WHAT. Tessa has new abilities and shows them off. Sexy sparring~ WHERE. Blackthorn Manor! WHEN. First day of the power swap plot! WARNINGS. Fighting! But like, the sexy kind. Itâs FTB. STATUS. Complete!
Will was an intuitive creature when he wanted to be. Sometimes he was purposely obtuse just to see the kinds of reactions he could get. Sometimes he would needle in on something so plain to him that it often irritated others who had hoped to keep it a secret. But Will could turn this all on and off as he pleased, especially for those who he loved and who desired privacy. For them he could behave and not poke. But by the Angel he loved poking.
That was why right now he was pacing outside the room they had designated as the training area inside the Blackthorn Manor. Tessa was up to something. Doing something. Something was off, and Will was so aware of it he thought he might burst into flames at the sheer force of biting his tongue. If Tessa wanted to tell him, she would. He knew she wouldâthey were married, they shared everything and everyone, it seemedâbut patience didn't do well for Will.
He watched her through the crack in the double doors which was old and so worn down that it provided no cover. But it was a clear vantage point to shove his face against and see her moving around most of the room. She was advancing gracefully through a series of sword maneuvers. Will had watched Tessa fight before, and it was not like that. Not this fluid. Not like it was someone else inhabiting her body. Will was missing something, and now he needed to poke.
And quite frankly, he waited as long as he could before barging into the room. That should have been rewarded.
"Tessa," Will said, throwing open the doors, and striding into the space like he owned it. All puffed up like the birds he tended to loathe with every fiber of his being. "What is going on?" He asked like she knew what had already been circling through his mind, then he realized she didn't. He gestured to the sword in hand. "That. What is going on with that?"
Tessa hadnât even broken a sweat. She also wasnât gasping for air as she briefly paused to glance at Will upon his entry. No, instead, her lines were fluid, her movement was graceful, the sword in her hand felt natural. It was like her body had a mind of itâs own, and it was determined to go through a series of maneuvers.
Practically speaking, she had years of training with Shadowhunters. For a long time, before sheâd focused on her magic and when her and Will ran the London Institute, she kept to a lot of the more physical aspects of Shadowhunter training. But she hadnât used a sword in years, and never like this.
She took up the whole space of the training floor. One twirl, sword outreached. A sharp turn, and a graceful slice of the sword through the air. She stopped only when Will seemed distressed, and moving in on her. âWill, darling.â Tessa looked at the sword in her hand, which felt more like an extension of her arm than it did a device she was wielding. âIâm-- practicing? Iâm not entirely sure, actually, but this morning I had the strongest urge to do some training and then-- found myself here.â
Tessa might not have had any explanation for it, but the movements felt right, so she didnât question it too much further, not in the way Will had a tendency to do. âWould you like to spar with me? I might be able to teach you a few things.â
His attention on Tessa was sharp and calculating, attempting to figure out what she wasn't saying. Not that Tessa would lie to him, but that she might tease. She might withhold information from him in order for him to beg for itâwhich he was not above doing and had considered that very situation before he barged into the training area. But he looked at Tessa, the sword, and the way she was brilliant and magnificent in the light and he thought: surely, this will not end poorly for me.
Will made a show of considering her words before he made a small hmm noise in agreement. "Teach me a few things?" Will asked, as he approached the rack of swords. He passed a few between his hands as if he was trying to find the right one that would be suitable for sparring with whatever had gotten into Tessa this morning.
"I know that you have some time against me, and you and Jem like to pretend you do not, but I am still quite spry in my old age, and should you know better than to assume you will teach me," Will said, with a flourish of his blade as he stepped back toward her, shrugging out of his tailored house vest. He took no immediate defensive stance. Instead he seemed open, curious, and not like someone who was about to sword fight his wife.
"I believe we will teach one another. And I will find out whatever is going on with you." Will lifted his chin and with his free hand beckoned her closer in a challenge.
âWhy do you sound so surprised?â She was amused, but pleased when he went over to get his own sword. Clearly the bait worked and he was about to give into her anyway. Even if he was being a little smug about it.
Though, she couldnât blame him. Will had always been one of the most skilled Shadowhunters sheâd ever seen, and combined with Jem? Oh, they were something to behold. And Tessa did do that, often. But what she felt now wasnât smugness, it was a calm confidence in abilities she didnât usually have, because she could feel the power at her fingertips.
âDo you really not feel any different? I donât feel bad, Will, and Iâm still me. Just-â She edged in closer, but wouldnât take the bait to get right in on his personal space. Instead, she kept her distance, and her sword stayed steady, until she struck, quick and smooth. âA little more refined.â In a flash, she was out of his reach. âSo I ask you, Will Herondale,â A little smile played at her lips as she dipped back in for another swipe. And back out again. âWhat would you like me to teach you?â
"Should I be feeling different? I feel rather the same, so that must mean something, however not bad it is, has happened to you. I am simply attempting to figure it out. Like a game," Will said, with leisurely wave of his hand. All his confident cockiness was quickly replaced with an abrupt block to Tessa's new sword work. It left him confused and slightly bereft, as if someone had placed him into battle with a wooden weapon and wholly unprepared. The shock of it was written all over his face.
All he could do was match her strikes with his own rushed parries, to keep himself from being overtaken easily by her sword. "I am not so certain now," Will explained, backing up a few feet and staying out of her strike area. She would have to charge him to get close, and so he kept the distance and paced around her in in a circle. "If I am supposed to be taught, I must know what to ask for."
With the way Tessa was fighting, it was nothing like he had ever seen. Refined was an apt word for what she was doing but there was an etherealness, an unfathomable grace, that did not suddenly happen over night. He was no longer playing with her, he moved into a defensive stance, sword at the ready. "Show me more, and then I will decide what you can teach me." Show me more, Will told himself, and then I will decide to worry or not.
Tessa did like surprising Will. She liked surprising Jem, too, but Will was often more animated in it, and that always made her smile. His defensive stance made her straighten her back, and she stood a little more steady in front of him. âOh, there you are.â The sword twirled around her, and she brought it back to her front with a quiet push of air. If Will was asking for more, more would be what she gave him.
What came next was a flurry of moves, of Tessa and Will, back and forth. Willâs sharper edges matched Tessaâs blow by blow, and they covered the entire floor of the training mat. Theyâd trained before, but never like this. Never where Tessa felt so confident in her abilities, where she moved with a fluid grace that never seemed to tire. After several minutes, she wasnât even short of breath, nor did she have a hair out of place as she straightened up and pushed the braid back over her shoulder.
She left herself open to another attack, if Will wanted to go on the offense, but it seemed like a good moment to give him a second. âIf you need to activate a few runes, I understand. Temporary truce?â Oh, now she sounded a little smug. But maybe she just liked seeing her husband sweaty and unkempt.
Will wouldn't admit that she gave him a run for his money, but the beads of sweat that started to collect at his brow and his slightly labored breathing would be enough. Somewhere between their matched blows, Will had started to worry less and become more excited. They would figure this out eventuallyâwhatever had overcome Tessa and not Will, or anyone else in the house that he knew ofâbut he could settle into this fight. He could sense the way she moved like the flow of water against the stubbornness of his own sharp, jagged attacks. They were a strange dichotomy of fighting styles, air and earth.
When they broke apart again, Will flicked his sword and shook his head. "No runes. Not for this. I'm not trying to beat you, Tessa. I'm testing the depth of your skills. Which is..." Will trailed off noticing even more now that she didn't look like they had been sparring at all. He held up a hand as if to say a moment, and approached with his sword down. Will just wanted to touch her. Make sure whatever this was, was indeed real. He was half tempted to call in Jem to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
His fingertips played with the edges of her hair, touched to her cheek, and the shape of her jaw. She seemed solid and undisturbed. "You do realize that this is insanity. You are impenetrable. Perhaps that is what you will teach me. To not break a sweat in the middle of a battle. It becomes an issue when it gets into your eyes and I haven't had the foresight to place a rune on myself."
Tessa liked being touched by Will. No new abilities changed that, not by a long shot. She still felt that same spark of desire when he moved in close that sheâd felt their entire marriage and reunion here in Vallo. It was a relief, if she was going to experience something new like this, loving Will and Jem was a requirement, it was the way she was able to breathe freely.
âI think that might just be good genetics,â A joke, because she had no actual answer as to why she was able to go through all of this sparring and not break a sweat. That was uncustomary of her, if she was practicing magic heavily or sparring, there was always at least a âhealthy glowâ as Magnus would call it. âItâs strange, but I want you to test my limits. Push me, to see how far I can go, or until youâre able to best me.â
It wasnât just about trying to beat Will, but to test herself. It was good research. She moved in just close enough to kiss him before backing off again, not letting that kiss linger too long. If she lingered, they would become distracted, and then nothing would get accomplished. Tessa raised her sword with one arm, and used her free to make a come here signal at him. Another challenge issued.
Tessa wanted Will to push her. There was little, if anything, that Will would deny Tessa. So he would do what he was best at and that was agreeing to what she wanted. To push her and test the limits of whatever this new found power was. Will would be learning something today, and it would not be something he explicitly asked for, he supposed.
He had barely enough time to appreciate the kiss, even chased it like the love-sick fool he was, before Tessa was backing away and Will looked properly put out. "I will steal another one off you, Tess, before this fight is done," Will said, a bet made and one he fully intended on winning. He took her little challenge and rushed her, a flurry of blades and blows. All pure adrenaline, and adoration, and Shadowhunter. He had not spent his years learning simply to go easy on his wife when she asked.
Because, again, he could never deny her anything.
There was a moment in their scuffle, when Will was regretting not actually putting a rune on and when Tessa was seemingly perfect, as always but especially in this spar, that he knew he was going to lose. He would not be stealing a kiss, or even coming close to besting her. Pride swelled in his chest, but that did nothing to help him when his feet were being swept from underneath him and he wasn't quick enough to parry her blade. "Take pity on meâ" Will tried to call out as he hit the floor, immediately winded.
Tessa felt a little unfair, that sheâd ultimately asked for something Will couldnât give, and that wasnât his fault. Each strike, each swift move and flourish of air and finesse, it was something new for them both. This wasnât Tessa moving, even if she had full control over her facilities. By the time Will was winded and Tessa had the upper hand, she felt no joy or smugness over it.
Well, not until she found herself over him, physically, with both of her thighs bracketed his hips and her sword still in hand. But she had control over her facilities, and set the sword down gently, at arms length. Safety first.
âThis is a convenient position,â now the small smirk on the edge of her lips was back, but more from the fact that she was sitting on him and less about the fact that she had beat him. That part was not as much of a win when it didnât feel like her own abilities. It still felt good, and she felt as if she could go on forever, which was another unfamiliar feeling. â But I think Iâve won. Do you have more questions now, or answers? Is this how it feels to have endless stamina runes?â
For someone who lost, Will felt like quite the winner. He was breathing heavily, his whole body buzzing with the sureness of his skill, the pull of his muscles, the delight of an exceptional fight. But it was was Tessa on top of him, pinning him succinctly to the ground that made Will feel the most alive. Whatever questions he had or requests wanted to lodgeâone which was "I was only joking about the pity"âdied on his tongue. He licked his lips, sucked in another steadying breath and let go of his sword. This was his surrender.
"I feel as though I should be questioning you endlessly, but in fact, all sensible thought has gone out of my mind. If this is what this new found power has brought youâ" And this was where both of Will's free hands came up to hold her firm against her waist, "Then I cannot complain. Be curious, certainly, but I will find nothing wrong with what has become you."
He grinned, looking inordinately smug, as if he had just bested his wife and not the other way around. "If it gives you the skills to keep up in a battle, which I would never ask you to be near, but I know I cannot stop you if the occasion arises, then it can be a good thing. You will tell me if it stops being so? Then I might need to worry more," Will said, fingers splaying temptingly against her small of her back with his roaming hands. "But not right now."
Tessa had to chuckle a little at Will just letting go of the sword. That wasnât entirety unexpected, as sheâd seen his reactions in the past when Tessa had ended up in control. She should be the responsible one here, look into why this was happening, question it the same as he had done when he first saw her fighting.
But the pull was just as much on her end. Tessa enjoyed the heat that radiated from Will, the way his breath caught in his chest and the sweat beaded on his forehead. It made her winded, even though she hadnât felt it from the exercise.
âIâll be sure to keep you updated,â Tessa promised. She leaned over him and lowered herself closer, closer. Until she was just a hairâs breath away, and Tessa closed the gap to press a kiss along his jawline. âIf you gain any new strange abilities, I hope Iâll be the first to notice, but for now--â Another kiss, closer to his mouth but not quite on the mark. âI accept a distraction.â
"I will come to you immediately, then Jem. Though it is likely that you both will be in the same place when it happens and I will not need to run around tracking the both of you down," Will said, smiling against every close call of a kiss. Her lips felt like a tease, much like the sword battle hadâcoming in close, almost hitting the mark, and then leaving him wanting more, curious and eager.
"Just because you have won this match, does not mean you are allowed to let me be deprived of other things." His hand lifted to her hair, easing her face back to his own for a proper kiss, one where their mouths touched, and he, breathlessly, slipped her a little tongue. He was a gentleman, sometimes, but most of his manners tended to disappear when Tessa was involved. And given their marriage and her expectations of him, Will knew he could get away with it.
He promptly rolled them over on the mat so that he was above her, and he could pretend, for a moment, he had won. As his eyes roamed down Tessa's body, Will was absolutely certain he had. "You will now have bragging rights, but I do hope my distraction is enough of a consolation prize for the both of us," Will said, as he leaned back down for another kiss. He could get used to this sort of sparring.
Tessa laughed again, this time it was less contained and more unbridled joy. She didnât even try to stop Will as he rolled them over, happy to let him have that, because it also meant she was winning. Sheâd won, but she was winning.
She was not interested in gentleman Will. She was interested in the slightly more unhinged Will who occasionally let himself lose his composure around her. Tessa wrapped a leg around his and pulled him in closer with a tug. âStop talking and kiss me, Will.â Their mouths were touching before sheâd even finished saying his name, and Tessa had no more room for complaint.