Fic: Sharing Lessons

[lilcrickee]

Sharing Lessons by caddyeverafter7
The Mortal Instruments | Gen | G | ~502

Maryse Lightwood's Shadowhunting troupe learns how to share a chocolate bar.

A/N: This is what I wrote for aimmyarrowshigh 's Halloween-Prompt-o-Rama Thing.  I used the chocolate bar prompt and mixed it with daemons from the His Dark Material trilogy and a bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She also made a lovely graphic for me which can be viewed here.

There’s always something about a Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight that makes the children go crazy, Maryse thinks as she pauses in the kitchen doorway. Seated around the table are four teenagers and an assortment of animals, arguing about the chocolate bar in front of them.

“You can’t obviously expect me to share this with all of you,” Isabelle snaps. “It’s my birthday present. Mum bought it for me.” 

“Yeah, but you can’t expect to receive a Wonka chocolate bar and not expect the rest of us not to want some,” Jace replies lazily. He flicks his hair out of his face the same time that the snow leopard beside him flicks her tail. Maryse is grateful that none of them have daemons larger than that. Her own peacock struts around behind her, cocking his head to the side every once in a while.

“C’mon, Izzy,” Alec says. “Just a little bit? The Fudgemallow Delight is my-”

“Favourite, I know.” Isabelle sighs as her ocelot jumps into her lap. Its amber eyes scan the others, x-raying them with a probing glare. “It’s my favourite too, that’s the problem,” Isabelle continues.

“It’s everyone’s favourite, isn’t it?” Clary asks. “My mum and Luke love them too.”

“Maybe I should look after this,” the ocelot says suddenly. He stretches a lithe paw out over the table and tugs the chocolate bar towards him. “Seems like you have some very untrustworthy friends, Iz.”

Jace rolls his eyes. “And you’ve known us, what, you’re whole life, Polaris?”
The ocelot’s eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t reply. Instead, he takes the chocolate bar and disappears under the table.

“You’re still going to share, right?” Alec asks. “Who knows when we’ll get another Wonka bar? They’re from Idris, Iz. We never get stuff from Idris. Besides, Clary’s never even had one. You can’t let her go her whole life without ever tasting a Fudgemallow Delight.”

Maryse can see her daughter’s resolve weakening as she glances at her friends. There’s a brief moment when the mother wonders if Isabelle will cave when Alec’s snowy owl breezes in through the doorway above her and Clary’s monkey screeches in delight. Her eyes are drawn to the children’s daemons and she has to smile.

“Isabelle,” she calls out, her heels clicking against the tile as she and Emmery glide into the kitchen.

“What is it, mother?” Isabelle calls back. Maryse bites her tongue for a minute, wondering if it’s worth mentioning when she’s interrupted by a screech from Alec’s owl and the whole table jumping a foot in the air as Jace’s snow leopard leaps to her feet quickly. All eyes are drawn under the table and Isabelle screams, “Polaris! That was my birthday present!”

The ocelot’s amber eyes flash mischievously as a pink tongue darts from his mouth to lick away the remaining chocolate. As he does so, the four other daemons under the table copy his movements.

“Technically, it’s our birthday present, Iz,” Polaris replies. “And unlike you, I decided to share it.”