He had to leave his room some time...

[onlydisappear]

[Matt's sitting behind the bar, with a cigarette in one hand, a paperback version of Interesting Times in the other, and a half-finished pint glass of a copper-colored beer in front of him. He's lost track of how many times he's read through the Discworld series, and most of his attention isn't on the book, which he's mostly memorized by now anyway

Comments

[redeemed_m]

[Mello is wandering around the halls, seemingly aimlessly, when he stops by one particular door and rests his hand on the knob. He's been warned about the rooms in here doing fishy shit, but this one doesn't have an X on it and really, he can't just keep pacing through the corridors without checking any of the rooms, if he hopes to ever get out.

Almost tentatively, he turns the knob and peeks in, immediately pleased with the sight. Nice. He was thinking that if he didn't get a drink in him soon, he was likely to go nuts. Yeah, it's fucked way of coping, but after everything that's been explained to him, at this point, he really doesn't give a shit.

He fixes his attention on his figure behind the bar, the heels of his boots landing heavily on the floor as he walks over. Matt. Or...a Matt. Sure, he looks like the Matt with whom he's spoken before, but Mello's quickly learning that around here, that doesn't count for much.

He reaches the bar and flashes a smile, leaning over the surface and resting his elbows down.]

Chocotini?

[If

[onlydisappear]

I know. Fuckin' unsinkable, yeah?

[He swims closer.]

Just... I don't trust this place.

[redeemed_m]

Heh, there was this guy and I'd seen all of those old mob movies, right? And I wondered how fucken hilarious it would be to actually use the cinder block shoes thing and-[A pause. He's talkin' too much.]

Afraid of drowning?

[A small tilt of his head and Mello catches himself staring again. It's so goddamn hard. His natural instinct tells him to snag Matt by the hem of his boxers and pull him close but this isn't Matt. Not really, anyway.

He subtly urges himself back a foot or two, keeping his eyes on the other the entire time.]

[onlydisappear]

Sleep with the fishes, [Matt says, in terrible imitation of a movie mobster.] Not me, your guy.

[He's having trouble keeping conversation linear. That cognac must have had a delayed reaction.]

Not afraid. 'm already dead, y'know.

[redeemed_m]

[He doesn't even bother to hold back the snort.] Somethin' like that.

Yeah...[He glances away, pretending that something to the right interests him. Stupid. There's nothing there but more ocean.] So we should keep going, then.

[Another partially-sincere smile and he's off, opting to stay above the water, this time.]

[onlydisappear]

Yeah. [He swims along, and his voice is hushed, even if the waves he makes with his hands seem weirdly loud.]

'm not your Matt. [It seems important to say, though he's not sure why.] And, and that's okay.

[redeemed_m]

[His brow furrows at that last comment and Mello turns onto his side, stretching his arm out above his head and kicking his feet lightly in order to keep afloat. It takes a breath and a moment for him to respond.]

No shit.

[onlydisappear]

We get all tangled-up-like. Or I do, anyway.

[Maybe it's better to just swim for a horizon they'll probably never reach. He'd say "Okay, shutting up now," if it wouldn't defeat the purpose.]

[redeemed_m]

[Mello gets that. Or at least he does now, when he's half-bagged and if he weren't constantly reminding himself of it, it would be extremely easy to just...pretend he's with Matt. He doesn't wanna, though. It feels like if he lets himself pretend, even for a second, it's like betrayal or some shit.]

Didn't mean to snap, man. [He sucks at apologies.]

[onlydisappear]

's okay.

[He easily translates the apology from Mello-ese, and ducks under the water again, to clear his head as much as he can.]

Just a way this place fucks with you.

[redeemed_m]

[He dunks, too, pushing himself another few feet forward before turning onto his back and allowing himself to float.]

Has it ever, y'know, actually driven anyone nuts?

[onlydisappear]

Not that I know of.

[He relaxes a little. This feels like safer territory.]

The batshit ones were that way when they got here, y'know?

[redeemed_m]

Hn, Good. Guess I've got nothin' to worry about then.

[Unless he keeps listening to everyone's stories about how Kira got the fucken best of them. That, in itself, is enough to piss Mello off to the point of not giving a fuck. And when Mello doesn't give a fuck, crazy shit happens.]

Your M-[Better to change the subject, even if it's only mildly.] How long's he been gone, now?

[onlydisappear]

And everyone leaves, eventually.

[Except Matt, and maybe that one Light, but he hasn't seen Light in a while.]

'bout a month, I guess. Left me a note. [It's in his jeans pocket, back on shore.] An' something else. [But Matt's concentrating on staying afloat, and can't show Mello the scar on his palm.] How come?

[redeemed_m]

[God, he hopes it's not too long before he can get back home.]

Maybe he'll come back, eventually. [Mello's not sure why he said that, exactly. A sad attempt at reassurance, probably.

He swallows, turning back onto his stomach and glances out over the distance. It seems like the ocean is never ending but, well, they've only been swimming for while and what kind of bullshit idea was this, anyway? Even in a normal ocean, it would be a dipshit move to see if you could reach the end.]

[onlydisappear]

Maybe. Gonna be a while, I think.

[He's resigned to this. The mansion may fuck with people, but it did give him fair warning about his future, in its way.]

I don' 'member you from the fake memories.

[Which is Matt's own stab at reassurance.]