Missing in Action

Chapter 009

Brendon snorted, shaking his head. "These cats are anything but vicious. I mean, they're my mother's; they're sneaky and stubborn, but really gentle," he said, stroking the cat's head with his free hand. When he looked up, he noticed that Jon was suppressing his laughter and glared at him. "Spencer, please punch Jon."

Before Jon could process what had been said, he was being punched- quite hard- by Spencer. He stumbled back, mouth open in shock, then glared and set his jaw. "You're mean," he pouted, folding his arms across his chest. Spencer chuckled and shook his head.

"Should we bring him back?" Spencer asked, looking back at Brendon, who bit his lip and shrugged.

"I guess it depends on whether your mother would miss him or not," Ryan stated, looking around the garden. As uncomfortable he was with all the security out here, he was even more so with the guards and the omnipresent cameras inside. "It's really nice out here."

"If my mom knows he's missing, then she's probably out of her mind trying to find him. They're kind of like her only companions sometimes," he scrunched his nose as he admitted that and looked back down at the cat. "Right, Sapphire? You're probably driving her insane. Bad kitty," he admonished, shaking his head at it as if disappointed. Jon snorted, reaching out to scratch behind the cat's ears and smiled when it purred happily. "But you guys can stay out here while I go, if you want," Brendon finally said, finding this course of action to be the best one.

"Okay," Ryan agreed, nodding slowly and biting his lip just a little. He wasn't really willing to admit it, but he knew he wouldn't feel nearly as safe without Brendon around. Probably because the guards were likely to obey the orders of their Prince, and at the moment Ryan was quite confident Brendon wouldn't let them do anything to him. Unless the truth got out, of course, but so far it hadn't even though he constantly felt as though it was written in thick, fat marker on his face, so he had to believe it wouldn't happen just then either. "I guess we'll just be... here?"

Spencer nodded, flashing Brendon a smile. "Yeah, we'll be fine. I know it'll probably take a while to walk wherever you're going since this place is huge, but you'll be back within minutes. It's really no big deal," he smiled again, reassuringly, and motioned for Brendon to leave. Brendon looked at him, then at Ryan. He smiled softly at the boy before turning to Jon and sneering.

"Don't do anything stupid," he said, then turned and left. Spencer chuckled and then turned back to Ryan.

"The security bothering you?" he asked conversationally, sitting down on a nearby concrete bench.

Ryan felt momentarily even more uncomfortable. He was being too obvious. But then, wouldn't a lot of people be uncomfortable with all the security? He hoped so. He shrugged slightly, forcing himself to meet Spencer's eyes even though he, as always, felt as though the much younger male could look straight through him. "I guess it's a combination of being born slightly paranoid and naturally a bit private," he finally stated, hoping the excuses would hold up. "In my father's business it's a lot of sending company agents after each other to steal new developments and inventions and shit and we practically got the paranoia thing drilled into us since before we could even understand what the secrets we couldn't tell were all about," he added. Hopefully that made it give a little more meaning.

Spencer shrugged, glancing at the closest man to them. "They kind of made me uneasy in the beginning, as well," he admitted. "But they're just doing their jobs, you know? And they're here to protect Brendon and his family. Not from us, but from people on the outside, I assure you. The only way you'd have to worry is if you were going to hurt Brendon in any way," he ended, a warning flashing in his light blue eyes. He didn't have any reason to think Ryan would hurt Brendon, but it was always good to know anything could happen. He hoped against everything that it would all be okay.