Ted was chatting quietly with Zoe, the warlock girl who had just seen her father die at the hands of Valentine's men, asking her about herself and her interests, and distracting her from the grim reality that would probably hit soon. She soon became so invested in what she was saying that she animatedly spoke about her passion for understanding, particularly with regards to physics, a subject Ted was quite happy went over his head, just this once, since relevant questions rolled off of his tongue and his engagement was far from fabricated.

Privately, Alec eyed the interactions with a guarded smile, wondering how many of these moments of utter softness he'd missed, how deeply one man could care when nobody was watching. Teddy had been far from secretive about his love for making people smile, and Alec found himself somewhat frustrated at just how good he was at it--he would be polite and courteous with strangers, incredibly charming to friends and downright endearing to his loved ones, although whether that manifested as gently bullying them or memorising how they had their coffee really varied.

Both men's attention was caught by Magnus' voice, an alert that they were about to move, an action that elicited a gasp only from Clary, although as she'd never been in this situation before, the surrounding warlocks suppressed their eye rolls and continued their idle conversations.

In spite of having plenty of interaction with warlock magic, Ted could never fully adjust to the feeling; a sort of warm and cold air seemed to sweep through every vessel of your being and something reminiscent of pins and needles pricked the back of your neck. Zoe was called over to a group of older warlocks, and excused herself with a clumsy hug before stumbling over to her friends, leaving Ted with a bittersweet sorrow in his chest--his enjoyment of her company marred by the immense sympathy for her newfound situation and utter resentment of the assassins who'd brought it about.

"Ah, much better," Magnus sighed contently, before turning around and noticing his apartment with the furniture strewn ever so slightly out of place, "It's inevitable; after each move I get the itch to redecorate--"

Magnus turned to glance at Izzy with a mischievous sort of smirk, which she seemed to mirror perfectly, before returning his stare to the archer.

"Normally I love a dirty lair, but this one is just sloppy." He remarked suggestively, eyes locked with Alec's, who seemed confused by him, and merely quirked a brow and moved to stand nearer to Ted (whether this was a conscious decision or not wasn't entirely clear). A slightly awkward, thick silence settled for a few seconds, before Magnus turned his attention to Izzy, the two making hushed conversation as he tied his prized necklace on her, giggling like school children and occasionally glancing towards the two men, although this went unnoticed.

"Okay, so how do we summon the memory demon?" Clary prompted, standing up from her perch on the sofa and walking over to the group, "I'll do anything to get my mother back."

"Alright. Pretty boy, get your team ready." Magnus huffed, waving his arm in the general direction of Jace, Alec and Teddy, who were, quite inconveniently, all boys, which didn't exactly clarify the warlock's command.

Alec glanced over at his parabatai, who took it upon himself to be the aforementioned pretty boy, launching into a short, unhelpful set of instructions, including the ever useful 'you know what to do'. Magnus made a face of relative incredulity, and pushed him back into his place, correcting himself and pointing to Alec, who's face reddened as he shrugged his shoulders, glancing between Ted and Jace with a look of disbelief and minor discomfort.

"Okay then, pretty boy, what's the plan?" Ted grinned cheekily, only half-teasing--he was entirely unsure of his friend's intentions with Alec, but was nevertheless glad he'd been given some type of attention over Jace for once.

"I-I don't know why he said that, I mean, but he's y'know, been drinking, and uh, anyways," Alec stumbled, trying to figure out why he'd been singled out when Teddy was stood right next to him, "Group off as normal--Eds, you stick with Izzy, I'm assuming you'll know where the pentagram supplies are?"

"I do indeed," He nodded, before turning to look at Jace, who still seemed baffled, "Aw, don't worry Wayland, you're only a little less handsome than Xander."

"Is Clary gonna think I'm an asswipe for assuming he was talking to me, though?" He asked in response, not noticing the soft look the pair had exchanged.

"In all fairness mate, you are a bit of an arse--" Ted quipped wryly

"But it's nice to know you care about Clary liking you, hey boys," Izzy greeted, sauntering towards the group with folded arms, "In all the time it took for you to hash it out, I asked Magnus if he needed me to get anything and grab some fancy chalks from the side, guess you pretty boys are just some pretty faces, hm?"

"That's a little harsh, Iz."

"The truth can hurt," She smirked, "but we can either run from it, or learn from it."

"Really Izzy, the Lion King?"

"It's a classic, and I didn't take you as a Disney fan, is Teddy rubbing off on you?"

"No comment."

Izzy shot her brother a knowing grin, about to make some remark about the colour of his cheeks, but was cut off by Magnus calling Jace over to help Clary prepare for her first encounter with a greater demon, in that same, airy tone he liked to use when talking to people he wasn't close to (Teddy thought it was because it made him seem wiser than he actually was, talking casually about serious things). The three remaining shadowhunters moved to grab their steles, but were interrupted by blood-curdling screeches that hurtled from Clary's throat as her skin singed with the power of the rune, causing Ted to wince in sympathy--he supposed they must hurt when it was your first time getting them, although he couldn't remember the last time he had to draw a new rune.

Alec craned to find the area he'd put the rune on, but found he couldn't quite reach his arm round to the centre of his back with any precision, and so Ted wordlessly took the stele, and drew over the marks on his skin, lifting up the back of his shirt with feather-light grace. Their eyes met as he handed the stele back and their hands brushed, it was a moment that seemed to last millenniums and milliseconds and they were so very in each other's souls for that fragment of time that it felt as though a bond akin to parabatai, and yet something entirely different, and utterly baffling.

"Well, while our little Biscuit is getting started with drawing the pentagram, I suppose we should decide who is going to sit out," Magnus announced, in his 'High Warlock of Brooklyn' voice, prompting Alec and Teddy to start slightly and turn their attention away from one another, "And then perhaps clean this apartment up while I make some sort of martini--nothing says demonic summoning like gin and dry vermouth with a twist."

"I'll sit out if you like," Ted shrugged after a beat of silence, "Not to brag or anything, but I've aced pretty much all of our healing and hospitality tests at the Institute."

"Well, that was definitely a brag, Herondale--" Jace began.

"Yeah, E, arrogance is unbecoming on you," Izzy piped up with a smirk, with what could only be assumed to be an attempt at a British accent; it is worth noting here that, while an attempt was made, it was a dreadful one.

"Oh c'mon Belle, it's calling knowing your worth," He bit back quickly with a grin, and the pair held their gaze with mirroring mocking expressions on their faces, before they cracked and began snickering together, which the three other in the room observed the odd behaviour with varying degrees of confusion and amusement.

"Well, now that's...settled, you shadowhunters might as well make yourselves useful, the mops are in the kitchen and the dusters are on the table."

"No, they're not."

A click of fingers.

"Now they are." He replied, unfazed, "I have half a mind to make you all wear something a tad more revealing as you do, but then I wouldn't want to reduce the big bad Shadowhunters to cuties in maid costumes, would I?"

"I mean I'd be down," Ted shrugged, only half joking, "Though I reckon Wayland here might have some opposition, it ruins his image."

"You're kidding," Jace scoffed, "I'd so look better than you in a maid costume, I make anything look good."

By this point Alec made a swift move over to the table to get cleaning one of the other rooms, with an expression that was not missed by the watching eyes of the warlock, who was highly amused at all the subtle mischief he was causing tonight. He had half a mind to follow Alec and tease him more, but he didn't want to scare him off too much, and opted instead to make his drink.

The cleaning wasn't really that productive in the living room, but it was quite a welcome break from the relatively pressing mission they were on—twice both Jace and Teddy had instigated a reenactment of Queen's 'I want to Break Free' music video, and Izzy had countered that really, she'd be a much better Freddy Mercury than either of their attempts. Then, realising why they were supposed to be cleaning, Jace went to check on Clary, and Izzy went to see how Alec was doing, leaving just Magnus and Teddy together; they had known each other so intimately for years that it was not uncommon for them to be exchange wordless looks by way of conversation, and mild gestures, with odd expressions and the crinkling of the nose.

This time, their conversation was rather brief, only Magnus alluding to the awkward, soft moments between Alec and Ted, while Teddy retorted with a snarky look that was ultimately undermined by his flushed cheeks.

"Okay, all the teasing is comedy gold, we all know that, whatever, but why are we ignoring you and Joshua? Don't think Raphael and I haven't noticed the way you always lose whatever suave image you put on whenever he's around."

"Oh now really Edward, do you have to have such a childish rebuttal?"

"Mags, with all due respect, you're hardly the most mature person in the downworld."

"Ah, but then I am in competition with Tessa," Magnus sighed, feigning defeat, only to be interrupted by Jace announcing that Clary had finished her drawing.

Ted brought the two Lightwoods in from the other room, and they gathered around the pentagram which, Ted had to admit, was brilliant, rife with details and precision, he clapped her on the shoulder gently, before pulling the doors behind him, so that he'd know if anything went wrong, without entirely disturbing the ritual.

Even with the door pulled to, he felt the distant booming that came with the bonds being formed, the Chthonian chanting and the rampant winds that sent a chill surging through the whole apartment; this was all rather standard demon summoning, and so Ted did not sense an overwhelming desire to intervene until the cries of his friends rang out, and the thudding of them slamming into the wall was heard.

He was on his feet in an instant, his quarterstaff brandished; he was greeted with the sight of Jace in the grasp of the demon, smokey tendrils curing fiercely around his waist, as incandescent eyes seared menacingly. Clary was gasping in shock and fear, whilst his parabatai grasped one of his arms, wrestling against the wuthering blows sparked by the monster in front of them. A sense of dread grew like a deep, heavy pit in his chest, and he lurched forward, only to be halted by Magnus' next words--

"If the demon is killed her memories will be lost forever!"

He turned his head to glance at the redhead, who already had her arm extended expectantly; he phased his staff into two blades, and held one out to her, she wasted no time whatsoever in plunging her sword into the core of the demon, at once dissolving it to nothing but glowing ember, the last of the wind flitting out of the room and an agonised screech resounding, leaving everyone rattled in appearance, hair tousled and clothes creased, and faces ashen with panic and the adrenaline draining from their systems.

"Jace!" Izzy cried, shaking his form gently, as Alec urged with a more guarded panic setting his face alight, his tone deeper and concerned than usual.

"C'mon Jace, get up," He persisted, though his voice was shaking. He lingered there, hovering hesitantly over him, as though he was afraid to touch his own parabatai.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Clary asked, crouched by the blond's head, brows scrunched with worry and her eye widened, not unlike a doe's.

"I don't know, does he normally just lay like that without moving?" Magnus remarked nonchalantly, in a way that would have been humorous had the rest of the party not been seriously concerned or unconscious.

"Now isn't the time to be a smart prick about it Mags," Ted countered pointedly, "There wasn't any poison that we know of, and if you let me check his pulse that'd be great. Regardless, he's probably winded, he was hanging at a weird angle which explains him being passed out and the worst that could've happened is he fractured a rib or something."

"Should we turn him over?" Isabelle questioned, "I don't want him choking on his own vomit or anything."

As though her words were his cue, Jace erupted in a fit of coughs and splutters, until he panted out assurance between deep gulps of air. Ted went to ease him into a sitting position, and made an attempt to regulate his breathing, without noticing that Alec had left the room with a look of terror and guilt marring his face, as he denied any silent console offered to him by the warlock or his sister.

Magnus' eyes were understanding, but how could he be? He was a warlock, how could he possibly grasp the weight of being in love with your parabatai? A bond so sacred--practically carved into the very bones of his culture, and he was entirely rebelling, though he had no intention of doing so. Izzy had always blindly assured him that everything would be okay, but that hopeless optimism was just that, optimism, and now Alec had compromised the mission as a result of his senseless infatuation with Jace.

He stormed out of the apartment, and swiftly striding back to the institute, figuring the group would find out where he was quite quickly whenever they were to notice his absence; he took the walk back to reflect, guarded by his runes that made him as invisible as he felt.

He knew he loved Jace, he knew he always had. He'd grown up with that burden, and he'd accepted that it would never happen, even if they weren't parabatai--he'd be a disgrace to his family name, after all. And yet, how could he not acknowledge that whatever feelings he harboured towards Jace were in the same likeness to how he felt around Teddy? It was all so confusing, his mind whirring into overdrive, the same uncomfortable questions of his identity pounded in his head intrusively, and he had not the means of fighting these terrors, no arrows for these demons that were matched in how quickly they made his blood run cold.

An angel-blooded creature with ichor-tainted thoughts, how ironic.

His face held a delicate, bitter expression, wanting to laugh at the torment he was condemning himself to by sheer merit of existing, and yet his only remedy was someone as sweet as Teddy, or as untraditional as Izzy, or the root of all of his problems in the first place. It seemed he was destined for suffering.

As with every venture in his life though, Alec had now decided to exercise some restraint, he couldn't be as comfortable with Ted anymore—distance was the only sure fire way to rid himself of any romantic inclinations he might feel towards the boy, if that's what he was feeling at all. If he withdrew, he could start to forget, he could distract himself, he could save the British boy from encountering any harm like Jace had been exposed to.

It was perhaps half an hour later when the boy in question stumbled upon Alec in the training room, seemingly out of breath. His cheeks were ruddy and his eyes were bright, in spite of the fact that his brows were scrunched up in concern.

"Xander, are you alright?" He asked, sounding conflicted as to whether he should be relieved to see him in a relatively safe environment, or worried because of his wordless exit in the first place.

"Sure," he all but grunted in reply, averting his gaze.

"Have you had anything to eat, at least?" This earned him no response from the raven-haired man, and Ted sighed sadly, "You need to take care of yourself, Lightwood—"

"Yeah, I don't need you to do it for me," he snapped gruffly, still not meeting his eyes. His wrapped knuckles were relentless in their attack on the punching bag.

"Oh I know that," Ted grinned despite the harsh tone Alec addressed him in, "Only we both know I'm a far better cook than you, and I reckon we have enough in to do a nice carbonara, if you fancy it?"

The punching faltered, although Alex's expression remained stoic in its resolve, not glancing at the brunet, who was undoubtedly looking at the archer with softened eyes.

"Xander?"

"Can you not just leave me alone! By the Angel, you can be so overbearing—you don't have to mother me, I'm older than you Herondale, and I'm perfectly capable of working alone. Especially without you."

"Angel's above," he chuckled with disbelieve, "I was only asking if you wanted some pasta, I didn't expect that. Could've just said no, really, it was a tad disproportionate, don't you think?"

"No, I don't. If you hadn't noticed this is constant. Always playing the medic, always trying to baby the group with cookies and cakes instead of doing your job!" He snapped, his mind set only on impulse, "You pretend to be this loving, relentlessly kind person, who always looks out for all of his countless array of friends, constantly, and all because you're lonely! It's like you just can't be alone, you're codependent, Herondale!"

"Oh, are we talking about the wider issues now?" He replied, feigning casualness in spite of the fact that he was near seething, "Okay, well why don't we have a chat about your 'cold, mechanical, above-it-all' front, hm? How about we talk about the fact that you hold this notion that you aren't allowed to feel actual emotions other than loyalty? That's tiring to watch, it really is, you'll push anybody away as soon as you get scared by feeling more than a sense of duty to that person!"

The two took shuddering breaths, both expressions cold, both riled up, both on the cusp of hurt.

"It's not really your fault, I suppose, it's this whole culture—"

"Why do you hate your own people? Are we not good enough for you?" He retorted with a raised tone, as he turned now to fully face the boy.

"Nobody said that, did they? Just look at how it's hurt you, Xander, it's okay, whatever you're feeling, you'll get through it."

"Emotions cloud judgement."

"That bollocks propaganda? You're only proving my point, you know." He scoffed in reply.

"You're not perfect yourself, Herondale." Alec responded through gritted teeth, turning back to the punching bag to avoid whatever acrimony might reside in his warm grey eyes.

"Oh, I know, I don't pretend to be."

"But you do!" He turned back now, standing three paces in front of Teddy, "This 'Good Samaritan' front, this performative generosity, it's all a diversion from the true negotiations, the battles, the formal training, everything that makes us who we are!"

"What's gotten into you?" Ted questioned, regarding Alec with a sad look, somewhat disappointed, "I don't know what happened with that Greater Demon, but it's not your fault, nobody's angry with you."

"Well they should be, and so should you," He said, his tone dejected and ashamed, which only elicited sympathy from Ted, although he knew Alec would hate it, "I've got responsibilities. So've you. It might do you some good to actually get round to them every once in a while."

Ted nodded, regarded Alec for a few moments, and turned back to walk down the stairs and out of sight. They so rarely fought with each other, and whenever they had, it was usually as a result of prior annoyance, frustration and exhaustion, but this time felt different to Ted, it confused him--he'd clearly missed something. He decided it was best to give the shadowhunter some space, figuring he needed to relax, and if that meant beating up a dummy, who was Teddy to judge?

Still, although Alec's words had cut deep, so much so that Ted didn't want to spend any time reflecting or replaying them, Alec hadn't had a proper meal in a while, and so he opted to make himself useful and calm down the only way he knew how: making food.

He was right in his assumption that he had enough to make some pasta, and elected to listen to his and Izzy's 'Bad Bitch' playlist to get into it--anything could be improved, he found, when you felt like a bad bitch, even making pasta for the boy you'd been pining over for years, yet couldn't muster up the courage to tell. Nothing a bit of Rhianna couldn't fix.

About halfway before he was done, Jace and Clary waltzed into the kitchen, and the pair looked expectantly at Teddy, who took a moment to notice them with his impromptu lip-sync rendition of Bad Reputation by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, but soon grinned and told them it wouldn't be much longer until he was finished.

"Well," started Clary playfully, "I can't doubt your cooking skills, but I can question your music taste--what're you listening to?"

"A variety, judge for yourself, if you like," He smiled, passing her his phone to look through the line up.

She made some faces of approval, and blushed heavily when Jace had a look at it over her shoulder, getting closer than he really needed to. Seeing the pair of them smile bashfully at each other sent a bittersweet pang through his chest, and he let his playful smirk slip as he thought about Alec, and how much he longed to be as intimate with him as they could be, without reproachful eyes or scornful looks.

"Ted!"

"Oh," He blinked, grinning again, "Sorry Rusty, I was far away for a second then, you were saying?"

"Just that this mix is actually cool, I wouldn't have you pegged for the Britney Spears type."

"Oh? What'd you think, that I was all about the Beatles or like, Oasis?"

"I thought more classical music would be your thing," She teased, eliciting a laugh from Jace, "Don't say anything, I know I'm secretly right. Anyways, I just had a thought--"

"First time for everything," He quipped cheekily, earning a smack on the arm (which he thought was rather worth it).

"You call me Rusty, right, what could I call you then, there's no derogatory nicknames for brunets," She cut herself off, gasping excitedly, "Okay never mind, my genius knows no bounds."

"Do we get to hear of this genius, then?" Jace commented, looking amused.

"Genius requires an audience, I guess," She sighed dramatically, "I dub thee, Girl Scout."

He paused dishing up the pasta to look back at her in confusion, the red-head's mouth curled in on itself to stop her from laughing; he placed the bowl he was filling down and asked her where on earth she'd gotten that from.

"It's pretty simple, really, give it some thought," She smirked, before Ted passed her a bowl and cutlery with a charming smile, "You can't bribe me, I am strong of will."

"Your impression of Herondale is just as bad as Izzy's," Jace commented lightheartedly, accepting a bowl of his own, before the two made their way out of the room to eat, leaving Ted alone with his thoughts again.

By the Angel, what was wrong with him. It was literally giving someone a portion of carbonara, he'd fought demons and seared runes into his skin and yet he was intimidated by this? In fairness it was only a while after they'd been arguing, and pestering him wasn't a brilliant way to break the ice again. At any rate, he'd managed to find his parabatai before too long, who'd just been trying to make sure Alec was okay--Izzy mentioned that he was brooding in his room, to which Ted replied with a kiss to her forehead (and in turn, was given a kiss to his cheek) and handed her her dinner, before going to drop Alec's off.

He knocked unceremoniously, and found he was ignored, which was to be expected really. Luckily, he'd had the foresight to bring a note to slide under the door, and walked off to his room, ready to contemplate everything he could've done differently that night, unaware that Alec was doing the exact same thing next door, tracing over the messy script on the folded note with his finger.

Hi,

Sorry for today, I hope you're doing a little better,

Try and get this down you, the texture goes all iffy if you reheat it

-Eds :)

He retrieved his food from just outside his door, knowing he was too late to catch the boy lingering in the hallway, but couldn't help but smile softly at the bowl waiting for him, steam still curling from it. And all of a sudden his aloneness became lonely, his eyes sad as he glanced over his room--it was cold and empty, it was too organised, too pristine; his bookshelf was lined with shadowhunter codexes, books on runes, strategies, weapons, laws. And then one fiction book, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, that Teddy had given him one birthday.

He stared at its light blue spine as he slid down his door, until he was sitting on the cold wood of his floor, eating pasta, and wishing he could be something more than himself, scared and lonely.

A/N: Two parts? One month? Must be Pride or something--

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, comments are really appreciated (criticism included, you've witnesses my first attempt at an argument outside of the show's script, I have a complete aversion to writing any form of angst most the time, pointers are encouraged)

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the votes recently, I really appreciate it!

Until next time, I hope your week is going well, thank you for everything <3