[Milex]There is a light that never goes out

Chap 2

Chapter 2

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He's drowning.

For a moment, Alex doesn't understand what is happening. There're people screaming for help and he's stuck in the water and no matter how hard he tries he just can't get to them quickly enough—

"...up, Alex, wake up!"

He jerks awake, out of breath and full of dread. He's slowly catching on the surroundings: sweat-soaked bed sheet under his trembling limbs, warm air blowing out from the purifier, dim light coming from his bed lamp, and someone's fast breaths by his bed.

He comes around, fully awake now. Alex quickly sits up and not surprisingly, finds Miles sitting on the floor, looking up at him with concern. However, there's something else too. In the dullish room, those brown eyes, half-covered by his bangs, are lightened with amazement, as if he just witnessed some sort of miracle. At first Alex's confused, but then he realizes that's because he has lost the control of his magic when he was struggling to wake up. Fuck, how can he be so slow? That's why Miles is on the floor.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Alex hurries to get out of bed. But his jelly-like legs fail to support him properly. He barely avoids falling facedown. Miles lets out a surprised giggle when Alex finally manages to sit next to him, his voice a little scratchy with sleep.

"You just stole me lines." Still, he asks Alex, "You alright?"

"Yeah, it's nothing... just bad dreams...You shouldn't go near me when I'm —"

"Whining like a wounded puppy?" Miles suggests. Alex glares at him, embarrassed but feels less guilty now. Miles holds up his hands. Alex saw those unhealed old cuts on his slender fingers earlier, yet even with only the pathetic lamp in the room, Alex can't miss the burning red marks on Miles' fingertips. Those are definitely new.

"Don't worry, your magic is not really aggressive, it was just there like...protecting you." Miles' expression is almost dreamy. He's impressed for sure. "I've never seen something so powerful. There are many people who knows how to do tricks down there, you know? But this is completely different. I can— for a moment I think I almost saw it on your skin. Like a glowing blanket or something. It's beautiful."

Alex is blushing so badly when Miles finishes. He's thankful that he doesn't have the lights on. People here do not dare to say it out loud, but he knows how they view him. Even inside the BASE, many wizards are afraid of Alex because he is SCARY good. He was only in the training camp for a year when Julian, the then Chief Wizard, decided that Alex could go on missions with his team. He was recruited in the Soc. the day he turned 18 and most of his old teammates treated him like Alex was some dangerous weirdo.

"What's wrong? Is it something I said?" Miles asks all of the sudden. He reads Alex too easy. His face drops, looking unsure and lowers his head. "Sorry I barged into your room. I wasn't thinking..."

"No, no! Don't apologize, it's not you. I was just lost in me thoughts that's it." Alex rubs his eyes. He's not in the least sleepy. "I'm sorry I woke you up. How's your back?"

"Eh...pretty stiff?" Miles says jokingly. He starts to get up and lends Alex his hand in the process. His fingers are surprisingly soft to the touch. "Night, Al."The last syllable of his name is replaced by a yawn.

Miles turns around and closes the door on his way out. Alex watches him leaving. He feels weirdly warm and content, which never happens after a horrible dream. Maybe it's nice to have someone in his flat. Alex reckons. He should consider invite his friends to sleep over sometimes.

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"When I said find him somewhere else to stay, I didn't mean BRING HIM HOME. Jesus, Alex! Are you out of your mind?" Alexa's voice coming from the receiver is harsher than usual. "You didn't even take him to do a risk assessment. Plus, there're plenty of empty rooms in the shelter."