Trapped in History

23

Jace peered out nervously from behind Meliorn, watching as Will grit his teeth, but stalked off instead of doing something horribly stupid. Well, something that was further horribly stupid. From what Jace could tell, forcing contact on someone who does not want it was never a wise thing to do in the first place. A part of him thinks that Will is...or was...jealous, though he could not understand why. 

It did not matter anyways. He was glad that the elder had at least taken their words regarding that into account, though it was clear that he did not know boundaries well enough. Jace was really beginning to think this was more a nightmare then a party but he was willing to enchant Magnus' desire to see them at his party, and Jace knew that he would not be able to just...refuse. He owed Magnus, and he was grateful to him, furthermore Jace knew how important these Downworld parties were...at least, he knew how important they were to present day Magnus, or his time magnus, or whatever. The Magnus that Jace knew put a high importance on the parties that he threw. It was why shock tended to happen when someone was personally invited. 

Jace could not know that and just refuse. So he had agreed, ended up dragging Alec with him and somehow they ended up saddled with their ancestor counterparts which Jace had to admit he was not really all that thrilled for. It was bad enough that they had to deal with the two so far, but now they were stuck having to deal with them at a party as well? Their behavior towards Downworlders was not the best, and Jace understood that, he had struggled with it himself, he knew that Alec had as well, and they both knew that there was going to need to be a lot more effort on their end to totally wipe away that mistrust, which they were managing, slowly but surely. 

Although that being replaced with the distrust of the Clave, Jace was not really sure that they were doing the best job of it. Then again, that was more for Alec. He was beginning to think that Alec was churning one distrusted group onto another. Then again, Jace himself could not talk much either. He had never particularly held any sort of love for the EnClave, and had even broken several of their laws time and again. It was very different for Jace, who had trusted the Clave almost to a religious devotion. Jace was just glad he was getting out of that stage, though, happy to see Alec begin to realize that nothing was necessarily as black and white as they may want it to be. Although he did suppose that it helped that they tried to kill him, multiple times. Or that sheer lack of regard to anything that did not directly affect them. Alec was bound to sway his loyalties at some point, he was just glad that there had been a push for him to manage it. 

"Thank you," Jace muttered softly, glad that Will was not out of his way, and away from him. He did not know how much longer he would have managed to deal with him. The other was overbearing and horribly annoying. While he understood that he himself could be a bit like that, Will did not take no for an answer, and it was horribly frustrating to know that the other just wanted whatever information that they were searching for before they would probably drop them as though they meant nothing. It was even more frustrating that they did not just state what they wanted instead they were playing these little games. Jace was definitely not a fan, and would much prefer to keep his present company as opposed to that Herondale disaster. 

"It was my pleasure," Meliorn uttered smoothly, a smile pitched on his lips. Jace would bet it was. It was not often that Shadowhunters were in need of assistance in any way, at least, not in his experience. He was one of the best of their kind after all, there were some things that he just...did not often experience as much as the others. His abilities were beyond what was normal, but many attributed that to the horribly strict and harsh training of his father. There were standards, and those standards were high, even for Jace. He had managed to push through a lot though, and some medieocre Will Herondale would not stop him, although he was glad to not have to fight the other again. He was not thrilled to be fighting another Nephilim in the middle of a downworlder party. That would be a recipe for disaster, though he had come extremely close. Will was truly grating on what little patience that he had. "Why was he bothering you so much? I have noticed he does seem to take a particular interest in antagonizing you. I have not seen a Shadowhunter do that with one of their own kind. Are you alright?" Jace knew that part of Meliorn was digging, but he also knew sincerity when it came to Fae, and he knew that the Fae was truly worried for him. It brought an almost smile to his lips. 

"I don't know what has come up with him. I don't like the loitering that he has been doing." Jace admitted. "I don't know what has gotten into them, and I know that they want something from Alec and myself, but instead of just talking to us, they act as though they need to do these big leaps and bounds in order to just ask us. It would be easier if we were able to just clear the air, but with them acting like this..." Jace shook his head. He did not like it, he knew that Alec was bound to dislike it as well, but in the end, it was just frustrating. 

"It sounds as though you dislike their coddling," Meliron said with some amusement.

"It isn't that I necessarily dislike it, it is the way they go about it." Jace huffed, not bothering to remove his hands from where they continued to clench at Meliorn's arms. "I don't particularly like the vibe they give off when they do it." 

"Vibe?" Meliron was confused with the word, and Jace almost slapped himself. 

"The feel. The feeling they give off when they do it." He corrected himself. "They just..." He sighed...it was hard to figure out what to say, particularly with Meliorn, and he knew, in the back of his mind, that these things were dangerous to be saying. 

They were being treated like they were hapless children. They were not. They were fully trained, better operatives than most, and Alec and Jace worked well together, they were more than able to protect themselves. Sure, first impressions were not exactly that brilliant of course, but Jace really hoped that Alec had some sort of intention of making the others see that they did not need to be treated as though they were five years old and helpless. 

Then again, while almost always effective, Alec could be quite brutal when he wanted to be. Whatever he had in mind, Jace hoped that he planned to act on it soon. He did not like this behavior, and the sooner that these versions of their ancestors could realize that they were not idiots, and that they were more than capable of handling their own without help, the better.