(Untitled)

[turnthebend]

Who: Mello, Matt, and anyone who stumbles across them
What: Searching out Mello
When: Sometime before cycle 3 for the personality switch event ends
Where: Housing Building 3, Room 21
Summary: Matt already voiced his suspicion on what happened to Mello and is on his way to find him. They aren't themselves yet.
Rating: PG-13

Comments

[cicatrized]

The pounding on the door certainly caught Mello off-guard, he squeaked at the loud burst of noise, right hand immediately flying to cover his mouth afterward. He'd been fairly certain that no one would come looking for him, so who could it be? Perhaps the room he'd taken refuge in had a previous owner, one that wanted it back. Removing his hand from his mouth (it hadn't done him much good anyway, the sound had already been uttered), Mello glanced toward the door with wide eyes. Maybe if he ignored the knocking, he could go on with his business. Strips of gauze and various bandages littered the bed, Mello'd been in the process of exchanging the dressings for his wounds with new ones, and had no intention of letting anyone see him in his current state

[turnthebend]

Well, there was someone on the other side of the door this time.

"When is it ever a good time for you? Open up already, Mello!" His voice was louder and more demanding than usual. Matt had already but in the effort of being there. As if he was about to turn and simply walk away.

[cicatrized]

Oh, that was Matt's voice. Matt's voice. Crap. One of the many reasons that Mello had gone through the trouble of finding an isolated apartment was to avoid his friend, and a whole lot of good that did him.

"Ah! Could you give me a m-moment, then?" Mello asked, though he didn't wait for a reply. He sped up his work, bandaging his arm with record speed, then covering it with the sleeve of his shirt. The soiled bits of gauze and cloth? Hidden under the covers of the bed. All Mello had to do was make it to the door and explain to Matt that he was perfectly fine.

Wincing as he walked (read: limped) to the door, he opened it slowly.

"I wasn't expecting to see you. . ."

[turnthebend]

Matt partially complied. A hand had reached for the doorknob before stopping. Instead he'd slammed his palms on either side of the door and stared at the offending barrier. No verbal response came from him.

Door opened, he stepped back and cross his arms.

"Of course you weren't. You thought I'd nicely wait for your next order."

He took a moment to scan the room before focusing on Mello again.

[cicatrized]

Mello wilted under the scrutiny, but he was fairly sure that Matt wouldn't be able to notice anything that was terribly off. Most of the injuries that he'd sustained were covered by his clothing. The burns that were scattered across his left arm and side were safely guarded by a black cotton shirt, and the damage done to his ribs would only be found out if Mello decided to make it known. Which, he wouldn't, of course, he'd taken pain medication earlier (a bottle of it had been commandeered from the clinic), and everything was hazy, but tolerable.

"D-don't say it like that." He avoided Matt's gaze, opting to look at the wall behind the redhead. "You make it sound like I'm some cold dictator."

[turnthebend]

Yeah, he looked okay, but Matt knows Mello likes to keep things to himself, the selfish bastard.

His eyes narrowed when the blond glanced away. 'Can't even look me in the eyes. Something is up.'

"More like a whimpering dictator who needs the control to feel better about himself."

Matt barged into the room and turned back.

"Okay, what are you hiding?"

[cicatrized]

Nothing was done to conceal the startled expression that washed over Mello's features when Matt stepped past him and into the apartment. Most of the makeshift first-aid kit had been hidden beneath the covers of the bed, but bottle of pain killers were on the desk that occupied the far side of the room, and Mello's burnt leather jacket hung on the side of a chair (in the name of fashion Mello hadn't the heart to toss the jacket away, not when there was a chance that he could still save it).

"I told you before I'm not hiding anything!" Mello did his best to act annoyed, heaving a sigh. "Would you like to take a walk outside? We could discuss what we should've gone over before at the tea shop."

And there was Mello's pathetic attempt to steer Matt away from the small apartment.

[turnthebend]

That look did not ease Matt's suspicions in any way. His eyes widened in disbelief and he was prompted to scan the room more carefully.

"Why didn't you show up then, so we wouldn't have to go over it now?" He knew the reason but was hoping Mello would explain things more fully.

A small bottle. Medication? Mello's jacket. Were those traces of burn marks? He couldn't make it out well from the way it was hung.

"Fine. How about you grab your jacket on the way out?"

[cicatrized]

It soon dawned upon Mello that he was hopelessly stuck. Suggesting a walk hadn't been the greatest idea in the world, not when Mello had a limp from a burn that stretched along his leg, and if he retrieved his coat, the holes seared through the leather would be horribly apparent.

Slowly, Mello made his way to where his jacket was hung, doing his best to hide the way his left leg dragged behind him. Matt already knew that he'd been kidnapped, maybe the best way out of this was to present the damage done, but in a minimal way.

He lifted up the coat, weaving his fingers through the scorched hole in it's left arm, Matt was sure to see that.

"This was the main reason why I didn't show up."

Mello left the rest to Matt's imagination.

[turnthebend]

"A tiny burn, huh? That's all?" Matt doesn't believe that is all there is to the story. Only a few burns to a jacket? It was mostly intact, right? What he pictured from just that wasn't anywhere close to being as bad as what he'd seen Mello make it out of before. The burnt jacket didn't quite explain away the pills or the way Mello was walking. What happened to that confident air of his that came out in his stride? No, there had to be more.

"You sure you're up to this walk of yours?" Spoken less harshly but still in a commanding voice.

He hadn't moved since going into the apartment, but a hand started fishing around in his pocket as he waited for whatever BS response Mello may come up with.

[cicatrized]

What did Matt want him to do, sit down and cry about every single injury that the Malnosso were responsible for? No, that wasn't how it was going to play out. But, at the same time, it looked like Matt wasn't going to back off without a full explanation, and Mello didn't want to fight him every step of the way. He set the jacket back down on the chair before making the short walk to the bedside, this time doing nothing to mask the way he limped.

"No, I'm not, not really." Mello pulled back the bed covers, revealing the mess of bandages that laid underneath. "Though, I t-thought it'd be better than showing you this."

For now that was all Mello was willing to admit to.

[turnthebend]

He took out a cigarette and lit it before going over to have a closer look.

"Jesus, Mello! They got you that badly and you're going to go around playing the unassuming victim?!?" Matt tried to lock eyes with Mello, reprimanding with both words and the look in his eyes, some concern is mixed in there too.

"Still want that walk of yours?" Matt was willing to listen to what hadn't been discussed at the tea shop. He wasn't quite as willing to see Mello push himself more.

[cicatrized]

"I-I've gotten myself blown up before, this really isn't anything new." Even now, Mello was still trying to diminish whatever concerns Matt might have had, though his friend's outburst had caught him off guard, and Mello wasn't able to stop his involuntary flinch. "I took care of myself, then, I can do the same now." Tapping the scar on his face for show, Mello forced a smirk to spread over his features, praying that it would be convincing enough.

"Let's just stay here, this floor is quiet and no one will overhear our conversation." Moving to clear the bed of the bandages, Mello quickly gathered them together, disposing the pile of stained red in a trashcan by the desk.

[turnthebend]

Matt looked up at the ceiling at the mentioning of Mello's close encounter with being blown to bits, breathing out a puff of smoke. "Yeah, and I remember being called over soon after. If almost dying is how you take care of yourself, I'm afraid to see what you're like when you don't."

"Right." He calmed down a bit at the memory brought up but will still be easy to rile up again. In fact, when Mello got close enough, he planned to grab the foolish invalid by the upper arm and slam him onto the bed. Injuries or no injuries, the guy should be resting not wandering all over the place.

[cicatrized]

For a moment, Mello hovered awkwardly, blue eyes traveling from Matt's cigarette, to the leather jacket that he'd set aside, to the door of the apartment that was still left open. That was the first thing that needed to be taken care of, being the paranoid guy that he was, Mello had to have the door shut tightly and locked before talking about business. And he wasn't about to ask Matt to close it, not after the offhanded comment about 'orders' from earlier. Brushing past Matt (though not without difficulty, he'd done more walking than he should've, and his leg was starting to act up), Mello made sure that every latch was closed.

"I believe I've already mentioned our current area of focus to you: the barrier that the Malnosso have set up to keep their compound hidden."

Mello certainly didn't waste any time when it came to rebellion against their captors.

[turnthebend]

Oh great, was he getting worse? It looked to him like Mello was progressivly having a harder time maneuvering himself. He didn't even know when to give himself a break, did he?

"Yeah, you've been thinking about the Malnosso a lot." How could he forget when that had been brought up when he'd received his last parting gift in the form of a split lip and bruising?

"I'll listen," he moved in Mello's direction, "but you're doing your talking while giving your flimsy, jello legs a break." He reached for the black-clad arm. "Got it?" Another glare while his head is tilted in a superior manner.