Who: Heather Miller and Matt Murdock What: Matt's come to visit and he's got his sight back. When: Backdated to During the Wish Plot (December) Where: Heather's place Rating/Warnings: Language, they're both a little violent by nature, and existentialism. Status: Complete
December had been a crazy month for Heather, orders had been pouring in and she was working longer hours than she typically would during a normal month. Heather didn't mind, she loved her work, but after the first of the year she was going to hire in someone else to help. It wasn't fair to her to work so much, but still, Heather did enjoy it. She couldn't help that she was a workaholic after all.
That particular day had been a shorter one, she was out of there by five, and back to her apartment across the way by five thirty. Heather took a shower once she was home, changing into something more comfortable for the evening. She had no plans outside of just vegging out, possibly watching a Christmas movie or two and being in bed by nine. With a glass of wine in hand, Heather sat down on the couch, the cornish hen she'd put into the oven slowly cooking and she flipped on the television.
She was about twenty minutes into Elf when there was a knock at her door. Heather raised a brow over at it, she wasn't expecting any company tonight. Pushing herself up off the sofa, she placed her wine glass down onto the coffee table and made her way to the door. Peering through the peephole, her brows furrowed slightly. Unlocking the door, she pulled it open. "Hey Matt," she smiled, "come on in. What's going on?" She asked, unsure as to why he was there although she wasn't complaining.
~*~
Wishing on a star was a child's game. Grown men weren't supposed to believe in magic; Matt Murdock had never been one to believe in flights of fancy. He couldn't say why he'd taken a chance on the shooting stars when they were exploding across the sky above Orange County. It could have been because so many people were shouting, describing them, and his sensitive hearing made it to where he could almost see them which was it's own form of magic.
He'd never regretted being born blind until those damn Dreams had shown him what he might be missing.
Matt wasn't sure how to deal with having sight. His eyes ached when he moved them in their sockets -used to stillness as he'd long since learned there was no point in rolling them around to seek out what they could not see- and he was off balance when he was walking. He'd had to resort to using sunglasses even in the dark to stave off the pain of lights he'd only ever been able to feel before; his cane was an actual walking aid rather than a prop the way it'd been for so much of his life.
Heather had been the first person he'd wanted to see. Really see. He realized he should have called when she answered the door with surprise in her voice---and on her face.
"You know, you're really beautiful. I thought you were beautiful before, but I had no idea. You're stunning. I actually think the headache I have right now is worth it just to get this one look at you."
Matt stepped inside her place to let her close the door and set the locks again while he removed his sunglasses. He blinked myopically at her as his eyes struggled to adjust.
"Would you believe I wished on a star and now I'm officially a member of the Sighted Club?"
~*~
Heather didn't mind unexpected company most nights, and if she really hadn't wanted company she wouldn't have invited him in. A line appeared between her brows as Matt spoke. With a light laugh, she closed the door behind him after he'd entered. "Well thank you." She still wasn't sure what was really going on until he admitted to being able to see again.
Heather turned quickly, a bright smile on her face. "That's pretty awesome." She'd heard of a few people getting their wishes granted, this year and the year before, and she believed that with the shit that they had to deal with her that they all deserved a wish or two being granted.
"So how are you dealing with the whole being sighted thing?" She asked as she moved toward the kitchen to grab another wine glass. She poured a glass for him, and then took her seat back on the couch with her own in hand.
~*~
Matt had to try twice to get his hand around the glass Heather offered. His depth perception was confused by the sight of things in relation to every other sense he'd relied on his entire life. It didn't make matters any easier given his other senses were too heightened to explain anywhere except in the OC. There were some small favors in being a part of a community filled with people -like Heather Miller- who understood life couldn't always be explained rationally.
"I'm working on it."
He thought that was the best way to explain his confusion. There were things he could appreciate about the opportunity. Matt understood color for the first time in his life. All the Dreams had done was make him more confused about what was real and what was his mind's way of trying to help him understand something without breaking. The last thing he'd ever wanted was to go insane. The truth was being sighted would be enough to take him to that point if it lasted.
Taking a long drink from the glass, Matt let the warm wine settle into his stomach as he finally managed, "I'm not insane. I think I might go down that road if this lasts? That's scary. More than anything else? It's scary. Does that make me ungrateful? I get a wish granted which should be impossible and I immediately regret making it?"
~*~
"I could imagine that the transition hasn't been easy." Heather couldn't imagine having something like that given to her after living life one way. Heather honestly couldn't imagine being blind period. She realized, not for the first time, how she took the little things for granted.
Heather pulled her legs up onto the couch, shifting to tuck them underneath her. Her lips pursed in thought before she took another sip of her wine. She gave a small shake of her head, "No, we always think that the grass is greener on the other side. So I don't think it makes you ungrateful, and I'm sure that if it is as permanent thing that you'll adjust. Without going crazy that is." At least Heather was hopeful that he wouldn't go crazy, but she did doubt that it would be a permanent thing.
Nothing 'good' lasted in the OC.
"Just take it one day at a time, Matt. If you need anything I'm here to help with what I can."
~*~
"Ignore the fact that the newly-sighted man is closing his eyes to sit down. That's how you can help right now."
Matt smiled as he closed his eyes, the world righting itself immediately. He moved to sit on the couch next to Heather. There was something comforting in knowing she smelled exactly how he expected and her space was familiar enough to make him relax in a way he hadn't been able to while alone in his own home. All the reasons he had wanted sight made sense again with Heather right there.
"I wanted to know if the things I had memories of in my Dreams were real. That was the reason. I never really wanted to be sighted. Deaf kids don't want to be hearing. Their community is their own. It's the same thing for blind kids: we understand the world in a way the sighted can't."
He opened his eyes to stare at Heather again. She had dark hair. Was it considered black or brown? Her skin was white. Her lips were red. Her eyes were blue the same as the daytime sky. Heather was a whole color palette unto herself and she was the best friend Matt could have asked for when his world had been upended. The only thing he'd been able to 'see' in his own house had been 'This is what Frank Castle sees when he thinks about me. No wonder I seem like some spoiled rich guy to him.'
"Did you make a wish?"
~*~
"You're excused." Heather wouldn't make anyone feel less than what they were, she'd never been that kind of person and well, the OC was a strange place to begin with. As it was, Heather sipped on her wine as Matt settled in beside her and she shifted slightly on the couch to better look at him.
"I've heard it can be a bit much when people regain their hearing through the implants." Again, Heather couldn't even start to imagine how hard that must be, or what it would even be like. She was fond of her senses thanks so much, and while she might've taken them for granted most days, right now she was glad that she'd never had to live life without them.
She gave a small shake of her head, "No, I didn't. I saw them, but I never did make a wish." Heather had everything that she needed in life at the moment, "I have what I want, and what I need. I honestly couldn't think of anything that I would've wanted to wish for. What would you change your wish to if you could?"
~*~
Heather asked him the one question to make him want to close his eyes because they were working right when he wished they weren't. He didn't. Matt kept her gaze even though he did have to swallow thickly to do it. His voice was a rasp as he forced the words out. It was horrific what he could have asked for and what he'd chosen to wish. How was he supposed to know it was a wish which would come true?
"I'd ask for my parents back. I'd give anything to spend another Christmas with them. Seeing is so---"
He shrugged.
The wine was a welcome distraction while Matt tried to compose himself. Heather wouldn't judge him for his selfish wish. It'd been a spur of the moment act. There'd been no forethought going into the wish. If he'd gone on trial for it, Matt knew even the worst lawyer in the world would have been able to make an incontestable argument for a spontaneous act of passion. That didn't mean he couldn't judge himself guilty in his own mind.
"It's not worth my family. I didn't think it would come true."
~*~
Heather's lips turned down at the corners into a slight frown, "Oh Matt." She reached over with her free hand, placing it on his hand. "There's no way you could've known no, but if history repeats itself like it often does around here, then maybe you'll get that second wish." Heather didn't know if something like that could come true, but hell, anything was possible here as far as she was concerned.
Of course, that would've probably been the one thing that wouldn't work out, but what did she know? All Heather knew was that she had to survive here in this world, especially when bad things happened, and deal with it the best that she could.
Taking in a deep breath, she glanced over at the clock.
"Why don't you stay for dinner? Food is always my go-to when things are bad or when I'm feeling a little out of sorts." The hen should almost be ready, if they weren't already, by this point and besides it would've honestly made two meals for her. Food was best when shared with others, or so that's what Heather believed. "Here," she reached for his wine glass, and then pushed herself off the couch, "I'll go top you off and then we'll eat."
~*~
Wine was more welcome than food, but Matt smiled at the offer. He surrendered his glass without protest. Heather moved with a kind of fluid grace his senses couldn't transfer the way his eyes could. It was going to be a shame when his eyes failed again. Nothing good ever lasted in the OC; Matt knew it would be something which would go as quickly as it'd come. He was determined to appreciate it while he had it.
"Thank you. Dinner sounds good. More wine sounds better."
He didn't comment on how he could watch her until his eyes failed, see nothing else, and still feel as if he'd benefited from his self-serving wish.
Heather was a good friend. They weren't the kind of friends who said things that crossed those lines. Sex was different than sentiment. He was very aware it wasn't in his better interest to let his friendship for Heather Miller turn into something deeper on an emotional level. Matt wasn't the kind of guy who made friends easy. He also wasn't the kind of man women dreamed about falling in love with them.
Theirs was a friendship too good to waste.
"Sorry for bringing my crazy into your crazy? I guess we'll even it out in the end. This is the OC, after all, and we know the crazy here is its own beast to battle. Next time you can come to my place and I'll cook for you---or order catering for you to be the good friend. Deal?"
Matt stood slowly to keep his equilibrium.
"Deal."
He figured he could confirm it with as well as the pair of them knew each other.
"Now put me to work helping while I can see what I'm doing. Waste not, want not."
His mother had said that in this life; in the Dreams, it'd been his father.
Matt was glad he hadn't wished for his parents back because who knew which ones would have been given to him? The OC was its own beast to battle: the truth hurt sometimes but that didn't make it any less the truth.