End Transmission

Suggested Listening: Magic by Emii; In the Air Tonight by Holly McNarland

Chapter Thirty-Three: Kink

Mello woke up feeling good, calm in a sense the day after his birthday. And he could only blame, or rather thank Matt for that. Matt had indeed let Mello do as he pleased for the entire night; the chocolate body paint had been an interesting experience, which was unusual as Mello generally got swept away in Matt's feelings and desires. Even the first time he had penetrated Matt had been on Matt's terms.

But the redhead hadn't so much as shook his head at Mello's ideas the night before and for that Mello was more than grateful. As such, Mello wanted to do something special for the redhead. Coincidently it was also something that he had been wanting to try for a while, as it had been on his mind since the incident that had alerted him to it had occurred. It was more for Matt than him though.

He glanced at Matt, who slept peacefully beside him and smiled as eyes shifted behind closed lids. Mello resisted the urge to reach out and touch him and instead carefully crawled from the warmth of the bed.

Mello left the bedroom still naked with goose flesh crawling up his skin and though it took him a while sifting through all the junk Matt had piled everywhere he found a pack of cigarettes; he made a mental note to make Matt clean it later.

Mello pulled one out and turned it around in his hand. He had tried one before and while Mello liked the taste on Matt he didn't care for them himself. Didn't like them at all in fact. He sighed. The things he did for Matt and his own perverted curiosity. Though to have gotten to the point where he could admit that it wasn't only Matt that submitted to his hormones...

He knew Matt was still in bed and still asleep from the lack of gaming noise and quickly marched back there, cigarette in hand and climbed onto the bed as he lit it as he slid the blankets off the redhead. It took only a few seconds for Matt to stir and those green eyes to open sluggishly as he groped around for his goggles.

Mello waited until Matt had noticed the scent before placing it into his mouth, the taste of smoke crawling down his throat. He watched in amused fascination as Matt was given an almost instantaneous erection at the sight of him. He crawled atop the redhead, elbows on either side of Matt's head and blew out a puff of smoke into his face.

"Is this sexy enough for you?" Mello purred, barely keeping the cigarette between his lips as he did so; he had no idea how Matt did it so effortlessly all the time, probably all the years of practice he'd had with the things.

Matt shuddered violently beneath him and Mello grinned, finding it far easier to do that than speak with it in his mouth, and only had to run his finger along the underside of Matt's exposed erection before Matt reached orgasm with a startled moan.

Mello blinked owlishly at the redhead beneath him. Mello honestly hadn't thought Matt would cum that quick. Sure he had wanted to test out just how much of a fantasy, or perhaps kink, him smoking was for the gamer but damn, he had hardly touched him!

Mello sat back on Matt's legs and simply observed him, almost forgetting about the cigarette between his lips until he wanted to speak but got a better idea. Drawing in a large breath of the foul tasting smoke and holding the stick above Matt's head he leaned down and kissed Matt, forcing their breaths to mingle and Matt to get a dose of his addiction. Both of them perhaps.

Matt licked his lips afterwards, arousal sharp in his gaze and Mello was unprepared for the redhead to suddenly flip their positions. "Fuck Mello, what the hell made you do that?" though from Matt's tone he was far from irritated, more edging into amazed.

"Because I knew that you would like it." Mello grinned and wrapped his legs around Matt's waist. Understanding filled Matt's features and Mello knew he didn't have to give him the real reason, Matt had already figured it out.

"Damn, you haven't been this way since we were kids, if even then." Matt commented against Mello's lips, breath ghosting across him making Mello shiver despite the words spoken.

Mello narrowed his eyes as Matt slid his hand down his thigh. "What way?"

"This...soft?" Matt hesitated, as though trying to find the correct wording.

"I am not 'soft'!" he snarled.

Matt laughed and kissed his cheek gently. "Yes you are, with me." Mello tried in vain to fight the heat rising to his face but gave up and simply glared at Matt's self-satisfied smirk.

"It's a good thing. I've told you before." Matt assured him, sealing the statement with a kiss that sucked all the breath from him and sent his mind reeling. Maybe he had gotten soft, and maybe it was only with Matt.. but Mello still didn't like the thought.

Matt took hold of the slowly burning cigarette that had somehow survived their interactions and took a long drag before snuffing it out on the bedside table. "Thank you for caring, even if you can be a pain in the ass about it." Matt told him, gazing at him with what Mello would call love if he had been inclined to thinking things like that.

He sighed, a small smile tugging at his lips; it was impossible to feel anger or even irritation when Matt said stupid things like that. Matt kissed him suddenly and Mello felt the mood change, felt the pull in his own body as soft fingers slid down his frame.

They pressed harshly on his stomach and nails scrapped at his skin as Matt's teeth tugged gently on Mello's lip. There was a soft 'click' and Mello knew Matt had opened the lube; the strong smell of chocolate floated through the air and Mello didn't have time to think as Matt was suddenly inside him.

Mello cringed at the intrusion, the lack of preparation, but was more than used to sex for it to truly bother him. Sex that morning was rough and fast and just as enjoyable as the night before when Matt had been at his mercy.

And afterwards Matt's breaths were heavy on Mello's neck, Matt's body just as heavy on top of him but Mello didn't mind in the least, though if asked he would deny it. He might have to smoke every once and a while just to see Matt so damn exposed and needy underneath him, more so that he had ever seen. And the ensuing sex afterwards had been mind blowing in its own way.

"As much as I would love to simply lie here all day, we should get up." Matt muttered into Mello's neck and yet made no move to get up. Mello laughed a little; Matt said one thing but his body did another. Mello ran his fingers along the curve of Matt's back and over his spine and kissed Matt's ear as the redhead mumbled something, his lips sending shivers along Mello's neck.

Matt was right, they needed to get up. And despite his mind attempting to persuade him otherwise, he flipped Matt onto his back and smirked down at him. "You do have good points every once and a while." he kissed the corner of Matt's mouth and rolled off the bed before Matt could protest.

Mello wondered when the change had really started, the softening of his personality, but he couldn't pinpoint it. He supposed he should have been a little resentful, remembering how distant he'd been from his emotions but really... he didn't mind. It was only for Matt, and even Near, to see anyway. He would still kill someone if it suited his purpose.

Mello took a quick shower, not bothering to get clothing and walked dripping wet back into their room where Matt was rolled onto his stomach and playing on his PSP. He rolled his eyes as Matt ogled him and simply got dressed in some of Matt's clothing, the heating in the apartment still being off.

He missed his leather but at the very least Matt's clothing was comfortable to wear and kept him warmer than he would have been. "Are you going to be working?" Matt called, eyes back on his games now that his skin wasn't showing. How typical of him, Mello thought ruefully.

"Yeah. No idea what's been sent now that I haven't been on in almost a day." he muttered the last portion more to himself though he wasn't angry; he had enjoyed his birthday far too much for that to happen. He supposed Matt's easy going attitude was simply too easy to catch.

"OK. I'll make breakfast then." Mello turned around to protest, but Matt had already shut his game off and gotten out of bed.

"Damn it's cold in here!" Matt muttered darkly as he brushed passed Mello and darted into the still steamed up bathroom. Mello shook his head with a small smile and grabbed his phone off the dresser as he strutted from the room.

He had placed it on vibrate the night before, though was certain he wouldn't have heard it...

There were no messages though, so he wasn't worried. That meant his e-mail box was probably spammed by Matsuda. He almost regretted giving that assignment to the man, but knew it was important to keep tabs on Yagami.

Mello sat down on the couch and brought the laptop out of hibernation with a click of his finger. He refreshed the page he'd been on and his e-mail showed three new messages. He sighed and opened the third one down.

It was a report on Matsuda following, in disguise Mello hoped or at least very inconspicuously, Amane and Yagami as they went to dinner. There was nothing of importance in the observations there, Matsuda even saying as much. There were simply too many people coming and going in the restaurant to tell if any one of them were something abnormal in Yagami's surrounding. He supposed had someone kept staring, or popping up around Yagami it might have been obvious, but he agreed with Matsuda that there had been too many variables to be completely certain.

Mello was waiting for something to happen, what, he wasn't entirely sure.

He saved the e-mail to a special folder marked for reports only, and opened the next one. It was dated that day at around six-thirty am, it was already around nine am, and Mello grinned almost maliciously as he read the text.

A dark eyed man with wild raven colored hair had walked into the station and asked to see Yagami Light. Matsuda had been there with Yagami, both having arrived early as their case load was horrendous, when the stranger had arrived. He formally introduced himself as L's proxy, by the name of Ryuzaki.

Even had Matsuda's descriptions ended there, Mello would have known it was L. It couldn't be anyone else. 'Ryuzaki' was also sticking to Yagami as much as he could, apparently finding him 'interesting'.

"So L is keeping tabs on him..." he muttered to himself, scrolling further down into the document. He was there to observe for a few days and collect those he believed worthy of the task force that would be working with him in L's case of taking down organized crime.

"Mello, stop frowning and eat." Matt said, startling Mello from his thoughts. He jerked his gaze up to meet Matt's and noticed the two large plates of food.

"Can you only make egg products?" Mello asked with a smirk as he grabbed the plate offered. Matt shrugged and settled down beside him.

"They are quick to make and don't take much thought. Now eat while I multi-task." Matt told him as he took the laptop away.

"Matt-"

Matt kissed him and all Mello's protests died on his lips. Matt grinned when he pulled away. "Let me get caught up while you eat."

Mello merely glared at him, and shoveled a forkful of the fluffy egg into his mouth but didn't otherwise protest. He had a feeling Matt would simply take the laptop with him if he tried anything.

He had promised to keep Matt in the loop, and he supposed the fastest way to do so would to just allow him to read over the e-mails. He wondered at the change though as Matt was usually content with second hand knowledge concerning the case. But he wouldn't complain, and damn those eggs were good; it could have been the bacon bits added to them though.

Even if they were really one of the only things Matt could make the eggs were always good no matter if the ingredients were different or not. But if he had to eat more than one meal of them a week Mello would kill him.

"So L is at the station now? I guess it's a good thing I already got my stuff done in there, it would have been really bad had I run into him." Matt commented, eyes still locked onto the screen while he ate.

Mello froze. He hadn't even thought of that. It would have been disastrous. He shoved down the slight panicky feeling as he didn't have time to deal with what if's and things that hadn't happened. It had been nerve racking enough without adding nightmare scenarios into it.

"Thankfully L took his time to get moving.. otherwise you might have had to fight your way out." and Mello could just imagine how bad that would have been. A firefight in the middle of a police station.

"Hmm." Matt made a noise of agreement around his fork, letting it hang out of his mouth as he was distracted by something on screen and forced to use both hands, or perhaps was so used to using both hands it was automatic at that point.

Mello watched him for a little bit but soon realized that Matt would be oblivious to his surroundings until he was finished. Mello didn't mind much, though it did mean his laptop was hostage until then. He contented himself with finishing his food slowly and enjoying the extra warmth Matt's body provided from being pressed so close.

He was able to keep his thoughts from straying by focusing on that heat, that warmth and was almost startled by the hand that touched his cheek. "You zoned out for a little while, anything interesting going on in that mind of yours?"

"Not really." he murmured and was rewarded with a soft snort of amusement. Matt shook his head slightly as he handed back the laptop and took both their dishes out of the room, though Mello doubted he would wash them and was hardly surprised when Matt came back hardly a minute later; far too short of a time to have washed them and cleaned the area.

Matt sat next to him again as Mello read and for once Mello didn't mind the company as he 'worked'.

Matsuda went on to say that he didn't think 'Ryuzaki' liked him very much as he seemed almost annoyed with him and kept sending him to do menial tasks that no one disagreed about as he was L's proxy.

Mello hoped that Matsuda's cover wouldn't interfere with his ability to watch Yagami. But if the time came to choose Mello wouldn't have him break cover. He needed the man to stay as an informant above all else.

But there was still something that bothered Mello, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind forcing its way into his attention. There was something more to L's appearance that he wasn't seeing. And no matter how many distractions he'd had, he still felt it. But he simply couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hurry up Mello, I want to read the other report." Matt nudged him and Mello glared at the red head.

"Whoever said I was going to let you?"

Matt snorted and reached over to open the new document. Mello allowed Matt to scoot closer, throwing an arm around him to share the laptop screen. Mello figured it was simply easier than trying to argue with him.

.

.

Hours later, Mello knew exactly what his instincts had been telling him, as he turned on the television. He dropped the remote, the smooth surface sliding easily through his limp fingers. It wasn't possible.

It had to be a coincidence. Right?

It was breaking news on the international news channel, a story about a possible bombing or gas explosion in an apartment complex in Russia.

There was no way...

Mello moved without thinking and snatched his cell phone and had it pressed to his ear before it had even dialed. Mello closed his eyes, breath catching in his throat as an automated voice told him the number he was calling could not be reached at that time.

Maybe his phone was off...

Mello didn't believe his own thoughts.

He swallowed thickly and dialed a new number, one that was picked up after one ring. And everything was suddenly confirmed. Yuriy had been working himself up, for the better part of an hour, to call him. To tell him Near had been in their apartment when it had blown. The men watching the apartment had had their throats slit and had been left where they crumpled, and a small group of people had been spotted entering the main building of their apartment complex before the explosion.

Near was dead.

Near was dead... and L had to know where the base was.

He quickly told Yuriy to up and leave the base as quickly as possible, it didn't matter what was left there so long as everyone got out before L's agents arrived.

He hung up on Yuriy, not really wanting to hear anything more, or have to give orders at the moment. He had hardly realized he'd had the phone on speaker until he saw Matt standing motionless in the doorway, expression blank and fingers clutching the trim harshly.

Mello vaguely noticed Matt hang his head and push his goggles to his chest; Mello's eyes had strayed back to the TV still in a silent denial, complete disbelief.

He stared unblinkingly at the news, even long after the report had gone on to something else. Near was... Near was dead? He had thought it before... had been told it.. but it hadn't seemed... real.

The sudden smell of smoke broke his non-thoughts away and he realized that he had spaced out and left Matt to deal with it on his own. He was slightly surprised by just how far the gamers head was bowed, red hair more than concealing his features and by how close the game was to his eyes.

"Matt?" he called gently, as gently as he could manage without his own voice breaking, as he walked over to him.

"I'm alright Mello."

"No you're not." Mello stated while coming to stand right in front of him and Matt stiffened.

"You're not because... because I'm not." Matt looked up at that, tears sliding ones by one from his watery eyes. Mello tore the cigarette from his mouth and crushed Matt into an embrace. Neither of them sobbed and Matt's tears dried only minutes later but there was an emptiness in Mello that hadn't been there before; one that he was certain ate at Matt too.

He buried his face in Matt's neck and simply stayed there with him, safe in their own little world for a while longer, because the real one was simply too cruel at times.

-End Kink-

An: Yes, yes I did. XD

Everyone like the little surprise I had? Heh. I know my Mihael has been waiting for me to kill him off XD. I'm sorry I made you wait so long. :P

2011: Um…. Yeah. I've fallen out of love with this piece of work. Hard. And it seems everyone else has too (not to ignore the lovely people who have been reviewing) so I honestly don't mind XD. I will still post this as it would be stupid not to as there are only a few chapters left but I have to rethink the ending… that's all I'll say for now.