and falling

[remem_b_er]

*Suddenly, where there wasn't one a moment ago, a man is standing. A B, specifically, though dressed in an off-green prisoner's uniform, with dirt under his fingernails, and with a certain gauntness to his face. He takes in his surroundings with a lazy expression, then frowns like something has occured to him

Comments

[tickle_me_el]

[Elle is on his way to the kitchen when he sees the man. For a moment, he thinks it's one of his alternates, but no: a brief perusal of the face says otherwise. Elle almost takes a step forward - B was a friend, in his world, after all - but he's been warned about the Bs in the Mansion and caution is generally better. When he speaks, his words are level.]

Hello. Did you just arrive?

[remem_b_er]

Yes.

*Pressing his thumb to his bottom lip.*

[tickle_me_el]

[The gesture seems oddly familiar to Elle, but his B never did that, and - being a little less self-aware than some of his counterparts - it takes a moment for it to sink in.]

Ah. Can I correctly assume your name is B?

[remem_b_er]

Do you accomodate preference, L?

[tickle_me_el]

Elle, actually.

Is there something else you'd prefer to be called?

[remem_b_er]

Beyond.

[tickle_me_el]

Beyond, then. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[The curious stare he has fixed on B - no, Beyond - is a mild attempt at distinguishing some sort of pattern of behaviour. That was what he was questioning - were the Bs at the Mansion really that different from the one in his world? He prods slightly:]

I'm guessing you knew an 'L' in your world?

[remem_b_er]

Of course. There would be no B if there were no L, Elle.

*Almost without inflection.*

[tickle_me_el]

[There is a slight - slight - blanche.]

Isn't standing alone a necessary requirement for any potential successor in the event of L falling?

[remem_b_er]

Of course, but B would not have been twisted into your image, trained to try to think like L does. *A vacant smile.*

[tickle_me_el]

I'm not L. [A pause.] I am hoping that Beyond doesn't think like the 'L' of my world.

[remem_b_er]

I don't understand.

[tickle_me_el]

If your world is like the majority of what I've seen here, I suppose you don't.

[Sighing a little.] I grew up at the orphanage with you and... A. [His eyes flicker to Beyond's face, again, trying to tempt a reaction out of him.] We were competing for L's position - that is to say, the L I knew.

Are you familiar with a 'Light'?

[remem_b_er]

No, I don't know them.

*Nothing. Blank. As good as dead.*

[tickle_me_el]

In the world I come from, Light holds the position of 'L'. Here, I've - heard that he's under suspicion of being Kira.

[Elle feels a flicker of uneasiness.]

[remem_b_er]

Oh, Kira.