--Three Kisses Interlude: Kissing Boo-boos --
Summary: In which L unintentionally teaches babies bad habits.
Pairings: None really, but has child L and baby Mello bonding.
Warnings: Well, there are some possible out of character actions and situations, and one OC for the plotline's sake.
Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
I do not own Death Note
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DN Three Kisses Interlude- Kissing Boo-boos
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Whenever a particularly young child was sent to Wammy House, it was customary for the older and more responsible children to help care for the youngest of their peers.
L, at age ten, was no exception to this rule; try as he might with excuses of places he had to go, things he had to study, and cases he had to solve.
His assigned charge was a very small blond child called Mello.
When first introduced, Mello merely cooed at him curiously. Curious himself, L picked the baby up, holding him at arm's length as he examined him.
One of the Nannies nearly had a heart attack at the sight and quickly proceeded to correct his grip.
Mello merely giggled as L was reprimanded.
Under a Nanny's sharp eye, L begrudgingly learned to care for the blond properly, and in retaliation to L's reluctant attitude, little Mello would cry every time L actually did give him attention.
After two weeks of this, enough was enough; Mr. Wammy himself took L to the side.
"L" said Mr. Wammy sternly, "you have to learn to take proper care of Mello or your sweet supply will be cut."
L took his thumb out of his mouth as he looked at Mr. Wammy with surprised horror.
"But" L gasped "sweets help me think!"
"I know, but it's not as if you're using it anyways. The whole point of having the older children help take care of the younger ones is to help tie the people of this orphanage together. Geniuses are far and few between compared to the rest of the population; it's beneficial for you to grow with competition and allies now rather than be hurt looking for them in the real world. And really L, it's not as if you're this child's primary caretaker; it's only an hour or two a day to give the Nannies a break." explained Mr. Wammy.
L just hung his head and nodded obediently as he picked at the lint clinging to his white, long-sleeved shirt.
With effort, L began to try harder to like the baby and Mello began to cry less in his presence.
"At least I don't get diaper duty" thought L, that particular chore belonged to the nearest person who knew how to, luckily for him, L was not included in that category yet.
Speaking of which, L scooped the baby up and barely resisted holding him at arm's length as he walked down the hall towards the nearest unoccupied person.
He plopped the baby into her lap and gave her one of his most pathetic looks as he chewed on his finger.
She sighed, with a flip of her red hair, the teen stood up, cradling Mello and grasped at the back of L's shirt to drag him along so he wouldn't "disappear" and leave her to care for the baby like so many preteens did to their elders.
He grimaced as his back popped when he straitened his spine to make up for the height of the person dragging him along.
By the sinking feeling in his gut, he knew she would try to teach him how to change a diaper by himself.
Once in the nursery, L curled up in a seat next to the changing table to watch.
L didn't learn how to change a diaper that day, but he learned where not to sit when somebody changed a boy baby's diaper.
He made a vow to never to allow himself to get in that situation again.
As much as L disliked being peed on, Mello was starting to grow on him.
One day, L happily munched on his mini marshmallows as he tried to feed Mello his baby food.
L was thoroughly enjoying his snack.
The baby watched him curiously as he stacked each sugary morsel, one on top of another until they tumbled down; once they fell, he proudly pinched each little marshmallow in between his thumb and index finger to look at it before he ate it.
However, L's good mood vanished when Mello began refusing to eat his green mush.
"Oh come on!" cried L "it can't be THAT bad, it even smells sweet". As he finished saying this, L plopped a spoonful into his own mouth.
The reaction was immediate; L turned the same shade of green as the baby food before he began sputtering at the horrible taste.
"Eww…" L said, looking at the baby with sympathy.
Mello looked back at L with a baby version of the infamous "I told you so expression."
After the incident L often snuck the child pieces of the softer candies he ate as a treat for eating his food.
Mello especially loved chocolate.
Mello eventually became so attached to L that he was anxious in anybody else's arms. If anybody else tried to hold him, he would stare at L, whimpering.
Whenever L wasn't in the room for him to stare at, he would cry hysterically.
It became so bad that a picture of L was taken and hung in the nursery just so the Nannies could take care of him.
It forced L to give up more of his free time to help care for Mello, causing him to become frustrated with the baby.
One day, he watched as Mello immediately made grabbing motions at him to be picked up every time he was put down.
"Will you just stop it already" sighed L with frustration "why do you do that, you can at least tell me what you want!"
As L turned away from the tearing baby to make his trek back to his own room, he heard a small whisper.
"Eel" it called sadly.
"Huh?" L turned back in surprise, not sure if he actually heard anything.
"Eel" Mello cried out and crawled toward the shocked boy as he sobbed and begged to be picked up.
"What did you say?" said L softly as he started to comfort the crying baby.
"I think he's trying to say 'L'" said Mr. Wammy with a laugh from the doorway "I was getting worried most of the other children his age have already begun talking; he's barely even babbles."
"Are you sure he belongs in Wammy House then?" questioned L worriedly.
"Yes, I'm quite sure" said Mr. Wammy sadly "both his parent's were among our brightest. Even if he didn't inherit their intelligence, which I highly doubt, he'd belong here as part of the family."
L just nodded and distastefully wiped his surrogate brother's snotty nose with a tissue as they both made a face at the situation.
After some encouragement, Mello began babbling and then talking more and more until he exceeded the standard vocabulary that a baby his age usually has.
His intelligence shown brightly as he quickly figured out how to make what he wanted known.
The next battle began when it was time to teach Mello to walk.
It was really too bad for L that Mello only wanted to crawl or be picked up, not learn this new way of doing things when his method worked just as well, if not better.
"Come on Mello, it's not hard" said L desperately.
"I won't" huffed Mello with a baby slur, while crossing his arms and swishing his fluffy blond hair back and forth in a "no" motion.
"But Mello…" L said slyly "once you learn to walk, you can get your own chocolate from the kitchen instead of eating the small nibbles I give you of mine"
Mello hesitated at this, his eyes sparkling with interest.
Soon after, Mello was wobbling across the kitchen, attempting to follow L. He only lasted a few steps before falling down with a thump on his rump.
The red-headed teenager looked up at the noise from her game as she fed her own newly arrived charge simultaneously from a bottle.
She grinned at the scene, leaned in her seat more comfortably, and then looked back at her Game Boy Color, still playing one-handed as she both cradled little Matt and fed him with the other hand with the help of her leg.
"You did it!" chanted L repetitively. He picked Mello up and twirled around in circle excitedly. Mello giggled and clung to the other child's chest.
"Eel" Mello whined in between giggles "can I have chocolate now?"
L always took Mello to the kitchen to practice walking and Mello began to walk further and further each day.
It was still a learning process, however, and as it often happens with young children, it sometimes resulted in injuries.
Mello was just glad his big brother "Eel" was there to patch him up and kiss his boo-boos better.
He would always follow L.