"Ok, seriously, what is taking so long?" Cain was bored with the ride now, "What time is it?"

Victor lifted Mikhail's hand from his leg, "Well seems like he's pretty into his nap and my leg has fallen asleep, so I'll guess he's been laying on it for a good hour, about one give or take."

"We left the island at like 9, it did not take us 4 hours to get there," Cain commented.

He was right and it was peculiar, but thankfully they were in view of the school by now and Scott happily informed them they were about to land.

"About time." the mystic sighed, "Wake Mikie up."

Vic glanced to him, "I'm not trying to die like that. You wake him. That little ss kicking he gave you earlier won't be sh*t." he peered out the window to the sudden storm clouds.

X

The large group shuffled off the jet. Pete opted to carry his sleeping brother off, as this was halfway through one of three of his daily nap times and if he was awakened he would be cranky as ever so, once again, he would just use his size to his advantage.

"My princess~!" a familiar voice called, before grabbing Pete's waist and turning him.

"What in the world," he kicked at the obvious stalker, nearly dropping his brother, but thankfully catching him by the leg before he hit the ground.

"May I have permission to have your sister as my wife?" the man smiled, looking to Mikhail.

"You do not know my sister," he held his brother away.

"Her," he pointed.

"This is my brother, you dolt."

"No, her full and gorgeous beard makes her a mature and beautiful woman. Fit for a queenship," he smiled to the Russian man.

"You again," Cain grabbed at him, "She doesn't want you."

Eddie grabbed his arm, "You are very rude!" he threw the giant into the jet effortlessly.

A flash of lightning and a certain godling of thunder appeared in the midst of the group, "Edisaun," he called.

"I am so lost in the goings on," Hank commented to Storm.

"You are not alone in it."

"I apologize for this nuisance, he is of a land where their women are the ones with beards. He's an idiotic adolescent dealing with hormones and exploring other lands," he raised a hand as if to smack Eddie.

"Ah, ah, lay hands on me and it'll be war." he wagged a finger, "Asides, this has little to do with you, I am trying to court this fair maiden."

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the fellow godling by the hair, "I thank you for your assistance in finding him, his brother is very eager to have him back."

"I don't want to go back and see him. Not without my bride!" he pushed at the man's meaty arm."

"You get no say." he swung his hammer to fly off where he might be able to connect to their worlds.

Everyone looked to Scott and Jean.

"Is that why we went to the island?" Logan asked, "To help blondie with his babysitting?"

"Not to my knowledge. We were getting the overlord. But two birds one stone?" Scott had no idea what was going on either anymore.

"I think I want a shower," Mikhail grumbled, now completely and unhappily awake.

X

Logan sighed as he and his brother got home. Victor was excitedly leaning towards him as he walked to the kitchen. He needed a beer.

"What?" he asked without even looking to his older brother.

"Aren't you going to give me a sticker?"

"I'm not giving you sh*t for biting me," he scoffed.

Victor's entire demeanor changed to irritation, "I didn't bite you!"

"Yes you did!" he pointed to his wrist, where the wound was clearly healed, "You bit my d mn hand!"

"You're a d mn lie!" he stamped his foot.

The younger's eye twitched, "What reason do I have to lie about you biting me?"

"You just don't want to give me my sticker because you're in a bad mood like always and you're pissed off I did better on your mission than you and your group!" he stormed off to his room angrily.

Logan was about to lose his mind but instead opted to chug his beer, grab another and then look for the phone to call his advisor.

X

"Are you ok, brother?" Pete asked the elder as he emerged from the bathroom. He winced a bit looking at the bruises Mikhail had.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Mikhail pulled his lounge clothes on and sat, brushing his hair.

Pete sulked and hugged his beloved older sibling, lifting him off the ground since, even in his human form, he was several inches taller than him, "I'm sorry I pulled you earlier. I wasn't paying attention."

Mikhail looked to the side and pet his brother's hair, "It's ok."

"It is not ok, brother. Why would you not tell me I hurt you?" he looked to him, "I would never want to hurt you like that."

The elder kissed his sibling's head, "It was an accident, I know. It's ok."

Pete looked to his beloved brother again, sighing as they exchanged a hug, "How about I get your blanket?"

Mikhail smiled, "I would love that."

Pete smiled back, "Ok, I'll be right back," he placed his brother on his feet and gathered his comfort item from the dryer.

A tweeting alerted him of a call.

"Yes Logan?"

"Help me. Victor swears he didn't bite me and his dumb…." a sigh to calm himself, "He is complaining I just don't want to give him a sticker for his stupid book."

Pete nodded, half listening.

"You saw him bite me, didn't you?"

"Honestly I was too busy gathering my brother. What I saw was you slap him so hard he knocked his head on the jet door." he shrugged and had his brother sit in the couch, "I hoped there was a reason."

"The reason was him biting my d mn hand!" he huffed, "Wouldn't you smack your brother if he bit you?"

Pete laughed hardly, wiping a tear from his eye, "No, because I value my life. Mikhail would rip my entire arm off and beat me with it, and unlike you two, it won't grow back." caretaker or not, it was still well known who the elder was.

Logan scoffed and chugged his beer.

"I'm not saying he didn't do it. And I'm not saying I don't understand your reaction. But I'm going to say something that you're going to hate."

"Don't you say it!"

"Cain had a point," he sighed, "Trust me. It pains me to admit it. But we both acted without thinking. And in your case, your brother reacted the way an animal defending itself might." being a farm boy Pete had grown up with animals all his life and knew well of most of their ways.

"So once again I have to be the one to apologize because, as always, I'm in the wrong."

"I didn't say any of that," the Russian entrapped his elder's ankles in the blanket, "What I'm saying is you both acted reflexively in a physical way, like you're accustomed to. What I'm suggesting is you both talk to each other and make a rule, that is for both of you to follow. That you are to both talk with words instead of hitting and hurting. Half the time he thinks you're only hitting him because you are having a bad day."

"I have reasons for hitting him! And me having a bad day is not one of them!" The elder mutant sipped his beer, even more angered hearing that last sentence.

"Go talk to him, calmly. And you both have to agree on it. Which should be nice since it's something you have to work on together."

"Yeah, you're right, as always," he rolled his eyes, "What if he doesn't want to talk to me directly about anything?"

"Give him a journal. Something he can write his feelings in and any concerns or thoughts he had about his day. Then you can read it and get an idea of what goes on in his head a little better. I use that as a form of therapy, I suppose, with Mikhail to help him avoid harboring so much. Even get another board where he can put an emotion face up for how he feels that day."

"That'll probably work," the sticker method Pete had suggested already worked really well.

"I learned from the best. Now if you'll excuse me, I am in the midst of coddling my brother. While yours can use actual pacifiers, mine prefers swaddling."

"Alright, see ya tomorrow, kid," he hung up and looked towards his brother's room.

Pete set the phone down and wrapped a blanket about his brother once more, making sure he was incapacitated and comfortable, "Is that tight enough?"

X

Vic glared at the wall, petting his bear's foot, "What do you want?"

"I want to lay some rules down," he sat on the older's stomach to get his full attention, "We are using words from now on. That means when you're mad you use your voice to tell me. And if I'm upset with you I'll use my words."

Vic watched his mouth as he spoke.

"Agreed?"

"...You're heavy."

"Agreed or not."

An eye roll, "Yes agreed. Do I get my sticker?"