collaborative_daredevil | General roleplays

This is not great. I feel like I could do a lot better if I wasn't so ill, but I have this ridiculous cold right now that's making everything difficult. I may well rewrite it when I'm feeling better."

“So… where is this place you mentioned. It’s not too far is it?”

Matt walks a few steps ahead of him with an enthusiastic bounce in his step that Foggy has only seen a few times before. His cane swings a little faster than usual to compensate for his slightly quicker pace, and Foggy finds himself jogging a few steps to keep up.

“Hey, wait up,” he says.

Matt slows a little, turns slightly in Foggy’s direction and smiles. “Sorry,” he says.

“S’okay. Not like I don’t need the exercise.”

Matt’s smile morphs into a smirk. “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything when you took that sixth slice of pizza, but now you mention it..”

Foggy glowers at him. “You know, I almost wish you were telling the truth about the identical twin thing,” he says, “Because the glare I’m aiming in your direction right now defies description. If you were the other twin, you’d be able to see it.”

Matt slows further, almost to a stop, and Foggy’s heart sinks. He hadn’t been thinking. He hadn’t meant to bring it up.

“Sorry,” Matt says, before Foggy can say the same. Foggy can’t work out whether it is for the insult, or the lie abut his twin. He decides not to ask.

They exit the campus and out onto the street beyond. Out of the environment he knows well, Foggy can’t help but notice Matt’s speed doesn’t get back up again. He turns left and continues along the street. Foggy steps in front of him and nudges his elbow against Matt’s arm. Matt accepts the offer. “We need to get a cab,” he says.

“Really? It’s that far? Where are we going?”

Matt smiles. “Hell’s Kitchen,” he says.

***

Even before he reaches the door to their dorm room, Matt can tell that Foggy isn’t home. Disappointed, he opens the door, leans his cane against the wall and shrugs off his jacket. It isn’t particularly late, but Foggy would normally be here by now. His absence implies that he is still angry.

Matt opens his laptop bag, pulls out his computer and sets it up on the desk, relieved to find his Braille display right where he left it. He opens his book at the page he had marked earlier, opens the word document with his notes, and began to read the next chapter.

He can’t concentrate. His mind keeps taking him back to the library and his conversation with Mike, and he wants to speak to him again. After so long apart, he had almost forgotten what it was like to have his brother around. A taste of it left him craving more.

He wonders where Mike is. He wonders where Foggy is. A worrying thought begins to occur to him.

Aww.. I hope you feel better soon. :(

I found the approximate rates and how long their trip takes: https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Columbia-University/Hell-s-Kitchen

Taxi ride is 5 minutes. Walking & the subway together 20 minutes.

After looking at this map, it looks like I might have taken this route without even knowing it! lol. Well, by a combination of walking and subway. (I had a prof. cert exam and my closest testing location was on Columbia University's campus a few years ago. My SO and I made a day trip out of it. After my exam we went to Times Square for dinner and shopping. Then, later, we went to Grand Central Station to take the train back home. It was a really good day.)

Oh, cool, thanks. I did a route plan on my phone, but it only suggested car or walking, so I just assumed the subway wouldn't help. I guess it just doesn't suggest it. Maybe they would go that way instead then.

That sounds nice. I've never been to New York (or anywhere in America for that matter) it's definitely on my list of places to go. I like cities, most of my friends would rather go to a beach, which is nice, but they're all pretty much the same. Different cities have different characters.

I only suspected that there was a subway route because I'd been in the area a few years ago. *shrugs*

It was. It's funny - you want to to here, my SO and I have been planning for years to go out in your general direction. lol. Ireland - we keep talking about it, but now that I'm back in school it needs to wait. (We joke about my SO exploring his Irish roots - he's actually Indian. LOL. He's always wanted to go. Me, I have a lot of Irish on both sides - some of it came with the potato famine - Boston Irish. My Nana and Grandpa would go a lot, and I have some her stuff they brought back - glassware, knickknacks and stuff. I even hang her St. Bridget's cross. One of these days...)

NYC - it's very liberating not to need a car. Hopefully we'll find time to go again sometime this year. Lots of stuff to do. :)

I've never been to Ireland either, which is silly really considering how close it is. I'll probably get there one day, but whenever I go away I always end up going to mainland Europe. I have a friend from Dublin, though she lives in Dubai now, who always told me how ridiculous it is that I've never been!

It's cool you know about your family history like that. I know very little about mine. I know there's Irish there somewhere because our last name is O'Brien, I think someone came over during the potato famine too, and settled in the East End of London. That's where my grandad was from. But beyond that I have no info.

Sorry to be later than usual replying. It's been a crazy busy day. I'm just heading out to the cinema now to see Civil War, but I'll look at your other posts on the way or when I get home :)

I know some stuff, but I still have a ton of questions I wish I'd thought to ask when my grandparents were alive. I'm pretty sure my last name is Irish. (My Dad's family has been here a long, long time. Like 20 generations +. It's my mom's that more recent.) We have an odd spelling. But, there's a town in Ireland that one of my Dad's cousins goes and takes pictures on benches and by signs, etc. with the town name that - well, is funny if you knew our last name. I totally want to do it. LOL. (The spelling is so uncommon, though, I don't want to post it on an open message board, though.)

That's cool that you've been to Europe. :) The furthest I've traveled is California. LOL. I guess, it's far, mileage-wise, but it's still the US. Well, I have been to Canada. *shrugs*

I can't wait to see Civil War! Have fun!!

“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.

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

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-04 19:22 (UTC) - Expand

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

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-04 19:30 (UTC) - Expand

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

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

stardreamed - 2016-05-04 22:09 (UTC) - Expand

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.)

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

prepare4trouble - 2016-05-04 18:43 (UTC) - Expand

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.