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xp_logsMiles finds Warren after his night out.
The sun did not rise in the morning in Limbo. There did not even seem to be a sun, or a moon or stars. The sky had been dark and slowly brightened without warning. The light even shined into the cave where the party had retired for the night. It was almost peaceful, until they remembered they were in a cave in hell and monsters were out to get them.
Whatever time it was, it was surely much earlier than Miles had any right to be awake. He would have tried to go back to sleep, but a familiar figure was silhouetted at the mouth of the cave. "Warren!" All vestiges of slumber were shed as Miles hopped to his feet and went to greet the older man. "Where the hell were you?"
Warren blinked slowly, and furrowed his brow, as if he was trying to determine the answer to that question himself. "Here," he responded finally, crossing his arms across his chest. "I didn't go anywhere. Walked around the caves. I mean, I've only been gone a few minutes, I don't know why you sound so surprised. I just didn't want to hear any sob stories. God. Can people get a check on their emotions? Honestly."
"A few minutes?" Miles frowned. "You've been gone all night. Everyone was supposed to stay close. What if another of those zombie things found you and no one else was around?"
That caught Warren's attention. "What?" He looked out into the landscape, but it all looked the same as it did earlier. "That's so strange ... it only felt like fifteen minutes, tops. I found a bedroom back there, but it smelled so I wasn't going to stay." Warren continued to describe the little alcove, making sure to talk about the boring details like the table, the bed with furs, the drawings on the wall, but making sure not to talk about Felicia. Warren still wasn't sure how to process that. "Anyways, it bored me and I came back. It's very dark in there."
Miles listened to everything Warren said, and though it didn't ping his spider-sense any more than it was already ringing at Limbo in general, it did not set easy with him. "Either you hallucinated or we've been sleeping the front yard of someone who lives here," he concluded. "Did you see anyone? Maybe a crazy evil guy who tortures little girls?" He glanced over his shoulder to Illyana for half a second.
"Nothing more than the usual bombshell blonde of my dreams." This way, he could say he told the truth. "Any changes here? Can we go home yet?" Warren glanced at Miles. "And are you okay? I guess I should have started with that. How are you holding up? You seem to be handling this remarkably well...does that mean we're in for a full on Gomer Pyle meltdown later on?"
". . . I don't know what that is. And I'm fine, don't worry about me." Stuffing his hands into his pockets and shuffling his feet did not make that pronouncement particularly convincing. "Just gotta keep us all together 'til we get to that place Illyana needs so she can get us out. That's still the only way, as far as we know."
Miles really was so young. "I am stopping myself from being negative because I don't want you to pee your pants, but honestly -- if we can't go back, then what?"
The younger man's face fell for a second before he steeled his resolve and looked up to meet Warren's gaze. "Then we find another way. Illyana got us here, she can get us out. She said she's done it before. And besides, people back home must be looking for us, too. There's like six wizards there."
Warren instantly felt bad for his lack of tact, and almost apologized, but then Miles would kill him because clearly he was a fake Warren. "The fact that you said that sentence shows how strange our lives are. I mean, on top of the whole literal Hell dimension." Warren paused for a moment. "You know, I'm not very surprised I ended up in Hell. I just thought there'd be more parties. Not that this is going to change anything, mind you."
"I mean, this is technically Limbo, not actual Hell, so it's not the realm of eternal torment," Miles offered oh so helpfully. The distinction helped keep him from losing it, though, so he clung to that lifeline. "But wherever we are, we've gotta work as a group. We can't all be at each other's throats, you know? This isn't easy for anyone."
"I don't like anyone but you," Warren said, rolling his eyes like it was an obvious statement. "They're all whiny and annoying and have life problems that they feel they need to share." He completely ignored the fact that he was, in fact, one of those whiners. "If we could do the rest of this in silence, that'd be amazing."
Miles forced down his growing frustration in favor of the tact Warren reviled. "Think of this as a team-building exercise," he suggested. "It's horrible, no one wants to be here, but if you don't do it, you get fired. But with actual fire."
Warren had to give a snort at that, but he did resist the urge to give Miles a head-rub. The kid was also so positive, so happy and gung ho for anything, and this is what his life was. "What, no joke about how a burnt Warren would smell like chicken?"
"I'm sure you'll get enough jokes in bad taste from Gabo. Also, no talk about food right now because I'm soooo hungry and let's be real, you're the first to go when we have to resort to cannibalism."
The sun did not rise in the morning in Limbo. There did not even seem to be a sun, or a moon or stars. The sky had been dark and slowly brightened without warning. The light even shined into the cave where the party had retired for the night. It was almost peaceful, until they remembered they were in a cave in hell and monsters were out to get them.
Whatever time it was, it was surely much earlier than Miles had any right to be awake. He would have tried to go back to sleep, but a familiar figure was silhouetted at the mouth of the cave. "Warren!" All vestiges of slumber were shed as Miles hopped to his feet and went to greet the older man. "Where the hell were you?"
Warren blinked slowly, and furrowed his brow, as if he was trying to determine the answer to that question himself. "Here," he responded finally, crossing his arms across his chest. "I didn't go anywhere. Walked around the caves. I mean, I've only been gone a few minutes, I don't know why you sound so surprised. I just didn't want to hear any sob stories. God. Can people get a check on their emotions? Honestly."
"A few minutes?" Miles frowned. "You've been gone all night. Everyone was supposed to stay close. What if another of those zombie things found you and no one else was around?"
That caught Warren's attention. "What?" He looked out into the landscape, but it all looked the same as it did earlier. "That's so strange ... it only felt like fifteen minutes, tops. I found a bedroom back there, but it smelled so I wasn't going to stay." Warren continued to describe the little alcove, making sure to talk about the boring details like the table, the bed with furs, the drawings on the wall, but making sure not to talk about Felicia. Warren still wasn't sure how to process that. "Anyways, it bored me and I came back. It's very dark in there."
Miles listened to everything Warren said, and though it didn't ping his spider-sense any more than it was already ringing at Limbo in general, it did not set easy with him. "Either you hallucinated or we've been sleeping the front yard of someone who lives here," he concluded. "Did you see anyone? Maybe a crazy evil guy who tortures little girls?" He glanced over his shoulder to Illyana for half a second.
"Nothing more than the usual bombshell blonde of my dreams." This way, he could say he told the truth. "Any changes here? Can we go home yet?" Warren glanced at Miles. "And are you okay? I guess I should have started with that. How are you holding up? You seem to be handling this remarkably well...does that mean we're in for a full on Gomer Pyle meltdown later on?"
". . . I don't know what that is. And I'm fine, don't worry about me." Stuffing his hands into his pockets and shuffling his feet did not make that pronouncement particularly convincing. "Just gotta keep us all together 'til we get to that place Illyana needs so she can get us out. That's still the only way, as far as we know."
Miles really was so young. "I am stopping myself from being negative because I don't want you to pee your pants, but honestly -- if we can't go back, then what?"
The younger man's face fell for a second before he steeled his resolve and looked up to meet Warren's gaze. "Then we find another way. Illyana got us here, she can get us out. She said she's done it before. And besides, people back home must be looking for us, too. There's like six wizards there."
Warren instantly felt bad for his lack of tact, and almost apologized, but then Miles would kill him because clearly he was a fake Warren. "The fact that you said that sentence shows how strange our lives are. I mean, on top of the whole literal Hell dimension." Warren paused for a moment. "You know, I'm not very surprised I ended up in Hell. I just thought there'd be more parties. Not that this is going to change anything, mind you."
"I mean, this is technically Limbo, not actual Hell, so it's not the realm of eternal torment," Miles offered oh so helpfully. The distinction helped keep him from losing it, though, so he clung to that lifeline. "But wherever we are, we've gotta work as a group. We can't all be at each other's throats, you know? This isn't easy for anyone."
"I don't like anyone but you," Warren said, rolling his eyes like it was an obvious statement. "They're all whiny and annoying and have life problems that they feel they need to share." He completely ignored the fact that he was, in fact, one of those whiners. "If we could do the rest of this in silence, that'd be amazing."
Miles forced down his growing frustration in favor of the tact Warren reviled. "Think of this as a team-building exercise," he suggested. "It's horrible, no one wants to be here, but if you don't do it, you get fired. But with actual fire."
Warren had to give a snort at that, but he did resist the urge to give Miles a head-rub. The kid was also so positive, so happy and gung ho for anything, and this is what his life was. "What, no joke about how a burnt Warren would smell like chicken?"
"I'm sure you'll get enough jokes in bad taste from Gabo. Also, no talk about food right now because I'm soooo hungry and let's be real, you're the first to go when we have to resort to cannibalism."
