Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Techie steadied his tremoring hand as he reached for the microphone. As his fingers brushed it, the equipment began to fall apart. He cursed under his breath that his latest in an hour of attempted fixes had not held. His show was due to start in an hour, and he only had the one mic.
He pushed away from the desk, rubbing his forehead with his palm, and padded to the heavy door that separated the soundbooth from the lounge area where his technician waited.
“Matt, the stupid mic broke again, and I give up on fixing it. Do you have time right now to see if it likes you and will let you fix it?” Techie smiled a little as Matt looked up from his laptop screen and focused on him.
“Yeah, I’ll be right on it. I need you to take a look at this mail and tell me your opinion on it.” Matt’s low voice made little quivers run across Techie’s skin, and he looked down, letting his long copper locks cover his face as he nodded. He hoped Matt didn’t notice how his voice made him shiver.
He smiled shyly at Matt as they slid past each other. He quickly stepped over to Matt’s setup on the coffee table. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he brought the laptop onto his knees, scanning the letter quickly. It was the standard type of email they’d get, full of wild tales of improbably paranormal phenomena.
He snorted to himself. “A person torn apart in mid air? Wow, how long did it take them to do that in after effects to send as ‘proof’?” He muttered to himself, not bothering to look at the attached video, guessing it was either malware or bad effects.
Sliding back further on the couch, he leaned back and crossed his arms in front of him. He caught the faint scent of Matt lingering on the couch. He realized the other probably sat here ninety percent of the time. It took self control for Techie to refrain from nuzzling against the material to get closer to the smell. As Matt exited the soundbooth, he was glad he’d controlled his impulse.
“It’s fixed. I’m surprised you couldn’t do it. It was just a loose nut,” Matt murmured as he settled down next to Techie, pulling the laptop over and frowning.
Matt turned to Techie with a pinched expression. His tone coloured a little with a pout, “You didn’t watch the video? It looks real. I’d like to investigate it.”
“It sounds as fake as my right eye, to be honest,” Techie replied as he stood.
Matt wordlessly watched him go, but the glare that followed him as he closed the door was all the blonde needed to express his irritation and anger.
Techie snorted, shaking his head at the notion of a ghost having the power to rip someone apart. Settling back into his chair, he continued his sound and equipment check. Now that everything was working and in order, he looked over his notes for what to talk about on the program today.
______________
“That’s all we have for this week on the sightings of black-eyed children. If any of our listeners have experiences or more sightings than I’ve mentioned, please call it in.” Techie calmly finished, repeating the numbers to the phone line. He certainly didn’t expect the phone to ring immediately.
“This is PTGIS, you’re on the air. What have you got for us?” Techie spoke into the mic as he keyed the call to be live broadcast with the standard delay.
He leaned back in his chair, eyebrows knitting together in confused concern as all heard was laboured breathing.
“Why didn’t you guys come help me?” a voice finally gasped.
Techie blinked, confusion colouring his voice as he leaned back toward the mic. “Excuse me?”
“I sent you guys a video even though I knew about the curse on it.” The voice faltered, gasped, then continued,”Any who witness those *BEEP*ing monsters will get slaughtered themselves.” As the breathing over the phone line continued, Techie was glad he’d turned on the call delay.
The caller began again, their voice becoming more desperate and angry, “I begged for your help. I showed you the evidence that I witnessed. Now I’m hiding in this god forsaken closet like a ghost can’t somehow find me-” The voice cut off with shrill screams and loud banging. There was a sound that could only be a waterfall before the call disconnected.
“Well, that was, ah… Interesting…” Techie spoke into the mic. He assumed the call was a prank, it being October and all. “The lengths people will to to get attention. I wonder if this is about an email I received about a spirit that can apparently rip people apart.” He shook his head, knowing his listeners couldn’t see.
“Spirits,” he went on, “can’t do that, so please don’t send me bull*BEEP* like that again.” He smirked behind the mic, having to edit out his own comments. “Do we have any callers who want to actually talk about the subject of black eyed children?”
No further calls blinked on the line, so Techie hit play on the pre recorded interview he had queued up about this week’s subject matter. He got up, heading out of the soundbooth to seek out Matt.
He’d barely turned around after pulling the soundbooth door shut before Matt was beside him, a water bottle in hand. Techie noticed Matt’s soft smile first before taking the bottle. “Prankster again?” he asked, waving away Techie’s thanks.
Techie tucked a ginger lock of hair behind his ear and nodded as he took a much needed sip from the bottle. He swallowed and glanced quickly at Matt. “Apparently. Maybe I should watch that video and see what it’s all about.” He secured the lid on the bottle. “We haven’t gotten any new cases to investigate, have we?” He quietly padded to the couch where Matt had papers, notes, and bits of equipment strewn out.
“If you want, Tech.” Matt focused on digging his dinner out of his laptop bag. “But, like you said, it would be impossible. For spirits to do that, and stuff.” Matt set his dinner on the small table in front of the couch. “Did you bring yourself dinner?”
Techie shook his head as he opened their joint email account. His mind had been on so many other things than dinner, yet again. He opened the video file, missing Matt’s concerned look, and started watching it. He scanned it carefully, almost obsessively, looking for the telltale signs of editing. No matter how good, it was always obvious to him when a video was too clear or too rendered.
He didn’t notice Matt slip away from the couch and out of the small office area, so Techie was surprised when he looked up to ask him a question. He frowned, rubbing at his eye. He may have gotten a better optical implant, but it still itched and bothered him from time to time when he forgot to blink. He let one finger absently play at the scar bisecting his eye socket as he replayed the video to study it further.
Unlike so many of the videos he and Matt received, he couldn’t find any signs of tampering on this one. The scene itself, though, was just too bizarre to be real. In the years he’d been researching the paranormal, the most he’d seen ghosts do was touch, push, or scratch someone. Everything else was, in his experience, quite fake. He really wanted to discuss the video with Matt, but the recorded interview was ending. When he got up to enter the soundbooth, the blonde was still absent.
He bit the corner of his bottom lip, annoyed that Matt was gone for so long. Winding down the program, he reiterated the email address to send information to and asked his listeners to please contact him with information or investigations. Techie sighed, glad to be finished, as he switched off the broadcasting equipment and shut down the mic. He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his forehead with his palms when Matt opened the door and stuck his curly blonde head in.
“I brought dinner. Come eat before it gets cold,” Matt offered, pushing up his glasses and doing that little half smile that got sharp heat twisting through Techie’s gut. He brought his hand up and leaned on the door frame. Techie closed his eyes and took a deep breath, controlling his arousal, before standing to head to the lounge.
“You didn’t have to, Matt,” Techie offered him a shy smile as he stepped toward the door. “But thank you.”
Matt didn’t move out of the doorway, a pensive look replacing his smile. Techie’s cheeks bloomed pink as his chest and hip brushed Matt’s and he ducked under the muscular arm braced against the door frame.
The smell of cheese and bread immediately drew his attention to the two pizza boxes on the small table. If humans were able to teleport, Techie would have done so, but he settled with simply crossing the room and opening the top box.
“Matt!” He glanced up briefly to grin at the blonde. “You remembered my favorite type!” He didn’t know if the fluttery feeling in his chest were butterflies from happiness that Matt had remembered, or hunger from forgetting to eat for most of the day. He pulled free a slice of cheese pizza with mushrooms and diced tomatoes.
The pizza so engrossed him that Techie missed Matt rubbing the back of his neck and smiling to himself, then flushing as Techie voiced a pleased moan after his first bite.
Techie slouched onto the couch, one leg tucked under the knee of the other as he pulled the pizza box toward him. He grabbed another piece and relaxed. After the second bite, he realized the other side of the couch was empty.
He looked up at Matt through his lashes. “Aren’t you hungry?” He tilted his head slightly then took a smaller bite. The tip of his tongue snaked out, cleaning a bit of cheese off his bottom lip.
Matt’s eyes followed the movement, his lips slightly parted. He smiled and shook his head, lurching to the other side of the couch. Pulling up the second box, he looked away from Techie, directing the entirety of his attention to his pizza.
After a few minutes with nothing but the sound of pizza being devoured, Techie leaned back and rubbed his stomach. He wasn’t quite full, but Matt’s uncharacteristic silence and avoidance bothered him.
“Matt?” He looked over. Matt raised an eyebrow, a piece of crust halfway to his mouth. “What’s wrong?” Techie reached toward his arm, but Matt skittered as far to his end of the couch as he could.
“Nothing! Uh, nothing’s wrong.” Matt’s voice cracked a bit as he nervously looked at Techie and licked his lips. “I was, uh, thinking about that strange case and the phone call. That’s all.”
Techie eyed him suspiciously, but let it drop. He snagged a can of cola from next to the pizza box and popped it open. He drank slowly, glancing back at the laptop. He dragged it across the table and opened the strange email to examine it again. He finished his drink as he watched the clip over and over.
Matt cleared his throat.
Startled, Techie jumped. The laptop slid to the edge of the table and tottered at the edge. He cringed, bringing his arms up to protect his head, expecting something that never came. Instead, large warm hands wrapped around his wrists and gently drew them down to his sides.
“Come on, it’s about time for us to go home.” Matt moved slowly and spoke calmly. He closed the laptop and slid it into his bag. “Cleaning crew is getting antsy.” He stacked the empty pizza boxes and cans on the trash can. “Come on, Techie. Let me drive you home.” He offered a hand to help Techie off the couch.
Techie calmed himself with several slow, deep breaths, letting Matt’s voice wash over him to pacify his nerves. He watched Matt straighten up the lounge, and when Matt offered his hand, Techie took it for balance as he stood. He fought not to smile as he noticed how warm the fingers were against his own. “Thanks, Matt, I could use a ride home, yeah.”
______
Matt arrived at the radio station first the next afternoon and double checked the problem mic in the studio before settling down onto his usual spot on the couch. It was silent, serene, and he appreciated the quiet. He took a sip of coffee and allowed his eyes to drift closed.
The serenity was abolished by loud thumping in the hallway and the heavy door slamming open. Matt jumped, startled, and his coffee splashed over his legs.
“The fuck, Tech?” Matt demanded, staring incredulously at Techie. He never acted this way!
Techie gulped in huge breaths, still holding the door open, with his free hand braced against his knee. He wasn’t the most athletic person, and running up four flights of stairs winded him. Once he stopped wheezing, he stepped away from the door and shakily walked to Matt.
“Did you…” he gasped, shaking his head and trying to finish. He coughed and took another deep breath. “Did you see the news this morning?” His serious gaze locked onto Matt’s.
Matt drew his eyebrows together, confused and worried. “No, you know I don’t watch the news. Why?”
As his breathing returned to normal, Techie pulled out his cell phone and brought up the article that had him running up all those stairs. “The guy, the one who called last night? He’s dead.” Techie held out his phone. “Torn apart, like in that video.”
Matt carefully took the phone from him and read the article. He turned pale as he saw the graphic photos of the crime scene. He swallowed. Meeting Techie’s eyes, he noticed the mad gleam and determined expression behind loose locks of red hair. “No. No, you’re not thinking-”
“We’re investigating this, Matt. We’re taking this case.”