InsaneJournal

It wasn’t that Ty intended to get stuck. Did anyone, really? He had the whole thing planned out. Ideally, getting in via invitation and talking to the elders or people of Beketh was the optimal situation.

Sneaking around because of a refused entry was a little less optimal.

Getting stuck in a magical trap because there were wards that prevented his runes from activating was even less optimal.

The good news was that the wards didn’t seem to alert anyone to his presence. He only knew, because he’d been there and trapped for at least a half hour.

The wound on his side was technically superficial. If an iratze could be put on him, he’d have no issues in mere minutes. But being stuck, feet glued to the ground, trapped in a small dark hidden mountain path, didn’t exactly lend itself to healing. But he’d figure out a way out, he just needed a little time to work on a solution.

Livvy wasn’t supposed to go far from him. The heron necklace helped, after the last time things had went badly. But at this point, it could have been worse if she didn’t leave. If she didn’t go for Kit - even if Ty had stubbornly told her he’d find a way out without help. But he was bleeding, and continuing to bleed, and she couldn’t do anything.

Except get Kit. It was easy enough to infiltrate his apartment, she just floated right through the wall into his bedroom. She had her hand over her eyes, but that seemed pointless given that her hand was just as see-through as the rest of her. She’d already seen a lot as a ghost, and had no real desire to see anything else unexpected. “Kit, I need you.” Ty needs you.

Kit swore so loud he was positive that at least three floors in Morningside had heard him. He was grabbing for the sheet on his bed, even though his boxers and the towel from the shower were right there. He had a plan for the evening—take a shower, eat his leftover boxed mac n' cheese, and maybe feel shitty for himself while he wanted some badly CGI'ed movie until he passed out. His plans absolutely did not involve trying to drown out the intrusive thoughts about Ty, or standing naked in his room trying to hide from Livvy.

"You have to, you have to give me warning next time, Livvy. Just shout my name or something before you come in." He knew she couldn't knock, but he wasn't sure what he would have done if she caught him in other compromising positions. Something to think about later, when he wasn't holding on to a piece of bedding for dear life. As he regained his composure, he shuffled over to get dressed—without dropping the sheet, which was a feat in itself—he considered her request.

"Why don't you just ask Ty?" Kit said, pulling on his boxers and staring at Livvy's ghostly form. And she might have been dead, and she might have been incorporeal, but she was still so fully formed and alive in front of him that he could finally tell what she was asking. Kit moved to dress quicker.

Forget his pity-party-for-one tonight. He was following after Livvy through his front door, asking, "Where? What happened?"

That was how he came to be crouched low in a shrub near by the wards of the freaking Beketh coven—of course, necromancy; of course, Ty hadn't listened to him; of course, Ty was hurt. That seemed to pound like his heartbeat in his throat, and the thing that kept him moving silently through the space with an urgent speed.

He was on Ty in an instant with Livvy hovering over his shoulder. His assessment of the situation was not good but at least it wasn't awful, terrible. Silver lining. "I can't believe you went on your own, Ty," Kit whispered harshly as he pulled out a tea towel he had the wherewithal to scoop up before he left, and pressed it against Ty's wound.

“Technically, Livvy was with me.” Ty hadn’t wanted Kit to come, he had even shook his head no a dozen times when he saw the telltale blonde hair coming towards him. What if he ended up trapped the same as Ty had? He pushed an arm out, keeping Kit from stepping where he was, on the rune trap on the ground while he whispered. “I was just doing some reconnaissance. They’re so secretive that I had no idea my runes wouldn’t work-and--,”

He gestured down to the glowing below his feet. “I’m stuck.” To be a ghost right now would have been very helpful, but to Livvy’s credit, she was looking just as hopeless. Ty glanced between them, “You shouldn’t have come.”

‘You needed the help. Sorry it took us so long.” Livvy was far more pleased Kit had, because someone had to get Ty out of this mess, but a grin played at her mouth. “He was naked when I got there.”

Ty’s eyes immediately flashed back to Kit, and then he flushed deep red, suddenly very glad that it was dark out. “Um-”

Kit also blushed wildly, sputtered momentarily, and then kept his focus resolutely on doing whatever it was that people did when they were definitely not thinking about their best—no, former best friend—thinking about them naked because his twin sister barged in on him. This was supposed to be awkward, and it was, but the adrenaline from worry hadn't exactly burned off.

"Livvy, please," Kit hiss-whispered at her. They were trying to be quiet, and stealthy, and not this. "I took a shower, I wasn't expecting company. I think a guy is allowed to be naked in his own place when he's trying to—nevermind." He realized now he was talking about being naked more than Livvy had, but he also felt compelled to give Ty an explanation, as was habit.

And Kit clung to the next thread of conversation: Ty, trapped, trouble. "Of course I should have come. Who else was going to get you out?" Kit said. But not in a nasty way. He wasn't implying that Ty didn't have anyone to help him, though he could sense that it might be taken that way. It was just that Kit was supposed to be the one to do it. He was supposed to be—he once was— the first choice.

He looked at Ty, his eyes shining brightly, unintentionally earnest in the dark, before back to the glowing ground. "If they haven't come yet, that means that this is supposed to keep visitors trapped for something else." It was thief logic, larceny logic, Kit-before-the-Blackthorns logic. "If you struggle it might make things worse so just... hold on," Kit said leaning in closer and inspecting the arcane trap.

He wanted to grab Ty's hand and put it on the wound to keep the towel in place. He gestured toward him instead. "And keep pressure there okay? I'm going to let go, I need both of my hands."

Ty blew out a frustrated breath, but he did as Kit ordered. His face was still flushed and he was avoiding looking at both of them, opting to keep an eye on the area around them for any incoming threats. That was just practical and had nothing at all to do with the fact that he was embarrassed by the conversation.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kit. Before everything had happened, he trusted Kit more than nearly anyone. He trusted Kit on the same level that he trusted his own twin, that he trusted Julian. It had been as unbending as theirs, too, but then it’d all come tumbling down into a crash that Ty hadn’t seen coming. He’d been so used to Kit just knowing how his brain worked that he’d been blindsided and left behind that night.

So it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kit. He’d always trust Kit. But Ty wasn’t sure he could handle the rejection of Kit refusing to help him, even if Livvy had been the one asking. But he was here, he had come, and that worry never came to true fruition. He finally looked down at Kit, softer now that he’d had a few moments to regain his composure. “With enough time, I could have gotten myself out.”

He pointedly ignored Livvy’s rude snort from over Kit’s shoulder.

Kit had noticed the change in Ty's voice. Hell, he noticed every time Ty breathed differently, blinked differently. Every small hitch had sent Kit into another state of being. He couldn't seem to admit that being away from him, missing all those differences, had been nothing short of brutal. In the wake of everything now, he felt ill-prepared to pick up his intense Ty-focused observations. But he wanted, he wanted.

The moment Ty's voice went soft, Kit looked up anyway. He didn't hide his worry or his concern; Kit didn't think aiming for aloof when his heart was pounding would do him any good. He swallowed hard, exhaled like he had been holding his breath for longer than a few seconds, and opened his mouth to say something. Anything. I missed you. I'm sorry. I love you so much Ty and I know everything has been so terrible and I want to fix it.

Instead, he settled on: "I know." And then, "But we don't have time right now. So you'll have to be stuck with me." And with that, Kit ran his finger through one of the glowing runes of the trap and the light under Ty's feet dimmed. The ground around Ty's feet solidified, and Kit leaned heavily on one side, popping the lock of the trap.

Whatever had magically grappled Ty's feet was now loosened by Kit's counterbalancing weight. "Now slide your foot out carefully or you might lose your shoe."

Livvy, who had been dealing with these two dancing around each other for years now, hid a little pleased smile at how soft they were being. She knew she probably didn’t have to hide it, given that neither of them were paying attention to her, but habit had formed from every single time Ty shut down when she brought Kit up.

It might have been her imagination, with a desire to want to give them a little privacy, or her extra ghostly senses that had her breezing past (through) them. “I hear something, I’m going to go watch or make a distraction.” She could be useful in all of this, and was already too far for Ty’s whispered “Livvy, come back” to reach her. Or so she pretended.

But then he was left alone with Kit and now there was even the potential of someone coming. Ty took a steadied breath andused Kit’s shoulder to balance himself as he slowly pulled his foot out, letting Kit direct him to how he needed to move. Thankfully, his agility training didn’t depend solely on runes, and he could ignore the pinch in his side easily enough until he was free.

Ty also didn’t stop the grin from forming on his face upon successful extraction, the pleased grin of yesteryears anytime the pair of them had accomplished something special or cool made it’s way back up. “Out. Let’s go.” He probably should have thought twice about pulling Kit’s hand in order to direct them to a safe place, but he didn’t.

Kit made the same little wait, Livvy plea, but his was definitely softer than Ty's. Maybe that was the point. Maybe his subconscious didn't want her to hear but his logic told him he had to object. It would have ruined the face he had been putting on this whole time about keeping Ty at arm's length if he actually wanted them to be alone. But then once they were, his whole body felt like it was combusting, on fire.

This was, indeed, Kit having an internal crisis, but he was going to blame it on adrenaline and worry and not whatever stupid ridiculous unrequited feelings. Get it together, Kit was screaming at himself as Ty pulled himself free and Kit let go of the trap plate.

"Wait, wait, wait—" Kit said, but all the protesting was cut off as he practically choked on his tongue when Ty took his hand. He was turning to ashes, Kit Herondale would be dust before they even made it even remotely close to home. He was holding on to Ty for dear life because he didn't think he could do anything else.

It took far too long of Kit being led away from the trap and Beketh—and whatever else that was forcing them into close proximity—before he realized: Ty was still hurt. And the point still remained: what had Ty been doing here in the first place?

He let go of Ty's hand when they were far enough away to not be suspicious. At least, Kit thought so. "Was it worth it?" Kit whispered. "Did you find anything?"

Ty had forgotten he was still hurt. The blood had mostly stemmed off by this point, the pressure having helped. But when he thought of it, there was still that tinge of pain when he turned. But he’d prefer to keep his hand in Kit’s, while he was given the opportunity.

Touching people wasn’t something Ty especially enjoyed, but Kit had always been the exception to the rule, every touch was the opposite of fire for him. It was earth. It was grounding, stable, steady. It kept him present, and attached. It quieted the noise around him and allowed Ty to focus.

It was something he’d missed so terribly as of late. He didn’t have that at the Scholomance, he had his headphones and a few friends and his work, but not this. Not Kit’s warm hand in his.

“Um,” He slipped a paper out of his pocket. It had a little blood on the edges now. “There’s some information about the people arrested being kicked out of Beketh. And a book called the Guide of Existence, but no details about what it is.” Ty pulled his hand free from Kit’s so he could look down at his shirt, where it was bloodied. “Do you know how to do an iratze now?”

It didn't feel like enough to Kit, it didn't feel worth it to Kit. But he wasn't about to say that to Ty, not when he was looking—not happy, that wasn't quite the right word. And Kit would have been mad if he was happy about getting hurt and getting trapped, but there was something different about him now that they weren't in dangerous shadows and Kit could get a better look. Like the quest information had given Ty a burst of bright, shining light. Kit had to admit it was infectious, even if he didn't agree.

"We can, I don't know, look into it later," Kit said, staring down at the bloodied paper, and then to Ty's shirt, and then, right. Iratze. Kit's whole face scrunched up in indignation, before he answers. "Of course I can. I've been train—" Kit stopped himself short, realizing that Ty wouldn't really know. He had not-so-subtly cut Ty out of his life by steadfastly not talking to him or about him to anyone. His best friend wouldn't be aware of what Kit knew and didn't know anymore.

Former best friend, Kit forced himself to correct. But even then it sounded impossible in his own ears to call Ty anything but his friend.

"Yeah, I can do it. You want me to? No that's a stupid question, you're asking because you want me to. And I can do it. I'll do it." Kit couldn't seem to stop talking so he held out his hand instead as an okay, I need your stele first.

Ty was determined to look into it later, he wasn’t sure how he felt about this being a joint effort. He tucked the piece of paper back away. For years now he just missed Kit and everything they’d had. Emma had usually been the one to update Ty on whatever Kit was up to - that she knew of - he’d gone away from most of the family, and while Ty was aware that Dru was in contact, she hadn’t shared anything.

But Ty hadn’t asked. He didn’t want to know. It hurt too much to know that he was the one that was cut off, that Kit very specifically left because of him. After revealing feelings, after Livvy’s botched resurrection, when it felt like Ty’s entire life was falling to pieces, and the one person he’d wanted to reach for was just gone. So he had no idea how Ty’s training had gone, if he had attended the Shadowhunter Academy, or if Jem was just teaching him things.

He supposed a man who spent a hundred years as a Silent Brother was likely very good at drawing an Iratze. Ty was already pulling his stele out of his pocket and handing it over, even as he asked in a strained voice, “You don’t have your stele?”

It was a weird question, coming from Ty. Not that it was unusual, only that Kit couldn't seem to figure out the register in his voice. The question was fair, but the answer—to Kit—seemed obvious. He took the stele, his lips a tight line before he gestured toward Ty's bloodied shirt. A nonverbal way of asking for permission. This was absolute agony; all their little tells to one another felt strained.

"I didn't really think of it. I didn't have time. Livvy just showed up, and said she needed help, and I knew that meant you needed help, and I really wasn't thinking about what to bring, just grabbed what I could—" The towel which felt pointless now. "I'll try and remember next time."

Kit didn't want to admit that he probably wouldn't. Ty in trouble made all rational sense disappear. Even after all this time, he was so stupid for him it should have been a crime.

Leaning in, Kit went to lift Ty's shirt. He was taking so many inhales and exhales it sounded like borderline hyperventilating. Keep it together, you're just touching your best friend to heal his wounds and not thinking about other times when you've thought about him shirtless— "It might be ugly!" Kit said in a rush, his voice weird and high.

"I just mean that it might not look as nice as some of the others you've gotten."

“Um,” Ty faltered, not sure what to do with that. He didn’t think his runes were anymore special than the ones Kit had, or any of the other Shadowhunters had. Julian had always been the best at drawing them, that was a known fact, so maybe that was what Kit meant. “Julian hasn’t had to draw an iratze on me in a while, it’s fine.” Not in years, and years.

The burn of the rune drawing didn’t hurt, not with as much as it had been trained into them to ignore, but the sensation did help Ty keep his mind off of Kit touching him on his bare skin. It was a tingle he’d never felt before, the kind of feeling he’d never felt with his siblings drawing runes on each other.

He wondered if, not for the first time in his life, that was simply because it was Kit.

When it was done, Ty pushed his shirt back down maybe a little too fast. Too ready to move on and stop blushing like this in the darkness. Ty stared past his head, to the forest. “Thanks. We should keep moving now, Livvy’ll catch up when she realizes we’re out and safe.”

Drawing an iratze on Ty's skin was simultaneously the worst and best seconds of his life. He didn't know which one at the moment, as it continued to change with every blink, so Kit decided to just keep his mouth shut and stop saying stupid things unless he had something clever to say. That was impossible when he was so close, and focusing so hard on trying to heal Ty.

With the rune done, already working its magic to make the injury less ghastly, Kit took a step back. Small, just the idea of space between them, where he stared and stared and stared. He felt struck again, like he had the first time he encountered Ty in the basement. But now Kit knew him. Sometimes he wished he never did, then he wouldn't be in his mental mess.

Kit nodded. "Yeah, right. Keep moving. I'll—" He stared at Ty, trying to catch his eyes, understanding how important it was. "I'm following you. I'll be right behind you, the whole time."