General roleplays

[vvioletplottin]

Mod post

This post is for people who want to play more general roleplays, I'm leaving this unstructured, to play please comment with who you play (even if you think it should be obvious from your icon/username) and what sort of interaction you're looking for.

If someone wants more structure/to take over handling general roleplays please ask and I'll be happy to add at least one mod for this.

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

[(Anonymous)]

Matt relaxes too. He puts his glasses back on and idly toys with the color tag on his sweatshirt.

“Evil twin,” Foggy mutters to himself, laughing quietly. “Seriously, you almost had me going there for a minute.”

Matt chews his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I wasn’t joking,” he said. “And he’s honestly not evil, Foggy, he’s a good guy. He just has a pretty unique sense of humor.”

“Yeah, he’s not the only one. I’m rolling my eyes, by the way. It was funny, but you’ll ruin the joke if you try to drag it out any further.”

“I’m not…” Matt sighs and shakes his head. “His name is Mike. Michael. He’s older, by about five minutes, and I never mentioned him before because it just never came up.” Foggy doesn't ask about his family. Matt understands why; he knows what happened to his father, he knows about the orphanage, it makes sense that he would leave it at that, not try to drag up painful memories. He couldn’t have known that some happy ones might come up with them.

Foggy’s heart rate fluctuates, and Matt can’t tell whether he is angry because he thinks he is still being lied to, or whether his confidence of that fact is beginning to waver.

“Fine,” Foggy says. “Twin brother, lets go with that. I suppose it’s too much to hope you have a photo of the two of you together, so how about you give him a call, gt him to come over and say hi.”

“I…” Matt’s phone feels heavy in his pocket. He taps it with his fingers, then shakes his head. “I don’t have a number for him. I don’t even know if he has a phone. I didn’t even know he was back in town until ten minutes ago.”

Foggy snorts, unimpressed. “Seeing is believing, Matt. Well, probably not so much for you, but…” Foggy breaks off and takes a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is, if this guy exists, why are you never in the same room at the same time?”

“Okay,” Matt tells him. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

He takes off the mustard colored sweatshirt and removes the color tag with a shape tug that breaks the cotton that Mike had used to place it there. He places it on the end of the bed for re-labeling, or possibly throwing away later, then takes another one from his drawer. It should be red. “What color is this one?” he holds it up.

“Grey,” Foggy tells him.

Matt grimaces. He removes that tag too. “Do me a favor?” he asks. “If you notice me trying to leave the room in anything clothes you haven’t seen before, or anything stupid, just let me know? I get that you think I’m making this up, but please?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Matt hears his anger softening just a little bit. Now all he needs to do is track down his brother.

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

[(Anonymous)]

The next morning, Mike’s legs straddle a tree branch about twenty feet up in the air, outside Matt and Foggy’s dorm building. From here he has a good view of both the window to room 312 and the front stoop. He’s wearing a baseball cap a pair of shades and was careful to pull up the hood of his hoodie to conceal his face.

He reaches out with his senses and tunes in to an argument already in progress.

“Can you please stop with the imaginary twin act?”

“Fog. Please. I just need to know if this is red.”

“What? Who cares? You’re just going to take it off again within the next few hours…?” Mike hears Foggy take in a deep breath and let it out. “Is this, like, a coping mechanism? Were you doing this when you were at St. Agnes?”

“What??!”

“It’s OK, bud. Really. I think I’m starting to get it, a little.”

Mike bites his lip and struggles not to let out a loud, guffawing laugh. He knows that if he’s not careful, Matty will hear him.

“No, Fog, you’re really not.”

“It’s ok, Matt. If you want to have an imaginary older brother, I guess you can have an imaginary older brother… I just really don’t want to end up doing twice the laundry load this weekend.”

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

[(Anonymous)]

The dorm room door slams loudly, and Mike hears bed springs creak as Foggy, left behind in the room, sits down heavily.

He closes his eyes, shutting out the visual input in order to better concentrate on what is really happening around him, but no matter how carefully he listens, he can't make out Foggy's heartbeat over the sound of the campus around him. Too bad, it would have completed the picture a little.

He alters his position slightly in the tree, leaning back against a large branch behind him and turning his head to look down at the ground, just in time to see Matt pass almost directly under the tree. He holds his cane between fingers that Mike is sure will be almost white with tension, jabbing it from left to right rather than his usual sweeping arc, leaving unsuspecting students to either dive out of the way or, in that strange way that most people had around Matt, apologize to him for getting hit, before limping away.

Matt walks on in the direction of the library, apparently unconcerned about the trail of bruised ankles he is leaving behind him. Some of the accidental hits actually look deliberate.

He watches his brother disappear into the crowds of students, and sighs, resting against the branch and allowing his legs to swing slightly in the air above campus. It might be time to have a chat with his brother though, calm him down a little and make sure that not too much of that famous temper is pointed in his direction.

The room mate though, there is all kinds of fun still to be had there, he's not going to give up that little project just yet...

He rests the back of his head on his hands and allows his eyes to close again. Not listening this time, just relaxing, waiting. He knows from experience that there is no point saying anything to Matt when he's that angry.

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

[(Anonymous)]

Mike waits a bit longer until he hears Foggy gathering his things to leave the dorm. He hears Foggy mutter, “Why, buddy? I just want to help. I think you’re my best friend, ever, most of the time. And, here, we really only met just met a few weeks ago…” Foggy sighs.

He’s telling the truth… Mike realizes and feels a little bad about terrorizing him, but not enough to stop. After Foggy shuts the front door, Mike watches him walk down the stairs and past his position under the tree.

After Foggy disappears from his wide range of senses. Mike climbs down a bit from the tree and drops and rolls. The area of campus surrounding him was nearly empty, but he knows he had been seen by a startled few. Thankfully, his hood was up the entire time. He walks over to the bushes and retrieves his ‘school’ bag, which is identical to Matt’s. He walks up the front stoop, unlocks the door and enters the dorms.

Once inside Matt and Foggy’s room, Mike opens his bag and deposits more of his dirty laundry into Matt’s hamper. He then looks at Foggy’s remaining textbooks and decides to take a slim volume by Anthony Weston entitled, “A Rulebook for Arguments.” It could come in handy later. And, if he gets bored with it, he could always return it. Mike throws it into his book bag and decides to head over to the library for a few hours to study.

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

[prepare4trouble]

Y'know, Matt's at the library. Or heading that way, at least. Do you think they should bump into each other?

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

[stardreamed]

Oh crap. My bad. (I really shouldn't have skipped on the coffee this morning...) Maybe they do??? Hmm... I'm hoping that Mike and Foggy get out to Josie's... I'd also like to have things set up for their epic fight - like part of why Matt runs after Mike (and he's supposed to be playing real-world blind... How is he running??) is because he's desperate to talk to him. Maybe they play a game of cat and mouse in the libaray, but Mike gets away clean?

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

[stardreamed]

Ooh... Maybe he's there to talk to Foggy, to invite him to Josie's, but Matt's there on another floor and he has to be super careful about it? Like, wait for Matt to put in one of his earbuds and seem to get into whatever he's reading or something? Mike could be a bit cryptic in apology - in away that makes Foggy worry about his mental stability - like Mike's referring to Matt as almost a separate personality with a mind of it's own... because Matt does... Whatever I say later, we'll still go out tonight and have a good time, alright, Fog? and he holds his fist out for a bump... Foggy gulps, but misses this Matt, so goes along with it?? LOL.

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

[prepare4trouble]

Here, I like the idea of him talking to Foggy right under Matt’s nose and him not noticing. Although, what if Matt did know, and he didn’t do anything about it because he knew he would never get there in time. Like, Matt’s on a much higher floor, Mike and Foggy are on the first floor and even if he runs there’s no way he’ll make it. And he can’t run anyway, not without arousing suspicion.

Actually, there’s nor reason why Mike and Matt can't meet up too, and have a whispered (because library) argument. Matt can vent a bit and try to get Mike to come prove to Foggy that he exists (and That Matt's not crazy!) and Mike's just having too much fun. He'd rather watch Matt squirm for a bit longer. He would know Matt wold be able to hear the conversation, and that just makes it better. (Plus, he doesn't have a lot of friends, he doesn't see why Matt can't share Foggy with him once in a while…)


"I like him. I mean, he's not perfect, but at least he doesn't do that weird thing people do around you."

"What weird thing?"

"You know. Where people go to ridiculous lengths to avoid saying 'see' or 'look' whenever they're talking to you, like they think you're going to burst into tears or say something really sarcastic if they do. I mean, it's hilarious to watch them going around in circles coming up with different words, but I really don't miss it, you know?”

He does. Matt grits his teeth and wonders about all the other times his brother must have impersonated him to make that particular observation. “Let me introduce you,” he suggests. “We could all hang out together. You know, like normal people.”

Mike snorts as he shakes his head. “Normal,” he mutters derisively.

Matt sighs. “Just stop it. He thinks I’m delusional or something.”

Mike leans in closer, so close that Matt can feel the movement of the air from his breath hitting the side of his face. “Easy to fix,” he says, “Just stop talking about me. You’re the one that brought it up, just say you’re sorry for trying to trick the poor guy, don’t do it again. I’ll make it easy for you if you want, I’ll tell him you’re sorry. I’m borrowing this, I’ll bring it back before you’re done here.”

Before Matt could react, Mike snatched Matt's cane, that had lay resting against the edge of the desk. He put on his own sunglasses, that Matt had a sneaking suspicion would be identical to his own, and quickly disappeared across the room in the direction of the elevator.

“Mike!” Matt hissed after him, not daring to raise his voice too much. “Mike, please!” but his brother was gone, leaving Matt effectively trapped in his seat by the absence of his cane. He slumped in his chair and followed Mike’s progress through the building with his ears.



Um, that was supposed to be much more concise. But you get the gist?

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

[stardreamed]

LOL Yes. That works. I wonder if upon seeing his brother for the first time in months he wants to hug him or punch him... :)

So, Matt is biding his time for people to leave so he can get up... Or maybe he just tells someone that someone took his cane, and asks if they'll lead him upstairs? And meanwhile Mike is aware of all this and navigates Foggy away from where they're going... lol (And Matt has no idea Mike has the super-sense to know where Matt is..)

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

[prepare4trouble]

He'll probably torn between both options, but considering what Mike's been up to, the urge to punch him would be more likely to win!

Heh, yeah, if Matt had asked someone to guide him, and then suddenly changes his mind about where he wants to go, that could be pretty funny. And then maybe Mike leaves the cane with Foggy, so when they get there the person who was helping Matt assumes he's the asshole that stole it!

(Actually, no, because Foggy thinks Mike is Matt and it'd be super weird if he just abandoned his cane. Funny though)

Or maybe Matt just waits this one out, fuming as he listens to Mike's scarily accurate impression of him and realizing there is no wonder Foggy was fooled (also, probably not happy when Foggy mentioned that terrible shirt that Mike is wearing!), figuring he can interrupt whatever plans Mike makes with Matt to prove there are two of them. That saves him having to do the helpless blind guy act in the library. Mike said he would bring the cane back, after all.

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

[stardreamed]

Mike opens Matt’s drawer and pulls out a fresh pair of jeans, some socks, an undershirt and a floral printed collared shirt. This shirt is his favorite of the new additions he had made to Matt’s wardrobe. It’s navy blue with pink petaled flowers with green stems. He had labeled it gray for Matt. He changes quickly, then put his dirty clothes in the hamper, except for the hoodie, which he puts back into his book bag.

He should really talk to Matt. He sighs.

He walks over to the mirror and combs his fingers through his hair. He then puts the sunglasses back on. “Matty really needs a new haircut… What is with this floppy hair? These glasses aren’t really that flattering, either.” He lets himself forego Matt’s usual speaking voice and instead his words come out with a bit of a New York accent, reminiscent of their dad’s.

He smiles at his reflection. “Maybe I’ll go with him to the barber next time.”

Mike retrieves his cane from his book bag and unfolds it. It’s time to face his brother. He’s almost giddy at the thought. They haven’t actually talked for… over six months. Wow. Has it been that long?

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

[prepare4trouble]

It is still reasonably early, and the library is almost empty of students. Morning is Matt’s favorite time to be here, when those students that studied long into the night had finally given up and gone to claim their few hours of rest before classes begun, and those that had been out partying the night before had yet to even think about crawling out from beneath the sheets. Sure, there were a few other early risers, but the place was quiet. Quiet like a library was supposed to be. Like it probably was most of the time for everybody else.

He exits the elevator at the third floor, then stops and listens. He is alone here for now. He quickly locates an empty desk, taking a perverse kind of pleasure in choosing one of the coveted seats by the window, affording an expansive view over the campus.

He opens his bag, pulls out his laptop and sets it up on the desk. He reaches back into the bag, and is frustrated to find his Braille display missing. “Damn,” he mutters. In his haste to storm out of the room, he had forgotten to pick it up. There is no way he is going back, not so soon after leaving. If Foggy was still there, that would just add fuel to the fire.

Sighing, he plugs in his headphones and inserts one of the earbuds into his left ear. The library has very few books in a format that he can actually read, when he needs them he has to order them weeks in advance. He hasn’t brought any of the books he’s currently working from either, but he can use the time to get a head start on checking the essay he is working on for typos.

The elevator stops at his floor and the door opens. One set of footsteps emerges and begins to walk slowly through the stacks of books.

Matt turns his attention to his work, in the absence of the Braille display, idly running his fingers over the top of his keyboard as he listens to his screenreader.

The other person sharing his floor of the library approaches his location and pulls out a chair. An almighty crash makes him cringe as the inconsiderate student drops a stack of heavy books onto the desk, making it vibrate under the impact. Matt bites back a comment and continues with his work.

“Hey Matt,” the other student says casually.

Matt’s head shoots up as he recognizes the voice and feels all the other clues click together to form a complete person, one that he knows better than anybody else. One that has been going out of his way to make his life difficult for at least the past few weeks. He rips out the earbud, leaving the computer reading away to itself and opens his mouth to answer.

“Aren’t you even going to say hi?” Mike asks. “I mean, I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but we’re still brothers, right?"

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

[stardreamed]

Matt scowls at Mike. Careful to keep his voice down, he says, “You’ve been here for weeks and haven’t bothered to say ‘hi’!”
Matt sighs, crosses his arms and sits back in his chair.

“You know why I have to keep my distance, right?”

“No, Mike, I don’t. You can do anything. You don’t need Stick and his rules.”

“And do what?”

Matt shrugs. “Anything.” He closes his laptop. “You could study here at Columbia, with me.”

Mike shakes his head. “No, Matty, school isn’t my strong suit.” His words echo their father’s, and he says them so similarly, Matt feels a pang in his gut.

Matt smiles sadly. “No, you’re just as capable as I am. In fact, you’re probably smarter than I am, because you had less time to study, yet we both know what your class standing was. It was right next to mine. Columbia would let you in.”

Mike shakes his head, knowing his brother can tell. “I just can’t, Matty.”

“Foggy is looking for his missing text books. Know anything about that?”

Mike reaches to take off his sunglasses, folds them, and places them in his breast pocket of his floral patterned shirt.

“It’s not going to happen. Leave it alone.” Mike moves closer and pulls out the chair next to Matt and sits down. “There are things you don’t know and I can’t tell you.”

Matt huffs and balls his hands into fists. “You don’t have to protect me.”

“Yes, I do.” Mike leans in towards Matt. “You shouldn’t have to get mixed up in my world. You deserve so much better. I want you to have a normal life with normal friends and none of my messed-up shit to deal with.”

Matt laughs. “I’ve already been dealing with your messed-up shit.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Mike moves to stand up. “Maybe you shouldn’t have to deal with that, either.”

“Mike! Stay.” Matt takes off his glasses and focuses on trying to get his eyes to line up with where he thinks Mike’s might be. “I want you in my life. Messed-up shit and all.” He reaches out for Mike's hand. "I miss you too much when you're gone. So much it actually hurts, Mike."

Matt feels a surge of panic, realizing what words just came out of his mouth. His admission could drive his brother away!

"Okay, Matty." Mike says, his voice sounding a bit wet. He covers Matt's hand with his own. "We'll see how it goes."

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

[prepare4trouble]

Aww, fluff. Not sure Mike can go talk to Foggy just to piss Matt off after this :-)

For a moment, Matt is too stunned to speak. They sit like that, neither daring to move, to be the one that breaks the contact. Finally, Matt smiles awkwardly and plus his hand free. "Thanks. Thank you, Mike. Really. You don't know how much I've missed this."

"No?"

It doesn't occur to Matt until that moment that Mike might feel the same way. It makes sense, of course. Why else would he be here, inserting himself into Matt's life, infiltrating the dorm room, getting to know his friends, his field of study. His wardrobe. He grits his teeth a little. "Mike, you've got to stop it with the clothes," he said. "Stop messing with my stuff."

Matt hears the ghost of a laugh. "Come on, Matty, don't spoil my fun."

He keeps the glasses off for now, keeps his gaze level, somewhere in Mike's direction, he knows the effect his uncovered eyes can have on people, and although Mike has always been immune, it won't hurt to try.

Mike shifts a little in his chair. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing," he says. "Trying to do, anyway. Remember that time in school when you used that trick to get me out of detention when I didn't do my homework?"

He did. It had been a few months after Stick had dropped Matt and decided to carry on training Mike. That had hurt, though not as much as the fact that Mike had disappeared for two weeks not long afterward. When he returned, school had seemed less important to him. He still went, he still did what he needed to, and he still aced every class, but it was like he was just going through the motions, biding his time until he could be done with it. On that particular day, he had been training until late at night, and the homework had been forgotten.

Mike laughs and raises the pitch of his voice slightly “‘Oh please, Mrs Teacher, give him another day. Its not his fault, he was helping me across the street all night.’”

Matt puts his glasses back on and folds his arms. “That was not what I said!”

"Honestly, the words aren’t as important as the puppy dog eyes.”

“Stop changing the subject. Just please stop pretending to be me. Come and meet Foggy, let me introduce you like a normal person.”

Mike doesn’t say anything, doesn’t move. His heart beat remains completely steady and Matt can’t gauge his reaction at all. “You’re the normal one, Matt.” he says eventually. "Didn’t we just establish that?”

“Well, according to Foggy, I’m delusional one, and you don’t exist.”

Mike laughs out loud at that. He gets to his feet, pats Matt on the back and makes to leave. “I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Where are you going?” Matt asks, suddenly gripped by a panic that Mike might be about do disappear from his life again after all.

Mike puts on his own sunglasses and Matt hears the unmistakable sound of a cane being unfolded. “Don’t worry, Matt,” he says. “You’ve invited me in now. You’re stuck with me."

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

[stardreamed]

Invited me in... Sounds like he's a vampire. LOL... So, fluff… I honestly didn’t intend on fluff… It just happened as they began talking to each other… So, maybe Mike can’t just go to Foggy to piss Matt off right now, but… That’s ok, as maybe Mike knows both their schedules and… Foggy has class for an hour and a half this morning, somewhere across campus… ? *shrugs*

Matt stands up from his seat. “That’s one of my spare canes… You’re still pretending to be me.”

“Yes, Matty, I am.”

“Why?!”

“I’m not leaving you. I swear. I’m just not in a place in my life where I can do normal right now.”

“What?”

“You trust me, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Well, then, study up, and I’ll see you later.”

Matt cocks his head to the side, listening for signs that they were being watched. “Alright. I don’t understand it, but I’m going to hold you to it.”

Mike smiles and waves as he turns to leave. As he takes his first steps forward, he sweeps Matt’s cane in a wide arch, in the exact, practiced manner that Matt does. Matt listens, somewhat astonished. His brother appears to move just like he would. If he didn’t already know why, he’d wonder why Mike was so practiced.

Matt is baffled by his brother’s behavior. It’s as if he is afraid of living his own life? Or at least, afraid to allow himself anything that might be construed as normal. Matt knows from experience that Stick did not want them to have relationships, friends, or to surround themselves with “soft” things. For that very reason he doesn’t feel bad about allowing himself the indulgence of silk sheets on his twin bed.

What is Mike up to? He’s tempted to follow, but… He doesn’t want to wait another six months to talk to his brother again.

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

[prepare4trouble]

It's taken me forever to write this, and I;m still not 100% happy with it! But it's the best I'm going to be able to come up with tonight, I think...



Foggy sighs deeply as he drops down the the floor and reaches under his bed, arm swinging left and right like a pendulum in the small space, searching for his missing books. His hand locates an old sock and an unopened bag of chips. He throws the sock into his laundry hamper, then lays down on the bed to open the bag of chips.

He hasn’t seen Matt since he left that morning, and he tries not to worry about that. It isn’t that he is actually worried about Matt himself, he knows his roommate can take care of himself just fine, but their argument plays on a loop in his head and he can’t help but worry that he has damaged their friendship irreparably.

Not that it was entirely his fault, of course. Matt’s sudden and inexplicable story about an identical twin that he just hadn’t mentioned until now… Foggy finishes the last of the chips, dabs up the crumbs and salt from the bottom of the bag with a finger, and drops it in the trash just as the door opens and Matt walks in.

“Hey,” he says. He leaves his cane leaning against the wall by the door and makes his way to his desk.

Foggy glances up to answer and finds himself doing a double take. Matt has changed his clothes again, and the shirt he has chosen is easily the most hideous thing that Foggy has ever seen. “Uh, hey,” he replies.

Matt shifts uncomfortably. “About this morning…” he says.

“Forget it,” Foggy tells him. “We’ll just not mention it ever again, okay?”

Matt smiles and nods his agreement, and Foggy relaxes.

“I thought you had a class now,” he says.

“Canceled,” Matt explains. He sits down at the desk, which is when Foggy notices that he isn’t carrying his laptop bag with him. The desk is empty, and the bag doesn’t appear to be anywhere in the room.

Foggy eyes the hideous blue shirt with the pink flowers suspiciously. Matt hadn’t been wearing that when he had left that morning. Foggy remembered specifically, because he had refused to tell him what color his shirt was. He felt bad about that now, even if it was Matt’s own fault.

“Matt, are you okay?” he asks. “Did something happen?”

Matt frowns. “Like what?”

“You don’t have your laptop, and that shirt… I mean, no human being would voluntarily wear that shirt. You didn’t have some kind of an accident, break your computer, have to buy some new clothes from a store with the world’s most dishonest salesman?”

“The laptop’s fine,” Matt assures him. He brushes a hand over the shirt and shakes his head. “And I like this shirt,” he adds.

Foggy chews on his bottom lip. “Okay,” he says. “So, I figure there’s about a 50% chance you’re screwing with me for not answering you about the color of your shirt. That’s fine, it was an dick move, but that means there’s a 50% chance you’re serious. So next time you go shopping, I’m going with you, okay?”

Matt frowns. “He doesn’t… I don’t need help with…”

“Yeah, I know. But humor me, okay? It’s self preservation more than anything. I hang around with a guy wearing that, no girl is ever going to talk to me again. I hang around with a blind guy wearing that, and I’m also the asshole who didn’t tell him.”

Matt laughs. It is sudden and loud and full of humor, and it sounds different somehow from his usual laugh in a way Foggy can’t quite put his finger on. “Okay,” he says. “Sounds fair.” He swivels a full 360 on his chair. “Want to get a drink tonight?” he asks. “I know a place that almost never asks for ID.”

Foggy frowns and wonders again whether Matt is okay. Maybe this is Mike, his brain supplies. Foggy shakes the ridiculous thought away. Sounds good,” he says. “On one condition.”

“I’ll change the shirt,” Matt tells him.

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

[stardreamed]

Matt gets up from his chair and strides right up to the drawers. Foggy looks on as Matt feels for the third drawer down, opens it, and pulls out a sweater from the middle of the drawer. It’s the dark blue one he was wearing that very first day they met. He then feels around off to the right and pulls out a white t-shirt. Matt walks to the bed and lays them out, then reaches to feel the tags, pausing a moment to read them each with his fingers.

Foggy turns his chair around to give Matt some privacy. This joke Matt had been playing had gone too far. It’s really been starting to really get to him. He’s noticing himself analyzing everything Matt says and does. That is so not cool. But… It also wasn’t like his buddy to play tricks on him. Not like this. Or, at least it hadn’t been. Maybe… Maybe this isn’t about him. Maybe he was on the right track earlier and this is some sort of coping mechanism.

Matt wasn’t like this last semester. Come to think of it… Well, maybe there were a few signs. And he had just ignored them, because they didn’t fit.

What changed this semester? What is he missing? What if Matt is really some sort of psycho who can only pretend to be normal for so long? What if, like in the movies, he’s going to become some sort of psycho killer? (Or his twin is a crazy psycho killer?) No. No. No. It’s time to get off this crazy train. Besides. It’s Matt. Right? Foggy shakes his head. Ridiculous.

“Foggy?”

“Hm?” Foggy spins back the other way in his chair. “Sorry. Just thinking about that, um, reflective essay. Not really looking forward to writing it.”

Matt lets out the breath he had been holding. “Me neither. My growth over time as a writer? Boring. And, it’s only second semester.”

“Hey, were you able to get that book you were trying to track down?”

“King Lear? Yeah. It’s just getting the Arden version of the notes that’s been tricky. Professor Trentham thinks she might be able to help me get a copy in time in a format I can use, though.”

Matt walks around to the other side of the bed, pats it with his fingers and sits down by his nightstand. He reaches out, feeling for the handle and then pulls it open. He fingers a rosary and moves it aside before pulling out a simple men’s necklace made of small black beads. The entire time, he’s not looking down. His posture is almost as if he were sitting in a darkened room. What little Foggy sees of his eyes, they do not appear to be tracking anything specific at all. How he’s navigating the world seems pretty normal for Matthew Murdock.

Matt was blinded in an accident. If he were going to go with the twin thing – which he’s not… Hypothetically, if Matt did have a twin, the twin would most likely be sighted. There would be no reason for them both to be blind. This must be Matt. No one sighted could fake blindness this well. Besides… There. Is. No. Twin. Enough is enough. They are going to go out and have a good time tonight.

“You ready to go, buddy?”

Matt grins and stands up. “Yeah, let me just get my cane.”

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

[prepare4trouble]

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.

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

[stardreamed]

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.)

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

[prepare4trouble]

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.

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

[stardreamed]

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. :)

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

[stardreamed]

“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.

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

[prepare4trouble]

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?

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

[(Anonymous)]

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. :)

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

[prepare4trouble]

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.