Chapter Text
Blade was sitting on the floor of his two bedroom apartment, legs crossed as he stared at the mess he made on the living room coffee table. There were papers sprawled over the table, as well as some snacks and crushed up energy drinks that he chugged throughout the night. It was nearly two in the morning and he made near to no progress on his science project.
He let out a groan as he let his head fall into his hands, the stress and copious amounts of caffeine he’s consumed made it feel like he was on the verge of a breakdown. One wrong word and he’d probably slam his head into the table so hard there’d be blood on his research paper.
“There’s barely any research on this by actual professionals! And the research that is done makes no sense!” Blade dug the palms of his hands into his eyes, rubbing at them as he ranted to himself about how dumb his class and project were, how he’d rather jump off his apartments roof than ever see the inside of that classroom ever again.
Blade was too caught-up in his rambling that he didn’t notice the quiet shuffle of feet coming from down the hall until the voice of his younger brother scared him. Ali frowned as he looked down at the emo, looking more annoyed than anything as he watched Blade yelp and look back up at him with wide eyes.
“Did you even hear what I said?” Ali asked, kicking Blade’s leg lightly. He was still wide awake despite it being so late in the night and just wanted to come out for a midnight snack.
Blade shook his head as he rubbed his thigh. “No, sorry. What did you say?” He asked.
Ali rolled his eyes and let out a soft scoff. “I asked you what you were doing up so late, Blade. It’s like two in the freaking morning, do you not know what sleep is?”
Blade, ignoring the hypocrisy from Ali gestured to the mess on the table. “I’m trying- emphasis on trying- to finish this research paper I have to do for my science class, but I don’t understand anything no matter how many times I re-read it.” He let out a frustrated whine and laid his head down on the table. “I’m gonna fail and die.”
Ali simply tilted his head as he listened to his brother go on and on about how he’s a failure and should die. Completely bored of the conversation now, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his unread messages. At the sight of one of his contacts he lit up. “Wait, shut up.” He squatted down to shove his phone in Blade’s face.
Blade squinted at the phone before sitting up to read it properly. “What is this, a person?” He asked, pointing at the icon. “What am I supposed to do with this.”
“This is my friend, his name is Mateo.” Ali turned the phone back to himself and sat on the floor. “He’s like, kinda a genius I guess. I could ask him to come over someday this week and he could help you.”
Blade immediately shook his head, reaching out to grab Ali’s phone as soon as he saw him begin typing. “Wh- No way! I don’t even know the guy, I can’t ask him to just help me!”
Ali turned away and giggled. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m asking him then, right?” As he turned back around, he shoved the phone back in Blade’s face. He sent a message asking Mateo if he could help his older brother with some science paper.
Blade was basically mortified. “What are you doing!?” He gasped as he saw that the other person was typing, it was too late to delete the message now, he already saw it! “Oh, I actually might die.”
Ali shoved Blade away gently with his foot and shuffled to lay on the floor, placing his legs in Blade’s lap. He turned the phone back to himself and shrugged. “No, because then I’d die. Also he said he could come over in two das, ‘kay?”
Knowing that this was a battle he couldn’t win, Blade leaned back against the couch and let out a drawn out groan. “Why do you do this to me?”
“‘Cause I love you. Or something like that. And also to torture you.” Ali scrolled on his phone for a bit longer before standing up. “Now go to bed you emo freak.”
Blade watched as Ali walked back to his room. “He has no right to tell me to go to bed when he’s probably going to stay up all night.” He mumbled.
As he looked back at the table, he let out a defeated sigh as he stood up and began to clean up the mess he made. It’s not like he’d be able to do it by himself, not when it’s so late and he’s already overwhelmed with stress. Once he finally threw out his garbage and sorted through his papers, he began to walk back to his room.
Ali suddenly opened his bedroom door and smiled sheepishly as the two of them made eye-contact. “I forgot my snack.” He explained before rushing past Blade.
Blade smiled and shook his head before walking into his own room. It was a bit messy, and his bed was covered in too many stuffed animals for anyone around his age to own. Still, it was comfortable for him and that’s all that mattered, really. He placed the papers down onto his desk and changed into his pajamas. As he settled into bed he thought about how in two days, he’d have a random guy in his apartment helping him with his homework.
Instead of dwelling on it too much, Blade rolled over and hugged his Shadow the Hedgehog plushie close to his chest, hoping that sleep came easily for him that night.
It was finally the day, the day Blade was most anxious about. The day he’d have to interact with another human being. Ali had been teasing him the entire time, saying things like ‘please, he’s super sweet’ and ‘you’re gonna love him, he’s funny’. Okay, maybe Ali was just trying to reassure him, but to Blade it felt like teasing.
Despite trying to mentally prepare himself, when he heard the knock at his door he still jumped. Any confidence he had somehow worked into himself over the last couple of hours was instantly thrown out the window, something Blade wished he could do himself right now.
But, still, even if he didn’t want to, his younger brother had asked him to do this, for the sake of his sanity- which he’s totally sane! So, he took a deep breath and opened the door.
On the other side of that door stood Mateo. He looked nice? Scary, but nice. “Hi, are you Blade?” He asked. “Ali said you needed help, right?”
Blade, being the socially awkward freak he was, kinda just stood there for a minute before nodding. “Oh- Yeah, I’m Blade, the one and only!” He chuckled awkwardly, but internally face-palmed at his awkward introduction. He just wanted to melt into the floor at this point, it’d be better than making a fool of himself.
Mateo watched with a hint of amusement as Blade welcomed him inside his apartment. He guessed being an introvert ran in the family.
“We’ll be in the kitchen. Ali said he’d kill me if we made a mess in the living room.” Blade explained as he sat on one of the kitchen stools they had. He decided to leave out the part where Ali said it was also to prevent them from doing weird things on the couch, to which Blade immediately slammed his bedroom door in his face.
“Oh, is Ali not here?” Mateo asked, looking around the apartment before taking a seat across from Mateo.
Blade shook his head, keeping his eyes on the table and he randomly shuffled his papers. “No, said he was going to the arcade with his friends or something.” He mumbled.
Mateo hummed in understanding before glancing at the papers. Silence fell between the two of them, both of them not really knowing how to start off. Mateo was the first one to break the silence. “So, what do you need my help with?” He asked.
Blade pointed at the papers and then his computer. “I need to write a research paper on less known about illnesses for my science class, explaining how it works and affects people, why it’s understudied- stuff like that, I guess? But it makes no sense to me.”
Mateo nodded along, now reading some of the papers on the table. “Okay, I think I know how to get us started then.”
Over the span of three hours, Blade was basically tortured. He was getting better and understanding what to do and what direction he should go in, but a lot of it still left him confused. Having company made is less stressful, though. Especially when the company is Mateo, who was surprisingly patient and understanding the entire time.
The two of them looked up at the sound of the door opening. Ali walked into the kitchen and waved before immediately diving into the fridge. There wasn’t a lot in there, as Ali usually ate fast food and Blade was usually forgetful when it came to making meals. “Awe man, we have basically nothing here.”
Mateo turned to look at Ali. “I’m sure you have something you could make.” Ali groaned and threw his head back, hanging off of the fridge handles.
“No way! With you two in here? I’d rather shoot my brains out.” He brought up a finger-gun to his head, making a ‘pew’ sound effect as his entire head went limp. “That’s me shooting my brains out.” He giggled.
Mateo looked at Blade, then back to Ali. “Well, then I’ll cook you guys something.” He stood up and walked over to the fridge where Ali was still hanging off of.
Blade stood up almost immediately. “No, you don’t have to, we can just order something?” He’d feel bad if this guy who just helped him with his research paper also cooked them a meal, he’d be doing more than he had to.
“It’s fine, we all need to eat and I don’t mind cooking.” Mateo smiled before pulling out some ingredients from the fridge.
Blade looked for anything that could change Mateo’s mind. He glanced to where Ali was only to realize he’d slipped away into his room- that sneaky rat. “I mean, at least let me help. I’d feel bad if you did all the work.”
Mateo looked up at Blade and shrugged. “I mean, if you want to I don’t mind.” Blade nodded frantically before walking over to Mateo’s side.
After about thirty minutes of cooking, they finally finished cooking dinner. It wasn’t anything too fancy, just working with whatever they could while making each plate fit everyone’s needs and wants. Ali had already silently wormed his way back into the kitchen, taking his plate and scurrying back into is room with a quiet “thanks”.
Mateo and Blade ate at the kitchen table together, commenting on how good it tasted and what they should’ve added or taken out. It was oddly domestic. Blade shook his head and immediately shoved that thought deep into the back of his mind.
After cleaning up their dishes Mateo left, saying he could come over again during the weekend to help with what remained of Blade’s project. After spending hours with the man and even cooking with him, Blade could say he didn’t mind him as much as he thought he would. He closed the door with a small smile on his face and the feeling of relief flooding his chest as now some of the stress he had was no longer there.