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Mattholomule woke with a start, immediately bolting upright and staring at the wall in shock.
It was a dream. A stupid, horrible, bad dream.
He let out a sigh, turning his head to the screaming clock sitting on the bedside cabinet. 1AM. He'd barely even slept and already he didn't want to keep trying.
Matt grumbled, collapsing back onto the bed with something like a whimper. What now? How could he sleep with so many… Annoying thoughts in his mind? He didn't want to think about… Feelings.
In an effort to take his mind off the things circulating in his brain, Mattholomule pulled his scroll out from under his pillow and scrolled Hooter, hoping for something, anything interesting. But still, his mind kept coming to the things he'd had nightmares of; he felt like there wasn't an escape from it. He was tired, annoyed, and above all, he felt lonely. For Titan's sake.
Scrolling more and more, he eventually paused; a recent hoot from a mutual of his. He didn't really bother with Hooter mutuals, but this one piqued his interest; because it was Augustus.
Someone he'd followed at first for the sake of being the HAS president, but never found himself unfollowing since he'd taken the club for himself. And now, after the events at the illusionist's graveyard, and the concept of being friends… Mattholomule assumed he should stick to following him.
Gus didn't hoot much besides talking about, and rehooting, human crap. But he had to admit, he enjoyed seeing it on his timeline.
What had stood out to Mattholomule was the fact this was a recent post, made in the last few minutes; meaning the illusionist could still be awake. Right now, more than anything, Matt wanted someone to talk to.
If it had to be Augustus, then Augustus it would be.
After all, he didn't mind his company-- after frequent visits to the looking glass graveyard together, he'd found Gus' presence comforting, in some way. Right now, what Mattholomule needed was comfort. Some kind of assurance. His brain continued to drift to thoughts about Glandus, his worries about being alone again; he'd already tried fitting into every social group at Hexside and failed, until Augustus took pity on him. The HAS was the easy way into a group, and none of them had really been 'friends'. He avoided the unpopular group, starting a rivalry with the boy in question; and the popular group had used him at Grom, ending in him being alone at the end the night. Even trying to go back to the Glandus gang after Bria had 'apologised' and promised him things would be different, it had never changed.
And yet, Augustus was kind to him. It didn't feel like a bond formed out of pity, or a wall being put up… Something about Augustus was different, and the more Mattholomule pondered what that could be, the more he realised he'd been thinking about the witch too long and ended up red in the face. Part of him didn't trust the boy, and yet another part of him wanted to be as open and talkative as possible to him, to tell him everything and to be held… His face went red again. Stop that.
Letting out a laboured breath, Mattholomule opened up his messages, and hovered over the username; 'IllusionMaster95'. Would the witch make fun of him for this? Texting at 1AM because he had a nightmare about something as pathetic as being alone? No, no, it's not in Augustus' nature to be like that. But still, a twinge of doubt kept pecking at Mattholomule's brain-- Augustus had been so kind recently, so caring towards him. How could he distrust the boy that had bought him coffee and cake after he'd had a horrible encounter with a ferocious slasherbeast and fallen off a cliff, nearly tumbling down into the boiling sea?
Matt shuddered, spine tingling as he could almost still feel the heat of the boiling water that had come so close to his face.
How could he not trust the boy who'd carefully patched his face up only the previous day, dabbing away with a wet cloth at the blood that had been dripping down his chin? That talked to him about the fight that had started from fighting a particularly mean-spirited, pink-haired girl for being so loud at Grudgby practice while he was trying to demonstrate how a piece of human-made plastic could be used as a hat?
Now, Bria would never do that for him. Neither would Gavin or Angmar. Celine and the group he'd tried sticking with at grom would never, nor would the HAS members. But Gus, for some reason, would always have his back, and he couldn't understand why.
Augustus. Shit. You're calling him by that dumb nickname again!
Surely, this was all just a wall, right? Something Augustus put up to get to Mattholomule's center before breaking him down? A soft act that would get him closer to him, only to use him like a lackey.
He frowned, a small grimace crossing his face as a bad taste hit his mouth.
Stop it. He's nothing like Bria.
Matt took a deep breath, and opened the messages.
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THEHUMANEXPERT: hey, can we talk
IllusionMaster95: Matt? Sure, but, why are you up so late?
THEHUMANEXPERT: I could ask you the same thing
IllusionMaster95: I couldn't sleep, but I'm going to try again soon. What's up with you?
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Mattholomule struggled on a reply. He didn't know what to say to Augustus; he didn't want to lie to him, but he felt scared of telling the truth. He bit his lip, deciding he should just go for it.
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IllusionMaster95: Matty?
THEHUMANEXPERT: I couldn't sleep
THEHUMANEXPERT: Bad dream
IllusionMaster95: Oh no! Are you okay?
THEHUMANEXPERT: Yeah. Why wouldn't I be
IllusionMaster95: From what you've told me before, you seem to have nightmares a lot :(
THEHUMANEXPERT: It's nothing serious
THEHUMANEXPERT changed IllusionMaster95's nickname.
Agustass: Huh
Agustass: Oh, very funny Matt >:(
THEHUMANEXPERT: hehehe
Agustass: Are you sure you're okay?
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Being asked the question again made something ache in Mattholomule's heart. He wanted to be honest with Gus; a part of him still wanted to tell him about all of his thoughts, wanted to be beside him, to hug him-
Ugh, again? This is torture.
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THEHUMANEXPERT: To be honest
THEHUMANEXPERT: Not really
Agustass: Do you wanna talk about it? I don't mind listening :>
THEHUMANEXPERT: Thanks
Agustass: Okay! Take your time ^-^
THEHUMANEXPERT: ??? What even are those things
Agustass: What, the sideways faces? Humans use them in texts! They're called emoticons! Luz showed me some :>
THEHUMANEXPERT: uhh cool
THEHUMANEXPERT: :] ?
Agustass: Yeah, you got it! Now, tell me what's up whenever you're ready!!
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As Matt and Gus texted back and forth, Mattholomule could feel himself getting more and more comfortable. He felt relaxed, happier, and every so often something Gus had said would make him feel… Funny. He didn't know how to explain it, but almost like a lesser version of butterflies. Matt was aware of what the feelings could mean, and kept getting red-faced at the thought of it.
A crush. Maybe it wasn't that, maybe it was; he only knew he felt an immense amount of happiness as the texting continued, and the yearning to be held by his fellow witchling wouldn't leave his head. He'd given up pushing the thought away and ended up relishing the idea, because after all, he'd forget by morning. Probably.
The two had spent ample time talking about Mattholomule's nightmare now. He'd told Gus about what had taken place in it, and the reasons he assumed why. Rather than poke fun, Gus had been supportive and caring; he'd told Matt and reassured him that he wouldn't be going anywhere, that they were friends and that how he'd been treated had been unacceptable… Then told some hard truths that he should probably be less of a jerk if he wanted to make friends.
Mattholomule felt his chances had been wasted, and yet Gus was here telling him that his friend group would be open and willing to let him in.
Something about that made Matt smile.
As it was starting to get later and later, Mattholomule was finally starting to feel a little tired. He didn't want it to end the conversation yet, but unfortunately, he couldn't talk to Gus all night like this.
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Agustass: Hey, are you getting tired yet?
THEHUMANEXPERT: kinda
THEHUMANEXPERT: why
Agustass: I think I wanna sleep… but I can stay a little longer if you're not feeling much better yet :>
THEHUMANEXPERT: no no it's okay
THEHUMANEXPERT: um
THEHUMANEXPERT: I feel a lot better actually. You helped a lot, surprisingly
Agustass: Anything for you, Matty :D
THEHUMANEXPERT: heh
THEHUMANEXPERT: Thanks, Gus
THEHUMANEXPERT changed IllusionMaster95's nickname.
Nerd: :o
Nerd: oh. I really thought that'd be different
THEHUMANEXPERT: >:]
IllusionMaster95 changed THEHUMANEXPERT's nickname.
Jerk: wow
Jerk: that's what you think of me huh?
Nerd: Wait!! no-
IllusionMaster95 changed THEHUMANEXPERT's nickname.
Bestie: Bestie? Ew
Nerd: Well, you've reached best friend status :>
Bestie: sure
Bestie: alright… bestie
Bestie: go to sleep already >:[
Nerd: alright, as long as you do!!
Nerd: g'night Matty!
Bestie: goodnight Gus
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Mattholomule put his scroll back beneath his pillow and sighed, sounding much less stressed than before. He smiled to himself, thinking back over the conversation; remembering what Gus had said to him.
He really did care. And he really did want to be friends.
It was the thought of finally having someone like that around that made him smile more, a genuine, real smile he could rarely find himself having.
He felt a lot towards Gus, but those feelings could wait; he didn't want to stay up all night thinking about a crush like in those gushy human teen romance movies. Yeuck.
And so he curled up and got comfortable, closing his eyes, and finally drifting to sleep.