Leon stiffened a little more as Lennon’s hand enclosed his, then forced himself to relax. His mother hadn’t been happy when he and Lennon had taken their parabatai vows — Alyssa was one of many who disapproved of non-sibling male-female parabatai pairings, given the Clave’s stance on parabatai who fell in love. Leon had found that most of their generation found this viewpoint to be outdated, partly for it’s assumption that men and women couldn’t be ‘just friends’ and partly for it’s assumption of heterosexuality. For his part, Leon had always dismissed his mother’s concerns as foolish.
Well, he had. Until he had come to acknowledge his feelings for Lennon. Now, when he saw the way his mother looked at them, he felt something akin to guilt — even though he felt in his soul that there was nothing wrong with their love.
His mother eyed their clasped hands, arching an eyebrow. “You two are far too old to be carrying on like that. It was one thing when you were children, but now …” She sighed. “People talk.”
Leon rolled his eyes. “Okay, Mom. The minute someone appears who might get the wrong idea, I promise to let go.” It was common for parabatai to touch — their bond made them stronger when they did, enhancing many of their powers. It was less common for parabatai to hold hands when not actively using those powers, but … Fuck it.
Alyssa sighed like the weight of the world was resting on her chest. “There’s a briefing in fifteen minutes. Attendance is mandatory.” She sniffed, pulling a face. “And by the Angel, please clean that disgusting muck off first.”
She gave them one last look and walked back the way she came, leaving them alone once more in the corridor. Leon turned to look at Lennon, his eyebrow raised, one corner of his mouth turned up. “You little shit,” he said fondly. “I swear you wind her up on purpose.”
Lennon barely took a breath for the entirety of Alyssa’s diatribe, finally feeling the tense muscles of her shoulder blades loosen ever so slightly at her leaving. The brunette smirked softly as he chided her, amused by the little game that they’d played with one another, though in honesty she was earnest to not have to hide who they were anymore. “Pretty soon we’ll be busy running from her and the Clave and she will long for the days that all I did was talk sass in her face and monopolize her son.” Len huffed softly through her nose as she turned to face Leon, still struck by how hand some he was even covered in ichor. She scrunched her nose at him playfully and tugged at his filthy jacket.
“The woman was right about one thing, though, we’re a little disgusting. Don’t wanna show up at assembly looking like this, do we?” A feign of admonishment painted the shadowhunter’s features and she winked at her parabatai. Lennon led the pair of them upstairs to his room, comfortably familiar with the knowledge he’d follow. Every room had it’s own private bathroom for the individual suites, a perk that made the institue feel more homey normally. Now it came in handy because it meant the two of them had yet another reason to be alone together, As soon as Len had swung the heavy oak door shut, the petite woman pressed herself up onto her toes and pressed her mouth to Leon’s.
“Hmm, sorry. It seems like since the first one I just can’t stop myself now.” Her accent lilted through the air, tainted with her unceremonious giggling. Raising her green eyes to peer up at him she felt the soft pattering of her heart swell and immediately felt vulnerable. Lennon knew he would never hurt her in the same way she knew that there was air to breathe, instinct dictated her behaviour with him, but anxiety plagued her nevertheless. Rocking back to rest flatfooted, Len nodded her head toward the bathroom, nibbling lightly at her lip. “You should go have a shower.”
