"Breakfast!" Noah yelled into the hall. He looked at me as he walked back into the kitchen, "you didn't have to set the whole table, y'know."
"Oh." I stated, a twinge of embarrassment hitting me. "I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"No, it's fine." He shook his head, a smile forming on his lips, "it's nice. We usually just throw the plates onto the counter and everyone fends for themselves. This is better though, and you can meet everyone."
"If you say so," I responded, returning his smile with a small one of my own. A few seconds later, I could hear footsteps in the hall. Dylan and Liam came in, donned in gear as well.
"Look who made it through the night," Dylan said, seemingly surprised to see me.
"I guess that'd be me," I replied, watching as the two, including Noah and Chase, moved to sit at the table.
"Fine by me," Chase said, starting to pile food onto his plate. I sat down in the empty seat beside Noah, grabbing a pancake and putting it down onto my plate. I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat, given everything, but I knew it would be impolite to not eat anything at all.
"So, you can create runes?" Liam asked, breaking his silence. I looked up, thrown slightly off guard by the random question.
"Oh, yeah." I said, nodding. I started to cut my pancake, "And I can make portals, like you guys. But I'm sure you already knew that."
"Yep, looks like we were right." Chase noted, shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
"About what?" I ask, starting to eat. After taking a bite, my attention shifted to the taste of the pancake rather than the obscure comment Chase had made. "Wow, this is really good."
"Ooh boy, she's flirting." Dylan said, looking over at Noah who rolled his eyes in response.
"Thanks, I'm pretty much the only one here who knows how to cook so..." Noah said, giving a shrug, "I guess I adapted."
"That is not true!" Dylan replied. Noah shifted his gaze to him, and Dylan faltered. "I mean... Uh, I bet Clary can cook. It's rude to talk about her like that."
"I meant out of you guys," Noah clarified, "if Clary wants to she can outshine the rest of you some night."
I raised my eyebrows, "I can make macaroni and cheese," I told him.
"Did you make your own recipe?" Noah inquired, finishing off his plate.
"Yeah, I call it Craft." I joked, and he tilted his head slightly before chuckling.
"That was a good one," Noah responded, and I could hear Chase, Dylan, and Liam laugh quietly as well. "Looks like I'll have to pass on my talents to you."
I looked at him, expecting him to start laughing to indicate that it was a joke, but he looked serious. "You want to teach me how to cook?" I inquired, noticing that my plate was empty.
"Sure, why not?" He asked, and I could hear the faint side-conversations stop for a brief moment.
"Okay, sounds good." I nodded, watching as Noah stood up. He grabbed his plate, and then motioned toward mine.
"You should eat some more," he told me.
"Honestly, I'm not that hungry," I explained, and he narrowed his eyes. "I promise. I usually don't eat in the mornings." I lied, but I'm sure anyone would if they were in my situation.
"Alright, I'll take it then." He picked up my plate, taking it to the sink. "If you get hungry, feel free to come into the kitchen whenever. Breakfast is really the only time we all eat together."
"Unless we're watching a movie. Then we all eat popcorn together." Dylan clarified.
"We all ate Chinese food together that one night." Chase pointed out, and I looked over at him. "We all ended up getting food poisoning, too. Maybe that was a sign that we shouldn't ever eat dinner together."
"Actually, I didn't eat that night," Liam spoke. "I ordered myself pizza because you guys all wanted something else."
"Oh, right." Chase nodded, seeming to remember. "Wait, maybe it was because you weren't there. It only works out if we're all there, all four--Well, with Clary, five of us."
"I'm going to go train," Noah said. "You want to come?" It took me a moment before I realized he was looking at me.
"Don't you worry about throwing up?" I asked.
"Nah, I just throw knives for a little while before everything digests." He told me, "after that food poisoning incident, I'm very careful about what goes into my body and what comes out."
"I'll come," I agreed. "Maybe you can tell me everything during it."
He smiled, "sure." He said, "if you guys want to come, feel free. Let's go, Clary."
I stood up from the table, following him down to the weapons room, where he picked up knives, and then the training room. I was surprised to see that the training room here was only slightly different than the one in Brooklyn. It was much larger, with workout equipment in the corner, treadmills, weights, punching bags... Aside from that, the rest of the equipment was the same.
I shifted my gaze to look at the dummies that lined one of the walls. Some had knife handles protruding from their chests or heads.
"Alright, so where's my explanation?" I asked, and he grinned slightly as he handed me a few knives.
"Can you throw a knife, Clarissa?" He asked, and I looked at him strangely. Letting out a sigh, I took one of the knives by its handle and turned to face one of the dummies on the opposite side of the room. I took a deep breath before pulling my hand back and releasing the knife forward.
I watched as it sliced through the air, finding a home in the dummies chest. "Good enough for you?" I said, unable to hide the smirk on my face.
"So, you throw in a straight line." He nodded, "alright."
"Is there something wrong with that?" I asked, a feeling of needing to prove myself washing over me.
"Nah, there's just a cooler way to do it." He shrugged, a grin still plastered onto his face. "Not a big thing. Anyway, we were looking for Valentine's daughter. We heard that she was really powerful-"
"Valentine's daughter has a name." I responded crossly. "And Valentine's daughter doesn't like to be referred to as 'Valentine's daughter.'"
"Right." He nodded, "Clary, sorry. So... We did some research and we found your name, as well as the Institute you were staying at, which was in New York." He paused for a moment, taking off his jacket and taking the handle of a knife into his right hand. He brought his hand back, much like me, but when he released, the knife flipped through the air before sinking into a dummies' chest. "So, we were going so that we could talk to you. And it just so happened that you were in need of help."
"So that whole thing was just a coincidence?" I asked, and he gave a shrug. "What did you want me for?" I took the elastic rubber band off of my wrist and used it to put my hair up into a pony tail.
"Well, we are powerful demon hunters, and you're powerful too." He said, only to have me look at him stupidly. "So we want you to join us."
"You want me to join you?" I asked incredulously. "You guys aren't too hot with the Clave though, huh?"
"No, but they weren't very fond of you for a while either." He noted.
"I guess you're right. The clave has never really done anything for me, anyway." I said quietly. "Would I have to stay here?"
"No," he shook his head. "You aren't confined to these walls. You could travel places but you should stay here, for your protection."
"Would I be able to visit my mom?" I inquired.
"Jocelyn, right?" He asked, and I nodded. "Clary, like I said. This isn't a jail, of course you can."
"Okay," I nodded. "If it will keep me far away from New York except to see her and Simon, I'm in."
"Simon's the kid you called last night, right?" He inquired.
"Yeah, he's a friend... Well, my best friend." I told him.
"Alright," he smiled. "We're honored to have you. Want to get back to training?"
"Sure," I replied, taking another knife and sending it into a dummies' head.
---
(Edited November 9, 2017)
(Edited again July 22, 2018)
Xoxo