aefenglom | Voice; UN: Deneuve

Name: M; UN: Deneuve
Date: 3/1/21
Format: [Voice]

[There's a short blip of silence; Mello knows that even his voice can be identified if needed and traced. But he remembers the pain in his chest. The swirling of the delivery truck's mirror, and everything after that, well — ]

[A sharp clearing of his throat. It's so dry.]

I know what I've been told.

[Everything is bullshit until proven otherwise.]

And I know what I'm expected to believe.

[Definitely lies. And for one: he knows he's died. It doesn't take a previous heart attack in his situation to recognize one when it tears at your chest and throat and breath like a visceral assault. Besides, he was always due for one: wasn't he?]

I don't expect honesty from anyone. [And yet here he is: reaching out. Because what else can he do?] But a Witch?

[Or so he's been told. How appropriate. Another pause; another breath.]

Is this Hell?

[He's seen nothing that leads him to believe otherwise. The mirror with the objects and reflections from home. The things that just don't make sense. Maybe someone will honestly reveal that yes, he's earned this. Maybe not.]

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[ While Light does notice and is on alert, he's also forcing himself not to jump at shadows. Eventually, a line has to be drawn between mundane and important. Mello is in a new world after being plucked from his own. Light's own appetite hadn't been the strongest for the first few days. ]

Was it a bad trip? That's surprising to hear. Did you get a lot of odd looks?

[ Is it meant to be an insult toward Japan? A wild blow hoping to bother him? Light enjoys his country well enough and thinks they're decently far ahead in terms of justice, but he also knows they aren't perfect. ]

With your blond hair, you would have stood out. It's not really a color we see too often unless it's from someone outside of Japan. It's rude, but if you went to visit a more rural part of Japan, you might have been one of the few people they've seen with blond hair in real life.

[Is that a challenge? Mello reads it as such — as he does everything — and the shift in his seat is more readying for a verbal attack than it is for comfort. Did he get a lot of odd looks; what a joke. Mello gets odd looks everywhere he goes, no matter where. Before and after the explosion.]

[He's all but ignoring the food, now. It's something he craved, even when he knew he was coming face to face with Kira, whether or not this was a casual lunch date. And being the shit thing he is at hiding his emotions: he's definitely cracking now. He'll have to leave soon, he knows. That, or risk a confrontation that will blow this all to hell. But first.]

I've never seen the rural areas.

[The hand around his water glass is tight enough to nearly crack it, full as it is.]

I went to Tokyo.

[Is that so odd? Isn't that where most tourists go? Not a pure giveaway until — ]

The Kanto region, actually. I'd wandered away from the rest of the class. That's where the tube dropped me when I decided to get off.

[ It's not a coincidence. Light is more sure of it than ever. Of course, it's not an impossibility, but it's unlikely with everything else adding up. Even more than that, this man wants Light to know there's more. He hints at it, gives him tastes.

Is he connected to L from their world? L works with a lot of criminals, and Mello would certainly fit in there as well. It would also be fitting that he'd go by a single letter nickname. If that's the case, the name he'd been given is as real as Linden. ]

Not a lot of schools bring people to Japan to visit. It must have been an interesting place to study.

[ If Mello is this close to spilling, Light needs to bait him, but it's hard with so many blank spots. ]

I'm surprised to find you didn't get a nice welcome, then. Japan is an interesting place. When I've spoken to other tourists, they said Japan has a unique way about it. That, even if they didn't find what they thought they would, something else had a way of finding them.

Mh.

[He sips his water to ground himself; they're playing a game of which only one of them is completely aware. He knows that from Light's age alone. Because L wouldn't dare out him, that way. Forgive if his knuckles are white; it's only a side-effect of magic running through him that Mello isn't used to: nothing more.]

It was a private school, yea. We had privileges that others couldn't afford.

[And now, he blatantly lies.]

Parents will pay for anything to keep you out of their hair.

[As he cracks his neck, not an uncommon gesture for Mello.]

Mm, no one was outwardly rude. I know from my studies that society frowns upon that, there. They stare, though.

[But none of this matters. Not really.]

What did you do there? Were you only a student?

[Oh, do tell. Please.]

As much as foreigners stand out, blond hair would have stood out even more. It's not polite, but I'm not surprised to find out you'd have their attention. You don't seem like someone who'd want to blend in, anyway.

[ Mello screams 'loud' in every sense of the word. His clothing, his hairstyle, and his attitude all stand apart from a crowd. Knowing they're from the same world, Light can blame a bit on cultural differences but only so much. Americans are known for having bigger personalities. Is Mello American? ]

Hm. I was.

[ 'Before becoming part of the Kira investigation and being forced to take time off. Such an inconveinece. ]

In a way, I still am here, but that doesn't really pay for you to live so I have to divide my time between school and work. You probably will, too.

[ As most witches seem to. ]

Are you okay? You seem tense.

[ Between the white knuckles and need to crack his neck. ]

[Though Mello can be quite the actor, he's always been shit at hiding his emotions. It's the proximity, in the end — oh, how he would have killed for this when the time was right. But now isn't the time, and it's downright frustrating. Any rash actions on his part would do nothing in his favor aside from self-gratification and while that's what he wants, a bit of logic is in order, here.]

Yea —

[He answers almost immediately. Too fast, maybe.]

New environment. Still adjusting to this whole magic thing. It kind of itches, sometimes.

[Mello takes a soft, calming breath through his nose. As much as he would like to monopolize Kira's life, he can't stay here too much longer. His patience is running thin.]

But you're observant.

[Grin. Stop fucking studying me.]

Sometimes, but I wouldn't say it was too hard to notice. You really seem on edge.

[ If Light wanted, he would have waved it off. Under other circumstances, when trying to be more polite, he would have. A small part of him is poking Mello, intentionally pointing out how well he's not hiding whatever he's wanting to hide.

And yet he is. Light's not able to get anything really useful from him. Has he even been to Tokyo? It's not as if he can simply take his word for everything. L wouldn't be afraid of an idiot. ]

Maybe you should eat more. It might help calm your nerves.

I'm not nervous.

[And he throws that back with all of the nonchalance he possesses, though he does take another forkful, shoves it into his mouth with zero delicacy. Mello knows proper manners — spent his formative years in England, after all — but he feels no need to be proper, right now.]

[No, nerves aren't his issue, right now. It's the holding back that's getting to him. Do you even know what you've done, Kira? and it sits with him like a fucking rock in his stomach. Still he chews, and stares Light down with what would be perceived by the average person for no reason at all, while he does.]

[It's only after he properly swallows that he speaks again.]

If you're to help me with this whole thing — [Being a Witch and all.] — the first thing I'd like to learn is how to quell whatever it is that's happening, right now. It's uncomfortable, as if something's trying to burst out of me.

It shouldn't be a problem this early, but magic does build if we don't use it. Bonding with a monster will help balance it out but until you do, be sure to practice. The more you're using magic, the lower your reserves. That might normally sound like a bad thing, but it's a lot like a kettle: if the steam's not released, it will explode.

[ It's a simple, truthful answer without any of the hidden jabs behind it. A witch that's losing control benefits no one, and Light will genuinely work to assure that won't happen. ]

I don't mind giving you some simple spells to practice, but this isn't the place for it. Beginning witches have a lot of time predicting and controlling their own power.

Voice; UN: Deneuve

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