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Matt opened his eyes, a voice in the back of his head hoping the impossible, that his sight was back but no dice. He turned and squashed his face against his pillow, the pillow effectively muffling his groan. It was a hectic night of patrols and him stopping a robbery, thugs beating up a man and a potential kidnapping. He was tired and didn’t want to wake up just yet. Which is exactly when he heard the painful groaning coming from his living room. Matt debated pretending to not hear the man but he already knew that Matt’s hearing was excellent. He sighed and trudged into the living room. Vladimir was lying on his couch, painful gasps coming from his mouth.
“You okay?” Matt asked.
“Hell no, you burned me and this couch is shit!” He rasped out. Vladimir was still pissy about the whole ‘cauterizing his wound to save his life business’. “At least let me sleep on a better couch, хуй.”
If Vladimir was going to complain much more about his couch, like he had been doing the past week, Matt might just throw him out the window. Repercussions be damned.
“You do realize I saved you right? Just put up with the couch.” It’s not like Matt hadn’t spent a few nights on his couch as well, if he could deal with it so could Vladimir. Even if he had never been as severely injured as him while sleeping on his couch.
“Я не буду жаловаться на диване, если мы занимаемся сексом на нем или если вы скажите мне ваше имя.” He looked smug while saying it.
Matt had no idea what Vladimir just said but he assumed it was probably him cussing his couch out again.
He could hear Vladimir’s stomach growling which made Matt realize that he was hungry as well.
“Well, time for breakfast.” Matt said quietly as he passed Vladimir and walked towards his kitchen. His heartbeat was getting more steady after every day and his injuries were slowly, but surely, healing. Matt honestly had no idea why he decided to go back to the tunnels after he left, to find Vladimir bleeding to his death surrounded by all the men he had killed. Frankly, it was amazing he had managed to win that fight. Maybe he wanted Vladimir to live, to atone for his sins? His initial excuse was that he saved him for the information, but that no longer worked because he already got everything he needed from him. He couldn’t turn Vladimir in to the police now, Fisk hadn’t been brought down yet. The police was too dangerous. Matt decided that the only reason he was keeping Vladimir in his home was because he was an important witness to bring Fisk down, not because his presence was soothing. He listened with one ear to Vladimir’s heartbeat and the steady beating made him relax, almost against his will. What was with this Russian and his uncanny ability to make Matt let his guard down? He continued to fry the bacon, letting his mind go into a comfortable haze.
He handed Vladimir a plate while he sat down with his own by the living room table. Vladimir wordlessly took the plate and wolfed the food down. He had learned that there was no danger of poisoning from this man the first day he was here. In fact, this place was probably the safest place Vladimir currently knew of. Even if he was complaining about the couch, the couch was honestly shit, he felt.. good being in this place. He hated it. It made him feel inadequate to be Anatoly’s brother, to not be out there trying to avenge his brother’s death with everything he got. He still felt angry at the man in the mask for not letting him die back in the tunnels. Where he had accepted his help and sacrificed himself for that man. He thought a warrior’s death would suit him well. But that plan went to Hell without him. He guessed he and the man in the mask could be considered allies. He supposed he had no choice now that he knew the man’s face. That could be very dangerous to the man, even if Vladimir didn’t know his name.
Matt stood up and cleared the plates. “I gotta go to work now, you know the drill?”
“Yeah yeah, no going out, try not to move much. This is not first time I’ve been injured, you think me dumb?” Vladimir gave a noncommittal wave, dismissing him. Matt walked through his door, smirking to himself, he had gotten used to the man on his couch by now. He actually enjoyed their interactions as well as the relaxing silence between them.
When Matt got to the office Karen was by her desk, appearing to be on the phone. Foggy was by the coffee machine, clutching onto a cup like it was his last. Matt quirked his brow, “Rough night?”
Foggy took a sip of his coffee, “Like you wouldn’t believe. I am never going out drinking with Karen again. I can’t believe how she can still function normally. Matt, mark my words. Never. Drinking. Again. Let’s make it official.” He said with a tired but still theatrical voice.
Matt chuckled, “If I know you correctly then you’re going to break that and I really don’t want you in jail Foggy.” He said as he put his cane by the door like he always did.
“Guys! We just got a case.” Karen said as soon as she put the phone down. “It’s a simple one, a Mr.Foster broke the restraining order his ex-girlfriend, Ms.Gully, set. But still, a case!” She beamed.
“Wait, so while I was trying to get my brain going again, you were getting actual work for us? How much more super can you get, Ms.Page?” Foggy smiled.
Karen laughed good-heartedly. “Ms.Gully will be over later today, she was swearing up and down she saw him. All we have to do is find some witnesses and it can be closed quickly.” She walked over to the coffee machine and fixed herself another drink. “Matt, you want some?” She raised the hand holding her cup towards him, more of a habitual movement than anything.
“Yeah, black, thanks.” Matt said. He was happy that they got a simple case, bit of a breather from all the stuff they’d been doing so far. Karen handed him a steaming cup of coffee. He let it warm his hands for a bit before taking a sip. He let his mind wander over to Vladimir, like it had been doing increasingly over the past few days. Would Vladimir like his coffee black? Or was his taste unexpectedly more sweet? He thought about how Vladimir would probably spike his coffee with alcohol or something and smiled to himself.
“Alright, enough is enough Matt. Who’s the girl?” Foggy grinned. Karen looked surprised but immediately intrigued. They were all sitting at a table together, relaxing before the day started properly.
“Foggy, what?”
“You know! Whenever you start sighing wistfully or smiling out of the blue, it’s usually because you’ve got a thing for a girl. How did you meet her this time? Are you already dating her? Is she hot? Of course she is, you’re Matt Murdock!” Foggy said exasperatedly.
Matt contemplated telling them about Vladimir but there was no way he could explain the situation properly. So the only thing he could do was try to play it off but he was pretty sure Foggy would just try to dig deeper if he did that. He hid his panic and tried to think of a way out of this one. Almost a minute passed but he couldn’t let it drag out much longer, otherwise they would suspect something was off.
“Uhh.. she’s.. Russian?”
“Ooooh, I bet the accent did you in! Matt Murdock, you sly dog! So, how did you meet? What is she like? Is she hot? Did you get to ‘see’ her yet?” Foggy was hoping for a lasting relationship, like he always did whenever Matt started dating someone. He sincerely wanted his friend to be happy.
“We met face to face on the night of the bombings. We helped each other out and well, I’ve been seeing.. her.. since. She’s.. uuh.. sassy, passionate and really true to herself. She’s very witty and keeps me on my toes all the time. She wears her emotions on her sleeve. We don’t feel the need to fill out the silence, you know? Her being there just calms me down. Really pretty, more than really pretty. I haven’t gotten to ‘see’ her yet but her voice is beautiful..” Matt trailed off. He wasn’t expecting himself to say that much.
“Wow, Matt, you sound like you really like this girl.” Foggy was surprised at how Matt looked while he was describing her, like he was already used to being with her all the time and no longer knew how to be apart. Karen looked ready to start gushing about how cute Matt was being.
“Matt, you seriously need to seal the deal. I don’t care how long you’ve been dating, if you’re already like that then you need to invite her to live with you.” Karen looked dead serious while saying this. She also wished for nothing more than for Matt to be happy. She really cared about them and considered them her boys. No way was she not gonna encourage Matt to pursue his happiness.
“We’re not actually dating but about that living together thing, her house burned down so she’s actually already living with me..?” Vladimir didn’t have anywhere to go so he WAS technically living with him. Matt had no idea if all his safe houses burned down in the bombing or not though.
“Oh my god, Matt! You should’ve told us sooner! Poor girl though, that her house burned down..” Karen remembered how Matt graciously let her sleep on his bed while he took the couch, “wait, you’re not sleeping on the couch are you?”
Matt grimazed, he wasn’t expecting Karen to ask that. “Well, no.. she.. umm.. insisted on sleeping on the couch instead.”
“Matt! Sorry but that couch looks completely horrible! I feel bad for her. You need an extra mattress or something.” Karen looked worried about Matt’s mystery girl.
“Why don’t you just share the bed? It’s big enough for two people anyway-ouch!” Karen hit Foggy lightly in the shoulder with a mutter about decency, “This is workspace abuse Karen!” They continued to bicker.
Matt’s cheeks felt warm. Him and Vladimir sharing the bed? He would be lying if he said he didn’t think about offering his bed to him, since he was injured and all. His bed was big enough for two but for Foggy to say it out loud made the idea seem much more real. Matt was about to answer Foggy but he got cut off when he heard a knock. Ms.Gully was here. Foggy and Karen stopped their bickering and stood up to open the door and greet her while Matt sat at the table. Matt had no idea what he was going to say to Foggy.
Vladimir was bored out of his mind. There was no TV, no books that he could read and nothing of interest in this apartment. He realized the man in the mask was blind after the first day he was staying there. He needed some proof that he could trust the man so while he was fixing Vladimir’s bandages he managed to take his mask off right before passing out again but not before noticing the man’s eyes. After that, the man didn’t bother with the mask. Vladimir had been sleeping all day but now that he was awake he didn’t have anything to do but stare at the ceiling. He had a hard time sitting up and walking but it wasn’t like he couldn’t pull it off. He didn’t feel like agonizing pain at the moment though. His injuries were much better now but he still only managed to move slowly and carefully.
He thought about everything he knew about the man. The man was very handsome under the mask. He had beautiful eyes. He knew he had a job that required a suit, probably something fancy. It made him think of Wesley, that hideous man’s assistant. He grit his teeth. He quickly tried to think about something else, it would do him no good to get angry now. He had to wait for the right time, keep his anger in check, like Anatoly often told him. Thinking about his brother made him feel like there was a big hole in his chest. That was exactly how he felt when he saw his corpse. Like his heart had been ripped out of him but somehow he was still breathing. Vladimir couldn’t understand why he was still breathing. The man in the mask may have saved his life but he hadn’t saved his heart. He honestly doubted anyone could do that.
'Человек в маске может, если вы позволите ему.' He heard Anatoly’s voice say in his head and promptly told the voice to shut up. He always hated it when Anatoly made sense. Thinking about his brother made him miss him more and he turned onto his side, trying to go to sleep once more.
His last thought before falling asleep was of the man in the mask and his desire to learn his name.
Ms.Gully would win the case against her ex-boyfriend. They all went to the café where she said she saw him. They found witnesses rather quickly and got their statement before reassuring Ms.Gully that her ex-boyfriend would be taken care of and she’d never have to see him again.
They hung out at the café for a while longer after Ms.Gully left. Matt was hoping Vladimir wouldn’t turn up in their conversation again but it was hopeless.
“Soooo, when are you gonna introduce us?” Matt could feel the anticipation rolling off of them in waves.
“She’s.. very shy. So, maybe, never?” Vladimir was anything but shy. The guy wouldn’t stop letting Matt know his various opinions about his couch.
“Oh, come on Matt! If I know you right, she’s probably not shy at all. You seriously need to confess your feelings, live in the moment Matt! I need to get to know this girl, this relationship obviously has potential and as your best friend and future best man, if you marry this girl, I need to know her.”
Which prompted Matt to imagine Vladimir in a frilly wedding dress. Which escalated into Matt thinking about how it would feel to take him out of said wedding dress. Matt laid his head on the table and groaned.
“You were totally thinking about her in a wedding dress weren’t you? Like the idea?”
“Foggy, I hate you.”
Matt hesitated to open his front door. He couldn’t get the image of Vladimir in a wedding dress out of his mind thanks to Foggy’s continuous teasing. He couldn’t bear hearing him talk about the issue all day, so he refused to hang out with Foggy and Karen after work.They were probably going to go to Josie’s anyway. This whole thing shouldn’t be a big deal at all because Vladimir was most likely going to prison after this whole fiasco but Matt’s heart just wouldn’t let go of the stupid idea. If Vladimir gave a statement and cut a deal with the DA then he could get less time. Matt could wait for him. His heart skipped a beat.
When did waiting for him become an option?
“I see you’re back. Good day at work?” Vladimir raised his head slightly from the couch. His heart felt lighter at seeing him. Matt told it to stop.
“Yeah, a guaranteed case. Good day on the couch?”
Vladimir noticed Matt’s slip up. “It was a shit day. Like I said, your couch is shit. You’re a lawyer?”
Matt seriously needed to stop letting his guard down around Vladimir. “Yes, I’m a lawyer.” He tried to say it as calmly as he could. He couldn’t afford for Vladimir to know that he was apparently heads over heels for him. “You can sleep on the bed tonight.”
Vladimir was so startled by what he said he couldn’t feel triumphant over his victory. “что?”
Matt quirked an eyebrow at him.
“What?”
“I don’t feel like listening to your complaining day after day. My couch’s self esteem is at an all time low with all your insults. I plan on patrolling most of the night anyway.” He went to fetch his costume. Vladimir looked astonished. “Do you want me to help you over to the bed? I need to change your bandages first.” Vladimir just wordlessly nodded, it seemed he couldn’t quite get out a word yet.
“If I knew being nice to you would get you to shut up, then I would’ve offered my bed long ago.”
This got Vladimir out of his stupor. “What is with change of heart?”
Matt smiled, “I’m in a good mood today.” Even if the realization that he was in love with a Russian crime lord should be the opposite of good.
“Now that I know you’re a lawyer, are you going to tell me your name?”
“No.”
Matt went to get the bandages while Vladimir maneuvered into a sitting position. He came over with a fresh set of bandages. Vladimir lift his shirt up above his abdomen. They usually did this in silence but this time it was filled with tension. With the realization of being in love with Vladimir also came the many awkward things about it. Like the fact that he was so close to him he could feel his body heat, the fact that Vladimir was wearing his shirt and the fact that he had to touch him to change his bandages. The feather light touches combined with the cold air caused Vladimir to shiver and did nothing to help Matt’s mood. Matt touched Vladimir’s ribs and heard a hitched gasp from him. There was no doubting the spike of arousal in the air. Matt needed this to be over with so he could go punch someone and seriously reevaluate his choices. He finished bandaging him and helped him over to the bed before heading out. All of this was done without a word between them.
Vladimir was left alone on Matt’s bed and with a feeling like their interaction just now wasn’t even close to being enough. He wanted something more from him. He wondered what had been going through the man’s mind, surely he felt the tension also? Vladimir knew what he was feeling was nothing like the man’s naiveté. Nope, his mind was so far in the gutter it practically lived there. Then he realized two things. The first one being that he was incredibly attracted to the man in the mask. And not just physically. The second thing he realized was that the sheets on the bed were made out of silk.
“That fucking мудак!!”
All of Matt’s nerves were on edge. He couldn’t believe that he allowed all that tension between him and Vladimir to affect him this much. He wanted to touch him so badly while he was changing his bandages. He wanted to ‘see’ him. He wondered how Vladimir’s lips would feel on his. His senses were so strong that any intimate touches Matt shared with someone was magnified for him. Whenever he was with women he was always sure to touch them gently and they did too, treating him with fragility because he was blind but with a man.. with Vladimir he imagined it to be rough and passionate. Vladimir didn’t comment on his blindness after the first day, after Matt explained how there were other ways to see. All he cared about was if Matt was good enough to take down Fisk or not. He also experienced first hand how well Matt could ‘see’.
His senses were going haywire and he tried to focus on a single thing to get him back on track. Birds flying, cars honking, a bar fight, a busy restaurant, a woman walking with her boyfriend and five men approaching them with knives and baseball bats. Matt honed in on them and followed them on the rooftops. They surrounded the couple, two from the front and three from the back. They took out their knives. The couple held hands and moved closer to each other when a man from the back struck. He hit the boyfriend with a baseball bat and he went down. The woman screamed and crouched over him, shielding him from further harm with her own body. The man with the baseball bat raised it above his head when a stick flew towards him and hit him in the back of his head. He crumbled down, the bat hitting the ground with a loud clang. One of the men frantically looked in the direction the stick came from, only to be hit in the face with a heavy punch. This prompted the other three to attack the man in black simultaneously. The woman didn’t dare raise her head, she simply clutched onto her boyfriends limp body. All she could hear were crashes and cries of pain until the silence hit. She felt a presence standing over her and flinched.
“Call the police. Ask for Sergeant Brett. He’ll take good care of you.” And with that, the presence disappeared.
Matt patrolled for a while longer before calling it a night. He thought about the brave girl who tried her best to protect her boyfriend, not caring about herself. It reminded him of when Vladimir tried to sacrifice himself, for Matt’s cause and for his brother. It made him realize that Vladimir could very well do the exact same thing again and he got scared of a different outcome. Now that they knew each other better and were allies, would Vladimir choose to do the same thing? He quickened his stride back to his apartment. This was all hypothetical but he’d be damned if he didn’t just live in the moment, like Foggy said.
‘FOGGY’ ‘FOGGY’ ‘FOGGY’
And with great timing as usual, he got a call from Foggy.
“Foggy? Do you know what time it is?” He wasn’t sure what time it was himself.
“Yeaaaaaaah bud! It’s the magic hour of the night!” Foggy slurred.
“Foggy you literally told me today you weren’t gonna drink again.”
“No, Matt, Matt, listen. We, newbie lawyers, just had a successful case! Well, that’s a small part of it but, I’m celebrating the fact that you’re in loooooove Matt! It’s not every day that the great Matt Murdock falls in puppy love, okay? But what’s the point of me celebrating when the main star isn’t here?? I invited you, Murdock!”
Matt couldn’t help but laugh at his friend and feel happy that he cared about him. “Sorry, Foggy, I was tired. But I was actually going to confess right now.”
“WHAT? My man Murdock is gonna confess his love!” Matt could hear Foggy cheering along with Karen and it wasn’t long until he heard the whole bar cheer with them. There was a crash and Foggy yelled into his phone, “GOOD LUCK MATT!” before hanging up.
Matt wondered what that was about, shrugged and continued on his mission.
He walked up to the roof door, took a deep breath, sensed Vladimir’s familiar heartbeat in his bedroom, and walked in. He kept an ear on Vladimir as he walked down the stairs. Vladimir was awake but his heartbeat got a bit quicker when he heard Matt walk in. Matt felt a spike of adrenaline shoot through him at that and his decision to finally just go with his feelings got stronger. The choice he was about to make was stupid and rash but he could not for the life of him stop himself. He knew what he sensed when he changed Vladimir’s bandages. He knew that Vladimir was at least attracted to him and there was no way he was going to waste this chance. He walked into his bedroom.
“эй! You have silk sheets. Silk! But you let me sleep on your shit couch for a week!” Vladimir sat upright, tensed and pointing his finger at Matt. He was pretty pissed.
Matt crawled onto the bed, approaching him. Vladimir stilled but made no move to stop Matt from coming closer. Matt raised his hands and put them on Vladimir’s face, ‘seeing’ him. He started from his cheeks, went over his eyebrows and stopped for a bit by his scar. Matt stroked his scar, memorizing the feel of it. He heard Vladimir hum and continued over his nose and lastly, his lips. His thumb stroked over his lower lip and he could smell Vladimir’s arousal at that. It seemed that his lips were sensitive. Matt leaned in and stopped just short of Vladimir’s lips.There was a moment of hesitation, of silently asking Vladimir for permission before he heard a whisper of confirmation. Matt pressed his lips against his. Vladimir grabbed onto Matt’s shoulders and kissed him back hard. All the noises around them dimmed and they let their lips fill the silence. Their teeth clashed and they frantically grabbed at each other. They let their lust take control of their actions until they both slowed down, to a silent agreement, and let their foreheads rest on each other. Vladimir lifted Matt’s mask off his face and looked into his eyes. Their breaths were heavy.
“I still don’t know your name, мудак.”
“Matt. My name’s Matt.” Now that they were no longer kissing he became unsure of their next course of action.
“Matt. красивое имя для красивого мужчину. Matt.. Matt..” Vladimir tested the name on his lips a few times, licked them and looked up at Matt again. “So, Matt, you going to kiss me more?”
Matt couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips and with a breathless, “Yes.” he kissed Vladimir again.
They spent most of the night just kissing, mindful of Vladimir’s injuries until they fell asleep in each others arms.
Matt woke up with his ear to Vladimir’s chest, listening to the steady thumping. It was the most relaxing morning he had in a while. Until he heard the knocks on his door that is. He groaned and hid his face in the blanket. Vladimir had been awake and he chuckled when he heard Matt’s low, “nooo…” and got up from bed.
“Matt, you sleep. I’ll get it.”
“You sure?”
“да, I am not that weak.”
“You’re the best, Vlad.” Matt honestly couldn’t deal with this shit so early in the morning, he was already sleep deprived.
Vladimir slowly walked up to the door hoping the person on the other side would stop before he got there but they continued knocking. He wasn’t sure if it was the best idea for him to open the door though. But he couldn’t help it when he saw how tired and cute Matt was, he wanted him to sleep longer. He wondered when he started feeling so strongly for that man. It wasn’t until he heard two people croak out Matt’s name that he decided it was safe to open it. It sounded like a man and a woman and their speech was slurred.
He opened the door and saw a blonde man and woman standing sluggishly on the other side. Hungover, by the looks of it. They stood upright and froze when they saw him. Their eyes, that were previously glazed, looked alert.
“Whoa, who are you?” The man asked.
He didn’t know who they were but they knew Matt so he replied stoically. “Vladimir. And you?”
“Foggy.” The man said while looking incredibly confused. “And that’s Karen.” He gave a half hearted wave in her direction, looking like he had no idea where he was.
The woman suddenly looked like she had an epiphany. “Foggy! Russian accent!” She gave Foggy a little nudge.
“Oh. OH! Wait, you’re the Russian lady Matt is heads over heels for? Wait, you’re not a girl.” Foggy was clearly not in a working state quite yet.
Vladimir thought that was pretty obvious so he only raised his eyebrow at him and crossed his arms. They all stared at each other, not knowing what to say until Matt practically ran over to them.
“Foggy! Karen! You’re here! This is Vladimir, my uhh.. boyfriend?” Matt looked in Vladimir’s general direction, not sure if it was right to call him that just yet. Vladimir just nodded and rested his hand on the small of Matt’s back. Foggy and Karen took notice of their interaction, of how natural they looked together and simply smiled.
“Nice to meet you, Vladimir. Matt, Karen and I are so hungover right now, I’m about to fall over. Can we get some water?”
“Water would be heavenly right now. I am so tired and thirsty, even your couch looks tempting.”
“нет, that couch is Devil’s spawn.”
“Oh my God, Vlad, forget about the couch.”