[Fic] Watching to See You Break
Muse: Mat
Word count: 831 words
Prompt: "For all your strength and cunning, you're a coward at heart. And to a coward, a hero is a riddle past solving." --Mike Carey for paperskin
Mat felt the door slam shut, gritting his teeth as the vibrations rattled his aching ribs. The rustling of plastic grocery bags set the hair on his arms straight up, and he fought a whimper as cans toppled on the counter top. he wished that he was unconscious again as can opener ground against can, the snapping and whining of metal followed by the click-click-click of the gas stove as it lit up.
Slowly, Mat rolled over as the smell of soup filled the small apartment. He buried his face in the couch cushions, listening to the crackling of the stove, his breath slowing until he was half-asleep.
He was dozing when he heard the screech of a chair being dragged across the floor, and the sound of a small body settling against cushions not far from his head. He turned his head to see Leon sitting in the overstuffed cozy chair, a bowl of soup in her hands while another bowl rested precariously on her ragged knees. She slurped some of the soup off her dented spoon and smiled shyly at him.
"Hey," she said. "Are you hungry? I made you some soup."
Mat blinked at her once or twice. "How did you find me?" he asked finally. Leon's brown eyes dropped back to her soup, which she stirred noisily, the spoon clanging against the edges of the bowl.
"You're kind of predictable," she mumbled. "I mean. Another girl dumps you, you go out and get your ass kicked and come back here."
"She didn't dump me," Mat snapped. "And I told you not to come after me. You said you weren't going to."
Leon sighed disgustedly and looked like she was about to say something harshly sarcastic, but then she just shook her head, slumping down further in the chair, the bowl on her knees shaking and nearly spilling over. "I say a lot of things I end up regretting," she said, not looking at Mat. "Besides, I couldn't leave you to your own devices for too long. You end up unconscious in the street, practically drowning in your own blood."
"I did it before you came here." Mat didn't really know why every word that was coming out of his mouth sounded so harsh, but something about hearing a teenage girl recounting the events of his evening exactly as they happened made his chest hollow out with anger. He didn't care if it made her upset. "I never asked you to take care of me."
"Let's remember that if I hadn't found you, you'd probably be dead," she retorted. "I don't really care if you asked me to take care of you. Someone had to do it, 'cause you sure as hell weren't taking care of yourself."
"How can you just walk around talking like that?" Mat demanded. "You're a kid, who's homeless half the time, who has no real family, who's not in school, and yet I'm the one who isn't taking care of myself?"
"Somehow I manage to survive better than you do with an education, a job and an apartment," Leon snapped back. "Look, I don't want to argue about this again, so just eat your goddamn soup, okay?" She picked up the bowl off her lap and thrust it in his face.
Mat just stared at her, fighting the writhing disgust in the pit of his stomach. Who he was disgusted with was an excellent question, and one he wasn't particularly interested in answering. The smell of soup had some kind of calming effect, and instead of answering her accusations angrily, he just silently accepted the soup, shifting against the cushions so he could sit up and eat it. Leon watched him take a spoonful, then went back to her own bowl, shaking her head.
"I don't get it," she said, running a finger around the rim of her bowl.
Mat looked at her, trying not to get defensive even though he sort of knew where this conversation was going. "Get what?" he asked anyway, because he knew if he didn't say it, nothing would get said.
"You," she said, not meeting Mat's gaze. "I mean. Every time you do this, the pattern repeats itself. It doesn't last. But you find another girl, leave to be with her, and end it getting your ass kicked in a back alley." She looked at him suddenly, fiercely, tears in her eyes challenging him to listen. "I wasn't gonna come after you, you know," she choked. "Because this was finally gonna be the time I didn't come help you, the time you learned your lesson. But then... I don't know. I don't know why I came back. I don't get you."
Mat couldn't look at her, and instead stared intently at his soup. There was a moment of silence where all he could hear was his own breathing.
"But," Leon continued, her voice softer as she too went back to her soup, "I'm not sure it matters."
Word count: 831 words
Prompt: "For all your strength and cunning, you're a coward at heart. And to a coward, a hero is a riddle past solving." --Mike Carey for paperskin
Mat felt the door slam shut, gritting his teeth as the vibrations rattled his aching ribs. The rustling of plastic grocery bags set the hair on his arms straight up, and he fought a whimper as cans toppled on the counter top. he wished that he was unconscious again as can opener ground against can, the snapping and whining of metal followed by the click-click-click of the gas stove as it lit up.
Slowly, Mat rolled over as the smell of soup filled the small apartment. He buried his face in the couch cushions, listening to the crackling of the stove, his breath slowing until he was half-asleep.
He was dozing when he heard the screech of a chair being dragged across the floor, and the sound of a small body settling against cushions not far from his head. He turned his head to see Leon sitting in the overstuffed cozy chair, a bowl of soup in her hands while another bowl rested precariously on her ragged knees. She slurped some of the soup off her dented spoon and smiled shyly at him.
"Hey," she said. "Are you hungry? I made you some soup."
Mat blinked at her once or twice. "How did you find me?" he asked finally. Leon's brown eyes dropped back to her soup, which she stirred noisily, the spoon clanging against the edges of the bowl.
"You're kind of predictable," she mumbled. "I mean. Another girl dumps you, you go out and get your ass kicked and come back here."
"She didn't dump me," Mat snapped. "And I told you not to come after me. You said you weren't going to."
Leon sighed disgustedly and looked like she was about to say something harshly sarcastic, but then she just shook her head, slumping down further in the chair, the bowl on her knees shaking and nearly spilling over. "I say a lot of things I end up regretting," she said, not looking at Mat. "Besides, I couldn't leave you to your own devices for too long. You end up unconscious in the street, practically drowning in your own blood."
"I did it before you came here." Mat didn't really know why every word that was coming out of his mouth sounded so harsh, but something about hearing a teenage girl recounting the events of his evening exactly as they happened made his chest hollow out with anger. He didn't care if it made her upset. "I never asked you to take care of me."
"Let's remember that if I hadn't found you, you'd probably be dead," she retorted. "I don't really care if you asked me to take care of you. Someone had to do it, 'cause you sure as hell weren't taking care of yourself."
"How can you just walk around talking like that?" Mat demanded. "You're a kid, who's homeless half the time, who has no real family, who's not in school, and yet I'm the one who isn't taking care of myself?"
"Somehow I manage to survive better than you do with an education, a job and an apartment," Leon snapped back. "Look, I don't want to argue about this again, so just eat your goddamn soup, okay?" She picked up the bowl off her lap and thrust it in his face.
Mat just stared at her, fighting the writhing disgust in the pit of his stomach. Who he was disgusted with was an excellent question, and one he wasn't particularly interested in answering. The smell of soup had some kind of calming effect, and instead of answering her accusations angrily, he just silently accepted the soup, shifting against the cushions so he could sit up and eat it. Leon watched him take a spoonful, then went back to her own bowl, shaking her head.
"I don't get it," she said, running a finger around the rim of her bowl.
Mat looked at her, trying not to get defensive even though he sort of knew where this conversation was going. "Get what?" he asked anyway, because he knew if he didn't say it, nothing would get said.
"You," she said, not meeting Mat's gaze. "I mean. Every time you do this, the pattern repeats itself. It doesn't last. But you find another girl, leave to be with her, and end it getting your ass kicked in a back alley." She looked at him suddenly, fiercely, tears in her eyes challenging him to listen. "I wasn't gonna come after you, you know," she choked. "Because this was finally gonna be the time I didn't come help you, the time you learned your lesson. But then... I don't know. I don't know why I came back. I don't get you."
Mat couldn't look at her, and instead stared intently at his soup. There was a moment of silence where all he could hear was his own breathing.
"But," Leon continued, her voice softer as she too went back to her soup, "I'm not sure it matters."