Simon Lewis (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} notsomundane) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2020-10-24 23:28:00 |
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When: Backdated: Saturday, August 13th.
Where: The Institute
What: Hunkering Down While Everyone Else Fights the Paradooms
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Jesus still couldn’t quite believe the things that were going on outside. Sure, he’d seen a lot of crazy things over the last year, since joining The Network and becoming more aware of the things that happened in Orange County without the non-dreamer blinders, but this was still something that he had never quite expected. There were legit monsters out there and things were being destroyed and all he could do was sit inside and watch it unfold on the news. Not that he would be very useful out there against the paradooms; they weren’t zombies after all, but he still hated sitting around while other people were out there risking their lives.
At least he wasn’t alone though. No, he was with Jace’s friends while Jace and his cousins were out fighting and helping people. A day earlier when things had started going sideways Jace’s cousin’s husband had shown up, at his apartment through an honest to god portal and brought him and Jace to The Institute then had done the same for a girl named Clary who Jace had mentioned in the past as also being from their dream world. Simon was already at The Institute since he lived there and now Jesus was hanging around with both Simon and Clary while waiting to hear any news from the others.
Clary didn’t know what to think about what was happening, despite having heard about freaky and dangerous things happening here sometimes. She probably should have been out fighting, but she didn’t feel ready. She wasn’t as good a Shadowhunter as the others, and she felt like she’d just be in the way. Maybe after some more dreams she’d be more comfortable fighting with them but right now it was best to stay in the Institute. And Simon was here too, which she was glad for.
Clary didn’t really know Jesus, just that he was a friend of Simon’s and maybe Jace’s. He seemed nice enough. She was worried about all of the people who were out there fighting. She wondered if it made her a coward but she knew if she was feeling unsure about her skills and abilities that it was better for her to stay here. That just didn’t mean she felt good about it. Clary was quiet and just kept pacing. She didn’t know what else to do.
“So, Magnus triple checked the wards before they all left, so we should be totally safe in here,” Simon said as he glanced around the large kitchen at Clary and Jesus from his spot sitting atop one of the counters. “So, we can basically do whatever we want without worrying too much.” While sometimes the Institute made it feel like he was living in some ancient castle or something, it was still surprisingly modern and he figured that had more to do with whatever had brought it to Orange County since he knew that in his dreams there was no actual electricity in the Institute and instead it ran on witchlight. “So, we can watch tv or whatever.”
Since the first time he’d set foot in the Institute, Jesus had been fascinated by it, especially the training room, “Anyone want to train?” While they didn’t really have to worry too much about those things outside getting in, Jesus thought it might be a good idea if they were at least a little prepared in case something did happen, “I don’t think I could sit still long enough to watch tv right now.” He too felt like he should be out there fighting, but those things outside were nothing like the zombies from his dreams, so he really didn’t think he’d be of much help.
Clary felt like she should be out there helping, it was still on her mind. She needed a distraction. She wasn’t far enough along in her dreams to really be of any help to anyone out there. And tv wasn’t going to do it for her either right now.
“Sure, yeah.” Clary answered when Jesus suggested training. That would help Clary feel like she was actually doing something...even if it wasn’t out there. She could be better prepared for next time. Because something told her this wouldn’t be the last time there would be some kind of attack. That was just...the way it was here sometimes.
“That’s actually a good suggestion,” Simon trained with Jace a lot and Alec on occasion, in preparation for if and when he became a Shadowhunter and he was honestly getting pretty good. He didn’t know if that had to do with him just gradually getting better or if some of the things he had been learning at the Shadowhunter Academy, in the dreams, were bleeding over. Either way, Simon was glad that he was getting better because the next time something crazy like this happened, he might be able to help. It was times like these that he actually missed being a vampire and having the Mark of Cain. While it may have been annoying to have the Mark right in the middle of his forehead, but when it came to invasions like this all he had to do was let something attack him and poof, it was dust.
Jesus was glad that Simon and Clary appeared to like his suggestion because when things got stressful practicing was one of the things that Jesus did to try and take his mind off things and he didn’t want to seem rude to Jace’s friends if he disappeared into the training room, “We can either do like hand to hand or something like that or try out some of the weapons.” He’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t been dying to get a real good look at some of the Institute's weapons ever since Jace had first shown him the training room.
“Hand to hand is good with me, to start with.” Clary said. She wasn’t too good with the weapons yet. She was getting there. But the other Shadowhunters were light years ahead of her. And she didn’t know if she would ever be caught up or even half as good. It would depend though. On the dreams and how they progressed. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. Didn’t want to think about her friends out there fighting...the parademons.
“What are your dreams like?” Clary asked Jesus curiously. Admittedly, she didn’t know a lot about Jesus yet. This would be a good opportunity for them to get to know one another. And you could tell a lot about a person by the way they fought. She wondered if Jesus felt like Simon had the first time he’d seen the Institute and the training room. It was a lot to take in. Especially all of the different weapons.
Clary was still frustrated she wasn’t out there fighting but at least if she was training she would feel like she was doing something. And she hoped Simon and Jesus would too. They would be more prepared for whatever happened next.
Simon nodded, “Hand to hand is good with me too. I usually train with Jace, so sparring with someone new will probably be good.” Simon knew that Jesus knew the way that Jace fought since they not only worked together at the gym, but sparred often between classes so they were familiar with each other’s fighting styles. “Lets go.” Simon said, leading the way towards the weapons room.
“My dreams...are pretty much a zombie apocalypse.” Jesus said, following Simon and pulling his long hair up into a messy man bun as he went, “It kind of sucks. A lot of good people have died, but I’m also kind of a badass.” Hair pulled back, he glanced over at Clary and smirked, “I’m a runner, in them. I go out, looking for supplies and in the world we live in, there, it’s good to have sharp reflexes and be good with weapons otherwise you’ll end up dead.” He knew it probably sounded a little morbid, but it was true. Without the martial arts skills he possessed, in the dreams, he probably would have been dead a long time ago.
Clary looked around the weapons room and nodded at Jesus’ words. The world he came from...or his dreams, it sounded rough. More than just kind of sucking. But she kept that to herself for right now. A lot of people had a tough time in their dreams and Clary was no exception to that. All kinds of things she never thought were possible happened there.
“Kind of a bad ass is good.” Clary said with a nod. It sounded like Jesus could hold his own. She was a little curious as to why he wasn’t out there fighting now. Maybe he felt like she did, like he didn’t know enough to be of much help right now. And kind of a bad ass didn’t mean he had any supernatural advantages. It was best for them to stay here and try to gear up for next time.
“Your world definitely doesn’t sound like any fun.” Clary added.
Clary was right about the part where he had no supernatural abilities; not like Jace and his cousins who were able to give themselves an advantage thanks to their Runes. And while part of him would have liked to be out there in the fray, he had also thought it a good idea to have someone else with Simon and Clary, who was experienced in case something happened. “Nope. Zombie apocalypses are definitely not fun.” He glanced between Clary and Simon, “So, who’s first?” He said, taking on a defensive stance.
“That sounds just about as fun as the crazy shit that happens in our dreams,” Simon said, gesturing between himself and Clary, “We don’t have zombies, but we do have vampires, werewolves, demons and lots of other crazy things.” Simon glanced over at Clary, “You wanna go first? Jace vouches that he’s a good teacher.”
Clary nodded. She didn’t mind going first. She had no idea what Jesus’ skill level was, but she was sure it was better than her own at this point. She was dreaming, but she didn’t know if she was fully developing all of the skills that dream Clary had. And even if she was, she was pretty far behind the other Shadowhunters. And she had a lot to prove. She really needed to start training more in the real world for threats like these and just to kind of stay on top of things.
She gave Simon another glance, knowing he’d dreamed much further than she had. He had probably picked up some skill from that alone. And living at the Institute meant that he could train whenever he wanted, which probably didn’t hurt either. She turned her attention back to Jesus, advancing on him. At least they were passing the time.