Clary's POV:
My alarm clock went off 7:30, ripping me out of the blissful sleep that I so desperately needed. I rolled over in my bed and opened my eyes to the blinding sunlight; my windows faced towards the east, giving me a perfect view of the rising sun- and also waking me up earlier. I squinted my eyes against the pain and rubbed the sleep away before sitting up. As I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, I noticed that I was still in my clothes from the day before, and I don't recall falling asleep last night.
With a shrug, I got up and went to the dark dresser to pull out some fresh clothes. I pulled on a pair of old, flannel sweat pants along with a warm hoodie- the room got very cold sometime during the night. After brushing my teeth and a quick once over in the mirror, I piled my hair into a messy bun and deemed myself decent for breakfast. I slipped on my slippers and threw the door open to find a cat sitting right outside the door, glaring at me like I was the epitome of evil. He obviously hasn't forgotten our little encounter yesterday, where my foot just so happened to make contact with his tail. Oops, I smiled and greeted him.
"Church," I say in a curt voice. Now look at me, I'm talking to animals as if they can hear me. He gave a lazy meow and turned, most likely expecting me to follow him; I did. He headed to the heavily trodden stairs, but I quickly scooped him up and darted into the open elevator with him. The second the doors closed, I dropped him to the ground and he hissed again and swatted at me. I glared at him and stomped my foot in his direction, trying to spook him, but he just glared right back. I pressed what I thought to be the correct floor, and the elevator started to move. With the way it groaned and rattled, it must have been a hundred years old. Should I be afraid? Maybe there's a reason nobody uses the elevator but to get from the ground floor to the Institute proper, I think with worry; my fears are hushed when the elevator stopped. I stepped out, after the cat darted out and left me alone, and found my way to the kitchen easily. From the hallways, I heard dishes clinging and silverware chiming. I stepped into the dinning room to find every one fully dressed and ready for the day. The second I walked in, all eyes found me, taking in my sleep-looking self. I felt the blood rush immediately to my face, and lowered my head in embarrassment.
"Oh God," I muttered under my breath. I was the only one in pajamas. "I'll be right back, I'll go change," I said and turned to leave when I felt a large calloused hand grasp my arm. I craned my neck back to look at Jace standing there in all his golden glory.
"You're already here, just sit. You can change later," he said kindly and brought me over to a seat next to him. I looked up and met eyes with Alec who was directly across from me, watching me as if one wrong was made, he would kill me. I swallowed hard, and looked down at my plate. Bacon, pancakes, and hash browns. I poked the bacon with my fork and looked up.
"Anyone want my bacon?" I asked timidly. To my surprise, Alec nodded and pushed his plate over. I shrugged speared the two strips, and plopped them on his plate; he devoured the two in seconds. He looked to be happier now, but still annoyed that Jace was sitting next to me. I didn't really get it. I didn't even like Jace in the way that Alec obviously does. Isabelle, who is seated on my other side, leaned in and whispered in my ear.
"If Jace does anything to piss you off, threaten him with ducks," I gave her an odd look to which she shrugged off with a simple 'trust me'. Whatever. I cut up my pancakes, doused them in syrup, and plopped a fork-full in my mouth. Everybody chatted around the table, but I kept to myself and ate in silence.
After we were done eating, we all put our dishes in the sink and everyone headed their separate ways. Jace and I, though, headed back to our rooms so that I could clean up and change. I made my bed quickly and changed into some loose-fitting, stretchy yoga pants and a white tank top- with the right under garments, of course. When I was done, I put on my sneakers and went into the bathroom for one last glance over. I brushed my hair out and put it into a better secured bun. Finally, I went to open my bedroom door, only to find Jace with his hand raised in a fist as if he where about knock. His eyes quickly scanned over my body, making me uncomfortable.
"Well?" I asked in annoyance, and covered my chest by crossing my arms. That seemed to snap him out of his ogling.
He seem surprised at my quick tone, but he quickly recovered with a smirk. It seems to be a sort of defense mechanism for him. "'Bout time," he says hotly and walks down the hall, not pausing to see if I wad following. We walked down one set of stairs, down a couple more halls, and through a large arched set of wooden doors, into a large room that looked like a gymnasium, complete with spring boards, balance beams, uneven bars, a ropes that go to the ceiling, and mats scattered everywhere. On the far wall was a door that had a sign on it that said "DANGER. WEAPONS." Jace caught me looking at it in puzzlement and explained.
"That's the weapons room," he said.
"Yeah, I figured," I replied, when what I really wanted to say was no shit, Sherlock. I kept that to myself while he led me over to one of the safety mats in the center of the room. He went into the weapons room, and came back with two wooden swords and a pair of finger-less gloves. He tossed the gloves to me and set the swords down nearby. All the while, he stood a couple feet away from me with his arms crossed, biceps bulging, watching me like a mama bear watches its cubs.
I looked up at him questioningly when I was done and he stepped forward. "Hit me," he said simply and held his arms out for a second before letting them fall back to his sides with a smack.
"What?" I ask, not knowing what exactly to do. He raises a single eyebrow- something I now envy him for- and nods without a word. I sigh and take a step closer, looking him square in the chest, raising my hand and dropping it in embarrassment. He waits patiently. Finally, I just swing my arm towards his torso, but he easily grabs my clenched fist.
"Rule number one," he says in amusement, "Never hold your thumb inside of your fist. You'll break it like a twig." I blush slightly, I should have known that. I probably did, but never thought of it. "Rule number two: Don't go for the chest. That's just stup-," he starts and corrects himself, probably to spare my feelings. "Just don't; you want to aim for the face. Jaw, nose, eyes, side of the head. Unless you hit below the belt, I'm sure you know how to manage that."
"Got it," I mumble and step back. He nods and tells me to go again, whilst watching me very intently. This time, I hold my hand in the correct position and swing high, for his jaw; that's probably the only thing I can reach, he's over a foot taller than me. Again, he catches my hand in his and nods with a calculating smile.
"Not bad. Rule number three: your stance," he says and walks around me; I instinctively turn with him. He chuckles and turns me around. He grabs my shoulders and holds me up straight, then he nudges his foot against one of mine, indicating for me to widen my stance. I do so. "Not so much," he says. "Just shoulder-width." Once he is satisfied with my stance, he comes back around to the front and takes in my position; I know he's being purely instructional, but I can't keep the blush from creeping up. "Now, put your weight behind your punch. And always keep your hands up, so you can block your face," the second he is done talking, I throw everything I've got towards his face, and my fist connects with his jaw with a satisfying thump.
Pain shoots up my hand and I suck in a sharp breath and turn around in shock, cradling my hand. I silently curse; I didn't mean to really punch him, but I'm sure it hurt me more than him. He chuckles and walks around to face me. I hang my head and keep my hand cradled to my chest, holding in the curses that I want to shout out.
"Damn, Clary. I didn't know you had it in you!" Jace says enthusiastically, and I can't help the smile that comes up at the praise. When he sees me clutching my hand, he steps closer and gently takes it in his for closer inspection. "Are you okay?"
"I think your jaw just sprained my hand," I hiss out and close my eyes against the tears. I will not cry in front of him.
"Well, now is as good as ever," he mutters and pulls out a long, stick-like objects made of some sort of gleaming metal. He smiles softly at my quizzical look. "This is a stele," he say and lets me hold it to feel the weight. I think that it resembles a thick wand from Harry Potter. He holds out his arms to show me his tattoo-like Marks. I remember my mom saying something about them being used to enhance certain things, like speed or intelligence. "This will sting a little, but you'll be fine."
The stele touches the inside of my wrist lightly, but then he presses more and I feel the stinging burn of my skin being marked. I burns pretty badly, but it's not completely unbearable. I watch as the black line swirls and tapers into a beautiful design, and I can feel the pain ebbing away. I test out my hand by clenching and unclenching it. It feels great. Wow.
"Pretty neat, huh?" he says softly as to not disturb my pondering. Did I say that out loud? I nod and smile up at him, and out eyes lock; big mistake. Looking into his eyes is like looking into the sun. It almost hurts, but at the same time, it's completely mesmerizing and breathtaking. I have to mentally kick myself to tear my gaze away, and I do, but with great difficulty.
"Um, what next?" I ask timidly, and he smiles and goes to pick up the discarded wood swords. He hands one to me, and I look at it skeptically. I slowly extended my arm and take the heavy sword into my hand. The unfamiliar weight makes it almost topple out of my hands, but I catch it and find some sort of an awkward balance. Jace rolls his eyes and comes from behind me to assist me in how to hold the weapon, and how to hold myself. Him being so close made my face go red and he was much closer that before. My face went red, as per usual, and I wanted to slap myself for it. You don't even know him! I screamed at myself silently. I shouldn't be reacting like this to someone I don't know.
"Are you ready?" he asked. He was now in front of me with his own practice sword in hand.
"No," I say, but I was caught off guard when a sword came crashing to me. I screamed and ducked, throwing my bade up at his, like they do in the movies. It clanged with his and he grinned. He knocked it out of the way with the flick of his wrist, and my sword was across the room. I backed up out of range just as he swung again, but he followed suit. I darted across the room to my sword, and I picked it up just as Jace kicked my feet out from under me. I fell with a huff and the blow left me winded and wheezing for air. Jace faltered, and I saw my chance; I brought the sword up and jabbed him in the abdomen with as much force as I could muster. Luckily, I caught him off guard and he fell back, but he quickly caught himself on one hand. I dove under a mass of balance beams that were covered with some leather clothing that looked like belts and jackets. When Jace got up, I was safely tucked away and he looked around without a clue to where I was.
I closed my eyes to focus on calming my breathing, and when I opened them, Jace was nowhere to be seen. I quietly whispered a shocked "What?" and then felt a sharp tip pressed hard between my sensitive shoulder blades. I tensed and gasped, then spun. Jace, who was inbetween two beams towering over me, looked smitten.
"Dead. I win," he said with a grin and I scowled. My back hurt where he held the blade a few seconds ago. I reached my arm back and tried to rub it, barely reaching. Jace gave me a confused look.
"Yeah, that kinda hurt, you know," I said matter-of-factly. His confusion was quickly replaced with concern.
"Are you okay? Let me see," he said and crouched down, trying to spin me around but failed as I stood my ground.
"It's nothing, can we just get back to training?" I said. He nodded.
"What do you want to work on next? Flips? More physical combat?" he asked, listing several things would probably end up with me hurt.
"Can we do whatever will leave me the least unscathed?" I ask as I haul myself up and around the beams into the open room.
"Flips it is!" he said and retrieved a harness from a storage room. He helped hook me into it before going to a wall and pulling some cords that were hanging from the ceiling, tacked to the side out of the way. He came and hooked them onto the harness before tugging on the experimentally. All of a sudden, I was being lifted up into the air smoothly, and I looked down to see Jace pulling a cord and lifting me up towards the rafters. Once I was near a low hanging rafter, he told me to sit down. Then he told me to jump, and that's when the panic settled into the pit of my stomach.
Apparently Jace's eyesight was amazing, because he could read my expression clearly. "Clary, you have a harness on. Now jump, or I will have Alec come push you down!" he called up to me. Alec would probably enjoy that. I inhaled a big breath and jumped with my eyes squeezed shut tightly. I tried not to, but a scream escaped and filled the room. Suddenly I was bouncing and dangling 4 feet above Jace's head. I breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at him.
"Ha! Look, you can't even reach me!" I shouted down at him. A devious smile slid across his face, and I swear, my heart stopped for a second.
"Wanna test that?" he said and bent his knees to jump.
"No, no I take it back!" I shouted, but was too late. He grabbed my sides and pulled me down to the ground, stretching the cord to a scary length. I knew if he let go, I would go flying upwards.
"Don't you dare let go," I spat firmly and what do you think he does? He let's go. I go shooting back up with another bloodcurdling scream. Not soon enough for my liking, the cords slow down and I am dangling in the air again.
"Jace! get me down from here now!" i shouted
"Hm, I think I'll leave you there," he said and stood back, inspecting his nails to make a point. I expected him to be joking, but then he turned and started to walk away, towards the training room doors. Unbelievable, I thought in disbelief. Then, Isabelle's advice at breakfast this morning came flooding back to me.
"If you don't get me down this instant, I will get my revenge, and it will not be pretty," he paused and turned to look at me with that smirk once again plastered on his face. He didn't believe me.
"Oh yeah, Little Red? Like what?" he asked.
I smiled evilly, or trying my best to, and said one small word. "Ducks"
I watched as his eye bulged out of his head and his jaw dropped. "How the hell," he sputters as I smirk at his dumbfounded expression.
"Oh, I have my resources," I reply calmly as he comes rushing over to stand under me with his arms out. I was dangling about 10 feet in the air and he looked like he expected me to jump.
"Pull the red string on your harness. It's an emergency release," he said and I looked down and sure enough, there was a red tab. I squinted my eyes shut and yanked it. I fell quickly and landed soflty in a pair of strong arms, Jace's arms. He pulled me against his chest for a split moment, and I involuntarily breathed him in. He smelt amazing, like sunshine and soap and something else mixed in. I realized my arms were wrapped(around his neck) and quickly unwrapped them and Jace let me go.
"Um, thanks for catching me," I stammered and blushed. He smirked and told me that the session was over and that I could go change and whatnot. I quickly bee-lined to my room where I showered and went to fetch my sketch pad and favorite pencil. When I was dressed, I sat on my bed and began to draw, letting my hands flow freely.
Jace POV:
I felt my jaw drop in shock, but I quickly recovered. \
How does she know my fear of ducks? I wondered. When I asked, she just said she had her resources.
What resources? A warlock? Izzy? I bet it was Izzy. But I didn't want to take a chance. I wasn't really going to leave her there, I was going to untie the rope from the hook on the wall that held it. But, she demanded to be put down, so I willingly obliged. I told her she had to jump. The look of shock that crossed her eyes would have made me laugh if I were not stricken by her beauty.
I held my arms out, expecting her to reject that option, but she pulled the red string and fell straight down into my arms. I caught her easily and she wrapped her arms around my neck as I pulled her to my chest. My heart fluttered out of control, but I did not let it show. How can one small girl do that?
At this point, I had given up on questions, I just wanted to know if she would do one thing for me. I wanted her to go on a date with me. I was about to ask her after I told her the lesson was over, but she quickly made her way out of the training room, presumably to go shower.
What the hell? Not one girl has run from my presence before, but she just did. I sighed and chuckled. The only possible answer is that she's Clary. She's strong and stubborn, just like me. I'll just have to fix that, I think before I set off with nowhere in particular in mind; I want to giver her time to shower and do whatever before I go knocking again. After about a half hour of wandering, I decide to head towards her room. I take a deep breath and knock, then lean casually against the door jamb, while waiting. I heard a small gasp, then some shuffling and the sound of Clary's small feet pattering towards the door.
"Uh, hi," she says breathlessly. I smirk. "What can I help you with?"
"I know my looks are stunning, but there is no need to lose your breath over me," I say smoothly. She huffed in annoyance and glared at me.
"What do you want?" she asked, growing impatient. Now it was my turn to cut the crap. My heart sped up, and it felt like it might pound right out of my chest. I inhaled deeply and spoke with a small smile on my lips. For once in my life, I don't feel completely confident. I like it. I like the way Clary makes me feel- it's a challenge, but there's more to it. There's something about her that sets her aside. Maybe it's her hair, or her eyes, but her personality definitely shines the brightest.
"Clarissa Fray, would you do me the great honor of accompanying me to dinner? I would love to take you on a date," I say hoarsely, and my voice cracks on the word 'date'. Her face is frozen in confusion and surprise and… admiration? I blinked and she did too. She straitened her back and sighed nervously. She looked down and every where else just to avoid my gaze and to prevent me from seeing her blush, but eventually, she brought her eyes to mine once more and nodded.
"Yes, I'll go on a date with you," she said softly with flaming cheeks to match her hair. My heart went faster, if it was even possible. I felt the smile spread onto my lips in happiness. A true smile, not a sarcastic smirk. Not many people can make me smile.
"Great. I'll be back at 6, be ready," I said and turned, only to pause to add an after thought. "Later around 9, Izzy wants to go clubbing. Just thought you should know," I murmured and left with another smile, which she returned. I made my way slowly back to my room, taking my time and thinking about Clary, as I have been since that night at Pandemonium. I opened my door and flopped on my bed, letting my eyes close to thoughts of that fiery red-head.