“Foggy is having lunch with us,” Matt blurts all in one breath when he sits down at the table across from Claire the next day. Foggy is across the cafeteria talking to Marci and Karen is late, so he can snatch a moment of privacy with Claire.
There's a brief pause while she either straightens out his tangle of syllables or processes the news. “I take it the debate went well,” she finally says, dry.
“Yes, and then things went poorly in the hall after that, but everything is okay now.” Matt has felt like vibrating out of his skin all morning, and he hasn't been able to stop himself checking in on Foggy once or twice a period all day, even if Foggy isn't used to his senses and probably wouldn't completely approve. He can apologize later.
Claire laughs. “Yes, I can see that.”
Foggy is coming over now—Marci told him not to get his heart broken this time, and Matt takes his hand the second he sits down, because Foggy probably knows he heard that. It's hard getting used to him knowing, especially when he knows more than even Claire does at this point. “Hey, Claire,” says Foggy, sounding sheepish.
“Welcome back.” That's warmer, less teasing. Matt will be in for a conversation with her later, and probably a warning that if he fucks it up this time it's not her job to clean up after his mistakes, but she seems happy too, genuinely so. She likes Foggy, and she must see how happy Matt is. “I hear you two won your debate. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Foggy disentangles his hand from Matt's and starts sorting through his lunch bag. “Probably not fair on Vanessa and Wesley. It isn't their event, and also we are a hell of a lot better than they are.”
“Great, you're both gloaters, that's going to make the lunch table fun. You should bring a friend or two of yours over sometimes, Karen and I are going to need backup.”
“Oh God, I'm pretty sure I shouldn't introduce Marci or Brett to you.”
Karen chooses that moment to arrive, sitting down next to Claire, a little out of breath. “Sorry, guys, forgot my lunch in my locker and that one couple was making out against it—Foggy, hey! Nice to have you back at the table.” She sounds like she's grinning, again or still. She dragged Matt into her room after dinner last night and made him tell her the story, hissing in anger over Fisk and Vanessa and Wesley and clapping when he talked about sitting in the bar talking things over with Foggy.
“Nice to be back.” There's a long enough silence that Matt suspects they're making faces at each other, communicating things they don't want him to hear, and when Matt sighs, Foggy laughs. “Yeah, yeah, we're telling secrets, sorry. Any word from Vanessa or Wesley this morning?”
“Not a thing.” He doesn't think they're done with whatever their objective is, but nothing has happened this morning, and at least he and Foggy are presenting a united front now. They can deal with bullies later on. “I'd rather not talk about them, though.”
“You're going to have to talk about them eventually,” says Claire. “I would like an explanation. But I don't really want to waste my lunch break talking about them either. There's a new volunteer at the hospital—I think he's there doing community service, but he seems nice, anyway, so I'm not going to ask about it.”
Claire always knows what to say, so he can focus on getting to sit next to Foggy again and maybe hold his hand when they're finished eating. He smiles across the table at her and asks about the new volunteer, lets her talk about him and then about the doctor who always treats her like an incompetent, drawing Karen into the conversation and leaving Matt and Foggy to listen until Foggy has to excuse himself a few minutes before lunch is over because he needs to stop in the library to get something he ordered.
“I'll walk with you,” Matt offers.
Foggy shakes his head. “No, no, I'll see you after school, I've actually got to concentrate and I know that look on your face.” He does kiss Matt before he goes, quick and a little embarrassed, when they're in public, and Matt lingers as long as Foggy lets him.
“See you later, Foggy,” says Claire, Karen chiming in, and when he's gone, she reaches across the table to pat Matt's arm. “Good for you,” she says, the closest thing Claire is going to get to a blessing, and he smiles and offers to walk her to class, which is the closest thing she'll allow to thanks.
“I'll come along,” says Karen, an acknowledgment of all of it, and is the first to stand up to pick up her bag and wait for them.
*
The audiences are never big, at debate meets. Today, though, Matt has what seems like a crowd in the stands—Ben, Doris, and Karen all came, and they're sitting with the Nelsons, who Matt has met a few times now and who seem to have brought half the extended family, which he's coming to realize is normal for them. There are representatives from the debate team too, though Fisk and Vanessa and Wesley are conspicuous in their absence. Matt's a little sorry about that. He'd like them to see he and Foggy win again, even though everything has been quiet from them since the day of the practice debate.
“Nervous?” Foggy asks from next to him, shuffling a few papers around. He sounds a little nervous himself, and Matt is still getting used to the way his hair sounds after the haircut he got two days ago.
“I think we'll win. Fisk and Owlsley wouldn't coach us into losing just from spite. And even if they would we've done plenty of independent research.” There are too many people watching for displays of affection, but he catches Foggy's hand under the table. It's close enough to what he wants to do, anyway. “We're going to be fine.”
Their opponents are close, talking quietly about strategies—one has heard about Matt, and is whispering to her partner about “the blind kid, apparently he's really good at Lincoln-Douglas, keep an eye on him,” and he would be offended if he weren't feeling a little smug about Foggy taking them by surprise.
Foggy lowers his voice. “You've got that eavesdropping expression on your face. You aren't cheating and listening to our opponents, right?”
“Not listening to their arguments, anyway,” Matt offers. Foggy is good about his senses, most of the time, but Matt always feels chastened when he brings them up in that disapproving tone. “They're saying I'm good in solo events and to watch out for me—and now they're saying you don't look like very tough competition.” He frowns.
Foggy just nudges his shoulder. “Good thing we're about to prove them wrong. What do you say, want to annihilate them?”
The judge is just standing up, clearing her throat, ready to read the rules, and Matt can't help grinning. “I don't think we should have too much trouble with that.”
Foggy finds his hand under the table one more time and squeezes it tight. “Then let's do it.”
THE END
(Repost should go up on the AO3 sometime within the next 24 hours! The link will go up in the completed fills post.)
[fill] Matched Your Own Beat (12/12)
There's a brief pause while she either straightens out his tangle of syllables or processes the news. “I take it the debate went well,” she finally says, dry.
“Yes, and then things went poorly in the hall after that, but everything is okay now.” Matt has felt like vibrating out of his skin all morning, and he hasn't been able to stop himself checking in on Foggy once or twice a period all day, even if Foggy isn't used to his senses and probably wouldn't completely approve. He can apologize later.
Claire laughs. “Yes, I can see that.”
Foggy is coming over now—Marci told him not to get his heart broken this time, and Matt takes his hand the second he sits down, because Foggy probably knows he heard that. It's hard getting used to him knowing, especially when he knows more than even Claire does at this point. “Hey, Claire,” says Foggy, sounding sheepish.
“Welcome back.” That's warmer, less teasing. Matt will be in for a conversation with her later, and probably a warning that if he fucks it up this time it's not her job to clean up after his mistakes, but she seems happy too, genuinely so. She likes Foggy, and she must see how happy Matt is. “I hear you two won your debate. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Foggy disentangles his hand from Matt's and starts sorting through his lunch bag. “Probably not fair on Vanessa and Wesley. It isn't their event, and also we are a hell of a lot better than they are.”
“Great, you're both gloaters, that's going to make the lunch table fun. You should bring a friend or two of yours over sometimes, Karen and I are going to need backup.”
“Oh God, I'm pretty sure I shouldn't introduce Marci or Brett to you.”
Karen chooses that moment to arrive, sitting down next to Claire, a little out of breath. “Sorry, guys, forgot my lunch in my locker and that one couple was making out against it—Foggy, hey! Nice to have you back at the table.” She sounds like she's grinning, again or still. She dragged Matt into her room after dinner last night and made him tell her the story, hissing in anger over Fisk and Vanessa and Wesley and clapping when he talked about sitting in the bar talking things over with Foggy.
“Nice to be back.” There's a long enough silence that Matt suspects they're making faces at each other, communicating things they don't want him to hear, and when Matt sighs, Foggy laughs. “Yeah, yeah, we're telling secrets, sorry. Any word from Vanessa or Wesley this morning?”
“Not a thing.” He doesn't think they're done with whatever their objective is, but nothing has happened this morning, and at least he and Foggy are presenting a united front now. They can deal with bullies later on. “I'd rather not talk about them, though.”
“You're going to have to talk about them eventually,” says Claire. “I would like an explanation. But I don't really want to waste my lunch break talking about them either. There's a new volunteer at the hospital—I think he's there doing community service, but he seems nice, anyway, so I'm not going to ask about it.”
Claire always knows what to say, so he can focus on getting to sit next to Foggy again and maybe hold his hand when they're finished eating. He smiles across the table at her and asks about the new volunteer, lets her talk about him and then about the doctor who always treats her like an incompetent, drawing Karen into the conversation and leaving Matt and Foggy to listen until Foggy has to excuse himself a few minutes before lunch is over because he needs to stop in the library to get something he ordered.
“I'll walk with you,” Matt offers.
Foggy shakes his head. “No, no, I'll see you after school, I've actually got to concentrate and I know that look on your face.” He does kiss Matt before he goes, quick and a little embarrassed, when they're in public, and Matt lingers as long as Foggy lets him.
“See you later, Foggy,” says Claire, Karen chiming in, and when he's gone, she reaches across the table to pat Matt's arm. “Good for you,” she says, the closest thing Claire is going to get to a blessing, and he smiles and offers to walk her to class, which is the closest thing she'll allow to thanks.
“I'll come along,” says Karen, an acknowledgment of all of it, and is the first to stand up to pick up her bag and wait for them.
The audiences are never big, at debate meets. Today, though, Matt has what seems like a crowd in the stands—Ben, Doris, and Karen all came, and they're sitting with the Nelsons, who Matt has met a few times now and who seem to have brought half the extended family, which he's coming to realize is normal for them. There are representatives from the debate team too, though Fisk and Vanessa and Wesley are conspicuous in their absence. Matt's a little sorry about that. He'd like them to see he and Foggy win again, even though everything has been quiet from them since the day of the practice debate.
“Nervous?” Foggy asks from next to him, shuffling a few papers around. He sounds a little nervous himself, and Matt is still getting used to the way his hair sounds after the haircut he got two days ago.
“I think we'll win. Fisk and Owlsley wouldn't coach us into losing just from spite. And even if they would we've done plenty of independent research.” There are too many people watching for displays of affection, but he catches Foggy's hand under the table. It's close enough to what he wants to do, anyway. “We're going to be fine.”
Their opponents are close, talking quietly about strategies—one has heard about Matt, and is whispering to her partner about “the blind kid, apparently he's really good at Lincoln-Douglas, keep an eye on him,” and he would be offended if he weren't feeling a little smug about Foggy taking them by surprise.
Foggy lowers his voice. “You've got that eavesdropping expression on your face. You aren't cheating and listening to our opponents, right?”
“Not listening to their arguments, anyway,” Matt offers. Foggy is good about his senses, most of the time, but Matt always feels chastened when he brings them up in that disapproving tone. “They're saying I'm good in solo events and to watch out for me—and now they're saying you don't look like very tough competition.” He frowns.
Foggy just nudges his shoulder. “Good thing we're about to prove them wrong. What do you say, want to annihilate them?”
The judge is just standing up, clearing her throat, ready to read the rules, and Matt can't help grinning. “I don't think we should have too much trouble with that.”
Foggy finds his hand under the table one more time and squeezes it tight. “Then let's do it.”
THE END
(Repost should go up on the AO3 sometime within the next 24 hours! The link will go up in the completed fills post.)