The Streets of Fandom, Thursday Evening

[seveninchmotto]

It was an evening for dressing up! And Isabelle had dressed up too. Just... not in a costume, but her Shadowhunter gear. Boots buckled up to her knees, black pants and shirt hugging her form, the fabric on both covered with near-invisible silvery runes. And she had her whip coiled around one arm like a slightly over the top bracelet. She had other weapons hidden on her person too, naturally. It was her way.

She wasn't even expecting to run into any trouble. But she'd made plans with Alec to patrol anyway. If everyone else wanted to be dressing up as monsters and Downworlders and whatever, let them. Isabelle and Alec would just make sure nothing bad slipped into town while people were having fun.

But for now, they hand't met up yet, and she was still alone, just walking the streets. Keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary – gremlins in pumpkin masks didn't count – and still getting acquainted with the streets and the town.

It was not New York. Tonight, that almost seemed boring. ... Apart from the candy rain, obviously.

[ooc: Up early because timezones. Expecting one but omg oooopen!]

Comments

[nottrivial]

Alec's hair was lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar by the time he reached Isabelle, and he didn't look happy about it.

"By the Angel," he grumbled, nodding in greeting. "I'd really have preferred that it only rain on the people actually celebrating this pointless holiday."

Since it wasn't like he was going to eat any candy that fell from the sky anyway.

[seveninchmotto]

"Personally," Isabelle replied, reaching out to ruffle the sugar out of his hair as soon as he was close enough, "I find it comforting the island isn't smart enough to discriminate. But it's still pretty annoying."

Although nothing seemed to stick to her. As usual.

[nottrivial]

Alec bent his knees slightly so she could reach the top of his head, though he didn't really think this display was necessary.

"It's just so festive," he groused. "Annoyingly so. I don't see the need for it."

A sentence he uttered about a billion times a year on this island.

Sigh. "Come across anything yet?" he segued.

[seveninchmotto]

"Just some gremlins." And she made a face at that. Those things were nothing but an annoyance. " I doubt anything's going to happen, but it's still good practice. And I thought we could check out the church."

To see if there was a weapons cache!

[nottrivial]

"Sounds doable," Alec said easily. "And avoid those gremlins. Their venom actually does affect Shadowhunters, believe it or not."

Sigh.

He flicked a Twizzler off of his shoulder, starting in the direction of the church.

[seveninchmotto]

Surprising no one, Isabelle sounded amused as she fell into step beside him.

"And you know this how?"

[nottrivial]

"What if I told you one of them bit Jace?" Alec tried, but the resignation in his voice indicated that he didn't actually think that would work.

[seveninchmotto]

"I would refuse to believe you, and then I'd laugh."

So no. It would not work.

[nottrivial]

"Then let's leave it at 'no comment.'" Classy.

[seveninchmotto]

And ineffective! Isabelle gave his shoulder a little shove as they were nearing the church.

"Come on," she said. "You can't mention something like that and not tell me!"

[nottrivial]

"Oh, hey," Alec said loudly, settling on what he thought was a viable change of subject, "I think I heard something about you on the radio when I was catching up on what I missed." You know, on account of being a panther. "Another babysitting date with the werewolf already?"

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle rolled her eyes at the utter lack of smooth in that change of subject. "He was my date to the dance," she said anyway. "And then he was my date for the morning after the dance."

Hey, if he was going to avoid her preferred subject, then she was going to overshare.

"And it was nice."

[nottrivial]

Alec wrinkled his nose, but didn't react other than that, because, yeah, he had brought it on himself.

"Yeah, I gathered," he said. "You know, I don't think I've ever met him."

And all Lightwoods had to meet their siblings' love interests for hearty attempts to scare them! It was a thing!

[seveninchmotto]

"That's not very neighborly of you," Isabelle remarked lightly. "I'm pretty sure he lives next door from you."

She was quite obviously not afraid of the two of them meeting.

[nottrivial]

"Does he now?" Well, he guessed she'd know. "I'll have to keep an eye out for someone furry roaming the halls, then."

[seveninchmotto]

"He's not furry." He had curls like an angel, Alec! "Werewolves where he's from don't even turn into actual wolves. Apparently they just turn ugly and lose their eyebrows."

Or such was her impression.

[nottrivial]

Alec did not need any more angel imagery in his life than was already spelled out in canon, thanks.

"Oh, that's a great trait in someone you're making nice with," Alec remarked. 'Making nice,' Alec? "And what does he think about your profession?"

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, I think I've convinced him I'm not going to lop his head off while he's sleeping?"

That was definitely something. She also didn't care about it much beyond that.

"Also, 'making nice'? Really? Is that what you do with Sparkle?"

[nottrivial]

"If you hadn't convinced him, that would tell us a lot about his standards." Since he'd gone and slept with her anyway.

And he was going to go ahead and politely not respond to the second question, because... shut up.

[seveninchmotto]

"By the way, your little boyfriend hates me," Isabelle said as they walked up to the church doors.

Not that what she said was news. But since they were on the topic of standards already...

[nottrivial]

Alec exhaled heavily. "Yeah, I'd noticed that."

It was a problem.

"Do you have any idea why he reacted like that?"

[seveninchmotto]

"Maybe because he thinks I'm an enemy," Isabelle said idly, like she didn't particularly care either way. And to keep arguments at bay, for at least a moment, she pressed her hand against the door. "In the name of the Clave, I ask entry to this holy place. In the name of the Battle That Never Ends, I ask the use of your weapons. And in the name of the Angel Raziel, I ask your blessings on my mission against the darkness."

The door opened under the press of her hand, but that didn't necessarily mean anything other than someone having been sloppy at locking up. Assuming they even did that around here.

[nottrivial]

Alec had found weapons here once before, but that had been in an alternate universe, and there was a chance that the weapons he had found had just been left there by some random. So he was about as curious as Isabelle was as to what they'd find.

"Well, he shouldn't," he grunted, taking a cautious step into the church. One thing was for sure -- this place definitely didn't see a lot of visitors. "The way he exploded like you had done it on purpose... sometimes I don't understand how he thinks."

[seveninchmotto]

"Well, you're one up on me there, because I can't say I ever understand how he thinks," Isabelle remarked a little flippantly as she made her way into the church. It was kind of an exaggeration – she wasn't exactly familiar with Sparkle's thinking beyond his thoughts on her, anyway. "As if I'd hurt you."

When you trusted all of a handful of people in the whole world, you didn't go around doing that to them.

[nottrivial]

"I guess I should talk to him," Alec sighed, like that was the hardest thing in the world or something. "And, I don't know, maybe sit you two down together sometime."

No, Alec. That was a bad idea.

[seveninchmotto]

Yeah. Even Isabelle knew that wasn't a great idea.

"Why?"

[nottrivial]

"Well, he's obviously not comfortable being around you alone," said Alec. "And it would probably be better if he didn't hate you. Since he and I've been dating for kind of a while now."

Also, there was that weekend a few months back when he'd gotten a glimpse into his future twenty years from now, where his whole life sucked because Sparkle and Isabelle had never learned how to make nice. So. There was that.

[seveninchmotto]

Well, this Isabelle refused to take any of the blame for that. Especially since she would've doubted her being the problem in the first place.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," she said. Being nice in not pointing out that it mattered more if they were going to keep dating. "And I'm not itching to spend time with him either, so, problem solved."

[nottrivial]

"Well, what if he and I keep dating?" Alec pressed. Izzy's narrative had a point, after all. "Sooner or later it'll just be pointlessly unpleasant if you can't be in the same room as him."

Alec was, at times, a giant hypocrite. Natalie Adams could corroborate that.

[seveninchmotto]

"Oh, because you just loved Jace's little mundie."

Yeah, she remembered that.

[nottrivial]

"Jace wasn't dating her," was Alec's immediate response, though he really should have told himself that when he had gotten all worked up about Natalie in the first place. Really now. "And since it was Jace, the likelihood that she would be a long-term acquaintance was always pretty low."

...Yet they'd been friends for a huge chunk of the time that Jace had been studying in Fandom, so...

[seveninchmotto]

"Didn't she hang around him the entire time he was here?" Isabelle responded, because she would not stand for hypocrisy and lies. And also wasn't interested in talking about herself and Sparkle, so. "That seems long-term."

[nottrivial]

"I wasn't here the whole time he was, so I'm not sure," Alec said diplomatically. "But he also never said he wanted me to get along with her. Whereas I would really appreciate it if you could at least tolerate each other. Please."

[seveninchmotto]

"I can tolerate him." But she had a condition. "If he doesn't insult me."

[nottrivial]

Well, that was quite a condition. But Alec chose to be optimistic for once.

He exhaled slowly, apparently relieved. "Thanks," he said. "I'll talk to him about extending you the same courtesy."

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle snorted. "Good luck. He thinks I'm a Greater Demon."

A fact she did not feel entirely sorry about.

[nottrivial]

"I'm sure that mix-up was completely accidental," Alec said dryly.

[seveninchmotto]

"Perfectly accidental," Isabelle agreed brightly. "Greater Demons are much less polite!"

Also in some cases probably much less intimidating.