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“How was the wedding?”
Simon jumps, but only slightly. For once, he’d heard the almost silent shuffling of feet all the way down the hallway outside of his bedroom. He’d been practicing, he really had, if only to not let Raphael have the satisfaction of scaring him all the freaking time.
“Oh, you missed out,” Simon laughs. In the mirror, where he’s been checking himself out in his final moments before he has to return Raphael’s suit, he sees Raphael leaning against the door frame, completely calculatedly casual. Simon asked him once if the myth about vampires not being able to enter a place without being invited in was true. Raphael had only rolled his eyes.
Simon turns around to face Raphael. “I mean, in the end, I guess there technically wasn’t a wedding.”
“I’m sorry my invitation got lost in the mail, then,” Raphael says dryly. Simon grimaces. He’s never really sure how to approach the fact that he has Shadowhunter friends, especially since Raphael clearly doesn’t approve. “Which Shadowhunter bailed?”
“Alec,” Simon responds. He watches as Raphael enters the room and immediately crosses to the silver loveseat the entire room is focused around. ( Without a formal invitation , Simon’s brain supplies, but he mentally shakes his head. He can see himself in mirrors. He has blood. Vampire myth stuff apparently doesn’t count.) Simon clears his throat and explains. “So, it starts like normal, Alec and one of the Silent guys - why do they have them officiate the weddings? Like, wouldn’t you want your wedding to be as not-creepy as possible? - anyway, they’re up at the altar, and Lydia comes in and holy shit she was stunning, but Alec isn’t into that so, awkward, but they exchange their jewelry which is NOT rings and they are JUST about to exchange runes when BANG! In comes Magnus, and he - “
“Magnus Bane?” Raphael asks, brow lifting, finally looking intrigued.
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Let’s just say most of us immortals have a way of...getting along.”
“Huh.” Simon knows he’s been wandering, perfectly in sync with his rambling, but this stops him for a moment. He wonders if Clary knows that. This whole new underground New York world is so freaking confusing. “Anyway, so he comes in and Alec’s mom is totally about to kick him out, I guess ‘cause he’s a Downworlder? Probably. I don’t think she knew about me being a vampire, or at least she didn’t see me or something, and I’m also pretty sure Alec didn’t at first because then he was kind of a dick about it-”
“Simon.”
“Right. But Magnus is like, I’m not leaving unless Alec wants me to, and then there’s just so much tension and Alec and Lydia are like talking to each other and then Alec walks down and just plants one on Magnus!” Raphael raises both eyebrows now. Simon feels a twinge of excitement that Raphael actually cares about his story. “And Magnus is totally into it, obviously, this has all been happening behind the scenes, and Alec’s parents are like whaaat and everyone else is like ahhhhh,” he mimics the sound of a roaring audience, “and then Alec totally sasses his mom and everything was just - wow.” He falls back onto the couch next to Raphael, stretching out to any space that Raphael isn’t already taking up. “It was freaking awesome.”
“And it didn’t bother you?” Raphael asks. There’s a beat before, almost as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to even speak or not.
“What?”
“Magnus. And Alec. And-”
“Oh, that? No, it was totally awesome to watch! And it’s the 21st century, why would it bother me?”
Raphael shakes his head. “No reason, I was just curious. You never know.”
Simon frowns. “Does it bother you?”
“No. It’s something I’m… accustomed to, living the way I do. As a Downworlder, being friends with other Downworlders. It’s not an issue for us. Shadowhunters, on the other hand, tend to be more conservative, since they have their own ideals and are disconnected from the rest of the world. But I’m told the newer generation thinks more like you do.”
Raphael is shifting in his seat, and Simon gets the feeling there’s something he’s not saying, but Simon nods. “Okay. Cool.”
There’s another beat like the one before. Then Raphael asks, “Are you...interested? In that sort of thing?”
“That sort of...oh, men?” Raphael blinks, and that’s about as big of a confirmation as Simon thinks he’s going to get. “Um, no. Or - well, I haven’t really thought about it. I mean I’ve always been into girls, but I guess , you know, if I could be as awesome as Magnus and Alec were...I’d make out with a dude any day.”
Simon’s smiling at his own joke, and he looks over at Raphael and sees a quirk to his lips, so he figures Raphael’s basically smiling too. “Interesting,” Raphael remarks. He’s looking down at his hands, and Simon notices his fingers are clutching his knees a little tighter than normal. He starts to ask what’s wrong, but Raphael stands. “I think that’s my cue to leave. Would you mind if I…?” He gestures towards Simon’s torso. Simon looks down and realizes he’s still wearing Raphael’s suit jacket.
“Oh. Uh, sure.” Simon scrambles off the couch, fingers fumbling over the buttons, caught up in the awkward abruptness of the situation. He slips off the jacket and hands it to Raphael, whose fingers catch the jacket where Simon is holding it.
“Thanks.” Raphael doesn’t immediately pull the jacket away. He’s not looking at Simon, but at the jacket, where their hands are only separated by a few swatches of fabric.
“You okay?” Simon asks. Raphael nods and finally looks at him. It feels more like he’s looking inside him.
“Yes. I...yes.” There’s a strange moment, neither of them letting go of the jacket, both of their chests moving up and down with heavy breaths neither of them needs to take. Simon sees Raphael lean inward, just slightly. He has a strange thought - he’s going to kiss me - and waves the thought away. But then -
Raphael kisses him.
Simon’s not sure what to do. He’s not even sure what to think. His head is screaming, “whaaaat?” while his hands are clutched at his side, not sure if they want to reach for Raphael or not, and his lips...his lips, he thinks, are saying, “okay? okay.”
He doesn’t get a chance to figure it out completely, though, because suddenly he hears the entrance of the hotel slam open and someone yell “RAPHAEL!” Raphael breaks away, fingers gripping the jacket so hard it’ll wrinkle, and Simon took such good care of it -
Simon asks, “Who is that?”
Raphael says, “Magnus Bane,” and lets Simon go, jacket still in Simon’s hands. He starts walking toward the door and Simon isn’t sure if he should follow until he hears another voice.
“RAPHAEL?”
It’s Clary.
Raphael looks back at Simon, and Simon looks at Raphael, and he knows that whatever just happened in that moment would be pushed way off to the side for a long time. Raphael quirks an eyebrow at Simon, a question, and Simon nods and gestures toward the door.
“After you.”