"Lux."

The knock on my door had my eyes open in a flash, hand clenching around the pen I'd fallen asleep with. If anything it could be a weapon, right?

Pushing notebooks and stray papers off myself, I stood to answer the door, throwing the pen back on the bed- one that had never really felt like mine to begin with.

There in the darkened hallway stood Lee, with his cocky grin and easy manner.

"Here," he handed me the pocket-sized sensor, looking considerably better than the last time I'd seen it. "I'd go find Penfair now if you don't want him looking for you in the morning. I'd hate for your breakfast to be ruined by the sight of him."

"Took you long enough," I scoffed.

"If I'm not wrong, you're the one who fucked it up so bad in the first place. Why couldn't you just get a new one?"

"Because the Head of this fine Institute," I spoke through a tight grin. "Wants to know that it's occupants are able to handle themselves. That includes damaged or otherwise unusable equipment. If that's a concept you can grasp."

"All you Idris shadowhunters have some kind of stick up your asses, you know that?" He let out a sigh, leaning against the doorframe. "I prescribe a drink."

"Alcohol doesn't do anything for me."

"You're just so stiff, all the time. Since the day I met you."

He paused for a moment, and the silence seemed to stretch on longer than it should have.

"You know, I'm sure," the corners of his lips twitched up into a smirk. "There's a specific set of activities I could provide to help you... Relax."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead letting out a sharp breath of annoyance. "Stonewall, have you already been turned down by Hawkwright and Wayland for mindless sex, or are you going in alphabetical order?"

His smirked morphed into a laugh, and despite how tired he seemed to be, it lit up his every feature. His eyes, a much more vibrant green than my own, seemed to laugh as he did.

"Im kidding, Ashwell."

"You need to learn to pick up on my sarcasm," I closed the door behind me, pushing him forward, starting my walk down the hallway.

"Maybe I could, if I knew you had a sense of humor."

I waved off his remark, not turning back to look at him.

"Goodnight, Lee."

I heard the smile in his smirk. "If you find yourself lonesome in the middle of the night, you know where to find me."

This earned him a clear view of my middle finger, and the last I heard of him was that laugh again, before he turned the corner farther down, whether to return to his room or make his way to somebody else's, I didn't know, nor did I care.

I made my way through the large place with much less ease than I should have. It was true what Lee had said. Growing up in the home of all Shadowhunters gave me a certain sense of pride, something I couldn't quite shake. It also left me somewhat decapitated when it came to different environments. I had spent sixteen years of my life in the same place, and to suddenly be thrown here on the basis of 'important matters' had thrown me on a bender. While there was a training place very similar to this back home, this one felt strange, foreign.

Every Shadowhunter knows they're in Idris. They can feel it, the sense of home calling to their very blood. It is believed that it is where we are strongest, where we are most efficient. You only know you're in Los Angeles when you feel the heat on your skin, the pollution in the sky where there should be stars. While I'd certainly felt the pull of the Institute, the feel of it was hollow and empty in comparison to Idris.

It was difficult to relax in a place I just wasn't able to call home. Not just yet.

And yet, I knew not to step on the third step from the bottom at night because it was loud enough to wake up Maeve, whose room was a mere three feet away. I knew to check the kitchens before I went to bed, because more often then not, Liv had either forgotten to turn the lights off, or fallen asleep at the table herself. My adjustment to this place was slow, sure, but in progress.

Soon enough, I was knocking on the heavy wooden doors, the ones that were always closed, always keeping things quiet.

There was no answer, but the lack of one gave me the clear to enter.

I kept my head down, simply placing the censor on a desk that would be worth thousands in the mundane market.

"Should be back to basic functioning," my voice was clipped, proper. A report. "And Ivy's stele has been replaced."

"Very well."

I heard the shift of papers that told me he was done listening, and hesitantly looked up at the Head of our Institute.

Alerick Penfair looked older than he was, at the still young age of thirty four, he'd taken on this place as more of a challenge, seeing it as a conquest rather than a deed of good doing. His eyes had been blue once I'm sure, but they now held more of a grey tint to them, constantly clouded with the haze of stress, lack of sleep.

He looked up at me now, but even as he did his pen still moved.

"That will be all," he clarified.

Part of me wanted to remain in place, to close the door behind me and demand answers.

What's being done? Are we making proper advancements? Are we safe? Or better yet, What the fuck is actually going on in the Clave?

"Thank you, Alerick."

Of course I would do none of those things, and instead of closing the door behind me in the office, I did it on my way out, careful not to make it too loud, aware now that most, if not everybody would be sleeping just as I had been.

Just as routine went, I made my way down to the kitchens, flipping the light switches down, making sure the ovens were off. I ran a hand through my hair a few times, a habit of untangling the curls from time to time.

Heading up the stairs one last time, I made a split decision to make one last stop.

Her door wasn't closed all the way, which was odd for any of us.

I shook my head with a small smile, pushing the door open with my foot.

It seemed Ivy had fallen asleep the same way I had, surrounded with papers and work, language training we were supposed to have completed by the coming saturday.

I worked quietly, taking notebooks and old text and putting them in their proper places, knowing she couldn't care less where I put anything. I noticed the bare inside of her forearm, where the parabatai mark would soon reside, and for the first time, the thought didn't scare me.

I knew I would head back to the library in a half hour or so, unable to sleep, and I knew I would turn over the process of the ceremony over and over again before turning back to my studies until exhaustion would take over. But for now, I quietly observed my blonde companion, relieved that she had been able to find good sleep, even if it was provoked by too much work.

Sleep was sleep, and we all were going to need it.