Outside Room 527, Tuesday Evening

[godgavemecable]

The thing about cats was that while they could definitely be very affectionate and friendly when it suited them, occasionally they required some alone-time. Apparently this applied even to humans-turned-cats, which is why after spending nearly a solid week under Kenzi's watchful eye, Toby the kitten had decided to slink off on his own for a bit

Comments

[not_trivial]

527. Jace lived here. Alec knew that, because he'd written it down before he'd even written down his own room number. So of course he was coming up here on an evening that he had nothing to do.

Except that there was a naked guy in the way and oh god.

Alec made a small, strained noise of discomfort, turned a deep shade of red, turned his head away, and said loudly, "Are you Jace's roommate or are you actually breaking in?"

[godgavemecable]

"Um," Toby squeaked, flailing to cover all relevant body parts. "Both, actually? I... seem to be missing my key."

And pants, for that matter.

[not_trivial]

"I figured that much." Because he was super smart, okay?

Alec sighed. "I can help with the door, but you do live here, right?" he checked. ...Damn it, why couldn't he remember Jace's roommate's name?

[godgavemecable]

"Toby," he said, replying to that unspoken question. "And yeah, I do, I swear."

[not_trivial]

"All right." He was taking Toby's word for that, mainly because the name did sound familiar, though also because he didn't much care for the idea of a naked guy loitering around the hallway and helping him out did seem like the right thing to do. "If you could -- turn around?"

He was still a little bit wary of drawing runes in front of non-Shadowhunters.

[godgavemecable]

"Yeah, sure," Toby said with a nod. He was by nature curious, so he did his best not to let his disappointment show at being unable to see... whatever Alec was about to do. But in the grander scheme of things, clothing kind of currently outweighed getting to see angel-magic.

[not_trivial]

Did it? Did it really? Because angel-magic was the best.

Alec cast a furtive look around just to make sure he wasn't about to get rushed by a Downworlder or something, then unpocketed his stele and inscribed a quick, small Unlocking rune on the door. Sure enough, the lock popped open, and Alec stepped to the side so that Toby could enter, shielding his eyes with his hand. "There."

[godgavemecable]

Right now at this exact moment, pants were the best.

"Thanks, man," Toby said quickly, ducking inside and closing the door behind him, rummaging through his drawers to quickly throw on the first pair of pants and a shirt he could find.

"So-" he said finally, as he opened the door once again. "I'm guessing you're a friend of Jace's." Since he'd opened up the dialogue asking if Toby was the aforementioned's roommate and everything.

[not_trivial]

"His adoptive brother," Alec confirmed, lingering awkwardly in the doorway in lieu of just entering like a normal person. "I was going to see if he wanted to spar, but I guess he's... out."

The probably empty room did seem to suggest as much.

"I'm Alec," he added a moment later, awkwardly.

[godgavemecable]

"You can come in if you want," Toby said, gesturing for Alec to do so. "Good to meet you. I promise I don't make a habit of the wandering the halls naked thing."

[not_trivial]

He took a step or two in, but still managed to make it look like he was hovering. "So there was a reason?"

Because Alec was very much against Jace having a nudist roommate. Less against than he would've been if said roommate had been a girl, but still. Against. Vehemently.

[godgavemecable]

"Inasmuch as you can call 'Fandom' a reason," Toby admitted with a shrug. "I was a cat. Then I wasn't. Cats generally don't wear clothes, so there I was."

[not_trivial]

"...And how long was that going on?" No, wait, he had a better question. "Was it some kind of spell?"

He wasn't familiar quite yet with those occasional whims of the island that led to impromptu animalification; however, he did know about the kinds of spells Downworlders put in party drinks that might turn someone temporarily into a rat or some other small animal. It wasn't exactly something he had much experience with.

[godgavemecable]

"Could be?" Toby admitted. "I'm not really sure how it works, just that sometimes people are human one moment and some sort of animal the next. Never happened to me before coming here though, so I'm pretty sure it's this place and not some sort of... weird talent or whatever. As for how long- that is a very good question. What day is it?"

[not_trivial]

Alec nodded his way through the first explanation, though with a furrowed brow and a lot more questions about the stability of this place than he was willing to vocalize. As to the latter point, though-- "Tuesday," he answered. "The seventeenth. I guess cats wouldn't really keep a human calendar."

That last bit was an example of something Alec thought was a funny joke. Weird, weird kid.

[godgavemecable]

Well, Toby did grin slightly at that, so... sort of successful joke, then?

"Not really, no. But I guess that'd put me at a little over a week. Nobody told you about this sort of thing happening?" he added, raising an eyebrow in surprise.