Kit Herondale
"We'd be happy to have him," Kit heard as he eavesdropped from where he sat in the kitchen of the New York Institute.
At first glance, Kit thought the New York Institute looked dramatically different from the Los Angeles one. While the Institute in Los Angeles was more open spaced with wide corridors, this one seemed more dark and formal. There were many old relics hanging on the walls- Kit was almost too scared of touching anything in fear he would break some kind of Shadowhunter antique. It could be that the Blackthorns grew up running around the Los Angeles Institute, so they learned not to put expensive things on display.
Kit sighed, leaning back in his seat.
"We hate to leave him like this, but we'll try to only be gone for a few weeks. We would have just let him stay in Devon on his own, but he just has had so little time for training…" he overheard Tessa say, which Kit knew was partially the truth. They haven't quite gotten around to telling his cousin all the faerie drama...
"It's really no problem," he heard his cousin's girlfriend, Clary Fairchild, reassure her. Clary had always been nice to Kit, and in a way he kind of related to her- both being newly exposed to the mystical world of the shadowhunters at fifteen.
"If training is what he needs to work on, I've got him covered," he heard his cousin Jace Herondale pitch in. "By the time he gets back to you, he'll be almost as good as me." Kit could practically hear Jace smirking.
Great, he groaned. It was bad enough that Jem and Tessa had to leave him behind to go on some undercover trip, but he also was probably going to spend his entire time here training. As much as Kit wanted to improve on his training, he didn't know how much one-on-one combat he could handle with Jace, who claimed to be going easy on him.
Kit could faintly hear Jem laugh. "Bring him back to us in one piece, alright Herondale?"
Kit listened for another one of Jace's snarky responses, but couldn't hear anything. He stood up, heading over to the door for better sound quality. Was that… wind?
The young Herondale opened the door from pure curiosity to which he saw the opening of a portal. Then a singular black combat boot stepped out, followed by a tan arm. Out came a girl, about his age, who looked a lot like Jace's adopted sister Isabelle Lightwood. She was wearing a school uniform- a dark pleated skirt, a white button up that was rolled up on the arms, with an extremely loosened red tie. She had waist-long wavy dark hair, which appeared to have gotten tangled from the portal. She for some reason did not look very happy, her arms were crossed and her face was fixed in a glare. Maybe she just had an RBF.
Walking out right after her was the familiar face of Alec Lightwood, the newly elected consul. He was carrying a large duffel bag, which he dropped to the ground once arriving in the institute. He had his hands on his hips, and immediately had begun an argument with the girl, who must have been the youngest Lightwood sister Kit had heard rumors about. She, like her siblings, was as unfairly attractive as claimed to be.
"One month Veronica. You were there for ONE MONTH and somehow have managed to get suspended already! Have you even learned anything from your time there, or were you too busy getting into petty fights and skipping your classes?"
"Actually, I did learn something. I found out why I hate my generation of shadowhunters. They're all petty, rich, spoiled, conceited, ugly, slutty, blackmailing, dumb, kiss-ass, bit-"
"Oh, hello everyone," Magnus made an entrance, unfortunately interrupting the girl's tyrade. The portal shut behind him. "Jem, Tessa, pleasure as always," Magnus smiled, awkwardly putting down a Tito's handle on the coffee table behind him.
Kit looked to Jem and Tessa, who appeared to be sharing a look. "It's like I'm having flashbacks to London," Tessa said with a laugh, turning to Magnus.
"I've gotten used to it," Magnus said. Whatever that means.
Alec cleared his throat, having finally noticed the presence of everyone else in the room. "Jem! Tessa! Uh- what a surprise!" Alec said, forcing a smile as he was clearly taken off guard. The younger girl, unlike her brother, appeared unphased.
"Do I not get a hello?" Jace asked, which Alec promptly ignored.
"I didn't know you guys were in town," Alec continued.
"We're not really," Tessa said in her usual gentle tone. "We're just here to drop off Kit, since Jem and I will be out of town for a little bit."
Kit chose to close the door once again, not wanting anyone to notice him being too socially awkward. He could still hear the rest of them talking, although it was about nothing new. Jem and Tessa were once again explaining their trip in the most discreet way possible- 'just visiting an old friend.' Kit had to admit, he was slightly offended they wouldn't share more with him. He thought they had begun trusting him from the months he had been staying with them.
He was distracted from his teen angst from the sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen door. He quickly scrambled up, rushing to the nearest chair so he wouldn't be caught eavesdropping. The door opened, and he pretended to be looking at his phone.
"We're not leaving without a goodbye," he heard Tessa say. He looked up to both Tessa and Jem smiling at him. He sighed, putting down his phone on the table.
Veronica
The moment Jem and Tessa portaled out of the New York Institute, everyone else was focusing on greeting the Herondale boy who was camping out in the kitchen. Veronica took that as a good moment to retreat to her bedroom.
Veronica was happy to see that everything was right where she left it. Her room itself was pretty clean and spacious, however her closet door was open and it was still messy from when she was deciding what to pack when she left for the Academy. She plopped her duffel bag down on her double-bed, immediately lying down beside it. She turned her head, admiring the view of the city directly outside her window.
She surprisingly missed the view of the high buildings, although she didn't necessarily miss the place. There were too many incomplete memories in this institute, along with all the other places she had associated with Max. At first, although she wouldn't admit it, she thought that going to the Shadowhunter Academy would help her- it could be a fresh start. She should have known the shadowhunters there would have no chill.
Veronica was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of knocking on her door. She ignored it, hoping that whoever it was would try bothering someone else instead.
Unfortunately, the knocking only intensified. She sat up and groaned, her legs hanging off the side of her bed. The knocking paused. She could hear the outline of muffled arguing on the other end of the door, but couldn't make out what was being said or by whom.
"Come on, you have to tell her," she could hear.
Was this an intervention?
Knock, knock, knock.
"What do you want?" she yelled, grabbing a pillow and hugging it across her stomach. The door opened, and in came Alec followed by Jace.
They stood there for a moment, but ignored her as they seemed to be having their own conversation with their eyes. Parabatai were annoying like that.
"Can I help you?" she asked, wondering why they would come into her room in the first place if they weren't planning to talk to her. This better not be another lecture from Alec.
Jace broke eye contact from his parabatai and glared accusingly at her. "I thought you would be at least a little bit more excited to see me. It's been what, a month?" he said, strolling over to where she was sitting and moving her duffel bag to the ground. He jumped down beside her.
"Can I help you?" He mocked her, rolling his eyes. Veronica couldn't help but smile, but moved her head away from him to try to hide it.
"You know, you really should start unpacking," Alec said.
"And why would I do that? I'll only be here for just a few days," Veronica retorted, hugging her pillow more tightly against her stomach.
"About that…" Alec began, looking to Jace beside her.
"What's so great about the Academy, anyway?" Jace commented. Veronica noticed he had picked up a scrunchy that was sitting on the end of her bed, and was toying with it in his hands. "Just some stone walls, creepy statues, boring old professors, 'kiss-asses' as you mentioned…" he appeared amused. "I've guest starred there, but other than that it's really nothing special."
Veronica looked between her two brothers. "I was just suspended, right?" she asked slowly. "There's no possible way I got expelled from a catfight with Ruby Parker."
"It's not necessarily because of that, Ronnie..." Alec responded, and she could tell he was looking at Jace beside her. "The thing is…" he shifted his gaze to her, his tone suddenly becoming more forcefully upbeat. "Wouldn't you rather be here with us in New York? I don't really see how the Academy is benefitting you."
Veronica looked at him skeptically. "Really…" she said, tilting her head at him. "Because I remember you saying just a month ago how much you thought I needed to go to the Academy. That a 'change of setting' would help me sooo greatly."
"Well, clearly not!" Alec said, apparently wanting to revisit their past argument from where is left off.
"I think what Alec means to say…" Jace swiftly intervened, "is that you can accomplish just as much in your training here as you can at the Academy. After all, the world's greatest shadowhunter lives here and is willing to show you some of his ways," he said smugly.
"Really? Simon offered to train me?" she smiled, turning to look at Jace. He flung her scrunchy at her, which she blocked with her pillow.
She quit laughing, suddenly looking at Alec again inquisitively. "This wouldn't have anything to do with what you and Luke were talking about, would it?"
She felt Jace go suspiciously still beside her, and Alec shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "About you skipping classes? Well, we knew that that was bound to happen," was all he responded.
"No, I'm talking about what was in the envelope."
"That was just consul stuff Ronnie. Keep in mind I consult with Luke about things beyond just the Academy."
Veronica was still clearly suspicious, but was too tired to argue.
Jace stood up from beside her, stretching out his arms. He turned around to her. "Hey, Takis tonight?"
"No, I'm just gonna chill here. Bring me my usual to-go order if they have it."
"Alright then," he started heading toward the door with Alec as she began putting her duffel bag back on her bed. She needed to find her phone in it so she could update her roommate on the situation.
"Oh by the way, you're training with Jace tomorrow at nine," added Alec.
"In the morning?" Veronica groaned, looking up from searching through her bag.
Alec took a moment to stare at her in incredulousness, as if sleeping in wasn't a normal thing people enjoyed taking part in. "What time were they having you wake up at the academy?"
Veronica ignored him, knowing the training time wouldn't budge.
"Oh and Ronnie, one more thing," Jace said before heading out the door with Alec.
"Yes?" she asked, turning her attention back to them.
"Please at least try to be nice to Kit. You guys are the same age, maybe you'll get along."
Thank you for reading!:) Drop a comment any thoughts or suggestions and I'll update again soon!