West of Words (Alec Lightwood)

🗝 Chapter Ten 🗝

Varian was woken up by a pounding on his door which is never a pleasant way to wake up.

He basically launched himself from his bed in his hurry to get the door which only succeeded in getting his legs tangled in the sheets and him falling to the floor with a loud yelp. It took Varian a lot longer than he would ever admit to untangled himself from the sheets, and by the time he made it to his front door the pounding had been joined by shouting.

"Bloody hell what do you want!" Varian nearly ripped the door off of it's hinges as he spoke, his face softening drastically when he noticed the face of Simon Lewis on the other side of the door. "Simon."

At first Varian wasn't sure to do, the mundane had been dead yesterday and though Varian had predicted his return that didn't mean that he was going to be perfectly unaffected by it. Varian held a hand out to him, and Simon grabbed it without a second thought.

He looked starving, and Varian knew that he would have trouble controlling himself if he didn't have something to eat and soon. Varian led him to the kitchen, motioning to a stool and started digging through his fridge.

"I'm sorry for showing up here." Simon sounded like he was speaking around a mouth full of marshmallows, and Varian knew it was because he was having trouble speaking through his fangs.

Varian paused, looking up at the young Vampire with a firm look. "You never need to apologize for needing help." He continued searching as the kitchen got quiet, the only sound coming from Varian moving things around in his fridge. "A-ha! You're lucky, three pints of O-neg."

He stood, turning to face the boy with a smile. Varian could see the hungry look that Simon had in his eyes, but waited until he poured most of it into a large glass for him. He knew that Simon would be disgusted drinking from the bag.

"Here." Varian passed the glass to him with a small smile, nodding when Simon took a sniff of it all. Knowing that he would be embarrassed by his hunger, Varian turned away and busied himself with making a cup of coffee.

"Oh-" Simon seemed to choke on something, and when Varian turned he realized it was the inability to say 'God'. "That's terrible."

"You get use to it, or so I'm told." Varian smiled sadly at Simon. "I'm sorry that this has happened to you."

Varian wanted to say more, but was distracted by the playing card flying through the air, Varian snatches it, the situation around why the card was sent appears in his head. Varian smiles at Simon in an apologetic way.

"I need to help the Shadowhunters, but you are free to stay here." Varian waves his hand, an lilac glow passes over the windows in the entire apartment. "The sun will be at its highest soon, the windows will protect you from the suns light."

"Thank you. I'll get out of your hair by-"

"You don't have to." Varian smiles as he interrupts. "You can stay here as long as you need. There's no reason I can't be hospitable to a Downworlder in need."

That seemed to shock Simon, and for a moment Varian wondered if he had said something wrong. But Simon hadn't thought of himself as a Downworlder, and hearing Varian say that was a shock to him. The boy started to cry, and Varian reacted quickly, crossing the room in three steps and wrapping his arms around the still-seated young Vampire.

"Oh, oh Simon. It's alright." Simon sniveled in Varian's arms for a few minutes, and when he pulled back he looked terribly embarrassed which Varian was quick to address. "Right, no more tears. Sleep, eat, I'll pick up more blood on my way home. If you need me my numbers on the fridge."

Varian stepped away, waving his hand towards one of the guest bedrooms. Simon stood walking in the way that he had pointed and stopping just at the door.

"Thank you Varian." Simon struggled to smile, obviously uncomfortable with his new teeth. Varian smiled in return, setting a hand on his chest and bowing his head slightly.

"Any time." Varian waited until the young Vampire had gone into the room before waving his hand for new clothing and starting towards the door. His sword was in the umbrella stand by the door, and as he strapped it to his back he also grabbed his keys.

Varian owned a car and a motorcycle.

Both of which he rarely used, but both had magically properties. The car was a gift from his baba  when he turned sixteen, and the bike was a Vampire bike and therefore useless in the daylight. Which meant taking the car, an old Bentley that his baba  swears was a gift from the inventor, and it probably was.

Driving is something that Varian took a long time getting use to. His baba  never learned how to drive, but Varian felt like it made him more Mundane to do it. As well as it became useful in times like these, taking the car is much cheaper than a cab.

It's an uneventful trip, and when he arrives at the Institute Varian glamours the car to match the scenery (to avoid getting a ticket) before walking up to the door and knocking three times.

To anyone the Institute is an abandoned cathedral, but to those that can see through the glamour it's a beautiful church. The interior keeps the Gothic look of the building but with upgrades to make it easier to use for the Shadowhunters of today.

Varian was at the Institute often when his baba  and him first moved to New York, but he was only seven, and was barely there for an hour. His first interaction since then was yesterday when he portaled in after helping the group of Shadowhunters and now he was going back at the request of the pretty dark haired one.

It's a strange feeling.