Choices

AN: Happy turkey day! (this was supposed to be out yesterday but I got sidetracked writing other chapters of this… not much of an excuse, I know.) and even after rewriting part of this im not happy with it… *sigh*

Suggested Listening: Monster by Skillet (because I can picture Matt listening to this at a certain point here....)

Chapter 5: Contact

Matt 'woke' up to a splitting headache and chills. He couldn’t remember when he fell asleep, but he knew it hadn’t been all that long ago. He squinted, making an attempt to read the clock, but closed his eyes with a quiet groan. He would have chosen the shivering and chills over the headache....

Headaches… headaches made his thoughts foggy. Like trying to wade through quicksand or molasses.

He laid there, quietly on his bed, not really feeling up to getting up. He turned to his side and burrowed deeper under the covers. He really did not want to get up, at all.

But as Matt saw it, he only had two options.

One, lay there awake feeling like he had been steamrolled, with little hope of falling back asleep. Or two, he could go to class and hope the new teachers were just as boring so he could sleep, or engaging enough where he was distracted from feeling like crap.

After hearing Mello grab his things and leave, he chose option number two; the silence would have drove him crazy.

He was sluggish as he dressed himself; hardly able to keep his eyes open. When finished, however many minutes later, he fished around his old jeans for the class schedule. He found it, memorized it, and tossed it into the trash bin. He stuffed his laptop into the book bag and slowly headed to class; he had managed to sleep late enough to miss breakfast but not be late to class, much to his disappointment.

He had to have pissed off some god or other to get that kind of luck.

His new literature teacher merely nodded in his direction and pointed to a lone desk in the back. Matt automatically liked this teacher. What he didn’t like was the class, or the blonde who glared at him the entire class, or the albino who watched him from time to time.

Matt had, naturally, forgotten that harder classes meant he would be placed with Mello and Near. Perhaps he should have just stayed in bed; he honestly didn’t feel he had enough energy to deal with them at the moment.

He really had no idea what went on in any of his classes, as he was caught between a state of hazy wakefulness and half asleep. Though he was able to pay enough attention to get his assignments, some of which were due the next day, others at the end of the week.

Other than that, Matt had no idea what went on. He hated being so scatter brained and when he was sick that was all he ever seemed to be. He was just glade he’d been able to make it through the day and back to his room with no incidents.

Other than when he fell asleep and was yelled at by a rather irritated teacher.

Though as he walked out of the bathroom, he did realize that it meant he probably shouldn't try and place any other techs until he was better. Witch meant that he would have to wait until the next night, or if he still wasn't better, the day after.

Matt also knew that Light needed to be contacted soon. He had been given a few predetermined days in which to contact him, as even Light knew that he may be busy. Regardless of everything being ready or not, he had to contact him.

He stumbled slightly and had to use the wall to support himself, but Mello didn’t so much as glance at him as he walked out of the room, arms piled high with text books. Matt sighed heavily.

Since Mello seemed to like disappearing and ignoring him, which with him being sick really got on his nerves, Matt decided that as soon as a secure link was set up he was calling his boss.

Which sadly didn't take as long as Matt had hoped. Because he really wasn't looking foreword to this. He put his headphones on and adjusted the wireless microphone by his mouth. Everything ready, he pushed 'call' as the message popped up on screen.

He could hear the ringing in his ears and found it rather irritated him, and just when he was about to turn the volume off, the call connected and Light's face appeared.

“Ah, Matt. I was wondering when you were going to call.” Matt rolled his eyes, knowing Light couldn't see them. There were only three designated days for him to call, so he doubted Light had really wondered about anything, especially as Light had set those days up himself.

Matt, out of habit, placed a cigarette in-between his lips though he knew he couldn't smoke it inside.

“You look a little pale.” Light commented as an afterthought, a gentle smile tugged at his lips. Matt wasn't fooled though. He never would be by Light. Those blind fan girls like Amane and Takada, and even Mikami would only see the image Light projected and never the manipulative and cruel person he actually was.

“Yeah, I'm a little… unwell at the moment.” Matt stated; though he tried to word things in a careful manor. He watched as Light’s eyes darkened and got a rather dangerous gleam to them. Well now, wasn't that lovely?

“I have already placed most of the camera's, finished the reports as well as begun recording. Everything was done before I began to feel unwell, so everything is in perfect working order.” he stressed the word 'perfect' because that's what Light liked.

Perfect. Everything had to be perfectly perfect. Like his own appearance, his fake smiles and the important missions. Anything that was not perfect, or did not go perfectly, had rather harsh consequences. Matt supposed it may have had to do with his bosses OCD tendencies.

Though he wasn't sure if anyone else noticed them, Matt was the observer after all.

He already knew that Light would want the files sent to him, so he created a package and put the required things inside before he clicked on transfer.

Light seemed only partly pacified. “I want everything sent to me right now. Video, audio, everything you have. Including those reports you mentioned.” Matt, despite himself, smirked.

“When the computer prompts you, click 'complete transfer'. It should appear anytime now.” Light looked off screen and his expression slightly turned into something Matt would call irritated. He must not have had a good day.

“Fine, I have everything. Now, onto the business of your next call.” Matt nearly groaned. He could tell by the way Light's smile returned that he wouldn’t like what would be said.

“Someone else, possibly Kiyomi, will be here when you call. I will be away on business otherwise I would have done it myself.” and Matt was certain that he was at least being told the truth about that. When it came to the business of L, Light would prefer to be the one to handle things rather than leave it to others, even if it were his 'trusted' few.

Matt hated the idea of possibly having to deal with Takada, though without Light around he was free to piss her off. The only bonus of that situation.

“The days for calling will remain the same until I personally state otherwise.” Matt gave a small shrug in response.

“Before I go is there anything important I should know about?” Light looked almost impatient now, as though he were in the middle of something and didn't like being disturbed despite the nature of the call. Matt wasn't sure if anything was really important, at least by Light's standards, but decided to at least tell him about his most recent rank.

“Well, nothing much I suppose. I did place third here and apparently that now makes me one of L's successors. But other than that, no.” he watched as Light's eyes widened and a decidedly creepy grin spread across his face. The kind that over exaggerated and evil sounding laughter was usually accompanied with.

“Really? That is indeed important. I suggest you keep that rank.” the way Light said that made Matt shiver, and not because he was sick. His boss really could be creepy...

Light looked lost in thought for a moment before he uttered a curt 'goodbye' and ended the call. Well, at least he wasn't in trouble for anything. Yet.

Matt yawned widely and removed his goggles to rub at his eyes. They were itchy and watery, tired from his long night of tossing and turning and general sleeplessness. And he had begun to feel edgy, the effect of nicotine withdrawal.

Which was actually a good thing, because with the unlit one in his mouth he finally had a craving for one. Which he hadn’t wanted since yesterday afternoon. He hoped that meant he would be feeling at least a little better tomorrow than he was at the moment.

Matt left the room with the cigarette still perched between his lips, and a lighter in his hand. He was instantly cold as he stepped outside and made haste in lighting his addiction. He really should ask about getting a jacket.

But then he would have to take the time to find Rodger...

It wasn't always cold there, it was just his luck that this assignment had to take place in the fall. Where it was windy, rainy and cold. And where soon, there would be snow to add to that list.

Matt wondered if he'd see Whammy around the place anytime soon or not, but decided that even if he did he wouldn't just walk up to him and ask about a jacket. Whammy had better things to do, and so did Matt for that matter.

He finished the cigarette as quickly as he could, because he was freezing, and he almost slammed into the door as he attempted to get inside. He hated being sick, it made his reactions differ from his norm.

This time he didn’t even need a clock to tell him that it was dinner, as all the children were suddenly flooding the hallways. Matt hadn't thought it was that late and wondered just how long he'd been on the phone with Light for.

His stomach felt funny, but not unpleasant. It was the kind of feeling where you know you are hungry, but aren't really hungry enough to want to eat much. The kind where you would usually skip the main meal in favor of something small.

He withheld a sigh and headed for the dining hall. Matt began to think that perhaps he needed to procure snacks that he could hide in his dresser so that when he didn't feel much like eating, like right now, he could munch on those.

But for the moment he didn’t have anything even close to that, and he also knew that if he didn’t eat something soon he'd probably be hungry at two AM. And that would not be cool.

Matt chose some sort of chicken and seated himself; he would attempt to eat what he could, quickly, and leave.

Mainly because he was irritated by Mello's glaring. How many days had it been now? Matt lifted his head and stared right back at the blonde, who was still seated across the room. He kept his expression blank and after a few minutes Mello actually began to fidget ever so slightly.

The only reason Matt broke the impromptu staring contest was because dinner came to a close. He hadn't even intended to stay through the entire thing again, and yet he had. Mello was really messing with his head. And Matt had really had enough of all of that.

He had given the blonde more than enough time to get over whatever he was having a problem with. And now he was just sick of it. It took a lot to irritate him, and something like this wouldn't usually, but there was just something about the blonde...

And he tended to get irritable when sick.

Matt wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings and almost passed by his room. Because Mello would actually have to be there for any length of time for it to be called 'theirs'.

Knowing he was still sick, and feeling tired from doing absolutely nothing all day, Matt laid down and curled up under the blankets. The only problem was that Mello was still on his mind, it was starting to get ridiculous.

Did he really want Mello to be his friend that much? So much that he took over the majority of his thoughts?

Though if he thought about it that way it made him sound slightly obsessed, in his own opinion.

He pulled his goggles free and tossed them onto the desk and snorted in amusement. Matt had never been good with people, not in the normal sense. He was good at annoying them, pissing them off and generally making a nuisance of himself. And of course lying and cant forget manipulating. It all came with the job.

But when it came to actually dealing with people. He was absolute shit at it. Matt then sneezed and with a sigh he pulled the covers over his head. He just wanted all this complicated stuff to be over with so that he could finish his mission and leave.

He closed his eyes to the darkness of the room, and for once since he'd gotten sick, got his way and drifted off.

-

He had been having some dream about falling mushrooms and plumbers with red hats when a loud crash and a muffled curse woke him. His heart pounded in his chest and his hand reached for the gun he hadn't been allowed to bring.

He poked his head out from under the blankets and spotted a flash of yellow. He looked, blurry eyed, at the numbers on the clock and wondered if Mello had been studying this entire time; as it was now around three in the morning.

Matt didn’t get more than two or three more coherent thoughts before he was back asleep, something his body still needed more of.

He didn’t dream any more that night, at least none that he could remember, and in the morning he could hear the soft crinkling of wrappers.

He sat up, stretched and took a long breath as he reached for his goggles. Surprisingly, he felt better. Still tired, and after that much sleep he really shouldn't be, but much better.

Matt glanced across the room, as he grabbed for his PSP, he noticed Mello at his desk with a hand propping his head up. His other held a bar of chocolate and would every once and a while would flip a page of the book. Matt doubted that it was anything other than a text book.

Matt knew that Mello had gone to bed the night before, as the light had gone back off before he had fallen back asleep. But it looked as though Mello had been up for hours rather than a short time. That would have left the blonde with only a handful, or less, hours of sleep.

With the small handheld turned on he idly played the brain teaser game while he silently regarded his roommate. It looked as though he was going to continue and ignore him, for how long only Mello knew, and Matt really had enough of it.

“Hey Mello, What's with all of your PMS? You were fine a few days ago.” Matt spoke loudly and calmly. He could feel the atmosphere in the room change, though he wasn't worried.

“Like you don’t fucking know.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “I'm not a mind reader, so no, I honestly have no idea what problem has wrapped itself around your brain making you act like a child throwing a tantrum.” he was being purposely antagonistic, he couldn’t help it though.

“You placed third on your first week of testing! You didn't even study, and that means you are a threat to me in my goal of becoming L. That's the fucking problem.” Mello snarled. Matt blinked a few times from behind his goggle covered eyes.

“Just let me finish this level.” He muttered softly. Though his fingers moved and hit the buttons of the handheld, his mind wasn’t even close to being on the game.

Matt knew that this may be a good opportunity to stop whatever was happening between them. He didn’t come there to make friends and despite that it seemed that he was, or rather had been.

All he had to do was sever those ties with the blonde and get back to the mission. All he had to do was tell the blonde that he wasn't smart enough to become L, and that he, Matt, would take second or even first. It was what he should do.

But why was it so much harder to actually say it? He stared at the 'game over' screen and glanced up. Why were things so complicated where Mello was concerned?

“That’s it? My being third has you pissed off, that's rather stupid.” Mello got a rather pissed off expression and had Matt not planned on continuing he would have hurried to do so.

“I have no desire to be L, never have. It takes too much effort.” Matt lifted his game slightly, and peered up at the blonde from behind his tinted goggles.

Mello scrutinized him for a few minutes before he finally bit off a piece of chocolate. He didn't speak to Matt, but nor did he look away. He didn't appear angry, but rather contemplative.

Matt took that as an improvement and despite actually wanting to stay like that for a while longer, knew he needed to get ready for class.

He dragged his eyes away and forced himself out of bed. He stretched again and grabbed randomly at his new clothes and headed into the bathroom. He ended up with a blue and green striped shirt, really what was with some of those combinations?

He was more than thankful his jeans were all the same color...

He finished quickly and when he stepped back in the room Mello was still sitting as he’d left him. Matt shook his head and shoved his laptop into the book bag as he tossed the strap over his shoulder.

“Mello, you're going to be late to class if you keep this up.” Mello jerked his head up in surprise as he cursed and stumbled from the chair. Matt watched in amusement as the blonde scrambled to shove all off his books into the bag before he rushed to class.

Matt wasn't sure why, but he felt accomplished for taking over Mello's thoughts. He decided not to dwell too much on that and headed off to class along with Mello who had practically raced from the room. Matt was in no such hurry and didn't particularly care if he was late or not.

Matt also found it rather odd that all his classes now seemed calmer. Before there had been some edginess to them; he supposed that he hadn't really noticed it so much until it was gone.

But the other students and even the teachers seemed less stressed. Matt had no idea why, but he wasn't about to complain, it meant the teachers weren't paying as close attention and it was easier for him to play his games... and generally tune out everything.

Matt didn't see Mello at lunch, as Mello hadn’t even been in the room, and Matt wasn't sure what to make of it. He had thought that everything was settled that morning, but perhaps he had missed something?

But Matt was quick to dismiss that thought. He hadn't missed anything... Mello was probably just studying.

That reminded Matt that he really needed to do his own work. Not that it consisted of anything other than gathering data and daily reports. Joy. He could only watch the surveillance by himself, or at least in their room where he could insure no one else was watching him.

Unless he could somehow get it onto his PSP...

He spent the rest of the day, or rather classes, trying to figure out if it was possible to do such a thing. The only way he could figure out to do that would be to have the surveillance linked to the internet where he could then access it from the PSP which had internet access.

He would have to make sure it was absolutely secure. Matt wasn't sure he wanted to put forth the effort into it. It wasn't like Light would know the difference...

Matt took one step outside into the rain, for his cigarette, before he turned right back inside. There was no way in hell he was going to stand in that, not even for nicotine.

His shoulders slumped, as he trudged back to their room, rather unhappy that he couldn’t smoke.

Mello wasn't there when Matt did finally get back, after taking a quick detour, so Matt took out the laptop and started to go over the feeds he’d missed during the day. Only about a dozen entries were flagged, so those were the only ones he had to worry about.

Mello still wasn't back by the time Matt left for dinner, though Matt did notice that all of Mello's study things were gone as well so it wasn't hard to imagine that the blonde had lost track of time while pouring over those books.

Near was already at the table, as Matt seated himself, with no thought stealing blonde in sight.

So Matt resigned himself to another silent and awkward meal with Near until he heard familiar boots hesitantly walking over. He knew that it was Mello, and hoped that he wouldn’t just walk away to the other table.

Mello stood there, for another moment, before he took a seat next to Matt and before he could stop himself, Matt was sporting a grin.

There was no talking, but Matt didn’t miss things like that so much. He was sure everything would be back to normal soon. Mello just liked to take his time getting there.

Matt thought that it made Mello all the more interesting.

-End Contact-

AN: This was also supposed to be part of chapter 4, but it would have just been waaaaaay too long had I kept it. And it makes things a bitch to edit if they get too long. Because then I get tired of editing and sort of skim it and miss lots more errors. Yeah......