Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.
Chapter 2: Aiber is Special, and Matt is a Lonely, Lovesick Little Puppy
Matt's foul mood must have been evident when he got back to work, because Light pretty much left him alone and didn't annoy him. He buried himself in his work to avoid thinking about Mello and whatever Near was planning to do in order to seduce him.
It was nearing lunchtime when the first interruption of Matt's work occurred. There was a knock on the office door and Mr. Wammy entered. He had sort of a pained expression on his face, like he didn't want to be there.
"Good morning Mr. Yagami, Mr. Jeevas." Wammy nodded at each of them as he said their names.
"Uh…good morning." Matt said.
"Good morning, sir." Light said.
"So, I hope the two of you haven't forgotten about my dinner invitation for tonight, since Mr. Jeevas couldn't attend last time." Wammy said, not really looking at either of them. Matt drew his eyebrows together. In fact, he had indeed completely forgotten. And even if he hadn't, he would have assumed it was cancelled after the events of the past few days.
"Um, Mello can't come today either, he's in Chicago on a business trip." Matt said. Wammy's eyes narrowed for a moment, and then his face broke into a very, very forced smile.
"That's quite alright, you can come without him." He said. Matt was a bit scared, but he nodded.
"O-okay." Matt stammered. Wammy looked annoyed that he'd actually agreed, but then he faked another smile.
"Good." He said without feeling. Then Light spoke up.
"How lovely that you're inviting us into your home again after everything we've done to you." Light said mockingly. Mr. Wammy's façade broke down.
"Look, I forgave Lawliet because he's practically family. It doesn't mean I approve, and it doesn't mean I want people like the two of you coming into my home. I'm only inviting you now because Lawliet asked me to, got it? And you had better come, or else I will be highly offended and will find ways to make your lives miserable as long as you work here." Wammy said angrily, and then he left before they could respond, slamming the door hard behind him. Matt and Light looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Whoa." Matt said eloquently.
"What if he poisons us at dinner?" Light asked. Matt shrugged.
They got back to work again, and soon Matt noticed that Light kept glancing through the window into the main room where the cubicles were. He ignored it, but it was distracting because every time Light looked up, Matt had to look up to check if he was staring at him again.
But he didn't seem interested in annoying Matt anymore; he just kept glancing through the window the way other people glanced at the clock toward the end of the workday. Except he looked kind of worried when he did it.
Matt couldn't see the cubicles from where he was because the blinds were closed on his side (he was a tad agoraphobic), so he couldn't see what Light was looking at. Finally, Matt's curiosity got the better of him.
"What are you looking at?" He asked Light.
"Not you." Light answered defensively.
"I know that, but what's going on out there that's so fascinating?"
"Oh, I'm just keeping an eye on Aiber." Light's manner was falsely casual.
"Why?" Matt asked.
"Well, while you were gone, he sort of said some things that…never mind." Light said, shaking his head dismissively.
"He didn't threaten you, did he?" Matt asked.
"No, not exactly…"
"What did he say?" Matt asked curiously. Light sighed.
"He said that I hadn't won, and that I wouldn't win, and that it wasn't over." He said without feeling. That sounded like a threat to Matt.
"Oh." Matt said with furrowed eyebrows.
"And he's kind of been watching L a lot, I'm worried that he's planning something."
"Shit…you should tell Wammy about this or something."
"Yeah, maybe." Light said, obviously not pleased with the prospect of going to Wammy for help. But, of course, if there were a threat to L, Wammy would do whatever he could. Matt got up and opened his blinds, suddenly paranoid and wanting to know what Aiber was doing.
As it turned out, he was sitting at his desk, not doing much of anything. But just then, L came out of Wammy's office and began to walk, with bent posture and hands in pockets, across the room. Aiber's eyes snapped up and followed his movement intensely. It was creepy the way he stared at him.
"See? He's watching him, isn't he? I'm not just imagining it." Light said.
"Yeah, that is weird." Matt agreed. They both watched Aiber stare at L for the rest of the day, but he didn't do anything else. Toward the end of the day, Light decided to leave early. He left his and Matt's office and went over to L's. Matt could hear his voice through the wall when he talked to L.
"I'm going home, do you want to come?"
"No, I have a program to finish. I will see you later."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." L said, sounding vaguely annoyed. There was a pause.
"Please come with me?" Light begged.
"No, I will see you later." L said with finality.
"Fine. Bye." Light said petulantly. Matt heard him leave, slamming the door in an immature manner on the way out. Matt rolled his eyes and got back to work. He had missed an hour or two of work when he went to the airport, so he felt that he should put in some extra time at the end of the day.
It was another hour or so before he looked through the window and saw L on his way out. Nobody but Aiber was still in the main room, and when L entered the stairwell, Matt saw that Aiber got up and followed. Matt quickly got up, rather freaked out, and ran out of his office to follow Aiber.
L went upstairs instead of down to the ground floor, presumably to give something to the customer relations department. Aiber and Matt followed. It was deserted on that floor at that hour. When L began to walk down a long corridor, Aiber stopped hiding from him. He jogged to catch up with L while Matt hid and peeked around the corner to watch. L heard Aiber's footsteps and turned around.
"Oh, Aiber. Do you require something?" L said monotonously.
"Yes." Aiber said. "I need you to stop seeing Yagami."
"No, thank you. But why?" L replied.
"Because it's wrong, and I don't want to see it anymore!" Aiber looked angry.
"That is silly." L said simply. Aiber sort of growled, which was rather frightening, and then he pushed L into the wall. L's head hit the wall, but not very hard. He didn't look mad or scared at all, even though Matt was about ready to call the police. He thought about running in there to help L, but he was just not very brave. Still, if Aiber did anything else, Matt would have no choice.
"If you don't break up with him, I swear to God, I'll…"
"You will do nothing." L said. Aiber's face grew redder, and he grabbed L's arm harshly, and Matt began mentally preparing himself to run over and help, because it looked like Aiber was about to hit him.
But then, Aiber slammed L back against the wall and grabbed a handful of his black hair, tilted his face up and roughly kissed him.
Matt gasped quietly. L held still, not returning the kiss. After a few seconds, Aiber pulled back, eyes shining, and ran away, down to the opposite side of the corridor.
L watched him go with a strange look in his wide eyes. He placed his hand over his heart as if to calm it down. Then he shook his head and resumed walking to the customer relations' room.
Matt remained hidden, and when L was gone, he glanced at his watch and realized he only had a few hours before he was supposed to be at Wammy's house for dinner. As he made his way back downstairs, he wondered what L was going to do about Aiber.
Was Aiber secretly in love with L? Was his homophobia simply the result of an attempt to repress his feelings?
Or perhaps he wasn't homophobic at all; he just hated Light in particular because he was jealous. But no, he had also insulted Mello, and his conflict with Light seemed entirely based on his orientation. Hmm. It was interesting.
Matt wondered what Light would think when L told him about this. If L told him. Would L tell him? Of course he would, he had to. He probably would sometime tonight at Wammy's house.
Matt finished packing his bag and went home. For a little while, he had forgotten all about Mello's business trip with Near, but when he entered his apartment, he became horribly aware of the blonde's absence.
It seemed so empty, and it was wrong somehow to be there without Mello. Matt went to change into less casual clothes for dinner, feeling very depressed and lonely.
He had about a half hour before he really had to leave, so he went to the kitchen for a snack. Yes, he was having a snack right before dinner. Matt was a vegetarian, so he wasn't sure if there would be edible food at Wammy's house. Wammy seemed like a red meat kind of guy for some reason.
Matt began searching through the cupboards for something to eat, and came across some of the overflow from Mello's chocolate cupboard. He felt a pang when he saw the chocolate bars lying there, and he sighed.
How was he supposed to get through a whole week of this? He reached for a bar, unwrapped it, and took a bite. It tasted the way Mello always tasted.
Matt knew he was being really pathetic, but he didn't care. He continued to munch on the chocolate, keeping an eye on the clock to make sure he wouldn't be late. Suddenly, the phone rang. Matt answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Matt. It's Mello."
"Mello! What's going on? Is something the matter? Did Near try something?" Matt said in a rush.
"What? Try what? I told you I was going to call you when I got to the hotel." Mello said confusedly.
"Oh…yeah. Well, stay away from Near." Matt said.
"Why?"
"He told me he wanted to have sex with you."
"What? No he doesn't!" Mello sounded shocked by the accusation.
"Well, he said he did when we were at the airport." Matt said.
"That's ridiculous." Mello said, and then there was a long pause while Mello talked to someone else, holding his hand partially over the phone so Matt could barely hear it. "You don't want to have sex with me, do you?"
"No." Said someone on the other side.
"Okay, I just asked him, and he doesn't." Mello said to Matt. Matt was outraged.
"He's there? In your hotel room with you?" Matt asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, we have to share a room because of the budget…" Mello said quietly, as if expecting it to make Matt angry. He was right.
"You're sharing a room?" Matt shouted. He heard Mello sigh.
"Matt, quit being an ass. Even if Near did want to, which he doesn't, I'm not going to, so it hardly matters." Mello said. Matt took a bite of chocolate to see if it would calm him down. It didn't.
"But you got all pissed at me for sharing an office with Light, and now you're sharing a hotel room with Near!" Matt said, still chewing.
"Are you eating my chocolate?" Mello asked, sounding amused.
"Uh…yeah."
"Aw, that's so cute…and so sad. You'd better replace it, or else."
"Whatever, don't change the subject!" Matt said.
"Well, I have work to do right now, so I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Bye." Mello suddenly said, and then he hung up. Matt didn't even get to say goodbye. He made an indignant noise and shoved the rest of the chocolate bar into his mouth, then rushed out to his car so he wouldn't be late for dinner.
A/N: Review. The author has written.
