Vigilante: Prompt Fills

New Hero in Town

Eli didn't find it particularly strange when a masked man appeared to take care of the latest threat to his general well being—something that was sad enough. The only thing that really threw him off was that it wasn't the usual masked vigilante. Which said a lot about how weird his life was.

He briefly wondered if maybe his mother had been right in warning him about big city life.

It was as this thought crossed Eli's mind that he realized the unknown masked man had finished beating up the poor idiot who'd tried to mug Eli. He supposed he'd done decent job, though a bit too flashy.

Matthew probably would have been quicker, Eli mused.

"You okay?" the guy asked, turning to look at Eli.

And then he froze.

Eli probably should have been worried about just how wide the man's brown eyes had gotten, his mouth open just the slightest bit, looking absolutely stunned. Meanwhile, Eli just looked at him like he was—well honestly he didn't know what would be more ridiculous than their current situation. Still, Eli looked at him as if he'd never seen someone half as weird as him. A complete lie, considering he was dating the city's other masked weirdo.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Eli said, attempting to get the guy to snap out of it. The staring was getting kind of creepy.

"Well, you definitely look fine," the other man said with a grin, and it was at that moment that a horrible feeling of realization overcame Eli.

No fucking way, he thought.

"Er, great then, thanks for the rescue and all, but I should get going." Eli turned, fully intending to make a quick escape before his life became an even bigger mess than it already was. As always, his attempted escape failed.

"Wait, why don't I accompany you for a while?" said the masked man in a weak attempt at a heroic voice.

Eli couldn't help but look the guy over one more time, just to make sure he was real—because he didn't think anyone would ever actually try to sound heroic. Even Matthew wasn't that much of a dork.

"Yeah, no thanks," Eli said, turning once more and nearly sprinting away. He thought he heard the masked man calling out to him, but he was sure as hell not looking back.

When he finally got home, he was a bit out of breath, but relieved enough to be away from any vaguely insane crimefighters to not care.

"Hi honey."

Well, away from most vaguely insane crimefighters. Still an improvement.

Matthew wandered out of his office, hair looking as messy as usual and half his face covered in watercolors. He was still looking as cheery as always, despite the bruised ribs that had kept him home for two nights already.

"You fell asleep on your desk again, didn't you?" Eli asked, hanging up his coat and then dragging his backpack to the living room. He wasn't surprised in the least, just a bit amused that this was the biggest threat to the city's criminals.

"Just for a minute," Matthew admitted reluctantly.

"I don't know why you insist on working when you should be resting, but refuse to work when you actually can."

"It's just one of life's many mysteries," Matthew said, making his way to the bathroom to presumably clean his face. Eli rolled his eyes, but decided he had other priorities. Like getting something to eat.

The rest of the night was, while not a regular night, a nice one. Mostly because Matthew was actually around and so Eli didn't have to wonder whether he was in a burning building or something equally perilous. It was nice to experience a normal, boring life every now and then.