i never asked to be saved [r], mortal instruments - Seren

[Serendipity]

Eli hadn’t said a word as Isabelle, Alec, Jace and…Clary met him at the entrance of the Institute, he figured if he stayed quiet they wouldn’t argue with him about going with them. He wasn’t a part of their little group after all; he was a stranger to them and as they were to him. But they all had one thing in common at least – they were all shadowhunters, they protected their own. He wouldn’t have stayed behind anyway, he could already feel the adrenaline kicking in at just the thought of getting amongst the fight; from the looks on all their faces he knew there would be one. He almost rubbed his hands together eagerly, but fought the urge because he doubted they would appreciate his eagerness.

So he tagged along, ignoring the daggers Alec shot him every time he breathed just a little too loudly reminding them he was there. It was only as they were well on their way that Eli discovered where they were headed; an old nightclub that was apparently a well-known vampire lair. A vampire lair! She’d taken off to let off some steam in a freaking vampire lair! She was come kind of crazy alright, he couldn’t help think but a smirked to himself at the same time. “Not that it bothers me…but you do realise that the Accords don’t protect us if we cross into vamp territory?” He queried but received no response from any of them, apparently they weren’t concerned with the Covenants or they just hadn’t heard him; he suspected it wasn’t the latter.

--

“What’s this chick’s deal with vampires anyway?” Eli wondered aloud as they stood outside the old nightclub Audrina was currently creating chaos in. Again no one answered him, although they might have had something to do with the sudden crash of breaking glass above and Jace’s shouting as he grabbed Clary and pulled her out of the way as a burning body fell from above and landed right where she’d been standing.

Eli immediately retrieved his hibben knives from his back and they glinted in the sunlight sharp and ready to slice through as many vampires as Eli saw fit. He wasn’t about to step foot inside a vampire lair and not have his weapons at the ready. “Probably should have stopped off at a Church first, I’m all out of holy water,” He twirled the blades effortlessly in his hands several times; these would just have to do.

The shadowhunter followed the others inside the building without any hesitation.

--

“Where’d Alec go?” Eli shouted in frustration as he, Clary and Isabelle were backed into a corner; Eli’s back coming up against the cold wood of the men’s toilets at the back of the nightclub. It was dark, dank and smelled of stale blood, he even thought he’d stepped on a few animal bones; they crunched under his foot with a sharp cracking noise. Eli held his knives tightly in front of him, one just above his chin covering his face, the other a little lower by his side.

“He’s with Jace,” Clary breathed heavily, a dagger clutched firmly in her hands. “He’s always with Jace,” Eli heard the cynicism in the red heads voice, and if it wasn’t so dark in here he might have seen her roll her eyes. They only had Clary’s witchlight to guide them through the nightclub, Isabelle and Eli’s hands both occupied with their weapons, but at least it was something.

Isabelle’s golden whip swished at the ready by her side as the group of vampires closed in on them, hissing and baring their sharp pointed teeth. Eli’s jacket sleeves and boots were covered in ash, evidence he’d managed to slay several vampires already; Isabelle and Clary were also dusted with a thin layer’s of ash on various parts of their bodies. Eli inched to the right a little and repositioned his elbow against the door behind them. Without taking his eyes off of the Downworlders he spoke in almost a whisper to the two girls next to him, “On my count get inside, there’s too many to fight off even with the three of us.” He had a plan, but he didn’t have time to relay it all to the others, he hoped that they would do as he said.

“3…2…Go!” Eli hissed as he pushed the door open behind them hard with his elbow. The group of vampire’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment as the door swung open and Clary and Isabelle disappeared inside. Eli lashed out at them with his knives which caused some of them to jump back a little giving him enough time to slip inside the restroom. He immediately shut the door and grunted as several bodies on the other side slammed into it; the door rattled on its old hinges but still held.

He put all his weight into the door, keeping it closed. Clary and Isabelle quickly joined him, but even with their extra weight it wouldn’t hold long. “Lock it with a rune, it’ll hold for a while.” Eli grunted nodding to the stele in Isabelle’s belt. “And then what? It’ll only hold for a few minutes, we’ll be trapped,” She pointed out angrily through clenched teeth, but reached for the object all the same.

“Isabelle, lock it now!” He growled impatiently as he heard the wood begin to splinter in some places. She did, tracing a familiar rune into the wooden door, sealing it shut from the inside and reinforcing itself with an invisible armor that would keep the vampires from breaking through straight away. Eli sighed in relief and moved away from the door, sheathing his knives behind his back ignoring both Isabelle’s and Clary’s look of astonished confusion. “I can’t use my hands if I’m holding them,” Eli explained and then looked up at the roof and pointed to a ventilation duct. “We’re going in there.” He told them as though it was an obvious decision.

Eli turned to the two girls and pointed to Clary deep in thought, but whatever he’d been planning for her he changed his mind and moved his finger to Isabelle. “You’re the lightest, get on my shoulders and get inside; I’ll lift Clary up next….then you’ll both have to hoist me up.”

“But Alec and Jace…”

“Alec and Jace didn’t get cornered by twenty or more vampires did they?” Eli retorted before Isabelle could finish, and quirked a brow daring her to continue. He knew Alec’s and Jace were still out there, but from what he’d seen they were capable of handling themselves for a little longer.

--

“Stop,” Eli murmured suddenly as the three of them crawled through the ventilation system, he’d hoped they had been going in the right direction. He’s intention as to get back into the fight, and this time not to get backed into a corner. They stopped and he peered through one of the grates to the ground below, and smirked triumphantly at himself when he saw Audrina struggling to fend off one vampire. “We’re back out over the dance floor,”

Eli stuck his fingers through the grating and lifted it aside; he didn’t wait to see if Clary and Isabelle would follow as he quickly lowered himself through the hole. He landed heavily a few steps away from Audrina and the vampire on top of her, unsheathed his knives and moved quickly towards them both. His boot landed heavily into the vampire’s side, kicking him off the blonde shadowhunter. Eli leaped over her body as the vampire already started to get back up and with impeccable aim he stabbed the Downworlder through turning him to a pile of ash at his feet as he landed.

“Who’s saving whose ass now,” Eli couldn’t help but point out as he turned back around to Audrina, extending his hand for her to take so he could help her up.

“Audrina! I’m going to kill you myself once we get out of here if one of these bloodsuckers don’t before then!” It was Isabelle’s extremely annoyed voice, and Eli looked over to see her helping Clary down from the roof but she had her head turned in their direction and was glaring at the blonde menacingly.

[Yunalesca]

Audrina was sweating freely as she locked her legs around one of the vampire's to keep him from wriggling around on her and getting the upper hand. She couldn't be sure how long she had been holding him at bay, but she was beginning to tire as her panting got louder every time the vampire pressed himself down on her harder as he tried to break her grip on his forearms. Each time she mustered some inner strength and pushed back, infuriating the downworlder. Her eyes traveled across the floor to see if a weapon was near, but the closest thing was her glowing sais some feet away, not anything she could get to quickly before the teeth sunk into her flesh. Just as she thought it, the vampire pressed down on her again and hissed, jaws spreading as it neared her throat. "Noooo...." She breathed in frustration as her arms shook under the vampires weight and she could feel his breath on her skin. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. Something kicked the vampire away and she heard it shatter into dust beside her as she rolled to her side and tried to breathe. She looked up through her blonde hair and saw Eli standing over her and offering her his hand. She sighed irritably before taking it and letting him pull her up. "I never asked for your damn help." She managed as her arm wrapped around her middle upon the searing pain she felt run through her as she stood. "Get in line, you're going to have to beat your brother to it." She coughed and winced at the pain it caused. She bent over and grabbed the one sais she could see and stuffed it in her boot before reaching back under her jacket and pulling free a double edged curved blade, then retrieving her witch light from her pocket. The light came level with the hilt of her blade close to her face as she took a stance at the sound of boots coming toward the dance floor.

"My other sais is upstairs, I'm not leaving it." She stated which earned an exasperated sigh from Isabelle at her side. "We need to get out of here," the brunette started in protest as Audrina shift to back the small group up and away from the center of the floor. "I wouldn't ask you to leave your whip, would I? Besides, Jace and Alec haven't joined the party yet." She said sarcastically as she stopped shuffling back across the floor and saw the figures come into view. She sighed heavily and lowered her weapon and witch light at the smirking face of Jace. "I could've killed you." Audrina warned which only got a wider grin from the male.

"You couldn't if you tried. Nice party." He said as he passed close by her. Her grey eyes found Alec's as he came up closer to her. He didn't have to say anything, she could read it all in his eyes. "Let's go out the window up here before the rest start flooding the dance floor. I know how pointy teeth turn you on, but I've had enough for the day." Jace said as he started clearing the steps to the upstairs. Audrina turned with a protesting exhale of air coming from her throat. "I do not get -turned on- by vampires!" She yelled at him before she felt Alec's arm coming around her and pulling her back behind him as a gasp came from where she'd been standing. She turned her head to look over his shoulder and see his blade buried in the chest of a vampire before it turned to ash. "Get upstairs." Was all he said as he let her go and backed up as the girls started to run up the stairs without protest. Audrina sheathed her weapon and witchlight as he feet pounded on the wooden stairs. The blonde half stumbled up the steps from the pain in her ribs before Isabelle was latching an arm under her and pulling her up the rest of the stairs. She didn't even have a chance to look back and see what was happening as the brunette was shoving her toward Jace who was directing them out the window. Clary had already jumped down and she was next apparently. "Here, now shut up." The blonde shadowhunter told her as he dropped her other sais into her boot and half shoved her out the window. She landed hard on the cement outside and felt Clary bringing her to her feet as they both looked up and saw Jace leaving the window to take down the new onslaught of vampires.

Audrina moved toward the front door as though she were to help, but the red headed shadowhunter held her back with strength she didn't even know she possessed. "Get off me, Clary." The blonde warned as she withdrew her arm from her middle and struggled against the shadowhunter. "Stop, they're coming out!" She yelled at the blonde, making her turn and see Isabelle leaping from the broken window followed by Jace, Eli, and Alec last. The vampire hoard hissed at the window, standing just in the shadows as their prey escaped into the sunlight. The blonde stopped her struggle and straightened as the shadowhunters stalked toward the two girls, some sort of argument going on between them quietly. "Oh great, this is the 'I told you so' moment..." She started as Alec separated from them and made right for her. He didn't stop in his advance and was making her backpedal until she hit the wall of the nightclub. She half expected to feel his hand around her throat, but he managed to restrain himself.

"I don't know who's more trouble, you, or -her-!" He exclaimed, pointing behind him to Clary. Almost instantly Jace was protesting. "This isn't about her..." The blonde male started, but Alec's pissed off blue eyes continued to glare right through Audrina. A part of her started to feel afraid as she held her gaze with his forcibly. She had never seen him this livid and wouldn't be surprised if he choked the life out of her in that moment. "Do you get it now?! Any one of us could have died in there. I'm done. I'm not saving your ass anymore, Audrina. I'm fucking done." He said the last part mere inches from her face before turning away and stalking down the street back toward the Institute. The blonde remembered to breathe again and brought her eyes up to Isabelle who was holding a very similar look as her brothers before turning away after him. She didn't even bother looking at Jace and Clary as they seemed to stand awkwardly off to the side. Her eyes momentarily shifted to Eli before dropping again as she felt the reality of the situation sinking in. It had been an incredibly stupid stunt, even for her, and Alec was right. She could've had them all killed. She would be dead if they hadn't come.

"Eli, you should drive her back, she looks too messed up to be handling that bike right now." Jace voiced as he cleaned and sheathed one of his swords. Audrina didn't even have the energy to protest at the thought of anybody else driving her bike in that moment. Her ribs were throbbing, one of them likely broken from the fall down the stairs, and not to mention the amount of cuts and bruises that were likely hidden underneath the vampire ash all over her clothes. At the thought, she wiped at her face with her jacket sleeve. If she resembled any of the others, she was probably covered in ash from head to toe. She took a pained breath before pushing off the wall finally and starting for her bike, waiting by it for Eli. For the first time she felt incredibly disappointed in herself. Not once had she really cared about any of the others, but something about what Alec said made her feel different. She recalled him stepping in front of her to kill a vampire who would have killed her and she felt even more guilt.

[Serendipity]

Eli gripped Audrina’s hand firmly, surprised that she even took his extended hand in the first place, and helped pull her to her feet. He ignored her comment about not asking for his help and simply rolled his eyes as Isabelle and Clary quickly made their way over. For the moment the horde of vampires were preoccupied somewhere else, but it wouldn’t be long before they flooded in on them again. They had to find Alec and Jace and get the hell out of here. Isabelle continued to glare at the blonde shadowhunter unhappily; even Clary was shaking her head at Audrina disappointedly.

They didn’t have to look very far for the two males who joined the rest of them a few seconds later, Eli tensed a little as the males approached in the dim light and eerie white-blue glow of Audrina’s witch light at first he wasn’t sure if the two figures approaching them were Jace and Alec or a couple of Downworlders. The grip on his knives loosened and let out the breath he’d been holding as Jace’s smirking face came into view. Eli sheathed one of his knives, but kept the other firmly gripped in one hand as he stalked over to the stairs to help Jace clear the way for their ascent.

He heard Audrina gasp and spun around just in time to see Alec pull her aside and dust another lone vampire. “Stop arguing and hurry up,” He snapped, it was something he noticed about the group of shadowhunters, they argued a lot, and most of the time stood around doing it. In a lair of vampires they needed to keep moving all the time, even stopping for a few moments could be deadly with these creatures that could move so fast they almost became invisible when doing so.

He stood guard at the bottom of the stairs alongside Alec as Jace led the girls up to the second floor. Once the girls were half way up the stairs he and Alec followed, their boots hammering against the metal steps as they raced up to the floor above, Eli glancing over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure nothing was closing in on them. When they reached the second floor Jace had helped Clary through the window and was in the middle of helping Audrina out when a hand full of vampires landed a few feet from the male, they’d bypassed the stairs altogether with one big leap up and over the railing. “Jace behind you!” Eli heard Alec call in warning.

Isabelle’s whip lashed out and snagged two out of three of the vampires around the ankles and with an almost effortless strength she flung them aside as Jace turned to take down the third Downworlder with his seraph blade. Eli and Alec sprinted towards the two fallen vampires, Alec shouting for his sister to get out through the window. The two brunette shadowhunters took down a vampire each before they turned for the window which Jace was waiting for them by looking rather anxious. Eli waited for Jace and Alec to jump through and followed moments later barely escaping in time before the upper level was flooded with more vampires.

“You alright?” He heard Jace ask him and nodded, sighing a little with relief that they were now all safely out in the sunlight as he tucked his knife away and begun absentmindedly dusting ash off of his jacket. “Where’d you disappear to anyway?” Jace asked a little curiously, Eli had wondered if one of them would ask that question, he, Clary and Isabelle had been gone from the fight for at least five minutes (which was a long time in the middle of a fierce battle). He heard Alec snort disapprovingly and shake his head and Eli turned an ugly sneer at him, “What?” He demanded defensively as the closed the distance between them and the girls.

“I knew you wouldn’t hold up, run and hide did we?” Alec retorted indignantly. Eli clenched his jaw, his hands curling into fists at his sides, what he wouldn’t give to strangle the bastard right now. “Alec…” Jace shook his head and nudged the brunette in the arm to stop him from saying more. They had reached the girls and Alec was in Audrina’s face before Eli had a chance to respond to the snide remark. Whatever the shadowhunters problem was he didn’t appreciate his hostility one little bit, and wondered if it really had anything to do with Audrina or if there was something else going on with him.

It took what seemed like all the effort in the world to stop himself from dragging Alec away from Audrina by the scruff of his neck as he saw the hint of fear in her grey orbs, he wanted to step in, push Alec aside and tell him to back off, perhaps even sock the bastard in the nose first. But there was only one of him and three other shadowhunters nearby he knew would come to Alec’s aid in a heartbeat the moment Eli even took a step towards him. The way he spoke to her sparked something fierce in Eli’s gut; a need to defend her even if it had been her fault.

However Alec turned away from her without laying a finger on the blonde and stalked off down the street assumedly back to the Institute. Eli barely registered Jace’s words as he glared after the male, Isabelle quickly rushing off to make sure her brother was alright. He nodded in stiff silence and walked a little ways behind Audrina towards her ducati. She only had to wait for him there for a few moments before he stepped up to the bike, but turned towards her before he hopped on. He opened his mouth to say something, ask if she was alright, but nothing came out and he could only shake his head at her before he swung a leg over the bike and balanced it as he flicked up the kickstand with his booted foot. “Hop on,” He indicated with his head to the space behind him.

[Yunalesca]

Her eyes continued to be diverted to the ground as she heard Eli approach and situate himself in the drivers seat of her bike. She didn’t even have the energy to provide a biting comment as he directed her to get on behind him. Normally the mere thought of having to be so close to someone, to wrap her arms around his torso, was revolting and there was no way she could be talked into it. But yet again, that guilt hit her hard and she found herself sliding onto the leather seat behind him, pressed close enough she could almost be a second skin. Her arms came tentatively around his waist and her hands clasped on her wrists firmly to keep from falling off on the way, though she didn’t feel like he’d necessarily be tapping the bike out like she did.

Audrina forcibly made herself lean into him and winced as her body melded to his, her ribs screaming at her in protest. Almost as an afterthought, her head rested between his shoulder blades and what Alec said continued to roll over in her mind. She had never really felt guilt before and couldn’t say she was enjoying the feeling. Everything he had said had been right and she didn’t like knowing she could have been the cause for a lot more harm than what had come to them. “Left” She murmured in his ear as she remembered he may not recall how to get back to the Institute. It seemed he was choosing to be silent and it was fine with her. She had to get out of this funk before he started to see her usual guise fall.

They were back outside the gates of the Institute a short time later and Audrina found herself stiffly separating from him, her muscles having locked up from the ride and already being sore from the beating in the lair. As she dismounted off the bike she nearly fell into the wall, but managed to correct herself and straighten. Instantly her arm wrapped around middle again in an attempt at comfort from the pain shooting through her abdomen. Something was assuredly broken. “Nice drive, get off my bike.” She managed as she half stumbled around to the front gate and pulled her stele from her waistband to unlock the gate. “Where the hell is your stele, by the way. I didn’t see it once when we were back there.” She said as she felt the odd need to converse with him. She didn’t know anything about him and generally wanted it kept that way, but feeling that vampire’s breath at her throat had been a wake up call. Like it or not, he’d saved her ass.

She turned the purple glowing stele and released the locks before stepping inside and pressing back up against the wall as breathing itself became hard for her. She’d been through worse, but it seemed it was getting harder every time to power through an injury, especially broken bones. Her hand slid inside her jacket to touch at her ribs and feel the clean break across two of her middle ribs. Forgetting Eli was even around she hissed in pain before slumping slightly. She had to heal it, something she wasn’t the greatest at. She hated putting runes on herself and it made for bad practice. Normally she didn’t come out of a battle so beaten, but then, she usually wasn’t raiding a lair either. Sweat began to bead at her brow as the more human part of her reacted to the break in her ribs. She couldn’t let Alec see her like this, it’d be one more thing he’d rub in at her. She forced herself off the cool wall and staggered a few steps before falling to her knees and letting out a small cry. How pathetic could she possibly be?

[Serendipity]

Eli felt her hesitation and then the stiffness in her body as she hopped onto the bike behind him and had no choice but to slip her arms around his waist so she wouldn’t fall off along the way. It was like déjà vu but in reverse he thought perhaps a little too smugly as he felt her slide closer to get a better grip around him. He would have been pleased with himself over getting Audrina to ‘hug’ him, however the fact that she was so tense pressed up against him only had him frowning. He knew this wasn’t ideal for her, but was he really that revolting? He suspected not, there was something else causing her to grimace at even the slightest human contact. But now was not the time to bring that subject up.

He was just glad that she was complying without too much protest and even rested her head between his shoulder blades. Clearly she was in too much pain to care anymore, he’d seen the way she’d been holding her ribs and assumed a bone or two must be broken. Once he was sure she was safely on the bike and wouldn’t suddenly slip off, he pulled away from the curb at a much slower pace than she had the previous night. Whilst he wasn’t driving as recklessly as she had done, he wasn’t driving miss daisy either and although a bike wasn’t his preferred way of transport he knew how to handle one. Eli heard Audrina tell him to go left, and followed her instructions; she must have known he wouldn’t be familiar with where the Institute was yet. He wasn’t familiar with most parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan yet, he’d only been in the state a week.

Pulling the bike to a holt inside the gates that surrounded the Institute Eli balanced the bike, keeping it still as Audrina chose to get off the moment he’d stopped and he worried that any kind of movement in her state might have her toppling straight off. Once she was off he killed the engine and kicked the stand down hopping off the bike just as she snapped at him to get off. He only glared at her in response, but kept his eyes on her, this time he wasn’t checking her out but was making sure she didn’t fall over.

She pulled her stele from her pocket and he heard the small hiss of pain that small movement bought with it. He made to move towards her, help her steady herself but then she opened her mouth. Nothing nice, he was discovering, ever came out of that mouth of hers. “I don’t have it with me,” Was all he said, he wasn’t in the mood to explain to her right now that he’d lost it to a few demons. She unlocked the doors to the institute with hers and managed to push the door open just enough to slip inside of it. Eli followed behind her immediately and found her standing against the wall as he turned to close the door once he was through.

He heard her gasp again, this time louder, her hands beneath her jacket trying to feel where the broken bones were. He saw the sweat bead on her forehead, watched her stumble forward a little, steady herself and then continue further inside the room. She was so stubborn she couldn’t even ask for his help, and he was just as stubborn refusing to help her until she did. They made quite the pair.

“Christ, Audrina!” He exclaimed in frustration as she staggered forward and then fell to her knees with a painful cry. There was a time for stubbornness and pride, now wasn’t that time Eli decided as he quickly closed the distance between them and bent to his knee beside her. “You’re not going to like this…” He warned and with a gentleness he wasn’t even aware that he possessed the male shadowhunter placed an arm around her shoulders and another behind her knees carefully lifting her from the ground and up into his arms. As gentle as he tried to be there was no doubt in his mind that she wouldn’t feel any pain as he lifted her, even the slightest movement was clearly causing her agony.

“Breathe, slow breaths…” He soothed and made his way to the infirmary with Audrina in his arms.

“Shut up.” He ordered with a firm gentleness as he felt her tense in his arms and before she could snarl something nasty his way. “Or I’ll drop you on your ass,” He warned, a little humour in his voice this time.

[Yunalesca]

Her forehead had found the floor when she heard the exclamation come from Eli before she could feel him kneeling beside her. She tensed up as she could already tell what was coming before he informed she wasn’t going to like it. He learned quickly it seemed, though Alec would say not quick enough. He would’ve let her lay there for a few moments before forcing her to roll over and heal her against her will. She got real tired of carrying his mark everywhere, but then if she would listen to him maybe she wouldn’t have that happen so often. She could feel how gentle Eli was trying to be with her, which frustrated her all the more, but the pain shot through her even with the care he took in picking her up. She groaned as her aching body was carried in his arms up the steps and no doubt toward the medical ward. She should just move her bed in there with how often she had found herself there lately.

“Like I haven’t heard…that threat before.” She mumbled as her arm came around her middle again in response to the new pain from her talking. She had to have the last word in things even if it caused her pain to do so. “You’re enjoying this far more than I am.” She hissed as the door to the infirmary was nudged open and she was being laid out on a bed once more. Only this time Hodge was waiting for them, seemingly have known what her antics were going to lead to. He was crossing the room quickly as he saw Audrina being gently laid out on the bed.

“I’ve got it from here.” He assured the young shadowhunter with a soft grip on his shoulder before taking to the girls side and starting to undo her coat. “Let it alone…” She whined in protest as she knew what was coming. A searing pain worse than the one she felt now in order to repair the breaks in her ribcage. She’d rather let them set on their own. “Relax, it’s not going to hurt that much.” He promised before he lifted the bottom of her tank and dropped the loose fabric over her chest. She inhaled sharply as her abdomen was exposed, the few runes etching out over her skin. Before she could say anything more, Hodge pressed his stele to her broken ribs and she felt a warmth spread before she began to feel sleepy, somehow adrift from pain. It wasn’t like when Alec did it, Hodge was gentle and worked slowly at healing. “She’ll sleep for a while. She’s not going to like it once she figures it out, but it’s best that she not be awake when they get back.” He explained to Eli before slowly withdrawing the golden stele and gently pulling the hem of her tank back down over her abdomen.

He turned fully to the shadowhunter once he was assured the blonde was fast asleep. "Now, I believe we should discuss your missing stele. Demons may not be able to use it, but considering that many will answer to Valentine, I think it in your best interest to have it retrieved before it falls into his hands. It may be of little use to him as far as shadowhunter uses for a stele go, but I cannot imagine what he could do with it, do to you rather, once he gained hold over it." The elder pressed, a part of him fearing the rogue had already gotten his hands on it. If he figured out it belonged to a shadowhunter currently residing at the Institute where his daughter was, who held the cup in her possession, it could be disasterous. Clary was adept even in her naivety with their world, but she could not defend herself against Valentine if he struck her alone. He would not make the mistake of challenging her with other shadowhunters around, especially ones that cared about her.

*

The sun was beginning to set when Audrina finally awoke from the sleep inducing charm Hodge had put on her while healing her. She was groggy and couldn't quite figure out where she was at first, but after trying to sit up and feeling her body ache, she remembered it all again. "Hodge." She hissed as she lay back to the bed and covered her face with her hands. He'd put her to sleep so subtly that she wasn't even aware of what had been happening to her. He was the best there ever was for a reason and he'd duped one over on her. She lay there for a few minutes more before she managed to swing her legs around and her bare feet touched the floor, her boots having been removed while she slept. She grabbed for them and slipped them on, thudding the heels on the floor as it seemed to take more effort than before. She was aching all over and knew she would for days. Even shadowhunters couldn't fall down a flight of stairs and not feel anything. She was lucky she hadn't broken her neck, or been bitten for that matter. She slowly stood up and leaned against the wall to fully steady herself before making sure she had her feet securely under her. Her hand slipped under the tank to feel wraps around her abdomen, an effort to keep the bones from offsetting she assumed. Unless she'd been more cut up than previously thought.

She left her jacket on the chair where it'd been set, it probably having been stripped off her when her ribs had been bound. It was an effort, but she managed to make it to the kitchen without falling and even got the teapot started with no accidents. She noted how quiet it was and figured everyone else was out, preparing for a demon hunt at the club. Apparently she was the only one not allowed to go hunting. But then again she was hunting vampires and she always bit off more than she could chew. As the kettle began to whistle she reached absently for it and missed the handle, somehow managing to graze her hand over the coils of the stove. "Fuck! You've got to be kidding me!" She howled as her hand drew back quickly and she ran it under cold water, already seeing a burn mark surfacing over the edge of her palm. She could only imagine what the evening would bring seeing how the day had gone so well for her.

[Serendipity]

“I’m sure you have,” Eli smirked as he walked off with her, surprisingly not resisting too much in his arms, down the corridor which led to the infirmary. He moved briskly but smoothly at the same time careful that his footsteps didn’t jolt her too much, she was already in enough pain and as much as she was a pain in his ass he wasn’t about to intentionally cause her more harm. He chuckled lightly as she pointed out that he was enjoying this a lot more then she was; it was true, he was enjoying this quite a bit. It’d been a while since he’d whisked a woman away in his arms, it was just a shame they were headed for the infirmary and not his bedroom. “Yep,” Eli nodded and flashed a quick grin down at her.

He almost laughed aloud at the idea; she’d stake him through the heart without any hesitation if she even had the slightest inkling that was what he wanted to do with her, he was sure. Luckily he had quite a good poker face and kept it expressionless even as more ideas came to mind, only suitable for adult ears and a willing participant of course which Audrina wasn’t; but it wasn’t a crime to fantasize of such things, though they were things he’d keep to himself.

He nudged the door to the infirmary open with his shoulder and walked them both through; he didn’t notice Hodge at first as he moved over to one of the empty beds and carefully lowered her onto it. It was only the older shadowhunter approached as he lowered her down. If it had been anyone else gripping his shoulder informing him they’d take over he’d have shrugged them off. But it was Hodge, the head of the Institute where he was taking refuge in at the moment. That and the fact that he no longer had his stele with him to do anything about healing her so he moved out of the man’s way, but not far as Hodge undid her coat.

He watched in silence, arms crossed over his chest, as Hodge worked his magic and quirk a brow as Audrina began drifting off to sleep. He supposed it was a good thing, even shadowhunters couldn’t offer an instant heal, it would take time and still hold some discomfort for the next few days. Plus she was likely to jump out of bed straight away and go in search of another vampire lair if the worst of the pain had subsided thanks to Hodge’s healing. Eli nodded his agreement and unfolded his arms about to leave Audrina to sleep when Hodge turned fully to him and spoke again.

“Your right,” He sighed though he was reluctant to go off on another hunt so soon, but he was lost without his stele in more ways than he’d first thought he would be. At the mention of Valentine, Eli lifted his gaze to Hodge’s and tensed. It was a name he knew, every shadowhunter knew who Valentine was, but he’d never been Eli’s concern. His biggest priority was finding out what had happened to his brother. He couldn’t do that efficiently without his stele and it was time to recover it before the worst happened without it. “Time to hunt some demons then,” He nodded.

--x—x—

They left before sunset, Audrina still sleeping soundly in the hospital bed they’d left her in; Jace, Isabelle, a reluctant Alec and Clary much to Jace’s protest. There was deffinetly something going on there; Jace’s protectiveness towards the red head was unmistakable. Though it wasn’t something Eli was about to bring up amongst the rest of the group, perhaps he might ask Jace about it later. The boy was starting to grow on him. Alec, however, was a different story. Eli wondered if he got along with anyone other than his sister and Jace, did he have any other friends. Probably not, he doubted anyone could stand to be around him.

Alec was not too happy about going out again, and even more displeased that this time they were heading out to retrieve Eli’s stele and that he had to help a perfect stranger. Eli was reluctant to tell them why Hodge was sending them out again to track down some demons, but he figured they should know, he wasn’t about to deceive them, they ought to know the truth.

But telling them meant Alec and even Jace teased him for his stupidity at losing it. It hadn’t been stupidity just bad luck, but he kept his jaw clenched tight throughout their badgering.

--x—x—

Eli returned to the institute along with the others all unscathed but in the foulest of moods, it hadn’t been a pleasant experience to put up with Alec’s constant protests about helping him do anything and scorn for risking their lives for him. Isabelle hadn’t been very pleasant either, but he suspected she was just taking her frustrations out on him because Audrina wasn’t there.

The moment they returned to the institute, Eli with his stele back felt a little more like himself again, he stalked off to his room without even a thanks to any of them for helping him get it back. Alec had made it quite clear, calling after him as he walked away, that now he had his stele back he should pack his bags and leave, he had no reason to be here any longer. Eli didn’t have any bags to pack, only the clothes on his back. He shoved his way through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Scruffing his hair a little angrily he paced the room back and forth several times, pondering whether to just leave and go back to moving from motel to motel whilst he searched for any leads on his brother. A light knock sounded on his door, for a moment he thought about not answering it, but if it was Alec coming to make sure he was leaving he had a few words to say to the shadowhunter before he did.

“What?” He demanded angrily as he flung the door open a closed fist ready at his side because he’d sure like hit something at the moment. Eli blinked in surprise when he found Jace standing on the other side. He lifted his hands up waving them in front of him as he saw the look on Eli’s face. “Whoa, it’s just me.” He chuckled, finding the situation a little amusing. “Don’t let him run you out, you have just as much right to be here.” Jace said and Eli knew he was talking about Alec.

“Alec…Alec is just Alec,” He shrugged as though that explained everything. Eli unclenched his fist and sighed, leaning into the door as he held it open and shook his head. “Alec is an uptight asshole who thinks he’s king of this place,” Eli said, he supposed what frustrated him most about Alec was the fact that Eli was older than him and he didn’t like being told what to do at the best of times but by a teenager. “And you all let him think it too!” He snapped, although it wasn’t like he had any right to ‘rule the roost’ either, it was just frustrating that was all.

“I’m not here to argue with you about Alec. I just wanted to let you know if you want to stay I wouldn’t mind having someone else around here to talk too. Sleep on it,” Jace offered and with a quick smirk he turned on his heels and walked off leaving Eli to think over what he’d said.

--x—x—

Eli had showered and refreshed after first killing vampires earlier that day and then demons only an hour ago, he felt better but he was still a little pissed at Alec. Mostly he was now just hungry and headed for the kitchen, once again he was barefoot, but this time only wore his jeans. He was taking Jace’s advice and had decided that he’d sleep on his decision to leave overnight. Staying in the Institute would certainly make things easier for him in finding his brother, he would have all the resources he needed and that was definitely a plus.

When he reached the kitchen he paused in the door way, Audrina was there, for some reason he’d thought she’d still be sleeping. Eli sighed heavily and stepped into the room, after everything he’d copped from Alec he didn’t need crap from her either. But his stomach growled, reminding him he needed to eat. Ignoring her, he marched over to the fridge and opened it, hoping there’d be something premade he could chow down on. “Damn,” He cursed, the fridge was pretty much bare and he stepped back before shutting it. “Have you eaten?” He asked Audrina as he turned towards her, no longer ignoring her.

He wasn’t sure how knowing if she had eaten would help him in his hungry state but he’d asked it anyway.

[Yunalesca]

As the cool water ran over her burned hand she heard the door swing open to the kitchen, bringing her grey eyes up to see Eli step in and seemingly pause at the sight of her. He quickly recovered and made straight for the refrigerator without even making an acknowledgement to her, which was fine by her. She wasn't a socialite and hoped he didn't expect the momentary weakness from earlier continue to play out and make her warm up to him. She was still feeling guilty, Alec's voice and words having hit a chord, but she wasn't about to change who she was because of it. She didn't embrace many things, and change certainly wasn't something she was going to start getting cuddly with. As she heard him curse at the sight of the empty fridge, she rolled her eyes and turned the water off, turning to grab a towel and pat dry her throbbing hand before pouring her tea. Almost as an afterthought, she filled another mug and slid it across the counter toward him after shaking her hand in hopes of stopping the throbbing. "I don't think since yesterday." She responded simply as though it were the most natural thing in the world before grabbing her mug of black tea and sipping, eyes following him as she peered just over the rim.

"An empty fridge isn't all that surprising. Nobody knows how to cook around here besides Clary and myself, and she's been gone. And let's face it, I'm not entirely the offering type." She half whispered as she slid past him and moved to open one of the top cupboards across from him, rising up on her toes to reach something. Seasonings and various base products began to line the counter as she silently began pulling them down without a word to Eli. As the counter lined up with enough items to create a dozen different things, she began pulling out cooking and mixing implements. "Lucky for all you little bastards, I can't do much else right now. Pull the chicken out of the back." She ordered, gesturing to the fridge as she began dropping ingredients into mixing bowls, forsaking measuring cups and spoons for memory. Cooking was one of her talents, and the others had been made well aware of that. Luckily, they'd learned to never ask her outright to make something. The last time they had she had let Isabelle do it and watched them gag. It was a lesson they had learned quickly. Don't ask and you might receive, when she was in the mood.

"I'll need the eggs as well." She said simply as she began mixing a batter and flour found itself powdered over her hands while she whisked the contents to the consistency she wanted. She was aware of how easy she made things look, but as Isabelle had found, it was anything but. She recalled most recipes from memory and knew how to properly balance the ingredients, all of it something a book could never teach you. The brunette shadowhunter was never meant to cook and Audrina had rudely stated so on several occasions. She slipped past Eli with a dancers grace and turned on the oven to the preferred temperature and started a skillet of olive oil before reaching in the fridge beside him and pulling free the parsley, lemons, and white wine. That was one thing she managed to keep well stocked in the fridge and they had also learned to not mess with her wine stockpile. There were days it was all that could calm her down and she had a habit of etching runes on the bottom of the bottles that would make it sour when it opened. Some would consider it a waste of perfectly good wine, but the look on their faces when they drank the bad wine was priceless.

She unwrapped the casing around the top of the bottle before jabbing a corkscrew into the top and pulling free the cork. She sniffed at the wine, contemplating the maturity before taking a swig straight from the bottle and rolling the liquid around in her mouth. Deciding it was the acidity she needed, she began mixing it in another bowl with spices before setting it aside. She managed to forget Eli was there, likely watching her, as she opened the chicken package and began coating it in the seasoned batter. Cooking had become an escape for her over the years, when she decided to actually take part in the act. The moment she was done coating the chicken she slipped it into the skillet and let it begin to fry in the oil before washing her hands and turning to the second half of what she was to prepare, the more difficult portion of the meal. "Have you ever had traditional french cuisine, Eli?" She asked, sounding a bit more jovial than she had previously toward him. Cooking made her happy and it even managed to slip through her brick wall and change her demeanor. It wasn't something permanent, but she let it take over for the moment.

She bent at the waist and slipped her hand into a lower cupboard to pull free several ramekins and lightly greased around the insides with butter before turning to her souffle mixture. She was a lemon kind of girl and it was apparent in the fact she was preparing chicken francaise and lemon souffle's. She knew there would be an amount of surprise going around the table when they saw she had prepared something for them, but she did enjoy keeping them guessing. She often compared herself to a cat, she wanted affection and was nice when she wanted, every other time she was looking to scratch out your eyes and piss in your shoes. Not literally, but that was the demeanor that was in agreeance amongst the others.

"Flip those in the pan, gently, or your going to get one hell of an oil burn on your..." She paused as she looked at him, fully realizing that he was indeed shirtless. Her cheeks started to turn pink whether in annoyance or the fact she was in a kitchen with him alone, with his shirt off, she wasn't quite sure and would let him guess at it as well. "Don't you own a godamn shirt? Get one from Jace, christ." She said gruffly before forcibly turning her eyes away from him, his runes and their placement etched into her mind. She took a breath as she found herself being a little distracted with how his body had appeared. She'd seen the other men without their shirts on before, Jace did it to irritate her and Alec merely did it on accident, but that hadn't been distracting like seeing Eli was. She wasn't about to admit she'd been checking him out, because let's be real, she had been for a second there. She prayed he missed it as she took another breath and turned her attention to her souffle batter. "This better set right..." She whispered to herself in irritation as she delicately spooned the fluffy batter into the ramekins and prayed they would foam up and sit neatly like they always had before. Her cheeks continued to beat pink as she moved the tray of ramekins toward the oven and had to stand closely to Eli. Her cheeks flushed more scarlet as she pulled the oven door down in frustration and managed to gently slide the desserts inside, quickly stepping away from him and turning to the sink, back to him, to wash her hands and cool her thoughts.

[Serendipity]

Eli narrowed his eyes on her hands a little as she finished rinsing them off and patted them dry, he thought he saw a section of too pink skin where a burn might have been but didn’t point it out or ask her about it. It could have been anything; he wasn’t a hundred per cent certain it was a burn. His brow rose slightly as she filled up her cup with tea and then another cup, sliding it across the bench towards him where he was now resting his hip. “Thanks,” Eli nodded to the tea as he picked it up and bought it to his lips, he wasn’t a big tea drinker but he wasn’t about to tell her he didn’t want it, there was something different in her demeanour at the moment that he didn’t want to mess with.

He frowned as she mentioned that nobody apart from Clary and herself knew how to cook, and that she wasn’t much of the offering type. Yeah he’d gathered that already. “I’m surprised no one’s starved to death yet,” He commented lightly and shifted slightly as Audrina moved past him to reach up to the cupboard above, and watched as she began to take different ingredients from it. Was she going to cook? He didn’t ask in case she would change her mind, she’d already said she wasn’t much of the offering kind and if he sounded as though he expected that she was going to cook for all of them she’d probably get knickers in a knot again. Her knickers, hmm…Eli tilted his head a little to look at her as he wondered about what she was wearing beneath her clothes, lace or cotton?
The way she stood on her toes in order to reach the items above gave him a tantalizing view of the slim line of her body, her tank raising just a little to offer a hint of creamy flesh, and didn’t help his wayward thoughts. Eli had to take a quick sip of his tea to stop himself from saying something like ‘nice ass’ which would then make her aware that he’d been looking and change her mood completely and he was quite enjoying this side of her.

It was the first time since he’d met her that she seemed calmer somehow, she might not be happy and smiling but she wasn’t cursing the high heavens out of him or any of the others. He put his tea down as she asked him to get the chicken out of the fridge and grinned; now he was certain she was going to cook. He opened the fridge and ducked his head inside searching for the chicken, ‘Ahuh” He murmured to himself when he spotted it and pulled it out, and then the eggs at the last minute as she added them to the list of things she wanted him to get out for her. He handed it to Audrina and went back to leaning his hip against the counter as she began mixing certain ingredients into a bowl, he peered into one of the bowls she was mixing and it looked like she’d made a batter.

His blue eyes followed her as she slipped past him, slightly amused with the effortlessness it seemed she had when it came to cooking. He knew how to cook the basics, nothing fancy and it had gotten him through, but he’d never had the patience to stand there and chop herbs or vegetables. Audrina was comfortable in the kitchen, whether she knew it or even wanted to admit it to herself, she was. He had no idea what she was cooking but was happy to just watch and sip his tea as she did her thing, standing by to help her out when she asked for it. “So you’re a white wine girl?” He couldn’t help but ask as she pulled the bottle from the fridge along with a few other bits and pieces, but didn’t care if she didn’t answer him.

“Can’t say I have, I’m more of a steak and chips kinda guy.” He shook his head lightly and smiled at the almost pleasant tone to her voice. “But I’ll give anything a try,” He added and folded his arms across his chest as she began frying off the chicken. It instantly good and his stomach growled a little, after watching her preparing everything he was looking forward to tasting it, his mouth almost watered at the thought. Audrina hadn’t asked him to, but Eli stepped over to the skillet as she moved away from the stove to start preparing something else. He didn’t want it to burn, not that he thought she would let it, but he knew how to flip chicken in a pan enough not to ruin it.

He was about to start turning the pieces of chicken over just as Audrina warned him to flip them over gently so he didn’t burn himself, and raised a brow as she trailed off. He’d noticed the way that she’d glance at him every now and then, sometimes not even aware that she was doing it. Jace had said she didn’t enjoy seeing shirtless men walking around, but so far it hadn’t seemed to bother her. Something he made a mental note of in his mind for later reference. Eli chuckled as she asked if he owned a shirt a little grumpily and simply shrugged as he flipped the chicken over in the pan. He glanced over to her and once again caught her looking at him, she turned away the moment he looked at her obviously embarrassed with herself for looking.

“I borrowed one from Jace earlier, it was too tight. Now it’s a bit torn like my last one.” He replied, biting his tongue from saying something about her checking him out. She hadn’t finished cooking yet after all, and was only just putting desert in the oven. The air tensed around them as she stood close to him, his fizzled pleasantly, but he could guess it wasn’t pleasant for her…or was it? He glanced sideways at her, her cheeks were pretty flushed. He smirked to himself and flipped the chicken over again.

It seemed that the others could smell something cooking and right on cue one after the other they piled into the kitchen. Isabelle removed plates from the cupboards and placed them around the table; Jace pulled the cutlery draw open near Eli’s other side and took out knives, forks and spoons. They did so without saying a word, although Jace had nodded towards him when he’d seen him by the stove and a grin had spread at the sight of him without a shirt. “I think these are done,” Eli mentioned to Audrina and flicked off the stove so they wouldn’t burn.

[Yunalesca]

She chose not to acknowledge the others as they came in and went to setting the table, another rare occurrence to even get them around together. There’d been more than enough tension since Clary’s arrival and Audrina’s return, adding Elijah probably didn’t help and sitting together over a meal almost felt awkward. The blonde didn’t care one way, they should be grateful enough she felt the need to even cook. She turned back as Eli commented on the chicken being done. Instantly she was pulling out the tinfoil and wrapping the chicken pieces together in it to let them sit as the leftover stock went into a new pan and she started the juice that would soak into the chicken to add flavor. She whisked at the thickening gravy-like substance furiously to keep it from setting improperly. Once it had reached its consistency, she pulled the chicken back out from the foil and let it sit in the juice before she extended her hand for a plate. One came silently to her and she started dishing the pieces out and poured the lemony gravy over each as she did so. “Why don’t you go find a shirt while I’m doing this.” She said flatly which earned a quiet chuckle from behind her. She would’ve shot Jace a glare, but she didn’t even feel the need to acknowledge him at the moment. She was flustered with having noticed Elijah’s bare chest and how she could still remember where his runes were across his body.

“Do you need any help?” Isabelle offered and the blonde shot her a look, stomping down the offer where it stood. She was aware of how pink her cheeks still were and didn’t want to open up a discussion about it. She passed off the last piece of chicken and turned her back to the brunette shadowhunter again to peek through the glass at the soufflé’s. It took time for them to rise, but she needed a distraction and to appear like she was busy. The silence of the kitchen didn’t last long as she turned around and noticed Jace watching her with nothing short of amusement across his face. “I’ve never seen you so hot and bothered by someone shirtless before. I’m almost offended.” He said and her expression turned dark. “I’m –hot- and bothered, just bothered. Go give him a new shirt before I throw out your share.” She threatened, turning away and grabbing for the wine bottle. If he kept it up he was going to drive her mad and she’d be tempted to go out again. Remembering what Alec said to her before made her not want to think of doing it again. Instead she poured herself a glass of the dry white and drank nearly half of it in one gulp.

After finishing the first glass, she poured another and exited the kitchen to take a seat at the table, her chair conveniently across from Alec. She felt his eyes roaming over her briefly as she sat, seemingly assessing whether or not she’d managed to get herself in more trouble while they were out, something she was still unaware of. She bit the inside of her lip as she felt like there was something that should be said between them, but neither of them were quite so willing to come out with anything. Stubborn to the end was an understatement. Others had noticed how similar their attitudes could be, but it was lost on them both. They would never admit to being alike at the best of times, and there were no ‘best of times’ between them as of late.

“I’ve never seen chicken done like this before…” Clary offered to break the silence as both Alec and Audrina sat back in their chairs to provide distance between them, seemingly. “It’s French, chicken francaise. Souffle’s are in the oven.” She responded simply, dropping the thought of a lengthy discussion where it was. Considering almost half the table was not made up of talkative people, it stayed quiet until Jace and Elijah returned after Audrina had more or less demanded the new shadowhunter be dressed.

[Serendipity]

Eli stepped away from the stove as Audrina came over to grab the chicken pieces out wrapping them in tin foil. He moved over to where Jace stood just as Audrina made yet another comment about him being shirtless. She wanted him to go find something to put on; he now knew for sure it was bothering her. He sighed with some annoyance, but there was a smirk on his face when he looked at Jace and winked at the boy. She was keeping herself busy with preparing the food, and he wondered if it was no on purpose to keep her mind off of something else.

He held in his laughter as Jace spoke, pointing out that she looked flustered and feigned ignorance, as though he had no idea why she was so bothered, but deep down he had his suspicions. She just didn’t to admit that his body was distracting her, and now he knew that it was he’d most likely use it against her in the future. “Come on,” Eli gestured for Jace to leave the kitchen with him. The two of them walked out of the kitchen leaving Audrina to deal with finishing off what she was doing. As soon as they were out of ear shot and well on their way to Jace’s room, Eli threw his head back and laughed so hard his ribs hurt. Jace looked at him a little strangely, but there was a grin on his lips.

“I’ve never seen a woman so bothered by my lack of shirt before; I’m surprised she could even function properly.” Eli chuckled some more; clearly he thought the whole thing was hilarious rather than affronting. He stopped them before they could walk past his room, “No offense, but I barely fit into that over shirt I borrowed. Wait here,” He grinned and walked into his room. He found his jacket hanging on the back of a chair; he’d cleaned it off of ash earlier and shrugged it over his arms. But he didn’t zip it up as he exited the room and he saw Jace merely shake his head. “This is as good as she’s gonna get. But I should go out tomorrow and get some more clothes; I can’t keep borrowing everyone else’s”

“You’re a braver man then I,” Jace snickered and nodded towards Eli’s open jacket which really didn’t serve much purpose at all. Eli shrugged and they made their way back into the kitchen, and then into the dining room where everyone was now sitting around the table. There were two empty seats side by side next to Alec, Audrina and the girls on the opposite side, where Jace and Eli were meant to sit. Eli sauntered into the room and took a seat one spot over from Alec, he was still annoyed with the boy and wasn’t about to sit next to him. “Smells delicious,” Eli indicated to the food, but his eyes were locked on Audrina’s shocked expression as he’d reappeared no better than as he’d left, and there was an almost wicked gleam in his eye.

“I couldn’t cover up too much; I know how you like checking me out.” He smirked and lifted up a finger to forestall her retort. “Don’t deny it, and don’t blame the wine for your flushed cheeks Audrina. I’m sexy and you know it,” Eli’s words were blatant that was for sure and there was a touch of humour in them but mostly he was being serious. It probably wasn’t the best subject to bring up at the dinner table, and in front of everyone, but Eli had never shied from speaking his mind.

He thought he heard someone choking on their food at the other end of the table, but his gaze hadn’t strayed from the blonde shadowhunter across from him as he waited for her reaction, good or bad, he suspected bad but hoped for the other.

[Yunalesca]

Audrina brought her eyes away from Alec long enough to see Eli had indeed dressed his torso, but still managed to leave it nearly as bare as before. If her jaw hadn't been so tensed from the flit of anger flowing through her it probably would have dropped at the audacity of what he said, and was doing. It was purposeful and it irked her to no end. "I don't...." She sighed harshly before grabbing for her wine and drinking a good portion to keep herself from saying more. She didn't know what was worse, actually denying it or staying silent. He was going to think what he wanted and it always seemed to come to the conclusion that she did check him out. Alec had begun eating the moment the duo reached the table and nearly choked on his meal at Eli's incessant pestering of her.

Her eyes found Eli's in that moment, afraid to even look at anyone else at the table that looked either inquisitive or downright shocked at the play that was going on before them. "I would never say such a thing to someone like you. You're not my type." She tried to defend, the words sounding lame even to her own ears. She could see the amused smile coming over Jace's face already at the show they were getting at her expense. "We'd all become pretty sure you were actually asexual." Came from across her and she stared at Alec in some part shock and some other part anger. She was aware of how the shadowhunter felt about her, but she had never imagined him actually taking part in any sort of game even at her own expense. "I need to check on the souffle's." She stated simply before getting up and making her exit, having not even touched her food yet.

Once she'd made it to the kitchen she pressed her back up against the door and closed her eyes. "This is not happening." She whispered before stepping away and stopping before the oven. She crouched down and peered through the glass to see the souffle's beginning to muffin top, indicating they were done. She had hoped that they would need more time so she could stay hidden until she regained her composure and could actually return to eat her meal without being picked apart by, apparently, every testosterone driven member at the table. She had yet to hear anything from Isabelle or Clary, but felt they may be just as surprised as she was. It took the heat off Clary and she would probably try to keep it that way. Not that Audrina generally cared about such things, but she had taken note of how she'd been trying to avoid Jace, probably wanting to skirt the issue of the obvious sexual tension even after Valentine had proclaimed them siblings. The blonde couldn't even imagine what that was like and didn't want to. She already had too many of her own problems to worry about.

Sighing, she donned an oven mit and pulled out the tray of souffles and let them sit on the oven coils to cool momentarily. They were perfect and she somehow didn't find herself as satisfied by this as she usually would. Truth was she didn't want to take the desserts out to the table and make her return. She was so obviously flustered with Eli's appearance and there was no way for her to take it back. He was going to press the issue even as she found herself retreating back into herself. She was going to turn snappy on them because of it which generally led to tempers flaring and innapropriate jabs she may later want to take back. She was beginning to feel some sort of conscience when it came to the shadowhunters of the Institute and she didn't like it. She preferred to just be the crass, unapproachable girl that was temporarily staying until her job was done. They were growing on her and it was almost frightening. Distance was her only friend and it was becoming a fleeting thing.

Upon realizing she couldn't hide forever she sighed at herself and picked up the tray to bring the dessert out to the others and possibly even start her own meal. If it came down to it she would retreat to her room, even though it was admitting some sort of defeat. She had a feeling she was going to be taking her frustrations out on the training equipment this evening since she was sure Hodge had put a close eye on her so she wouldn't leave. Not to mention Alec. He'd said he was through with watching over her, because really that was what had been happening, but she knew he would be in her way the moment she thought of leaving. He knew the others were going to come after her if she left and he would have to go since he never let Jace go anywhere without him. Now that triangle made her life seem almost simple. "Unfortunately, I didn't burn them." She said as she came back to the table and laid the souffle's in the center of the table. She was apprehensive to take her seat back, but now that food was before her she had found her appetite once more. A day without food was generally nothing for her, she survived on adrenaline alone half the time, but the amount of beatings and healings she had gone through in two days was getting to her.

[Serendipity]

He was expecting her to snap some sort of threat at him; instead she seemed to surprised by his brazen words to muster much more than a couple of words and didn’t finish her sentence. Apparently he’d left her speechless along with the rest of the table, there was a tense silence and all eyes were on Audrina waiting for her to snap, maybe throw her knife at him. It was a bit of a disappointment really, that he hadn’t gotten the reaction he’d assumed he would. He sat back in his seat a little too smugly and continued to smirk across at her, still daring her to deny it at least not straight away, she had gulp down more wine first.

Her reply was a rather lame one, and he suspected it sounded as much even to her own ears and he only grinned more as several different things to say to her came to mind. But Alec beat him to it, and anything he was going to say was clean forgotten as the brunette shadowhunter announced everyone thought she was asexual. He wasn’t sure what was worse, he’s cockiness over pointing out he’d seen her checking him out or the other boys comment. Eli stared at the boy as did the rest of the table, his smirk turning to a frown and through his lashes he glanced over at Audrina. Shit. He hadn’t meant his light teasing to open up such a can of worms. He was just waiting for her to leap over the table and strangle the both of them.

But she didn’t. Instead she excused herself from the table to go and check on dessert her food left untouched, although the bottle of wine was almost empty. He went to get up and go after her, suddenly concerned that perhaps what he’d said wouldn’t have just been taken as light banter. But Jace’s hand came out and grabbed his arm pushing him back down onto his seat. Eli sighed sat back down, throwing a glare at the brunette. “Asexual?” He said disappointedly to the boy and shook his head but didn’t comment further and instead turned back to eat.

Now he just felt like a complete asshole, instead of getting a kick out of making Audrina blush further and wished he hadn’t said anything. The rest of them ate in silence as they waited for Audrina to come back into the room, Eli didn’t think she would, but after five minutes she returned and they’d all almost finished what was on their plates. “Shame, I was looking forward to burnt soufflé for dessert,” Jace said and Eli suspected it was an attempt to lighten the mood around the table.

“More wine?” Eli offered Audrina, he had stood up and reached over to pick up the bottle, and poured more of the contents into her glass not waiting for her response. He wasn’t a wine drinker so he didn’t pour himself any as he sat the bottle back down. He didn’t offer any to the others, he might not have been told how old they all were, but he knew they were younger. When he sat back down he realised he still had his jacket open, and because she’d already been taunted enough he zipped it up

[Yunalesca]

Dinner had been unpleasant for Audrina even though the conversation had subsequently strayed from her and to slaying demons. She quickly learned that's where everyone had been earlier while she was knocked out under Hodge's spell. She found herself mildly surprised Alec had even allowed Clary and Eli to come along, but again, where Jace went the brunette shadowhunter followed. Oddly enough she had begun to see how capable Clary exactly was in combat once she got over her fears, and her ability to draw runes at will was impeccable. Audrina would have been jealous if she cared about that sort of thing. She shied away from runes even though they only helped shadowhunters along the way. She didn't want to become like Jace, most of his chest covered in the runes, or Isabelle even who possessed less than her blonde brethren. Even Eli was imprinted with several and she felt as though Alec judged her on this occasionally. She wouldn't embrace who she was and the shadowhunter felt her more of a liability because of it. She acted as though she were afraid of runes when they were an essential part of being a successful demon slayer and protector of human kind.

She had excused herself from the table without further conflict, catching Jace give a warning look to someone who apparently wanted to follow her. Even though she was an ass to all of them, she found she could always rely on Jace to keep the others at bay, defending her at times even. She didn't deserve it, but he still granted it to her almost from the beginning. She didn't know if he trusted her, she wouldn't if she were any of them, but he seemed to understand her on some level and chose to side with her because of it. Maybe he saw something in her the others didn't, or maybe Hodge was just putting him up to it. She was aware that there was some sort of plan for her from the old shadowhunter. He wouldn't just keep her at the Institute to break their every law on downworlders and risk the lives of his family-esque shadowhunters in coming after her. No, he'd had a plan for her from the start and was just waiting for her to get past the funk that had been her life for almost ten years. He'd be waiting a long time. When she finally found what she was looking for she had no doubts she probably wouldn't come out alive.

*

I'm afraid she'll come back, Dree.
She won't come back Aurelie. If she does, I'll protect you.
Don't leave like dad...
Dad didn't leave, Rel, he died to protect us.
Because shadowhunters die protecting what they believe in.
...Yeah.

Audrina's eyes opened as she heard a knock coming at her door in the other room, the pound loud enough for her to hear it over the showers spray that had washed away the vampire dust some time ago, but she'd stayed in the heat as memories resurfaced as they had been doing more often lately. They always revolved around her sister, the most painful thing her memory could recall and she could feel her chest tighten every time she heard her sisters sweet voice. The insistent knock came again and she sighed, shutting down the shower and wrapping a towel around herself. It came a third time and she felt she wouldn't have time to dress before the door would come down. It was either very important or someone was very impatient. "What." She said flatly as she stood in her door in a towel with her hair dripping over her shoulders. Alec stood a little straighter at her appearance and the fact he wasn't even remotely phased at her near nakedness proved which sex he really preferred to her. It'd never been much of a question, but she'd been a little curious as to whether he was full blown or just half. Again, not something that bothered her or she was even sure why she was curious about it.

"I...I'm sorry about what I said...at dinner." He said as though it were the hardest thing in the world, and coming from him, it probably was. She stood a little taller and looked at him with a mildly confused expression. An apology from the shadowhunter was something she had -never- heard and neither had anyone else as far as she could recall. Reading her expression he sighed and looked up as though it'd ease his discomfort. "I didn't realize you had...feelings that could be hurt. You've always been such an...ass." He struggled through his apology and she was taken aback.

"Jace put you up to this?" She asked, knowing he was the only one Alec would even remotely listen to. Instantly the shadowhunter stiffened at her assumption.

"No. This is all me. You've always had skin made of...iron, and I didn't think anything could bother you." He pressed on and she lowered her gaze slightly as she took to leaning against the door, one hand still clutching the towel closed. "Just be...careful. Your skin is starting to show and it's a dangerous thing to have out in the open." He ended before turning away. He paused as though he were to say more, but continued to walk away after the brief stop, apparently choosing otherwise. She stared after him momentarily, his retreating form taking on its strength again now that the awkward apology was over. He was seeing her turning soft is what he was saying and he was...concerned about it? It left her more confused than before as she slowly closed her door and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. Maybe he was afraid he was starting to show as well? It wasn't an obvious answer and she didn't know exactly how to take it. She brushed it aside for the time being and pulled her stele closer from the pillow she'd set it on. Feeling self conscious for some reason, she pulled on a strapless bra and boyshorts before turning back to what she needed to do. Her abdomen expanded and contracted a little faster as she thought over where to put the fortitude rune. The right side of her abdomen would work as it still could be covered easily when she was at the club. She tossed her head back for a moment and took a breath to cool her thoughts before looking back down and pressing the stele into her skin. Her left hand gripped at the bed spread as her abdomen contracted, trying to escape as a rune began to burn into her skin. The pain seared through her head, her lack of practice with burning runes into her skin not having made that block in her mind yet.

[Serendipity]

“I need to borrow a shirt…and maybe some new pants,” Eli said and looked down at his dirtied black jeans and scrunching his nose at the sight of them, there was even a tear in the knee of them which he hadn’t noticed until now. He looked back up at Jace, they were still in the dining room even though everyone else had left. They’d been discussing various tactics that they’d used over the years to hunt and kill demons, although Eli felt that they were skirting around what they both really wanted to talk about – what Jace really wanted to talk about. He knew the boy was itching to find out why he was in Manhattan when he’d mentioned apart from living in Idris for a stint he’d taken up residence in London.

Eli had gotten to his feet after discussing demons for the past half an hour had slowly become boring and Jace had stood too. Jace looked him over thoughtfully and shook his head, “The shirt I gave you before was the biggest I had…Alec on the other hand…” Jace grinned and gestured for Eli to follow him. At this point Eli didn’t mind whose clothes he wore, he’d raid Hodge’s wardrobe if he had too, although tweed suits weren’t very appealing to him.

Eli followed the blonde shadowhunter until they came to a stop outside Alec’s bedroom, Jace indicated for him to stay out of view in case Alec was in there; it was his bedroom after all. Jace knocked once and waited thirty seconds before he knocked again just in case, when there was no answer he pushed the door open and gestured for Eli to follow him inside. Jace pointed to the wardrobe but stayed by the door as lookout. For some reason Eli got a thrill out of rustling through Alec’s wardrobe in search of something to wear, it would probably infuriate the other shadowhunter if he saw him wearing something of his, but Eli didn’t care.

He found a pair of leather pants that looked like they could fit him at the back of the wardrobe, they also looked they had never been worn yet, and a plain t-shirt. As an afterthought he snatched a large buckled belt from a hanger and closed the wardrobe. He and Jace left the other shadowhunters room as though they hadn’t even stepped foot inside. Eli had the clothes tucked under his arm, mostly hidden. “I thought you two were friends?” Eli found himself asking as they made their way down the corridor.

“We are.” Jace answered simply, though it left Eli wondering how close they actually were. He’d assumed they were pretty close, perhaps Alec had pissed Jace off recently over something and that’s why he’d helped Eli sneak into Alec’s room to borrow some clothes.

--

Eli changed into his newly borrowed leather pants, they fit him pretty well as did the plain black t-shirt. He buckled the belt he’d also borrowed and then turned to grab his jacket off the bed and shrugged it on. Where he was going exactly he wasn’t sure, the trail had gone cold for his brother now and he’d have to find new leads. The best places to do that were nightclubs, there were bound to be downworlders there and surely at least one of them might know something.

He felt a slight pang of guilt as he thought about his brother, with everything that had happened, and admittedly being distracted by a certain blonde shadowhunter he had almost forgotten his brother and why he was really here in Manhattan. Eli had to find him; he couldn’t go home without either a body to bury or his brother alive and kicking. Eli opened the wardrobe, pushing some of the guilt he felt aside for the moment, and looked at himself in the mirror. A slow grin spread over his lips in approval and just to add an extra touch, he sunk his fingers into his hair and scruffed it up a bit, to complete the rugged look.

He had no idea how he was going to get back in the institute once he’d left it, he hadn’t been given permission to come and go as he pleased, but he decided he’d worry about that later. If he bumped into Jace on the way out he’d ask him about it. Eli left his room and made his way down the corridor. His thoughts turned to Audrina as he came closer to her room, after the appalling table talk at dinner he wondered if she was alright. She was tough he’d already figured that out, but what Alec had said seemed to have hit a nerve for her.

As though she knew he was thinking about her, the door to her room opened and Audrina stepped out. Eli’s footsteps faltered at the sight of her, for one he hadn’t been expecting her to show up, and second he’d noticed already what she was wearing. Did this woman own anything simple? He let out a low whistle from behind to let her know someone was there and grinned as she spun around. “Where are you off too dressed…like that?” He asked, eying her off as he always did. It didn’t matter what she wore it was like his eyes had a mind of their own, she could be wearing a potato sack and he’d still probably eye her off.

[Yunalesca]

Initially Audrina had considered staying in, sleeping off her aches and pains after she completed the new rune, but her body wouldn’t let her sleep. Shadowhunters were naturally nocturnal, those that preyed on humans were and so were those charged to protect the mundanes. She’d shuffled through her closet until she came across a little black and white dress she had worn only a few times, nothing that really was attractive to a vampire so it went to the back. Cinching up the corset alone was never an easy task, but luckily she was small enough that she didn’t have to pull the cords tight and just tying off the bottom was the hardest part. Her boots came on last and she examined herself in the mirror, fluffing at her hair as she tried to imagine what exactly she was going out for. She wasn’t a tease by any means, but stringing along a Mundie seemed the logical thing to do. She hardly ever needed to wear make-up, but she did so tonight in the form of a dramatic smoky eye intent on bringing in some human. She could do more damage to them than they could her so there was no fear in her of what they’d think when she parted ways at the end of the night.

Her stele slipped under her corset for easy reach and she cleverly hid a weapon or two in her boots in case things should go south. Downworlders haunted mundane clubs for prey and she didn’t want to get caught off guard. A demon would waste her in moments if she was armed with only a stele, given she didn’t possess the warding runes her brethren did. She was turned toward her door, backing out of her room when she heard a whistle down the hall. She stiffened instantly before turning and seeing Eli stopping up before her. “I don’t see why that’s any of your business. Out of my way.” She said, pulling her door closed tightly to add exclamation. She sidestepped him after giving him a dark look, trying not to notice how he appeared. Were she any other shadowhunter he may look rather appealing, but she wasn’t and wouldn’t dare mutter a compliment. She remembered what Alec said and was putting on her skin of armor plating again.

She sighed heavily and stopped as she heard boots padding up the hall behind her. Apparently he wasn’t about to follow her request and was instead following her. She could almost feel his eyes taking her appearance in from the back and instantly bristled. She didn’t know what was worse, his proclaiming her checking him out or him actually, blatantly, doing it to her. She spun on her heel and looked him hard in the eyes, seeing that humor and shameless look in their blue tone. He –had- been looking at her rear end, she’d recognize the look anywhere on anyone. “What?! The show good enough for you? What do you want?!” She hissed as her body language put off her discontent with him. She was getting a feeling he was about to ruin her evening plans, or what had been some semblance of plans.

“I’m not going –hunting- so you can shove off. I don’t need a babysitter tonight.” She added as the thought crossed her mind. She wouldn’t put it past one of the others to send a tail on her to keep her from getting into more trouble. But if that were the case, why choose him? He frustrated her the most and she couldn’t say he’d earned his way into their good graces just yet. As she glared sharply at him her eyes wandered for a few seconds down the front of him, noting what he was wearing, before quickly shooting back up as color was finding her cheeks again. What was going on with her? The last thing she needed was for him to see her looking him over. She didn’t like him a bit.

[Serendipity]

It had appeared that Audrina was dressed to go out somewhere, he doubted she’d wear something like that around here just for kicks. He also doubted that she was going out hunting demons or otherwise. His grin only widened as she spun on him and her smoky grey orbs hardened at the very sight of him, anyone else would be put off by such a thing, but Eli saw it only as a challenge. “I never said it was my business,” He dismissed the accusation easily and followed after her, lagging behind just a little on purpose. One it would annoy her, second he could enjoy the view that short dress provided.

And as if on cue she spun around and glared at him some more, Eli shrugged as though he had no idea what she meant by a good enough show, his feigned ignorance only lasted a few seconds before as usual he couldn’t help himself and opened his mouth. He pointed his fingers in the general area her behind would be if she’d still be turned away from him, “Average actually…but if you wiggled a little bit more…” He wiggled his finger with the word but trailed off with a smirk because she’d get where he going with it.

“Clearly,” He chuckled when she stated that he shouldn’t worry because she wasn’t going hunting. He frowned a moment later when she mentioned something about babysitting her. “I don’t want to babysit anyone, definitely not my thing,” He said and shook his head lightly. “It looks like your heading out somewhere; I was just on my way out too.” He explained and walked closer to her. “Since we’re both on our way out why not travel together?” He raised a slight brow as he suggested it.

He tried not to grin some more when he saw her eyes graze over his front and thought he saw colour come into her cheeks. He remembered how well it had gone down last time he’d pointed out that she was checking him out, and even though there was no one else around and it was just them, he thought he’d save her the embarrassment this time by not mentioning it. “What do you say?” He pushed gently, he had no idea where she was going, but suddenly didn’t care if it wasn’t the club he’d been thinking of going to.

[Yunalesca]

“You are still a little prig!” She nearly yelled at him after he suggested she move a little more for him. She wanted to sock him in the mouth for it, but managed to restrain herself. Last thing she wanted was to miss and him somehow having her back to the floor and pinning her there. She wouldn’t put it past him to do such a thing, he had after all suggested she wiggle her ass for him. Her jaw set in anger as she turned away from him again, not in the least interested in what he had to say anymore. She felt him step in stride beside her as she did so and all she could do was roll her eyes as she started down the steps to the front door.

“Let’s not.” She said flatly as she tried dismissing him from further discussion. He was persistent and pressed her once more, making her stop and look at him again. Her eyes set on him darkly as she felt he would be following her regardless of whether she allowed it or not. She sighed heavily in defeat. “Whatever. Just shut up and leave me alone.” She started forward but then turned back as something else occurred to her. “And I’m not bringing some broad back for you to shag. You’ll have to find some alley for that. Shouldn’t be hard for you. You were getting your ass kicked in one not long ago.” She reminded him before slipping out the front door and starting for her bike.

She paused as she stopped next to the bike, throwing a dark look at Eli as she imagined he was going to be watching every detail of her as she mounted the Ducati. “Be a gentleman for once in your damn life and look away.” She urged before lifting a leg over and pulling the bike off its stand, then nudging the metal piece up into the bike. “Alright, get on.” She ordered, sighing as she did so as she found she was once again being left in a position where they were going to be pressed extremely close. The mere thought of it made her color yet again, though she convinced herself it was out of anger and nothing else.

Even with her demands made of him she felt he was going to be nothing but trouble for her at the club. It was going to go one of two ways. He was going to end up all over some girl and want to bring her back with him to get his sexual frustrations out, or he was going to be trailing her around and ruining every shot she had at forgetting she was a shadowhunter for a few hours. Maybe she’d get lucky and it would happen both ways. He seemed capable of extremely ruining her evening, he had after all done so at dinner, why not continue doing so at the club? She rolled her eyes as she thought about it.

[Serendipity]

Eli had kept quiet as he waited for her response to his suggestion about going together to the club even behind her glare he could see her still thinking it over and that almost made him smile. If she really couldn’t stand him as she proclaimed why hadn’t she just told him to shove it and go off without him instead of standing there mulling it over under the guise of a dark stare? Although she could have done just that, he still probably wouldn’t have listened, he was stubborn like that. But he got this feeling, a small inkling, that secretly deep down she didn’t really dislike him.

Whether that was really true or not he didn’t know, but he’d persist until he found out for sure. Why he was bothering with her he wasn’t quite sure to be perfectly honest, sure he found her attractive, but there personalities clashed so much it might have been pointless for him to expect any relationship to come from it. And even then he wasn’t looking for a relationship…he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for.

Eli raised a brow and tried not to laugh in triumph as she gave in and gestured for him to follow her. He did, walking beside her and keeping instep as they made their way out the front entrance of the Institute. He almost looked offended when she stated she wasn’t going to bring some ‘broad’ back for him to shag and he’d have to let out some of his sexual frustration in an alley. “I’m sure I could find somewhere a little cleaner than an alley…and besides, three won’t fit on the back of that bike of yours,” He shrugged.

He rolled his eyes as she demanded that he turn around whilst she got on the bike, but he did as she asked and turned around giving her the privacy she needed to swing her leg up over it and get comfortable. He turned back around a few seconds later just as she announced he could get on and tried to keep his eyes averted from the way her skirt had risen up her thighs because of the way she was sitting on the bike. His blood ran hot in several places and he cleared his throat before straddling the back of the bike before she noticed and drove off without him.

He got on keeping his distance at first, his arms around her waist as she turned the engine over and they pulled away from the curb. Once they got going however, he scooted closer, his torso pressed right up against her back, his arms holding her more firmly. He even flattened his hands out over her stomach, feeling the warmth of her skin through the fabric. And just to make his presence behind her more known, he rested his chin on top of her shoulder, virtually hugging her on the bike, his nose brushing just beneath her ear. She smelled nice he observed silently to himself as they continued down the street towards which ever club took her fancy.

[Yunalesca]

She felt his weight on the bike and turned the engine over by the time his arms were almost tentatively wrapping around her middle. She appreciated the small amount of distance he provided between them as she pulled out from the side of the Institute and started down the street, engine revving as though she were trying to make their presence known before she hit a main street. It was in that time that she began to feel him shifting closer. At first she thought it was out of fear she was going to pull a high speed stunt like she had the first night they'd met, but over time she began to feel otherwise. She could feel her abdomen try to shrink from his hands as they splayed over her stomach, the touch foreign and far too intimate for her. When his chin rested on her shoulder and she could feel his nose at her ear she could feel herself beginning to warm. She wanted nothing more than to shy away from his embrace, it turning into more than him just hanging on for the ride, but she couldn't exactly jump off the bike and run away. She took a breath and endured his closeness for the remainder of the ride. She chose not to say anything about it, knowing he could feel her tense up the moment he made it more than what it should have been.

She chose a club somewhat on the outskirts of the city, it appearing to be nothing more than a hole in the wall dive bar, but she knew better. It was called Enclave and not just anybody got in. She could get in just fine, but most of the Mundane would struggle to find a pass in. It wasn't the atypical goth club and played more progressive house music, something that had become more in demand to those looking for a different scene. She parked a block away from the club so nobody would see her bike. "Get off." She snapped to Eli as she kicked the stand down from its locked position and started to tilt the bike onto it. The moment she was away from him she resisted the urge to physically shake off the feel of him at her back during the trip. It'd been bad enough the first time without him pressing her buttons and almost daring to slide his hands where they shouldn't go. She peered around the corner to see the line outside the brick building before turning back and looking over Eli, trying to make her look disinterested as she did so. Regardless of how she looked at him he was going to get ideas. "Come on." She ordered before stepping out from the side of the building and pulling at her dress as she could feel his eyes on her again. She stopped fussing once they were closer to the line and she stepped up to the front, getting death glares from the Mundane's behind them.

She felt the guard give her the once over and seemingly give a nod of approval, but he seemed to think otherwise of Eli. She had a feeling it would happen and she sighed on the inside at what would come next. He'd never live it down. "He has to come too." She said assertively as she slipped her hand in his and pulled him closer to her. Her grey eyes turned intense as she stared down the guard, daring him to challenge her. Apparently the look was enough as he waved them both in. The moment they were inside she let go of his hand and wiped her own on her skirt as though he had been sweating over it. "Go on. I'm not bailing you out of whatever trouble it is you're looking for." She growled at him before turning away and making for the dance floor, already seeing heads turn at the arrival of someone new. She loathed intimacy and touch of any kind, but she felt the need to appear as a Mundane for one night before she lost her mind.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around before." Came in her ear almost the second her boots hit the wood dance floor. A smile somewhere between seductive and coy played over her lips as she turned her eyes to a guy who really wasn't half bad for a human (here). "I've never been here before. It's Audrina." She informed the Mundane with a purr before a grin spread over his face. He was in the palm of her hand already and he thought he was the one in control. "Desmond." He returned before his hand was slipping around her waist and leading her from the edge of the dance floor toward the center. Not once did she look back over her shoulder to see what Eli was doing. She didn't entirely expect him to be returning with her tonight as it was and wouldn't be keeping track of him. She let Desmond play his little game of control and manged to not shy away as he continually pulled her into him. She had to play Mundane like she had intended from the start, Eli or no.

[Serendipity]

A woman had never responded to him quite like Audrina did; tensing whenever he touched her, shivering in disgust as his breath touched her neck. He wasn’t used to it, not that he thought every woman should fawn over him, but even if they weren’t interested they were never repulsed by his touch. He didn’t pull back however, oh no, Eli was determined to figure out if it was just him that repulsed her or if men in general repulsed her. He was curious and to him it was a mystery about Audrina that needed to be solved. He recalled the looks she’d given him earlier in the kitchen, the way her cheeks had reddened, and before in the corridor outside her room the same thing.

It got him thinking, perhaps she wasn’t disgusted by a man’s touch, his in particular, maybe she just wasn’t used to that type of intimacy with another person…or something else had happened in her past that he just wasn’t aware of. He made a mental note to ask someone about it back at the Institute, whether they would tell him was a different story though; he was still the outsider, the newbie who might not be trustworthy in their eyes yet.

Eli didn’t sit back from her, nor did he place his hands in a more appropriate spot, in fact he pretended not to notice her discomfort at all. Once they stopped a block away from wherever they were going he removed his arms from around her and got off the bike, turning once more so that she’d have some privacy in order to get off the bike. As soon as she was off and they were walking down the street, his gaze once again locked onto her, honestly he was wondering if he was doing it on purpose or it was just impossible for him not to look at her, especially in the outfits she wore.

He saw the line of mundanes still waiting to get inside the club, he didn’t bother lining up he figured Audrina would want to bypass that altogether. Ignoring the glares they received from everybody in line he waited patiently behind Audrina as she spoke to the guard protecting the entrance of the club only allowing a few people in at a time. He made to follow Audrina straight in, figuring the guard would assume he was with her and let them both in. he was mistaken and the guard held his hand up to stop him, Eli sighed and was about to say something when Audrina suddenly took his hand.

He was so shocked by what she’d done he could only stare down at their hands, he couldn’t even come up with some kind of sultry remark, but his lips tugged at the corners of his mouth in small smile. The guard seemed to accept that he was with her, and they both entered the club, Eli smirking at the guard as he went by. He surprised however that the moment they were both inside she dropped his hand as though it had burned her. He rolled his eyes at this and pursed his lips as she spoke. “Ditto,” He replied in a slow drawl before he walked off in the opposite direction as the blonde, his feet taking him through the crowd and straight to the bar.

He had been on his way out without her anyway, it just so happened they were both headed out and he’d gotten a ride from her. They hadn’t come here together and he was fine with that. He needed to let off some steam on his own, and he had a feeling if he stuck with Audrina they’d end up arguing and he’d had enough arguing for one night. Besides there were a lot of other females around to keep him occupied for the night, and they weren’t Audrina. His initial reason for going out, to search for leads on his brother’s whereabouts wine out the window the moment he reached the bar and ordered two drinks to start with.

Two drinks became four, then six all the while he’s gaze scanning the crowd of dancing figures. He told himself he was looking for someone to take his mind off of Audrina, and that he wasn’t looking for her at all. Truth was, he was looking for her and it frustrated him that he felt this incessant need just to see her. Fortunately a pretty red head sauntered her way from the dance floor straight towards him. He watched her approach and grinned as she smoothed her way up his chest with her small hand and smiled seductively at him. “You’re new. I like playing with new things,” She breathed and fluttered her eye lashes at him.

Eli finished his current drink and laid a hand over the girls which were still situated on his chest, his fingers laced through hers before he pulled it away. He didn’t let go of her hand though as he tugged her towards the dance floor. “What, no drink first?” She sounded half surprised but was laughing all the same. “Later,” He shouted of the music and once they were amongst the other dancing figures he pulled her close.

She wasn’t the only female he danced with, after a while he grew bored of her; she was just a little too sweet for his taste. He danced with three others before he gave up, almost growling in frustration; none of them were doing anything for him probably because he kept picturing Audrina in her very short black and white corseted dress, and his eyes kept wandering the club in search of her.

Eventually he gave up altogether and simply went back to the bar and ordered another drink. That was when he saw her, Audrina, dancing with a mundane in the far side of the club and his chest tightened with something unrecognisable for him. He didn’t like who she was dancing with, he was far too hands on – not that Eli could really talk. But he didn’t remember being that hands on. Eli frowned and drowned half of his drink, running his fingers through his hair, because it was damp with sweat it spiked upwards when his fingers went through it. Damn. Eli put his drink down, it sloshed over his hands from the force and without knowing exactly what he was doing he pushed his way through the crowd towards Audrina.

Before he could reach her he was stopped by a set of hands reaching for him and was pulled into a large breasted brunette with a slim waist wearing only a boob tube and mini-skirt that didn’t cover much at all. Her skin was slicked with sweat from dancing, and for the moment Eli forgot where he was headed. Hey, he couldn’t help it, she was practically naked. “Hey handsome,” She purred into his ear as her arms wound around his neck.

“Hey yourself, that is a very fetching outfit you’ve got on,” He grinned, unaware that his words were starting to slur slightly but the brunette didn’t seem to notice.

[Yunalesca]

As the blonde shadowhunter felt herself getting more boxed in near the center of the dance floor and could feel all her impulses to shirk away starting to rise up. She could pretend she was normal all she wanted, but it never lasted long. The mundane she had been dancing with could feel her tense up under his hands and he responded in ways he shouldn't have, becoming so forward with her that she suddenly grew angry. He pulled her into him again and was slipping his hands up under the laces in the back of her corset aggressively. As the dance floor filled with fog from the machine she could feel her mind saying it was enough. She shirked away from his hands only to feel his fingers dig in and try to force her to stop. "Knock it off!" She yelled over the music and he only grinned down at her, twirling a finger around the knot of cord at the small of her back from her waist cincher. She'd most definitely had enough and pulled away from him. He responded by fully wrapping his arm around her waist and bending his head down toward her neck. Her blood turned to ice as she felt his breath at the base of her neck and flashbacks of her nightmares hit her. "Get off!" She yelled and managed to twist away from him, making for an exit off the dance floor. Apparently he was unused to a girl saying no to his advances as he grabbed hold of her wrist and tried pulling her back as she was walking away from him. Her control was starting to fray in that moment as her irises started to turn gold and her other hand shot out to his wrist and squeezed down with shadowhunter strength. His fingers began releasing from her wrist as he started yelling out in pain and gripped his wrist to himself once she'd let go. She didn't wait to see if anybody noticed as she quickly ducked her way off the dance floor.

"Sangria." Was all she said to the bartender as she finally got free of the dancing bodies and to the more tranquil bar. She hardly ever drank when she was out, but she needed something to take the edge off before she fully snapped and actually hurt someone. She hadn't expected to have someone take ownership over her when she'd taken to the dance floor. It appeared her game was a little more dangerous than previously imagined. She was still hurting from her beating that morning and the mundane could have easily exploited that if he'd been aware of it. Luckily for her she was a lot stronger than she looked and wasn't able to be controlled. She had been able to handle it alright, in her mind, until he'd gone for her neck. She had frozen in that moment, fears rising up at the thought of being bitten even though he wasn't a vampire. She had been afraid of a stupid mundie even after adding the new rune to her skin. Maybe her fears were running deeper than something a rune could fix. She'd been flirting with those teeth for so long it was starting to take a toll on her. She had a momentary flashback of that morning with the vampire on top of her, very nearly piercing her skin before Eli had turned it to ash. At the thought her eyes absently scanned the sea of bodies for him as she sipped the sangria through the straw. She couldn't find him, but then she wasn't exactly looking that hard. Maybe he was doing exactly what she'd assumed he would and it made her roll her eyes.

"Hey! You can't run away from me like that!" Came from behind her after she'd stepped up to a rail overlooking the dance floor from the bar area. She turned to see the mundane she'd left on the dance floor starting for her, obviously pissed a small girl had nearly crushed his wrist when he'd gone too far. "Boy you have a way with women!" She yelled at him over the music as he stopped in front of her and was obviously trying to cut off her route of escape. She saw every muscle in his body tense and fully expected what happened next as his hand shot out and grabbed hold of her wrist. He tried dragging her into him but she planted her heels and stayed put before throwing her drink in his face. He yelled in anger as the sangria showered over him and splashed back into her hair before she was wrestling out of his grip. She managed to set the glass on the table next to her before she was slipping under the guardrail and dropping the few feet to the dance floor before. She looked over her shoulder to see the mundane yelling at her over the guardrail. She rolled her eyes at him before slipping into the crowd. She'd just wasted a seven dollar drink getting away from him. She supposed it was better than beating him down and getting the cops called on her. Alec would have loved that.

She dodged through sweaty bodies as she tried to get herself lost in the group so she wouldn't have to deal Desmond again. Hopefully he would just give it up if he couldn't find her within the first five minutes of searching the crowd. He didn't seem to take 'no' lightly and she found herself almost laughing at how well she had picked the mundane. She would manage to choose the insane control freak. She was almost to the center when she bumped into someone, their arms almost fulling wrapping around her as she did so. She turned her head back to see who had a hold of her and sighed heavily. "Oh hell." She muttered as the electric blue eyes of Elijah looked down at her and nothing short of a shit eating grin spread over his face. She managed to jump from one asshole to another tonight it would seem.

[Serendipity]

Even as he danced with the mundane he’s eyes couldn’t stay focussed on her, they were searching the dance floor for Audrina who in his distraction of the brunette was no longer where he’d last seen her dancing with the male mundane. A nauseating thought rolled across Eli’s muggy mind. What if she’d taken off with the Mundie, taken him back to the Institute? She’d said he couldn’t bring anyone back with him, she’d never said anything about bringing anyone back herself. The thought bothered him a little more than he would have liked it to, and he had to remind himself that she could do what she wanted, he didn’t own her; he still hardly knew her.

Every time he turned his head away from the mundie he was dancing with his gaze absently scanning the dance floor for the blonde shadowhunter, hands came up to either side of his face and directed his gaze back to the one he was dancing with. She was grinning wickedly up at him, her hands all over him, up his shirt, her nails scratching at his back. Usually Eli wouldn’t mind this, but now it was just a little annoying. He was too groggy to care about putting up a resistance to her, though. They were in a perfect spot for him to see most of the club as they moved to the music so he could put up with it a bit longer. When enough was enough he could easily ditch her.

The brunette wiggled her body closer to him, once again her hands roaming up his shirt, over his muscled stomach and chest before she slipped them behind his back and with strength he hadn’t been aware mundanes possessed she jerked him closer still, grinding her lower half into him. It was when her hands lowered over his ass and she pinched each cheek that Eli jerked away from her, pulling her hands back down to her sides. He shook a finger in her face, no longer smiling. “Aww, come on baby…” She insisted and tried to grab his wrists, Eli grabbed hers instead. “It’s been fun.” He dismissed and turned her away from him, shoving her deeper into the crowd on the dance floor gently.

When he spun around to walk off the dance floor he wasn’t expecting anyone to be that close behind him, but someone had been and he bumped into them. He briefly recognised the blonde head and outfit the person had on as he’s arm came around her back instinctively to steady them both. As the females face lifted to his and he confirmed that it was in fact Audrina who had bumped into him, a wide grin spread across his face. He couldn’t believe his luck, to have bumped into Audrina the very person he’d been looking for.

“Come get a drink with me,” Eli shouted over the music and spread his hand over her lower back so he could lead her off the dance floor. He let his hand drop as she moved in the direction of the bar at her own will. He leant against the bar as the reached it, welcoming the cooler air here then what had been on the dance floor. “What are you drinking?” He asked, leaning a little closer to her ear so she could hear him. He’d probably had enough to drink, but if Audrina would have a drink with him he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. He doubted he would be able to get her to dance with him, so a drink might have to do.

[Yunalesca]

There was little room for protest at Eli's suggestion, she found, as his hand found her lower back and gently pressed her back toward the bar. She was relieved his touch was different, not the demanding type that had been that of the mundane who had become quite possessive in the short time she had been dancing with him. Still, it didn't mean she was going to embrace Eli's touching of her and she pulled away from his hand and found her own way back up the stairs through slick bodies. Her eyes were roaming in search of the mundane, but she didn't catch him at all in their route and found herself relaxing a little more. She wasn't afraid of the kid by any means, but was more afraid of her control slipping and beating the guy senseless for not leaving her alone. She spent most her time slaying vampires who were much stronger than a normal human being. It wouldn't be hard for her to forget she was taking down a human and not a vampire intent on killing her.

She sighed and rested her elbows over the bar as Eli stepped up beside her and his lips nearly brushed at her ear as he fought to be heard over the music. She managed to not flinch away from him as she very nearly said 'nothing' but recalled the drink she'd hardly had a sip of before throwing it on someone. If he was offering she could see no harm in it. "Sangria." She returned in his ear, their cheeks grazing as she had turned her head to tell him. Instantly she felt herself flush and she quickly turned away, taking a breath. She couldn't tell if he noticed or not and didn't check to see if he had. He smelled like a distillery and clearly didn't need another drink, but her attention was reverted back to keeping an eye out for Desmond. As the bartender set her drink down beside her she turned and offered a thanks. "Try keeping this one in your hand this time, eh?" He said with a laugh before turning away. She made a face at the bartenders back before taking a long drag on the wine and gin mixture. Her other hand came up to run through her hair and felt it already getting sticky from the red drink that had splashed back on her when she'd thrown it at the mundane. She made a face and removed her hand from her hair. She was going to need another shower.

"Not find a good enough shag, yet?" She yelled over the music at Eli accusingly as she dragged down half of her drink. She wasn't sure why she was being quite so abrasive with him, her frustrations mounting over the incident with the mundane and little to do with the shadowhunter. He was conveniently close to her at the moment and it would seem he would feel the brunt of her anger because of it. Her eyes turned away from him after she scrunched her nose at his smell and noticed a small group of mundane's surrounding some of the couches offset from the bar, their gestures clearly aggressive. Her breath caught as she caught the eyes of the very person she thought she had been avoiding. Apparently he was more than pissed off that she had denied him and was venting it to his friends. "Shit." She said before downing the rest of her drink and grabbing hold of Eli's hand assertively. "Let's go dance." She said in his ear, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice. He didn't need to know why exactly she was having a change of heart. He was so intoxicated at this point he probably wasn't even going to question it.

She waited a few second for him to finish his drink before she began to pull him away and down the stairs back to the dance floor. She shouldered her way through the crowd to bury them a little deeper and further from the mundane who most likely had spotted her. Upon feeling they were far enough she turned to him and looked up at him awkwardly. She was going to willingly let him touch her and the thought made her turn pink in the cheeks again. She didn't know why, but having him touch her was a lot different than her previously allowing the mundane to.

[Serendipity]

Eli nodded as Audrina told him what she was drinking and he ordered her Sangria and a vodka on the rocks of his own. Eli was glad to be off the dance floor, his shirt and jacket were sticking to him and he wanted to take them both off. But he’d just have to deal with it, stripping in a public place certainly wasn’t the best thing to do. Eli raised a brow as the bartender suggested that Audrina finish her drink this time and wondered what he’d meant but didn’t ask. He picked up his drink and sipped at it slowly this time, not feeling the need to rush this one, possibly because he had enough of it coursing through his veins at the moment.

He hadn’t noticed how he’d relaxed a little more now that he had found Audrina and she was standing next to him and wasn’t off screwing some mundane. The thought bothered him more then he’d like to admit, but really what could he have done if she was? It wasn’t like they were a couple or anything, they weren’t even friends, and he had no right to interfere in her affairs. But in his ever growing intoxicated state if he had found her and the mundane going at it, he probably would have.

Her yelling distracted Eli from his thoughts and he turned his head in her direction, she was standing closer then he guessed she would have liked in order to be heard. He frowned at her question and shook his head a little groggily. “I could ask you the same thing.” He found himself yelling a little angrily in reply, it was probably due to the aggressiveness he could feel radiating from her. He recalled the way she’d allowed the mundane to touch her, and felt that little spark of jealously reforming.

He sipped at the vodka in his glass and swirled the ice around as Audrina looked away from him, he watched her like he always did, and noticed her tense at the sight of something. He didn’t get a chance to see what it was as her hand grabbed his insistently and she mentioned for them to go and dance. He was a little surprised by this, the last thing he expected was for her to want him anywhere near her let alone dance with her. But he didn’t question her and finished his drink before she pulled him behind her down the stairs and back onto the dance floor.

He didn’t see the awkward look she gave him when they reached the centre of the dance floor and grabbed her lightly around the waist pulling her a little closer to him. He wasn’t forceful and his touch was light, she could pull away from him any time she wanted; some part of him must have been aware that although she had suggested the dance she wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t have the mind to ask her why the sudden change of heart, but he wasn’t about to complain either.

The music changed overhead, a remix of a song he hadn’t heard before, but it was catchy. As the song came to its chorus a second time Eli began humming to the words, and he found himself swaying a little more to the music, pulling her a little closer into him than before. "I hate these blurred lines," He sung to Audrina all of a sudden, in his intoxicated state he wasn;t worried about how he may have looked foolish in doing it. And then he twirled her around on her heals as he continued to hum to the music. As she finished the the twirl coming back around to face him, he chuckled at the unpleasant look on her face and was about to point out that she needed to loosen up when a hand landed heavily on his shoulder.

Eli turned around in surprise and blinked a little baffled at the dark haired male standing behind him, several inches shorter then him, and there was a nasty snarl on his face. "What's your problem exactly?" Eli slurred a little as he asked the question, but there an angry annoyance in his voice from being interrupted.