video.

[micycle]

[For a second after the feed fizzles into life, Mike just sits there, blinking at his device in urgent confusion. Normally it would be astonishment, but the kid's been through hell and (part of the way) back, and it shows on his face; this is going to be the coolest once he gets a good night's sleep under his belt, but right now - ]

Um. [He pushes a pair of dust-coated goggles up into his hair, and coughs. The scarf below his chin seems coated with a similar substance.] Is there an Indiana here?

[A brief pause. He knows how dumb that question sounds.]

I really need to call someone.

Comments

[fehus]

Winding up here after a long day fighting monsters? Shit, dude. Rough day.

[somehow, his tone sounds entirely sincere, despite the sarcastic words]

The monsters here are mostly pretty chill and have like, jobs at the local diner or selling shampoo. But if you're hurt or exhausted or anything from it, I can heal you.

[this isn't something he does, really, because it's not a direct correlation -- he gets his healing powers from the sun, and the glowing is incidental -- but he pulls some summer into his hand, to make it shine golden-soft, for a few moments. it fades like a glowstick does, all wiggly lines around the edges]

A nap would work for the second one, though. I think I slept my whole second day here. You in the government assigned housing?

[micycle]

Woah. [His eyes light up almost as bright as Magnus' hands.] Are those your superpowers?

[Then, something clicks in his memory. He completely misses the last question.]

Wait, are you that girl's boyfriend? The one with the green hair?

[fehus]

Not superpowers. Just [divine] powers. I was born with them, had them before here.

[well, those were none of his questions answered; but if this kid's all excited about superpowers, he's probably not grievously injured so, maybe there was an answer there]

[his last question makes an amused look cross Magnus' face. this is the second younger teen he's found Alex got to, first, like a homing pigeon for lonesome kids]

-- And yeah, that's me. Did she tell you cool things about me? Or embarrassing things?

[micycle]

She told me that you guys are demigods.

[He sounds far more enthusiastic about this than he has about anything else in this conversation.]

[fehus]

[welp there's that cat out of the bag]

[Magnus is pretty sure on his first day, he was most enthusiastic about the nap he'd eventually get to have, after dealing with all this bullshit. this is endearing]

Yeah, that's true. We are. Half god, half human, all eternal teenager.

[micycle]

Holy shit.

[He already went through the astonishment with Alex, but there's plenty to spare.]

So are trolls and stuff real too? Have you met Odin?

[fehus]

I've met more giants than trolls, and yeah, we work for Odin, actually.

He's a weird boss. Real charismatic but with a weird sense of humour. And the ravens kind of give you a headache after a while.

[micycle]

Work for him doing what?

[fehus]

Mostly? Cleaning up the messes of the gods. Gathering intelligence. And general Ragnarok prevention.

[micycle]

[His eyes go even wider, if that were possible.]

That's the end of the world, right?

[fehus]

[well... he doesn't seem scared...]

Yep. We're like a special ops, I guess? Me and Alex and the rest of Odin's warriors all fight to keep the world from ending, together. Our next mission is to sail across the Atlantic to go tell an undead army between the land of primordial frost and the land of the giants to fuck off.

[micycle]

That sounds so cool. [A pause.] I mean, I've kind of had enough of apocalypse stuff for awhile, but it's still awesome.

[fehus]

[oh. that's not great. have a commiserating hum]

I feel that. It sucks being stuck here, but it is a break from it, if nothing else. You trying to save the world, too -- ah. What's your name, by the way?

[micycle]

Mike.

[It sounds terribly small and young.]

And yeah. Or, I mean, my friend is. I was helping her.

[fehus]

Nice to meet you, Mike. Your friend sounds pretty brave.

[micycle]

She is. She has superpowers, just like everyone here, only she's always had them.

[fehus]

Nice. Does she kick a lot of apocalypse ass?

[micycle]

She kicks all kinds of ass.

[fehus]

I hope she doesn't kick my ass.

[micycle]

She won't, not unless you're a jerk to me.

[fehus]

How am I doing so far?

[micycle]

You could be worse. [His lips twitch, like he's trying to keep from smiling.] Not that I'm looking to make friends here, or anything.

[fehus]

Hey, that's your business, I'm just trying to avoid an ass-kicking.

[he's not trying to keep from smiling, for once; it's an easy expression on his face]

You want a change of clothes, by the way? Sleeping in that dusty shit's gonna suck.

[micycle]

[A reluctant and disheartened shrug.]

... Okay. [Pause.] So I'm just supposed to go sleep in this house with strangers?

[fehus]

Okay. And not if you don't want to. I didn't, but I also can't freeze or anything out there, so.

[he makes the offer easily]

I know it's not much better, but you're welcome to come crash with me and Alex. We live in a campsite, but we've got some extra sleeping bags and plenty of food, and I keep things warm.