Malec Moments

The Ferris Wheel

Alec closed the door to the apartment softly, cautiously. He dropped his weapons belt, bow and quiver in the corner of the living room, and kicked off his muddy boots. He tentatively glanced at Magnus, who was sitting on the couch, viciously flipping the pages of a magazine.

The butterflies in his stomach stirred when he took in Magnus's appearance. The warlock's hair was spiked, with a rainbow of glittery tips. He wore a bright multi-colored t-shirt, his favorite tight black jeans with a glittering belt around his waist, and his favorite black boots. Multiple colored loops adorned his ears, his eyes outlined in black, and his lips a dark red. His nails had been freshly painted, but his fingers were surprisingly absent of rings with only his two most precious ones adorning his fingers.

"You're late," Magnus said irritably without looking up from his magazine.

"It was Jace's fault," Alec said, crossing the room and dropping to his knees in front of Magnus.

"It usually is," Magnus muttered, flipping a page with such force he created a rent half the length of the page. He waved his hand absentmindedly over the page and it sealed, good as new.

"I'm sorry, Magnus," Alec said, adding a slight plea to his voice in hopes of placating his boyfriend.

"And, you stink" was Magnus's reply.

Alec laughed. "Again, that would be Jace's fault."

"Hmpf," said Magnus.

"Jace decided Simon needed to practice flips outdoors, in a more realistic situation. So I shot pad-tipped arrows at him. We were too close to the lake at the park and Simon ended up somersaulting the lake. Jace and I weren't worried at first, we knew Simon could swim from all his trips to Luke's farm, but then he didn't surface. It turns out that a water pixie was holding him under. Jace and I dove into the lake to save Simon. That's why I stink. It was like water."

"I had something special planned for us tonight," Magnus said in a low voice, still not looking up from his magazine. Alec's heart sank. He hated when Magnus was upset with him and he knew he had disappointed his boyfriend badly.

"I know. You look really good. Let me take a shower and I'll be ready to go soon, I promise," Alec said, kissing Magnus briefly on the cheek, before heading down the hall toward the bathroom.

Alec took a shower in record time, emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and another one drying his hair. Magnus had laid out clothes for him on top of the bed. He threw on the jeans and shirt without really noticing what he was wearing, slipped into a clean pair of boots, and hurried back to Magnus.

Magnus was still examining the magazine, but this time he looked up when Alec entered the room. His expression softened as he pushed himself off the couch, eyeing Alec appraisingly.

Alec slid his arms around Magnus's waist, kissing him gently, and whispered, "I am sorry I was late. Let me make it up to you, okay?"

Magnus's defrosting iciness melted completely. He wrapped his arms around Alec, nuzzling his head in Alec's neck, and pressing brief kisses against the tender skin. Alec's legs weakened under Magnus's touch and a soft moan escaped his lips.

Magnus grinned, enjoying the effect he had on Alec, then took Alec's hand and said, "Let's go," as he pulled him toward the door.

"Where are we going?" Alec asked, curious now that Magnus was no longer angry with him.

"You'll see," Magnus said cheerfully.

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Alec glance sidelong at Magnus. "You like making me do mundane things, don't you?" he said.

Magnus winked at him and said, "It's good for your soul."

"If you say so."

"I do. Besides, this isn't entirely mundane. Many Downworlders work here," Magnus said, kissing his cheek and giving a little tug on the hand he was holding.

They got in line, of course with no admission ticket, Alec noted. When the ticket taker asked for their tickets, he suddenly had a blank, dazed look in his eyes, only momentarily, and let them pass.

"You're incorrigible," Alec muttered to Magnus.

Magnus beamed. "What's the point of being magical, if you don't use magic!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

Alec simply shook his head. He looked around him, taking in his current surroundings. He had never been to a mundane carnival before and didn't quite know what to expect. He certainly hadn't expected the number of lights and noise that were assaulting his senses.

They were surrounded by dozens of booths, each with a different type of game, and different prizes. There was a booth with a carnie wearing a large, floppy hat, trying to tempt fair-goers to throw darts at balloons for a chance to win an enormous stuffed penguin. At the next booth, several kids were picking ducks out of a tray and winning dinky little plastic toys. Alec heard Jace's voice saying 'never trust a duck'  and fleetingly wondered what Jace's response to that game would be.

A muscular man was throwing baseballs at a target, trying to dunk his friend in a large tank of water. The friend laughed and taunted the man each time he missed. Alec couldn't help laughing when the man finally hit the target and his friend took in a mouthful of water, spluttering around as he tried to get his footing.

They walked past a very small child with dark, curly hair, who was trying to shoot a jet of water into the open mouth of a creepy-looking metal clown. He was racing against a bigger kid, who was winning and jeering at the younger child. The dark hair child looked up at Alec and Magnus as they approached the booth. He had deep blue eyes that were full of misery as he glanced at the older boy.

"Come on, kid, let's play again. I like beating you," the older boy said.

With a determined look on his face, the child paid for another game. He quickly got on the losing end of the race. Suddenly, though, his aim improved. He was hitting the clown's mouth consistently, and the older boy seemed unable to hit his target at all. Triumphantly, the little dark-haired boy shouted and whooped as he finally beat the older boy and claimed his prize.

"That's not fair," whined the older boy. "My game was malfunctioning!"

"It worked fine a moment ago," sneered the carnie, who Alec thought was likely a werewolf.

Alec glanced at Magnus, who was attempting to suppress a smile and failing miserably at doing so.

"Black hair and blue eyes were always your downfalls?" Alec said, his lips twitching.

"Nonsense. I just hate bullies," said Magnus.

As they passed more game booths, Magnus said, "Do you want me to win you a giant teddy bear?"

"Isn't that cheating?" said Alec with a grin. Magnus simply winked.

Alec was enjoying himself more than he thought he would when they had first arrived. Magnus 'bought' a funnel cake, a fried pastry covered in powdered sugar, and they split it while walking toward the midway of the fair.

Dusting powdered sugar from his hands, Magnus pointed toward the midway. "Come on. Let's ride some rides!"

Alec looked skeptical. He had never been on carnival rides before and didn't know what to expect. Magnus decided to start slow and simple. A few minutes later, they were climbing onto plastic horses on the Carousel. Alec lurched as the ride started, almost losing his balance momentarily. Magnus laughed. His laugh was infectious, and soon Alec was laughing, too. Magnus's hand reached across the aisle to rest gracefully on Alec's knee as the went round and round.

Next, they stood in line for something called The Scrambler. Alec eyed this thing warily as he watched the contraption move in a sort of star-shaped pattern, flinging the occupants of the cars outward, then pulling them back toward the center of the ride. The participants seemed to be enjoying themselves, so Alec consented and let Magnus drag him onto the thing.

"Do you want to sit on the outside or the inside?" Magnus asked as they approached their car.

Alec thought about it for a second. The people on the inside, he had observed, were pushed up against the people on the outside by the force and momentum of the ride. "Outside," he said without hesitation.

They scrambled into the car, and Alec seated himself with his back leaning at an angle between the back and side of the car. He put his arm around Magnus and pulled him close, knowing that as soon as the ride started Magnus wouldn't be able to move from that position anyway. He twined his fingers in Magnus's and prepared for the ride to start.

He wasn't as prepared as he had thought. The forces were much greater than he had anticipated, and it took much more effort than he had thought it would keep his head from snapping back, but he was strong and determined. He pushed against the momentum and leaned his head in to kiss Magnus in the hollow behind his ear.

Magnus started, but then relaxed and smiled up at Alec. It wasn't often that he smiled up at Alec, but in this position, leaning back against the Shadowhunter's muscular body, he did. Their lips met briefly before the ride jerked them apart.

Alec marveled at the fact that Magnus's hair was still pristine when they exited the ride. Alec was sure he looked ragged and wind-blown, but he would never know it by looking into Magnus's eyes. Magnus always regarded Alec with the adoration, no matter how he looked.

As they made their way down the midway, Magnus's destination became clear. A sixty-foot Ferris Wheel loomed ahead of them, stretching high against the darkening sky. Alec glanced at Magnus apprehensively, but Magnus simply smiled at him and squeezed his hand encouragingly.

The Ferris Wheel turned out not to be as scary as Alec thought it would be. They made a couple of loops around the wheel, hand in hand, Alec leaning against Magnus's shoulder. The view was breathtaking, overlooking the river with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

Abruptly, the ride ground to a halt. Alec sat up, alarmed, and looked at Magnus, whose expression was unreadable. Or maybe Alec had so rarely seen that expression on Magnus's face, he didn't know how to interpret it. On anyone else, he would have said the expression was nervousness, not fear or concern about their situation, for Magnus was looking directly at Alec, studying his face as if preparing himself for something. But what?

"Alec, I wanted to talk to you about something," Magnus said.

"What? Magnus, now?" he said, his voice betraying his uneasiness.

"Yes, now. That's why I stopped the ride."

"You stopped the ride? Why?"

"Because I want to talk to you," Magnus said patiently. "And we don't have much time before they figure out how to restart it."

Alec felt his body relax somewhat, knowing that the ride had not malfunctioned and their deaths weren't imminent. He sat back in the seat, looking expectantly at Magnus. "Okay, so talk."

Magnus took a deep breath. Alec could see Magnus's hands were shaking slightly. What on earth was going on? he thought.

"I love you, Alec," he began.

"You stopped the ride to tell me you love me? Couldn't you just say that when we were on the ground?" Alec said, incredulously.

"I'm trying to be romantic," Magnus said. "Anyway, that's not all I have to say."

"Oh," said Alec.

"As I said, I love you, Alec, and I want to spend my life with you," Magnus started again.

"I thought that's what we were already doing. Spending our lives together, I mean."

Magnus huffed a sigh, his patience faltering. "It is. Now stop interrupting me."

"Sorry," Alec said softly. Magnus rolled his eyes.

"I want to spend my life with you, Alec. I want to do all the things that normal couples do, share everything with you. I want-"

"I know you do. You already said that when you gave me those journals-" Alec interrupted again. This was not going the way Magnus had planned and he lost his patience entirely.

"Alexander, will you please shut up!" Alec looked taken aback. Magnus's shoulders slumped and he heaved a great sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. It's just…well, what I'm trying to tell you is…I love you, and I want to marry you."

He took Alec's hand in his and pressed it to his cheek as Alec said, "Oh." Magnus's eyes locked with Alec's, green-gold holding blue, and they were so full of love that Alec felt himself go weak. As the words sunk in, Alec began to smile. "Oh, Magnus, I want to marry you, too."

"You do?" Magnus said, the tension visibly draining from his body and a smile spreading across his face.

"Of course I do! I have been thinking about it for a long time," Alec finished quietly.

"So have I," said Magnus.

"Why didn't you say something before?"

Magnus smiled crookedly and tilted his head to the side. "Why didn't you? I didn't because, well, after everything that happened, our stupid lies and secrets, I felt like I needed to prove to you that I was being genuine, that I intended to share my whole life with you. I wanted to make you trust me."

"I do trust you, Magnus. I trust you with my life. No, more than that, I trust you with my heart."

Alec's heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't believe this was happening. Magnus, the eternal warlock, wanted to marry him, as he had wanted to marry Magnus for so long. Magnus, who had never given so much of himself to anyone else, wanted to marry him! He felt so light, so happy, that as Magnus leaned in to kiss him, he barely noticed the Ferris Wheel start moving again.

The Ferris Wheel went around several more times, as the unlikely couple, the centuries-old warlock and the twenty-one year old Nephilim, the immortal and the mortal continued kissing, slowly and gently. Alec hardly registered the noises of the carnival around them or the fact that Magnus threw up a glamour that made them invisible and their car appear broken so that they could continue riding the Ferris Wheel over and over again. He hardly noticed anything but the feel of Magnus's lips on his, the way Magnus's thumbs gently stroked his cheekbones, the tickling sensation was Magnus's fingers grazed his neck and the light-hearted feeling that was Magnus wanting to marry him. His body was in tune with Magnus, and Magnus alone.

Then, finally, when the couple was on solid ground again, Magnus holding Alec's hand and the glamour removed, Alec said, "So I guess this means we are engaged." He smiled happily at the thought.

Magnus smiled too. "It does."

As they walked hand in hand, Alec said, "Do you remember when I asked you how warlock's normally proposed?" Magnus nodded. "Well, is this what you normally do? Use magic to scare the crap of people before proposing?"

Magnus laughed. "How should I know, I've never done this before! I've never even wanted to do this before. It is not common for warlocks to marry. We are a fairly rare species, you know, but we are immortal and cannot have children, so marriage is not high on our list of priorities. We have our traditions, and even a wedding ceremony, but as for a traditional way to propose..." Magnus shrugged. "I just thought this would be fun," he added with a wink.

"Why didn't you just tell me that then? When I asked you," said Alec.

Magnus shrugged. "It's fun to keep you guessing." Alec shook his head at that.

"Wait!" Alec exclaimed abruptly, stopping in the middle of the walkway, making other fairgoers quickly veer away to avoid running headlong into them. Alec turned to face Magnus and released his hand. He held up his own hands in front of him and Magnus, catching on to what Alec was doing, bit his lip expectantly. Alec slid the Lightwood family ring from his ring finger and placed it on Magnus's. Alec stared at Magnus's hand, and something registered in his mind.

"You knew, did you? You knew I would agree to marry you, and that I would give you my ring. That's why you left most of your rings at home tonight, isn't it," Alec said.

Magnus shrugged. "I wouldn't say I knew. I had hoped, certainly. And I am familiar with Shadowhunter customs, so I did know that you would likely give me your ring if you accepted my proposal."

Magnus laced his fingers with Alec's again and started walking. A moment later, a bag of cotton candy appeared in Alec's hand. Alec shook his head as Magnus popped some of the wispy, sugar substance into his mouth.

"Come on," Magnus said, tugging on Alec's hand. "I want to win you that giant teddy bear."

"Hmm, maybe a lion," Alec said with a laugh. "That seems more manly."