So I guess this is in an alternate universe where Near and Mello succeeded L together. And Matt helped.
Chapter 1/?
Near would not have sought it out on his own. Of course he wouldn't have. The first time he'd stumbled across it, it had been quite by accident. He was online, scanning row after row of photographs, each with a shiny new toy when the unthinkable happened- a slight slip in his balance had forced the mouse to skitter wildly across the screen, and when he regained himself, he accidentally clicked on one of the brightly flashing banners he was supposed to never, ever click.
Pop-up after pop-up appeared on Near's screen. Women, beckoning Near to click on them with sultry looks and outstretched hands, contests urging Near to enter, games challenging Near to win, funny videos with the promises of more LAFFS if only Near would click now. Of course he wouldn't. He had, in fact, begun the tedious process of cleaning out his computer, when he saw it.
He didn't understand what he was seeing at first. Long, panning shots of a mass of gears, smooth and polished metal shapes, edges and steel and oil, undulating and folding into itself. Near's mouth went dry. Whatever it was, he wanted it. He would go to whatever lengths he needed to go to in order to buy whatever product was being advertised. It was like watching flame, or running water, and someone of Near's caliber was hard-put to find something or someone that could occupy him so completely. If this was a person, he would be enamored with them. As it was, with this almost mournful thought, Near could almost make out fingers in the metal shapes, and that movement could almost be a clenching of the joints…wait…
As Near realized exactly what it was he was watching, his fingers snapped up to his hair. What had been languid and soothing movement suddenly took significance in his mind, the rocking motions now undeniably there.
Still, it was strangely enticing. For a joke- it couldn't possibly be anything else- it was a masterpiece of CG, each glossy inner working moving intricately into place, each smooth length of metal fulfilling its purpose and creating the overall effects of movement. The detail appealed to Near. The incontestably erotic feel of each soft focus shot fascinated him. And then he realized what he was doing. He was sitting in his room, openly staring at what was, for all intents and purposes, Transformers themed pornography. Slightly disgusted with himself, he reached out to continue closing tabs, when another zoomed in shot at a different angle caught his attention. He would not watch it. He would not watch it. What would Mello say if- god forbid- he found out, for one thing.
But he wanted it…
Hardly aware of what he was doing, his cursor moved from the X at the corner of the screen to the "ENTER SITE" button. And he clicked.
Near spent the rest of the day in his room, with a warmth on his face he didn't care to identify, and a heaviness in his pants he eventually attended to, with the same absently fascinated expression, and a hand that he disassociated himself from, almost as much as he did the pleasure. Near wouldn't do something like that.
Two floors down, the other half of the World's Greatest Detective Known As L giggled madly.
"I bet his expression was great!"
"It better have been. I spent all morning making that." The two high-fived.
"Work of genius, Matty."
"Yeah, I-" the computer beeped. Matt looked up at Mello in utter shock.
"What? What is it? What happened?"
"He…he clicked it." Mello's eyes widened as well.
"He clicked it?" The two absorbed this information in silent astonishment. And then Mello grinned.
"Then give him something to look at." He ordered imperiously. Having passed over the opportunity to abort, Matt turned back to the computer and started tapping keys frantically.
"Most of it will have to be loops of what I already made."
"That's fine, just set up a skeleton site. You can fill it in later. We'll have to set up cameras for next time."
"Next time?"
"Oh, come on. This is too good to stop. Near has a technology kink? Hahaha!"
There was certainly a next time. And a time after that. Near seemed not to notice that the website seemed to expand only when he'd watched all the videos, and Mello and Matt seemed to forget that there was any purpose to the prank beyond watching the somewhat undignified spectacle of Near staring blushing at his screen until his hands absently made their way into his pants.
Mello stopped talking about the ways that they could blackmail or humiliate the boy, and instead ordered Matt to keep producing the videos, with no end in sight.
For Matt, it was not an entirely new experience. Instead of pulling meaning from zeros and ones, he looked into Near's blank face and started to tweak the videos. It was strange, the balance he had to find between the meticulous movement of mechanical parts, each with their own place, and the sensual and almost fluid movement he had to manipulate the metal into achieving. Although he didn't understand the slack-jawed enthrallment Near held with it, nor the drive that explained his physical reactions to the videos, Matt took pride in the beauty of his work, and found inspiration in the oddest of places, like corners of buildings when the light hit them just so. Mello would laugh at him, when he solemnly clicked a picture on his phone, but it was worth it, seeing the responding quirks in Near's face, and the moment in each video when Near's mouth would pop open.
Mello watched Near with almost the same absorption he had hated him with, before, but while Matt started to ache to touch Near- for research purposes, to see if he knew as much about Near as he thought he did- Mello seemed to take a glee in being the silent watcher, seeing Near come undone for him, albeit indirectly.
If it was noted that L got along with each other better than before, no one dared point it out, lest they disturb the new peace. Each seemed lost in their own world, Near staring off into space, Matt staring at Near, and Mello shooting sneaky little looks at both of them. And one day, while Matt was watching Near watching the masterpiece of the day, his childish, pink lips quirked down at the corners and he sighed.
"More." The quietly breathed word brought a shiver down Matt's spine, as he seriously considered walking upstairs and giving Near more, but he quickly shoved down the thought and considered better ways to give Near more.
He couldn't change the content of the video, as he already rested on a thin line between the sensual, rolling movement that seemed to captivate Near so, and a ridiculous farce of both the robots and the sex. The next day, there was no new video, and Near frowned at his computer, displeased by the interruption of what was now his daily ritual. Nor was there any new content the following day. For an entire week, Near fell into an uncharacteristically bad mood, worsened by the fact that for once, Mello would not pick a fight with him.
He wondered if Mello was doing it on purpose. Probably. It was while he was glaring at Mello, who seemed blissfully unaware of the death glare aimed at him that his computer flashed. It didn't make any noise, or do anything to attract attention. There was simply a brief flash, that may have been the power surging slightly, if Near didn't know his computer was set to inform him when the site updated. His eyes lit up, and he managed to miss Matt's eyes lighting up at his expression as he made an excuse and slipped away, taking his laptop with him.
He skimmed through the apology for the break and his eyes immediately rested on the reason for it. A product. They had developed a product. And it was beautiful. One of the shiny, steel creations he'd seen brought to life in the videos in a way even the movies hadn't captured, let alone the cartoons, or the cheap toys Near already owned. Near looked at the neglected toy robots lined up against his wall and couldn't help but feel they paled in comparison the sleek artistry of the steel wonder on the screen. He didn't even think about it before his fingers were already typing in his information, ordering one of the robots.
In his room, Matt sat with the toy in his hands, carefully developed with the understanding of the workings of metal he'd gained from his CG experience. There was an intimate knowledge now, in Matt, of the ways of bits and pieces that moved for the sake of movement, and the beauty of polished steel that he could never forget, wrapped up as it was in the widening of impossibly dark eyes, and the relaxing of frown muscles in a soft, pale face.
"You gonna give it to him?" Matt jumped as his best friend entered the room.
"Yeah, I have to figure out shipping, since it can't come from here."
"Shipping?"
"You know, to deliver it?" Mello crossed his arms, and adopted an indifferent expression, sneaking a look at Matt through the side of his eye.
"You need to deliver it, then go deliver it." It was the closest to telling him it was alright Mello could give without degrading them both with acknowledgement that permission was needed in the first place.
Matt clenched the toy in his hands and stood up.
"Yeah, you're right, I will."
A soft knock came from Near's door, and he turned, carefully closing the incriminating tabs on his screen.
"Come in." To his surprise, the door opened only a crack, before Matt's goggled eyes peeked in through the barely open door.
"How can I help you?" He asked, sounding polite, if detached. Matt cleared his throat nervously, before stepping in, with his hands behind his back.
"I- I have something for you, Near."
"Oh?"
"A present." Near's eyes narrowed in suspicion. For all that L provided a unified front to the world, inside of the building, it was a constant struggle of Near vs. Mello and Matt, and nothing Mello had a hand in could be healthy for Near. Near wondered if his gift would hurt.
Then Matt pulled his hands out from behind his breath, and Near's breath hitched in his throat at the perfection of it. The most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, a careful composition of tiny, painstakingly interlocking parts. His robot, the one he'd ordered.
Less than ten minutes ago.
"I made this for you, Near. It took me-"
"A week." The length of the absence. Near didn't really need any more confirmation at this point, but when Matt nodded, he felt a horrible sinking feeling in his chest.
It was Matt.
All along it was Matt.
Suddenly, Near was cursing his own idiocy. If it had been a simple pop-up, it wouldn't have been treated so seriously. There wouldn't have been new videos, let alone an actual product. Even if Near's absurd fascination with the subject had been commonplace- and it certainly wasn't- who had the skill to make such things? It should have been obvious all along. Near had overlooked it for the simple reason that he had wanted to believe in something that made him feel…
Was it odd that the steel made him feel more human?
Near looked behind Matt for Mello to emerge, laughing and mocking. No one came. Matt saw all of this flash across Near's face, confusion, realization, horror, resignation, and utter bewilderment.
"What was the point?" Near asked quietly. If he'd been defeated, there was no point in bravado, now.
Matt pressed the little figurine into Near's hands, and even as he hated it for drawing him in, Near's fingers unconsciously closed around it gently and he absently stroked it with his thumb.
"I'm not sorry." Matt told him, just as quietly, which didn't answer anything, and Near started to take little panicked panting breaths, like a terrified rabbit.
Instinctively, Matt sat on Near's bed and pulled Near towards him by his wrist. Near came and limply collapsed where he was pulled, next to Matt, who didn't let go, and rubbed small circles on Near's captured wrist.
"I wanted to give you something. Do you like it?"
Near's hand clenched around the toy, and he wanted to throw it against the floor, to dash it to pieces and deny it, but it was the most wonderful thing he'd ever held, childish, and sleek at the same time and he only held it a little closer and gave a jerky little nod.
"Will you take care of it?" Near nodded again. The tone Matt used was soft, and kind, meant to calm him down, even if his words sounded like an appeal to a small child.
"Because you like it, right?" This time, Near licked dry lips and managed to say,
"Yes." Whatever came of this, he didn't want to lose the toy.
"Well, I made it to give to you, because I want to take care of you. Because I like you." Near's face crinkled into the overwhelmed expression Matt had become a connoisseur of creating, and it warmed him to create such a look by himself, this time.
"Oh." Matt smiled down at Near, who was frozen in a new kind of shock.
"Yes. And as cute as you are, acting like a deer in headlights-" Near, now nineteen, needed no more incentive to regain his composure than Matt daring to call him cute. Even if he still looked mostly the same as he always had, he was not a child, and shouldn't be treated like one. Then he saw the smirk, and realized Matt had purposefully done that. Which was confirmed with the rest of his sentence. "-I want to see you make the same faces that you did when you watched my videos." Near looked around.
"You saw? Where is the camera?" Matt stuck out his lower lip at Near.
"I just gave you a present. Aren't you going to thank me?"
"Thank- mmmph!" Matt pushed his lips onto Near's, pushing him back onto his bed.
"I gave you a lot of presents, you know?"
"Hmmm?" Near managed, sounding dazed.
"Every…one…of…those…videos…was…from…me…for…you." Matt punctuated each word by kissing down Near's jawline and neck. "So tell me what you liked about them."
"The…detail." Near said, in as calm a voice as he could manage, immediately followed by an undignified squawk when Matt unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and buried his face into the skin there. "The smoothness of the mmmmetal." Matt nodded understandingly, which had an interesting effect, since his nose was rubbing at Near, and his hot breath was condensing against Near's skin. One hand returned to Near's wrist, and pulled the hand, and the robot down the seam of the younger boy's shirt, popping the remaining buttons and dragging the smooth metal down Near's skin. Near shivered.
"Let's play with your presents, Near."
"The movement. Every video was incredibly intricate." Matt stood the robot up on Near's stomach, clicking some nearly invisible latch with his nail and pulling back the outer shell to show the inner workings of the robot. Near watched as Matt moved and rearranged each tiny piece until there was a car being rolled around Near's stomach and chest, instead of a robot.
The metal was cool against Near's skin and left a thin trail of goosebumps behind. Matt started to follow that trail with his tongue, but despite the wet warmth his actions offered, the goosebumps only grew.
Both to stop the teasing and to claim the toy, Near closed his hand over the car and stroked it lovingly. Matt closed his hand over Near's much smaller hand and stroked it.
"The…the slowness of it…" Matt drove the car down towards Near's belly button with maddening slowness, considering the expanse of skin before him for a painfully long time before languidly bending down to suck at the flesh there.
The unfamiliar stimulation to Near's sensitive stomach combined with the chilly feeling of the car, still making it's way down, even as individual components came unclasped and returned to robot form .
"Thuuuhhhh" but whatever Near was going to say next was lost as Matt took advantage of his slurred inability to speak by pushing his tongue into the word and licking as much of the inside of Near's mouth as he could before Near's tongue came to life and tentatively tasted him back.
Groaning, Matt pushed further, almost crushing the slight body under his, and inadvertently mirrored the position the little robot had taken on top of Near. Near looked at the features of the robot he liked. The long limbs, the smooth composition, the intricate workings of smaller gears under the visible parts. Matt's limbs were longer. His skin- when had he taken off his shirt?- was incredibly soft and smooth, rubbing against Near's, and the flexing of his muscles under his skin presented a captivating view.
Near stroked the robot one last time, and set it carefully to the side.
Matt peeked open one eye during the kiss and saw Near staring at him, almost curiously before pushing the robot off of his chest and onto the bed. Instantly concerned he'd done something wrong, Matt pulled back, sitting up. Near came up with him, attached not only by the supporting arm Matt had put around him, but by both of his own arms, which he had wound around Matt's neck.
The warmth of the gesture mingled with the warmth of Matt's arousal, and suddenly, his whole body was burning to do something, anything for Near. He kissed Near, very softly, in reassurance, and then pushed him back again, so he was lying flat.
"I don't think we're quite done with this." He announced, and held up the robot.
Near looked up at Matt with the most passive, relaxed expression Matt had ever seen on him. He looked prepared to be thoroughly fucked, if need be, and intentional or not, his panting and the tongue that darted out to wet his lips were both incredibly seductive.
Matt started folding the little pieces of the robot into itself. He had made it to switch from a car to a robot and back, but he used the many bending pieces to create a new shape, and crushed a diminutive hinge here and there to get the structure he wanted.
"Put this in your mouth." Near opened his mouth and accepted the cylindrical shape without hesitation or question, which sent a shock of arousal down Matt's spine, and lower. The part sticking out of Near's mouth twitched a little, as Nears tongue worked over the rest of it. Matt sucked and nibbled on the tip just long enough to give him an excuse to touch Near's lips with his again, before he started putting to use everything he'd learned about Near in the process of designing his fantasies.
Matt went for visual effect, rubbing his whole body against Near's by rolling up and down him, applying slight pressure, and a magnificent display of surging muscle under skin. He arched down into Near a little, every vertebrae in his spine following individually, and Matt noted with pleasure that Near drank up the exhibition with greedy eyes. He reached out to trace Matt's bones and muscle under his skin, until a little whimper escaped from around the metal in his mouth. Matt pulled out the now-wet figure and licked back down Near's stomach, over a sensitive newly-formed hickey, and suddenly took Near into his mouth.
Near gasped and tensed at the unexpectedness of it, but in the exhale that followed it, relaxed, shivering into the touch. Matt took that opportunity to push the small cylinder into Near. The timing was performed well enough that there was minimal discomfort, and although it wasn't pleasant, Matt's mouth on him certainly was, so Near ignored the little fumblings of what used to be his robot and focused on the slick heat and pressure provided by the inside of Matt's mouth . The soft and slightly cooler touches of Matt's tongue added even more to the experience, and as each movement passed over Near, he twitched and writhed until he jerked suddenly, and unexpectedly, pushing the robot into the right place.
The stimulation was the last of what was needed to make Near come completely undone, and he whipped his head back and forth in an attempt to release the tension in the rest of his body as everything seemed to explode into color, and light, but mostly the most intense and wonderful feeling he'd ever felt. Matt dutifully stayed in place, avoiding Near's flailing limbs mostly by luck.
As Near came down from his high, he felt the slight sheen of sweat all over his body suddenly lose it's immunity to the cold, and the refreshing change in temperature washed over him.
Still, he felt somewhat indebted.
"Do you want…?" Matt was already shaking his head. He stretched up and gave Near a close-mouthed kiss on the lips, and then bent to slide the robot from him, resulting in a last spasm as the robot brushed over still relatively sensitive areas. He started fixing and readjusting the bends he'd made. Then he wiped it on his shirt.
"No, here, now you can use it again…any way you want." Matt winked. Then, he reached towards a seemingly empty corner, and pulled a small camera.
"Anyways, Mello's probably downstairs, waiting for me." Near looked horrified and Matt smiled, without a hint of smirk. "He's not so bad. We're…in the same boat now." He reached forward and tucked some of the white hairs stuck to Near's face behind his ear. "You have a place with us. Both of us." He pressed the robot into Near's hand, and held both a little longer than necessary. "Whenever you're ready, you can come downstairs too."
Near was touched by the declaration, and the gift, though he resolved to strongly disinfect the latter.
"I…thank you." He said, and Matt grinned again, replacing his goggles.
"See? You're learning manners." And left.
Near fiddled with his gift for a couple of minutes and then put it down. Somehow, he didn't need it to feel human anymore.