The Informants

(10) Present - Rian

As the official meeting ended and Michael & Bri left, Rian wasn't surprised as their counterparts made their way over to the. He felt Brandeen stiffen a little beside him, but his brother relaxed again as their husband started rubbing smalls circles into his hand. Silver always knew how to keep Brandeen calm.

As the other set of twins reached them, they took a little time to introduce themselves properly. After all, Brandon pointed out, they were counterparts, they might as well be in decent terms. This almost made Rian laugh but he managed to keep his laughter internalized as they talked to the twin guild leaders.

To both their surprise and at the same time not, Ritchie and Brandon didn't seem to be too bad, though it was almost as if their roles had been swapped. Ritchie seemed to be the more hyperactive of the two, matching the hyperness of Rian's twin with his own (though he certainly wasn't as insane as Brandeen). Brandon, on the other hand, seemed to be the more serious of the twin guild leaders, much like Rian himself. The look on his brother's counterpart's face at his own brother's enthusiasm was very amusing as well.

The five of them talked up until Silver noticed that Brandeen was starting to get tired as the hyperness from earlier finally started to wear off. The insanity mage even started to nod off a little and so, after getting Rian's attention subtly, they said their goodbyes to the twin guild leaders and headed out.

On the way home, Silver ended up having to pick Brandeen up bridal style and carry him the rest of the way back as the white-haired mage had started to fall asleep as they walked. Rian smiled softly at his brother and husband and made sure to open the door for the two as they arrived back home. Silver walked off to put Brandeen to bed while Rian decided to go and make some tea in the kitchen.

As Rian stood in front of the stove, waiting for the water to boil, a pair of arms snaked around his waist. He smiled and turned so he could kiss his husband, holding the other close as he kissed him for a solid minute. When they parted, Rian pressed one last kiss to his husband's temple before turning and taking the kettle off the heat as the water finished boiling. The two sat down after Rian had poured them both some tea, sitting in a peaceful silence for a moment before Silver nudged him and asked with a cheeky grin. 

"Soooooo what did you think of your counterpart? Just as terrible as you thought?"

Rian flicked Silver's forehead playfully as he huffed at him. When Silver had first told them about having to work with Ritchie and Brandon as his fellow guild leaders, his husbands had freaked out. While they knew logically that their counterparts weren't dangerous (at least to Silver anyway), they couldn't help but think of their counterparts as the people had indirectly caused them to descend into madness in the first place. A bit of an overreaction as they really hadn't been that bad. 

"I'll concede that I may have misjudged my counterpart, honestly, he reminds me of Brandeen with his hyperness, minus the insanity," Rian admitted as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"You should have seen him the one time Bri brought coffee to a meeting and Brandon didn't think to ask what she had bought before Ritchie had drunk it. He was bouncing off the walls more than Brandy when we gave him lollipops." Silver laughed loudly and when Rian imagined that, he couldn't help but chuckle at the image as well. 

The two laughed for a few minutes before Silver decided to get serious. 

"Rian?" Silver asked softly. "Are you and Brandeen still sure you can handle the mission? I know you said you were but, with the meeting and everything, I can't help but worry about you two, especially Brandeen."

Rian reached over and took his husband's hand, rubbing calming circles into it as to get Silver to relax a little before he sent himself into a panic attack. 

"Relax, beauty, Brandeen has so many layers of protective magic on him that he is practically the safest person on the planet at the moment. And I myself will be just fine on my own. You don't have to worry, Austin, we'll be fine." Rian told him. 

"Are you sure?" Silver asked, still worried despite Rian's assurances. 

"I'm positive. No one can get past my crash magic and I'll protect Brandeen and the baby with my life." Rian reassured him, his resolve strong. He would never let anything happen to Brandeen. Their jobs as informants would be easy enough and he wasn't going to allow them to get caught. And if they did... well his crash magic would be enough to keep the two of them safe... Right?