Unpopcorning of L

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

Pop!
There is nothing so disorienting as one moment, knowing where you are, and the next, not.

That’s not to say L has an idea where he just was. But wherever it was, he was content there. He may not have had all the answers to his questions, or perhaps he doesn’t just remember them, but it was a comfortable state to be in.

Whereas now, he doesn’t.

It’s not very often that L is completely confused. Whether or not he has all the answers to the problem, he can usually formulate some sort of guess. The universe tends to conform to certain rational standards; if an unseen figure sets tea down at his elbow, it is usually Watari. If a woman is missing and her husband is on the television pleading for her safe return, he is usually responsible. They are simple formulas that, while not always universal, get him comfortably through the day.

There is nothing comfortable, universal, or logical about this. He takes a step, slips, and finds himself sprawled on the floor and coated in what smells like butter. He discerns that he’s surrounded by popcorn.

Ahead of him is a door. In that list of rational standards, there’s another rule. Doors lead somewhere. So L makes his way towards it, gingerly. The slightly scrawny, extremely pale, twenty year old detective (who already has deep dark circles etched underneath his eyes) pokes his head out uncertainly.

“Excuse me?”

[ooc: this L is pre-canon, and will remember nothing of past interactions here. Under new management.]

Comments

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

... oh, yeah. 1999, remember? Sometimes Matt wonders if he's got a little too good at this not-thinking thing.

"The last case we were working on involved shinigami. Real ones. Well - I never met one, but Mello did. From what I hear he wrapped it right around hit little finger just like any of his Mafia underlings, but it bailed out in the middle of a raid." Matt laughs, shaking his head. Only Mello could do it.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I do not find myself overly surprised that Shinigami bend to Mello's will." He should be, but he isn't.

It is, after all, Mello.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. One of a kind, right?" He leans his head back against the stone wall, still smiling. "I'm kind of disappointed I never got to meet one myself."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"Not precisely, but certainly strong willed."

He's kind of gone-looking. It's from trying to picture what a shinigami must look like.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt tilts his head forward again to give L a serious look which may or may not be hidden behind his goggles.

"You haven't met grown-up Mello yet, have you?"

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I have not. I think that I would like to."

He's been following them, their reports, papers, tests, results, for a long time.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. But I'll let you introduce yourself, as per request. Us all suddenly being the same age as you has to be kinda funny... I think Near's technically older than all of us. Sort of. He didn't die," he adds, by way of explanation.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I will be younger than Near?"

That makes his eyebrows go up. Near is... little. Has always been.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Right now, yeah - he's twenty-two, I think. Looks older, too. Might be able to pass for sixteen sometimes."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"It was inevitable that he would grow up."

L isn't really surprised. It's just strange to think about in terms of 'now.'

"I am hardly Peter Pan. It is still, though, disconcerting. When I pictured meeting you, you were younger than me."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"... you were planning on meeting us?" He switches to 'us' instead of 'me' at the last moment, because the likelihood of L meeting the third-in-line at all was close to none. Never mind on a one-to-one basis.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I thought about it."

Which has the tone of a 'not really.'

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Still. A 'thought about it' (or a 'not really') is a lot different from an 'absolutely not' or... well, okay, maybe not that different. Matt hasn't got to the point where he can lie to himself that easily, but it's a nice fallacy.

"It's weird to think how much we worshiped you. It makes sense psychologically speaking, I guess, but... it's strange to remember." And now he's perched on the end of Matt's bed in a too-small striped shirt. In a magical castle. Somewhere in Scotland.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"You needed to."

He fiddles uncomfortably with his shirt sleeve again.

"To want to become the position, you needed to begin with a reverence. I could not be human, and if you had all met me, I would have been. I think if I could have, I would have liked to, but it was never a question. Even as a flawless, imaginary presence, it never really took completely as it was with those of you in which it would have mattered. Do you understand?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

Matt regards L thoughtfully.

He'd been lucky. He'd needed it, for a while; let's face it, when you're eight years old and your family's dead and you're technically a genius, you need something, and "I'm going to be L someday" is certainly that. And for a while... well. He might've been. But eventually it had stopped being something he needed and more something he wanted; and then something he only kind of wanted; and then he wasn't really sure about wanting it and that's when he knew that it was gone. But it hadn't ever trapped him.

Matt never let himself drop below third place, but he worked it well, making sure there was enough of a gap between himself and Mello make sure he wasn't a real contender any more. There was just... something Near and Mello had that he didn't. And he was cool with that. But that's how it worked with L-the-concept. A flesh and blood person with real flaws and real quirk, not invincible, not infallible after all...

Hm.

"Never really took?"

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"It is the most intelligent students who traditionally have the most trouble being convinced."

He is not entirely convinced further discussion of the issue would be appropriate. While he is certainly flesh and blood, not invincible nor infallible, there is something about his eyes which suggests he has seen- he knows- so much. Far more than he has any right to, really.

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I can see how that would work... Near was pretty into the whole thing, though. Still is." Matt stops himself before he can reveal that Near is the new L, now; if he'd appeared here four years before his death, he wouldn't want to know about it.

Finishing his smoke, Matt pushes himself off the wall and onto his feet.

"How are your clothes? We should probably flag down one of those house-elf things... I mean, you're welcome to the sweater and jeans, but you don't look all that comfortable in them."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"Near and Mello had their rivalry."

Nothing like competition to motivate someone. Especially for this, especially with people as smart as they all are.

"Thank you. My clothes will need to be washed before they are wearable again. I will borrow these, if that is alright, but return them to you. You are a short person."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I suppose... I never got the impression Near was all that into it. The competitive aspect of it. But then I don't know him all that well." And he's used to Mello, Mello who could make anyone seem serene and unconcerned.

Maybe that had been the problem. Matt had focused all his competitive energy into his games: he didn't want to be constantly scrambling for first place. Not in real life.

"Heh, thanks for rubbing it in. I don't think I'd even have noticed how much taller you are if you hadn't tried on the jumper..." He wanders over to the bathroom, picking up L's buttery clothes. "They're pretty quick about stuff like laundry here. Almost makes up for the creepiness."

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I slouch. It makes me seem shorter." Unperturbed, L pads after him, still barefoot.

"That is reassuring to learn."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I'll go and see if there are any about..." He pops his head out of the main door, calling (a little uncertain still), "Uh... elves?"

There's a small pop and one appears in the centre of the room, bowing and scraping already. Before it can speak Matt cuts in with, "Uh, we'd just like these cleaned, please. Quick as possible. Send them back to Mr Ryuuzaki's room." The house-elf bows to them both (huge ears flapping with the motion), takes the clothes, and disappears just as quickly.

"They give me the creeps," Matt says.

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

L stares, for a moment after it's disappeared, then looks up at Matt. That is one of the oddest things he's seen today, and it's been a day for oddness.

"I can see why. Should I choose one of the rooms now?"

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"Wait until one talks to you. And they push you for a surname, too. Half of them know me as Matt Thomas." 'Kerr Mathias Thomas' is the name on one of his passports - the oldest, in fact, the one Wammy's had issued him when he left.

"If you like - any of the ones that are free, I think. Want me to come with?"

[ijk-mno.livejournal.com]

"I will choose one for them." He has plenty of names, too. He is the top three detectives in the world, after all.

"That might be helpful. I am not sure which rooms are taken."

[gamerspy.livejournal.com]

"I take it you know our names, right?"

Matt leads him out into the main Ravenclaw corridor.

"I think almost all of these ones are free, actually... Mello and Near are over there." He indicates a door a little further along, on the opposite side. "They're all different sizes. Ones on that side have windows, too."