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Being the High Warlock of Brooklyn came with certain responsibilities. A whole lot of them. Some of them Magnus enjoyed, others he hated passionately. However, there was one task that he held very close to his heart and would not dare to ignore: being there for other downworlders when they needed him. Especially not if it was one of his closest friends asking for help.
Apart from that, he had never been able to say no to Catarina Loss. So when she had called him just after Alec had left for the Institute, asking him if he would take care of Madzie while she was on a mundane nurse conference in San Francisco, he’d agreed instantly.
Catarina didn’t have to leave until the early afternoon, so Magnus had plenty of time to rearrange his apartment a bit and make it suitable for a five-year-old, aka removing his liquor cart from its usual place next to the couch and temporarily storing it away in his bedroom. The rest of the morning he spent scrolling through online stores, looking for cute toys for Madzie and conjuring up the one he liked the most. And if that selection included an unhealthy amount of plush animals, sue him. They were too cute not to borrow them from the kid’s store a few blocks from his apartment.
A couple hours later Magnus was just about done closing the buttons of the bright pink bedding he’d picked for Madzie when he felt the well-known electric energy of a portal drawing up. A few seconds later, Catarina and Madzie stepped into his living room. As soon as the little warlock caught eyes with Magnus, she let go of Catarina’s hand and ran over to him, leaving Magnus just enough time to bend down and catch her in a hug.
“Magnus!” Madzie’s voice was cheerful as always and Magnus couldn’t help but laugh at how comfortable she had become around him. She didn’t trust people easily, that much he’d learned when he met her. Besides Alec, whom she had adored since the day they’d met (Magnus couldn’t blame her), it always took her a while to warm up around new people. However, with him and Catarina being so close friends, they had seen each other a lot recently and had made great progress.
“Hey, sweet pea. How are you doing?”
Madzie beamed when she pulled away. “I’m staying with you and Alec!”
Magnus nodded. “And we are going to have lots of fun.” He pointed over to the couch, where he’d already prepped a bed for Madzie to sleep. “Why don’t you check out your bed for the next couple of day and see if it’s alright?”
Madzie nodded, skipping out of his arms and over to the couch. Magnus watched her jump onto the couch and into the mountain of pillows and plushed animals and then turned around to Catarina, wrapping her up in a hug as well. “Hey, Cat”
“Hey”, Catarina replied as they pulled apart. “Thank you for taking care of her while I’m gone. I thought about bringing her with me, but she’s still so tiny and there will be so many mundanes around. And say thanks to your shadowhunter as well.”
“As I already told you, it’s no problem at all. Alec adores her, I’m sure we’ll have a great time together.”
Catarina grinned. “Say that again after you’ve been through one of her temper tantrums.” She then turned towards Madzie, who was already fairly busy playing with a dollhouse Magnus had gotten her. “Alright, kiddo, I’m heading out. Can I get a kiss before I leave?”
Magnus chuckled as he watched Madzie drop the toys in her hands immediately and almost trip over her own feet when she ran over to Catarina. “Bye, auntie Cat. I’m gonna miss you”, she said and quickly pecked her on the cheek before darting off to her toys again.
Catarina just rolled her eyes as she watched the girl resuming playing with her toys, ignoring the two other warlocks completely. “Yeah, I see how much you’re gonna miss me.”
She turned over to Magnus, a scowl on her face. “Didn’t I tell you not to get her so much stuff again? You’re going to spoil her rotten.”
Magnus just shrugged and laughed. “I can’t help it. She’s had me wrapped around her finger ever since you met her, you know that. And I’ve always had a soft spot for kids.”
“True that”, Catarina scoffed and then leaned in to hug him once more before she opened a portal behind her. “Thanks again for doing this for me. I’ll see you in a few days.”
+++
Magnus had cleared his schedule for the day in order to take care of Madzie. There were no clients to interfere with his plans, but as he had discovered last night, he was running low on a couple of supplies.
He supposed that Madzie wouldn’t mind heading out on a little supply run, and he was right. Actually more than that – she was having the time of her life. Always clinging tightly to Magnus’ hand, she chatted vividly to him as they maneuvered through the packed sidewalks of Manhattan. He found out that Madzie seemed to be able to charm the pants off pretty much anyone once she set her mind to it. As Magnus chatted to the old friend of his who owned the shop, the little girl strolled around the small shop, exploring the contents of the many shelves and cabinets, picking up jars and peering into boxes every once in a while, scrunching up her nose adorably when she came across something smelly or particularly nasty. When Madzie came back, she tugged at the seams of Magnus’ jacket until he got the hint and picked her up so she could see eye to eye with the two adults. Leaning into Magnus’ chest, she listened attentively to what they talked about. Magnus watched with a subtle smirk as his old friend Wren practically melted away at the sight of the quiet girl with the soft, curious eyes and wasn’t even that surprised when he got a generous discount at the checkout.
Once they were out of the store and walking back towards the quiet alley Magnus had initially portaled them to, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer.
“Magnus?”
“Yes, sweet pea?”
“What are you gonna do with all of this stuff?”
Magnus smiled down at the little warlock, who was holding his hand tightly as they made their way in a group of busy mundanes rushing to their next appointments. “Potions, love. All kinds of them. There’s so many people who demand all kinds of things from me, I need to be prepared if someone orders something in particular.”
Madzie giggled. “You’re busy.”
The warlock sighed. “I am. Sometimes more than I want to be.”
Glancing around him one more time, just to be sure, he opened up a portal in front of them, then squeezed Madzie’s hand tighter and led her towards the next store on his list.
+++
By the time they got back to the loft, the sun was already setting. They had grabbed something to eat in between portaling from one store to the next, but as Magnus quickly learned, Madzie was a hungry young lady. Together they went through a couple of Magnus’ recipes, eventually deciding on some chicken alongside vegetables and roasted potatoes.
Magnus was just about to push the potatoes into the oven when they heard a key turning in the lock and a few seconds later, the sound of familiar steps on carpet, alongside with a tired “Hello!” coming from the hallway. And from one second to another, cooking with Magnus seemed no longer interesting for Madzie.
Madzie’s head shot up from where she’d been concentrating on washing a few bell peppers and when she saw coming through the door, she dropped everything, jumped down from the stool Magnus had placed in front of the counter so she could actually reach something, and ran with short, but fast steps towards the hallway.
“Alec!”
The shadowhunter laughed as he saw the tiny girl in her bright yellow dress running towards him and crouched down to catch her. He had just enough time to open his arms before she all but crashed into him. Alec hugged Madzie tightly and then pushed her away a bit so he could look at her.
“Hey, little one. What are you doing here?”
“Auntie Cat is away until next week. I’m staying with you and Magnus.”
Alec’s eyes were tired, but the smile that graced his features was as bright and genuine as always. “That’s great”, he said while picked Madzie up and made his way over to Magnus, “So, how are my two favorite warlocks in the world doing?”
Magnus rolled his eyes at him at the exaggeration, but smiled softly nonetheless. Before he had time to answer, Madzie already spoke up. “Great. We’re making dinner.”
“You are? Well if that’s not good news.” Alec set Madzie down and the two of them watched as the girl ran off to where she’d left her backpack full of toys near the couch. Alec then turned around and gently kissed Magnus hello, pulling him in for a much needed embrace afterwards.
“Hey.”
“Hi. How was your day?” The second he’d gotten the question out, Magnus already halfway regretted asking it. He felt Alec sigh and drop his head against his shoulder. “Awful. Way too long. Jace is an asshole.”
The warlock chuckled. “Well, tell me something I don’t know.”
He let go of Alec, sliding his hands down his arms and taking one of his hands in his while he gently pulled him towards the kitchen, walking backwards and filling him in on how Madzie and him had spent the day. “…so, before you start ranting about the Institute going down the drain for the millionth time in the past few months – how about dinner and a nice glass of wine to take the edge off, hm? I found an old Italian Red earlier today, you will love it. And I got some delicious grape juice for our guest.”
“Mhmm, you think of everything”, Alec hummed and closed the distance between the two of them again. Magnus tipped his head up just a tiny bit so he could meet him halfway for another kiss. He let himself be walked back by Alec until he felt the edge of the kitchen counter against his lower back. He leaned against it and wrapped his arms around Alec’s shoulders, pulling him closer and feeling his boyfriend relax more and more the longer he held him. They made out lazily for a while, both of them enjoying this short moment of peace in their busy lives, until they were interrupted by a high shriek and the sound of something crashing in the living room.
“First we get interrupted by my brother all the time, and now by a tiny little warlock. How is this happening all the time?”, Alec murmured inches away from Magnus’ face, then pecked his lips once more before he reached for Magnus’ hand and led them both towards the living room. “Come on, let’s see what happened.”
When they got into the living room, Madzie was standing in front of the cabinet Magnus kept prepared potions in, staring onto a pile of broken glass and a puddle of colorful liquids that were quickly soaking into the carpet.
Magnus sighed and walked towards the cabinet to assess the damage while Alec took care of Madzie. Once he reached her, he quickly took her and led her away from the shards as Magnus set to work, pulling her into a reassuring hug once he had brought some distance between the little girl and the glass shards on the floor.
“I was just practicing my magic. I didn’t want this to happen. I’m sorry.” Madzie’s voice was shaking, and she was looking at Alec with big, scared eyes that were filling with tears.
Alec kneeled down on the floor and pulled Madzie into a reassuring hug. “Shhh, Madzie, it’s okay. We know you didn’t do it on purpose. Magnus is going to fix it, see?”
He turned the little girl towards where Magnus was already busy picking up the shards with his magic and turning them back into the jars and glasses they had once been. When the warlock realized he was being watched, he smiled softly and winked at Madzie.
“Sorry”, she mumbled again, still cuddled into Alec’s arms when Magnus approached them after he was done.
Magnus just stopped her with a wave of his hand. “No harm done, sweet pea. It’s all good, see? So, about that dinner we were making earlier – wanna help me finish it?”
+++
Alec watched with a smile as Madzie darted towards the kitchen for a moment, then took the hand Magnus offered him and let himself be pulled back onto his feet. They watched in idle silence as Madzie got back to the sink, switching the water back on with her magic so she could continue washing the vegetables.
Alec watched Magnus, who was watching her with his arms crossed and his head tilted to the side. His brows were furrowed together, his face thoughtful.
“What are you thinking about?”
“How powerful she is. Almost too powerful for her age. She doesn’t really know what to do with her magic. Iris and Valentine may have taught her what she can do with it, but she doesn’t know how to not do anything with it. How she can control it.”
Alec frowned. “She said she was practicing her magic. Maybe you or Cat could teach her how to do that properly?”
Magnus nodded, his features relaxing. “I guess I could try. Cat has done a great job so far, but if Madzie wants to, I’ll teach her a thing or two. I’ll ask her tomorrow. For now, we need to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or set my kitchen on fire.” He reached out and waited until Alec took his hand. “Come on, handsome. Let’s go get dinner ready.”
+++
After dinner, Magnus volunteered to do the dishes – which Madzie smiled, but Alec just rolled his eyes upon, as he didn’t believe for a second that his boyfriend would actually wash the dirty dishes and not use any magic to get the job done. Meanwhile, Alec and Madzie headed into the bathroom so Madzie could get ready for bed. It wasn’t that late yet, just after 8pm, but Madzie was still just a five-year-old and it had been an exciting day for her. She could barely keep her eyes open while Alec loosened up her pigtails and helped her brush her teeth, and was practically half asleep once they were done and walked over to the couch.
Alec helped Madzie climb up into the mountain of pillows Magnus had gotten ready and then sat down beside her so he could tuck her in. He was just about to switch off the lights in the living room when she reached out and grabbed his wrist with her tiny hand. Her voice was already heavy with sleep when she spoke, but Alec understood her nonetheless.
“Alec? Bedtime story?”
He was just about to ask her what kind of story she wanted to hear – his repertoire was quite impressive for a shadowhunter, as he’d told countless of bedtime stories to Izzy and Max when the had been kids – but was interrupted by Magnus, who sat down beside him.
“But of course, sweet pea. I know just the story for you. It’s about a very handsome warlock who saved the young prince of an ancient kingdom with highly outdated views from making a truly terrible decision.” Magnus looked up at Alec, his gaze full of mischief. “That is, if you don’t want to do the honors, Alexander? I believe you know that story quite well.”
Madzie giggled and Alec rolled his eyes, but did a very poor job on concealing a smirk. “No, no, you go ahead. Seems like one of those stories you don’t want to miss.”
The warlock smiled as he climbed onto the couch and got comfortable next to Madzie. “Excellent. Now scoot over, little girl, I need some space to tell my story. Alec, darling, will you dim the lights a bit? Makes it more dramatic.”
Alec sighed, but did as he was asked before he joined Magnus and Madzie on the makeshift bed and listened to Magnus’ story.
He didn’t know whether it was the many years of experience Magnus had or simply talent, but within a couple of minutes Magnus had their guest hanging on his every word. Magnus wove a colorful tale, exaggerating shamelessly and not refraining from changing facts or adding new details whenever he pleased. Underlining his words with vivid gestures and expressions, he made the different characters come to life. His necklaces and wristbands jingled whenever he moved and his voice changed whenever he switched to a different character. Alec had to admit, that even though he already knew the end of the story, he was mesmerized by how fascinating Magnus told it. Every now and then, Alec’s gaze shifted to Madzie, who seemed to become drowsier by the minute. By the time the prince and the warlock had gotten their happily ever after, Madzie was fast asleep, curled up in her pillows and cuddling a bright pink teddy bear to her chest.
When Alec drew his gaze away from her, he caught Magnus looking at him and couldn’t help but smile at his boyfriend, only to get a soft smile in return. Trying his best not to wake Madzie, Alec got up from the couch and pulled the covers over her shoulders while Magnus switched off the lights in the living room.
Trying their best not to make any noise, they sneaked out of the living room, not saying a word until Magnus had quietly closed the bedroom door behind them.
They didn’t say anything until they had the door closed behind them, but once they did, Alec couldn’t hold back a sarcastic comment as he walked over to the cabinet he kept some of his clothes in. “A prince and a warlock, huh? And I always deemed you subtler than that.”
Magnus just laughed as he started unbuttoning his shirt. “Oh shut up. She’ll never know it’s a true story.”
Alec let out an amused chuckle as he pulled open the drawer he kept his pajamas in and pulled out a well-worn black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. “She might not know now, but I am pretty sure she’ll put two and two together once she’s old enough to catch up on the latest downworld gossip.”
Magnus just shrugged and dropped a kiss to Alec’s lips as he passed him, now changed into silky black pajama pants and his sapphire blue dressing gown. “I’m pretty sure that by the time she is old enough to do that, our story will not be the latest downworld gossip anymore.”
He then went into his adjoined bathroom to take his makeup off. When he came back, Alec was already relaxing on their bed, flipping through a tattered paperback. Magnus smirked when he realized it was his own old copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He’d been trying to introduce his boyfriend to at least some of the most important pop culture phenomenons, but had not been very lucky in doing so. Alec had hated Lord of the Rings and had been downright offended when they had watched The Hunger Games, even though he had liked that the heroine was an archer as well. Books worked better, since Alec loved reading anyways, and after a couple of failed attempts, Magnus had finally found something Alec enjoyed – or at least liked enough to not constantly complain about everything supernatural in it being way too unrealistic.
“Harry Potter, huh? Thought you might like it.”
Alec shrugged, but didn’t look up from the page he was focused on. “Yeah. I like the plot, it’s pretty cool. But tell you what”, he continued, closing the book and putting it onto his nightstand. “I like the story you came up with better.”
Magnus smirked as he sat down on the bed and then snuggled close to Alec, resting his head on his boyfriend’s chest.
“Mhmm”, Alec hummed. “And Magnus?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m so glad the prince didn’t go through with marrying the noble lady from the faraway country.”
Magnus smirked as he propped up on his elbow so he could lean in for a gentle kiss. “Me too, Alexander. You have no idea how much.”