The Light in the Shadows

[Cloudy]

_{Raphael forced his anger down, grinding his jaw for a moment. He took a deep breath and shook her off. "Stop," he said softly. "Please don't jump on my back. I'm not in the best frame of mind right now." His honey-colored eyes were dark and heavy, his face pulled taut with emotion. "I'm going home, Hope. You said it yourself; those are your hunting grounds and I've little desire to tangle in a club tonight." He turned on his heel to meet Hope's gaze.}

[Spotify]

<sub>Ember dropped from his back, she landed lightly on her feet, she lifted her gaze and fell silent. She rocked back on her heels, hurt flashed in her eyes for a brief moment. "Bye."she muttered finally and turned to leave.

(Bomb threat. Ugh. What has this world come to?)</sub>

[Cloudy]

<sub>[Bomb threat? Where?]
[and you keep typing Ember lol.]

Raphael ground his teeth. "I'm sorry," he said softly, his voice gentle, "I did not mean to take my anger out on you. I am angry because you asked for my protection but I could not protect you in the fae lands. I am angry at myself, not at you. I am sorry."

Raphael was momentarily reminded of his childhood bed, who he'd called Zara. She was dead now; so it goes.

[xD 'So it goes' is something that Kurt Vonnegut says after EVERY TIME someone in his book dies]</sub>

[Spotify]

<sub>(Whoops my bad!)
(A place close to where I live... Ugh. It's in oklahoma.)

Hope turned back to him, surprise in her eyes."I didn't ask you to protect me, Raphael."she shrugged and smiled softly at the young Shadowhunter,"I asked for you to come because I enjoy your company believe it or not. I asked you come because I know you'll fight side by side with me and won't ask for me go behind you like Luka does. I trusted you. That's why I asked you to come. Not because I needed your protection, but because I needed a friend at my side in case things went south in the Fey World."she said, lifting her hand and touching his cheek softly. She smiled at him and than stood on his tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly. She turned than and started to head down the road to another bar.</sub>

[Cloudy]

<sub>Raphael sighed, every ounce of anger finally leaving his form in a flood. He nodded, watching her leave in silence. Whether or not she'd asked for his protection he had silently offered it, and had failed in upholding his oath. But what really confused him was her confession that she liked his companionship.

No one liked being around Raphael; it was that simple. No one liked being around someone who was as cold as death itself; so it goes. No one liked being around the half-breed. But... Hope did?</sub>

[Spotify]

_{Hope glanced back at him, smiled softly, and than vanished from sight. She reappeared in a the bar, dancing on top of it, which meant of course all eyes were on her. She was back in her zone and was ready to let off some excess steam. Her eyes were dead as her body twisted and whirled. It was like she was watching from herself from the outside. Something had changed in Hope and she didn't know what. She no longer felt the thrill of shadow hunting. She just felt dead inside. Her daggers shot out in a wide arc and killed ten demon men and women.}

[Cloudy]

<sub>Raphael sighed softly, turning back towards his flat. He walked at a snail's pace, his gaze distant, his mind turned inward upon itself. He was thinking - thinking about everything, really. His mom. His dad. His pet. His childhood. The day that the Council came for him. His mother had called the councilmen every name under the moon, snarling and spitting and telling them adamantly that they could not take Raphael. He was six. His childhood was gone now. So it goes. The councilmen were stoic, repeating the rules over and over again. "The children of those who leave the Clave are still bound by the rules of the Clave," they said, monotone, almost as if they were intoning. Poor little Raphael was wide-eyed and scared, huddling close to his mother. After the stand-off that seemed to last forever, the councilmen finally took Raphael by force.

He hadn't seen his mother again. She was probably dead now, killed by grief. So it goes.</sub>

[Spotify]

<sub>Hope frowned as she hopped down from her makeshift stage, she had killed all the demons in that bar and she really wasn't in the hunting mood anymore, she sighed as she headed out the door. The Shadowhunter had no idea where she was going, she just knew she was headed somewhere other than the institute. She couldn't face her family. Not yet.

Hope glanced up at the building that held Raphael's flat and she didn't even think twice. She walked right in the front door and headed inside his flat. Once inside she headed for his bedroom. She laughed softly as she dug around his room and than she grabbed a tshirt an the comforter from his bed and than headed for the couch.

The Shadowhunter changed and than flopped down on the couch and fell asleep.</sub>

[Cloudy]

<sub>"Uhm." Raphael was confused. Of course, he'd known that Hope wouldn't want to go home but he hadn't really expected her to come to his flat and hijack his couch. She'd even taken his comforter. His eyes narrowed playfully, though he knew she was asleep. Rolling his eyes, Raphael padded off to his room, yawning as he did so. He curled under his sheets, which were made out of that nice, cool material work-out shirts were made of, and dozed off.

Of course, he'd locked his door and such and set the alarm; his home was even warded against demons and Downworlders of any kind. If they strayed within a hundred feet of the barrier, an alarm was sounded. It was a device of Raphael's own making, as he wasn't on very good terms with Jace and Clary at the time. He'd sort of, well, nearly destroyed part of the institute in one of his famous tantrums.

Honestly, he hadn't meant to. One of the bastard Shadow-hunters had taunted him about his mom until he just couldn't take another damn word and snapped. Raphael was scary when he snapped.</sub>

[Spotify]

(Skip to morning?)