Oh god, you really fucked this one up, Klaus.
There’s not a single thing on this planet that Klaus hates more than silence. It’s fucking deafening and he can feel it in his chest, like sinking stones tied to his insides, dragging him down through the floorboards. The worst part is, he can FEEL himself digging deeper and deeper with each syllable, he knows Matt’s not going to forgive him so easily this time, but he just can’t seem to stop himself because god, he’d rather have Matt rage at him than continue on in this sullen silence.
He never feels this way when it’s Diego busting him out, but it’s goddamn humiliating having to stand next to Matt as he’s signed out. This isn’t a prison break, this is his boyfriend cleaning up his mess for him, and he feels so fucking small as the lady at the desk talks through the process, throws out words he doesn’t even know, and all he can do is stand with his hands in his pocket and wait until they’re free to get the hell out of this dump.
It shouldn’t surprise him when Matt’s firs reaction is to worry about this so-called public that Klaus is constantly hearing about. He knew it was coming, but there’s still a twinge of hurt, a slight twitch at the way he defends the very system that put him here in the first place. FUCK THE PUBLIC, I’M YOUR BOYFRIEND! he wants to scream. And in the back of his head something clicks, something dark and mean and it makes his stomach hurt as he drags his feet along the pavement. Maybe that’s why Batman and Superman and all those schmucks from the comics never got hitched. There’s always a choice to be made, and Klaus…well, Klaus has never been first pick for anything.
It’s too big of a subject to breach, and thank god he doesn’t have to, because Matt keeps talking and Klaus can practically hear the other proverbial shoe dropping. “You know you’re more than this, right? It’s shitty seeing you play in to their stereotypes.”
Klaus lets out a bark of laughter. He doesn’t know why. Probably because if he doesn’t he might start crying. (He might start crying anyway, despite the jilted laughter. His tear ducts have been known to betray him in moments like this).
“See, this is EXACTLY why I didn’t want to call you!” He points one accusatory finger. “You’re not an asshole, that’s your fucking problem! You’re a hypocritical wannabe saint, and see I KNEW I’d get this lecture, I KNEW you’d get all prissy about it.”
Oh, he’s heated now, his mind is racing with a million and one things he wants to say and still it seems that time stands still for a second as the realization hits him. A fight! We’re having a fight.
“You think it’s hard listening to people talk about me? How do you think I’ve felt every goddamn day of my life?!” He’s laughing again. “I don’t care what people think about me! Maybe I AM a stereotype, maybe I don’t wanna be better, maybe this is as good as it gets, have you ever considered that?! What if— what if this is it, what if you can’t fix me, Mr. Hero?”
MAYBE THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS. Matt doesn’t know what to expect from Klaus; he’s always been unpredictable in his emotions, far more complex with his thoughts & feelings than most people gave him credit for. But this? Matt isn’t a stranger to cutting someone deep when you’ve been backed into a corner — it’s just human nature, after all. Regardless, it still amazes him just how sharp that spiteful sword can be. Even though, deep down, Matthew knows that Klaus’ is simply trying to find the words that do the most damage, embarrassment & frustration making his tongue poisonous, the cut it leaves on his soul still stings. YOU’RE A HYPOCRITICAL WANNABE SAINT. WHAT IF YOU CAN’T FIX ME, MR. HERO?
HE TRIES TO PUSH THAT SUDDEN WASH OF SHAME BACK DOWN, but it is as violent as all things are in the Murdock men and so it tries to claw its way back up throat, hissing and spitting its wrath. It isn’t often that Matthew bares his soul to a person ( it’s far easier to let someone go, as they inevitably do because everybody leaves Matt Murdock ), but he’d done so with Klaus one evening as they lay in bed, sweat growing sticky & cool on their skin, the distorted array of colored lights from the billboard outside the window illuminating their figures atop the sheets. Hadn’t he told him then about how desperately he tries to be better than he is? That despite that hunger for violence, to feel the skin of another tear beneath his knuckles for no other reason than to cause pain & to feel it, he fights it. That he feels the Devil inside him, the real and ravenous presence, urging him. And every day he feels less than for it rather than righteous, but he tries. He tries to be better.
BUT IS THIS WHAT KLAUS TRULY THINKS OF HIM? That he’s just some goody-goody who thought himself better than everyone around him, that he was ashamed of his boyfriend because he wasn’t picture perfect? Is that what Klaus thinks every time they’re in each other’s presence? A million questions begin to surge in his mind, twisting the features on his face into something stricken. But if Matthew was anything, he was a master of masks, smoothing his expression over until it appeared entirely flat. “At least I try, Klaus,” he says, voice eerily softer than it’d been moments before. “It’s easier not to, and I’m sure you’ve grown comfortable hiding behind the guise of the fucked up one your family bestowed upon you, but I promise you that just because it’s easier… It’s not better.”
THE SHEER FEROCIOUS DEVOTION & LOVE KLAUS HAS FOR HIS FAMILY IS A RARE FIND IN A PERSON GIVEN HOW OFTEN HIS SIBLINGS WRITE HIM OFF. The fact that he couldn’t see he is worth so much more and is far better than what his siblings or his father deem him to be, truly did pain Matt. And now here they were, with Klaus pulling out all that hurt & projecting it on to him, to shield himself in the same way Matt used his anger. Dwelling on that thought, his own indignation begins to well up again, that sinful thing. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe I’m lecturing you because I care about your well-being? I don’t want to fix you — that’s something only you can do — but I do want you to be safe.” A pause and Matt exhales heavily, voice growing almost timid as he adds, “And healthy.” He turns his head away, tries to focus on every other little sound of the city to keep his mind off the erratic, furious beat of Klaus’ heart. “Had my dad not died that day in that alley, alcohol would’ve done him in. I’ve already watched someone I love poison themselves to the point of delirium as a kid, Klaus, and I just… I don’t want that to be your lot in life.”