End Transmission

AN: Nothing to really say about this.. more hinting at pl0t though... hehe

Suggested Listening: Pussy by Rammstein; Cry Little Sister (A Darker View - Remix) by G Tom Mac

Chapter Twelve: Safe

Matt glanced up at the sound of a yawn and almost dropped the chess piece he held. Mello stood in the doorway, hand over his mouth as he yawned, in nothing but his boxers; which were still dangerously close to sliding down his hips.

Matt forced his attention back to the game. He couldn't really say anything about not walking around half naked, as he had just done the same thing that morning. And more to the point, Mello was probably still too asleep to realize he hadn't' dressed yet; that or he didn't care.

That was also possible. It was hard to read Mello at times.

He felt Mello's eyes on him and after they hadn't shifted for more than a few seconds Matt looked over, though he was careful to keep his eyes glued to Mello's face...

The blond was staring at him with a slightly confused expression, sleep still glaringly evident in his muddled blue eyes. "I thought you hated pink." was the only thing that Mello's sleep fogged brain could think to comment on and Matt found himself smiling.

"I do." he stated blandly as he finally moved the pawn to a different spot. Near had already begun to move as he placed the pawn and though Matt already knew what his next move would be, he made no move to hurry. Mello heaved a small sigh and Matt could just hear the unspoken 'then why the fuck are you wearing it?'

He decided to ignore it though and went back to the game. If Mello really wanted to know then he'd ask. Probably after he'd had a few cups of coffee. Though Near saved him the trouble when he stated "Matt did not separate his wash correctly." he rolled his eyes at the albino who merely inclined his head.

Mello snorted and shook his head. "Fucking idiot..." and stalked out of the room, though Matt didn't look to see where to. Though from the clanging of things it was probably the kitchen. He and Near quickly completed their game, which incidentally had been game ten, and Matt left Near to pack it up.

It had previously been upon unspoken agreement to quit playing when Mello got up. Though he had slept longer then either of them had anticipated. Matt wondered what he had been doing to not only get injured, but exhaust himself so thoroughly. He wouldn't ask though; simply because he wouldn't be given an answer.

He just hoped that the blond wasn't in over his head.

Matt seated himself at the laptop desk and opened WOW in one window and his actual work in another. He didn't have any pressing hacks to do, for fun or otherwise, but he did have to see if anyone had any information for him.

Being a hacker opened one up to a whole network of other people, some trustworthy, and others only as much as the amount of money offered. Matt was always careful about how he worded things, just in case L was listening in. Things were always coded.

And it wasn't that L couldn't decode it, it just wasn't something he would probably look at as he wasn't a geek so it wouldn't be a red flag to him; at least not initially.

There was always something for him to do, whether or not it took long was another story. He could have an entire list of things that only amounted to an hours work or one thing that took the entire night. It was never clear as to which it would be any given day. He logged into a different server and accessed a separate e-mail from there. There were no new messages in his inbox. So much for information.

He had just placed one of his ear buds in when a small wad of cash was thrown onto his keyboard. He glanced up at Mello, who was leaned against the back of the couch with the coffee cup in hand, and had to immediately divert his eyes from trailing any further than the blond's stomach.

He really had to stop doing that. Or Mello really needed to properly dress himself. Matt decided on the latter.

"What's this for?" he asked as he fingered the roll of bills. It was a nice sum of money too, he thought, once he'd counted it in an uninterested manner. He could make more than that on one hack.

"I know you won't wear that shirt again. And I don't think I'm going off on a limb in assuming you've ruined more than one shirt." Mello sipped at the coffee and Matt couldn't help but feel vaguely annoyed.

"I can just get it online, you know. You don't have to give me money for it." and though he knew he'd invited trouble with the comment, he couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied at the way Mello's eyes narrowed.

"You're not still hacking are you?" Mello questioned, though it was more of a command then what his tone suggested. And though it was his own fault, Matt really didn't want to deal with Mello's paranoia or whatever it was at the moment. He placed the other ear bud in and turned on his music.

He thought he heard a slight hiss but paid it no mind. At least not until Mello's hand slapped on the desk and his headphones were being yanked from his ears. "Are you still fucking hacking?" Mello snarled, his face leaning in and his eyes flashing with anger and something Matt might call worry.

He said nothing and Mello's eyes narrowed even further. "That shit is dangerous Matt, what happens if you're caught and you get tracked down when I'm not here? Then what?" and though Mello's voice was steel Matt knew that not all of it was anger.

It didn't make him any less irritated with the blond. "Don't preach to me when you are in far more dangerous situations daily." he stated blandly and grabbed up his headphones from the table.

"Fine! Fuck it. I don't care anymore, do whatever the fuck you want." Mello yelled and threw his hands up in anger. He gave Matt one last look of disdain before he stormed out of the room, and from the sound of the slamming door he had entered the bathroom. It was proven correct as the sound of running water became noticeable.

Matt took a shaky breath and lit another cigarette. He honestly hadn't meant to start a fight, though what other outcome could there have possibly been? But really, Mello had no right to say such things when he was in far greater danger; hell he had gotten injured just the night before!

Matt understood the need to protect, but damn if Mello didn't go overboard sometimes... he took a long drag and sighed as the nicotine flooded his veins. He couldn't stay irritated at the blond though, no matter how much he may have wanted to. It was simply an impossibility.

Though the probability of Matt apologizing was nil. It wasn't his or Mello's style. It hadn't been so before and it certainly wasn't now.

Not for the first time, Matt wished for the days when things were simpler.

He ignored Near, who had appeared in his peripheral vision, and decided that he definitely needed to game for a while; if only to calm his nerves a bit more. He turned the music up louder and logged into his main account and went to work. Killing pixilated creatures was very good stress relief.

At least in his opinion.

He had just finished completing a few quests, grabbing some loot and kicking some ass when he became aware of the leather clad figure standing beside him, looking vaguely unhappy. Matt had a feeling he knew what about. He might have gotten away with it had it not been for their earlier argument, or shouting match on Mello's behalf.

Matt glanced at the clock and supposed that he was lucky to have gotten that much time to himself. Mello had probably only recently gotten out of the shower then.

"Matt take those fucking things off." and he didn't need any clarification on to what 'those fucking things' were. With a barely disguised sigh he pulled his headphones free and let them gently crack against the desk.

Mello didn't say anything for a short while, merely staring at him. "How many of those things do you drink a day? And I don't mean the damn coffee." even if Mello hadn't specified enough for him to have figured it out, he had already known. Though it really wasn't all that bad...

"It depends." he told Mello with a shrug. And it did depend. It depended on how many days Mello was gone and how dangerous what Mello was doing was. Not that Mello ever told them; Matt just generally hacked into Mello's database as most things were right in there. And it wasn't as though he lived off of that stuff normally. Only when the blond was gone... but Mello wouldn't know that.

"How many Matt?" Mello asked again, his voice holding an even sharper edge to it. Matt knew where this conversation would end up, and he was fine with it, as it happened every so often with things Mello felt were bad for his health. The only thing Mello hadn't been able to get rid of was his smoking, and Matt doubted he could stop even if he wanted to.

Which he didn't.

"I don't know, maybe eight. It depends." it also depended on how many days he'd had to stay up with no sleep before that. So yeah, it was perhaps slightly hazardous to his health to drink so many of them along with the caffeine pills and his cigarettes, but he hadn't dropped dead yet so he figured he had a few more years, at the least, of poisoning himself before he croaked.

He was just glad the caffeine pills didn't leave any tell-tail wrappers or he would have been in deep shit.

"That's way too many. Do you even read the warnings on those damn cans? Never mind, you could probably recite the fucking thing to me. I don't want to see them in the house again. Understood?" Mello had raked a hand through his damp hair and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Fine." he muttered. Mello generally came across as controlling, but Matt knew it was the only the way Mello knew how to show his concern anymore. Or felt comfortable in showing it; it wasn't something he could often do in his Mafiya life. But it was alright, Matt would just buy a different brand. So he wouldn't be disobeying Mello.

Ahh, loopholes. Got to love them.

Mello stared at him, eyes searching his features for any lies, and when he found none, continued on.

"And I don't want to see that ashtray overflowing like that again, or those will be the next to go." Matt rolled his eyes at the blond on that one. They both knew it was an empty threat. Or it had better be, because if his cigarettes suddenly went missing there would be hell to pay. Nicotine withdrawal was a bitch and even if he had to follow Mello to the damn hideout he would pay for it.

He may love him, but don't touch his damn cigarettes.

Mello went silent, and fidgeted ever so slightly, before it became apparent he had no more to say and was uncomfortable with the attention drawn to him; which was a first. It almost reminded Matt of when they were younger. Almost. Except Mello hadn't had that scar on his face then.

Or wore leather.

Mello had finally had enough of the awkwardness and turned to leave. "Mello?" he asked. The blond stopped and tilted his head to the side in question but still showed his back to him.

"How long are you here for?" Matt found himself asking. It was never the same. Sometimes it was days... sometimes hours. But never for too long.

Never as long as he would have liked, despite the havoc the blond brought with him.

"Another day or so. Whenever they get too dysfunctional without me." Mello told him and stiffly walked off. Things were getting different as of late, Matt noticed. Mello seemed more... strained? around him. And he had no idea as to the reason.

He really missed just being able to talk to him...

But Matt supposed that they all missed something or other. They weren't kids anymore, if they had ever been, and he couldn't spend his time lingering on something that would probably never happen again. It sucked that things had changed so much but he would just have to deal.

There was a loud slam that echoed through the kitchen and into the main room, and Matt knew that Mello had to be in there, though he couldn't fathom what he could be doing. Mello had done a lot of strange things as of late...

He turned his attention back to the game which had been idle for the last few minutes and sighed. He really didn't feel like continuing with WOW. Perhaps a different platform, rather than the computer?

The Wii? No... that required effort he didn't feel like having to give at the moment. X-box then, as he had the most games for it.

But first he supposed he ought to do a quick system check to make sure nothing was getting under the firewalls scanners. He cracked his neck, replaced his headphones, and went to work. It wasn't hard to do, not really at all, but he hated having to do something more than once.

Call him paranoid, maybe a learned behavior from Mello, but he had to make sure nothing had gotten through.

Anything, even a very small and innocuous thing, could get them killed if it landed in the wrong hands. That was why he and Near paid so much attention to the system. Mello was doing his part, in his own way, and they were doing all they could to back him up even when Mello didn't want their help.

There had been a few attempts, rather halfheartedly as though the people had stumbled upon their server by accident and tried to hack it but gave up once it became a struggle, but other than that there was nothing. Which Matt was grateful for. He didn't mind a good hack, he just preferred it to be him doing the hacking. Then again, who didn't?

He noticed Mello, as he came out of the kitchen, and exited the system. Mello would recognize it in a second and Matt would be hard pressed to explain himself to an already irritated blond. He pulled up his e-mail again, which was far safer to look at, and was mildly intrigued by the message in his inbox.

He made sure Mello wasn't within reading distance before he opened it, and grinned widely at the contents. It was from someone he trusted, for the most part. Someone he had met in person before.

He apparently had something for him, something he might be 'interested' to know. As L hadn't been brought down on their head from their last two meetings, one of which would not be mentioned again, he felt vaguely certain that it wouldn't happen that time either.

Matt sent an e-mail back requesting a time, date and meeting place.

He received an answer hardly five minutes later.

It was set for dusk the next day at some crappy bar, Matt had been there before, about three hours from their apartment. The only hard part would be slipping past Mello. Matt winced. He generally coveted the time the blond was around, and not making a nuisance of himself, and now he needed him gone. Lovely.

Matt supposed that it couldn't be helped though.

He would figure it out the next day when the time for him to leave came about, to do so otherwise was stupid as circumstances with Mello changed every minute. For the moment though, he would play a few games... after he got his laundry.

He logged out of his e-mails, after deleting the two from the 'unknown sender', and left the laptop on. Mello wouldn't be able to get into anything of value so he wasn't worried.

With a sigh he headed back to the laundry room, something he should have done early that had completely slipped his mind, to check the damage done. The dryer door popped open with a loud click and a few shirts tumbled out. Matt shook his head and tossed them in the laundry basket.

He reached inside and pulled the clothes out and was satisfied that hardly any of them fell to the floor, save for the odd sock and a pair of boxers. Though he did stare distastefully at the random strips of pink he spotted in the pile. He would probably just get some more shirts while he was out; if he could find that store again that actually had the thick stripes he liked.

With the dryer free he transferred the other load in and started it; though he would probably forget about it until later, or even tomorrow.

He hauled the basket into his room with him and hastily put his clothes away. He wasn't one for folding them as they always got messed up when he searched for something anyway. He left the basket at the foot of his bed and sat down on the floor where his x-box was situated amongst his other consoles.

He decided on DOOM 3 simply because he hadn't played it in a long time. And killing zombies and other creatures was always fun. Matt had no idea how much time had passed, only that it was too much as he was suddenly starving for something to eat.

After mentally debating for a few moments, he saved and exited the game and simply turned it off. He could play it again in a few days. He wanted food that would take longer than three minutes in the microwave to prepare, and he didn't want to leave the game on pause for however long that would be.

After stretching his stiff muscles he limped slightly into the main room; his leg still bothered him if in one position for too long. He didn't see Near anywhere as he entered and wondered where he had slinked off to. He could have been sleeping again or watching the system from the comfort of his bedroom. Or doing whatever Near did on his own time. Matt wasn't really all that interested to take the time to find out.

What he did notice was that the large television was on, some movies credits scrolling across the screen, and Mello was lounging on the couch, dozing. Matt shook his head slightly at the sight. Mello reminded him of a cat.. or perhaps a panther. Beautiful and elegant but dangerous as hell. A hunter, a predator.

And he still seemed all those things even in his sleep. Only Mello...

He moved on into the kitchen, quieter than his earlier proceedings, and immediately noticed what the blond had been up to earlier. The trash bin was riddled with empty energy drink cans, as he could only assume Mello had dumped all of into the sink. He rolled his eyes and made a mental note to buy some more, a different brand of course, when he went shopping the next day.

Or whenever he got the chance.

Honestly, what a waste. He shrugged a shoulder absently as he searched through the cabinets for what he wanted. Things were calm, Matt noted, despite the small amounts of drama that went on every so often.

He couldn't help but feel like something was brewing though... he just hoped it wouldn't end badly, whatever it was.

-End Safe-

AN: yay for ominous stuff! And you get action in the next chapter… XD