Chapter Text
“Why can’t I feel you?”
Jace jumped at having a tall shadow approach him with that sentence, but his eyes were soft, seemingly oblivious, as he looked up at Alec and replied, “What? Why? I thought your rune had come back?”
Alec sighed, touching his side lightly. All those questions had plagued him the entire morning, too, and that was exactly why he’d just had to bring himself to confront Jace. “Yes, I can feel that you’re there, but…it’s not the same. Jace, something happened, whether you want to admit it or not. If you really have no idea what it could be, then we better get on doing some research or something straight away. But if you do…please, just tell me. Whatever it is, I’m your parabatai, we can sort it out together.”
Jace paused for a long while, during which Alec couldn’t help but hope that they were truly together against anything that might come between them and their bond. That was the whole point, right? Entreat me not to leave thee…
But Jace, in the end, only clapped Alec’s shoulder with a sonorous sound. “I think you’re worrying for no reason, Alec. It might just be that nothing’s happening, that’s why you don’t feel anything! The bond does allow us to have some privacy, doesn’t it? C’mon, relax, the war is over. I’m fine, you see?”
Jace smiled, pointing at himself and his apparent solidness. Alec only felt disappointed; he couldn’t help but think that Jace was lying.
If Jace didn’t want to talk to him, though, then Alec could only retreat. He wouldn’t want to overstay where he wasn’t needed.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m worrying too much, as usual,” Alec relented, trying to ignore his heavy heart that told him exactly the opposite. He wasn’t worrying enough.
“Okay, then. I’ll go, I guess,” Jace said.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, on a date with Clary. She has this notion that we should have a proper one, at some point.” Jace shrugged, as if to say women, right?
Alec nodded, planting a smile on his own face, “Yes, she’s right, you should do that. Have fun.”
Alec waved at Jace then, before turning around to get back to his office. There was not much lightness in his steps.
He didn’t look back, or in that case he would’ve noticed Jace’s eyes pointed fixedly, miserably, on his back.