West of Words (Alec Lightwood)

🗝 Chapter Thirty-Seven 🗝

There are different kinds of magic that every Warlock has access too.

Of course, Varian found himself with a talent in most magic, his baba  was ironically the opposite. He was talented with practical magic, defensive spells, attack spells, that sort of thing.

Because Varian was Ragnor Fell's heir, this talent in most magic grew into a talent in all magic (though at various degrees of strength). Tracking magic was one of those, previously Varian would avoid tracking someone as he would find himself far to embarrassed to find the wrong person, or find a past location of the subject.

But that didn't happen with his tracking of Jace, he very clearly could see the Shadowhunter in his minds eye, the issue was that the rest of the room was too blurry to see. Extensive wards surrounded him, just barely stronger than Varian in his half-tired still-panicked state.

He spent hours in the place with Jace, trying to poke and prod at every inch of the ward to get a glimpse of the room. The Shadowhunters of the Institute firmly avoided entering the training room, for fear of being on the receiving end of the Warlock loosing concentration, not that Varian would every hurt someone for breaking his concentration (except, perhaps, Victor Aldertree).

When Varian finally gave up on trying to crack the wards, he opened his eyes to find Alec Lightwood sitting across from him. A healthy distance of six feet between the two, a yet-to-be-spoken apology sitting on his lips. Alec's hands fiddled with an arrow, but when the lilac left the room, he looked up at Varian. The arrow disappearing into the quiver on his shoulder.

"Varian." Alec's voice was soft, his hands coming to rest on his crossed legs as he attempted to take on a non-threatening demeanor.

Varian ignored him, standing to his feet much to quickly and stretching his back, a series of clicks and pops sounding at the movement his eyes shut. The stretch being exactly what he needed in the moment. Alec stood in a graceful way. Varian's eyes opened, watching in a cautious way as Alec approached, still keeping his distance out of courtesy, but standing close enough that Varian could feel the warmth radiating from his skin.

"I'm not good at apologies." Alec's voice was still soft, though his words every so slightly louder than the previous ones. "But I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, and I shouldn't have yelled."

Varian had already decided to accept Alec's apology, fully aware that his reaction hadn't been Alec's fault, and that Alec couldn't be careful of his actions if he did not know what had previously happened. But Varian wasn't ready to tell, so he just nodded, letting Alec continue.

Alec took a cautious step forward, feeling encouraged when Varian did not step back. "With Jace missing, the ground has shifted, and I can't keep my balance." It was an eloquent explanation, and Varian took a small step closer in response. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm sorry."

Varian leaned his head to the side, a small smile creeping on his face at the white color of truth surrounding him. "You're forgiven."

Those two words were all that Alec needed to close the minuscule distance between their two bodies. He wrapped his arms around Varian's waist, pulling him flush against his chest as he leaned down to kiss him.

Varian smiled into the kiss, one hand coming to rest on Alec's chest, fingers splayed. He could feel the warmth of Alec's skin just below the thin shirt that he was wearing. Alec let one hand wander from his waist up to his hair, a strange amount of talent for someone who had not been in a relationship (at least one that Varian was aware of).

Alec's fingers threaded through Varian's hair, his fingers thunking painfully against the little horns hidden below the layers of his hair.

Varian pulled back, "Merde." He muttered, partly in response to the pain now radiating through his skull at the aggressive accidental hit to his new horns, but also as a reply to the kiss he had been receiving from the tall dark and handsome Shadowhunter across from him.

Alec looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched together and his lips twisted into a frown. For a moment, Varian thought he was put off by his discovery, but that was quickly pushed away when Alec started to apologize. "By the Angel did I hurt you? I am so sorry."

It had, in fact, hurt quite a lot, but Varian just shook his head, throwing a cautious glance to the open archways that he had forgotten was there, though no one seemed to notice his and Alec's moment.

Varian waved his hand through the air, and Alec watched with barely hidden surprise as the room they were in shook slightly before disappearing in its entirety. The same action was repeated, and they were in Alec's room.

"That was amazing." Alec's voice held a tone of astonishment, and for just barely a second Varian wondered why, before realizing that the Shadowhunter had probably not seen a lot of Warlock magic growing up. "But why are we here?"

"It gives a little privacy." Varian's response came with minimal blush, "I have some things that I haven't shared with you, that I probably should before this, whatever this is, continues."

"Alright." Alec smiled in an encouraging way, taking a few steps backward to sit on the edge of his bed.

Varian made no move to sit as he took a deep breath. "Oh bloody hell, I don't know where to start." Varian mumbled, resisting the urge to card a hand through his hair, he took another deep breath. "You remember how Ragnor Fell died?"

Alec blinked twice, as if he wasn't sure why that is what Varian decided to start with, before nodding to tell him he did.

"I had been there for less then twenty-four hours before Clarissa and Jace had arrived, and accidentally brought the demon that had killed him. Ragnor had named me his heir." Varian said it with a small smile, it was a happy memory, despite the sadness surrounding it all. "It's something that Warlocks do when they know their end is coming. They create a will of sorts, almost like Mundanes, and divide everything between their friends. The only difference being that Warlocks can give their magic to others."

Alec made a noise of surprise, before muttering an apology and motioning for Varian to continue.

"I'm not a Warlock, or I wasn't before Ragnor named me his heir." Once again, Alec was visibly surprised, but Varian just continued. "Oh hell, this is so much harder than I hoped it would be."

Varian took a shaky breath, smiling in an apologetic way, before basically spitting out the next words.

"I was a Shadowhunter before all of this." Alec looked confused, but didn't say anything. "Clarissa Fairchild is my sister, Jocelyn is the mother who abandoned me and Valentine Morgenstern is the father I do not want."

The air was silent.