Herbs and Spices // snowbaz

new years eve

"Baz, I really don't want to go," Simon whined, tugging on the tie Baz had forced him to wear, "It's just going to be full of magicians staring at me."

"Because you're handsome?"

"Because I was the Mage's Heir," he sighed, "I was the 'Chosen One'," he spat, his voice full of spite, "And now... I don't even have magic. Baz, I'm a Normal."

"You have a fucking tail, Snow."

"You know what I mean," Simon growled at his boyfriend.

"No I don't know what you mean," Baz stepped towards him and grabbed one of Simon's hands, that had stopped fiddling with the tie and hung by his side, "You're still Simon Snow, the strongest mage that there's ever been, you defeated the Insidious Humdrum-"

"Who I inadvertently created," Simon chimed in unhappily.

"Snow," Baz pulled the boy close to him, his fingers under his chin, forcing their eyes to meet, "How many times do I have to tell you, he's gone, you destroyed him. You saved the World of Mages, you stopped the greatest war our world could've faced. I don't love being sappy with you Snow, you know how I feel about you. When you talk like this, it seems like you forget that I've loved you since we were 11. You were Simon Snow then, and you're Simon Snow now."

Simon smiled as Baz dipped his head to kiss the moles on his throat. Simon did a big showy swallow like he always does and Baz laughed against his throat.

"Now, I promise you, my Aunt Fiona's party is barely gonna have any magicians there. She hates most of them anyway, it's gonna be heaps of Normals," Baz couldn't help but leak disdain into his voice. Even after all this time, he still couldn't help it.

"Ok, then, I'll go. But do I have to wear a fucking tie?"

*****************************

Normal's smelled differently to magicians, that was always Baz's first thought when around them. Especially at a party where the air was thick with their sweat and desperation. And alcohol, like Crowley, did they sweat alcohol? It was so pungent he could practically feel it on his body.

With magicians it was different, each person smelled differently; mostly smelled like their magic.
Bunce smells like old books, cocoa and mint. Baz imagined her magic would feel like gently cresting waves under the skin, he had once overheard her say her magic was like a well that she could draw on whenever she wanted.
Wellbelove smelled like vanilla, sea salt and rain. Like when the sun is just cresting and there's a gentle rain that smells like green grass and new beginnings. That's what Wellbelove smelled like, but she was almost so sickly sweet it made Baz feel lightheaded, and not the good kind.
And Snow... Snow had once smelled like fire, like fire and brimstone. He smelled like green smoke that could strangle you if you let it. When they were still in school, stuck in the close quarters of their room in Mummer's house, Baz had thought it would all end in fire. Everything would end in a blaze of fire and he would die in those close quarters, suffocating, fucking choking on smoke.

But now, Snow smells like something sweet, still with the faint acrid scent of smoke, but now it's sweeter. Like when you burn a cake, and you can practically taste the sugar in the air. It's not wildly pleasant, but it's not unpleasant either. He still smells fucking appetising, and he still burns so brightly. Burns Baz's retinas burns his skin when he stands so close.
He had always left Baz's skin singed (when he had magic), the magic that spewed off his body in waves and waves, crashing around him.

Normals could never affect Baz like magicians could, especially not Simon. Nobody affected Baz like Snow.

Aunt Fiona's New Years Party was full of Normals, they were almost shoulder to shoulder with how many there were. Baz could feel Simon tugging at his clothes, they always sat too tight now with his wings and tail (because all they could do was make them invisible), and he longed to grab the boy's fidgeting hands and hold them by his side.
"Relax Snow, I'm right here," he murmured in his ear, tugging on one of Simon's hands, "no one's looking at you like you're the fucking Mage's Heir because you're more than that. You're Simon fucking Snow, alright?"