fourth. text.

[torrefied]

In the interest of having it completed some time this century, I'm taking over the project to create a guide document for new arrivals.

[And he's starting it from scratch, no thanks to Chris.]

If you can tear yourselves away from telling ghost stories long enough to reply, I'm interested to know what information you found most helpful when you first arrived, as well as what you would have liked to know sooner rather than later.

Comments

private voice.

[torrefied]

You don't have to fight for legitimacy. Your work speaks for itself.

[And that's very different from Mello; he's always had to work hard to prove himself, both as a potential successor and after he left the House, climbing his way up through the ranks of the criminal underworld.]

You've had resources at your disposal that most people would dream of ever being able to acquire. Having the right tools makes anything easier. As for what's more difficult - I don't really know.

[Mello may have been privileged to have met L as himself as a child, but it was only once, and only long enough for his mentor to impart those three stories Mello spoke of in the document recounting the LABB Murders that he wrote and left for Near to find after his death. He's been able to observe L's behavior here, of course, but they are all out of their element here, so what he's been able to collect isn't a normal set of data. What Mello knows of L is still mostly informed by reputation rather than firsthand knowledge.]

Maybe you can tell me.

private voice.

[hearthebell]

Working is fighting for legitimacy. Every second of it, whether or not it feels like it at the time.

[He fully recognizes that between the two of them, it probably felt more like working to Mello, and more like playing to L. He chooses not to comment on the statement about resources, because while they are certainly useful, L only attributes a small part of his success to having them. That had better be the case, at least, because he is cut off from all but two of them here in Hadriel, in the form of a pair of successors.]

Maybe. But I don't know if this is the time or place.

private voice.

[torrefied]

[It's probably neither. Mello knows well enough that pointing out your own weaknesses, even to an ally, is incredibly foolish. It's not surprising that L evades the topic, and Mello knows better than to push.]

Well, you know where to find me if it ever becomes the right time or place.

[It's a sideways invitation, that if L is having difficulty with something - say, the idea of having been killed and brought back to life - Mello is available to help, in whatever way he can. Not that L would know it, but Mello knows what it's like to find himself unexpected alive again after experiencing his death.]

private voice.

[hearthebell]

Yes. Just one door over.

[It's obvious and clear to both of them that he won't take advantage of it, might not even know how to. Because in truth, though it might be more than the sum of its parts, the parts say that it's exposing himself in a way that is terrifying when he is already vulnerable. Even behind the security and protection that Mello and Near are providing, L is certainly that.]