Fluffity fluff fluffness
"Jace?"
Alec hated the attic with a passion. It was an endless maze of creepy artifacts and the trinkets of his grandparents, now long gone. Boxes towered high above him, even though he was tall for his age. Something rustled across the attic, near the single window that let in a sliver of daylight.
Alec pulled his witchlight closer to his chest. He was momentarily shocked by the black rune on his arm. It's presence was permanent now but he was still getting used to seeing it every time he lifted his hand.
"Jace, it's Alec," he called again. "I just wanted to check on you."
Again, silence.
"I know you're up here," Alec shouted. "I saw you come up here."
Alexander couldn't understand how someone like Jace could want to be so terribly alone. He liked peace and quiet just as much as the next person but Jace had lost everything and his voice had gone with it.
But something drew him to the blond boy. It was the way he occasionally smiled or bumped into Alec as they walked along, because he was constantly staring at his feet as if he didn't deserve to look at the world around him. And Alec wanted nothing more than to make him smile more and lift his head up a little more so Alec could see his face, hidden behind messy hair that could almost rival Alec's own mop.
"No one else is with me," Alec said, continuing his path through the attic. "It's just me."
He put his hand farther out so the light casted against more of the objects. Old rocking chairs. A sword encased in glass. A box marked "Starkweather." An sofa older than Alec's parents, missing the cushions. White sheets draped over what appeared to be art. Rolled up carpets. And at the very end of the hall, a long stretch of overlapping blankets and quilts, sticking up in random places. A set of golden eyes peered out of the entrance.
"Jace," Alec smiled.
"You found me," he said, stubbornly.
"You can't hide forever," Alec said. "The Institute isn't that big."
"I'll just move my fort somewhere else."
"Like where?" Alec challenged, crossing his arms. Jace frowned, glancing back inside his castle of cloth.
Alec dropped his arms on second thought. "I won't tell anyone."
"Promise?" Jace asked.
Alec crossed his heart.
"Can I come in then?"
"No," Jace said. "It's not ready yet."
He turned around and a blanket fell, covering the place he had once been.
Alec frowned but didn't say anything. He wouldn't push Jace but he wouldn't just end this either. Now his compassion for Jace's brokenness was coupled with curiosity. What was inside the fort?
He turned back around, marching back through the maze, this time with a lot less fear and a lot more to think about.
........
Alec sat in silence through lunch, as Isabelle chattered away about her pen-pal, Aline, talking animatedly with her hands. His mother's eyes searched around the room for Jace, as if he were just hiding in one of the cupboards. This was the third meal he'd missed this week and the ones he did attend, he rarely ate at.
"Can I have another sandwich?" Alec asked suddenly, cutting Isabelle off. She shot him a nasty look as Maryse rose to make him another sandwich.
Alec took the sandwich to go, saying he was going to picnic in the greenhouse. He snagged a glass of orange juice as his mom cleaned up lunch.
Then he grabbed the backpack of stuff he had packed before lunch, after his visit to the attic. He climbed the stairs and threw open the door. This time, he didn't announce his presence or call out.
He just walked down the aisle until he reached the door to the fort.
"I'm back," Alec said. He lifted the blanket door slightly, sliding the sandwich wrapped in paper towel and glass into the fort. "You won't have the energy to build without something to eat."
He heard the scrambling of someone crawling on their hands and knees.
"And Hodge said your Latin infinitive translations were kinda bad. So I'm just gonna read our Latin book. You don't have to listen," Alec said, pulling the thick book out of his backpack, flipping to the verb grammar chapter. "Okay 'Infinitives do not have person and they are translated to 'to.' The Present Infinitive is the second principal part as in portare (to carry) or regere (to rule). The present passive infinitive is formed by dropping the -e from the second principal part of the verb and adding -i so portari. The third conjugation is the exception to the rule. In the third conjugation, drop the entire infinitive ending and add -i (regere becomes regi).It is translated to be ....-ed: portari = to (infinitive part) be (passive voice) carried (definition); so regi means to (infinitive) be (passive voice) ruled (definition)--' Jace?"
"Yes?" Alec smiled a little. So he was listening.
"Do you know what infinitives are?"
"Yes," Jace said. "My father taught me."
"Do you want me to stop reading?"
"No."
"Okay," Alec said, turning the page. "'The perfect active infinitive is formed by adding -isse to the perfect stem, for example, portav- becomes portavisse. . .'"
......
At some point in time, Alec fell asleep, his head resting on the backpack. Someone had thrown a dusty blanket over the top of him and left a stiff paper card in his hand.
Alec opened it to the inside. Written in the unmistakable handwritten of a little boy was 'You are hereby invited to Jace Wayland's first sleepover in his very secretive fort. This invitation serves as admittance for one person, who, should he attend, sworn to secrecy and should not tell anyone (especially Mrs. Maryse and Mr. Robert) about the location or contents of the fort. Arrive at the Attic of the Institute, New York, New York, exactly 23 minutes after bedtime. Yours sincerely, Mr. Jace Wayland, Lord of the Attic Fort."
Alec sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
He'd never been invited to a sleepover before.
........
Alec didn't like anything that involved sneaking around. But tonight was different. He had repacked his backpack with the sorts of stuff he assumed one brought to a sleepover.
The attic was much creepier when it was completely dark. The fort glowed at the end of the row and Alec ran this time, trying to escape the ghosts that haunted the objects beside him. He knocked on a box beside the fort. Jace opened the flap almost immediately. He held up an old clock, staring at it intently.
"Right on time," he said. "I like you."
Alec smiled.
"Come in," Jace said. Alec dropped to his hands and knees, crawling inside. The fort stretched on and on, held up by chairs and the occasional bookshelf. The floors were covered in rugs that looked like they had been shaken out recently. Bookshelves were stocked with books. A thicker pile of blankets and pillows lay in one corner. Witchlights sat on all the seats of the chairs, making the fort bright.
"I'm working on raising the ceiling," Jace said. "But at the moment, this is the best I can do."
The best he could do was good enough. You couldn't stand but Alec could sit straight up, and his head wouldn't hit the top.
"This is awesome," Alec mused.
"I don't know what to do at a sleepover," Jace said.
"Me either," Alec said.
"Could you read to me again?" Jace asked. "I mean, I know how to read. I just kinda liked it when you did it."
Alec nodded and followed Jace over to the pile of blankets. Alec had brought his own pillow and tossed it out, opening the Latin book again and turning to a random passage.
"'The Story of Cincinnatus: Primis annis rei publicae, Cincinnato consule, magna altercatio inter patres et plebem evenit. Causa erat pecunia, qua paene tota plebs premebatur. Plebs auxilium a consulibus petivit, sed id non accepit. Tandem plebs ad Sacrum Montem secessit; patribus sola spes erat in concordia civium, et consilium ceperunt . Plebi creare suos magistratos, appellatos tribunos, permiserunt--' Jace?"
There was a steady snoring coming from beside Alec. Jace's head was resting slightly against Alec's arm.
Alec slowly slid away then crawled around the fort, dimming all of the witchlights.
Then he returned to Jace's side, observing the rising and falling of his chest for a moment.
On impulse alone, he pressed a kiss to Jace's smooth forehead. Just a quick one, like the ones his mom gave him before bed.
"Goodnight, Jace Wayland," Alec sighed, covering himself with the same blankets that covered his brother.
Disclaimer: Latin passages/grammatical terms taken from the FVS Latin II course because I wrote a nasty review on their class and now they're out to get me in any way possible.