Chapter Text
“You seem quite excited about today,” Matt noted as he took Claire’s arm and they strolled off down the sidewalk.
“Well, it’s not often I get to meet new people, at least properly. Hard to get acquainted with folks who are busy with some combination of bleeding, crying, and throwing up.”
“I can see how an emergency room is not conducive to building new friendships.”
“It’s really not. And besides, I’m dying to meet your whole crew. The fabled Karen and Foggy, about whom I’ve heard endless tales…”
“Not endless…”
“Yes, endless, you never talk about anything else. Especially Foggy, it’s always ‘Foggy says this’ or ‘Foggy and I once did this’, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy.”
“Now you’re exaggerating.”
“I’m really not. But I guess it makes sense considering he is the founding member of the very select ‘People Matt Murdock Lets Get Close’ Club.”
Matt made a sort of harrumphing noise at that, but didn’t actually disagree, so Claire decided to call it a victory.
“So, these two…” Claire leaned in conspiratorially, “are they cute?”
“Hmm? I wouldn’t know, would I,” Matt responded, the paradigm of innocence.
“I get the feeling you would, and do know. So, spill, are they cute?”
“Well, I’m a little biased, but I would say yes. Very.”
“Which one?”
“Both,” Matt answered casually.
“So, a regular smorgasbord for us bisexuals, eh?” Claire asked, feigning nonchalance. She’d suspected Matt played both sides of the street like her, but didn’t have any solid confirmation of the fact.
“I suppose,” Matt replied, equally casual, “and if that’s your extremely subtle way of asking if I, uh, enjoy the company of both sexes, than your answer is yes.”
“Ha, I knew it. My radar is impeccable. But that begs the question, if you’re working with two cuties, who I assume must also be relatively kind and intelligent, since they’re your friends, why are you still single?”
“Well, as you said, I work with them, so it wouldn’t exactly be appropriate to date either of them,” Matt retorted crisply, tilting his head away and clearly hoping the conversation would end there.
“Sounds like you’ve given it some thought, then,” Claire pried, not to be dissuaded so easily.
“Not really.”
“Liar.”
“Oh, do you hear heartbeats too, now?”
“No, but you’re a pretty bad liar considering you keep the world’s biggest secret. Maybe that’s why you don’t let people get close,” Claire reflected.
“Yes, Claire, that is definitely one of the reasons I don’t let people get close,” Matt almost snarled, and Claire realized a little too late she’d hit a sensitive nerve “And my secret is the reason I haven’t had a lasting relationship ever, and why I’m not inclined to ruin the few functional ones I have with misplaced romantic overtures.” Matt huffed and tapped his cane a little bit more fiercely on the pavement. “You know that, better than anyone.”
“Hey now,” Claire chided gently, not allowing herself to feel guilty or mad at the bitterness in Matt’s tone. “Not everything’s meant to be. And we’re still friends, that’s the important thing.” She patted his hand where it loosely gripped her elbow, and felt him relax a little.
“Yes, that is what’s important. But I can’t count on him,” Matt tilted his head towards the office building they were crossing the street towards, “to react the same way.”
Claire stifled a laugh as she realized what he’d said. “Hey, Matt, you know you just said ‘him’, right?”
“What? I didn’t…I said ‘them.’”
“Sure you did. Well, that makes things more interesting. I’ll make sure to keep my paws off your man.”
Matt shook his head, but once again didn’t respond, making his feelings all the clearer.
“So, the other important question then: which team or teams do our prospective romantic conquests play for?”
“They are both outstanding heterosexuals, as far as I am aware,” Matt answered stiffly, his tone bitter once again.
“Well, then, that leaves us with a bit of a mismatch doesn’t it, considering?”
Matt sighed heavily. “You know, Claire, as much as your romantic prospects are of the utmost concern to me, these are actually my friends, and you could make an effort to think of them as such.”
“Hey, I plan on being friendly!” Claire put her hand to her heart, mock aghast. “Very friendly,” she couldn’t help intoning with repressed giggles as they stepped into the ragged old building.
~~~
“Hey guys, I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet,” Matt announced as he swung open the door to the offices of Nelson and Murdock. Karen and Foggy glanced up from the liens they’d been inspecting, and were greeted with the sight of Matt smiling broadly and holding the arm of a thoroughly stunning woman.
Karen did her best not to let her heart speed up at the sight of said woman, though her glamorous smile and Amazonian sort of build were making that rather hard.
Foggy did his best to dredge up a cheery smile and wave at the newcomer, rather than run her out of town in a fit of jealous rage, but the way Matt was smiling at her with a deep fondness was making that rather hard.
“Figured we’d pop in and say hi before we went for lunch,” Matt added.
“Hi!” Karen greeted Claire enthusiastically.
“Hi,” Foggy greeted Claire, slightly less enthusiastically.
“This is Claire. We met a while back when I had to go to the hospital for, uh, one of my clumsier incidents…”
“And we’ve been friends ever since!” Claire finished for him with another stunning smile.
Hottie McBurner Phone, Foggy suddenly deduced, his jealousy battling fiercely with his otherwise easy-going nature. The fact that Matt actually brought Claire around to meet them was…well, it was unprecedented. Matt had never, actually never in Foggy’s memory, been this seriously involved with anyone before, and Foggy didn’t think he’d realized until just now how much he’d taken that for granted.
Just be happy for him, he chanted like a mantra in his head as he kept his brightest smile plastered on his face. He tried not to feel too devastated as Claire and Matt kept up an easy conversation, even as Foggy and Karen neglected to contribute more than a few “ah’s” and “mhmm’s.” They’ve clearly been spending a lot of time together, Foggy concluded miserably.
“Well, I hope to see the two of you again soon!” Claire wiggled her fingers and tossed back one, last, beaming smile as she led Matt back out of the office.
“You too!” Karen waved back, not noticing Foggy’s rather conspicuous lack of a good-bye as the door closed behind the two.
“Wow, she was…wow. She seems great, doesn’t she?” Karen stated more than asked, her eyes still fixed on the door Claire had just left through. It took her a moment to realize Foggy had retreated back to the desk, and was glaring at the pile of paperwork on it with rather more venom than was necessary.
Karen sighed exaggeratedly. “You know, I can actually hear your heart breaking from across the room.”
“I...it's not...” Foggy protested feebly, before acquiescing. “Yeah, ok. You caught me.”
“You know, when I first met you and Matt, I thought you were a thing,” Karen told him as she moved closer to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah?” Foggy glanced up at her, almost pitifully hopeful.
“Yeah. And now I’m wondering why you’re not, if you’re as over the moon about him as you’re acting right now.”
“Aw, no, it’s not like that…I just…I’m just kind of territorial about my friends, that’s all. It’s a character flaw. I’m working on it.”
Karen hmmed, unconvinced, fixing Foggy with her best tell-the-truth stare.
Foggy broke in a matter of seconds. “Ok, yes, fine, I’m completely over the moon. An actual astronaut. Totally a goner. But it doesn’t matter, I really don’t think I’m his type.”
“I dunno, he seems to like blondes,” Karen responded idly.
“Yeah, he does, something you’ve gotten to experience up close and personal.” Foggy couldn’t keep a bitter note out of his voice, a fact Karen picked up on easily.
“Hey, Foggy, I don’t think about Matt that way…”
Now Foggy was the one giving her with a serious stare. “Really?” he pressed, eyebrows raised.
“Well, maybe a little…but not seriously! He’s hot, sure, but there’s something about him…a sort of…darkness that I don’t want to get too close to.”
“I think that’s part of his charm, the whole, bad-boy seductive thing,” Foggy quickly defended his best friend.
“Yes, yes! See! You are way more of a match for him,” Karen flailed her hands around a bit, emphasizing her point.
Foggy let his head fall back, resigned. “Maybe, but I don’t think he knows that.”
“Then tell him!” Karen insisted, poking his arm to articulate each word.
“No thanks, I think I’d like to keep my dignity and our friendship intact,” Foggy rejoined, and cut Karen off before she could object, “And since Matt’s gone off to have what I’m sure will be a very long lunch with his gorgeous lady friend, that leaves us to deal with this,” he gestured firmly to the significant mess of papers scattered across Karen’s desk.
She sighed, giving up for the moment, and they sat down to continuing trudging through the jumble, both very pointedly not thinking of two certain people who had just left their office.
~~~
“He seems sweet,” Claire slid her eyes over to Matt to gauge his reaction as they stepped out of the dingy office building and into the early afternoon sunlight. “Foggy, I mean. Very sweet.”
Matt made a non-committal noise, his expression unchanged.
“Too sweet?” She asked, truly curious.
“Too straight,” he reminded her tersely, his expression brooking no further comment.
Claire nodded to herself, patting his hand sympathetically. “All the good ones are,” she sighed, thinking of Nelson and Murdock’s exquisite blonde secretary.
They were seated ten minutes later at a café that Claire informed Matt had very charming décor, and Matt informed Claire was one of the more passable-smelling food establishments in the city. They’d chatted aimlessly for nearly an hour, both done with their main course and working through a chocolate soufflé together, before Claire began to edge the conversation back towards her new acquaintances.
“You know that radar I told you about?” she began, “How I knew you played for both teams?”
Matt just heaved a sigh instead of responding, clearly not thrilled about the road this conversation was going down.
“Well, I’m getting some pretty strong pings from both of your pretty blonde friends. I mean, in my opinion, everyone has a bisexual inside of them just waiting for the right guy or gal, but seriously…I don’t think an attempt by either of us would be entirely inadvisable.”
“Such a ringing endorsement of the possibilities,” Matt deadpanned. “And your touching concern for my love life is duly noted. But it doesn’t matter, in my case, since Foggy’s never actually evidenced any interest in men, and nor have I as far as he knows, so your ‘radar’ must be faulty. And it’s not like I saw you moving in to sweep Karen off her feet, based on your hunch.”
Claire waved off his last sentence, still stuck back on the first part of what he’d said. “Wait, so Foggy doesn’t know you’re bi?”
“It’s kind of an awkward conversation to have with someone you’re just met and are supposed to be living with in a platonic manner.”
“Really? As awkward as silently, tragically pining away for said platonic roommate, as I would guess you’ve been doing for years now?”
“Listen, Claire, it just would have made things…weird, between us. And, I mean, he’s always been going after girls, it’s not like he would…would understand.”
“But you can’t know that! For all you do know, he might think the same thing about you. I mean, you seem like the skirt-chasing type yourself.”
“Claire, please, just stop, don’t you think I’ve tortured myself with the possibilities before? That I’ve been doing it for years, as you say?”
“But you haven’t talked to him? Seems like that’s step one, to me.”
“It’s just not, he’s just not…”
“So you’re saying that it’s completely unreasonable to consider the possibility that Foggy’s locked himself away in a closet, just like you? That he’s just waiting for a sign from you to make a move? That maybe he despaired of the possibility, just like you, because of how you hide so much of yourself away inside?”
“Dammit, Claire, I would know. I would know if he was attracted to me anymore, I could hear his heartbeat – ”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘anymore’?”
“Oh, I, uh…” Matt shook his head, spluttering a little as he tried unsuccessfully to backpedal.
“Anymore? So he was attracted to you? For Christ’s sake, Matt!”
“Yeah, I mean, no, I mean…” Matt waved his hands, struggling to explain, “when we first met his heartrate went through the roof, he was sweating and twitching, the whole deal – but, but I didn’t know him, so I kind of…brushed it off.”
“OK. Let me get this straight. Foggy was attracted to you. And you blew him off because…?”
“I had no idea who he was! He was a perfect stranger, and I mean, at the time, I’d never really… explored my interest in…”
“In men,” Claire finished, frustrated. “Sure, fine. So, you were still just… figuring things out, so you didn’t go for it then. But what is stopping you now? And, why in God’s name do you think he’s so painfully straight if he was into you?”
“I told you, I thought he was attracted to me then. It was a matter of days before he just started acting, you know…like other, straight guys. I think it was just a, a fluke, and he got over it. Or I just misread the signs entirely, and he was just nervous to meet his new roommate and nothing more. And he has never since expressed any interest in any men, in all the time I’ve known him. Not one, not ever. He hasn’t even looked at anyone as far as I can tell. So, clearly, it was just a weird, one-time thing.”
Claire let her head fall to the table, resting her forehead on the edge as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “You’re such a fucking idiot, Murdock.”
“What?”
“You are literally reciting the premise of every trashy romance ever.”
“Forgive me, but I seriously doubt most romances involve chemically heightened senses allowing the protagonist to extrapolate on the various romantic interests of his friends.”
“No, Matt, not that, I’m talking about how Foggy hasn’t looked at any other men since he met you!” Claire exclaimed, popping back up and glaring at Matt. “Think about that for a second. Just think about it.”
Matt didn’t look like he was thinking about it, in fact, he looked like he was very stubbornly doing his best not to think about. Claire slammed her palms on the table, fed up with Matt and his stupid, handsome, mopey face.
“Matt, I would be willing to bet hard, cold, cash that Foggy has been pining for you the entire fucking time too, and you’ve both just been too blind to see it!”
It took a minute for the penny to drop on what she’d said, and when Matt raised his eyebrows and tapped his glasses meaningfully, Claire just dropped her head back onto the table.
“I give up. Be sad and lonely forever. What do I care.”
Matt sighed, twiddling his cane lightly between his fingers, thinking. “Claire, so, I mean…you don’t really think...”
“Yes, Murdock, I do really think.”
“Well, if you’re so sure that you’re willing to take a gamble on it…” Claire slowly raised her head at the mischievous lilt that had wormed its way into Matt’s tone. “Then, what do you say we make a bet?”
Claire searched Matt’s features, wondering what he was up to. “What would be the terms?”
“If you win, I will confess everything to Foggy. My sexuality, my feelings…everything.”
“Sounds great. But what do I have to do to get this miracle off the ground? Sell you my soul?”
Matt’s mouth twisted into a wicked smile, making Claire’s heart skip a beat, with fear or desire, she was never really sure with him.
“Nothing so drastic. You just have to…ask Karen out to dinner.”
Oh. “K-Karen? What do you mean? I know I joked about trying to get a date but…she’s not…she’s not actually my type,” Claire lied through her teeth, even though she knew the effort was wasted.
“Please, Claire, don’t bother. You started exhibiting all the signs as soon as you laid eyes on her, and when she bent over to move those boxes aside…” Matt whistled, leaning back in his chair, pleased.
“Listen, asshole,” Claire started to say, before realizing she didn’t actually have anything to say.
“Or…” Matt shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, grinning like he’d just won his case, “we could just drop the whole thing.”
Claire considered her options. On the one hand, avoiding almost certain, painful embarrassment and ensuing rejection. On the other hand, wiping that smug grin off his face while also possibly erasing the lonesome, bone-deep sadness that seemed to permeate Matt’s very being. And, of course, the somewhat remote possibility of actually going out with the jaw-droppingly beautiful Karen.
“Ok, fine,” Claire declared, before she could talk herself out of it. “I’ll do it.”
Matt cocked his head, apparently not expecting this outcome. “Really…you’re going to ask Karen out.”
“Hey, she is really cute, and she seems nice and smart and all that too. And, of course, I’m dying to see what a cute couple you and Foggy will make.” Matt’s lips pinched together as Claire grinned.
“So, whataya say Murdock? You willing to put your money where your mouth is? Or are you too chicken?”
That made Matt snap to attention, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.
“Oh, wait,” Claire held up her hands, “What do you get if I don’t ask Karen out and you win?”
Matt smirked, and answered sweetly, “I win blessed silence on the matter of me and Foggy, and the sad state of my love life in general.”
Claire considered it, and then nodded, her mind made up and confidence growing. She could ask a pretty girl out on a date. How hard could it be?
“Ok, let’s do this.” Claire held out her hand for a shake, and Matt didn’t bother pretending he couldn’t see it, reaching out and taking it firmly.
“So, quick question,” Claire turned towards Matt as they paid their bill and headed back out into the bustle of hurried people and honking taxis, “my bi-dar is usually pretty infallible but…did Karen’s, uh, heartrate, you know…”
“Now, now,” Matt inclined his head towards her as he took her elbow and allowed himself to be led outside, “where would be the fun if I told you that? You’ve got to go into this bet…blind,” Matt tilted his head in what seemed to serve as a sort of eye-less wink. Claire groaned loudly at the bad joke, as they pushed their way through a cloud of confused tourists and frazzled businesspeople and back towards Nelson & Murdock.