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Alec sighed, opening his eyes and studying the dark ceiling above him. He couldn’t sleep. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t sleep. Magnus snored quietly beside him, his hair adorably ruffled from the pillow. Alec huffed, disgruntled at his boyfriend’s ability to just fall into bed and sleep. It was uncanny to Alec, who had spent years postponing sleep for other things, such as paperwork or a patrol or helping the infirmary staff when they were overloaded, and, more recently, chasing sleep night after night after night.
As the minutes ticked by and Alec was still frustratingly awake, he groaned and slipped out of the bed, brushing a feather-soft kiss over Magnus’s forehead before exiting the bedroom.
In the foyer, Alec shrugged his leather jacket on over his shoulders and slipped out the door to the loft, closing it gently behind him so as not to wake Magnus. If he wasn’t going to get any sleep, he could at least spend the time doing something better than lying in the darkness until morning came.
~ ~ ~
The night air was refreshing, to say the least.
Alec had always loved walking in the city at night; everything was so alive, even at three in the morning, and he loved the way the streetlamps buzzed when he walked past them, and the way that cars still rushed by even when most people were sleeping. He loved the occasional shriek of laughter from someone’s apartment, the noise of a car horn or a goose honking or even a siren in the distance. It was all a part of life, and Alec loved being able to enjoy life.
It was so rare, or it used to be, that he enjoyed life at all, so he had learned to appreciate it when he could.
Alec wandered aimlessly without a destination in mind, meandering down random streets and turning corners he didn’t know, until he ended up at Central Park. The park was quiet and still at this time of night, and Alec sighed, taking a seat on one of the farthest benches from the center, closing his eyes. The walk hadn’t made him tired, as he’d hoped it would but knew it wouldn’t; if anything, he felt more awake than ever.
It wasn’t an entirely unpleasant feeling, but Alec knew it would be in the morning when he was on his seventh cup of coffee, just trying to get through the day without collapsing. He was all too familiar with insomnia, and it sucked. For lack of a better descriptor, it just sucked sometimes.
“Shadowhunter?” A voice spoke up from the darkness, somewhere in the park. “What are you doing here so late at night? Shouldn’t you be at home, sleeping?”
It took a few seconds for Alec to place who it was, but when he recognised the voice, he stood quickly, assuming the standard parade rest position that was typical of Shadowhunters, and addressed the vampire head-on. “Raphael. I apologise if my presence is disturbing you.”
However closely allied they might be in the fight for the Downworld’s rights with the Clave, Alec knew that, at the end of the day, he was still a Shadowhunter, and he had no illusions that Raphael wanted anything to do with him outside of work.
A low chuckle, and then: “You aren’t disturbing me, Shadowhunter. You didn’t answer my question.”
Right. His question. He’d asked Alec a question. Alec relaxed a little, letting his hands fall to his sides. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say; he was unfortunately aware of how stupid ‘I couldn’t sleep’ sounded. But it really was why he was in Central Park, and he didn’t want to lie to Raphael, so it would have to do. “I couldn’t sleep.”
To his surprise, Raphael made a small, understanding sound in the back of his throat. “I am sorry to hear that.”
Alec’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Why do you care?” he blurted out. He cursed himself for it a second later. Raphael didn’t care. He just wanted to make sure nothing was happening with the demons or the Downworld that he needed to know about.
“I don’t,” Raphael answered, confirming Alec’s suspicions. “I was just curious.”
“Oh,” Alec said lamely. “Okay, then. I’ll, uh, I’ll just - I’m going to leave now.” With that, he turned around and hurried away from Raphael. Of all the awkward encounters he’d ever experienced, that one had to take the cake. He and Raphael had worked closely in the Downworld Cabinet before, but Alec had tried to kill him once, and the Clave, the Institute, nor he himself, had a very good track record with vampires. He was lucky, he supposed, that Raphael hadn’t wanted to get back at him for everything the Shadowhunters had put his clan through before he was appointed Head.
Alec’s thoughts scattered abruptly as he heard footsteps behind him. He darted into a nearby alleyway, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow in preparation to fly at whoever was tailing him. He watched and waited with bated breath as the footsteps drew closer and closer until they were nearly right in front of him.
“Would you put that thing away? I’m not going to attack you.”
Alec breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Raphael’s voice, lowering his bow and sliding the arrow back into his quiver. “Why are you following me?”
“You have insomnia?” Alec tilted his head to the side a little in confusion. It wasn’t a question, but he answered it anyway.
“Yeah.”
“I figured,” Raphael said, shifting from foot to foot. “It’s not often that Shadowhunters can’t sleep at night, considering how much of the night they’re awake for their patrols. Look, I know what that’s like. I know it’s frustrating and hard to manage alone.”
Alec studied him, frowning. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He felt like he was missing something.
“What I’m trying to say is, would you like to spend your sleepless night in good company instead of wandering the city alone?” He flashed his teeth at Alec for the quickest of seconds, smirking. “It’s dangerous out here.” Alec smiled back, aware and happy that Raphael was joking.
It took him a few seconds to process what Raphael had said first, but when he had, Alec exhaled sharply in surprise. He had never expected this. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards into an earsplitting smile. “I would love that.”
He wasn’t sure why Raphael had offered, or why he even cared what happened to Alec, but he certainly wasn’t going to refuse the vampire’s offer. He’d spent so much time walking the city at night that sometimes he forgot other people walked it, too, for the same reasons that he did.
“Come on,” Raphael urged, snapping Alec out of his thoughts, and he began to lead the way back to the Hotel DuMort. “I make a mean paella if you’re hungry.”
The two of them walked in comfortable silence, appreciating the beauty of the city at night. Alec wasn’t quite sure what was happening or why, but he had a feeling he had just gained a new ally.