A.N.

Up all night listening to the LOTR soundtrack. Time for a chapter I think

Disclaimer and such.

Matt

Our room was an absolute state come morning, as was Mello. His entire back was a mixture of angry red belt marks and finger nail scratches. I felt a little guilty at seeing the mess, but I brushed it aside. After all he had wanted it and he never once told me to stop. Still, that was going to hurt like a bitch.

I climbed out of the bed, tugging on some discarded jeans from the floor and walked downstairs. Mello could take care of the sheets. Even if I did them I would've 'done it wrong' so there was no point in even trying. Yet he still bitched me out for not doing anything around the house, his logic astounded me.

I flicked the kettle on, watching the steam rise in gentle swirls from the spout. It was a comfort knowing that even things as mundane as this weren't being observed. It's an awful feeling, constantly being watched. I still got it sometimes when it was completely dark and I was walking up the stairs. I could almost feel a glare on my back and the usual sinking feeling in my stomach returned. The sinking feeling I didn't even know I had until I left the compound. I poured the boiling water into a mug and stirred in some coffee and sugar, taking a sip. It felt warm and comforting, I let myself relax against the counter. No Beyond to get under Mello's skin today thank God.

But that didn't mean I wasn't worried about him. He had helped us after all. He was in the same amount of danger, more so now he was moving around and exposed. Light was always a tricky one to shake, he was like a bloodhound, one whiff of you and he would always pinpoint your location, usually with a manic pearly smile and perfectly tousled hair. It was unnatural he was unnatural, constantly surround by the cold air that you feel when you sense something unholy in your presence. It never failed to unnerve me.

The people in the compound called him Nybbas. The smiling demon. That chilled Mello to the bone. Religion was outlawed there but these things have a way of worming themselves into any place. You can't stop it after all, even without the notion of God the people there would have still put faith in a higher being. That's all you can hold onto in a place like that.

Mello was allowed to hang onto his rosary simply because in one way or another, L respected him. Not much, but just enough to allow him the small comfort that he forbade from everyone else. His reasoning was that religion slowed down the progress of humanity. And perhaps it did. L had made great leaps in the scientific fields, even finding a permanent solution to throat and lung cancer without fear of religion stopping him from carrying out stem cell research and other controversial methods of testing. But he wasn't human any more.

It's not like I can talk. I'm not religious by a long shot. The idea of a smiling father type creature looking over us with pride is, in my head, the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my whole life. And I've read Twilight. But the ethic and moral lifestyle religion instils in everyone…it made me respect it.

…I just hoped a God friendly world would be far more kind to the delusional B then ours was.

Mello had started probing around B's room about five seconds after he woke up. Probably trying to see if B had left any chocolate behind that he could snaffle up without me scarfing it down myself. I'm not really a sweet tooth, but if Mello wants it…I'll eat it. Anyone else he would probably shoot, me he just punches, which I completely deserve so it doesn't matter.

Mello returned empty handed, save for some lint ten minutes later. "He took everything."

"…Of course he would, why would he leave stuff here?"

"No, I mean he took everything down to the wardrobe and bed."

I paused for a moment before breaking into laughter. It felt good to be free.