demonpuppy | (no subject)

Life has been frustratingly tense for the last several weeks. With Matti staying at the shop while whatever criminal things he had done were being smoothed over by Sophie, Chip has been forced to put up with the boy's presence among their family. It has not been a very stable equilibrium to maintain, and Grant has been getting even more and more distressed about Chip's behavior.

It was bound to happen eventually. But it's insult to injury for them to be replaced in the exact same moment!

Chip climbs the stairs up to the living section of the apartment with a stormy expression--school had been typically frustrating as they continued to not only be a pariah among their classmates but also still struggle abysmally in their schoolwork. Math is an arcane mystery, history is just dumb, and even English they couldn't enjoy when they had to turn around and write about things. Why can't they just enjoy the story? Their sour mood only increases when they see Matti sitting in a corner, and they stop at the top of the stairs to wait for whatever bitter comment they'd earned today.

But nothing comes.

Chip blinks and frowns, noticing the headphones that Matti is wearing after a moment. They look...really fancy, like the sort of thing the kids going to the nice schools have. They stare for a few more moments, then drop their backpack by the beds and walk over to poke Matti hard in the shoulder.

"Where'd you get that?"

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Matti spends a lot of time listening to music. Now more than ever, it's his escape from... well, whatever he needs to tune out. Places. People. Himself. Others.

It's less that reality leaves and more that the music absorbs him--which is illustrated with perfect clarity when Chip, unwelcome presence that they are to begin with, jabs him in the shoulder and he jerks violently away--as though he's been burnt.

A few seconds are wasted wrestling the headphones off his head, eyes screwed shut and his grimace pretty clearly warning Chip ahead of time of how he feels. Even if he didn't hear Chip's actual question, he's less than thrilled to be interrupted.

Once they're off, he turns on the other kid directly.

"What."

Chip flinches when Matti jerks away, their expression going disturbingly blank for a moment. But it passes quickly, and they're scowling right back by the time the boy's eyes open again.

"Where did you get them?" Chip points at the headphones for emphasis, brow furrowed in a mixture of suspicion and confusion.

...oh.

"Gift." He's so curt about it that if it wasn't Matti, it'd come off as defensive, or at least stubborn. Between his accent and his personality, though... it's just a word. "I am give.... uh. Like. I cannot remembering word. Is give to me." He looks at Chip suspiciously through his sunglasses.

"Do not touch."

"Given." They say it almost as an afterthought, staring at the headphones again as they turn that over in their head. A gift? That's a really expensive gift, and people don't just give stuff like that away for nothing. The only people that don't think anything about expensive things are rich people, and rich people don't stay in places like this if they don't want to. And Matti has made it abundantly clear that he would rather be anywhere but here.

So what gives?

The second comment, however, catches Chip's attention, and they stare Matti directly in the eyes for a long moment. Then, without breaking eye contact, they slowly reach out with a single finger towards him again.