fic: every turn a surprise (2/6)

[mixtapestar]

Part One

For the first few weeks, Brendon mostly just organizes their file system and any recent records, and also fixes any problems he discovers along the way. It's incredibly easy, and once he's fixed enough to satisfy Spencer, he has the rest of the day to do whatever he wants. Any time they make a stop for deliveries, Brendon checks to make sure their shipment is correct and updates their records, and then he stays on board all day. He's allowed to go out, of course, but for this first little bit, he thinks it's safer to stay. At night, after the work is done, they all go out as a group to a bar. It doesn't take Brendon long to recognize that they're all underground bars, just like the Shady Name, and that makes him feel safer.

Brendon hadn't realized at first that Pete's caravan of ships included the one he was hired onto, but when Pete accosts him at their first stop, it all seems to fall into place. There are dozens of people that he recognizes from their stops at the Shady Name, except now he's apparently going to see them at every stop.

After just a few weeks, Brendon starts to feel like he really knows all the people from their group. Even though he barely drinks, most of the others do, and their routine stops at bars lead to long, focused chats with Brendon, who is far too interested to move along. On this particular stop, though, Brendon is hanging out with Spencer, who says he doesn't want anything to drink.

"I don't really want anything either. Do you wanna just go back to the ship?"

Spencer looks surprised at his offer, but takes him up on it. Brendon's mind is racing on the way there, remembering his failed attempt to get Spencer to use his ability.

It had only lasted about ten minutes, but Brendon still feels embarrassed when he remembers it. He and Spencer had been alone in the common area, and Brendon had opened his mind completely. He had been warned by the Academy never to do this, ever, but he didn't necessarily trust everything he'd been taught at the Academy, not anymore. He concentrated hard on Spencer's name, not broadcasting it, just thinking it very pointedly. Spencer hadn't even glanced up. Briefly, Brendon considered sending it, which would work on anyone, telepath or not, but then Spencer had shifted toward him and said, "What?" Brendon had blinked at him, convinced that Spencer really did hear Brendon's thoughts, but Spencer went on. "You've been sitting there, cutting your eyes at me, for the last five minutes."

Brendon blanches at the memory. He had mumbled an apology and that it was nothing, and tried not to look obvious when he went back to his room to work on his computer. He'd thought at the time that maybe it wasn't a good idea to mention it to Spencer, but Spencer has been nothing but nice to him since he joined the crew, and Zack trusts him. So Brendon spends most of their walk back to the ship thinking of a new way to ask Spencer about his ability.

His brainstorming is cut off, however, when they reach the ship. The side door into the cargo deck is wide open. Spencer freezes and stares at it, and then they share a look before quietly creeping up to it. The lights are all on inside, which furthers Brendon's suspicions that something isn't right. Spencer points Brendon in one direction and walks off the other way, but Brendon has no idea what he's looking for. A person? How in the hell would anyone be able to carry any of these boxes out? They wouldn't fit through the side door, and the hatch certainly isn't open to get them out. Brendon wonders, not for the first time, what it is that they deliver, but it's one of those things that Spencer says he doesn't need to know.

After a minute or so of creeping quietly around boxes, Brendon gives it up. Whoever broke in must have gotten away before they got there. He turns to walk back to the center of the deck when he hears, loud and clear, Brendon, look out! It's such a crisp thought in his head that he ducks without stopping to think, and the guy he didn't see trips and falls on top of him.

Spencer is there in a flash, pulling the guy up and holding his hands behind his back. "Dude, this is like the third time we've caught you on here. There are better places to sleep, okay? We're never gonna lift off with you still on board. And if you're trying to steal anything, you know that's impossible."

"Wait, you know this guy?" Brendon asks, bewildered. Spencer had just thought-spoke at him! Brendon wouldn't have any trouble bringing it up now.

The guy glares at Brendon, mumbling under his breath, but not saying anything directly to either of them.

"Sort of. He's broken in before. Come on," he says to the guy, pushing him toward the door. "If we catch you on here again, we're calling someone, okay? If you had actually managed to hit my friend on the head, you'd already be locked up."

The guy mumbles some more, and Brendon thinks he hears "never called anyone yet," but he doesn't respond. Clearly Spencer's got it under control. Spencer reprimands him a few more times on the way out, and makes sure the door is secure when he returns.

"So," Brendon says, smiling and bouncing slightly.

"What?" Spencer says, wearily. "He didn't hurt you, did he? I know he fell on you, but I kind of assumed you were alright."

"Come on, Spence. I'm fine. You know what I'm talking about."

Spencer raises his eyebrows, expression clearly saying No, I don't.

Brendon rolls his eyes. "You and I both know that we were the only two people in here that heard you warn me."

Spencer takes only a second to wipe the surprise off his face, but Brendon catches it anyway. "The guy's homeless, and he may not be all there, but I'm pretty sure he can hear, Brendon."

"Yeah, exactly," Brendon says, narrowing his eyes. Spencer is being deliberately obtuse, and all Brendon's asking for is some honesty.

"Look, I don't have time for whatever game you're trying to play. I'm going to bed."

Brendon doesn't give up that easy, though. He follows Spencer into the elevator, saying, "It's like 9 o'clock ship-time. Am I really supposed to believe you're suddenly going to bed 3 hours earlier than usual?" Spencer ignores him. "Look, I know you can do it, and you know you can do it, I just want you to tell me."

Spencer's mouth goes into a tight line, and he says, matter-of-fact, "Whatever you h--whatever you think you heard, you're just imagining things."

Spencer steps off the elevator and Brendon suddenly recognizes the slight desperation in Spencer's tone. He realizes that if their positions were flipped, and Spencer were trying to get him to admit to his ability, he would do whatever it took to change the subject. He feels like a jackass then, and just as Spencer heads for his bedroom door, Brendon says, Spence. I can do it, too.

Spencer pauses with his hand on the door handle. He turns slowly to stare Brendon in the face. "Did you just--?"

Yes, Brendon says, expression blank. Spencer stares hard at his mouth, which hasn't moved. Ever since I was a kid. He realizes that's kind of misleading, but it's still true, so he can send it without breaking his brain or whatever. Brendon's still not sure what would happen to a person if they tried to lie in their own head, but he's heard negative things often enough to know better than to try it.

"Really?" he asks, and the tension in his shoulders lessens considerably. "Do you know how it works?"

Brendon shrugs. "Yeah, I guess. I can, like, control it and stuff." He had been assuming since he overheard Spencer's first outburst that Spencer didn't have training, but now he's starting to wonder if Spencer's actually really good, better than Brendon, and Brendon was just being presumptuous.

"Could you teach me?" Spencer asks, fidgeting slightly.

Oh, or maybe he was right. "What do you mean?" Brendon asks cautiously. "I mean, you sent that thought to me fine just now."

Spencer's face is flushed, but he maintains his composure as he explains, "I've never been able to do it on purpose with anyone but Ryan. The other times, though luckily they haven't happened a lot, have just been because I'm all worked up."

Brendon wonders how often Spencer would be yelling for someone to duck, but then he remembers his own experiences at the Academy, babbling something absurd in his head while in someone else's bed, and he realizes Spencer probably had the same problems. He doesn't dare carry that line of thought further, though.

"So, wait. You've only... I mean, you can send your thoughts out. But you can't hear anything else?" He bites his lip as the question leaves his mouth. There was probably a more subtle way to ask that.

"What do you mean?" Spencer asks, confused. "I heard your message when you sent it."

"Right, yeah. Nevermind. I don't know if I'll be the best teacher, but yeah, I can try."

Spencer looks so grateful that Brendon can't even have second thoughts. Spencer is his best friend on the ship, and Brendon can trust him. At least, that's what Brendon tells himself every night when he's woken up by nightmares of being dragged away in the night by one of the nameless faces of his early Academy teachers.

******

Brendon tries not to be nervous on the day of Spencer's first lesson. He's no teacher, but Spencer understands that already. He should, anyway; Brendon can't stop reminding him. He wishes he could remember more of his first few years at the Academy, if only to approach Spencer's ability carefully. Despite all his misgivings about his time there, he'd always thought his teachers were kind enough when they were teaching him. He can only hope that Spencer won't get frustrated with him.

Spencer waits until Ryan goes into his room for the night before coming into Brendon's room for their lesson. Brendon supposes that's the answer to his question of whether Spencer told Ryan.

The first thing Brendon does is ask Spencer to have a seat. Spencer looks at the spot next to Brendon on the bed, but ultimately chooses to sit over at Brendon's desk. "So how is this gonna work?" Spencer asks, voice different from how Brendon's used to hearing it.

"Well, probably a good place to start is for you to tell me about your ability. When have you used it?"

Spencer bites his lip. "This is just between us, right?"

"Of course."

Spencer blushes. "Do you need, like, the details?"

Brendon thinks to himself, I could just read your mind, and says, "How about I tell you about me to start us off?"

Spencer composes himself suddenly, looking more like the Spencer Brendon has known all this time. Still, Brendon can sense that he's relieved. "If that's what you prefer," he says.

Brendon has a sudden moment of indecision. Spencer is his friend, his best friend, but Brendon needs to be careful with who he trusts. Anjela's words come back to him in a rush. Is he being too trusting? His secret is safe in his own head, but once Spencer knows it, it can be read at any time.

"I..." He winces, trying to find the words that don't sound rude, but still get his point across. "I need to know that I can trust you. It's not that I don't, it's that... I've been warned against being too trusting. I have a way to know for sure, but I'm not going to do it without your consent."

Spencer looks uneasy. "What are you talking about?"

"I can, uh..." He pitches his voice lower. "I can read your mind." Spencer's eyes widen and he sits back in his chair. Brendon waves his hands and quickly adds, "I promise I won't do it if you don't want me to. But uh, well, it's just a precaution I have to take. With everyone."

Spencer is still staring at him. "You can read minds." Brendon nods, trying to contain the nervous energy threatening to burst out at any second. While Spencer takes the time to process this new concept, Brendon mentally berates himself. If Spencer truly wasn't to be trusted, it'd be too late to make a difference. He'd ruined it by admitting to his ability, and after all, Spencer having an ability could simply mean that he was trained at a different school. But still, it's Spencer. And it's too late now to take it back, so he pulls himself back into the moment.

A nervous look passes over Spencer's expression. "Have you ever--"

"No," Brendon says firmly and instantly. "It's a violation of privacy."

"Right, okay. Uh... How much will you hear if I let you read my mind?" He maintains a composed tone, but he won't look Brendon in the eye.

"Not a lot," Brendon promises. "I just... If you were planning to... betray me," he says, feeling ridiculous, "it'd be obvious in your head even if you were thinking 'I AM TRUSTWORTHY' as loud as you could."

Spencer cracks a smile at that, looking interested. "Really?"

"Yeah," Brendon says, sharing Spencer's interest. "The mind is really fascinating. I would love to do studies, but... uh. I don't really know how that works."

Brendon gives Spencer another minute, as he is obviously lost in thought, and then he seems to come back to himself. "Alright," he says. "You can do it. I guess."

Brendon nods, even though he's honestly surprised. Spencer is such a private person; he's obviously pretty desperate for Brendon's help. "Okay, well this will be quick and painless. Just... focus on why you want to learn from me, or just... what you think of me? Something like that. That'll make it easier."

Panic flits across Spencer's expression, and Brendon hurries to calm him down. "You seriously don't have to do this if you don't want," he reminds Spencer.

Spencer rolls his eyes, though Brendon doesn't know if it's directed at him or Spencer himself. "It's okay man, just do it already."

"Okay," he says, but he gives Spencer a few seconds before he breaks down that block and filters in Spencer's thoughts. It's weird, after months of tuning thoughts out, to let them flow into his consciousness again. It's nice; soothing.

I need to learn how to control my ability. To keep me safe--protect--I am trustworthy and I just need to learn how to control--

Brendon blocks out the thoughts immediately, feeling guilty. Of course Spencer is trustworthy, and now he's gone and violated his 'no mind reading' promise. "Okay," he says softly. Spencer eyes slide open, and he looks at Brendon expectantly. "You passed," he jokes, laughing self-deprecatingly. "I'm sorry for making you do that."

Spencer shrugs it off. He leans forward in Brendon's chair, looking interested. "So what's the big secret?"

Brendon laughs straight out at that, because a minute ago that would have made him super suspicious, but now he has proof that he can trust Spencer. It's such a relief. "I guess you've earned this. I trained at this--school. For people with abilities. When I was little, I started hearing people's thoughts. Weird, right? So they shipped me off to a special school, and I was there for... 9 years? So. Yeah." He laughs at Spencer's expression, a mixture of surprise and awe.

"That explains a lot. Is that why you're such a computer genius? Because you had really smart teachers?"

"Oh, uh. Well, I only had teachers for the stuff about my telepathy. Everything else was self-taught."

"Oh," Spencer chuckles. "Wow. I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't be, like, a genius all on your own."

Brendon snorts. "Between you and me, I'm pretty sure the telepathy's a major factor. It's like I can talk to computers." He bites his lip. "Is that weird?"

Spencer smiles at him. "Of course it's weird. But I think it's great." He fidgets for a moment. "So do you think you can help me figure out my ability?"

"Yeah, I think so. I just need you to trust me too, or we're never going to get anywhere. I can do the whole message thing," he says, gesturing between them. "I'm pretty sure it works the same way; it's still thought, so it's impossible to lie."

"Sure, why not?"

Brendon smiles, glad that Spencer's working with him. I promise not to tell anyone anything you share with me during these lessons, and to help you as much as I can.

Spencer nods, appearing satisfied. "Do you have, like, two abilities? The message thing and mind reading?"

Brendon considers for a moment. "I don't think so. I think we have the same ability. Mine was just... unavoidable, when I was younger. You had it easy," he says mockingly.

Spencer looks pensive. "I was lucky to have Ryan," he mumbles. Brendon feels a pang at that, but he quickly pushes down the feeling.

"It was weird being at school. I didn't really hang out with a lot of people, but it was understood that everyone had an ability. I guess that made it a little less awkward when I, heh," he runs a hand over the back of his neck, "well, let's just say during hookups, I didn't always have control."

Brendon doesn't look up at Spencer, but he can hear him shift in his chair, doubling his suspicions that Spencer has had similar problems.

"I was fortunate, though, because I got really good at controlling it. If my teachers are to be believed, most kids in school never get the level of control that I had. I think I scared them because of it," he admits, biting his lip.

"So, do you think if I can get the hang of this, I might be able to read minds too?"

Brendon can't believe that's the only thing Spencer took away from all that. "Yeah, maybe. But it's seriously not as great as you'd think. If you do figure out how to hear thoughts but then can't block them out, you can't even imagine how bad the headaches are."

"You know how to block them, right?" Spencer asks, actually looking concerned. It makes Brendon feel bad for judging his interest in mind reading.

"Yeah, I haven't had the headaches since before the... school."

"It felt really weird when you were in my head. Like, I could tell something was different. Is that normal?"

Brendon blinks at him. "I know exactly what you mean," he says, remembering how he'd hated when his teachers flitted through his thoughts. "I didn't know it was the same for you, but yeah, I would be able to tell if someone was trying to get inside my head."

Spencer looks reassured at that. "So I'll be able to tell if someone I don't know is reading my mind?"

"Hopefully I'll be able to teach you how to make it so that no one can read your mind unless you let them, but yeah, you'll be able to tell."

Spencer looks distant for a moment, then he nods. "The first time it happened was when I was at the park down by my house."

Brendon leans forward and pays attention as Spencer recounts his story. His pulse is still pounding, but this time more from excitement at having someone to trust than anxiety that his secret will be discovered. By the time Brendon goes to bed, he's already decided to teach Spencer everything he can.

******

Brendon has never felt more sick in his life.

"I think I'm dying," he moans, but it burns his throat and comes out more of a distressed mumble than anything else.

"It's typical for your first time on new planets," Ryan says sympathetically, handing over a mug filled with some warm beverage. Brendon sniffs it, and Ryan rolls his eyes. "It's tea, just drink it."

Brendon just wants to go back to sleep, but he hesitantly takes a sip. It burns going down, but then the pain in his throat seems to dull. It tastes awful, though.

"You should've seen Spencer the first time we went to DW12," Ryan says, smirking. "I thought I was never gonna hear the end of it. 'I'm dying Ryan, why can't you make it stop, what are you going to do when I die and leave you alone on this ship?'"

Spencer comes out of the kitchen with a bowl that he sets on the table in front of Brendon. "I heard that," he says, shoving Ryan over so that they can share the armchair. "And if I recall it was you that got so sick you wanted to be taken back to Earth to die peacefully."

Ryan punches Spencer on the shoulder while he laughs, and Brendon wishes they would stop talking and go be best friends somewhere else. He's got a headache and he can't breathe; he's not exactly in the mood for their flirtation or whatever-the-fuck.

"Hey," Spencer says, focusing on Brendon now. "I made you soup; it should help with the headache. My mom taught me how to make it," he says, looking proud.

Brendon tries to mumble something about Spencer's mother, but all that comes out is one long, indistinguishable sound. He shifts and sits up on the couch, fighting with dizziness for a second.

"Here," Spencer says, moving forward and holding the spoon up toward Brendon's face. Brendon glares at him long and hard until Spencer drops the eager look and takes on a bitchier one.

"I can do it," Brendon says, reaching for the spoon.

Spencer rolls his eyes. "Well excuse me for trying to be nice."

"He's just pissed because he can't monopolize the conversation for once," Ryan teases. Brendon really hates Ryan right now.

The soup does help, and it tastes a hell of a lot better than Ryan's magic tea, so Brendon eats it eagerly. He murmurs a thank you to Spencer when he's finished, and Spencer nods, taking the bowl away.

Ryan stands to leave too, but pauses to hand Brendon the mug of tea again. "You should finish it. It'll help you sleep," he says quietly, and as he walks back to his room, his fingers brush across the back of Brendon's neck.

Brendon does finish the tea, finding it easier now to ignore the taste. He feels warm inside, different from the fever, and sure enough, he slips right off into sleep.

******

When Brendon startles awake several hours later, he blinks into the darkness and wonders what woke him up.

"Sorry," Jon whispers from just behind the couch, and Brendon yelps in quite an undignified manner. "Um, and sorry for that? I was trying to get to my room without turning on the light so that I wouldn't wake you, but obviously that didn't work out."

"It's okay," Brendon assures him, willing his heart to stop racing. He runs a hand through his hair and asks, "What time is it?"

"Around 1? 1:30? I was hanging with Tom and we kind of lost track of time, I guess. How are you feeling?"

Brendon thinks about it, and he certainly feels less like he's dying. "Better, I think. But that doesn't give you permission to turn on the fluorescents," he warns.

Jon chuckles and nudges Brendon's legs up so that he can sit on the couch, but he doesn't complain when Brendon settles his legs on his lap. "Do you want to watch something?" Jon murmurs, rubbing Brendon's ankle soothingly.

Brendon hums and stretches, enjoying the attention. "Sure," he says, sitting up to use the controls in the couch. "What did you have in mind?"

The panel springs to life in the wall across from them, and Brendon hurries to turn the brightness down before it can give him a headache. When Jon doesn't respond, Brendon glances over at him. Jon is bathed in the dim light from the panel and watches Brendon with a small, sweet smile. "What?" Brendon asks, automatically smiling back.

"Nothing," Jon says, shaking his head but still smiling. He returns his gaze to the panel. "We can watch whatever you want."

Brendon settles on a comedy that seems promising, and it's great for the first half hour until he starts laughing and then can't stop coughing. Jon looks concerned and then disappears into the kitchen. He comes back with a glass of water that Brendon takes gratefully, gulping it down.

"I kind of know how to make Ryan's weird tea, if you want," Jon offers when Brendon manages to stop coughing.

"No," Brendon insists, not wanting to go back to sleep yet. "I'm fine now." He sits up fully on the couch, finding it easier to breathe that way. Jon doesn't look convinced, but Brendon cuddles up to him on the couch and focuses on the screen.

Jon combines a sigh and a laugh, draping his arm around Brendon and pulling him in closer. Brendon smiles and settles in comfortably, hoping that his cough won't return.

An hour or two later, Brendon finds his eyes slipping shut again. He feels ridiculous, as he slept all day, but he knows Jon hasn't slept at all. "I think I'm falling asleep on you," he says, noting how literal that statement is. As if to prove it, he suddenly yawns into Jon's shoulder, unable to help it.

"I don't mind," Jon says, but then he mimics Brendon's yawn. Brendon smiles at that, and Jon rolls his eyes. "Fine, but I'm making sure you actually make it to your bed safely first."

Brendon feels perfectly fine when he stands up, not dizzy at all, but he doesn't complain when Jon wraps an arm around him to steady him. As he collapses onto his bed - much more comfortable than the couch, what was he thinking? - he shifts around to squint toward where he thinks Jon is in the dark. "Jon?"

"Yeah?" Jon whispers in reply. Brendon has a sudden thought to ask Jon to sleep over, but quickly talks himself out of it.

"Thanks," he simply says.

"No problem, man," Jon says easily, touching Brendon's hand briefly before walking back out into the common area, closing Brendon's door behind him.

Brendon blinks up at the ceiling and doesn't have time to worry about his sudden anxiety before he falls asleep.

******

After Brendon recovers from what Ryan and Spencer call his first "PTD" (Planetarily Transmitted Disease), he is determined to get more involved with the goings-on of the ship. When he finishes his tasks for the day, he heads down to the cargo deck to help with some of the other work. It's much more enjoyable than sitting around reading or watching mindless things on his panel all day, and it keeps him from trying to explore aspects of the computer system that he's pretty sure would be forbidden to him if anyone realized he could get to them.

He's helping Ryan sort through color-coded boxes and rambling about how he has no idea what they transport on this ship when he sees Max for the first time on board. He just stares in surprise when Max walks up to them, because he knew there were four unnamed dudes working upstairs, but he didn't realize they'd be people he knew from their stops. He just assumed that they were super-secretive and always remained on board when the ship was on planet.

"Brendon," Max says, skipping the pleasantries and ignoring Brendon's look of bewilderment. "Somehow the captain has been locked out of some of the information in our database. Do you think you could fix that?"

"I... maybe? I can try, at least."

Max nods and moves off, and Brendon has only a moment to think excitedly that he'll get to see who the captain is before Max stops at one of the wall panels and enters in some information. Brendon tries not to feel disappointed. Max points out where the files are, saying, "I'm not sure how this happened, but I suspect that Tom has something to do with it, as he's the one that alerted me to the problem." He sighs. "If you can just make this set of files public to my account, that would suffice. Just let Spencer know if you don't think it's possible."

Brendon nods, maintaining a professional look, and moves toward the panel. Max approaches Spencer and they both speak in very official tones, so Brendon tunes them out. He stares at the screen for several long moments, wrapping his head around what he's about to do. He's basically been asked to hack into the file system, which is simultaneously thrilling and intimidating. He also notes that Tom is also apparently on the ship, and then he remembers suddenly that Jon had mentioned hanging out with him even when they weren't on planet. He feels stupid for missing that, even if he had been sick at the time, so with that forlorn thought, he begins to mess with the infrastructure of the system.

He is hard at work trying to break through another firewall when he distantly hears, "Brendon?"

The address barely registers, though, and he concentrates on the line of code as he enters it. He runs the algorithm again, and--nothing happens. Again. "Come on," he mumbles, already thinking about the changes needed for his next attempt, when a hand on his shoulder jolts him out of the thought.

"Brendon," Spencer says, exasperated. "You've been working on this for nearly four hours."

Brendon struggles to get out of his headspace, and as he does, he realizes that his legs are incredibly stiff. He looks at Spencer, contacts shifting as he looks away from the panel, and says, "Oh."

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," Spencer says, guiding Brendon toward the elevator.

"I'm so close to figuring it out," Brendon says, unable to stop thinking about the code as he last left it. Maybe if he tweaked the recursive part to--

"Dude," Spencer says firmly. "You need to take a break, seriously. You're looking a little crazy."

"But I know I can do it," Brendon insists.

"I'm sure you can," Spencer says, and Brendon can't help but smile at that. "But it will still be locked tomorrow, and you can work on it some more then."

"But Max said--"

"I'm willing to bet that Max didn't tell you this had to be done today."

"Well, not exactly, I guess..."

Ryan and Jon are already sitting at the table in the kitchen when they walk in. "You look terrible," Ryan says, matter-of-fact.

"Thanks," Brendon mumbles, rubbing at his temples. Maybe Spencer's right. It's tough to pull himself out of that frame of mind, though, and he doesn't know how to explain that to them.

He eats his dinner in silence, letting their conversation wash over him. His headache starts to subside, and when Jon finishes his dinner, he stands behind Brendon and massages his shoulders.

"How come you never do that for me?" Spencer asks with a smirk.

"You don't work that hard," Ryan answers before Jon can respond.

Spencer opens his mouth to protest, and at the same time, Brendon shudders pleasantly as Jon manages to find the perfect spot.

"Yes?" Ryan prompts Spencer when he doesn't say anything for a moment or two. Brendon looks up, curious, and Spencer is watching him.

"Helping?" Jon asks, quiet in Brendon's ear. Brendon nods, still looking at Spencer.

"I'm just saying, I work hard every day. Brendon just overdid it one time," Spencer says, but the fight seems to have gone out of him.

"I'll owe you a massage," Jon tells Spencer, and Brendon can hear the smile in it. His fingers press just right on a knot in his back, and he thinks that perhaps he shouldn't let this go on much longer, or he's going to embarrass himself.

"Hey, what about me?" Ryan asks, looking perturbed.

"You, too," Jon promises, pressing down at the base of Brendon's neck, and Brendon can't help but hum in satisfaction.

"You two don't know what you're missing," Brendon teases. "Jon has magic fingers."

Ryan looks bothered by this for a moment, but Brendon doesn't worry about it for long when Jon proves his point by pressing on that same spot again.

Spencer scoffs at him, standing up to put his dishes away. Before he leaves, though, he says to Brendon, "Promise me you'll leave it until tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Brendon says, only half paying attention. He's seconds away from asking Spencer if he wants to have another lesson tonight when he realizes that he's not supposed to mention it in front of anyone else, not even Jon and Ryan. He could use telepathy, he realizes, but then that would put Spencer under stress about how to answer, so he decides to wait and ask later.

"Try not to hurt yourself," is all that Ryan says as he leaves, but Brendon knows him well enough to know that was just as friendly as Spencer's comment.

"Jon Walker, you are my favorite," Brendon says instead of the moan he kind of wants to utter.

"You only say that when I give you things," Jon answers in a fake whine.

"I'll still respect you in the morning, baby," Brendon says, tone as sincere as he can make it.

Jon snorts and takes his hands away. Brendon tries not to pout as he says, "Alright, you're not so tense anymore, session over."

"So if I get tense again...?" he asks, standing up to face Jon.

Jon rolls his eyes. "I am not your pleasure slave," he says with a smile.

Brendon doesn't dare follow that thought through, so he just laughs obnoxiously and concentrates on clearing his place at the table.

******

It's tough not to think about the locked files for the rest of the night, but Brendon pulls up a book and tries to focus on its pages for a little while after dinner. Spencer knocks on their connecting door while Brendon is reading, and Brendon remembers his intention to ask Spencer about a lesson.

"Hey," Brendon says, smiling. "Did you want to have another telepathy session?" he asks, doing jazz hands as he says it.

Spencer rolls his eyes and says, "If you're not too tired, that'd be cool."

"I'm not tired," Brendon says in answer, closing out everything on his panel. This time, Spencer pulls the desk chair up to the side of Brendon's bed before he sits. "Do you know what you'd like to work on specifically?" Brendon asks, since their last session had been a short amount of time devoted to a bunch of things that didn't work.

"Yeah, I wanna be able to do the message thing for anyone, not just Ryan. It'd be cool for you and I to be able to talk to each other without anyone else hearing," he says with a smirk.

Brendon's stomach flips over pleasantly as Spencer says that, and he can't help his smile. "Alright, well. Let's think about it this time before we start trying. You can say anything to Ryan, and it always works?"

Spencer nods. "When we were kids, I wound up telling him what I could do, but he wouldn't believe me until I could do it to him. With that much pressure, I figured out how to do it, and from then on I never had any trouble talking to him like that."

Brendon thinks about that. "Do you think it's easier because you know each other so well?"

"Maybe," Spencer says, shrugging. "I guess it was kinda like that. I felt like I knew how Ryan worked, so it was just another way of talking to him. I can adjust it depending on his mood, or whatever."

Brendon's never thought of it like that before, but he realizes now that he does adapt the tone of his messages depending on the person he's sending them to and how they're acting at the time. "That's good," he says. "I think that might be the key. Just get a read on the person's personality and their mood. And it's been easier for you to send them when your mind is racing, right? It was the same for me, and I think that's because we aren't thinking about how to do it then, just that we have to. Does that make any sense?"

Spencer stares at Brendon, and Brendon has no idea what he's thinking. "It does, I guess. But I don't know if that's going to help me do it right."

"Won't know until you try," Brendon says, crossing his legs and shifting on the bed so that he can face Spencer directly.

"Okay," Spencer says, mostly to himself, then he closes his eyes.

Brendon waits, completely calm, while Spencer does whatever he has to do. And he keeps waiting. He waits long enough until he doesn't think it's rude to interrupt and says, "Not working?"

Spencer's eyes open and his face heats up suddenly. "Uh, I actually couldn't think of what I wanted to say."

Brendon blinks for a moment and laughs. "Just say something like, 'Hi, Brendon.'"

"Yeah, okay," Spencer says, still blushing as he closes his eyes again.

Brendon closes his own eyes and focuses on Spencer. He doesn't try to listen to Spencer's thoughts, but he opens his mind so that the natural whisper of thought brushes against his consciousness. He's never been more tempted to read someone's mind than he has with Spencer, but the knowledge that Spencer would know he was doing it is enough to put an end to his temptation.

Hi, Brendon, he hears suddenly. He opens his eyes to find Spencer looking back. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Brendon beams at him, and Spencer mirrors the expression.

Or maybe I do know what I'm doing.

Do you think you'll be able to do this again, Brendon says, after some time has passed and maybe I'm in a different mood?

I think so, and Brendon can hear Spencer's confidence. It just feels right.

Brendon can't stop smiling, he's so happy and proud of Spencer.

What else can you teach me? Spencer asks eagerly.

******

Brendon is hard at work on the 'hacking problem' (as he's come to call it) for the fifth day in a row when Spencer pushes a thought into his mind. We're on planet all day, he says, and Brendon startles to hear his voice. It's calming, though, more so than his voice would be. Will you meet us at the bar tonight?

Brendon thrills at the anticipation in Spencer's tone. Of course, he responds.

I know you want to figure out the 'hacking problem,' but don't forget about us, okay?

Brendon turns to face Spencer, who is pretending to be busy looking over a shipment. "I'll see you tonight," Brendon says with a smile.

Spencer smiles back - a huge, genuine smile that kicks Brendon right between the ribs and knocks out his breath. "Awesome," Spencer says.

"Yeah," Brendon breathes, but Spencer is already walking away.

Brendon sighs and focuses on his work, reminding himself of all the reasons a crush on Spencer is a Bad Idea, namely because Spencer doesn't return it. He'd made that abundantly clear that Brendon was his subordinate at work, his teacher behind closed doors, and a friend otherwise, which didn't seem to leave room for anything else. Besides, Brendon knows it's safer if he doesn't let anyone get too close.

It doesn't take him long to get his mind back on the computer before him, but he feels like he's been going in circles for the past several hours of work he's put in. He finally decides to take a step back and get something to eat, hoping inspiration will strike after he walks away. Halfway through his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sure enough, he gets a completely new idea, and he doesn't wait to finish his sandwich.

He rushes back to the cargo deck to try it out. It takes almost two hours just to set up the algorithm, but the moment he begins to run it, he knows it's going to work. The computer responds instantly and in just a few minutes he is able to access the files. He grins triumphantly at the screen, but when he turns away to announce his victory, he realizes he's alone. Disappointment washes over him even though he knows he can still let the guys know as soon as they meet up at the bar.

"Now what?" he asks the air, knowing that nothing is going to be able to hold his attention while this is on his mind. He pulls his device out of his pocket and is 90% done sending Spencer a message when he realizes he'd much rather tell him in person. Sighing, he puts the device back and heads back to his room. He lays on his bed, indecisive about how to kill the time, and before he realizes he's even tired, he falls asleep.

******

The buzz of his device against his thigh jolts him awake. "Whu?" he says after pressing the button, laying it on the desk.

"Brendon, man. You promised you'd be here. Spencer's pissed."

"Jon?" he asks, rubbing his eyes. "What time--?" He realizes suddenly what's happened. He fell asleep and now he's late to meet the guys.

"It's 8:15, I know you're not that late, but Spencer's been bitching since 7:55 that you're not going to show up. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten."

"No, I didn't--I fell asleep," he explains, already punching numbers into the wall so that he can get a change of clothes. "I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise."

"Shit, he's coming back. Bye!"

"I'll be there!" Brendon repeats, but the line is already dead. "Shit," he mumbles to himself, struggling to put on his button-up shirt as fast as he can. Just as he gets to the last button, he realizes he's done them up one off from each other and he has to start over. He carries his shoes onto the elevator and pulls them on as it goes down, and the only second he pauses is at the side door - he won't take any chances after that last break-in.

He's afraid that he's gotten himself lost for a few minutes, but then he turns a corner and recognizes the familiar look of an underground bar and heads inside. He spots Ryan first, making a beeline for him across the crowded room. "I got lost," he says immediately, sure that Ryan will be pissed that he was late.

Ryan raises his eyebrows. "Jon said you fell asleep."

"Oh, well that too. Where's Spencer?" he asks, looking around for him.

Ryan huffs a breath, but he points Brendon in the right direction.

Spencer is in the middle of a conversation with Pete, but Brendon doesn't let that stop him. He sneaks up behind Spencer and wraps his arms around him from behind, saying, "Spencer Smith! I finally fixed my computer problem!" Spencer stiffens at the contact, and doesn't relax until Brendon pushes into his head, Sorry I'm late.

"Hi, Pete," Brendon adds, smiling because he knows that Spencer has already forgiven him.

Pete smiles back. "You fixed your computer problem?" he asks, looking impressed. He waves in the direction of the bar and says, "Someone get this man a drink!"

When Pete looks to Brendon to see what he wants, Spencer answers for him. "A White Russian, extra creme."

Pete scurries away to get the drink, and Spencer breaks free of Brendon's arms to face him. "You forgot about us," he accuses, "to finish your problem."

"No," Brendon says solemnly. "I totally remembered, I just fell asleep accidentally."

Spencer watches him for a few moments, but then seems to give in. "Gabe's been looking for you all night. I don't know what he's up to, but I think it's probably safer to go to him than to force him to find you."

"Oh," Brendon says, feeling like an idiot. Spencer wasn't pissed because he wanted to see Brendon, he was pissed because he had to put up with Gabe. "I'll just go find him, then."

"Brendon!" Gabe says before Brendon can even spot him. "There you are. Come here, bro, I've got something to show you."

Brendon smiles warily as he approaches the group of people. He recognizes William Beckett as the one mostly wrapped around Gabe, but William doesn't acknowledge him.

"Yo, I need one more!" Gabe shouts in the direction of the bar, and Brendon watches as Pete doubles back to order another drink.

After a few moments of listening in on Gabe's drunken conversation with the people around him, Pete reappears with Brendon's drink, Gabe's drink, and Patrick Stump.

"Patrick!" Brendon says, grateful to see a sane face. "Gabe has something to show me. Should I be scared?" he adds in a whisper.

Patrick smiles, but doesn't give an answer either way. The slightly nervous look on his face speaks volumes, though.

"A toast!" Gabe shouts loud enough to disrupt the entire room. "To Brendon! For, uh..."

"Fixing his computer problem!" Pete supplies.

"Really?" Gabe says, eyes widening. "Sweet, dude! To Brendon, for fixing his computer!"

Close enough, Brendon thinks, watching in amazement as Gabe downs his entire drink in seconds to the cheers of his friends. He takes one cautious sip of his own drink before Gabe is leaning toward him, trying to convince him to dance with him on top of the table.

"Oh, thanks man, but I actually need to go see, uh," he glances around quickly, "Nick! I need to talk to Nick."

Gabe shrugs and pulls William up to dance with him instead, and Brendon doesn't feel bad because William doesn't protest a bit.

He has nothing at all to say to Nick Scimeca, but Pete is following along behind him with Patrick in tow, so Brendon goes to say hello anyway.

"Hey," Nick greets him cursorily before going back to his argument with De'Mar.

"Brendon fixed his computer problem!" Pete announces, as if they hadn't heard it when Gabe screamed it a few minutes ago. Brendon has no idea why Pete feels the need to repeat this to everyone Brendon meets tonight.

"That's great, dude," Nick says without looking at him. "Don't you think that this bar is way too over-priced?" he asks, looking first at Pete, then Brendon, then Patrick.

Brendon has no opinion on the matter, as Pete got his drink for him, so he wanders off while Pete joins into the conversation, talking about the pros and cons of running a bar.

"Jon!" he says when he finally finds one of his guys. "Jon, why is everyone so crazy tonight?" he asks, welcoming the hug that Jon offers.

Jon chuckles as he runs his hand over Brendon's back. "We were the last ones to get here," he says. "I think everyone else got started early."

"Well I'm sticking with you tonight," he vows. "At least while you're still making sense."

Jon gives him his typical smile and says, "I'm glad you showed up, Brendon. Spencer's not the only one who wanted to see you."

Brendon smiles at that, even if Spencer didn't really care about seeing Brendon so much as getting Gabe off of his back. He knows that Jon is sincere, and that makes him happy.

"And congrats on getting your hacking problem fixed," Jon says, and it's the first time Brendon feels good when someone says it.

"Thanks! I was so happy, but then it kinda sucked because you guys weren't there to tell about it."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," Jon says, and Brendon doesn't know whether to be nervous or excited. "Our next stop for delivery has a lot of stuff, so we were thinking of splitting up to make the deliveries. Would you mind coming with us? It'd probably be best for you to go with Ryan. He tends to have trouble with the technology, but don't tell him I said that."

Brendon grins. "That'd be awesome!" he says and means it. He loves being appreciated for his ability, sure, but for them to want him around even for the other mundane jobs, that makes him feel great.

"Yeah? It's not all that exciting, to be honest. But it'd keep you from being bored on the ship all day."

"It'll be great," Brendon insists, already excited for their next stop. "How long is it 'til the next stop?"

Jon looks amused. "Probably 7 or 8 days, depending on how long it takes us to get finished up here. Hey, man," he says as Ryan approaches them. "Brendon just agreed to go with us at our next stop."

Ryan slides up to Jon's side easily and steals a sip of Jon's drink. "That's great," he says, glancing at Brendon. "D'you wanna dance?" he asks Jon, and Brendon feels a sudden twinge of jealousy as he watches Ryan's hand disappear behind Jon's back.

"I don't wanna leave Brendon alone," Jon says, shooting him a wink. "I think Gabe scarred him for life," he fake-whispers in Ryan's ear.

"You wanna dance?" Ryan asks, looking at Brendon.

"Oh, I don't really know how--"

"Great," Ryan asks, ignoring his answer and taking his hand to pull him out to the open area constituting the dance floor.

Brendon is reassured pretty quickly when he discovers that Ryan can't dance either, so he just kind of goes with it. Several of their crew join them on the floor after a few moments, and as they're too drunk to notice if Brendon can't dance, he relaxes quite a bit.

Ryan says something to Brendon as they move, but Brendon can't distinguish the sound over the noise of the music. "What?" he shouts back at Ryan.

Brendon's breath stutters when Ryan presses against him fully and says with his mouth against Brendon's ear, "I said, so does this mean you're going to stop hanging out in front of that computer all the time?"

"What, now that I fixed the hacking problem?"

"Yeah," Ryan says, still moving to the music but staying pressed against Brendon.

Brendon swallows hard and tries not to think about anything but their conversation. "I guess so. I mean, I won't have as much work to do. Just whatever I had before."

Ryan nods and wraps an arm around Brendon as he dances. "Good."

Brendon focuses on the music after that, feeling every inch of Ryan that's pressed against him but trying not to think about it, and finally he's granted a reprieve when William cuts in and asks Brendon to tell him a story.

"Um," Brendon says, wishing he could be back in his room already. "Once upon a time, there was a dragon."

"Ooh," William says, pleased. "Was it a mechanical dragon?"

Brendon frowns, because can't the dragons be real anymore? He remembers the stories his grandmother always told him, and in them all the dragons were real. "Sure," he concedes. "One day the dragon--"

"And is he a good dragon?"

"Yeah, he's the best fucking mechanical dragon ever made," he says, humoring him but already looking for a way out. "And then one day he met a robot human named Bill and fell in love and then they lived happily ever after. Oh look, there's Spencer, I gotta go!"

"That's so sweet!" William shouts even as Brendon runs away from him. He's glad William didn't take offense at being called a robot, though he's not entirely sure he had time to make the connection.

"Spencer!" Brendon yells, trying to get his attention. Spencer doesn't turn around, though, and keeps moving away from the crowd, toward the door. Brendon shouts his name again, but he can instantly tell that it washes into the background noise. Spencer, he finally tries, and sees the instant effect as Spencer stops in his tracks.

Yeah? he sends back, and Brendon can tell that he's not happy.

I've been looking for you. You disappeared on me.

Spencer turns around, taking a second to scan the crowd before he sees Brendon. That's what I've been thinking about you.

Brendon bounds up to him when he realizes they've just been seemingly staring at each other in silence for the last while. "You're the one that told me to go find Gabe. It just got crazy from there."

Spencer laughs, though his heart doesn't seem to be in it. "It's kinda loud in here. I think I just wanna head back to the ship."

"Okay, I'll come with you! Um, I mean, do you mind if I come with you?"

Spencer's bites his bottom lip briefly, glancing around the crowded bar. "No, I don't mind. Let's go."

Brendon bounces a bit on the walk back to the ship. "So how did your deliveries go?" he asks, feeling ridiculous with his small talk but mind racing too fast to come with anything else.

"Same old story," Spencer says, shrugging.

"Oh."

They go on in silence, and Brendon fights not to fill the gap with his usual inane rambling. He can never tell if he's had enough alcohol to make his ramblings even more embarrassing than usual, so he finds it better to keep quiet.

"I'm glad you fixed your hacking problem," Spencer finally says.

"Oh! Yeah, man, I was so close to messaging you, but I decided to--" he pauses, wishing he could take it back. "Um. To tell you in person."

He glances over just in time to see Spencer ducking his head. "So does this mean you're gonna return to the land of the living now? Hang out again?"

Brendon hadn't realized that he'd been so absent over the past five days, but apparently it was enough for the guys to miss him. That thought warms him, though he tries to keep it from showing too much. "Yeah, I'm all yours from now on."

As they approach the ship and Spencer begins to work with the manual lock, Brendon has a sudden thought. "Hey, you know this ship has the capabilities to have a second, computerized lock. I could totally set it up and give us the extra security so that we won't wind up with some homeless guy breaking in again."

Spencer looks surprised for a moment, then a little disgruntled. "That'd be cool," he says, but it falls flat and he won't look at Brendon.

"What?"

"Nothing. That'd be really useful to the ship. I'll let Max know."

"No, c'mon, you're unhappy with me. What'd I do?"

Spencer yanks the door open as he gets the lock free, but Brendon follows in on his heels, not letting up.

"Okay," Spencer finally says, annoyed at Brendon's incessant questions. "I just-- you just said you'd stop spending every waking moment working on the computer, and then you turned around and made plans to do just that."

"Oh," Brendon says, momentarily shocked into silence. He never would've guessed that was what Spencer was mad about. "It's not--uh, I kind of already have the programming to set up that kind of lock?"

Spencer gives him a blank stare, and Brendon notices that his cheeks are still red. "What do you mean?"

"I... kind of wrote the program in my spare time," Brendon admits, feeling like a complete loser.

Spencer snorts, much to Brendon's surprise, before he starts laughing outright. "Brendon, dude. You've really got to start hanging out with us more often. They always said I was bad, but you. You work way too much."

Brendon tentatively smiles, hoping that means he's forgiven. "I don't want to be a bother," he says, remembering his experience at the Academy.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Spencer mumbles, nudging Brendon onto the elevator. "You worry too much. C'mon, you can teach me some more telepathy tricks before Ryan and Jon get back."

Brendon smiles to himself as the elevator slides up to their floor. There's no doubt about it, he has friends now.

******

A few days later, Spencer is sitting on Brendon's bed, facing Brendon with his legs crossed in a basic yoga pose.

"I know it's kind of antiquated," Brendon explains, "but it helps me clear my mind. Maybe it'll work for you, too."

Spencer looks unconvinced. "I feel ridiculous sitting like this."

Brendon rolls his eyes and ignores that negativity, reaching out to steady Spencer's knee into the right place. Spencer glares at him, but doesn't move away or push him away, so Brendon isn't too discouraged.

"Okay," Brendon says, settling. "I'm going to open my mind and focus on a color. If you can figure out how to read my thoughts, then tell me what color it is."

Brendon concentrates on a very particular shade of blue, attempting to shield the rest of his thoughts. If Spencer does figure this out, Brendon doesn't want him to be overwhelmed with all the sudden noise. Not to mention that he's a little afraid of what Spencer would think if he could hear Brendon's every thought.

He focuses intently on the color for a while, then accentuates it by thinking of things that are that color - the daytime sky, some of their cargo boxes, this one really obnoxious suit that he saw a man wearing at their last stop.

Finally, Brendon reaches a point where he's far too bored to concentrate any longer, so he leans forward and places his hand on Spencer's knee. Spencer's eyes open and meet his and - oh, there's something else that color.

"Light blue," Spencer says with a tone of wonder. Brendon closes his mind reflexively at the intrusion as he stares at Spencer in shock, and he sees Spencer flinch just slightly as he does it.

"Sorry," Brendon hurries to say, "it's been a while since anyone got inside my head." He pulls his hand back, unable to take his eyes off Spencer.

"That was really--"

"Weird?"

"Cool," Spencer says, exhaling. "I don't even know how I did it."

Brendon doesn't understand that, but then again, he was hearing thoughts involuntarily when he was ten years old. For him, it was always a matter of stopping rather than starting. "Do you want to try again? I didn't mean to--"

"No," Spencer says instantly. "I think I'm good for today, actually."

Brendon runs a hand through his hair, feeling guilty. "Sorry," he says again, even though he's not sure exactly what he's apologizing for.

"It's fine," Spencer insists. "I just, I think this is giving me a headache. Do you mind stopping for now?"

"No, of course not," Brendon says quickly. "This is completely up to you, anyway." He can't quite shake the feeling that Spencer is annoyed at him. A nervous part of him wonders if Spencer caught any of the associations he made when he realized Spencer's eyes were exactly the shade of blue he was thinking of.

"Thanks," Spencer says, giving him a small smile as he stands. "I'll let you know when I'm ready to work on it again?"

"Sure," Brendon nods eagerly, but as Spencer closes the door that joins their two rooms, he can't help but wish he had some reason to call Spencer back. He sighs and activates his panel, looking for a distraction.

******

Brendon loses his excitement for his first delivery when he discovers that they're returning to Earth to make it. The guys clearly think that he'll be comfortable going out on a planet he's familiar with, but he doesn't know how to tell them in a vague enough manner that this is where he's at the most risk. As they close up the hatch, cargo in tow, he can't help feeling extremely nervous. He's pretty sure the guys can tell, but they haven't said anything. He's not sure if he's glad they're ignoring his anxiety or if he wants them to reassure him.

When the time comes, Jon and Spencer separate what they need for their delivery and say their goodbyes. Brendon attacks Spencer with a hug, as he so often does, but Spencer doesn't protest, just rests a hand low on Brendon's back and wishes him luck. Brendon's still nervous, but the smile that he gets from Spencer helps him settle in his skin a little more.

He goes on to hug Jon, ignoring Ryan's eyeroll and insistence that they all need to get going. While they're hugging, Jon murmurs low in his ear, "Everything's gonna be fine. It might not be easy, but it'll work out in the end." He squeezes Brendon's arm as he pulls back. "Trust me. And try not to think so much."

He seems so sure of himself that it actually works, Brendon's able to take a deep breath and go off with Ryan with some confidence. It doesn't last, though, because minutes later, Ryan breaks the silence to say, "You're really worried about this, aren't you? You do know that we're just glorified UPS guys, right?"

Brendon's confidence deflates right there, but he tries not to let it show. He reminds himself that Ryan doesn't know, can't possibly imagine how bad it might be for Brendon to be recognized or caught using his abilities. He'd be shipped back to the Academy, and who knows what would happen there. And if Ryan didn't know that, then there's no way Jon would understand either, so his advice didn't even apply. "Yeah," he finally says, voice flat. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Hey." Ryan stops, giving him a long look. "C'mere."

Brendon hesitates, but Ryan moves forward and slides a hand around Brendon's elbow to maneuver him into a hug. Brendon melts into the hug a little bit, because even though Ryan tolerates all Brendon's cuddling, he never initiates it. "Seriously," Ryan mumbles, and Brendon tries not to focus on the feeling of Ryan's fingers spread out between his shoulder blades, "we'll be back on the ship before you know it."

Brendon nods, pulling away. What are the odds that he'll be recognized anyway? It's not like he's going to slip up and read any minds. He feels a little more grounded for the rest of the walk, though that may have something to do with Ryan's arm slung around his waist.

When they reach the meeting place, Brendon hits a few buttons on the hover board and looks over the information to make sure they've brought everything. It's all completely unnecessary, as they'd checked it all before they left, but Brendon wants to keep himself busy and Ryan doesn't say anything, so it's no big deal.

After checking over everything twice, he finally has to admit that everything is as it should be. He's just about to go sit down next to Ryan when the device in his pocket vibrates insistently. got everything? ;) -Spencer

Brendon glares at Ryan. "Are you talking about me to Spencer?"

Ryan shrugs. "And Jon. I was bored, and you were apparently busy."

Brendon ignores the comment and pulls out his device. "You wanna play a game while we wait?" Ryan nods, and they play a number game that Brendon had to learn his first year at the Academy. He tries not to beat Ryan too badly, but Ryan's face is still pinched by the time the game ends.

Part Three