Socially Awkward, Party of Five
Saturday, June 7th, 2020
8:23 a.m.
Matthew had been awake since seven thirty, but he's usually able to slip out of bed without waking Frank. He always loved the rare moments of silence that the city offers. Sitting in Frank's recliner, he took a few slow deep breaths in an attempt to clear his mind from the break-in he stopped last weekend, and the twinge of anxiety he gets before their usual visit to Wade and Peter's apartment.
'He has nothing to worry about... Peter and I are only friends; and whatever inclinations I may have had ended when I went to law school.'
As he continued this meditative practice, he heard Frank's alarm go off, followed by the rustling sound of him getting out of bed; the familiar sound of his footsteps shuffling down the hall with a yawn brought warmth to his heart, reconfirmed his belief that what he and Frank have is more than enough for him. Turning his head to the right, Matt waited for his usual 'good morning' kiss which he received in earnest. "You must've slept well."
"I did, but how you can get out of bed without waking me up is something I still can't figure out."
"Some secrets are worth keeping under lock and key; helps keep the embers of intrigue alive." He grinned slyly, imagining Frank's exasperated expression along with the usual bedhead he gets each morning.
"Matt Murdock, you are a pain in my ass, but luckily I still love you. Did you eat anything yet? Hopefully the yogurt's still good." He heard the fridge open and close, along with a container lid being opened, followed by a couple sniffs. "It is, thank heaven... I can make us a couple bowls of yogurt and granola, we don't have any fresh fruit but it's an okay breakfast."
"Sure... I can get the coffee for us. Does the reservoir have enough water in it, or does it need refilled?"
"I'll check." Matt homed in to the sound of Frank's heartbeat, one of his most favorite sounds. "Matt...?"
"Hmm?"
"There's only enough water for one cup in the machine; are you distracted or still sleepy?"
"No, I'm just happy having you in my life." Matt leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek.
"I'm happy to have you in my life, too... but you're still gonna talk to Pete when we go over there later."
Matt sighed, "Well, do I at least get an A for effort?"
***************************************************
9:35 a.m.
Dylan moved as fast as they could toweling off and getting dressed... Pete needed help cleaning up the apartment before Matthew and Foggy came over and Wade was still sound asleep. Pulling on a support bra, they picked up the roll of Ace bandages to wrap their chest, carefully but quickly so it would lay flat and not dig into their skin. Pinning the bandages into place, they pulled on a pair of blue jeans, double checking the bandages at their hip before buttoning them, and a black hoodie. Pulling their wet hair into a low ponytail, they put the towel into the hamper and went to join Pete in the kitchen.
"Hey Pete, what do you need help with?"
"Um... you can help me clear off the island and the coffee-table and straighten up the couch. How did you sleep?"
"I slept alright... how about you?" They yawned, scratching the back of their neck with their right hand.
"I slept alright, too." Pete loaded last night's dishes into the dishwasher, added some cleaner to its dispenser and closed the lid, pushing the start button. "So, how's your injury healing?" He gestured towards Dylan's hip.
"I guess it's going okay: there isn't as much bleeding as there was."
"It'll take a little while for the bleeding to fully stop. Once it does, we can look into potentially removing the stitches." He rested a hand on Dylan's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before letting them go.
"Okay, um- where do you want me to set the coasters and stuff?"
"You can just set that stuff on the kitchen table, same as what's on the coffee table."
"Sounds like a plan." Dylan went around the island picking up the coasters and napkin holder, moving them to the table, doing the same with the paper towel holder. "Is there a particular spray or something you use for this, or would soap and hot water work?"
"We have a few cleaners under the sink that we use for the kitchen." Pete reached the broom under the table to sweep.
Dylan went to the cupboard and opened the doors. Scanning the varied bottles, they took out a spray bottle marked Ammonia-Free and shut the doors gently with a foot. Running the dish cloth under hot water, they rung it out and got to work spraying and wiping down the island. Once finished, they rinsed out the rag and did the same with the coffee table. Rinsing the rag a third time, they laid it out on the sink divider and dried their hands with the towel that hung on the oven's door handle. They then focused on the couch, fluffing the accent pillows and replacing the blanket over the sofa's back and tucking the ends into the back of the cushions. "Okay, I'm all finished here. Is there anything else you need help with?"
"Well, good morning... I thought I caught a whiff of something nice, but I didn't realize it came from you, Pumpkin." Wade slipped his arms around Dylan's waist and gave them a tight hug and a peck on the cheek before letting them go.
"Um, good morning to you too, Wade." Dylan stammered, their eyes looking over at Pete who was preoccupied with putting something away. "You're in pretty high spirits this morning."
"Oh, that's just me getting my devious pansexual energy to a manageable level before company arrives. Isn't that right, Petey-pie?" But Pete didn't get much time to answer before Wade spun him around for a passionate smooch. Dylan turned their gaze to the hall when they spotted Wade grabbing Pete's ass. 'Holy shit, Wade... give me a little warning before you want to get handsy!'
"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt your cleaning campaign." Wade spoke up after a few minutes. "Do you two want some help, or...?"
"Uh... no, no I think- I think we're good." Pete eventually answered. Dylan glanced at him, clocking the fresh hickey at the base of his neck.
"I'm sure even Matthew would be able to tell you've got a hickey, Pete." Dylan chuckled.
"Someone's jealous." Wade smirked, giving Dylan a wink as he strutted over to the coffee maker.
"Alright, babe... let's settle down."
"They won't be here for another two hours. Did you eat something for breakfast?"
"Yeah, I had a granola bar. Dylan?"
"I had a bottle of water... I'm not accustomed to eating early in the morning."
"Pumpkin, it's not good for you to work on an empty stomach. Come here, hon..." Wade walked over to Dylan, taking them by the hand. "I'll make you some coffee and toast."
"Wade, I can get my own breakfast... you don't have to."
"I insist," Wade smiled, giving Dylan's hand a squeeze. "Taking care of people is my love language."
*********************************
10:48 a.m.
Foggy merged onto the Queensboro Bridge, the car radio playing softly to occupy the silence in the backseat. The once normal traffic on this road was not as busy as it used to be, giving the bridge a post-apocalyptic feel. It wouldn't take them too long to get to the Tower. "Maybe one morning, we could look for a large parking lot and see if you can use your other senses to drive."
"Yeah, I'm sure a police officer would find it humorous to find one lawyer managed to convince a blind lawyer to attempt driving."
"I'm only joking, Matt. It's just kind of quiet on this bridge." Foggy chuckled, as he checked another radio station, going back to the previous one. Billie Holiday's Come Rain or Come Shine starts to play so he returns his hand to the steering wheel. He softly hums along to Billie's lilting voice as they make their way across the bridge, getting closer to Wade and Peter's apartment.
*********************************
11:09 a.m.
"Wade, you already know that isn't gonna work."
"Babe, there's no harm in trying again." Wade gave Dylan a quick wave before closing the bathroom door on them.
"Don't you remember," Pete took Wade by the arm and pulled him to the living room, "the last time you tried this was with Kurt and he was able to tell who it was before he teleported out of where you hid him?"
"Babe..." Wade pouted, "Let me have a little bit of fun. Please?"
"A whole ten seconds?" Pete quipped.
"Hey, you can't blame what happens when you do that thing with-" A knock on the door halted Wade's commentary, making Pete breathe a sigh of relief. Wiping his sweaty palms on the sides of his jeans, he makes his way to their door, and after unlocking both locks and the security chain, opened it.
"Hey Foggy, hey Matt... looks like traffic wasn't too bad this time." He smiled, gesturing for them to come in.
"Yeah, not too bad compared to how things were." Foggy gave Pete a quick hug before going over to Wade. "Hey, Wade... how've you been?"
"Oh, nothing new. Just trying to keep the boredom at bay: not getting any assignments is a kick in the balls. How about you, Murdock? Anything new going on in your corner of the world?"
Matt carefully folded his white cane as he stood near the table. "There's someone else in this apartment."
"What do you mean?" Wade queried, concern painting his face. "It's just the four of us."
"No, there isn't. I can hear a separate heartbeat that doesn't sound like yours or Peter's. What's going on, Wilson?"
"Well, I guess this is the thanks I get for planning an Edgar Allan Poe game night. Don't worry, the individual in our crawl space is probably confused but alive and unharmed."
"Since when did this apartment have a crawl space?"
"Wade..." Pete interjected. "You had your fun, I'll go get them." Pete turned to head down the hall to the bathroom.
'Them? There's only one other heartbeat I've isolated in this space...'
Matt thought, his brow furrowed in confusion before he heard two sets of footsteps going back up the hall.
"Matt, Foggy... this is Dylan. They have been staying with us since Thursday. They've been through a pretty hard time lately, so we're helping them get back on their feet."
Foggy looked at the person standing next to Pete: they were shorter then Pete and Wade, with dark red hair and brown eyes. They took a couple steps toward him and spoke. "Hi, Foggy, Dylan Thompson. Both Wade and Pete have told me some things about you and Matthew. All good, I promise... but it's nice to finally meet the two of you in person."
Dylan paused, pursing their lips before extending a hand to shake, which Foggy did, somewhat intrigued by this person and their voice, low and warm but gravelly almost like an young, androgynous Brigitte Bardot.
Matthew was determined to learn more about this Dylan Thompson, but he'd play along for now. "Hello, Dylan, Matt Murdock." He switched his cane to his right hand to shake hands. Taking Dylan's hand in his gave him some pause... it was small, with some patches of dry skin on their palm, their grip strong, almost like Dylan was raised around military types who valued a firm handshake. Their heart rate was normal, but he could sense Pete was anxious. "Pete introduced you using they... so you're non-binary, I'm guessing?"
"Genderfluid: since high school." They let go of his hand, taking two backward steps closer to Wade, who put a protective arm around their shoulder, pulling them close.
"Now Murdock, we're not in a courtroom. there's no need to give our roomie your standard cross-examination. Don't worry, pumpkin, he's a regular teddy bear once you get to know him." Dylan looked up at Wade, seeing how his smile hasn't reached his dark brown eyes, currently staring daggers into Matt. So they attempted to break the tension.
"So, Pete told me you usually do a game day when you visit... sounds like fun." Dylan folded their arms across their chest as if they suddenly felt cold.
"Yeah, the games normally vary, but we're currently into Clue." Foggy answers, gesturing towards the boxed game that's sitting on the coffee-table.
"It also doesn't help that Clue is also one of my comfort movies. Pete and I watched it more then a few times since the shutdown." Wade smiled, his mood seemingly improved.
Dylan took note of this, and took a seat at one end of the couch near the right corner of the coffee table. "Well, it's been a while since I've played this game, but I figure the rules haven't changed much." They opened the game box, picking up the small pouch of colored game pieces.
"The game rules haven't changed, but we do have rules of our own that help prevent some infighting." Matt took a seat next to them on the couch.
"Really... what are the house rules?" Dylan looked at Matthew as he slipped his now folded glasses into the pocket of his dark blue t-shirt.
"Well, since Miss Scarlett is the first player to start the game, three of us usually end up arguing over who gets to play her. So, Peter came up with a way that we each get a turn with the red game piece: whoever played Miss Scarlett last, that being Wade, has to choose a different character, while the other two have to pick a number between one and six as another person rolls one of the dice, and whomever guessed closest to the rolled number gets to play her for this game."
"Wait a second, I thought that you played as Miss Scarlett last time." Wade interjected. Pete took a small notebook and pen out of the game box and flipped through a couple pages, and handed it to Wade. His eyes scanned down the page and stopped. "Well, brain fog happens to the best of us." He sits on the floor across from Matthew and Dylan.
Feeling content about having one up on Wade, he continues, "Normally, Foggy handles the dice roll, but since you're the newest member, I'll let you handle this for us." Matt carefully reached towards the game box and felt around briefly for the two six sided dice before palming them. "The fate of Peter and I now rests in your hands." He smiled, using his right hand to take one of Dylan's hands into his own, before letting a die fall into their palm.
"Remember what I said," Wade coughed, in a ridiculous attempt at subtlety. Dylan, very confused at the mock seriousness in Matthew's voice but his cheerful countenance, just shook it off.
"Okay... Pete, Matthew; think of a number between one and six. Let me know when you've got it." They looked over at Pete who sat next to Wade who nodded in agreement as Matt gave his okay. They shook the single die in their palm for a few seconds before tossing it into the box. "It's four."
"I picked three... Matt?" Pete smiled brightly, hopeful for victory.
Matt, sensing Peter's excitement shrugged and conceded. "I guessed six... never fear Miss Scarlett, we'll get our chance soon enough." Feeling the vibrations of Peter's celebratory dancing warmed his heart, as did hearing Dylan hand the sought after red game piece to him.