#pastafossa

You felt a sharp pain in your lower back as you moved on the couch, trying to adjust your hand from its earlier position tucked between your chin and your chest. It was numb now, which pretty much ruined your sleep along with the back pain people your age shouldn’t really have; something your parents never let you forget.

Getting up, your eyes were met with the red neon sign outside Matt’s window glaring at you. It was still dark out, so you hadn’t dozed off for that long, coursing yourself in your head when your brain confirmed for you that all of this was real, your surroundings making your brain more confident of that fact.

After fetching yourself a glass of water, you glanced around the apartment for any signs of Matt. You concluded he was still out investing whatever lead he had mentioned earlier. You sat down on the couch, picking up the opened book on the coffee table, which, you realised, probably what led you to falling asleep. It wasn’t that it was boring, you were just not the person who could read a book for hours on end, not anymore at least.

A sharp, but quiet sound interrupted your thoughts as you realised that it was the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen climbing in through the window of his apartment, the one that led to the firescape. “I couldn’t get your ice cream, it was a long night, sorry.”, he said, removing his mask, his hair now messy and ruffled.

“You really don’t have to apologize, and I was gonna eat it tomorrow anyway.”, you said earnestly. “Do you need any stitches or something?”, you added, your tone hesitant. You didn’t really know how to stitch someone up, or anything beyond basic first aid. You just wanted to help Matt, wanting to somehow repay him for the kindness he had shown you by letting you stay here.

“Thanks for the offer but I actually had someone help with that today. Usually I just do it myself but there was a piece of glass on my shoulder I couldn’t reach.”, he muttered, his tone soft. He probably went to Claire’s, you thought absently, as you asked,”How did that even happen?”

“There was a guy with a gun and his kid-”, he paused for a moment, contemplating his answer, and sighed, “It’s a long story, I don’t really want to get into it.”

“Got it. Do you have a bedsheet I could lay on on the floor? I know you said I should take the bed, but you’re clearly hurt and you need rest.”, you said, “I would take the couch but its not exactly doing wonders for my back”, you added quickly, in an embarrassed tone.

He opened his mouth to retort but you cut him off. “Just take some rest dude. God knows you of all people need it.” Matt’s shoulders slumped, getting up to head to his room. He was back about two minutes later, now changed into a t-shirt, a dull shade of blue, and grey sweatpants, with sheets and a pillow in his hands. He had his red tinted glasses on now too, you noticed. You muttered a thanks as he handed the heap to you, which was impossibly soft and light. You couldn’t explain it, but this is what you always thought clouds would feel like.

“I’m gonna talk to the guy that makes fake Id’s, good ones at that, tomorrow and enroll you in the nearest school.”, he said, his tone soft. Your hand went up to go through your hair, an action you found weirdly comforting. You didn’t want the burden of another education system on you, this was like your second chance to live your life differently, not always worrying about grades and colleges, after all. “Actually, I don’t want to go to school again, if that’s okay?”, you said after a moment, “I don’t want to be stuck in that place again. I actually thought if….if I could get a job somewhere? Like a cafe or a bookshop or something?”

“I definitely understand that. And if you’re looking for a job, you’re always welcome to be an intern at Nelson and Murdock, if you’re interested in that?”, he said kindly, to which you answered in a heartbeat, “Yes! That would be awesome. Plus if I get caught with my fake id, my employers are going to be two lawyers.”

Matt chuckled, at which you grinned, and greeted him good night, setting up the sheets on the cold floor.

-X-

You were woken up by the sound of the city, and you wondered how Matt was able to sleep in such a loud place with his heightened senses. Matt was already dressed up and had laid down some clothes for you along with a plate of eggs and cereal on the coffee table. You got up, freshened up, took a shower, changed into the clothes Matt got you, a white shirt and work pants, they didn’t fit you well, but you didn’t really mind.

Walking up to the living room, you saw Matt eating, and you didn’t realize how much you were starving until you picked up your plate and the scent of the freshly boiled eggs hit you. “How are you going to explain all of this to Foggy and Karen?”, you mumbled, your mouth full.

“They know Nordic Gods exist so you being from an alternate universe shouldn’t be too hard to explain.”, he said, his tone playful.

You huffed a small laugh, as you finished eating your breakfast.

After washing your plate, you headed out on the street with Matt, experiencing New York for the first time. The skies were cloudy today, the sound of Matt’s cane tapping on the pavement was rhythmic for some reason, the busy chatter on the streets as you saw people half asleep, tired, with coffee in their hands heading to their places of work. The two of you finally reached his office; Matt entered first, followed by you. Matt was greeted by a bright looking man with blonde, shaggy hair, who you instantly recognized as Foggy. Karen, you noticed, was behind the desk looking at some papers when she greeted Matt with a puzzled look on her face after taking a glance at you.

Matt introduced you and started explaining the whole alternate universe debacle to them. Foggy and Karen listened to him carefully while he was talking, taking glances at you in between while you stood there awkwardly. They were quiet after Matt stopped speaking, processing all the information given to them, when finally Foggy spoke up, “Matt you know I trust you and whatever you say, but this sounds batshit crazy to me.”

“I know, that’s what I thought too but she- she knows things, Foggy. She told me that there was a show, in her universe, about us. You know, like a lawyer show.”, he said, the last part being a lie. He couldn’t exactly tell Foggy the show was about a blind lawyer who was a vigilante by night.

“And you believed that?”, Foggy grumbled, looking at you suspiciously.

You decided to finally speak up, clearing your throat, “I know that you met Matt in college. He was your roommate; you took Punjabi to impress some girl and you called lawyers 'avocados’. That was hilarious, by the way. Karen, yes, I know your name, you were falsely accused of murdering your boss and were targeted by his company when you went snooping around.”

“Okay, I believe you. Since you already know me and Karen, we would like to know who you are too.”, Foggy said, his friendly demeanor back.

You glanced at Karen to see if she was still examining you; but she smiled and nodded, so you introduced yourself.

Matt had gone into his office during all of this, something you noticed when he walked back and told Foggy about your job as an intern here. He turned to face you, and said, “Your job would be just filing paperwork and helping the three of us. We don’t have too much to do here today.” You nodded in response.

-x-

It had been about a month of you working at Nelson and Murdock. You had a lot of fun there; your humour matched with Foggy’s, you were more comfortable around Matt now that you’d been hogging his apartment for a month. You had gotten another job at the coffee shop near the office; you didn’t want to put the burden of feeding you on Matt. He was already letting you stay at his place, the least you could do was take care of yourself, and he was barely getting by himself given his mostly pro-bono work. You admired that about him, his willingness to help people, and the extent to which he would go to do it. Karen was pretty great too, she was always helping you out with anything you had a problem with You had bought yourself a mattress for yourself, along with an old puzzle, in which you had to solve the murders with six victims and six killers; you always wanted to build a sort of murderboard, the ones detectives on television go insane looking at. You were in progress of doing that, having collected the supplies you needed for it from your salary at the coffee shop. You had decided to not take any money from Nelson and Murdock once you started working at the coffee shop, even though Matt and Foggy had insisted, at which you just told them you had another source of income and didn’t need more. You really enjoyed working there though, so you were an unpaid intern now.

Matt went out at night, as the Man in the Mask, which you knew would happen, but you had grown to think of him as a friend, and that resulted in you worrying about him. One of those days was particularly bad, when he hadn’t come home till three in the morning. You hadn’t been able to sleep that night, you usually finished up your tasks up until Matt got home; that night was different, and you had a bad feeling about it. When he finally managed to stumble in through the window, limping, his body was bloodied, gashes visible through his torn shirt.

You got the cleaning kit for him, along with some comfortable clothes. He probably noticed your panicked breathing, because he assured you he was okay, a fact you did not believe for a second. He told you he had passed out in a garbage can, and a nurse who lived nearby stitched him up and had saved his life. You remembered that, from the show, that it was Claire. Who had stitched him up the day you met him then, you wondered for a moment, before finally getting some much needed sleep that day.

-x-

Another month passed by, Matt had made progress with the Russians, which you weren’t happy about, that just meant he would go out everyday still bleeding. You also noticed he seemed to be in a better mood after his nightly activities lately. You were planning to ask him about it when you were on your way with him to Nelson and Murdock today.

He was in a chipper mood today, asking you about the movie you watched yesterday with him. You picked up bagels for all four of them, and catched up with Matt, walking faster than your usual pace.

“Why didn’t you stop when I was buying us bagels?”, you asked, the slight annoyance in your tone evident.

“Oh did you stop on the way? Not informing a blind man about that is kind of on you, don’t you think?”, he said smugly, a smirk on his face.

“You are so-”, you started, but were interrupted by the fact that you had reached the office, so you decided to drop the matter as Foggy and Karen took the bagels from your hands and greeted you.

Damn, these things were really good, you thought, as you noticed Matt suddenly put his bagel on the plate and picked up his cane, walking out of the office.

About twenty seconds later, there was a knock on the door, and Karen headed towards it, she had clearly been waiting for a client, you thought as a woman entered and Karen smiled warmly at her and said, “Welcome to Nelson and Murdock. My name is Karen. You’re Ms. Hind right?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*This has turned into a fanfic of a fanfic because the Red Thread is just so cool!! *Reader doesn't really know much about the Red Thread, she knows who Jane Hind is, but has read only a few chapters of it.