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 Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:10 pm
The apartment was starting to drive Matthew batshit insane. And since the temperature had thankfully started to cool a bit, the purple haired young man had been more than happy to take to the outdoors, bandages still in place but not quite in as much pain as he used to be.
Through, of course, when Sebby was around he still had to act like if he was at the right healing level. Which was hard keeping in mind he'd never broken a rib before now.
Thankfully he couldn't recall his roommate ever having a broken rib either, and Sebastian was a rocket scientifist, not a doctor. Thank god.
So now he had taken to one of the outside seat of the cafe nearest to the apartment, iced tea to the side, frowning a bit as one line of code on his laptop. Certainly some syntax was wrong in there, but he couldn't really figure out what.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 3:23 pm
In the past several weeks, it seemed as though the days were growing longer and longer. Not just the fact that the sun was out more, but because he was sure he was getting less and less sleep. It wasn't easy going out and patrolling at night and then having to get up early the next morning to walk Annabel, but it was just something that had to be done.
It was a coffee day, to say the least. He wouldn't say he preferred coffee over tea, but today he wanted the extra caffeine. Yeah, he knew it wasn't good for him, but neither was fighting monsters, and if he fell asleep while trying to kill one of them, well, that would end up badly.
He was on his way into the cafe when he noticed a shade of purple hair that he didn't see all that often, and realized that it was the other DCU student that he'd met a while back, before the term ended.
"Matthew?" he started, curious as he approached the young man at the table. "Uh, hey, we met a while back. Chris," he offered, not wanting him to feel like he had to remember someone who had randomly sat down with him one day and harassed him about his work. "How have you been? Er, I'm not bothering you, am I?" Because that would be bad and he could definitely leave him alone if he was!
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:08 am
No, not this...
Not that, either...
He finally noticed when his name was called, head rising from where he'd been studying his computer screen. As if the screen had been the problem, ha, of course not. The problem was almost always sitting a few inches away from the computer itself.
It seemed to take a moment for the purple-haired man to place him. "Ah, right ! No, that's no problem at all. I've just got a stubborn line of code here..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:58 am
"That's what you said last time," Chris said with a grin. "I hope it's not the same code you've been working on since last time," he joked, although he wondered if this kind of thing was really a laughing matter or not. Would he get offended? That wouldn't be good.
"I'll be right back. I'm gonna run in and get a drink. Do you want anything?" he offered, waiting for an answer before heading inside and ordering. He was back out in less than a minute and took a seat at the table Matthew was working at. The allure of caffeine was inviting, and he swore to himself that he would switch to decaf once school started back up again.
"Are you ready for another year of classes?" he asked, trying to catch moments where it didn't look as though the other young man wasn't so absorbed in his work. He knew he didn't like being bothered when he was working on his projects, so of course he was going to be cautious about bothering someone else, especially when they'd only met once before and didn't know much about the other.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:40 pm
"That's what I say the most often." Matthew answered, amused. "No, this one is a personal project." He didn't quite remember what he had been working on that stormy afternoon where he had met the brown-haired young man, but he remembered it had been schoolwork, at least.
"Nah, im good, thanks." He gestured toward his iced tea idly, and seemed to fall right back in his little world when Chris vanished inside.
When he came back, Matthew hadn't moved an inch. He might as well have been a statue.
"Yeah, the others didn't do me in so I don't think this year will..." Hopefully. And well, it wasn't school that had the highest chance of doing him in...
Ha ! Stupid comma. All the ******** time.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:55 pm
"So it's something you plan on using yourself?" Chris asked, curious about the young man working away on his computer. "Your project, I mean. Is it a program for yourself or just something to pass the time?"
Maybe he was too curious for his own good, but he couldn't help himself sometimes. There were just things that interested him at random times. He didn't exactly choose to be nosey, or at least he didn't intend to be nosey. And it helped that Matthew was a familiar face, at the very least.
He nodded in understanding when he commented about the school year. "Yeah, I'm kind of ready to get back to classes. This summer has been rather crazy and sticking to a schedule will be nice."
He'd still have to do his patrols and take care of monsters, but at least he will be in class and working and distracting himself from freaking out about monsters or people trying to kill other people around each corner he took.
"What about you? How has your summer been going?" he asked, before pausing to take a sip of his coffee.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:10 pm
"This one is for one of my clients, actually... I sell programs and website designs on the side to help pay my apartment and such."
Most people didn't give a crap he didn't have a degree once they saw what he could do, which was nice. And much more pleasant than working the corner store or something. He could work from the comfort of... everywhere, really.
Matthew went to grap his tea, raising an eyebrow idly when Chris mentioned his summer being crazy. "God, tell me about it."
He'd had a very interesting summer, too. Really.
"It was going pretty good till I broke a rib." He shrugged, hoping not to make a big deal out of it. "So I've been pretty... calm since then."
No other choice, really.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:42 pm
"Ah, that's pretty awesome," Chris said, impressed that Matthew would work as freelance basically in order to pay for his apartment. It made him feel kind of guilty, though, knowing how hard other people were working. Sure, he volunteered, but what more did he do than run around and play baseball? And then there was the whole being a pseudo-superhero, or whatever he was...
A hand reached up to cover his mouth before he managed to spit out his coffee in surprise, and he quickly swallowed and sputtered lamely at the young man across from him.
"You broke a rib?!" he gaped, staring at Matthew for another moment before scrambling up from his chair to circle around him as if he could suddenly see that yes, he did have a broken rib. "Are you okay?? What the hell happened?! Were you in a car accident?? Did you fall down the stairs?? Did you get into a fight?? Did someone mug you?? Were you attacked by a monster??"
They all seemed like logical explanations as to why the young computer nerd had gotten hurt. Not that there was anything wrong with nerds, but he didn't really see Matthew as the kind of guy who would end up getting a rib broken from... rock climbing or something more dangerous.
And okay, maybe he was overreacting a little, but... it really wasn't his fault! Honest!
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:44 pm
...Whoah whoah whoah !
Okay, he hadn't expected this, and had almost spit out his own drink in surprise. "Im fine, im fine." He certainly wouldn't be sitting here if he wasn't, no ?
"I got in an accident. I was the worst injury in there, so it could have been a lot worse. All my friend got was bruises. It's been awhile through so I think im almost healed ? It's hard to tell, with ribs and all. It's not like an arm where you slap a cast on it."
Oh, had he ever learned that. Of course, the real reason... Well, it was better not to get into that.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 2:33 pm
"An accident?!" he nearly shouted, but quickly lowered his voice so as not to draw attention to them. Why was everyone getting in accidents??
"But you saw a doctor, right?? You actually got checked out? When are you going back for a check up? Why are you walking around? You should be resting," Chris fussed, still frowning at the other young man and moving around him as if he could somehow help him with by just looking. Yeah, he knew there wasn't really anything they could do for a broken rib other than make sure it had a chance to heal properly.
"Are you sure you're okay? Do you need anything? I could get you a wheelchair," he offered, although he wasn't really sure where he'd get one from. He'd find one, somehow. "What happened? Were you driving? Was it determined who's fault the accident was?"
Maybe he should sit down and take a breath before he scared Matthew off.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:31 pm
...
...
...
A wheelchair ?
"Okay, dude. Dude. Calm down. Deep breaths. Warm blue oceans." He was a little deadpan, but... this was ridiculous. "Im not dying, okay ?! I've seen a doctor. I have my prescriptions and walking around isn't going to kill me dead. I didn't break this thing yesterday, it's pretty much healed."
And he'd thought Ashley had been freaking out. People were staring, and while Matthew didn't usually give a crap about that, he had the very strong urge to hide under the table.
....Seriously. A wheelchair. He hadn't even gotten that on the fresh break !
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:20 pm
Chris stared at Matthew for a few moments, before glancing around at the people around them and embarrassedly sunk into a chair at the table, trying to nonchalantly be much smaller than he was... Which was a bit difficult since he was at least an inch over six feet.
"Sorry," he quickly apologized, picking up his coffee to sip at, Matthew's words making him feel like a real idiot. "Long day... long month, really," he said with a weak grin in the other young man's direction. When was the last time he got a full eight hours of sleep in one go? Or didn't have coffee in the morning to keep him awake and functioning through the day? He was mentally awake but physically exhausted, so even if he tried going to sleep his mind just wouldn't shut off.
He glanced down at the cup of coffee and placed it back on the table. "Maybe I should stop drinking so much caffeine..." Yeah, blame the caffeine... Actually, it probably had something to do with it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:58 am
Oh, thank god. That had been getting very, very awkward.
"If it makes you act like that ? Dude, yeah, switch to decaff." And this is why Matthew and coffee did not get along. He'd never felt like a nervous wreck while all hopped up on tea.
Holy s**t. Talking about that, it made Matthew notice his iced tea was getting woefully empty.
Through... long month ? Oh, yeah, he could sympathize with that on some level, at least.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:03 pm
Yeah, he realized that he needed to calm down. He barely even knew the guy and he was freaking out over him?
Chris frowned, glancing over at the other young man. Er... he hadn't meant to make him feel awkward or anything like that. "You are okay though, aren't you...?" he asked, a bit more warily now that he was sitting down and realizing how strange he must seem for worrying about an almost complete stranger. "There's just... a lot of people getting hurt. I don't like it. It makes me anxious," he tried to explain, not wanting Matthew to think he was some crazy psycho.
He lifted a hand to brush through his scruffy-length hair, leaning back in the chair as he glanced around at the people nearby. "Sorry... really..." he said, apologizing again. He didn't know what else to say... That he thought he might have been attacked by monsters called youma? Or by people who called themselves the Negaverse? Yeah, that would be an even more awkward conversation.
Oh hey, there are people running around, dressed in strange outfits, fighting and taking energy. You might want to watch out for them.
Yeah right...
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:57 am
In some cases, ignorance was bliss. It was better that Chris didn't know that technically, Matthew was one of the people dressed in strange outfits wandering the night.
Even worse, that many would claim that he had been destined to be 'good'.
A waitress passed by, and he called her over. Another glass of iced tea for him, and a glass of water for Chris.
Dude really looked like he needed it.
Still... awkward. Matthew was still not completely convinced he wouldn't swing back crazy psycho.
"You might wanna ponder moving, then ? Im considering it." A lie, of course, but the brown-haired man didn't need to know that. "This is getting extremely weird... Even for me."
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