"Matty. What the bloody hell are you doing?"
Mello's voice was thick with both irritation and amusement as he peeked around the edge of the doorframe, peering into the room he shared with his best friend, Matt, at age 10. Said roommate was currently on the floor, in fetal position, a blanket over his head, shaking like a leaf.
The redhead didn't reply for a long time, peeking out from under the blanket and giving the blonde a wide-eyed look from behind his goggles. Mello frowned at him, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in impatience.
Finally, Matt ducked his head and covered it with blanket again, muttering a response under his breath. Mello frowned, not hearing him correctly. "A grudge? You're mad at me?" he whispered in a surprised, slightly worrisome tone. Matt shook his head hastily under the covers, daring to peek out at his friend from under the Mario blanket.
"Oi, no," he clarified a bit louder now, so that the blonde could hear him. "I watched The Grudge. The movie." Mello cocked an eyebrow at him, trying to recall the movie title in his head. He only vaguely remembered it as being a famous horror movie, originating in Japan; that was as much as Mello could remember about the film. From the nervous look on Matt's face, though, it must have been quite the scare. Without bothering to wait for a second response, Matt buried himself in the blanket again.
Mello sighed, trying to recollect himself from the amused state he had been in, barely managing to make his voice sound comforting. "Matty, it's just a movie."
"You didn't watch it," Matt replied shakily, curling tighter into the bundle of blanket. Mello could only roll his eyes; the redhead glared at him. "Seriously! It was scarily relative."
Mello rolled his eyes again, plopping down on the floor beside him and managing to nudge himself under the covers with the redhead. Had the lights not been off in the room, he would have seen Matt blush in response. "I'm sure it's not that scary. Let me watch it."
"No. No way in hell I'm watching it again," Matt cried, voice jumping an octave. Mello rolled his eyes for a third time, and Matt blushed a bit. He was embarrassed with himself for acting so weak around his friend – who he also happened to be crushing on – but he couldn't help it! He hated scary movies!
Mello sighed, seeing the dead serious look on his friend's face after a second. "Come on, Matt," he tried again, giving him an insistent, pleading look. "I want to see it. It would make me really happy… doesn't Matt-kun want me to be happy?" he whispered in his best innocent voice. He knew he was pushing it using that card on the redhead, but unsurprisingly it seemed to work, the resolve on Matt's face weakening.
"I do, I do…" he relented admittedly, curling around in the comforter a bit, mostly in effort to hide his blush. Mello flashed a victorious smile.
"Good!" he chirped, leaning over and clicking the 'rewind' button on the DVD player. Matt squirmed at the lack of contact with the blonde, glancing at the shadows that had formed under the bed. Was that a face he saw for a second…? No, no, he was imaging again of course. Still, he buried his face in the blanket none the less. Mello sighed. "Besides, movies are never as scary the second time. You'll be fine!"
Matt squirmed in disapproval at the comment, not quite believing him, but his reluctance was draining away as the blonde settled down beside him, the close contact causing a blush. Mello was pretending not to notice the contact, a grin on his face, but he was fighting to stay casual himself.
"Well," Matt tried again, voice reluctant, "Won't you get scared?"
Mello paused before giving Matt a disbelieving look, cocking an eyebrow at him. After a second of causing Matt to blush under the gaze, he flashed a dangerous smirk. "I'm not afraid of anything," he replied brazenly, letting out a chuckle as the menu appeared on the TV screen. The look on Matt's face daring him to tease the blush even more forward, he added rather coyly, "Besides… I've got you to protect me, Matty."
That shut Matt up, and earned Mello a glimpse of a blush that matched the other boy's hair.
By the end of the film, Mello had contradicted himself, and Matt was torn between laughing, crying, and hiding under the covers again.
Mello's jaw was set in an attempt to look unaffected by the film, but his blue eyes were wide as dinner plates, trembling fingers digging half-moon notches into the place where he had gripped Matt's hand. The redhead hadn't complained at the contact, actually quite enjoying it, but feeling Mello tremble and flinch in surprise and fear at the most frightening parts only sent him into more of a fright, and he found himself cuddling closer to Mello for more reasons than just wanting to be close to him.
The movie ended leaving them both shaken, though the blonde didn't seem to want to refuse it. "That wasn't so bad," he tried, the faux-casual tone broken by the way his eyes darted around the room, checking for any sign of spooks. Matt felt the urge to laugh and hide all at once again.
"You lied to me," he accused rather than remind Mello that he had screamed like a little girl at the 'no jaw on Yoko' scene. "It was just as scary the second time!"
"That's because you're a fucking baby," Mello muttered weakly, moving to smack Matt on the shoulder but instead finding his arm gone traitor, wrapping itself uncertainly around his waist. With only a second of hesitation, Matt wrapped his arm around Mello as well, returning the squeeze. For a second, they both relaxed, only to have the old orphanage creak under their shift of weight, making Matt squeak in response.
Mello decided not to comment on the noise, for he had choked down his own yelp, instead burying his face in Matt's neck. Because of the position, he didn't notice the blush on Matt's face; too busy hiding his own in the redhead's shirt.
After a long while of just sitting there, listening to the eerie credits music, Mello spoke up again, voice creeped out. "Hey Matt?"
Matt paused uncertainly before replying, knowing the tone in Mello's voice as one that meant he had knowledge that he really didn't want to know, like the time when he came upstairs to inform him how babies were made one frightful seven-year-old day, which was almost as horrifying as when Mello told him, at age nine, what Sodomy actually was. Oh, those were the days right there.
Shaking himself out of his mini-flashback, Matt managed a reply. "What, Mells?"
Mello pulled away from Matt, worried look on his face. "I just realized… Matt, what if Wammys has a Grudge?" he whispered. Matt gave him a shocked, angry look, suspecting the blonde of just trying to scare him and preparing to smack the other boy silly when he broke into laughter. After a second of the stare-down, though, he realized Mello was being serious.
"Why the hell would Wammy's have a grudge…? That's stupid," he replied, though the confidence of his words was not matched by his voice, which was quavering and uncertain. Mello winced, blue eyes flickering.
"Yeah, but… well, I know, but if Grudge's were real," Mello rephrased carefully, tapping his lips with his finger in a thoughtful way before continuing, "well, I mean, Wammy's is a pretty good candidate if there ever was one. Beyond Birthday and A stayed in this very room, and just think of what happened to them." Matt's face paled, green eyes widening, and Mello shivered. "Exactly."
There was a long pause, both of them settling uncomfortably beside each other. Both completely certain that Grudge's couldn't be real and yet both still peeking over their shoulder at the random shadows and flinching whenever the ancheinet orphanage creaked.
After a long moment, though, it was Matt who started to laugh. Mello's eyes widened and he looked over at the redhead, looking at him with disbelief as he started to chuckle to himself. "What the fuck are you laughing at?" he demanded accusingly, blush tainting his cheeks before he could stop it. Matt stopped laughing in response, though he was still grinning.
"Nothing, it's just… we're being so silly. It's just a movie," he replied, unsure if he was trying to convince Mello or himself. The blonde chuckled humorously, shaking his head.
"You're so right. We're being ridiculous," Mello agreed cheerlessly. Both of them chuckled in a nervous fashion, trying to seem brave and unfrightened.
The laughing stopped immediately when the noise started to be heard. It was a creaky, groaning noise that was all too familiar and horrifying. Both of them froze up at the noise, waiting for it to turn and just be a bed squeaking next door or someone's weight shifting, but it only started to become louder and more pronounced; each of their eyes widened hugely, staring at each other for a long moment.
Mello was the first to scream. At the sound of the blonde's girly squeal the redhead responded with his own screech, which was more low-pitched but just as terrified, even more so when Mello sprung and threw his arms round the redhead, rolling them both across the floor so that they were tangled together on the hardwood floor, clinging in shock and fear to each other for a few moments before scrambling to sit up. Matt dove to hide his face in Mello's chest as the blonde's head whipped back and forth, eyes huge on his face.
The sound had ended a few moments before, and after the original panic was gone, they could hear the choking sounds. For a second, Mello thought they were more horrible Grudge-noises, but he was wrong. It was laughter.
Near laughter.
He saw the shadow of the albino boy poking through the doorway, just barely, and he shot upwards, hands clenched at his sides immediately, his fear forgotten and replaced by rage. Matt squeaked in surprise, not catching on, almost sobbing in response to Mello's movement. The blonde grabbed the redhead by t he hair and pulled him upwards, point to the door as he screeched his accusing shout. "OKAY, SNOWBALL, COME OUT. WE KNOW YOUR THERE, ARSE HEAD."
The giggling stopped. For a long moment, nothing happened, and secretly Mello started to fear that he was wrong, and it hadn't been Near at all, but rather some evil, giggling ghost of Beyond or something. Before he had the chance to let this fright show, though, Near poked his head in the doorway, an amused glow to his eyes but a dim fear on his blank expression.
"I could not resist. I apologize," Near spoke up again, shuffling his way in the door; there was a speaker box in his hand, which was the source of the incredibly realistic noise. Matt almost collapsed in relief, leaning his weight on Mello's as he did. Mello sighed, secretly relieved as well, glaring at the albino and blushing gin embarrassment. So I screamed for nothing. God damn him.
"Oh, gee," Mello snapped angrily, glaring at the white-haired boy, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "That's okay Near, we forgive you."
Near wasn't ever good with sarcasm, and relief flooded his eyes. "Ah, good. I can leave now, correct?"
Matt's eyes lit up with sudden mischief, fueled by the need for revenge for his poor scarred pride, and leaned forward to meet Nears eyes with a grin on his face. "Oh, I don't know, Near," he hissed in a strangely frightening, low-pitched drawl. "We might just hold a grudge."
Mello shivered inwardly at the display, not realizing Matt could be so intimidating.
Near's fright was neither outward nor noticeable, but inside he was scared, not only of the dangerous light in Matt's eyes but because of the spooky atmosphere still ruminating in the room. "Very funny, Matt. But seriously – may I leave?" It was almost unnoticeable to most, but Matt's smile flashed in cruel victory as Near's voice had risen a few notes in fright.
"Oh, I don't think you can, snowball," Mello crooned in a dark sort of sing-song voice, eyes flickering with equal mischief and danger. "Can he, Matty?"
"Nope, I don't think he can, Mello, I don't think he can," Matt chuckled a bit meanly, poking Near in the shoulder in a teasing sort of way. The albino flinched, feeling bullied a bit knowing this was only retaliation for his own behavior.
Near swallowed. "What are you planning, exactly?"
Roger was in a bad mood. Such a bad mood, such a very bad mood. So it really wasn't in his best interest to be dealing with things right now. He wanted to go into his room and sleep. Sleep for hours, uninterrupted. This should have been totally possible – it was quite a long ways past lights-out. But this was Wammys. Something was bound to happen. He expected it to.
He just didn't expect to find a child hanging from the ceiling.
Roger almost had an early heart attack right there in the hallway, tripping over himself in shock. For a second, he thought the child was dead. Of course, he wasn't, because he spoke. "Oh, hello, Roger. Good of you to make your rounds."
If the boy hadn't spoken, Roger almost wouldn't have realized it was near. He was swinging from the ceiling, the rope tied expertly around his arms and waist so that he wouldn't fall. His hair had been spray-died black and done in a certain way that reminded Roger of a movie he'd seen once, and had black eyeliner around his eyes to make the darkness of his eyes more pronounced, along with black eye shadow smudged under his eyes. His shirt was gone, which was unusual for near, and a pair of black sweats on his legs. There was also something very similar to blood all over him, which he wasn't sure what it was but it probably wasn't actually blood. At a glance, you'd thought the child was dead he was so pale (he was always pale, they didn't need makeup for that) what with the rope around him and such.
Near sighed. "Please do not be alarmed," he requested helplessly, remembering the countless children who had screamed in fright and fled at the sight of him, squealing in the other direction about suicide, the ghost of B, the ghost of A, the Grudge had come out of the television, someone committed suicide, and other countless stories.
Roger took a second to regain his composure before sitting up again, scowling in shock and disbelief. "What happened, Near?" he demanded, exasperated. Near sighed, shrugging his shoulders best he could, the rope swinging him from side to side, causing him to hit eerily against the wall in response before he replied, just the tiniest bit of amusement in his voice to mingle with the blunt irritation.
"The boy's held a grudge."
A/N: This wasn't funny. T_T However, that movie was freakin scary. And that child, however disturbing, reminded me of Near. And I haven't been able to sleep because I think every noise in my house is the grudge here to kill me, and I can't stand to glance out the window cuz its dark and spooky and I keep expecting to see the grudge woman in my reflection and…. I'm not sleeping tonight. 8'D SO YOU GET THIS POINTLESS CRACK! HURRAY! This was mostly intended to make me get over my fear of the movie, but I made the grave mistake of looking up The Grudge on Google images to look for what clothes the kid wears, and… yeah. ;_;