HH_mirror

"I've got water and a hand towel." Both at his desk, although the water's in a drinking glass. It doesn't take much to tip some out, and wet the cloth.

"There are more pillows in the chest at the foot of the bed if you want to sit up."

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Naomi stepped mostly back into the hall, still using one hand to hold the door for Matt.

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While L's washing A's hands, I go to the chest and pull out some of the pillows. I adjust them behind him before sitting on the bed. "Everything's going to be okay, A. We're all here. We all can work together." God, I never thought I'd be the one saying those words. "It is better if we all work together, you see." Nor those. If Near were here, he might remind me of them later. Damn it.

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Matt nips out of the room. He's back within ten minutes, with an arm full of kitten (cat?) and all the things they'll need floating along behind him.

"Here, A," he says, putting the pets down on L's bed. Then he turns to Naomi.

"Thanks. My room's just across here."

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At the sight of Schrodinger and Einstein, a flicker of life crosses A's features. The young cats immediately jump off the bed and twine around A's ankles in furry figure-eights.

"Oh," A says faintly.

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She nodded and followed, closing the door behind them.

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"They're glad to see you," he runs the washcloth firmly across the back of A's hand.

"And they're getting so big and grown up."

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"What happened?" Matt asks, as soon as the door is shut.

It only takes a second to get to his own room. "Down, Koopa," he says as the puppy surges forwards. "Uh. Here, I'll make some space..."

There's a chair, but it's covered with an unreasonable amount of junk.

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I can't help but smile at them. "They have gotten so big since I last saw them. You're taking such good care of them, A. C'mon, let's get you on the bed so you can pet them," I urge him to the bed, moving slowly to keep from tripping over the kittens who won't move more than a centimeter and are meowing pitifully for their master's attention. Or maybe they're worried. I don't know enough about cats to be sure.

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She was content to stand. "I'd already upset him by saying B looked something like L. It looked like he'd recovered, but then I let him know... what you told me. What happened to L - or what's going to happen - during the Kira case."

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A lets himself be lead to the bed and set down. Both felines hop up with him, and Schrodinger shoves her head under A's hand and headbutts it repeatedly, rapid-fire, while Einstein tries to stick his nose into A's opposite armpit.

"Oh," A says again, and strokes Schrodinger's head.

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Matt clears it anyway, before sitting down on the bed. Koopa's busy investigating Naomi's feet.

"Ah. That... kinda makes sense." He reaches to pull out a cigarette. "A's a little bit - devoted? - to L."

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"Take a moment to breathe and sit," L suggests, "and remember, and tell us if we fret over you too much."

He reaches up, to brush A's hair out of his face.

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I reach over and scratch Einstein's head a little, not enough to distract him from A, nor to make him move away, but to do something with my hands. "When you're ready, we can talk. But, breathe, first. We have a plan, A. There are things in place. We'll tell you when you're calmer, but for now, breathe and pet the cats."

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"I'd noticed," said Naomi, mostly devoid of sarcasm.

"His... name. Is, or was, he another candidate?"

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Einstein responds to Mello's touch with a purr, but continues pushing his head against A's armpit. A wraps his other arm around Schrodinger, pulling her into a not-very-comfortable-looking hug. She makes no protest or attempt to struggle.

He lets his face rest against L's hand. "I can't let him hurt you," he says miserably.

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"He was the first attempt at setting up a successor," Matt confirms. "The training was a lot harsher than what the later generations went through. He died before L did, though, so..."

He shrugs and lights his cigarette. "Want one?"

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L looks helplessly at Mello, keeping his hand cupping A's cheek.

He doesn't know what to say that won't set him off, but he isn't going to change his mind about this, either.

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I keep petting Einstein. "We have a plan, A. I told you, when you're calm again, we'll discuss it. We didn't want to upset you before." Cautiously, I reach over and touch his shoulder. "We'll tell you, and then you'll have a part to play, too."

I hope to fuck I can improvise something credible before he's calm.

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"Plan?" A asks plaintively, peering at Mello without letting his cheek stir from L's palm. "You... you won't let Light hurt him?"

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"Mello,"

Is this a good idea? Lying to him? L holds his peace though, and turns to settle down next to A, against the headboard. He lifts Einstein gently out of his way, settling the cat more onto A's lap, and winds his arm through A's.

"Sit down with us." The bed's big enough to hold three people and two cats.

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"Of course there's a plan," I say, sitting down. God, I hope this makes sense. "See, part of the reason L and I practice together is to make sure he's able to protect himself. That's important. We're all keeping an eye on Light, making sure he doesn't try to hurt any of us or L. Also, we're not letting Light know we're watching him, even though he does know we don't like him and that we know he's Kira. He may figure it out, but as long as he doesn't catch us at it, we have an advantage."

I swallow and reach out for his arm. "We can't change what's happened, A, but we can make sure nothing will happen here."

I glance over at L. He'd better back me up on this.

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All of which is reasonable and makes sense, of course, but the glaring omission is obvious.

"Won't hurt him here," he says intensely, "only not here, I can't, oh, no, no, can't let it happen anywhere, don't you see?"

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"He died?"

It wasn't so much surprise (there was certainly precedent, after all) as a certain sickness at the idea. He wasn't quite as young as the boy she hadn't shot, or as the girl B killed in Los Angeles (And wouldn't dying as a substitute be a horrible way for a child that age to go, so brazen, so brazen) but still, the thought of it...

"Oh... no thanks."

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