InsaneJournal

Who: Clary and Will
What: Chatting in the library
Where: The Institute
When: June
Rating: Low/None
Status: Complete



Clary was in the library at the Institute this afternoon. Having spent the morning training with Jace and Izzy, she had showered and decided to get some time in with the Gray Book. Bent over her sketchpad, she copied the runes, remembering the feeling of drawing them, the feelings they evoked when she looked at them. She found it easier to remember their meanings that way. Incorporating them into her drawings helped sometimes and her sketchpad was littered with small doodles mixed with the runes. She was so wrapped up in what she was doing that she didn’t hear someone else enter the library behind her.

“I was so hoping I’d find you doodling Mrs Clary Herondale on there but alas my hopes are dashed” Will smiled as he entered the library and found Clary there, taking the chance to make her jump a little by appearing right behind her. He’d been at the Institute to use the library himself after his latest dream and just couldn’t resist such an opportunity.

Clary looked up at the voice and smiled as she saw WIll arriving. “Hey there you,” she smiled. She and Will hadn’t spent much time together, but she knew he was a great flirt and had quickly realised it was far more fun to roll with it than resist it. She was loyal to Jace and Will was loyal to Jem and Tessa so really it was all a bit of fun. “As handsome and charming as you are Mr Herondale, my heart is well and truly Jace’s," she grinned at him.

Will was definitely a huge flirt but thankfully Clary had soon realised that was just him and now went with it. “Breaking my heart here but you do recognise I’m handsome and charming so you get brownie points for that” he teased, “So what are you doing? Apart from doodling I mean” he grinned as he pulled out a chair and sat next to her.

“I think it’s something about Shadowhunters. I’m almost certain I’m going to find a rune in here one day which makes the males handsome and charming,” Clary joked, referring to the Gray book on the table in front of her. “I happen to be doodling the runes. Figured I’d get some study in while I’ve got some free time,” she looked at the sketchpad and the many different drawings on there. “It’s weird, I keep drawing random runes in my work, some I know already and others I have to look up in here,” she pointed to the Gray book with her pencil. “I took it as a sign that I had been neglecting my studies,” she laughed. “What about you?”

“Naturally good looking genes, no rune necessary” Will quipped with a wink, “Well most of us. Luckily the Lightwoods improved with age because I can tell you Gideon and Gabriel, faces only a mother could love” Which was a total lie but Will wasn’t about to admit they were good looking. Even if neither of them were around. “Ah, yes. The work of a shadowhunter is never done. Me? Well I’ve recently had a dream about a demon so I thought it might be worth looking it up. Just to see if it is now in a book since it wasn’t in my time”

“Gideon and Gabriel? They must be ancestors of Izzy and Alec?” Clary frowned, she hadn’t heard those names before. Maybe it meant she should look into Shadowhunter lineages too. She still felt a little...distanced from everything Shadowhunter-y. Like in the Dreams, she was a child of this world before she was a child of that world. She knew it was the same for the others but she was distanced even in the Dreams. Being Parabatai with Izzy helped, she felt much closer to them all through that link. “You Dreamed about a demon? I can help you look if you like? What did it look like?”

“Oh yeah sorry. They’re Lightwoods, I’m not entirely sure how they’re connected. Great, great, great, something or other. Magnus might know. Or it might even be in books here” he mused looking around, “Oh yeah, uh short reptile looking, blue scales, red eyes, flat snake nose and long yellow spiky tail” he said, recalling it very clearly.

Clary tilted her head as she saw in her head the demon Will described. Turning back to her sketch pad, she flipped over the page and started sketching it out. Using coloured pencils, she quickly outlined the creature he talked about before turning it to face him. “Something like that?” she asked. It wasn’t Van Gogh by any means, but it was ok by her standards for a quick sketch.

“That’s pretty damn spot on actually” Will said, raising his eyebrows and looking impressed. “You’re very talented, I’m sure you know that but honestly, this is amazing” he truly meant it as well. He wondered if he’d be able to convince her to draw a picture of Tessa and Jem for him.

"Yeah?" Clary asked, a grin on her face at his compliment. "Thanks, it's only a quick sketch so I'm sure I could do a better rendering if you'd like," she offered. "What did the demon in your Dream do then?" She asked, ripping off the sheet of paper and handing it over to him. She turned to get up and moved over to one of the walls of books. "I think species of demons are over here," she offered, starting to look through the books at her height.

“Well then I’m even more impressed” he told her, “He killed my sister and placed a fake curse on me” Will explained, “Since it was so long ago I just wondered if the books had been updated since then to include him” he explained briefly following her to the correct section.

“A fake curse? What was it supposed to do? How was it fake?” Clary asked, flicking through page after page of demons and descriptions. All the ones in this book seemed to be covered in some kind of fur, no reptiles. Sighing, she put the book back, deciding to take a few of them back to the desk to go over.

“He told me those I loved would die, then a few days later my sister did. So I ran away to the institute in London. But it was a lie, he hadn’t cursed me at all. Just fooled a stupid kid” he said like it was nothing and here in this reality it shouldn’t be. But it still hurt. He’d been alone and scared for so long.

“God, that sucks,” Clary replied. “But you were a kid, right? Not like you could have known this demon was faking it, right? From the information provided to you I can see why you’d think it was true,” she shrugged, hoping it would make him feel at least a little better. Despite not knowing him all that well, she’d heard from Tessa that he was good at putting up a front and deflecting, especially when he was hurting on the inside. His current demeanour reminded her of that.

“Yeah I thought it was true. Didn’t find out it wasn’t until later, with Magnus’ help” Will said, unknown to them at the moment Will’s front was a lot like Jace’s, it seemed to go with the Herondale genes.

Clary huffed a laugh at that. “Even centuries apart Magnus is helping Shadowhuters out,” she grinned. “He’s been a good ally for us it seems,” she smiled at him. “How are you dealing with knowing all this now?” she asked, flipping through a large, old tome filled with descriptions and pictures of demons in an old language similar to English.

“He became a good friend. Is here too” Will said with a smile, “I’m glad I know. Magnus told me you see, before I even started dreaming, that the curse wasn’t real. Just in case I thought it was” Will knew he wasn’t really answering but it was the best he could do.

Clary narrowed her eyes at him as she looked up, having noticed that he didn’t exactly answer her question. “So now you’re totally cool with it? Not a problem? A-ok?” she asked with a knowing smile on her face, even as she turned back to the book in front of her. Coming to the last page, she closed it and moved onto a smaller if not older book.

Will looked at Clary for a moment, usually only Tessa or Jem challenged him in that kind of way. “It is what it is and I’m handling it” he said, Will wasn’t the sort to break down and admit his feelings at random. He’d spoken to Magnus and was working through the issues the dreams brought up.

Clary raised her eyebrows disbelievingly and turned her attention back to the book. “Fine, just checking,” she said lightly. Opening the front cover of the next book, she paused for a little while. “When the Dreams made me think that Jace and I were related I can tell you that I freaked out. A lot,” she said nonchalantly, flicking through pages with a little smile on her face.

“Didn’t anybody tell you that it wasn’t true?” Will asked her, because he’d had Magnus tell him from the start so surely he shouldn’t be bothered by the dreams at all. Even if Magnus said anybody would be.

“Yeah, we learned it in the Dreams, eventually,” Clary shrugged, squinting at a picture on the page. “Jace and I talked about it and we decided it wasn’t anything to worry about here. We love each other,” she trailed off before turning the book to him. “Does this look like the demon?” she asked, pointing to a picture similar to the one she’d drawn.

“Good” Will nodded, because it wasn’t right to worry about such things here, “Well that much is obvious when anybody sees you guys together” He moved closer and looked, “Pretty close yeah, what does it say about it?”

“There’s words here but I...I can’t make them out,” Clary frowned. “They look like they’re in some sort of magic language. Perhaps Magnus could help translate it?” she suggested, moving the book over to him

“Well it’s not Latin or Welsh so I’m stumped” he said as he looked closely at it, “You’re right I’ll ask Magnus and see what he says” But they had found something which was more than Will had honestly been expecting.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful,” Clary shrugged with a little smile. “But hey, a trip to Magnus’ place is always fun,” she bumped him with her shoulder and winked at him.

“You’ve been incredibly helpful Clary” Will told her, pressing a brief kiss to her cheek, “And you’re right a trip to Magnus’ is always fun” he winked with a grin.