5. Chapter 5 (1/2)

it was the most fun thing that clary had ever had to do for a serious reason. she and mattes had been acting as the friends they were for the few days they'd been in port caynn, so clary knew there was no sense in being all over him as soon as they decided to start pretending they were together. it didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy it though: a few extra little touches here and there, standing closer to him than usual, making him dance with her at night when she'd had a little too much to drink.

she was still sad that she was so far apart from tom, but mayhap port caynn wouldn't be so bad after all.

…

clary had always disliked the women who threw themselves at mattes. she wasn't jealous, of course, but they'd annoyed her all the same. back when they were working as dogs, she'd made it a point to glare and inform them that the guardsman was on duty.

it would be the same here, as rogue, if they weren't pretending to be together. she'd have glared at any mots who dared approach him, and quickly told them that he was working.

except they were pretending to be together, and so things were different. she was still glaring, of course, but her hands were all over him too…and she was shamelessly flirting.

clary tried not to think about how this was so much more satisfying.

…

pretending to be involved with clary had seemed like a good idea at first. well, it still seemed like a good idea really, but just…a more dangerous, tempting sort of good idea.

clary as the rogue already made him catch his

eath and stare at her in wonder – this clary was even bolder, louder, more commanding…and yet also seemed more relaxed, oddly enough.

clary as the rogue pretending to be involved with him…that clary was going to be the death of him one day, he was sure. because although he knew it was all pretend, there was only so much a man could take in the way of touches and whispers and blatant flirting.

and judging by the look of mischief in her eyes when she did it, she knew it too.

…

mattes thought he was doing a good job of keeping up the pretense of being together with clary. he was flirting, just like she was with him, and he was making sure he touched her more than usual, just like she was with him. he even thought that stealing some food from her plate, and then feeding her a taste of his own dinner was a particularly good touch.

clary though…she was somehow managing to drive him wild. he suspected that she'd had a little more to drink than she really should've because he suddenly found his partner sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck.

he wondered what would be a nice way to tell her that it was adorable, but not very rogue-y.

…

mattes eyed his drunken partner. at least between her enjoyment of good food, her drinking, her dancing, her gambling, and her …general loudness, she was doing a pretty good job of appearing like a rogue.

he was glad she was having a good time, of course, but he also wished that he'd be able to get her home with a little more dignity as should befit a rogue.

mostly, though, he was glad he'd decided not to drink much – he even had the excuse of needing to protect her. truthfully though, it was hard enough to have to reject her more forward advances – he hated the thought of what might happen to their friendship if he let himself lose all sense of good judgement too.

…

clary swore as she forced her eyes open.

mattes winced, knowing from experience how she must be feeling, and handed her a glass of water. "morning," he said. "you overdid it a little last night."

clary groaned as fuzzy memories came flooding back into her mind. she flushed as she remembered sitting on his lap at one point, and running her hands all over his chest. "i'm sorry," she mumbled. "i didn't respect you."

"no worries." mattes grinned at her. "it's a memory i'll treasure forever."

clary had laughed; she knew he was joking. but somehow, she couldn't get the memory out of her own mind for the rest of the day.

…