Chapter Text
Matt hums to himself while he types away on his computer, writing up another script for his latest FNAF theory. He leans back in his chair, bringing his hand up to his chin in a thinking pose, and his mind goes down a spiral about the latest FuhNaff Security Breach Video. ‘Patient 46… the plushies…’
He had already told John his thoughts on the matter, as if reacting to his theories didn’t show him already, but got the urge to scrub through his video once more. Something was nagging at his mind, he wasn’t sure what though. He clicks to the video (I Solved Security Breach (Part 2)) and John’s voice comes over his speakers, to which he pauses and starts to skip to the part he’s looking for.
“So far we’ve answered a ton of questions about Patient 46, but I know Hardcore FNAF fans are screaming at their monitor right now because I haven’t brought up a very important fact about Patient 46.” John, in video, says. “In the CDs it’s revealed that patient 46 lied about their past. Why would she lie? This one is actually pretty easy to answer, and my answer is: that patient 46 didn’t lie”
Matt pauses the video again, still in a thinking pose. He chuckles a bit to himself over the screaming at the monitor thing because that’s what he feels like doing every ticking moment he sits here. He stares down the freeze frame of John on the screen, his eyes roaming his face and finally landing on his obnoxious jacket. ‘Man that sure is a jacket… He has a cute face though, he could pull off any outfit probably.’ He blinks in shock at himself, ‘Did I just call him cute?’ Matt rubs his temples and closes his eyes. ‘Maybe all this theory crafting is finally getting to my head.’
He stands up from his desk and does a bit of a stretch, raising his arms above his head. After moving around a bit, he looks at his phone and thinks, ‘I could text him.’ Which sure isn’t a thought any sane man has, but is he anywhere close to sane doing all this for years?
What should he text about? How do normal people start conversations? He’s not really a normal person, neither is John, although he knows that John looks up to him as a content creator. Which, honestly, is another reason he shouldn’t be pulling up his number and hovering his thumbs over the keyboard. ‘Just a simple Hey is kind of weird, is it more weird to say I’m watching his theory though?’ Against his better judgment he starts to type; “Hey, hope this isn’t a bad time, I’m just watching your newest video and bouncing ideas off it, hope you don’t mind. Was also wondering how you’re doing personally, I know we aren’t super close or anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other outside of a work environment right? ;)”
He stared at his message for a good minute before deleting and retyping the winky smile a handful of times. He finally settled on leaving it and hit send, putting his phone face down and walking to the fridge to get a Diet Coke. His face felt… warm? Why is he being like this? Can he not handle being around someone that’s attractive or what? He is the literal Game Theory Guy™, he shouldn’t get so flustered over a basic text. Cracking open his can, he shakes his head at himself, and goes back to his desk with a sip and a sigh.
Lucky for him, as soon as he sat down his phone buzzed. ‘That was fast.’ He picks it up and sees ‘John’ flash across the screen. He smiles and opens his phone to read the message:
“Hey Matt! Wow, you’re still watching my stuff? I’m honored, thank you so much! As for how I’m doing, I’m good :) " "Just cooking up the last part of my Security Breach video right now, guess us FNAF-ists never quit huh? How have you been??”
Matt smiles, ‘Written like a true fanboy, he’s so excited. I guess it is a lot to suddenly be friends with one of your favorite YouTubers.’ He texts back: “I’m doing well, just taking a much needed script break with a Diet Coke!”
A quick reply: “Glad to hear! Do you have any other plans today or are you just on the grind?”
“No nothing else much today, guess that’s just another reason I thought about texting.” Matt pauses, making an impulsive decision, before texting more: “How would you like to make a guest appearance on GTLive?”
Silence on the other end for a few minutes worries Matt a bit. ‘Did I go too far? That is a wild proposition I just made.’ He goes back to scrubbing through John’s video and typing things up on his script until he hears another buzz from his phone.
“OMG ARE YOU FR??!! *ahem* I mean- That would be the offer of a lifetime, yes!!”
Matt laughs at his eagerness, “Well, how about we do a video call between us and Tom (if he would like to join) and do a sort of feedback/talkback/analysis after you post the last part of your video?”
John sends back a picture of a cat with a giant thumbs up emoji on it. “Let me know a date and time after I post and once he gets back with you, I would so be down.”
“Sounds good, I’ll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, don’t be a stranger and feel free to reach out about whatever you’d like. :)”
“Ok! Will do! :D”
Matt looks over their short but sweet conversation with a smile. ‘I guess I know why my brain wants to get closer with him, but I can’t come on strong. I wonder if I really do feel a certain way about him or maybe it’s just elevated feelings because I associate him with FNAF… Oh well, only time will tell. I feel so awkward trying to talk to anyone normally like this.’ He closes out of their messages as his mind goes down the John rabbit hole and shoots Tom a text about the talkback idea.
Over the next few hours of working on his script, John haunts Matt’s thoughts. Of course Matt knew he liked all genders, he’s been that way all his life, but now that he had thought about John, that’s all his mind could focus on. His voice, his laugh, his face, and watching his video over and over again just nags at him. He’s just a bit away from finishing the script when his phone buzzes and lights up once more with John’s name.
“Hey, just wanted to say, I know I sound like an absolute fanboy over text lol… It’s just not every day that your “childhood” YouTuber offers to be your friend though. And! I wanted you to know that is definitely not the reason I would also like to be friends, just want to be fellow theorists.” John’s message reads. He adds on, “I hope you don’t think I’m a weirdo for this, I just wanted to be clear because this is the best possible timeline I think.”
‘Well, it is good to know that I’m not the only one overthinking it all. Although, I may be the only one overthinking it in a romantical sense. He did essentially tell me I’m old with childhood there, think I’ll tease him for that.’ Matt smirks a bit as he types, “I’m not worried about you being a “fanboy” or a “weirdo” at all, however mayyyybe don’t call me old? XP”
“OMGOMG NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT I JUST MEANT I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR AWHILE”
“Hahaha, John it’s ok, I’m just messing around. I’m glad I’m not the only one overthinking though, I have a hard time talking normally with people like this due to my, uh, YouTube status”
“Whew, ok, I feel a little bit better now. Didn’t know a guy so confident could also be an overthinker in the negative sense. I say negative since we overthink about FNAF all the time, but that’s positive.”
Matt blinks at that last text. ‘I mean, he’s not wrong.’ “Well, I guess you don’t know everything about me, huh? Thanks for the compliment by the way ;)” ‘Oh man, that came off so flirty. What am I doing? I’m going to scare him off before we’re even officially friends.’
“That’s true, very true, I look forward to learning more ;P " "Also, you’re very welcome for the compliment! Good to know that we’re kinda the same in a way. Anyways, I’m gonna go have some Chipotle for dinner so I’ll text you back in a bit. Goodbye for now! Have a good dinner if you haven’t already.”
"To be entirely honest, I forgot about dinner. I didn’t even know it was that late already. Thank you though, I hope you enjoy dinner as well :)”
Matt sets his phone down again and checks the time. ‘If he’s having dinner… I think I’m as cooked as it.’ The clock reads 9:03pm. ‘Shoot. Guess it’s Chinese leftovers from when I went with Ash. Thinking of Ash, I don’t think they texted me when they got home. I’ll make sure they’re alive on my way up.’
He puts his pc into sleep mode, pockets his phone, and heads up the basement stairs, turning off the light behind him. He goes to the kitchen and his stomach growls, as if reminding him about what he’s currently doing. Taking his leftovers out and grabbing a plate, he puts the leftovers on the plate and sticks it in the microwave. He takes out his phone once more and pulls up his texts with Ash. “You still alive there, Ash?” ‘First time in a while they haven’t texted me that they made it to their apartment. I hope everything’s alright.’ The microwave beeps and he takes out his food, plopping down in one of the island seats with a fork.
Ash hits back in a couple minutes, “Hey Matt, thanks for checking in on me. You texting shocked me out of my spiral I was going through for a second… had a fight with my roommate again and I’m hiding in my room.”
“That’s no way to spend your evening, pack a bag and stay here a couple nights. You know I have the room :)” Matt sighs and frowns, ‘I wish they had a better place to live, people wise, not place wise. I would offer them to be here all the time but… I don’t know how well it goes over to have your boss ask you to live with them. Who may have secret feelings for them but they don’t need to know that… I don’t even need to think that, maybe I’m just lonely here and I’m latching on to the people who are close to me.’ He drags a hand over his face during that last thought before his phone buzzes with a reply.
Ash sends a picture of a cat with very sad looking eyes followed by, “You mean it?”
Matt’s heart aches at that, “Well of course I mean it, I’m not going to dangle a carrot in your face and yank it away! You’re free to stay as long/little as you’d like, rooms should be all set up already anyways.”
“Thank you Matt, I owe you so much. I’ll be there in probably like half an hour.”
“Take your time! No need to rush on over, you’ll forget something if you do.” Matt picks at his food, appetite lost a little bit. From what he’d heard, Ash’s roommate was homophobic, and hates that they’re non-binary. Their fights mostly consisted of the girl yelling at Ash and Ash hiding away until work the next day, where Matt always knew to cheer them up with some iced coffee and hugs.
Matt finishes his dinner and cleans up his mess, sets up his living room for company, and double checks the guest rooms to make sure everything is ready. About 45 minutes later there’s a knock at the door and Matt rushes over, opening the door and revealing a puffy-eyed Ash holding a cat carrier and a duffel bag. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket as he ushers them inside. ‘Probably John, I’m sure he’ll understand.’
“I, um, I hope it’s ok that I brought Chekov, I didn’t trust him there with her,” Ash half mumbles, setting their bag and carrier down next to the door.
“No worries Ash, I know he’s cat friendly, and so is Skip. If anything happens we can put him in a separate room, but I’m not worried about it,” Matt replies with a slight smile.
Ash releases Chekov from his carrier and he looks around before trotting off to explore. They turn to look at Matt, new tears forming in their eyes.
Matt’s eyebrows knit together and he opens his arms in invitation. Immediately they collapse into his chest crying, Matt wrapping his arms around them in comfort. They stay there for a bit, Ash’s muffled sobs echoing in the entryway. Matt holds them close and pets their head, hoping it’s a soothing gesture more than an awkward one.
Ash’s crying finally slows after a bit, reduced to sniffling, and Matt breaks the silence in a low, calm voice. “Hey, how about we bring your bag to one of the guest rooms and I help you get situated? Afterwards we can eat ice cream and watch a movie or show together if you want? No theory strings attached, I promise.”
Ash lets out a small snort at that and with a stuffy nose goes, “Yeah, I’d be down for that.”
They go down the hall, across from Matt’s room, and Ash takes a minute to unpack their duffel bag, just a few day’s worth of clothes, a stuffed animal and some other essential things. Matt watches from the end of the bed until they’re done and they flop down face first on the other side of him. He gives them a second before leaning back on the bed to lay down, partially hanging off. He’s pressed up against their side, but there’s plenty of room for them to move away if they wanted. Ash sighs heavily and Matt closes his eyes with a small frown. “You know, no one deserves to be treated the way you do. Especially not someone as amazing as you are.”
“Well, the universe begs to differ,” Ash mumbles into the pillow.
“I mean you were dealt a bad hand, yes, but there’s always the next game.”
“What are you trying to tell me to gamble? I’m not going to gamble on roommates ever again, that’s for sure.”
“You can’t live by yourself in this economy, Ash.”
“I’ll make it work, I have to.”
“What if you lived here?” Matt blurted out without thinking. He opened his eyes, shocked at himself for offering. “Sorry, that’s probably weird,” he facepalms. “I just don’t want you to deal with that roommate anymore. I don’t want to see you so down anymore either. I also obviously have the room, but I sort of blurted that out, I’m sorry…” He trails off into the silence.
Ash raises up on their elbows and turns to look down the bed at Matt. “Are you insane?” They ask in a tone that Matt can’t place, but is not disappointed or weirded out like he expected.
“I mean, probably. Looking at this situation logically though, I have this big house with my room, 3 guest rooms, an attic, and a basement. It would save you a lot of money in rent, you wouldn’t have to commute to work, and you would get away from your awful roommate.”
Ash’s jaw drops, “You’re serious about all this? You really are insane.” There’s a hint of wonder in their voice, followed by suspicion.
“I know it’s an insane proposition, if you want we could pretend this exchange never even happened though. I understand if this is awkward or uncomfortable, and you are also more than welcome not to answer right away.” Matt goes on, fidgeting with his fingers and glancing up at them. There’s tears in their eyes again, and he wonders if he’s majorly overstepping. Something must’ve shifted in his expression because Ash jumps to speak.
“No no no, I’m not crying because I’m upset, I promise, I’m just emotional. What choices have I made in my life to end up with someone as selfless and caring as you as my best friend? Apparently the right ones, this timeline pull is insane.” They spoke with tears running down their face. “I would do anything to move out from that apartment, and you just handed me a one way ticket out; how can I ever repay you?”
“Oh Ash, you don’t owe me anything other than your friendship and dedication, I’m a man of my word. I will always treat you with respect here.” Matt responds, resting his cheek on their arm.
Ash sniffles and dries some tears off their face. “I think I would be stupid to refuse your offer, I would love to stay here, Matt.”
“Well then it’s settled,” he says with a smile. “We’ll get your remaining things one of these upcoming days and this is now your space. We can also get you some groceries and stuff you like and I’ll do everything to make sure you settle in alright.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it so much.”
“Of course,” He says with a smile. ‘I would give them the world if I could, I hope they know that someday.’ “Now, would you like to rest or movie? We can always throw aside our filming plans for GTLive if you’d like tomorrow too.”
“Ummm, I think I’ll rest actually, laying down has made me realize how drained I am. I should feel a bit better after some shuteye though, so I think we should crank out our episode and then be lazy all day with boba and takeout?”
“Sounds good to me!” Matt pushes himself into sitting and hops off the bed, turning around to look at Ash. Ash, after he moves, turns over and sits crisscrossed on the bed, and Matt can’t help but smile at their fluffed hair from the pillow and the look in their eyes. They look so excited, yet scared. He wants to hold their face in his hands, reassure them it’ll all be ok. He wants to smooth out their hair, and place a kiss on their forehead. He wants them, but he makes no move. “Goodnight, Ash. If you need anything I’ll be right across the hall.”
Ash smiles, their face softening as they meet Matt’s eyes, “Goodnight, Matt, thank you again for everything tonight. I also hope you sleep well… whenever you do sleep.”
Matt laughs at that, “Yeah you know I have some troubles there. I hope you sleep well too though, Ash.” He turns and heads out of the room so Ash can get some rest, closing the door gently behind him after a little wave. He sighs as soon as he shuts it, everything that just happened spinning in his mind. ‘Am I doing anything wrong here? I’m sure they’d have declined if they were uncomfortable with the idea, but I also can’t exactly tell them I like them eventually in a situation where they’re living with me. I can only imagine what they might think of me. Besides, I think John texted me again, maybe I should focus on him. I probably shouldn't be having these thoughts about either one of them though. What if they hate me for it? God I'm going to be on one of those creepy YouTuber lists… Both of them are so out of my league.’
He walks into his room across the hall as he thinks all this. ‘You’d think after years of interacting with people I’d have myself under control, but the second my feelings come into play I’m a crazy mess.’ Matt runs his fingers through his hair and looks around his room. ‘Guess I should get ready to wind down for the night, huh? Been one heck of a day.’ He busies himself in getting ready for bed, swapping out his day clothes for comfy, loose pajamas consisting of gray cat face pajamas pants and a plain black t-shirt. Pocketing his phone, he goes to his bathroom and brushes his teeth, giving himself a once-over in the mirror, and heading back to his bed. He flops down on his back and lets out a heavy sigh. ‘Tomorrow’s another day.’
Matt’s phone buzzes again and he realizes he never replied to John. He panic-takes his phone out of his pocket and checks the time, it’s 11:17. ‘Omg, I’m a terrible friend, but also not? I’m not sure how to feel in this situation.’ He catches up on the few messages from John as quick as he can.
10:09 - “Hey Matt! Finished up, Chipotle was bomb as always. I’m surprised you didn’t eat already at that point, it’s so late! Glad I’m not the only weirdo eating at this time haha.”
10:16 - “I think I’ve had enough FNAF for today, I’m probably going to spend the rest of my night doom scrolling on twitter.”
11:17 - “Hey, I hope I’m not being annoying but I do want to know you’re alive before I go to pass out. I know you’re a busy guy, but rest from FNAF (and work) is important! I only say this because we were texting earlier, if I’m overstepping please let me know :)”
‘Oh John, you’re so thoughtful. I hope he didn’t worry too much. Usually I’m not busy this time of night, but I doubt he knows that.’ Matt smiles at the concern and starts typing up a response.
“Hey John, thanks for your concern. I’ve had a bit of a crazy night since we texted earlier. Normally I’m not busy around this time of night, but Ash’s roommate is essentially a terrible person so I’ve taken them in for the time being. Probably for a long while, I’m sure you understand, and you’re certainly not overstepping, I appreciate it :)” Matt pauses and adds on, “Sorry, that text sounds very email-ish, I’m out of touch with casual conversation through text these days.”
John responds almost instantly, “Omg, I’m sorry to hear that, but also happy to hear they’re safe! Also glad to hear you’re alive :) ”
“Well jeez, I'm not that old John. Have some faith in an old man ;) ”
“Gah, that's not what I meant! I meant like in case something happened to you or something like that >-<”
‘He’s so cute when he's flustered, just makes me want to mess with him more.’ “Oh John, I only jest. You're too fun to mess with :P ”
“Well I don't want to make you think you're old! You're definitely not!”
“Only in the eyes of YouTube, to them I'm ancient history.”
“You'll never be history to me :) ”
Matt’s eyes widen and he feels his cheeks get a bit warm. ‘He doesn't know what he does to me with his words. I mean if he did, I'm pretty sure I would die of embarrassment, but he's too kind for his own good.’ “I appreciate that more than you know, thank you. You're such a kind person with a big heart.” ‘I hope that's not too obvious.’
“Omg Matt you're too sweet yourself, you're making me blush >///< ” “I'm definitely not more kind than yourself, you're one of the nicest people I know, especially one I can call a friend!”
Matt chuckles at John’s rambling words. ‘This man is adorable… I guess I can't help but like him huh.’ He stares at his phone in shock at his revelation and unsure how to reply. ‘I’m hopeless, and hopelessly crushing on my two close friends, who in no way will ever like me back for so many reasons. I can’t help but be drawn in to them though, they’re so… so intoxicating to be around.’ He types and deletes a sappy response a few times, then looks at the time and winces. He’s not even tired but it’s already past midnight. With a sigh, he decides that humor is the way to go and that he should get to bed soon to make Ash, and himself, some breakfast early enough to film. “Well, this old man probably should attempt to head to bed, my dear friend. It was lovely to chat with you today, and look forward to more tomorrow!”
“Haha alright, I probably should sleep too honestly. I didn’t realize it was so late >-< ” “Goodnight! Sleep well and text you tomorrow! :) ”
“Thank you, goodnight and sleep well to you as well! Don’t let Moon catch you up past your bedtime ;) ” Matt replies and watches as John reacts to his last message with a heart. His own heart gives a small flutter, and he turns off his phone, reaching to set it on his nightstand. Flopping back onto his bed, he lets out another sigh, releasing the tension from his body as he gets comfortable. His thoughts are going in circles, he can’t even process how crazy his day has been today. He eventually drifts off to sleep a good while later, a certain duo haunting his dreams with smiles, laughter, and warm, close touches.