She stood shoulder to shoulder with Izzy, leaning lightly against the walls of the training room and watched the boys spar. Each one was using every muscle, every technique -nothing held back. As they punched and kicked out all their frustration. Alec's eyes blasting cobalt fire, his chest heaving, his dark hair slick with sweat and a lopsided grimace playing across his face, as he stared down at a pinned Jace. Jace's golden eyes wide and shimmering stared back at Alec, his chest equally heaving under Alec's forearm.
Finally Jace raises his arms in surrender and Alec jumps off him, bending and grasping his parabati's elbow, he helps him back up.
Clary has been watching them for a while, they are equally matched and beautiful to watch. Jace has more power, but Alec's further reach combats this. Whatever the beauty of the scene and the guilty pleasure of being able to watch her brother's muscles stretch and tense, none of it was doing her any good. It had started out as a training session for all 4 of them, but quickly developed into a one on one between the two beautiful boys. Both needing to burn pent up energies- Alec and Magnus were barely talking and Jace and Clary were...well were just trying to avoid each other. Trying to avoid gazing at each other, trying to avoid touching each other, trying to avoid feeling anything at all.
Clary was now beyond frustrated. She was full of boiling need, full of tense attractive and watching Jace being hot, sweaty and powerful was only making it worse.
"Izzy?" Clary quietly attracts her friend's attention.
Izzy looks over at Clary, one eyebrow raised and a small smile on her lips- It was Izzy's way of saying I'm all ears, but you better make it good as I'm easily bored.
"However much I'm enjoying watching Jace get his ass handed to him. This is doing me no good."
Izzy smirked, her mind immediately working on the idea that Clary was getting some pleasure from watching the boys spar. "I think she protests too much" Izzy tells her with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
Clary feels the heat in her neck and quickly bites on her cheek to stop the blush rising any further.
"That's...that's not what I meant!" She stutters. "Seriously Izzy, we been here for ages, I've not had any training or sparring and I need to let this out." She avoids revealing just exactly what this meant- hopefully Izzy would draw her own conclusions.
"How about going dancing?" She asks "I'll even let you dress me." - that should sweeten the deal. Izzy positively bounces on the balls of her feet, grabs Clary's hand and drags her away from the training room.
Jace hears the door of the training room shutting and swiftly kicks out Alec's legs from beneath him and collapses panting on the floor beside him. He's got no reason to hold it in now she's left. The tears that have been shimmering along the edge of his lower lid all through training start to trickle across his cheek. His laboured breathing begins to hitch causing Alec's head to whip round.
"Jace? Jace are you okay?" He asks the emotional boy beside him.
Jace has always run hot, his emotions close to the surface, but usually he keeps himself under tight control. Alec could count on one hand the number of times that he's seen Jace like this.
Jace reluctantly looks at Alec, "No, no I'm not."
He wipes his face with his arm, transferring the moisture onto the hairs of his arm and lets it drop to covering his eyes. He's a hot mess, but can't find the energy to care.
"I don't know how to keep going from here, " he tells Alec. "I can feel when she's close. I know when it's her that's walked into a room, even with my back to the door. I have to constantly dig my nails into my palms to stop myself from touching her, " he blindly lifts his right hand up and shows his palm to Alec, who can clearly see the half moon outlines of nails running across the palm of Jace's hand. "and every time... Every single time she's hurt or afraid I just want to hold her and make it better."
He looks at Alec again, this time with clearer, pleading eyes, "How do you go from being in love with your sister to just loving your sister?"
Alec looks at him, feeling the hopelessness seeping across their bond. He tries to imagine if it where him and Magnus. It makes his heart break. He needs to go and talk to him, their fight seems very petty compared to what Jace is going through. Gathering up Jace and giving him a tight squeeze, so he knows he not alone, Alec tries to find words of comfort. "I don't know if anything will help, other than time. You just need to give it time...and maybe try to avoid her?"
"What do think I've been doing the last week?" Jace laughs bitterly as he pulls away from Alec's embrace.
"And seriously I don't think I've ever been so miserable. I can't eat, I barely sleep and every time I see her she looks like someone just killed her pet vampire...again!"