Coda fic prompt: Meliorn asking Jace questions he can’t lie about while they are alliance rune bonded
Nothing but the Truth(Read on AO3)
Jace never would’ve imagined that the worst part of his time in the literal hellscape of Edom would be the incessant questioning of the Seelie Knight he’s bonded to.
“What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?” Meliorn asks. “-Besides answering my questions here.” Jace curses Meliorn’s ability to see every potential loophole before Jace can exploit it. It’s hardly fair, given Meliorn is already intricately familiar with how to best manipulate the truth and exactly how to phrase the perfect query.
“My first day at the Academy one of the cadets said I couldn’t catch a throwing knife blindfolded and of course I said I could.” Jace begins to answer. Each time he tries to open his mouth the truth comes tumbling out before he can even consider whatever lie he’d normally spout off to make himself look good. “He called my bluff and dared me to try, so I did. I nearly lost two fingers - half the new students could barely hold a stele, let alone activate a decent iratze. If it wasn’t for a visiting warlock who used healing magic in addition to my iratze it would’ve been a lot worse than a small scar.”
Meliorn is laughing at the mental image before Jace gets to finish the full story which ends with Jace holding up his hand to show off the faintest of white marks across his middle and index fingers as proof.
“I was trying to impress a girl in our class!” Jace defends, as if that makes it somehow better and not worse, before shutting his mouth.
“I’m sorry for your fragile ego,” Meliorn says, clearly not sorry at all.
“Hmmm…” Meliorn’s eyes flicker up and down Jace’s body. “Do you dye your hair?” The Seelie asks finally, gaze settling on Jace’s head and his portal-travel-mussed hair.
Jace doesn’t speak right away this time. He can do this. He’s lied his way out of a number of scenarios with the Lightwoods, and Hodge, and even occasionally his father when he was younger. He can’t lie… but not all lies have to be outright lies, do they? Just not entire truths.
“I’m a natural blonde,” he says slowly, proud of the answer. There’s too much of a pause, enough that Meliorn knows he’s leaving something out, but instead of being annoyed by it Meliorn smirks.
“You learn fast,” Meliorn says, nodding his approval. “I’m impressed.” Jace thinks he might let it go but instead looks back over to see Meliorn shoot him a wink. “But just between us, the highlights…?”
Jace sighs. “Dyed,” he admits in defeat. “I can’t believe Clary’s with Simon, and Alec gets magic, and I’m stuck with you and this built-in truth serum interrogation.” Jace mutters under his breath, but loud enough that Meliorn hears anyway. He immediately wishes he hadn’t said anything at all.
“Are you jealous?”
“Yes,” Jace says immediately. It’s a vague enough answer, but of course Meliorn reads the emotion behind it.
“Of Simon?”
“Yes. He’s been friends with Clary forever - they have all these dumb inside jokes that don’t make any sense, and he doesn’t even have to try to make her laugh. I can’t relate to any of the mundane things she grew up with… Sometimes I wonder if she wouldn’t be better off with someone who wasn’t raised in such a fucked-up life.”
This time, instead of feeling embarrassed, Jace is surprised by how relieved he feels after the admission. It’s one he’s held in for quite some time, not just from Clary but from his siblings, and even a little bit himself. He may act like Ithuriel’s gift to mankind but in reality he knows his shortcomings, and he’s overly aware of the burdens his existence comes with.
Meliorn doesn’t laugh at him, or ask another question. The Seelie looks closely at him, so intently that Jace actually looks away from the soft expression he doesn’t expect to see there.
“You have more to offer than you think, Jace Herondale. And I wouldn’t doubt the Fairchild girl’s love for you - it runs deep. I have no logical idea why, but...”
Jace turns to the side and lightly punches Meliorn in the arm for the last comment, but the smile he flashes him at the same time is a silent thank you for the kind words even though he just mutters, “Yeah, okay,” out loud in response.
He expected this to be nothing but humiliation from the start, and isn’t prepared for the serious turn the conversation takes so abruptly.
It’s one thing to be honest about ridiculous things that don’t really matter, things that are just meant to humiliate and taunt him. But something like this, something deep and emotional and truly personal… it’s a line he knows he can’t stop the Seelie from crossing, but that doesn’t stop him from hoping, either.
Jace gets his wish. Meliorn goes right back to his previous line of questioning, divulging everything from Jace’s secret love of cotton candy to the fact that he’s seen The Notebook twice of his own accord. “Okay,” Meliorn starts.
“Stop,” Jace cuts him off, the word more of a pleading whine than an actual demand at this point.
But Meliorn continues on as if Jace hadn’t said a word. “On a scale of one to ten,” the Seelie begins, stopping and turning to face Jace as he speaks to see his full reaction. “How handsome do you think I am?”
Jace stops walking as well and sighs. “Like a nine.”
“Nine? Jace, thank you that’s… that’s very kind of you.” Meliorn smirks. “Tell me, do you often find yourself attracted to men? Or is it just me?”
Jace doesn’t answer at first, glad his face is already flushed from his choice to wear a leather jacket in the heat of Edom so that the blush creeping across his cheekbones at that moment is less noticeable.
“And here I thought you were the outlier of the Lightwood siblings,” Meliorn says, no judgement, only surprise, and Jace should be caught off guard to hear the implication about Isabelle in that statement but he isn’t, not really. The signs are all there, more brazen than they were with Alec even though Isabelle hasn’t directly said anything to him about liking girls as well as guys. She never offered and he never asked, it isn’t his business.
Just like this isn’t Meliorn’s business.
“I- it isn’t-” Jace starts, stumbling through a way to phrase his answer that won’t be incriminating, but much to his surprise Meliorn isn’t laughing over it, or making light of the revelation, and so when the truth comes out he’s hesitant but not worried, not really. “It isn’t often.”
“And here I thought I might be special,” Meliorn sighs.
There are definitely follow-up clarifications Jace wants to give, and maybe a question or two about Isabelle that he wants to ask, but instead his attention is diverted to the low growl of a demon -- correction, demons, plural -- coming their way. Fast.
“I hate to burst your bubble but you’ve got bigger things to worry about right now than your vanity,” Jace tells Meliorn, nodding behind the Seelie.
It’s probably for the best, he thinks, shifting his focus back to what he does best; back in his comfort zone, Jace is more than a little relieved to be facing a demon rather than more personal questions from the Seelie… which probably says more about him than any answer he might give out loud.
Thankfully the time for words is passed as the pair stand poised and ready, bracing for the incoming attack.
So I’ve read the scene between Max and Alec where Max comes out like 10 times already and I just can’t get over how much it resonates with me as someone who identifies as ace. The scene is exactly how I wish that conversation could happen with my mom but know it will never happen because she thinks she is owed an explanation for why I have no interest in dating which is part of why I’ve never told her because I want to do it on my own terms not by her coaxing it out of me. So thanks!
you’re welcome. i wish all coming out convos could be like that conversation between max and alec for everyone. i’m sorry that society’s stupid ass norms dictate we need to explain ourselves at all. you keep being the best you that you can possibly be. no explanation needed here ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ xx
So I just saw a post about you saying Jack had a strab as a kid and I went back and looked at the drawings and you're totally right and I'm kicking myself for not seeing it before because I am an optometrist and literally did one of my rotations in peds and would talk my way into ORs to watch strab surgery!
Thanks for the expert confirmation! The “Jack was a strange/ugly baby” running gag had always bothered me, and a few days ago it suddenly crystallized for me that if the drawings are a representation of what he actually looked like as a kid--that’s strabismus! A friend of mine had to have eye surgeries to correct that when he was a baby/little kid, and I know he’s still self-conscious about it to this day, so it totally made sense to me that it would be A Thing for Jack, especially since having perfect vision is such a huge part of being able to follow in Bob’s footsteps as a hockey player.
So sometimes I see pictures of Henrik Lundqvist and I think "oh hey it's real like itsb Alec Lightwood" and I don't know why that's my brains first thought but it has happened on more than one occasion.
you and me, darling. @magicandarchery texted me a pic of hank’s new pads yesterday and i wasn’t okay for hours. only two more months until the new season!! xx
So my friend downloaded ITSB to re-read on her flight over the weekend and it was 545 pages long on her kindle! She also texted me that in one of the author notes you apologized for a chapter being long at 6k and now look at the fic!
jfc. someone please take my keyboard away from me 🙈
SAAAAMMMMM I'm only 3 paragraphs in to the new chapter and already having too many feels! I had blocked out the end of the last chapter from my memory so I got reminded of the heart wrenching sadness of Malec breaking up! Okay back to reading. Just had to yell.
i hope you survived. YOU HAVE TO. IT’S OBLIGATORY!! ♡ xx
There's a bunch of YOI on my dash which got me thinking of my fav gay hockey player which is your Alec so I just wanted to come check in and say "hi" and hope you had a happy holidays. Hope the new chapter is going well. Can't wait to read it!
awwwww you make me smile so damn big, darling!! how you doing????? i can’t wait for you to read the new chapter either ;) ♡ xx
