Chapter 3: Magnus, Ragnor, and Catarina's Christmas
"What should we do for Christmas this year?" Magnus asked late on Christmas Eve, shooting sparks lazily up into the air as he lounged sideways across a chair.
"Keep your feet away from me," Ragnor scolded, kicking Magnus' legs as he swung them dangerously close to Ragnor's side. Magnus blew a raspberry at Ragnor and turned to Catarina.
"Catarina, my beautiful blueberry, what do you want to do for Christmas?" he asked. Catarina rolled her eyes, not answering. "If no one says anything, I'm going to be forced to figure things out all by myself," Magnus warned. "That means glitter. Lots of it."
"No. Glitter," Ragnor stated firmly. Magnus shrugged.
"Then you come up with a better idea."
"We could go to Peru," Ragnor suggested innocently. "Or, wait, Catarina and I could. You can't come along, Magnus. So sad."
"You are a terrible friend," Magnus told Ragnor with the saddest look he could muster. "Catarina, you're my only hope. What should we do?"
"We could just stay here," Catarina suggested. Magnus shook his head.
"Not an option, Alright, let's start listing off places we could go. London-"
"Fairly dismal weather at Christmas," Ragnor commented.
"-or Paris-"
"I have no desire to hear the Marie Antoinette story again," Catarina replied.
"Then why don't you come up with some suggestions?" Magnus huffed. Catarina sighed.
"Someplace warm," she offered. "New York is cold."
"I don't know how you two dragged me here for the holidays," Ragnor muttered under his breath. "I should have stayed in Idris."
"Oh, stop your whining," Magnus scolded. "Catarina, good idea. Warm. We could do Barcelona?"
"You always leave us behind to flirt whenever we go to Spain," Catarina complained. Magnus shrugged.
"Fair enough. Southern Italy?"
"I don't like Italian. Too many vowels," Ragnor replied, shaking his head. Magnus stared at him for a moment.
"I can't believe we're friends. Alright. Any other ideas?"
"We could go to Los Angeles," Catarina suggested. Magnus arched an eyebrow.
"Where Malcolm is?" he asked in a teasing voice. "You want to see Malcolm, don't you?"
"Oh, not this again," Catarina sighed.
"You know he has a huge crush on you, right?" Magnus asked. "Then why do you keep stringing him on? You wouldn't, unless you like him back. Et voila, you want to go to L.A. to see Malcolm."
"Have you ever found Magnus' logic to make sense?" Catarina asked Rangor. He shrugged.
"No, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a bit of a point."
"See!" Magnus cried, jabbing a finger towards Catarina.
"Do you like Malcolm?" Ragnor asked. Catarina rolled her eyes.
"Malcolm is a friend, and I feel badly for him," she explained. "You know he hasn't been the same since his…incident. Anyway, he's not the only thing in L.A. I want to see. It's warm there. And the Blackthorns run the Institute, so Tessa will probably be there as well."
"Nice try," Magnus told Catarina. "Tessa's spending the holiday in London this year. But good effort."
"Are you saying you don't want to go to L.A.?" Catarina asked. Magnus shrugged.
"It's as good a place as any," he replied. "Do you think Malcolm would let us stay with him, or do we have to get a hotel? Or are we not going to stay long enough for a hotel anyway?"
"If Catarina asks, we'll be able to stay with Malcolm," Ragnor muttered. Catarina glared at him.
"I thought I could trust you to be on my side, at least," she accused. Ragnor shrugged.
"It's true," he replied. "Even if you're not into him-"
"Which you are!" Magnus cried. He was ignored.
"-He's into you," Ragnor finished. "Call Malcolm up and ask if he wants any company for Christmas."
"It's late," Catarina protested weakly. Magnus shook his head.
"Ah, ah, ah," he scolded, "you're forgetting the time zone difference. L.A. is three hours behind us. Just because it's-" Magnus checked his watch. "Oh. It's five of midnight. That means it'll be Christmas in five minutes! I'll go get champagne. Catarina, my sapphire darling, call Malcolm and ask about visiting tomorrow, it's not quite nine there."
"Fine," Catarina huffed, crossing to the telephone and dialing Malcolm's number. "He may not answer. He can be eccentric about- Oh, hello, Malcolm!"
Magnus met Ragnor's eye and shook his head sadly. Ragnor rolled his eyes.
"Weren't you going to get champagne?" he hissed. Magnus jumped upright.
"Thank you for the reminder, my sweet emerald prince." Ragnor groaned at the nickname as Magnus scurried off to the kitchen. "I'll be back in a minute."
"Malcolm says we can stay as long as we like. He'll be expecting us tomorrow morning," Catarina stated a minute later, hanging up the phone.
"Marvelous," Magnus replied, stepping back in the living room with a bottle of champagne and three champagne flutes floating behind him. The glasses floated out to hover in front of everyone, and the champagne poured itself into them.
"Show-off," Ragnor muttered.
"My dear friends," Magnus stated magnanimously, "it will be Christmas in" - he checked his watch - "one minute and seven seconds. Let me tell you, there is no where I'd rather spend Christmas than right here, with you." Ragnor and Catarina lifted their glasses. "What, no agreement?" Magnus cried, his eyes going wide. "Is there someone else you'd rather see on Christmas?"
"As crazy as this may make me, no," Catarina sighed. Ragnor looked from Catarina to Magnus.
"Oh, alright, I'm enjoying this Christmas as well," he huffed. "Magnus, how long until it's officially Christmas?"
"Not long," Magnus replied, bouncing slightly in his seat. "Oh, I love Christmas."
"Wait," Ragnor said, suddenly looking worried. "Magnus, don't-"
"Five!" Magnus yelled.
"-even-"
"Four!"
"-think-"
"Three!"
"-about-"
"Two!"
"-celebrating-"
"One!"
"-with-"
"Merry Christmas!" Magnus yelled, as glitter exploded from the ceilings, covering everything. Ragnor groaned.
"Glitter," he finished dismally. Catarina laughed, brushing glitter off Ragnor's shoulder.
"Sometimes," she told him in an undertone, as Magnus took a cheery sip of his magically glitter-free champagne, "when it comes to Magnus, you just have to go with it."