Christmas 2002

Dinner was nowhere near as interesting as breakfast had been. Mello sat back, so full that he thought his stomach might burst. The atmosphere was quite nice, despite the fact that Near was there. Carols filled the air and, at one time, it was Pavarotti singing Schubert\'s \'Ave Maria\', which reminded Mello to smile around in grace and well-being at his peers. Not many of them smiled back, but Mello shrugged. They were his rivals and it was good that they looked so uncomfortable when his gaze fell upon them. Mother Mary knew that he had tried.



Mello picked up the puzzle out of his cracker and attempted to solve it again. It was hard. \'Find the number of non-attacking queens necessary to cover a toroidal chess-board of 64 squares and prove that this number is minimal.\' He put it back in his pocket and wondered if he could fit in just one more triple chocolate pudding. He decided that he probably couldn\'t. He reached across and picked up Matt\'s cracker puzzle instead. The redhead was busy with his game and barely glanced up. \'10100101, 11110000, ????????, 11110000, 10100101.\' Mello peered at him, "Are you going to do this?"



"No, you can have it."



Mello pushed it into his pocked with his own. He enjoyed questions like these because they challenged him. He was about to comment about how pretty the table decorations were, when Roger stood up and clapped his hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, the moment I\'m sure that you have all been waiting for is upon us. If you have all finished your excellent desserts, I suggest that we give Mrs Carnegie and her ladies a big round of applause, then retire to the common room for presents."



Matt\'s head shot up and he stared at Mello through his goggles. Mello grinned as he clapped. "Don\'t get disappointed if it isn\'t, Matty. It\'s not even out in the shops and Mr Wammy is very busy."



Matt shrugged and saved his game before joining in the applause and following Mello out. Mello tried to guess what he would receive. They never requested gifts from Mr Wammy. The money given to them on Christmas Eve was technically supposed to cover that. These were the things that their benefactor believed that they might want and he was never wrong. It was times like this that Mello knew for a fact that Mr Wammy did closely follow their progress, even when he hadn\'t been in the institution for months. The man was a genius, but then again, he did probably have help from L too. The notion put a spring into Mello\'s step and he was through the door into the common room several paces ahead of Matt.



All of the other childen had been closer to the door, so they were all securing the best seats. Mello leaned up against the wall where he could have an overview, moving only slightly as Matt joined him. The Christmas tree meant that the furniture had been pushed across, which meant that Matt was right up against Mello\'s arm. Mello shoved him a bit, but there was nowhere for Matt to go, so he shoved him back. Roger came in carrying a laptop, which was set up on a table close to the tree and caused much scurrying amongst those sitting behind it. There was a webcam attached and it was possible that L could be watching them too. Once it was connected, Roger checked his watch, then initiated a call. A giant, black, Old English text W filled the screen against its white background. "Mr Wammy\'s address to the nation." Quipped Chrissie and those around her laughed. Mello didn\'t though, he just took out a chocolate bar and, too full to eat it, licked the edge instead.



Their benefactor greeted them cordially and wished them all the best of the season. He regretted not being there, citing a busy time too far away to easily return. To a stir of excitement, he conveyed L\'s best wishes too. There was nothing much of substance said, but the kindly tone of the man managed to thaw a layer of ice in the room that none had fully released was there. It felt like Christmas now. It almost felt akin to family. As if Mr Wammy sat there in person, they were called forward one by one. It was alphabetically, no favouritism shown on this occasion. However, after Hollow, Jonny was called, which made Matt smile. Even so, he still wasn\'t called after Linda, which meant that Mr Wammy hadn\'t gone so far as to refer to him as Mail. He had to wait until Mairoo scuttled away carrying his present, before the voice through the laptop called out, "Matt."



"Good afternoon to you, Matt, and a merry Christmas." Mr Wammy greeted him via the laptop speaker. Matt\'s eyes were staring sidewards through his goggles, trying to ascertain the shape of the gift that Roger was holding just under the rim of the bag. "Have you really being trying your best this year?"



"Yes." Matt mumbled automatically.



"Yet Roger informs me that you spend as much time playing your video games as you do studying. What would we get from you, Matt, if you actually worked as hard as the others?"



"Third."



"I note that you haven\'t requested a private chat with me. Alone amongst your peers. Did you forget?"



"No."



Mr Wammy chuckled. "No, I don\'t doubt that. Are you alright generally?"



"Yes."



"Ok, I\'ll end this trauma for you. I know how excruciating it is to speak with me." Mr Wammy breathed a laugh, as Matt\'s attention was suddenly on the webcam. "It\'s alright. I know." There was a short cough. "Roger, Matt\'s gift please." It was lifted from the bag and it was the right shape. "It Matters, it will be taken off you, if you fall behind in your work or if we believe that you are not going your best. Is that understood?" Matt nodded, blushing despite himself. His green eyes danced with excitement though. The gift was handed over and Matt clutched it to his chest. "Now that you like me again, I\'m afraid I\'m going to have to ruin your afternoon. I\'ve given you the first slot, as I would rather like a little chat with you, even if you can\'t be bothered with an old codger like me. I figured that being first in means that you won\'t worry about it too much. I\'ll speak to you in ten minutes."



Matt closed his eyes and muttered thanks before sauntering back to Mello\'s side. It was obvious that Mello would be called next. His name followed alphabetically, but the blond still waited until Mr Wammy actually said it before he pushed away from the wall and took his place before the webcam. Mello stared into it, then his gaze flickered sidewards in time to see Matt open his gift. There was a beatific grin from that quarter, so Mello stared back into the webcame. "Thank you, Mr Wammy." He raised his chocolate and took a bite.



"Mello." Mr Wammy replied. "Are you having a good Christmas?"



"Yes, I am." His tongue slithered over the chocolate. "Are you alone?"



Mr Wammy paused for half a beat before responding, "Yes, but L sends his regards."



"I see." Mello knew. He knew that L was in the room with Mr Wammy and that he could see the webcam. Mello stared into it, not because he thought that sheer will alone would render the view two way, but because he knew that eye contact was a good way of gaining someone\'s attention. L could even now be staring right into Mello\'s eyes on a monitor. "My regards to you too, L."



"You have worked very hard this year." Mr Wammy replied. Mello noted that he didn\'t correct his tense. "I\'ve been very impressed with you. You will make an excellent detective, Mello."



"No." Mello smirked and licked his chocolate. "I already am an excellent detective."



Mr Wammy laughed. "Yes, you are. Now, Mello, I struggled a little with your gift this year. You have a great many interests, so it was difficult to narrow them down to the thing you would most want. I hope that I chose correctly."



Mello held out his hand and Roger put a present into it. Mello smiled without looking down. "Thank you, Mr Wammy."



"I will be speaking with you privately in just over half an hour. God bless, Mello."



"God bless you, Mr Wammy."