Chapter Text
j dot laurens @JLaurens
@adotham and me at Starbucks! god, this latte is so expensive but so good. t.co/wER4nuHFmb
A. Hamilton @adotham
@JLaurens WHAT DID I TELL YOU
j dot laurens @JLaurens
@adotham you said "it spits in the face of all we sacrificed AND IT TASTES SO GOOD"
k dot page @karen_p
@JLaurens @adotham oh my god you're ADORABLE #lams
--
LAURENS:
my dearest, alexander
wake the fuck up
A. HAM:
excuse you some of us died in our FORTIES
some of us have gotten old enough to CHERISH OUR SLEEP
also i see that comma
very funny
LAURENS:
i forgot you're old
does that mean i can eat all these incredibly sweet and no doubt unhealthy pastries your adopted superhero child left for us
A. HAM:
i have not adopted spiderman or ms marvel
also no those are rightfully mine i am getting out of bed right now and i will fight you for them
happy
LAURENS:
very
also it was spiderman and he called you dad so yeah you've adopted them
sure, if you're ready to LOSE
A. HAM:
oh my god NO
--
Trinity Church is about an hour's walk or so, from Alexander's apartment in Hell's Kitchen. John knows this because of he's accompanied Alexander on so many of these trips, stuck close to him and slipped his hand into Alexander's on the way out every time. And every time--
"Are you all right?" Alexander says, quiet, as they walk out of the churchyard.
"Of course," says John. It's getting easier and easier to say that, with each passing month he spends here, in this brave new world where slavery is a thing of the past (though there is still work to do, there are still changes to effect if they will ever be truly free) and he can slip his hand into Alexander's and not even get a single dirty look as they walk down the street. "You?"
"As well as I'll ever be," says Alexander, and it strikes John just how old Alexander's gotten in the years since he died. He looks away, up to the rooftops, as though searching for something.
"Something's on your mind, though," says John.
"Star Wars?" Alexander jokes, and John jabs him in the side with his elbow. "Ow, ow, okay--it's just. Karen and I keep seeing bruises on Matt."
"He probably tripped and fell again," says John. "He seems prone to that."
"Yeah," says Alexander, "but he looked like he'd been punched. And in the exact same place Daredevil got punched last night, you remember that?"
John lets out a breath, says, "You nearly got shot again, yeah, I remember. But how do you know--"
"I don't know," says Alexander, frustrated, "and neither does Karen. But we'll figure it out. I just--" He looks at John again, beseeching, and says, "We could use your help."
"He's blind."
"Karen showed me videos of a blind gymnast on YouTube," says Alexander. "And Matt said he boxed. What say you, my dearest Laurens? Will you help?"
John sighs, and says, "All right. I'll help."