Trapped in History

21

Jace was dragged to the side by Alec after Meliorn left in a whirlwind of black and green, with the others staring at the two of them. Alec snapping his fingers in front of his face, jolting him back to reality. He blinked, shaking his head a little and staring up at Alec. He laughed a bit nervously at the look on the other's face. He raised his brows and Jace bit his lip harshly.

"In my defense," He began softly,

"No," Alec said, holding his hand up, breathing heavily. "I do not need that." He took a moment to recollect himself. "That is on me. I did not think that they would be here." Jace gave him a small smile, regretful. He could not say that he was sad that they were here. It had been nice to see Meliorn again, even though...it was different from how he would have wanted to. 

"I know," Alec glanced at him carefully, trying to see beyond what the Parabatai Rune gave him, delving, or attempting to delve, deep into his mind and read his thoughts. 

"Are you okay?" Jace scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Why would I not be? You got the stragglers? Okay," Jace rapidly switched the subject around, not wanting to dwell on the thoughts of Meliorn, not wanting to worry Alec either, though he already knew that was unlikely. Meliorn just had this...charm he supposed, and it was hard for Jace to keep away from it. It also did not help that he had not expected him to be here. Meliorn just made a part of him feel so...small, and like he could be. Part of that was likely the comfort that he had offered, but Jace did not want to think about it. He did not want to try and make heads or tails about it. "So, do not drink anything, do not touch anything, and try and be nice and respectful." Jace said simply, staring at specifically Gabriel, knowing that he would probably have some difficulties. He breathed deeply. "You don't have to actually be here, so if you want to just walk out, go ahead." He said simply. "Especially if you find yourself about to do something stupid." He cut another glare to Gabriel, who seemed quite offended that they seemed to be singling him out. Will just rolled his eyes.

"We got it,"

"Do you?" Jace retorted instantly. His eyes cutting to a gold flash, before closing them and taking a deep breath, calming himself down. Will watched the flash of gold interestingly. No other Shadowhunter's eyes flashed like that, from what he knew, which meant that there was something...different about this one. For Jace's part, his emotions were definitely not where they had been moments ago. Seeing Meliorn had done a lot of things to him, and having to have Alec wake him up definitely was not doing him any favours. He swallowed a bit nervously. "From what I can tell you have some prejudice, everyone does. Keep it in check. If you can't trust yourself to say anything nice, do not say anything at all."

"Not that it matters considering we are going to be with them the whole time right Jace?" Alec interrupted, glancing at him. Jace opened his mouth but sighed reluctantly nodding. Alec caught him. He had wanted to try and find Meliorn again. Just being in the others' presence had given him a sense of peace that had been rarely achieved since leaving the boat. 

"Who is taking who?" Jace asked, not even looking towards Gabriel or Will, to which both jumped on the chance to go with the people they had originally agreed to watch on. Will slung his arm over Jace with a charming smile on his lips. Alec was forced to do a double take, and Jace just shoved Will's arm off of him, not liking the feeling. Gabriel did not do anything like that, just standing next to Alec.

Their ancestors, standing besides them. It was...well, suffice it to say the similarities were obvious when you saw them standing next to the other. It was easier to spot all the similarities in visuals and attitude. They shoved down the feelings, and continued as they normally would. They were able to do this. Alec knew that he was going to have to take Jace to spar sooner rather than later, he could see the restless energy that coursed through him let alone the feeling through the rune that they shared.

"Alright then," Jace turned to Will,

"Lets go enjoy a party." the older Herondale said with a bit of a jump as they turned on their heels and began to walk away in the direction of the party that was going on around them.

"Jace...."

"Will..."

Alec and Gabriel sighed longsuffering as they stared at their counterparts walk away from them. Alec just shook his head. Nothing would stop Jace from enjoying the party, and if he was being real with himself, he had deserved some sort of time to relax. At least, before Alec ran him through the ringer tomorrow during training. He knew that it was unlikely that they would let the two of them go on demon hunts, so Alec would have to do something before Jace gets too angsy as he was already doing. The other got horribly reckless when he had too much pent up energy. He was raised a soldier, for the first ten years of his life, and despite their attempts the Lightwoods had never truly managed to shove him out of the mindset. It certainly did not help now that Valentine had taken him for so long as well.

"Should we go watch them?" Gabriel hesitantly asked, still not really sure how to handle talking to the strange and scarred Shadowhunter. He did not want to be horribly rude, not like he was with Will, and he was nervous asking someone who had clearly been honed in a dangerous way. He watched over the blonde shadowhunter like a hawk, careful and calm, but always there. He had seen the protective nature of the boy. It burned fiercely, and it was something that he was not really...sure what to do with. What would the other want to do now? It was best, when he thought about it, to just go along with the other, otherwise how else would he manage to figure out what it was that he typically did.

"Yes, we should, otherwise who knows what Jace will get himself into. He better not be running after that Fae again." He muttered the second part under his breath, but Gabriel still managed to hear it, glancing at him curiously.

He had seen how Jace had gotten caught up into that Fae. Had also noticed Alec pull them back to keep them from interrupting. It was almost...dangerous in a way. He knew that the Fae were strange creatures, but it was clear that whoever that person was had not really tampered with Jace, in fact Jace had been flirting with him willingly, which was rather...interesting. Gabriel did not care so much about the fact that it was another man, but that it was a Fae. One that he had seem quite taken with. Though that could be for a variety of reasons.

It was clear that these two were a mix of trauma, anxiety, and fear, and yet, why was it that they seemed far more comfortable with downworlders than with Shadowhunters? Alec with the High Warlock, Magnus, Jace with the Fae Knight, Meliorn he vaguely remembered Alec saying. They seemed so much more relaxed and able to be themselves with Downworlders. He knew that the Nephilim, if Will and his brother's guesses were correct, were far from spectacular, but even still, Downworlders were just as, if not more, dangerous than the Nephilim were, and yet these two...preferred their company over all else.