DELICATE , matthew fairchild

I. ODD HAPPENINGS

The Velez girl rolled her eyes at the boy's remark, but he was right, she herself was only wearing a simple evening dress, something she now highly regretted. Not only was it surprising difficult to fight in an evening dress but the dress was also one of her favourites. She felt the need to morn the dress, which she would definitely be doing later over tea with Anna, but at least the death of the dress will give her an excuse to go shopping. So instead of complaining she decided to temporary blame her anger for the ruined dress onto something else.

"On another note," the girl rounded on her brother, pinching his ear "Why are you here ? You're more reckless than Matthew."

Matthew gasped at the backhanded dig but new better then interrupt the hot-headed girl. Nash gulped, his sister had quite the temper. He should have anticipated this reaction; she was always overprotective of her brother.

"Maybe first we should go back to the Devil's Tavern and clean up there?" There was a murmur of agreement among the group, grateful for the distraction offered by Christopher. As they picked their sticky way back to the main street, Nash raced ahead with Thomas while Ascella fell to the back of the group. She was left to ponder Matthews comment regarding the lack of demons in London. He was right, this was the first time they saw a demon over a year. The Velez girl and her friends still faithfully patrolled the streets of London, but in the last few years demon appearances had been rare. It was a good thing of course, but still decidedly odd. She grew up in Italy where demon activity was normal, so what made London so special?

There were plenty of mundanes out and about in the streets of London though the hour was late. None glanced at the bedraggled group of Shadowhunters as they made their way down Fleet Street; their glamour runes made them invisible to all eyes not gifted with the Sight.

The glamour rune was one of the girls personal favourites, finding wonder in being surrounded by a humanity that did not see you. She constantly fought with herself whether to pity or be jealous of the mundanes who saw no more than a skewered reality. However, she knew that in their naivety their false reality was their truth. It was the key to their sanity and Ascella couldn't help herself from frequently craving their blissful ignorance.

So, in the girls bitterness, she found enjoyment in pranking the unknowing mundanes. Ascella picked up a stone from the path to throw. It was too small to cause harm but large enough to scare a passing mundane. She lifted her arm to aim at a young couple before James placed his hand on hers, shaking his head. She dropped the stone grudgingly but not without muttering how Mr Herondale would have found it funny.

Soon after, the group of young Shadowhunters reached the Tavern. The tavern acted as a second home for the girl and her friends, lovingly nicknamed the merry thevies. Polly, the werewolf barmaid, had taken the children under her wing ever since they had first rented out the attic room three years ago, wanting a private place the group could retreat to without their parents hovering. She was the one who'd first taken to calling them the Merry Thieves, after Robin Hood and his men. At the time, Ascella was so covered in grot and mud and dressed in Christopher's clothes that the werewolf had mistaken her as a boy like them. Ascella didn't mind though, hence why the name stuck.

The usual welcome for Shadowhunters in a place like this would have been a cold one, but the patrons of the Devil Tavern were used to the children. They greeted them with yells of welcome and mockery. James stayed in the pub to collect drinks from Polly, the barmaid, while the others tramped upstairs to their room, shedding ichor on the steps as they went. Ascella gave a small shout of greeting to the werewolf and an apology for the mess before chasing after the others.