Clary sat on the steps of the Institute, idly sketching the winter scenes around her. It had been a while since she had taken a break from shadowhunting to just hang out and draw but there was something about Christmas that made all of Clary's love of art come flooding back. The whole city was filled with lights and music and over-the-top-in-love couples. It was cheesy and ridiculous, but still lovely in its own way. Simon and Clary had always loved to make fun of how stupid the Christmas hype was- especially the gross PDA, but Clary had to admit (even though it embarrassed her to no end) that her perspective on the "Christmas spirit" had changed drastically since she had become the girlfriend of the closest thing a human could become to the god Apollo.

It was not always great going out in public with a boy who made every girl within a two block radius turn their head and start drooling-it honestly made her self-conscious most of the time. However there was something magical about walking through the snow, holding hands with her very own golden angel. It made her feel warm inside- especially since Jace enjoyed using the cold as an excuse to put his arms around her whenever possible, making it incredibly clear to everyone watching who he belonged to.

As Clary's mind drifted to thoughts of Jace, the boy in question dropped to the ground right beside her- sliding into the spot beside her and snaking an arm around her waist, "You're drawing." He observed.

"Mmm…" She nodded, "Wait. Did you just jump off the roof?"

Jace shrugged, "Maybe."

Clary rolled her eyes, "You really are quite an original, you know that?"

"You know, I don't know about that. I thought I was, but now whenever I do something like that Magnus scoffs and mutters 'Herondales' under his breath. So I guess I'm not as unique as I thought I was."

"Well from what I hear from Tessa, being like the others in your family isn't exactly a bad thing." Said Clary.

Jace smiled, "That's true. From the way she and Jem talk, being like a Herondale seems to be one of the biggest honours they can give out."

"It must be nice, to be able to have people who can tell you about your heritage." Said Clary.

"Well they were pretty close to the Fairchild's too, they talk about Charlotte and Henry all the time."

"I know, it's great." Clary agreed, leaning her head on Jace's shoulder.

"So what were you were drawing?" He asked.

"Just various Christmas-y things. Getting into the spirit of the season and all that."

"It's nice." Said Jace, "You haven't been drawing as much lately."

"Yeah… So much of my life has been about shadowhunting lately, and without Simon here… I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm drifting away from my past life. Everything has changed so fast."

"So what you're saying is that you want to do something… Mundane?" Asked Jace.

"I know it probably seems weird to you." Clary said.

"Lots of things seem weird to me," Jace pointed out, "I mean, I still don't understand why those weird monks in that movie you like use later swords to cut off each other's hands."

Clary giggled, "You're part of a secret society of demon hunters! I thought StarWars would be right up your allies."

"I don't fight demons in space!" Protested Jace, "I wasn't trained by a tiny green puppet in a swamp! But that's not the point. The point is that you have a lot of mundane interests and though I may not completely understand them, that doesn't mean you should let them go. So, I forced Alec and Isabelle and Magnus to explain some Mundane Christmas traditions to me and I have decided, we're going skating."

"What?"

"In Rockefeller Center."

"We're going skating." Clary clarified.

"Yes." Said Jace, then his face fell, "Unless you don't want to."

"Of course I want to!" Clary kissed him, "This is going to be great."


The best thing about skating with your boyfriend, Clary thought, is that you always had to be holding hands in case you slid away from each other. And when your boyfriend had perfect balance and superhuman strength you didn't have to worry about falling over. You could just focus on the feeling of freedom that came from speeding across the ice, cold wind in your hair, gloved fingers reaching out for balance. Jace was a great skater of course- despite never having stepped on ice before, and he seemed to be having a blast. "This is so much better then normal walking!" He laughed, delighted.

Clary laughed with him, "Of course it is. I can't believe you've never even thought about doing this before."

They were going so fast they crashed into the side of the rink, but instead of bouncing back out they stayed pressed against each other, giggling helplessly. "I guess I never thought about skating because I never had anyone to go skating with." Jace mused, "But now that I have a reason be prepared for this to become a Chrismas tradition."

Clary grinned, "Wow."

"What?"

"We're officially a couple with a Christmas tradition!"

Jace tilted his head, "Was this a goal of yours?"

Clary shrugged, "You said it yourself, I have passions that you will never understand."

Jace gazed at her, "It's one of the things I love most about you."

Clary returned the admittedly sappy look as she leaned up to kiss him, "You know…" She murmured, "A big part of the appeal of skating at Christmas is the warming up afterwards."

"Is it?"

"Yes. You can drink hot chocolate, sit by the fire, put on ugly sweaters…"

"I see."

"Or of course, you can use the more primitive method of body heat." Finished Clary.

"Mmm, I like the sound of that last one." Jace said grinning.

"So, should we head back to the institute and try it out?" Asked Clary.

"I think that sounds like the perfect addition to our mundane Christmas tradition." Jace confirmed.

Clary smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I think Im going to like spending Christmas with you, Jace Herondale."

"I know I'm going to love spending Christmas with you, Clary Fray."