*-*-*-*-*-*SlightlyEvilMagnusUniverse*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 11;
When The Day Met The Night
Chapter Complete!Alec stops by Magnus's shop yet again…
Simon and Kevin have a few dinner guests…
*~********~*~********~* Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus *~********~*~********~*Hmm...
The book cases filling the entire far wall may seem a bit excessive but there's enough space for a good, convincing selection of spell and reference books. Not that he couldn't just snap his fingers and have them, but it'd be kinda odd if he just happened to always have the one book he needed. He'll have to remember to mix in a few fake ones just so it isn't blatantly obvious.
The dream catchers Clary made would look best on the left hand wall…it's both best for flow and is supposed to help with positive energy, while the crystals are perfect in the window, casting the beautiful prisms the darling girl was so very fond of.
Front and center was a beautiful painting Clarissa made for him, prominently displayed behind the desk where there was no missing it. It really was quite lovely; an abstract shimmery violet, whirling and flowing around a wisp of gold, seemingly swirling and flickering together.
It was a representation of their powers…he truly loved it…
She had painted it for him her senior year of High school, as a kind of thank you for everything he'd done for her, he truly adored it. He usually kept it at home but he liked the idea of being surrounded by family memories in this place, it just kind of felt right.
In addition to Clarissa's lovely artwork, intermingled with the books on the shelves there were a few things Raph had given him over the decades. A small statue they'd found in Paris, an intricate bronze dagger in a holder they'd found in Morocco in 1895 that he still insisted was the exact one he'd lost in a bet three centuries earlier in Spain. In a small transparent case close to the top of the shelf there's a fairly simple brass pocket watch. Raphael gave it to him to commemorate their first year together…It was his fathers. It's one of his most cherished Items.
Many of the books are ones Declan had given him over the centuries, and here and there are small trinkets from Kai.
It was nice having touches of his family here, it made the place feel more like his…He knew Raph would love the idea. He smiled faintly glancing around, seeing what else he needed.
Hmm…
Divya's desk should be a bit lighter, the deep violet chair looks best with the warmer cherry tone …
Ah, much better…
Now maybe the walls should be a so-
His thoughts are cut off by a quick wrapping on the door followed by the tinkling of the bell,
He sighed, rolling his eyes faintly at himself…
Okay once again…either do the faint masking spell or at least remember to lock the damn door…
"Enigmatic Investigations is not yet open, unless it's an emergency ple…
Oh..." he trailed off catching sight of his visitor.
"Hello Alexander…"
He smiled, glancing around in surprise,
"Hey Magnus…Wow…this is really coming along, looks great." he paused eyes catching on the crystals in the window, trailing over the deep burgundy chairs by the door.
He shook his head, chuckling faintly, meeting Magnus's eyes with a warm smile,
"It's definitely your place…"
Magnus chuckled, shrugging,
"Well, I do have a bit of a flair." he moved closer, settling on the edge of one of the desks,
"So detective…to what do I owe this visit? Our first case?"
Alec chuckled, shaking his head, slipping closer,
"No, not yet… just wanted to come by and see how everything was going." he paused looking around the room again.
"Seems pretty good…no more obnoxious, nosy PI's trying to run you out of business?"
Magnus chuckled,
"Nope, not a one…paper works all went through, got the PI's license, everything's going smoothly. Should be open officially sometime next week."
Alec smiled, nodding, settling next to him, leaning against the desk.
"I'm glad…I think it'll be really good for you. I know you'll be great at it."
Magnus blushed faintly, shrugging,
"Thank you darling, that means a lot coming from you."
Alec shrugged, settling closer, glancing up, meeting Magnus's eyes,
"It's the truth; I think you'll be great. The work seems to suit you perfectly. Detective work is busy and hectic. You have leads to run down, people of interest to interview, and you have to be able to tell what is important information and what's just smoke and mirrors. You have to stay on your toes and adapt on the fly.
All of which you absolutely excel at.
Like during the Branding murders; you found things no one else did, you were relentless and more than willing to follow any lead, even the ones that seemed totally insane…
Which was pretty much all of them.
You weren't thrown off when the case took a crazy turn, you just went right along with it, not getting caught up on if it was plausible or not, just following where the evidence took you…
That's really something." He paused reaching over, resting his hand on Magnus's shoulder, squeezing gently,
"This work might actually be perfect for you."
Magnus froze for a moment, before giving a surprised chuckle, shaking his head,
"You know darling…I think you may be right. I must admit, I did not see this one coming."
Alec quirked his eyebrow,
"What do you mean?"
He shrugged, turning faintly towards Alec,
"I didn't doubt I could do it…I planned on it after all and it'd hardly be the craziest thing I've done, hell not even close…
Don't even know if it'd make it in the top 100 honestly…
But still, being a 'detective' even a paranormal/supernatural one honestly never occurred to me as a career option. I mean paper work and suspects and cases? It's really not my usual type of thing…
Setting at a desk, in an office? Even an office accented with my own personal touches, is just odd…
Most definitely not my natural element."
Alec gave a delighted laugh, shaking his head faintly,
Magnus grinned, glancing over in surprise,
"What's so funny darling?"
Alec shook his head again, giving a breathtakingly beautiful smile, eyes twinkling brightly. He shrugged, settling closer,
"You really are something else…"
Magnus chuckled,
"Oh sweetheart, you have no idea."
Alec smiled, unconcerned,
"I don't know…think I'm starting to." he sighed, eyes flickering over Magnus with a warm smile,
"I know one thing…you are definitely one of a kind." he paused, playfully smirking,
"Which is probably for the best…Don't think the world could handle more than one of you."
Magnus laughed, shaking his head,
"Yeah…probably not…
So…you never did say what was so funny?"
Alec shrugged,
"It's nothing just…sometimes the way you talk totally catches me off guard…just like everything else about you. Like the 'Ferrier' conversation, or about your 'principles', or your 'natural element'. There's just something about it that's totally unique...
And unbelievably charming…
I know I've never met anyone even remotely like you before."
Magnus swallowed, giving a soft laugh, flushing faintly, not really sure what to say to that,
"Well thank you sweetheart…I can honestly say that is one compliment I've never gotten before."
Alec smiled, quirking his eyebrow hopefully,
"Yeah?"
Magnus nodded, settling a bit closer.
Alec gave a warm smile, reaching over, hesitantly resting his hand on Magnus's, squeezing gently,
"So…umm…what IS your 'natural element'?"
Magnus sighed contentedly, settling against his side, giving a faint shrug,
"Probably my club. It's loud and crazy and chaotic but it's mine, it always kind of feels like home, you know?"
Alec smiled,
"I can see that, seems like that would be right."
Magnus smiled, turning his hand, catching Alec's fingers,
"You should come by some time, you know, see me in my 'natural element'?"
Alec chuckled, giving a slight shrug,
"I don't know…clubs aren't really my t-"
He's cut off by his phone chirping with an incoming text. Alec sighed, glancing down, checking the screen, he sighed again, quickly typing out a text, glancing back up apologetically,
"Sorry, I kind of have to go. That was Max, my little brother; his friend Kasey's car broke down and they need a ride."
Magnus smiled waving him off,
"That's quite alright darling, it's your family. Max is quite lucky to have such wonderful siblings…
And Jace…who I suppose works as amusement/a cautionary tale,"
Alec rolled his eyes chuckling,
"Hey now, he's still my brother, be nice."
Magnus quirked his eyebrow,
"What'd I tell you about orders?"
Alec smirked, with a playful wink,
"That you like them coming from me?"
Magnus gave a surprised chuckle,
"Why do I have a feeling I might regret telling you that?"
Alec shrugged, eyes sparkling playfully,
"I don't know…maybe you actually are psychic." he chuckled, squeezing Magnus's hand faintly before standing up, turning meeting Magnus's eyes,
"I'm glad everything's working out so well for your new business. I'll see you…"
Magnus quirked his eyebrow impishly,
"It's not going to take a whole two weeks again, right? Or an obnoxious scheme from your brother?"
Alec chuckled, shaking his head,
"No it won't, I promise…" he sighed, gesturing towards the door,
"I really do have to go, but I will see you again…
Soon…
Promise." he finished, eyes flickering over Magnus once more, before turning, making his way towards the door, giving one more slight wave, slipping out.
Magnus sighed, slumping a bit against the desk,
"I will hold you to that, detective."
*~********~*~********~* Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon *~********~*~********~*"But what if i-"
Simon sighed, giving a faintly flailing shrug,
"I know okay? Sorry she cornered me… She's been asking to meet you since we started dating, and really, once she found out the truth about who you were and who I was…
Sorry she's just really protective, and once she sets her mind on something there's no stopping her…
Trust me, once you meet her you'll understand."
Raphael quirked his eyebrow,
"You realize this is like the fifth time I've had a shovel speech for you, right?"
Simon startled, blinking,
"What!? No…that can't possibly be right…"
Raphael chuckled, ticking them off on his fingers;
"Kevin, Luke, Alec, your weird neighbor with the birds, and now Izzy."
Simon blinked, tilting his head in confusion,
"When did Mrs. Gavins lecture you?"
He shrugged,
"The last time I was leaving here. She cornered me in the elevator; she listed all the types of birds that mate for life and what happens if one wanders…
Gotta say it was a bit more effective than Kevin's speech-" he paused, glancing over shrugging,
"No offense Bambi."
Kevin rolled his eyes at the nickname but shook his head faintly, slightly fidgeting with the pillows on the couch, seemingly unable to sit still,
"Yeah, none taken…she's the reason I usually take the stairs." he muttered, standing back up, glancing around the living room, moving over to the end table, beginning to stack up the couple of comic books on it before deciding against it, fanning them out like magazines.
Simon quirked his eyebrow glancing over at Raphael, nodding towards Kevin, he shrugged faintly.
"Kev…relax, you're more nervous than Raphael, and he's the one meeting her for the first time…You know Izzy…she likes you, your fine."
He huffed, eyes wide, flailing slightly
"Yeah I do know her…and now she knows that I've been lying to her and like every other person we work with for over four years! What if she's angry? I don't want to have to face an angry Izzy. Then there's meeting this girlfriend of hers; who's a warlock and one of Magnus's closest friends…
What if she feels too guilty to keep your secret?" he flailed slightly, gesturing towards Raphael,
"I mean yeah Raphael's in the same boat but you know; he's dating you. That's a heck of a lot more incentive then just 'hey can you keep this huge secret from your best friend for this dude that you met one time'?'"
Raphael sighed, shaking his head,
"Kevin, I really don't think we need to worry about that with Clary. She loves Mags, but she's smart; she knows what's at stake and she knows Magnus's history with Gwir-dysts. Apparently she's known Simon was one since their first meeting- she actually met Simon before I did...
Not only did she not tell Magnus, she also didn't tell me… Even after we started dating…Which I may have to give her a bit of a hard time about by the way."
Kevin sputtered, eyes wide,
"What!? Don't do that! If you make her ma-"
Raphael rolled his eyes,
"If I make Clarissa mad she'll glare and lecture me about how I should have handled things. Clary's the least vindictive, most compassionate person I have ever met. In general so long as you're not a threat to her, the ones she loves, or innocents, you're good."
He huffed again
"And if she does decide an undercover Gwir-dyst cozying up to one of her closest friends and lying to the other is a threat? I mean she's pretty young but she's still a warlock, and she runs a freaking occult shop, which I know has to bring her all kinds of heat from other warlocks…just how dangerous is she?"
Raphael hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing his expression. He shrugged faintly,
"Honestly? If she's really pushed? Pretty damn dangerous…I don't think I'd want to have to face her in an actual fight."
Both Kevin and Simon blinked at that,
"Umm…Oookay…well, that didn't really help elevate my stress."
Raphael gave a slight huff, shrugging,
"Okay look, not gonna lie, even just being 25 she's a pretty powerful warlock and yeah, given no other choice she could definitely be dangerous…
But that doesn't mean she just is dangerous.
Like I said, she's very accepting, and very kind. In addition to that she can see people's auras. Clary knows what kind of person you are, pretty much from the first meeting…
She knew the moment she shook Simon's hand what he was, Magnus was standing right there, if she was going to out him it would have been then. She didn't because she knew he wasn't like that. I know this seems like a lot, and after hiding this for a decade and a half it has to be pretty terrifying suddenly having others in on the secret…but I know Clary.
I trust her with my life and with Magnus's…and I would trust her with yours as well. I have known Clarissa for over a decade, there are very few people in this world that I truly trust, but she is one of them, without question…" he paused, giving both of them a gentle smile,
"I know this has to be hard, but I swear you can trust her…
I would, and I'm a hell of a lot less trusting than both of you."
Kevin relaxed a bit, nodding, letting out a breath. Simon smiled softly, moving closer, leaning over, pressing a soft kiss to Raphael's lips.
"Thank you…we really needed that."
Raphael tugged him a bit closer, giving a faint shrug,
"Yeah well don't expect me to be the 'cheerleader' optimist too often…this was an exception…"
Simon chuckled, nodding,
"Of course…can't have you ruining your reputation after all."
"Exactly."
Kevin giggled faintly,
Simon rolled his eyes, leaning in, kissing him once more,
"Well thank you just the same, besid-"
He's cut off by a light wrapping at the door,
"Eep!" Kevin squeaked, jumping faintly, Simon's grip on Raphael tightening for a moment before taking a deep breath, meeting his eyes once more swallowing,
Raphael leans forward, pressing a quick kiss to Simon's lips, pulling back glancing over, giving Kevin one more gentle smile,
"It will be fine."
The other two nodded, Simon taking one more deep breath, pulling away making his way over to the door, hesitating just a moment before pulling it open.
"Hi Izzy, Clary…thanks so much for coming tonight…" he said with a falsely cheery smile, holding the door open for them.
Izzy chuckled, giving a playful smile right back,
"And thanks so much for the invitation."
Simon scoffed,
"Yeah…same to you."
Izzy gave a surprised laugh, quirking her eyebrow,
"Wow…you're kinda feisty tonight."
Simon sighed, shrugging,
"Yeah, a bit…it was a weird day…we got enough info to put Dick Cameron out of business, he came by Magnus's to complain and ended up taking a swing at me."
Clary gasped faintly, tilting her head in concern,
"Goodness, are you alright?"
Simon glanced over giving her a slight smile, nodding,
"Yeah, I'm fine, thank you for asking."
Raphael chuckled moving closer, nodding towards Simon,
"Oh he's quite a bit better than 'fine'. Not only did he block the blow, but he blocked it and had that jackass Dick pinned and cuffed before he even knew what was going on…"
Izzy blinked, quirking her eyebrow slightly,
Simon shrugged, faintly blushing
"What? I'm a detective in one of the most dangerous cities in the world…why is everyone so surprised I can defend myself?"
"Well I'm just glad you're alright…and even though you didn't really have much of a say in it-Isabelle- thank you for inviting me, it's wonderful to get to see you again." Clary said, giving a warm smile,
Simon nodded, swallowing faintly,
"Yeah…it's good to see you too Clary…" Simon sighed, nervously swallowing,
"And…umm…a-and thank you f-"
She shook her head, reaching over, gently squeezing his arm,
"No need for thanks Simon…and I know you must be a nervous wreck suddenly finding out some near total stranger knows your deepest secret, but I swear it's safe with me…"
He blinked in surprise,
"T-thank you…" he paused, shaking his head faintly,
"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever but why are you so okay with this?"
She gave a soft, warm laugh, shrugging,
"Simon I know Izzy told you I'm a bit psychic…I tend to get a lot of people's secrets. Unless it's something that threatens the lives of others or themselves I actively ignore them…" she shrugged, brushing her hair back,
"I don't know, it kind of feels like stumbling across someone's diary. They aren't my secrets to tell, they were never meant for me to know, sharing them would not be right."
Again Simon blinked in surprise, shaking his head, eyes slightly wide,
Raphael chuckled, leaning closer,
"See lindo, I told you."
Simon glanced over with a slight nod,
"You were not wrong."
Raphael gave a faintly scoffing laugh, quirking his eyebrow,
"You act like you're surprised,"
Simon and Clary rolled their eyes in near perfect sync, Simon quirked his eyebrow at her, nodding towards Raphael,
"Was he always like this?"
She nodded quickly,
"Totally…"
Simon startled, flailing slightly,
"Oh! Sorry, and this is my best friend Kevin." he paused gesturing over, Kevin gave a kind of awkward wave, blushing faintly,
"Hi."
"Hi Kevin, Magnus told me about you, it's really nice to meet you." she said with a warm smile,
Kevin glanced over nervously at Izzy, giving a sheepishly hopeful smile,
"Hey Izzy…"
She blinked, eyes kind of wide, shaking her head,
"Hey Kev…" She paused tilting her head,
"New haircut?"
He gave a surprised laugh, reaching up, running his fingers through his hair, the curls shifting a bit around the short brown horns,
"Actually yeah…"
She laughed eyes bright and curious, before glancing from him over to Raphael, gaze going a bit sharp,
"Hello Raphael…"
He smiled, stepping forward, taking her hand,
"Hello Isabelle… we finally meet. So, are we going to do the shovel speech now, or wait till dinner?"
She gave a surprised laugh,
"And what makes you think I'm going to give you a 'shovel speech?"
He quirked his eyebrow sarcastically,
"Hmm…let's see? Magnus, Simon, Alec, Kevin, Luke, the weird bird lady neighbor, and I am sure I'm missing a few. I've already had four of them; which incidentally is four more than I have had in my entire life.
By now I'm pretty sure I'm ready for whatever you have to add…though Mrs. Gavins bird lecture may be hard to top, just fair warning."
She laughed brightly,
"Wow…that's a lot of warnings and hassles."
Raphael gave a slight nod, glancing over at Simon, smiling softly,
"He's worth it."
Simon blushed giving a surprised smile, scratching nervously at his neck, settling a bit closer to his side. Raphael reached over, catching his hand, squeezing faintly before shifting his gaze back over to Izzy, meeting her gaze head on,
"So, are we doing this or not?"
Izzy looked him over for a moment tilting her head consideringly, before shrugging, shaking her head,
"Not."
He blinked in confusion,
"Huh?"
She chuckled,
"I don't need the speech, I can see everything I need to; we're good. Why don't we all sit down and have a nice meal? We brought Antonio's." she said holding up one of the bags, passing it over to Kevin,
He tilted his head, glancing in the bag curiously, eyes sparkling bright,
"Ooh! Please come in…" He smiled eagerly, carrying the bag over to the coffee table,
Izzy chuckled; Simon shrugged, nodding towards him,
"Told you."
She winked, moving into the apartment, the rest of them following suit, settling around the table, pulling out the take away containers, Izzy hesitated, glancing over at Raphael, faltering a bit,
"Umm…they didn't r-"
He shook his head, waving her off,
"It is no problem I can just have something when I get home."
Clary rolled her eyes,
"Raph, don't be ridiculous, you're not just sitting around watching us eat, that's just awkward…
Like Mag's giving a lecture on discretion and subtlety awkward."
He chuckled, shrugging,
We-"
Once again she rolled her eyes, an odd iridescent shimmer flickered over her skin, everything shimmering bright for a moment. She fluttered her fingers gracefully, a sparkling gold light flowing out towards the end table next to Raphael, an elegant crystal wine glass shimmering into existence,
She shrugged,
"There…Oh…" she paused, eyes wide, glancing sheepishly over at Simon,
"Sorry, hope that's okay…usually I'd try to be stealthy like with the necklace for Alec but I figured since you know t-"
Simon shook his head quickly, eyes bright and excited,
"Hey no problem here, that was awesome!"
She giggled, shrugging,
"Well, I just didn't want him to have to just sit there while we all had a meal."
He shook his head again,
"No, really…thank you, I didn't either…I almost texted him to bring something for himself but, well, that just sounds kinda rude, and I didn't want him to feel awkward you know?"
She nodded, glancing over at Raphael,
"Yeah he'd never let on but he really doesn't like to be left out."
Raphael huffed, rolling his eyes, glaring faintly at the both of them,
"Can you two not talk like I'm not here? Dios, first you and Magnus, now you and Clary…are you just going to team up with every member of my family?"
Simon chuckled…
"It's not 'teaming up' we're just sharing about someone we care about. What better way to bond?"
He tilted his head sarcastically,
"Music, movies, TV shows, magic, s-"
Simon rolled his eyes, giving a playful smile,
"None of which are as interesting as you."
Raphael glared,
Simon chuckled, leaning in kissing him lightly on the cheek. Raphael tried to keep up the glare but it was a lost cause,
He finally rolled his eyes, slipping his arm around Simon, tugging him closer, reaching over picking up the wine glass, nodding towards the table,
"Alright, can we just have our dinner and get this over with? The sooner the better."
Clary rolled her eyes
"You are so not fooling anyone, you're enjoying this…just watch this'll become a usual kind of thing."
Raphael's eyes widened, shaking his head,
"I am n-"
Kevin giggled,
"Oh you SO are, don't even try that."
Raphael quirked his eyebrow
"Now don't you start in on me too Bambi."
Izzy laughed shaking her head,
"Yeah this is definitely gonna become a usual thing."
Raphael quirked his eyebrow,
"Like Simon and Magnus's standing lunch date Tuesdays?"
Clary blinked in surprise,
"Their what now?"
Simon shrugged, blushing faintly,
"He asked me, what was I supposed to say?"
Raphael scoffed,
"You just want to see embarrassing pictures of me."
"Oh! The ones with the pink hair and beanie?" Clary asked excitedly
Raphael glared,
Simon nodded eagerly,
"Yeah Magnus was telling me about them."
She leaned forward, eyes sparkling mischievously,
"I have them on my phone."
"You do!?" Simon exclaimed, echoed perfectly by Raphael's identical question (In a VERY different tone.)
She nodded eagerly
"How do you have them!" Raphael demanded irritatedly,
She rolled her eyes with a sarcastic look,
"Warlock…" she singsonged,
Raphael huffed, sulking faintly, taking a sip from his glass. Simon chuckled,
"You know? For a fearsome, terrifying Vampire clan leader you pout kind of a ridiculous amount."
"I do not pout!"
Clary giggled, shaking her head,
"Raph, you are pouting now!"
He huffed faintly, glaring,
Clary grinned, leaning close to Simon, eyes shining bright
"That's actually a really good sign; he only does that when he has no other recourse…Very few people get to see 'pouting Raphael'."
Simon smiled, settling closer,
"I know…I'm very lucky."
Raphael tried to stay looking annoyed, but couldn't quite tramp down a soft smile,
"Just eat your dinner…"
Simon chuckled, everyone getting comfortable, beginning to dig into their food. He settled back in his seat close to Raphael's side, glancing around.
Kevin was settled in the arm chair, quickly eating, still glancing over at the container with the desserts. Izzy was setting between him and Clary, alternating between chatting with Kevin about some of the crazier Supernatural cases they've had over the years and some of the more unusual supernaturals down at the station. Clary was listening politely, laughing along. She glanced over, catching his eye, she held up her phone subtly nodding over to Raphael,
Simon chuckled, nodding eagerly,
She winked, turning back to the conversation. Simon scooted back a bit, settling in cuddled up to Raphael's side,
He sighed contentedly, slipping his arm around Simon.
Wow…
How did he get here?
He's setting with four people who really know what he is. Who don't hate him for it, or judge him for it; they don't hold it against him, they don't think any less of him for it. They aren't afraid of him…
They really get that 'that' is not him…
He never in a million years thought he would have this…
Even in a world where the 'impossible' happens every day he never thought he'd really have something like this.
He shook his head faintly, swallowing, blinking a few times,
Raphael tilted his head, looking him over, a flicker of concern behind his beautiful deep eyes. Simon shook his head, giving a warm, soft, totally overwhelmed smile, cuddling closer reaching over catching his hand, bringing it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss.
Raphael seemed to get it. He tugged Simon closer, leaning in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to Simon's cheek.
Simon couldn't help another soft contented sigh.
He has no idea how he got so lucky…
But he's so very glad he did…
Thank Goodness for Giant scorpion monsters, creepy demon/lizard/dog things, and demons in angel clothing…
*~********~*~********~* _End Of Chapter Notes_ *~********~*~********~*Aww! I really love this group, (Izzy and Raph will be a terrifying combination if angered)
So like I said I have 12 done, I just need to proof once more and Get the notes on the next one ready…It'll be up sometime tomorrow.
So what do you guys think so far?
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