jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-05-26 18:01:00
Who: Jem Carstairs and Tessa Grey What: A Lunch Date When: Backdated: Saturday, April 26th. Afternoon Where: A Restaurant Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly Status: Complete!
When Tessa had agreed to have lunch with him, Jem had been extremely happy. Ever since he’d met Tessa, he’d enjoyed being around her and why wouldn’t he? She was intelligent, enjoyed reading and of course Jem thought she was rather attractive. He didn’t know what she thought of him, but it had become clear that she cared enough about him to want to make sure he was alright considering how much she’d been there for him when he’d become ill. He had no intention of actually telling her that he had a crush on her, because he didn’t want to find out that she didn’t feel the same way. Instead, he would simply enjoy spending whatever time he could with her.
Of course the way he felt about Tessa became slightly complicated when he thought about Will and how any time his Parabatai got close to him, his pulse would spike and he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. It was all very confusing and Jem was going to try to not dwell on it too much and instead enjoy the fact that he had two friends who cared about him.
On the day he and Tessa had decided to meet for lunch, Jem had arrived at the restaurant first and instead of going inside, he’d decided to wait outside for her so that Tessa wouldn’t have to go looking for him inside.
Tessa moved quickly down the street towards the restaurant James had chosen for them to have lunch. She spotted him on the pavement outside and couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face. He was beautiful in the sunlight, tall and elegant. He wasn’t much changed from her Dreams. Kind and gentle with the biggest heart imaginable.
“Good afternoon James,” She greeted, still smiling as she walked up to him.
Jem heard Tessa’s voice before he saw her, a smile spreading across his lips as he turned to see her approaching, “Hello, Tessa. You look lovely as usual,” He was always happy to see Tessa and this afternoon was no exception. “Did you find the place alright?” He hoped that it hadn’t been too difficult for her to find.
"Thank you Jem," Tessa smiled and blushed in return, ducking her head to try and hide it. "I most certainly did, no need for any GPS or anything. Are you implying I should have had trouble?" she teased him, trying to keep her smile at bay.
Jem wanted to give Tessa a hug, but he wasn’t quite there yet. It was one thing when Will wrapped his arm around him or something, because Will was the one initiating it and that was how Will was. Jem was too worried about reading the signs wrong and offending Tessa, so he hung back for the moment, “Oh no, of course not. I simply hoped that you hadn’t gotten lost on your way here.” He reached for the door handle, “Should we go in?”
"Absolutely," Tessa smiled up at him brightly as he opened the door for her. Ever the gentleman, she liked that. "Do we have a table reserved?" she asked, turning to him in the foyer.
“I put my name in when I got here then came out to wait for you.” Jem said as they went inside. There were a few people currently waiting, so he gestured towards an empty seat in the waiting area, “Hopefully we won’t be waiting long. I assume two people would get seated much sooner than a larger party.”
"You're very kind James," Tessa smiled as they sat. "You didn't have to wait outside for me," she settled her bag in her lap as they waited. "How have you been? Nice to be free from the hospital I imagine?"
Not many people ever actually called him James anymore, but he liked when Tessa did it. He liked the way it sounded and it made him smile, “Well, I didn’t want you to have to come looking for me. I figured waiting outside made it easy.” He sat next to her, turned slightly so he was looking at her, “I’ve been good. Started training with Will and caught up with my coursework. How have you been?”
“Training? Are you sure you’re ready for that so soon?” Tessa asked worriedly, turning to face him some more. “I’m fine, just worried about you,” she told him, eyes running over his face in concern.
Jem nodded, “It’s been about a month now, I think this is good for me. I train even harder with Will in our dreams and we’re younger, so I think I’ll be fine.” Of course in the dreams, Jem had been dealing with his illness for at least two years by the time he and Will had become Parabati. “I appreciate your concern. I really do.” It meant that she cared about him and Jem was grateful for that.
“All right,” Tessa agreed reluctantly, cautious eyes running over his face. “So long as you let me prepare some meals for you to put in your freezer. In case you have any bad days,” she finished saying, not giving him room to argue with her.
A small smile spread across Jem’s lips and he nodded, “Alright. You can make me some meals.” He would have to get Tessa a key to his apartment in case she wanted to cook while he wasn’t home, which would be easy enough. Before he could say anything else his name was called by the hostess and he got to his feet, extending his hand to Tessa to help her up, “Shall we?”
Tessa blushed when he held out his hand to her. She smiled and looked up at him with wide eyes as she took his hand, reluctant to let it go as the waiter started moving away from them.
As Tessa took his hand, Jem felt his cheeks flush slightly. Her hand was warm and fit nicely in his and he also didn’t want to let go, but he also didn’t want to do anything she might find awkward, so once she was on her feet, he released her hand and they followed the hostess to a booth.
Tessa swallowed thickly as she pulled herself together and followed Jem to the table. Sitting down, she set her handbag down to one side and smiled up at the waitress as she poured glasses of water for them and asked if they'd like anything else to drink. Tessa smiled and asked for some orange juice, considering she wasn't yet old enough to drink. She then looked over at Jem while he replied. He was beautiful and when she had heard his music in her Dreams he was even more so.
Jem slid into the booth across from Tessa once she’d sat down and told the waitress he was fine with water. She then gave them menus and told them that she’d give them a few minutes, “So, how are things at the shop?” He asked as he opened his menu and started looking over the various options.
Tess opened up her menu and then looked up at Jem and smiled. “The shop is doing very well, thank you,” she leant on her elbows on the table. “In fact, I’m looking at taking on a couple of extra people over the summer so I can have a bit more free time,” she gave a little shrug. “I was also thinking of trying to do more joint events with the bakery around the corner. Maybe a book fair or something, what do you think?”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Jem smiled, nodding, “Perhaps you could find out if there are any other authors on Valarnet with a new book or something coming out soon.” Despite not knowing exactly what sort of events Tessa would have at the shop, one thing that Jem did know was that he would go to whatever Tessa held at the shop or bakery.
“That’s a good idea, you never know who could be out there,” Tessa smiled. “I just want it to be fun, get people excited about books, you know?” she told him, her eyes lighting up at the idea.
Jem smiled, happy that he could suggest something that might help Tessa, “It’s worth a try at least.” He continued glancing over the menu, eyes flicking up to Tessa ever now and then to watch her in case she said something. “I do wish more people were excited about reading books as opposed to ereaders.” For Jem there was just something about actual books that Jem preferred.
“I know what you mean,” Tessa sighed. “Some people say that I should ‘catch up with the times’,” she made little air quotation marks as she said that. “But there’s something so special about an actual book in your hands,” she enthused. “Sorry, I must sound like a broken record,” she shook her head with a little laugh before looking down at her menu. She quickly chose a dish and closed the menu. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about, you’ve had Dreams, right?”
Jem shook his head, “Oh no, you don’t sound like that at all.” He smiled at her over his menu then nodded in response to her question, “Just the few from being attacked and poisoned then moving to the London Institute and meeting Will. Have you had dreams?” He’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t been curious as to what Tessa would eventually dream about and he wondered if she had finally started dreaming.
“Actually...I Dreamed of you,” Tessa admitted quietly but with a smile, a blush colouring her cheeks as she did. She worried about how he would react to telling him that, but she figured it was the reason they had been drawn together.
Jem’s eyes widened slightly at that. He’d known about Will dreaming about him, considering they’d dreamt about each other on the same night, but hearing about someone else dreaming about him who he had yet to meet in the dreams, it was a little surprising, “Really? I’m in your dreams? When?”
'After bringing you home the other night," Tessa told him softly. "That night, I dreamed that I...barged into your room in the middle of the night in my nightgown," she looked up at him. "You were sat on the end of your bed playing the violin and it was the most beautiful music I had ever heard," she smiled across the table at him. "You were so engrossed in it that you didn't even realise a crazy woman had burst in your door. You thought I was Will," she gave a little laugh, the image of herself in Jem's bedroom in little more than two thin layers of cloth making a blush come to her cheeks again.
Jem’s brows rose now as he listened to Tessa, “I was playing violin? Well, now I know it was a dream.” He teased, giving her a small smile, “I can see why I would have thought you were Will if I wasn’t paying attention, even in the few dreams I’ve had since arriving at the Institute, Will is the only one who would have come into my room without knocking.” He took a sip of his water, “I’m curious though, why did you barge into my room?”
"I...I'd had a bad dream but your music woke me up and then...I guess I was still sleepy because I wandered across the hall and opened your door," she shrugged. "And there you were..." she smiled, looking up into his eyes. "It really was beautiful Jem."
Jem smiled at the compliment and sighed, “If only I could play an instrument in real life. I’ve tried numerous instruments and it’s safe to say that I’m much better at reading it and conducting it than playing it.” He couldn’t help but wonder, however, if this talent would bleed over as well. It would be much better than an illness, that was for sure.
“I know, but I hope you’ll keep trying to play if you get more Dreams,” Tessa encouraged. “I’ve seen some people talking on the Net that as they Dream more they discover that their skills from that world start to transfer over,” she smiled at him.
“If I get the opportunity, I’ll be sure to try,” Jem wondered if he should get a violin now and see if this particular skill would start to bleed over, “Have you met Will, in the dreams, or just me?” If she was staying at the Institute in the dreams then it only made sense that she’d meet Will as well.
"Thank you," Tessa smiled happily, hopefully Jem's playing ability would come with time. She got the feeling it was a source of frustration for her friend. "Not yet, I just remember talking to you about...everything," she shrugged. "I'd fallen asleep reading the Codex and you were more than happy to answer my questions when I barged in," she gave a little laugh.
At the mention of the Codex, Jem perked up a little, “Do you remember anything from the Codex? My dreams about it are all sort of like a montague. I’ve dreamt of reading it while studying, but never anything specific.” He wondered if he or Will would end up getting a copy of the Shadowhunter’s Codex from the dreams.
“Not much, bits and pieces,” Tessa shrugged. “I remember asking you about your runes,” she paused. “And talking about our parents, how we lost them,” she told him quietly.
As she mentioned Runes, Jem’s hand instinctively went to his shoulder where his Parabatai Rune now was. It was still strange when he happened to catch sight of it in the mirror or something, but at the same time, it also felt like it was supposed to be there, “Perhaps the dreams will gift it to one of us.”
"Hopefully! I'd love to get my hands on it," Tessa grinned, eyes lighting up at the prospect. "I can only imagine what information it contains!" she paused looking at Jems hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright, Jem?"
Jem nodded and set his hand down on the table, “Yes. I am.” He hadn’t shown Tessa his Rune and he wasn’t going to do that in a public restaurant either, “My Parabatai Rune is there.” He said, indicating the spot he’d touched just as the waitress came back to ask if they were ready to order.
Tessa had more questions but the waitress' arrival distracted her before she could ask them. She placed her order and let herself get carried away with chatting and flirting with Jem.