collaborative_daredevil | General roleplays

“A cab?” Foggy scoffs. “We’re not that far. Let’s take the subway. Save the cab fare for the ride back, if we need it.” He smiles. “Besides, someone thinks I could use the exercise…”

Matt laughs. “You’re not going to let go of that, are you?”

Foggy shakes his head. “I shook my head at you, buddy.” He turns to look at Matt. “Hey, are you sure they won’t card us?”

Matt nods. “Pretty sure.” He pauses for a moment and Foggy stops. “I was going to save these for later, but…” Matt reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. “Hopefully, these are what I think they are. It’s not like I can see them to verify…” Matt pulls out two plastic cards and hands them to Foggy.

Foggy examines them. They look like state issued IDs with their names and faces. On the back, there are braille label stickers, like the ones Matt uses for his things in the dorm. “Where’d you get these? They’re pretty convincing.”

Matt smiles and says with a slight New York accent, “I know a guy.” He shrugs. Foggy hands him back his fake ID and pockets his own.

“Wow.” Foggy’s brow furrows and he takes a step towards Matt. “Are you sure you’re not your ‘identical’ twin?”

Matt hangs his head. “What I did - it really got to you, didn’t it?” He takes in a breath and lets it out. “I’m really sorry, Foggy, I didn’t mean it to go that far. I don’t know what got into me.”

“It’s just so unlike you. Or, what I thought I knew of you. Funny. I’ve only known you since September, but it feels like forever.”

“Same here.”

“We good?”

“Let’s just forget about it for now.” Foggy nudges Matt’s arm and Matt takes it. “It’s going to take me a while to let go of it, but let’s just have fun tonight, OK?”

Matt grins.

***

Matt gets up from his desk and takes a bottled water and an orange from the mini-fridge, then sits back down on the bed. No… Mike wouldn’t have…. Would he?

Matt speaks to an empty room. “It’s pretty absurd, right?”

Of all things, even with all he can hear, it’s too quiet. Matt decides that it’s about time he just called Foggy to make sure Mike hadn’t gotten to him first.

He gets up from the bed to check his laptop bag for his cellular phone. It’s not there.

Mike stole his phone? Yeah, I guess he'd have to, wouldn't want Matt calling him and giving the game away!

Question, are we going to have Matt find them this time, or will that be later? I'm just thinking he would have no idea where to look and no way of tracking them down, so he could maybe follow them next time they go?

I think I'm going to cut to them arriving at the bar, as I have zero knowledge of NY subway system, is that cool?

Works for me. My SO is much more familiar with the subway than I am. (He went to school in NYC.) I usually just follow him.

Yeah, can't have that happening! Matt calling Foggy while he's out with... Matt?? LOL.

I don't think Matt would know where they are, either. That, and, Mike took his wallet and his phone. So... Even if he did know about Josie's, he'd have to walk, which would take a long, long time. LOL. Following next time sounds good. :)

I was thinking... Maybe it would have been funnier if Matt had his phone and called... But, Foggy just missed it, or had the ringer on mute. So, he checks it later, but assumes it's Matt messing with him from the men's room or something. LOL. Ah well.

Lol, that might have been funny, but I don't know if Foggy would just let that go, he'd probably get pissed off with 'Matt' about it if he thought he was messing with him. Well, unless he noticed earlier and asked Mike about it and he said it must have been a pocket dial. As long as Matt didn't leave him a voicemail, it'd be fine.

I bet Matt memorizes people's numbers, he'd be able to borrow someone else's phone to call Foggy, or use a payphone if he can find one and has some change in his pocket. Or he could even call Mike on his own number and yell at him while Mike pretends to Foggy that it's a sales call or something :-D

Oops, iPad logged me out.

Come to think of it, maybe their dorm has a landline? Mwahahaha... A little harder to explain as a pocket dial. Of course, Mike could have thought to hide that phone, too. Phone probably couldn't have gotten far, though.

(This is the past, right? What year do we want this to be? '08? '07? Just realized, they're probably not carrying smartphones.)

Not sure what year it would be, this is their first year of undergrad, right? Not sure how old they're meant to be in the present day, but if they started college in 2007, I think that would make them younger than they look. Not sure...

If it was 2007 or 2008 it could be smartphones, iPhone came out in 2007, but it's unlikely because it was expensive.

Maybe best steer clear of actually describing the phone, just to be safe!

True, but I think we already have Matt going here straight from high school? But, yeah, they'd be done in their mid-twenties instead of late 20's. Wouldn't be that much younger. We can just leave it lose and not name the year.

I was trying to work it out earlier, but I was at work and I didn't have time!

How long does a degree take at at American college? Here it's usually three years, but mine was four, and in Scotland it's four, so I know there's variation between places... Also how long does it take to complete law school? Google says three years, so assuming it, lets say 6-7 years total. Would they be interning for a year? So eight years ago, that would be 2007, but if Matt was 18 in 2007, that would make him 26 when the series started...

It's possible, it's younger than I thought he was, but not by much.

You're right though, probably bets not to mention the year if possible, someone will only say it's wrong. We were trying to figure this out to sort out what kind of phones they would have, though. I've googled what phones were popular in 2007, and come up with this
http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2007/05/13/phones-review-ultimate-top-10-mobiles-2007/
It was around the time that Smartphones were creeping into the market, it was the year the iPhone came out (someone I worked with got one and I was so amazed). I think I got one the following year, upgrading from my Nokia. I think most people didn't have them yet though

Most of them still have actual buttons for the numbers, and were still using the letters on the number buttons to spell out text messages. Being students, I don't know whether either of them would have been able to afford something top of the range, probably not. And I'm sure real buttons rather than an on-screen keyboard would have been easier for Matt, probably still would be. In fact, he probably has more trouble with phones now than he used to back then. I mean, you can talk to them (within reason) now, but you used to be able to set it up speed dial so if you held a certain number down it would call the person you had assigned to that key. Plus, just dialing the phone if you knew the number but didn't have it in your phone book or had borrowed someone else's phone would be easier with keys you can feel. The no. 5 used to have a raised bump on it to help people with low/no vision know what key they were pressing. Texting probably wasn't a thing he did often because through he'd be able to write them easily enough if he knew which letters were on which keys, he wouldn't be able to read the responses. Now, it'll be the other way around, because he'll have to rely on the voice recognition to write them without a tactile keyboard, but the phone will be able to read them out to him.

I've just realized how long I've been rambling about this, sorry! Point is, Foggy might have had a smart phone if he could afford it, though it would probably be a pretty different design from the one he has now. I bet Matt has an older one with a more classic small screen and number keys underneath design.

Uh... that was totally long. And I still think better not to mention the actual design of the phone. But keys you can feel, definitely. :)

Just had a thought. Maybe Matt could go to his neighbor's room to borrow their phone to call Foggy, and the guy hands him an iPhone. It's the first time he's encountered one, and he probably doesn't keep up to date with the latest phones so he doesn't recognize it. To him, it just feels like a smooth piece of glass with no buttons on either side except the one round home button at the bottom, so he has no idea how to use it. They didn't have the voice recognition or anything back then either, so the guy would just have to dial for him. Matt could be thinking that if this is where technology's heading, he's going to encounter problems.

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-05 01:43 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-05 12:28 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-06 00:54 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-06 01:09 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-06 15:40 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-07 16:57 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-07 23:11 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-11 02:59 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-06 15:33 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-06 18:15 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-06 18:36 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-07 01:56 (UTC) - Expand

Yeah, it would be 7 years total. A bachelor's degree is 4 years, and law school is 3. (Well, if you do everything traditionally.) Oh, the internship may be a summer gig, or done concurrently during the regular semester. It wouldn't make them go to school an extra year.

Love the research. :) The phone choices sound good. (Yeah, I didn't upgrade until way, way, late. & here I'm supposed to be a tech person now, lol. But, I remember from my E-Commerce class all the talk about Web 2.0 and such starting around then. Fits.) Speaking of school... I'm off there for now. Last night of class before the final. Yay. :)

You're right... I totally see Matt as the type to memorize people's numbers.

That'd be an interesting 'sales' call. LOL.

I wonder how pissed Foggy's going to be when, after all the apologizing, Matt's still doing the twin thing... LOL Would he ever start to take it as a joke? Like start to think it's this thing that they're doing?

Maybe eventually, but I think it'd take a bit of a gap between him doing it for all the anger to dissipate, and maybe for Foggy to initiate it...

True... I was thinking eventually, maybe Foggy starts doing it right back to him... Though, he just narrates the idea of the clothing changes since Matt can't see his wardrobe, anyway. lol. And Matt just gets fed up. (Dunno, my brain is a weird place sometimes.)

You mean like Foggy teasing him about it? Because that could be cool, Matt would get annoyed about it, because he knows theres no way Foggy will believe him unless he sees him and Mike together, and Mike will probably find it hilarious when he's being Matt, so Foggy will get two different reactions depending which 'Matt' he's around. Then he could do it one day and Matt be grumpy about it and Foggy be "What's with you, you found it funny last night."

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

stardreamed - 2016-05-05 01:36 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Where Matt has a real identical twin named Mike who is sighted and is Daredevil

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-05 12:13 (UTC) - Expand

He checks again, just to be certain, slipping his fingers into every section and pocket of the bag where he may have dropped the phone accidentally. It is definitely not there. He already knows it isn’t in his pocket, but he checks anyway, running his hands first over his back pockets, then his front, before checking his jacket. Nothing.

An uneasy feeling begins to stir in his stomach. His wallet should have been in his bag too, and he doesn’t remember touching it when he checked for the phone.

He wouldn’t. He thinks again.

Who is he trying to kid? Of course he would.

He sits back down at his desk, drums his fingers on the desk and and tries not to care. There is nothing he can do, Mike has seen to that; he can’t call Foggy and he doesn't know where Mike might have taken him. All he can do is wait for him to return. He doesn’t even actually know that he is with Mike. He is sure that he is, but he doesn’t know it.

No. He can’t do it. he can’t just sit there writing an essay while his brother is messing around with his life. With his friend.

He gets to his feet again. He has Foggy’s number memorized, and somewhere in the building he will be able find someone willing to lend him a phone. He has to warn Foggy. If he is with Mike, getting a call from Matt will prove once and for all that he isn’t delusional. It might be the only chance he gets.

***

“Wow,” Foggy says, coming to a complete stop outside the bar. “You sure this is the right place?”

Matt shrugs. “Does it say Josie’s in the window?”

“Yeah…”

“Then it’s the right place.”

Foggy looks the bar up and down. Beyond the lit up sign in the window, it appears dimly lit. The door is a sturdy metal affair, designed to take a battering. Pieces of a broken glass bottle lay on the ground outside.

“I’m not sure about this, Matt. It looks kind of…” he breaks off, floundering for words. “Okay, don’t think I’m some kind of snob, because I’m really not, but you know how some places just give off this really bad vibe?”

Matt laughs, apparently unconcerned, and clasps him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine, c’mon.”

Matt releases his grip on Foggy’s elbow and steps around to the front. He grabs Foggy by the sleeve of his jacket and tugs him in the direction of the door. Foggy sighs. “Fine, but I want it on the record that you’re only okay with this because you don't know what it looks like.”

“Noted,” Matt smiles.

Foggy slips a hand into his back pocket and touches his wallet defensively as he opens the door. He offers Matt his elbow again and they walk inside.

The woman behind the bar lifts her head as Matt and Foggy enter. There’s a hint of recognition on her face, Foggy notes. Maybe this place isn’t so bad, after all. The bartender seems to know Matt. Foggy then looks briefly to his left and to his right and notices how rough around the edges the other patrons look. The uneasy feeling returns to the pit of his stomach.

They walk up to the bar and each take a stool. The bartender approaches and Foggy smiles, but her eyes are on Matt.

“You’re…” She looks at Matt like he’s a puzzle she’s trying to figure out.

Matt smiles and holds out his hand in her direction. “Matt Murdock. Are you…?” The woman hesitates before taking his hand.

“I’m Josie.” She smirks. “The last time I saw you was with your Dad. Another Murdock, eh? Your grandmother always used to say be careful of those Murdock boys… They got the devil in ‘em.”

Matt laughs. “She wasn’t wrong.” Matt gestures towards Foggy. “Josie, I’d like you to meet my best friend, Foggy Nelson.” Josie nods at Foggy, but doesn’t offer her hand and neither does Foggy.

Josie turns and pours two beers. “These two are on the house.” She smiles. “Enjoy them – this is the only time it’s ever going to happen.”

***

Matt, the real Matt, knocks on door of room 314. He hears his neighbor, Jimmy call out, “Just a sec, man!” before setting down his marijuana cigarette and getting up from his desk chair and putting on a pair of pants. Matt waits outside, fiddling with his cane, trying to ignore the smell.

The door opens and the stench of the weed gets stronger. “Hey… Matt, right?”

“Yeah. Hey, Jimmy. Can I borrow your phone?”

“Sure, come on in. Love your threads, by the way.”

Matt grins self-consciously and reaches for the door frame with his fingers as he passes through. "Yeah? Mind telling me what color they are?"

***

Matt takes a long drink and grins. “I got one: A blind man walks into a bar." He pauses for dramatic effect while Foggy takes another swig of his beer. "And a table... And a chair...”

Foggy chokes on his beer as he tries not to laugh. “Not fair, buddy.” He winces and coughs. “That almost came out my nose.”

“Oh yeah? Ready for another?” Matt doesn’t wait for Foggy’s response. “How do you spot the blind guy in a nudist colony?”

Foggy shakes his head and wipes his eye. “Um, yeah. I just shook my head. No clue.”

“It’s not hard.”

“What? Oh.” Foggy snickers, looking mildly horrified as it becomes near hysterical laughter. “Oh, my God…”

Matt chuckles. “Hey, at least I didn’t wait until you’d already taken another swig.”

“You’re just so proud of yourself, aren’t you, Murdock?” Matt continues to chuckle as Foggy reaches over and playfully punches Matt’s shoulder. “I’m so going to hell, aren’t I?”

As the door closes behind him, giving the fumes nowhere to escape, the smell of the joint intensifies. Matt breathes in cautiously. It’s not so bad, really. The earthy scent of the marijuana covers the harsher smell of the tobacco.

Jimmy picks up the joint and takes a long drag on it. He holds his breath a little longer than is natural, then breathes out slowly. “You want?” he asks.

The movement of the air and smoke in the room indicate that he is offering the joint to Matt. He shakes his head. “Just your phone,” he says. “If you don’t mind.”

“Sure, sure…” Jimmy rummages around his desk until he retrieves the phone and hands it over. “You’re not calling long distance, are you? My folks pay the bill and if it looks like I’ve been calling Peru again, I think they will actually murder me. Or make me pay it myself. I’m not sure which would be worse.”

“I’m not calling Peru,” Matt assures him as he takes the offered phone. Only, is it a phone? He turns the object over in his hands, frowning as he runs his fingers over the smooth surface. He is holding a piece of glass, smooth to the touch on both sides, rounded edges, a round button on one side, a few rectangular ones at the sides. Nothing that he recognized as a keypad. He turns the thing in his hands again. “Jimmy, what is this?” he asked.

Jimmy hesitates and Matt can hear his confusion in his suddenly elevated heartbeat. “Phone?” he says. “You said you wanted… you did say phone, didn't you?”

Matt sighs. “Yes,” he says, “but…”

“Oh, good. For a minute there I thought I was the one getting confused. Okay, no long distance though.”

Matt holds the phone up for Jimmy to see. “Where are the buttons?”

“It’s an iPhone,” his neighbor explains, as though that explains everything. “You know, brand new, state of the art.” Matt could hear the proud grin in his voice. “Touchscreen.” He hears an electronic click coming from the device. “You just touch the little green phone down here, and…oh.” Jimmy’s voice tails off as he realizes the problem.

The silence stretches on a little longer than is comfortable. Matt deliberately allows it to hang in the air between them. It isn’t Jimmy’s fault he can’t use the phone, but it’s frustrating and unexpected, and he feels the need to take it out on someone.

“Want me to dial it for you?” Jimmy suggests.

“Yeah,” Matt says, and Jimmy relaxes noticeably. “That’d be good, thanks.”

***

Matt listens to the ringing at the other end of the line, counting each one subconsciously until the voicemail kicks in. If he had his own phone, or was able to use this one, he would hang up call back. On the touchscreen, he has no idea how to do either. He shakes his head and hands the phone back to Jimmy. “Can you hang up for me?” he says. He hates that he has to ask.

His acute hearing picks up Foggy’s voicemail message being cut short before it starts to record.

“No answer?” Jimmy asks.

Matt shakes his head. Foggy has a bad habit of switching his phone to silent for class, and forgetting to put the sound back on. Without Matt there to hear the sound of the vibrations and warn him that he was missing a call, he probably had no chance of hearing it if he was anywhere but the library.

“Thanks anyway,” Matt tells him, and turns to leave. Before he reaches the door, he stops and turns back. “Actually, would you mind making one more call for me?”

“Sure, long as…”

“It isn’t long distance,” Matt assures him.

“What’s the number?”  Matt listens again the the electronic clicking sound of the phone unlocking, then tells Jimmy his own number, the number of the phone currently in Mike’s possession.

Jimmy hands him the smooth piece of glass just as the phone at the other end of the call begins to ring.

Mike takes another long sip of his beer and listens as Foggy rambles on about the hot girl in his Punjabi class. “Wait! Foggy, you did not just say ‘Friend Zone’.”

Foggy shrugs. “I just shrugged. I dunno, it seems like it’s the proper terminology. I finally get up the guts to ask her out and… She just wants to be friends.”

“I don’t like that word. It irks me.” Mike shakes his head. “Besides, it’s not what you want, right?”

Foggy sighs and looks down at his beer before taking a long gulp. “We can’t all be wounded-handsome-ducks like you, Matt. Some of us get turned down by pretty women.”

“Oh, I get turned down sometimes.” Mike shrugs. “That, and I’m sure you’ve noticed they never seem to last... I mean, yeah, some of it’s me breaking things off, or it’s mutual, but you know I’ve been dumped, too.” Mike smiles in Foggy’s general direction. “Anyway, man, just say ‘no’ to the friend zone, ok? It’s not what you want, so… It’s also not fair to her.” He takes another sip. “Time to move on.”

Foggy sighs. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

Matt’s phone begins to ring in his pocket. Damn. He forgot to turn it off. He decides to ignore it.

“Matt, you can get that.” Mike shrugs. “Hey, it might be that girl from last weekend.”

Damn. Mike smiles and answers the phone. “Hello?”

“Mike, what’s going on? Is Foggy with you?” Of course. It’s Matt, frantic and wondering why the hell he’s hijacking his best friend for the evening.

“Hey, Angela, how are you?”

“Mike… Come on, this isn’t funny.”

“Yeah, same as usual. Out with Foggy right now.” Foggy grins, watching him. He gives him the thumbs up, even though he knows Matt wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Mike, don’t do this. It’s ok if you like hanging out with my friends. I honestly don’t mind, so long as you do it, as you, not me. Otherwise, when the truth comes out, Foggy may have a hard time forgiving you... I know you like him. It’s ok to be friends with him.” Matt sucks in a deep breath. “You want to stop by later? Maybe tomorrow morning? We could get coffee?”

Mike sits back in his chair and thinks for a moment. What’s really stopping him? He could probably be there before Foggy even gets up. He needs to drop off Matt’s wallet and phone at the very least. “Ok, yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll see you later.” He ends the call and shoves the phone back in his pocket.

“You couldn’t see it, buddy, but I totally gave you the thumbs up.” Mike grins. “She is so hot. How do you do that? You’re like, a sexual Rain Man or something.”

Mike chuckles. “You did not just call me a sexual Rain Man, Foggy….!”

Two images of the world spin before Foggy’s eyes as he follows Matt into the taxi. He closes one eye to counter at least some of the effects and either the lack of depth perception, the alcohol in his system or some combination of the two sends him stumbling over the step up into the car. His arms don’t respond to his brain’s command to stop him in time, and he goes plunging chin first into Matt’s knee.

Matt grabs him before he lands, one hand on each shoulder, supporting him and pushing him back into an upright position.

“Wha..?” Foggy frowns and tries to make sense of what has just happened. “How did you..?”

“What?” Matt asks, sounding confused.

Foggy shakes his head. The inside of the taxi tips to the left and he decides that the drink must have made him misinterpret what was happening. He closes his eye again - he doesn’t remember opening it - and sits back in his seat. The world is still spinning.

The taxi driver eyes him suspiciously in the rearview mirror. “Is he gonna be okay?” he asks, directing the question to Matt.

Two identical Matts grin as they slowly rotate next to him. Two Matt’s, or Matt and his twin? A giggle forces its way up through Foggy’s throat. “Hey Mike,” he mutters. “Hey Matt and Mike.”

For a moment, he thinks he sees panic flicker across the two Matts’ faces, but it is gone before he has the chance to look closer. He closes one eye again, and Mike disappears, leaving only Matt.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Matt assures the driver.

He shrugs, looking unconvinced. “Fifty bucks cleanup fee if he pukes,” he says.

Foggy forces himself to sit up a little straighter in his seat. He tugs his shirt down and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m fine,” he repeats, really hoping it is true. He doesn’t have the money if he’s wrong.

***

Foggy adds his half of the taxi fare to Matt’s, and Matt hands it to the driver as Foggy climbs carefully out and takes a deep breath of cool air. As the taxi drives away, Foggy throws an arm around Matt’s shoulders and leans on him heavily.

“What are you doing?” Matt asks him.

“Sorry, buddy, no way I’m making it up those stairs without help, and as the more sober one, that falls to you. I’ll trade you though, you keep me from falling over, I’ll keep you from walking into a wall, deal?”

Matt frowns then laughs as he nods his agreement. Foggy starts to walk in the direction of the dorm, leaning on Matt, partly for support and partly because it just feels good to be close to his friend.

They make it up the stairs and part of the way to the dorm room before Matt stops and steps away.

“Hey,” Foggy complains.

“Sorry,” Matt tells him. “I just remembered I leant Dave something, I need to go get it back before he goes to bed. Will you be okay getting back to the room on your own?”

Foggy leans back against the wall and thinks about it. He shrugs. “Probably, but I can’t guarantee I won’t be a sleeping trip hazard in the middle of the floor when you get back,” he says.

Matt grins. “Then I’ll be sure to use my cane.”

He turns and walks in the other direction. Foggy watches him go, then staggers back to the room alone.

As he opens the door and switches on the light, he is baffled to find Matt already there, asleep in bed. “That was quick,” he says, before laying down on the bed fully clothed and falling instantly to sleep.

The morning sun shines through the open window, the thin fabric of the curtains doing little to protect Foggy’s eyes from the glare. He had not pulled the shade when he came in last night, and Matt would not have bothered before he went to bed, as it’s all the same to him. He sat up in bed and rubbed the dried crud from his eyes and blinked a bit. On the bedside table he found a tall glass of water, two Tylenol Rapid-Release capsules and a banana.

Foggy took the medicine and drank half the glass of water before laying back down again with his back to the window. He’d had the oddest dream. There were two of them. Two Matts. One spoke with a slight New York accent. They had a brief whispered argument by the door before ducking out this morning.

In the dream, the Matt who had been sleeping in the other bed had been insisting that the other Matt was going to have to help him fix the mess he’d made out of his clothes. He also wanted to know what the hell he was wearing this morning and how bad the damage was.

The mess-making Matt grinned before reaching out and roughing up roomie-Matt’s hair. “Don’t worry, you’re still handsome as me, Matty.” Roomie-Matt swats his hand away and insists that mess-making Matt is buying breakfast. “Sure, Matty, I’ll just wait until after I pay to give you back your wallet…” And with that, they wandered away.

Weird. He had also dreamed that there had been two Matts at the bar last night. Preposterous. Foggy pulls the covers back up over his head and drifts back to sleep.

***

Mike decided to take Matt to the local waffle house by St. Agnes. Their father used to bring them there after church sometimes. He offered to read the menu to Matt, but his brother waved him off with a smile.

“This is nice, Mike.”

His brother has been grinning from ear-to-ear, for all he knows that Matty has some good reasons to be angry with him. Mike feels the guilt hit him hard, like a knife twisting in his gut.

“Yeah. It’s funny. I can picture Dad here. Like he’s just gone to the can or went up to the counter to talk to the waitress or something.” He sighs. “Sorry.”

“What, no… It’s the same way for me. I like it.”

“He’d be proud of you. At least one of his sons learned to use his head and not his fists.”

“Mike… He’d be proud of you, too. Honestly, of the two of us, you probably take after him more.”

Mike looks down at his hands and grips his coffee cup. “Maybe.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You deserve happiness, Mike. Really.”

“Who says I’m not happy?” Mike asks.

“You do,” Matt tells him. “Every time you put on a pair of sunglasses and steal one of my canes. People who are happy with their lives don’t waste them pretending to be someone else.”

Mike shrugs. “Yeah, well, as I remember it, the whole switching places thing was your idea in the first place when we were kids.”

“My point exactly.”

Shit. Mike stares at him brother. He is leaning forward slightly, hands resting on the table in front of him, one to either side of his coffee. His glasses are flecked with dust and fingerprints. Steam rises from the mug and mists them slightly. If Matt has noticed, it clearly doesn’t bother him. “Matt, I…” Mike sighs. “I never…”

“It’s fine,” Matt tells him quickly. “That was then. We were eleven, we'd lost dad, neither or us was particularly happy.”

“Can’t argue with that. It was a pretty shitty time.” Mike reaches across the table and carefully takes the sunglasses from his brother’s face with practiced care. Matt, having sensed the move, barely reacts. Mike rubs one lens and then the other with the bottom of his shirt before sliding them back across the table.

Matt accepts them and slips them back on with a smile so small that Mike wouldn’t have recognized it it he didn’t know him so well. “Thanks,” he says.

“This is what happens when I’m not around for a while, your whole concept of personal grooming goes out the window. I mean, have you seen what you’re wearing this morning?”

“Funny,” Matt deadpans.

The waitress brings over two plates and places them on the table the wrong way around without saying a word. She retreats to the counter to resume the uninteresting conversation about the night before, that she was having with her friend.

Matt switches the plates around before he picks up his fork. He pauses, fork half way to the plate and smiles.

"What?" Mike asks.

Matt shakes his head. "Nothing. It's just I wouldn't have been able to do that with anyone else. I'd have had to wait for Foggy to notice we had the wrong food, or take a bite of it first. It's nice not to have to pretend again."

Mike reaches over and steals the strawberry from his brother's plate, pops it in his mouth and talks around it as he answers. "All that time you've spent trying to get me to fess up to your friend, maybe you should stop keeping secrets too."

"That's different," Matt tells him. "People are supposed to have brothers, they're not supposed to be able to hear a conversation from a block away."

"Hard to argue with that logic. Besides, you can't get the guy to believe you have a twin, what are the chances of him believing in what you can do?" Mike fours a generous helping of maple syrup onto his waffles and digs in. He deliberately doesn't think about the fact that he is keeping that same secret from his own brother. There is no possibility of convincing himself that Matt wouldn't believe it. The danger with that particular confession is what he might do if he found out.

“True. That, and my abilities aren’t a secret I want out there.” Matt takes a bite of his waffles. “I mean, you seen in the news how people have been reacting lately about mutants… Even though I’m not one, I don’t think most people would react positively about my senses. They’d probably be creeped out and fear for their privacy.”

“Yeah. You’re right. It’s not fair, but I get it.” Mike takes a sip of his orange juice. This is a variation of a conversation they’ve had many times over the years. “Do you think Foggy would keep your secret if he did find out?”

Matt drums the fingers of his left hand on the table. “I think so. We’ve only known each other six months, but he’s probably the closest friend I’ve had that isn’t you.” Matt continues to drum his fingers. “I am a little worried that he’d think I’m a freak… I worry about that with everyone… but, I hope he’d stand by me, anyway… No way to know for sure until it happens.”

“I think Foggy might have seen us leaving this morning.”

“No, he was asleep. I could tell. Foggy is normally a bit of a sleep walker and a sleep talker. And, I doubt the alcohol helped. I think his sleep cycle was messed up. Were his eyes open?”

“Yeah… I think.”

“He wasn’t actually awake.” Matt takes a long sip of his coffee. “I still want you to come clean with him, Mike.”

Mike sighs. “I don’t want to.”

“I know you like hanging out with Foggy. Wouldn’t it be even better if you let him actually get to know you?”

“No, Matt. It wouldn’t. He wouldn’t like me. Not the real me, anyway. I’m too messed up to be friends with normal people.”

“That’s not true.”

“Matty. Think about it. Most of the time, I’m training for or actually fighting Stick’s war. I don’t have a real job, I’m not planning to go to college. I also think it’s fun to parkour over rooftops and beat up muggers and drug dealers. And, when I have down time, I like to read or pretend to be you. Does that sound like someone Foggy would want to hang around with?”

Matt takes in a deep breath and lets it out. “So basically, you want to borrow my life so you can hang out with normal people.” Mike shrugs and takes another bite of his waffles. “Why not just have a normal life yourself?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Yes, Mike, you can. What kind of hold does Stick have over you?! I know you “borrowed” a bunch of Foggy’s textbooks and have had study sessions with him. You obviously want to go school. So… just come to school.”

“Matty… I just can’t.”

Matt leans forward in his seat. “Why not, Mike?”

“You know he’d never let me finish a semester. He’d drag me back into it. And then my transcript would get messed up and I’d have loans I’d never be able to repay…”

“So, what you’re saying is… You won’t stop. You’re not happy, but you won’t stop and do what you really want to do.”

Edited (spacing) 2016-05-23 02:26 (UTC)

“Basically, yeah. But it’s not that I won’t do it. I can’t. You don’t get it, Matt. There’s stuff going on the you can’t even begin to…” He breaks off and sighs, running a hand through his hair. “He doesn’t need me, Matt. He needs soldiers, and it’s too late to start training someone from scratch.” He stares intently at his brother, trying to gauge his reaction.

Matt gives no outward indication that he understands. His heart beat remains steady at around 60 beats a minute, not even a minuscule variation. He doesn’t get it.

“Matt, what I’m saying is that if he feels like he can’t use me any more, he’ll recruit someone he’s worked with before. I don't know about you, but I can’t think of too many people who fit that description.”

Matt doesn’t reply, but his heart rate spikes to over 100, his respiration follows, but still, except for a slight tightening of his fingers’ grip on the fork clutched in his hand, he gives no visible sign of his understanding.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Matt,” Mike tells him. “You know I’ve always been able to read you, it’s part of the reason I’m so good at being you.”

Matt puts his fork down onto his half finished plate of waffles and holds out his hand to Mike. “Wallet,” he says. “Phone. Now.” His hand almost trembles with rage.

That isn’t the reaction that Mike had been expecting. Frowning, he reaches into his pockets and places both items on the table. Matt sweeps a hand across the table to locate them and snatches them both up in seconds.

“Hey,” Mike tells him, “calm down, okay? People are staring.” They aren’t, actually, and there is a good chance Matt will know that from their reactions. Or he would, if he weren’t so focussed on his own anger.

“I don’t care. I’ve been telling you since we were ten years old, I don’t need anyone else to fight my battles for me. I’m not some scared little blind kid who needs his brother to protect him. I never was, and you never, never understood that, did you? You think you’ve got to waste your life to protect me? Go right ahead, but don’t expect me to thank you for it, okay?”

“Matt, come on. That’s not…”

Matt takes a note from his wallet, slaps it down onto the table and extends his cane before walking out as quickly as he can realistically get away with without drawing the wrong kind of attention.

For a moment, Mike is too stunned to react. He turns to watch Matt go, his cane almost jabbing to the left and then to the right, the usual sweeping arc he uses ordinarily almost completely absent. Without even thinking about what he is doing, Mike analyzes the move and files it away for future use.

That done, he fishes into his pocket and brings out a fistful of change mixed in with a check from the night before, piles it on the table to make up the difference in the cost with a little extra for the tip, then chases out of the door after his brother.