West of Words (Alec Lightwood)

🗝 Chapter Twenty-Seven 🗝

Varian let his eyes fall shut as he leaned into Alec's shoulder.

He took a deep breath, his lungs filling with the smells that made Alec, Alec. Sandalwood and metal, and a hint of mint. Varian's head felt heavy, and he couldn't seem to catch his breath after Alec kissed him, though it may be because of the pure magic coursing through his veins.

"Alec," Varian's voice was soft, and he picked his head up to look the man in the eyes. "I need to take a seat."

Alec looked confused, but the second Varian's knees buckled underneath him Alec reacted. He grabbed for a chair, and helped Varian to sit, kneeling in front of him and smiling in a concerned way as he held his hands.

"What's going on?" Alec asked, "My kisses already making you swoon?"

Varian looked up at him suddenly, laughing a bit as he shook his head. "Look at you with the jokes."

Alec looked rather proud of himself, for the joke that he had made, and for the way that Varian was looking at him right now.

"Alec I am so proud of you!" Izzy's voice broke through their connection. Alec stood, turning to face his sister, who instantly threw her arms around him and smiled.

Varian watched the interaction, happy that his family, or at least most of Alec's family was on his side. He watched with a happy look as Jace joined the happy moment, before Simon and Clarissa started talking just as excitedly.

"Hey, V, you good?" Simon set a heavy hand on Varian's shoulder, and he mumbled that he was fine before slowly standing. Simon delved into a long winded explanation on how Alec and Varian both were like movie characters from a movie that Varian had never heard of before.

Alec looked Simon up and down, before turning to look at Varian. "Who invited the Vampire?"

Varian held his hands up, "Don't look at me, I wasn't even invited." Alec looked embarrassed, but Varian waved it away. It was a struggle for Varian to tear his eyes off of the tall form of Alec Lightwood, but he did, slowly leaving the room as to not draw attention to himself.

He felt like he was going to pass out, but he couldn't let himself, instead he made his way to an empty table in the ops room. Varian willed Ragnor's magic to work for him, though he didn't have full control of it yet, it complied. The table filled with belongings of Ragnor's, each somehow connected to The Book of the White.

Varian wasn't sure why he instantly went to looking for The Book, maybe it was the need to draw his mind off of the changes happening physically and mentally as he slowly became a Warlock, or maybe it was the need to become less of a target for the stares of the other Shadowhunters after what had happened during the almost wedding.

Clarissa entered the room, and Varian said 'hullo' without looking up. The presence of his sister that he has yet to tell the truth to like a stain on his mind.

"You've made up with Simon." Varian observed, waving his hand and conjuring a stool for him to sit on as he riffled through the books on the table.

Clarissa laughed in a dry way. "Yeah, I did. What's all this?"

Varian sighed before looking up at her. "My baba," Varian paused, "That is, Magnus Bane, told me what you were doing at Ragnor Fell's. This is every item of magical importance that Ragnor told me to pull from the house, I do not know what will lead us to the Book of the White."

Jace joined Varian and Clarissa around the table, followed by Izzy and Alec moments later. Alec put a hand on Varian's shoulder, leaning down to ask if he was alright. Varian answered with a light touch of his hand and a strained smile.

"Wait!" Clarissa announced suddenly, pulling something from the pile with an excited look. "I was in another dimension, and Magnus showed me a book of spells, this was in it."

She reached across the table to pass it to Varian, looking confident as she did, but Varian just looked confused. "Alternate dimension, bloody hell when did this happen?" He asked, shaking his head as he did before, taking the fabric in hand. "I've seen this before."

Alec looked over his shoulder, radiating a calming emotion, Varian smiled without meaning to.

"We can track the owner right?" Jace asked, starting to reach for the bookmark in Varian's hands. Varian pulled it just out of his reached, looking more dazed and distracted, like he wasn't all there.

"Warlock magic is better for tracking." Varian muttered, rolling his shoulders a bit as he stood from his stool. His eyes fell shut, and a purple glow seemed to flow from his hands as he did his thing. "Oh, I love simple spells."

A light chuckle came from those around the table with a sense of humor, but Varian pushed away the distraction as he took a long deep breath.

"Item perdidit, revertimini ad me. Per voluntatem, et non erit." While complicated spells are fun, the simple ones give Varian the chance to return the basics. Pronunciation, the amount of magic poured into each spell, it's all a balancing act.

He looks up suddenly, wincing as the image of a vampire trapped in a coffin fills his head.

"Merde."  He mutters, his eyes opening as he sets the bookmark back on the table. "Camille Belcourt has the book."

Simon looks pissed, for obvious reasons, and Clarissa copies the same look of annoyance. "Well, she's not going to help me after I decked her."

Varian looks at her with an amused smile, he grips the edge  of the table for balance as he speaks. "Impressive little red, but she'll have to-"

"I won't give her a choice." Jace interrupts.

Varian nods, looking over his shoulder at Alec. He smiles, and Alec returns the look. "Good luck." Varian speaks it directly to Alec, as he can see the grey anxiety radiating around the man. He starts to step away from the table, but in his continued dazed state his knees buckle, and his eyes roll up into his head.

Varian is gone from this world, but only for a moment, Alec catches him before he hits the ground, looking terrified at the weak state that the young Warlock was in.

"Varian!" He whispered his name over and over again, trying to get him to open his eyes. It took a moment, and when they did Varian smiled in a tired way.

"What a sight to wake up to." He joked, before his eyes turned somber, and he looked around the room. "I need to rest, there's to much going on right now. I need to go home."

Alec's reply came quickly, and he help Varian to his feet. "You can sleep here." He looked at the rest of the group as they both stood. "I'll be right back guys, I'm putting him in my room."

Varian couldn't concentrate enough to hear their replies as he did his best to help Alec help him walk through the ops room of the Institute. It took a lot longer than necessary for the pair of them to reach Alec's room, but once they did Varian practically melted into the bed.

"Thank you Alec." Varian mumbled, the pillow case tickled his nose. "Baba  can explain."

At first, Alec couldn't remember who 'baba' was, but the face of Magnus Bane flashed through his mind without any prompting. He looked down at the Warlock in surprise, knowing it was him who shared the memory when he wasn't expecting it.

"Sleep Varian."

Varian felt Alec's hand on his forehead, and a sense of easy calm passed over him at the skin to skin contact that Alec had initiated.

He was out like a light in seconds.

~~~

Translations:

"Item perdidit, revertimini ad me. Per voluntatem, et non erit." === "item lost, return to me. By my will, so it will be."