gabriel : @gloriamvinctum
. . .𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐋𝐘? he has none. what a cruel twist of fate , that gabriel lightwood will die an untimely death at the hands of henry branwell. who would have thought? green eyes flicker between will , the half-destroyed portal , and the many documents that had been inflamed and incinerated by whatever he’d managed to explode in henry’s lab. face is still stinging with light burns , clothes half-ripped , as he steps on one more stack of papers ; putting out the small flame that is still ablaze . . . mocking him. ❝ . . . it was henry’s fault? ❞ it’s 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒. he’s doomed. but then. . . eyes narrow. an excuse?
❝ ───── i can always try to convince them it was 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ? ❞
AN ASH - LIKE SUBSTANCE , its various filigree yet lingering in the air , had exploded from gabriel’s general direction. truthfully , will had only entered the crypt set upon a specific task of locating henry’s notes as a favor to charlotte ------ one he & lightwood had rushed at with equal fervor , eager to please the head of the institute to a rivalrous extent. since gabriel had come under their roof following the turning of his father into a tremendous , pallid worm ( and subsequently of course to the events that had distracted will , those that took him away from the institute on horseback , the climax of their fight with mortmain & the grief to follow. ) he’d forged what seemed a kind of cautiously optimistic attachment to charlotte. it aggravated will not a little to see him so quick to cater to her as though he’d earned the right , lived under the institute’s roof as long as the rest of them , and had not conspired with his father to be the undoing of them all , previously. will had opted to give the other another chance , deigning not to bring up that indelicate matter ------------ time had transformed him somewhat back into the boy he’d once been , or perhaps the man he was set to become. he no longer wished his blows to be quite as precise in their delivery , or his tongue to be so sharp it mortally wounded another fractured soul.
but he wasn’t about to relinquish his dislike entirely all the same : especially when gabriel’s errors & arrogant incompetence resulted in this sort of thing. the explosion had coated will’s shirtsleeves , waistcoat , and cravat , as well as washed his skin over with a substance that looked like soot. the coal - black tangles that usually fell carelessly in his eyes to shroud his forehead were blown back & solidified by thick debris , sticking up at odd junctures from the impact of force blown against it. he must have appeared as a rather dashing chimney sweep , then. and gabriel a pinched - faced one. will’s eyes narrow , setting on the other , as he crosses his arms about a rigid torso. the timbre drops to a perilous octave offset the petulance of his words. ❛ blaming henry is my cherished pastime. you’ll have to find your own. ❜
instead of rising to the occasion for severity to ensue , will’s expression mutates into that of hilarity ------ a burst of true laughter in tow. ❛ me ? dear me , you really are knobheaded. they’re used to my rumpled self , not your own. more’s the pity for you. if i told charlotte i was running rooftops & fell down a chimney like bloody saint nicolas himself , she’d believe me sooner than you claiming i was doing something intentionally useful. ❜ will forgoes mentioning how charlotte’s opinion would have changed by then of him , and she would not be as quick to chalk his behavior up to his accustomed exploits as she’d been in the past. ❛ perhaps your customary practice is sticking that beaky nose of yours where no one wants it , henry’s hazardous contraptions notwithstanding ? ❜ will moves without severing eye contact to stamp out a small fire on the ground , a smug , pink smile emphasized on his filthy face.