle...."
Magnus proceeded to open eveey window in the lofg. The lingering smell of sulfur and slime had barely begun to clear when the phone in his pocket rang. Magnus pulled it out, not without difficulty---his pants were tight because he felt a responsibility to the world to be gorgeous, but it meant there was not a lot of room in the pocket region---and his heart missed a beat when he saw who the call was from
"Hey," said Alec when Magnus answered, his voice deep and diffident.
"Why are you calling?" Magnus asked, assailed by a sudden fear that his birthday present had been immediately discovered in some way and the Lightwoods were shipping Alec to Idris because of spells cast on whips by heedless warlocks, which Alec could not explain.
"Um, I can call you later," said Alec, sounding worried. "I'm sure you have better things to do---"
He didn't say it the way some of Magnus's past lovers would have said it, accusing or demanding reassurance. He said it quite naturally, as if he accepted that was the way of the world, that he would not be anyone's top priority. It made Magnus want to reassure him ten times as much as he would have, had Alec seemed to even slightly expect it.
"Of course I don't, Alexander," he said. "I was just surprised to hear from you. I imagined that you would be with your family on the big day."
"Oh," said Alec, sounding shy and pleased. "I didn't expect you to remember."
"It might have crossed my mind once or twice during the day," said Magnus. "So, have you been having a wonderful Shadowhunting time? Did someone give you a giant axe in a cake? Where are you, off to celebrate?"
"Er," said Alec. "I'm kind of... outside your apartment?"
The buzzer rang. Magnus pressed the button to let hin enter, speechless for a moment because he had wanted Alec there, so badly, and here he was. It felt more like magic than anything he could do.
Then Alec was there, standing in the open hallway
"I wanted to see you," said Alec with devastating simplicity. "Is this okay? I can go away if you're busy or something."
It must have been raining a little outside. There were sparkling drops of water in Alec's messy black hair. He was wearing a hoodie that Magnus thought he might have found in a Dumpster, and sloppy jeans, and his whole face was lit up just because he was looking at Magnus.
"I think," said Magnus, pulling Alec in by the strings on his awful gray hoodie, "that I could be persuaded to clear my schedule."
Then Alec was kissing him, and Alec's kisses were uninhabited and utterly sincere, all his lanky warrior's body focused on what it wanted, all of his open heart in it as well. For a long wild euphoric moment Magnus believed that Alec did not want anything more than to be with him, that they would not be parted. Not for a long, long time.
"Happy birthday, Alexander," Magnus murmured.
"Thanks for remembering," Alec whispered back.
-------------------------- End ---------------------------