Chapter Text
Bright, angry, stupidly aggressive sunlight trying to assault people’s eyes through their blinds- showing every single speck of dust in the house, and making any unfortunate soul unlucky enough to have a window in their way burn to a crisp from the sheer heat coming off the glass. Felix Freemind, our-..
.. Lucky Guy?
Huh?
What- What? Where was he?! Last Felix remembered, he was clinging onto the wall in black Mesa with this really gnarly bullet wound in his.. thigh..
He glanced down. His left thigh was wrapped in bandage, and as a fresh new sight to him, it was not covered in blood and alien matter. He smelt fresh- not like a bucket of disgusting sewage or radioactive waste- his hair was fluffy again, oh my god! He touched his face, his freckles, his- erm, frankly overgrown beard, and his glasses. Oh, lord, it was him! It was him, his wonderful self! Laying on some sort of couch, he observed. Ugh, wherever he was at, it smelt of booze and weed! He started to get sick to his stomach!
Oh, lord, he really had no idea where he was! This didn’t look like any place in Black Mesa! Felix’s insides started churning; even if this was Black Mesa, there hung the huge question mark that was the bandages on his leg and the clean physique he had just suddenly attained. Good lord, what happened?!
“H-Hello?” Felix choked out, hacking up a lung thereafter.
“Hello? Is anybody here?!”
“What?” A voice shouted from behind a wall. Felix furrowed his brows. This voice was utterly unfamiliar.
“Where the fuck am I?!”
“What- what the hell do you mean?” The voice got clearer and clearer until, to Felix’s satisfaction/dismay, the person wearing it stood in the hall looking into the living room. The person was sorta short, had a buzzcut rough around the edges, and wore an unusually clean white sweater for such a disgusting environment. Wow, yeah.. they had these face piercings too, they looked really cool and way out of any league Felix would even dream of being in. Such clear skin.. broad shoulders-
“Where am I?” Felix pushed aside his (shameful) admiration for the person’s appearance, motivated for an answer. The person furrowed their brows.
“.. Huh..? Gordon, you’re in my house. You’ve been in my house for a week and a half. Are you.. are you okay?”
“.. W-Wait, what? Gordon? Ugh..” Felix pinched the bridge of his nose. “You idiot! You’re kidding me! I’m not Gordon!”
“Heheh, yeah, okay, bud.” The person cackled. “Seriously, though. You okay?”
“I’m not Gordon! I’m his brother, Felix!” He shot up out of his seat, immediately tumbling back down to the couch. Fucking shit, his leg still hurt! Jesus Christ Almighty!!
The person rushed to his side, wrapping an arm around Felix’s waist and pushing a hand against his chest. Holy shit. Their eyes were beautiful. Their hands were so soft, and their sweater so thick, he-
“Dude, don’t rush it.. you remember what the doctor said. Bed rest.” They lectured, sitting Felix upright. God, their voice was butter.. so silky..
“.. I-I’m not Gordon.” He choked out once more, starting to get nervous. “Who- who are you?”
The person looked taken aback, and somehow not surprised at the same time.
“.. I’m Eddie. Your friend.” This Eddie explained, patting Felix’s chest. “This is my apartment.”
“How- how did I get here? Last thing I remember is.. is.. like, dying on the floors of Black Mesa.” Felix explained, feeling a creeping sensation of fear at the thought of Black Mesa. Good lord..
“.. Uhm, you said you.. weren’t.. Gordon?” Eddie coughed out. Felix nodded vigorously.
“Yes! Common mistake! One that shouldn’t happen. Me and Gordon have differences, you know.” Felix scoffed. “For one, I’m better looking than him. I’ve actually got some meat on my bones. Also, freckles! How could people miss the freckles?! Look! Right here on my cheek!”
Felix pointed to the small gaggles of Freckles that sat, barely visible, on his cheeks. Eddie squinted, and nodded.
“.. Right. But.. Erm, Felix ..” He patted his chest once again, as if to comfort him for some strange reason. “.. Just hours ago you were Gordon . Y’know? Uh, a week and half ago, you had escaped Black Mesa by the skin of your teeth and showed up on my sidewalk in your shitty little lab coat, drenched in blood, sweat, and.. other.. stuff. You told me from your own mouth you were Gordon.”
Felix blinked.
“.. Huh?” He breathed out. Eddie nodded.
“Yeah..” Eddie hugged Felix a little as if to comfort him. While Felix didn’t really know this person- literally at all- he didn’t mind the touch. He sort of liked it. Unfortunately he couldn’t recall the last time he was.. uh, held like this.
“.. Well, whatever I said, I obviously didn’t mean it. I’m Felix. Felix Freemind. I was born in Germany, went to Highschool in Canada, went to MIT, and have never met you in my life.”
Eddie furrowed their brows in utter worry.
“I- Okay.. okay.” They seemed to accept it in the ingenuine way a nurse accepts a patient’s delusions. Felix furrowed his brows this time; not in worry, but frustration.
“It’s the truth! Ask me anything Gordon would know, I guarantee I would not know the answer .”
“No, I know, I just..”
“You just..? What?”
“.. It’s fine. It’s okay, erm, Felix. I’m sorry.”
“Stop treating me like a poor case! I’m Felix! I worked guarding a door at black Mesa! I know how to play counter strike! I have- had? Had a girlfriend named Chell who drank Mountain Dew like it was her religion!”
“Okay, okay. I get the point.” Eddie held a hand up, placing it on their lap thereafter. Felix was a little disappointed it didn’t stay on his chest.
“You’re Felix. Okay. I’ve got you, man. Gordon’s brother?”
“Yeah..” Felix scowled. “Twin Brother.”
“.. I do actually remember him talking about a twin brother.” Eddie’s face shifted a little, like they were starting to actually accept Felix’s identity.
“Because I really exist, and I’m not Gordon. I’ve literally got a tattoo! He doesn’t have a tattoo!”
“You have a tattoo??” Eddie questioned, appalled. “Where??”
Felix thought.
“I.. Can’t show you.”
“No fucking way.”
“I was drunk!”
“No fucking way!”
Eddie let out this huge, obnoxious cackle, taking both of their hands and holding their stomach. “No way! No fucking way, dude!”
Felix crossed his arms, sinking into the couch.
“I do not take responsibility for stupid decisions I made when I was seventeen. I don’t!”
“Holy shit-!” Eddie let out another cackle. “Oh, I know you’re not Gordon now!”
“Why the hell is that?!”
“‘Cause- ‘cause-“ Eddie spoke between laughs, starting to tear up. “‘Cause we’re good friends! Either he woulda told me or I woulda made him get it! Oh my god,” they took a deep breath. “Oh my fucking god.”
“Good lord.. I didn’t know my brother had friends.”
“I’m practically the only one!” Eddie wiped their eyes, settling down. “Phew! God. Thanks for the laugh.”
“God dammit..” Felix sighed.
“.. So, what was all that saying you were Gordon?” Eddie leaned on the couch’s arm rest, gazing at Felix like he was in trouble all of a sudden. Felix started to sweat, sinking into the couch cushions more.
“Uhm.” He mumbled, tearing his eyes away from Eddie’s.
“.. Well. Sometimes. When I get stressed. I forget things.” He managed out, fully looking away from Eddie in utter embarrassment. Eddie leaned forward, grabbing one of Felix’s arms. He jumped a little, whipping his head back around to stare at Eddie.
“What do you mean you ‘forget things’?” They questioned, raising an eyebrow. Felix gulped..
“It just- it just happens, man. Like.. uhm.. I go into this sort of spell and then I come back from it not remembering that spell at all. It’s.. just.. a thing.” Felix shrugged, still embarrassed. Eddie rubbed his arm with their thumb.
“.. That makes a little sense. I saw you and automatically assumed you were Gordon, but you seemed sort of surprised at the notion you were. I just took it as some emotional shock, cause, I mean.. you should’ve seen the state you were in,” Eddie pursed their lips. “But, uhm.. yeah, you kind of accepted you were Gordon. You couldn’t tell me much, since you were pretty in and out- what, with your injuries and all.”
“.. It’s happened before.” Felix mumbled. “Erm, in Black Mesa.. ‘round two years ago. Some weird laser thing happened, blah blah blah, I go under the spell and thought I was Gordon for about.. a day. It was weird! It was weird,” Felix tried to laugh. “I got over it. I’ve had spells before in college where I just, sort of.. spaced out without an identity. I don’t remember them at all, it’s just stuff friends told me.”
“.. Damn.” Eddie nodded. “You over it now?”
“Should be.” Felix shrugged. “If I ever, uh, go under again- which I shouldn’t! Just, erm, I dunno. Make sure I don’t do something stupid, heh..”
“Can’t promise that.” Eddie chuckled. “I’ve heard you do a ton of stupid stuff. Gordon complained about you allllll the time, young man.”
“Fuck..” Felix wiped his face with his hands. “That sucks. That sucks a lot. I hate this.”
“Why don’t I grab you something to eat, and then we can get to know each other. Since.. fuck, you practically live here until you can walk and be in society again.” Eddie patted Felix’s arm, standing up.
“You’re.. really nice. Letting a stranger stay in your apartment.” Felix blinked. “You gonna kill me?”
“Not until you do something stupid,” Eddie snickered, walking into the kitchen.
“Great! Cool. Awesome. Thanks for being my motivation to get better.”
“It’s no problem buddy.”