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After a few hundred years travelling the world, Magnus learned the hard way that if he didn’t teach himself to fall asleep in any situation, he’d never catch one wink.
(Especially once he started travelling with Ragnor, who was a terrific snorer.)
So he adapted. Body pillows, satiny sheets, a comforting canopy, even electric blankets at times. He was a tactile man, texture and feeling were supremely important to him, and he preferred sleeping shirtless under an electric blanket than wrapped in several layers, one of which might be itchy.
If he was sharing his bed with someone, he donned impressive silk pajamas, somewhat of a cross between a jumpsuit and a robe. It served to impress, and to insulate.
But since Alec had stormed into his life and established himself in his bed, Magnus had pretty much eschewed pajamas. If he even pulled his boxers back on after a night of… hmm… tactile overindulgence, it was a miracle. There was something captivating about Alec, more than anyone Magnus had ever been with. And it wasn't just the novelty of him being a Shadowhunter, it was the humanity in those long expanses of coppery skin and the shifting of feelings and ideas under the bold runes traced over Alec’s arms, over the curve of his neck, and down the planes of his shoulders. It was the fulfillment of an angelic wish. It was nearly more than Magnus could stand, being so close to someone as determinedly pure as Alec.
But for some reason, despite the reverence in which Magnus held Alec, he slept the best he ever had when wrapped around his Shadowhunter.
Which is why, when he woke up with the twinkling stars of predawn pinning misty light through his bedroom window and beyond the streetlights of Brooklyn, he frowned.
Alec had been in his arms when they had fallen asleep. There hadn’t been any sex, or flirting, or even words; Alec had let himself into the loft earlier that evening, dropped his bow and quiver unceremoniously by the door, and fell into Magnus’s arms, shaking. No tears leaked past his closed eyelids, breaths were sucked in through nearly closed lips at regulated intervals, and the only true hint that something was wrong came when Magnus tried to let go of Alec to take his coat off and Alec shook his head, clutching at the back of Magnus’s sweatshirt even harder.
So Magnus stayed in place, crooning to Alec in languages Alec didn’t know, cradling his Shadowhunter’s head against his chest. After a while, Alec aloowed himself to be guided to the bedroom, where, Magnus gently undressed him and led him to the bed, wrapping himself around him for warmth. He kept his ratty lounging clothes on, for warmth, or maybe for isolation, because Alec’s eyes were lost, and one of them had to be prepared to rescue them both, if need be.
And now, the bed was empty. Magnus got out of the pile of blankets, then cocked his head and listened. The sound of faint humming was coming from the balcony, and he padded out of the bedroom and over to the glass doors, opening one cautiously.
Alec was there, in a pair of loose drawstring pants that Magnus knew for a fact were softer than anything he owned, and a Yankees sweatshirt. He stopped humming at the sound of the door opening, and turned to look at Magnus silently.
His eyes weren’t lost anymore, but it seemed as if it had taken all his energy to find his way home. Magnus moved towards him and circled his waist with his arms, snuggling into Alec’s chest and closing his eyes. “I’m right here,” he murmured.
“I know,” Alec replied simply, wrapping his arms around Magnus, who smiled slightly - and then wider, when he felt a slight pressure at the crown of his head.
“Are you propping your chin up on top of my head, Alexander?”
“Mmm hmmm,” and Magnus could feel the rumbles through his scalp, tingling over his head and down his spine. He shivered pleasantly.
“Just so that you could watch the sunrise?”
“Mmm hmmm.”
“That’s so cliche.”
“Mmmm hmmm.”
“Fine,” Magnus mock-grumbled, turning his head so he could watch the dawn creep up over them. “I get to watch it, too.”
The sky lightened, and Magnus and Alec fell just a little bit more into each other.
“This is good,” Alec murmured. Magnus eased back a bit and pulled Alec down a bit, leaning his forehead against his.
“It is,” Magnus murmured back.
The sun rose and bathed Brooklyn in a golden light, but standing on that balcony, Magnus and Alec were basking in a light all their own.