Returning from Christmas break was bittersweet for Foggy for multiple reasons. The obvious, of course, was the fact that he was on his own again and yet he missed his family. He had been dealing with that one for years, however, so he wasn't as deterred by that. Returning meant seeing Matt, knowing that Matt had lied about having some place to stay for break, and seeing the condition Matt was in.
Foggy knew Matt didn't take care of himself the way people should. He took care of his schooling just fine with no coercion. In fact, it was usually the other way around. Matt would have to convince Foggy to study or do his homework. Foggy, though, would have to hint at Matt to feed himself. Ordering pizza for the two of them, suggesting to take a break and go get some lunch, or just plain out telling Matt he needed to take a break to get some nutrition were common throughout their time rooming together. He'd watch his friend suffer the effects of sleep deprivation and know that he'd claim to be sleeping as he should even though he was so obviously not. So yeah, he was worried to see the shape Matt would be in when he got back from Christmas break. He was right to be worried.
The room was clean. That was expected. For a blind man Matt was surprisingly well at managing to clean every inch of the room without missing a single thing. Their fridge was still full of yogurt and beer, suggesting Matt hadn't had gotten drunk or buzzed alone which is always good, especially considering how much he drank the last night Foggy was on campus. There was still an unopened box of cereal (Cheerios - Matt's favorite) and various other untouched foods which meant that Matt hadn't been eating anything in their dorm. That didn't mean he hadn't went out to get food but it wasn't looking promising.
Matt, currently, was sitting at his desk. It didn't take a genius to realize he was reading, and Matt wasn't one for reading recreationally (he would listen to audiobooks on occasion but he wouldn't buy braille books for himself). Studying it was, then. He grinned up at Foggy when he came in the room, though, and the smile at least looked genuine. He stood up with a, "Hey, Foggy," and approached as if he might have wanted to hug him but didn't want to be the one to initiate it.
Luckily for him, Foggy was not uncomfortable with physical touch. "C'mere, buddy," he said, already reaching out to wrap his arms around Matt. The smile he wore fell from his face once he felt how small Matt had gotten. Sure, his friend was strong and muscular (if only he wasn't blind so he could see the abs he had somehow maintained) but there was next to no fat on him. He could actually feel his spine and his ribs were more prominent. He hadn't been eating. They pulled away and, even though Matt couldn't see it, Foggy put the smile back on his face anyways. Or he tried to, at least. The bags under Matt's eyes were serious. Dude looked like he was sleepwalking. But nonetheless, Matt was smiling. Small victories.
"How was your Christmas, Foggy?" he asked, taking his seat again (almost as if standing was too much for him).
"Much better than yours, I see," Foggy let slip out, and damn, Matt's smile almost fell but he seemed to catch it. Quickly turning it into a joke, Foggy sat on one of his suitcases and laughed. "I mean, seriously? Reading? Let me guess, you already read all the books we have to read for the semester and now you're reading them again because...I honestly have no idea you would do that, you NERD."
Calling Matt a nerd was a long running joke between them. Most people don't take too kindly to being called a nerd but it always made Matt throw his head back and laugh. He never denied being a nerd, either. "I wanted to get a head start on the year," was his lame excuse.
"Yeah, dude, sure. You're still going to reread all of this when it's assigned, making this whole 'head start' thing pointless. You understand that, right?" And Foggy was still teasing but he was honestly a bit worried with how concerned Matt would get with his work. Matt was, truly, one of the smartest people he had ever met. It honestly wasn't even that Matt doubted himself because Matt obviously knew just how smart he was. But the amount of time and effort he put into his schoolwork was a bit obsessive. Actually, it was past obsessive, but Foggy tried to be a little understandable. More than once Matt had mentioned his father wanting him to use his head rather than his fists. He wanted to do well for his dad but sometimes it felt like he was overdoing himself.
Matt scoffed at that and probably would have rolled his eyes, too, if he hadn't stopped to run a tired hand down his face. But before Foggy could suggest to get some sleep, the smile on Matt's face brightened and he stood up. "I have something for you," he said, reaching for a box that was under the bed. He found it with ease and set it on top of his bed so Foggy could reach. "I wanted to give it to you before Christmas break but, considering the hangover I was cursed with, I made the decision to wait until today."
Foggy's heart warmed a bit right then. Their first Christmas they had asked each other if they were buying gifts (Foggy felt the need to ask. Matt had shrugged and said he had already gotten Foggy something) but no mention had been made for that year. That didn't stop Foggy from getting him something, either, but it had also slipped his mind before break seeing as how Matt had one hell of a nightmare and slept the entire day. Hell, Matt had gotten Foggy something for his birthday which made Foggy feel guilty because he still had no idea when Matt's was (bastard wouldn't tell him). Matt was a depressing person even if he was never outwardly depressing, but he was and he couldn't always hide it from Foggy as well as he hid it from literally everybody else. But Matt always seemed just a tad bit happier and less depressed when doing something for Foggy. Never one to skip the opportunity to make Matt smile, he always made it a big deal when Matt did something nice for him.
"Buddy, really?" he asked, looking at the plain box sitting only feet away. Later on he would tease Matt for putting absolutely no attempt into wrapping the gift like most people did. He didn't mind at all, actually appreciating the fact that Matt didn't force himself to struggle with something so unnecessary. But it was too easy to pass up, even if it was a later thing. At that moment, things would be calm and sweet. "I may have picked you up a little something, too."
Matt, just as Foggy had predicted, turned slightly redder when he heard that he had a gift. As much as Matt liked doing nice things for Foggy, he didn't like when Foggy did nice things for him. He had such a hard time accepting kindness sometimes. After over a year, Matt still needed to be reassured on occasion that it was okay to hold onto Foggy's arm when walking somewhere together. "You know you didn't have to-"
Foggy cut him off with an, "Ah ah." He dug around one of his bags to find the wrapped gift he had worked on since the beginning of the semester. The gift was...sentimental. He was expecting tears from Matt. He didn't want to see the tears but he also felt almost compelled to do what he did for Matt.
"Mine first," Matt said, resigned. There was no point arguing with Foggy over getting him a gift when it was already done. "I would have gotten you a card, but..."
He hadn't meant to let the laugh escape because this was supposed to be a serious time, dammit, but sometimes Matt's little jokes would sneak up on him and he couldn't help but laugh. He also couldn't help but wonder just how many blind jokes Matt had been able to sneak into casual conversation. It was almost a game to him, to see how many people he could make uncomfortable by mentioning his lack of sight. Once, the two had been out to eat and the waitress came over to take their orders. She had asked them what looked good and Matt, without missing a beat, replied, "I don't know, I can't see it." Foggy had to keep himself composed long enough to tell the waitress it was a joke and that they needed a few more minutes before ordering. When she was gone, Foggy all but died laughing. Matt, the bastard, kept up the pretense of 'it wasn't a joke.' The smirk gave him away.
"No blind jokes, dammit," Foggy said. He grabbed some socks from his bag and threw them at Matt, not feeling guilty when it bounced off of his head in the slightest. He was so lucky to be paired with the blind guy who had a sense of humor.
Foggy reached across the bed to set down his gift for Matt before picking up Matt's gift to him. It was just a plain cardboard box that was folded shut and he took a moment to appreciate the simplicity before opening it. He had learned from experience that it wouldn't take long for Matt to start talking, explaining the gift and why he got it, because as much as he enjoyed giving gifts he also hated receiving thanks for it. Instead, he'd ramble around it to fill up the empty silence that was supposed to be saved for the appreciation. Sure enough, "You've been talking for months about needing to replace your iPod. I've heard your iPod enough to know it needed replacing. This one has a larger storage, I believe, than your previous one. I'm under the assumption that it is white, though you can obviously see for yourself the color. I already filled it up with the new albums you have yet to purchase but you'll have to fill the rest on your own." Matt's voice sounded so uncomfortable but he had such a soft smile on his face that it almost made up for it.
"Wow, Matty," he breathed, already wondering how much money it cost a broke student like Matt. To not only buy the iPod but also buy new albums for it must have cost quite a bit. He pushed down the guilt of the expense because if he mentioned it at all then he'd have to watch Matt's smile fall. Not worth it. "This is awesome. You're right, I have been complaining about my old one a lot, haven't I? I shall complain no more with this. Now open yours, c'mon, we don't have all day."
Matt's smiled remained but now it was his turn to feel a little guilty. Foggy wanted to find out who it was who made Matt think it wasn't okay to receive gifts, thanks, or praise. He'd like to have a talk to those people. "Well, okay," he said hesitantly, hands reaching out to where Foggy had placed the present. He slid his hands around the bed for a moment before his hands came in contact with it. They were wrapped neatly, Foggy doing it more as a joke because he knew the wrapping meant nothing to people who couldn't see it, but he also felt weird not wrapping it.
Once the gift was unwrapped, Matt ran his hands along the gift trying to figure out what it was on his own. Foggy had labeled it with braille but apparently Matt's nervous talking was contagious so he described it audibly anyways. "You mention your dad a lot," he started off and Matt already tensed. Whether it was good or bad was a mystery to Foggy so he continued talking as if nothing happened. He looked down at his hands, though, because he wasn't sure if he was ready to see Matt's face if he didn't like the gift. "I know you probably watched a lot of his matches before you lost your sight and probably listened to the ones that happened after, but I also know they aren't easy to find online. You've mentioned before how you couldn't find most of his matches. I talked to some people, found recordings of the fights and had them put on a DVD. Full audio description. Sports usually vocalize it all, but some had no description so I went ahead to give it my own. I'm no sports commentator, but..."
It took a few moments of silence for Foggy to gain the courage to raise his head up and look at Matt. Matt was, indeed, crying, which was pretty much what Foggy had expected. He was running his hands along the braille of the case. He was willing to bet that Matt was simply reading his dad's name over and over again. His eyes were uncovered, which wasn't too unusual but it was strange enough considering that he never saw raw emotion from him, so he had a full view of the silent tears running down his cheets. His eyes were wide, focused on what was in his hands even if he couldn't see and was a few inches off from what was in his hands. Then, with no warning, his head shot up and looked towards where Foggy was. Again, his eyes missed their target, but Foggy knew Matt was staring right at him. "Foggy..." his voice was quiet, almost impossible to hear, but the emotion conveyed was not hard to miss.
Matt was on the edge of his seat as if he wanted to get up but was hesitant. It was the same hesitance that he portrayed when Foggy had come in and he wasn't sure if he should hug or not. "Bring it in, Matty," Foggy said, raising to his feet just in time to keep Matt from running into him. Matt's arms had went around Foggy's shoulders, hugging him tighter than ever before and was still crying without making noise. Foggy could feel the tears fall on his neck. "I've said this before and I'll say it again. He'd be proud of you."
"Thank you," Matt whispered and, just in case Foggy missed it the first time, said it about six more times in succession. Neither of them let go of each other for a long time. Foggy was more than happy to be Matt's emotional rock for the time being and allow him to cry his little heart out. He lost himself in thought, trying to remember a time other than Matt's nightmare a month before where his friend had cried around him. He was drawing up a blank and that probably hurt worse than his friend crying into his shoulder at that moment.