Murdock twirled around his apartment, grinning wildly. He looked at the clock. Only nineteen minutes to go. Give or take, of course.
That was okay. Everything was okay today. Better than okay. Way better.
Today was going to be a day of firsts. Wonderful firsts!
Today was the first day Hannibal had trusted Face to go out on his own, and the first day Face was allowed to drive. Today was the first day Face had felt good enough for both. And he wanted to spend it with Murdock.
Just Murdock.
He twirled again and promptly tripped over the rug, landing with a crash against the coffee table. He sat for a moment, dazed. He shook his head, still smiling.
Okay. Enough. He needed to settle down. He could be happy, but he had to rein it in. Face may be ready for an outing, but not necessarily Murdock's exuberance. He sighed.
Definitely not ready for that.
Definitely not ready for the Other Thing, either.
Sober now, he got up from the floor and flopped onto the couch. He wasn't sure he was even ready for the Other Thing. All these years, all the times Face had gotten beaten up, shot, stabbed, and just generally physically threatened - and this was the first time Murdock felt...
It was just so damn different this time. Not just the fact that Face could actually have died. Like, for real. No, this Other Thing started after Face was out of surgery, grew a little louder when he was out of the ICU, and started screaming when he was finally out of the hospital.
And Murdock just didn't know what to do about it. He'd never felt like this before. Never. He'd always cared about Face; hell, he cared about Hannibal and BA, too. But this was...
This was... unexpected.
Alarming.
Frightening.
Overwhelming.
Incredible.
Wondrous.
The big smile came back as he felt that little giddyup in his chest.
A car horn sounded out front, startling him. Oh, right. Face. Murdock had told him not to try climbing the two flights up to the apartment. He grabbed his hat, racing out the door.
Whatever this Other Thing was, today he was just going to enjoy being with Face.
His boy Face.