Matt kicked the bathroom door closed behind him, his hands currently occupied as they held up his injured friend. Until a few minutes ago, he'd been encased in a comfortable post-sex induced slumber. But now… now he had to help Mello take a shower. With a soft sigh he helped Mello sit down on the edge of the bathtub, both of them clad in only boxers.

"I can do it by myself now Matt. I'll hold myself up." Mello assured, waving his hand to Matt casually, waiting for him to leave. He wanted to do something on his own. He wasn't useless.

Matt cocked a brow, his expression otherwise unchanging. "Yeah, and what about when your leg gets tired because you've been standing on it for so long? Then you'll fall." He paused for a moment. "I think you should just take a bath."

The blonde rolled his eyes and looked away from his friend, staying silent for a moment. "Baths are so gay…" he said quietly.

The gamer furrowed his brow and stared at his friend. "So is fucking another guy, you know."

Mello frowned and flicked his eyes to meet Matt's. "Whatever Matt, I'll take a fucking bath. Now go away." He waved his hand at the red head again, refusing to move from his spot until he left.

Matt rubbed his face a bit with one of his hands and then walked to the bathroom door. He paused and then turned to look at the blonde. "Hey Mello." When Mello gave him a look he winked at him, leaving the room afterwards.

With a look of confusion, Mello shook his head and turned his attention to the bath. What the fuck was that supposed to even mean. You're so weird. He turned on the hot water first, turning the knob until it couldn't turn any longer before he turned on just enough cold water so that he wouldn't be burned. Once he'd achieved the desired temperature he stripped himself of his boxers, laying down one of the nearby towels along the floor in front of the bathtub afterwards. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he knew Matt was right. After so long of standing on one leg, his muscles would start to ache and he'd probably lose his balance. That meant… he'd have to take a bath.

In the living room, Matt was currently returning all of the couch cushions to their appropriate places on the couch. He knew that Mello just wants to prove that he wasn't useless and that he could still be independent even though he was momentarily handicapped. Though in all honesty, he didn't care that Mello wanted to shower by himself. He was happy, even. He didn't want to stand in the hot bathroom and hold Mello's hand while he showered… he wanted to play his Xbox and now was the perfect time. He'd just have to pay attention enough incase Mello yelled for him…

Back in the bathroom, Mello was slowly easing himself down into the bath, small hisses of relaxation escaping his lips as the hot water washed over his nude skin. Baths were comfortable, he'd admit that much. "Mh…" he sighed out slowly as he finally lay his body down into the tub, the water peacefully lapping at his chin. He froze, though, when a thought suddenly occurred to him. Should I have unwrapped my bandage? He paused for a moment before withdrawing his wounded leg from the depths of the tub, laying it carefully along the edge. Well fuck… I think I ruined the bandages… maybe I should just take them off? He thought for a few minutes as he stared at his leg, trying to decide which would be the best answer. When he couldn't decide, he took a deep breath and yelled out for his friend.

"Matt!"

He waited, nothing happened.

"…Matt!" he called out again, letting out an annoyed grunt when he was obviously ignored. Fuck Matt and his fucking Xbox. When I can walk again, I'm going to curb-stomp that piece of shit. He thought as he sat up straight, water trailing down his body in smooth droplets as he angrily unwrapped his wound. Once finished, he threw the slightly bloodied cloth to the ground and shoved his leg back into the water, having to bite onto his lower lip to hold back a cry of pain as the hot water sloshed into his wound. He fell back into the water and kept his teeth against his lip as he forced his leg to stay beneath the water until he adjusted. Oh my fucking God… hot water… fuck you. He relaxed after a few agonizing minutes, releasing his lip from between his teeth and sighing out slowly. Now he could have a calm bath to clean himself up and spend time away from the idiotic red head.

Cleaning himself up… one of the reasons he wanted to bathe alone. He glanced around the bathroom for a razor, his eyes widening slightly when their gaze landed on the razor on the countertop that Matt had used a couple days ago. Looks like that one will have to suffice. With a grunt he carefully heaved himself out of the bathtub, balancing on one leg while he leaned over to the counter and dripped water all over the floor. Almost, almost—there. He picked up the razor and quickly got himself back into the tub, slightly less gracefully than before, and relaxed down into the water. Then, he gazed down at the short, dirty-blonde pubic hair that was growing in again along the lowest part of his stomach; it taunting and mocking him for being unable to remove the hair for good. Unlike Matt, Mello was conscious about the fact that pubic hair was gross and because of the clothing he wore, his lower stomach was often exposed. Therefore, he was doing the world a favor by shaving off the unnecessary patch of hair that oh so stubbornly refused to stop growing. The only reason he didn't want the red head to see him doing it was because it was awkward. Matt had seen him in the nude on multiple occasions, obviously, and he knew that the blonde was bare. Mello, on the other hand, knew that his friend was not. Laziness is a terrible thing.

Mello found the bar of soap on one of the corners of the tub, pushing his hips upwards out of the water to lather up the hell-sent stubbles. Afterwards, he smoothly ran the razor along the area. He could do this quick, wash his hair, and then—fuck. A soft gasp sounded through the otherwise quiet room and Mello rubbed his thumb over the small cut that bled onto his skin. Fucking dull razors.

Within a few minutes he finished with the razor and set it aside, his next action being to wash his hair. He hadn't bathed since before he was shot and he felt a little too dirty for his liking. Not to mention the fact that because he was taking a bath, he was sitting in his own filth.

While Mello bathed and shaved, Matt sat hunched over on the couch with his fingers dancing over console buttons and his used-up cigarette dangling from his mouth. As his game merged into a short cinematic, which Matt had seen countless times, he took the time to remove the cigarette from his mouth and rub it out in an ashtray next to the ones that came before it. While the cinematic rolled on, his mind wandered. He stared at the ashtray as a new fantasy wafted into his mind.

Shotguns…

Not with marijuana though, of course. He'd only tried smoking that once, years ago, and his will to continue it ended quickly when the blonde had walked in on him and immediately beat him for even thinking about doing such things. No, he wouldn't use pot smoke for this shotgun. Though… then it didn't really have a point. …Oh well, he wanted to do it anyways. It seemed sexy.

"Matt!"

The red head jumped when Mello's strong voice rang out through the apartment. He paused his game and rose to his feet, jogging towards the cracked bathroom door and tapping it before he entered. "Yeah?" He poked his head into the room and gazed at Mello in the bath. "Are you done?"

Mello nodded and sat up slowly, his hair wet and clinging to the sides of his face. "Yeah." He inhaled deeply and then slowly pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the tub, sliding his legs around the side and letting them rest softly on the floor. "Can you hand me a towel?"

Matt nodded and fetched one for him, tossing it over and then running a hand through his own hair slowly. "I'll go get some clothes for you."

Catching the towel, Mello nodded and began drying himself off. An unusual urge to kiss his friend washed over him and he quickly pushed it aside, rubbing the soft towel through his hair. He watched Matt leave the room and noticed a slight limp in his step, a slow smirk spreading across his face. He glanced down at his lap and then looked back towards the open door, continuing to dry his skin. That sex was pretty good…

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Roughly four hours later—

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Matt shifted slightly in the armchair, watching two people talking on TV. He'd only stopped playing his game about a half an hour ago and at some point between the bath and now, Mello had fallen asleep on the couch with a soft blanket and new bandages. He didn't blame him, though. It wasn't like there was much for him to do when he couldn't walk. Regardless of Mello's condition, though, Matt was currently more interested in the show he was watching. It was one of those dumb dating shows where a person was paired up with multiple people to decide which they liked more. Honestly, Matt thought it was pointless but this one… this was some weird gay edition; which was the only reason he'd stopped to watch it. He'd never seen a gay one before and so far, it seemed funnier than the usual cocky guy and slutty girl. Besides, the dark-haired one was cute.

Matt propped his feet up on the coffee table and continued to watch. The dark-haired one was now taking the overly gay one to their date, which was 'making ice cream sundaes'. How unrealistic. Though, he couldn't stop himself from watching. The one with the dark hair… his earrings… Matt wanted them. Matt wanted earrings. No, he wanted gauges. They just looked so fucking cool. Mello probably wouldn't like them, though. Whatever. They're my ears anyways. He thought as he popped a new cigarette into his mouth and lit it, watching as the two boys began to kiss on the show. Wow, someone's a camera whore. Or just a whore. He blew out a few puffs of smoke and thought more about the gauges. How would he even stretch piercings like that? Whatever, he'd look it up on his computer later. He glanced over at the sleeping blonde and blew a bit of his cigarette smoke towards him, gently twirling the end of the cigarette between his fingers. He watched Mello sleep for a few minutes before finally deciding that he should get food for them. He was getting hungry and lately they haven't been eating much. Though, he blamed that on their new found love for cuddling.

Before he allowed himself to think more on the subject, though, he forced himself to stand and put out his cigarette. He moved the remote so that it was within arm's reach of Mello and then made his way to the bedroom, changing into casual clothing, and then grabbing his keys to leave. He was half-tempted to take Mello's motorcycle but decided against it. If Mello were to ever find out that he did that… No, he didn't even want to think about that. So to avoid that, he would innocently drive his car into town, pick up some food for the both of them and then come home.

Easy, he thought.

It wasn't going to be that easy tonight, though.

Hours later, Matt returned home with the bags of food along with another bag that contained a piercing gun, a pair of jeans and a Tshirt, a box of chocolate bars, two packs of cigarettes and another bag that held supplies for the new pet fish that he'd bought. Yes, Mello was going to be pissed. Maybe he wouldn't notice…? The red head looked at the fluorescent fish that was swimming around in the bag. No, he would definitely notice. He glanced towards the couch and thought for a moment, just holding all of the things he'd bought. He wasn't sure what had compelled him to actually buy these things but… well, it was too late now. Hopefully the chocolate would ease Mello's anger a little bit.

Matt quietly tip-toed through the living room towards the bedroom, closing the door behind him once he'd made it in. Now, time to set up fishie's new home… Though, he wasn't quite sure how to do that… but it shouldn't be too hard. He set the bag down very gently on the desk, propping it up against wall slightly so the fish could still move. I hope Mello likes him at least… so he won't throw him out the window. With a soft sigh, Matt pulled out the small tank and set it up, pouring in the rocks for the bottom before carrying it quietly to the bathroom. He smiled stupidly as he set it in the sink and began to fill it, watching the rocks fly around lazily in the water as the current hit them. When it was finished he shut the water off and carried it back into the bedroom, an excited expression painted on his face as he put in the little castle and hooked up the filter. Now… time to introduce his new friend to his home. He'd read once that you were supposed to put the bag in the water to let the fish adjust… but… he was impatient. So, against his better judgment, he simply poured the fish into the water and waited to see if it would convulse and die. When it didn't, he grinned even more. Please like this fish Mello.

After he fed the new addition to the family and watched it swim around for a while, Matt forced himself away from the tank and walked back to the bags that he'd discarded on the bed, fishing through them for the chocolate. Once he'd found it he carried it, along with the food, out into the living room again. That way Mello could have it right when he woke up and it'd be a nice surprise before he told him about the fish. Maybe he would be less mad then. He hoped so.

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This chapter… is so random, lol. But I guess it gives a lot of sights for future activities? Yeah? xD I love all of you and your reviews!