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It isn’t unusual for Simon to call everyone together at Java Jace. He actually does it quite a lot (Magnus out of all people accuses Simon of being overly dramatic for calling the get-togethers ‘gatherings’, so that says a lot) but he usually isn’t dressed in a full Santa Claus costume in the middle of June when he does that.
Raphael is the first one to spot him coming towards them, and when he does, he mutters a silent Dios under his breath before getting up to meet his boyfriend.
“Simon,” he says when Simon is in earshot, “what in God’s name are you wearing?”
Simon huffs as he flings a bag on the table and then plops down on the chair next to Raphael, stretching his neck to peck him on the cheek before wiping his brow and focusing his attention on the others.
“It is I, Panta Claus, and I’ve come bearing gifts!” He says with a big gesture.
“Panta Claus?” Maureen echoes. She looks as confused as Raphael feels.
“Pansexual Santa Claus!” Simon explains.
“Try to keep up, Brown.”
“Right,” Maureen nods. Then she jerks her head to the bag on the table.
“What gifts did you bring us?”
“I’m glad you asked, my dear friend.” Simon rolls up his sleeves and pulls the bag towards him, grabbing into it until he pulls out a white shirt. He glances at it briefly before throwing it into Jace’s direction, who is standing behind Clary waiting to get Simon’s order.
“Here, Captain America,” Simon beams.
“Make America gay again.”
Jace frowns and holds the shirt in front of him to take a closer look. His frown quickly turns into a huge smile.
“No way!” He exclaims as he drops his notebook to pull off his shirt.
“Uh,” Alec says, staring at his brother, “what does that shirt say that Jace is stripping for you?”
“I’m not stripping, Alexander,” Jace says, “I’m changing.” And with that, he pulls Simon’s shirt over his head to show it off. On it, there’s an image of Captain America’s shield in the pan pride colors.
“Thanks, Simon. This is awesome.”
“I know it is. Now, the next gift…” Simon takes another shirt out of the bag and hands it to Isabelle after checking if it’s the right one. She takes it with a big smile and drops the cookie she had been eating to look at it.
“I like girls as a feminist and a lesbian,” she reads out loud, and then she giggles.
“Well, that couldn’t be more spot on,” she says as she glances at Clary, who gives her a warm smile in return.
“Okay, next one to receive a gift is…” Simon pulls out a black shirt and hands it to Meliorn before even glancing at it.
“There you go, bud!” Simon smiles. Meliorn looks surprised, as if they hadn’t been expecting Simon to get them something. Raphael has told them over and over again that they truly did belong in their friend group, especially after they started dating Jace, but he suspects that they’re still not entirely sure about that.
“Call me they or go away,” Meliorn reads, and then they laugh.
“That’s amazing, Simon. Thank you.” They look touched and Raphael thinks they may tear up, but then Jace gives them a kiss on the top of their head and Meliorn slips back in their usual, relaxed state.
Simon takes a moment to smile brightly at Meliorn before digging back into the bag and pulling out a pink shirt he throws at Maureen. She unfolds it with an expectant expression on her face and reads out loud: “Certified Halal. Oh my god. Thanks Simon!” She grins. Simon winks at her from across the table.
“Hey, Solomon,” Magnus comments.
“Not that I don’t like excessive gift giving at inappropriate times, but why exactly are you handing out shirts to everyone?”
“Don’t worry, Margaret. I bought you and Alec matching ones.”
Magnus makes an offended noise at the back of his throat at Simon’s nickname for him, but Alec puts his hand in his neck and pinches it softly to make Magnus relax. Simon throws two shirts their way, one purple and one black one. Despite himself, Magnus giggles when he reads what’s written on them.
“I’m not gay but my boyfriend is,” he says as he shows the shirt to the others. Alec’s reads ‘I’m not bi but my boyfriend is’, and it even gets a laugh out of him.
“Okay, Fray, you’re up next!” Simon booms as he pulls yet another shirt out of the bag.
Clary reaches out to it with grabby hands and pulls it to her chest as soon as Simon hands it to her, folding it open to read what it says.
“Let me draw you like one of my French girls,” she says, and then she rolls her eyes at Simon.
“Oh, haha.”
“Get it? Cause you’re an artist and into girls? It’s funny!”
“Okay, it’s kinda funny. Thanks, Si.”
“You’re very welcome. And now, last but not least…” He pulls out the final shirt and hands it to Raphael with a ridiculous smile spread across his face. Raphael takes it with caution, not knowing what to expect.
“I like big hugs and I cannot lie?” He says as he reads the shirt. Then he huffs.
“That’s not true. I hate hugs.”
“That’s not what you said last n – ”
“Lewis!”
Simon giggles and throws his arms around Raphael’s neck to give him a firm kiss. Raphael tries to pretend to pull back, but the shirt isn’t lying. He kinda really loves Simon’s hugs.
“You like the shirt?” Simon wonders once he pulls back.
“I guess,” Raphael shrugs. Simon nudges him in the ribs before returning his gaze to the others.
“Okay, are you finally gonna tell us why you’re handing out shirts in a Santa – I’m sorry, Panta Claus costume?” Magnus finally asks.
“Well, my queerly beloved, as you all should know, June is Pride Month. And it just so happens to be Pride tomorrow, and we’re all going.”
“But –“ Alec starts, but Simon interrupts him.
“It’s my first Pride since I came out of the closet. Come on guys, please? That’s why I bought the shirts. It’ll be fun! We’ll walk in the parade and get free condoms and go to themed parties and just be gay together.”
“I think it sounds fun,” Izzy smiles. She pushes her glasses up her nose before reaching for Clary’s hand.
“It would be my first Pride too,” Maureen admits.
“See! Look, if you really don’t want to go of course I won’t force you. But I swear we’ll have a great time.”
“I’m in,” Raphael says, watching as his boyfriend smiles lovingly at him.
“Me too,” Meliorn agrees.
“Hey, if Mel is in so am I,” Jace nods.
“I’ve been going to Pride since I was fourteen,” Magnus states with crossed arms. Alec just hums in approval and Clary smiles brightly.
“Of course I’m in too!”
“Yes!” Simon cheers.
“This is gonna be great! Okay, how about we meet up tomorrow here, wearing our shirts, and we’ll go the Parade together?”
“Don’t you mean gather?” Magnus mocks.
“I’m gonna take away your shirt,” Simon threatens, to which the other man gasps and holds the shirt closer to him.
“Back off, Sally.”
“Whatever, Maggie. We’ll gather here tomorrow and go to Pride together. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” the others say in unison.
The streets of New York are absolutely crowded the next day. Raphael is sure to hold onto Simon’s hand with both of his in order not to get separated and lets Simon drag him through the wall of bodies to get to a less packed area. The rest of their group tries to keep up, but Simon can slip between people like he was born to do so and quickly loses the others.
Finally they make it to a patch of grass where nobody is standing and plop down onto it with a sigh, waiting for the others to catch up.
Simon leans back on his hands and takes in his surroundings with a big grin on his face. He’s wearing a white shirt with pink-yellow-blue letters spelling out ‘Yes, I am actually attracted to pans’ and his glasses are slipping off the bridge of his nose. Raphael reaches out out of habit to push them back up for him, and Simon catches his wrist to press a kiss to his knuckles before Raphael can pull back.
“Are you having a good time?” He asks.
“Yeah, it’s fun. I’ve seen a lot of ace pride colors which is nice. And you seem to be having a good time too, so I’m happy.”
Simon’s happy grin turns into an intimate smile as he leans forward to give Raphael a kiss. Raphael leans forward too to meet him halfway and they engage in a sweet kiss until the others finally catch up on them.
“There you are!” Jace exclaims as he plops down on the grass too and slaps Simon on the shoulder. Simon glares at him before shuffling closer to Raphael to make room for the others.
Clary and Izzy gracefully sink down onto the ground, not letting go off each other’s hands, and Alec and Magnus plop down too. Magnus streaked the gay pride colors on Alec’s face and is wearing pink-purple-blue eyeshadow himself.
Meliorn sits down next to Jace and immediately pulls out some weed to roll a joint. Jace watches them for a while before starting to pluck flowers springing from the ground to braid a quick flower crown.
Maureen sits down next to Clary and starts a soft conversation with her and Izzy.
The girls brought some beer, which they’re handing out now. Raphael even pulls out a few bags of chips and party snacks for them to snack on.
“Okay, what’s next on the agenda?” Magnus asks before throwing a chip into his mouth.
“Halsey is doing a concert in like an hour,” Simon replies, looking down to his phone to scroll to the set-up for today, “Years and Years plays right after her.”
“I would die for Halsey,” Isabelle says with a sigh. Clary laughs and nods in agreement.
“Wouldn’t we all,” Jace says. His flower crown looks a bit wrong to Raphael, but he’s learned to just let Jace be over the months they’ve been friends.
“Okay, cool,” Meliorn says, briefly looking up from the joint they’re rolling, “so we’ll just chill here for a while, eat something, drink something, and then make our way to the concert?”
“Sounds like a plan!” Simon beams.
They share two joins between the eight of them considering it’s Ramadan and Maureen can’t do drugs or drink alcohol or eat for that matter before standing to make their way to the stage. Jace snatches some condoms from a local stand and throws some at Alec, who just blinks when they hit him in the face and rolls his eyes.
Once they’re as close to the stage as they’re gonna get, Magnus climbs onto Alec’s shoulders with ease and pulls out his phone to film. Clary begs Jace to let her climb onto his shoulders too and she ends up holding hands with Magnus, both towering over the crowd while the others stand below them.
“Honestly, I would carry you on my shoulders too if we weren’t both so short,” Simon says, nodding at Clary and Magnus.
“We’re not short,” Raphael counters, “and honestly I could totally carry you if your legs weren’t so ridiculously long.”
“My long legs turn you on.”
“Nothing turns me on,” Raphael says dryly, but there’s a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Simon snickers and reaches down to lace their fingers together.
Halsey gets on stage sometime later and Raphael winces when Izzy and Maureen start wailing the lyrics right next to him, but Simon pulls him in a slow dance during Is There Somewhere and kisses him until he can’t hear them anymore, so he isn’t complaining.
Years and Years perform right after Halsey and Jace practically throws Clary off his shoulders to pull Meliorn into a loving embrace because King is the song they shared their first kiss to. Raphael had to hear all about it in close detail from Meliorn later.
They pass by a burger stand when Years and Years finishes their set and then make their way to the parade, planning on walking in it. Raphael looks around at his friends and notices the bright smiles they’re all wearing, how truly happy and free they look. Like this is where they’re meant to be. He feels happy and free himself too, like he can finally be who he really is without anyone judging him for it.
Meliorn gets a piggy back ride to the parade and Jace and Alec race to see who can get their partners there the fastest. Alec obviously wins because his legs are freakishly long and Jace accuses him on cheating, so Alec buys him a trans pride pin at a local stand to make up for his loss.
They climb over the placed fences when the parade passes to walk into it and Simon even drags Raphael up a parade float. They end up standing between tall drag queens, waving at the crowd like they belong there.
Simon kisses him between feathers and perfume, so lovingly and passionately Raphael can feel himself rise to the tips of his toes to deepen it. Someone next to them cheers for them and Raphael’s cheeks are hot when they pull back for air, but the drag queens on the parade float just smile at him encouragingly and urge him to kiss his boyfriend again.
They ride with them for a few miles before getting off. The rest of their group seemed to have had the same idea, as they apparently all took a ride from parade floats. Meliorn is suddenly peppered in bright red lipstick kisses and Jace’ lips still look faintly red with lipstick, and Raphael is curious to know which parade float they got a ride from.
Isabelle has lost her shirt somewhere and is now walking around in just her bright pink bra. Simon voices his annoyance at the loss, but Izzy just pats his cheek and lets Clary draw the Sapphic symbol on one of her breasts.
“Honestly, what’s the point of me buying you shirts if you’re just gonna lose them!” Simon complains.
“Take a breath, Sully,” Magnus smirks as he throws an arm around Simon’s shoulders, “I’m still wearing your shirt!” He motions to his torso with a proud expression on his face. He’s tied the shirt into a not by his side so it’s more a crop top than a shirt anymore, but Simon still gives him a playful shove.
“You’re the true MVP, Marjolien.”
“I’m glad we understand each other.”
The crowd starts thinning out as the sun starts to set. Raphael figures most people are probably at home getting ready to go out tonight, and the squad has exactly the same idea.
They all eat dinner at Clary’s house, where Luke, Jocelyn, Alaric and Dot have made a meal for them. They’re all wearing matching shirts that say ‘I’m with gorgeous’ (probably gifts from Simon too) and have even pulled out their matching promise rings for tonight.
They even baked a small cake for each of them, showing their personal pride colors when you cut into it.
“We had to flip a coin on Meliorn’s and Jace’ because you both have more than one pride flag,” Jocelyn explains as Luke throws an arm around her, “so I hope that’s okay.”
“Totally cool,” Jace nods, scooping a fork full of cake from Meliorn’s pan-pride to stuff into his mouth.
“Hey!” His datefriend complains. They reach for Jace’ cake to get a piece but Jace lifts it out of their reach.
“Tut, tut,” he says, jabbing a fork into Meliorn’s direction, “you’re non-binary, my darling lover. This cake is for trans kids only.”
Meliorn squints at him.
“I literally hate you,” they say. Jace smiles brightly at them before taking another bite.
They each go their separate way after dinner to get ready to go out. Simon comes with Raphael to their apartment and they spent a good amount of time just kissing before they actually get ready. Raphael has no valid excuse for it – he just loves kissing and could do it the entire night if Simon didn’t insist on going out.
The gang meets up again at a local karaoke bar. Clary is beaming, excited to get inside, and Izzy smiles brightly because of her enthusiasm. The redhead practically drags the others inside, Alec first.
The night goes by in a blur, partly having to do with the alcohol they’re consuming (except Maureen of course). Raphael even gets on stage himself – twice, nonetheless. One time alone to sing his personal anthem We don’t have to take our clothes off and a second time to sing a Troye Sivan duet with Simon, but only because he insisted.
“This is just like High School Musical,” Simon says when they’ve walked off stage.
“We just totally fell in love on stage.”
“You fell in love with me months ago, ass wipe. We’ve been dating for almost a year.”
Simon giggles.
“Oh, yeah. Right. So you’re not gonna transfer to my high school and sing more random duets with me?”
“Jesus Christ,” Raphael mutters, moving Simon’s Bloody Mary away from him.
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Maybe, but you love me.”
“Unfortunately, I do,” Raphael says, but he kisses him right after to let him know he didn’t actually mean it.
They watch in amusement as Alec and Magnus climb the stage and sing Hannah Montana together. Alec looks like he wants to die, but Magnus seems to be having the time of his life. He doesn’t even need to look at the screen to know the lyrics. He winks at Simon when he leaves the stage, saying something about Best of both worlds being the bisexual anthem.
Izzy, Clary and Maureen climb the stage next and sing Girls just wanna have fun. It sounds pretty okay to Raphael’s surprise, but he blames their decent sounds on Maureen and her golden voice. Without her the two other girls wouldn’t stand a chance.
Meliorn and Jace refrain from going on stage, too busy making out and dancing to care about singing, but Raphael can’t say he’s too sad about it. He’s heard both of them sing on plenty of occasions and he’s grateful to whatever god is looking down upon them that they won’t be participating in tonight’s singing activities. Meliorn is even a worse singer than Izzy.
The sun is already starting to rise again when they finally find their way back home. Simon is leaning on Raphael, maybe a bit too drunk, but he still looks as happy and unbothered as always.
“Did you know,” Simon says, swaying his arm until he’s in Raphael’s reach and then booping his nose, “I love you?”
“I am aware of that, yeah,” Raphael chuckles.
“Good. Because I do. Lots and lots and lots. And I love you too!” He says, jabbing a finger into Jace’ direction, then moving it to Meliorn, “and you, Mellie! And your leaf tattoo. And I love Izzy and Clary and Maureen, my lesbian princesses. And Madeline. And Even Alexander! Love you, my pal!”
“Love you too, Simon,” Alec says, smiling. Even he isn’t insensitive towards a tipsy Simon after a long night of having fun and drinks.
“I can’t believe I have to get drunk on pride day to get an I love you out of Alec’s mouth,” Simon mutters. Alec rolls his eyes, but he’s still wearing a smile.
Magnus pulls him to the door of their loft when they reach the address and Simon insists on hugging them both before they go inside. Maureen’s house is next, and she kisses everyone goodnight before entering.
Izzy and Clary say goodbye at the corner of the street and Meliorn and Jace have to take a subway to get home so they hug them both goodbye too, and then it’s just Raphael and Simon out. Simon is humming a song as they walk, his arm draped over Raphael’s shoulder and Raphael’s arm curled around his waist.
“Man,” he sighs after a while, “I love not being straight.”
Raphael laughs.
“Yeah, me too. Imagine being straight. Ridiculous!”
“Absolutely ridiculous,” Simo agrees with a nod. They’ve reached Raphael's apartment and Raphael shifts to retrieve his keys. He helps Simon upstairs and into bed, where Simon immediately kicks off his shoes and curls up in his blankets.
“This was the best day ever,” he says around a yawn.
Raphael smiles down at him and takes his glasses off his nose before he crushes them.
“It was. I had a lot of fun.”
“Yeah? I’m glad. I love it when you have fun. I love you. You’re amazing.”
“Okay, time for you to go to sleep.”
“Mhh. Give me a kiss first.”
Raphael rolls his eyes but ducks down to plant a kiss on Simon’s lips. He can feel Simon’s mouth curl into a smile and when he pulls back, his eyes are closed and his muscles relaxed.
Raphael undresses and gets in with Simon. He thinks he’s already fallen asleep, but then Simon hums and throws an arm around his waist. He nuzzles his nose in Raphael’s neck as Raphael settles against his chest.
“G’night, Raph,” he lulls sleepily.
“Goodnight, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too. The mostest.”
Raphael presses his smile into his pillow and takes Simon’s hand to hold.
They’re both asleep five minutes later.