Title
[M]uti[n]y
Contents
Death Note
Narration
Matt / Near
Summary
Mello leaves to spend the day with L and Matt becomes bored, so he heads over to the common room to entertain himself.
Disclaimer
I do not own Death Note
Warning
Yaoi. Shota.
[A/n] My friend Lacey and I have been roleplaying this story for a little while now. All credit goes to the two of us and our minds. My posts are in bold Lacey's are normal.
Enjoy
--
The blonde forced himself to calm himself, knowing that any loud noise, any rash movement would end in his demise. The handgun held out in front of him didn't look impressive, but that was how he preferred it. While the shotgun and TMP that he carried with him could pack a lot of heat there was nothing like the handgun. It had seen him through hordes of enemies and tons of traps. He regarded it more as an old friend than he did a weapon.
Sucking in a deep breath he turned the corner, eyes widening ever so slightly as he saw the enemy. Hooded in purple cloaks they staggered towards him, chanting something in a language that he did not care to translate. Surely it was something that would fry his nerves even more. Once he figured out what it meant it would never go back to useless murmuring that allowed him to spot those that would have him dead.
He fired a few rounds into one of the purple-robed creatures knees before grabbing him and doing a rather impressive suplex. The monster's head exploded into goo as it hit the concrete and the man grinned. One down, fourteen or so more to go. Feeling cocky he stepped forward, kicking, punching, and firing off rounds. He only retreated once in awhile to safely reload. Just as he was about to defeat the last of the enemies a sound shot through the air that horrified him, the scream of a young girl.
"Ashley!" He cried, spinning around in time to see a black-robed man drag off a skirt-wearing girl. "Noooo~!" He aimed and fired, but it was too late, the damage was done. He feel to his knees, the world around him going red as he was informed that he had failed his mission.
"DAMMIT!" Matt cried, close to throwing his controller across the room. The red 'Game Over' screen flashed before him tauntingly, wondering if he'd like to try again. Normally he would have agreed, losing himself once more to the zombies that inhabitated Resident Evil 4. Unfortunately this had been happening ever since he'd aqquired his new partner -Ashley- in game about three hours ago. It seemed that everytime he made progress she was there to screw it all up.
Cursing under his breath, Matt stood and flicked the Wii off. He loved video games, but when developers stuck in useless characters and forced you to drag them around it was irritating. Truly it was the only flaw that he could find in his latest game, but it was enough to annoy him into not playing it. He'd pick it back up later when he had more patience. For now he'd have to find some other way to entertain himself.
Had it been any other day Matt might have continued to play even with Ashley and her blunders constantly killing him, the only reason being Mello taunting him of course. He could almost hear the chocolate-lover say something like, 'What, losing because of a girl?' Unfortunately the voice inside his head didn't motivate him as much as the actual person did.
It was rare that Mello had left without him, but Matt supposed it couldn't be helped. He'd left sometime in the morning, making as much noise as he felt like it and yelling something about spending the day with L as he did. At the time Matt hadn't thought much about it, but now he was starting to miss the boy. It didn't help that while Leon, his character in Resident Evil, looked nothing like Mello he was blonde as well.
Realizing that he needed something that while indepth wouldn't frustrate him Matt headed over to his bed. The blue sheets that covered it were barely visible through all the junk he had tossed on it. The times when the red-head didn't fall asleep on the floor next to his consoles he had to curl up in the mess that was his bed, burrowing like a rat. Still, he swore that he knew where everything was.
"Lesee..." He mumbled, digging through the pile. He was trying to find the dungeon crawler for his DS that he had picked up thinking it would be a walk in the park. It had been a lot harder than he thought, but only because of the random dungeons and sheer level grinding it took to advance. It was the perfect game to keep his attention while he waited for his violent best friend to come back. There was only one problem...
He couldn't find it.
Matt had literally gotten to the bottom of the pile, things hitting the floor one after the other, and yet had come up with nothing. Groaning he looked at the junk surrounding his feet. Ever since he had started thinking about it Matt had wanted to play it. If he didn't find the stupid box he was going to go insane! If that happened then Wammy's house really was screwed, he was really the only one that could put up with (and sometimes calm down) Mello's rapid mood swings.
Grabbing his DS he rubbed his finger over the raised symbol on the front, staring down at it through his goggles as if it would suddenly open up to show a map with a red dot where his game was. For a second Matt was so convinced that it was possible that he opened the screen and checked. Disappointed he realized that there was no map and that he had to think. Where was the last place he had seen that game?
The last time he had played it Mello had been trying to snag Near's puzzles again, hadn't he? He'd drug Matt out of his room to help him and the gamer had managed to grab both Pheonix Wright and the game that he had been looking for, Tao's Adventure. He had popped the game out halfway through Mello's torture of Near and started a new case file on Pheonix Wright. Still he didn't remember bringing it back... That meant it was still in the playroom!
Matt grinned in triumph and rushed out of his room, not even realizing that thanks to some spilled Mountain Dew and old candy he now had the homework he was supposed to turn in stuck on his foot. It was halfway finished and there was a seventy five percent chance that it would stay that way. Though smart he really didn't see why he should. Wasn't their lessons homework enough? They practically lived in the classrooms within Wammy's.
Bounding into the room, Matt headed towards where Near usually kept his puzzles. He crouched down and started to pull the boxes down, dropping the ones that were in his way to the floor. Unlike Mello he really did try not to throw them halfway across the room or lose any of the pieces. The only thing that Matt wanted was his game which he was sure Roger had shoved back in there with the rest of the puzzles. If a couple of boxes lost a piece or two it wasn't done on purpose.
The white boy was extremely dissapointed to be hearing about Mello's day with L.. Not that Near displayed many emotions, but he did have them--He was human afterall. But the day must go on. Near, age twelve, top of his class with a perfect 4.0 average, socially awkward between peers and adored by teachers. This morning he spent time in the library, reading the new books that had come in yesterday.
Near loved reading, and didn't limit himself to just one type of published writing. He read Teen Ink, Novels, Plays, Documents, Journals, Magazines, Newspapers, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and on occasion Manga. His favorite writings were Among Friends and Clutter, Pierott, Go Ask Alice, "The Raven", To Kill A Mockingbird, "Black Cat", and of course "The Life You Save Might Be Your Own" by Flanery O'Connor. Today though, one of the new books was a manga, Black Sun Silver Moon. The book was about a teenage boy who goes to work for a Priest to pay off his father's debt to the church. By the end of the first volume the Priest, Shikimi, had the boy, Taki, working for him during the day as a maid and at night to kill the ressurected. The chapter which the ressurected bitch, who they named Agi, had made Near feel sympothy for the main character. Near had never encountered a dog before, but he thought if he saw a stray bitch tied up to a tree he wouldn't make teh mistake of feeding it. He would untie it and bring it to an animal shelter. Why waste your time and love on such a useless thing as a dog? But still, having an abandoned bitch taken away without you there to protect it still would have Near feeling down.
Near spent the rest of the day in the library, reading the rest of the second and third book of the series. He then looked up the author, and read small segments of her other series. Finally it had come to two in the afternoon, and Near trotted to the common room... only to see Matt throwing his puzzles on the floor as if they were clutter. Near blinked, confused as why matt felt the need to mess up Near's things... He expected this ouot of Mello, but Mello was with L...
"YES!" Matt cried triumphantly, holding up the slightly-dusty case for his game. All of his searching had finally paid off! Now he could play his dungeon crawler like the good little nerd that he was and kill time until Mello got back. He never realized just how much he talked to Mello until he wasn't there. It was only for one day, though, he could deal.
Standing up he turned around meaning to flop onto one of the couches in the common room. What was the point of walking all the way back to his room when he could just hang out in here? Just as he was about to kick back and relax he saw Near and realized what state the white-haired boy's puzzles were in.... Shit.
"Ah, hey Near! Sorry about the mess." He laughed sheepishly and started to push the puzzles back onto the shelf. "I was looking for my game and- oh crap!"
Matt wasn't the more organized person and this was apparent by the way that he was trying to put Near's puzzles away. He had put some of the smaller boxes on the bottom which, as they fell down dumping pieces everywhere, he found out wasn't a good idea.
"... Man..." He looked down at the mess he created with wide eyes. "That wasn't a good idea."
Near placed a sleeve covered hand over his mouth, hiding a smile. He found the other's reaction to be amusing to say the least. Near was so used to Mello leaving the puzzles scattered across the tiles of the room, even if Matt had left them there they were still close enough to the shelf to be put away.
He walked over to the mess and begun sorting out pieces into seprate piles. Near had done every puzzle at least twenty times before front and backwards, so he knew every piece to every puzzle by heart. "It's alright." A quiet murmur, but it was more then he'd said all day.
Upon hearing Near's voice Matt smiled again, helpless expression fading quickly. He picked up a piece, studying it for a moment before figuring out what box it went in. Sure he couldn't do it as fast as Near could, but atleast he was helping, right? Mello would have never done so, even if he had dropped them by accident.
"You sure? Roger put my game back in there by accident and I was bored out of my mind, so..." He continued to chatter, telling Near about how bored he was and about his 'epic' quest to find the game he was looking for. While he was on the topic he threw in how annoying Ashley was and then, realizing that Near didn't know who she was, started on an explanation.
"Wait... You don't really care about that kind of stuff, do you? My bad." He laughed again once he realized that he was rambling. It seemed that all it took was a little while without Mello and he started talking to anyone.
Near listened to the entire speech Matt gave, unlike other people he didn't drain it out. The important aspects of video games wasn't exactly clear to Near, but it sounded a lot like playing a book.. Near enjoyed games. Puzzles, checkers, dice, cards. He didn't watch much TV and he didn't play video games, but they sounded interesting. Of course Near didn't expect to play one anytime soon, he had heard that they rotted your brain. But hearing Matt explain his game was rather interesting.
Near kept his sleeved hand over his mouth, placing the last puzzle piece in it's correct box. Yes, Matt's talking had taken that long. "It sounds interesting.." That was Near for you, saying maybe one sentence that would create an hour of conversation for the other half.
"It is," Matt assured him. "It's just Ashley! She's like, the red mage in my party! Do you know what I mean?"
Near didn't play video games, did he? If he did Matt had never seen him do so. If Near didn't then it wasn't very likely that he knew what Matt was saying. That was alright, the younger child didn't seem like much of a talker anyway. Matt wouldn't mind explaining to him in order to fill the silence.
"You see, there are a couple types of mages. There are black mages that cast spells like poison and curse people, white mages that heal and give you boosts, and then there are red mages. Red mages can use both black and white magic, but none of the higher level spells. So basically they're just losers. There are blue mages too, but we won't even get into them! Do you know how confusing they are?"
Even for someone who was technically classified a genius, Matt still had problems when it came to blue mages. They didn't cast black magic or white magic and they had something to do with monsters. That was all, for the time being, that he knew.
Near had first thought Matt was reffering to an Edgar Allen Poe short story, The Red Room. In the short story five hundred guests were invited to a prince's party during the red plauge. At midnight the first night out of the red room came a person dressed as a zombie with the red plauge, only.. the costume didn't come off.
But after Matt had explained it was a game lingo, Near had lost all hope for conversation on his part. He didn't exactly know what these mages were for, or where they were from, but they seemed interesting.
Near placed his puzzles back neatly on the shelf, "No I don't." And he really didn't.
Matt watched Near place the boxes back on the shelves wondering how he managed to organize them so well. Obviously he had a lot of practice, though that shouldn't have been too strange. Mello often stomped through the common room only to throw Near's puzzles and run off. Did it get tiring picking them up day by day? Matt knew that he would give up eventually and leave them there.
"No? Well see, mages are like wizards. They'll cast spells on your party which is the group of adventurers you run around with. You want them to be able to cast high level spells or else it isn't worth it. Even if a red mage has a high level, however, their spells are weak. Does that make more sense?"
He was trying to explain it in a way that didn't seem like he was talking utter nonsense. Still, it wasn't that easy to explain the premises of any game, let alone Final Fantasy which was where the mages came from, to a non-gamer. Atleast Near listened, however, Mello normally just told him to shut up.
Near nodded as Matt finished explaining, "Yes, thank you." His thanks wasn't a thank-you to end a conversation, but more or less to thank someone. Near was always open to new things, and loved to learn what he didn't know before. Video games, were things he didn't know much about. And with Matt explaining a few things, Near had got interested in how a video game works.
".. Is it like.. A moving picture book?" That was about the best he could ask, never having watched TV before. He didn't watch videos either, internet or elsewhere. Near had always read books and played with thinking toys. To someone who played video games for a living, this question might seem obscure... Which made Near worry that he would be made fun of for it..
Matt blinked, staring at Near as if he couldn't believe he had asked such a question. It wasn't that he thought Near was stupid, it was just the very thought of someone who had never played a video game before shocked him. Sure there were people like that all around the world, but to find one right there in front of him... It was strange.
"Well, sort of..." He said, trying to figure out how to describe it. "It's like..." How could he describe it? "It's... Here, come on." He stood up, holding a hand down to help Near up. "I'll show you."
If Near had never played a video game before then it was up to Matt to show him how they were! Normally he wouldn't have dared to do such a thing for fear of Mello's wrath, but he couldn't see the harm in doing so when the blonde wasn't around. Besides, Mello had already seen all of his games and wasn't impressed. Near on the other hand was a fresh audience.
"I've got a lot of really cool games," He assured the socially awkward boy. "I have to have one that you'll like!"
Near got up himself, never liking physical contact. Near had never let anyone touch him, not even a pat on the shoulder. It wasn't like he would lash out if someone did, but if he saw a hand coming for him he would move out of its way.
It was like someone who had been kept in isolation their whole life. Never talking or touching anyone else.
Near smiled and nodded, thinking this could be a very interesting learning expirence. He was a bit nervous though, considering the only room in the house he had been to were classrooms, Rodger's office, the library, food court, common room and his own room. He had never been invited into someone else's room before, everyone around here thought Near was weird and stayed away from him.
Feeling a tad awkward, Matt quickly shoved his hand in his pocket. Right, he had forgotten that Near disliked physical contact. Had anyone ever touched Near before? Matt hadn't seen anyone do it, even the teachers of the school. Well, he wouldn't make the boy nervous by grabbing his hand. Besides, it wasn't like Near would get lost on the way to his room.
"Follow me," He said with a grin, pleased that Near had agreed. Setting out of the room he took a left, glancing over his shoulder ever so often to see if Near was following him. Without realizing it, Matt was still dragging his homework with him. Oh well, if he saw it later he'd just tear it off and throw it somewhere anyway.
He held open the door for Near, wondering if he should have warned the smaller boy that his room was practically a war zone. Oh well, the two bean bags -one orange, one purple- in front of his TV were clean except for the soda cans that littered the side of the orange. That was where they were heading, anyway.
"After you!"
Near had noticed the paper flopping up and down on Matt's shoe, and gave an inaudible giggle towards it. Near was unaware it was homework, even then he wouldn't care much. Near got his homework done a few minutes after it was assigned and turned it in that day. Projects only took a day or so. Group projects he did by himself, and was always scolded because of by his teachers. 'the point of the assignment was to establish team work between you and your peers. It's an A but you didn't deserve it.' ... At least he got an A. That was all Near cared about.
Near walked into the trashed up room, finding the mess very different from any of the messes he had made before. Near's idea of a mess was homework and books laying around the floor and unorganized on shelves. This.. This was on the verge of being disgusting.. But, it was Matt's room. A room should reflect on yourself, and if Matt's room was full of junkfood and games than that was who he was. Near stood awkwardly to the side, not sure what Matt had in store for him.
Matt followed Near, closing the door behind him. He did it without thinking whether his guest would be uncomfortable with it or not. The thought that Near might be uneasy with being closed in with someone he barely spoke to didn't even cross his mind. To Matt, he was harmless, a nerd. What kind of nerd lured people into their rooms and harmed them?
He flopped down on the orange beanbag, eyes looking at Near curiously through his goggles. The poor boy, he looked so out of place. Would he even want to sit down? Matt woudn't blame him if he didn't what with all the white he wore. Still, there shouldn't have been anything on the purple beanbag...
"You can sit down, if you want." He said, motioning towards the seat next to him. After inviting Near to get comfortable Matt opened the cabinet underneath the TV. Were anyone to look at it and then look at the rest of the redhead's room they would be severly confused. Unlike Matt's closet, everything in the cabinet was perfectly organized. Then again, it was mostly video games with a few controllers and memorie cards thrown in.
"Alright, let's see..." He said more to himself than Near, "What kind of game would you like..? Something puzzle themed? There's tetris, but that doesn't show off the graphics I want you to see... Ah! What about Assassinn's Creed?"
Near thought about standing while in the room. The floor was a mess and he had never sat on a bean bag chair before.. He placed his sleeve hand to his mouth again before taking the offer and sitting in the purple chair. He shifted his position a few times, finding it really an unstable but interesting seat.
Once he was comfortable he heard Matt ask the question of a game called Assassinn's Creed.. He knew what an Assassinn was, and he knew what creed meant, but he never thought a secretive killer would have a set list of principles.. He just shruged in response, nodding along with it to show he had no idea what any of these games were so whatever worked best with Matt.
"Alright, I think you'll like it." Matt said, popping the disc into his Xbox 360. He had always had a talent for convincing Roger that he needed new systems and games. "See, the graphics are pretty great, not much pops out of you like in Resident Evil, and instead of straight out fighting you kill your enemies from the shadows."
After going through the title screen he handed the controller to Near. Normally he would skip through the cutscenes, but refrained from doing so at the moment. Near seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy a good story to go along with his game.
"Ah, but don't get in the water or you'll drown... I always did wonder why they didn't let you swim." He said, frowning slightly. "Ah, but hey, if you don't like this, like, if it's too violent or something I have another game I think you'll really like."
Matt was trying to avoid giving the shy boy any games with a ridiculous amount of violence in them. He was pretty sure that if Near played Resident Evil 4 he'd have a heart attack the first time a zombie ripped off his face. Still, Assassin's Creed could be a little brutal as well... Perhaps he should have put in Lego Starwars first.
Near smiled, attempting to play the game. He wasn't any good at it, and his hands moved slowly against the controller. The cut scenes were his favorite, seeing a character move and enteract with the scenery and other characters without having to play it..
"I've read more violent." Near didn't even have to see the most violent game Matt had to be able to say that he had read things more violent. It was something Near found.. Cool? Example of this would be all the inky black blood from Black Sun Silver Moon. The first time Taki had sliced the head off a Zombie--excuse me, a 'ressurected', Near had his eyes glued to the story.
Matt raised his eyebrows at Near's comment, but grinned none the less. So he could deal with violence? Good to know. Still, Matt was pretty sure that the younger child wouldn't be able to play Resident Evil 4. The game required quick reflexes, something that Near didn't seem to have. It was still entertaining to watch him play, however. The way he looked as he got wrapped up in the story made Matt smile.
"Really? So what kind of books do you like?" He asked, looking at Near rather than at the television. Even without hearing the noise that Near's character was making he could tell the boy was having problems. "I don't read much... Books just go by too slowly for me, I always skip to the end."
Would Near have the same reaction that Mello did whenever he said that? The blonde normally said that he was just lying because he had a hard time reading. While there were many points that Matt could make to prove that it wasn't true, Mello never seemed to listen to any of them. The fact that Matt needed to read a lot for his video games didn't seem to matter to him.
Near kept looking from the tv to the controller, but had soon gotten the hang of where common buttons were. It was only when he had to press the L and R buttons that he had gotten a bit confused about where to place fingers.
"Just about anything.. Preferably Southern Gothic Literature... Flanery O'Conner, Edgar Allen Poe, Eudora Welty..." Near loved a good read, but it was the ones that always stuck out and made you make a face reading it that got his attention, and to him it was Southern Goth that got him to make faces. Of course, violence made him glue his eyes to the book and he wouldn't put it down until the violent scene was over, but it was nothing compared to a large black raven mocking you in your dorm.
"Poe, huh? That makes sense..." Matt said, thinking back to when Mello had insisted trying to read everything he had ever done. "I like the one about the guy in the zombie costume... I can't remember what it's called, though." He wrinkled his nose in concentration, "Something about a room and the plauge... I dunno, I saw it when Mells was flinging his books around."
The only person that Matt had actually heard of on Near's list was Edgar Allen Poe so he tried to steer the conversation in that direction. He had a feeling that if he were to try and read books by the others he would end up bored to tears. It had taken the promise of their being a 'zombie' for Matt to force himself through The Red Room and even then he had to skip pages.
"And he did that weird poem about a raven, right?" Matt asked, "We had to read that in class I think... I don't really know." Noticing the homework still stuck to his foot he slowly peeled it off. "Ravens remind me of crows which me think of The Crow and then I get distracted." He laughed at his own short attention span, looking back over at the screen so that Near didn't think he was staring at him. "I read more comic books and manga."
Near nodded, smiling. So Matt had actually read something worth while? School books weren't worth while, in fact half the things in the school weren't worth reading.. The Raven was a good poem, but nothing of Poe's best. Simply just his most popular because it was the easiest to preach.
"The Red Room was about the red plague." Near jotted Matt's memory, smiling as he did. "It's my favorite by him beyond The Black Cat or Cast of Amontiallo.. Although I think I prefer The Black Cat due to the horrific nature of graphic animal abuse." Not that Near was against cats or anything, but it was something that made your eyes widen to the story. "I like manga." He wasn't one for comic books, but manga was interesting.
"The black cat, huh?" Matt said, racking his brain for what that one was about. Something about a crazy husband and a demon cat, if he was correct. Mello had said, with a strange delight, how the first cat had its eye dug open. To the redhead it seemed like something that should have been in a Stephen King novel. Out of curiousity he asked, "Do you read any Stephen King? Cause you'd probably like 'The Cat from Hell'. "
Funny, he never thought that he would be suggesting reading material to Near of all people. If Mello heard that he had he would think it was a joke and laugh his ass off. Of course, if he saw Near casually sitting next to Matt playing video games he'd probably throw a fit. Maybe he should keep the fact that he had hung out with Near a secret...
Near nodded, smiling even if he had drowned in the game. He handed the controller over to Matt, his turn to play. Near wasn't one to hog games.
"I've read a few of Stephen King's writings, The Cat From Hell was rather interesting though.." He repositioned his sitting and placed his sleeve hand to his mouth, keeping it an inch or so away when speaking.
"Twelve thousand dollar bounty for a cat.. The ending was what truely got me, but then again the ending of every work is suppose to be the sinker." Hook, Line, and Sinker.
Matt happily took the controller and ran back towards the castle. There were a couple of guards to kill before you could get inside of the palace. Though he usually preferred outright violent games popping out and stabbing people could be fun. He tried not to get too caught up in his game, finding that he actually liked talking to Near.
"I dunno why, it reminds me of Poe." He said, breezing through the guards easily. "But wouldn't you think it a little weird that they offered 12k for a cat? It's crazy... When it chewed its way out of that guy's stomach though," Matt grinned widely. "It was priceless!"
He was in the castle in seconds, destroying his enemies with quick swipes of his knife or, in some cases, the gun that his assassin carried with him. The logic part of the game wasn't incredible -after all, he was the only one dressed as an assassin and yet no one could find him-, but it was fun enough. Somehow it was more entertaining with Near sitting along side of him.
"So, anything else you like to do besides puzzles and books?"
Near thought about it for a moment or so. Read.. Puzzles.. Dice.. School.. "I write and draw at night when they close down the common room or the library.." Near enjoyed writing, but he liked drawing a tad more. It might be because it let him put his ideas down in a picture. He only really liked drawing anime though, mostly girls. Girls were easier to draw because their hips weren't so straight. You could be flexible with how curved a girl'a hips were.
"Really? Can I see your stories and art sometime?" Matt asked, curiousity peaked. It wasn't often that something other than a video game actually caught his attention, but once it did he didn't often forget about it. He was one of those people who had an overwhelming passion for something, atleast, for a few days.
He had forgotten how easy the first few levels of Assassin's Creed were. Really, he wasn't even thinking much about them anymore. Exiting out of the screen he shut off his Xbox and turned his attention to Near. They could always find another game to play, or you know, just talk...
Huh, that was weird, usually he never thought talking to someone was better than playing video games. Maybe it was because Near was so mysterious. He was quiet and never started conversations with other people. It was ridiculously smart too, much to Mello's displeasure. Speaking of which, maybe that was why Matt wanted to speak to Near, because Mello didn't like him.
Near nodded hestiatntly. He didn't think his drawings or writing was all that good, so he never showed it to anyone. No one before Matt had even known about it--then again no one but Matt had bothered to talk to him. (Mello yelled, but screw Mello. He was with L today.)
"I suppose you can.. I'll gather a few tonight and put them in a folder for you tomorrow.." Near smiled behind his sleeved hand, again repositioning his sitting.
"Cool," Matt said with a grin. He reached behind him and rummaged around on the floor. A normal person might have been too scared to put their hands in the pile of junk by Matt's bed, but he was well used to it. He pulled a can of soda and looked over at Near. "Want one?"
He didn't know if Near liked soda or not, but he didn't seem like the junk food kind of guy. Still, Near had surprised him quite a few times today. Matt couldn't see why Mello found the white-haired boy so irritating, he was fun to hang out with. Besides, he was kind of cute...
Near polietly passed, "No but thank you anyway.. I don't consume anything with sugar in it." Afterall he didn't excersise, so there was no way to burn off teh calories. Unless you believed L's nonsense about thinking it off, which Near never believed. L was crazy sometimes, but Near loved the guy.
after spending the little time he did with Matt he wondered why he hung out with Mello.. Matt seemed really nice, and Mello was really mean.. Really mean.. Thank gods that he was gone today--although Near still thought L shouldn't be wasting his time with Number 2.
"Really, not at all?" Matt said, a look of disbelief barely visible beneath his goggles. "I couldn't live without a sugar fix." He popped open the can and took a long drink. Clearing a few cans out of the way he placed his soda down and flopped backwards on the beanbag. "How else would I stay up?"
From this angle he had a perfect view of the various manga strewn about the bottom right corner of his room. Sure, he liked reading them, but that didn't mean that they got special treatment like his video games did. He preferred to throw them all in a pile and go looking for the lost ones later.
"Hmm you like horror stories and manga, right? Ever read Parasyte or Uzumaki?"
Near shook his head, "I haven't read much manga.. Only what they have at the library." Which, wasn't much. Of course he could look online and find missing volumes to keep the story going, but it wasn't anything beyond what they offered in the library.
"Oh man, those are must reads!" Matt insisted, crawling off of his beanbag. Manga went flying as he got up to sort through the pile. Quite a lot of it was hentai, though the redhead didn't seem embarrassed by that fact.
"Okay, so Parasyte is about these alien creatures that come to Earth and start taking over human bodies, it's really gory. Uzumaki on the other hand is about a town that gets possessed by spirals of all things. It's awesome! And all of the deaths are spiral related in some way. Like, in the first book the father actually kills himself by twisting his body into a spiral pattern!"
He walked back over to Near, holding a pile of books in his hands. Two of them had a boy with a many-eyed, mutated creature on his head, the rest had various images usually of girls on them.
"I only have the first two of Parasyte, but I have the entire series of Uzumaki. Here, you can borrow 'em." He held the books out to Near, finally looking excited about something other than a game.
Near smiled taking the books kindly from Matt, "Thank-you." Near shuffled through the books, looking at the art on the cover. Anime art always fascinated him, they looked so realistic but so much like a cartoon at the same time. It always stunned him to see the artwork. Even when things like aliens or zombies came into picture they looked so cartoony-real..
He placed them in a neat stack according to volumes. The lunch bell rung just as he picked the stack back up. "Are you to be attending lunch today?" He asked, standing up.
Matt hadn't been planning on eating lunch at all as he'd figured that Resident Evil would hold his attention enough for him to completely forget about it. Even if he did get hungry without Mello he wasn't quite sure where he'd go in the lunch room. After being drug around by the blonde for so long he'd never really gotten used to being by himself. Besides, if he got hungry there was always junk food.
Now that he thought about it he was hungry for real food and didn't Near usually sit alone? Once in awhile Matt had seen Linda try and talk to him, but that never seemed to work very well. It would be kind of cool to continue talking to the white-haired boy too... Still, what would he do if Mello found out? There was no way that the other children could keep their mouths shut.
"Yeah I guess," He said with a shrug as if he hadn't been weighing all the pros and cons. "Wanna sit togther?"
Eventually Matt figured that Mello wouldn't be too mad at him for talking to Near. Besides, it would be worth hearing the blonde bitch and moan in order to get to know Near better.
Near smiled, having hoped Matt would join him for lunch. Sitting alone was easy to get work done, as long as that Linda girl stayed far far far away from him.. Linda was really annoying, all she wanted to talk about was Near.. Near knew everything about himself, it did him no use to talk about himself if he wasn't learning anything about the other. The only thing he and Linda had in common was both of them liked to draw, but hell if Near would tell Linda that. It'd start another conversation with her.. At this point in his life, he hated girls. They had cooties, didn't they? Mello tried sitting at a table with him once or twice before, but Near absolutly dispised the blonde.. He could care less what he knew about Mello, Mello as told by Near was a very mean and angry little kid who liked to boast more than he probably should.
"That would be enjoyable." a 'sure' would have done nicely, but he didn't exactly know slang seeing as no one ever talked to him. "I'll place these in my room on a bookshelf, meet you down there?"
"Alright, sure." Matt said, stuffing his DS in his pocket. "I bet your room is the complete opposite of mine." Laughing he walked towards the door, kicking junk out of his way as he did. "You don't seem like the kind of person that works well in clutter."
He opened the door for Near again, forcing the toys and clothes behind it backwards. Mello was constantly yelling at him to clean up his 'pigsty' of a room, but Matt never saw why he should. He knew where everything was, didn't he? And it wasn't like it really was a health hazard or anything. Sure, sometimes he found a moldy slice of pizza under his bed, but what teenage boy didn't?
Near shruged, walking out of the door being extra careful not to step on anything in case the cans on Matt's floor were being saved for something... Lord only knew for what, but better not test it. "Yes and No." Near loved giving the yes/no answer. It was neither negitive or positive, but it was true.
"My room can get messy with papers and books, but I try to keep clamour from it." His room was only a few doors down from Matt's, dispisingly right next to Mello's... God had he heard what that blonde did at night.. He had no idea who half the women Mello muttered about were, but he wished they would reject him publically just for the humiliation. Near opened his door, and smiled to Matt. "See you in a bit." He closed the door behind himself before promptly putting the books alphabetically on the shelf.
Matt blinked, standing outside of Near's now-closed door with his mouth still half-opened. He had just been about to ask the boy if he could come in, he was curious after all, when the door closed. Well, that was his answer wasn't it? He supposed that he should head down to the lunch room. Still...
He couldn't just leave! Near was mysterious enough as it was. Matt couldn't let the mystery grow larger with the fact that he couldn't see the white-haired boy's room! You could tell a lot about a person by their room and Matt was dying to unravel Near's secrets. He didn't even stop to think that Near might just be a slightly-eccentric boy. To him Near had to have an interesting back-story.
Determined to talk Near into letting him see his room if not now than later, Matt leaned against the wall across from the other boy's room. Trying to act casual he pulled out his DS and flipped it open.