"Can we talk this over? Please?" Gabriel kicked in his brother's hold, "Please?"
"You want to talk now? Color me surprised."
"Look, I panicked, you're pretty intimidating. Especially with those eyes."
Mig said nothing as he propped his leg up on the ottoman and threw his brother over his knee.
"Hey! Hey wait, you're not serious!?" Gabri pushed at his brother's thigh, attempting to climb off. He gasped as a swift rain of blows fell against the seat of his pants, "OW! MIGUEL!"
"Yes, I am absolutely serious Gabriel," he easily held the kicking smaller man in place as the sole of Peter's slipper drummed.
"Owww! Ahhow!" He pushed at Mig's side, "Don't you think I'm too old for this?!"
2099 scoffed, continuing on. If he wasn't too old to get spanked his younger brother sure wasn't.
Gabri twisted in the hold, doing his best and failing to avoid the slipper, "S-sorry! Sorry!"
The shoe fell several more hard times before a pause, "Talk. Now. How did you get to the society?"
Gabe whined, grabbing his rear, "I…I was coming to check if you were here."
"Yeah, I heard that part, keep going."
"There, you, you weren't here. I was going to leave but I heard noise in your room, so I looked in and I saw that kid that was here yesterday," he rubbed the pain away as best he could.
He brought the slipper against his brother's thigh, "Did I say I was done?"
"Owwah!"
"Keep talking."
"That kid was in your room!"
Mig gestured impatiently, "And? How did you get to the society?"
"Uhm," he sniffed, "I told you. There was a portal."
"So you saw this kid in my room, a kid you don't know, and he opened a portal. Right?" Miguel twirled the slipper.
"Ye-yes."
"And you decided that going through a portal without even a second thought that there could be danger was a good idea?"
Gabe whimpered at how Miggy asked that, "I mean… technically."
Miguel nodded, tapping his brother's hand with the shoe, "Move it."
"I-I'm really sorry…"
"I heard. Both my hands are busy, either move it yourself or I'm just gonna hit where it isn't."
The younger man whined, pulling his hand away, "I…I…"
"Yeah, you're sorry," he snapped the sole of the slipper against Gabe's butt.
"Owwww!" He clenched his eyes shut, kicking and squirming, "I am!"
"You followed a kid, that you don't know, through a portal you had no idea where it led to. You know how idiotic that is right?" Miguel grit his teeth, "You saw me with that kid, you have no idea if he was actually another of my plethora of enemies."
"I didn't think about that!"
"You didn't think about anything. Going into a world that you couldn't have possibly expected. And you're asking if you're too old for this?"
"I mean," his voice cracked, attempting to climb off Mig's lap.
"When you do dumb, childish things like this it feels appropriate. Wouldn't you say?"
Gabriel's eyes watered as he squirmed, "I'm really, really sorry Miggy. I should have thought it through more, I've just been worried about you and I wanted to apologize about making you see mom. But then we fought again."
Miguel rolled his eyes, hearing as his brother broke down. He sighed deeply, setting him on his feet.
Gabe sobbed, rubbing his bottom vigorously, "Ow, ow, ow!"
2099 watched as he danced about. Gabri almost never got physically punished growing up, that tended to be reserved for Miguel. So of course he would be dramatic, even though Mig had been pretty gentle with him all things considered.
Mig's brow softened as he rubbed his brother's head, "I appreciate you worrying about me, but doing stuff like this in the hopes that you might come upon me is just stupid and dangerous ."
"I don't want you mad at me," he sobbed, hugging his brother.
"I'm not mad at you, I swear," Mig hugged him back, "Outside of this event, what gave you that idea?"
"I never see you," he sobbed, "Then the whole thing with mom, I'm really sorry. I just was hoping she would be kinder to you."
Miguel pulled his brother away so he could look him in the eye, "Gabri, you are the only bloodline I have worth anything, ok? You are the only thing here I love. That's why I avoid being here. You are the only leverage anyone has on me."
He cupped Gabri's chin, mirroring the way he loved Virgil to do, "Pay close attention. There is nothing but misery here for me. I promise to keep my phone on me and I promise to keep visiting you. But being in this dimension makes me want to hang myself and the more people forget about me the less danger you're in. Understand?"
Gabe's face portrayed deep despair, but he understood.
"Just pretend I moved out of the country and stop worrying about me. I promise I'm doing better," he kissed Gabri's forehead, "I'm going back now, but we'll talk soon, promise."
X
After questioning the teens Miguel went searching for Jess, "Lyla?"
"Shes in the quiet room."
Perfect.
He skulked over, using his watch to unlock the room. Jess was reading over what she had to do next.
"Jess, where is Miles at?" He demanded.
She raised a manicured eyebrow at him, "Jess?"
"I…" Miguel stammered, remembering his place, "Uhm, Mami?"
"My house. But before you find your way there you need to sit down and make sure you are level headed," she pointed to couch.
"I don't want to sit. I have things to do, as you know, and I want to get this taken care of," he insisted.
"What did mommy say?"
Mig stamped his foot, "I am level headed!"
Mommy crossed her arms, clearly unamused by his current actions, "Are these the actions of someone whose level headed and calm?"
He grit his teeth, glaring at the ground.
"Come on," she pulled him to sit in the glider so that he was looking up at her, "What's on your mind?"
"I want to find out why he was at my house, for one," he tapped his foot impatiently, "And remind him that the watch is not a toy and to be mindful of the consequences when using it."
Jess nodded, "I think, for the most part, we've instilled in them that this organization is not a game. They are still going to slip up, they're kids. I want you to be mindful when confronting Miles that it could have been much worse."
"And it could have not happened at all," he crossed his arms, "You think I'm going to be mean to him?"
"I hope not. You've come very far in the last year. But everyone has a relapse and I know how you feel about your brother," she smoothed his hair back, "You have every right to be upset, pumpkin. I just want you to make sure you are calm when taking action."
"I'm calm," he promised, "I am. And I won't be mean."