B is for Bad

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to explain. When she mentioned the spot of the mark, he decided he would simply believe her without seeing it. That was not a question he wanted to ask, he was fine without checking Spencer’s lower back. “It might be it. Maybe you’ll grow a full tail when you take control of your powers.” Alec said it casually. “I should get someone more experienced to talk to you.”

“A full tail?!” To say that Spencer was looking concerned would have been the understatement of the year. Hopefully someone more experienced would be able to assure her that this didn’t usually happen or she might just have to settle for being controlled by her powers for the rest of her life. “If there’s someone you know who could be of any help to me, I’d appreciate it greatly. And I’d forever be in your debt. I doubt I would have ever figured anything out in this matter on my own,” she admitted, as much as she normally hated to be unable to achieve something on her own.

“I like the bangs, keep them.”

“Aw, thank you! Here’s a bit of an awkward question, though, perhaps: in theory, would you think it’s weird to get the same hairstyle as the girl you like?”

“Oh. Uhh, thank you. I mean, I have a long forehead, so.”

“Oh please, it’s just the truth. It might be long but I’m sure it’s an adorable forehead. I mean, everything about you is totally adorable, so.”

“I love you, too–I mean, I love bangs too…”

“You wha-- oh bangs. Yeah, aren’t bangs just great? Would you say they’re still a lovable look on me, though or do I ruin them?”

Considering the situation, he thought that Spencer was holding up quite well. Of course she would need a moment to understand it, but she seemed to be very smart and when she stopped believing that they were both crazy she could calm down a bit. Alec crossed his arms and regarded her for a moment. It was weird that he couldn’t guess what she was simply from observation. “I’ve seen unusual skin tone, wings, even something as discreet as a different eye color. Something marking that your blood isn’t completely human. Do you happen to have an extra toe?”

“Not an extra toe, no.” But there was something odd about her that was luckily for her easy to cover up. One could probably consider that placement discreet. “But there’s something odd I guess… You can’t really tell unless I strip down completely but my tailbone kind of sticks out a bit. Kind of like the hint of a rabbit’s tail maybe. Ever since birth too. My parents got that checked out when I was a kid and wanted me to get it surgically removed but I refused since it never really bothered me. If anything, my kindergarten self thought it was cool,” Spencer rolled her eyes. It still didn’t bother her much. Perhaps she was a bit self conscious when it came to wearing bikinis at times but if she was careful, they covered it up just enough. “Would that qualify as a mark?”

“I mean, you do you. I think you could pull it off though, yeah.”

“Really? That’s so sweet of you to say. I’m sure it would never look as good on me as it does on you, though. That’s just impossible.”

Spencer’s reply is to be expected. The tall brunette’s the more rational of the two of them, and Spencer was always able to  come up with logical explanations and quick to brush aside silly nonsensical coincidences. Most of them the girl could bring Aria back from space or wherever the hell her brain is roaming around in. But, there’s a lingering nagging in the very pit of her stomach and it’s like its itching at her insides, like some  stray cat begging to get out. Aria brings her bottom lip into her mouth, her eyes wandering down to the hang nail on her thumb. “You could get a professional maybe? Someone who studies dreams —” Aria’s cut off as she hears another crash coming from downstairs, her whole body jumping from the startle. “Okay, you can’t tell me that was a  small cat.”

“Perhaps that would be my safest bet, yeah--” Spencer had  never been capable of taking dream interpretation seriously. Everything of the kind that didn’t employ proper scientific methods was to be considered suspicious by her for which she presumed her Hastings genes to be to blame. Yet she has come to the point where she considers it a serious option instead of snickering at Aria’s suggestion. Not to mention this wasn’t the time for snickering because what ever noice the smaller brunette heard, she has heard it as well -- and no, this couldn’t have been just an innocent little alley cat. “If that’s still a cat, it sounds more like a cougar.” Motioning her friend to be quiet, she listens intently, brows knit in concentration.  “Aria, don’t freak out but I think that’s no longer coming from outside,” she hushed, too alarmed to employ her regular speaking voice.

“No that’s not what I meant but you can go with that.”

“Okay... maybe I’ll keep it in mind. What did you mean then?”

“Of course you don’t.” Alec mumbled under his breath. Poor girl didn’t know anything about the different creatures lurking around the the world. Mundanes always thought they knew everything, that their science and research had taken them to the highest level of understanding the universe, and yet they didn’t know the basic things about the war against demons. “You might not be a mundane, you were simply led to believe you’re like them, but there’s something about you.” He crossed his arms when Spencer started arguing with him, only to be proved wrong by the younger boy who passed by and thought she was talking to herself. Alec smirked, then shrugged when she turned back to him. “See, the rune works. All of them work.” He made a motion to show the lines on his arm, some clear and dark while others were faded. Looking around to make sure there was no one there, he undid the glamor rune with a flick of his stele. “Fey, faeries, seelie… your people has a lot of lore on them. They have both angelic and demonic blood, some show special abilities.” He paused. “But usually these creatures have something that prove they’re not human. Warlocks have their marks as well.”

Eyes widened as they scanned across Alec’s skin, still evidence of how shocking the girl thought it to be that those marks actually had an effect that was clearly out of this world. Her brows appeared to be constantly narrowed by now, unable to keep lowering themselves with every word he said although she would have loved for them to. All of this sounded so unbelievable, so excruciatingly ridiculous that she was almost tempted to label it the truth. At least it was a better explanation than insanity -- and if she told anyone that she saw an invisible guy, she would be called just that. Or would the others be insane for not seeing him...? Either way, she was open for whatever this madness was now. “I see,” she nodded, pursing her lips. Faeries sounded like the only familiar term to her for now. But she couldn’t possibly be a faerie. They only existed in the wildest tales... right? “Okay and what could such a mark be?” Not that she could think of having anything odd about her. Unless perhaps...

“I was just saying what I saw. But hey! Don’t let it get you down. You could use it as an advantage.”

“As an advantage? To get their lunch money or something? Because I’m so not doing that even though I know we could use the extra cookies on Wednesdays.”

“I don’t think there are mundane psychics, it’s something in your blood. Maybe you’re half-fey or whatever.” He shrugged. There were so many different species that it was hard to guess what special blood ran in her veins. As Spencer could still see him with the rune, Alec opened up a smile, excited. It took him a moment to realize that she was looking at him as if he had gone crazy. Mundanes were painfully frustrating sometimes. “No, it’s supposed to make me invisible to mundanes.” He said with a heavy sigh. “C’mon, Spencer, you know we’re not crazy. Although that’s what you’ll look like talking to a person others can’t see. Ask anyone.”

“Half-... okay, I hate to admit it but I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about.” If it was possible, Spencer’s brows knit even more. Crazy talk, probably. She shouldn’t even be bothering. “The term mundane is a bit outdated, don’t you think?” She retorted, rolling her eyes in response to Alec’s sigh. Nope, she certainly wasn’t buying any of this. But she liked Alec and thus it had to be best to try and ease him into the fact that halfway-rational thinking people couldn’t help but label him insane. However, he didn’t seem to be very eager to be convinced. Ask anyone? If they could see him? Okay, this was taking it too far. “I’m not going to ask people who clearly can see you unless they’re blind, that’s just--” Feeling a familiar sort of gaze on her made her stop in the middle of her speech. It was the judgemental sort, the kind that made you feel exposed and vulnerable in front of the public eye, like that one time she had taken the wrong notes to presentation and since then learnt to always know all of her speeches by heart. Whirling around, she glared at the freshman she recognised from her school’s hallways who was slowly walking past them, staring at her as if she was the insane one of the two. “What? Come on, he’s right there. How much is he paying you to pretend you’re not seeing him?” The only response she received was an even more weirded out expression followed by a gesture that clearly implied she was a madwoman -- not to mention the other passers-by who were now looking at her in a very funny way after her little outburst. “Okay, that was... either very well rehearsed or the strangest thing that has ever happened to me,” the brunette muttered, turning back to the allegedly invisible man. “So uh... what was that? Half-fey or something?”

“With the faces you make? It’s scary. I’ve seen freshmen turn around when they see you in a competition.”

“What faces? That’s just my face. My professional discussion faces... right? These freshmen just need to start facing reality. This isn’t middle school anymore, this is real life and real life is all about competition.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. History? Gross. Depends how good you are, cause I mean…” Harlow raised an eyebrow with a cheeky shrug, “If you’re going for A* I say tank top and show cleavage, but then I’m homeschooled so what do I know!”

“Yeah, I guess that could be a saving grace in some cases,” but it didn’t in the least sound like a tactic Spencer would ever pursue, “although I’ve personally always gone for more of a conservative look to get my A+’s. But who knows, maybe cleavage could get me some extra credits.” Presumably not. Maybe a weird look from her history teacher, though who’d surely consider this very unlike her.

Alec couldn’t imagine what it felt like to find out that he was part of a completely different world. He was born in a traditional Shadowhunter family, taught to have their pride and trained to continue the mission of saving the world. His duties were very clear and he tried to live up to the angelic blood in his veins. He wanted to offer this girl some comfort, but he couldn’t guess what she was. Maybe part something. “No, your visions. Or your sight, whatever.” That’s when he had an idea. He took his stele out of his pocket and quickly drew a glamour rune on his arm, making a face as it burned the skin. “Can you still see me?”

“Granted, I could be the world’s worst psychic maybe? That’s bound to look great on my CV later on.” Falling quiet once Alec retrieved a strange looking object from his pocket, Spencer observed his doing intently, eyebrows soon knitting in confusion, a frown tensely tugging on the corners of her mouth. “Uh... yeah? Why should I not be able to still see you?” Maybe he just wasn’t judging her because he believed to be capable of turning invisible. She certainly wouldn’t have believed him to be the type. He managed to hide the crazy pretty well. “Was that supposed to make you dissolve or something?” She motioned to his arm, brows still knit.