Wow, so...updates are at best sporadic. Sorry 'bout that. :(

Alec woke up with a smile on his face. He usually did when a mostly unclothed Magnus Bane was sleeping next to him. (Too much? NO. :D) Turning his head to the side to take in said sleeping warlock, he found the oval cat eyes already open. "Hullo, stranger," he murmured.

Magnus reached out a finger and tapped Alec's nose. "Well, hi. What did you say your name was again?" Alec's eyes narrowed as Magnus laughed.

"Hmph," Alec grunted. "I'm getting some breakfast. You can get your own." They both got out of bed-the Shadowhunter reached without looking into the drawer he kept spare clothes in and pulled out a shirt and pants, while the warlock stretched, brushed his hair, and stood looking into his closet thoughtfully.

Magnus Bane whirled around suddenly, beaming. Alec was facing the door while hopping into his pants (still shy after…er, anyway…). Magnus cleared his throat showily, then made a show of looking at his nails when Alec finally turned around.

"What?" Alec asked, totally confused as Magnus' only response was to look at him expectantly, tapping his foot. "Do I get a clue?"

"Feliz cumpleanos?" Magnus hinted and mimed blowing the candles out on a cake.

"Shit!" Alec exclaimed. Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, not what I meant. Happy birthday, Magnus."

Alec had escaped fairly quickly, citing a rune he needed to look up. Once out of the house (and hopefully out of range of Magnus' scarily good psychic skills), he ran to a mall. It was the exact place he tried to stay away from. Hordes of demons were fine compared to whole stores with clothes that were overpriced and pretty much all the same, peppy mundies packed together, and too much noise (and smells-I'm looking at you, Hollister) to sense a demon until it was on top of you.

Okay, so he'd forgotten Magnus Bane's birthday. But no one else needed to know that, right?

"Alec!" a high-pitched voice shrieked.

He spun around. "Isabelle? What are you doing here?"

Isabelle looked confused. "It's the mall. Where else would I be?"

"Uh, try out fighting demons and ridding the world of evil, maybe? Although the mall is probably the root of all evil anyway." Alec looked suspiciously at Victoria's Secret, then continued scanning the stores for something glittery or, well, really close-fitting, maybe? Like he knew.

Now Isabelle looked knowingly at her brother. "It's Magnus Bane."

Alec grimaced. "How did you know?"

"Who else could get you into a mall?" She rolled her eyes. "But he's not here. So…anniversary? Birthday?" Isabelle guessed.

"Birthday." Alec caught sight of something shimmery and blue and headed towards it, Isabelle trailing behind. "What about that?" He pointed.

Isabelle coughed politely. "You're just saying that 'cause it's sparkly, right?" Alec blushed. "Anyway, the store's closed. See the sign conveniently on the door at eye level? It moved yesterday."

Alec groaned. "Okay, whatever. And I don't see anything wrong with it. Go buy your millionth pair of shoes or whatever you came here for." Isabelle left-actually listening to him for once-and he resumed his search.

A kiosk in the center of the hallway featured a display of hair dyes, sprays, and some other products that made Alec's toes curl in fear. Still, he made himself look, and found a relatively harmless-looking bottle that apparently made your hair all glittery and-sensual? He shuddered.

It's Magnus' birthday. It's for him. I can do this, Alec told himself encouragingly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little money he had. (Okay, think about it. Somehow they have to get money, but they kill demons for a living. So a) how, and b) why, because they don't need it to actually survive or anything, although they still need to buy food...BUT ANYWAY.) "Shit!" Alec exclaimed. A wide-eyed little kid gasped and clapped his hands over his ears before running off to his mother.

Alec could care less.

The hair stuff cost a dollar more than he had. One dollar, and he'd be fine and Magnus would be fine and hell, the entire world would be fine. But no. Muttering to himself, Alec stalked off. He didn't see anything remotely Magnus-like, and he was running out of time. Actually-he looked at the sky, finally out of the claustrophobia-inducing mall (you KNOW that's how they tell time)-he was out of time. He jammed his hands into his pockets and strode off towards Magnus Bane's apartment. What was he going to say?

Alec reached the apartment and closed the door, shutting his eyes and leaning against it. Shit. But at least Magnus wasn't home.

The Shadowhunter pushed off the wall and flopped on the brightly colored couch. He pounded his head into the arm of the chair, frustrated and exhausted (and channeling Potter Puppet Pals: "Angst. Angst Angst.").

So he didn't notice that he was being watched. "Alec? Are you…okay?" For once, Magnus really didn't know what to say.

The object of his attention sat up slowly, his face flushed. "Magnus?" he croaked.

Magnus Bane perched on the edge of the couch. "If I'd known my birthday was going to cause this much trouble, I wouldn't have mentioned it," he offered drily.

"It wasn't your fault!" Alec protested. "And…I really did try…" He pouted unconsciously, his blue eyes getting all big and round.

The High Warlock of Brooklyn hugged Alec to him. "I really don't care. It's just an excuse for a party, really."

Alec sat bolt upright. "A party? People? Here?"

Magnus laughed. "Not tonight. And…not technically people. Calm down, Alec."

He relaxed a bit. "I did try," he repeated earnestly. "I found a store, but apparently it closed yesterday, and I found some glittery hair cra-er, stuff, but it cost a dollar more than I had. It was crazy."

"Aaah!" Magnus cried, grinning. "You were literally a day late and a dollar short!"

Alec looked confused. "Um. Yeah?"

Magnus: … "Right. I keep forgetting you were raised under a rock."

That only perplexed Alec more. "The Institute is stone, sure, but that would be in a rock…" He trailed off as he realized Magnus was laughing at him. "Hey!"

Magnus just grinned and kissed Alec loudly. "It's the thought that counts."

Hey, bonus cliché! No, wait, two? Yippee. :)