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“God, Matt, it’s freezing out here.”
Matt tilted his head at the sound of Foggy’s voice, lips quirking into a small smile as the metal rooftop door clanged shut and the swish-swish of Foggy’s puffy winter coat grew nearer. He had already smelled the hot chocolate before Foggy had even ascended the steps from his apartment, but up close it was exponentially more enticing. “Thank you,” he said, reaching over his shoulder to accept the hot mug as it was handed down to him. He could hear Foggy’s heartbeat quicken for a moment, a little spike in adrenaline as he carefully moved to the edge of the roof beside Matt and, with enormous care, sat himself down, legs dangling over the side of the building.
“Okay, be honest with me,” Foggy muttered, clasping his own mug with both hands. “How are you not freezing?”
Matt flexed his gloved fingers, curling them against the sides of the mug. The current ‘suit’ as it were was a bit of a work in progress. A couple layers of insulated athleticwear provided some level of warmth, but it couldn’t completely deflect the chill in the night air. “I am,” he replied, turning back to the city. “But I’m used to it.”
“No, you’re just used to suffering,” Foggy muttered, taking a sip of his chocolate and breathing out a little sigh of warm relief. Matt listened to him struggle to get comfortable, the rustle of his coat as he shifted his weight, his heart rate still somewhat elevated from his awareness of his own physical elevation. “Slow night?”
Matt’s lips twitched up again as he turned the mug in his hands. “I’ve called in a few tips. The cops are handling them.”
“The system at work,” Foggy sighed contentedly.
Matt chuckled to himself and took a sip from the cocoa. It was the perfect temperature, rich and sweet, indulgent in a way Matt rarely treated himself to. He held it close to his lips for a moment, steam warming his face as it rose into the night air. It reminded him of holidays, and childhood, sharing mugs of cocoa with his father, a little splash of brandy in the mix if the occasion called for it. He smiled at the thought.
The metal clunk of the rooftop door opening announced Karen’s arrival, followed immediately by a ‘shit’ under her breath and the rustle of her own coat as she hugged the bundle in her arms tighter to her chest. Her heels clicked against the concrete as she shuffled over to them, hunkering down on Foggy’s right side. “How are you two not freezing?”
“Oh we are,” Foggy assured her, “but Matt’s a glutton for punishment and I’m being a good friend.”
Matt shook his head with a smile as Karen shifted her weight to sit, offering Foggy the blanket she had bundled up in her arms. Foggy gladly accepted and helped her spread out, passing the left side over to Matt and huddling slightly closer so that it comfortably covered their laps. Karen leaned against Foggy’s shoulder gratefully, and Foggy leaned against Matt in turn, the three of them huddling against one another for warmth.
They sat a little while in silence, Karen occasionally breathing warm air into her hands, Foggy swinging his legs under the blanket and occasionally sipping from his drink. For a little while, Matt tuned out the sounds of the city around him, focusing only on the steady heartbeats of the two people beside him, the sensation of warmth from Foggy’s body against his own.
He felt Foggy shift slightly as Karen plucked the mug of cocoa from his hands, taking a sip of the chocolate while Foggy muttered a half-hearted ‘hey’ in her direction. Karen laughed softly and passed the mug back to him, giving him a nudge with her shoulder that pushed him gently against Matt’s shoulder in turn.
Matt tilted his head as something caught his attention, a distant scream and gunshots, followed by the revving of a car’s engine, glass breaking, then another car, taking chase. The fleeing party was moving fast, pursuers close behind. Two–no three–men in an SUV. No cops in the relative proximity. It was going to be close.
Matt reached a hand up and tugged down the fabric of the mask over his eyes. He felt Karen and Foggy’s attention shift to him, their heartbeats rising slightly, tension pulling at Foggy’s shoulders.
“Duty calls?” Foggy asked, the nervous smile audible in his voice.
“Shouldn’t be long,” Matt replied, holding out his mug which Karen reached across Foggy’s lap to take into her own hands.
“Be careful,” she said as he slid the blanket from his lap, shifting into a crouch on the edge of the roof.
“We’ll be waiting for you,” Foggy added.
A feeling bloomed in Matt, a burst of gratitude, of relief, of affection for the two people who had, against all odds, chosen to stick around. He swallowed the lump in his throat, wanting to say something, anything, but the words wouldn’t come. He tipped his head in their direction and smiled, his own heartbeat now loud in his ears.
“Thank you,” he managed, and dropped to the fire escape below.