The Fate Within Us

Alex himself didn’t mind people being everywhere all that much, it reminded him of the pack back in New Orleans, but trusting any of them? All it did was make him laugh most days. And what was so bad about that? It was better than giving each other the stink eye he knew that much. Being used to the smell to the point of no longer smelling it, he’d only say no to annoy or out of boredom. ‘’It’s not my library, besides, who’s going to notice in this dusty old place?’’ He shrugged, not particularly caring, a book accidentally catching fire would only make his day. He couldn’t help but chuckle,‘’Not a problem man, there’s people here everywhere, so if it’s a public space, you’ll find people, it’s not rocket science. What, did you grow up under a rock or something?’’

With the werewolf’s shrug Dimitri immediately pulled a cigarette from the pack, and the lighter he usually squished in once the pack had been opened. “I don’t know, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had some alarm or something in case of a fire.” He replied as he placed the cigarette between his lips and lit it before nestling the lighter amongst the remaining and shoving the pack back into his pocket. Tendrils of smoke rose throughout the library but nothing appeared to happen so Dimitri dismissed the idea of alarms from his mind. “Surprisingly no. Unless you count London as a rock.  But even there I knew when and where to go without bumping into anyone.”

Hailey let out a light chuckle. “so you’re not originally from New York, where did you originate?” Her eyes would gleam with interest. “I think everyone had different motives for joining the fight, some more selfish than others.”

“You can’t tell from my accent?” He asked confused his English accent normally tipped people off, even if it was slightly different from other Londoners, the result of spending time in multiple countries. “I came from London. But yeah you have a point about motives I guess. Can I ask yours?”

‘‘For a big institute, people sure seem to be everywhere.’‘ Alex chuckled finding it ironic, it wouldn’t surprise him if they’d planted some kind of illusion or bugs on everyone the minute they’d stepped through the door with everyone having access to it. He couldn’t help but raise an amused eyebrow, ‘‘Let me break it down for you, people can read, and this place is where the books are, so unless it’s a storage closet, you’ll find people here, it’s a simple as that.’‘

“Tell me about it, you can’t turn around without someone popping up.” Despite his time in the Institute Dimitri couldn’t help but still be surprised every time someone popped up when he didn’t expect it. He pulled his cigarette pack from his back pocket, the craving having slowly made it’s way to the forefront of his mind. “Do you mind?” He asked knowing some disliked the smell especially those with supernatural senses. “Thank you for letting me know, I will keep in mind in the future. Books equals people.”

Hailey would let a little chuckle escape her lips as she watched his face go red. “So what’s your story, tell me about yourself.” she’d watch the boy interested in his answers. 

Dimitri could feel the heat in his cheeks, and thought hard to force it away unsure of how successful he was. “Not much to tell, I’m afraid. Came to New York for probably the same reasons as you.”

“Of course you are.” Ophelia wasn’t entirely surprised the Nephilim gave her an ineffective partner, but it still seemed like an odd decision to make when the assignment was such an important one. “Well, all those questions are important ones, but they’d be answered best through fieldwork. Does the Clave have any specimens in their possession?”

“Sorry.” His face contorting into a smile and grimace at the same time a rare moment of insecurity following as he continued to wonder why he would be chosen for such a task. Surely there had been someone better suited available , Dimitri took a deep breath throwing away the doubts for now before replying “Fieldwork, I can do. They didn’t mention any to me but they must have something.”

‘‘Didn’t you know? The walls here have eyes.’‘ He couldn’t help but joke sarcastically. ‘‘Well, this is the library man, what did you expect?’‘ Alex raised an eyebrow at the guy.

“Ugh, how could I forget?” Dimitri replied joining in on the man’s sarcasm but couldn’t help it when a smile emerged countering his tone of voice. “I don’t know. Libraries aren’t really my thing so I guess I didn’t bother to check for anyone else. Silly mistake.”

“I don’t mind if you stay or go, as long as you don’t make me leave. It’s up to you. I suppose you might get some agility training in or something.” Kendall decided to ignore his remark about having used the bow since he was three. Not everyone had that same kind of luxury.

“I wouldn’t make you leave, you were here first.” Dimitri frowned confused and wondering why she would think he would ask her to leave. “Hey, I won’t complain about some extra training.” He grinned hoping not to get on the warlock’s nerves but unsure if he was succeeding.

Hailey would reach for the boys hand “Cute name. suits the face” she’d let out a small chuckle “I’m Hailey” a small smile would spread across her lips at that. 

The shadowhunter shook her hand for a few seconds before letting go, feeling blood rush to his face at the compliment. “Nice to meet you.”

Dimitri Highsmith || Moodboard (1/?)