Will & Tessa \ Wessa

Unexpected

The London rain was relentless and Will cursed himself for not riding tonight or taking the carriage.

He stepped out of the curiosity shop, pocketing the very rare trinket he'd just bought for Tessa.

He pulled up his collar and started walking down Portsmouth Street as the rain beat down.

All was quiet except for the steady beat of heavy rain and the sporadic rumble of a carriage that rolled past.

Will's black hair was drenched and plastered to his head, the cold seeped into his bones.

He walked briskly but stopped suddenly, seeing two faeries and a goblin chatting excitedly ahead of him before dipping into an alley.

Strange threesome at the best of times, Will thought, and this was not the best of times.

He trailed after them at a distance and saw them enter a shop with a "Closed" sign on the door. Candles burned bright on the other side of the shops frosted glass windows.

Will waited a moment and then entered the shop as well.

He was slightly taken aback by the massive werewolf barring the second door the odd threesome had just gone through.

"Password, Shadowhunter." The man growled. He looked to be frozen half way between transforming into a wolf and his human self. He raised an eyebrow. "Haven't got all day, fellow."

Will scratched his head, rainwater running down him in streams. "It's been a night." Will smiled.

"That it has." Came the response.

"And it's slipped my mind." Will continued.

"That's a shame."  The werewolf looked bored and folded his arms. He recognized Will, but didn't let on. This was a Shadowhunter that was liked and even respected by downworlders. He did not look down on them. He gave them no trouble, and they in turn gave him none. There were rumors that he had even married a warlock recently, but perhaps that was just a rumor.

After a moment of trying to stare each other down the werewolf said, "Beathach son adharcach a Siona."***

Will stared at him in surprise and his smile broadened. "Ah... I remember now. The password is Qilin."

The man jerked his head towards the second door indicating Will could go through. "Your friend is going to need some support."

"My friend." A puzzled Will repeated.

But the shop door opened again and the werewolf turned his attention to the new comers.

Will slipped through the second door. The room was packed to the rafters with cheering rowdy downworlders and in the middle of the room was a small makeshift ring and two people were bare knuckle boxing.

One of the fighters was a faerie and the other - Will barked out a laugh in disbelief - was Gabriel Lightwood.

The cheering spectators did not seem to mind him as Will eased his way through the thick crowd and found a space to watch the fight clearly.

"Who's winning?" He asked a faerie standing next to him but the faerie huffed angrily and turned away, which made Will grin, so Gabriel was winning. Probably.

Interesting. Gabriel, forever keeping up appearances, still donned his dress shirt and tie, and apart from his disheveled hair, Will's sister's husband appeared unruffled.

Sneaking in a few punches and catching the faerie in the ring by surprise a few times, he appeared to be in charge of the fight. The sparring went on for a while until the faerie faltered and Gabriel landed the winning blow.