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It’s one of Magnus’s favorite times of the year. Which, you know, might seem just a little surprising at first. Temperatures have dropped to a level where even the most foolhardy and daring (one Magnus Burnsides) wouldn’t dare wear fantasy shorts. Skies overhead teem with snow-filled clouds that promise to make a liar of Neverwinter’s name. And as the temperature falls, stress levels skyrocket with comprehensive exams, papers long enough to make even the most faithful printer falter, and projects with maddeningly unreliable group members. But it’s also Candlenights season, and Magnus has been waiting for this for months.
He’s not the only one. They’ve had plans in place practically since the day after Halloween (another favorite holiday of the amalgamation of found family that Magnus calls his own). Festivities have been carefully scheduled across households to avoid conflict (the McDonalds get all of Hanukkah; the Waxmens get Candlenights; and Merle ‘n Cap’n’port get New Year’s Eve, plus, you know, all the others). Ovens for the extensive baking and cooking have been even more carefully scheduled (though, really, when it comes down to it, it’s just ceding almost all kitchen time to Lup and Taako). Decorations are mostly in place, and everyone’s getting Candlenights bushes tomorrow (finally). And last but most assuredly not least, Magnus has been working on his gifts for months, so he can really sit back, relax, and try to steal cookie dough wherever possible. Which is what he’s doing right now.
As part of the preparations, Magnus, Julia, and Lucretia are baking the traditional Waxmen family cookies. Well, to be more specific (and entirely honest), Julia is baking the traditional Waxmen family cookies, and Magnus and Lucretia are watching as she does. Per the twins, Julia is the only one actually allowed to touch: the ingredients, the bowl, the utensils, the oven, and the cookie sheets, as Julia is the only one of the three skilled enough to make the cookies. Magnus thinks this is rather unfair of the twins, as he is at least something of a competent cook and shouldn’t be lumped in with Lucretia.
But it’s fun for them regardless, and relaxing at that. The stress of finals season is gone, and so far the grades that have come back have been pretty solid.
“So I’m reading through this paper, right?” Lucretia continues on in her story about her adventures in being a TA for the literature department, something Magnus is rather in awe of. How Lucretia balances her intense workload (double major in literature and abjuration with minors in what Magnus would approximate as about eight languages), working as a Student Manager (and wrangling the rest of them at work), the various trials and tribulations associated with TA-ing, and her remarkably impressive writing career, Magnus will never know. He does have some doubts as to if she ever sleeps though. “And I realize something.”
“Oh no.” Julia says, striving to be as deadpan as Lucretia in her storytelling, but her laugh breaks through. Lucretia grins as well, the easy smile completely at odds with the tone of her words, though it reflects her current state far more accurately.
“…Go on,” Magnus says, laughing as well.
“I get about five sentences in before I figure it out. They’ve submitted the wrong essay.”
“Oh nooooooooooo,” Julia gasps and slaps her hands to her face, completely forgetting she’d just been engaged in mixing the flour into the dough. The sudden movement throws the spoon out of the bowl and onto the countertop with a clatter, sending flour everywhere. Magnus and Lucretia, sitting on barstools on the opposite side of the island, where they’d been banished for baking, are mostly unscathed. Julia, on the other hand, in addition to some slightly doughy handprints on her cheeks, gets flour in her face and hair and generally all over her person.
Magnus and Lucretia blink, looking to each other. Julia is the first to break into laughter though, and they quickly join in. “Well, it’s not Candlenights if I don’t completely make a mess of myself baking, now is it?” Julia asks through giggles, looking herself over. “Go on, Cretia. So, they submitted an essay for a different class?”
“Worse. They submitted an earlier draft for the same essay So there I am, sitting in my dragon pajamas, reading, ‘in this essay I will explain why tieflings are unfairly demonized in old Faerunian literature,’ and then ‘ha, pun’ in parentheses, and then ‘and also why they are horny and hot as hell.” And then parenthesis, ‘ha, more puns,’ parenthesis. And questioning my sanity because for some reason, ‘what up bitches essay time,’ in the first sentence did not raise any alarms.”
“We’ve all been there. Finals week.” Magnus says, nodding sympathetically. “So what’d you do, Lucy?”
“Said the words, ‘you know what? Fuck that,’ out loud before shutting my laptop and crawling into bed. That was definitely a problem for a tomorrow Lucretia.”
“Understandable, but holy fuck. How’d it turn out?” Julia’s trying to brush off flour, and it’s not going particularly well.
“Shot Professor Amberfire an email; she emailed the student, who was about as mortified as you’d expect and seemed relieved when they learned I was grading it. They don’t need to know that I sent it over to Amberfire; she got a laugh out of it. The analysis was solid even before they cleaned it up. And removed the copious uses of the word, ‘fuck.’” Lucretia chuckles.
“That’s too funny. Even if the secondhand embarrassment is terrible.” Julia waves at Magnus, asking how well she’s done at removing the flour.
Laughing, Magnus responds, pointing out the corresponding locations on himself. “Sorry, Jules, you got a little here… and here… and over there… and oh, wait, a whole lot over here.”
“Right, well, I’m gonna go get myself cleaned up because… well, you know.” Julia gestures to herself. “Don’t touch anything or I’ll know!” She calls over her shoulder as she goes. “Yes, Maggie, I’ll know even if it’s only a tiny bit!” Magnus draws his hand back from the mixing bowl, admittedly pouting because his girlfriend knows him too well.
Girlfriend. Right.
Almost as though she’s read his mind, Lucretia whirls to face him, eyes burning bright and staring him down with that authoritative look that got her nametag changed from “Student Manager” to “Madame Director.”
“So.” Lucretia starts. “When are you going to ask her?”
She knows. Though perhaps it shouldn’t surprise him that one of his best friends figured it out. Magnus lets out a breath, surprisingly shaky. “Um. Probably, uh, probably next couple days. Whenever… whenever seems right, you know? But. Um. It was that obvious?” His voice goes a touch high at the end, uncertainty coloring his voice.
And because Lucretia is his friend, she knows that the uncertainty isn’t about being found out, at least not by her. She pats his arm. “Julia doesn’t know. Well, I mean, I know you’ve both talked about the future before, but she doesn’t know that it’s going to be soon. She doesn’t know that you’ve got a ring.”
The box that Magnus has been carrying around since the semester ended suddenly seems to weigh far more in his pocket. Wordlessly, he pulls it out.
“So, when are you going to ask?”
“I wasn’t sure when the right time would be,” Magnus admits. “Lucy, what if… what if she says…”
“Magnus. You’ve been in love with Julia for over three years now, and we all know she feels the same.”
“Yeah, but-”
“But what?”
“I don’t know.” Magnus leans back with a heavy sigh. “Julia is… amazing.”
“And you are much better than you give yourself credit for, Magnus Burnsides.” Lucretia says firmly, with that same look of steel she gets in her eyes when someone is trying to put peanut butter in the waffle maker or fill up a milk jug with apple cider. To put it simply, it’s the look that means Lucretia knows she’s right, she knows that you know she’s right, and she’s not budging. “And you’ll know what the right time is.” She adds as Magnus returns the ring box to his pocket.
Sure he will. That’ll be a Candlenights miracle on its own.
Picking out Candlenights bushes is fun. Both he and Julia like it; actually, they’ve gotten downright competitive about running through the rows of Candlenights bushes, yelling like kids about how this one is the perfect shape or that one is the perfect height. This year, however, Magnus sticks close to Julia, leaves the running to Angus, followed by a running Kravitz and a less-than-running Taako.
“And this one’s got nice, full branches all over.”
“Mmhmm.” Magnus hums along with Julia’s commentary, more focused on studying his girlfriend than the bushes this year.
“Magpie.” Julia says, smile and concern in her voice in equal measure. “What’s going on? This shrub has a hole big enough to fit Angus through.” She says as Angus skids to a momentary halt next to them.
“Nope! I might be a little boy, but I’m still too big to fit in there! Oh, look at that one!” Angus sprints off again.
“Wait! Angus! There’s ice!” Kravitz, frantic, runs after his younger brother.
“Oh! The labor! The exhaustion! The things I do for you all!” Taako half yells, half pants dramatically as he walks by them.
“You’re fine, Taako.” Julia laughs. “Walk it off.” Taako half-heartedly waves them off before continuing on after his boyfriend and his mentee. Julia turns back to Magnus. “Now. Are you fine, Magnus?” Julia asks, eyes searching, and oh shit, Magnus hadn’t realized how obvious he was being. The ring box in his pocket feels like it’s lighting up neon, alerting anyone and everyone in the vicinity. And most importantly, Julia.
“Uh, yeah. Just… just wondering when Dr. M’s finally gonna get back to us with grades, you know?” Magnus laughs, reaching up to scratch at the side of his face. Julia watches his hands move, and the little line of worry between her eyebrows doesn’t go away. “I promise I’m fine, Jules.” And that one, that at least, is the truth, and it’s clear in Magnus’s tone. “I’ve never been better.” And then, to even Magnus’s shock, he continues. “But, uh, maybe we could-” Is this it is this really happening am I about to ask Julia-
“Magnus!” A voice cheers, and that’s all the warning he gets before the small, well-muscled body of his best friend crashes into him from behind.
“H-hey, Carey,” Magnus greets her weakly, the tension in the moment broken. No, now can’t be the right time. Too crazy, too open, too likely to get interrupted. Even as he thinks it, Lup crashes through the rows of bushes, waving to them as she continues onward, whether in search of a Candlenights bush or just plain old destruction, Magnus doesn’t know.
“Hey Julia, hey Magnus.” Killian strides up to join them.
“Hey, Team Sweet Flips.” Julia greets the couple. “Any luck?”
Carey snorts. “Uh, obviously.”
“Oh, is that a challenge, Fangbattle?” Julia dares.
“You bet it is, Waxmen.” Carey retorts. Barry, following after Lup, jogs by the group with a small wave.
“Psh, Magnus and I don’t even have to be together to beat you two.”
“Yeah, well, neither do me ‘n Killian!”
“Ladies, ladies.” Killian holds up her hands. “There’s an easy way to test this. What if I go with Julia, and Carey goes with Magnus, and then we meet up to see who finds the best Candlenights bushes.”
Now hold on! Magnus opens his mouth to object; he may end up not proposing to Julia here (which is looking like a less desirable option by the minute), but he still wants to walk around with her.
“But, babe, I don’t wanna leave you!” Carey seems to have the same idea.
“I think that means you forfeit!” Julia teases.
Carey looks at Julia. “First to find the best one in ten minutes or less wins!” She sprints off. Magnus looks at Julia and Killian, who wave him on expectantly. “Come on, Burnsides!” Reluctantly, Magnus trots after Carey, who stops and practically dives into a group of bushes. “So, as your very best friend in the whole world, I need to tell you that Julia’s kind of the best. When are you proposing to her anyway?” Carey asks conversationally, half joking.
Magnus doesn’t reply. Carey pauses in her search and emerges from the foliage. “Magnus?” He doesn’t respond. Carey looks at him for less than an instant before realization lights up her face like lightning. “Holy shit!” She dives out of the bushes and hugs Magnus. “Magnus!”
“Not yet!” Magnus finally manages, half paranoid that someone -Julia- will overhear.
“But you’re going to!” Carey draws back, suddenly near-horrified. “Oh shit! We fucking interrupted, didn’t we! You had that look on your face!”
“What look?”
“You know.” Carey waves her hands in Magnus’s general direction. “The one where you’re just, like, really in love with Julia!”
“Yeah, well…”
“Aw, fuck, I’m sorry, Magnus!”
“No, no, it’s- it’s fine. Not the right place anyway.”
“So?” Carey asks.
“So?” Magnus asks back, confused.
“When is the right time?”
“I… I don’t know.” He admits. “Lucretia says I’ll know.”
“She’s probably right.” Carey nods. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Hopefully,” Magnus mutters.
So asking Julia during the annual picking of the Candlenights bush is a total bust.
Ice skating is good. Ice skating is great. Sure, neither Magnus nor Julia are the best at it (both favoring strength over dex), but it’s like, you know, a traditional Candlenights season activity. It’s fun! All their friends are here! It’s fun.
Well. At least they get hot chocolate afterward, right?
“Don’t let me fall.” Magnus hisses at Julia as they wobble around the rink. Sloane zooms by, Carey in hot pursuit. Hurley is behind, yelling about the disadvantage of being shorter than everyone else, while Killian is probably still clinging to the railing.
“I can’t even make sure I don’t fall.” Julia shoots back.
“Sure you-” Magnus starts to say before he wobbles, hard. He takes a step, skids, catches himself, wobbles, another step, stabilizes. “Yes!” He cheers, having gloriously stayed upright.
And then he falls over anyway, landing ass first before falling to lie prone on the ice, staring at the sky above. Ow. The cold immediately starts seeping in through his clothes. This was actually a terrible idea.
“Magnus!”
“Hey, Jules, I fell for you.” He grins up at Julia, who grins back once she realizes he’s not actually injured. Just his dignity, at least.
“Haha, very funny.” Julia says, nearly as deadpan as Lucretia.
“I am being entirely sincere!” Magnus raises a hand up to his chest, looking at Julia, mock offended.
“Yeah, well, you gotta get up now so no one trips over you!”
“Fine, fine. Only if the most beautiful person here helps me up.”
“You know if I ask around, Taako’s gonna say that’s him.”
“Julia!”
At this Julia does laugh, and she extends a hand out to Magnus, who takes it. He manages to somehow scramble to his knees. Okay. Part of the way there. He can do this. He scrambles further.
He cannot, in fact, do this. Magnus slips again. Only this time, he takes Julia with him. Good news is, her fall is cushioned by Magnus. Good news for Julia that is.
“Magpie. We’re terrible at this.” Julia says conversationally as the pair take a moment to catch their breath on the ice. “Maybe we should call it a day before we’re more bruise than people?”
“Now hold on. We were doing great!” Magnus objects. It’s a hard thing to argue, when ice cold water is seeping through his pants.
“Not really. Not at all.”
Magnus sulks. “Fine.”
Neither of them moves.
“We still have to get up,” Julia says.
“You saw how well that went last time, Jules.” Magnus snorts.
“Maybe we should get someone to rescue us.”
“This is worse than that time Taako, Merle, Angus, and I jumped off the train.”
“Angus was fine; that was the important thing.”
“Thanks, Julia.”
“No problem, Magnus.”
Magnus sighs, a long drawn out sound. He rolls over, pushes himself up to hands and knees. Julia sits up and watches. After a lot of wobbling and even more cursing, he’s upright again. “Victorious! As I expected!”
“My hero,” Julia replies, standing up as well, slowly, but marginally more gracefully than Magnus. “So. Time for hot chocolate?”
Magnus opens his mouth, but his teeth nearly start chattering. “You know what? Sounds like a great idea.”
“Only problem is… now we have to get back.” They both look over to where the open door onto the ice is. At the other end of the rink.
“We can do it! I have vehicle proficiency!”
“Or, listen, how ‘bout we, uh, make sure you guys don’t actually die on the ice?” Magnus cranes his neck to look over his shoulder, reluctant to try turning after two spills in quick succession. The twins are standing behind, Lup grinning and Taako shaking his head.
“What about Barold?” Taako asks Lup.
“Barry’s fine.” She waves it off, turning faintly pink. Huh. Magnus is gonna have to ask Taako about that later. Lup doesn’t say anything else, just skates up to grab Magnus’s hand while Taako skates over to Julia. “You doing okay, Mango?” Lup asks quietly. “You, uh… you know? Ask her?”
“Has everyone figured it out?” Magnus asks incredulously.
“Magnus. My beloved adopted brother. We have had bets on this for years now. Literal years.”
“Oh, like you and Barry.” Magnus retorts sticking his tongue out.
Lup grins, but it’s less friendly and more predatory. “Magnus Burnsides, I will drop you and leave you on the ice.”
Cold and wet probably isn’t the best time to ask Julia either.
After a long day alternating fun and friends and joy and preparations and parties, Magnus finds himself sitting on the couch in the Waxmen home, Julia comfortably resting against his side as they watch Queer Eye. It’s late, so late that Steven’s already gone to bed, and quiet, save for the Fab Five and the low breathing of the dog sleeping before the fireplace, even the sounds of the world outside muffled by falling snow. It’s cozy, too, under a blanket from Istus and with Julia warm next to him, her hair falling like a scarf around his neck. It’s a soft, peaceful moment, and Magnus is almost relaxed. Save for the box still in his pocket.
This could be the right moment. It’s not big, or dramatic, but it’s just the two of them, in their own little world, and that’s what’s important.
“Jules?”
“Mm.”
“You awake?”
“Mm-mm.”
“You’re gonna wake up with a sore back if you fall asleep on the couch.”
“’M ‘sleep on you.” Julia mumbles into Magnus’s neck.
“Yeah, but then I’ll wake up sore too,” Magnus says, laughing quietly as he does. Julia doesn’t respond. “Julia?” He manages to crane his neck to look without jostling Julia. Okay. Late at night and half asleep, or rather, entirely asleep, not the best option.
For once moving slowly, cautiously even, Magnus manages to shift both of them around to be able to carry Julia. He hadn’t been kidding about waking up with a sore back. “I love you, Jules,” Magnus whispers before lightly kissing her forehead. Julia mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep, and Magnus laughs before carrying her upstairs.
Maybe tomorrow.
Candlenights in the Waxmen household is in full swing, with all of their friends and family there. And, hand in hand with Julia, Magnus just takes a moment to look around at the family and lives they’ve all built.
Taako, aided and abetted by Kravitz, is conspiring to shove Lup and Barry together under the mistletoe with increasingly complex schemes. Somehow, Lup and Barry remain oblivious to this fact, even when Taako manages to get Hurley and Sloane to help out as well. In fact, the only one who seems aware is Istus, laughing to herself as she knits and looking to her wife Raven, who’s watching their younger son.
For once, Angus looks content to just be a kid, instead of a kid detective or kid genius or kid prodigy, and is playing a multiplayer video game with June, Mavis, and Mookie. From the sounds coming from their part of the room, Mavis is winning.
The dads, for their part, (Steven, Jack, Merle, and Davenport) and not-dads (Pan and Rowan) are in the kitchen, trying some of whatever Avi brought. Hopefully it’s what Avi brought, at least. Good luck to them if it’s something that Pan made himself.
But it must be from Avi, because he promptly turns around and exchanges the phone Johann is playing music off of with a glass. Johann snorts, but he drinks it anyway, going to pick up the phone again with his other hand. It’s promptly taken out of his hand again by Paloma, who swaps it for a scone with a wink, before sailing off to hand pastries to Brad and Brian.
In the living room, Ren and Noelle are caught in animated conversation with Carey, Killian, Antonia, and Lucretia, each pair leaning comfortably against each other. Lucretia has a glass of wine in her hand, but she’s perceptive and quickly catches Magnus looking around. When their eyes meet, she raises an eyebrow that communicates a question: Soon?
Oh. OH.
Now… now is a really good time. Now might even be the right time.
“Hey, Jules? Julia?” Magnus asks. “You wanna… you want to duck outside for a sec?”
Julia studies him a moment, like she’s about to ask why he wants to walk outside in the cold on Candlenights when everyone else is here. But what she says is, “Yeah. That sounds nice, Magnus.”
The two duck out of the room unnoticed and quickly bundle up, slipping out the back door. The cold hits immediately, but it’s not icy (not like ice skating the other day). Snowflakes drift down lazily, and the snow underfoot crunches softly as they walk. Julia doesn’t ask, just takes Magnus’s hand as he walks over to the gazebo. He’d built it the previous summer, as a kind of personal project, to prove he could. And for Julia, of course.
The soft crunch of snow becomes the duller clunk of boots against wood as they step into the gazebo. Julia lets go of Magnus’s hand and takes a few steps forward before turning around to face him. “So.”
“So.” Magnus’s tongue suddenly feels clumsy in his mouth, his face hot, and his hands twitchy under his gloves. He peels them off and shoves them in his pockets. His fingers come in contact with the small box. And he knows.
“Magnus, what’s going on? You’ve been acting… well, you’ve been acting a little weird the past couple days, and I… okay, that’s kind of freaking me out a little, so if you could just… is everything okay?” Julia’s eyes are wide, and that line of concern between her eyebrows is back, and Magnus would do anything to make sure that goes away.
Well. He knows what he’s going to try to do to make it go away.
“Julia. Julia Waxmen.” Julia almost takes a step back. “Oh, shit, no, tits.” Magnus stammers, and Julia stops, laughs a little. “Fuck, this is… not going great.” He says.
“I’m sorry,” Julia apologizes.
“No! No, it’s fine. Everything is… I promise, everything is fine. Everything is great. Everything is downright wonderful.”
“I’m glad.” Julia smiles, but she still doesn’t look entirely relaxed.
Magnus takes a breath and rests a hand on the steadying railing of the gazebo. “Julia. I built this for you after you said you’d love a nice, shady spot to sit outside in the summertime, or a place to run to the many times it starts raining around here, or even a place to watch the snow fall in winter.” Julia’s smile widens at that. “I built it because I hoped it would make you smile.”
“It does. I love it. I love you.” Julia says, the words easy and light and some of Magnus’s favorites to hear.
“I love you, too. I love you so much, Julia. I love your smile, your laugh, how you’re so passionate about what’s right and how you go after it no matter what. Knowing you makes me want to be, try to be a better person every day. And I want to work toward a better future with you, but even more than that, I can’t imagine a brighter, better future for me than one with you in it, every day, always.” Magnus Burnsides takes another breath, heart racing in his throat, and moves to kneeling, taking out the box he’s carried with him every day for the past few weeks. “Julia Waxmen, will you marry me?”
“Magnus.” Julia’s raised her hands to her mouth, and she looks like she’s about to cry. For a moment, Magnus feels dizzy. “Magnus, please, I need… I need you to stand up.”
Confused, he obliges. Maybe...
And then Julia rushes in.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!” Julia answers emphatically, arms wrapped tightly around Magnus. Slowly, half in a dream, Magnus reaches up to wrap his arms around her as well. “Of course I’ll marry you! Fuck! You’re going to make me cry, Magnus!”
“No, don’t cry!” Magnus can hear tears in his own voice even as he’s laughing.
“Magnus Burnsides, you just asked me to marry you; I will cry if I fucking want to!” Julia pulls back, and Magnus reaches up to gently brush away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “Wait, fuck, where’s my ring?” She asks, hastily pulling off her left glove.
“Oh, right!” Magnus takes the ring and carefully slides it onto Julia’s finger.
Julia looks down in wonderment for a moment before looking up to Magnus. “We’re engaged.”
“Yeah.”
Julia launches herself at Magnus again and kisses him.
Eventually, before the cold can sink in through the joy, they decide to return, walking in hand and hand, smiles blinding and eyes glowing.
And no one notices at first. Not really. Magnus and Julia always look hopelessly in love, after all.
And then Merle asks. “Huh. Uh, Julia? That a new ring?”
The room erupts. There’s yelling, there’s hugging, there’s even more crying, there’s congratulations. Magnus and Julia’s family, blood and found, surround them with love and hope for an even brighter future. And through it all, Magnus and Julia never let go.
“Oh. Um. Magpie? Magnus, darling, my actual, literal future spouse?” Magnus looks away from Taako to Julia, a smile spreading over his face automatically at the reminder that they’re engaged now. But Julia’s face, like her tone, suggests a trace of trepidation, and Magnus feels doubt momentarily curl through his stomach before Julia says, “You do realize we… we’ve gotta plan a wedding now, right?”
Magnus slowly breathes out, considering. “Well. Tits.”
So maybe asking Julia to marry him hadn’t actually been the hard part. Magnus and Julia might need another Candlenights miracle on this one.