Chapter Text
He didn't understand why Nephilim were so against modern technology. Well, not all modern technology. Anything that could help them in their quest to destroy all Downworlders was always welcome. He'd witnessed himself the switch from walkie talkies to the Iphones the angel folk used these days. Which really just furthered his argument of not all technology, and baffled him to the devices the Nephilim avoided. Such as the television. Magnus had been sceptical himself when the magic box came on the mundane markets. Half a century later however, he was more than on board with the device. Which was why, as he came out of his America's Next Top Model coma, he wondered why the Nephilim didn't own a TV themselves. It was a great way to relax after a hard day of spell-casting, and the stories the mundane's came up with about his and other Shadow World kind was more than amusing.
The credits rolled as the broadcaster announced another episode after the break. Taking the five minute respite Magnus rolled and stretched from his five hour long pose and rushed to the bathroom.
He checked his phone as he wiped the half done make-up from his face.
No messages.
Both a relieving and slightly downtrodden result- especially when a specific blue eyed boy had promised toget in touch with him.
Setting his phone down, he towelled off his naked eyes, prepared to spend the rest of his day passed out on his couch.
Crash.
Golden eyes flitted through the mirror, the noise shocking his glamour momentarily.
Black eyes back and an annoyed pull to his brows he turned away from the mirror and back to his TV. He kept one hand behind him. Strange noises in his apartment was nothing to dismiss after all. So he played with the blue flames at his back as he scanned his living room.
At first, nothing was amiss. His couch was where he left it, complete with indent from his TV binge. His coffee table was in one piece, as well as every book he had forgotten to put back that now lay strewn across his apartment. Yet the closer he looked the more he was convinced there was something wrong.
Finally he spotted it. Behind his couch he usually had a lamp. Used for reading or casting a heavenly glow on a certain Nephilim, and therefore necessary in hid apartment. He looked for it now, hoping he had simply moved it- this wouldn't be the first time he had redecorated half asleep.
Nowhere. No, not nowhere, he concluded as he rounded the couch. Smashed. All four bulbs were shattered, the glass splashing out on his wine red carpet. One of the stems were broken, snapped in three places from where its bulk pressed against the floor. He spared half a thought to whether he was responsible, perhaps knocking it on his way. But surely it would have smashed sooner if that were the case. Not to mention the angle was all wrong.
He felt his magic gather as the last conclusion he wanted to draw became the only- he had intruders.
His hand came forward, the other igniting as he pushed himself to his full height. Sparing half a thought that he should have left his make-up on he yelled into his apartment. 'WHO DARES DISTURB THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN!'
Something moved to his right, following the fall of an old scroll, he watched his flames inch higher. A glamour.
'Come out now and no harm will come to you,' he called, his hands purposefully simmering in compliance, at leas to his intruders. AS soon as they came out he was going to do something to them. No one breaks into his apartment.
The calm worked as the invisible person blinked into existence. One flash of blue before solidifying into the last thing he expected.
Two boys, both below the age of ten, stood sheepishly next to his bookcase. Their eyes were downcast, the elder of the two's trained on the broken lamp metres away.
Magnus didn't really know what to do. He had never been in a situation like this before. Humming to himself, he absent mindedly snapped his fingers, hoping this too was a glamour and there was really two Shax demons in front of him. Yet the image remained, and the longer the silence went on the more uncomfortable all parties became.
Eventually it was the elder of the two who broke the silence. He came prepared with his best weapon, consisting of the biggest pair of brown eyes Magnus had ever seen. Using them to their fullest potential he said, 'We're sorry daddy.'
Needless to say if Magnus was in shock before he was convinced he was dreaming now.
The word 'daddy' followed him as he collapsed onto the back of his couch. There was just no way. It wasn't possible. He had learned long ago that warlock's were sterile. Even if he wasn't... well, the boy was dark enough to be his, Magnus mused before a closer examination wiped that thought out of his head.
Nephilim. The boy reeked of angel, and no amount of familiar fashion choices, and was that his ring, could sway him to think this boy was in any way related to him. Yet he had called Magnus 'daddy.'
Maybe he was confused. Maybe he wasn't even talking to Magnus. Another snap revealed no one else, so there went that idea.
The silence seemed to have stretched on too long for the boys, as their nerves had them talking.
'It was an accident daddy,' the older boy continued. His brown eyes seemed to have grown impossibly bigger. 'I just tapped Max and-'
'Pushed!' the younger, Max, and Magnus didn't even want to approach that child's heritage yet, as he accused his elder.
The fight was instantaneous after that. A few barbed sentences.
'It was a tap.'
'You pushed me Raf! I have a bruise and everything.'
'Oh please-'
Before Magnus could begin to get up they were wrestling on the floor.
He watched as the two fought. The Nephilim and the Warlock- the skin was too close to Catarina's shade for him to be anything else. The familiar of the Downworlder against the Angel blooded and couldn't help notice how different it was. The fact the two were together in his loft told him there were friends at the very least, and even when they were fighting it wasn't like the others he had witnessed over the years. There was no malicious intent behind it. They were just two boys fighting. No prejudice because one of them was a Warlock. Just a mechanical play-fight between two squabbling kids.
He finally intervened when his bookcase rattled ominously from a stray punch. Snapping his fingers the kids appeared on two separate couches, not looking at all startled by their sudden separation. If the boy, Raf, was his son, Magnus supposed he was used to things like this happening to him.
Not thinking on that should he go back into shock, Magnus paced in front of the two. There was something going on. Perhaps a plot. Someone could be waiting for him outside, sending the boys in as bait to lure him somewhere. All he knew was he needed more information.
Turning to the two boys he looked them over again. The older was more talkative so far, so he focused on him. One jewelled hand with a ring so similar to one on Raf's hand snapped drinks in front of each boy as he sat on the coffee table between them. He was a host after all.
One deep breath, sorting his thoughts out, he turned to the kid. 'You looked like you hit your head there Raf,' He said, taking a sneaky approach to his answers. He figured if he played along he would get more information out of the kid. 'Mind telling me what year it is?'
The boy frowned, his eyes losing some of their wideness as he looked Magnus over. 'You know what year it is daddy.'
'Humour me.'
Raf shrugged, his eyes narrowing further, 'I dunno.'
Not losing his cool, Magnus tried again. 'Okay. How about your name.'
'You okay daddy? You're acting funny.' He was onto him.
Still, Magnus didn't let his nerves show. 'I'm just making sure you're alright. Daddy doesn't want to have to patch you up after all.' He felt weird referring to himself as 'daddy.' Something he hadn't done since his last partner- and he wasn't going there. Children were present after all.
Whatever he said worked however as Raf lost the narrowed eyes in favour of a roll. 'Rafael Lightwood- Bane. And it really was an accident.' He insisted, his face retaining some sheepishness as he spotted the remains of the lamp peaking out behind the couch.
Magnus was now convinced this was a dream. A very mean dream. How could his imagination be so cruel, he thought as he looked at the boy in front of him.
It took all he had not to react to the boys name. Even more to get his brain back in gear. So the kid was his. His and a Lightwoods. That didn't necessarily mean him and... for all he knew he could get with Izzy. Or even Max... Max. He looked to the other boy on his couch.
The little blueberry was swinging his legs, a muted glare on his face as he watched Magnus talk to Rafael. No doubt he was thinking he would take Rafael's side to this story. If only he knew Magnus couldn't give a hoot about the broken lamp right now.
It couldn't be a coincidence this kid was named after the Lightwoods youngest son could it? Or that he was friends with a future Lightwood, because he had to be a future Lightwood. There was no way Rafael was his kid now. He would know if he signed any adoption papers. Wouldn't he? He didn't think he did anything stupid drunk lately.
So either this kid was lying or a spell was involved and this was time travel. Most likely the latter, he concluded, there was no way that look of contempt belonged to anyone but Magnus' son. He saw the same thing on his own face often enough to know it was something only someone who had spent a long time with him could pick up. Ragnor sometimes had that look too.
He wondered who the little blueberry belonged to as his mind wrapped around the future he had with the Lightwood family. He was tempted to try the same question on Max too. But if he was who Magnus suspected he was there was no way the kid would fall for it.
The silence had went on for too long, he noticed as Max's eyes narrowed over to him as well. Thinking fast, Magnus announced Rafael probably wasn't going to die as he hurried over to his bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, looking back at the two confused kids on his couch. Was he allowed to leave them on their own. He was sure there was some kind of rule about not leaving kids unsupervised. Especially when one of them could do magic. But they looked old enough. Maybe the rule was only for babies. Not to mention he really needed his phone. He needed something to figure out what the hell was going on. Or douse himself in cold water to, hopefully, wake himself up from this nightmare.
He would only be a second. So he took the chance and snatched his phone as quick as he could from the sink.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the boys were still in the position he left them in. Nothing was broken, nothing was floating. They were just watching him as he puttered around restlessly in his apartment. He considered phoning Alec. The boy was connected to this, whether as an uncle or...
Or maybe Isabelle. The girl was much more co-operative, and came with a lot less complicated feelings connected to her. But if she came, or knew, she would tell her brother and...
Maybe another Warlock was the answer. Ragnor or Catarina. Yes.
He was in the midst of dialling Ragnor's number when he realised he couldn't exactly have this conversation within the kids hearing. He knew for one that he couldn't let these kids know something was amiss. Kids were smart, but they were also kids. If they thought for one second Magnus wasn't who they thought he was they would go looking for answers. They would leave his apartment, and a Warlock and Nephilim on the streets of New York wouldn't last long. He didn't even want to think about the fact one of those could be his son.
So he hurried over to the two of them, shuffling Rafael until he was seated next to Max and putting the first child friendly thing he could on TV.
'I have to make a call. Be good and sit here for a few minutes.' He looked the two over again, adding for good measure, 'Don't move,' and magicking some bribe sweets to make sure they didn't.
The look of delight and contempt mixed on their faces showed they were both used to this technique. He ignored it in favour of ducking behind his kitchen counter and almost hissing his problem to an impatient Ragnor.
'Come on,' He heard himself whine.
'Magnus,' His friend groaned. 'Now is not the time to be joking about these things. If you're lonely, I suggest not getting involved with Shadowhunter problems. Maybe more people will want to be around you if they're not afraid of Valentine finding them.'
He cursed, well, almost cursed, there were still children within hearing range. 'First off, I'm not lonely. Secondly, this isn't a joke. You know what-' He peered over the top of his counter to snap a quick picture of the two kids in his living room. 'There! Are you happy?'
He heard a few clicks as Ragnor fiddled with his phone. He knew the Warlock wasn't technologically challenged, and was just wasting time now. Sometimes Magnus wondered why he was friends with him. Finally, his friend gave in and looked at the photo. Magnus could tell because there was a very familiar gasp before Ragnor announced he was on his way.
Magnus told him to call Catarina before he hung up and joined the kids on the couch.
It was awkward. The kids were familiar with him but he hadn't a clue who they were. He felt wrong when Max climbed over him to annoy Rafael. He felt like he should be berating him, but he had no jurisdiction- yet. Did he even berate Max in the future? What were his rights here?
'Quit it!' Rafael eventually yelled, diving across Magnus' lap to get Max.
Here he knew he had to intervene. If only for his shirt's sake. It was getting all wrinkled from the war on his lap.
The two of them were separated for the third time as a portal finally turned up in his living room.
'Thank the Angel,' Magnus muttered, watching as his friends stepped through.
Catarina was as lovely as ever, her hair pinned and skin as blue as the last time he saw it. Ragnor was looking just as well too. If a bit more harried than usual. He supposed that was normal when he was in hiding. Something Magnus should have been too had it not been for a group of Shadowhunters.
'You weren't kidding,' Catarina noted, her eyes drawn to the little blueberry pouting in his time out zone.
'Why would I kid about this?' Magnus asked, wondering when the situation would come up where he would make up something like this.
Catarina hummed, as if she could think about some situations. Magnus didn't even bother following that up. Instead he focused on Ragnor, the man having took an interest in the Nephilim. Unlike his little blue friend, Magnus' 'son' was reading next to the window. At least he was until Ragnor and Catarina came. Now, he had all of his attention on Ragnor, his brow furrowed as he looked over the Warlock again and again.
His eyes were still narrowed, much like they had been earlier asking why Magnus was questioning him, as he asked, 'Daddy, where's Chairman?'
'Chairman?'
That name sounded familiar. It took seconds for Magnus to figure out where. It was the name of his cat, from the other world if he recalled. Clary had been quite insatiable when regaling all the differences between this and that world's Magnus. Telling him repeatedly that he should get his own little Chairman. Perhaps this boy wasn't from the future after all.
Still, Magnus needed to play along, so he thought of a easy lie. 'Out sweetie. He'll probably find his way home soon.'
Ragnor merely raised an eyebrow at him, as if he finally had gone mad. Magnus was still convinced this was half a dream, and couldn't quite fault his friend for that look right now.
'What about Dad? When will he be back?' Rafael went on.
Ragnor's look got even more intense. Magnus didn't blame him. The idea that this was potentially his future family, or a family he had in another dimension with a very male Lightwood was heady. Enough to have his brain stopping again as he wrapped his thought process around it.
'He's got a business thing,' Magnus lied again. Well, it was kind of true. All the Lightwoods he knew at the moment were working back at the Institute. That was all they did. 'Won't be back until... I don't know. But in the meantime we're going to have some fun.'
He looked to his friends, hoping they had an idea what to do. They had more experience with children. Well, Catarina did, he wasn't so sure about Ragnor. His trust in his friends paid off as Catarina stalked into his room and came back with all the make up he owned.
'How about a makeover?' She proposed, her beady eyes fixed on Magnus.
He didn't much like that, or the crafty look on Rafael's face, and turned the situation around before something bad could happen to him. 'Great idea Cat. How about you boys make Ragnor presentable while Cat and I order something to eat. We'll make this a sleepover.'
Rafael didn't argue with that. He had already pounced on the nail varnish and was eyeing Ragnor's nails with an intensity that told Magnus he was right to avoid the situation. Not giving the kid a chance to consider his 'daddy' he dragged Cat over to the counter, the two of them crouched low as if that could hide them from the world.
'How did this even happen?' She asked, getting right to the point.
He regaled, as much as he could about what he knew. The broken lamp, the kid calling him 'daddy,' to which Catarina frowned at him.
'What about the other boy? Max? If you ask me he seems more likely to be.. related to you, than a Nephilim.' Even the way she said it showed how little she believed the angel race capable of giving him a Nephilim child as his own.
'I didn't really want to ask about his name,' Magnus muttered, thinking now he probably should have. 'In my defence though, I'm in shock. Anything more and I probably wouldn't have been able to call you at all.'
A roll of her eyes and a dive to the living room later Catarina was back with more tension in her shoulders. 'Well, you're now the proud father of two Lightwood-Banes.'
Just as he thought.
'So what do I do?'
The sympathy in Cat's eyes was enough to tell him just how pathetic that came out.
She told him to finish his story, and tell it all again. He knew she was looking for details, he was himself as he thought back on what happened. So far he could only come to three solid points. Max was responsible for how they got here. Raf had mentioned something about 'tapping' him. A fright on a young Warlock would be enough to spark some kind of magical reaction. The second point was that those boys were definitely his. He heard some phrases he had definitely said once or twice in his lifetime come from the living room as they attacked Ragnor with glitter. The third was he had no idea what to do.
Catarina was most unhelpful when he told her the two places these kids could have come from. Apparently if they were from the alternate universe they would need to investigate the Seelie realm. If they weren't, they would need to find as many old books as they could and hope one of them knew about time travel. All of it told him that she too was just as lost.
'So what do I do with them?' he asked as the silence lengthened too long between them.
She shrugged, 'What you've been doing. I don't think you should tell them they're not home though. Not yet. If Max really was the one who brought them here we don't want any unwanted stress causing him to magic them somewhere else. Really, we should be happy they ended up here in the first place. Who know what could have happened...'
'So I'm just supposed to play happy families?'
'Precisely.' Cat smirked, 'I mean, they are yours. You may as well get some practice in.'
He didn't miss how manic his laughter sounded as he tried to wave her off. He managed to pull himself together, with a little pep talk from Cat, enough to actually snap some food onto his counter. Also more in the cupboards for later- how much did children eat?
When the two of them ladled the plates with enough food to feed an army they joined the chaos in the living room.
Ragnor had long abandoned himself to the thought of being Barbie. Magnus was actually impressed with some of it, suspecting Rafael to have paid some attention to lessons Magnus no doubt gave him. Most of it however, seemed to be Max's doing. How could Magnus tell? Ragnor's whole face was almost blue, with Max colouring in a particularly stubborn spot on Ragnor's chin. Raf was working on his horns, using some of Magnus' glitter nail varnish to make them shine.
As expected, as soon as their plates were clean Rafael turned his evil grin to Magnus. 'Can I do your nails?'
He didn't care how cute Rafael was, there was something sinister about the Nephilim. Especially since Magnus gave in so easily to him, something he wasn't known for. He could keep his clients on hold for hours before deciding to even say hello. Yet when it came to Rafael he was sitting prim next to Ragnor while the kid worked on his cuticles.
'- Max but he doesn't like me doing his nails," Raf rambled.
Magnus was only half listening. The work Max was doing on Ragnor was too funny not to pay attention too. As well as blue skin he was getting whiskers. Something his friend didn't even put up a fight over. It seemed Magnus had finally found his weakness.
'Are you listening daddy?'
'Of course.' He tried to think on what Rafael was telling him. Something about Max. But the shock back to the present at least had him thinking on the other things he needed to do.
Ragnor seemed to see his chance to escape however, following Magnus' gaze to his bedroom. A muted argument, all raised eyebrows and narrowed eyes before Ragnor made the first move. The coward got up with a cheery grin, hoisting Max into Magnus' lap complete with blue compact as he raced towards the guest room.
He heard the snap of magic, and cringed at the fashion choices Ragnor was no doubt making in the kids room. He wondered how he was going to explain not only that their rooms were being revamped spontaneously but keep them from asking where all their other things went. He was already half way to breaking point trying to think about any toys he would buy his kids. Did Rafael even play with dolls. Somehow he couldn't imagine the Institute giving dolls to little Shadowhunters. Nevertheless the image of Alec playing with a toy sword made him smile. Maybe a crossbow...
He was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed the blue being applied to his cheeks until Raf giggled in his ear. His head whipping made the make up smudge across his nose in one long blue streak.
'Oops,' Max mumbled, not looking at all sorry. Oh yeah, Magnus recognised that grin, he saw it often enough in the mirror.
Hoping he never passed a mirror in the near future, and casting one last longing look at his previous guest room, he gathered Max in his arms and made his way to the bathroom. 'I think a bath is in order- for all of us.'
'Why?' Rafael asked, tottering after him. Magnus didn't miss the critical eye that was passed over his bathroom. This kid was worrying. If he figured it out he could potentially put them all in danger.
'Because it's your bedtime.'
'So why do you need a bath?'
'Because I do.'
'Is it because you don't want to be blue?'
The accusation had Max pulling a stunt Magnus had thought Rafael had perfected. How wrong he was. Compared to this little blueberry Rafael was a league away. He didn't think he had ever seen a pair of more heartbreaking eyes than he had in that moment.
'Why don't you want to be blue?' Max mumbled.
Magnus spotted Raf smirking off to the side.
'You never had a problem with it before daddy,' Raf put in for good measure.
'And I don't now,' He was going to have to keep an eye on Rafael. 'In fact,' He snapped his fingers, glamouring his whole skin blue. 'I just thought it would be nice to feel clean before sleeping.'
Big brown eyes narrowed while Max clapped Magnus' skin wherever he could touch in delight at the shade. He'd never looked after kids before, and almost considered calling Catarina in for backup if it wouldn't have put Rafael on high alert. Well, higher.
He managed to get past clean up fairly well. The only real challenge he had was when it came to pyjama's. He used the excuse of laundry to magic up some new ones for them. Max didn't care much about being clad in cats. In fact he was naming them as he dangled off Magnus' arm. Raf looked affronted with the pair Magnus had originally magicked up. Thinking fast he had snapped them into an almost carbon copy of his black silk ones. He had a feeling this kid was more the fashionista than his brother. Since he got a satisfied huff out of it he breathed another sigh of relief- too many since this whole débâcle had started- and brought them to their revamped room.
Raf's crossed arms showed he wasn't happy with this change either. Yet he swallowed the lie Magnus fed him about his urge to redecorate and followed Max to one of the two little beds in the room.
Magnus vowed to never let Ragnor near any other part of his apartment. The whole room looked like a hospital spit up on it and rejected it two minutes later because it was too below even their standards. It was grey, dull and void of anything sparkly. A crime against nature really. Magnus couldn't bare to look at it for more than a few minutes and happily left once he made sure his little captives weren't moving for the night.
He had the urge to grump at Ragnor when he got out. His friend looked too satisfied wiping the glitter off his horns. But they had more urgent things to talk about.
Namely why they looked like they were leaving.
'You can't seriously expect to leave me here alone.'
Catarina sighed, a most forlorn look on her face as she said, 'You want us to help don't you? We can't do that if we're here.'
He was words away from a panic attack. 'But- you're honestly leaving me with them!'
Ragnor grinned, 'They are your children.'
'Not yet they're not. Or- they may not even be mine at all,' he breathed deeply, fighting off the urge to portal out of there himself.
'You'll be fine Magnus,' Ragnor reassured. 'You have enough experience being a child yourself. These two should be a walk in the park compared to your antics.'
Catarina was slightly more helpful, 'Feed them when they're hungry. Make sure they stay away from anything sharp and keep Max from getting too excited. We'll be back as soon as we can. Try to stay out of danger until then.'
'Surely one of you can stay?' He begged.
They both smirked as they portalled out.
Without his friends there Magnus fell back on the couch, deflated, defeated. To think, he had just wanted to watch an America's Next Top Model marathon. Why was the world so cruel to fashionable people.
He woke the next morning regretting falling asleep on his couch. Especially when he realised he wasn't alone. Sometime in the night Max had sneaked out of his room and curled up on Magnus' chest.
His neck ached from the angle, but some part of him was reluctant to move. He was in that state where sleep was too far away but he wasn't yet awake. In a daze of slack limbs and a slowly waking mind. It meant he wasn't panicked about the fact yesterday wasn't a dream. It also meant thoughts he had long since buried were rising to the surface now. Like how he had always wanted a family.
He remembered being with the Silent Brothers. Night after night in their sanctuary he would convince himself that when he had children things would be different. He would look at them, their differences that would probably be inherited from him, and would tell them it was nothing to be ashamed about. That it didn't matter if the world hated them because Magnus wouldn't.
Of course that was around the time he learned he was sterile. That the dream of having a family would only ever be a dream.
It was why yesterday was such a shock he supposed, hugging Max closer. Even with all this modern acceptance he had never considered the idea of adoption. Or someone wanting to adopt with him.
It was on that thought that he decided to wake up properly. He couldn't be considering these thoughts. Not now. For all he knew this happened way, way in the future. He was still half convinced it was Max Lightwood he ended up with since Alec was... well, Magnus wasn't going to think about that. He supposed it would make more sense for them to name their child a junior anyway. Very traditional.
He shuffled as gently as he could, squinting into his too bright living room and hoping to see his friends somewhere in his apartment. Instead he looked into two judgemental brown eyes sitting on his coffee table.
'Morning Raf,' He yawned, sliding Max into the cushions. Magnus wasn't going to tackle two kids if he didn't have to.
Rafael followed him into his kitchen, opening cupboards and frowning. Magnus wondered what else he had gotten wrong as the kid finally got a bowl and some cereal. Breakfast was mostly had in silence. The tension between the two of them mounting. Magnus grew more scared the longer Rafael just stared at him, and almost cheered when Max's blue hands appeared in his vision.
'Up!' The boy demanded.
He wondered if he was this much of a pushover in the future as he sat Max next to him.
'Can we go to the Institute today? I wanna see Dad. He promised to teach me to put Raf in a headlock,' Max made the motions as he squirmed around. Magnus was almost afraid he would fall off as he went to get a similar bowl for him.
'Did he now?' What would be a convincing lie? There was no way he could bring them to the Institute. 'Maybe tomorrow. I think Dad still has a few business things to take care of today.' There, that was convincing enough.
Max frowned, 'Again? Is he coming home tonight?'
'Maybe.'
He hoped to every deity ever created Catarina and Ragnor had a solution by this afternoon. Otherwise he would have two kids on to him. Not something he needed.
Thankfully Max was satisfied with that answer and went on about something else they could do that day. Max wanted to practice his magic. Something Magnus would more than be on board with normally had the kid not just transported them to the past/ alternate universe. So he latched on to another fun thing Max suggested- movie marathon.
Three Disney movies in and Magnus was cat napping his troubles away. He was convinced looking after kids wasn't that hard. All he had to do was put them in front of a TV and they were no bother. He drifted back just as King Louis started his song, jumping as Raf stared down at him. Perched on his chest and with eye-liner in his hand Magnus had a bad feeling about this.
'Do I look presentable?' He asked, not knowing where he got the courage from.
Raf scoffed, bringing the eye-liner into view. From this angle it looked like a torture device. 'Please,' was all he said before Magnus was pinned in place.
He didn't know how but he managed to drift off for the rest of his makeover. The next time he came too it was because he heard Raf suggest Max to snap them some food up. Magic of any kind was forbidden for this little boy right now, so Magnus was right up and snapping the first thing that came to mind. He hoped the kids were used to him doing this in their time. Or at least were adventurous enough to try Taki's food.
'Didn't Dad tell you off last time you magicked more than one meal up for us?' Rafael asked.
'What Dad doesn't know won't kill him,' Magnus replied fetching plates he didn't think he had ever ate off for them. He didn't know what Rafael was complaining about. He had just asked Max to do the same thing he had just done.
Despite the morning's success, movies didn't work that afternoon. The pair of them were restless from being cooped up for so long in the apartment. No amount of singing animals or action movies could make them behave. In fact, Magnus suspected the movies were making them worse. One disagreement over what kind of big cat was better and the two of them were fighting again.
He wondered if they were always that volatile as he got them zipped up. Raf, once again, wasn't quite satisfied with the first thing Magnus poofed up. He ended up matching their outfits, a little mini me complete with the same colour eye-liner he noted as they skipped down the buildings steps.
He learned quickly that he needed to hold their hands. Max was a runner. He ended up tethering himself to the little blueberry after he tried to buy them ice cream and ended up running around crazy when Max disappeared. Raf was slightly better behaved. He didn't help, but he didn't run off either.
When they finally got to the park it had taken them twice as long, and Magnus was sure he had his first grey hair. He was almost afraid when Raf darted towards the swings. He wanted to follow, but Max was edging the two of them to the slide.
'Daddy!' Max whined his hand still stuck in Magnus'. 'Slide.'
Rafael was already picking out his swing. Magnus supposed it wouldn't be so bad to turn his back. Max was the runner. Not to mention the park wasn't that big. He saw a bunch of parents not even looking at their children as they read on park benches or flirted with the single dads. Magnus made a note to stay away from that area of the park.
'Slide!'
He took two steps before changing his mind and taking Max over to the swings.
'We'll go on the slide later.'
If he left Rafael alone he didn't trust the kid not to get into trouble. Not him personally. But he was Nephilim. Magnus knew from personal experience their angel blood called to the sullied. If one so young was left unsupervised who was to say a shape-shifter or demon wouldn't take advantage and rip him apart. He doubted his future self would be impressed if he sent an apology note back instead of his son.
So he hoisted Max on his shoulders and helped Rafael out on his swing.
He felt... strange as he pushed Raf. Almost content. His thoughts from this morning returned. The nice feeling of family, of having kids. He hadn't realised how much he wanted it. It was unnerving.
'Hurry up Raf!' The moment was ruined.
Max's glamoured legs kicked Magnus harshly in the shoulders as he shouted his brother down from the swing.
'Make me Max.'
'Boys.'
He never thought he would hear that tone come out his mouth.
He eventually had to pry Rafael from the swings so Max could have fun on the slide. It was unnatural how much energy the two had. Even after an hour playing at the park they were still running around like mad men. Magnus was tired just watching them. Not to mention he was wiped out after running after an errant Max every time he decided to run from the group.
'Stay with the herd!' He yelled for what had to be the seventeenth time since getting to the park.
Max was ahead, his little legs unbelievably fast as he ran across the field. He distantly heard Rafael complaining behind him, too far behind him. He glanced back, noting the boy almost a full metre away. He couldn't get one only to lose the other, so he grabbed Raf around the middle and did his best to regain that lost metre as Max changed grass for a pavement.
'MAX!'
The boy was still laughing ahead. Shouting back taunts he dove in and out of mundanes. Never again, Magnus vowed as he finally caught the boy before he ran into traffic. He was keeping them locked in his apartment until his future self could reclaim them. He wasn't ready for this yet. He hadn't even got his Lightwood.
'Don't ever do that again,' he panted, feeling his heart almost burst out his chest. Even more so as a lorry rushed past. That could have been Max under there, he realised as the hulking machine blew him in the face. Max could have died. That was almost two apology notes he would have to send to the future. 'Are you listening to me Max. No running. It's not funny anymore.' He almost killed his future kid. 'Max,' he insisted.
His little blueberry cowered, shuffling his feet much like he had yesterday. Magnus didn't have time for that, he needed Max to see he couldn't just run off. So he waited until Max nodded before letting out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
'We're going home.'
He didn't wait for agreement as he put Max on his shoulders and held Rafael so close he was almost stepping on Magnus' feet as they walked. He was shaken, tired and hadn't known what the hell was going on in his life since waking up yesterday afternoon. He didn't feel safe until he had the three of them sitting around his coffee table, clad in their nightclothes and colouring in.