#pug pugliese | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

donottouchredbutton · 1 year

Text

This is a Legal Rom-Com

Part 2

augustus “pug” pugliese x reader, matt murdock x reader, matt murdock x jennifer walters

1.8k words

you moved out to la after a certain ex of yours returned from the dead seeking a drastic change of scenery and time to focus on your career. you didn’t expect to become victim of the gross cliche of an oblivious office romance, nor did you expect to become coworkers with a known green attorney or for her to reintroduce you to that same resurrected ex

You hadn’t worked with Jen Walters for long, but she had quickly proved to be a breath of fresh air among the stuffy corporate slaves that made up GLK+H. Although her She-Hulk persona was a bit strange to get used to, it was her passion and goal to uphold the law and help people that really spoke to you. She was driven and funny and friendly, so it didn’t take the two of you long to become friends.

In fact, with the additions of Nikki and Pug, you quickly became the driving force for the Superhero Division of the firm. You were a team. You were friends. You had soon become people who knew each other inside and out.

Which is why it didn’t take long for Jen to catch on to your and Pug’s very obvious feelings for each other. The way you two naturally paired off together, ate off each other’s plates at lunch, spent many sleepless and grueling nights at the office together, knew each other’s favorite takeout place and how you took your coffee and tea by heart, it was clear as day to her.

And apparently it was clear to everyone except you two. Your shy glances and heart eyes? Nah. The way Pug follows you around the office like a lost puppy? Nope. The way you make sure to leave a fresh hot coffee on Pug’s desk every morning? Nuh uh. The way you and Pug practically hang off each other when the four of you have a night out at the bar? Fuck no. You two were oblivious.

Unknown to you, however, Pug was working on remedying that. While he wasn’t sure if you actually liked him back or not, he was baffled that you didn’t know that he liked you. Jen and Nikki were always telling him how obvious he clearly liked you (which he knew), but he tried to be obvious too. He complimented that new perfume you got last week. He lets you use his lap as a footrest when the two of you are going over paperwork for a case. He shushes your coworkers when they talk over you or try to interrupt. He gives you his lunch when he notices you haven’t eaten yet. He pretends to be your damn boyfriend when a weird guy approaches you at the bar and dreams about what it would be like if it was real. The man is smitten with you. And he wanted you to know.

Jen had invited you all out to the bar that night after a irritating day with her family. Pug thought that was perfect for him to finally ask you out. She had mentioned something about bringing a friend along (even though she heavily implied that he wasn’t quite a friend but more of a friend if Nikki’s inappropriate use of emojis were anything to go by), but Pug was sure that they could spare a moment of privacy for the two of you. He hoped they would be happy to - the other half of your team always rooted for you to get together.

He and Nikki had settled down at one of the tables at the corner of the bar having been the first ones to arrive. He knew you were almost there, but no one had heard from Jen what the ETA for her and her friend was. Not that it mattered, it just meant he didn’t know when he could go about his plan. Not that he had to go by his exact plan, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to improvise.

The sound of the door opening distracted Pug from his conversation with Nikki, and he was glad to see you enter the room. The smile you held on your face when you found them made his hands sweat, quickly wiping them against his pants as you nearly glided across the room. You waved back at Nikki who he hadn’t realized was calling you over.

“Evening, strangers,” you greeted when you were within earshot. Both of them stood to welcome you with hugs before handing you your drink. “Jen’s not here yet?”

“Haven’t heard from her in a couple hours,” Nikki shrugged, topping off her own drink with the pitcher they ordered.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” Pug added, his leg bouncing up and down beneath the table. A nervous habit.

A nervous habit that you were privy to. You knew he only did that when something was bothering him. You leaned against his end of the booth and placed your hand on his shoulder soothingly. “You doing okay?”

He looked up at you in surprise at your question before noticing what his leg was doing. Shit. He was quick to stop his leg’s antics before brushing you off. “Yeah, perfect. Just happy to be here.”

The smile on his face didn’t do much to convince you, but it was easy as ever to get lost in it. You always felt so at ease around him that you let yourself ignore his obvious lie, and the three of you were fast to get into your normal rhythm. Nikki definitely carried the conversation, but it was nice for you all to unwind and chat with each other while waiting for Jen and her friend.

In fact, your conversation always went back to her “friend.” Nikki was so excited about the “not a relationship but still kind of a relationship” relationship between the two of them that she tried her hardest to always revert the topic back to them. She probably told you and Pug more than she should have about their brief but eventful time together. You would’ve felt bad about how much she was telling you if you weren’t just as excited. You knew how lonely Jen was sometimes even though she assured it didn’t bother her. You were more than happy to hear that she had a friend who was maybe more than a friend.

“You should’ve seen his walk of shame,” Nikki tried to say through her giggles. “His outfit was a sight.”

You and Pug could hardly contain your laughter at her story either. “That poor woman. She really attracts some characters,” you joked. Pug swatted at your arm at your words.

“Some characters, sure, but you should’ve heard her after the fact. She was more than satisfied.”

Your laughter was briefly interrupted by Nikki’s phone chiming, and she revealed a text from Jen that said just pulled up! The wide smirk on her face told you she was going to roast the living hell out of her best friend once she was revealed to the “friend.” Jen didn’t stand a chance, and you were ready for the show.

You guys resumed chatting as you awaited the pair of the hour to come in. Mostly you were predicting what he would be like and more importantly how Jen would be acting. She could be wonderfully awkward, especially around a guy she was interested in.

The sound of Jen’s voice approaching caught the table’s attention, you all turning to face the new presence. The sound of a walking stick clattering to the ground filled the air, and your eyes were caught by a very familiar pair of red sunglasses.

“Matt?” You couldn’t help his name from leaving you in such a shocked manner, but by the looks of him, he was just as surprised. His eyebrows were raised in disbelief, and you knew he knew you were there. He breathed your name in return, and you could hardly register your team looking between the two of you strangely. All of your initial excitement was nowhere to be found. Everything around you was happening in a blur except for him.

“What are you doing here?” Matt asked. He didn’t even move to pick up his cane, and he didn’t seem to pay attention to when Jen grabbed it for him. His only focus was on you.

“Uh, I was invited,” you stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

“So was I,” he answered, and it was then you noticed the arm that was threaded through his. Your friend’s arm. Shit.

“I’m sorry,” Nikki interrupted the awkward moment, voicing what everyone else was thinking. “You two know each other?”

So... here was the thing about you and Matt.

You and him went to college together. In fact, you were from Hell’s Kitchen originally. Lived there your entire life up until your big move to the west coast, and you couldn’t deny that he was part of that reason. See, up until when you moved, you had been in a very committed and loving relationship with the man in front of you since law school. You had practically planned out your entire future together. Your last name had been the one between Nelson and Murdock. You were one of the few people he trusted unconditionally, and one of the many that he cared about like it was his job. And you were one of the few who knew about his activities after dark.

If Matt remembered far enough back, he could confirm that you were the first person he ever told he was Daredevil. Granted, he had tumbled through your window in the middle of the night covered in blood one night and scared the living daylights out of you, but you were first nonetheless. He had trusted you enough then to keep his secret, and you honored that trust every day of your life since by keeping it safe. You would probably still be with him in Hell’s Kitchen if it weren’t for his own vicious ex, a faked death that seems more than cliche to think about, and the revelation that he would never have told you his secret had he not tumbled into your apartment that night.

So, yeah. You knew each other.

“Well, um,” you tried, not sure what you were supposed to say. You never thought you’d have to say anything - you never thought that you’d see him again. “We, uh… Matt and I used to date…”

You had trailed off on your statement, and you immediately noticed multiple reactions. Jen and Nikki reacted as expected, their eyes widening and mouths hanging open enough to catch flies. Matt, even though you tried not to watch him, was pursing his lips and fiddling with his cane awkwardly. And Pug was… frowning? He looked genuinely upset, and you couldn’t figure out why.

Your skin burned and you wanted to crawl into a hole and die. You had never been in such an uncomfortable situation, and you once had witnessed Matt giving stitches to his ex girlfriend in your shared bed. Everyone refused to meet everyone else’s eyes trying to figure out how to address the elephant in the room. You nearly turned tail and ran out of there, but luckily or not, Jen spoke up first.

She formally introduced Matt to Nikki and Pug, intentionally skipping you before saying, “Clearly we have some things to be caught up on. Why don’t we sit down, have a drink, and you two can tell us more?”

Shit.

120 notes · View notes