Misery Business

His thumb rapidly tapped against the x-button, the sounds of an exaggerated grunting filling the room as the character on the screen repeated moves designated by the button prompts. Pat was not the best when it came to fighting games, but he was a sucker for ones that featured characters he mildly enjoyed. When not working, risking his life in vigilante work or making small attempts at a love life, Pat was the type to play video games. Nice visual stimulation that kept his hands busy and kept with a PG-13 rating. Spending time while he waited for friends to make their way over was also nice, considering he was still getting used to the place. Not often that ones home gets blown up thanks to telekinetic that your friend happened to piss off. There was no blame being thrown around now, just him considering how much his life had changed recently.

”Goddammit.” He cursed, slamming on the button to no avail as the anime parody proceeded to beat his character down until he managed to escape with little life left but it happened. ”Hate this game.” he muttered, despite the fact he spent hard earned money on purchasing it. He hadn’t been intending to go anywhere, which meant he was in just a pair of cargo shorts and a slightly stained muscle shirt; the only effort to really keep him presentable was his hair which was raked into line with fingers. Who knew a specialist type character would be difficult to play as? Even still, Pat had to let the game decide instead of doing what he normally did and going with what was basically a god of the sun.

”Wonder if they brought me anything. Probably not.’ He thought outloud to himself, having left the door unlocked if they just wanted to step in. Not like he had any issue with his two best friends coming and going as they wished. It was just anyone else that would get suspicion. They after all had a weird, but enjoyable relationship. One that he wouldn’t have changed for anything.  Eventually he did hear the door open, granted the living room was so close to the front door he could see it opening.

”Thought you guys would be making me wait forever. Sit down, relax or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do.” His eyes were honed like a razor on the screen.

Matthew was always thinking of his friends. That was the one constant that never changed. He would bend over backwards to give them the world if he could. But because of secrecy and lies, he was forced to be someone- no- something that he wasn't. But this was to be the end of it, wasn't it? The end of the lies. The end of the deception. The end of individuality, and the beginning fo the collective whole. This was a moment Matthew had dreaded every moment of his waking life. Yet here he was. Showing his face, his true face. Sharing his name. His real name. This construct, this fabrication he presented to these two was one that they came to know and love. But what would they do now that the truth was out? When they find out the one that called them "brothers" was nothing more than a mask, just another skin to shed for a skinwalker. They've come to love Matthew, and Matthew came to love them. But this was a time he knew would come...

...This is it...

With a bag in his hand he drove in silence. He didn't show anything on his face other than the same old remorse he wore at taco Bell just moments earlier. Before leaving, he hit the drive-thru and gathered a small order for Pat, it was the same thing Matthew had ordered, though he was unsure if Pat would approve. then he began to examine the options before making his final decision, quickly calculating and weighing probability of Pat's enjoyment of the meal and what form of reaction or mood it would set for the situation. Matthew scrapped the meal, much to the woman's dismay and he ordered three of the quesarito's and a drink. Even now he couldn't stop throwing through calculations. Looking at this as some form of objective rather than a conversation to be had.

Just short of Luke talking, there was nothing Matthew really wanted to say. The silence was unnerving, even to him. But he would let it be if it had to be. Luke may not feel up to talking, he may be talking too much. He may do something crazy like assault him. But no matter what Drifter was feeling, what he was doing... Matthew was the same as he always had been. You'd think that your best bud being a vigilante with you, even if a former enemy, would elate you to give you a new ally. It wasn't a particular look of doom and gloom, but it was one of intense thought, perhaps a tinge of anxiety and concern peppered in. Was he afraid of the judgement to be passed?

Luke would have the opportunity to say whatever he wanted, if anything. But after he was given the chance to say everything he wanted, Matthew would turn to face the music, and the new task at hand. Doing so, he got out of his little beat-up car and walked to the door, opening it and walking in. The moment he saw Pat, he flicked his wrist, sending the Taco-Bell bag through the air and landing right next to Pat.

Luke's brow was furrowed as he rode along with Matt. The drive was quiet, but that was to be expected. They had just finished one of the most tense conversations of their lives, or at least Drifter had, and they both likely wanted to cool off. Besides, anything more that could have been added could have been said in front of Pat. Drifter had already bantered with Matt one-on-one enough, and now he just wanted to process it all. He looked out the window, watching the trees fly by and the rain fall, saying nothing the whole drive. He was deep in thought. One could even say he was in a meditative state, and it was probably better for them both that way.

Truth be told, Luke was calm. He was usually calm, in fact. Most things didn't really get to him in everyday life. It was this lack of feeling that sometimes scared him, actually. Yes, there was endless utility in being able to simply shrug at the most stressful and fucked up situations, but it could also make you cold. To most people, Luke was that way all the time, but to his loved ones he was passionate and enthusiastic. It was all a matter of getting past his wall. If you could do that, the guy wasn't so stoic.

But tonight, Drifter wanted to chill out, and he was deliberately keeping it up. He had showed too much weakness as it was. The anger, resentment, and unhinged emotion he had been feeling almost constantly this last few months had left him unstable, and he was finally catching himself. If that made him come off as cold, than so be it. Being unfeeling was often better than being an emotional wreck. No, he didn't plan to be robotic, but he did plan to channel some of that often sociopathic insensitivity to keep himself in line.

Once they arrived at Pat's new place, Drifter got out of Matt's beater. He briefly wondered why Humanity, the high tech vigilante, was driving this, but figured that question probably ranked near the bottom of the list of important unanswered questions about his friend. Instead of saying anything, he simply followed behind Matt, letting him control the pace of the situation. It was his secret, after all. Luke was sure Matt had planned out how he wanted to tell Pat in detail. As fun as it was to throw a wrench in Matt's plans once he anticipated them, this was not the time nor the place. Luke waved to Pat, slinking over to the couch. As much as Luke had distanced himself from gaming, he could use some mindless virtual violence at this point. He grabbed a controller and started playing.

"You could tell us what to do. Doesn't mean we'll listen," Luke said, splitting hairs in usual fashion.

As soon as Matt stepped through the door his attention half snapped to the food he carried in his hand. It was a well known fact that the best way to Pat’s heart was through his stomach, or through
something that was not quite right to say in polite company. Food here was the easier route. ”So Matt, whatcha got in the bag there?” Without even saying anything his expression showed that he was asking if there were anything for him. He also trusted that his friend knew him well enough that they didn’t need to say anything else. That was at the very least his understanding of how their dynamics worked, though Luke picked up a controller without saying anything. So he switched things around to multiplayer and so began their little battle.

He stuck with Mankind and let Luke pick out whatever character he wanted. Though he had no doubt he would lose considering how much he actually sucked at the character. The bag of food flicked through the air, Pat pausing the game without an issue and digging through it like a scavenger through a corpse. What he drew from the bag was a few spicy potato tacos. Not his favorite, but they were food, so he accepted with no complaint. Instead already unwrapped one and biting off a good chunk before returning to the game with loud chewing. ”Forehead strikes again with pointing out the obvious. Oh by your wit I have been defeated.” Pat snarked between bites, shoveling the rest of one of his tacos into his mouth; a small line of sauce dripping from the corner of his mouth.

”So Luke, what’s with the face? I mean you normally look down but not this down. Someone run over your puppy?”

Matthew literallty twisted the bag, rotating his wrist and sending the bag in circles for a few rotations before he let go. The bag of food lobbed through the air before landing next to Pat. Meanwhile, Luke went off and immediately began b-lining for the video game, to enjoy with Pat. Matt watched for a moment as he contemplated Pat's commet about the bag. Normally, Matt might have played it off, or given him barely any information to make him actually ask for what he wanted. But not this time. This was just too...what was the word? There was a word he was looking for, one that he knew too well but hadn't used in...a long time. He watched as they began to select characters. Pat asked Luke whyit looked like someone kicked his puppy. Matt honestly expected Luke to outright tell him why. But he also had some measure of faith in his brother.

Pat was playing his game, having osme obvious difficulty as he tried to master a newly unlocked character. Mank-Oh that's not right. That's not right at all. That's some bullshit is what that is. His rip-off character was Mankind, that wasn't even cool. If you wanted to get technical, he was "The Villain" Humanity is just what people began calling him...and then that name stuck better. But regardless, Mankind was a shitty ass WWE wrestler that got his ass kicked all the time with his shitty-ass story line. Fuck this game, and fuck these people. Fuck them even harder for picking the name of a schizophrenic-impersonator.

"Mankind? Really?" Matthew looked up to the ceiling, whispering to himself as he shook his head at the God of the universe. Or nothing. If it was nothing that was just as good for him right now. He looked to Pat and Luke. For a moment he was perfectly happy, content with the fact that they were three friends hanging out at each other's house. This...this right here is what he wanted. He had someone he cared for he could call, who might actually miss his sorry excuse of a soul when he was gone...he had friends that he could spend a day with. An actual job again. This is all he wanted. This was all that Humanity threatened to take away from him.

"Pat...when you finish your food and that round...I need to steal you for a second." Matthew said, slightly serious in tone, but nothing that he figured Pat would stop the game for, or stop eating. He folded his arms and yawned before telling everyone he'd be right back. He needed to use the restroom. Walking in he took off his large black coat, removed the beanie from his head and put the water over his face. He needed to remember why he was doing this. He couldn't save them...only protect them.

"Snark attack! Close the beaches," Luke quipped, choosing some random character named Transgression. He seemed like kind of a snotty dick, so naturally Drifter was drawn to him. Despite the tension in the air due to what Luke knew was coming, he pretty much just tuned it out. He was relaxed and focused on the game in front of him. Sure, he could have got more involved in this whole telling Pat thing, but now was not the time. He needed Matt to leave for a moment before saying his piece. Instead of doing that in front of him, he decided to just experiment with his combos and special attacks while he waited for privacy.

Truth be told, Luke sucked at video games, but he did know a thing or two about fighters. Generally the potent attacks were done in similar fashion across games. A turn of the joystick and a button is all it took most of the time to unlock some pretty sick powers, and that's pretty much what Luke was doing. He tried every direction and every button until he found a nice attack he could spam. Transgression threw some substance on his opponent that weakened them over time, and apparently it stacked. Combined with the fact it was rather difficult to avoid, it seemed cheap, but that didn't mean Luke wouldn't take advantage of it's cheapness.

Once the match was over, regardless of who won, Drifter would put the controller down. He sat back into the couch, resting his eyes a a bit. Matt had went to the bathroom, and when he came back the moment of truth would happen. Like, literally the moment of truth. That meant Luke needed to do some mental preparations, if only to keep himself in check.

Drifter sighed, thinking over what could happen next. He wasn't stressed out about it, but he certainly knew that this could go wrong rather quickly. If he had anything to say about it, it wouldn't, but there was still the possibility of some sort of overreaction or falling out. This group had had enough of that already, so Drifter was going to do his best to make sure things stayed civil. That involved repressing his emotions, namely his anger, and trying to soften the blow to Pat. No, he wasn't going to reveal the truth of Humanity, that was Matt's job, but he was going to try to give some preparatory advice.

"What he's about to tell you is weird. It's psychologically and philosophically complicated, confusing, in some sense irrational, and may make you ask yourself why he's even your friend. You'll have a million questions and very few answers. For everything he does reveal, a new depth of the mystery is reached. My head still hurts after trying to figure it out. The anxiety I feel because of the fact I can't nail him down is unfathomable. I would die for him, yes, but someone so unpredictable drives me nuts." Lukas said, taking a long sip from his fountain drink. It was lemonade or something, but tasted more like LA tap water now that the ice had melted. He grimaced at the flavor, and then put the drink aside before speaking again.

"When he told me, I doubted our friendship, my respect for him, and the very authenticity of his character. I wondered if the brother I loved was real, and some nagging, obsessive part of me still does, but those thoughts are a mistake. Don't fall into the same trap I do all the time. It will only make you miserable. Whatever he says, Pat, he loves you. Remember that." Once Luke was done talking, the bathroom door was audibly opening. Just in time for the monologue to be over, conveniently.

Pat liked having his friends around despite wat hijinks could commence from their very existence. There was a certain mysterious air to everything, with Matt looking liker his normal self but Luke bearing his thoughts on his face. Honestly, despite being engrossed within the game he wanted to know what was going on. Could it have been something really important or something lesser on the scale of importance. As he rolled into the combo of gas and a flurry of stabs, Pat tried to consider the things that it could have been. Sure, he was also eating the food that Matt was so kind to bring, but that didn’t keep the video game fiend from doing his thing. Apparently he had to be stolen for a second after the game, which meant something was happening that needed his attention. With mysterious statements made Matt stepped off to his bathroom, leaving him with Luke who then said something.

Unfortunately there was little that would make him put down food, because food was one of the few pleasures he could take in this life. Anyone that somewhat knew who he was would know that he had an obsession with anything that tasted mildly good, specially when periodic cravings hit like a truck. Apparently Matt wanted to tell him something and it would be a confusing thing, something that sounded more like a deep Luke thing than anything he could have cared about. What exactly were the two brewing on that could require such...roundabout terms? As the match came to an end he unwrapped one of the last tacos and shoveled it into his mouth, allowing a sort of awkward silence to pass through the air.

”You two aren’t sleeping together are you?’ The question, especially how preposterous it sounded came from his mouth, only half muffled by food being swallowed. He knew that wasn’t the case, but in the end it didn’t matter. Sometimes it took proposing stupid ideas to break someone enough to reveal the truth.”Not gonna judge or anything, I love ya and I have no room to talk.” His eyes flickered to Matt who emerged from the bathroom, likely having heard the little snarky remark. Standing from the couch, he took the last two tacos and sequestered them away from their bagged confines. ”So, whatcha need me for?” Without really needing prompt he motioned for Matt to follow to the kitchen which was only separated by a single wall.

He watched the rounds of the fighter game finish, as he turned the corner. His mind only escalated the problem; giving the anxiety a chance to build up in him as well. No matter how much of an inhuman monster he could be, these two always seemed to make him feel helpless in the aspects of anxiety and paranoia. It didn’t matter that he could predict every word, see every possibility in his head more clearly than a clairvoyant. Somehow the doubt, the worry was just enough to keep him on edge. But it wasn’t like he could respond to it the same way that he did to other things he doubted. He was at quite the crossroad, dealing with his demon. He knew he would have to sooner or later. He had just assumed that it would have been to Victor, or Trey rather than Luke and Pat.

Pat had made a comment about them sleeping together. Matt shook his head a little as he began to feel his eyes become heavy. If it was any luck it was sandman. He really hoped it was sandman. That way he could fix everything before these two woke up, made it look like it was just a weird-ass dream. But could he do that? Manipulate his friends that badly to keep this part of him isolated? Yes, absolutely. The real question is...would he? No. Not a chance. Not anymore. He already had his sins to pay for. No more needed added. Matthew got around to answering Pat, but when he did there was no sharp voice, no grim tone or air of grave consequence. It was just one person sharing a fact with another.

”No. Not sleeping together, I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m Humanity.” He said, his eyes on high alert for something incoming. Be it Drifter getting pissed off at Pat’s trivializing his rhetoric, or be it Pat for a sudden rage-induced rant. Part of him felt that Pat would accept the news better than Drifter… but then he remembered that the name Humanity had a tag on it. A price tag that ever increased with the number of bodies and injuries associated with it. He was a terrorist to some, a “misguided hero” to others, and most importantly; A vigilante with no hesitation to end the lives of those he confronted. Humanity was a murderer, a mass murderer, even if each and every person got what they deserved… could he really accept that?

"You're an asshole, Pat." Lukas said, smiling. He tossed his controller to the ground and sat back in his seat, waiting for this shit storm to get underway. He hoped that Matt would be tactful and articulate enough to tell Pat gently. This was a very delicate subject that needed to be handled with a careful to—oh, shit, he just straight up told him!

"Jesus. Going in dry, apparently," Drifter said, face palming, but still smiling nonetheless. For all the reeling in Matt did when Drifter got too blunt, brash, or polemic, the guy had moments of the same type of behavior. Though, that was pretty typical for both of them. Very good at giving advice, but not all that great at following it themselves.

"To be clear, I've already said what I needed to say, quite thoroughly might I add. The floor is yours, Pat......... Mostly," Drifter said, pulling a flask from his jacket. He popped the lid and took a long waterfall from it, wincing a bit. He didn't have to be very careful with his words for the rest of the night, since he had already said his piece, and he didn't have to do any more vigilante crap. He had the night off, and that meant alcoholism. He just hoped everything wouldn't be destroyed when he woke up tomorrow.