Magnus Finally Sleeps

by wet-with-salgaytion

Since The Dark War, Magnus has been struggling to get to sleep, and while he acts as though nothing is wrong in front of Alec and the kids, Alec knows that he's struggling to figure out what all these dreams of blood running through the streets means. All he wants is for Magnus to get a little rest. Set just before their appearance in Lord of Shadows.

Though invisible to the city due to the never-ending lights and activity, the stars that shone marked the late hour of the night, entirely unnoticed by all five occupants of an expensive apartment tucked away in New York. The first two occupants, one a blue-skinned warlock child, and the other a dark-skinned shadowhunter child, lay soundly asleep in their bedroom. The third occupant, a lazy and easily spooked cat slept soundly on the lap of the fourth occupant, a young black-haired, blue-eyed demon-hunter. The man, whose strong body rested against a large wooden bed post, was reading a book in a foreign language, with one arm rested behind his head, and his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. To an outsider he would have appeared entirely at ease, which, even though the apartment in which he was residing was not his own, he was. The fifth and final occupant lay asleep at his desk in the next room, his usually perfectly placed hair was messy and reckless, perfectly representing the unease that he felt, both awake and in his dreams. The ancient warlock tended to be able to block out anything that made him feel uneasy but lately every waking and sleeping moment was possessed with the image of blood running through the streets. Even now, as he slept into the New York City night, his head rested on one of thousands of stacks of papers and books, research on the meaning of dreams and their likelihood to become fact, his soul was uneasy, wearing him out.

Alec Lightwood picked up his bookmark from his bedside table and placed it onto the page he had stopped on. As he closed the book, he stretched his arms up, before moving Chairman Meow off of his lap. He stood and changed into a pair of pyjama bottoms, leaving his chest bare. Though he didn't technically live there, he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually slept at the institute as opposed to Magnus' apartment. The kids were at the apartment, and he always felt much more comfortable with Magnus than in a huge building on his own. Alec made his way to the kitchen to get himself a drink before sleep, and also to see where Magnus was, as he hadn't come to bed yet. As he opened the door from their bedroom into the living room, he saw his boyfriend still sat at his desk, head down on the table, resting on a pile of papers and books. As Alec made his way over, he could see the deep bags under Magnus' closed eyes, and he felt a flicker of pain for his boyfriend. Though he knew that Magnus would have wanted Alec to wake him up so that he could continue working on deciphering his vision, Alec couldn't bring himself to do it, so he reached down and lifted Magnus up, careful not to disturb or wake him. He carried Magnus back into their bedroom, and laid him down on the bed, before pulling the covers up over him. He quickly went into Max and Rafe's room and kissed both of the sleeping children goodnight, before heading back into his and Magnus' room. When he returned, Magnus had woken and was sitting on the edge of the bed, running his hands through his dark, highlighted hair.

"Hey." Alec said as he entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Magnus responded, almost reluctantly. "Exhausted, actually. Did you carry me in here?" Alec shut the door and made his way over to the bed and sat down next to his boyfriend. He reached his hand over to take Magnus' in his own.

"Yeah. I didn't want to wake you, it's the first time I've seen you actually sleep in weeks." Magnus stroked his thumb idly over Alec's hand, and smiled sadly.

"I know," Alec looked up and they looked at each other for a moment in silent mutual understanding of the fact that Magnus needs to sleep but can't. Can't because he needs to figure out what his visions mean, and can't because even when he tries, sleep refuses to come to him. "Are the kids asleep?"

"Yeah, I just went to check on them."

Magnus leaned across and kissed Alec briefly. "Good." he said, before getting back into bed, as Alec stood up and walked around to his side of the bed. Alec got under the covers, and reached his arm out, so that Magnus could lie close to him, within the strong and safe confines of Alec's arms. They both slept soundly for a full night for the first time in months.