A Malec Alphabet

E- Egg fried rice

E- egg-fried rice (Magnus has an obsession)

It was Clary's birthday, and the 'usual gang', as Izzy had dubbed them, were squashed around a booth in Taki's.

The table was a chivalrous blur; everyone seemed to want to pay, and everyone wanted not to pay (if that makes sense at all).

They had made a list of all the orders so that when Kaeli came to take them, they would be ready, and also ready to pay. Jace (who seemed to be winning the 'I want to pay' debate) was trying to minimise costs, wanting to impress Clary with his generosity, but also not have his pocket cleared.

"Right, Maia and Izzy, you can share right?" He suggested.

"No!"

"Hell, I ain't eating no salad. I'm a Werewolf, I need protein." Maia protested.

Jace rolled his eyes. "Well, we can all order tap water." Simon cleared his throat. "FINE." He paused. "Who in Raziel's name ordered six tubs of egg fried rice?"

Magnus raised his hand. "Guilty."

"Eww." Clary said, disgusted. "Why would you want that?"

Magnus looked disgruntled. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No sauce or anything? Dude, that's gross." Simon said, wrinkling his nose.

The warlock rolled his eyes. "Didn't like 'dude' in the Seventies, don't like it now."

"Well, if you cut out, like, five of them-" Jace began.

"NO!" Magnus looked panicked. "I'll pay for them, just don't cut them out!"

Jordan looked thrown back. "What's so special about egg fried rice?"

To everyone's surprise, Magnus went an odd shade of red.

"Okay, that's enough. When are we going to talk about your 'mango and beef burger with extra honey sauce' Jace? That's just as weird." Alec said, linking ring fingers with Magnus under the table.

His boyfriend smiled thankfully at him as Jace tried without avail that mango-burgers were not odd at all. Alec gave him a 'it's-okay-just-ignore-them' look.

Finally the food all arrived. Simon had some sort of blood-juice fusion which everyone wrinkled their noses at, Jordan had a raw beef burger (voted grossest meal) and Jace had his mango-burger. The six tubs of rice arrived, though the waiter gave their group an odd look.

Magnus went very pale as his food was set in front of him. He leant over to Alec and whispered to him: "I... I'm going to go back. I'm fine. I'll see you back at the apartment."

Alec frowned but whispered back: "What shall I tell the others?"

"That I just needed space." Magnus replied, sliding out of the booth, collecting the rice, and blowing kisses to both Alec and Clary before walking out with the tubs under his arm.

"Where'd Magnus go?" Izzy asked.

Alec sighed. "He needed space. I... Today is the day his mother and father died. He still blames himself. That's why he has rice, because they're Indonesian. And there's six because he had three aunts who were always there." He paused, blinking. "Don't mention this to him, okay?"

The others nodded, silently, before moving on to eat their food.

Magnus on the other hand, was also eating his food, although only one of the tubs of egg fried rice was his.

The other tubs were open, their warm scent drifting through the apartment, but only one other was being eaten. An elderly woman, flickering transparently, was sitting on the sofa beside him, eating the egg fried rice.

As the woman was a ghost, Magnus had no idea where the food went, but he conversed with her quietly in Indonesian, telling her about what he had been doing lately, and catching her up to date with what had happened in the last year.

"Bibi, (Auntie) have you seen... Them?" Magnus asked reluctantly.

The ghost sighed. "Keponakan, (nephew) you know I will tell you straightaway if I see your Ibu (mother) or Ayah (father). But I think they have passed on like Bibi Lucie. There is nothing for them that binds them to this world Keponakan."

Magnus visibly sagged. "Yes Bibi. What is it that binds you here? I will find it for you if you want?"

The ghost laughed. "The one thing that binds me here is gone. Your Uncle took it with him to China, he married into a rich Chinese family who later became Shadowhunters. But the object is a pendant, jade, with words on it. I doubt you would ever find it now."

A memory stirred at the back of Magnus' mind. He shook it away as he prepared himself to open the portal that he always opened on this day, to travel to Indonesia. He scooped up the remaining rice tubs and with a parting wave to his Aunt, stepped through.

Hours later he returned to the apartment (minus the egg fried rice and ghostly Aunt) to find Alec sitting with his arms folded on the sofa.

"So what happened to 'see you at the apartment' huh?" He started, then stopped seeing Magnus's puffy red eyes. "Are you... By the Angel this is going to sound patronising, are you okay?"

Magnus sat on the sofa, curling into his boyfriend. "I will be." He croaked, holding onto Alec for dear life. Alec made soothing sounds, stroking the shaggy mess that was Magnus' hair and squeezing his hand.

"I'm here." He said comfortingly. "It's okay, I'm here."

Magnus reached up to Alec and gave him a desperate, starving kiss. "Aku Cinta Kamu." He murmured against Alec's lips.

Inside, the memories that those three words rushed up inside Alec like a flood, but he tried to push them down, knowing that Magnus rarely spoke his mother tongue unless he needed weight in his words, unless he was deadly, deadly serious.

"I love you too Magnus." Alec whispered

~

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