Endless Appetite

Parabatai

"Sit down..." Alec pointed to a sofa, sat down on the other and looked at Simon, his body tense. "Now tell me... What's going on with Jace? And with you?"

Simon was confused, didn't really get what he wanted to hear. "I'm not sure I get-"

"Stop. Something happened. Something just isn't right. I can see it. I can feel it, Simon. So don't even try to get away with some stupid excuses. Whatever it is, it started after Jace came to help you. He's... he's my Parabatai. I need to know."

Simon was baffled. What did Alec want to hear? What should he say? He didn't even know what was going on with himself, how should he be able to talk about Jace, who was avoiding him anyway and didn't talk to him, like at all?

"Did he say something?" Simon asked, making Alec even more tense. Simon could see him shifting on his seat.

"He only told me that you drank his blood and somehow it not only saved you from the sword but also made you a daylighter"

Simon nodded. "That's the only possible reason, because aside from that, nothing else happened to me"

Alec nodded, letting out a deep sigh. "That doesn't help much. I just... need to understand that chaos inside of Jace"

"See? I... I don't know what's going on with Jace. I'm asking myself the same thing. I don't know what's going on with me. So how should I know what's wrong with Jace? He doesn't even talk to me. But suddenly he's everywhere and it's confusing me and I can't focus! Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"

The Shadowhunter did not. But also, he didn't even have an idea what Simon was talking about. Luckily he didn't even need to ask, because once talked into rage, Simon would hardly ever stop talking. So he just listened.

"Wherever I'm going, Jace is there. Or I imagine him to be there. I can smell him all around. And I don't know how to stop it. No matter if I'm on my way to college, playing somewhere or even when I'm at the Hunter's Moon. It's as if he's following me all around. Sometimes I nearly feel his breath in my neck and sometimes it's like he's far away and it's only the fading memory of his smell and I just... I can't deal with this anymore. When I tried to talk to him, he left, avoiding me again."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them until Simon started talking again. "And... his... blood... it's..."

Alec looked at Simon closely. "What about his blood?"

"It tastes... different."

Slowly the Shadowhunter nodded. "I don't know if anyone told you yet, but... since we're half angel, half mundane our blood tastes different from mundanes and apparently it's like a drug. Vampires can get high from it. Considering the fact that Jace has pure angel blood... There must be much more than just a high"

Simon dug his fingers into his shirt but didn't really answer. He could hear Alec taking a deep breath.

"Jace wasn't in the institute much. He always said he would take the patrol, checking for demon activities... I thought he'd just need some time for himself, because he still feels guilty. But it seems like it's not quite right."

"What do you mean?" The vampire wanted to know.

"After what you've told me about you... and Jace... I get the feeling that he's not really on patrol but following you around"

"Jace is stalking me? But why? He can't even stand me. I'm just that annoying vampire, who's always in the way and gets all the shit. So... why?"

"I have no idea, Simon. I really don't. I can just sense that there's a lot troubling him. And obviously I can't be any help. Otherwise he would at least have listened to me..." Alec's eyes focused a spot on the carpet, trying to avoid Simon's look. But still the vampire could see how much the situation affected him. He was really worried. Maybe even scared something terrible was going on with Jace. Especially because it was out of his control.

"What about Clary?" Simon dared to ask and Alec shook his head.

"I haven't really seen them together since. But then again I have hardly seen him around anyway. Who knows where he is, making up excuses about patrolling..."

Simon really needed to talk to Clary as well. Why didn't she talk to him about it? Why was everyone just bottling things up? The whole situation was a bit mess and though at least Clary should know better, she just did as everyone else: Not talking. A deep sigh left his lips.

"I'm sorry I can't help you with this, Alec. I really wish I knew what's going on but I know even less than you..."

"It's alright. I just hoped that maybe... Sorry for calling you here"

"I get it. And if I find out something, you'll be the first one to know" Simon said with a soft smile, making Alec smile as well, the gratefulness visible on his face.

"Thank you, Simon" The Shadowhunter got up.

"Could I talk to Clary, though?" Simon asked and the dark haired man nodded.

"Sure. She asked about the library before. So I guess she's there"

"Thanks"

And with this Simon left the office, finding the way to the library but it was empty. So he went to Clary's room where he found her and he could hear the soft scratching of her charcoal on the paper from outside. Of course she was drawing. He knocked but she didn't hear him. After a second knock he opened the door himself.