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There were only five people in the world that knew that Alec Lightwood talked in his sleep aside from Alec himself (though he didn’t believe it). Not just little mumbled words, either. He had been known once or twice to have full-on conversations with people, they just didn’t make any sense.
The first to find out was Maryse, who found out when carrying an exhausted, passed out, four-year-old Alec to bed and was treated to the delightful chatter about the Ferris Wheel they had gone on together. “You go up, and up, and up, and there’s the sky. Mommy said I can’t fly. Sure feels like flying.” She thought he was awake, at first, since it was so clear, but then he started snoring softly.
The second to find out was Isabelle, who had gone to her brother’s room after she’d had a nightmare. She was six to his nine, at the time, and had poked his arm repeatedly, trying to wake him up. “I’m not here,” was his answer, which puzzled Isabelle out of a response, and then he went on to say “You have to knock twice.” So she did, right on his head, which woke up up and led to a very cranky Alec. “I just did what you told me to do!”
The third to find out was Robert who, after coming home late from a trip to another institute, went in to check on twelve year old Alec before bed. He barely stepped in the door when Alec let out a shout of “No!” which then turned into mumbled ramblings that Robert couldn’t understand or hear, even when he walked right up next to Alec. He questioned Alec in the morning, but was met with confusion.
The fourth to find out was Jace. When Jace first moved in with the Lightwoods, it took a little while for Jace’s room to be ready, so he stayed in Alec’s room. Jace got up one night to get a glass of water, and when he came back and laid back down, Alec immediately asked “Where were you?” Confused and caught off guard, Jace stuttered out “Th-thirsty!” It was too dark to see Alec’s face, so he couldn’t tell that Alec’s eyes were closed as Alec replied “Hm, yeah, time to go to the well. Need a new bucket.” Before Jace could figure out what the hell Alec was talking about, Alec rolled over, mumbling softly and happily about wells and buckets.
Magnus was the fifth to find out, and he considers himself to be the luckiest. The way Alec sleeps is, for lack of a better word, soft. The rigidity in his muscles goes away, leaving nothing but smooth lines of pure contentment on his face, assuming he isn’t having a nightmare. He makes soft sounds, little sighs and hums, and it takes a full month of them sharing a bed before he offers Magnus anything more substantial than that.
That first time, Alec fell asleep on the couch, waiting for Magnus to finish his work that Magnus swore he’d be done with in “Just a few minutes, Darling.” Magnus was engrossed in his work, enjoying the silence of the apartment, and about jumped a mile when Alec said his name, clear and loud.
“Yes, Sweetheart?” Magnus asked, once his heart calmed back down.
There was a long pause and Magnus turned to look at Alec, who was still fast asleep. It stumped Magnus, making him question if he had just imagined it, until Alec started speaking again.
“Yeah, that’s Magnus,” he said, his voice softer now, and full of admiration. His voice held a kind of warmth that spread to Magnus, making Magnus want nothing more than to hold his face, kiss him, or both. “That’s my Magnus.”
Alec didn’t do it all the time. It happened maybe once every other month, with no real trigger or indication of when or why he would speak. Maybe he did it more, but Magnus was too busy being asleep himself to hear it. When he did hear it, though, it was always memorable. Casual chatter about things that didn’t make sense, happy recounts of things Alec did that day, sometimes a few unnerving shouts from nightmares Alec was having. But Magnus’s favorites, and the ones that he heard most often, were the ones about Magnus.
Alec admitted to being in love with him in his sleep three months before he said the words aloud and awake to Magnus. Magnus, being the caring boyfriend he was, never mentioned it to Alec. He wouldn’t want Alec’s subconscious self to take away that moment for both of them.