Alec and Jace had stubbornly avoided each other for the rest of the day, with Alec not so subtly indicating that he would rather spend his time with Sebastian. Izzy had noticed the tension between the two brothers, but had decided that this particular issue was for them to sort out, and she was also rather busy trying to bribe and blackmail Sebastian into revealing exactly what had happened on his and Alec's first date, as she had come up with some not so innocent explanations of why they hadn't rocked up until the next morning. So far Sebastian had survived the multiple interrogations, however he was starting to rethink his earlier statement of desiring siblings. Alec had eventually had to leave Sebastian to entertain himself when he'd had to do some of the Institute paperwork, which since the departure of Maryse and Robert, had somehow become his responsibility. By the time Alec finished reading and signing off on a stack of boring reviews of recent demonic activity in the New York area, he noticed that the Institute was completely dark and silent, which probably meant that everyone had already gone to bed. Rubbing his eyes Alec dragged himself out of the library, although part of him was tempted to just curl up on the couch in the room. Alec briefly walked through the corridors of the Institute, checking that everything was in order, but as he came to Sebastian's door he heard some strange noises from within. For such an old building the walls were surprisingly not very soundproof, and all of the Lightwood siblings had learnt long ago to frequently apply silencing runes in their rooms, but Alec had not yet suggested this to Sebastian. Remembering the nightmare Alec had already once witnessed Sebastian having, he walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it, and became more concerned with what he heard. He could hear short and shallow breathing, and even the occasional groan, and convinced that Sebastian was most likely having another bad dream, Alec quietly opened the door and went to step inside.
The scene in front of Alec was in no way what he expected to see. Sebastian's eyes were shut tightly, and for a moment Alec still thought he was having a nightmare, until he saw how Sebastian's face was scrunched up in pleasure rather than fear, his head thrown back and his lips parted as his breathing continued to quicken. The next thing Alec noticed was how Sebastian's hands were moving beneath the bed covers, which were already low enough to expose the top of his hips. Due to Alec's silence in entering the room, and Sebastian's rather distracted state, the younger Nephilim hadn't noticed Alec yet, and after a few moments of staring at Sebastian with his mouth wide open, Alec slipped out of the room again. Alec quietly closed the door and then leant against it heavily, his mind replaying what he'd seen, and he blushed furiously at the images his memory seemed able to perfectly preserve. Alec was now extremely glad that he'd changed back into one of his old and baggy pair of jeans, as he now had a similar problem to what Sebastian had obviously been relieving, and Alec was even more grateful of this when he saw Jace rounding the corner. Alec immediately straightened up and took a few steps away from Sebastian's door as he saw Jace approach.
"There you are, you're finally done with that paperwork," Jace said, oblivious to Alec's condition, as even his blush was hidden in the darkened hallway.
"Uhhh, yeah. Well, I guess I'd better be off to be bed then," Alec quickly said, wanting to be in the privacy of his own room as soon as possible.
"Oh, I actually wanted to talk to you, about today," Jace replied.
"What? You never want to talk about this kind of stuff," Alec pointed out in confusion.
"Izzy told Clary what happened, and now she won't talk to me until I talk to you. Clary hates getting between us, and she knows what a dick I can sometimes be," Jace said, and Alec could tell that Jace was possibly working up towards an apology.
Alec really did want to stick around and chat, but he was acutely aware that only a few metres away from him Sebastian was jacking off, and he was now talking to his brother whilst sporting a hard on. The whole situation was far too embarrassing for Alec to deal with properly at that moment, and his thoughts were definitely not focused on Jace at that moment.
"Jace, I'm sorry, but I'm really tired. Can we just deal with this in the morning?" Alec asked, and as he spoke he saw Jace shut down.
"Yeah, fine," Jace said in a monotone voice, and he then turned and headed to his own room.
Alec groaned internally, and after hesitating for a moment, he too walked towards his room and quickly shut the door, placing a new silence rune on the door before having a long shower in an attempt to rid himself of the problem Sebastian had caused him.
Alec sighed as he watched his siblings start to gear up, oblivious to his attempts to try and have them stay home for once, instead of all deciding that the possible demon sighting needed to be addressed immediately. At least all the Nephilim were going together, rather than the dramatic solo missions Jace in particular seemed so fond of. Alec noticed that Jace had not really spoken to him yet, and he briefly wondered whether his brother was avoiding him, however the younger shadow hunter's mood suddenly changed as Clary came into the room, and after glancing up at Alec she shook her head, clearly aware that he and Jace had yet to speak to each other properly.
"You ready to go?" Sebastian asked, and Alec felt his cheeks warm up slightly as he came face to face with the man he hadn't seen since the night before, in a very compromising position.
"Uh yeah, I am," Alec muttered.
"You okay? You seem a little off… Did you sleep okay?" Sebastian asked as he sheathed his now much loved rapier.
"Fine, good, yes, nothing happened, just sleep," Alec spluttered, earning him a slightly strange look from Sebastian. "You?"
"Yeah, I slept pretty well," Sebastian said with a smirk, which only made Alec blush even more.
"Any interesting dreams?" Alec asked once he'd regained himself, deciding to feign innocence out of curiosity of what Sebastian would elaborate on.
Before Sebastian got to do any more than give Alec a heated glance, Alec's siblings once again broke through their private moment.
"So everyone ready?" Jace asked, and after an approving nod, all five of the teens headed out into the night
It didn't take long for the Nephilim to realise that the demon spotting had been accurate, as there were a pack of Ravenor demons trying to take over a shopping center on the outer skirts of the city.
Alec was about to head off with Sebastian to run after a few that had invaded a toy shop, having become fascinated by the various bright and colourful objects it held, when he felt a strong grip on his arm stopping him.
"Jace? What are you doing?" Alec asked.
"Alec, we're parabatai, we're meant to fight together!" Jace said impatiently.
"You're going to bring the argument back up here?" Alec asked in disbelief as he glanced back at Sebastian. "Anyway, aren't you meant to be training Clary?"
"She's with Izzy," Jace said, but as he turned back to look at his girlfriend he noticed that Izzy was nowhere to be seen.
"Guys, it's okay, I can stay with Sebastian. He's trained differently, so it could be good to get a different perspective from him," Clary said as she came over to Alec and Jace.
"Fine," Alec said, although his voice lacked any enthusiasm, which made Sebastian chuckle to himself as he listened in on the conversation.
"Clary and I will check the perimeter and make sure none of the demons have escaped the center," Sebastian offered, and Jace seemed content with the plan.
"See that wasn't so hard, was it?" Jace asked as Clary and Sebastian got ready to head off together.
"By the Angel, that line's almost as bad as 'what's the worst that could happen'," Alec replied and Sebastian laughed at the comment as he ran off with Clary to the outside of the building, however his smile immediately disappeared as he came face to face with none other than Jonathan Morgenstern.
A/N Again, really sorry about the time between updates, but I have almost no free time at the moment. I do plan to update twice a week from now on, and as ever, reviews will make me write faster! I know I've said it before, and I'm certain I will say it again, but please don't forget to review and let me know what you think