Michael and Luke scurried away from the door. They weren't too quiet, especially in here. The walls echoed every sound and they were covered in armor and weapons and everything else. They jingled towards their rooms.
Though being good friends, almost brothers, the two boys didn't get along too well. They but heads a lot, Michael always having to out-do Luke in every aspect but Luke being the golden child of the Institute.
They had many reasons to be jealous of each other, which came off in an obvious nasty way. Michael was known for his demon hunting skills; it was no shock that he had the arm reflects to kill a demon in just a few stab wounds. It was a skill he had gotten from his father, the best one of them. Though he was made like most shadowhunters (half human, half angel), he still inherited his demon of a father's horrible traits: low patience, easily angered and jealous. Most people at the Institute could see past those, though they were still very present.
Luke, on the other hand, let his jealousy get the best of him. He wasn't afraid to sabotage the competition to get where he wanted. He had paid a witch to enchante one of Michael's daggers with the Mark of Cain. This gave Michael a horrible burn mark up his chest. Luke was actually quite horrible, but his family's past making everyone look past it. Luke Hemmings, great descendant of Linus Hemmings, one of the first Shadowhunters to travel outside of their home country.
They split once they hit their rooms, Luke running into his own and slamming the door shut. He cringed when the sound boomed through the building. Now, it was totally obvious they were over listening into the meeting. Not that he could help it, Luke personally felt he should have a higher position in this Institute. At least, to know what's going on. Sophia and Carter still treated Luke as a child, though he believed that to be unfair. He made his own bed, could fend for himself at most times and was honest. What more did they want from him? They always said learn when not to speak or other bullshit like you still fight with the others here. Luke thought that was unfair; Adults fight all the time.
When Luke finally peaked his head out of his door, two powerful women came walking towards him. His face quickly flushed and he pulled a cute smile, hoping they believed he was just looking out to see who made the noise. It could've been Michael, he isn't perfect either.
"Hemmings! Clifford!" Carter did most of the talking between the two and when she did, even Luke trembled in his boots. Her voice was powerful and strong, they didn't need to great acoustics of the long hallway. Michael just laughed at her anger though, as if he knew something Luke didn't exactly.
"Oh," Luke coughed. "Hey guys! What's with the noise? I was just catching some zzzs." He rubbed his eyes, pretending he had just woken up. A small, cute yawn escaped his lips.
"We warned them..." Carter began pacing the hallway, her hands instinctively going to her pixie short hair. That was something of a curse, her whole upper body resembling one of a faerie. This was punishment seeing as no one took the pixies truly seriously.
"Baby..." Sophia cooed, gently beckoning for each boy to leave their doorway. Unlike Luke, Michael wore nothing but his boxers. He played the sleeping card better than him. "I know, I know."
"You seem stressed." Luke spoke blatantly, earning a smack across the back of his head from Michael. "Fuck off!" He shouted.
"Don't be insensitive!" Michael shouted back just as loud, if anything louder.
"That's rich, coming from a demon!" Luke was now screaming. Michael was quickly taken aback from this, an obvious touchy subject.
Carter and Sophia gasped and were quick to grab both the boys wrist. Though the boys were strong, Carter and Sophia had something about them that made the boys shrink into the size of a five year old. The ladies lead them down the hallway, constantly checking behind them. With luck, no one was there.
They reached an empty room, which seemed to be more of a lounge. Luke knew this room fairly well, the walls were sound proof and nothing in there could be broken.
"Boys..." Sophia being the calmer of the two started. "There's important matter going on, involving us and you guys. Please, be calm and reasonable."
"Tell us what's going on! It's only fair!" Usually when Michael's temper got the best of him, Luke would disagree with him just to cause of scene or to anger him even more. This wasn't one of those cases. He was nosy, and needed to know.
Carter and Sophia shared a worried look, a silent technique for communication between the two. Carter spoke first.
"A father and daughter are here. The father is an obvious warlock. He's got the powers and physical traits," Carter coughed. "but the daughter we're not sure. There's no place that will host for them, and by law we must help all Downworlders as well."
Luke gagged. "I hate Downworlders..." He sighed.
"That's a shame, because tomorrow you both will spend the day with the daughter. She won't open up to the courtroom, but perhaps she might just speak to some young gentlemen."
