Who: Sirius Black brightstarblack & Matt Murdock daredevil When: April 20th, Evening Where: Loveless Park What: Sirius has been running around as Padfoot when he comes across a peculiar sight. Rating: Low likely Warnings: Light language, ninjafu, and things like that. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
Sirius had no issues with Muggles, hell, he loved them as it were, but he wasn’t keen on the idea of living with any. The bloke was apparently the sheriff and he’d no idea who the young bird was, and he had no intention of finding out either. Instead he bought himself a backpack, stuffed what belongings had been brought for him and left his key on the kitchen table with a note stating that he was out.
Sirius had only liked sharing space with a few people, and he’d been on the run for so long he wasn’t sure if he was up to trying to do that again truth be told.
It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that they were Muggles. His mind was a dark place, filled with nightmares that he didn’t need to explain, emotional outbursts and honestly he didn’t feel like starting a fight right now. All he wanted to do was wallow in his self pity, drink, smoke and try to figure out a way to get home which, as he understood it, was impossible.
Merlin, he missed his mates.
The park was the obvious place to go even if it didn’t provide much in terms of shelter. Sirius didn’t care, he’d slept in worse places so he put up a few protection spells, silencing charms and settled in. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out the layout of the park. There was a man and a woman staying there, as well as some other being but he didn’t get close to any of them. He kept his distance, live and let live. Sirius figured as long as he left them be, they wouldn’t bother him and that was exactly what he wanted.
At one end of the park there was a small campground with bathrooms and a shower area. After a few days of being there, Sirius headed down and stood under the spray until his normally tan skin took on a pink glow. The process repeated a few times, Sirius keeping to himself, keeping quiet which was a rare feat but it was what it was.
The only time he felt at peace was when he became Padfoot. He’d run until his legs hurt, his breathing labored and then he’d collapse down in the sun to warm his fur. It was nice, and for the umpteenth time he thought about making the change permanent.
Wasn’t as if anyone was going to miss him was it?
He was lounging around near one of the pathways, looking much like a large black German Shepherd when he heard something not of the norm in the distance. Sitting up, he cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing a degree and ears twitching.
Slowly he stood, long legs carrying him toward the sound, faint as it was. Sirius came upon a clearing, head cocked to the side as he stood as still as a statue watching the man move around. He didn’t change back to himself just yet, for now he was still Padfoot, curious, sweet dog just seeing what was going on, and the man? Well he didn’t need to know any different just yet.
~*~
Justice was blind. It made Matt feel comfortable, welcomed. He was born to be a lawyer as far as he was concerned. His father would have been proud of him being an attorney for the defense. Jack Murdock had wanted a better life for his son than one where he lived by his fists. He'd wanted his son to be more than he had ever managed to make of himself in the Kitchen.
Good thing his father was dead so he couldn't see him training in the park.
It was strange, Matt thought as he raced up a fallen log to flip onto a tabletop. The park's tables weren't stable enough to handle a man of even his weight class falling onto them with force so he threw himself into the air once more to hit the table's bench before landing on the ground. He didn't let himself slow down. He raced faster. Flipping, punching, jabbing at the air as if he were shadow-fighting himself though he could not even sense shadows...even his senses were limited in that manner.
"Hey there, pup," he called, "What makes me so special you want to hang around watching me train?"
There was something odd about the dog. Its heartbeat wasn't normal for a dog. The scent was a little wrong, too. He liked the thought it was something more than a dog, yet different from a man at the same time. A little like himself. He wasn't anything normal. They couldn't quite quantify him based on the same requirements set forth for a blind man yet he wasn't anything other than a man regardless. He bled, he got hurt, and he could die.
Matt boxed a bit at the air, dancing back and forth on his feet better than his father ever did though he hated thinking of himself that way. Better than his father? Who would have thought he could be better than his old man when his old man had been his hero growing up? Few people could live up to his love of his father. Matt could sometimes remember exactly how his father's face had felt beneath his fingers when he'd been stitching him up post-fight. It had been rougher than his own by a lot at the time. Now? He sometimes dreamed he was stitching himself.
He'd done that on occasion, too.
"So, I'm Matt. I'm a lawyer for the defense. I'm blind. I'm also doubting you're a dog. Got a name? I'll start calling you 'Lassie' if you don't have one. I've always been amused at the idea Lassie was a male dog."
Matt didn't stop sparring as he waited on whether or not whatever was watching him would reply. In this place? It could be a shapeshifter, an alien, or something else entirely. He would have thought himself insane to question whether a dog was a dog before arriving in Test City. Now?
Anything was possible.
~*~
Cocking his head to the side, Sirius watched curiously without making a sound. Still the man noticed his presence quicker than he’d anticipated. He honestly hadn’t expected that. Even people with normal vision didn’t notice him that quickly regardless of his size.
He snorted at Matt’s comment, turning his head to look away as if offended. Lassie? He wasn’t even a sodding Collie, and he had all his bits in place thanks so much.
Taking a few steps forward, he reversed the Animagus spell, and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Sirius, or as a dog, Padfoot. Either way, it doesn’t matter I’ll answer to both.” His voice was rusty from not being used today, and so he cleared his throat.
Sirius honestly didn’t care what the bloke called him, it was unlikely that he’d run into him again considering he now knew his scent, and could avoid him if he chose to. Not that Sirius enjoyed being alone, his mind was a dark place now, but after awhile? The darkness started to consumed him.
He put that off on all of the inbreeding in his family.
Sirius rolled his shoulders, and then stretched his arms over his head. He’d been Padfoot for a bit too long this time. Dropping his arms back down to his sides, Sirius put his hands down into his pockets. “Self defense, or something else? Doesn’t seem to me as if a bloke that could sense me when sighted people rarely do would be training for mere self defense.” ~*~
Laughing, Matt shook his head to the negative, "No. I'm not training for self-defense. I mean. I am and I'm not. I'm a defense attorney. It means I defend the person who is accused of a crime or multiple crimes depending on what the case may be for the individual. I train because sometimes? Sometimes the law can only do so much."
He had no idea how the man became a dog, but both names seemed to suit him. Padfoot for a dog was an apt name while Sirius was the dog star. Matt remembered stars. It was one of the few things he remembered really well from being a sighted person to being a blind person: seeing the sky. Matt could sense so many things it sometimes felt as if he'd been blind when his eyes had worked, but the sky?
Matt couldn't sense the look of the sky.
"Were you named after the star? Sirius? I miss stars. I can't sense the sky. Other things? Sure. The look of the sky? Not at all."
A person couldn't truly know what it was like to miss something until it was gone. They could hypothesize, but knowing it? No. It didn't work that way. Matt knew from personal experience. He'd imagined himself without one thing after another until all those things were gone. It had never sank in until each thing was gone how it would feel to truly miss it. Sirius smelled different as a man than as a dog.
"How long has it been since you walked on two legs instead of four? You smell different as a man, but not necessarily different good right now. You know they have showers here in the park, right? They're free even. Not that I'm saying you need a shower, only that you might want to consider it. Strongly."
~*~
“Yes, it’s tradition for my family to name their children after stars or constellations.” He shrugged his shoulders, not quite feeling that comfortable in his own skin at the moment.
“That’s a real nice way of telling a bloke he stinks.” He snorted and thought, “It’s been less than a day this time, and I’m aware there are showers here.” This was getting him nowhere, and he was feeling more irritable by the second.
Perhaps he should make the change permanent. Especially if he was going to be stuck in this hell hole, but then again the idiots from the pound would catch him and he’d spend the rest of his days stuck inside a cage. The thought was revolting.
Sirius wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight with this bloke. Not that he doubted his own abilities, he just didn’t see the point in all of it. The man had merely stated his own opinion, and hadn’t done any physical harm to him.
Bloody hell he was getting soft. Hell, at this point he was too tired to honestly care.
“I’ll let you get back to it. I heard a new noise, and was curious. I’d hate to offend your sensitive nose, and I’ve no desire to be talked down by a bloody lawyer.” He turned on his heel, quickly shifting back to Padfoot. He trotted off, going toward his camp so he could pick up a few things before he headed to the showers.
Maybe after that he could find a nice, comfy place to sleep and just forget about the shit that was his life now. Sirius doubted that would happen though, he was never that lucky.
~*~
Apologies were easy for Matt. Sometimes he felt as if his entire life was one long string of apologies one right after the next. His father had always been losing -which Matt had been the one to apologize for in case someone bet on his old man only to have their money gone with the wind when he was taken down- and then when the man hadn't lost? Well, then Matt had really started having to apologize every day in every way because he'd known, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was his fault the world was minus one Battlin' Jack Murdock.
The man hadn't wanted to let him down. He'd fought to win for his son. Jack had wanted to win one for his blind son. It'd been the rumor which had haunted Matt from the moment he heard the sirens outside announcing something had happened. Something bad for them to use sirens in Hell's Kitchen.
Matt had known it was his father before he'd touched his cooling skin. He'd known from the man's smell, from the scent of his sweat, his blood, his clothes, even the faintest hint of the detergent they used. All of the scents comingled to authenticate this was his father. All Matt had wanted was to say he was sorry, he was sorry his father had fought for him, sorry his father had thought he needed him to win, sorry for being blind, sorry.
Before Matt could do more than start -"Hey, I'm sorry---"- Sirius was changing, running, gone.
He hoped he got a chance to give a proper apology some time later. It was the right thing to do and Matt tried to do the right thing as often as possible. There was little else he could do. He didn't have anyone to do the wrong thing for which made it easier to strive to do right by his father's memory.
That was all he had after all: memories.
Looked like he wasn't going to be a pleasant one for another person.
Great. Just great.
Matt went back to training with a determined grimace on his face.
He couldn't do more than try. Trying was all he had left at this stage.