Choices

AN: WOW, this is getting long and I haven’t even gotten to much plot yet. Mello just keeps stealing it away..... but I need to get their friendship going before plot rears its ugly head.... because I do have a plot...

Suggested Listening: Vyperpunk (Deathstars Remix) by Dope Stars Inc; Braindamage by Dope Stars Inc

Chapter Six: Proposition

Matt couldn’t help the small yawn that escaped as he headed back to their room. It had been a rather long day, starting with his long night beforehand.

He had finally gotten the last few techs set up, including the one in the unused hallway. The problem was he hadn’t been able to fall asleep afterwards. And because of it he'd been tired all day. What made it worse were the few teachers that had decided to add in last minute projects and papers before that weeks main test.

All he had to do was keep third, he reminded himself. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks to that he had less time to look at the recordings on the laptop. Though he had already decided that he would look over only the flagged entries, and only once a day. Matt doubted that anyone would be using the area around the dusty hallway unless it was L, so he wouldn't worry about that too much unless he found something interesting from Rodger's office that pointed to it.

Though the audio was a bit trickier, he could speed through it, the only problem being if he happened to miss something important. That wouldn't go over well with Light. Not at all.

Despite all of this, Matt wasn’t worried. He'd figure something out, simply because he was required to. And he had one less worry now that Mello was no longer sulking and being angry at him.

Matt tried not to think of the blonde too much, as he usually ended up distracted. He wondered if it was because he wasn’t really sure how to act around him or if it was the fact that Matt had never really had a friend.

Sure he knew people, even joked with a few, but Matt knew that this was different. He felt it. And he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Matt heard angered muttering as he entered the room and took in Mello's form as he paced. He had a small book in his hand and seemed to read it as he strode back and forth across the room; chocolate bar half shoved in his mouth.

Matt had seen stranger sights and merely closed the door and placed his things on his desk once Mello has gone back to his side of the room. The blonde didn’t even seem to notice that he was in the room until he almost collided with him.

“What the hell?” Mello blinked, backed up, and continued on. Matt shook his head in amusement and decided that Mello was too caught up in working on the paper he should also started. Instead, he decided to look up the feeds from Rodger's office.

Who knew, there might have been something interesting, or incriminating going on in there.

Matt had one ear bud in just as Mello snapped off a piece of chocolate. He was about to place the other one in when Mello snarled suddenly. “I hate this fucking chocolate! Stupid Rodger making me eat this fake crap!” Matt looked up in time to see Mello hurl the remains of the bar onto his desk where it broke into pieces.

“There is better stuff than this that doesn’t cost much more. Won't even let me use my own money, stupid old man.... damn it I want the expensive kind!” Matt wasn't sure if Mello was aware that he could hear him, or even sure if Mello knew he was practically shouting at that point.

“-just because the man has something against me I have to suffer!” If Matt hadn't known about Mello's temper he might have just agreed with the blonde that Rodger had something against him, mainly because Matt was finding that the more time he spent around the man, the less he liked him.

But because he sort of knew the blonde, Rodger's treatment was kind of justified. Though Matt wasn't sure that preventing Mello from using his own money to buy 'better' chocolate, for the blondes apparent addiction to the sugary treat, really should have had anything to do with how Rodger disliked him.

Matt just decided to stop thinking at the moment, as he had started to distract himself again, and went back to surveillance.

Matt was rather disappointed that there wasn't really anything going on at Rodger's office, L or otherwise. Though the uninteresting part also included all the other feeds he skimmed over. Most of the things tagged were mainly kids talking about when L might call again, or if he was going to make it for Christmas.

Uninteresting and boring.

Well that was a nice way to waste two hours of his life. Despite how much he wanted to just sit down and play his games, Matt knew he ought to complete at least one of his projects. So he had a choice, read a novel and complete whatever they were supposed to do for it, or read over an old case file and solve it.

He rather liked the second option better as it wouldn't completely bore him. He had no interest in the novel they were required to read, so it depended on what he actually had to do, but he might just skim read it for the main plot.

Reading over the case had been easy, though he'd still had to use his mind to figure out the connection between the killer and the reason for choosing the victims. It had been rather obscure.

He was now supposed to write a detailed paper of some kind and explain his findings and blah blah blah. Matt held no patience for that sort of thing, and knew he would only do enough to ensure himself good markings.

Matt turned the music up when Mello's musing, or ranting, got too loud to ignore. Though Matt didn't want to do that mundane work he still needed to think about what he was going to write. How Mello got anything done while pacing about like that was a mystery to Matt.

And yet the blonde had almost completed the novel. Though Matt had caught the large yawn and rapid blinking of his blue eyes.

Matt had noticed it all week, and even the night before, no matter how much Mello let himself sleep it was never enough. He always seemed tired. He knew it was because of the blonde's study habits but he hadn't a clue about what to do about them.

Matt hadn’t known Mello long enough to really have any sway with him.

Well to be exact he'd known him for almost two weeks, but a few of those days were spent with Mello glaring at him and possibly plotting his death. So it wasn't much of a help.

With an inward groan Matt placed an unlit cigarette in his mouth and went back to the paper. Thinking about Mello got him nowhere, and he really needed to get this low priority stuff done while he had the time.

Matt wasn't sure how long he'd worked, but he finished the paper. Though it probably wasn't nearly detailed enough for the teachers liking. Matt didn't really care. It was enough to get a good marking.

Matt stretched, both of his arms going towards the ceiling. Staying hunched over a laptop for any length of time always left him stiff, even with being on a comfortable surface.

As Matt glanced up, he saw that Mello had stopped his previous pacing and was now situated on his bed. The blonde closed his eyes with an irritated look and pinched the bridge of his nose. A bar of unopened chocolate sat beside Mello’s crossed legs and didn't look like it was likely to be eaten any time soon.

Matt hoped the blonde would actually go to dinner that night. Because if he followed last weeks schedule he wasn’t going to eat tomorrow at all, after an all night study session too. Matt rubbed a hand across his face with a sigh.

He had gotten distracted again. What was it about Mello that pulled, no demanded, all of his attention even when he didn't want to give it?

What Matt needed to do was distract Mello from studying. But how? Matt's covered eyes swept across the room and eventually landed back on Mello. And the chocolate.

And from that, Matt got an idea, though it was a toss up to if it would work.

"Hey Mello?" Matt heard the blonde sigh as he turned to look at him. Mello glared at him, irritated, text book open in his lap.

"What? I am studying, or can't you see that?" Matt decided to ignore how rude Mello was attempting to be, mainly because he knew the blonde hadn't had much sleep the night before; probably less than Matt himself had gotten. And studying all day on top of that certainly wasn't going to help his attitude.

That and Mello seemed to naturally have PMS on a good day.

"Have you ever though that maybe your excessive studying is the reason you can’t reach first?" Matt heard the sharp intake of breath and looked up. Mello's eyes had narrowed and he looked ready to throw a fit.

That meant that, as usual, Mello had only heard the part about him not being able to reach first. Typical Mello.

"Let me explain before you storm off." Matt said levelly. Mello didn't so much as move a muscle so Matt took it as a clue to talk.

"Look how tired you are right now, you have bags under your eyes and if it wasn't for me bringing you something you wouldn't have eaten lunch today. Tell me that isn't affecting you."

Mello sighed heavily and leaned foreword.

"I have to beat Near if I want to become L. And for that I have to study. Prove that I am better with my scores. You don't get it because you don't care."

Matt rolled his eyes. He didn't get it? Said the one who nearly killed himself each week for a stupid fucking test.

"I get that you have this need to be the best, I understand that. All I’m saying is, the way your going about it is probably the reason you haven't gotten first yet. You stress yourself out so much, work yourself to exhaustion and practically starve yourself. All of those things work against you. You need rest…" Matt went back to his game with a shrug of his shoulder.

If Mello wanted to be stubborn then that was fine; he would either listen or he wouldn’t. Matt wasn't even sure why he cared so much, he'd only known the blonde for two weeks. Though Matt hopped that wouldn't be the actual end of the conversation, that Mello would continue it.... if he didn't, Matt knew the conversation would fall silent and never be spoke of again.

"You can't know that." Mello said softly. "If I don't study so much I'll fall behind!"

Mello, it seemed, liked to ignore important facts where 'rest' was concerned.

"Mello, take a break. Put the book away, it's almost time to eat at any rate." Mello looked over at him incredulously. "What have you got to loose?" Matt asked calmly.

"What have I got to loose?! You know-" Matt cut Mello off before the blonde could go on a rant.

"If worse comes to worst you'll stay second. Nothing lost and nothing gained." Mello sat up and stared at him, a furious glint in his eyes.

"Worse comes to worst I’d end up third?! Could you imagine it?" Mello practically yelled the last part. At that point, Matt was rather annoyed. Was this why he’d never had friends before? Because when you tried to help them, they went all crazy and looked at you like you had just killed their cat?

"Mello, you’re smart. No, brilliant. You’d have to be to have stayed at the top for so long. You won’t fall further than second. And you're already there. If the points don't show an improvement from you taking small breaks, I’ll buy you a few bars of that expensive chocolate you mentioned Rodger not letting you have." Mello's eyes lit up, and suddenly took on a rather devious edge; as though he had actually considered messing up just to get his chocolate.

It also seemed Mello ignored the fact that Matt probably shouldn't have heard him when he had been complaining earlier, either... Perhaps Matt could bribe him with chocolate more often.

"However, if the points do show that you have improved I’ll buy you a case of that chocolate." Mello's eyes had practically dropped from his skull at that point and Matt had found it rather humorous and couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips.

"What's in it for you, either way you're getting me chocolate? I don't understand..."

Matt didn't understand it all that much either, so he just said what came to mind first when he thought on it.

"If it works I wont have to watch my roommate drop dead from exhaustion." and Matt supposed that it was true. Mello was going to end up in an early grave the way he was living, or existing, at the moment.

"I only have to take... small breaks?" the way Mello said it made it sound like taking a break was painful. Then again it was Mello....

"Yes, but you actually have to relax. Eat something, rest. No textbooks. And tomorrow, no extra studying, you are going to actually eat instead of rereading stuff you already know. If you don't follow those conditions then you won't get any chocolate. And I’m sure if I told Rodger I thought the chocolate was making you sick then he would make sure you didn't get any either."

Mello looked horrified at the prospect of no chocolate at all.

"Fine. I just have to... take it easy? Only until the rankings are posted?" Matt almost sighed in relief. Even if it was only for a short while, Matt thought it would help Mello.

"Unless your score goes up. Who knows, maybe by actually letting your brain rest, you might beat Near." Mello looked dubiously at Matt, his disbelief showed completely.

Mello glanced down again and seemed to get lost in the pages once more. "Mello!" the blonde jerked his head up. "Now?" Mello cringed as he asked.

"Yes, now." Matt replied. Mello could act like a child at times. Not that Matt could really say anything when his games were concerned.... pot calling kettle black and all that.

It would be good for Mello; despite the blonde’s forlorn look as he closed his textbook. And maybe Matt could actually get some of his own work done now that he wasn't worrying about having to pick his roommate off the floor.

Not that he really had that much work to do.

Matt glanced at the cover of the book he was supposed to read. He may not have had a lot of work, but it would take him forever to read that thing. It just looked like it was made to put you to sleep.

“Let’s get going Mello.” they would be at the dining hall before most of the other children, but more time there meant less time reading...

Mello groaned softly but slid off the bed and into a standing position. Together they made their way to dinner, neither talking, though the silence was comfortable in Matt's opinion.

Matt decided on a salad, though he wasn’t sure what some of the things in it were, and a few pieces of bread as he wasn't all that hungry. He wondered at that. He used to eat a ton while at HQ, and now it seemed his appetite had diminished a little.

Was it because he couldn't smoke all the time? Or was it just a side effect from being sick?

Matt wasn’t sure, though he made a mental note to look it up. He'd always had problems keeping his weight up, and he never exercised. He had already been told he needed to eat more, so he figured that since the opposite was occurring he’d better figure out why. He didn't need to turn into a walking skeleton.

“Matt, what are your thoughts on the case we were assigned?” Matt glanced up until Mello got the hint for his silence. Matt finished off another piece of bread while he waited.

“What! It's not studying; this is an actual assignment so it's not part of the deal. It’s only a question...” Mello crossed his arms and glared at him. Matt knew that Mello was correct, and it probably wasn't fair to completely restrict the blonde. Mello probably needed at least some form of stimulation, even if it was something small, so he didn't get anxious.

“I already finished.” Mello's eyes widened for a small fraction of a second before understanding filled them. “You rushed through it didn't you?”

Matt took out his PSP as his answer, as a smile formed despite himself; Mello snorted and shook his head.

“At the rate your going you won’t even stay third. I bet you'd be happy just playing those damn games all day too.” Matt shrugged a shoulder and didn't bother to deny it, Mello sighed.

Near watched the exchange, completely silent, and Matt wondered what the albino was thinking. Matt knew that the boy liked puzzles, from what he'd seen on surveillance, or at least used them to further his thoughts. He wondered how their interactions fit within Near's clearly shaped world.

Or if they fit at all.

Out of the three of them, Matt had the most real world experience; though no one there knew that.

Mello had the most passion and drive, a complete dedication to his goals. And Near had the most focus, coldly solving puzzles without a hint of emotion.

Matt figured that if one of them had all three of those qualities that L would have automatically chosen them to be his only successor.

Matt was rather happy he didn’t fit the mold. Though he wasn’t sure why exactly, because if he did, then it would make his mission go a lot quicker, wouldn't it?

“Matt, look up from your damn games for a moment. Its time to go.” Mello punched him lightly in the arm and when Matt did look up he noticed that Mello was correct.

“The level was getting good.” he responded, though he honestly hadn't been paying much attention to the game at all.

Mello rolled his eyes though a smile did worm its way onto his face.

Matt followed him back to the room, trailing after him with his mind back on the game. He didn’t want to deal with thoughts of the mission any more, because then he would have to think about what would happen once Light actually got what he was looking for.

And he wasn't paid enough for that. Actually, he was paid NOT to think on it.

Mello didn’t really seem to know what to do once back in their room, now that he wasn’t able to study and the silence in the room got rather awkward, even for Matt. Matt even entertained the thought of turning the PSP off of mute but decided that it would have only made the silence worse.

“How long have you been here?” Matt had found himself asking; his eyes flicked upwards every few seconds to survey the blonde. Mello looked up sharply, an odd gleam in his eyes.

“For as long as I can remember. Whammys is all I have known.” he stated in a quiet tone. Matt nodded, there were no words that needed to be spoken to that. Instead, he decided to ask something he'd wondered for a while.

“Why do you eat so much chocolate?”

Mello gave him an incredulous look. “Have you ever tasted the good stuff?” Matt shook his head; the admission made Mello's jaw drop.

“When you buy some for me, I’ll let you try a piece. Besides chocolate is just damn good....” Matt smiled, though he wasn't sure that really answered his question.

“Why do you smoke?” Mello asked it in a way that suggested he didn’t expect a real answer, so Matt did the opposite.

“Because it's calming for me. And rather addictive after a while.” he stated with a shrug. Mello looked rather pleased at the answer and seemed to almost hesitate, as he fiddled with a wrapper, before he asked something else.

“Why the goggles?” Matt wasn’t sure he really wanted to answer that, but felt that there was something more than just a question being asked. Perhaps a test of Mello's own? It wasn't as if it was anything important really, so he decided to answer truthfully.

“Because when people look into your eyes they can see your thoughts, or so I’ve heard. I never liked sharing.” and it was true. Matt had been told that he had the most expressive eyes once, by someone whose face he had long ago forgotten, but whose voice haunted him when he let it.

“So you’re not hiding some scar or something like that under there?” Matt shook his head and wondered where Mello got that from. It must have showed in his expression as Mello continued on.

“Sadly people don't know when to be quiet, even in a library, and I ended up hearing the latest gossip questions about you.”

Matt couldn't help it, he laughed.

It was not something he had expected. People were... gossiping about him. That was weird. Well it was weird to hear about it at any rate.

Mello tried to hide a yawn behind his hand, but failed. “Mello?” the blonde in question looked up.

“Go to sleep.”

Mello scowled but yawned again and his shoulders sagged in defeat. Had Mello been studying he would have ignored his tiredness by that point, and instead consumed mass amounts of chocolate to help keep him awake.

But Matt was glad Mello wasn't doing either of those things.

As Mello headed into the bathroom Matt changed right there in the room. Matt checked his PSP battery and was satisfied that it would at least last for a few more hours. He turned off his light and slide under the covers though he knew he wouldn’t sleep for some time despite how tired he was.

Mello, clad in only boxers, exited the bathroom. Matt felt his face flush in memory of the rest of Mello he'd seen. That he shouldn't have seen. Matt tore his eyes away and shook his head, though he could tell exactly when Mello had finally settled beneath the blankets.

The light went out on Mello's side and the room was dark except for his PSP screen.

“Matt?” Mello asked after a few minutes.

“Hmmm?” Matt concentrated on beating a boss so he didn’t waste energy on actually speaking.

“Goodnight....” Mello was cut off by another yawn.

Matt couldn't remember the last time someone said that to him; it had to have been at least seven years. And yet, it didn’t feel odd at all.

The faint light illuminated his half smile and Matt tried to focus on the game rather than the ever steadying sounds of Mello's breaths.

An interesting mission indeed.

-End Proposition-

AN: Damn I’m tired now..... and Matty wouldn't cooperate...... (and I got a comment on my ff.net account on how I always seem to surprise you readers with my writing, well, I’m usually surprised too. Half of what I write isn't planned, at all.)