angelic_archer: (Distancing Myself)
Alec Lightwood ([personal profile] angelic_archer) wrote in [community profile] marlowemuses2019-01-10 07:11 pm

The lonely become either thoughtful or empty

There had bee no other options. Someone had to guard the relics the Angel had given them. The Cup and Sword were too powerful to be left in mortal hands even those that had been blessed by the Angel. That power was too tempting no matter how noble Nephilim might be. There would always be someone, some group of someones, who would be seduced by the possibilities that those gifts represented.

Even centuries after the decision had been made, Alec wasn't sure why he had been chosen for this particular duty. His parabatai had been a better warrior. His sister was far more clever. But the Angel had chosen him. Perhaps because he was better able to accept the isolation of his divine task. His siblings would have been driven mad by loneliness after the first few decades.

There were times when Alec wondered if he would eventually succumb to insanity, but he had the books that he eventually became guardian of and the cats that somehow crept between worlds to keep him company. They weren't exactly cats, of course. They were built more like predators than pets, eyes glowing with flames instead of the usual nocturnal glow. No matter how frightening they looked, they were Alec's friends and they helped Alec protect the items the Angel had left in his care.

It was the cats that warned him that something was wrong at the gates. The largest of them howled a warning, hissing as she faced the gate. The rest of the pride ran to her as Alec sprinted for the gates. Something - Someone - was attacking. He felt the temple shiver its warning through him and he knew that no matter how impossible it seemed, someone had crossed the threshold between worlds.
hondoyota: (hesitant)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-01-28 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
“You were injured for me,” Adam said, looking at Alec holding his hand as a blush spread over his cheeks. “It was right that I should heal you.”

He was still sick with terror that the temple might again prevent him from leaving, but he tried to push that thought aside, tried not to think about the shift at work that he was missing right now, without having called in, which might itself be grounds for dismissal.

"We can go eat," he said, figuring that he might as well make sure they both ate, as long as he was already missing work.
hondoyota: (Default)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-01-29 06:55 am (UTC)(link)

“Us,” Adam corrected. It was hard to think while Alec was holding his hand. Caressing his hand. Alec, who wanted to court him. “It had better lay a spread for us both.”

He let go with one hand but left the other one connected, loosely holding hands with Alec.

“It’s this way,” Adam said, certain, though he still hadn’t gotten a complete tour of the temple. He could just feel the way they were meant to go.

hondoyota: (wary contemplation)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-01-31 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
Adam glanced over shyly and blushed when Alec squeezed his hand. He'd never held hands with someone before, and he wasn't completely sure how he'd ended up holding hands with Alec now.

It caught his attention when Alec mentioned relics he was supposed to keep safe. Adam hadn't previously thought of this place as anything other than temple and library, but now he realized that Alec had another role. He was guarding something of value, though it was difficult to know from 'relics' alone what value they held to whom. They might be priceless treasures or they might simply be artifacts of value to Alec and the angel that he obeyed or worshiped.

He tried not to think about the shift he was missing at work. Part of his mind was busy calculating the lost income, the adjustments he'd need to make, how he'd cope if he lost the job, what he'd have to give up to compensate. But his stomach still growled hungrily when he stepped through the door into the banquet hall, spread with a smaller feast filled with similar wonders. It seemed absurdly ostentatious, as though the temple itself was trying to court Adam with flamboyant gifts.
hondoyota: (considering)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-01-31 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Get your own plate," he told the cat. Letting go of Alec's hand, Adam gathered up a plate of his own and warily took a few things. He remembered how badly his last meal with Alec had ended and was nervous about another fight, so he limited the things that he picked up, preferring to go back for seconds rather than leave his plate unfinished.

Settling into a chair, Adam picked at his food, giving the cats warning looks when they came close but not bothering to shove either of them off the table as long as they left his plate alone.

He kept one eye constantly on Alec, wary and admiring. Unsure how to offer any kind of conversation, Adam kept quiet, hoping that Alec could ask his questions without Adam needing to provide an opening for him.
hondoyota: (dapper)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-02 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Adam nodded, glad to have Alec nearby, even though he still felt wary and defensive, and the dread of not being able to leave again hung over him, souring every bite. He still kept one arm curled protectively around his plate, unable to believe that this feast was for him and wouldn't just vanish.

He ate hungrily, realizing just how hungry he was the more that he ate, and he tentatively got up to fill another plate once the first was done. "You can ask your questions," he suggested, keeping an eye on Alec partly out of wariness and partly because he just wanted to look at him.
hondoyota: (downcast)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-02 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's just a state," Adam said, picking at his food a little slower as he talked and keeping his eyes on his plate. "There's West Virginia, too, but that's different. I live where it's deep rural, woods and hills." His accent thickened as he spoke, both from the emotional knots building in his chest and the unconscious association when he thought about where he'd come from. "Most folks that way are poor, but there's a rich school built. My friends and I go there, except Blue. Gansey's all determination and nobility, and Ronan's all ferocity and imagination. There's Noah, too, but he's been dead for as long as I've known him." Adam, more than the others, found Noah to be unnerving and inhuman, and they both knew that the feeling was mutual, which made for a strange sort of truce.
hondoyota: (intrigued)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-03 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"A ghost," Adam corrected. Vampires only seemed slightly stranger than ghosts to him, and since he'd spent the last few months getting used to the idea of ghosts and ley lines as real things that he had undeniably experienced, Alec's question seemed completely reasonable. "Gansey's my best friend. He's the one looking for the Welsh king. You'd probably like Gansey. He's much better at answering questions."

Scuffing his toe against the floor, Adam watched Alec shyly. He was still achingly handsome, but there was a nervous awkwardness to him that was cute. Adam couldn't quite believe that he would actually want to court him, but Alec had been starved for company for hundreds of years, and Adam was his only option, so it made sense that his standards would lower accordingly.
hondoyota: (wary contemplation)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-03 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Noah can only manifest along the ley line, since he was killed on the ley line and his bones are there."

Adam fidgeted a little, because he was aware of how many restrictions he'd already put on Alec's questions, and how hard Alec was trying to operate within those restrictions. He appreciated the assertion that Alec would like him even if there were other options, but he didn't feel confident in it.

"He's found evidence to suggest that the king's body was carried to Virginia along a ley line," Adam explained. He knew how it sounded. He'd been so skeptical at first, but Gansey's passion was enough to convince anyone.

Alec's question about whether Adam was looking for the king surprised him. It was Gansey's quest, and though Adam had thought about what he would ask, if he were granted a favor, Adam had only just settled into believing it when he had instead forged his bargain with the ley line. He was part of it, now, an extension of the ley line the same way that it was an extension of him, and Adam was no longer sure what favor he would ask of Glendower. "It's Gansey's quest. I'm only helping."
hondoyota: (hesitant)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-04 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Why are you sorry?" Adam asked, perplexed. It took him a moment to realize that Alec meant the sound, and even once he'd realized it he didn't understand why Alec felt he had to apologize. It had been kind of funny, and kind of cute, in a way that Adam wanted to think about more later. Privately.

"Gansey's our king," Adam murmured, though he ducked his head a little as he said it. He'd never said it out loud before. "Ronan and I, we're his magicians."
hondoyota: (pretty)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-04 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think it was rude," Adam said, brow still a little bit furrowed. He had a sick feeling in his chest at the idea of Alec being lectured over something tiny like that, because it was all too awfully familiar. "You can cook?" he asked, since that was the only conclusion he could draw from Alec's statement that food didn't appear already made.

There was a tray of pastries, all different, artful Parisian delicacies like nothing Adam had ever seen before. He selected one of them with care, setting it on his plate and turning it a quarter turn so that he could admire the exquisite, towering, tiny confection.
hondoyota: (polite interest)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-04 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sure you could. With practice and dedication, if it's what you chose to spend your time on." Adam believed that when it came to most things. He had to. Every time someone had told him he couldn't, he worked and worked until he proved them wrong.

"I don't know how to cook," he admitted. He hadn't had time or opportunity, and didn't expect that to change in the near future. He survived on apples, cheese, peanut butter, bread, and granola bars. That was a balanced diet, as best as he could get it. The spread in front of him was a wonder beyond imagination.
hondoyota: (focused)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-04 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
Adam was surprised that the temple couldn't provide a functional oven, when it could provide other wonders like this feast, but he kept that to himself.

"I don't have time," Adam said, looking away. He picked at his dessert, carefully extracting a tiny bite at a time in order to make it last.

As much as he wanted to have the time to take cooking lessons with a gorgeous guy who wanted to court him, that wasn't Adam's life, and he didn't think it ever could be.
hondoyota: (Default)

[personal profile] hondoyota 2019-02-04 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)

“I work three jobs,” Adam said, eyes on his food. “Plus school.” He briefly considered mentioning that he was missing his shift at work to be here, but didn’t.

Picking at his food for a moment, Adam turned over the offer, his pride, and Alec’s feelings. “I don’t need anyone’s help,” he said, thickly, hoping that Alec wouldn’t take it as a personal rejection.

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