AN: Why hello there! So glad that you're all still here with us! Very glad to say that we have the next chapter ready for you, and are actively working on the next one. The little inspiration bug has bitten, and we're hoping to get as much as we can written in...well, soon. We made you guys wait to damn long that it's only fair. :3
Anywho, here we have some back story type stuff. And I'll shut up because you're about to read it, so my work here is done.
Cheers!
Leather and Stripes
.:Chapter 11:.
"Twenty Questions"
xxx
"Hey Mel, I'm hurting bad for some Chinese food. Feel like an epic adventure?"
As Mello started at the tiny, pixilated message on his phone, he felt something between a smirk and a frown pull at his lips.
On one hand, he was elated that Matt wanted to actually go do something outside of the bar. The little butterflies who liked to flutter around his stomach at the very mention of the gamer were swarming, making their existence harder to deny. The idea of just hanging out already had Mello far more excited than he had any right being.
However...wait, what the hell was he thinking?
He couldn't just go hang with Matt. To Matt, sure, this was a completely innocent trip to some shitty restaurant, they'd talk about nothing important, and that'd be it. To Matt. But this little excursion would mean the exact opposite to Mello. Somehow, he felt bad thinking that, for him, this was something even remotely important when it wasn't. Like he was defiling Matt's pure intentions.
The more he thought about it, the more the idea of defiling the redhead seemed to grow on him. And the more he thought about even thinking of fucking up what he already didn't have, the more he wanted to bash his own head in.
"Mel? I will only accept the excuse that abominable snowmen abducted you as the reason you're not answering me."
Shit, what was he going to do. His phone made another obnoxious sound, a new message flashing up on the screen.
"The hunger. She rages."
His thumb hesitated over the keys, a deep breath seeping past his lips as he mentally willed himself to acquire the pair he knew he had.
It was just Matt, which he reminded himself was part of the problem. It was a completely innocent get together: the other part of the problem.
"The damage's already been done," Mello mused, thumb finally pressing a few keys quickly before he lost his nerve. "I'm already knee deep."
"What time are you picking me up?"
xxx
Reclined on his sofa, the redhead's phone suddenly went off on the nearby table. Green eyes locked on to his phone, and noticing it was from Mello, he scrambled to reach it. His hand shot out a little too fast, sending Matt face first onto his carpet. A long string of curse words left his lips before he texted back.
"I can leave as soon as I find the teeth I just knocked out."
Pushing off the carpet, the gamer stood and grabbed his jacket. As he shrugged into the jacket, he swiped his keys off his Master Chief statue.
"Leaving now, they were under the couch. lol I hope hot glue will hold."
xxx
The blond tugged his coat tighter around himself when the red car pulled into the parking lot. He rolled his eyes at Matt's eager grin from the driver's seat, frantically waving him over to the car.
"Nice death trap you've got here," Mello chuckled as he opened the door, stepping into the vehicle.
"He didn't mean it baby, he's just a bitch," Matt cooed as he pet the frame of his car before shooting a smirk at the blond. "Don't be jealous of my hot wheels, Mel. She might not look like much now, but when I finish restoring her, she's gonna be a beaut."
"Right, Matt," he rolled his eyes, shutting the door and settling back into the seat. "So where are you and this lovely lady taking me today? Will I need to be rushed to the hospital for the inevitable explosion and food poisoning, or just the explosion?"
"I can feel the sarcasm oozing from you, Mello." Matt laughed before putting his car in to the right gear. "We're going on a quest. One every man should journey at least once in his life. The quest for good Chinese food. We must follow the way of the noodle, and absorb its goodness to live." The redhead bowed his head solemnly, an air of a classic kung fu movie tone in his voice.
A slender blond eyebrow quirked up. "You have gotta be the whitest white boy I've ever seen," Mello smirked, head rolling back, "but drive away, Sifu. I eagerly await your teaching."
"Hey, I do believe Vanilla Ice is still whiter than me!" Matt protested softly, his fingers glided over his MP3 player. "Is it cool with you if I pump up the jams?" Clearly aware that that had to be one of the dorkiest things he had ever said around the blond, he offered a smile. "And yes, I said 'pump up the jams.'"
"Whatever, it's your car," he replied, eyes watching the world blur just slightly as they pulled out of the parking lot. Shit, what was he thinking.
Shrugging, the redhead turned the music on. The last thing Matt had been listening to was 'Party Rock Anthem', the loudest part of the song now blaring out of his speakers. The redhead swayed in his seat, his hands patting against the steering wheel as he drove. When he went to shift gears, he did a little dance move with a laugh, singing the words along with the song. He secretly hoped Mello would join in, just so he knew he wasn't embarrassing himself too much.
"EVERYDAY I'M SHUFFLIN~"
"Oh, good Lord."
The redhead turned to the other, a dejected pout spreading across his face. "But Me-"
Until he realized Mello was grinning, covering his eyes with his hand. "Please stop the dancing, it's burning my eyes."
"Hey! My sweet moves break ALLLL kinds of hearts. I don't know what you're talking about." Matt laughed again. Mello wasn't embarrassed by him, and that was definitely a good sign. Matt would have hated not being able to be himself. It made him feel good to know Mello was a true friend.
Just to make Mello laugh during the bridge of the song, Matt threw his arms out in a wild dance craze in his seat.
"You're going to break my face if you keep flailing like that," Mello laughed again, shoving Matt's shoulder when the light turned green. "So what prompted this little outing, Matty?"
A broader smile lifted the corners of Matt's lips, he liked it when Mello called him 'Matty'. It just never sounded right come out of Erika's mouth. It always sounded too fake and forced. But when Mello said it, it felt right, natural. It occurred to him that this was a very strange thought, so he did what he always did and simply shook it off.
"I'm not sure if it was the primal urge to eat, or the thirst for discovery and adventure." He paused before adding, "Translation: I was bored, hungry, and wanted to hangout. Is that alright?" For a moment Matt wasn't sure Mello liked the idea of hanging out for no reason; it never occurred to him that it wouldn't be fine. They were friends. Friends hung out, right?
Mello nodded, leaning against his arm propped up on the door, "Yeah, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything, and well, food is always good."
After a few minutes of driving in complete silence from the two boys in the car, minus the background music, Matt decided to take the initiative to get to know his blond pal better. Matt never could stand keeping his mouth shut for too long.
"Okay," he started, lifting his hands off the wheel before clamping them back down. "I say we play twenty questions." He glanced at the blond encouragingly, "I mean, we've hit traffic and it'll take a while to get to Golden Dragon, so why not? There's a lot of junk we don't know about each other, and I'm a curious dude."
A bright blue eye opened underneath a mess of blond hair, eyeing Matt warily, "Alright, I guess so. You start, you suggested it."
"Is that rule kinda like, 'who ever smelt it dealt it'?" The gamer tapped his fingers to the current song as he thought. "Alright, I don't remember if I've asked you or not, but when's your birthday? And how old are you?" He was surprised by the fact that he actually didn't know. That was weird.
"God, so nosy," Mello laughed softly before straightening a bit in his seat. "December 13th, and I'm 22. It's very exciting, I know."
"Oh snap, we're the same age for another month or so!" Matt exclaimed as he soaked in the new information. "I'm 22, and dude, tell me you weren't going to let your birthday go by without telling me?"
"I mentioned that it was in December, don't get your panties in a twist," the smirk on Mello's face continued to grow.
"I must have either forgot…or was drunk, because you work at a bar and that's where I'm sure you mentioned it." He narrowed his eyes, "Sneaky. You told me when I wouldn't remember, you did that on purpose. I'm on to your games, Blondie."
"You only get twenty questions, chatterbox."
"Fine, fine. Did you go to college?" Matt focused on driving for a moment while he waited for the answer. What kind of things did he want to ask? What did he really need to know? It was odd, he had a million things to ask when the blond wasn't sitting next to him, but as soon as he was there, he drew a blank.
"Eh, sort of."
"Sort of? What the heck does that mean?"
"I went to school early, so I feel like it doesn't count."
"Like you went to college early and graduated, or something?"
"Yeah, I guess," Mello raised a shoulder in a shrug, "I started taking college classes when I was 14, I think. But, seriously, I don't think it counts unless you have the whole experience to go along with it."
"Wow, and I thought I was smart." Matt was a bit shocked; just how smart had the blond been all this time? Did he ever look down on Matt during his un-clever moments? Or was it because Matt could keep up with him that their friendship worked so well? Pushing the negative thought out of his mind, he kept talking. "Okay brainchild, where were you born? You told me once that you're Russian?"
"That's two questions, Matt." The laugh was evident in Mello's voice.
Green eyes rolled so hard you could almost see the nothing but white in his eyes. "Oh just answer the questions, smartass."
"I was born in a hospital. But," the blond quirked his lips upward at Matt, "that hospital was in Moscow."
"Hot damn, that means neither one of us were born in America." For some reason, that made Matt chuckle. "What brought you to the US of A?"
Mello tried to ignore the little flip his stomach decided to do at that question. "That's kinda touchy, actually."
"Really?" Matt stopped at a red light before turning to the blond, "Hey, I'm sorry, didn't know. If it helps, I came because my adopted parents were originally American. They wanted to move back after a while, thought I'd really like it here." His smile was small but didn't reach his eyes, "Figured maybe I'd fit in a bit better than the school I was already in. Turns out, I didn't quite fit in anywhere. A bit socially retarded I guess; my idea of a good time was Mountain Dew and a computer game."
"You're not, you just have your priorities straight," he tried to offer a smile, feeling his chest constrict. "It's fine though, and...I'm sorry, Matt. It's not fun having to grow up when you're still a kid." Mello stared out the window, eyes drawn to the cracked cement of the curb, caked with oil and dirt.
"Naw, I think I turned out pretty well." He thought about this for a moment, "or maybe not. Who knows? At least I'm not an ax murderer!" He laughed softly before pulling out a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it quickly. This had swiftly turned out to be an awkward topic for him, "So anyway, why do you like chocolate so much?" He asked, changing the subject and taking a drag of his cigarette.
It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about his adoptive parents, or his move. It was the fact that it brought up so many bad memories of his childhood. Maybe that was the reason Mello didn't want to talk about why he had arrived in America? Did he have a bad past too? Was that why they got along so well?
The blond paused, watching Matt struggle through his thoughts, smoke curling from his cigarette. "I feel like it reminds me of something, but I probably just have an oral fixation."
The redhead drove in silence for a while, simply smoking his cigarette. He didn't try to ask any more questions, nor did he crack any jokes. In his attempt to cheer up Mello, he had, in turn, dredged up some painful memories. The sweet nicotine tried it's best to calm his agitated nerves as his fingers tapped the steering wheel. Life had dealt Matt a bad hand from the get go and years later, even after so many attempts to fix it, it was still a shamble of a life.
Once his cigarette was finished, he pulled another one out and started on it. Chain smoking was never a good answer to a problem, but damn did it help. Looking around for the turn he swore he missed five minutes ago, Matt finally spoke. "That's pretty kinky, Mel."
"Oh, baby, you never talk dirty to me anymore."
"I thought you told me to chill on the dirty and try to be more romantic? Ah shit, maybe I confused the two. I'm not so bright you know." This made Matt quirk a small smile.
"No, I want it dirty. You must be thinking about that hot date you've got next week. You know," eyes fluttered at Matt through blond lashes, "the one that isn't with me."
"I'm such a two timer." Matt joked, "In all seriousness though, I am nervous about that. What if she doesn't like me? Or worse, what if she does and something's wrong with her? You know my luck." A heavy sigh lifted smoke through the air. Eyeing the turn he had been looking for, Matt turned and pulled up to the Chinese restaurant. Parking the car, he put out his cigarette and opened his door. "No one could live up to you Mel, don't worry." He winked, clearly playing off Mello's date joke.
As he got out of the car, Mello could feel a vicious frown trying to rip through the smile plastered on his face. "She's gonna love you, Matt, and then the world is going to weep because you'll be happy and with someone who is perfect for you. You'll never grace the doorway of my bar, and I'll hate you for it, but hey, we'll always have Paris."
The redhead stopped at those words, a hurt expression marring his features. "Mello, even if it does work out, I would never stop spending time with you. I mean, we're friends. I'd hate to say 'Bros before hoes,' but seriously? That's a tad insulting." The other offered him a gentle smile, "Ah Paris, full of cheese and ninjas. I remember it well."
Those butterflies were back, fire erupting through his chest wherever their little demon wings fluttered. And Matt smiling at him like he gave a damn sure wasn't helping. Mello leaned back against the car door, eyes never leaving Matt as he rounded the car to stand in front of him. "You know, Matt, we could have had a real moment there. The sun's setting and everything. We could have stared deep into each others' eyes, everything laid bare. But you had to mention the fucking ninjas."
"I'm so sorry Mello, but the ninjas were a very important part of Paris. The daring escapes and epic battles only made us closer. I feel.." He put his hand on Mello's shoulder, holding back fake tears, "I feel like it made us stronger. The ninjas, Mello. The ninjas are why we're here now. Together, about to consume copiousness amounts of Chinese food."
God was mocking him. God was laughing His ass off right now, knowing that wonderful bit of dramatic irony that Matt was blissfully unaware of.
Matt was touching him. And it was completely innocent and in jest, but the weight of Matt's hand on Mello's shoulder was twisting his insides in ways that pornography should, not a fucking touch on the shoulder. The warmth radiating from his hand brought the blond back to the other man, drunk and clinging for dear life on the back of his bike, the engine purring beneath them in the same low tone that Matt whispered in his ear with boyish delight...
His hands formed into fists at his sides.
xxx
"God Mello, did you have to punch me in the shoulder? I mean, I know you wanted Kung Pow chicken, but did you have to Kung Pow MY chicken?" Matt pouted, rubbing his arm sourly. He wasn't sure exactly what he had done. One minute they were joking around, the next Mello had hit him in the shoulder and briskly walked inside. Now they were standing in line waiting to be seated.
"Mel. Mello, dude. What did I do? Please don't be mad, I know I can get carried away with my jokes. I thought you thought it was funny, I didn't mean to offend you or something." Another puppy dog pout directed at Mello, Matt desperately wanted to know what he did so he wouldn't do it again. Mello had a killer swing, OW!
"I knew you were going to make a horrible Chinese food joke, and I felt the need to preempt it. Even though you ended up making the joke anyway," Mello muttered through his teeth, willing the blush away. He'd probably gone too far with the punch. Probably.
"You didn't do anything, Matty, don't worry."
A long drawn out and overly dramatic sigh came from the redhead as if he was deflating. "Honestly? You hit me because of a corny joke? I think you bruised me." Matt gave him a cheeky smile, adjusting his glasses. "I guess I can't say you hit like a girl ever." Matt followed the small waitress to their table, pausing before Mello sat down out of courtesy before taking his seat.
"You should kiss it, make it better." Make jested, raising his arm.
If Mello hadn't been carefully measuring his self control, his cheeks would have instantly flared. "Put your arm down before I bite it."
Matt rolled his eyes before putting his arm down. "Fine, don't kiss it. My mom would be very disappointed in you, Mel."
"She should be more disappointed in your bad jokes, you know." He let a smirk linger on his lips, reaching for a menu, "So what's good? Since you're the one who took me out."
"No idea!" Matt exclaimed proudly as he grabbed his menu. "Never been here, heard it was good though." His shit eating grin had been hidden behind the menu as he spoke, "You love my bad jokes, it's what gets you out of bed in the morning."
"You have no idea."
"What was that?" Matt asked, his glasses barely appearing over the top of the menu.
"You have no idea what's good?" Mello leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing, "I swear to God, Matt, if I get food poisoning and die, I'm going to come back and haunt you."
"If you come haunt me can we reenact a scene from Ghost Busters?" As the waiter sauntered over, Matt put his menu down. He ordered beef and broccoli with shrimp fried rice and a set of egg rolls. Offering a shrug to Mello, "I go with my favorites no matter where I go, then compare them to each other. Where can you go wrong with that? I'm sure it's good, Scott said so."
"Twinkie Scott?" Mello raised an eyebrow at the redhead before turning to the waiter, "I'll have the same thing."
"Yeah, Scott from payroll. He's a pretty cool guy. From the deep south or something. He's the guy that's setting me up with Halle, said he's doing me a favor." The redhead smiled, "You like the same thing?"
"I do, yeah," his eyes focused intently on the plate in front of him, trying to ignore that pang of annoyance at Halle's name. "He's a good friend."
Matt frowned, Mello suddenly looked less happy. Did he think Matt liked Scott better? That he thought Scott was a better friend because he hooked him up? "Hey, you're a better friend. Don't think too much about it. How about I ask you some more stupid questions? Clearly you have excellent taste in Chinese food, but what's your favorite food?" He offered up a bright smile.
"No, Matt, I'm a shitty friend," Mello laughed, resting his elbow on the table. "We already covered chocolate, but I'm really fond of Greek food. Like lamb."
"Mmm...juicy baby meat. I prefer Italian food myself, a good pasta will do me right any day. Italian sausage? Forget about it." Matt grinned to himself as he took a bite of one of the egg rolls the waitress had brought them. "Why do you think you're a shitty friend? Honestly, you're my best friend."
"Ah, it's because I'm using you, Matty," the smile formed on the blond's lips with ease, "you're just so damn funny, I need to steal all of your witty dialogue to write a screenplay."
"Can it be called 'Tasty Cakes' and star Neil Patrick Harris and Daniel Radcliffe?"
"There's really something wrong with you, Matt. You're gonna kill it on that date."
xxx
