Mello

Despite his words, Mello found himself talking to Matt more often, and, to his own resentment, even beginning to like him.  He didn't exactly pour out the contents of his heart onto the floor to share; far from it- he was still as guarded as ever.  But the redhead was a good listener- he sat on his bed with his DS while Mello would rant about Near, and although it appeared he wasn't listening, he could have repeated everything the blonde had said since he walked through the door, verbatim.  And Matt was safe, in a way- he was third best in the orphanage, and though he posed no real threat to Mello's position as second, Mello made quite sure that he was always before his roommate.  It gave him something to fall back on.  Even if he wasn't better than Near, he was better than Matt, and that reassured him, although Matt didn't seem to much care.
"How are you third?" Mello had asked him once, watching him sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed with his DS.  When Matt had glanced at him questioningly, he continued, "I mean, you don't study or anything, you just sort of sit there playing games and being lazy.  You even fall asleep during class," he said the last bit rather spitefully, but Matt ignored the tone and merely shrugged.
"I do my homework, I guess I just manage to store enough away," the redhead shrugged.  Mello frowned a little and contemplated this for a while, munching away at a bar of chocolate, and that was the end of that.

One morning, Roger called all the kids into the entrance hall.  Even though the room was huge, it was crowded.  Mello hovered in the back, and Matt, who had taken to following him around during their free time, came with him.  Once again Mello found himself comparing the redhead to a dog.  He was still playing his game, and slid down the wall into a sitting position, hunched over his handheld.  Mello watched, thinking.
"Hey, Matt?"
"Hmm?"
"You're like a dog, you know that?"
The redhead paused his game, looking up at Mello with his large, deep blue eyes.
"Woof," he said, blinking once, then turned back to his game with a small smirk playing on his lips.
Against his will, Mello felt his lips twitching upwards, and he fought to suppress the smile.  Luckily, Roger called for silence at that moment, and the blonde focused his attention on the old man as the loud buzz of conversation in the hall faded.  Roger cleared his throat.
"As you are all well aware," he began, looking around at the sea of children.  "This is an orphanage for extremely bright people.  The top three students are placed in line to become the next L." He paused to take a breath, and Mello felt a jolt of excitement.  That was him!  "The current L will be visiting next week."
A murmur rippled through the children, and the housekeepers had to go around to gently shush them.  Mello saw that many of the faces in the crowd were shining with excitement.  When the noise had died down again, everyone's attention was focused on Roger, who continued.
"For those of you who do not know who L is, he is the world's greatest detective, and grew up here himself.  Although he does not expect this of you, I want you all to be on your best behavior."  Roger looked around the room again.  "I would like Near, Mello, and Matt to see me after this."  Mello grinned.  Roger nodded.  "That is all.  You are dismissed."
The children were up and the hall was noisier than ever, the housekeepers helping to keep them moving along, herding them through the doors like mother hens.  Mello lingered, Matt still sitting against the wall with his game, although he seemed to have it on pause.  Mello reached down and grabbed Matt by the forearm, hauling him up off the floor and bouncing a little, excitedly.  "Come on," he said.  "Roger wants us."
A housekeeper told them that Roger was in his office already, and they walked in silence down the long, winding halls of the orphanage.  The housekeeper Anna was cleaning a vase that rested on one of the pedestals outside the large doors of the office, and she looked up as they rounded the corner, smiling kindly at them.
"Mr. Roger is in there," she said, nodding at the doors.  "He said for you to go on in."  Mello dipped his head politely and pushed open the heavy doors, Matt behind him.  Roger looked up from his desk and smiled at them as they entered.
"Mello, Matt," he acknowledged.
"Roger," Mello replied, casting an icy glare at the white form hunched down on the floor.  The blonde blinked a little when Matt pushed past him and stood directly front of Roger's desk, sparing Mello from having to stand by Near.  Mello stepped up to stand next to the redhead and waited for Roger to speak, trying to ignore the constant click of puzzle pieces being snapped into place by the albino.
"When L comes next week," Roger said, eyes moving from one to the next.  "He will want to speak with each of you, and test your reasoning abilities.  I want you all to be prepared.  He will ask you a lot of advanced questions."  Mello nodded and waited, but Roger said nothing for another moment.  "That's all." His gaze lingered on Mello like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't.  "You may go."
Mello turned and left the room, Matt at his heels, not waiting to see if Near was coming, too.  Despite his second place, he was excited about meeting this world-renowned man, and having the chance to succeed him.  He was smart enough to be a candidate.  He grinned a little to himself.
His thoughts were broken by Matt's voice.  "What?" He asked, turning to look at his companion.
"I said: So we're finally going to meet L, huh?"  Mello nodded and Matt continued, speeding up to walk beside him.  "I mean, I've heard lots of things from other kids, but I doubt half of them have even met him.  The stories I've heard are pretty crazy."  Mello nodded again. "What do you think he'll be like?"
Mello glanced at him. "Smart."  He smirked a little when Matt elbowed him playfully in the ribs.
"Well of course he'll be smart!  He's the world's best detective!  I mean, what do you think he'll be like?  As in, personality-wise."
"Honestly, Matt, I have no idea.  Probably all… quirky."
"What makes you say that?"  They had slowed down, and now were standing in front of the door to their room.
"Well, he's a super-genius, right?" Matt nodded and he continued.  "And he's also never shown his face to anyone.  So nobody really knows what he's like, except for Roger and some of the people here.  He must be out of people's range of expectation."
"Yeah, that actually makes sense," Matt said, opening the door to the bedroom.  Mello followed him inside and fell back onto his bed.
"So what do you think he'll be like?"  The blonde asked.  Matt grinned at him from across the room.
"I think he'll be awesome."
Mello couldn't help it.  He grinned right back.
"You should smile more often."
"Maybe I will."