this is gospel

“And there’s plenty more bar that’s nowhere near me.” Hallie replied snidely. “Might want more than just nine, though, considering how fucked up everything seems to be around here.” She added, under her breath. Going to order another drink, her brow furrowed as she noticed that the bartender was clearly busy with other customers, causing her to huff as her posture seemed to deflate.

“Bar, yes. Bartenders, no.” He pointed out, gesturing to how all the tenders seemed to be around her area, getting on with their jobs in what was a little bit of a quiet night. James scoffed at her words, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck, “You’re not wrong there, but if I let all of that effect me then I’m pretty sure I would end up turning to alcoholism.”

Hallie would admit that she hadn’t quite realized what she’d gotten herself into when she first arrived in New York, but following recent developments she was finally filled in on what she had missed, and God damn did she miss being human. Or ‘mundane’, she supposed, since that was what they called it.

Downing yet another shot at the bar, the taste of blood only made her miss her ability to drink actual alcohol, even if it was all she craved now, and she couldn’t help but glare at the empty glass before inevitably ordering another.

“What do you want?” She asked, her newly keen ears picking up on the sound of approaching footsteps as she downed what felt like her hundredth drink.

“Why do you assume I want something from you because I’m walking over here- this is a bar, no? I’m just here to order myself a drink or nine. It tends to be what you do at places like this.” James commented, rolling his eyes a little at the woman-.. vampire who had an attitude problem with him before he had even opened his mouth.

“You know, you always were a cute drunk.” Elliott mused when he felt the finger prodding at him. There had been many an occasion where the other had gone out drinking and ended up back at his place, wanting him to make him something that would take away the pain the the morning and gushing over certain things when he was drunk or just simply telling about his conquests that night. He was mostly always happy though and it had always amused him. Most drunks he didn’t find half as tolerable. “I’m a survivor James, I always have been. I won’t go down easily but I am very appreciative that your first thought was for my safety.” Elliott let his fingers brush through the others hair.

James pouted when the other mentioned him being a cute drunk, “Just cute? You know how I feel about the word cute? It’s how you describe puppies, not your sexy boyfriend.” James huffed a little when the other told him he was a survivor, “I know you are, but there are still something things out of your control that you can’t stop and run from. The soul sword being one of them. And of course it was for your safety, I love you.” And James was pretty sure that was the first time he had said those words out loud to the other, he had put it into comments and teased the other about the word love, but this was the first time he had said it and meant it in the way it was meant to be romantic and a new step in a relationship.

“That’s neat. I just picked the long sword cause I was good at it. And my brother is the dagger guy so.” He shrugged. “One of us had to pick a flashy weapon, right?” That had, embarrassingly enough, been a part of younger Thorin’s reasoning. Maybe if he used something bigger he’d feel less like he was in his brother’s damnable shadow. “More like ten percent skill and the rest is all praying to the Angel the blade hits instead of the hilt bouncing. I’ve watched Oaks do that hundreds of times before. Pisses the demons off rather than kills them. Let me tell you.” He laughed, it was loud and bright. “You think you can best me? My friend. My friend. You’ve got another thing coming for you then.” He winked, mostly joking with him. It wouldn’t stand to embarrass himself by losing a duel. And his parents were mad enough already. “Mundanes. Stupid creatures really.” There was no question that Thorin had disdain for them. “My sister often calls me a dork, yes.”

“Once again is this the whole my sword is bigger than ours complex?” James teased, a smirk on his face when the other mentioned a flashy weapon, “But then again I guess it depends on the size of the dagger.” He commented once again, wondering if the other would understand what he was talking about or whether it would all just fly over the top of his head. “Yeah, I can’t imagine demons being the biggest fans of things being thrown at them but not killing them, it’s like if you just sat and threw random objects at anyone really, after a while they’d get pissed and snap.” James stood up straighter, puffing out his chest and nodding confidently, “Yeah, I totally think I can win- as long as I can use dirty tactics that is.”  James looked at the other and couldn’t help but hum at his statement, it’s not what he thought but he wasn’t going to put his two cents in there because he didn’t want to start a debate on how stupid mundanes were. “At least you have someone telling you.”

“I think he’s a little apprehensive, especially since this hasn’t happened before” she nodded gently. “It hasn’t gone away so far though, so maybe he can get his life back…kind of” she sighed gently. There would always be guilt attached to Simon’s vampirism for Clary, even though she did know he had forgiven her. “I’ll take some graphite pencils over a stele anyday” she grinned agreeing with him. “I guess all of this would feel a lot more normal if I’d grown up around it” she shrugged it off, smiling. She definitely appreciated the opportunity to let him figure out who she is from her rather than from the rumours. “That sounds fun”

“Well he should be a little less apprehensive and a little more stoked because it hasn’t happened before, he’s a special case, the chosen one. Every vampire will want to be him and he’ll be able to get his life back if he can walk in the sun, he’ll just have to suppress the urge to snack on people.” James shrugged, because it was one thing being out at night when the number of people out was low, during the day where you’re surrounded by thousands, might be a little harder to control the thirst then. “I’d say the same but with a brush.” He chuckled, because at least art soothed the storm inside of him, Shadowhunting seemed to be a constant reminder of his family and wondering if they would be proud of him. “Yeah, you’re right- I can imagine it being pretty hard to find your feet when you’re just thrown into it late in life.” 

” Oh I have gotten a sip of the stuff and frankly, I don’t get all the hype about alcohol” he shrugged and frowned “What’s wrong with you lookin’ your age, you’re a…um. You’re aesthetically pleasing for sure” He really did try to make it better, instead of just spewing out compliment at the stranger he just met. He rolled his eyes, ears going hot when the shadowhunter grew smug, ok so he knew he was hot. Great. Still, he tried to bark out a laugh and shrug some more, awkward. “ Something terrible? I don’t mean to pry sorry” he was quick to add and listened to the Nehpilim’s story carefully “Ah..how recent? What kind of a downworlder is he–does he treat you well?” The young werewolf was filled to the brim with questions. He blushed at the answer he got and fiddled with his fingers “So you just went for it..huh…you’re brave” the graves of his own reality was sinking in, he couldn’t dare do such a thing and that only saddened him but he pushed up a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and sighed “ Well I was just offering an extra helping hand besides, it would be..kinda nice to get to see the institute from the inside y’know” he gave the guy his best pout “ I swear I just wanna see it, I’ll take your name when I get some special inside info and come find you? What’s even your name. I’m Jayce. Friends call me Jay. I know some shadowhunters hate us doesn’t give me enough  reason to hate them back.”

James narrowed his eyes at the other for a moment before letting the matter go, “Well I guess it’s not for everyone, me on the other hand, it’s definitely for me.” Because there had been many nights when he had gone out and indulged on one too many drinks, but it was all in good fun and he enjoyed himself. “I don’t like growing old, I would quite have happily stayed at twenty five, it’s a good age after all. But thank you for the compliment, I try my best to look aesthetically pleasing.” He teased the other, noticing his awkwardness when it came to paying him a compliment about his appearance. James cleared his throat, shifting on the spot when the uncomfortable topic came up, “My family were murdered, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles - the lot. It was a massacre and I guess I was the lucky one who just happened to be away from our home when it happened. So now I’m the last Ashcroft and have a legacy to uphold, though I seem to be doing a pretty crappy job at it.” When the other asked how recent, his brows furrowed trying to remember how long it had been since him and Elliott had made things official, “I guess it’s been a few months now and he’s a warlock and yes, he treats me well. Incredibly well actually-.. I’m pretty spoilt.” Because Elliott would do anything for him and James tried his best not to take advantage of that fact. “Yeah, I’m not the type of person to sit and dwell on what people are going to think about me. As long as I’m living as myself, that’s all that matters. And given I’m mostly attracted to men, well-.. why restrict myself of that kind of enjoyment.” James rose an eyebrow at the other and chuckled, “Ah so all this sweet talk was just to get inside of the Institute, I’m offended.” He teased, “Not sure bringing Downworlders in right now is a great idea, but make friends with the right people and you’ll probably get a chance to see it. And I’m James- it’s nice to meet you Jayce.”

“That’s all I ask.” Caleb beamed. “So you’re a party boy, I take it?” He guessed from the male’s painfully obvious stupor. “Would you like a bottle of water?” The warlock offered as he tried to lock eyes with the man and see if he was actually listening.

James hummed for a moment before shrugging, “I guess you could say that, I like to go out, have fun and drink every now and then. But then again with the job I have it’s the only way for me to let loose and not go insane.” Because his job was hard and each Shadowhunter let off steam in a different way, this just happened to be his own. “Water? Not really, I’ll take a jack and coke if you’re offering though.”

“Content hm?” Elliott commented, a little smile on his lips. “So I assume you are not regretting the direction you decided to take our relationship in?” There was always that possibility after all, despite how Elliott hoped that would never be an issue for them. As it was, for him there would be harder hurdles to overcome in the future so he just wanted to enjoy this and relish it on a day to day basis. “I think you pouted me into being your boyfriend.” He corrected, laughing. “Though the run across town was admittedly impressive.”

“What else would you describe it as?” He questioned the other before shaking his head, “I’m really not regretting anything, no. It was a good idea to take things forward with the two of us, onward and upwards.” James didn’t want to think about the future, about him growing old and the other staying the same, not looking any older then he did right now. About him dying and the other continuing to live on and move on, those thoughts would cause him to overthink and re-evaluate their whole relationship. “I did not pout you into being my boyfriend, that is a lie.” He accused the other, pointing his finger in his face before prodding him lightly in the chest. “When someone activates something that could kill your boyfriend, you run. Even if you do normally hate to run.”

  “cool, I hit 20 this year myself” he retorted, smug. When the shadowhunter pointed out that he had a great ass basically, Jayce made it a point to absolutely not glance down there and chuckled at the guy “ Self-confidence is always great” he acknowledge and entirely missed any sort of flirtations, the Werewolf was exxtremly bad in being able to tell whether anyone was flirting with him. He hear’s ‘my boyfriend’ and does a double-take at the shadowhunter before Jayce looks the man over yet again. Okay he didn’t ‘look’ gay at all. But this guy had a boyfriend. when he realized he was just silently staring Jayce instantly apologize, flustered and puzzled “ sorry I didn’t mean to uh–stare” he states lamely and pretended to look at something down the road. Thankfully the mention of the sadist megamoron redirected the conversation “yeah that’s what I keep trying to tell them– we all lost people but y’know how hate grows. Like wild fire” he shudders a bit, feling a chill run down his spine. The guy was telling him who was to be blamed for all this and Jayce was giving it a thought, remaining neutral for now. He didn’t know whether he could even get any proof about this but then again it was kind of the most verified news among all. Valentine had done it. He was responsble “Hope that baldy burns. Bad–wait what your boyfriend’s a downworlder? Damn, respect” he uttered, awe and acknowledgment mingling “So just..how the heck did it happen..like how did you met your b-boyfriend? How did you even know you liked dudes let alone a downworlder aren’t most shadowhunters like–picky and prejudiced af? Though I heard about your head of the institue. Sounds like a cool dude. “ he paused and lowered his voice “ by the way, if I ever hear someone stirring up shit against shadowhunters, how the hell do I give y’all a heads up?”

James cursed lightly under his breath when the kid told him he was turning twenty this year because he was so young, “Congrats, one more year and then you can drink legally. Not that ever stopped me and now I don’t even get id’d anymore. It’s a sad world when you start looking your age.” Something he teased Elliott about all of the time, even if the other did look younger than him most of the time. James had noticed the other staring, he noticed the way in which he looked confused and he tried to go back over his words to think if there was anything that he said that would be confusing to him, coming up empty he shrugged that and the others words off, “It’s fine, I mean, I don’t blame you.” He winked, trying to clear up any awkwardness that was there a moment ago. “The Clave have been after him for a long time and he will pay for his crimes.” James had many doubts about the Clave from time to time, but he didn’t have any doubts about the fact that they would give Valentine the penalty that he deserved. “He is, yes.” He chuckled, hearing the others comment and then his questions about him and Elliott, “When I was sixteen, something... terrible had just happened and I had to leave my home, he found me on the streets and took me in, gave me somewhere safe to stay before taking me to the Institute. He never really got rid of me though and it’s only been recently that we’ve got together.” James tilted his head a little, a questioning expression on his face as he listened to the other, “I looked at a guy, thought he was hot. Then I kissed him and it was a confirmation that I was into guy’s.” He didn’t label himself though, it didn’t matter the gender or species, if he liked someone then that was that. “Some are, some aren’t- it’s the same as this kind of thing in the mundane world. And yeah, Alec has sort of became a good person to look up to, we’re lucky to have him as the head of the Institute.” He smiled, because he could truly say that without any sarcastic comment behind it. “You don’t need to give us the heads up, we know not everyone is going to like us or agree on what we do. It happens. We also know that there are those out there who will be on our side when we need them, same works both ways. I mean there are some Shadowhunters who talk shit about Downworlders, doesn’t make them right though.”

“I’m sure” she nodded with a genuine smile. Real smiles like the one on James’ face seemed rare with the uprise of Valentine and his Circle, it filled her with hope, and that’s exactly what she needs right now. She had lost too much already, and she tried not to live in such constant fear of losing so much more. “Yeah, I heard it was rare….” Clary nodded gently, a slight frown appearing. Even with somebody as kind as James seemed, Clary still felt a need to protect Simon. The last thing he needed was to be poked, prodded and provoked into providing answers into how this happened to him - answers he didn’t even have. “Shutting myself away for a day with some paintbrushes and a canvas honestly sounds like heaven right now” she smiled, excitement clear in her eyes. “Simon is the one that you want to talk to if you’re looking for embarassing drunk Clary stories - my lips are sealed”

“Unheard of..” James added before shrugging slightly, “But hey, at least he get’s to do what most vampires would love which is walk in the sun, he’s lucky and he should own his gift.” James would not be as philosophical or cheesy as this normally, but the drink was having effects on him that he would normally hold back on a normal, sober day. “Then we’ll make it happen, we can totally be art buddies.” He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “Most people in the Institute take to the training mat when they’re stressed or emotional, I take to the canvas and honestly it’s nice to have someone now who understands that.” James nudged the other, “I’ll be sure to enquire with him then, I’ll still buy you a drink though and you can tell me more about yourself. I prefer hearing things from a source then through gossip.”

“You also fight with a sword? Fascinating. Kids these days are always gravitating to the coolest shaped thing and swords are a dying art. We’ll have to duel some time.” He smiled, genuine. “What idiot takes Yin Fen when they barely understand the world as they see it? That’s just a recipe for death.” Thorin just rolled his eyes. “Sponges? All right. I can accept sponges as a fear. Nasty things sponges. The grow…shiver. Mold.”

“Yeah, it was kind of the family weapon, my grandfather and my father all fought with the same sword. And as the last Ashcroft, I guess it’s mine now.” He told the other as one hand brushed over the hilt of the weapon, thumb tracing the family crest that lay there. “But a sword is practical, some of these tiny throwing things people use these days seem like it’s fifty percent skill and fifty percent luck. But I’ll duel with you, see if you’re as smart when you’re on your ass then as your are standing.” He teased, knowing that it wouldn’t be an easy win with the other, the reputation of Thorin was bound to proceed him and honestly he was excited to see him in action. “They think it’s just some new up and coming drug and think nothing of it because they’re mundane and no nothing of the shadow world, only get’s messy when that mundane ends up having the sight.” Which Thomas had, though he hadn’t seen the other male since he had locked up in the Institute. “Great, because I was going to start running out of things to name.” James chuckled, shaking his head in a fond fashion at the other, “Has anyone told you that you’re a huge dork?”

Beau let out a heavy sigh and held back a groan. He’d half convinced himself maybe tonight would be a little fun. But he wouldn’t push.There was always a willing participant in the crowd if he really wanted it. “Leaving me all hot and bothered. How rude.” He smirked and looked away from James to scan the room. “Hopefully you wouldn’t have gotten attached. I’m a one and done sort of man you see.”

James couldn’t stop the look of satisfaction on his face when he heard the heavy sigh coming from the others mouth, because he had succeeded in this little game that they had been playing. “Hey, you’re the one who started it. But hearing that you’re hot and bothered, well I see that as a win for me.” James smirked, ordering the other a drink to make up for teasing him. “Trust me when I say that I wouldn’t have, now let me be your wing-man since you’re not getting me into bed.”

Elliott laughed a little at that. “I actually think that’s more mean than it is doing him a favor James.” He pointed out, a smile on his lips. “And I can’t remember the last time you charmed me. Normally you whine until you get sex which isn’t the same thing really.”

“And yet it’s not going to get me to stop, he knew this when he became my parabatai. He knew what I was like and has known for a long time now, he’s just going to have to get used to it and it’s not like he’s there with us- it’s just a small feeling of being... content, I guess.” A rush of emotion when they had finished, that would be what the other could feel, it’s not that they could feel all their emotions all the time, just when they were strong and even then it was somewhat fleeting. “I’m pretty sure I charmed you into being my boyfriend and I do not whine, I’m very nice to you. I mean, I did run across town from a battle to make sure you were safe, number one boyfriend over here or what.”

Elliott accepted the kiss without complaint, smiling at the others words. “I’ll think about it. Poor Cameron though… He always gets the brunt end of your grumpiness.” Not that the other seemed to ever be bothered about it. Cameron always seemed quite calm and good natured when James got like that. “Is this you charming me? I think it needs a little work babe.” Though he’d spend time with James if that was what he wanted.

“He’s fine, he deals with it really well and hey I give him things he needs. Aka, when we have sex he can kind of - sense it and he’s not getting any, so I feel like we’re doing him a favour.” James shook his head when the other asked if this was him charming him, because it wasn’t. “You should know by now that this isn’t me charming you, if I was charming you- you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off me.”