Chapter eleven:
"Mello?" Near says a little softly as he looks around for the blonde not finding him anywhere.
Mello doesn't respond.
Near gets to his feet and begins walking towards the cave entrance looking for the blonde. "Mello?" He tries again as he slowly spins turning every few steps to look around himself then when he's facing the cave entrance again he's almost at it. He walks to it and pauses a moment to glance around outside but still no sign of the blonde. He steps outside and looks around only to find Mello leaning against the wall just outside of the cave that makes the caves front wall around the entrance. "Mello?" His head is turned to Mello but his body is only a small bit turned to Mello.
Mello blinks as he had been looking either at the top of the trees or to the sky then he turns to Near meeting the younger's gaze. "Ah good morning Near." He says and raises his almost finished chocolate bar, Near just noticed Mello has, to his mouth taking a bit out of it breaking the last bit in half.
Near turns his body so now he's fully facing Mello. "Are you tired?" He asks. "You know I can take over and let you sleep."
Mello, holding the piece of chocolate between his teeth, turns to Near looking at him with a slight protesting look. He eats the piece of chocolate before answering. "No Near. You're hurt. You need all the rest you can get."
"Mello I'm much stronger than I look." Near says. "I'll be fine."
Mello doesn't let Near speak another word. "I don't care how strong you are. You're hurt and that's that." He says then finishes eating his chocolate. "Don't fret over silly things. I'll get my rest later."
Near frowns at that as he twirls his hair. "Mello needs rest to function properly. He really should-"
Mello puts an hand over Nears mouth making the other pause. "Enough." He says sternly. "Don't worry about it. The end. Nothing else." He says staring into Nears eyes. "Ok?"
Near knows that there's no talking Mello out of it so he nods.
Mello lets go of Near. "Good." He says.
Neither had noticed but Matt is awake in the cave and is sitting there watching them with a smile on his face.
Mello turns back to lean against the outside wall since he moved to cover Nears mouth and he looks straight ahead.
Near slightly links his hands behind his back and turns to the same direction Mello is facing.
"It's too peaceful." Mello states after a few moments of silence.
"Maybe they're taking a break." Near offers as an explanation.
"Maybe." Mello glances down slightly as he says the word slightly hushed in tone.
There's a few seconds of silence now.
Mello turns to look to Near and his eyes flicker down to Nears shirt that still is bloody. He clenches his teeth and pushes away from the wall. "Near." He says and Near can't identify the emotion in his voice.
But what Near does know is that there is seriousness mixed in there.
"Yes Mello?" Near tilts his head as he turns to the other.
Mello walks over to Near then stops when in front of the younger.
Near is watching Mello but Mello's eyes are not looking into Nears own.
There's a moment of them standing there standing so close.
Then Mello starts to reach towards Near only to grip Nears shirt.
Near's eyes flicker down to where Mello's hands are for a second only to look back to Mello's face.
Unexpectedly Mello rips Near's shirt off making Near squeak in surprise.
Mello looks much more content now.
Matt raises an eyebrow at the two and smirks.
Near looks wide eyed into Mello's eyes that now look at his own. "M-Mello?" He blushes softly as he feels a little self-conscious and Mello's gaze watching him isn't helping.
Mello smiles. "There. I just hate to see you in that bloody shirt."
Near glances down not used to being shirtless in front of others.
Mello notices this and suddenly takes off his own shirt tossing it so it rests on his bag that is inside the cave but by the entrance. "There." He says and Near looks up to Mello only to see the blonde is also shirtless. "There's no need to be embarrassed. We are all guys."
Matt stands taking off his shirt and vest then tosses it behind himself as he jogs out of the cave. "Mind if I join the party?" He asks with his goofy grin brightened on his face.
Mello smiles and punches the red heads shoulder. "Definitely."
Near smiles softly and twirls a strand of his hair as he finds he feels better now feeling less self-conscious. "Mello and Matt are kind." He says with a hint of gratitude in his voice.
The three share a smile and Matt pats the back of Nears shoulder that closest to him.
Before anyone can say anything a nearby bush starts to rustle making them freeze.
They slightly slowly turn to look to the bush.
Mello pushes Near to slightly behind him on instinct and Matt takes a step back as he starts to cower a little.
The rustling gets louder as whoever or whatever it is gets closer.
The three of them tense ready to fight or run.
Then who jumps out of the bush is a human.
The three have never seen this person before, obviously as none of them say they know the person not even saying a name or anything.
The person is a male who's tall enough that Matt's head would be pretty much at his shoulders indicating that the new comer may be older. He has black that goes to the bottom of his ears and his bangs only cover the top part of his eyes just barely. His eyes are a grassy green color and his skin is just the right amount of pale. He is wearing an unzipped blue hoodie that is between navy blue and sky blue, a grey t-shirt, black runners and jeans. He looks to the three and takes a step back as he tries to figure out if the three are friend or foe.
"Who are you?" Mello demands.
"You're not with the beasts are you?" The male asks a little scared as he ignores Mello's question.
Mello growls and is about to snap at the male when suddenly Near puts a hand on the blondes shoulder. He looks to the mostly albino boy questioningly.
Near slips past Mello and moves closer to the male.
Mello gives warning glares to the male and he hovers close to Near while Matt hangs back watching.
"I can assure we are not with the beasts." Near says. "There's no need to be scared."
The male blinks and begins to relax as he lets Near's words sink in. "Thank you." He says with a smile. "Names Alloy Jagger but you can call me Allen." He introduces himself.
"Call me Near." Near responds and shifts so his side is to Allen while he glances back to Mello and Matt. "The blonde there is Mello." He nods to Mello and Allen looks.
Mello watches Allen as if waiting for the other to mess up or do something that would allow Mello to step in to take him on.
Near then gestures his head to Matt. "And the red head there is Matt."
Allen looks away from Mello and he turns to Matt as the red head gives a wave. He returns it with a smile.
Near turns back to Allen after introductions are done.
Allen blinks as he notices something. "Why are you all shirtless?" He asks.
Near glances away as the feelings of self-consciousness come back so Mello geos over to slightly beside Near.
Mello feels frustrated that his and Matt's good job on helping Near's self-consciousness is now wrecked by one simple question. "Not important for you to know." He slightly snorts. "So you've been running from the beasts. Did you lead any here?" He demands.
Allen shakes his head. "No. I wasn't followed." He assures the blonde. "I would know if I was followed."
Matt comes over seeing no danger. "Say what are you good at?" He asks.
Allen glances to Matt. "Well because of my father who used to chase me into woods to hunt me I am good at outdoor survival." He begins. "At least out in the woods. I also have been working to hopefully become a fashion designer so I'm good at that." He says obviously trying not to brag but trying to answer the question at the same time.
"That'll come into handy." Matt says with a smile.
"Well we should head back into town and make sure to stock up on enough things." Mello says slightly turning away from Allen. "So let's grab our stuff and go." He walks into the cave tucking his shirt into his backpack.
Matt goes to do the same.
Allen turns to Near. "Is he usually like that?" He asks.
"Sometimes." Near says. "He's just not the type to welcome people with open arms. He can be a little stubborn and he also did bully me for a while but give it time. He can be a really great person when he opens up to you." He then goes to grab his backpack.
Allen nods softly at Near's response as if to give an 'ok.'.
In no time the four are off heading towards town.
Mello and Matt are ahead while Near hangs back a little with Allen, though Mello is the leader with Matt a little behind him and if he was walking at the same pace as Mello the red head would be beside Mello without having to turn.
Mello can't help but keep glancing back at Allen and Near still not trusting Allen.
"So you two are now friends?" Allen asks Near.
"We are working on it. But yeah I do believe we are friends." Near responds.
Allen smiles softly. "A bully turned friend is a friend for life." He says.
Near looks to Allen and sees a glimmer of intelligence in his eyes as well as wisdom. He realizes that Allen is quite smart and obviously has great wisdom from possibly experience. He turns to look where he's going. "There's no doubt about that it's better to be friends then enemies." He says and though he may not fully trust Allen yet he feels that if they just are cold to him then they will only push him away possibly to the point of something bad happening or to the point where they never will be able to even have a chance at being close. He knows that as survivors they can't just push away other survivors as in this survivors stick together.
The rest of the walk is mostly silent and they find themselves in town.
The first place is the clothing store to change.
Allen keeps his sweater as well as shoes, though all four of them are keeping their shoes, then he puts on a slightly tinted darker version if his clothes to change into. He puts the outfit he was wearing into a backpack he also finds in the store as well as grabbing some more clothes so he has more than one pair of clothes so he has a little longer before mandatory cleaning to have a fresh pair of clothes.
Near grabs a white long sleeved button up shirt and a pair of washed out looking light blue almost white colored pants that are a little tighter then he's used to but he'll live with it.
Mello puts on a black t-shirt, black pants and a dark brown vest while keeping his shoes.
Matt finds a very similar looking outfit he had on before.
All of them like Allen make sure to grab some extra clothes.
The four of them leave and stop by two other stores.
One to make sure their food stock now includes Allen and that all of them have medical stuff in their bags just in case as well as that they'll have a lot more now.
With that they leave and walk along the streets of the town until a shadow falls over them making them stop.
They turn and there is a beast.
"RUN!" Matt wails in pure terror.
Mello and Near dash off.
Matt grabs Allen and dashes off too with Allen stumbling behind the red head.
The beast lets out a roar.
AN:
Cliff hanger.
I'm trying to not make things boring with too much repetition so I hope I'm still keeping you interested.
The kind reviews are greatly appreciated and flamers will be used to make cake!
Mello.