floriography [ stories five ]

dark lullaby || idk shadowhunter au but future ig

[ dammit i'm gonna ruin whatever thoughts i had about a part two of 'the marks you've made'

anyway this is that but seven years in the future

⚠️- language, mentions of demons blood and gore, weapons, etc

also anyway: drugs or me by jimmy eat world is lewis and logan and you can't convince me otherwise

stay safe,
lew. ]

————

A lot can change within a few years.

Like someone melting Ezra's cold dead heart. Like Chase learning a major lesson about sleeping around. Like Logan and Harry becoming responsible adults. Like Lewis realizing that he might not be who he thought he was.

At least once every year, the group of young Shadowhunters promised to get together. To trade stories, to prove that they'd been okay.

Lewis turned eighteen in August, followed by Logan in January. Sent to Russia and Greece respectively, for their year abroad, learning differences between the American Shadowhunters they'd grew up with and the cultures they were with now.

The following year, they came back with stories, detailing the adventures they'd been on and the people they'd seen. Logan talked about the more personal encounters he'd had with others, ignoring the sour look on Harry's face. Lewis blushed when asked of similar topics, staying strictly on demons and weapons as a discussion.

Harry was next, returning to regale them with stories of the Parisian Institute. Then, the following year, Ezra and Chase, who refused to tell where they'd went, only that they'd survived.

Ezra kept glancing at his phone during their reunion, then finally bolted for the door as soon as his phone buzzed in a new text. Chase seemed empty and hollow, eyes no longer filled with the wild fire of her recklessness. Logan and Harry were closer, while Lewis stayed as far away from his so-called best friend as possible.

The visits stopped for a few years after that.

Ezra was busy, too wrapped up in killing demons and falling more in love with the beautiful warlock he had known since he was sixteen. Chase stayed at the Institute and 'helped' with training classes, just going through the motions as she tried to get over the trauma she didn't want to share.

Lewis spent a worrying amount of time with the Fair Folk, but never seemed to get into trouble there in their realm. Logan was understandably worried, but threw himself into actually teaching the kids combat techniques and the rekindling romance between him and Harry. While Harry was being prepared to take over leadership of this Institute when his parents moved back to Idris, even though he and Logan weren't thrilled at the prospect.

Then, finally, things changed.

——

Logan hated waiting on Lewis to return from Faerie. His friend, who he really disliked at the moment, had something important to tell him, and this lead to the pair meeting at one of the Downworlder bars.

A blue-eyed wolf kid served him a drink, then leaned against the bar with a cute smile. "Be careful around here, okay? Wouldn't want someone to ruin your handsome face."

Logan returned the smile, but instead of flirting back, because he knew Harry wouldn't be happy if he did, he simply said, "I promised my boyfriend I wouldn't get into any fights tonight."

Immediately, the kid stood up straight, face flushing in a way that almost reminded him of his dumbass best friend. And, just like he thought— a change of subject. "Do you know this other Shadowhunter dude... he's like really tall and really scary, always comes around to 'hang out' with Ronnie?"

"First, who's Ronnie? And what's your name, buddy?"

"The warlock guy around here. He's really pretty. I'm Bailey, I've been in this pack since I was fourteen, and I think I've seen you around before." The werewolf boy walked away to serve another of his pack that'd came up, but soon returned to Logan.

He nodded, thinking back over the people he'd met at the Institute. Finally, a name came to him. "Are you talking about Ezra?"

"Yeah! That's it! He's here, if you wanna talk to him, I can go get him."

Bailey was just an excitable kid. It was easy to picture him before getting bitten, a bright-eyed blur of colors and cheerful smiles. Logan's smile grew a little bit. "Sure, kid. It's been a while since I've seen him."

Only a moment or two after Bailey scampered off, Lewis sat next to his friend, stray leaves in his dark hair. "Thanks for waitin' on me, buddy. I really need to tell you something and you have to promise to keep it between us—"

And of course, that's when Ezra came in from one of the back rooms, his arm around a man that must've been Ronnie the warlock. "Are we sharing secrets now?"

Lewis shrunk back, arms wrapped around himself. Compared to the other Shadowhunters in the room, he definitely didn't feel intimidating in the slightest. He'd only been able to carry a few runes, while the other two were covered in tiny silvery scars and dark sweeping Marks. "No. I just gotta tell Logan something I found out."

"You can tell me too. Aren't we old friends?"

The warlock still hadn't said a word, sitting on Ezra's lap once he'd taken a seat. It was unsettling to Lewis, to say the least. You'd think, with all the time he spent among the fey, he'd be used to odd physical attributes. But he'd never seen skin that glowed like witchlight.

"Ezra, it's highly personal and... I—"

"Guessing by your shakiness and the fact that you've got plant matter from the Faerie realm all over yourself, I'm going to say that you've finally figured out that you're not completely Nephilim," Ronnie cut in, feigning a yawn. "It took you long enough."

Lewis froze. Then, quicker than Logan had ever seen him move before, he took off for the door.

Ronnie shrugged, signaling Bailey for a drink. "Being a half-breed isn't a bad thing."

Really, it was a rare occasion that Logan and Ezra were both speechless. But at least, Ezra soon recovered, murmuring, "Maybe you shouldn't have said anything, babe."

"Wait. So... you're telling me that not only is one of my friends half-faerie, but you're dating a warlock?" Logan groaned softly. "I owe Chase fifty dollars now."

"Why do you owe Chase—?"

"I thought she was full of shit when she kept saying you were fucking a warlock years ago."

Logan's phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from Harry lit up the screen: hurry back asap, find ezra and lewis if you can. we have a situation.

So obviously, he sent a text to Lewis, telling him to meet up at the Institute. Ezra wouldn't come without Ronnie, and really, Logan didn't want to see what the hell the Brooks parents would do if they showed up with a high-ranking warlock, but he didn't want to argue with Ezra at the moment.

And like that, they descended on the Institute.