log: Matt and Miles (backdated to July 18)

[x-daredevil.livejournal.com]

After everything in Patent Pending, Matt takes Miles out for a chat.



Matt wasn't moving quite as swiftly as he usually did, not wanting to aggravate his second set of stitches. Clint (and Jean) would be pissed and really, it would be incredibly stupid of him. And irresponsible. Knocking on Miles' door, Matt waited for him to open up. He could hear the teen in the rooms beyond.

Miles was moving unusually slow, too. Prowler had done a number on him and it was taking a while to recover. Thankfully Bobby wasn't around right now so he didn't have to pretend nothing was wrong. The knock on the door startled him out of his reverie, and he grunted as he sat up straighter on the couch and lowered the TV's volume. "It's open!" he called.

Entering Matt stuck his head in, "You wanna get out of here?" he suggested. "Go get something to eat?" He wanted to talk to Miles, but not here. Too many roommates, chances of people overhearing, too much other stuff. And if they went somewhere, they didn't have to pretend and hide so much.

The intent was clear from his tone. Miles nodded and slowly peeled himself off the couch. "Still another month until I'm 16, so can't drive. Can you get an Uber or something?"

"I already called," Matt had decided to go into town regardless of Miles, so it wasn't a waste. "They should be here in about 5 minutes or so." That was hopefully enough time for Miles to get his shoes on and them to head to the front gate.

It didn't take much for the kid. Miles slipped on his still-tied sneakers and grabbed his wallet and phone from his desk, and then led Matt down to the front entrance. The car was there by the time they got to the gate. "Where we going?"

"Don't care," Matt replied, the paused, "Not the mall," he finally added. Too many people, too much headache. "Ice cream?" That sounded like a good start.

It only took the driver a few minutes to get to Main Street where Matt and Miles found a Coldstone, surprisingly empty on a hot summer day. "How you feeling? Stitches still good?" Miles asked as the two sat down in the corner with their treats.

"Clint's aren't as nice as Jean's, but they're holding," he agreed, getting chocolate ice cream with brownie bits and cherries mixed in, "How about you? I know you're sore."

"It's no biggie. I didn't get knifed or stunned, and that sound thing didn't affect me like it did you. I was kinda thinking . . . maybe he was going easy on me?" Miles poked angrily at his ice cream with his spoon. "Stupid, right?"

"Not really," Matt took a bite of his own. Delicious. He tried not to think about all the dairies and milk and components, "He's your uncle. That means something, even if you have different morals and points of view," he paused for a moment, "How're you handling it?"

"My morals don't involve me breaking the law." Miles paused as he swallowed a spoonful. "Okay, actually, I do that all the time but I'm not stealing and the only people I beat up are other criminals. So. But, I don't know. I don't know where he is now, and it's not like we could just sit down and talk even if I did. And obviously I can't tell my dad that his little brother is a bad-guy super-thief."

Really, vigilantes didn't have much credibility when it came to judging other people's morals. Then again, that was part of how it worked, taking the law into your own hands. "If you did know where he was, would you turn him in?" Matt asked. He didn't doubt that Miles would go to him and at least try.

"I think that that would cause hell of more problems than it'd solve, don't you?" Miles asked. "He knows who I am, and let's be real, he probably also knows who you are. But he's my uncle. I think . . . I think there's more options. I was too angry last time. Maybe now if I can talk to him again, it'll be different."

Matt nodded, agreeing. Just because it would didn't mean Miles would actually do that when and if the time ever came. Family was sometimes stronger than anything else and caused lots of people to make pretty dumb decisions. He didn't get the impression that Miles was lying to himself or to Matt though. "You think you can persuade him to stop?" Matt asked, "Because anything less won't make a difference." He wanted the Prowler behind bars, but that was because he was a burglar and a thief.

"I don't know. Maybe I should talk to my dad. You know, discreetly. Uncle Aaron kept mentioning him. So either he was just trying to get me madder," which sure as hell had worked, "Or there's actually something real there that'll tell me more about all this."

"You sure you want to go down that rabbit hole?" Matt asked, "You might find out more than you wanted."

Miles swirled his spoon in his ice cream, considering Matt's caution. "And then if I don't find out now, what's the odds that it'll explode in my face later? I watch enough TV to know this is how stuff happens. I don't want to be another story on TV Tropes, you know?"

"There's a TV trope for both scenarios," Matt pointed out wryly, his ice cream almost gone, "I just want to make sure you think everything through, especially potential consequences. You have to live with them no matter what and I've yet to find the 'do-over' button in life."

"I don't have the brains right now to think about anything. That's why I'm just watching cartoons and eating ice cream and not making any major decisions. What do you think I should do?"

Matt shrugged, "As you put it, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. I think you're smart not to make any rash decisions," unfortunately, decisions would have to be made eventually. "For me...I think I'd want to know the truth, good or bad. If you want to discuss it or anything though, you know how to find me."

"Thanks." Miles took their empty cups to the trash and absently wiped his hands on his pants. "You wanna go back or?"

Matt sat back on his chair, head tipped backwards so his sunglasses were almost falling off. "Or." He answered after a long moment and then got up, reaching for his cane propped on the side of the table. "I'm not ready to go back and face....whatever. There. You wanna go to the park? Something?"

"I feel you. Sure, let's go."