Doubt it all you want bro, but I dunno, it seems like you wouldn't want to write off like half the people here because someone pissed you off in a dream?
[Probably a high estimate, but whatever. Now he's actually kind of curious about the demographics of this place, actually.]
[It's too bad eyerolling can't be seen over voice.]
Come on, you have got to be smarter than this.
[He'd definitely seemed smart enough their last conversation, but wow. Chris is starting to wonder if Emily isn't right and Mello's mad he got rejected or something.]
[Man, the feeling's kind of mutual here. Chris seemed so smart last time they'd talked.]
Chris, is it? [Emily mentioned his name in one of her comments.] Let's get a couple of things straight here. One, you don't know me, and two, you would do well to refrain from questioning my intelligence.
[There's silence for a few seconds at that, as he decides how exactly he wants to go about responding to it.]
You basically just called all the teenage girls here--and you said you've met, what, three of them?--incapable of thinking about anything but clothes. So, what, is questioning the intelligence of people you don't know something reserved just for you, or...?
[RUDE, CHRIS. Mello is completely unprepared to have logic turned on him like that and falls momentarily silent before giving his begrudging reply.]
I did say it wasn't the best sample. But my analysis of that sample isn't incorrect. Besides, it's not like I never met a girl before I was brought here. There's precedence.
[What, were you actually expecting him to admit he was wrong? Sorry to disappoint.]
Do you uh... Actually have any friends that are girls? Because like, no offense but I find it hard to believe you're talking to any girls long enough to have a conversation that isn't about frivolous shit, so of course that's all your experience.
[Considering his attitude and all. Also wow, he never thought he'd see the day that he's lecturing someone on talking to girls, but he does have a lot of women friends.]
[That pulls a laugh out of Mello, low and dark. Friends. The number of people he classifies as such can be counted on a single finger, and his name is Matt. There's Halle too, of course, but she's more of a strategic alliance than a friend - necessary for gathering information about Near's movements, but that's all. (Almost all.)
In truth, in Mello's mind, alliances are more important than friendships. The House that raised him encouraged competition, which is antithetical to any kind of close companionship, and life on his own after he left the House did nothing to convince him of any inherent merits friendship could provide. Matt was an anomaly because he didn't care about competing, and he didn't care much about winning, but he was intelligent enough to keep up with Mello, and he was willing to work with him toward his ultimate objective. And there was a shared history to consider, too. Friendship requires openness, honesty, trust. The House bred these traits out of the high-achieving children who hoped for the possibility of laying claim to L's title, replacing them with a deep reverence for secrecy and lies. How do you make a friend of someone who won't talk about who they are or what their past entails? You don't.]
I've seen enough.
[He'd kept surveillance on Amane for long enough to see she too was a creature of frivolity, well past her teen years. Girls here like Ebihara were cut from the same cloth, in Mello's opinion.]
[He's quiet a moment, unimpressed with the response, and he considers arguing the point further... But he feels like that's probably pointless, by now. So instead he'll just give a word of advice--sort of--and if it's a bit condescending then that's just a somewhat immature bonus.]
Yeah. Sure.
I hope that like, you figure out how to realize you might be wrong about something before it's a little more serious than what teenage girls think about.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
[permavoice]
[permavoice]
[Unless something happened. And okay, sure, there's still a difference, but Chris only likes semantics if he's the one being pedantic about them.]
no subject
no subject
[He went shopping with Emily, does that count?]
[not here]
[not here]
no subject
Let's just say I'll be very surprised if any of them is capable of thinking about anything other than clothes for an extended period of time.
no subject
Really? Uh, how many teenage girls do you know, anyway?
no subject
no subject
[He was going to put it more diplomatically, but there's really no way to do that.]
no subject
no subject
[Probably a high estimate, but whatever. Now he's actually kind of curious about the demographics of this place, actually.]
no subject
no subject
Come on, you have got to be smarter than this.
[He'd definitely seemed smart enough their last conversation, but wow. Chris is starting to wonder if Emily isn't right and Mello's mad he got rejected or something.]
no subject
Chris, is it? [Emily mentioned his name in one of her comments.] Let's get a couple of things straight here. One, you don't know me, and two, you would do well to refrain from questioning my intelligence.
no subject
You basically just called all the teenage girls here--and you said you've met, what, three of them?--incapable of thinking about anything but clothes. So, what, is questioning the intelligence of people you don't know something reserved just for you, or...?
no subject
I did say it wasn't the best sample. But my analysis of that sample isn't incorrect. Besides, it's not like I never met a girl before I was brought here. There's precedence.
[What, were you actually expecting him to admit he was wrong? Sorry to disappoint.]
no subject
[Considering his attitude and all. Also wow, he never thought he'd see the day that he's lecturing someone on talking to girls, but he does have a lot of women friends.]
no subject
In truth, in Mello's mind, alliances are more important than friendships. The House that raised him encouraged competition, which is antithetical to any kind of close companionship, and life on his own after he left the House did nothing to convince him of any inherent merits friendship could provide. Matt was an anomaly because he didn't care about competing, and he didn't care much about winning, but he was intelligent enough to keep up with Mello, and he was willing to work with him toward his ultimate objective. And there was a shared history to consider, too. Friendship requires openness, honesty, trust. The House bred these traits out of the high-achieving children who hoped for the possibility of laying claim to L's title, replacing them with a deep reverence for secrecy and lies. How do you make a friend of someone who won't talk about who they are or what their past entails? You don't.]
I've seen enough.
[He'd kept surveillance on Amane for long enough to see she too was a creature of frivolity, well past her teen years. Girls here like Ebihara were cut from the same cloth, in Mello's opinion.]
no subject
Yeah. Sure.
I hope that like, you figure out how to realize you might be wrong about something before it's a little more serious than what teenage girls think about.
no subject
[If he's wrong about something, it will take more than verbal hand-wringing to convince Mello of it - he'll need to be shown facts.]
no subject
And Chris just rolls his eyes, though it fortunately can't be seen through voice, and hangs up.]