Where's Emma

a Dark Artifices story

by EmilyHelene

"What if we get caught, Julian?" Emma asked, coming up for air for the first time in what seemed like forever. She was kissing him feverishly, relishing in the fact that their hidden romance had remained a secret for as long as it had. The training room was empty, save two teenagers who were absolutely forbidden from being together.

Julian just planted a quick kiss to her neck and ran his hands along her lower back. Her shirt lay on the ground at her feet and Julian's, which had been ditched shortly after they arrived, was still MIA. She still couldn't believe they were doing this; not only was it explicitly forbidden by Clave law, the communal training facility was also right at the centre of the Institute and was always open.

No one had come in yet, but that didn't mean no one ever would.

"If someone figures it out, I'm blaming it all on that stupid smile of yours."

"You didn't think my smile was that stupid when you were pressing yours against it a moment ago," he countered, raising his eyebrows before leaning in for another kiss. His touch sent up a flurry of butterflies and for a moment, Emma forgot the risks and just let herself get caught up in how it felt to be loved by him.

"You better watch yourself, Blackthorn," she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. He quickly lifted her up and her legs knotted themselves around his midsection.

He pressed the two of them against the wall and she could feel the smooth marble stone cool against her back. This felt too right to be wrong. "Or what, Carstairs?"

"Emma!"

Despite the ordinarily quiet sound of Octavian's voice, his question echoed throughout the entire training facility, filling their ears with a sense of dread. Four months of covered up kisses, covert touches, and stolen moments vanished in an instant.

She looked over at Julian whose eyes held the same panic she imagined he was seeing reflected in her own. They were in a rather compromising position, given the intended nature and purpose of the room, and while their heartbeats were racing, the increase in speed had little to do with their training regimen.

"We're so dead," he whispered, leaning in toward her ear. She could feel his breath on her neck and even though she didn't want to, pushed herself away from him. His words were uncertain but his face held a ghost of a smile that told her no matter how short their time would be together, even a second would be so totally worth it.

Emma rolled her eyes, swallowing her own smile. "Not if we're quiet, Jules. Now pass me my shirt, please."

He reached behind her, fingers gathering the worn cotton of her t-shirt before he pulled it over her head swiftly. Predictably, her hair was unkempt, with errant strands of curly blond hair escaping from her once tight ponytail. She wasn't sure who was more at fault for its now frazzled appearance: Julian or the t-shirt.

Oftentimes, it didn't even get that messy after a run-in with a demon. Julian felt a small sense of pride looking at that fact. Knowing he had any sort of impression on a girl like Emma was enough of an ego-boost as it was.

With her shirt safely secured, she released her ponytail and did her best to flatten the mess of hair atop her head.

"Emma! Emma, where are you?"

She cursed under her breath, groaning inwardly at her own idiocy; how had she managed to forget she was supposed to be working on throwing with Tavvy, the youngest Blackthorn, that afternoon? She glanced sideways at Julian, taking in his cerulean blue eyes and his slightly mussed hair and that goofy smile. Oh… she thought. That's how.

"It's now or never, Em…" Julian said, motioning to the training mats where Tavvy was walking in a circle and calling her name. Guilt flooded her veins as she took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, Tavvy. Sorry I'm a little late." She self-consciously ran a hand through her curls, trying to unknot the hopelessly tangled strands.

He looked up at her, a bright smile lighting up his tiny face. "It's okay. Were you with Julian?"

Emma felt her face go red as every ounce of blood in her body flooded to her cheeks. "Yeah, he needed some help with his throwing arm too."

"It's true," he laughed, walking out of the shadows to stand beside his parabatai. "Emma's the best there is. Especially hand to hand combat." She dug her elbow into Julian's ribs, earning a small yelp from him.

Tavvy paused for a moment and nodded, his face thoughtful. "Yes, she is."

"Ready to start practicing, Tav?" Emma asked, eager to end Jules' trail of not-so-subtle innuendos.

Suddenly, Julian pointed to the rafters in horror. "Octavian, what's that?"

"Hmm?" he asked, following the line of his older brother's arm. Just as he did, Jules leaned in a planted a quick kiss on Emma's lips.

"Oh, never mind. I thought I saw something," he shrugged. "Don't tucker her out too much, bud." He ruffled his younger brother's hair and started to walk out of the training room.

When Tavvy turned back around to face Emma, he had a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why are you guys trying to hide that you love each other?"

Emma's jaw dropped and she stared incredulously at Tavvy who seemed completely unfazed by her reaction. Julian's eyebrows shot up about a foot in the air as he mentally sifted through all of their private moments trying to discover how Tavvy could ever have figured them out.

"We're not...uh...hiding anything, Tavvy."

"Just promise you won't have babies together or anything because there are enough kids around here. I don't want a baby waking me up when I'm trying to sleep, thank you very much." Tavvy was rambling while Emma and Julian exchanged a look of pure surprise, both gaping.

"Fine," said Emma, exasperated. "You caught us. Don't worry, no one will be having any babies, Tavvy. Just don't mention this to anyone, okay? It's not really allowed."

Tavvy shrugged. "That seems dumb. No one can tell you not to be in love with someone if you are." The simplicity of Tavvy's logic made Emma's heart ache for the same kind of justice. Sometimes kids just had all the right answers, if only grown ups would listen to them every once and a while.

"I don't know, buddy," she said, leaning against Julian's chest. His hands automatically went to her waist, wrapping her up in a spearmint-scented embrace. "I just don't know."

Hopefully you liked it! This one wasn't one of my best, but I really wanted to post it so I hope it's not too bad! This one was again written off a prompt from thefuriousmoles where Tavvy caught Emma and Julian which I liked. I don't really feel like I did it justice, though.
Let me know what you think and have a lovely day!