You've Got to Be Kind

“Huh? Oh, uh…The Princess Bride?” He said, sheepishly, as if the other person had never heard of it – yet he knew, full well and good, that just about everyone knew about the book and its film counterpart. Not waiting to be told that yes, the man had heard of it, and what was Charlie doing reading it just now for the first time, he added, “It’s very dramatic, isn’t it?” He said, laughing lightly at himself. “I’m not much of a reader, but I guess…” what was the saying? “Go hard or go home?”

It seemed like it was rare these days to find someone so engaged in a book that they were talking to it like people did to the TV during football games or at Fox news. Matty was never much of a reader. He didn’t mind it when he had to but unless the topic was really compelling or it was a book that everyone was reading, he usually chose TV shows and movies over books. “Oh! Like the movie! As you wiiiiiiish.” Matty quoted the movie and chuckled before returning back to the conversation “Man, I have not thought about that movie in awhile.” Though he hadn’t seen the movie in years but it was one that he remembered fondly. A good story, funny, and a happy ending, it had all the components of a great movie. “I think if a book can suck in a non-reader that much then it has done it’s job. Have you seen the movie? It’s like so good, too! I’ve never read the book so I don’t know which is better... but you should definitely watch the movie after if you haven’t already.”

Call the presses, or don’t since Augustus owned them, but Charlie was reading. Sat in the library long after his shift, Princess Bride clutched tightly in his hands, and a pained look on his face as he got to the climax. He remembered seeing it back in 1973 on Augustus’s shelf, and teasing him about it, yet here he was now: utterly enthralled. “Oh, no,” he began, “no, no, no, no!” He shouted, as if the characters in the book could hear him.

Matty had come to find himself inside the doors Ethae at least once a day. Whether he was grabbing a cup of coffee downstairs or upstairs doing homework, Ethae had quickly become one of his favorite places to be. This time, he sat upstairs reading a textbook for his Biology class, highlighter in hand when he heard someone yelling. Alarmed, Matty turned to look for the person in trouble, relieved to find that it was just someone knee-deep in the plot of a book. “What are you reading that is that good?”

“I see. So you’re earning your do-gooder son points, then?” Penny asked jokingly. “What’ll be your reward when you finally rack up enough of ‘em, a trip to GameStop?” She quickly looked him up and down as she took the money, and the short assessment was more than enough time to confirm to herself that, yes, he did look a bit like a mamma’s boy. Maybe it was the dimples—or the tireless pleasantries he doled out, seemingly unending in nature, but his entire person screamed wholesome. It made sense that he had a close relationship with his mom and upon coming to that conclusion, she fleetingly wondered what it must be like. Handing him his change, she then side-stepped toward the display case filled with baked goods and retrieved a brown bag from a cubby beneath it. 

“Umm,” she started, her shoulders tense as she distracted herself with the task of opening the case and placing the muffins into the bag. She bit on the inside of her cheek for a moment, reminding herself not to react to his question in a knee-jerk manner. “It’s all a little…” she continued, folding over the top of the bag then gesturing vaguely toward the ceiling with a hand. “Up in the air, you could say, but hopefully my imprisonment doesn’t last longer than something like six months-ish. No offense, but—ah,” a breathy, humorless laugh bubbled out of her as she handed the bag over to Matty and shook her head, “this place has always had a weird kinda Twin Peaks vibe, but instead of being like, Golden Globe-worthy or whatever, it’s just suuuper boring. I’m shocked anyone sticks around.”

"I’m always working on those points. I may even have a high score.” Matty tried to joke back even if he didn’t see it that way. As far as he was concerned, he was just doing something nice. I didn’t really expect anything in return. Though it was initially hard to get in the habit of doing things without the expectation of something in return, the warm and fuzzy feeling he got from doing something kind was like a reward in itself now. “I could do with a field trip to GameStop. Not my top choice but I wouldn’t turn it down, you know?” 

It took until the final moments of the transaction but it finally felt like a normal conversation. He was glad to see that Penny was no longer taking everything he said as vaguely hostile. “Ah, well, six months isn’t too long in the grand scheme of things if you’re really desperate to get out of here. I don’t think it’s that bad though.” Matty shrugged. He realized that this town wasn’t for everyone but there was plenty to do and good people to spend time with. As far as Matty was concerned, that’s all anyone needed. It wasn’t fast-paced city life where there were ten new things to do every day but there didn’t always need to be. The people who needed that kind of constant excitement were the people who didn’t know how to entertain themselves. He took the bag from her with a smile. “It’s not as boring as you probably remember. Seriously. Especially with the nice weather, there’s a lot going on. If you need someone to show you, let me know. I come here a lot so it’s not hard to find me.” 

This was why Lupe knew she could turn to Matty. She wanted to stuff her face with two burgers and he wasn’t even batting an eye, nor was he going to sit there silently judging her for the appetite she’d worked up. Honestly, sometimes she wondered what she did to ever deserve a friend like Matty, let alone everyone else in their little group. 

“I try not to think too much about any demons when I don’t have to,” she snorted behind her menu, trying to decide on which burgers to pick out. It’d probably do her some good to at least talk about her run-in with Hugo and try coping with it, but she’d rather pull out her own teeth than rehash that painful memory. “I actually have a normal, human problem I need your opinion on.”

Finally placing her menu down and deciding on her order, Lupe’s gaze lingered around the other diner-goers and kept an eye out for whoever their waiter might be. “You know about Nolan’s cousin, right?” She suddenly asked, fingernails anxiously tapping against the table. “The one I asked him about that one time? Said I was only asking for a friend? Well, I may or may not have been asking for myself, and I may or may not be catching feelings for her.”

“That’s fair. Demons have a way of taking down the general mood a notch or two. A power or coincidence? We may never know.” Matty chuckled at his own joke. As much as he tried to keep a positive attitude, when it came to demons Matty struggled to keep the sunny outlook that he was so well known for. The longer he was in Mystery Inc., the more difficult it was becoming to remain hopeful that there was any possibility of good within them.

It was a relief to hear that Lupe had a normal problem. Though he loved Mystery Inc., the break from problems surrounding vampires, demons, mermaids, and fairies was a welcomed change. A smile unintentionally appeared across his face and though he tried to wipe it off as soon as he realized it, he was almost positive Lupe noticed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to smile. It’s just that I can’t think of the last time I had a conversation about normal problems with someone.” It made his heart a little lighter just thinking about having a regular conversation about normal problems; the kind of problems that people in Small Town, Indiana and Big City, California had too. 

“Kind of.” Matty answered. “Not personally but I know of her.” He nodded along as he listened, fully focusing his attention on her. “Are you worried about Nolan’s reaction to you having feelings for her or am I way off base? Is she not a relationship person? I don’t want to pry but you’re going to have to give me a little more than that.”

“Right,” Penny repeated back, as if she were emphasizing her previous comment to him. She immediately felt more at ease as soon as the conversation was carefully segued into an area less thorny and uncomfortable. She hadn’t entered the interaction with the intent of it going south; in fact, she wanted it to be quick and completely painless. But such as many things in her life had the habit of doing as of late, it took a turn for the unfavorably unexpected. She cleared her throat again, resolute in its finality; her teenage behavior as a topic of discussion officially put to rest for the time-being. She didn’t have much of a desire to ever unearth the subject again and she felt lucky in the fact that Matty didn’t seem keen push it. From what she remembered about him, she supposed he wouldn’t be the type to. Then again, she started to note that she didn’t really know him that well at all, plus there were five years between the last time she saw Matty and now. Who knew what might’ve changed on his end in the interim?

She pursed her lips as she waited for him to relay what he wanted, drumming her fingers silently against the counter to rid herself of the restless energy that still buzzed within her. As he spoke, she began to tap his order into the screen on the register but couldn’t quite tamp down the quick, breathy laugh that pushed its way out between her lips. “Yeah? All those muffins for you, big guy?” She asked without thinking. After a split second, the question caught up with her. Her training included being told the rule of never making a customer feel weird or judged for their order. Plenty of people had come through Ethae with far more bizarre and unhealthy requests than Matty’s, which was actually incredibly tame, yet for some reason the comment slipped out nonetheless—albeit it lacked any real maliciousness. It could almost have been called playful. She reached for a cup for his iced coffee to keep her hands busy, pulling the sharpie from behind her ear to scribble his order and a cheeky ‘Mikey’ on it, then placed it to the side for her coworker to fill. “That’s gonna be $9.50,” she announced quickly, meeting his eyes expectantly.

It was a rare that Matty ever wanted to escape a conversation but the longer that this went on, the more he felt uncomfortable and as if he was making Penny uncomfortable as well. It was never his intention but his mere presence seemed to set her off. At her question, he frowned at first, wondering if she meant that to be as judgmental as it sounded. He made the decision not to respond to it defensively or take offense and instead chuckled “No, I’ll eat one and the other one is for my mom. That third one though… I guess it just depends on who gets to it first.” Usually Matty left it alone so his mother could take it for breakfast but since neither of them ever wanted to be the one to take the last muffin, his mom would cut it down the middle so they could each have a bit.

If Matty were to learn any lesson from this, it should have been that he needed to buy four muffins. It was apparently a lesson to be learned another time as he pulled out a twenty dollar bill. He watched her write his name, although he couldn’t read it from the other side of the clear cup very well, Matty could make out the shape enough to know that Penny still did not know his name. In an effort to not make things awkward, he kept quiet on the issue and handed over the twenty as she said the total. “So are you here for long?” Matty asked, taking one last stab at having a conversation with Penny and ending on a good note. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he was also wondering if he was going to have awkward and uncomfortable encounters at Ethae regularly now.

“There are definitely worse bosses out there,” Lupe agreed with an airy laugh. She had to admit her boss was especially lax and mellow, though she had her suspicions that he was secretly just one of the chillest werewolves she’d met. That was a theory best saved for another day, however. “If your boss ever decides to stop being nice, let me know and I can go rough ‘em up for you. Maybe we can even release a coyote in their office.”

When she laughed again, it was clear she’d regained her breath and was settling down for now. “God, I’m starving. I think I’m gonna order two burgers as long as you don’t judge me for it,” she snorted. At the mention of the car wash, her expression shifted to a mixture of regret and disappointment. “It was going great until the demon showed up toward the end. He totally screwed up my plans for the night, which is…actually something I’ve been meaning to get your opinion on.”

“Well, I’ll definitely keep that in mind but even if she wasn’t very nice I don’t think that I’d ever want to see her roughed up or with a wild animal in her office. That sounds dangerous.” Even so, Matty enjoyed the sentiment that Lupe wanted to look out for him. It was sweet, even if he didn’t need protecting. “Maybe we can play a prank on her if it ever comes to that. A harmless and silly prank. Mildly inconveniencing at most.” 

Matty picked up a menu and glanced at it, just to check if he brought enough to also have a side of fries. “Go for it! I’m sure you worked up quite the appetite. Besides, have you ever known me to judge before?” Matty raised an eyebrow. It seemed like a timely question since Lupe seemed to be in need of a judgment-free zone. He couldn’t think of another reason Lupe would come to him over other people that they knew. “Demons have a way of ruining a lot of things. What is it you need my opinion on? Is it something with the demon?” His eyes widened as he tried to backtrack, “If it is, I’m not judging you. I’m just curious. That’s all. I don’t judge anyone. I promise.” 

Lupe would swear up and down that she loved and appreciated all of her friends, but she had to admit that she’d developed a soft spot for Matty in particular. It was true that she valued each and every member of Mystery Inc, but there was something about Matty that made him so easy to talk to. He wouldn’t judge, wouldn’t pry more than necessary, and wouldn’t poke fun when given the chance. Given everything that’d happened recently – not to mention the ongoing tryst with Delilah – Lupe felt she needed to get everything off of her chest. Who better to turn to than dear ol’ Matty? 

Bounding into Talbot’s with her ranger uniform still on, Lupe immediately spotted Matty’s hand waving her down and made her way to his booth. “Don’t worry about it,” she replied, a little breathless and she slid in the seat across from him. “Sorry I’m late; my boss was chatting my ear off after I clocked out and held me up for ages. Anyway, how’re you doing?”

Matty was never the type to feel uncomfortable sitting at a table alone. He was a patient person and could always find something to do whether it be making small talk with someone nearby or doodling on a napkin. If he had been able to find himself a pen, he could have made a pretty cool Ranger Lupe doodle. It was a drawing for another day and worthy of a real piece of paper. “Don’t worry about it.” He said honestly. “I haven’t been here that long anyway. At least your boss likes you enough to just talk, right? Not that mine doesn’t, I just think that it’d be pretty tough to have a boss that doesn’t like you.” He let his voice drop off as he realized he was rambling about nothing. 

He drummed on the table twice as he thought about his answer, as if it would be anything other than good. Matty liked to be honest with anyone he was talking to but it was a rare day when he couldn’t find something good to talk about. "Anywho.... I’m pretty good! Even better now that you’re here and we’re about to get some food. I’ve been thinking about a burger all day.” He took a final drink of his coke, the last of the soda disappearing from the cup. “And how are you? We didn’t get much of a chance to talk the other day at the car wash.”

The diner was hardly crowded on a Tuesday night but it’s part of why Matty enjoyed going on weeknights so much.  Usually, Matty had his backpack sitting in the seat across from him. Homework was a lousy dinner date but it had to get done and it was nice to work on it in an atmosphere where he could chat with others if it seemed like they had the time. Some days he got more talking done than work but his connections and friendships that he made were more important to him than course work. 

Tonight he didn’t have his backpack. Instead, he had a real friend to sit across from and talk to. It felt nice to just sit and talk for a little bit considering all the stress that everyone had been under. This town moved so fast that sometimes he just wanted everyone to pause for a moment and take a few deep breaths.

Matty had already ordered a Pepsi while he was waiting for Lupe to arrive. When she appeared in the doorway, Matty grinned and held up a hand to catch her attention to where he was sitting. “Hey! I hope you don’t mind that I already got something to drink. I just really can’t resist whenever anyone asks me if I want soda. How are you?” 

Matty didn’t need the explanation to know exactly who was standing in front of him. The image of the man was burned into his mind forever and for a moment, excitement had surged through his body. The search was over and he could say that he had finally met and thanked the angel that saved his mother. It was the reason that he had joined Mystery Inc. and though his reasons for staying had become a lot bigger than his own mission, it felt good to know he could close the book on this.

Until the rug was pulled out from underneath his feet. “Oh please don’t.” His voice was soft, it was all that Matty could muster up as he stared at the man wide-eyed in disbelief. He tried to think of something else to say. Something more convincing than please. He had put so much of his faith in angels purely because of the man standing in front of him and it was for nothing. What good were miracles if they could be taken back? He didn’t want to know how many people had to face the moment where they found out their miracle had been stolen away– and with it went their peace of mind. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Matty mumbled at first. Unfortunately for Lupe, she was the third person to ask him the same thing and the more he drank, the less he was able to keep his emotions in check. The control he needed to keep all those negative emotions at bay was suddenly gone. “I don’t– I don’t need you checking up on me. I don’t need anyone checking up on me. You all think I can’t handle myself... I know you think that! But I can. I can! I’m not some kid! I don’t need help getting home. I got it. And maybe I missed the point where everyone got really good at handling their drinks. WELL I WAS A LITTLE BUSY WHEN TEEN DRINKING REALLY CAUGHT ON IN MY GRADE. I’m not a kid, Lupe! I’m GOOD! I’m FINE and I don’t need you or anyone else to always feel like they need to hold my hand! Just go and find someone else to baby!”

Elaina frowned and shook her head to answer his question. She felt like she could trust him more than most humans, which was a good feeling. She couldn’t see him going off to gossip to the world. Maybe if he had a mother or father he confided everything to, she wouldn’t mind too much. But Elaina didn’t want to risk encouraging him to tell anyone either. So she said nothing more on it.

She smiled at Matty’s concern. “Oh, don’t worry about me.” Elaina insisted. “It takes more than a simple truck to damage an angel’s wings. Besides, I’m just happy you learned your lesson.” She pat him on the leg once with a playful smile.

It was disappointing to hear that he couldn’t tell anyone else and he’d do his best to keep it to himself. As well intentioned as Matty always was, in the back of his mind he knew that he would slip to someone unintentionally out of excitement and devotion to Mystery Inc. Though he usually told his mother everything, he knew this wasn’t the type of thing to go to her with. For his mother, angels sat behind the scenes and did the work. They didn’t jump out in front of moving vehicles to save distracted humans. Telling her would involve a lot more explanation about the other activities that he hid from her like Mystery Inc. 

“If it takes more than a speeding ambulance, what does it take?” His eyes widened as he realized how that question probably came off. “Not that I want to hurt you! I promise! I just am curious. That’s all.” 

Elaina tried to smile a bit more at his reassurance, but she still wasn’t completely sure. “It’s something I prefer you don’t talk about. You understand, it’s… well, it’s sensitive. And there are dangers that come with people knowing that kind of thing.” She wasn’t worried about the dangers, but he was an empathetic person and perhaps it would help him sympathize more with her situation. She did not like this situation, but alas it was part of her duty to remain secretive amongst humans. It was times like these she didn’t like her duty. 

“Not for you,” she assured him, straightening up and putting a hand out a bit, as if to gesture and make the statement stronger. “You will be safe, I promise.” She offered a more encouraging smile. “I’ll make sure of it. I don’t regret what I did because you’re okay, and that’s what matters. I would do it again.”

“So don’t tell anyone?” He asked, hoping for an answer that left a little wiggle room in which he could tell Mystery Inc. or at the very least Jess. He saw and understood her frustrations with the angels, even if they weren’t feelings that he shared with her. He at least wanted to show her that the angels were out there and saving lives. 

He smiled softly at her. As much as Matty appreciated the sentiment, he didn’t want there to have to be another situation where a Caro had to be saved by an angel. He didn’t know what he did to deserve the grace of angels now twice in his life with the promise that she would still watch over him. “Thank you, but hopefully you won’t need to do it again. I promise I’m not about to walk blindly into a parking lot again. I learned my lesson. Plus, I don’t want to risk your wings getting hurt.” 

As a rule, Penny generally didn’t do guilt when it came to most people. It was an emotion she often found to be a waste of energy, causing an unnecessary amount of mental stress that she did not otherwise need in her life. She wasn’t a person who wanted to regret her actions or decisions, so one day she resolved to try not to. It was easier to then do things like cut people out of her life and move across the country in pursuit of a dream that she had hoped would then keep her away. It made it easier to be brash, to demand the things she wanted without regard to how they would be obtained, particularly if it was at another person’s expense. But all of that didn’t explain the flush of heat that crept down her neck and around her collar, or the faint weight that settled in her stomach at the sight of the look on Matty’s face. God, did she feel bad — or was it just embarrassment at having gauged the tone of the interaction so wrong? She was no stranger to possibly, maybe overreacting now and again, but she usually felt pretty vindicated in it.

“Oh,” she let out sharply on an exhalation. Her arms uncrossed, allowing her hands to settle uselessly in front of the register. After a split second, they curled into fists, her fingernails biting into the palms of her hands to distract herself from the way the initial aggravation suddenly left her, her shoulders slumping minutely. “Well — okay, fine. Sure.” He seemed genuine to her, so technically she shouldn’t have seen much reason to doubt the sincerity of his statements but she still found it a little difficult not to. It was abundantly clear that Matty and her were hardly similar, but she knew with an indisputable clarity that if she were in his shoes, she’d find the entire situation hilarious. Possibly even a form of divine justice. So while she mostly accepted his explanation, an amount of defensiveness clung on. “But good for you for not… holding onto it or whatever, because it wasn’t like I was actually awful to you.” She paused a moment, unsure of where to take the interaction next before the sudden jarring sound of the espresso machine jolted her into remembering where she was. “Shh — shoot,” she said, catching herself before she could swear again. “Right.” Clearing her throat lightly, she unclenched her hands. “Well, we can probably table this little catch-up. I’m assuming you were going to order something?”

From a young age Matty seemed to do pretty well getting along with others. He could have a conversation with anyone on a park bench, strangers always seemed to smile back, and it was a rare day that he didn’t have a quick conversation with the person on the other side of the counter so this was an unprecedented level of things going poorly. From the moment he stepped up to the counter, it was one miscommunication and misstep after another. He hoped that he had caught her on an off day rather than his charisma was somehow fading.

Her response was one that Matty expected. It was unclear whether she truly thought the ways she took advantage of his kindness weren’t that bad or she was simply playing it off because they were in public. Maybe it was relative. Penny wasn’t that terrible to him as long as they were comparing it to the way that she treated other people that they went to school with. But as far as Matty was concerned, relative matters weren’t a factor when it came to the treatment of others. The poor treatment of other’s wasn’t lessened by someone being treated worse. It crossed Matty’s mind to make a comment about it but he already felt guilty for stressing her out this way when he could step away and do something to relax and she still had to work the rest of her shift. “Actually awful... right.” he pushed his thoughts on it to the side at the mention of food. “Right! Food. Coffee. What I came here for....” he glanced up at the menu, trying to jog his memory since his order had run away with his ability to hold a normal conversation upon seeing Penny again. “Medium caramel iced coffee and three chocolate chip muffins.” 

Parker couldn’t imagine still living with his parents. As kind as they were, they were adamant about their rule of kids moving out when they graduate. He remembered coming home from a graduation party with his bags already being packed. But Matty and his mom had been through a lot together, they likely had a completely different dynamic. He took a big gulp of his drink as Matty spoke. "What if you brought home someone who was supernatural? Would you ever date someone who was?” He asked innocently. He had been wondering this for himself ever since he begun talking to Ophelia. Was saying that you weren’t comfortable dating a certain species similar to saying that you wouldn’t date a certain race? He had so many questions about the politics of having supernaturals in the world. He didn’t even know if he wanted to tell Matty about her.

"As in, would I tell my mom that they were?” Matty asked as he tried to figure out where Parker’s questions were coming from. It was a fair question. After his crush on Athena he had considered this more than he probably should have for only making out with her once but Matty’s whole heart was always in everything that he did and that meant that his heart was sometimes seven or eight steps ahead of real life. “I would date someone who was. Even a demon if they’re not all like Hugo and Josie... I don’t want to generalize a species or anything, you know?” He leaned over and set down his crust on a napkin and turned back to focus on his friend. “I’d bring them home but, like, I wouldn’t burst in the door like ‘Mom! I’ve been making out with this fairy and she’s super great. She’s coming over for dinner on Friday.’ or anything.” Matty chuckled at his own joke, thoroughly amused with himself. “Why do you ask?” 

👄If your muse had the ‘kiss of death’, would they ever use it?  

[Answered here!]

👽What would they do if they witnessed an alien ship crash landing?

Run directly in the opposite direction if he was alone because he’s too cautious to explore something like that on his own. If he wasn’t already with someone he’d find them and immediately bring them back to show them. He would let himself get dragged along to explore the crash if he wasn’t the only one there. 

👣Do they believe in Bigfoot? What about other legendary creatures?