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]

[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.

[micycle]

[He tries to look cool and calm about it, but he can't help but ask - ] Is is safe?

[fehus]

[he remembers what it's like; when that was the only question that mattered, on a daily basis]

With me and Alex? Yeah. There's no strangers or supervillains or government presence. It's just us and the squirrels and the bullfrogs, and anyone we invite to hang out and eat taquitos. That's why we like it out there.

[micycle]

[His eyes narrow a little as he mulls it over. Then, ] Okay. Just for one night.

[fehus]

[shrugs, nodding] Cool. Any food requests?

[he feels a lot less casual about this transaction than he's portraying -- he actually feels kind of relieved, that he knows this kid won't spend his first day in worse uncertain anxiety than he had to]

[micycle]

[Mike shakes his head, also trying to look casual. He doesn't want to impose.]

[fehus]

I'm not a picky eater either. Which city you at? Me and Alex are outside of De Chima, at this big old farm property called the Meadows. We can pick you up at the porter.

[micycle]

The Florida one. Heropa.

[He hasn't been paying a huge amount of attention.]

[fehus]

Okay. We'll see you soon. Heropa's one of the safer imPort cities, you should be totally fine, but if you wanna wait somewhere that's not a magic sci-fi airport, there's an Aquarium that's really chill near the beach. It's always open and warm and safe. You know how to use your phone's GPS?

[micycle]

My phone's what?

[You're talking to a boy who was five years away from the first commercial handheld GPS.]

There's a navigation system in this thing?!

[fehus]

Yes? Um. It's called NoodleMaps.

Crazy question I maybe should have asked earlier -- what year are you from?

[micycle]

1984. What year are you from?

[fehus]

2011. And it's a very retro 2017 here.