Alec

@lightwoodarcher​  / alec lightwood.

 the creaking sound of a door being unexpectedly opened would have come as a shock to someone , that is , unless they had grown accustomed to it. curves of the warlocks lips quirked upward into a slight grin with a brief shake of the head. it was not until moments later that he decided to travel away from the comfort of a recliner ( paired with a nice cocktail ) and greet his house guest. “ and to what do I owe this pleasure ? ” questioning , coming to a sudden halt as brows perked as a twinge of familiarity rushed through him. odd , far too strange indeed. “ may I be rude for assuming you’ll require a drink ? ” already heading toward a couple of bottled already set out by fine dining glasses. “ it’s not as though I took classes in order to  impress only myself while making them. ” stating while motioning at everything displayed in front of him.

It had been his usual routine: walking to the loft - though Alec had gotten better at catching himself before actually entering it. This time, he had been too caught up in the tangle of his own thoughts - the couple of beers he already had at the diner not helping his lack of attention. 

Once inside, he froze in his step. Before he could just turn around and leave, he already heard Magnus’ voice and by the Angel, it hurt. He shouldn’t be here, Asmodeus would find out and then their deal would be over and it would’ve all been for nothing. Alec tried to make his body move, to just leave and not make this worse but he couldn’t help but feel surprised at the friendliness in Magnus’ voice. He didn’t know what he had expected but it almost felt like Magnus was treating him like a stranger.

Maybe it was his way of coping with the breakup. 

Erica flinched, only just stopping herself from taking a step back at the man’s outburst. She counted to three in her head. It was okay. It was going to be okay. Sometimes the bar and grill just got weird people in. She was just having another odd customer. Not a deranged stalker. 

She stayed quiet for a second too long before nodding “I’ll go get on that then.”  Awkwardly, she placed the menu she had been carrying under her arm on the table and sidestepped the still present unruffled hallucination at the foot of the table. 

“Thanks,” Alec replied, groaning inwardly because he was embarrassed by his little outburst - and the flinch it had caused in the girl.

Without being obvious, he watched her step around something invisible. It reminded him of back in the alley where she seemed to have reacted to something invisble, too. Alec wondered if, whatever it was, was using some kind of glamour that he couldn’t see through. Maybe he could ask... No. That was not an option right now. He could always just message Jace... though his parabatai had been absent and - Alec blinked, losing his train of thought.

         𝒋𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 , mimicking her old mentor & teacher , a smirk at the corners of her lips as she shuts her eyes for a moment . “ yes , i’m getting a sense … a strong one … “ a pause. “ that you’re a nerd . “

“–Did you want me to tell them to set up up a game?” Erica asked, noticing how he had been pretty much starring a hole in the empty pool table. Maybe that is why he had come here. She hoped that was why he had come here. “You have to order something first but it’s pretty much first come first serve during lunch hours.” she’d also have to deal with him less if he was playing pool with himself. 

Alec managed to hide the flinch that was building up in response. “No!” He responded, too fast and a bit louder than he intended. 

Alec was done. All he wanted had been peace and quiet and he had wanted it as he went for a walk. But apparently that was asking for too much as he had not anticipated to be talked to by this obnoxious woman who tried to insist that he looked like a model and that he should think about getting into this business. He had ignored her and kept on walking but she had not let herself be shaken off and tried to hand him her card as she, apparently, was from a talent agency. Alec huffed and kept stalking away from her.

Sphinx: How does your muse value loyalty?

[ask me numbers]

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal?

Alec has an equally fond and exasperated memory about the stew he made for his mom when she visited him at Magnus’ loft. He’s determined to now fix the recipe of the stew in a way that it actually tastes good while trying hard not to think too much about Magnus (ha, good one) while working on it. He is trying to fix the stew because at least that’s something he can try to fix and maybe it will help patch his heart back together.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

Alec does not mind, telling people what he thinks of them to their faces - though he does his fair share of bitching behind someone’s back, too (though he also wouldn’t have an issue saying whatever he says behind someone’s back right to their faces). He doesn’t have a favourite insult per se but he uses ‘idiot’ a lot.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

[ask me numbers]

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials?

[“You know, it’s like, you have this plan for your life, and you know what you need to do and what your responsibilities are. And you think, you know, if you follow the rules, everything’s gonna be fine. Then somebody comes along and… pushes you off that path.”]

Apron on and T-shirt sorted out Erica was assigned her section and went out to greet her first new table of the night. “Welcome to Mystic Grill, I’m Erica. I’ll be your serv–” Erica cut herself off as she actually caught sight of her patron. You had got to be kidding her. 

She was suddenly aware of the wolf smugly sitting on its haunches next to her. She ignored it, frowning. 

He better not have followed her. That was ridiculous, why would he of followed her? It was just another asshole customer, that wasn’t anything new. No need to get paranoid.   “–Your server this evening.” she finished, finally. 

Alec hadn’t quite realized that it had been the girl stepping to the table as his eyes seemed to be glued to the pool table as he tried to force himself to think about anything but the memories. So when she spoke up, he flinched slightly before looking at her. Erica. He finally had a name but - shit - her working here made sense, now that he thought about it but her ending up his server? Well that was going to seem weird to her. 

Alec cleared his throat, hoping that his eyes didn’t show his surprise too much. 

Erica quietly thanked the pharmacist as she paid for her prescriptions and stuffed the paper bag with the three bottles into her purse. She would be happy when they figured out the right doses and switched her to a 90-day prescription. 

The wolf had decided to show up again, next to the tampon aisle of all places. What was her brain trying to do, tell her she needed to get ready for her period? She didn’t have time to pick up another thing and frankly, she had enough at home. Probably. It seemed like something was going on with a middle-aged lady anyway. Erica did not have the energy to deal with that.

Her watch beeped again and Erica bit out a curse. Hightailing it out of the store. “He’s gonna freaking kill me.” she gripped, breaking into a jog as she got outside. At least the Grill was close. At least whatever the hell had got memory traumatized out of her for seven years had gotten her into shape. 

She picked up her speed and cut into the alley behind the restaurant and slipped into the back door. Made it. Barely, but she made it.   

Once the girl had finished getting whatever she needed, she rushed out of the store and Alec didn’t hesitate to follow her. Keeping close, he wondered where she needed to go so quickly.

Maybe he should call for backup after all? No. There was no time for that.

Alec still kept his distance and turned into the alley as all he saw was a door closing. Glancing around, he realized that he was at the Mystic Grill building. Interesting. Maybe he could just step inside and see if there was anything going on. 

Walking around the corner to get to the main entrance, he opened the door and stepped in. He scanned the restaurant with his eyes, ignoring the sting he felt in his heart as his gaze graced the pool table. So much for trying not to think about him. 

At some point, the spectral wolf had appeared at her waist. Erica didn’t have to look down to know it was there; its phantom heat radiating into her side. The alley was empty, no one to whisper about her or judge her actions. A smile tugged at chapped lips as she freed her hand from her hoody, barely moving her hand to rest on the wolf’s head. 

The light slowly returned to the alley as they walked on, and even the anchoring presence of her hallucinatory friend couldn’t stop the tension from creeping back up her spine. Slowly Erica folded back in on herself, her fingers tightened in the wolf’s fur, shoulders hunching inward again.

The drugstore insight the wolf stopped. At the edge of the alley, Erica frowned, looking back down at it for the first time. Normally, when she had these moments the illusion had no issue following her into the public, fading in at out of existence as her damaged brain pleased. 

It didn’t normally stop. 

Erica’s brow wrinkled. “What…?” she muttered, more to herself than the creature. It’s intelligent gold eyes looked up at her, entrancing. The wolf turned its gaze behind them. Erica followed looking into the empty alleyway.  “..There’s nothing?” She squinted into the dark unsure what the wolf was seeing. 

Her watch beeped, alerting her to the time.  

Erica jumped slightly. She was going to be late. Quickly she turned back around and hurrying into the store. Of course, there was nothing. As fantastical as the wolf was, it was just that: a fantasy. A hallucination. She kept her head down as she rushed through the store up to the pharmacy, not meeting the pharmacists’ eyes as she muttered out her name sorted out her pick up. 

Alec squinted his eyes a little as the girl - he really needed to find out her name - seemed to curl her hand into something that wasn’t there. Strange. He needed to remember this and try to look up later if there was something known to be invisible to even a Shadowhunter’s eyes. There was this warlock he could ask.

By the angel, why couldn’t he stop thinking about him? - He knew but he wasn’t going to deal with this now. There were plenty of other warlocks he could contact. He didn’t have to bother this one warlock whose had he had broken - just like his own at the same time - and make it even worse for them. Every single viber in his being called for him to secretly check on the warlock but he fought against it with all his might - after all, he knew he was going to be weak once he saw him again and what if he found out about the deal and Asmodeus took his magic away again? He just couldn’t risk it. He’d be able to do without him.

Again lost in thought he almost missed the girl turning around and he barely escaped out of her sight. Get a grip, this is getting ridiculous. Maybe he had been right. Emotions did cloud judgement. While keeping an eye on her, Alec took a deep breath to center himself. He just had to tap into his old self. The self before him. He needed to be professional.

The beeping of the girl’s watch startled him - just like it startled her as well. She seemed to hurry and so Alec jumped back down and easily followed her. He noticed her entering a pharmacy - so he snuck after her, making sure to stay in an aisle where she wouldn’t notice him and to not seem conspicious, he pretended to check out the goods before him without actually looking at them.

“Oh, that’s nice of you to be picking this up! Is it for your girlfriend?” A lady next to him asked him - Alec groaned. Why did people seem to believe he was approachable?

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He replied curtly, not really realizing why that would be important as he kept an eye on the girl. As the lady seemed affronted by his attitude and stalked away, Alec decided to check out where he decided to hide.

“Well, bye… then,” Erica mumbled, giving the guy a wide birth as she walked past him. She just needed to get back better control of her mouth, if she had just not said anything she could have avoided the entire encounter. 

It wasn’t far to the pharmacy and Erica still had time before her shift at the Grill started. She took advantage of the time.  She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoody, biting at her lip as she made it onto the main street, careful to avoid contact with anyone else her last encounter still leaving a bad taste in her mouth. 

A flash of gold and fur had her pausing at the opening of the alley. She tilted her head. She was pretty sure she knew her way around. She changed course. Her spine straightened as she walked, shoulders relaxing as she wound her way through the back streets of the Noth Borough. The uncrowded, shadowed streets let her breathe, safer somehow despite there less than stellar reputation. 

Alec let the girl walk a few steps before getting out his stele and activating his stealth rune - he wasn’t going to have her think he was going to stalk her. Falling back a little, he casually strolled behind her, ensuring that he was blending in with the people around him and that he could easily disappear out of her sight if she turned around. 

He paused in his step as the blonde girl stopped and turned to walk into a dark alley. Interesting. Dark alleys were hardly ever a good sign - and neither had been the way she had looked down that alley as if she had seen something. Waiting just a short moment, he turned into the alley as well, ensuring that she wasn’t in any real danger -  or even was a danger to someone herself, he still wasn’t sure what the deal with her was - but also made sure that there was enough of a distance between them that hopefully she wouldn’t feel followed. And if she did turn around, he’d just jump on one of the fire escapes that were scattered around the houses. 

He had to surpress the urge to take his phone and message Mag- his ex. He would’ve handled the whole situation with  more grace from the beginning. He would’ve made the girl feel at ease - maybe even flirted a little. No. Alec was not going to think about him flirting with others - but he could if he wanted after all and there was nothing he could do about it. 

The thought of messaging his sister or parabatai had also crossed his mind but somehow it didn’t really feel like an option to him - the thought swimming away before he could properly phrase it out in his mind.

Erica hunched in closer to her core, recoiling at his curt dismissal. She got it. She wasn’t attractive. He was out of her league. She hadn’t even been trying to hit on him. She had just been minding her own damn business and become the punching bag for this guy’s misplaced aggression. Add that to another point of evidence that the world hadn’t changed much. 

She really wasn’t following whatever else the ass was saying, a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue. And then, nothing. Erica tried to hold on to that anger but the emotion and her words were slipping away. Her head hurt and all the energy she had managed to gather up this afternoon was suddenly gone. She just wanted to sleep. She grit her teeth, face working furiously to give tall dark and handsome – he was missing a leather jacket– something resembling a smile. “–Excuse me, but I really do have to be going.” She had a prescription to refill. 

Alec noticed that the girl seemed to sink into herself further - almost like she was trying to disappear into herself. Something was still off about her and it unsettled him - he still wasn’t sure if she was mundane or a Downworlder. Maybe she was a recently turned Downworlder? It would explain why she seemed so skittish.