It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins

Winds Changed Again (2)

For several moments, the two didn't speak – Matthew waiting for his friend to ask for his help; Toby waiting for the tidal wave of offerings – but both held their tongues and waited. Obligated to do something, they watched each other, paralyzed in a dance of trying to make the other's situation better.

His phone buzzing interrupted his train of thought. Checking it, Matthew only needed to glance over the number before sighing. "Oh." He put his phone away.

Toby sat up. He reached for the glass again. "...what?"

Matthew shook his head. "It's just a work thing. But that doesn't matter right now. It's Sunday, it's my day off, and I'm here to make sure you feel – "

"Shut the fuck up, Matt," he snapped. "I'm not four. Sure, I'm disappointed and angry, but I don't want to think about that right now. So what made you go 'oh' like that?" A split moment later, Toby glanced away and turned back, sighing. "I'm sorry. I – that was bullshitty of me. It's your first time coming back in a while, and..." He brought his feet up onto the couch. "...sorry."

"Dude, I'm here for you," he whispered, tapping his fingers on the armchair again.

"No homo, right?" From behind the glass, Toby smirked.

He squinted his eyes; Matthew dug his fingers into the armrest. Something about it just rubbed him the wrong way; he wasn't sure why. But he sighed, smiling, and shook his head. "All the 'no homo'."

Toby took another sip and put the glass back down again. He nodded his head at Matthew. "So what was that?"

"We're...trying to turn this empty space into a conservatory, but that asshole Yang won't let us."

The door opened behind them, and out trotted Liza. "I heard 'asshole' and 'Yang' in the same sentence. I want in." She prodded Toby before whispering, "Ohmigod, move," before slotting herself in the space between her roommate and the couch's armrest. "Tell me."

Toby turned to her. "Don't you have children to scare?"

She sneered. "Count yourself lucky that Matt's here."

Matthew, breath hitched in his throat, placed his hand over his chest. "You guyyys."

Liza glared. "Robinson. Yang. Go."

"He's just being a dick," he insisted.

"When isn't he?" she asked.

Matthew flapped his hands in his lap. "We're...trying to turn this, like, glassed-in porch into a conservatory, because Lilly wants to grow flowers but Eli wants to grow foxgloves and – "

"Foxglove?" asked Toby.

"Poison," Matthew replied, unfazed.

"Oh...o-okay."

"Why won't he?" asked Liza.

Matthew leaned back into the chair and shook his head. "There's no reason for him to say 'no'. I mean, I'm also supposed to be curbing Elliot's interest in the occult and stuff, but – "

"This is the best day ever," Liza squealed, hiding her grin behind her hands. "Tell me more about him hating his kids."

Toby scoffed. "Such a 'you' sentence."

Liza smacked him in the arm.

Sighing, Matthew wiped his hands over his face. He shrugged again. "...I don't know."

"What if you, just, do it?" Liza asked. "Hasn't stopped you before."

Matthew let out a breath of air. "It's tempting. Honest to God, is it tempting. He probably wouldn't even notice it, but I'm..." His gray eyes dipped to the floor, lacing his fingers together. "...trying to...not. Overstep him. For, for the kids' sakes, too."