Wem (4)

10. What’s Your Name?

Will was moping. Charlotte had sent him to his room. He was chasing Jessamine around with a dead demon’s eyeball, which, according to Charlotte, was apparently not okay to do. Will thought that was stupid. Jessamine was just a wimp. It wasn’t his fault that Charlotte was getting a headache from Jessie’s screaming. Henry was the only one who seemed impressed that Will managed to get the eyeball in the first place.

Will was bored. Jessie was boring. Charlotte always scolded him for having fun. Henry only wanted to tinker in his workshop, and he wouldn’t even help Will blow things up. Thomas was usually around, and he was not boring. However, he was away, doing something for Charlotte. This left Will hopelessly alone and bored stiff in his room in the Institute.

Or at least, he thought so. He was going to grab a book from his shelf when he heard voices out in the hallway. One of the two he recognized as Charlotte’s, but the other, he did not recognize at all. The voice sounded male and young, which piqued Will’s curiosity. Completely forgetting that he was grounded, he opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

Will followed the sounds of the voices down the hall a bit. He knew that the hallway was a dead end, so he would eventually find Charlotte and the boy. They had nothing to do but turn around. However, he underestimated just how quickly that would happen. He got distracted by a spider dangling from the ceiling. They turned around, and he did not notice. He had the spider in the palm of his hand when they entered into his view, although the spider relocated to Charlotte’s head when Will heard a voice behind him and jumped a foot into the air.

“Hello.”

The voice was quiet, but clear. However, with Will being so distracted, it surprised him. Charlotte had the presence of mind to keep her composure and dislodge the spider from her hair with a small sigh. However, that did was not important to Will. What was important to him was the boy standing in front of him. He looked foreign, with dark, slanted eyes and dark hair.

“Hullo. Who are you?” Will asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Will, be polite,” Charlotte scolded. “This is another Shadowhunter. He is going to be joining us here at the Institute. He’s had a rough couple of months, so I would appreciate it if you could be nice to him.”

Will looked at the boy. He seemed small and thin. He didn’t look very much like Will or Thomas. He would have looked sad, with his shoulders hunched slightly and his mouth turned slightly down. However, his eyes were bright and intelligent. Will walked up to the boy, and linked arms with him. The boy was surprised, but he adapted quickly. Charlotte saw that Will had taken charge, and although she was not certain that the boy was in good hands, she knew that company would be good for Will.

“Will, I expect you to show Master Carstairs around and help him adjust. I am going to go take care of some work. Make sure you come down in time for dinner.” Charlotte left, and Will and the boy were alone, Will’s arm still linked in his.

“What’s your name?”
“James.”
“James is a boring name.”

The boy blinked, surprised.

“It is?”
“Absolutely.”
“I like my name, though.”

Will’s brows furrowed.

“You’re new here. I’m giving you a nickname. I like nicknames, and James is boring. From now on, I’ll call you Jem. Jem is much less boring than James.”

Jem did not argue with Will. In fact, he smiled. Although he was unused to strangers giving him new names, he felt like the boy was trying to be friendly. Although he was pushy, Jem decided that he liked him, and that he could be his friend.

Jem never realized how close he would become with this strange boy with dark hair and blue eyes. Jem never realized that later on, he would be willing to die for him. Jem never realized that time would make them far more than friends.

That was all in the far away future. In that moment, all Jem could do was be happy that he was so readily accepted.

All he could do was ask in return, “What’s your name?”

No longer a one-shot.


Time After Time

Will surveyed the area carefully. Jem and he were out on an investigation. Bodies of dead mundanes had been turning up near a popular underworld haunt, and Charlotte was letting the two of them investigate on their own. It would only be their second mission together as parabatai, and one of their first without any form of outside supervision. Charlotte didn’t really trust Will on his own because of his recklessness, but Jem being around reassured her. Jem was the logical one; he was the only one who could keep Will focused and calm.

There had been a report about another mundane that had disappeared in the area. Melissa Birch, a girl around 11 with brown hair and brown eyes. She fit perfectly with the patterns of disappearances; she was young, pretty, and hopelessly naïve. She was the perfect target for dark people with nefarious purposes.

Jem and Will were supposed to find her body. They were not to engage in any form of combat. That was probably the reason Charlotte had trusted them on this mission, actually. Will would not be allowed to recklessly charge into violence, and Jem would not have to worry about physical exertion.

Will was worried about the small, silver-haired boy. He was looking frailer than usual, and his skin was unnaturally pale. How long had it been since he had taken the drug? Will did not have any extra on hand, and he doubted Jem would, either. Jem would always try to avoid taking it for as long as possible. He hated thinking of himself as an addict, dependent on the drug.

Will hated thinking of it as a drug. Jem was not an addict; he was merely a young boy caught in unfortunate circumstances. However, thinking of the silver powder as medicine was an even more appalling concept. Jem needed it to survive, but it provided no medical benefits. It was killing him slowly. Medicine did not do that.

Will turned his eyes towards Jem, distracted by his thoughts. They walked down dark alleyways, searching for any hint of Melissa’s corpse, but neither searched as carefully as he should have. A demon had been following them for four intersections, and they had not yet detected its presence. Will was too busy worrying to be properly alert, and Jem was distracted in an altogether different fashion. He had not taken the drug recently enough, and his body was starting to weaken.

The pair walked into a deserted alley when the demon finally moved to strike. It went for Will first—he was a bigger target. Will spotted the shadow of the demon, which was standing in the streetlight. Will moved quickly, pulling out a seraph blade and muttering a name to himself. He ran forward around to stab the demon, but it had moved too quickly towards another target. Jem was separated from Will, and although he normally could be trusted to take care of himself, his body was simply too weak at the moment. He had begun to cough, and even the demon could see that he was an easy target.

Will sprinted towards the demon, hoping to stop it before it reached Jem. He was no longer thinking at this point—his brain could only repeat Not Jem, Not Jem over and over. Jem was the only person in the world that he allowed himself to love. If he died, Will was alone.

The demon loomed over Jem, who was coughing more and more violently. Will needed to kill the demon quickly so he could rush Jem back to the Institute. While the demon was distracted with Jem, Will stabbed him in the back, watching as inky blackness leaked from the wound. For good measure, he stabbed the demon several more times, to ensure it was really dead.

He then turned immediately to Jem. Jem was curled up into a ball, his coughing getting more severe and his body starting to shake. The Institute was five-minute walk away. Will immediately picked Jem up and began to run, thanking his Shadowhunter training for his abnormal endurance.


Back at the Institute, everyone was frantic. Jem looked like death. They administered the drug immediately. Will was relieved when the shaking subsided and the coughing stopped. This was the closest he had ever seen Jem come to death.

Will was miserable. This was a startling reminder of his best friend’s frailty. Jem was his other half, but he was dying. Will was both profoundly upset and perversely reassured. Will allowed Jem in more than anyone else because he WAS dying. It was not Will that was killing him. It was a drug, something that Will held no responsibility for.

However, anyone who thought that William Herondale planned to let his parabatai die anytime soon was a fool. Time after time, Jem had fallen ill because he refused to take the drug, and time after time, Will was there to keep him going. Will would not let Jem die.

Jem had asked everyone to stop searching for a cure for him. Will agreed to comfort Jem. However, he would never give up on Jem. Jem was all that he had in the entire world, and he would walk to the ends of the earth and back to let him live a full life.

Rogues

Some nights, Will slipped out of the Institute. Jem had always noticed his absence—it was hard not to when Will came back the next morning with fantastical stories of drunkenness and debauchery. Will had never given the same explanation twice for where he had been.

Jem found that incredibly suspicious.

Jem never knew what was going on in that dark-haired head of Will’s, and Will usually didn’t care to elaborate. Will was a private person. Giving such detailed descriptions of his misadventures was incredibly out of character, and Jem thought it seemed a bit off.

Will always seemed happier when people thought worse of him, and the stories rarely painted him in a positive light. Jem decided that it was time to do some investigating. Jem would never confront Will if he really were lying about what was going on. However, Jem found it difficult to envision Will being as awful as he made himself seem. Jim wanted to gain some peace of mind.

Will’s unhealthy curiosity had to be rubbing off on him.

Jem decided that the best way to figure things out was to follow Will. He waited for a cloudy night with cool weather. He did not want Will to be able to see his shadow in the moonlight. Following a seasoned Shadowhunter would be difficult in the first place, and Jem wanted to make sure that very few external factors were working against him.

Jem took a little extra of his drug that afternoon. Although he hated himself for it at the time, he was glad he did later. From the time Will left the Institute to the time Will returned, he was on the move, and Jem was right behind him.

After the sun had set, Will headed out. Jem waited, letting Will get a few-minute head start. Although the streets of London were crowded during the day, there would be fewer people this late at night. Jem would need the extra distance to keep hidden as he walked. Will was tall, and his dark hair was distinctive enough that Jem should be able to find him in a crowd.

After three minutes, Jem headed out. Will was already to the corner at the end of the street. Jem walked briskly to make sure Will did not get too far ahead. Will seemed to be walking abnormally quickly, even for him. Jem watched carefully, making sure Will did not turn at the corner. When Will went straight, Jem was able to slow down a bit. He could see Will’s head bobbing above the crowd. As long as Will did not make any sudden turns, Jem could walk at a normal pace.

They continued on the main road for fifteen minutes or so. The further they walked, the fewer people there were on the roads. This was the time of night where people returned to the safety of their houses. Jem’s father had always called it the time of the rogues, where the only people on the streets were up to no good.

Considering he was only out and about to tail his closest friend, he supposed his father was right.

Jem was wrenched out of his thoughts when he noticed that Will seemed to be slowing down. While he was walking briskly before, he was now strolling down the cobblestone streets. Will’s head never turned, focused only on what was ahead of him. However, he was walking in a leisurely manner, as if he were completely at home wandering the streets. Jem wondered if this was a common route for him.

Will turned left at the next corner and continued to walk. Jem made sure to memorize the area surrounding the curve, just in case he had to head back on his own. He knew some parts of London fairly well, but he did not know all the twists and turns of the city as well as Will did. Will had been there longer and had spent far more time exploring than Jem had.

Will and Jem walked further and further into the city. Every once in a while, Will stopped and looked around. Jem wondered if Will was looking for something. However, even when Will stopped, it was never long before he continued walking.

Jem was baffled. While one part of his brain was keeping track of the route back, the other part was trying to find an explanation for what Will was doing. Will never talked to anyone along the path. He walked past brothels and bars without sparing them a second glance. Nothing seemed to exist except the street in front of him and his feet.

Eventually, Jem started to get tired. The sun would start coming up within another hour or so, and Will was still wandering, seemingly aimlessly. Jem was starting to recognize the area, though—they were getting closer to the Institute again. Jem knew he should be back in bed before Will got home. It would be suspicious if he wasn’t there. Luckily, though, since they were close to home, Jem knew all of the shortcuts. As Will walked down the main strip, Jem turned into a side street, picking up his pace to compensate for Will’s head start. He entered the Institute before Will had turned the corner and he crept up to his bedroom. Five minutes later, he heard a creak in the floorboards outside his room. Will was back, and he was safe.

The next morning, Will had bloodshot eyes and a ridiculous story about a werewolf girl seducing him. Jem was careful to react like he normally did, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. However, he was secretly confused and disappointed. Will was not a bad person. If last night was anything to judge by, he was a deeper person than anyone gave him credit for.

It frustrated Jem to watch Will portray himself as a rogue. Will acted like he could not be trusted to behave properly, but Jem didn’t buy it for a second.

Regardless of how little Jem understood his parabatai, he would trust him with his life.

Jem was confused by the new arrival to the Institute.

Tessa was a lovely girl, Jem supposed. She had nice hair and intelligent eyes. She was both polite and headstrong, and Jem already decided that he wanted to be her friend. She had this way about her that made her very interesting.

That was not the confusing part. London was full of lovely girls, and wanting to be friends with an interesting person wasn’t an odd desire.

The confusing part was not the emotion she had elicited from Jem, but from Will.

Will was his best friend in the entire world, and Jem liked to think that he was Will’s best friend, as well. Will had his secrets, but Jem knew more of them than most people did. Will was the closest thing Jem had to family, really, and he treasured their time together.

However, that time together had been decreasing lately thanks to a certain brunette with grey eyes.

Jem found Tessa interesting and lovely, but he viewed her strictly as a friend. Jem suspected that Will might be viewing things differently, which bothered him a bit. Tessa was a strong, mysterious young woman with a sharp wit and an interesting perspective. It was natural that Will would be curious, just as Jem was.

Will’s interest seemed slightly different than Jem’s, though. Jem saw the way Will’s eyes were drawn downward along Tessa’s tall, thin frame. Out of the corner of his eye, Jem would notice Will staring at her, sometimes, as if she were a puzzle he intended to solve. Tessa seemed to hold Will’s attention in ways that Jem had never seen before.

It bothered him more than he would have liked to admit.

At least, that was part of what was disturbing Jem. He did not like that Will was spending less time with him, but he was used to Will being a bit emotionally distant. Jem did not like that Tessa was getting more attention than him, but that was completely logical, as Tessa was new. Jem did not have a right to dictate what Will did with his time. Those were irrational concerns, but Jem was able to excuse them with a little effort

The thing that was most bothersome to Jem was not that he was playing second fiddle, so to speak, but that it annoyed him so much. Jem prided himself on his patience and understanding when it came to William Herondale. Jem was used to Will’s stories of girls and alcohol and debauchery. Jem simply accepted them as (probably) false and moved along.

Actually seeing Will react to a girl like this, however, was a different matter entirely. This was not an exaggerated story of Will seducing a young werewolf in a pub or being accosted by an old hag on the streets. This was Will Herondale possibly showing real interest in someone, and the thought was a bit frightening. Seeing Will look at Tessa that way made Jem oddly… well, almost jealous. Jem couldn’t explain it

Jem knew he was probably misinterpreting things. He knew that it was unrealistic that Will was actually seriously interested in the girl he had recently met. He knew that Will would probably charm the secrets out of Tessa and move on, hoping to escape before she started to ask him for facts about himself.

Still, the concept of Will viewing someone else as more important than Jem made him bitter in a way he felt was inappropriate. It was frustrating and absurd, and Jem would never mention it out loud. Will relied on him to be stable and considerate and not too inquisitive. It was impossible to squelch the negative thoughts, however.

His feelings baffled him, and he hoped they would fade soon.