West of Words (Alec Lightwood)

🗝 Chapter Forty-Seven 🗝

It would be irrational for Varian to not notice the obvious tension in Alec after he shared the fact that he had struggled with Yin-Fen.

For Shadowhunters to admit any form of weakness is unknown, and as Alec had yet to be fully exposed to any lifestyle outside of Shadowhunting and the customs, the admittance of the weakness was something that made Alec slightly uncomfortable. Though he would never admit it to his new found boyfriend, not that Varian had to be told, the golden-grey hue surrounding him was a tell that he was uncomfortable.

Varian smiled at his boyfriend, offering his hand to him and pulling ever so slightly towards the front of the coffee shop. Alec didn't need much prompting to get walking and with a wave of Varian's lilac hand the lights turned off and the door shut behind him, locking with a loud click.

The streets were strangely quiet for it only be just after four in the afternoon, not that Varian minded. The silence was welcomed with open arms in his books as it meant that they would not be stopped on their way.

"Right, it's round the corner from here Darling," Varian muttered, nudging Alec's shoulder slightly in a way of telling him to turn left. He lifted his fist, the thunking echoed slightly, and just as a lock sounded on the other side of the door Alec dropped Varian's hand.

He didn't have time to question why because of the door opening in front of them, but some minuscule part of Varian felt hurt by Alec's quick reaction, but he was much to distracted by the look the man on the other side of the door was giving him.

The man was large, and by the green hue decorating the air he was sure that Varian couldn't handle himself in any form of fight. He started to open his mouth to say something, but Varian waved his hand, a hollow look appearing in the large mans eyes as he opened the door just a bit more in a trance like way.

"Come on then." Varian muttered, not daring to reach for Alec's hand for fear of rejection. He took the lead, his footsteps quiet on the dirt floor as he approached the ring. "Best fighters in the city come here," Varian lurched just a bit, before correcting himself, "so I've heard."

He could see Alec nod out of the corner of his eyes. "It's only a matter of time before Valentine hits this place."

There was a man in the ring, his arms out to the side as if presenting himself, challenging every person in the room to even attempt to fight him. Varian smiled, his shoulders popping as he rolled them.

Varian stepped into the ring.

"You are puny." He had an accent that Varian couldn't place. "And tiny."

He shrugged, "And you are large." Varian could feel Alec tense up on the other side of the ring, as if he were worried about Varian taking on someone nearly three times his size. Varian was not worried a bit. "Come on then."

The man, Varian affectionately decided to call him Chunk, lifted his hands. His feet to spaced out, and his chest to exposed to be helpful. Varian followed suit, lifting his hands and twisting his feet at the ankles to ground himself. 

Chunk through the first punch, putting his entire upper body into the movement, Varian side stepped him, lifting his left elbow up and bringing it down on the inside of the man's elbow. It popped but did not break, Chunk winced loudly, spinning and making a grab at Varian.

He was able to avoid Chunk's left hand, but not his right. The meaty fist wrapped around Varian's upper arm, squeezing in a way that could have been painful. Varian tensed up spinning quickly and planting both feet into the mans stomach. He used it as an almost springboard, extending his legs and pushing off, Chunk grunted, stumbling backwards and Varian soared through the air.

Varian avoided the jolt of hitting the ground by rolling through it, swiping his left leg out and catching both of Chunk's legs in the hook of his ankle. Because of the sheer size of the man he was unprepared for the hit to the ground. Varian lurched across the space between the two, one knee landing on the mans chest as he socked him in the jaw, once, twice, three times.

Varian was not naive enough to think he had won, which is why when Chunk threw a fist and caught the side of Varian's head he was nearly ready for it. He still his the ground hard enough, but in an easy movement he grabbed Chunk by his thick meaty neck and held him in a choke hold. Applying just enough pressure for the man to be woozy, but not enough to injure him to much.

A double tap on Varian's left elbow let him know that Chunk had given up, he released the hold, standing to full height and nodding in thanks to the congrats he had received.

Alec had been worried, that much was apparent by the way his knuckles were white by his side and the quickly shared smile between the two. Varian walked towards him, smiling in an almost flirtatious way as he walk closer.

"Were you worried about me Darling?" Varian asked, standing on his toes to press a kiss to Alec's lips. While the men of the fight ring were distracted by the affection shared between the two, Varian waved his hand, all of them suddenly realizing that they had somewhere to be, the place began to clear out.

Alec looked obviously impressed as the men started to leave, he leaned down to kiss Varian once again, before leaning back and watching as they went.

Varian took that as a chance to work on wards. The annoyance of there having not been a spike in energy at every place where a mundane had been taken had already told him that it was portal magic, not anything else. His mouth moved to form Latin words, a pulse passing over the 'gym' as anti-ward magic was spread.

The specific magic that Varian was using allowed whoever it was to portal in, but the moment their feet touched solid ground they would not be able to leave through the same portal.

"And we wait?" Varian asked Alec, a smile on his face as his boyfriend looked at him in a way that let Varian know how in love he was.

Alec sighed, nodding his head before stating in an almost annoyed way. "And we wait."