Seven Levels Below

XXI

Mitch woke to the sound of low voices talking quietly at the door. He couldn't quite make out what either of them were saying, but the deep rumble plus the gentle lighting in the room was enough to drag him out of the realm of sleep.

He sat up and stretched his arms above his head, relishing in the ache of his less-stiff muscles, much improved since leaving the cell. The shifting of fabric against his skin made Mitch suddenly aware that he was under the covers of the bed, wearing just his boxers and an oversized t-shirt that must have belonged to Scott.

So he didn't dream the whole pants-thing last night. Well, that morning, technically.

He turned his head as he heard the door click shut and saw Scott notice his newfound alertness.

"Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he raised the object in his hands. "Avi brings well-wishes and breakfast for you."

"How long was I out?"

"A while." Scott waved him over to the little lounge and handed him the plate he was holding. "It's quarter after 9, so I assume that my father has realized you're missing by now."

"Has he said anything?" Mitch looked up cautiously from his eggs and toast.

"Not yet. We've all been waiting anxiously, but so far it seems like we're not gonna hear anything until I confront them at brunch." Scott continued while Mitch ate. "We got Kirstie this morning and she's been staying in a guest room. Kevin's got heavy security on her too—I think Ben's been posted outside her door personally, until we know more about my parents at least. Oh, and she apparently grabbed your, and I quote, 'sleepover swag', that was at her apartment?" Scott reached over behind the couch and pulled out the bag.

Mitch set the plate down and made grabby hands until Scott handed it over. "I almost forgot I had this. It's some spare clothes and stuff for when I stay overnight and shit, you know? Never thought it would end up being used like this." Mitch hesitated before he asked his question. "When is the brunch?"

Scott sighed and pulled his legs up onto the chair. "I had the kitchen staff tell them that I was requesting brunch at 10:30 with them, so just a little over an hour."

"How are you doing?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Scott huffed. "I dunno... I feel like I should be more nervous. Considering they were willing to orchestrate a scheme for murder. And I'm beyond furious that they chose you as their victim. But... they're my parents, you know? I guess the optimist in me wants to wait until I hear their side of it before I jump to conclusions? But I'm also torn between having them arrested and... I don't know."

Mitch smiled down at his empty plate. "You want to avenge my honor?"

Scott snorted. "Yeah, basically."

"Do you have any idea what prompted all of... this?"

"Well, there's a whole bunch of stuff that comes to mind, but nothing really seems to make sense. We don't know enough about what's going on. It could be anything from a drunken idea to the beginnings of a revolution... I just don't want to believe anything until we know who's in on it, or the full scale of this, or the motivation behind it. Ugh, this is not how I was expecting this week to fall apart." Scott buried his face in his hands.

Mitch sighed. "I'm so sorry, Scott."

"It's their fault, not yours. They made their choices and now they have to live with the consequences." Scott rubbed his eyes and pushed back against the couch. "I hate sitting here and waiting for brunch. God, this is awful."

"You should try sitting in a dungeon waiting for execution." There was a moment of shocked silence until Mitch's brain caught up with what his mouth had just said. "Uh, I mean—"

Scott burst into laughter. Rolling over, full body shaking, tears streaming down his face, laughter.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He kept trying to gasp while he wiped his streaming eyes. "That's not funny, I'm sorry!"

Mitch giggled hesitantly. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Scott managed to catch his breath enough to answer at last. "Not—not enough. Couldn't. I was too mad. Wanted to keep an eye on you."

"Ok, new plan then. I'm going to go take a shower and put some fresh clothes on, and you are going to take a nap. There's no way I'm letting you go to brunch like this. I will make Kevin sit on you if I must." Mitch crossed his arms and dared Scott to argue with his fierce expression.

"Fine. But I can't promise I'll actually be able to fall asleep."

"Just try. You need it, sis. Any avenging of my honor must be done by someone who is able to accurately appreciate my awesomeness." Mitch teased.

"Drag me, Mitchy."

"Go! Sleep!"

Mitch shooed Scott up to his bed before carrying his bag into Scott's bathroom and wow was this the bathroom of legends. There was a cute little clock on the counter which he used to keep track of his time spent trying to wash the dungeon smell out of his hair in the amazing and huge shower, and remove the last remnants of old makeup off his face. When he was finally satisfied with his appearance and outward ability to appear relatively unaffected by yesterday's events, it was about fifteen minutes till show-time. 

And by show-time, he meant brunch.

And by brunch, he meant sitting alone and stressing about whether Scott was okay and safe and not paying the price for interrupting Mitch's execution. Although Mitch could not be more grateful that he did intervene.

When he exited the bathroom, he was greeted with the sight of a blond giant sprawled across the bed, snoring lightly.

He smiled to himself as he made his way over to the man on the bed and rubbed Scott's back gently.

"Scotty, you gotta wake up."

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh. It's 10:15. You have to go soon."

Scott pushed himself up quickly, nearly knocking Mitch over, as he heard the time.

Wild, panicked eyes met Mitch's, and Scott asked, "Come with me? Please?"

Mitch hesitated. He wanted to ignore logic and just say yes, but... "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of me hiding in here if I came with you?"

"Can you—can you stand outside the dining hall then? You can listen in, and Matt and Kevin and the whole gang will probably be hanging around there to keep an eye on things. They'll keep you safe. Please? I need you there, even if I can't see you."

"Okay."

Like Mitch would ever deny him anything, let alone something so simple and important to him as this.