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Alastair stands at the starting mark next to Thomas, eavesdropping on Will and Tessa who stand a short distance away.
“Did you have to make it a race? You know how these children get over competition,” Tessa says, eyeing the gathering of young Shadowhunters with obvious concern. It isn’t just Alastair and Thomas - James, Lucy, Cordelia, Matthew, and even Christopher are stretching and preparing for the timed trial they’re about to face to test their speed, strength, and endurance.
“A little competition is healthy, Tess. They’ll be fine. Won’t you, Alastair?” Will replies, obviously catching him in the act of listening in.
Alastair smirks. “I’ll be fine,” he confirms. “You may have to console a weeping Matthew after I beat him, however.”
Matthew huffs at the comment.
“You’re just afraid that after I properly annihilate your time, Thomas will realize I’m a clearly superior specimen and leave you for me,” Matthew retorts.
Alastair rolls his eyes. Thomas doesn’t react at all, whether it’s because he doesn’t hear Matthew or because he knows that ignoring Matthew is the best way to annoy him, Alastair isn’t certain.
Ever since he and Thomas made their relationship official, the Merry Thieves - Matthew included - have been surprisingly gracious about the whole thing. Alastair knows it’s more for Thomas’ benefit than his own, but he still appreciates the way they don’t at least openly hate him any longer.
Still, some of those old feelings and rivalries still linger, and right now Alastair and Matthew are reviving those in full force in the form of this trial.
When it begins, it doesn’t take long for Alastair, James, and Thomas to take an easy lead. They’re allowed to activate runes to help, but it really comes down to training and natural ability to give that extra edge.
Finally, Alastair pulls ahead after losing Thomas during a wall scaling task, except when he’s clearing the last leg of the sprint to the finish line where Will and Tessa are both waiting to mark the results his foot catches an uneven bit of ground and his ankle twists, sending him hard to the ground.
Alastair lets out a string of curses he’s glad Cordelia isn’t around to hear, and tries to stand only to wince with the slightest bit of weight put on the injured ankle. Quick to pull out his stele and draw an iratze, Alastair begins to limp his way toward the end of the course knowing it won’t heal fast enough for him to beat the others.
Sure enough, Thomas comes up behind him a moment later with Matthew not far behind.
“What’s wrong?” Thomas asks, slowing his pace to walk beside Alastair.
“Twisted it. Don’t wait for me, at least one of us should beat Matthew. Raziel knows we’ll never hear the end of it if he comes in first,” Alastair says.
Thomas hesitates, biting down on his lower lip for a second before reaching down and grabbing Alastair by the waist.
“What are you--” Alastair begins to protest when Thomas lifts Alastair and slings him over his shoulders. “Put me down!”
“Do you want to beat Matthew or not?” Thomas demands.
Alastair does. He really, really does, but at the cost of his pride? It takes a lot for him to admit he needs help on a good day, and right now he was definitely not having a particularly good day.
Thomas waits for his answer and finally, Alastair stops fighting from where he hangs draped over his boyfriend’s shoulders. He can’t see Thomas’ face but he can practically hear his smirk when he adds, “That’s what I thought,” and keeps running, carrying Thomas with him.
“Traitor!” Matthew shouts, gaining on them fast, but not fast enough. Thomas carries Alastair over the finish line mere seconds before Matthew makes it there and Matthew immediately spins to face Will.
“That’s not fair!” Matthew yells. “There’s no way that counts. Thomas carried him! He didn’t even walk across the line”
Will looks from where Alastair is being gingerly set down on the ground by Thomas, then back at Matthew, clearly thinking over his potential ruling here.
“I’d argue that supporting each other should be encouraged,” Thomas points out.
“Encouraged, even,” Alastair adds. “Maybe even rewarded.”
“I can hardly argue against helping out your fellow Nephilim, now can I?” Will agrees. “I’ll allow it. Thomas and Alastair come in first and second, respectfully, and Matthew third. Congratulations, boys!”
“You’ll allow--” Matthew sputters. “Ridiculous. I demand a re-match.”
“Maybe next time my superior specimen of a boyfriend can carry me the entire way and still beat you,” Alastair says, no longer worried about how it might look that he was helped across the finish line.
Matthew walks away in a huff and Thomas laughs lightly before turning to face Alastair again.
“Sorry if I overstepped,” he says quietly.
“You didn’t. I’m glad you were there to help. Thanks for being there for me, even when I’m too stubborn to admit it,” Alastair says.
“So all of the time, then?” Thomas asks, trying (and failing) to keep a straight face through the at least partial joke. Instead of waiting for an answer he leans in and kissing the frown that’s beginning to form on Alastair’s lips until they curl back up into a soft smile, the kind that Thomas is infuriatingly good at coaxing out of him.
“I’ll work on it,” Alastair relents.
“Good. Now come on, let’s get something for that ankle until the iratzes kick in.”