"You haven't sounded like an idiot. I kind of know how hard it can be. I was the quiet one back home. No one noticed me because my siblings are amazing." Beautiful, talented, bright as the sun. And Alec was quiet and competent, the big brother of the group. "I was the disappointment." It wasn't something he would have said when he'd still been hiding from the world but having the other Shadowhunters start looking up to him and having to stand up for himself had changed things. "Sound like yourself not what others want you to sound like. It gets easier if you remember that.

"You are helping. You said you're good with organizing and you're willing to help." Taking a slow breath, he ignored the frustration he felt whenever he thought of the Clave. "That's a rare trait. Most people just ignore a problem and hope it goes away."

Studying Sebastian, he had the feeling that there was something going on that he didn't understand. Shyness shouldn't cause this kind of reaction. "I'm not going to judge you because you don't always know how to talk to people. Most of the time people say I'm too blunt. You can say as much as you want to me." Shrugging, he gave Sebastian a small smile. "I'm a big brother. I'm used to everyone telling me everything." Usually he had to poke at his siblings until they talked but when they were ready, he was the one they usually confided in.