"And then I told him if he didn't like it, it was too bad, cause I have as much right to the bathroom as he does, more so because I'm not, like, you know, *evil*, so..."

Matt let Mello drone on, moving his stylus expertly across his DS. He was sitting with his back against the foot of Mello's bed, Mello himself stretched out across the bed, occasionally kicking Matt in the head with a bare foot when he thought he wasn't paying attention. Like now. Matt reached back and slapped the foot away, grumbling as his character fell off a cliff due to his negligence. "Quit it!" he muttered, hitting the "try again?" option.

"Then pay attention when I'm talking!"

"I am!"

"Oh yeah, what'd I just say?"

Matt paused. "Light uses way too much hairspray."

The random answer seemed to satisfy Mello, who resumed describing how much hair product Light actually used, and how much of it was or was not actually Mello's. He grinned. There were only so many topics for Mello to gripe about these days, it made it easy for Matt to pretend he was actually listening. It also made Matt sort of happy to see Mello getting a break. The last couple of months they'd been away from Wammy's House had really done some good. Away from the direct pressure of their rigorous testing, Mello was slowly learning how to evaluate his own personal strengths and weaknesses as an individual, instead of just one of too many potential candidates. There was no pressure on "beating" people here (although there were still the occasional flare-ups between him and Near), and under the watchful eye and direct guidance of L, Mello was being allowed to find out who he was, and what was best for him. It was an extremely slow process, and Matt had to give L a lot of credit for being so patient, but it was working, and Mello seemed to be a lot happier lately.

He grunted as he got so absorbed in his musings that he died again. He flipped the game closed in frustration, that he had much less patience than L wasn't that big of a secret. He sighed, wishing he could have a cigarette, but Mello was always going on and on about his smoking being a bad habit, and never allowed him to smoke in his room. Suddenly his head snapped up in alarm at the sound in the room. Silence. He craned his head back to look at Mello, panicked that he might have decided to give up on kicking Matt, and use a gun instead. He smiled slightly as he saw Mello curled up on his side, breath coming out slow and steady in sleep. The late afternoon sun was streaming through the window, picking out the gold highlights in his hair, giving him the appearance of a halo. Not that Matt needed that illusion to angelize Mello, but the sight was a bit breathtaking.

Matt got to his knees slowly, laying his game down on a pile of clothes before crawling onto the bed. He wasn't sure what exactly it was he wanted to do, but the sight of Mello in such a vulnerable state made his stomach twist into knots. It'd been a little over a month since he'd dragged Mello under the mistletoe and kissed him. He'd said he wanted to give Mello time to think, but so far, Mello hadn't even acknowledged it had even happened. Matt couldn't figure out what to make of it, and it made him more than a little uneasy. Was Mello still thinking? Had he forgotten about it? Was he just trying to spare Matt's feelings? Matt hadn't done anything more, because he didn't want to pressure Mello too much. But...he really wanted to know...one way or the other. But then again, if the answer was no, maybe he didn't want to know. He heard a ripping noise and realized he'd been wringing his hands in the hem of his shirt a little too hard. He released his shirt and leaned forward, wondering at how peaceful Mello's face was in sleep.

He bit his lip and laid down beside Mello, not quite touching, but close enough he could feel the heat from Mello's back at his chest. He slipped his arm under Mello's, moving his hand across his chest and down to his stomach, resting his fingers at the tiny gap between his shirt and pants. His heart was pounding as he moved closer, until Mello's back was pressed firmly against his chest. He buried his face in the blond hair, breathing in deeply until he felt sleepy himself. As he began to drift off, his last thought was, "man...I really hope Mello doesn't wake up and hit me..."

Matt started awake at the sound of harsh panting. The light had completely faded, and the room was wrapped in darkness, and he panicked silently for a few seconds at the sense of disorientation before he remembered where he was. He was reminded mainly by the near-searing heat against his chest. Mello. He always seemed to give off so much heat. But it was more than usual, and suddenly Matt's face went just as hot as he realized his hand, which he'd been resting oh-so-innocently on Mello's stomach, had slipped lower at some point. His hand was now nestled snugly between Mello's perfect thighs, and he could feel Mello's length along the inside of his arm. A very hard length.

Mello let out a breathy whine as he began, or possibly resumed, for all Matt knew, rubbing against Matt's arm. Matt chewed at his lip as he felt a sharp stirring in his groin. He realized that if Mello woke up now, he would beat the shit out of Matt for sure, and it was probably best to extricate his hand now before he embarrassed himself and Mello.

He began panting at a rate to rival Mello when he realized how well-muscled Mello's thighs were as he tried to pull his hand away and was unable to do so easily. He thought of those thighs wrapped around his waist, and couldn't stop himself from grinding against Mello's ass. He unconsciously matched Mello's movements, and Matt wanted very much to get his hand free and touch as much of Mello's body as he could. No, he wanted to get his hand free and leave with all his extremities intact. Right.

A low whimper from Mello and the realization that there was no way he'd be able to get loose without waking Mello anyway made him give up on the second, safer plan entirely. Oh well. If he died from fondling Mello, it would definitely be worth it. He brought his free hand up to brush the hair away from Mello's neck, mouthing at the soft skin.

"Mello," he whispered into his ear. "Mello, wake up."

Mello stirred slightly, moving his head towards Matt. His eyelids fluttered and he let out a soft sigh, but still didn't seem to be fully awake. His legs slid apart just enough for Matt to move his hand up and cup Mello through his pants, rubbing gently as he pressed his mouth to Mello's. "Mello, wake up," he tried again, laying soft kisses onto his jawline. "Wake up and play with me."

He felt Mello's body go rigid as he snapped awake. Matt quickly wrapped his arms around him, trying to keep him from thrashing. It was only partially effective, and he took an elbow to the stomach followed by a fist against his cheekbone. "Ow, fuck! Mello, it's me!" Mello froze.

"Matt?" he whispered.

"Mmm." He leaned forward, nibbling on an earlobe. He moved his fingers gently over Mello's face, tracing the outlines of his cheek, his nose, his lips. His eyes rolled as he felt Mello's tongue dart out to moisten his lips.

"Matt...What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you off." He returned a hand to Mello's crotch, still hard. Mello gasped suddenly, as though he hadn't realized. "I want to run my hands all over your body and make you moan." He slipped his fingers inside Mello's pants, until his fingers found the tip of his cock, already quite damp from the friction against Matt's arm earlier. He rubbed his fingers around the head, getting exactly what he wanted. Mello moaned, eyes squeezing shut. He moved Mello's face to meet his, leaning over to press their lips together, slipping his tongue into Mello's mouth.

Mello released another low moan, opening his mouth wider and returning the kiss eagerly, to Matt's surprise. He reached up with one hand to pet Matt's hair, and the other reached down, resting lightly on Matt's hand as he stroked Mello's length. Mello was thrusting into Matt's hand, the movement of his hips sending shivers through Matt's body. Matt whimpered as Mello ran a hand down his body, squeezing at his hip to bring Matt even closer.

"Oh Mello, you're so cute," he whispered, breaking their kiss. At such a close proximity, he could see the dark blush the flared on Mello's cheeks. He kissed at the spots of color. "I like you so much." He shuddered at the feeling of more moisture trickling onto his fingers. The idea that he was making Mello feel good was just as hot as knowing only a few, thin layers of cloth were separating his dick from Mello's ass. He was barely aware of the exact words he was whispering in Mello's ear as he quickened the pace of his hips and his hand. He was going to come in his pants at this rate, but didn't care. Everything felt too good, too hot, to let go in order to rearrange their positions. Sure enough, it only took a few more moments before he felt that heat in his groin coil and tighten. He pulled Mello tight as he came, cursing and shuddering. His hand had slowed, but as he came back to his senses, he resumed his strokes quickly, rubbing his thumb underneath the head firmly. His muscles were already feeling heavy and weak as he pulled himself back up to mouth at Mello's ear again, resuming his litany of the perfections of Mello's various anatomical parts. He reached down with his free hand to touch Mello's chest and stomach, in small, light, circular strokes, and was delighted when Mello let out a gasp, curling up on himself as he came over Matt's hand.

Even if Matt had been inclined to move, which he certainly was not, with the object of his affections pressed flush against his body, he was too tired to anyway. He contented himself with raising his clean hand and resting it over Mello's heart, the feeling of the rapid rhythm gradually slowing adding to his lethargy. He was just about to drift out of consciousness again when he felt Mello shifting beside him. Matt's eyes opened wide, staring at Mello, who had rolled onto his other side, and was facing him. Mello's expression was unreadable, and Matt began to wonder if molesting him while he'd been sleeping hadn't been the best idea. Suddenly Mello's face broke into a smile.

"That was good."

"Huh?" he asked, shocked.

"Really good." Mello scooted forward, pressing a soft kiss against Matt's mouth. He snuggled closer, nuzzling his head under Matt's, so his hair was tickling his chin. "I was beginning to worry you didn't actually mean what you said when you...when you kissed me that time."

"What? Why wouldn't I have meant it?"

"Well, you just ignored me all those times when I asked you if you wanted to come up here and kiss me again."

"What?!" Matt bolted upright, his action sending Mello face-first into his crotch. Mello pulled himself up quickly, giving Matt a look that showed he was clearly not amused.

"Yeah. It's kind of tough to believe someone's interested in you when they don't even seem like they want to touch you. I thought you'd decided I was too troublesome and that you should find someone else."

"Wait, when were all those kissing-inviting times you mentioned?"

"Well," Mello said, sitting back on his knees and counting on his fingers, "there was that time a couple days after the mistletoe. And then maybe a week after that. And then the next day after that. And then last week I asked, and then this afternoon."

Matt stared at him incredulously. "No way. So many times?"

"Well," Mello said, fidgeting, "I just wanted some kind of answer. Like, even if you just told me to shut up, then I'd know where you stood. But you didn't say anything, so I just decided I'd keep trying until you gave me a response...But...but why didn't you answer me? Did you find someone else? Someone better?"

Matt cursed his absorption in his video games, wrapping his arms around Mello and laying back down, resting Mello across his chest. For all his boasting of being number one, and being the best, Matt knew Mello had a huge inferiority complex, and he'd just made it worse. "Better than you? Are you nuts? You're the only person I think of, and I think of you constantly."

"So why didn't you say anything?" Mello pushed himself off Matt's chest and stared at him, eyes narrowing. "You weren't actually listening to me, were you?"

"I. Um. Of course I was."

"You weren't listening to what I was saying at all!" Mello twisted around and Matt bolted out of bed, correctly guessing that Mello was looking for something to throw. He ducked just in time as the clock flew over his head, hitting the wall with a sharp crack.

"Well how was I supposed to know you were saying something important!?" Matt froze as soon as the words left his lips, and even in the dark he could see Mello's eyes widen insanely. He yelped and raced for the door as he heard Mello opening the drawer he kept his gun in, stopping only to reach down and grab his DS. The door closed behind him a second before he heard the gun go off, the sound of it lodging in the fiberglass by his head entirely too close for comfort. He backed across the hall on shaking legs, but it seemed Mello was content with firing just the one shot and not following. Matt stumbled into the living room, jittery with adrenaline, knowing he'd hidden a pack of smokes under the couch.

He leapt straight in the air as he heard a calm voice say, "And Light questioned me when I said the walls should be bullet-resistant."

"What are you doing out here, at this time of night?" Matt asked, panting.

Near's eyes slid over to him in that unnervingly calm way he had, fingers not even pausing in their stacking of a deck of cards. "Well, you see, I live here. Unlike you, I might add. Which is why I'm here. As for being out here this time of night, it's five in the *morning*."

"Are you always up this early?" Matt asked, noting he had a half-finished cup of coffee next to his house of cards.

"Yes," Near said, "but that's not important." He waved his hand, as if to brush the thought from Matt's mind. "The question here is really what *you* are doing here at this time in the day. And more importantly, how it relates to Mello firing shots into the walls."

"I, um. Nothing?" He could feel his face flush as he thought over the sequence of events, cringing at the last bit. But nevertheless, a goofy smile made it's way across his face as he realized that Mello really did like him too, as long as this little spat hadn't hurt that.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of a deck of cards falling to the table. Near was still holding the card he'd attempted to put on the top, but wasn't even looking at it. His eyes were glued to Matt's side. Matt followed his gaze down and turned an even brighter red as he his his hand behind his back, trying unsuccessfully to clean it off on the back of his shirt. Near's eyes snapped to his, shock and disbelief on his features.

Matt backed up a few steps, a little creeped out by Near showing actual facial expressions that weren't *meant* to be creepy.

"What'd you do to Mello?"

"Huh? Nothing!" Near's eyes were like ice, and Matt realized that "nothing" wasn't going to cut it. He glanced down the hallway and saw Mello's door was still closed. "You can't tell him I told you, okay?"

The icy glare just got fiercer, and Matt began babbling on about it without even waiting for an agreement. He glossed over the details, but was still red the entire time, crouching on the floor and speaking right into Near's ear.

"And...Mello let you?" The single card Near had been holding the entire time fluttered down to join the rest on the table. "He let you do that to him?" Matt nodded. "So why'd he shoot at you?"

"Oh," Matt grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "he found out I wasn't paying attention to what he actually said a couple times, cause I was busy doing something else. Turns out he made some passes at me that I missed. But come on, when is he not talking? Who actually listens to everything he says to them?"

"I do." Near's eyes had shifted to the pile of cards, his hands sweeping them back into a deck. Matt cocked his head. Near's voice was usually cold, clipped, and firm. But those words had been said softly and hesitantly. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say - he'd thought for sure that Near would be the one to agree with him - when he heard Mello's door open. Near's eyes slid back up to meet his, an unreadable expression behind them, and gave a small smile. "I think you'd better go."

"Shit, yeah," he said, jumping to his feet.

"Why are you still here?!" he heard Mello yelling.

"I'm leaving!" he shouted back. "I'll give you a call tomorrow!"

"Fine, sure, whatever. Where'd I leave my gun?"

Matt slammed the door behind him, but not before blowing a kiss to Mello over his shoulder, and seeing the small smirk he got in return.