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dontmindmyshadowhunting · 3 years

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When Clary meets Ash (Fan Fic)

Hey :) this is how I imagine Clary and Ash's reunion (after the events of TDA) in the fic I am currently writing.

It's Chapter 5 of "The new Shadowhunter Academy" (Ao3 link to the full fic is here but don't click or skip Chapter 4 if you are not in for Kitty sexy times).

Thanks to @amchara for providing beta work and to @blaidr for letting me bounce my ideas off him.

To give you context, Ash met Dru in Faerie and they exchanged their numbers. Clary seized the opportunity to obtain Ash's number from Dru and write him the following text message:

“Hey, Ash. Dru gave me your number and please don’t be angry with her, I am very strong headed and there was absolutely no way she could have refused. I am Clary. You may have heard of me. I am your late father’s sister. That’s right, your aunt. You can call me whatever you like. Emma told me what you did in Thule, how you saved her. How you saved everyone. That was very brave of you. In a way, both of us were faced with a very difficult choice and made the same. Doing what we thought was right. I would love to meet you and tell you about my mother – your grandmother – or just talk about anything. It can be things totally unrelated to the Shadow world. Hobbies, movies, books and games we like. You can pick the time and place. Neutral territory. Hope to see you soon. Clary.”

This is what happens following the text:

*****

Clary wrapped her oversized woolen coat tighter around herself, as she made her way through the crowded streets of Manhattan. The route was familiar. She took it almost every week to meet up with her parabatai and have what they called their “mundane hour”. They talked about everything, from Clary’s art to the latest TV shows they had binge watched. No topic was off the table, save for anything related to Shadowhunter duties, and the Shadow world in general. As co-head of the New York Institute and since recently, artist owning her own gallery, her weeks were very busy so she looked forward to those rare and precious moments when she could escape with Simon. Her heart rate seemed to accelerate with each of her steps, and it didn’t help that she also had the strange feeling she was being observed. When she reached her destination, she took a deep breath and opened the double glass doors leading her inside the coffee shop. She and Simon had their regular routine there, and her gaze went automatically to their usual spot, near the large windows.

A broad-shouldered jock with a baseball jacket was already sitting there, speaking loudly to his cheerleader girlfriend. Two of his friends were standing next to him, mock punching his muscular arms. It made her realize that Ash probably never had this. High school friends and romance. Ash. She was still struggling to figure out why he had asked her to meet up at this place, at the exact time she usually got there with Simon. Was it him being considerate, a clumsy way to make her feel comfortable in familiar surroundings? Or was it a warning? I know your habits, and precisely where you take your coffee, when and with whom.

Her gaze swept over the crowded room - her heart seemed to have moved up her throat, the frantic pulse almost choking her - and zeroed on a tall, white blond haired boy ordering coffee at the counter, standing with his back to Clary. She sucked in a breath. Ash. He was fully clothed in black - Dru had told her that was his usual style - and huge headphones were covering his ears. She slowly and cautiously approached him and when she was close enough, put a tentative hand on his elbow. “Ash,” she whispered. The boy glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes quizzical and… it was not Ash.

She mumbled an apology.

“Clary,” said a voice coming from behind, and she froze. It was not a boy’s but a man’s voice, the sound beautiful and ethereal. She just stood there for a few seconds before she slowly turned.

What had she expected? Merely a taller version of the young boy with pointy ears and a sour expression that she had met three years before, dressed in the same refined velvet clothing threaded with gold that identified him as fey royalty?

If so, she had clearly been mistaken.

She blinked a few times to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks. He was tall, as she had anticipated (Sebastian had been after all). At least two heads taller than her and probably taller than Jace. But he was also very different from the Ash of her memories, from the sketches she had drawn of him after they had crossed paths. He had amazingly grown into his features, his face now the best combination of the Seelie Queen and Sebastian’s. As if he had picked the most alluring colours of the palette. And the result was… Stunning. Clary’s hand twitched, aching for a pencil.

He was not dressed in black, but in plain blue jeans and he had stuffed his hands in a very elegant, long pale gray cashmere coat. His white blond hair and pointy ears were concealed under a deep green beanie, the same colour as the scarf around his neck.

He arched a silvery eyebrow at Clary, his expression bemused, and she realized she was staring.

“Clary, seriously?” he said, his gently scolding tone at odds with his enchanting voice. “This guy isn't even half as good looking as me." He glanced pointedly at the patron in question, who was gaping at him, and shrugged. "No offense, dude,” Ash added as an afterthought.

He turned his attention to the barista. She was beautiful, dark skinned with long braided hair and pouty lips. “Hello, gorgeous. We’ll have a double espresso with oat milk and a dash of cinnamon for the lady and a plain black coffee for me.”

Clary stifled a gasp and tried to hide her discomfort. He knew exactly how she took her coffee, and she didn’t know how she felt about this.

The pretty barista nodded eagerly, her cheeks red and her big dark eyes dreamy as she stared at Ash. “Why don’t you… Go sit at your table and I’ll bring you your beverages when they are ready?” the girl offered enthusiastically. The long line of patrons that had formed behind Clary and Ash would probably disagree but she didn’t seem to care.

“That would be lovely,” Ash said in his euphonious voice. “And so are you.” He winked at her, and Clary wondered if she would need to catch her while she swooned. He paid before Clary even had a chance to reach for her purse.

“Come,” he said in a commanding tone, as he made his way to Clary and Simon's usual table. This was unnerving.

The jock seated there paused in the middle of his conversation with his girlfriend when he saw Ash stand casually next to him. Clary braced herself for a heated exchange, but she should have known better.

“You want to sit somewhere else,” Ash said evenly, one hand inside the pocket of his designer coat and the other stretched out in front of him as he studied his fingernails.

“I want to sit somewhere else,” the jock repeated in a monotonous voice, his gaze blank. He stood, as if in a trance, and his girlfriend and friends followed him, puzzled, to an empty table at the far end of the room.

Ash drew a chair for Clary and she sat. He did the same, opposite her. He pulled off his beanie, and shook his silvery hair, like a crown of liquid white gold. He wasn’t dressed for the part but he had never looked more like a prince.

“Ash… please don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Your mind tricks.”

He cocked his head and observed her, his face unreadable, for what seemed like an endless minute.

“You’ve been my aunt for what? Five minutes? And you’re already trying to boss me around?”

“I am not trying to boss you around, Ash. Simply asking you not to abuse your powers.”

A shadow flickered across his green eyes.

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Clary. I spend much more time and energy holding back than using my powers. If I did let go, trust me, you would know.”

Clary opened her mouth to reply but was cut short as the barista popped in front of them and placed the mugs on the table. She slid a paper napkin to Ash, her phone number scribbled on it. Clary tried not to roll her eyes, as Ash flashed his dazzling smile at the girl, who almost tripped on her own feet as she returned to the counter.

Clary lifted her cup to her lips and paused, as she caught sight of the cinnamon powder floating on the surface. She put it down.

“What about this?" She pointed at her coffee mug and waved around them. “ What is it, if not a show of power? What are you trying to tell me? That you know everything about me? That you’ve been spying on me?”

Ash pulled on a fake shocked expression, mouth open and green eyes wide in mock innocence. “Spying on you? What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Ash. The evidence is right here.” She lifted her cup abruptly, and hot liquid splashed out of it. “You know exactly how I like it. When I take it, where I take it.”

Ash’s mouth twitched. “Where did you pick up these lines? From the script of some lame X-rated movie?”

“Adult movies have storylines?” Clary asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Of course they do. Where do you think the Grimm Brothers took their inspiration from?”

He grabbed the paper napkin and started mopping the coffee she had spilled on the table. The blue ink faded and the barista’s phone number vanished.

“You lost that girl’s number,” Clary noted.

Ash shrugged. “I have a girlfriend now.”

Right. Drusilla Blackthorn. From the moment she had met her, Clary had known that the smart and quiet turquoise-eyed girl would someday turn heads.

Clary knew that Dru hadn’t really confirmed their relationship status yet, but it was neither the time nor place to broach the subject with Ash. She was, after all, on a mission to win over her nephew and had not been doing a very good job so far.

A young lanky boy with pink hair and piercings covering his skin walked by and dropped a glossy flyer of the upcoming Mortal Instruments concert on the table between them. Clary hid a smile. It reminded her...

“I have something for you.” She said as she fumbled inside her bag and took out the drawing she had made of Jocelyn, Luke and herself, in front of Luke’s upstate farm (before it was turned into the new Shadowhunter Academy) and laid it on the table.

Ash looked at it hesitantly, like a kid who really wanted to grab the candy but was afraid there was a mouse trap under it. He hunched his shoulders forward and clasped his hands under the table, as if to keep himself from temptation.

“I recognize your art. I like it. I also appreciate Julian Blackthorn’s but I may not be as objective where… one of the subjects of his drawings is concerned.”

“You’ve seen my art?”

He leaned back on his chair, crossing his long arms behind his head. Somehow, he managed to make it look graceful.

“Which Shadowhunter hasn’t? I noticed that you often drew Jace with angel wings.”

“Yes. That’s how he used to appear to me. In recurring dreams.”

“Was it?”

“Was it what?”

“Jace. In your dreams.”

“Who else would it be?”

“Someone who looks like him, but who actually has wings.”

“You mean Kit.”

Ash shrugged. “It would make more sense.” His gaze flickered back to the drawing, which still lay on the table, untouched. “You look a lot like your mom.”

“So do you”, Clary blurted before she could take it back.

Ash shot her an unfathomable look.

“How is she?” She asked.

“You mean, the Seelie Queen? You tell me. You must see her more often than I do.”

“Well, not really. I am not that involved in politics, even though Alec is Consul. Julian Blackthorn is the one who deals with her most of the time. She appears to have... a fondness for him.”

“Who doesn’t?”

Clary’s mouth quirked up.

“I am glad you are getting along with the Blackthorns. They are such an incredibly strong and talented family.”

“They are.” He turned his face away, but not before she could see the expression of longing plain on his delicate features.

She swallowed. She was painfully reminded that Ash never had a shot at a happy family. Born of a political union, and dragged here and there, though interdimensional portals, by people more interested in his powers than anything else he had to offer as a person. And judging by how Dru talked about Ash, he had a lot to offer.

“I imagine it must have been awful living in Thule… But what you did for Emma and Julian back there... if it hadn’t been for you…”

“I don’t want to talk about Thule,” he interrupted her. “Can I borrow this?” He asked, his long fingers brushing the Mortal Instruments concert flyer.

“Sure.”

She watched as he started folding the paper, realizing with a jolt of surprise that he was making an origami and wondering what shape would come out of it. It was odd seeing him doing such an innocuous thing, as if he was not a faerie prince with a heavy heritage and a giant target on his back, but an ordinary boy. She remembered what Emma had told her of her encounter with Ash in a nightclub in Thule. The way he had shown no interest, playing a video game in a corner of the room, while Sebastian was committing atrocities. Had he really been as indifferent as he looked?

“Ash, we don’t need to talk about Thule if you don’t want to, but if I can help you… If there is anything I can do-”

“Why?” He looked up sharply. “Are you able to create a rune that could undo the things I saw?” His tone was even, but his delicate fingers had started slightly shaking and he suddenly dropped the paper - his work unfinished - to fold his hands under the table to hide it. From that moment, she knew.

“No…” Clary said, drawing the word out. “But trust me, coming from someone whose memory has been tampered with... it’s not a solution.”

“I said undo. Not forget.” He snapped. “I am not such a coward that I would choose blissful ignorance over knowledge.”

He caught himself, blinking, then clenched his jaw and looked away. As if he was ashamed he had allowed himself to show any emotion at all. But Clary had managed to catch a glimpse of what lay underneath the mask and wanted nothing more than to see the rest of it.

“I don’t think you are a coward,” she said.

He looked over at her, a silver eyebrow raised. “I let it all happen, didn’t I? I didn’t lift a finger.”

“Because you couldn’t. Sebastian would have killed you. And you, Ash, are just like me. A survivor.”

He snorted and crossed his arms in front of him, leaning back on his chair. He had stretched out his long legs and Clary realized that he was tapping a foot nervously next to hers.

“Wrong. I could have. I chose not to. Because I am selfish. I don’t care about other people’s fate.”

His face split into a lazy, wicked grin. Clary could see Sebastian’s influence in his leer, but she wouldn't let it deceive her. Just as she wasn't fooled by his laid-back demeanor.

“I think it’s the opposite, actually. I think it’s because you care too much. It’s not death you are afraid of. The thing is, you have such a tender heart, you need to protect it from an affliction far greater than any physical pain you could endure. So you’d rather lie to yourself and pretend you feel nothing.”

From the long conversations she had with Tessa about her ancestors, Clary knew of a Fairchild boy who had been too compassionate for his own good. And he had been surrounded by loyal friends and loving parents, even though he had shut himself, putting on a facade while burying his grief in alcohol. Ash never had that kind of support. Throughout his life, he was left to figure things out on his own. If he was as empathetic as Clary thought he was, Ash probably had no other choice but to deal with his sensitivity alone. It was a miracle he had turned out the way he did.

“You have a lot of imagination,” he said after a moment. The ghost of a smile was still playing on his lips but something had passed across his eyes. “Then again, you are an artist. You seek beauty in the ugly. You find colors on a blank page. I admire your faith, but in this case, there is nothing to see.”

Clary jutted her chin stubbornly and they held each other’s gaze - his green eyes glittering in amusement and hers dead serious - in a staring contest.

“Still,” he said when he finally broke, first. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. I am sorry.”

Clary softened. “Don’t be. I am glad you are finally showing your true self. You don’t need to wear your mask around me, Ash.”

He chuckled. “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

“It’s funny that you would quote Oscar Wilde.”

“And why is that?”

She shrugged. “Just another thing you share in common with a Fairchild I heard stories about.”

“Clary,” he said in a gently reproving tone. Her name sounded like a caress in his melodious voice. “Are you being purposefully cryptic to arouse my curiosity?”

She moved closer, so she was sitting at the edge of her chair, and leaned forward, hands folded over the table.

“If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” she whispered. “Let me in. Shed all pretense.”

“I can’t promise you that,” he whispered back in confidence, leaning closer still so that their faces were inches from each other. “It’s like fabric that burns and melts into skin. If you peel it off, the skin goes with it.” He grimaced, reclining on his chair. “It won’t be a pretty sight. I don’t think even my level of hotness could sustain it.”

“Ash…” Clary said, sensing that she finally had an opening to say what she had been brooding over ever since she had learnt of Ash’s return from that forsaken land. “I wanted to tell you… I am sorry.”

Ash’s green eyes widened.

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have looked for you. I should not have given up on you.”

Ash’s jaw clenched and he looked away. “Don’t,” he said through gritted teeth. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I do. Seb-...Ash, we...”

“What did you just call me?” He snarled. His eyes snapped back to her, suddenly cold as ice.

“Sorry, Ash. What I meant to say is… we are family."

“I already have a family.”

“I know that you care about Janus…”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” he cut her off.

“And we don’t need to. I just wanted you to know… I understand that he’s been like a father to you, and I don’t plan on moving against him, unless he strikes first or makes it impossible for me to overlook his actions.”

“Because of me?”

“Of course, because of you.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Ash… You are my nephew, my blood. You may not feel the same way about me, but that’s how I feel about you. I want you to know that, if things go wrong, for any reason, you can always turn to me. My home is your home.”

“What you are actually telling me is, Ash, if I kill the one person who has ever really cared about you - and it might definitely come to that - you can always grab my hand, still sticky and warm from his blood. Well, how nice of you. To quote Oscar Wilde again, true friends stab you in the front.”

“That’s not what I am-”

“Clary,” Ash interrupted as he stood. “Do not make me choose between you and him. Because…” Looking down at her, he swallowed hard, as if the words pained him. “Because you will lose.”

She knew exactly what he was telling her. Because they were the same in that way. Ruthless, even with their own blood, when it came to protecting their loved ones. If I had to choose between killing him and you, I would not hesitate. I would end you. Yet, despite his cold statement, despite his sharp and resolved tone, his eyes seemed to carry a deep regret.

“Ash, I understand what you're saying and I swear I am not trying to make you pick a side”, Clary said, suddenly desperate, as she mirrored him and stood. “Please don’t go. I am sorry I brought it up. We will stop talking about him. Starting now.”

“This was a bad idea. Never try to contact me again.” He drew his green beanie from the pocket of his coat and put it back on. He turned and strode toward the exit. She grabbed the family drawing that still lay on the table, stuffed it in her bag and followed him, half-running, as he was quickly losing here with his long legs.

“Ash! Please. Give me another chance. I am so sorry.”

He paused right outside the coffee shop, closed his eyes and sighed. “Don’t be. It didn’t change what I had planned to tell you anyway. I don’t want to know anything about you or your mother. I don’t want to have anything to do with either of you.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” she said, and he whipped his head around to look at her in surprise. “I know you were under house arrest. You probably had to break out of whichever place they were holding you in to come here. You wouldn’t have done that unless you wanted something. Something from me. Tell me, Ash. Tell me what it is.”

He turned his face away so she could not see his expression. A full minute passed and she had almost given up on receiving an answer, when he finally spoke.

“My fa… Sebastian. How different do you think he would have been if not for the demon blood?”

“Oh. Ash.” she whispered. She brought her knuckle against her sternum instinctively, as if to cover the gaping whole in her chest. “I saw him, you know. The brother I should have had. The father that should have raised you. If only for a few minutes.” She paused to bite back tears. “In those few minutes, he told us how to get rid of the Endarkened and said he was sorry. It’s not much to go for, but… that’s not all. I have recurring dreams of the green eyed boy that was robbed from us. And I know in my heart he would have been the best brother a sister could ever dream of.”

He was still looking away and she could see the sharp line, the stubborn set of his jaw. She wanted to hug him, to tell him she would not fail him again. That they could mourn her brother, his father, together. That he didn’t need to bear the anger at everything that was wasted alone.

He finally turned to look at her. A tear had escaped to run freely down his cheek. He had completely shed off his mask, and what Clary saw was like a stab in her gut. She shivered. Wordlessly, he reached for his deep green scarf and tied it gingerly around her neck. The way Sebastian had when they had walked down the streets of Paris. Ash looked nothing like her brother had then. His green eyes held an infinite sadness that spoke of a grief deeper, older than the short years of his life.

“It doesn’t change anything.” He said - she hadn’t imagined his beautiful voice could sound so hollow - and turned to leave.

“Ash, wait.” She grabbed him by the elbow and he froze. His eyes widened as his gaze zeroed on the fingers covering his coat, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. She realized she had never touched him before.

“Clary, what do you want from me?” He asked in a tired voice.

“I just want to get to know you.”

“Trust me, you don’t. I am not the brother who was stolen from you. I cannot replace him. If anything, I am just like Sebastian was before me... my father’s broken toy. There is no way to fix me.”

“I don’t believe it for a second,” she said, almost frantic. “And I don’t want to find my brother's replacement, I want to get to know you! Ash. The real Ash.”

“I already told you. That’s not happening. Don’t ever try to contact me again. I am serious.”

“So that’s it?” She tried not to sound too whiny but panic was eating away at her stomach and she thought she would throw up. “You went through all this trouble spying on me, learning how I take my coffee to simply disappear from my life from one moment to the next?”

He gazed at her for a moment, his expression unfathomable. It seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

“I was not spying on you, Clary. I was merely following your stalker.”

“What? You were… protecting me?”

“Take care of yourself, Clary.”

He said as he stepped away from her and vanished into the crowd.

****

Clary threw herself in Jace’s arms as soon as he opened the door to their bedroom at the New York Institute. He froze, then started stroking her hair in a soothing gesture.

“Clary, what happened? Is everything okay?”

“No,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest.

“Tell me, Clary. What is it?”

She pulled away and wiped tears with the back of her hand. Jace’s face was a mask of shock. Clary couldn’t blame him. She almost never cried.

“I messed up.”

“What did you mess up?”

She walked to the bed and sat on the mattress. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for his reaction. “Ash. I met up with him earlier today.”

Jace tensed and his hands clenched into fists. “WHAT- Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you would have insisted on coming.”

“Damn right, I would have. And I would have been right, too. Look at you, you look miserable.”

“It’s my fault,” she said in a small voice. “I pushed him too far.”

Jace sighed and came to sit next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. “I am sure you did nothing wrong, Clary.”

“I thought- When I showed him the drawing… the way he looked at it, Jace. He is not indifferent. He cares.”

“What drawing?”

“The one I made of the family,” she said absently, as she grabbed her bag and started fumbling inside.

She sucked in a sharp breath. The drawing wasn’t there. Peeking out in its stead, and folded out of the flyer of the Mortal Instruments concert, were origami faerie wings. The Fairchild family symbol.

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growup-thatbeautiful · 3 years

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CONGRATULATIONS CONGRATULATIONS @naerysthelonesome FOR REACHING 200 AND HAVING A BIRTHDAY!! you deserve all the celebrations! i heard and frantically started writing this because who doesn’t want a little more Kit and his family?

Kit misses Ty, he really does, but there are moments in his new life where he’s happy. Like, actually happy. He has a family, he has a little sister, he has parents that teach him things that aren’t about pickpocketing.

But damn does he miss Ty. He misses all of the Blackthorns. really. He wants Julian to ask every morning what the plan for the day is, he, for some reason, wants Emma’s grumpy bacon and coffee thievery, and he can’t help but miss Dru teasing him for hiding under the covers during one of their late night movie binges.

Kit thought that it would take forever to get used to calling Devon his home, but that’s honestly what it is. It’s more of a home than anything with Johnny ever was. Tessa and Jem are more than he deserves, and he’s a firm believer that Mina is the peak of humanity. He’s determined to be good enough for them.

That’s how he’s found himself in charge of babysitting for Mina while they go on a much needed date night with Jace, Clary, Magnus, Alec, Izzy, and Simon.

Jace and Clary arrived at Devon earlier today and have been milling about, Jace in the weapons room with Tessa and Clary to the greenhouse with Jem. Kit didn’t want to intrude (he’s still trying to figure out how to deal with the adopted parent’s friends who are also legit hero’s situation), and he would die before he tried to eavesdrop on any conversation ever again, but he hears Jace and Tessa talking about some past dead Herondale.

“-really didn’t look much like you. His hair was black and his eyes were blue, but I swear it must be a Herondale thing to have those eyes.”

“Stunning good looking ones?” Tessa’s laugh is one of Kit’s favorite sounds, unashamed and gentle like the rest of her. God knows she been through enough to be able to laugh like that, even if it’s just at Kit’s stupid dad jokes.

Her reply is characteristically insightful. “Ones that, once you know them, give away everything. Lucie and James had them too. So does Kit, no matter how hard his father tried to train it out of him.”

“Keeping up the winning Herondale father legacy, of course.”

“It wasn’t always like that, but that’s how it seems now, isn’t it?” At this, Kit walks into the room. When he walks in Jace winks at him (Or at least, tries to. He hasn’t quite perfected it yet), so he’s ninety-nine percent sure that Jace knew he was there the whole time, but Jace does that a lot so he’s not positive.

“Hey, guess what I got you at the shadow market.” Jace turns towards Kit ruffling his hair. Kit tried to dodge, but Jace clamps an arm around his shoulders and holds him in place.

“Weapons? Books? Some ancient rune cursed to make me never love again?”

“Christopher, that was the most Herondale thing I’ve ever heard anyone say, and I live with...myself.”

“Good finish, cowboy.” Clary is carrying Mina on her hip, Jem following behind her with an amused look.

“Is that what the kids are using these days?” Wonders Jem, taking Mina from Clary and walks over to one of the sword racks, letting her ooh and ahh at the golden and silver hilts.

“No, that’s a Clary original right there. She’s trying this whole new thing, best to not get into it.” Despite his teasing, Jace is looking at Clary with what can only be described as heart eyes.

“Best for your face not to get into it.”

“Good one, honey.” Their banter makes Kit smile, and he can see Tessa’s fondly exasperated expression.

“Oh, Kit, did Jace give you our gift? Don’t answer that, I know the answer. Here,” she reaches into Jace’s pocket and takes out a small golden necklace. Hanging from it is an oval-shaped, ornate locket. “We figured that you would want something to keep you close to the people you care about. There’s already a picture of you, Tessa, Jem, and Mina that Izzy took.”

“I wanted to put one of just me, but Clary thought it would mean more if we used the other picture.” Clary drops it into Kit’s hand, and Kit clasps it around his neck, savoring the weight.

“This is- I don’t know what to- thank you.” If anyone notices his stuttering they don’t say anything. Tessa and Jem are used to it anyway.

“Of course Christopher. We know how much family means.” Jace claps a large hand on his shoulder as he walks over to Jem. “Should we ahead out? I’m sure Kit can’t wait to have this little one to himself, a little sibling bonding. That reminds me of a game Izzy, Alex, and I used to play where we saw who could hang from the highest beam for the longest. You could play that.”

“Jace.” Tessa has the decency to look a little abashed on his behalf. “She’s five.”

“When I was five-”

“Nope. We’re not going there right now. Come on, I’ll get the portal started.” Clary, Tessa, and Jem follow Clary out of the room.

Jace walks over to Kit before he walks out. “If you ever need a training partner you know where to find me. I’m also great for love advice, so do with that what you want.”

Kit’s smile creeps up on him the way it always does when Jace talks to him. “Of course. We can see who can hang from the highest tree in the greenhouse for the longest.” Jace looks absolutely overjoyed at the prospect of hanging from a tree.

They walk together to the main room, Tessa and Jem handing Mina to Kit. She goes easily, smiling and holding around his neck, mumbling something that sounds like “brother.”

“Kit, have a nice night. I’m not going to tell you her bedtime because you’re not going to listen, just try to be a little smart. No Goodfellas or The Shining.”

“I have no clue what those are,” comments Jace as he disappears into the portal.

“Damn shadowhunters.” Tessa goes through next, followed by Jem, and finally Clary, who gives Kit a lazy salute.

“Hey, Mina baby,” singsongs Kit, “Let’s go to the garden. I’ll show you some of Mama’s favorite flowers.”

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kuiinncedes · 3 years

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Jeanne <3

How are you?

I'm not sure if this has been done before but out of the new directions who do you think would watch shadow hunters and what would their favorite characters be?

Hope all is going well 🧡

ahhh hi myle!!! <3 i'm doing ok school's a lot ashgklsdjf how are you??

i actually have not seen more than like probably 5 episodes of the show lol but i have read almost all the books babyyyy so sorry if this doesn't really fit the show haha but i'll try my best 🤪

also disclaimer i've found i'm not great at these kinda questions lmao 🥴

as for who out of the new directions would read the books idk they're pretty generic/popular ya fantasy books lol so whoever reads ya would probably read the shadowhunter chronicles haha we'll pretend for the sake of assigning favorite characters (bc that does sound fun) that they all read the books i guess for like new directions book club lmao idk 🤪

sorry this is so long ahhhh

quinn - tessa gray (her overall storyline of growing up being told what to do and who to be and then finding herself and her self-worth and finding love but not letting that be everything)(fuck i love tessa gray so fucking much)

kurt - alec lightwood (maybe a little on the nose lol but um in the books at least clary kinda assumes he's gay and he has trouble with that and just i think his growth also kind of parallels kurt's change from lima to new york and being comfortable in himself)

brittany - church the immortal cat akldhglfs (no but church is an actual icon we love church 😌)(and like just kinda from how they treated brittany on the show this is the first thing that came to mind)(but like church being a fave is valid tbh lskdghsfj)

santana - isabelle lightwood or will herondale (isabelle having to let her guard down a little to open herself to love bc she has one quote about being really scared of that and i think they're really similar in that regard)(will has love issues too for a very different reason but i think santana would connect with him too and how both he and isabelle in different ways keep up walls around them and especially will sometimes takes it a little too far)

puck - jace herondale or gabriel lightwood (fucked up relationships with dad/father figures idk if this is too much like just who's similar to who haha but i stand by it)(gabriel who had to learn he didn't have to stay loyal to his piece of shit dad and could become a better person)(kinda applies to both of them)

tina - lily chen or jem carstairs (lily was in love with raphael unrequited but she still became super close with him platonically and i feel like tina would appreciate that also bc lily's a fucking iconic vampire queen)(jem bc taste 😌 lol but also like he had to wait a very long time to get what he wanted ;-; it's a lot different from tina so idk i won't get into it and make this too long 😂)

mike - magnus bane bc they look the same ahaha jk

rachel - emma carstairs (they share a kind of singlemindedness and rachel could maybe learn from emma to not be so selfish sometimes haha)

finn - ...clary fairchild tbh (the way she's introduced to the shadow world and thrown into it with a lot of expectations is a little similar to finn and the glee club i think)(but would she actually be his favorite character alksdg)

sam - dru blackthorn (idk this feels really random i'm having trouble at this point 😂 but partly like how she's underestimated and underrated by her family ;-; who still love her with everything but they do kind of forget and dismiss her capabilities sometimes)

blaine - julian blackthorn (he kinda struggles with wanting to be perfect and having a lot of expectations he's trying to meet and people he's trying to please)(they are in veryyy different situations tho lol)(but i do think blaine has appreciating-julian vibes 🤪)

artie - simon lewis (simon's kind of a nerd and also plays guitar 🤪 but also i thinkkk like having to leave home (under very different circumstances dlhgkfj) is why i put him for artie 🥴 idk it's not very good lmao)

mercedes - cristina rosales (bc she SHOULD lol but alsooo idk maybe i think they're kinda similar but not really?? they're both pushed to the side a bit and constantly helping others i feel like i'm barely answering the question i'm just saying who's like similar 😂)

i really didn't need to say this much haha sorry if none of this makes sense or is very good lol but this was really fun to think about so thanks for the ask 🥰🥰 and sorry for doing a lot of book-only characters alskdhgsdf i failed the assignment in multiple ways 😂

#sorry i didn't really do a real one for mike sljhglkjfd #but i mean who doesn't love magnus his fave might as well be magnus 😂#me as soon as i spend a good amount of time thinking about tsc characters: FUCK I LOVE THEM SM I MISS THEM SO FUCKING MUCH ALSHGKLSADJGALD #me when i have free time: *doesn't read tsc books* 🙃 lol #literally me several times while thinking about this: I'M GONNA CRY I MISS THESE CHARACTERS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH ALEC TESSA JEM CRISTINA #EVERYONE DO THEY KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM 😭#jem is still my weakness i can't think too long about him or i'll cry #also tessa and she's my absolute favorite #but jem makes me cry more 😭 really all of herongraystairs just #rip my heart out thanks <3 #bye they mean so much to me ;-; why have i not read a book in a million years 😭 anyway #thanks sm for the ask myle hope this is still ... interesting or something if you've only seen te show 😂💕#i think like half the characters maybe more are probably book only... sorry bout that lol #alksdjfhgakjflghs this was so fun tho honestly lmao i just love the tsc characters so much 😭 ok ok i'm done lmao #shoutouts to kieran kingson / cecily herondale / ty blackthorn / kit herondale for almost making it on here 🤪#and shoutout just bc i fucking love them <3 #asks #awkwardcaterpillar #tsc #glee #i took too long on this lmao but it was a nice break i guess even tho i was kind of taking a break before sdlkgfj #i got boba tho and had the whole thing while answering this which was nice 😂 anyway sorry this is so long the tags too alksdhgfj

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alma-berry · 4 years

Text

Timeless Horizons

A sweet little Kitty fic, with a special surprise! This is a collaboration with the amazing @toka-sketch, who made two beautiful illustrations for this story.

Here’s a little sneak peek of Dru and Ty! You can see the full illustrations of them and Kit down at the bottom, as they are filled with spoilers!

Enjoy ❤

Dru is hiding.

Yes, it’s practically comical by now. She’d spent far too much time trying to avoid closing herself from her family and be more present, but today… she can’t help herself. The institute is just swamped with people, with preparations, with the shadow of old ghosts. The only ghost she actually wished to see was Livvy, who by all means should have been present for her brother’s engagement party. Instead, she dreads of meeting the more corporal ghosts of her past… plenty of whom was invited.

Hens, the hiding. Dru wasn’t stupid enough to do it inside the institute, where early guests and the battalion of her siblings were probably itching to make her fold napkins or whatever if any of them laid eyes on her. She was hiding outside the sanctuary, running her bare toes over the sandy concrete stairs that lead to a road connecting the highway.

In a mundane scenario, this wouldn’t have been the brightest choice for a hiding spot, but everyone uses portals these days anyway… it’s not like Magnus Bane would make a road trip out of it and drive all the way from New York to Los Angeles. Dru was sure he doesn’t even drive to the grocery store, not that he even needed to when he could just snap his fingers and voila!

Dru sighed in frustration, she would have loved to be able to summon up some Carmel corn right about now… hiding is dull work.

A loud sound of something like crackling grew closer to where she sat.

Dru sprang to her feet, not intending to be caught in a welcoming party of any sort. But when she started to head back into the institute, a single dark figure became visible right in front of her.

It was a man, climbing down off his motorcycle. There was something familiar about the fluid movement of his body that made her stop in her place and stare.

Long, strong thighs wrapped in tight dark gear stretched as they lifted themselves off the massive bike. Dru arched her eyebrows and let her gaze linger over the soft leather of the rider’s jacket with quiet appreciation, and latched onto the strands of fair hair that peaked out of the helmet that still lay on his head.

A ring of recognition went through her, and it wasn’t long before she connected the dots. This was Jace Herondale.

She ran towards him, avoiding the questions that his abrupt appearance brought up - where was Clary? How did he bring his motorcycle from New York? And most importantly, was it the one that could fly?

Before she could call for him, the man lifted his helmet and a curtain of long, golden curls fell on his neck. Dru’s breath caught in her throat as long, elegant fingers pushed back the tangle of hair and made way for two lucid blue eyes.

This was not Jace Herondale. This, Dru realized with a sharp pang in her chest, was Kit.

“What,” her voice pitched, “the hell are you doing here?”

The shock made her words sharp and shrill. She blushed with sudden guilt, and it was a moment until she remembered she was more than entitled to be upset to see Kit Herondale.

Dru wasn’t supposed to be so surprised to see him. Jem, Tessa, and their cute little peanut, Mina, were already there, but when they said Kit would probably be joining them later, Dru assumed it was just an excuse for Kit to bail on them. Again. She was angry with him, for leaving them, for lying to her. And above all, for leaving Ty.

She cleared her throat and sharpened her gaze on his eye, but the look she found in them silenced her. Kit looked at her like he was afraid she’ll put a blade between his teeth. He also looked like he would have let her. Maybe that look, of a convicted criminal, was what made her soften her expression… and when she did, Kit visibly relaxed, but kept his distance from her all the same.

“I was invited,” Kit said. His voice was husky, hard, but his body was all discomfort. He looked at his boots, his hands twisting down his front like a complicated pretzel.

“I didn’t want to come, I know you probably don’t want to see me,” Dru could feel the acid, eating away the iron of his voice. “But Emma threatened to shave my head while I sleep if I missed this, so… yeah. I didn’t have much choice.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Said Dru.

Kit’s brows rose alarmingly high, his body closing in on itself. Dru knew animals from years of watching her older brother bringing all sorts of creatures inside the institute, so she had seen her fair share of cornered animals. Kit looked like one, so Dru schooled her face into a soft, neutral expression.

“Listen I’m, I’m sorry about-“ He was panting, fighting so hard to get the words out. From his expression, every syllable was a knife to the chest.

Dru silently took back every bad thought she had about Kit. If even after all of this time he reacted like this to the mere sight of her, he couldn’t have been so cold and indifferent like she convinced herself he must be. She hated the times when she caught herself doing the things she criticized most in others, like twisting the truth into an opinion. Like ignoring facts, knowledge, experience, and boxing them into a mold born of hurt.

Searching Kit’s half-shut eyes, Dru let herself remember the boy who lied to her only to keep her brother’s secret safe. The boy who lied only because he had to, not because he wanted to.

“I’m sorry I ditched you and-“, Kit’s voice was small and his face was a patchwork of pale and blotchy. Dru couldn’t take it anymore.

“It’s okay, Kit. I know why you left, it’s…” Dru swallowed hard. “I understand.”

“You do?” Kit paled. He looked honestly startled before his face settled into a frozen non-reaction.

“Yeah… I know about Livvy, and how it, umm, didn’t work out.”

Kit’s blank expression didn’t change, it was as empty as the desert’s sky. Something pulled up Dru’s stomach. She opened her mouth, but between one blink of an eye to another, Kit’s stone face washed under by a strange reservation, and he mumbled “Yeah, okay. Umm, thank you.”

He wouldn’t meet her eyes. He was scanning the institute behind them so intensely she wondered for a minute if someone was approaching, and then she realized - he must be thinking about Ty.

Kit radiated with coiled-up energy, tense and unforgiving. Dru wasn’t sure if he was afraid, expectant, or both.

“He’s not here.” She said in a small, soothing voice.

Kit stayed still, but Dru detected a slight tightness in his jaw. Was he disappointed? It must be confusing for him, being here after so long, in his hometown, in the first place he learned about being a Shadowhunter. He must be completely overwhelmed. She remembered how pained Kit seemed to be when he tried to apologize to her just a minute ago, and it was just her. He probably would’ve had a fit if it was Ty here in her place.

“He’s still at the Scholomance.” She said into the silence. “They have this super-secret, highly sensitive, just for elected few stupid mission.” Dru let out the exasperated mixture of pride and annoyance her brother’s stories usually made her feel, and although Kit has just nodded once, she was sure his lips had twitched upwards a tiny bit.

“So... a motorcycle, huh?” She smiled at him. “Very Herondale of you.”

Kit let out a full-fledged smirk at her comment, and Dru felt a familiar tap on her heart. This was the Kit she remembered, and the feeling made her push a little more. “I knew they called it Grand Theft Auto for a reason. I can’t wait to hear what else you managed to steal from the head of the New York institute.”

Her taunt was a downright success. Kit barked a laugh so genuine, Dru felt thirteen all over again. She would poke him some more if it made him this cheerful. “It’s not considered theft if it was given you freely... just don’t tell that to anyone. I don’t want people to think I lost my touch.”

Dru felt her eyes widen in surprise. “So it is Jace’s motorcycle? I knew it!”

“Yeah…” Kit rocked on his heels and glanced over at his bike lovingly. ”He gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday.”

That is one legendary gift, Dru concluded. She wouldn’t mind a cousin that gifts sexy automobiles, but the thought of Julian approving to let her near a thing like that was less likely than her becoming the youngest consul in Shadowhunters history.

“So... how did you get it here?” Dru asked. “It’s not exactly a short ride from New York or Devon.”

“Magnus,” Kit answered with a shrug. “He portaled us and then just... did that thing he does where he poofs things out of thin air, like chocolate-chip cookies or... tents. Magic is so...”

“Yeah.” Dru sighed in agreement, thinking about that caramel corn.

“So where were you?” They began to trail back towards the institute. She could feel Kit tensing up with every step. She didn’t know if it was just because it brought up memories, or if it was something else. She still debated herself whether to pry into that subject, while she pried into others.

“Umm... I just,” Kit’s fingers roamed through his long curls in a somewhat nervous gesture. “I thought I’d check out my dad’s old place. See if there was anything left.” His sky blue eyes seemed clouded with memories, and from the little she knew or remembered, they weren’t all good. “I didn’t really get a chance last time, after, umm,” Kit cleared his voice. “After he died.”

He sounded stiff, and a bit drained. She almost forgot he was an orphan, like her. Of course, she had Julian, which was an amazing brother-father, and Kit has Jem and Tessa. She didn’t know Johnny Rook at all, but from what she heard, the Carstairs were definitely an improvement.

“And did you find anything?” She asked, carefully.

Kit took a long moment to answer her. They were already at the sanctuary’s doors when he finally answered.

“No. There was nothing left.”

Kit’s appearance didn’t make her want to join the herd of party planners all of a sudden, and by the looks of him, Kit wasn’t up to a large reunion yet. So she offered him to go practice in the training room and was pleasantly surprised when he agreed.

Kit wasn’t a regular Shadowhunter, in the way that he didn’t have to endure rigorous training for his entire life the way Dru was. So when she picked up her favorite misericord and gotten into a fighting stance, she felt rather confident that she could give Kit a run for his money, even with all of his bulging muscles and chiseled arms.

She was absolutely, painfully, wrong.

Kit might not have been raised as a Shadowhunter, but whatever it was they were feeding him in Devon, it made him a beast in a fight. Well, maybe not so savage as it sounded, but he whooped her ass in a matter of seconds, flipping her on her back without breaking a sweat.

“Damn it, Herondale.” She gasped. “Aren’t you supposed to be inexperienced? Why are you so good at this?”

Kit’s face lit up like a campfire. “Am I?”

Dru blew out a whine. “Don’t get all modest on me, you’re ruining your brand.”

There was nothing modest in the grin Kit shot her back. He flashed his teeth wide, like a Cheshire cat, and ran up to climb the training room’s pitched roof until he balanced himself lightly on the highest of the rafters. He didn’t pause to look at her and just jumped gracefully, somersaulting in the air like he was a goddamned acrobat.

Right before he straightened up, his black shirt, which had a Deadpool logo, a fact that made her enormously happy, having it being another thing that looked like the Kit she knew, rose up a little and flashed the tip of a black pattern that was inked into his lower back. Dru wondered which rune it was, and who put it on him. It was such a strange location for a rune, not somewhere you can mark yourself. It must have been Jace, but that left the question of which rune Kit needed Jace to mark him with, that he couldn’t do himself?

“Was that sufficiently Herondale?”

She stared at him, completely dumbfounded until she caught herself and shut her gaping mouth. “I’d say so… yeah. You caught in quickly, haven’t you?”

Kit brushed the dust off his gear pants and shrugged.

“Jace. That man is… relentless.” Kit flopped on one of the training mats, making a loud poof when he did. “You know, he almost threw me off a tree once, when I refused to jump? Twisted my ankle three times. He said if I won’t make it, he’d disown me. Still not sure what I was supposed to be disowned off, his rusty collection in the armoire?”

He had a British lilt to his voice. The way he pronounced certain words, round and elongated, was something he didn’t used to do back then. It was charming, Dru thought. He was charming. A bit self-conscious, still, with the way he occasionally tugged down his shirt or bite his lower lip, scrunching it to one side.

Dru always thought that if she ever met Kit again, she’d let him have a piece of her mind. But he was so… Kit. Quiet, sarcastic, familiar. The things about him that felt foreign to her weren’t really foreign, but more of an enhancement of what he used to be. There was something bright about him, almost luminous. He wasn’t particularly happy at the moment, so she couldn’t blame it on his mood. But there was something in his features… they were fine, delicate. He was all muscle, but the way his hair fell on his skin, gold on gold, felt fragile, almost monochromatic.

Kit must have sensed her staring, and his eyes narrowed at her in a silent question.

She put the misericord back on its hanging and placed her hands over her hips.

“So, wanna sneak down to the beach?”

The infinite stretch of water in front of her was shining bright like there was a blanket of diamonds spread all across it. The sun was low, and every ray hugged the waves with bright whispers.

They weren’t so sneaky as she hoped. Giving Kit a sideways glance, she hid a smile, remembering how Emma crushed him in a tight embrace.

“You are so big, Kit! I haven’t seen you in a year and you became Godzilla. I do not approve, Jem. He’s not allowed to be stronger than me.”

Kit choked out a bruised laugh. “You don’t have to worry about that, Em. Just… lay off with the hugging, you’ll crack a rib if you won’t let go of me.”

Mina’s answering giggle was more than enough to break the two apart. She reached her arms for Kit and he tugged her to him without a second’s hesitation.

He reminded her of Jules so much, of how he used to hold Tavvy when he was her age, nuzzling his baby hair and murmuring soft words to his ear.

There was something so vulnerable about this Kit, but when he was with his baby sister, she could see how he simply glowed. The love that he felt for that little girl was so evident, so undeniable, it made Dru’s heart play a low, painful beat.

He seemed troubled now, his brows screwed together, as he stared into the sunbathed horizon.

“How is he?”

It was almost a whisper, but Dru heard.

“Alright.” She answered. “Tall. Taller than Julian.”

Kit’s shoulders hunched inwards, and the grip on his arms was so tight, she could see his knuckles whitening.

“But, how is he? With Livvy, and,” he choked on the last word. “With everything.”

Of course he wanted to know about that. She almost forgot he knew at all. Dru was so accustomed to having to keep the slight shifts of Ty’s attention to herself, knowing he must interact with Livvy in a way that was reserved to them alone, even after death.

“He’s okay, she’s… okay.” She said. “Not that I could really say for myself. He doesn’t say much about her. He’s better now, with me.”

Dru loved her brother fiercely. All of her siblings, but Ty… Ty was something else. She didn’t love him more, but she loved him differently. In him, she could sometimes see her Livvy, and wondered whether it’s a twin thing, or was it just her presence, revealed and kept only by him. They were better, now. There were things he only said to Dru, like the story of how they found his Lynx.

“Oh, he has a cat! Well, she’s not really a cat. She’s a Carpathian lynx. Scary as hell, doesn’t like anyone other than Ty.” Dru said with her nose screwed. She liked cats and didn’t appreciate Irene’s snobby attitude, even if she gave her the creeps.

Kit muffled a laugh. “Sounds like Church. That cat gives all other cats bad reputation, devil creature.”

Dru’s hands flew to her mouth. “Church! Awww I miss that furball!”

Kit snorted. “You can have him.”

Dru let herself look at Kit’s eyes. The smirk on his lips didn’t reach them.

“And you? How are you, Kit?”

Kit seemed startled by the question. For a second, the guard he kept up slid off him, and an endless sorrow spilled away from him like ink, staining his face with shadows. It didn’t linger, but it didn’t really keep away.

“I’m okay, Drusilla.” He put a calloused hand on her arm and squeezed. “So are you, it seems. I’m happy to see you again.”

The smile Dru gave him was wide, silently trying to convey that so was she.

She patted his arm and rose to her feet, dusting sand off her black velvet overalls, which were an unfortunate choice for the beach.

“I’ll head up to see if they need some last-minute help. Can’t pull the hostess trick for much longer, I suppose.”

Kit only nodded and fixed his gaze back onto the sinking sun.

When Dru was halfway to the institute’s doors, she noticed a tall, dark figure headed her way. Her breath caught in her chest, and she ran towards him, blessing the sand for muffling the sound of her feet.

It wasn’t long until she reached him, her eyes tingling with excitement and apprehension. Ty reached for her shoulder, grabbing hard. He didn’t even look at her, her face set ahead, on the black and gold figure sitting a breath from the water.

“Ty! When did you get here? I thought you weren’t coming, Jules and Em almost called this thing off!” She was jabbering, she knew it, but she wanted to distract Ty so she could wage his mood, see if he could handle Kit’s presence.

“The mission was over,” Ty answered. “I texted Julian a few hours ago. When did he get here?”

Dru stared at her brother until she realized he was talking about Kit. “Oh! Umm, a few hours ago? We trained together a bit and then we just… hung out here. I was just heading back, do you…” she hesitated, “do you wanna come with me?”

Ty averted his gaze to his left hand, which was when Dru noticed the agitated movement.

“No.” He said. “Did he, umm,” Dru wasn’t used to seeing her brother so hesitant, one of his hands fluttering, one clutching her shoulder in an iron grip. “How is he?”

His tone, his words, the exact mirror to what Kit had asked her moments ago. Ty didn’t try to mask his feelings, Dru guessed he wasn’t aware enough of her presence to try.

So she weighed her words carefully, before answering. “Sad. I think he’s sad.”

Ty’s breath hitched, and for a moment, she thought it was a reaction to her words. But when she looked into his stormy eyes, she saw that he was looking down at the waters again. At Kit.

Dru turned to see Kit has risen to his feet. He was chucking his jacket away, unbuckling his pants. She’d never seen him swim when he was staying with them, but the salty smell of the ocean and the light breeze was intoxicating enough for her to understand the urge to plunge inside the ocean.

Kit reached for the hem of his shirt and started to lift his shirt up. Dru tensed, suddenly remembering the rune she glimpsed back at the training room. She straightened her back, readying her eyes to catch the mark from the large distance. But when Kit’s shirt rose up over his neck and his fair hair slid sideways, she could hear the air escaping her lungs, echoed in the stunned gasp that came from Ty’s direction.

Kit’s entire back was inked with an intricate pattern, looping from the nape of his neck, down his shoulder blades, and all the way to his lower back. A beautiful arrangement of vines, tracing the dips and ridges of his muscled back, the black, thin shapes draping his skin like skeleton feathers. It wasn’t a rune at all, it was a tattoo.

“Thorns.” She whispered, disbelief marking every syllable.

“Blackthorns.”

She turned back to look at her older brother and was startled to find a fierce smile blazing through his lips.

His hand left her shoulder, and he was walking slowly towards Kit, who had already lost his gear pants and was paddling through shallow waters.

Dru just stood there, her thoughts an incoherent tangle inside her head. She watched Ty making his way towards Kit, and found that her heart understood before her mind did. It was unexpected, to say the least, but it also wasn’t.

Memories washed over Dru as she watched Ty closing the distance between them, three years worth of distance, and felt the past washing over her at once. It was the way it was always supposed to be, the two of them together.

With one last glance towards the strange painting of past and future, Dru turned her back to the sunset and headed back home.

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thatnerdnextdoor24 · 3 years

Text

Under the Mistletoe

I’ve been holding onto this baby all year. Happy holidays!! Enjoy it the best you can with the ones you love

This is Part One. Read Part Two!!

Ao3

More Kit/Ty

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadowhunters were never much into Christmas. In this, they and Kit had in common. Johnny Rook thought Christmas as pointless and just another mundane marketing ploy. Though it was strange, when his first Christmas in this new realm approached, it was nice to know that he wouldn't be missing anything.

That's what he had thought, anyway. But it appeared that Tessa and Jem were much more interested in the holiday shenanigans. When Kit had woken on the 1 of December that year, he had come downstairs to find that the ghosts of Christmas past had vomited all over his house. Tinsel draped along the walls, shiny glass ornaments on a humongous tree. The scent of cinnamon drifting in from the kitchen. Then there was Jem and Tessa dancing together in front of the fireplace, Bing Cosby singing holiday cheer from Tessa’s vintage record player.

It had surprised him to say the least. Then again, Jem and Tessa weren't Shadowhunters anymore. They lived life in between, stuck in the middle of Downworld, Shadowhunters, and mundanes. His first Christmas with them had been daunting. They had opened their arms to him, wanted to give him love and warmth and acceptance. And that almost made it worse. Because Kit didn't know how to act. He felt awkward when someone asked what he wanted for Christmas, and then even more embarrassed when they actually gave him what he had asked for.

It's taken a few Christmas's for him to get the hang of it. Though Kit thought that a little bit of embarrassment would always stick with him. Now, years later, after adventure, after adventure, after adventure. Christmas came by again, and Kit found that he truly wanted it. He wanted the white snow, the cinnamon cookies, pine trees, candy canes, brightly wrapped presents, and, most importantly; a vision of cuddling by the fire, with the one he loved most.

It may not have been the first Christmas Kit spent with Ty Blackthorn, but it was the first where the Las Angeles Institute held the annual Christmas party. So maybe that meant something to him. Kit didn't really know exactly why he had decided that it would be this Christmas. This year. This...week. (Was it really so soon?) In which he would finally do it. Over the past years, they had both grown. Up, apart, up again, and back together. If anything. Kit learned what he should have already known. That Christopher Herondale and Tiberius Blackthorn, were written in the stars. Destined to be together, no matter what may come their way.

So it would be this year, this Christmas. Where Kit would do the most terrifying, horrifying, yet exciting, righteous, thing he had ever done.

Kit was going to ask Ty to marry him.

And if one was going to marry Tiberius Blackthorn, there were a few things that one needed to do.

First, one needed to notify the rest of the Blackthorn Clan, and let them know that you were marrying their brother. So that's what Kit had done. He had decided three weeks ago that it would be this Christmas, when he proposed to Ty. So, that same day, Kit drove to the house that Julian and Emma shared on the beach, (about a 40 minute drive from Kit and Ty's downtown apartment.) And knocked on the door.

He had been so nervous. When he had sat at the kitchen table with Julian and Emma. They had thought that something was wrong. But Kit had no doubts. None at all. He knew he would have no regrets. "I'm going to ask Ty to marry me." He blurted. Julian had choked on his tea, Emma had beamed. Kit knew he had to finish talking before Julain could start.

"But I'm not here to ask you for permission. Because that's not your choice, it's Ty's. So really you don't have a say in this. So I'm not asking you for permission. I love Ty. And so do you, and I know that you were more of a father to him than a brother. So it was only fair that you would be the first to know. I love Ty. And I want to marry him." Kit had never felt so sure about anything in his life.

Julian could see that in the way Kit held himself, in the soft pitch his voice took when he talked about Ty. It was the look in his eyes, and the twitching of his fingers. Kit loved Ty so much that at this moment, nothing else mattered. Julian laughed. Kit jumped in surprise and Emma scooted away, they exchanged a quizzical look while Julian caught his breath. Finally, he sighed, looking up at Kit with a warm smile. "Okay." He said.

Not really what Kit had expected. "Okay?" He and Emma echoed. Julian nodded. "You said you're going to ask Ty to marry you. And I'm telling you 'okay'." His face was beaming, and Kit felt his heart burst and the tension in his shoulders drop. He may not have been there to ask for permission, but it definitely would've been bad if Julain had disapproved.

It had been such a weight off his shoulders. And once he had said it out loud, to another person, it didn't feel so much like a far off dream. The more people he told, the more right it felt. Because there had been a lot of people to tell. He drove to the L.A. Institute to tell Helen, Aline, and Tavvy. He had to get a portal to New York so he could tell Mark and Christina. Dru had been at the New York Institute with Kit's parabatai, Ash. So he had told them too. Only Ash had already known. Because Ash knew Kit maybe even better than Ty did.

Then he had to tell his side too. And he had to do that before Ash did. (He couldn't keep a secret. Probably a fairie thing.) Jace had been so excited he wanted to call everyone he knew, it was a good thing Clary had been there. Portaling again that day was exhausting, but he made it to Devon. Tessa had beamed, Jem had cried. Mina was nearly as excited as Jace.

It was almost dinner time when he finally got home. Ty had been waiting, laying on the couch with a book in his hands and Irene in his lap. The smile he gave Kit was soft, lovely. It melted Kit completely. He had promptly sat on the floor in front of the couch. Ty raised his arm so Kit could lean his tired head against Ty's chest. Ty let his arm back down, hand tucking into Kit's hair. "Read to me?" Kit asked quietly.

So Ty did.

It had become their norm. For Ty to lay on the couch like this, for Kit to sit like this, for Irene to purr softly while Kit stroked her fur. For Ty to read outloud, in his steady voice. Kit closed his eyes, and was certain once more. He was making the right choice.

That had been three weeks ago. Three long, stressing, weeks. That mostly consisted of Kit going into jewelry shops, getting nervous and antsy, and running out again before his sticky fingers, well, stuck to anything.

He had taken Ash with him to a few stores. It helped to have him there when Kit got nervous. But, Ash had to keep squeezing his arm, so often that the store clerks thought that they were the two getting married. Ash found this hilarious and laughed so hard that he nearly knocked over a display case of diamonds. They were then escorted out of the store, and Kit was still ringless.

Kit relayed this dilemma to Dru that night while the three of them were walking through Central Park. The ground was covered in snow, they were all bundled up in their warmest clothes. Despite the cold, Central Park was the only place in New York where Ash didn’t gain a headache from all the iron of the city. They had spent the day in NYC, getting some last minute Christmas shopping done. Being in the city that long, had started to give even Kit a headache. He could only imagine how bad Ash’s head had started pounding, but Ash hadn’t said anything about it. Of course, Kit had been able to tell that his smile didn’t reach his eyes or that he wasn’t completely listening to them. So he had casually steered them in the direction of the park, claiming he was done with shopping for the day.

Dru gave him a curious look and said, “Just give him your Herondale ring.” Kit blinked at her, and Ash lifted Kit’s right hand up, studying the ring. “I didn’t know this was the Herondale symbol…” he murmured. Kit decided to ignore him for a moment, giving Dru his full attention. She rolled her eyes, “Honestly Kit, do you know anything about Shadowhunter weddings?”

“....Gold clothes?”

“You’re hopeless.”

Dru was probably right. To be fair, Kit had never been a part of a shadowhunter marriage. He had only even seen a couple of them. But at least now he had his ring problem sorted. Kit had to admit, exchanging family rings did have something romantic going for it.

So alerting the Blackthorn Clan; Done.

Getting a ring; Done.

Actually popping the question…

Work in progress.

Kit spends that night at the New York Institute. They had returned and Dru had pestered him with questions about the engagement and the eventual marriage. Then the rest of the New York Institute residents broke out the drinks and the poker chips. Alec and Magnus were called over, and Kit was not allowed to leave. Not that he really wanted to, either. Even if he did miss Ty, he liked hanging out with friends, too. And he knew that Ty could use some time to himself every now and then. He did text Ty for a moment, letting him know that he wouldn’t be home that night.

Kit

I’ve been forced into a

game of poker.

don’t wait up.

Sherlock <3

How bad are you

losing?

Kit

How do you know

I’m not winning??

Sherlock <3

I’ve played poker with

you Kit. You suck at it

Kit

O ye of little faith…

Sherlock <3

It’s not a test of faith.

You just suck at poker

Kit

I’m crushed.

My own boyfriend

doesn’t believe in my

Poker face :(

Sherlock <3

Again, how badly are you losing?

Kit

Ash is kicking my ass

Jace is trying to steal

my chips.

Simon thought we

were playing black

jack.

Clary and Isabelle are

cheating and teamed up,

combining their cards.

Magnus is the dealer

and is definitely giving

me bad cards on

purpose.

Sherlock <3

I don’t think he is, love.

Pretty sure you’re just bad at poker.

Kit

Akdsnfskjfsa

stoooooop

I’m gonna win!!!!!!

Sherlock <3

Sure

And when you lose,

I’ll give you a kiss to make it better.

Kit

And when I win

I’ll give YOU a victory kiss

;)

Sherlock <3

Sure you will, baby.

Kit smiled at his phone like an idiot for a moment. When Ty called him “baby”, something just melted right in his chest and he felt like a fifteen year old boy catastrophically in love with his best friend all over again.

Then Jace tried to steal another one of his chips and Kit had to swat him away and pay attention once more.

He did finally crawl through a portal home that morning, around eight. But seeing as LA was three hours behind, Kit wasn’t surprised to enter a quiet and warm apartment. Irene lifted her head from where she was curled up on the couch, she yawned at him and then went back to sleep. That was about at warm a welcome as he expected. Kit crept, silently, into the bedroom. Where rumpled sheets and a lover were curled up, tangled in one another. Ty lay on his stomach, arms sprawled out. He was laying on Kit’s side of the bed.

A smirk graced his lips. For a moment, he leaned against the door frame, and just drank the picture in. The sun was barely coming up, scattering red and orange through the window and across the bed. Ty’s lithe and strong body outlined against the pale bedsheets and the worn quilts his mother had made so long ago. One, red and green for the Christmas season, was pulled up, above his chin. His black, silky, hair spilled just over the top of it.

Kit could just barely make out Ty’s eyes shutting even tighter against the sunlight filtering in. Using all his fairie and shadowhunter stealth, Kit pulled the curtain back, blocking out the sun. Ty sighed and relaxed. Carefully, gently, Kit climbed into the bed, beneath the quilts and blankets. He sank into the warm and familiar comfort that always came from being with Ty. Wrapping his arms around Ty’s middle, laying on his side and nuzzling his face into the back of Ty’s neck. He felt Ty hum beneath him. Felt the low baritone rumble through his chest and ripple up his neck.

He pressed a kiss into his (hopefully) soon to be fiancee’s soft curls. “Go back to sleep,” Kit whispered, the sound barely audible and low and throaty even to his own ears. Ty moved his hand to take Kit’s from where it rested around his waist. “Welcome home,” He murmured, sinking deeper into Kit’s embrace. Kit smiled, “What are you doing on this side of the bed?” He asked, because Ty liked things in order and he liked having his own side of the bed where he could keep his pillows straight and sheets tucked in while Kit’s side of the bed often laid a rumpled mess. “M’mells like you…” Ty trailed.

Kit feels his entire face heat up, and he’s grinning from ear to ear as he gives Ty another gentle squeeze and a kiss on the back of the head. "Did you win?" Ty asks, he sounds nearly asleep again. Kit chuckles. "Not at all." But Ty has already fallen back asleep, his chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. It only takes a few moments, with him breathing in Ty's scent and the blankets warm around him, for Kit to drift off completely.

39 notes · View notes

zpetlovesglitter · 3 years

Text

The Wicked Powers Theories

The Wicked Powers has recently been getting me excited WAY too much - which says a lot about how weird I am since Cassie hasn’t even started on it yet (LOL).

aND, so, I kind of thought it’d be nice to jot down some predictions and theories on how the series might go and maybe some thoughts on THE SHIPS (that really do be the real TEA).

So.Here we go.And do let me know about any thoughts you have on this topic as well - I read anything about TWP like a crazed creature these days istg.

1)The POV has already been envisioned to be from Ty, Dru and Kit. I absolutely love this settlement since they are all very intriguing characters. Ty is an interesting person and his actions are always unpredictable, so we might enjoy this one. And,I believe he is at The Scholomance while the story progresses, followed by Livvy (Ghost Livvy, I mean).It’s still unclear what Livvy’s situation is, so I can’t wait to know more about that - it’s bound to be something unexpected. And, as for Dru, it’s kinda obvious. We all know that WE HAVE A LOVE TRIANGLE COMING UP. But, other than that, we also know she attends The Academy and finally starts to makes some friends and even has that really close Italian (..or was it Spanish???) Shadowhunter friend who’s her age and Cassie also revealed that the two are really tight indeed. And I will be honing in on the Love Triangle soon - I told you I’ll be trying to spill whatever tea I’m guessing at. And, as for the last character WE HAVE KIT! OMFG YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE OLDER BROTHER KIT.LIKE GOSH DARN IT HE IS SO ADORABLE AND MINA IS SO EFFING CUTE I CAN’T EVEN- AND KIT’S TRAINING WITH JEM AND HE IS GOING TO BE A WELL-TRAINED SHADOWHUNTER IN TWP, SO YAYYYY!! And, I absolutely CANNOT wait for MinaXKit interactions, they are the cutest siblings ever and I absolutely know that Mina grows up to be sarcastic. I can’t wait for the possible sarcastic arguments between Kit and 4-year old Mina. YOU THINK I FORGOT ABOUT KITxTY? NOPE.THE REAL SHET’S COMING UP.

2)Now,we know that the storyline is going to have something to do with that Faerie Heirloom that was from the Rosales Family. And, Cassie also said it was going to be kind of an Arthurian Legend-ish story. If you don’t know the Arthurian Legend, I suggest you read on it. I’m not sure if Cassie meant the characters and LOVE Aspect of it or the LEGEND aspect of it as in the stuff about Excalibur and all. But, for now we’ll view it in both and examine it, shall we?

King Arthur's reign ends after his wife and best knight have an affair.

This is the drama in the legend.But, there are no relationships with the MCs yet. So idk. I’m clueless. Like, maybe Dru has a relationship?? Okay I’m clutching at practically nothingness so don’t judge me. :/

So,it’s obviously something to do with the LEGEND.

I am afraid I cannot say too much about it, since I have never read too deeply about it. But, here’s some of the basics:

-He managed to pull out Excalibur from the rock it was stuck in.

-He wielded Excalibur for the people and not for his own self-interest.

-He gets help from a wizard named Merlin.

-The peeps go on a quest.

And I have this reference from a website..I’ll hit u with the link as well, if you’d like to read more on it like I did

Arthurian legend, the body of stories and medieval romances, known as the matter of Britain, centring on the legendary king Arthur. Medieval writers, especially the French, variously treated stories of Arthur’s birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love between his knight Sir Lancelot and his queen, Guinevere. This last situation and the quest for the Holy Grail (the vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper and given to Joseph of Arimathea) brought about the dissolution of the knightly fellowship, the death of Arthur, and the destruction of his kingdom.

(I’ve linked it with the text above.)

So,now I thought this was interesting- the destruction part. After all, it’s something I’m expecting about the Shadowhunters. Will the Clave maybe be destroyed? Or maybe Faerie will be destroyed? So,there were three things that brought on this uh Destruction.FIRST, his wife and his best buddy were going behind his back and doing them lovey-dovey stuff. And they all go on some quest to retrieve something important to them. So, this sounds like something plausible to be the plot of TWP. Maybe the Heirloom’s missing? And who goes on the quest though? Maybe they venture through Faerie? BLAH MY HEAD HURTS SOME THINGS ARE BETTER TO BE SURPRISED WITH ;)

-----I kinda scrolled back up while writing about Janus down there and remembered CLARY MIGHT BE TAKEN HOSTAGE LIKE YESS AND THEY GO FIND HER MAYBE?

3)We will defo see Christina, Mark and Kieran at some point- no worries, Emma and Julian too. Happy Couples! XD

4)So,then we can look forward to Dru and Jaime’s interactions. I am absolutely excited for this the most, as a shipper of the two. If you remember, we saw Jaime ignoring her for a while back there at the end of QOAAD and then he says “See ya at the Academy soon ig”. I really do hope they meet and hang out as friends, at least. I am excited to see what kind of trope it’s gonna be tho. Like, do they ignore each other and remain awkward until they start the adventure stuff in the book where they eventually have to talk to each other after years or smth. Or, maybe they’re really good friends rn. But, what I’ll warn y’all shippers is that they might not end up together, and could wind up as brother-sister-ish kind of best buddies. Which is equally cute a relationship imo. It’s a really sweet thing to be, really. I lowkey hope Cassie spins something beautiful for their relationship like a sibling-like best friends kind of thing. But, I feel like they might have feelings for each other in secret. Or maybe they date. Or maybe they suppress their secret-feelings for the sake of friendship later on in the book and end up having that really sweet friendship I was talking about.There are SO many options and that is precisely why I am so freaking excited.

5)JAIME ROCIO ROSALES. Like, I have this gut feeling that he might end up being my fave male protagonist character in TSC. He’s got it ALL. Like, the sense of humour, the looks, the bubbly yet brooding personality, the quirks and OFC THE FRICKING NAME ITSELF IS CUTE AF LIKE BRUH I CANNOT WAIT TO READ ABOUT HIM.I have so much to say about Jaime but I’d rather we let ourselves simply wait for the crumbs Cassie might give us or maybe reread all his parts in TDA like I do everyday or just wait for the book to come out rather than simp for someone we know nothing about yet....

6)Ash Morgenstern. He’s a cute lil bean. That was random and untrue lmao. He’s not a ‘lil bean’. He’s totally badass with dem wings and all, but we know he’s soft inside for Janus and ofc Dru, I believe. I find him the most intriguing character, honestly. I would love to know what goes through his head. He’s actually, like, the one character in TSC that I don’t have all figured out. He gon surprise us all for sure tho. He is awesome. That’s all I have to say for now. And he looks up to Janus which is SO GODDAMN SWEET AHHHH. And THE WINGS I CANNOT WAIT TO READ MORE ABOUT THE WINGS IT SOUNDED SO BADASS ISTG I LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT GOSH DARN IT. But he really do be a cute lil bean lowkey tho.

7)Kit and Ty LOL. I have no words really. But lemme tell you how it might go. There is definitely going to be some kind of reunion. AND THEN THAT’S WHERE IT GETS CUTE. They could either be awkward and we know what tension that gets us-perhaps some whisperings of My Watson...(? ;) and maybe they go all sad and brooding with dem looks later OR, they could be the sweetie-pies they were before and be happy and all HIII BUDDDYYYY MISSED YAAA LESS GO BE DETECTIVES YAY BURN IT UP MAH BUDDY!! Either way it’s going to be cute af and we know it . TRUST IN CASSIE Y’ALL.I trust Cassie to let this ship sail the seven seas and seven more like it deserves.

8)Ash and Dru So, Ash has a strange lil fixation on Dru and I believe he even thought she was ‘pretty’ or something. It was definitely a good adjective, but I think he said ‘pretty’. idk but we know he likes her. and I can imagine a nice relationship. I can picture them with her hair flying in the wind and they meet for the first time or smth. IHNI WHAT IM SAYING. But, there will be DRAMA. They are going to be real cute with each other YOU CAN BET ON THAT.And, by cute I do not necessarily mean ‘Oh, you have the loveliest eyes’ or some shet like that. I have a feeling it’s going to be a case of ‘Well,that’s not weird or anything YOU WEIRDO - NO U - NO U - NO U’ However this relationship is going to go, I know that it’ll be a sweet one.And, for all you shippers of these two, I have no assurances that HE IS THE ONE or anything but he is definitely a candidate. Jaime is going to be some competition I can tell. So, idk. It depends on the Jaime x Dru ship to decide things for Ash x Dru ship imo, since it might be a no-brainer if the two have feelings for each other- I mean,Jaime is an actually perfect love interest in TSC, while Ash is strong potential Best-Friend material, so it’s ONLY if Jaime and Dru don’t like each other that way that Ash could make it as a love interest. So, if y’all wanna find out what’s in it for you guys, ask Cassie maybe about how the Jaime x Dru ship might go, the next time u wanna ask her ;)

9)Tavvy and maybe the kid Helen and Aline might have had We were getting hints of another baby, so HERE WE GO.Tavvy might have a playmate. :D. YAYYYYYYYYYY

10)Janus I’m honestly worried about him. He is a worrisome character. I hate empathising with the antagonist, personally. AAAAHHHH . I hope we see some character development in him. I really don’t want to see him as an antagonist in the story. He’s sweet and feels cheated, but he should realise that it ain’t Jace’s fault but SEBASTIAN’S fault. I would like for him to make amends with Jace :( And, also, he might get the story started in TWP tho idk. But, seriously tho, when he went home in that short story and Ash asked, “I thought you were gone forever?” or something of that sort and he shook his head sadly and Ash went soft for him. Like, that fricking broke my heart. I love this relationship tho. And, i hope Clary and him can be good friends. But, I feel like he might end up dying to save her or smth and make us all cry . T_T

11)WHAT TF IS GOING ON WITH THE SHADOWHUNTER POLITICS RN THO?HOW AND WHERE ARE THEY ALL SURVIVING TOGETHER WHAT IS THEIR SYSTEM AND STUFF THIS IS NOT A POINT WITH POTENTIAL THEORIES COZ HONESTLY I WANT TO BE SURPRISED BUT I THINK THEY MIGHT ALL JUST BE IN HIDING AND THEN IN TWP THEY MIGHT HAVE TO COME OUT FOR A QUEST OR SMTH AND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE SHADOWHUNTERS AT THE CLIMAX OF THIS WHOLE SERIES??? IT IS THE END OF TSC SO IM SCARED AND KINDA SAD TOO :(((((((

12)Thule We might learn more about the Thule world and maybe they restore it or maybe the Quest is in Thule. idk. we don’t know much, but Thule will most probably be explored a lot. Cassie wouldn’t have opened up Thule for no reason.

13)Zara and Emma Showdown? Befriend e/o ? What’s in store for these two? If it’s a showdown we get to see CORTANA YAY I AM OBSESSED WITH CORTANA NOW BECAUSE OF CORDELIA AND HER OBSESSION GOSH DARN IT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME

14)BIG WAR I see a huge war coming I just know it. It’s a climax so there MUST be a big war and so I cannot wait! Feel like there’s gonna be some deaths as well. Lowkey feel like Jia might die. I can feel it. :(

15)The best-friend shadowhunter of Dru is a nice thing to look forward to! I can’t wait to read about the two! And I love the fact that Dru is finally exposed to new people. And, for anyone who’s confused as to how she goes to the Academy, in QOAAD she only said she’ll have some maturity done AFTER some years . Those years are over and she at the Academy now hecc yeah I BELIEVE THE BFF IS CALLED THAI AND SHE’S FROM THE SPANISH INSTITUTE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG???

16)Magnus Bane He is literally everywhere. He gon be here too. No worries for all the Magnus Bane stans. He’ll make it here without a doubt! Good for you :). and the entire community of shadowhunters they literally always need him 17)THE MAIN MAIN PLOT THE SHADOWHUNTERS SHOWDOWN IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO ALSO BE RELATED TO THE PRINCES OF HELL COMING TOGETHER AND I AM TOO SCARED TO LOOK TOO INTO IT BUT WE KNOW SHIZ COMING GNJODIFPEDWEFHUGBJ VM

18)THIS IS KINDA RANDOM BUT I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE SELF-ESTEEM GROWTH IN DRU LIKE PLEASE SHE QUEEN MWAH

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allthemarrowoflife · 3 years

Note

Hi so I just saw your ask to rua and

a) thank you so much for sharing this, because I feel that way about james and Cordelia’s arc too? Like, there’s so much miscommunication and just general chaos when in other scenes they are level-headed, rational teenagers capable of using their brains? Honestly, all the drama is just getting to me (just like with clary and jace with everything that’s going on). At one point i know it‘s necessary but it’s just… tiring, you know? I used to like writing about James and Cordelia when chog was the only drama that occurred but now... I just feel like Cordelia ‘escaping’ with Matthew is so uncalled for and very out of character. We see Cordelia be a badass warrior woman that loves her parabatai and her family (specifically Alastair and Sona) very dearly and she runs off to Paris with a man she‘s only known for like four months? Five? That doesn’t make any sense! (And I’m sorry for making this about myself but I just needed to say that people are just waiting for updates on my jordelia fic and I don’t like them as much now but at the same time I don’t want to disappoint people because of that? Does that make sense?)

b) yes. The thing about cc neglecting platonic (or even familial relationships, any type of relationship that’s not romantic to be honest) relationships? Yes. I just have difficulty seeing the main cast as a tight-knit group when most of the time there’s only developments with romantic interests shown… at this point everyone is just ‘hanging out because you are my friend’s partner’ and not ‘I genuinely want to talk to you and do things with you because you are a very good person that I’d like to know more about’. (And the fact that blackstairs happened was just urggggggggggh she ruined the good and healthy friendship shown in tmi and is, supposedly, develop in tda by romanticising it! It’s like you can’t have a best friend that you’ve known all your life without falling in love with them! This makes ace and/or aro people very discouraged because it seems like the only relationship worth pursuing is romantic relationships!)

hey you! yes to all of this, thank you!!! i'm gonna try and answer this in a sort of organised way

a) exactly. i get the use of the miscommunication trope, specially in YA content, to create conflict and drama and make sure the plot doesn't get flat. but that only works if it's used to a certain extent. the way cc is writing jordelia is just annoying to read because not only is it becoming out of character for them (as you said, they're both supposed to be smart and level-headed people), it is also nearly agonising to read, at least for me as someone who cannot stand feeling second hand embarrassment. miscommunication to create drama is a good trope if the author knows when it's time to stop. which cc clearly doesn't. reading choi i was just waiting for the moment when james and cordelia would finally solve that and when i started breathing easier after the bracelet broke, there comes the miscommunication again. just. no. it's been going for too long and at this point it's annoying. as for your fic, don't apologise for talking about yourself! the best advice i can give about that is: don't worry about disappointing your readers, because you won't. in my (frankly limited) experience as a fic writer of rare pairs with close to no fanbase, recognition and feedback is nice but it's not everything. at the end of day, your fic should be something you enjoy writing about a shipp you enjoy thinking about. if you've lost interest in writing about jordelia than find another pairing that inspires you! it's okay to lose interest in a shipp and abandoning a fic, every writer does it and no one has been burned at the stake for it yet, don't worry.

b) exactly². like, putting romance above friendship or family is a common enough thing in media and cc does not need to contribute to it. it's something that always bothers me and the fact that it's SO present in a saga that is so important to me is terrible. the thing you said about how the characters seem to be only "hanging out because you are my friend's partner" yes!!!! that's exactly the idea i was trying to pass when i used that quote from magnus!!! how am i supposed to believe this people are a close ride-or-die group of friends who save the world together when on page it always seems like they're just hanging out with each other out of "you're friends with my partner so i guess we're vaguely in the same social circle"? as for the blackstairs thing you said? yes. definitely. as much as i rooted for them while reading tda, i feel like cc usually seems to step into that stereotype that a boy and a girl can't be friends without one or both having a thing for the other? and that's in all of her series? like, clary immediately assumes jace and isabelle have a thing before she finds out they're siblings, simon spent years in love with clary and they dated even if they broke up later, simon and maia dated even if they broke up later, luke spent years in love with jocelyn, emma and julian with their whole drama, kit kissing livvy out of nowhere, dru having kind of a little crush on jaime, matthew being in love with lucie and then all of a sudden falling in love with cordelia, etc. i mean???? emma and julian are the best example of this, of course, but there are so many other romantic innuendos that had no need to be there and it would change nothing in the main plot. cc could have much more page time to develop platonic and familial relationships properly if she didn't disregard those in favour of giving more unnecessary scenes and credit to the straight and unrealistically sexualized romance between the protagonists (and i say "unrealistically sexualized" cause, honestly, who takes a condom to a rescue mission in an infernal dimension and has their first time on the floor of a demonic cave, like clary and jace? who has sex, weirdly also on a cave, while being held captive and immediately after finding out your parabatai, who also happens to be the fiancé of the woman you're about to sleep with, is dead, like will and tessa? and how come a 17 year old who had never even kissed someone before, much less gone further than that, is suddenly a "sex god", in cc's own words, like julian with emma?). anyways, cc needs to learn how to develop actual human relationships that don't involve people suffering for a "forbidden" love that isn't actually as complicated as they're making it to be or thirsting over each other in unusual places in her books, because i need close platonic relationships to feed my soul and, as an author with that many characters and such a big universe, she has millions of available opportunities to stop making stories centered around progressively weaker plots that by now mostly just make everything and everyone else the background for the overly dramatic main paring.

#anti cc

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fieryfantasybooklover · 4 years

Text

Creeping Corruption, Chapter 1 - The Death & The Reaping

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

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@lily-chen-deserves-better @zafirafox4636 @blackthorn-necromancy @ineedadrinkorsleep @friendlyneighbourhoodreader @idontgetit-whydoihavetosaymyname @themostawesomehuman @brotherlipsmackariahs @girlwhohatesstuff @daisyherxndale @tessagraycarstairs

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It started slowly. Slowly, ever so slowly, it crept in. Never killing, only ailing people for a few days. With a small cough perhaps. Or maybe a stomachache. The most worrying thing however, was that iratzes didn’t help. And neither did anything else. Runes vanished into ill Shadowhunter’s skin as they and the others gathered waited in anxious anticipation for the aches and pains plaguing them to vanish. But they didn’t. Herb mixtures and concoctions vanished down throats, leading to the same result. Finally, the Shadowhunter would be sent back to bed to rest, not knowing what else to do. Sadly, that was only the beginning.

The disease started spreading about a year after it first appeared. Shadowhunters, who had managed to boost their population in the previous years, began falling sick at an alarming rate. The Council, Clave, Covenant, and Consul all turned blind eyes to the pain and pleas of grieving families. Families who awoke to their loved ones dead in their beds. Brave, strong Shadowhunters that had been felled in their sleep by a creeping corruption. The dead showed no outward or inward signs of disease. They were simply… dead. Given time to grow, shift, and evolve, the illness worsened. Fed by ignorance, apathy, government corruption, and callousness. Soon, the ones who died first would be the ones considered lucky.

Finally, when so many died that it could no longer be ignored, true hell descended. Forced into quarantine, families huddled in their Institutes, praying that they would avoid the evil gaze of this plague. Very few did. Communication was forbidden. Leaving the Institute was forbidden. Retrieving food from the outside world was forbidden. A civilization that had been around since the dawn of time took less than one month to crumble into anarchy. The people who hid early thought themselves lucky. Biding their time, they waited for this to blow over so they could emerge and greet the survivors. But by the end of this, there would be nothing and nobody left to greet.

All across the world, agonizingly slowly, the Institutes fell silent. One by one, the lights of life residing there were snuffed out and the magnificent structures stood empty. Somehow, despite the layers of restrictions and procedures and caution, the plague snuck in. It always found a way. And once it was in, nothing could stop it. Its victims fell prey to awful hallucinations, violent fevers, and extreme paranoia. Once it breached an Institute, everyone there was at risk. Once it breached an Institute, everyone there was lost. Lost with no chance of salvation

The Los Angeles Institute was the first to succumb in the USA. Huddling in its halls, haunting the empty dusty rooms, the Blackthorns, Kit, and Emma prayed for survival. When they awoke to find Dru lying silently in her bed, no longer in the world of the living, all hope was snuffed out like a candle. All the family could do was watch as their loved ones perished, one by one. Emma was the last one alive in that building. She was preceded by Ty and Livvy, who died side by side, as they always had been. Tavvy had vanished without a trace, never to be seen again by the living. Kit had also vanished. Emma died hugging Julian close, all the while shaking, freezing cold and burning hot at the same time, wondering why this was the place and time her life and so many others had to end.

The New York Institute was next. It was an Institute that fought violently on its way out, but lost in the end anyway. Alec was not there, as he had gone to live with Magnus, but everyone that was there battled the plague in every way they could. But after weeks and weeks of self-imposed isolation and not seeing another living person, barely eating and drinking enough to survive, and no news of the outside world, Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and Simon and the other teenage Shadowhunters let the plague take them. No longer mustering the will to fight, they left the Institute and let it take them and rip them apart. After that, the remaining Shadowhunters ceased to live. Becoming bags of bones and skin, they ceased to live and simply existed. But with time, even their souls would cross the barrier between the living and the dead.

Magnus, Alec, Rafe and Max were holed up in Magnus’s apartment. It was going surprisingly well. The kids were healthy as were Magnus and Alec. There were even days that the couple dreamed they could survive and live on even if others didn’t. However, karma struck back and theirs was a special surreal nightmare when Max and Rafe vanished without a trace. One day there, the next day gone. Magnus and Alec, searching for them as best they could, eventually gave up and stopped looking. Sitting alone in the dark New York apartment, Magnus and Alec slowly wasted away, Magnus’s magic doing nothing to stop the advance of this terrible disease once it struck Alec and took his life within the day. Hugging his love close, Magnus closed his eyes, and saw no more.

With the Shadowhunter world crashing and burning, the mundanes immune and unknowing, Tessa, Jem, and Mina held steadfast against the outside world in their home. And they were somewhat successful. They outlasted the rest of the Shadowhunters. However, even Jem and Tessa, who had conquered and beaten many obstacles in their lifetime, could not beat this. One day, they awoke to find Mina gone. Their precious, beautiful daughter, disappeared. Gone. Vanished. Sobbing, Tessa clung to Jem, who hugged her close, all the while silently sobbing. However, both silently agreed that they couldn’t give up. So the pair silently went back to their daily routine, vowing all the while that they would unravel this deadly mystery.

It took so little time. Every single Shadowhunter that walked the Earth died, and not even in peace. Some took their own lives from the hallucinations or the paranoia. Others perished from the fevers. Some just went to bed and never woke up. The worst were the ones who allowed their mind to be twisted and reworked, made to see everyone as an enemy. The ones who’s psychology ended up being the death of them. But no matter how, no matter why, and no matter when, every single Shadowhunter died. But maybe that’s inaccurate. The children didn’t die. They vanished, just as if they had never been there, leaving wailing, blood, and pain behind. And of course there was Tessa and Jem. The lone warrior survivors in a world that was about to become worse then even imagination could conjure. Who knows. Maybe, if the problem had been addressed earlier, a cure could have been found. But now we will never know.

#i am so sorry #julian blackthorn #emma carstairs #livvy blackthorn #ty blackthorn #tavvy blackthorn #kit herondale #mina carstairs #jem carstairs #tessa gray #max lightwood bane #rafe lightwood bane #clary fairchild #simon lewis #jace herondale #isabelle lightwood #Shadowhunters #megans writing

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sixofreaders · 4 years

Text

the wicked powers friendship headcanons

a bunch of headcanons for the twp gang because i love them

kit has a tiktok account

90% of his videos has dru in them (he did the renegade with dru and julian flipped his shit when he saw)

but he has one video of ty with the ‘aye yo, boyfriend check’ meme

and one video of ash with the ‘you’re gonna wanna be my best friend, baby’ song and its just a close-up of his face

speaking of ash he uses the surname herondale to disguise himself

because no one would talk to him if they knew he was a morgenstern

well he doesn’t really care about people not talking to him anyway, but julian, emma, clary, and jace do want to protect him from the kind of hate he would get if people knew

but kit knows

ty knows

dru knows

kit never experienced the damage valentine and sebastian caused so his reaction wasn’t that bad

ty clenched his fists, nodded, said ‘you’re not him. i just have to remind myself that every time i talk to you now’ and moved on

dru was probably the most emotional; she avoided him for two days

but then they watched the grudge series (the original japanese one, not the hollywood one obviously, they’re not heathens) and things slowly start to get back to normal

ash accompanies ty when he goes out to collect crabs and lizards often

ty explained to him what ‘bioluminescence’ once and ash nodded, said everything in faerie is bioluminescent

julian had to explain to ty why u-hauling to the lands of faerie at two am is Not a Good Idea

sometimes the four of them sleep in the same room together

kit and ty cuddle, sometimes kit uses dru’s tummy as a pillow

dru can sleep in any position, she doesn’t mind cuddling and she doesn’t mind sleeping alone, though she does find her friends’ touch comforting

especially when the nightmares start to kick in

as for ash he doesn’t really like human contact while he’s asleep

but one time in his sleep he reached out for dru’s hand and they held hands the entire night

(kit woke up first and took a picture of them)

kit dragged ty to pride

at first ty doesn’t understand why mundanes feel the need to celebrate their sexuality since in the shadowhunter world same-sex marriage is considered more normal

that, and the fact that he’s raised in a very non-homophobic environment

but kit explains a little bit more and now he thinks its cool that people are brave enough to be who they are

especially in a world where everyone tells them not to

they had fun there, they wore matching couple shirts, kit painted a small bi flag on his cheek and a small rainbow flag on ty’s cheek

they kissed a lot

please let these boys be happy

when ty first saw ash’s wings he thought they were very cool

he asked a lot of questions and ash was only comfortable answering like, half of them

but its ok he’s a curious boy and we all love him

dru thinks his wings look ‘gothic’

‘like an 80s stephen king horror movie angel of death kind of vibe’

‘i have no idea what you’re saying but i love you, therefore i agree with you’

kit wanted to reenact ‘a whole new world’ where he’s jasmine and ash is aladdin

because of course the dumbass wants to know how it feels to fly

his baby sister, the three year old mina carstairs, was very adamant about this idea too

but ash has qualms about flying with an eighteen year old shadowhunter and a three year old child on his back

sometimes jaime comes and visits them at the los angeles institute

kit and jaime love dicking around because they radiate an equal amount of dumbass energy

ash was a little jealous of jaime at first

because of dru’s adolescent crush on him

for ash, dru is his first friend and first love

he clings to her because he can’t lose her

but eventually he grew fond of jaime and now has a soft spot for him, despite the two boys’ differences

dru still remembers the day she walked into ty’s bedroom only to find it in a complete mess, the chair was in splinters, there was blood on his pillows, and there were clothes strewn everywhere

since then she makes a note to visit his room every week and have a brother-sister sleepover with him

she knows she’ll never be livvy

what she doesn’t know is that ty doesn’t love her because she can replace livvy

he loves her because she’s dru

his little sister who loves horror movies

and when the nightmares start to show up, they know that when they wake up, their sibling will be right next to them

sometimes things are hard between the four of them

they have a lot of history, they’ve made a lot of mistakes towards each other that they can’t just undo

ash is the son of the man who killed dru and ty’s parents and the son of the woman who helped fuel the flames of the Dark War

they know he’s not sebastian but sometimes paranoia gets to them

kit is the heir to a throne he never even knew existed

ty is neurodivergent in a world where being anything but neurotypical isn’t even acknowledged

and as for dru, there will always be the gaping hole inside her that makes her feel like she doesn’t belong

but at least they have each other

yeah

yeah, they have each other.

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let-me-write · 4 years

Text

The Truth Untold

Find chapters 1 2 here

Chapter 3: The Consequence of What-ifs

Kit Herondale stood in front of the towering old cathedral, wondering if his presence here was warranted. He had been deliberating under this street lamp for what felt like hours.

Tessa had opened a portal from Devon for him. He sighed now, opening the gates to the gothic building...it was time to go in. They would be waiting for him.

The New York Institute never failed to awe him, despite his several visits. It was magnificent in its height, overwhelming even in the dusk light. It donned an air of mystery that pulled you in, while its eerie facade terrified you from any thought of approaching it.

Kit couldn't help but compare it with the only other institutes he was familiar with: The Los Angeles and London Institutes. All three churches, except, the latter two somehow blended with their surroundings. This one though stood out like a sore thumb in the busy Manhattan neighbourhood.

In one of his past visits, he had thought that this would be the obvious abode of a sinister supervillain in a low-budget thriller. He had been almost right... He had learnt later from Simon that the mundane facade of the institute, had indeed been the backdrop for a few indie horror movies.

He opened the door to the Institute and was greeted with the familiar voices of Jace and Clary.

" Jace, calm down. It's not a big deal. This is not Kit's first time. Stop it or I'm calling Simon to record this...you wouldn't like one of those edits again would you? "

"I'm obliged to acquaint him with the traditions of our legendary family, Clary. Not even you could stop me..."

Kit exhaled heavily.

He wasn't ready to take in his cousin's shenanigans now. He moved further ahead, before stopping near the landing where the heads of the institute were busy arguing, oblivious to Kit's presence. He cleared his throat and said, " Hello Clary, need some help? "

Clary turned around surprised, " Kit !! You're here. I'm so glad to see you ", she patted his arm excitedly. She continued, " Well, yes, I need your help" and gestured at the head of her fiancé.

Jace was wearing a ridiculous headgear, with a monstrous-looking duck adorning it. Of course, he was...

Jace had taken it upon himself to sensitise Kit to the sacred traditions of the Herondales since he had learnt that Kit - to his absolute horror- loved ducks. He is yet to cease in his campaign to dissuade Kit from the "demonic birds".

Kit wished he had a normal cousin; except not really...then who else would be capable of distracting him-so spectacularly-from his worries. He felt a flush of warmth towards Jace.

Jace was leaning forward to hug him now. Kit reciprocated with a quick hug.

Jace then looked at him up and down while commenting, " Christopher, I see you have buffed up since I saw you last. I'm glad my mentoring has worked "

Kit shrugged nonchalantly.

He took that as an affirmation and grinned all self-satisfied. " I've made all the necessary arrangements for your stay here. You will have a splendid time, well, apart from the mission " he assured.

Kit just stared.

He raised his eyebrows, noting Kit's quiet demeanour and shared a look with Clary. He said " We had planned to have a take-out dinner. Why don't you join us? "

Kit smiled at him with a nod, before reaching up to pull the duck hat from Jace's head and donning it on his own. He said with a cheeky grin, " Thank you, Jace, for such a thoughtful gift. You have satisfied my adoration for duck collectables of all forms. Get me a dragon duck next time "

Jace groaned aloud, while Clary burst out laughing.

...........................................................................

The dinner had been a quiet affair, after which Kit had been introduced to his room at the Institute. He sat there on his new bed, pondering over his observations of the night.

He had noticed that the residents of the Institute were quite exhausted, in spite of their enthusiasm at his arrival. It was evident from Clary's dark circles and Jace's wild hair. There was a tense nature to their stances, ready to spring at the slightest hint of danger.

It was to be expected since they were helping Alec's Clave-in-exile, besides dealing with the new development in the streets of New York.

Downworlders were getting killed in the past few months, in isolated incidents. The only clue was that the modus operandi matched the murder of a downworlder couple three years ago.

The Conclave of New York had strengthened and increased the frequencies of their patrols to prevent further losses. Special patrols under the Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance had been constituted for the purpose. In fact, Clary and Jace had gone for the same tonight.

They had declined Kit's offer to join, citing his unfamiliarity with the city. Besides, he could start his patrols for the mission once the others arrived, they said.

The others...the Centurions, would arrive early tomorrow.

The thought made Kit almost queasy.

He would be meeting Ty after a long time. He didn't know how they would get past the awkwardness between them.

He wondered if Ty would even recognize him.

Kit fiddled with the paper in his pocket. He took it out and smoothed the worn-out edges.

Ty had sent the message a week ago. He had been curious and slightly concerned when he had realized it was Ty's.

He had read it numerous times since then...

He reread now while tracing each word with his finger:

Dear Christopher,

I have been assigned my first mission in New York, to investigate mysterious energy emanating from the Shadow Market there. I believe there's a link between Barnabas Hale and this phenomenon.

I trust you will understand me when I tell you, I couldn't help but think of you. I remember your familiarity and ease in dealing with the denizens of the Shadow Market.

Hence, as the leader, I am requesting you to accompany us on this mission. Your inputs would be highly appreciated and you would be a valuable addition to the team.

Besides, it is not an exclusive mission for the Centurions. Students of the Shadowhunter Academy will also be a part of it...Dru will be there.

I'm not sure if you would read this or would even consider coming but I hope you do.

If you do, please come to the New York Institute next week.

Regards,

Tiberius Blackthorn

It was the most formal, any communication between them had ever been.

He had hated it; hated that Ty was distant now and that he was needed only for a mission by the other boy.

It had made him feel miserable.

But, he couldn't help the tiny hope that arose in his heart, at a chance to meet Ty again and the thought of Ty needing him for something, even as trivial as his familiarity with the Shadow Market.

He sighed, disappointed with himself...his innate desire to be a part of Ty's life, to mean something to him...it had never disappeared.

After he had received the message, he hadn't been sure if it was real or just a manifestation of his wishful thinking.

He had then stayed cooped up in his room, holding onto the message, keeping a watch so that it didn't disappear.

Logically, he knew he shouldn't go. He had a life at Devon with his loving family, untouched by any harm courtesy of his legacy.

Unfortunately, his mind had refused to budge from the What-ifs...

What if this was his last chance to meet Ty in the flesh? What if they ended up never talking to each other till they died? or worse, What if he didn't get to see Ty ever again?

Those had terrified him.

Then, he had been haunted by a particular memory, when he had believed he was dying, after the encounter with the Riders of Mannan. He had tried to ask Emma then - with what he had believed to be his last breath - to " Tell Ty that I am sorry "

Dread had filled his mind: What if he fails to ask Ty for his forgiveness, for not being a good friend, for letting him endanger himself, just because Kit didn't want to be left out and for making him cry with his harsh words?

It was long overdue and Ty deserved to know, except Kit was clueless on how to act on that.

He had decided then that his participation in the mission could be the first step towards it, at least, in opening up a dialogue between them.

It wouldn't be an easy task, it would hurt him to be so close to Ty.

But Kit was willing to try, to act, which he had failed to do in the past years.

It was hard at first, to convince Jem and Tessa. They were concerned at his sudden interest in a mission and feared for his safety.

To them, Kit's safety was the priority and they worried about him attracting dangerous attention if he left Devon, alone.

Kit had assured them that it would be a short mission and besides " Where else would I get to show off my Shadowhunter training? I think it will be a good opportunity, Jem " he said.

They agreed, but only after confirming that Jace and Clary were in the Institute and would take care of him, for they were one of the few who safeguarded Kit's dangerous secret.

He had packed lightly and waited for Tessa to open the portal for his departure.

The previous day, Tessa had done her best to place a shield on his powers. His hereditary faerie powers were transient, having appeared only intermittently since that day at Idris.

He had trained with Tessa to wield it but all to no avail, since he couldn't even voluntarily manifest it in the first place. Tessa, however, had told him she could sense the power in him, dormant and waiting for an outlet.

Even though the dark origins of the power let Tessa and Magnus feel it, they were yet to decipher its nature and extent. She was able to only place a shield, a minor deterrent on its volatility.

During the time of departure, Mina had hugged him close and murmured " I will miss you Gē-Ge", with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. He had rubbed her head lovingly while assuring her that he would be back soon and that he would say 'Hi ' to Max and Rafe for her. Tessa had asked him to be good and return safely. Jem had just smiled and hugged him before sending him off through the portal.

At present, lying wide awake in an unfamiliar room, with its blank wooden walls and the Manhattan skyline visible from his window, Kit missed his family.

He was anxious to meet Ty and even Dru tomorrow. At the same time, he wished that the time would pass by soon and that the dawn would arrive...he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

He closed his eyes and played one of Jem's compositions on his iPod. It calmed his nerves and brought in a sense of familiarity.

Kit drifted towards what would most likely be a restless sleep, with the words 'I couldn't help but think of you ' lingering in his mind. He looked forward to a day that was bound to be, vastly different from the ones of the last three years of his life.

...........................................................................

Please reblog if you like it. Your comments are welcome too!!

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dontmindmyshadowhunting · 3 years

Text

To never being parted - Part 2 Chap 4 - The Birthday Party

This is the Chapter 4 of the mini sequel to my flower cards inspired Kitty Fan Fic “Am I Forgotten?”

AO3 Link here.

****

As it turned out, Jace absolutely loved his surprise. He jumped in the pop-out cake to hug Kit, who pushed him away, and they ended up rolling and wrestling amidst the vanilla buttercream, with a crowd of onlookers cheering. The most enthusiastic was Mina, who shrieked with delight during the entire fight.

They both had to change after that, which was a relief. Tessa had to hastily recover Kit’s dress from Mina, who had undertaken to lick the fabric drenched in vanilla frosting.

The party was as decadent as any party organized by Magnus Bane could be. Dark blue velvet banners hung from the ceiling, stitched with the design of stars which seemed to shine, as if the guests were standing under the night sky. Candles glowed from every surface. Magnus had magicked up a small playground for the kids in one corner of the room, far from the chocolate fountains.

Kit carried Mina around on his shoulders for two solid hours before she finally asked him to put him down. When he did, she whispered in his ear. “When I am older, I am going to marry that tall and handsome Centurion bodyguard who has been following us everywhere… He takes such good care of my big brother.” Kit felt all the blood drain from his face.

****

The dinner table was covered with food from all around the world but Kit settled for a burger. He noticed that Julian had made the same choice although he saw him slip his lettuce to King Kieran, who had decided to make an appearance for Jace’s birthday party. He was seated between Mark and Cristina, and both were trying to get him to taste Mexican food. He shot Julian a grateful look.

“So, has Ty been sleeping in front of your bedroom, as he used to in Los Angeles? That was so cute!” Cristina asked Kit, in a cheerful voice.

“Of course not”, Kit replied. “He is absolutely welcome to my bed now.”

Everyone around the table froze before turning to look at him. Shit. Did he say that out loud?

Kit moved his gaze towards the only person whose opinion mattered in the case.

Ty, who was seated next to Dru and Jaime Rosales, was staring at him open-mouthed, his cheeks flushed. Oh well, thought Kit. I am not taking it back anyway. If I said I was joking, Ty would take it literally. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Kit shrugged and went back to eating his burger.

****

After dinner, there was a cluster of girls around Lily Chen, who was seated on a chair flaunting the Hot Shadowhunters calendar, as if it was the best book of the year.

She had decided to publish a first edition, as an experiment, in an attempt to boost the Clave’s revenues. Alec had been reluctant at first, but even he couldn’t deny the incredible success of the calendar after only a few weeks of sales. It had been sold to both Shadowhunters and Downworlders, entire stalls being dedicated to it in several Shadow Markets around the world.

King Kieran himself had bought several to add to his collection which included kitten and mundane firefighters calendars.

“So, of course we have Jace for the month of January. That one - and Mark Blackthorn’s - were the easiest pictures to obtain,” Lily explained as she enthralled her audience by flipping through the pages of the calendar.

On the front page, Jace was almost entirely naked, a well positioned sword covering his most intimate parts. Mark was just as barely dressed, poetically covered in roses and thorns.

“I had to negotiate with Magnus for Alec’s picture but as it turns out, I am quite happy with what he provided.” Magnus winked. In the picture, Alec was half naked, his muscles flexed as he was pulling an arrow to his bow. His skin was covered with black marks which stood in stark contrast with his white skin.

“Here we have Jem. Although he is officially retired from the Clave, we couldn’t do this without him. He is much too popular with the Shadow Markets’ crowd. He is only half naked of course, but compared to what people used to see of him when he was a Silent Brother, this looks like porn.” Most of the girls giggled.

“This is Simon, it was easy enough to obtain a picture of him. I just had to offer him a limited edition of a light-saver…”

“A lightsaber,” Isabelle corrected.

“Whatever. The most difficult one to obtain was Julian Blackthorn’s, of course,” Lily continued. “I had to hire a professional photographer…”

“You mean a paparazzi,” Emma interrupted.

“Emma almost broke his arm…”

“He was lurking behind a rock, taking pictures of Julian while he was surfing…”

“But apparently you both found an arrangement.”

Emma stared off into space. “He does have talent. He took amazing pictures of Julian on his surfboard… I made an album of them. He’s going to be our wedding’s photographer. Free of charge.”

“That’s my girl,” Julian said, raising his hand for a high five, though not moving his gaze from Tavvy.

Lily turned to Kit and Ty, then, pointing two fingers at her eyes and at them. “Now that you have come of age, I have got my eyes on you boys.”

Ty looked terrified but Kit only shrugged.

****

Kit danced with a lot of people. Mina, mostly, but also Clary, Isabelle, Emma, Dru, Aline and even Lily, who kept giving him a variety of nicknames. Mostly food-related. When he waltzed with Tessa, everyone stopped to observe their graceful twirls, and they were given a round of applause. Kit had to admit he was quite smug about it. Not a single dance with Ty though, who had mostly been hiding in a corner with his headphones on, his arms crossed, though a friend of Dru’s kept talking animatedly to him. He didn’t seem to notice.

After a dozen dances, Kit was exhausted and parched. As he moved towards the buffet to get something to drink, Emma and Cristina appeared out of nowhere to stand in his path, their faces alight with excitement. Kit had noticed that when Emma was not glued to Julian’s side, she was always running around with Cristina and Mark, like an iconic trio of besties.

“Welcome to the club,” they said in unison. Had they rehearsed that?

“What club?”

“The club of fearless warriors who decided to take the hazardous path of dating Blackthorn men,” Emma replied with an ominous voice.

“One word of advice,” Cristina said. “Get as much sleep as you can, while you can.”

“What?” Kit was puzzled.

“Hmmm, how to explain…” Emma put one finger on her mouth, her expression thoughtful. “Have you ever wondered why there are so many of them?”

“The Blackthorns you mean? Er- because they like kids?” Kit answered.

“True enough,” Emma replied, winking at him.

“What else is there?” Kit asked, as he had the feeling he was missing something.

Emma and Cristina burst into fits of laughter, clutching each other for support.

Kit shrugged and considered it as his cue to leave. Ty had already left the party an hour ago and Kit was wondering whether he should stop by his room to watch him sleep. Just a little peek. Ok, no, that was creepy.

As he was heading towards the door to leave the party inconspicuously, Kit was stopped mid-flight by a hand grasping his shoulder.

“Not so fast, Kit Herondale.”

Kit turned to meet Julian’s blue-green eyes. He was a different version of the Julian he had known.

The shape of his face was sharper, his features more chiseled and his luscious Blackthorn waves longer. There were no longer circles under his eyes and Kit had noticed that he had stopped biting his fingernails. He seemed happier, more rested. Almost… glowing.

Kit had to admit he was stunning. But I am already head over heels in love with his brother, Kit was reminded.

According to Jace, Julian had been a close and trusted advisor of Alec for the past few years, the Consul relying on him for war strategy and delicate political matters.

During the time he had spent in Los Angeles, Kit had witnessed how dangerous Julian’s sharp mind could be when he decided to use it. How deadly. And that was tired, restless Julian. Glowing Julian… their enemies would never know what had hit them.

Julian’s gaze moved to Kit’s chest, where the Blackthorn locket was resting.

“I see that Ty has given you his and Livvy’s pendant. I trust that you know what this means.”

His blue-green eyes were now boring into Kit’s, and Kit could not help but feel exposed, as if Julian was not looking into his eyes but straight into his head, accessing his mind.

“I do. This is it, for Ty. I am it . First and last. There won’t ever be anyone else for him.”

“What about you?” Julian’s gaze was still burning holes through Kit’s eyes.

Kit sighed. “You know what they say. Herondales love but once.”

“And you just realized that, where you are concerned, this is true?”

“No, Julian. I had already realized that three years ago.”

Kit turned to move, but Julian caught him by the arm.

“You already know what I am going to say next, don’t you?”

“Julian, I have witnessed what you were capable of in order to protect your family. I’d rather be facing the nine Princes of Hell.”

“Good,” was all Julian said, letting him go.

****

Tagging @darkkitai

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