jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-05-01 16:19:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, jem carstairs, will herondale |
Who: Jem Carstairs and Will Herondale
What: Parabatai deciding to start training together
Where: A Gym
When: Backdated: Saturday, April 26th. Morning
Rating: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Since the dream about becoming Will’s Parabatai, Jem hadn’t had any other dreams, which was probably a good thing because he had needed to catch up on the school work he’d missed during the week that he’d been in the hospital and he didn’t need anything else distracting him. It was still strange to think that he was technically sick, despite the fact that he didn’t necessarily feel sick, but that was because of the yin fen. He was now dependent on the drug, which was also slowly killing him and it was all because of the dreams. He knew that the yin fen he’d gotten from the dreams wasn’t going to last forever and he had no way of knowing if he’d get more, so eventually he’d have to figure something out or he was going to die.
Of course he tried not to dwell on that and instead put his mind on his course work and his new friendships with Will and Tessa. He was now Will’s parabatai and had the Rune on his shoulder to prove it. It was strange how it had just been there when he’d woken up after the dream when they had applied them, but at the same time it made sense. Being parabatai meant that they were also Shadowhunters and seeing as how the other Shadowhunters on Valarnet appeared to have inherited their abilities from the dreams, Will and Jem had decided to start training together. Jem had never done anything physical like this before, but he would give it a shot.
After talking to Jace, Jem found out the name of the gym the other Shadowhunter had planned for them to all train at and he and Will had made an appointment for a space for their first practice session, which was what they were currently getting ready to do.
Will hadn’t had any more dreams either which was kind of a relief. It was a strange feeling sorry for yourself, but he did feel bad for the Will in his dreams. He was convinced he had to push everybody away, except for Jem who couldn’t be hurt by him. He was glad Magnus had told him the curse wasn’t real and couldn’t affect him here. It was a sad existence to be so alone but his care for Jem was like a beacon of hope in the dreams.
He liked the rune, found himself laying his hand over it sometimes without realising. It was almost like the comforting presence of a friend, which he supposed it kind of was. Will had been pretty excited when Jem had told him he’d reserved the gym space for them, even if they didn’t have all their shadowhunter abilities yet it would be good to spend some time with the quieter man. After all they were obviously meant to be good friends, their dreams were seeing to that. He knew he’d had a good feeling when he first met Jem.
“So, I’ve never actually done this before. I’m not entirely sure how to begin.” While Jem had seen plenty of movies where the characters fought or sparred, they’d always been doing that for years and knew where to begin so Jem was at a bit of a loss. He was looking forward to spending this time with Will and getting some exercise, but he knew that he couldn’t overdo it too much, because that would more than likely cause a flare up of his illness. It was going to take a lot of getting used to, having to limit himself, but he had a feeling that his Shadowhunter abilities would offset the effects of his illness somewhat.
Will was also very aware that he’d need to watch out for Jem and make sure he didn’t overdo it. He didn’t want him to feel ill as a result of these interactions, especially since he was hoping they’d become regular occurrences if they went as planned. “Well I guess maybe you should just come at me? Try and hit me and see if I block it? That would be one way to find out if we have any kind of fighting instincts” he suggested with a shrug.
Every image Jem had in his head of him simply coming at Will ended with him getting hit in the face and just the thought of it made Jem cringe slightly, “Just promise not to hit me in the face.” He really didn’t want to take another trip to the ER. Jem had seen enough of the hospital for his liking, “I’m not entirely sure if this is right, but I’ll give it a try.” Lifting his hands, he made fists and held them up in front of his face, shielding it a bit as he came towards Will and threw a punch. It wasn’t a very good punch, but it was a punch none the less.
“I wouldn’t dream of marking your pretty face” he teased with a smile though it was true, no matter what happened Will wouldn’t hurt Jem. He didn’t want his friend to go back to the hospital either. Nodding and taking up what he hoped was some kind of defensive stance Will waited for Jem to move forward. Will dodged it easily and threw out his own punch to Jem’s side.
When Will blocked his punch then threw his own towards Jem’s side, he moved back, hands back up near his face, shielding it then moved around Will’s side and threw another punch this time aimed at Will’s side. It was nothing like the sparring he’d seen them do in the dreams over the two years between when they met and when they became Parabatai, but it was more than Jem had ever done before and he didn’t feel ridiculous doing it. It almost felt natural.
It was very different to the dreams, there was a lack of weapons for one but Will figured they’d work up to that. As they continued throwing, missing and re-trying their movements became more natural and they started reacting with instinct instead of anything else. It was an odd but familiar feeling.
As they continued, Jem was amazed at how natural it began to feel. He knew his muscles would be sore the next day, but it felt familiar and natural now. They continued until Jem started coughing and he had to stop. It was nothing like the coughing fits he’d endured the night he’d dreamt about getting sick and luckily there was no blood this time, but Jem knew he needed to take a break. “T...that was amazing.”
When he started coughing Will stopped immediately and looked at his friend in concern, moving closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. “It was” he agreed, “Maybe a bit too much for the first time though, you okay? Do you need anything?”
Jem nodded and placed a hand on his chest as the coughing subsided and he looked at Will, his pulse rising slightly as he became aware of his friend's hand on his shoulder; the same shoulder where his rune was, "I think...I think I'm alright."
“Good” Will said with a smile, his hand remaining where it was, “I wouldn’t want you to be ill again because we pushed too hard” His eyes still held concern but there was affection too. “We’ll work out a good balance I’m sure”
Jem nodded, dropping his head slightly so that his dark fringe fell into his eyes for a moment before lifting his gaze back to Will’s, “I’m sure we’ll figure something out. I mean, I’ve seen that I can push myself further than this in the dreams.” The majority of the dreams he’d had recently had all been him and Will training as well as being tutored or spending time in the library, reading over the Shadowhunter Codex and then there was the part where Jem played the violin. His dream counterpart was much better at playing than he’d ever been.
Will nodded, “It’ll just take time. I mean we’ve only just discovered this but in the dreams we’ve been training a lot longer and you’ve dealt with your condition for longer too” he said with a small smile.
“That’s true. About two years longer.” Not to mention they had someone training them in the dreams, where in the waking world they were doing this all on their own. After a moment or two, of watching Will, Jem asked the question that was on his mind, “What do you honestly think of this entire situation? I mean, a few weeks ago you were simply Will Herondale and now you’re a Shadowhunter and parabatai to a person you only met about a month ago.”
“I’ve never been ‘simply Will Herondale’” he said with a grin and a cheeky wink, “But yeah I guess when you think about it then it’s all a bit strange. It’s kind of cool though, I mean it sucks that you’re ill because of the dreams but I’m still glad that I get to be your parabatai. I knew there was something about you when we met, even before the dreams”
As Jem listened to Will, he took a swig from the bottle of water that he’d brought with him and smiled, “It’s going to take a while, still, to get used to this illness, but I am glad that we’re parabatai and friends, because it means I don’t have to deal with this alone.” He hadn’t told his parents that he was sick, nor that he’d been in the hospital because he didn’t want them to worry or to have to explain it all to them, so he was glad that he wasn’t alone in this.
“Nope, friends for life” Will told him, dropping an arm around Jem’s shoulders, “Whatever you need and whenever you need it just call and I’ll come running” he promised with a smile, “We’ll look out for each other from now on”
Jem’s smile widened as Will wrapped his arm around his shoulder, his pulse rising once again at the closeness. It was strange, but Jem was enjoying it, which was confusing, but he tried not to think about it. Jem wasn’t used to this much physical contact, never having been this close with any friends back home, so he supposed that was it. “I think I can live with that.”