xp_logs | Miles & Gabriel, backdated to Wednesday, March 8

Back from his trip overseas, Gabriel catches up with Miles.

The knock on Miles's open door was more of a courtesy, at least as far as Gabriel was concerned. He didn't really see the point of waiting for an answer — he came bearing gifts, after all. And besides, given their powers, it didn't make much sense. Miles generally knew somebody was coming, and Gabriel wasn't much for waiting around.

So he rapped his knuckles a few furious times against the door to Miles's suite, gave the kid three seconds to get his shit together, and then barged in, package in hand. "Yo." He said, practically apparating over to a window. He shook the gift-wrapped package in his hand. "Miss me?"

Miles looked up from his book (or down, technically, as he was seated upside-down on the sofa while reading) and broke out in a big smile. He tossed the book aside and somersaulted off the couch. "¡Gabo! Bienvenido a casa. ¿Qué tal?"

"Oh, you know," Gabriel waved a free hand. "Just getting back into the swing of things. Trying to get back in a normal routine. Normal time, whatever the hell that is. I'm not sure I ever really existed inside time, but my internal clock's completely fucked up now." He shrugged. "Here," he added, tossing the package at Miles. "Catch."

The wrapping paper was torn off almost the second after Miles caught the package. "Aww, you shouldn't have. Which of course means, gimme more. Where were you, anyway? Doing something fun, I hope."

"Asia," Gabriel shrugged. "Went on a cruise, played tourist for a while. A lot of rum-based cocktails and flirting with foreigners." And spy work, of course, which Gabriel opted to omit even though it had been the entire purpose of his trip. It didn't seem worth getting into, and he wasn't even sure where to begin. "Some gambling, too, because I couldn't help myself."

"You win anything? Ooh, cool." Miles held up the small metal spider-shaped figurine that was in the box. It sat in the middle of a web, and what Miles assumed were Chinese characters were scrawled on the creature's back. Some kind of charm, he supposed. Appropriate. "Thanks."

"You are very welcome." Gabriel popped over to the nearest available chair. "I asked three different people what it said, and they all had widely different answers. So it's either a good luck charm, a talisman meant to enhance virility, or a cheap souvenir sold to unsuspecting Western tourists. You decide."

"I'll take door number two. Not that I need it," Miles hastily amended to defend his all-important manliness. "Maybe the extra will rub off on Bobby. He's got no game, he needs mystical ninja help. Want a Coke?" he asked, heading to the kitchenette to get a can for himself.

"Nah, I'm good." He watched as Miles moved. "Speaking of virility and rubbing off, how are things going with 'oh my god Becky'?"

At least Miles' head was buried in the fridge so Gabriel couldn't see him blush. "Fine. You know. Fine. People are already starting to talk about prom even though that's not for, like, another three months. I'm not doing a promposal, though. That stuff is stupid and embarrassing, you know what I mean?"

Gabriel made a vague noise of assent. "Plus it all must seem kind of lame given all the shit you've seen. Like, oh, great, Jimmy Quarterback wore an ape costume and scared the shit out of his girlfriend, then gave her a pizza with a prom invitation in it. How creative." His disdain was clear.

But he shrugged, looking away from Miles and toward a window. "You could do something easy, though. Have Bobby make a rose out of ice or something. Memorable, but low-key and romantic. Not showy."

Good advice worth considering, Miles assessed as he return to the couch and sipped from his soda can. "So maybe don't write it in webs like that spider in the book about the pig? Or take her flying across the Manhattan skyline? I guess I could just, I dunno, ask like a normal human being. Maybe she'll still say yes, if this thing really is good luck."

"You're dating her, you dummy." Gabriel raised an eyebrow and looked back at Miles. "She basically has to say yes, unless she's a heartless monster who wants to choose prom-time as the end of your relationship. And stop pretending you don't know that book is called Charlotte's Web."

"No, but . . . she's going to UCLA next fall and I'm staying here, so." Miles' face fell, but he forced himself to life it back up, not wanting to be so maudlin he would drive away Gabriel. After his absence, they were supposed to be having fun now. "Whatever whatever. Tell me more about your cruise. I've never been on one. Or even a boat. Except for a ferry."

"I hadn't either, and I still kind of think boats are dumb," Gabriel replied. "But it was a harbor cruise, so it wasn't anything too intense. And they had alcohol, so, you know. There's that, to make your mind off being on a floating death trap."

"I feel like, you could just avoid all that by not getting on a boat in the first place, you know?"

"It's aversion therapy, man. I feel like a legit cruise would be quite nice if you could just surrender yourself and relax. People seem to have fun on them, when they're not getting norovirus or whatever." He jumped to his feet and zoomed over to the kitchenette to grab a glass of water. "That's not how I find my zen, but maybe it can be one day."

Miles tapped the top of the can, thinking. "How do you find zen now?" he asked, trying to sound casual and not like he was still off-center himself and looking for any possible way to mentally rebalance himself.

Gabriel considered that as he grabbed a glass. "I dunno," he said before turning the faucet. "The gym, I guess? Yoga's impossible. I've never been a really slow, centered person." Except when he smoked weed, of course, but he wasn't about to suggest that to Miles. "Comes with the powers."

"I was hoping for something a little less . . . exertive," Miles lamented with a frown. "Yoga's a little too easy for me, anyway. It's easy to put my legs behind my head. Not in these jeans, though."

Gabriel choked back a laugh, then decided to just leave that alone. "No, that's fair enough." He turned the water off and re-appeared in his chair. "Some people read. Some people like to sit by pools. I dunno." He took a sip. "Everyone needs to find a way to blow off steam or unwind. Especially you guys - high school blows, powers blow, and now you've got exams and ugh, prom? Too much stress."

And superheroing on top of that. "At least most of that's done in three months. Then vacation. Until college and it all gets worse again. You gonna miss me when I'm gone?" Miles asked, grinning.

"Eh," Gabriel feigned indifference, then grinned back at Miles. "Nah, come on. Columbia's not so far, and I'm in the city all the time. I'll be fine. Or I won't, but then some other new lost soul will come here, and I'll start all over again. Circle of life."

Miles scoffed and considered lobbing his empty can at Gabriel, but thought better of it. "You can't replace me so easy. I'm one of a kind."

Gabriel laughed at that, because he was expected to, and because it was so obviously untrue, yet he had no possible way to explain it without tearing the seams of the universe apart. "You're certainly unique in your own special way, snowflake."