Chapter 13 part 2

Samuel

Once they arrived at the park it didn't take Ellie more than two seconds to climb up the equipment. Samuel and Matias sat down on a nearby bench, though neither of their eyes left the girl who was now rapidly going down the slide.

The two sat far enough apart to make the back of Samuels mind wish they were closer, but close enough where if either were to lean over a bit they'd end up on the others shoulder.

Ellie shouted something incomprehensible from the highest point on the playground, to which Samuel just laughed and assumed it wasn't important considering the bright smile on her face.

The two men sat silently for multiple minutes. Though Samuel really couldn't complain, he loved watching Ellie. Hell, he could watch Ellie do even the simplest of tasks and still be amused.

Samuels thoughts of his daughter soon led back to the night he and Matias really met. He was petrified when he saw Ellie talking to the villain, but now he couldn't imagine Matias not talking to them.

Samuel let out a small laugh without fully realizing.

"What?" Matias asked, interrupting Samuels thoughts.

Samuel snapped himself out of his mind and back into reality. His hands were balled into fists which he released when he realized and his chest seemed unusually heavy. But, oddly enough, he didn't really feel uncomfortable.

"Sorry I was just-" he paused, considering if he wanted to tell Matias what he was thinking about. But it didn't take long for him to say it anyways

"I was thinking about that night" he took a breath "I was so scared when I saw you talking to Ellie"

Matias's face shifted in a way that Samuel couldn't read. He didn't think he was upset though, he could at least tell that much.

"It's kind of funny how that wasn't long ago" Matias added

Samuel paused to think for another moment. It feels like it's been an eternity since he met Matias, but it's really only been a couple of days. Not even a full week yet.

"Yeah" Samuel confirmed through another laugh.

Samuel glanced away from Matias and back at the playground to assure Ellie was okay, smiling at her excitement as she went down the monkey bars.

"It's insane how much you can know a person after only a few days" said Matias.

Samuel hesitated, thinking over the words. But there was no denying, it was true. They had told one another more than either had expected about themselves.

He has never told anyone about Ellie's mother, but he not only told Matias, he wanted to tell Matias. Not to mention he knew a bunch about Matias as well.

"Weird how time will play tricks like that" Samuel responded, ending the conversation, even though they were both enjoying it.

They each watched Ellie and a few other kids run around for a few minutes before a notification drew Samuels attention away. He pulled out his phone and saw it was just from a silly news update app he had downloaded. But he still opened it nonetheless. It was his way of seeing everything going on with the villain before— when he still thought Matias was a bad person— so this must be something about either him or the new villain.

The paragraph he pulled up had an old photo of the villain attached. Though nobody would be able to tell it was Matias due to the mask and hat along with the fact that his face was tilted away in that particular photo.

The paragraph began with a bolder text that made Samuels heart speed up.

The villain strikes again, accompanied by the new villain!

Matias must have noticed Samuel become stiff and uncomfortable since he looked over with a look that read 'are you okay?'

Samuel wanted to say it was just some garbage and put his phone away, but he kept reading. Besides, what if it was important?

On Woodsons, a street just slightly west of Greenlake, there has been another attack. Reports say it wasn't near as severe as the last attack, but this time both villains were there while the hero was a no show. Can we really trust the hero to keep us safe? And what will we do about these powerful terrorizers?

Samuel mentally face palmed at how the story was written like a book blurb for a third grade comic book. That was the downfall of using a after-news-news-app that actually updated quickly. It made you feel like you were back in elementary school library.

"What's that?" Matias finally spoke up after gazing at Samuel for a few long minutes.

Samuel sighed and shut off the phone. If he was aggravated then Matias must be furious. But then again, he had been unusually calm about everything else, so maybe not?

"Some stupid news article" he sighed "there was another attack, but if it were big then we would've heard about it by now"

Matias nodded at Samuel as he spoke. Honestly, Samuel found his attentiveness a bit amusing— even though he was irritated.

"But it says it was you and the new villain together" Samuel added

Matias shifted uncomfortably.

"What happened?" Matias asked after taking a few deep breaths.

Samuel shrugged, "I dunno, I didn't bother reading all of it"

"Here" Matias stuck out a hand.

Samuel raised an eyebrow, "what?"

"Give the the phone, I'll read it"

"Oh," he paused "you sure?"

Matias only nodded, moving his hand closer to Samuel's phone.

Samuel sighed, but didn't object. He unlocked his phone and placed it into Matias's hand.

He pried his eyes away from the story Matias was now reading. He should probably be watching Ellie anyways.

He partially expected Matias to become agitated or at least a bit uncomfortable after reading the story, but after a few minutes nothing changed.

Matias shut off Samuels phone and handed it back, though he was acting as if it didn't affect him at all. Maybe it wasn't that bad? Maybe the first paragraph was a bait?

"If I had to guess it was someone dressed in that stupid hoodie and a mask. I guess it's not hard to imitate being the villain when all I wear is a simple hat, mask, and jacket along with some random ass jeans" Matias assumed, his voice not having a hinge of frustration

"Oh" Samuel accidentally mumbled

"Do you want to know what it said? Or would you rather not?" He questioned nonchalantly.

Samuel paused for a moment. He knew he should stay updated on the new villain, but he really hated hearing the new news.

"Tell me"

"The new villain and someone who they think is me went down Woodsons and robbed some small business crafts shop. Says they trashed the shop and took all their money, and the only person who was working at the time is in the hospital with a concussion."

The new villain really did confuse Samuel. At first he though she didn't want to hurt anyone because she was just scaring everyone on Greenlake, but now she was giving innocent workers concussions?

"The only footage was from some shitty camera in the shop and the even shittier cameras along nearby roads. That explains why people are so sure it was me, since all the images are too blurry to clearly see my face— or at least my eyes" Matias continued

A wave of silence passed and, as he was thinking, Samuel noticed Matias glance back to check on Ellie. It was a small thing, but it really did make him happy.

"The new villain confuses me like crazy" Samuel eventually said.

Matias cocked an eyebrow, but didn't respond.

"I mean, first she makes this huge mess of an entire road, but deliberately didn't hurt anybody badly. But now she's given someone a concussion, and not to mention she most definitely is involved in all those random attacks from before." He complained, doing his best not to rant about it too much.

Matias once again didn't respond, only letting out a small hum of agreement.

Samuel caught on to the pattern of Matias not replying and glanced over. A rush of surprise went through him when he met Matias's eyes. He hadn't expected him to be looking at him, and he sure as hell didn't expect him to look so attentive.

Samuel's breath hitched and he tried to play off his nervousness, but didn't feel he was doing a very good job.

"She obviously has something against me, but god knows what it is. Maybe she just wants to cause some drama" Matias finally spoke up.

Samuel sighed in relief. Another second of awkward eye contact and he was sure he'd pass out. He glanced back at Ellie once again.

"Yeah" he mumbled quieter than intended

"Yeah" Matias whispered back.

The two sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence for the remaining 30 minutes that Ellie was playing. Even with a child's energy, she had to get tired eventually.

She ran to the bench where the two sat with an earful of words spilling out of her mouth, leaving no time to Samuel nor Matias to get a word in.

First she was complaining about being thirsty, then she was talking about how much she loved the slide, and then she was asking for food.

"How about we go and get something to eat and then you can tell me all about the fun you had, okay?" Samuel suggested when he finally got the chance.

"Okay!" Ellie beamed, somehow still having energy remaining.

"Just gonna let you know now, I have like seven dollars to my name right now" said Matias once they got up off the bench.

"Oh that's fine, I was planning on paying for us all anyways" Samuel informed

Matias stopped walking and stared at Samuel like he was stupid. Samuel stopped suit, Ellie also stopping and looking at them with a pouty face.

"What?" Samuel questioned.

"You're not paying for me" Matias corrected, crossing his arms.

"Why? It's not a big deal, it's not like we're going anywhere expensive"

"Obviously, but still, you're not paying for me"

"Come on Matias, don't be difficult"

"You're literally choosing not to work right now and are making no money!"

"I have plenty of money. Plenty more that you do!"

The two continued to bicker, leaving Ellie to stare at them in frustration.

Eventually they made a compromise. Samuel would pay for Matias, but once Matias went back to his house he'd grab more money and immediately pay Samuel back.

Matias was set on paying Samuel extra for the trouble and Samuel was set on not accepting Matias's money, but they both chose to stop fighting about it.

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This chapter was kinda a filler, but the next one is more eventful, I promise