(Untitled)

[to_a_dark_place]

Who: THE ONGOING SAGA OF LIGHT AND MELLO, pt. 4
What: Mauling. And, yes, "... mauling" ;D
When: December 30th, afternoon-ish?
Where: Light's house.
Warnings/Rating: Mauling. "Mauling". Come on, you get the picture. Probably, um... PG-15, R? ::shrug::

Comments

[to_a_dark_place]

"Sex isn't exactly rocket science, and if I put my mind to it I wouldn't be half bad at that," Light pointed out. "I don't do awkward, blushing virgin, I'm afraid." He let his leg fall back onto the bed, then repeated the same process with the other one -- on this side, he was slightly more flexible, touching knee to nose, shin to forehead. Then he exhaled heavily and let that leg sink back onto the duvet as well.

One trait Light had cultivated over the years was that of being able to, as it were, select his emotions -- in certain situations, at least. Oh, he entertained the possibility of awkwardness, uncertainty, embarrassment, aware of their closeness, knowing that those would probably be normal reactions for many people -- but not for him. He entertained them, and then he dismissed them; he wasn't that sort of a person, he was Light Yagami. He was confident, in control.

It wasn't even an act, it wasn't even positive thinking or self-cheerleading so much as it was just him, shaping his own nature as he went along.

At Mello's next words, Light made a soft "heh" noise, closing his eyes. "I know," he said. "Well. If I see you on an equal level... I don't believe in cutting you any slack -- general you, this is -- or making myself more palatable. I'll be all nice and polite and helpful with people on a general basis, but that's just... that's how I deal with people, not how I really engage with them, I guess. Except for my family. I save the softness for them." If he hadn't been lying down and in an awkward position to do so, Light quite obviously would have shrugged.

Mello's own inexplicably quieted, even softened state of mind didn't escape Light. He looked over at the other boy, meeting his gaze. "What were you thinking," he began slowly, "back when you dragged me to that rave? I mean... why? What made you bother?" The questions weren't plaintive; they were spoken in a perfectly level tone, just speaking of genuine, somewhat detached curiousity.

TL;DR TIEM

[insinge]

"Yeah, I got that much," he replied easily, voice on the cusp of thoughtful and amused, a significant contrast from the usual sarcastic tone he generally used. "I'm not a big fan of the whole awkward and blushing virgin thing, anyway. No big loss." Lending himself over to the calm in his body, the adrenaline of before clearing his mind and filtering his often chaotic thoughts, Mello eyes lowered to the wrinkled duvet, almost-but-not-quite closing. Opting to, surprisingly, simply listen.

Contrary to popular belief, Mello hadn't been with that many people like he was with Light now. Although he was definitely experienced in this kind of extracurricular activity, there were only a choice few he would actually bother sticking around after it had all been said and done. Not that Light was special, in this instance, and not that Mello was too tired to get up and leave if he so desired - but it was something else. Nothing too significant; he was mostly curious.

Turning over onto his back with a slow exhalation, Mello tucked one arm beneath his head, propping himself up enough to maintain Light's gaze from this vantage point. "Polar opposites," he said mildly, not quite cluing Light in to what he meant in this case. "Well, for the most part. So you're saying you've got two sides to you - like a coin? - and you use that whole reserved side for people you don't know or people who you don't care about knowing, and for the rest, namely those who're worth your time and your family, you... Wait, that's not right. Three sides, then. 'Cause I can damn well bet you don't show me the same "softness" as you do your family."

The smirk was back, a spark of mockery in his eyes, livening his previously open expression. "Not that I care, really. I'm not the sort of person who'd warrant or even want softness from much of anyone in the first place. Although I have to admit: I wonder what that side of you is like."

Picking back on that thread of thought, Mello went on. "I'm not going to go and even attempt to understand you, and I'm sure you prefer it that way." His eyes flickered to stare straight up, at the ceiling. "I've only got two modes: either I give a shit about you or I don't. Then again, even that's subject to question. I guess it's different with everyone. I don't bother with reserve, though. That much I can say for sure."

Glancing sidelong at Light once more, he arched a brow. "The rave?" What had he been thinking? "Look at it this way. Like I said, either I give a shit or I don't, and you stuck out enough for me to give a shit about seeing how'd you react to something like a rave. Call it curiosity." Then, the teasing tone bleeding back into his words, "Oh. And I also had a free pass for two that night, and Matt wasn't available."

YAY TEAL DEER ::herds moar::

[to_a_dark_place]

"Don't think about it in terms of sides," said Light. "Nobody is really fragmented like that -- dissociative identity disorder excepted, and I certainly don't have that. It's just... behaviour, attitude, manner, whatever you want to call it. It's not even so much about me showing people three different sides, it's me seeing people in different ways. Not everybody's the same. You certainly don't treat your whole acquaintanceship as a homogenous group; neither do I."

Then he paused. "Or maybe you are right, and it is sides -- well, more like walls. But everybody builds those."

At Mello's explanation of the rave, Light was silent for a while. "I see," he said finally. "You know, it's... I was so annoyed at you, and so displeased with where I was, what I was doing -- but I was still having fun. I never told you that, did I? Weird thing. I guess because it wasn't a waste of my time, and it was actually interesting -- well, relatively speaking. After all, I'm a person who spends most of his time being 'taught' things he, generally, already knows inside out." He closed his eyes, and for one fleeting moment, an almost sorrowful expression crossed his face. "It gets pretty dull," he said quietly. "Then I met up with you -- I expected you to just be stupid, shallow, full of yourself with absolutely no merit. The world's full of people like that. But you weren't. That was nice. Entertaining, to find someone who isn't easily dismissed."

[insinge]

"That's quite a confession," Mello replied easily. He wasn't necessarily tired, but laying here didn't help the instinctive urge to curl up and sleep for a while. "Can't say I thought differently about you from the start, sans maybe the stupid part. It was already obvious you weren't stupid, but I kinda had my doubts, you know? I expected you to be an asshole -- well, I was exactly proven wrong in that regard, but not quite in the sense where I can't somehow enjoy your assholish self from time to time. I also expected you to be a spoiled, narrow-minded snob, but that's obviously not the case." His gaze sharpened, turning back toward Light. "Sometimes people can surprise you."

Turning this time onto his stomach and pillowing his naked arms under his chin, Mello picked up from there, "I hate being dismissed, if you haven't noticed by now. So don't ever try it." Eyes flicking briefly to the other boy's cheek, his look inclinatory, Mello added, "Maybe you should put some ice on that later." Reaching with one hand untucked from beneath his chin, Mello gingerly pressed a pair of fingertips against the possibly bruising skin of Light's face.

He didn't hide the smirk this triggered. "Are you going to kick me out anytime soon? Don't know when your family's coming back, but if you let me stay too long I might want to cuddle. Or fall asleep. Depending."

[to_a_dark_place]

"Mm," said Light. "You really are such a flatterer," he teased; then his expression grew serious. "But yeah," he said. "It's... easy to make assumptions about what people are going to be like, what they should be like. But things aren't often what they should be like. Neither are people..." He trailed off, sighed.

Light laughed softly at Mello's next declaration. "I had noticed," he said with wry amusement. Resisting the urge to jerk away as the other boy reached out and touched his fingers to the developing bruise on Light's cheek, he stayed still again, just blinking briefly out of reflex. "Don't worry your pretty little violent head about it," Light said, voice dripping sarcasm, "I will."

Then he got to his feet, even as Mello spoke again, a question this time. "I'd tell you to stick around until Sayu got back," he said, starting to pull on his discarded clothes, "except she's over at a friend's house for a sleepover today. I really should introduce you two sometime, though. You'd have a blast together." He looked over at his shoulder at Mello, look still wry. "Also, the thought of you cuddling with anybody is frightening, let alone with me. So yes, consider this to be me kicking you out."

Pulling on his shirt, Light started to do up the buttons as he headed over to the window on the far side of the room. Throwing it open, to be met with a cold blast of air from outside, he turned away, finishing the last two buttons. "By the way," he said as he padded, still barefoot, over to the door, "I'm sure you can guess that I have private things and public things. This?" He looked back at Mello. "Was very private. I won't ask you to lie to Matt--" he opened the door to his room-- "but apart from that, I'd appreciate your discretion."

[insinge]

"I try," he said shortly in response. "And you're definitely not what you should be like. Not that I'm complaining, of course." Matching Light's laugh with a faint grin of his own, he remained stubbornly unmoving on the bed, turning his head so as to follow Light's movement with his eyes. "Good to hear. Wouldn't want anyone calling you out on it if it gets too noticeable." He arched a brow at the sarcasm, rolling again to stretch out across the part of the bed Light had vacated moments before, listening. The duvet was warmed from Light's body heat still, and it made drowse sharpen.

When Light finished, he slid one of his legs out straight in a half-assed attempt at a stretch, hooking one arm around one of the pillows beneath his head and burying his face against it. "Hey, I'm not scary. Cuddling's a bad word for it, anyway. It'd be more like fondling." Breathing steadily, he let his eyes close. Light's bed smelled of clean soap and, after what had happened on this same surface, something like musk. Not a bad smell. He opened one eye to spot Light moving toward the window, then shivering when the cold burst of air washed over him. Damn. "Oh yeah, your sister. Seriously, one of these days I'm going to show up unannounced again just to meet her."

And take her places.

Like a rave.

He mostly wanted to see if he got one of those talking-to sort of things fathers did to their daughters' dates when they came over to pick them up. It was on Mello's to-accomplish list. For now, he could at least cross off a different activity he'd achieved.

Heaving a sigh and feeling his body start to ache from the cold winter air coming through the window, Mello finally gave in, rolling to the edge of the bed and swiping his toes across the ground in a meager attempt to grab his clothes with his foot. Failing that, Mello scowled lightly, bending to pull his boxers and pants on, then lifted his shirt from the ground, shaking the wrinkles out as if he actually cared they were there in the first place. "Matt? I doubt he'd give a shit, even if I did tell him. You know him." Laughing softly, Mello stood from the bed, padding after Light. "Either way, sure, I can do that. But are you really gonna kick me out so suddenly? That's not very nice, for a host." Then he paused, eyeing the other senior closely. "How about a drink? I'm not looking forward to going right back out into the cold just yet, to be honest."

[to_a_dark_place]

Looking back at Mello as he finally got up and dressed himself, Light sighed and opened the door, heading out. "I've given you more hospitality than I've given anybody before in my entire seventeen years of existence, but fine. Since I'm feeling generous--" he smirked, stretching his hands above his head as he headed across the landing-- "you can have a drink. What do you want?"

He went down the stairs, into the kitchen, pulling open the freezer and pulling out an icepack, which he put against his bruise. Then he propped his elbows against the island counter and said, "Glasses are in that cabinet over there," pointing at it briefly.

[insinge]

Not so far behind, Mello actually laughed. "Oh, really. I'm flattered, then." It wasn't a lie, either, but he wasn't about to go flaunting the fact he'd gotten farther with Light than most were probably capable of. He took it calmly, following the other senior into the kitchen.

"What do you have?" was the customary reply as Mello stepped toward the fridge, pulling it open and peering inside to get a look-see himself. "Nothing exciting at all, not that I expected like, you know, tequilas or something. Sort of a let down. Oh well." Brushing it off, Mello reached in to pull out the milk, twisting the cap off at the same time as he shut the fridge door, heading toward the cabinet Light pointed out.

[to_a_dark_place]

"The only alcohol we have in the house is wine, sometimes champagne," said Light. "Sorry to disappoint. What do you usually drink, anyway? Somehow, I can't imagine it being either alcohol or juice."

Then, before he could say anything else, the doorbell rang, and from the foyer came the sound of someone fitting a key into the front door's lock. Light put the ice pack down immediately and headed out of the kitchen, reaching the door just as it swung open to reveal his mother standing there, holding three bags. She smiled brightly as she saw him. "Hello, Light--" Then she broke off and the smile slipped away, her eyes widening, and she continued in Japanese: "What happened to you? Are you all right?"

Light responded hurriedly, also sliding into his family's 'home language': "I'm fine! It's no big deal, I just slipped -- you cleaned the floors yesterday, so they're still slippery -- and I broke the fall but knocked my cheek against the edge of a chair..." He rubbed the side of his head, expression and tone both sheepish.

"Have you put some ice on it?" asked Sachiko, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her, gaze still worried.

"Yes; it's fine, really." Then, in English, Light added, "I've got a friend over, by the way."

"Oh?" said Sachiko, taking off her shoes and raising her eyebrows. She followed Light back into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the counter and looking curiously at Mello.

"This is Mihael Keehl," said Light, "but don't call him that. He goes by Mello. Mello, this is my mother." He went over and put the icepack to his cheek again. "Mello decided to stop by unexpectedly."

[insinge]

"Water, actually. Or milk. It doesn't really matter. I'm not picky with drinks. Whatever keeps me alive." He tipped the jug of milk over the rim of the glass, waiting just long enough to fill it about half-way before righting it and putting the top back on, opening the fridge to place it inside.

Staying quiet and raising the glass of milk to his lips as he watched Light disappear to meet whoever was the door, Mello took a sip, swallowing, keeping the rim against his lower lip as he listened. Arching a brow when English switched to Japanese and became mostly unrecognizable to him, he waited for this new arrival to be introduced to him. It was a woman, obviously, he could tell by the tone of voice, and since Light had already said that Sayu was out at a sleepover, the next best guess was Light's mother.

So he'd get to meet some of the family, after all.

Setting the glass back on the counter, all pretenses of the Mello Light knew on a daily basis evaporated when Sachiko stepped into the kitchen. "Nice to meet you," he spoke up with an apparently very genuine smile, edging his way around the counter to offer his hand in greeting. "Sorry, I didn't mean to impose. I should be going soon. Just thought I'd stop in on Light; the break was long, and we didn't get to talk much except for over the computer."

Then he added, as an afterthought, "You don't have to call me Mello, by the way. Mihael works."

Reaching for the glass of milk once more, Mello downed about half of what remained, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. "I'd better get going, anyway. Don't want to stay out too late." Not that he had anyone expecting him or anything, but staying out too late meant it got darker, which also meant it got colder, and it was pretty frustrating driving in the dark and the cold. He'd be a block of ice before he ever made it back to the apartment.

"See you at school, Light?" Mello asked, canting the other senior a silently amused glance.