Room 401, Tuesday Morning

[not_trivial]

All things considered, Alec didn't really have that much to pack. Sure, he'd acquired a few new weapons and things over the past two years, like a nice yew longbow and some girl clothes from a sexswap weekend and a lone yellow sock that had tumbled out of his sheets one time when he was doing laundry. But he got everything packed up relatively

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[myownface]

Sparkle had a very set list of things that needed to be done today. He'd spent the night in a warehouse and his morning poking around human remains. He needed a shower. Badly. He also needed to drink himself blind, smoke about four packs of cigarettes, and to feed the cat - he never did get the cat food he'd set out for last night - and a million and one other things.

But before any of that, he needed to knock on Alec's door. Radio had said something about him going soon, and he didn't want to miss one last chance to stand around awkwardly, pretending he knew what to say.

... He didn't so much knock on the door as he thumped his forehead against it once.

[not_trivial]

"Come in," Alec called.

His bags were packed and his garbage can was overflowing. It all looked very final.

[myownface]

Really super final, Sparkle noted, as he opened the door and peered inside.

"The big moving day, huh?"

Sparkle's voice didn't just crack a little, there. That was a trick of the light. Ignore how nothing worked that way, ever, at all.

"Must be excited to be getting back to New York."

A beat.

"Hey."

[not_trivial]

"I am," Alec said with a sigh of relief. It didn't really occur to him that that might not sound all that sensitive. "It's been a long time since I've been back, so it'll be good to be home. You should come visit me sometime."

It didn't occur to him that that would sound kind of weird either.

[myownface]

The corner of Sparkle's mouth twitched a little, something that was trying to be a smile. Alec was going to be Alec, after all.

"Yeah? They won't get weird about a non-Shadowhunter stopping by to pay you a visit?"

He was inviting himself in to take a seat on the corner of Alec's bed. It wasn't like it was going to be Alec's bed much longer, anyway.

"Don't wanna... I dunno... impose."

He kind of did, actually. He wanted to impose all over the place, just as long as it meant he wasn't losing someone else today.

[not_trivial]

"I can take time off," Alec said, although technically, he wasn't sure if that was true. "And New York has plenty of places to stay besides the Institute."

His lips quirking up a bit to mirror Sparkle's, Alec ventured, "I think you'd like Manhattan."

[myownface]

"Yeah, I've never been, but I hear it's like a bigger, louder, more American Toronto," Sparkle offered, and realized with that statement that he was feeling one hell of a pang of homesickness.

Well, shit.

He sat there quietly, feeling awkward for a moment, before he ventured, "This is gonna sound weird," because this wasn't exactly something Sparkle went around asking for, "but can I have a hug?"

[not_trivial]

"Of course," Alec said at once, only stopping to reflect on the un-Sparkle-ness of that sentence after he'd committed. He sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around Sparkle, vaguely aware that the last time they'd been this physically close, Alec had just almost died. "Are you... what's wrong?"

[myownface]

"Shitty day," Sparkle mumbled with a shrug, clinging... kind of a lot. Apparently he turned into a mopey limpet when horrible things happened to people he cared about. Who knew? "Everyone's leaving. Dunno."

Some people were leaving in handcuffs. That wasn't helping anything.

"I know everything's been... weird. For a while. And stuff. Gonna miss you, though."

[not_trivial]

Although he gave out hugs relatively infrequently, Alec's strong arms and tendency to hold tight made him a pretty excellent hugger, especially for someone who needed to cling.

"I'll miss you too," he admitted easily. "I think I've... learned a lot just from knowing you. If that makes sense."

[myownface]

Sparkle nodded a little, closing his eyes and leaning against Alec a little more easily.

"Like, more than just how crazy some people can be?" He smiled faintly to show he was teasing, though how Alec was supposed to see with the way Sparks was mashing his face into his shoulder was anyone's best guess. "Didn't pick up any of my fashion sense."

That was either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you asked.

[not_trivial]

"Like, um, being more open," Alec admitted. He was probably getting a little too comfortable with this hug, judging by the way he was rubbing small circles on Sparkle's upper back, but muscle memory was a thing and he was just trying to be comforting. "Connecting with people who aren't my family. Getting over, uh, unrealistic goals."

[myownface]

"Unrealistic?"

Sparkle leaned back slightly to give Alec a curious look, at that.

"How do you mean?"

[not_trivial]

"Oh," Alec said, blushing faintly. "I was just... hung up on someone else for a long time before I met you. But I, you know, got it under control, I think."

[myownface]

"Heh. Jace?"

Look, Alec, you didn't talk about him to Sparkle often, but he had eyes and paid attention when you did. He'd be shocked if he was wrong. Maybe that was just more Shadowhunter whateverness that Sparkle wasn't capable of fully understanding.

[not_trivial]

"Doesn't matter," Alec mumbled, looking away.

He probably shouldn't have brought it up.