And kick-starting my book today are Jace and the Lightwood siblings. Based on an episode from Steven Universe, the reader is a mundane and she, Izzy, and Jace convince Alec to loosen up and have some fun cause he's sulking cause Magnus is away on a warlock business trip or something. Things get intense as the night progresses.
High-intense action and some language. Enjoy.
"So how long has he been sitting there?" you inquire of your friend, Jace; you and him were standing by the open door to Alec's room, Alec sitting on his bed with a book in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in another. "What time is it now?" Jace asks you back. "Uh, almost 5 in the afternoon," you answer. "Then almost three days now," Jace answers, "It's official...our friend Alec is in a slump." "It only took you three days to realize that?" Isabelle quips as she approaches, "I could've told you the first five minutes Magnus took off."
With things being at peace recently, and everything at the Institute was pretty much being handled, Alec originally had planned to spend a mini vacation with Magnus someplace nice and far away; unfortunately for the Shadowhunter, his boyfriend was called away on some warlock business. It was sort of last minute, and Magnus didn't have the time to explain, but he had to go, and he wasn't exactly sure when he would back as these type of business trips could last three days or even three weeks.
That being said, poor Alec was pretty much left with all these plans and nowhere to go. As a result, here he was three days later, doing nothing but read books and munch on snacks; sure he'd check in and go over Institute stuff, being the dutiful Shadowhunter that he is, but he barely even left the Institute let alone his own room. So at this moment, it was up to you, Izzy, and Jace to pull your friend out of this funk he was currently in.
"We need to get him out of this room," Jace declares. "Let me talk to him," Izzy suggests.
She walks in and takes a seat next to her brother, causally taking the book out of his hands. "Hey, I was reading that, I'll lose my place," Alec scolds. "You can read some other time," Izzy tells him, "Right now what you need is some fresh air and a change in scenery." "I walked out and got some fresh air," Alec gets defensive. "Pfft, walking out of your room inside the Institute is not getting fresh air," Izzy deadpan, taking his hand and practically yanking him to his feet, "Come on, big brother, you're going out and socializing in the mundane world whether you like it or not. And don't worry, Jace and (y/n) will be joining us so you don't spend the whole time sulking." "I do not sulk," Alec denies. "Yes you do," you and Jace simultaneously counter.
Seeing that he was clearly outmatched, Alec reluctantly agreed to Shadowhunter's night out, "Okay, fine. What did you all have in mind?"
So neither you nor your friends did actually have any idea where you were gonna go once you managed to get Alec outside. Jace suggested the Pandemonium, but you thought that was a little bit cliche.
"Come on, that can't be the only place in Brooklyn you Shadowhunter types can go to," you point out. "Then any club or bar would do just fine," Jace replies. "It's always booze and pickup lines to get girls into your bed with you isn't it?" you frown. "How about we go somewhere new?" Alec interjects, "Maybe some place out of town?" You, Izzy, and Jace were thoroughly surprised at his suggestion. "What, you wanted me to get a change of scenery," Alec points out, "What better way then to go somewhere we've never been to before?"
"And how do you propose we get there?" Izzy asks, "I highly doubt the Institute would let have portal access to anywhere we want just for a pleasure trip." "Easy," you speak up, "We leave town the old fashion mundane way...okay it's not OLD fashion per say, but it's simple and we can enjoy the scenery on the way."
---------------------------------
"This is your great idea?" Alec frowns, skeptical as ever as he eyes the rust bucket in front of you and your friends. You knew a guy in town that sold used cars and you may have convinced said guy to lend you a car for a test drive to make sure everything was where it needed to be; also he did owe a couple favors. "Come on, it'll be great," you assure, dangling the keys in front of you, "It's the best way to get out of town. Just think, we'll soon be out of town and have nothing but clear skies and open road before us."
"So what do you think?" you ask with a wide smile. "I think it's stupid," Jace bluntly answers. "You couldn't have gotten something a little nicer like a Lamborghini or a Mercedes?" Izzy points out. "Really that's your problem?" Jace frowns, "look, let's just stay in town, I'm sure there's places here none of us have been to." "I think...this'll be just fine," Alec speaks up, again shocking the rest of you. "You sure?" Jace asks. "Yeah," Alec in nods, "In fact," he takes the keys from your hand, "I'll drive." "I call shot gun!" Izzy exclaims, "I always wanted to say that."
--------------------------
"Uh, Alec," you speak up from the back as Alec tries to figure out where the key should be placed, "Have you ever done this before? Drive a car I mean?" "Maybe once or twice," Alec admits once he gets the engine going, "How hard can it possibly be?...which way does this thing go again?" he points to the transmission. He moves to reverse, backing the car into a pile of trash bags. "Whoa, easy, man, it's not a bumper car," you scold. "Why don't I take over, Alec, I have a little more experience with this," Jace suggests. "That doesn't make me feel any better," you deadpan.
"No worries," Alec assures, setting the gear transmission into drive, "I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."
"I'm glad Clary wasn't here to see this," you mutter, thankful that she and Simon were off at some art exhibit (Jace would've gone too but Clary knew he'd be bored out of his mind and complain to no end if he went).
It took a few miss turns or three, but eventually Alec managed to get the car out of town and out into the more suburban area; while Jace and Izzy were relaxed you were still a tad bit nervous, not knowing how much experience an average Shadowhunter has with drivers education. At least outside of Brooklyn there wasn't anything to run into...you hope.
Still there was something gnawing at you about all this. "So what made you decide to this?" you inquire of Alec. "What do you mean, I thought this is what you wanted me to do," Alec seemed confused. "Well yeah, but it was just...too easy convincing you to do something this crazy," you point out. "She has a point," Izzy agrees, "I've known you my whole life, Alec, you were never really one to step out of your comfort zone, especially when it comes to mundane stuff." Alec has to think about it for a minute, "Sometimes people need to try different things in order to grow and mature," he provides for an explanation. "Does this have anything to do with Magnus?" Jace speaks up, which Alec by surprise, "Okay maybe a little," he admits, "He likes it when I step out of my comfort zone for something new, even if it's only for a few minutes. I thought if I tried something crazy while he's away, I'll have one crazy story to tell him when he comes back and he'll be impressed."
"Well for a Shadowhunter, I'd say driving a used car in the middle of the suburbs is crazy even for you," you tell him. The car approaches a red light, which you instruct Alec to stop.
While waiting for the light to turn green, another car with a car of young adults stops right next to your car. Their car looked brand new, and these kids seemed intent on taunting you guys about it. "What's going on?" Alec asks. You decipher the kids gestures, "Well getting past the obscene gestures, I think they're saying our car sucks ass and they want to race us to prove it," you interpret. "Let's do it," Jace quips in, but Alec wasn't sure; this was a little over the top for him, "I'm not sure if this is legal," he says, "How do I tell them we respectfully decline?" "Uh I don't think you do," you admit, "They'll take that as a sign of weakness and I don't really want to get into what'll happen next."
"Maybe we should go back home," Izzy speaks up, "look, Alec we don't have to do this, the last we need is to get in trouble with mundane authorities." "On second thought I accept," Alec changes his mind, "Let's do it."
"Uh Alec, we really need to think this through," you inform, "These races can get dangerous and we could get in trouble for going over the speed limit." "Pfft, there's no one else around, what's the worse that can happen?" Alec scoffs, seeming a lot more confident this time around.
Once the light turns green, both cars take off at full speed, Alec was fully focused on winning while you, Jace, and Izzy cling to the seats for dear life.
The next approaching turned red, and the other car looked like it was about to slow down, but Alec stepped on the breaks and ran past the red light. "Alec!" You shout, "you realize what you just did?" "Yeah I'm winning," Alec boldly states, "they followed the rules and slowed down while they were ahead, now we're in the lead." "They're still stopping behind us," Izzy notices.
Right on cue red and blue lights flash behind on you "oh shit we're in trouble," Jace says looking behind. "Now, now no need to panic," you halfheartedly assure, "not as long as the cop doesn't turn on the siren." The siren from the police car goes off, "okay we can panic now," you speak right after.
"What are gonna do?" Izzy asks with concern. "Alec needs to pull over and show the police officer his drivers license," you explain. Alec goes pale at that, "I...don't have a driver's license." "How can you not have a driver's license?!" You exclaim, "you're in your twenties!" "None of us Shadowhunters have a driver's license!" Alec shouts back, "Why would I ever need one since we portal to places? And even if I wanted one, what was I supposed to tell the DMV? That I'm part of a race of super-humans born from a place that's not part of this country? We're not exactly citizens, (y/n)!"
"Well that's it then, we're going to jail," you throw your hands up in exasperation, "You three will get handed over to ICE for detainment and deportation and I'll be doing time for aiding and abetting undocumented immigrants." "No we're not," Alec states, "Buckle up, this is gonna get rough," flooring the pedal, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as speed reaches maximum.
"Whoa, Alec what are you doing, this is really serious!" Izzy exclaims in fear.
"I know," Alec nods, making a tight turn onto a busy road, "this is why I said buckle up."
It all happened so fast; Alec took a few extra turns to shake the police car, next thing he knew he was on the highway during rush hour, one thing to another, and before anyone knew, you found yourself back in Brooklyn, driving through the second floor of a nearby mall and flying off into the air.
Meanwhile Magnus had just got back from his business trip a little earlier than expected. He just unpacked and settled in, ready to give his boyfriend a call when out of where a car crashed through the window of his flat. Inside the car was you, Alec, Jace, and Isabelle with very scared and shocked expressions on your faces.
"Well that was the wildest ride I ever been on," Izzy was the first to speak, "I also think it's safe to say this is probably the third craziest trip we have taken as a group." You were way too scared and stuck to the seat to say anything at this point.
"I think it's safe to say this will be one hell of a story to tell Clary," Jace says, "and Alec to tell Magnus."
Right on cue a knock on the window on Alec's side catches your attention. Alec rolls down the window to see that familiar face, "Magnus? What-what are you doing here, I thought you wouldn't be back for a few more days or weeks?"
"Well we got done early," Magnus casually replies, "but uh, I think I'm the one who should be asking the questions here. Like, what are you doing with mundane transportation, and uh, do I even want to know how it ended up on the top floor of this building in my flat?" "It's a long story," Izzy says getting out, Jace doing the same.
You were still clinging to the back seat in shock, so Jace and Alec had to pry you off.
"Must've been quite the joy ride of it left (y/n) here speechless," Magnus says with amusement.
Izzy gives you a few slaps to the face to shake you out of it. When you come to, you remember why you were left in shock in the first place, "You!" You point an accusing finger at Alec, about to have a go with, but Izzy and Jace pull you back, "What the hell were you thinking? You took us on a drag race, nearly get us caught by the police, and now I have to explain to my friend how one of his cars ended up on the top floor of some apartment complex in Brooklyn! I mean how? How was that even possible?!"
"You went on a drag race?" Magnus looks at Alec in surprise, "and eluded mundane authorities? Alexander, that is hardly like you...I think I like it, this rebel side, you really need to tell me what I've been missing since I was gone."
"You can talk about it all later," you scold, "right now how am I supposed to get this bucket of bolts out of here?" To answer that, Magnus snaps his fingers and the car was gone, "it should be back on the street where it belongs," the warlock assures, "any damage done, you can forward me the bill." "How generous of you," you deadpan.
"Maybe we should go to a bar, let you cool down for a bit," Jace suggests. "Yeah I could use a drink too," Izzy agrees, "let the two lovebirds catch up." "Fine," you reluctantly agree.
"Jace," you say as the three of you leave, "the next time I suggest we take Alec out of his comfort zone, please stop me." "Duly noted," Jace nods.