Angels of Light

Runes and Ruins

By the time they'd gotten to Taki's, it was nearly nine o'clock. Clary felt guilty. She hated being late, especially for something like this. Whatever this turned out to be. Jace paid the ifrit cab driver and hurried inside the restaurant after Clary. As the door opened and the hot air poured out, Clary was relieved. And stunned. The usually casual diner was all done up in white streamers and Christmas lights. all the tables were pushed together in the middle of the room to form one long table. There was even a white table cloth on it. Isabelle sat on one side of the table with Simon beside her and Alec and Magnus sat on the other side. There were six more unoccupied chairs. To Clary's surprise, there was no one else in the diner, just her friends. She saw Isabelle's head whip around as the door beeped as it opened. At first, Clary thought she looked disappointed, but her disappointment was quickly replaced by a smile. She jumped out of her chair and hurried over to Clary and Jace, taking them into a big group hug. Izzy was dressed in a red velvet dress that fell just above her knees, and had a plunging neck line. Her black hair was long and straight and her only jewelry was the ruby pendant that detected demons, and her whip wrapped around her wrist. Simon was wearing a dress shirt and jeans like Jace. Boys, Clary thought. Nearly as soon as they'd walked in, the door flew open again, and Bat and Maia came in. Isabelle broke out of the embrace and jumped aside as the door almost hit them.

"Oh!" Maia said, startled. She wore dress pants and a blouse, her hair was short and curly. She looked like a mom, Clary thought, but there was still a fire in her eyes.

"I'm so glad you guys came!" Izzy cried.

"Ya, even if you were late," Clary heard Magnus mumble from the table. Magnus was dressed in sparkly pants and a sparkly tux jacket. He wore a purple bow tie and his hair was spiked as per usual. He had thick black liner on his top and lower lid, and Clary was briefly jealous that she couldn't do a wing nearly as well with her own liner. Alec, beside him, wore a dark blue suit that highlighted his paleness and the colour of his eyes. He looked highly uncomfortable in it and would probably have preferred his usual ripped shirt and jeans.

"Hey, Clary," Simon said, giving her a hug as he walked her to the seat beside him. Jace sat on the other side of the table across from her and beside Magnus. They seemed to become quickly engrossed in a whispered conversation.

"are you expecting anyone else?" Clary asked, looking at the last two unoccupied seats as Bat and Maia sat down. Simon frowned a bit, but just shook his head.

"No, it'll just be us."

A waitress emerged giving them all menus and taking drink orders quickly, before disappearing again. This waitress, Clary realized, was a vampire. She had pale white skin and was breathtakingly beautiful. But she didn't smile at them and looked rather disgusted. All the faerie staff had been fired from Taki's--and anywhere else in the Mundane world where they might run into Shadowhunters--after the dark war.

"So guys," Isabelle started, standing up with a glass in her hand. Simon looked up at her, surprised, but then jumped to his feet too. Clearly, he thought the announcement would be made after dinner. Alec and Jace seemed to glare at Simon with narrowed eyes across the table, waiting for the news and as to whether or not they'd have to kill him. Clary laughed to herself. They truly were the most over protective brothers a girl could have. But Clary knew Simon. And she knew that whatever it was they were announcing, would be something that was well thought out and agreed upon.
Isabelle cleared her throat and Simon took her hand in his, and she smiled at him. They both looked at each other with so much love. Clary remembered the first time Simon had met Isabelle and nearly fell on his face. It hadn't been love at first sight. But then Clary was starting to think that that was just a myth. You could only love someone's looks at first sight, but looks aren't the things that make you fall in love with a person.
Izzy looked at Simon fiercely, as if encouraging him to speak, but Simon's cheeks just flamed and he began to mumble awkwardly. Clary thought he might've said something like "we're so glad you all codudlfjdldl..." And though she was sitting beside him, his voice trailed off too softly for even her to hear.