Exit Signs I Missed (A Dark Artifices Fanfiction) ✔️

Spreads Over The Emptiness

The great and powerful High Warlock Magnus Bane was currently standing in their kitchen, wearing ragged jeans and a T-shirt that probably belonged to Alec, since it was covered in baby spit-up rather than glitter and sported three holes, one by the collar and one on either sleeve. He gave Julian and Emma a knowing, exasperated look as they entered the kitchen holding hands, an expression equivalent to one throwing their hands up with a sigh and some loud proclamation.

Jules let go of her hand as he crossed the kitchen to the fridge, opening it and removing eggs, butter, and milk, before going into the pantry to retrieve flour and other pancake-making ingredients that Emma had never bothered to look too closely at. It was a normal morning in the Blackthorn household, Ty appearing to have forgiven Mark as he was sitting between Kit and his older brother, Livia and Tavvy surrounding Dru, who was gazing at Diego with cartoon hearts in her eyes. Diego was beside Cristina, and seemed not to notice or care about Drusilla's obvious admiration for him. Emma supposed he was used to it, being perfect and all.

The atmosphere was warm, homey, even with the addition of the ever-eclectic Magnus, who was viewing the domestic scene with some wistfulness. She wondered if he missed his own children with Alec Lightwood - Rafael, recently adopted at the age of five, and Max, the navy-blue warlock child.

The first of the pancakes were up, and the Blackthorns scrambled for them, thrusting out soon-to-be-sticky plates and hopeful faces. Emma watched the incident with a smile, their voices and the sound of knife-scraping settling over her like a cozy blanket.  
Cristina was next to her, having stood up but not yet gone to get any pancakes, her arm pressed against Emma's as she leaned against the counter. "What's going on?"

In all the mess of tangled emotions and lies she'd been sorting through this past few weeks, Emma felt a twist of regret and guilt in her heart for not having kept her friend in the loop. "I'm sorry, I was going to tell you. It's just - this past few weeks have been really hard - "

Cristina stopped her with a kind smile. "I understand. He is your parabatai, and he has been sick. If it were my parabatai - " her smile was sadder, softer, but she continued, "If it were my parabatai, I would have done the same. Besides, I've seen the way you two look at each other, and you're happier than you've been in weeks."

"Thanks, Tina." She rested her head on the older girl's shoulder, keeping her voice low. "Well, Magnus is here because Julian and I - we're in love. And when parabatai fall in love, bad things happen. Julian got sick because of this curse that Malcolm put on the cave, that whoever killed him would suffer, but the curse rebounded on Jules. So now, Magnus is here to fix that."

"And you're sure he can do that?" Cristina asked, a furrow between her dark, carefully drawn brows.

"I hope so," Emma replied, as she and Cristina took the last of the pancakes.

They were as delicious as usual, soft and fluffy, drenched in syrup and butter. Forgoing the knife, she cut her pancakes with her fork in a hurry, in comparison to Cristina's more ladylike method of using both her utensils to slice her breakfast into neat triangles before bringing them to her mouth. Cristina managed to look both horrified and fond as she regarded Emma's complete lack of table manners. "Are you even chewing?" she wondered.

She swallowed with some difficulty. "Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

"You don't," Julian interjected cheerfully, coming from behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a look, and she swallowed the final bite of her pancake and followed him out of the kitchen, where Magnus had insinuated himself.

:::

Cristina watched Emma and Julian, the way she had when the Blackthorns had come back from London, another Friday not so long ago. She'd glimpsed the connection between them, one of parabatai, of what she herself might never have, but also one of love, of longing, of desires barely hidden. Now, it was out in the open and she wondered how she could have missed it.

Every time one of them made a move it was perfectly attuned to the other's; they were two instruments that had worked side by side for so long that they played in perfect harmony. From her position, viewing them through a crack on the door, she couldn't hear their conversation, but she could see their movements. Julian shifted slightly, edged forward to shield Emma's body with his own even though there was no visible threat. She wondered what they were talking about.

Emma's expression changed, anger crossing her face. She shouted something at Julian, and Cristina assumed it was in response to his protective measure, probably saying that she could take care of herself. What could Julian possibly want to protect her from? Malcolm was gone, and this curse - it was definitely the curse.

With a sigh, Cristina started piling dishes into the sink, hoping Emma wouldn't leave her in the dark again. Just then, her friend stormed into the room. Emma's parabatai, however, was not with her. "You okay?" Cristina prodded her in concern. She supposed that even instruments in perfect harmony could be out of tune on occasion.

"I'm fine. I'll help you with the dishes," answered the younger girl, not looking Cristina in the eye as she hastily wiped at her face.

"Okay." She moved over to let Emma work with her, anxiety thrumming in her chest. "Would you mind telling me what that was about?"

"The stupid curse," Emma said with a sigh. "Magnus told us that if one of us is enough danger, it would strengthen the parabatai curse even more. Then maybe it would be strong enough to cut the parabatai bond."

"And let me guess, Julian is totally against you being your usual reckless danger-loving self?" Cristina teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yep." The two worked in silence for a while, brooding and tension as palpable as steam.

Cristina just hoped that what had driven Emma and Julian apart was worth it.

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