Open RP in the Great Hall!

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt looked at the plate in front of him.

A thick, succulent, home-made burger lay in front of him. It was laid reverently between two slices of freshly-baked bread roll and garnished with a perfect combination of sauces and vegetables. The plate was also covered in thick, crispy and golden looking potato fries. There was even a little silver server with ketchup, barbeque sauce, a glass vinegar cellar, an antique pepper grinder...

Which was fair enough, but all Matt had asked for was directions to the nearest McDonald's. His junk-food cravings were apparently going to go unanswered for some time.

Sighing - and perhaps a little wary - he picked up the masterpiece of a burger and took a bite.

Comments

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt snickered. "I'm more a... computer-and-games geek. Maybe even a conventions geek. Math-geeking is a bit too intellectual for me." This was sort of bullshit - it's difficult to be 'too intellectual' for a Wammy's kid, let alone one of the top three - but the pretense had worked for Matt for a long time now and he didn't want to mess with it.

"Yeah. You said you sucked at hand-eye stuff that was too far away, but the DS is a handheld..."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"You can't be a serious computer geek without some math-geekery," Near pointed out. He knew that whatever Matt said, he had a flair for numbers.

And he wanted Matt to help with the study... wanted to be on good terms with him.

"I might do better with a handheld," Near admitted. "I still won't have had any practice."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah. But I'd rather geek out about other stuff. And I think that's a record for the number of times the word 'geek' was used in a single exchange," he laughed.

"I'll lend it to you sometime. You might like Transformers, if you're still into robots... I've got the Decepticons game and the Autobots one, let me know whether you prefer Optimus or Megs."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"It could have been a conversation about circus sideshows," Near pointed out. "Be glad I wasn't accusing you of biting the heads off of chickens. And... not as much as I used to be, but sort of. Optimus Prime all the way."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt snickered. "Okay, you get the Autobots game. I'd have figured you for an Ultra Magnus fan... heh." For some reason he found this more amusing than he probably should have, and couldn't stop himself from grinning. If Near was Ultra Magnus, L would be Optimus Prime... would that make Mello Hot Rod?

The comparison didn't really work - Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime, Optimus came back, and Ultra Magnus was a pussy as far as Matt was concerned - but still. It was kinda funny.

"Jesus I'm a nerd," he said out loud.

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"Of course you are. I don't think it's possible to come out of Wammy's and not be nerdy about at least some things."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Nerdy, or incurably and overbearingly intellectual," Matt agreed with a laugh.

"Incidentally, I hope to god you've either let the SPK or whoever know that you're alive. Or at least chosen a definite successor. I'm getting horrible visions of the worst parts of my adolescence happening all over again."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"I've sent them a message," Near said curtly. He didn't want to touch on his growing distrust of the whole setup.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Well, thank fuck for that." He gave Near a curious glance. "Do you have a successor picked out?"

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"There isn't anyone who really stand out yet." Which was true... but not yet the whole truth. "And I really don't like the thought of doing to anyone... well, what was done to me."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... what, you mean holding off actual decision and sparking off a whole stupid grudgewar that got a couple of bright young things killed?" He jabbed a fry in the air as he spoke. "Dude, they're already at Wammy's. It's getting done to them no matter what."

He was aware he was kind of being a dick, but fuck it. He wasn't saying anything that wasn't true.

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

God, Matt, if you only knew the half of it... He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't, because that would mean he accepted it. And if he accepted it, he had to accept the implications, the knowledge of just how thoroughly he had been used.

He wasn't supposed to care. Wasn't supposed to care about Matt's opinion of him. That was why his natural tendency to detachment had been encouraged.

It had, he realized. Thinking back, he'd been subtly encouraged to isolate himself since earliest childhood. The idea sent a sudden, uncharacteristic spark of rage through him.

"I... heard a few things from Mello after he arrived here," Near said quietly. "Some things he's seen. He has some suspicions about Wammy's."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt blinked. "Suspicions? Like what?"

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"...maybe you'd better ask him. I don't... I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it without proof." You certainly can't 'distract' me to calm me down afterward.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... just tell me it's not to do with a fucking pedo ring or something."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"No, no, not that."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

He relaxed a little, and laughed. "Good. I probably would've known, actually - if it was web-based at least."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"If not directly." He grimaced with distaste.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... yeah, I guess. Ugh."

He chewed thoughtfully on his hamburger for a moment. "I did that for a living, for a little while. Pedo-busting. Fuck knows what they did with the information - probably sent it to Kira or something." Matt shrugged. "Some people deserved it, I guess."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"I didn't know that." Near looked at Matt with new respect. "I really can't condone that sort of vigilantism, but I'm inclined to agree."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt shrugged. "A job's a job. At the same time I was getting paid by some businessmen to keep their names off those pro-Kira sites. I turned down the really fucked-up ones, but that whole Yotsuba thing had a lot of people on edge."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"Mercenary," Near said with what he realized was a fond grin. "At least you had values."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I prefer chaotic-neutral, but I guess mercenary fits. Dunno about values, though. Not covering up for rapists seems... basic-human, to me."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"And now we're back to geekery."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Yep. Everything goes back to geekery, Near."