Backlog: Matt & Topaz

[x-daredevil.livejournal.com]

Backdated to April 24

It's one thing when you and your girlfriend break up. It's another when she begins dating another girl, even if it has nothing to do with you at all.



Sue and Maddie. Maddie and Sue. Punching the bag, Matt didn't care that that they were broken up or that Sue had told him personally instead of him finding or some other way. It still hurt and he didn't have to like it.

Topaz, in a rare bout of restlessness, was wandering around in the gym area, when a repeated thumping reached her ears. She headed closer to the noise, peaking through the door. And there was Matt, pounding away at a punching bag. If the look on his face was anything to go by, this wasn't a recreational beating. She leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms and waiting, not wanting to interrupt him.

"I can hear you, you know!" He called to Topaz, pace barely stopping. "What?" He really should be working on homework. Whatever.

"I know!" Topaz called back. "And nothin', really, I was just passin' through. Couldn't help but notice you seem to be havin' quite the go at that bag. Somethin' up?" Granted she couldn't actually sense Matt's emotions - a bit of a blessing at times - but she didn't need empathy to realize something was clearly wrong.

Hitting the bag a couple more times, Matt caught it and let it slow to a stop. "Did you know?" He asked. Matt didn't make a habit of listening in on other peoples conversations even though it was incredibly easy. "Does everyone know except me? Laughing behind my back? Must be so much easier to do now that I'm in the head suites, huh? And no, I'm not using."

"I...what?" Topaz blinked, bewildered. "Know about what?" She pushed off the door frame and made her way a little further into the room. "No one's laughin' at you." Not to her knowledge, at least.

"Sue," he punched the bag, "is dating Maddie," he punched the bag again. "Apparently I'm such a lousy boyfriend I turned my girlfriend onto girls," it didn't matter that it had been a few weeks since the break up or that Sue and Maddie had nothing to do with him, it still hurt. It hurt more than the breakup itself.

Huh. Topaz probably should have known that considering she lived with Sue. She watched Matt pound the bag once more, shoving her hands into her pockets. She was fairly certain she wasn't going to be good at this. "I doubt that," she said after a moment. "The lousy boyfriend part, I mean."

"Gee, thanks," Matt tucked his hands into his armpits and pulled his gloves off. He had wrapped them too, so they were nicely protected. "Let's see, I dated Sue for about six months, broke up with her and a month later she's dating a girl who never liked us together!" Even without being blind his gaze was flat, "Apparently I'm not only forgettable, but turned her off guys. She was straight when we dated! What am I supposed to think Topaz? Tell me!"

"I don't know," Topaz admitted honestly. "I can't tell you what to think." She hunched her shoulders for a moment before finally saying, "Sit down. Don't argue, just do it."

Going over to Topaz, Matt sat, wondering what she was going to do or say.

Topaz settled down in front of Matt, crossing her legs up under herself. "I'm not gonna pretend for even a second I know what the hell I'm doin'," she said bluntly. Never one for beating around the bush. "I can't say why Sue decided she wanted to date Maddie, no amazin' points of wisdom or anythin'. I can say what I know. And what I know is you're an amazin' person - definitely not forgettable - and whatever Sue's reasons are for datin' Maddie now, I don't think they have anythin' to do with you. I know that seems difficult to believe now, but...give yourself a bit more credit."

Matt wanted to, he did. It just....it hurt. He might've broken up with her, but it wasn't like he ran straight into the arms of someone else. Especially not someone who he knew didn't like him. Not that he was overly fond of Maddie either. "I don't feel amazing," Matt took a few deep breaths calming down from his workout. "I feel like crap," eloquent as always.

"I know." She could only imagine how it felt to be in Matt's position. "It's not exactly an amazin' situation, either." After a hesitant moment she reached over, resting a hand on his knee. "But I mean...sittin' down here by yourself just thinkin' about all this isn't goin' to help. You can beat a punchin' bag, or you can do somethin' that might actually make you feel good about yourself. Or if all else fails you could give talkin' about it a try. I hear that works well."

Snorting, Matt didn't quite roll his eyes. "Isn't that what we're doing now?" he asked, but there wasn't any venom in his voice. "Fine. Make me feel better then. Convince me that this somehow this will be okay." He was open to suggestions.

"Ha." Topaz mad a noise in the back of her throat. "Well, all right, but you're not allowed to laugh when I fail miserably. Let's see...don't suppose just mentally manipulating you isn't moral, huh?" She rested her head on her hand, thinking for a moment. "Is it just that it's Maddie? I mean, if Sue was goin' with...say, Frank, would it still upset you this much?"

Oh, it was definitely Maddie, Matt knew that, "I'd be annoyed, but....no, it wouldn't bother me so much," Matt replied honestly. He'd been to enough counseling to know that lying was just stupid for things like this, "Part of it is that Maddie's a girl. Frank's a guy. And Sue never expressed interest in girls or that she was bisexual or whatever when we were together. And part of it is Maddie specifically. She doesn't like me," and he wasn't too fond of her either. Why would he think she did when they never spoke or hung out or anything, despite the school being so small and having mutual friends?

"Oh good, someone else Maddie doesn't like," Topaz replied dryly. "We should start a club. As for Sue...something tells me even she doesn't know what she likes." She'd had seen a lot of Sue's type when she'd been in school in London - hyper-focused on studies, didn't know either gender existed, didn't date, couldn't be bothered with it. "Don't get me wrong, I've nothin' against her...it's probably just somethin' she's still workin' out."

"Heh," that made Matt chuckle. How'd he miss that Maddie didn't like Topaz either? Probably because he mostly ignored whatever the other girl did. "We can make tshirts." He offered.

Topaz's lips twitched into an almost smile. "Can't imagine what they would say." But she'd gotten a laugh. That was something considering he'd been beating a punching bag when she'd walked in.

"Me either," Matt agreed, "We can have blank shirts. Then we can wear them and no one would know...which defeats the point, but works better for our creativity," he wasn't too interested in starting problems with the girl anyways, she was mostly ignorable. "Still sucks though. And I hate it."

"No one needs to know but us." She had no interest in starting any drama. "I know. But you've got so much else to focus on. No point in lettin' one thing get to you, yeah?" Definitely.

"Wanna go get ice cream?" Ice cream helped making everything better.

Topaz wasn't sure what exactly she opened her mouth to say, but she certainly wasn't expecting the "Sure" that came out. She blinked, surprised. Huh.