So Matt had found a room full of video games. It had been in the middle of the night during aimless wandering; he'd scooped up an armful, taken them back to his room, and promptly fallen asleep. Now he's trying to retrace his steps, because he doesn't have nearly enough first-person shooters. (It is impossible to have enough first-person shooters.)
The prospect of limitless pixellated goodness is distracting enough that he almost doesn't hear the uncertain voice to his side. Luckily...
"Hey." Matt has never met L; he has no idea that this guy - skinny, slouching, around his own age - is the man he'd been trained from childhood to imitate, perhaps even succeed. "What's up?"
His voice is bland as ever, but if you look at his hands, the tension in his fingers betrays a certain nervousness. Also, they're covered in butter, which might also be a hint as to what's going on here.
L's hair is, if possible, more of a mess than usual, but he seems relatively composed.
Matt is too new to Hogwarts to really know about the popcorning system. He'd noticed the plaque with the lists of names, the glass cabinets full of carefully-labeled kernels of popcorn, and concluded that he was not at fucking Wammy's any more so he didn't need to be constantly trying to solve puzzles.
He's never going to be able to stop noticing things (the butter, the tension), but after a couple of years' practice, he's getting okay at not-solving-stuff.
"This is Hogwarts," he says. "It's a magic school in the middle of the Scottish wilderness, or something. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you appeared here with no explanation or warning." He grins. "I'm Matt."
This surprises him even more. He thought something about the face seemed familiar... but that's impossible, isn't it? Matt should not be nearly this old.
Then, the words catch up to him. He 'appeared here,' (he can't argue with that,) it's a 'magic school' and he is no longer in England, he's in Scotland. It might very well be the Matt he knows after all. It may be time to go out on a limb.
1. L is dead. So were he and Mello. 2. L was (as far as Matt had been able to figure out, back when figuring-out was the second most important thing and L was the first) not as young as this. Near is three years older than he should have been. 3. L wouldn't declare himself like that... fuck, Matt has no idea what L would do. He's L. There's nothing to say he wouldn't give out this information to see how someone would react to it.
And despite all his doubts and disillusionment and disappointments, Matt can't suppress a grin. "Oh, man. Mello and Near are going to freak."
"It is you." He sounds quietly pleased. There is at least something somewhat familiar in a very unfamiliar situation. "You are much older, Matt."
Mello and Near are here too, in a magic castle in Scotland. He doubts Matt would lie about such a thing. Or if he had, would not quickly offer a better explanation.
Matt laughs, a little disbelievingly, a little delighted, a little embarrassed that he can't stop grinning. "Older, yeah - um. It's good to meet you. You're not - you look younger than I would have thought. Unless you've been taken from a different point in time than Mello and I, which would make sense."
He rummages through his pockets for his cigarettes, more to do something with his hands than out of a real desire to smoke. "We're not sure how people get here. Mello and I turned up immediately after dying. Near just sort of... showed up, but he doesn't recall how. Can I ask what year it was, before you got here?"
"It is 1999. I am younger than most people think."
Mello and Matt are dead. No doubt in his future, probably at about the age Matt appears to be now. Twenty? Far too young. Although, that's how old he is, so maybe 'far too young' has no meaning for people like them.
He gives Matt a wide eyed blink, and slips through the doorway completely, and adjusts himself into a comfortable slouch.
"1999... wow. So I'm nine." He laughs again, pulling out a cigarette and putting it between his lips, unlit. "It's not a big deal, considering I'm here now. Sucked at the time though. And... it's got to be a good conversation piece, or something."
Matt watches L, beginning to feel... what? Nervous? It makes sense that he would, though he had hoped he'd grown out of that by now.
"You are, and a very promising student." He watches Matt's expression carefully. The goggles make it more difficult to read, but he is fiddling with the cigarette.
So he says, as gently as he can really manage, which is just 'mildly less apathetic,'
Matt tends to tilt his head downwards, hiding the lower half of his face behind the collar of his vest; but his head comes up at the unexpected question.
He watches L for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Then,
"Well... I'm currently looking for a room full of video games. Or I could show you where the bar is," he grins. Getting the world's greatest detective drunk would be pretty funny.
"Either would be acceptable. I do have a few more questions, of course, but you are no doubt able to answer them while we walk."
L has never been one for alcohol, but at the moment he can very nearly see the appeal. He still doesn't really know what he's doing here, what happens now, who's in charge, how long he'll be staying, where he'll sleep if he does...
For now, though, the best course of action is to stay with Matt.
Huh. L really was pretty good at throwing people off-balance; Matt had been sure that he'd refuse the invitation to the bar. Of course, he hadn't said he was going to drink anything, but still...
He weighs up the options. It's a tricky choice; epic lulz or new games? But the bar isn't going to change location.
"Okay. The room I'm looking for was down this corridor, I think. The geography of this place gets a little confusing; some of the staircases move... Have you got any idea of where you'll sleep? The rest of us are living in Ravenclaw, but, uh..." He begins wandering down the corridor, fiddling once again with the unlit cigarette.
"Ravenclaw - it's like a proper old British boarding school here. They have four different houses... Ravenclaw's apparently for the brainy kids, so." He grins, a little lopsidedly.
He then recalls that Near and Mello are now living in Ravenclaw. Together. In the same room. Noisily. It was probably Matt's duty as a potential successor to warn L about this, but... how?
"Um," he says. "Uh. You know... Mello and Near? And I'm not sure... there's a talking Hat, that might want to know. Near's contacted Wammy's House and Watari and everything though, so you don't need to worry about that."
He's trying to get his bearings in the building, but has not seen nearly enough of it to manage, yet. He hasn't asked about the huge amounts of popcorn, either, or the uncomfortable butter now drying (does butter even dry?) doing something on his shirt.
The prospect of limitless pixellated goodness is distracting enough that he almost doesn't hear the uncertain voice to his side. Luckily...
"Hey." Matt has never met L; he has no idea that this guy - skinny, slouching, around his own age - is the man he'd been trained from childhood to imitate, perhaps even succeed. "What's up?"
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His voice is bland as ever, but if you look at his hands, the tension in his fingers betrays a certain nervousness. Also, they're covered in butter, which might also be a hint as to what's going on here.
L's hair is, if possible, more of a mess than usual, but he seems relatively composed.
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He's never going to be able to stop noticing things (the butter, the tension), but after a couple of years' practice, he's getting okay at not-solving-stuff.
"This is Hogwarts," he says. "It's a magic school in the middle of the Scottish wilderness, or something. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you appeared here with no explanation or warning." He grins. "I'm Matt."
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Then, the words catch up to him. He 'appeared here,' (he can't argue with that,) it's a 'magic school' and he is no longer in England, he's in Scotland. It might very well be the Matt he knows after all. It may be time to go out on a limb.
"I am L."
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Matt blinks.
Reasons why this is not impossible:
1. L is dead. So were he and Mello.
2. L was (as far as Matt had been able to figure out, back when figuring-out was the second most important thing and L was the first) not as young as this. Near is three years older than he should have been.
3. L wouldn't declare himself like that... fuck, Matt has no idea what L would do. He's L. There's nothing to say he wouldn't give out this information to see how someone would react to it.
And despite all his doubts and disillusionment and disappointments, Matt can't suppress a grin. "Oh, man. Mello and Near are going to freak."
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Mello and Near are here too, in a magic castle in Scotland. He doubts Matt would lie about such a thing. Or if he had, would not quickly offer a better explanation.
"How did I get here?"
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He rummages through his pockets for his cigarettes, more to do something with his hands than out of a real desire to smoke. "We're not sure how people get here. Mello and I turned up immediately after dying. Near just sort of... showed up, but he doesn't recall how. Can I ask what year it was, before you got here?"
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Mello and Matt are dead. No doubt in his future, probably at about the age Matt appears to be now. Twenty? Far too young. Although, that's how old he is, so maybe 'far too young' has no meaning for people like them.
He gives Matt a wide eyed blink, and slips through the doorway completely, and adjusts himself into a comfortable slouch.
"I am sorry to hear that you are deceased."
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Matt watches L, beginning to feel... what? Nervous? It makes sense that he would, though he had hoped he'd grown out of that by now.
Still. L.
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So he says, as gently as he can really manage, which is just 'mildly less apathetic,'
"What happens now, Matt?"
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He watches L for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Then,
"Well... I'm currently looking for a room full of video games. Or I could show you where the bar is," he grins. Getting the world's greatest detective drunk would be pretty funny.
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L has never been one for alcohol, but at the moment he can very nearly see the appeal. He still doesn't really know what he's doing here, what happens now, who's in charge, how long he'll be staying, where he'll sleep if he does...
For now, though, the best course of action is to stay with Matt.
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He weighs up the options. It's a tricky choice; epic lulz or new games? But the bar isn't going to change location.
"Okay. The room I'm looking for was down this corridor, I think. The geography of this place gets a little confusing; some of the staircases move... Have you got any idea of where you'll sleep? The rest of us are living in Ravenclaw, but, uh..." He begins wandering down the corridor, fiddling once again with the unlit cigarette.
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The staircases move. Well, the place is magic, so why not? Also, people appear here at random, dead or alive, and of all different ages.
"Should we tell anyone that I am here? Is someone in charge of these sorts of things?"
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He then recalls that Near and Mello are now living in Ravenclaw. Together. In the same room. Noisily. It was probably Matt's duty as a potential successor to warn L about this, but... how?
"Um," he says. "Uh. You know... Mello and Near? And I'm not sure... there's a talking Hat, that might want to know. Near's contacted Wammy's House and Watari and everything though, so you don't need to worry about that."
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He's trying to get his bearings in the building, but has not seen nearly enough of it to manage, yet. He hasn't asked about the huge amounts of popcorn, either, or the uncomfortable butter now drying (does butter even dry?) doing something on his shirt.
"What about Mello and Near?"
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