002 | Video

[unitas]

[ The room behind her is ensconced in darkness, and only her face and neck are visible, lit only by the cold light of her phone. She's clearly apprehensive, and uncertain, filled with new doubts, and worries.   This is not a post she had ever thought she would have to make, but now, with Hope announcing the safety of the temples (safety that comes with a price, she believes), she has no real choice.  She swallows, suddenly all nerves. ]

I know it's tempting, but... [  Is there any way to say this where people will listen? ] don't use the temples, don't hide in them.  If you have to hide, then pick a building, find a room, and hunker down.  When the Darkness comes, you might have to move, but... [ She licks her lips, expression pained for a moment before she shakes her head, as if giving up on something.  ]

This is for the best.

[ ...Maybe. ]

Comments

[solvethepuzzle]

[Sigh.]

That assumes the effect would cease with her death, or that she wouldn't revive and the effect reinstates itself automatically or she decides to do it again.

[Why are they doing this where other people can hear them when they're in the same house?]

[torrefied]

[Because Reasons.]

Hope's the one who has to bring her back if she's killed, and he's not exactly happy with her at the moment, either.

[Scroll down, Near.]

I don't think it would take too much convincing to get him to take his time with it, at least long enough to figure out if that solution is effective.

[solvethepuzzle]

[He already has. Have you even met him?]

Or you could stop and consider things beyond the first impulsive thought that enters your mind.

[Yes, he knows this will go over badly.]

[torrefied]

[For fuck's sake, Near, you at least know him, not like everyone else here.]

It wasn't my first thought, you twerp! I tried talking to her like a reasonable human being, and you can clearly see how well that didn't work. There is a very simple risk-benefit analysis to be made, and I made it. And, by the way, I don't see you offering any alternatives. If you're going to criticize my methods, at least have a suitable suggestion of your own to present.

Starts public, switches to private

[solvethepuzzle]

Mello, please calm down.

[Switching to this private like both of them frankly should have the first time. But thank you for the chance to show himself the reasonable one, Mello.]

You had civil conversation for how long before you turned to this? You've lost any potential to learn more this way.

private, yay

[torrefied]

What did I tell you about giving me orders? I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of don't.

[You'll hear him suck in a sharp breath through his teeth.]

Long enough. What else do you expect to learn, exactly? She's said she doesn't know how to stop it, and she's made it clear she doesn't have any intention of doing so, either.

Private

[solvethepuzzle]

I said 'please'. [Which makes it a request or something.]

Something may have been worked out via more detailed questioning; just because she's an idiot hardly guarantees that there is nothing someone more intelligent could work out from the information she does have. [He's no nice.] And you're putting yourself in a very unfavourable position long-term with the people we're forced to share this place with if you show how easily you resort to this behaviour.

[Long-term strategy, Mello. Honestly.]

permaprivate

[torrefied]

[... OK, that's a fair point. So is the bit about long-term strategy, actually; it's not that Mello can't see the bigger picture, he's just used to the more immediate threats taking priority. And stopping the threat that's consuming the city definitely counts as such. But as far as his behavior is concerned ...]

Easily, Near? No.

[Mello can feel himself quickly spiraling out of emotional control, and he's glad they're talking over the phone instead of in person. If he had to say this to Near's impassive face, he might scream.]

There is nothing about making the decision to kill someone that's easy. You just think it comes easily for me because I've had practice. And you wouldn't know the first thing about it, because you've never killed anyone before, have you.

[Not really a question, how he says this. Of course Near's never killed anyone before. What a ridiculous idea - to begin with, it would involve leaving the house.]

I have had to do a lot of unpleasant things in the last few years, and precisely none of them were easy. But they were necessary. And I had to be the one to do them.

[solvethepuzzle]

[Whereas the bigger picture is where Near prefers to look, puzzling out how the current moment will slot into it. Which can leave him slow to react to immediate situations. It's one of the places where the contrast between them is the most stark. Frankly, if the decision proves to be a sound one and someone does kill the girl, Near will not be bothered. He simply thinks they don't have enough information yet to make that determination.

[... And now he's glad they're not speaking in person, because his face pulls into a thoughtful frown. "You've never killed anyone before, have you." Mello says it so certainly, and has every reason to do so. He would even have been correct, had it not been for Near's time Traveling. He'd had the real Death Note in his hands back home, could have written Mikami's name to ensure he would act as needed. But he'd decided against it.

[But on the Grid . . .

[He'd been Infiltrating, that time. Hadn't been himself, but the person in that world that resonated most closely with him. Regardless, the actions, the result, the feelings are all first-hand experiences for him. He has killed, out of necessity, and it had not been an easy decision. Not considering who he'd killed. So in truth, he knows exactly what it is like. He'd felt awful for having to kill Mai while he'd been Infiltrating, and when he'd come back to himself later, he'd still felt that way, if a bit less keenly. He'd filed it away, uncomfortably, but there is a bit of care for her that still lingers even now.

[He hates it. But it's there.

[His tone is unchanged when he speaks again:] It looks easy to the outside world and is painting you in a bad light. I should not have to be the one to tell you this; you're supposed to the one who handles social situations more smoothly. [No need to tell him about Mai. None at all. And he doesn't feel like getting back into that discussion about what's necessary. He'd disagreed with Mello's final "necessary" act back home, too.]

[torrefied]

The outside world is populated with fools.

[That's how it is in their home world, too. Only a foolish world would accept a foolish man-child like Light Yagami as its god.

An uncomfortable tightness settles into the back of Mello's throat as he considers Near's words. He's right (he's always right when it counts, isn't he?) - Mello is better at dealing with people, and he always has been. But the trouble with pushing himself to the point where he has nothing left to lose is that everything is already lost. Mello is still stuck in the mindset of a man with one day left to live, and his ability to see past that one last tomorrow has been shattered. But this isn't the first time since he's been in Hadriel that Mello has been told that he is mishandling his approach to the others here. Mello is a willful, emotional creature, but he is also very smart, and practical-minded. This isn't the world he and Near came from, where brute force took Mello to the top of the criminal underworld, right up until Kira was able to destroy all the resources he'd carefully accumulated.]

The light in this place is shitty and artificial anyway.

[It's a half-hearted, sideways acknowledgment, but it's the best Mello can manage at the moment.]

[solvethepuzzle]

That much, I don't dispute. [Kira's followers were idiots. Near can follow the logic on how people would buy into it, how they could get onto the track that Kira had been doing good in the world, as nonsensical as that belief is. That much is basic psychology. But Near knows better than those people. He has no delusion that he is an upstanding member of society himself, understands on some level that he is a damaged person. The fact of the matter is that he's fine with both of these things and has no particular desire to change them.

[But he still has standards. And even the so-called noble goals Light Yagami had ranted about endlessly had not only been disgustingly egotistical, but full of logical flaws.]

It's just a bad strategic move to alienate them completely.

[He'll leave the acknowledgement be. It seems unnecessary to dwell on it.]

[torrefied]

Fine.

[He's not wrong. But then again, Near so infrequently is - this should come as no surprise. And the truth of the matter is that the two of them are connected - by their shared upbringing, their common history, the aims they've both worked toward in divergent ways, even just their physical proximity in this place - so anything Mello does is likely to affect Near, too. Still, Mello sighs loudly, offers a begrudging concession.]

I won't do anything to escalate this unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Are you satisfied?

[solvethepuzzle]

[It's so backward, Near being concerned about the front they present. Normally, he wouldn't care. But save for Mello, he is alone here . . . against how many, with what manner of abilities? Near certainly doesn't expect to make friends and won't aim in that direction, but if he can avoid making enemies for stupid reasons, that would be preferable. Speaking up publicly against Mello's suggestion will look favourably upon him, he thinks.

[... He wonders that Mello might be conceding too easily on this. Their disagreements usually last longer. Yes, Mello sounds appropriately put out, but it could be an act, a lie. That girl has actually given him her location -- presumably. Mello could still easily decide to go there and try to put his plan into action.

[But there isn't time to continue with this, is there? Perhaps Mello recognizes that and that's all it is.] Yes, thank you. [He doesn't mean for it to sound condescending. But it might. Lack of tone so easily obscures intent.]