( t e x t | seelie & unseelie. backdated to the 3rd. )

[tensed]

[ the way to communicate here seems too much like something the capitol would make. if not for his need for information, he would throw the damn thing away.

( he's still considering a hole in the ground for it as he types. ) ]

I heard some people have been here a few months. I got a few questions.
are there any rules about the woods
what animals are there around here [ it might help if you specified where "here" is, gale. ]
what district are you from?

[ the third question is a last-minute addition, a sign he's not entirely convinced yet that his being here isn't a capitol trick. gale debates adding anything else, but common sense provides the more obvious answers. he's not in the mood to waste anyone's time, especially his own. ]

Comments

[artem]

Uh - ( Clary follows and gives a slightly nervous laugh, because the story of how she met Jace isn't exactly the things amazing romances are made of. ) It's kind of weird. I actually, um... I saw him killing someone. Well - okay. Not someone. Something... But I thought it was a someone. Anyway... Pretty violent. ( She plops down next to him, looking over at him, now feeling super awkward. How must that sound? )

[tensed]

[ #panemlyfe ]

What was it?

[ though his brow furrows, he doesn't judge — yet. after years of watching the games, knowing three victors and being in love with one, he has no room to talk. ]

[artem]

A demon. ( And now she's going to brace herself for the skepticism. Gale has lots. ) Seeing him kill it... That's actually kind of how I stumbled into the world I was born to be a part of. My mother had been paying a Warlock to hide it from me for years. To block my memory.

[tensed]

Wait. [ he splays his fingers in front of him. ] You didn't know? About the — ?

[ gale motions to where he has seen clary draw on herself. ]

[artem]

Not until I turned sixteen. My mother spent my entire life running from the world she was born into, and hiding it from me. But destiny's hard to run from. ( Clary rolls up her sleeve and shows him her arm. Where the marks were once a deep black, as he saw when she first drew them, most have faded to a light gray. Some are white. But all are there; all are permanent scars. ) And now not only do I see glimpses of the world I'm from, but I'm part of it.

[tensed]

[ his eyes narrow and his brow puckers as he takes in the marks. it's the white ones that draw his attention the most, the ones that have clearly stayed. ]

Do those go away?

[artem]

Occasionally one might, but not usually. They're like scars. They're permanent, even once the effect has worn off. ( Shadowhunter trivia #24. )

[tensed]

[ permanent marks. what must that be like, to choose to mark your skin? gale rolls his shoulder. ]

Does it hurt?

[artem]

Every time. ( But she smiles reassuringly. ) It's like a stinging burn. You get used to it.