A/N: As promised. Merry Christmas all! Just a little fluffy one-shot with my Wallander Magnus/OC pairing I wrote just for fun. If you haven't already, read 'A Feeling I Could Be Someone' my Hallow'een one-shot, and 'Red Red Wine' if you so desire (It may help a little). Also, sorry but uhhh there is a delay in the next chapter of Red Red Wine so this is up early :P
WARNING: Contains vague spoilers for 'Red Red Wine'. Ye have been warned.
Cyber cookie and R.E.S.P.E.C.T if you can spot the lyric Magnus stole from a song (although I'm fairly sure he did it unwittingly) :P
Remember to Read, Review, Follow, Favourite and Most Importantly - ENJOY! :)
"Really Magnus, is it that difficult to buy someone a present?" Anja looked at her poor boyfriend with laughing eyes. The blonde, curly haired man was busy sulking opposite her as they sat at one of the small café's tables.
"Yes it is actually. I don't even know what he would like. I hate Christmas." Magnus replied testily, stabbing his piece of cake vengefully with his dessert fork.
Anja rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair. "Come on Scrooge! It's not that bad!" she teased, and the man looked up at her sternly, (the laughter in his blue eyes gave away his good mood however).
"Bar Humbug." Magnus replied dryly, stabbing his food once more and shoving a single piece of cheesecake in his mouth.
Anja couldn't help herself, she burst into a fit of giggles at the expression on his face. "Magus!" she groaned, righting herself, "The Christmas party's on Friday, try and get it by tomorrow yeah? Look, I'll help you if you're desperate."
"Oh I'm desperate..." Magnus said, glaring at his cheesecake once more. In fact he was even more desperate than she knew.
After much internal debate, Magnus had come to realise that everything meant nothing without her. So he had decided. During some point in the Christmas party, he would pull her to the side and ask her. Just like that. Of course he would have to try and make it a little romantic, black and white movies and rom-coms had made him realise women didn't seem to like completely bungled proposals. They liked the ones where the man seemed to have some semblance of confidence. He was very...fairly...well...sort of confident. So it was all set to go well. He couldn't possibly mess it up.
• • •
Three days later, Magnus still hadn't quite decided what he was going to do. Not that he had to plan every little detail, but it would be nice to have a basic outline of the evening's events. Everything could be ordered logically. The schedule so far was looking something like this:
19:30 HOURS:- Arrive at party. [Mingle until 21:00 HOURS.]
21:00 HOURS:- Take Anja outside (Thankfully this year, the force had decided to go somewhere classy for their Christmas party). [Look at the stars/walk around/do something romantic until 21:10 HOURS]
21:10 HOURS:- All the lights outside turn off.
21:11 HOURS:- All the lights outside turn on to reveal him kneeling before, ring at the ready.
21:12 HOURS:- He asks her to marry him.
21:15 HOURS:- She says yes. [Lots of snogging involved]
"Magnus?! What are you doing?" Anja asked, seemingly a little put out; jerking him from his planning, "I just asked which one you preferred. You know, for someone who was worrying terribly about what he was going to get Kurt the other day, you don't seem all that perturbed now."
Magnus smiled as he stood up from the dining table and walked over to his mock-scowling girlfriend, "Well that is because I know you have excellent taste madam. I will never have to worry about decisions again now that I have you." he smirked, wrapping his arms about her waist and giving her a peck on the nose, before nodding to one of the leather jackets "I'll give him the brown one - it simply screams Kurt. How on earth did you get his size?"
Anja smirked in reply, tearing herself away and sashaying across the room before plonking herself on the couch (how on earth she made 'plonking' sexy, he had no idea). "That." she said, "Is a secret."
"Should I be worried?" Magnus teased, his eyebrows raised as he walked over "The fact that my girlfriend knows my boss' size would be a piece of information that would worry most men."
Anja batted her eyelashes at him as he eased (note - not 'plonked') onto the couch beside her and slung his long legs over her lap. "It's lucky you're not 'most men' then isn't it." she smiled dazzlingly at him. This was one of those times when Magnus really felt the need to make her understand JUST what those dazzling smiles of hers did to him (although he had a sneaking suspicion she already knew and did them on purpose...not that he was complaining). It often took a lot to control himself. What was he thinking? He had no NEED to control himself. So he did just that, beginning by kissing her senseless, and much to his satisfaction they did not surface for quite some time.
• • •
This was it. The time had come. They had arrived at exactly 19:30 HOURS (check one) and had been mingling for an hour and a half (check two). He had been more than pleased when Kurt said he liked his present (Anja really was brilliant). The rough old detective who was not prone to overly emotional displays had given her a hug and kiss on the cheek. All he'd gotten was a nod of the head. Bloody typical.
"Magnus, where are we going?" Anja laughed as he pulled her by the hand out the doors, onto the patio, and into the nearby trees.
"Oh...just for a little walk." he replied nonchalantly, running his thumb soothingly over the knuckles of her right hand, before wheeling around to face her, "Needed the fresh air."
She really did look completely mouthwatering in that emerald-green dress of hers (which he dually noted matched her eyes). Again Magnus had the sneaking suspicion she wore such clothes simply to provoke him...
"It's fairly cold out here." Anja said, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself. Inwardly, Magnus cursed that he hadn't thought about the weather. A moonlight Christmas-party proposal is all very well and nice, so long as you don't freeze your girlfriend half to death before you even get out the ring. No-matter.
Smiling softly, Magnus pulled her to him and wrapped his arms about her waist; pressing a soft kiss to her temple. In the light of the stars and that which was reflecting off the nearby building, she looked so very beautiful. "Anja, I brought you out here tonight to-" Just then, just as he was about to say it, the lights went out.
Everything happened very quickly after that. Anja shrieked and jumped. Startled, Magnus let go of her and tried to step back. Then she landed (rather heavily...in stilettos by the way) on his foot. With a cry of pain, he stumbled backwards, almost knocking her over in the process. Then, to top it off, he tripped over a nearby tree-trunk and landed in some sort of snow-sludge-mud-and-leaves concoction. It didn't even have the decency to snow properly. Oh yes, he'd timed it all perfectly...
"Shit." was all Magnus managed to say when he finally scrambled to his feet. He knew he must look terrible, he could feel the mud in his hair and when he brushed his hand against his face, it came away muddy. Or had it already been muddy and he just put more on his face?
With a groan he quickly looked around for Anja, trying to see how she had fared in all this (thankfully the lights had come back on). When he saw her however, he froze. She was standing there with the ring-box in hand, an incredulous look on her face. Oh God. It must have fallen out of his pocket at some point during that mess. Shit.
"You were..." Anja trailed off, eyes wide, "Are you still going to..."
"Well I can't very well do it now!" Magnus exclaimed in desperate annoyance. Why, out of everyone did it always have to happen to him?!
"Magnus Martinsson, you get down on that knee and propose to me before I bloody-well go insane and have to throttle it out of you!" Anja said, her voice bordering on the edge of shrill, as she shoved the ring-box back at him. If he walked away and sulked, she was sure he would never try again (she realised she may have sounded slightly hysterical but that wasn't the point).
Magnus stared at her in shock, "Pardon?" he managed to somehow stammer.
"You heard me!" Anja said, her voice a little hoarse, as she stared him straight in the eye, "Do it!"
Slightly dazed and more than a little bemused, Magnus did as he was told and got down on one knee; opening the small ring case. "Anja Fahlstrom, I have loved you since the moment I met you..." He thought for a minute, before shaking his head, his curls bouncing, as he continued to ramble on, "Ok maybe not from the first, but I did LIKE you from the moment I met you. You're always very likable, even to some extent when you're angry...which may sound a little weird... Anyway, as I was saying, you have made me love you, and I will continue to love you as long as there is breath in my body. Completely true I assure you...even though it does sound completely and utterly clichéd." He frowned, this was really not supposed to be how it happened, "Oh what the hell, before I completely stuff this up - will you marry me?"
Anja felt the ridiculous smile spread across her face and didn't even try to contain her happiness. "Yes, yes of course I will you goat!" she said softly, dropping to her knees in front of him and letting him put the small diamond ring on her. The gem glinted in the light, but Anja didn't stop to admire it. Instead she did the only sensible thing a woman in her position would do - flung her arms about the rediculously-adorable-yet-stubborn man she loved and kissed him senseless.
A/N: Well, I hope you all liked it, and Magnus wasn't tooooooo OOC. Again Merry Christmas to all! Even those that do not celebrate it! :)
