When Matthew opens the cellar door, he’s hit with a billow of smoke and the sound of coughing. He stumbles back, covering his mouth, and does his best to waft away the putrid clouds.
“LOTTIE!!!” a voice bellows from below. “WOULD YOU GRAB THE WITCHLIGHT?”
Matthew rolls his eyes and makes his way down the stairs. The smoke is still thick and permeates throughout the lab. Matthew squints his eyes to see through the smog and covers his mouth with a handkerchief. He can still hear his father coughing as he fumbles his way around the lab, searching for the window. Instead, his thigh meets the corner of a table.
“Damn!” he curses.
“Lottie?” his father calls out from somewhere “is that you?” There’s a small thud followed by shuffling noises. “Blast,” Henry grumbles, “It’s on the table somewhere.”
Matthew’s hand finds the wall of the cellar, the stone cool to the touch. Standing on his tiptoes, he reaches up and finds the latch to the window, opening it.
As the smoke clears, Matthew can see the glow of the witchlight from across the room. He watches his Father waft the remaining rings of smoke from around his head. He blinks rapidly, getting his bearings.
“Oh.” Henry gasps “Matthew. When did you get here?”
“Not long ago.” Matthew shrugs, smoothing out the wrinkles in his vest.
Silence hangs between them. Tension left unresolved from the last time they’d spoken.
“So,” Henry clears his throat. “You, are you settling in, then?”
“Yes.”
“Is it very far from here? The flat?”
Far enough, Matthew thinks. “I just came to grab a few books I’d forgotten, then I’ll be on my way.”
Hurt flickers past Henry’s eyes, and Matthew has to turn away. “What were you working on?” He asks, moving around to the other side of the table.
“Ah!” Henry exclaims, a new light in his voice. “well I have been trying to test a new theory of mine using this formula…”
As Henry dives into his dissertation, Matthew falls into old habits. His father’s words drowning out as he watches the light reflect off the surface of his rings. The tiny rainbow prisms providing more comfort and entertainment than the scientific jargon. He could use a drink.
“That’s what’s got me cross. What do you think?”
Matthew blinks, startled, coming back to himself. He looks up at his Father, “Uh” he looks down at the paper in front of him. The letters and symbols merge on the page. “Whatever you think is best,” he says. “You know I’ve never taken much to tinkering. Don’t have the mind for it. Never was as smart as you.”
“Matthew…” Henry starts.
“I can ask Christopher to stop by.” Matthew interrupts, turning towards the stairs “He’s helped you before. I’m sure the two of you can make sense of it.”
“Where are you off to?”
“I’m meeting Jamie.”
“Where?”
“By the hat shop.”
“Which hat shop?
“The one on the corner.”
“The corner of—
“I’m not going to a bar!” Matthew snaps.
The side of Henry’s face twitches, and there’s a look in his eye. But Matthew can’t tell what it is. Pity? Guilt? It makes Matthew’s skin crawl. He just wants to leave.
“I should go,” he mutters, heading for the stairs. “Jamie will be waiting.”
“Matthew, wait.”
Matthew stops just shy of the bottom step and waits.
Seconds pass. Bile churns in Matthew’s stomach. He doesn’t dare turn around, afraid of the wave of emotion behind him. It’s too much. He should have just asked Christopher to pick up the books the next time he was here.
Finally, Henry speaks, his voice soft and sad. “Take care of yourself.”
Matthew feels sick. “Your goggles are in the desk draw. They’ll help… with the smoke.” He barely hears his Father’s thank you before he’s up the stairs, abandoning the books he’d come for, and heading straight for the carriage.
Why had he’d come? What was he hoping for, using a lousy excuse of forgotten books? He grips the flask in his jacket pocket, leaning his head against the window frame. “You’re a fool, Matthew,” he chuckles to himself as the carriage rides past the gate. As if his Father would ever ask his waste-of-a-son to come home.
Hii Emmy, congratulations on getting 1k followers, you totally deserve it🥰 for the celebration, can I get a drawing of Kit and Ty? 🥺 Thank you so much! ❤ I love your blog and you're awesome!
Thank you so much!!!!😭
Fun Fact : I actually have a full Kitty wip that I am working on 🥰 sooo there’s going to be more Kitty in the near future ☺️
A Kitty ficlet for @thomaslightwood who requested the prompt :
"Could you say that again?" "Were you not listening?" "No I was, I just like hearing your voice"
This is my first Kitty fic! I hope you like it! 🙈
Tag list : @legendofconsullightwood @themostawesomehuman @littleturtle95 @tobeornottobetequila @morgnstern @zfoxdraws @bookworm-jedi @magnus-the-maqnificent @banesbitch @fair-but-wilde-child @beclynn-herondale @khaleesiofalicante @my-archerboy @youngreckless @runecarstairs @high-warlock-of-brooklyn @itsdaughterofthemoon
“Why did you leave?! You didn’t even say goodbye! You just disappeared! And I never heard from you again.”
Kit stands frozen, feeling like the walls of the Scholomance could collapse on him at any minute. He keeps opening his mouth, but he can’t seem to make the words come out. He should have planned better. When he’d heard that Ty had been injured, he found the quickest way to portal here. It didn’t occur to him that showing up out of the blue might not go over well. Understatement of the year.
The injury wasn’t serious, and they had directed Kit to Ty’s room, where he found him, sitting on the edge of his bed wiping his head phones.
Beautiful, Kit thought.
Even after Ty saw him and Kit saw the hurt in his eyes, even after Ty told him to leave and he had to chase him down to the library, even as he yells at him now, all Kit can think is how beautiful Ty is. He’s taller now, still taller than Kit, despite his own growth spurt. His hair’s shorter, falling just above his eyes, he’s just as beautiful as the first time Kit had seen him, and just as strong.
“I deserve an answer.”
Ty’s words snap Kit back into focus. He watches as Ty's fists shake subtly at his sides, his entire body practically vibrating with betrayal. You did this. Kit thinks. You did this to him.
“You fooled me from the start. You lied to me.”
No.
“You said you were my friend.”
“I am your friend”, Kit’s voice cracks.
“You said you’d help me with Livvy, but you tried to stop me. And then you just left.”
“I know.”
“WHY?!” Ty yells, his breath coming out in short, quick pants, his fist clenching and unclenching at his side. His body rocking back and forth.
Kit’s mind flashes back to the LA Institute, hold on to me, Ty had said. I should have. Kit thinks. I should’ve never let go.
Ty keeps yelling, his face turning red, “Why did you leave?! Why didn’t you tell me anything? You could have told me!”
“I know.”
“Then why?! Tell me why!” Ty’s voice breaks. “You lied to me! You left me! You said you loved me—”
“I do.” Kit says. Between one blink and the next he had moved himself over to Ty, he wraps his arms around him like he had that night years ago, and pulls him into his shoulder.
“I do love you.” he says again. “I always have. And I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t change what I did, but I never meant to hurt you, Ty. Never.” he tightens his hold around Ty’s shoulders. “I’m here now. I’ll tell you everything. It’s a lot. Some crazy stuff has happened, but I can tell you everything. I want to tell you everything.”
Ty twitches in his grip, but says nothing.
“I know I messed up.” Kit continues. “and I’m sorry, I’ll spend the rest of my complicated life making it up to you if I can. But don’t think for a second that anything I told you was a lie or that it didn’t kill me to leave. I thought about you every day. I missed you every day. I even got one of those Ouija boards to contact Livvy so I could get a message to you.”
Ty snorts into the curve of Kit’s neck, “Those things are fake,” he says, finally standing up to look at Kit.
“I know,” Kit shrugs “but I figured it was worth a shot.” He meets Ty’s gaze, “I meant what I said.”
“When?” Ty asks
“Huh?”
“Could you say it again?”
“What, were you not listening?” Kit questions, crossing his arms.
“No I was,” Ty replies smiling, “I just like hearing your voice.”
Kit shakes his head to hide the redness in his cheeks. “Well, get ready then. There’s a lot to fill you in on.”
“I’ve got time” Ty says, moving over to one of the tables in the library, a striped cat jumps down from the bookshelf into his lap. “Hi Irene,” he coos, giving the cat a scratch behind the ears.
Kit smiles, watching the light from the window disappear in the raven strands of Ty’s hair.