Work Text:
It started off reasonably simple.
‘Babe’ tripped easily off of Alec’s tongue, but although Magnus liked it when he said it, he didn’t think it suited Alec. ‘Baby’ seemed patronising, given the large age gap. ‘Darling’, Magnus used for lots of people, from close friends to mortal enemies, and Alec was really something quite special to Magnus.
Not that everyone he’d ever loved hadn’t been special to him in their own ways, of course. It was just… Alec was special in his own way and then some.
‘Soulmate’ sprang to mind once and he dismissed it quickly; he didn’t think it was wrong. Magnus just really, really didn’t want to consider the idea.
‘My love’ was a success, and its translations in other languages mostly went down well too. Alec liked ‘mio caro’ specifically.
“Reminds me of that Tuscan villa we stayed in,” he explained.
So that was a pet name that featured highly in Magnus’s speech. Yet, Magnus didn’t quite feel as though he’d found the one personalised to Alexander quite yet.
“I’d say ‘Alexander’ is a pretty personalised pet name,” he said once, over a candlelit balcony dinner.
“The point of a pet name, handsome, is that it isn’t your name,” Magnus swilled the wine in his glass around a little. “Ooh, ‘handsome’?”
“Eh. Feels a little-“ Alec waved his hand around vaguely –“objectify-ey.”
“Objectify-ey?”
Alec shrugged, happy with his made-up word. “I don’t mind it when you do it though. Just like I don’t mind you calling me Alexander – I love it when you call me that. No one else is allowed to.”
Magnus smiled. “I’ll keep trying, my Alexander.”
And try he did, and they started to get off the wall a little. ‘Pup’ and ‘Panda’ were vetoed immediately, and looking at Alec’s morning face, Magnus was tempted to just bring out ‘Grumpy Cat’ and be done with it.
He didn’t, but he did snap a picture of Alec’s morning face and change his contact photo and name to both of those for a while.
‘Sushi’ made Alec laugh unexpectedly, and the two of them broke down into laughter that left them breathless and tear-stricken, and unable to eat sushi the next time they got lunch with the other Shadowhunters (and Simon and Maia). Neither of them could explain to the others why they were in fits of giggles over California rolls or tuna nigiri even if they wanted to.
‘Bubbles’, when Alec overestimated how much bubble bath he needed and ended up stubbornly sat in a towering pile of them, only his face showing.
“This is the perfect amount,” Alec lied to Magnus’s face, looking like a scowling yeti. Magnus took a photo of that, too, and Alec tried throwing handfuls of bubbles at him.
‘Dumpling’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘Cupid’, ‘sexy’. Nothing stuck. They got engaged, and Magnus was the happiest he’d ever been, though he lamented that he hadn’t yet found the perfect nickname. He was lucky that Alec still seemed amused by it, given he’d stuck with babe, and baby, and love.
Magnus liked ‘love’ a lot.
They personalised their vows, as the Clave’s standard ones were too rigid, too vague, too not them, and as Alec mentioned Magnus’s quest, and as they laughed through their tears of joy, the perfect pet name hit him.
Magnus didn’t get to tell Alec right away, given the whirlwind of congratulations and reception duties they were pulled into. They had their first dance, and their second, and it wasn’t until their third that Magnus really got the chance. The attention was off them for the most part as other couples (and in Simon, Maia, and Isabelle’s case, throuples) joined the floor. Luke and Maryse impressed the watching audience, and she and Alec shared a genuine, look-how-far-we’ve-come smile, as Magnus simply swayed with him to Frank Sinatra.
“I think I’ve finally found the pet name for you, Alexander,” Magnus murmured in his ear, head resting on Alec’s shoulder.
“Oh?” Alec pulled back slightly, so their eyes could meet, but not too far that they couldn’t feel each other’s breath, and warmth, and joy.
“I couldn’t use it till now, that’s why I couldn’t find it… husband.”
Alec’s answering smile made Magnus’s heart soar, eyes crinkled at the corners and tongue poking out between his teeth. Magnus couldn’t help but to smile back, pressing his forehead to Alec’s.
“That’s perfect. I love you, husband,” Alec said, as the song drew to a close.
“I love you too,” Magnus pressed a kiss to Alec’s cheek. “Let’s go eat some cake.”