Work Text:
Kinzie kicks back on her chair and groans as she tilts her head to the side "Matt, you got any spare drives?"
Matt, who's laying down on the sofa with his attention focused on his tablet, replies without looking up "Second drawer in my locker."
"Thanks," she lifts herself off the chair and makes her way to the storage unit. She doesn't run into anyone on the way, seeing as it's (probably) late at night. Earth time anyway. Hard to tell when your view in any window is literal space.
She gets to Matt's locker, it's easy to tell which is his thanks to the painted on logo of the decker symbol. Kinzie cringes at the sight.
She rummages through his shit which, admittedly, a lot of it is actually awesome tech, but screw giving credit to Matt Miller. She picks up a small drive but pauses when she notices a small notebook titled:
'CYBERGOD'S CODING' with yet again, another decker logo. And also a shitty warning sticker in the top corner. Kinzie cringes (again) when she looks at a Nyteblayde sticker smeared on the cover. That kid really is a damn loser with his vampire obsession.
Kinzie decides to open the book at a random page without a second thought. It's hard to find interesting shit when you're stuck on a ship with the same 7 people (8 including CID).
The writing almost isn't intelligible. Messy, but readable. She supposes Matt doesn't do much writing "I-R-L" unless it involves a keyboard.
' He placed his hand on my shoulder. He did that!! He thanked me for my coding skills!! The bloke never compliments anyone! Success!!' with star doodles around the page.
Kinzie grimaces.
A journal she's never seen before hidden under various things. A Nyteblayde sticker on the front. Doodles in the pages.
She comes to the logical conclusion that this must be Matt Miller's fucking fanfiction .
She can't help but let out a snicker as she flips a few pages back to keep reading;
' Boss called us in on a mission together and we took down a few rebelling zin zones in the simulation. He flashed me one of his iconic grins and I almost bloody exploded right then and there! ’
Kinzie snorts. She knew Matt was a weird dude but this is on a whole 'nother level.
She continues reading for a few more minutes and, due to being distracted, doesn't notice Matt peering around the corner until he speaks up; "Could you not find it?" she looks up at him and all the color drains from his face in an instant when his eyes catch notice of the journal in her grasp.
Kinzie grins. Matt looks horrified.
"Is someone embarrassed about their lame Nyteblayde fanfiction? Because if I were you I'd be totally embarrassed." she holds the book close to her chest, not willing to give it up just yet.
Matt flushes and as Kinzie expected, he lunges forward. She dodges to the side and takes off down the hall. Matt squeals and chases after her while yelling multiple threats.
Kinzie dashes into a bathroom and slams the door shut and locks it. She hears Matt bang on the door from the other side and he yells; "Kinzie! You fucking dick! Open the bloody door!"
Kinzie snickers as she flips the book to a random page "It's hard to find entertainment these days Miller! Consider this a favor from you toward me!" she giggles.
She settles on a page and starts reading out loud with a mock accent; " I'm stumped, I'd like to get to know him better but he's just so cool. Have I ever wrote that down? He's so cool and mysterious-"
"KINZIE!" Matt shouts louder, but Kinzie continues to read with a smirk; " and he's so awesome at fighting! He's so handsome. Crushes are quite- scratch that! they’re rather embarrassing, but gods, how can anyone not fall for- "
" Johnny ?" she says in surprise, without the mockness she had in her voice before.
She realises everything's gone quiet. Matt isn't thumping on the door anymore.
Fuck , Kinzie frowns.
This isn't a fanfiction. It's Matt Miller's damn diary .
Kinzie closes the journal and holds it carefully, not wanting to damage it. She unlocks the door behind her and opens it to Matt. He's standing there almost frozen, save for his fingers twiddling with the hem of his shirt. He looks afraid and embarrassed. Strands of hair are covering his eyes, and he’s staring down at the floor.
"Shit, Miller-" Kinzie sighs. She sucks at talking in general, but apologies? How the hell do those even work?
She holds the book out toward Matt who snatches it almost instantly, firmly holding the book with both hands. He avoids her gaze. Kinzie frowns at his discomfort.
"I'm sorry, I thought it was just one of those fanfiction things and I was bored and thought it'd be fun to mess around with you. I know I can be a bitch, but I'm not a total bitch. I'd never have read it if I knew it was something that personal, Matt."
Matt’s shoulders relax a little, and Kinzie doesn't quite know what to say. However, it doesn't seem to matter because of the sudden voice from down the hall:
"What the hell're you two doing?! Some of us normal and active people need to sleep!" Boss yells with an obviously tired groan.
Kinzie notices Matt freezing at the intrusion. So, she does the thing that she herself would appreciate in this moment. Act normal.
"Yeah well some of us have to spend sleepless nights working on thousands of code for repeated simulations for a certain someone. Excuse us if we wake you from your slumber, your highness." Kinzie complains.
Boss rolls their eyes "Too tired for your sarcasm, Kinzie. Too damn tired." they yawn as they walk back the way they came from.
Kinzie turns back to Matt who seems to be more relaxed now. But when his eyes meet Kinzie's, he startles again. Kinzie tries to continue the normalcy;
"While we're on the topic," she starts, and Matt looks anxious. Kinzie smirks: "you two would make a sexy couple."
Matt twitches and his face lights up red in an instant as he lets out a surprised squeal. Kinzie grins; "No, seriously, I think this could work."
The man avoids her eyes again with a red face; "Christ, you're a pervert."
"Oh please, I'm not the one talking about Gat's quote-on-quote piercing gaze and rock hard abs. ”
"Fucking hell, is this gonna be a new thing now?" Miller groans.
Kinzie softly smacks him on the back of the head (much to his dismay according to the grunt he let out) and grins "Obviously. I expect to be notified whenever something hot happens between you two."
Matt follows behind her and makes a gagging sound. Kinzie can't help but laugh. And for some reason, Miller laughs as well. She's not sure if it's due to relief, but she's glad that things haven't changed between them. Plus, now she has extra teasing material. Score.
The both of them are soon silenced because Shaundi's shout echoes through the ship threatening them to "shut the fuck up!". Pissing Boss off is one thing, but Shaundi can be a bitch to deal with. Kinzie does not feel like dealing with that crap.
Kinzie sits back down at the desk she was previously at, and Matt plops down on the couch again. Kinzie’s fingers hover over the keyboard only to pause before tapping anything.
Fuck, after all this shit, she forgot the damn drive.