Gabe had first heard about the hiring of a new assistant for Brendon from Boyd- though they despised the man, knowing from stories and impressions that he was unfeeling and wholly money-orientated and barely cared about his youngest son, they were very good at faking otherwise, weasling their way into people’s trust and finding out whatever they wanted to know. It was a talent. Boyd, they knew, adored them; once, the fucker had told them that they were ‘the son he never had’ (Gabe didn’t appreciate the terminology or the sentiment there), and Gabe had just smiled stiffly and lied through their teeth about what Boyd’s approval meant to them. Inside, they were thinking about possibly putting this guy in a chokehold, forcing him to pay attention to Brendon for just one second and have him apologise for the careless treatment and the lack of parental guidance and affection that played a large role in making Brendon into what he was today- misguided, reckless, yearning for approval, emotionally guarded, unmotivated in business like his older siblings. His parents deflected any blame, and though obviously his acting out wasn’t entirely their fault and was sometimes a product of a combination of obvious adhd and constant boredom, they did pass on some of their worst traits to their son, and had seemingly used up all ‘good parent’ energy on their four older children.

Boyd, for example, was a hypocrite, and Gabe knew it from their father’s stories. Their father had been born rich, it was [i]his[/i] father that earned their fortune, and was one of Boyd’s first friends of that calibre and lifestyle. Gabe had a plethora of stories under their belt from their father about Boyd, how he had been an unmotivated party animal once, almost a mirror image of Brendon. It was one of the many reasons Gabe despised him so much- but in the end, he was a good source of information when Brendon was too stubborn to talk, and that’s how they found out about Ryan, so it worked out in the end. They still wanted to throttle him, but Gabe was tactical, and weighing the options, keeping him unscathed worked more in their favour. Anyway, Boyd had mentioned it in passing, and Gabe’s interest was immediately
piqued. They knew that Brendon had hired one previous PA, and that he fired them because of... reasons Gabe didn’t care to disclose to Brendon’s father. That’s why they were concerned when Brendon dropped the bombshell on them that he had slept with his new PA, [i]already,[/i] and that this PA had heavily criticised him afterwards and was about as patronising as his parents (‘you’re emotionally unavailable, you’re selfish, you’re unsafe and you reckless, et cetera), Gabe knew they had to interfere before Brendon got himself hurt again.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem. Brendon had meaningless flings with peopl all the time, but he had a rule- nobody more than once. And Brendon had broken this rule with nary a backwards glance for this guy (who was, in Gabe’s definitely not humble opinion, nothing special) very quickly. In the past when Brendon had done that, it ended with heartache, and the walls that Brendon kept up grew stronger to the point they were practically impenetrable. Every time he risked it and exposed some of himself for real, he was stabbed and left in the dust in broad daylight, those that took advantage of him driving a knife square into whatever vulnerability that he trusted them enough to expose. Gabe wasn’t an idiot- they cared about Brendon, they didn’t want him to get hurt again by someone who would take advantage, and they had done this before- casually threaten those that would or had hurt Brendon. It was routine by now- and Brendon was wise of it, often growing irritated by Gabe’s interference; that was why they had to technically break in to Brendon’s penthouse and leave him none the wiser. So far, the plan had proceeded as expected.

[i]Hi.[/i] Gabe raised an eyebrow when Ryan finally walked in, and took another judgemental sip from their martini. For a moment they considered offering him a drink, because the guy looked like he wanted to call the cops or call Brendon or both, but decided against it, not wanting to irritate Brendon by further depleting his closely monitored alcohol supply. They moved on by inviting- no, instructing- Ryan into the penthouse, barely a hand gesture indicating for him to shut the door behind him. Gabe commanded that kind of authority. [i]Right, Yeah, it’s Ryan.[/i] Gabe [i]knew[/i] that, and they wanted to make Ryan feel uncomfortable, like they knew everything about him already. And they pretty much did. [b]“[i]Fantastico.[/i] Sit down?”[/b] They indicated towards a plush seat opposite, momentarily setting their martini on the glass coffee table. [i]Um- like what? Did Brendon ask you to talk to me?[/i] Shaking their head, they threw a leg over the other, knee pointed outward and ankle resting on their other knee, leaning backwards and spreading their arms out over the back of the sofa, looking like a true sycophant. 

[b]”No, he doesn’t know I’m talking to you. Actually, he most likely wouldn’t want me to. I have a history of, like, scaring away his potential hookups.”[/b] Gabe dropped that casually, but made no elaboration that they knew about it already happening between Brendon and Ryan. [i]And does he know you're here? I don't think... I mean, it's nice to meet you and all, I've heard a lot of great things, but I'm not sure if you should... be here. Without him. Breaking stuff.[/i] Gabe just raises their eyebrows in disdain- was Ryan not aware of the nature of their and Brendon’s relationship? As in, they kind of semi-lived at eachother’s places half the time, and showing up completely unannounced was normal? Apparently not. They just flashed him a grin in response, leaving it enigmatic. [b]”Breaking his instruments- a lesser evil than, maybe, his heart.”[/b] Their eyes were more piercing now, and they leaned forwards, dropping their arms from the back of the couch. 

[b]”I’ll cut to the chase, Ryan. I know you and Brendon are, whatever, sleeping together- Notice the present tense. That doesn’t usually happen with Brendon.”[/b] Gabe paused, not long enough to let Ryan feel good about himself. [b]”So you must be doing something right to cancel out how much of a self-righteous asshole you’ve apparently been. I want to know what that is.”[/b] No further explanation, yet. They just watched him, gauging his reaction.