Stockholm Syndrome - Ch17

Matt awoke the next morning to Mello prodding him sharply in the head. “Ungh! What?” He sat up almost immediately, his eyes open but unfocused. He turned around to see the blonde leaning over the headboard of the bed, wearing Matt’s Rush hoodie and also a devious grin.

“Before we start cleaning, let’s eat.” Mello said, examining the fingernails on one hand. “I’ve been awake since seven.”

“What time is it now?” Matt heaved himself out of bed and ducked to the floor to pick up a t-shirt to throw over his jeans; a black one with the Nintendo logo on it.

“It’s eight-thirty,” Mello ran a hand through his hair, which was wet. “I showered about a half-hour ago, so you should still have hot water… Oh, how’s something from a fast-food place sound for breakfast, seeing as I’m in no mood to cook and we’re out of milk?”

“…Fine,” Matt blinked, clutching as his neck and realizing his goggles were still hanging there. He pulled them off and threw them onto his bed, sighing in gratification as he did so. “Are you gonna go get it or do you want me to?”

“Nah, I’ll go. Gives you time to shower and get dressed and shit while I’m gone. I’m not quite dressed all the way, but your hoodie works fine for me.” Mello stepped out from behind the headboard; he was wearing charcoal-gray jeans. Matt’s hoodie fell about six inches below his beltline, a little more than the distance that it came when HE wore it. Mello was shorter than him, so it made sense.

“Um…” Matt rubbed his eyes. “Geez, that hoodie’s big on you.”

“It’s a 3x. I know. Why’d you get it so big?”

“It was the only size they had…” Matt mumbled, blinking. “I’ll write down what I want, then… where are you gonna go, McDonalds?”

“Yeah,” Mello nodded, opening the door to Matt’s room and exiting. Matt followed behind the blonde, still a bit groggy. “It’s closest, of course.”

“Right…” Matt turned into the living room and pulled a stray sheet of notepaper towards him, and began to scribble with a pen that he’d picked up off the floor. Once finished, he handed the paper to Mello, who put it in his pocket. The blonde began to put on his shoes, his hair falling over his face as he craned his neck.

“I’ll be back within the half-hour,” He said, straightening up and brushing his hair away. “Be clean for me when I get back.” The blonde crossed to the couch and kissed Matt swiftly on the cheek. “See ya.”

Matt stood up, nodding, and went to his room for clean clothes. Once inside, he heard the door shut as Mello left. Sighing, he gazed around at his possessions, knowing he’d have to say goodbye to 3/4s of them. “Gonna miss you guys.” He said fondly, finding a clean pair of jeans in his closet along with a shirt to accompany them. “Real bad.” He sighed again, shaking his head, and left the room for the shower.

---

The smell of food was just there. Where? Everywhere. Matt scrambled out of the bathroom before he was even fully dressed to make absolutely SURE Mello was back with the food, and he was. Matt whined as the blonde waved a bag tantalizingly at him from the kitchen. He dove back into the bathroom to wrestle his way into his jeans before jogging down the hallway.

“I know I’m not done in there,” He explained, glancing back at the bathroom as he entered the kitchen. His dirty clothes were still on the floor and the light was still on. “I’ll finish when I’m done eating.”

“You got it,” Mello said, shrugging and taking his bag into the living room, tossing his hair slightly as he did.

Matt dug into the other bag to make sure Mello had gotten his order right, then, once satisfied, joined the blonde in the living room. He sat on the floor, using the coffee table as a table. He glanced briefly at his laptop, sitting nearby on the floor with the screensaver [a picture slideshow] scrolling by. “Have you heard anything from those assholes yet?”

“Nope,” Mello gnawed on his straw thoughtfully, gazing at the blank television screen. “Not a thing. I assume they’re biding their time.”

Matt raised an eyebrow, breaking a piece off from his hash brown. “You’re kidding. Well, sounds like it… maybe they’re giving you time to think over your options.”

“Mhm,” Mello sighed, and put his drink back on the table. “Probably.” He rolled his eyes. “Ah well. Can’t do a lot about it.”

Matt jumped slightly as a sudden sound came from his computer, and the screensaver switched itself off to reveal his desktop; and the announcement that he had a new instant message.

Frowning, he opened his messenger; the message was from ?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
holy shit man where are you

Matt blinked, glanced at Mello, then typed a reply.


[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
I’m here man whatcha want?

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
my gf and I just had it out

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
oh man… that sucks

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
yea it does… glad she didn’t kick me out or nothin

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
god, no

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
ah well. Assume one of us’ll apologize at some point… so howre u and ur man?


Matt laughed out loud. Mello leaned over his shoulder to look at the screen, then chuckled. “Would I be right in assuming that this is the guy you talk to until one in the morning?”

“You got it.” Matt chuckled, shaking his head.


[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
we’re fine, he’s looking over my shoulder reading this

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
oooo

HIIIII.

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
lmfao


Mello flashed the computer screen the peace sign and said, “Yo.”


[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
lol, he says yo

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
omg!

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
awesome

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
totally
lol
anyway man I’m eatin breakfast, can I ttyl?

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
sure thing
cya

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
ohay one more thing

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
hm?

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
go apologize to ur girl
plz
she’ll think better of you for it

?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
heh
you do have a point

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
trust me, apologies are good


Matt grinned and glanced over his shoulder at Mello, who gave him a warm smile and shook his head. “Tellin’ it like it is, eh?”

“You bet.”


?infiltrate, destroy, rebuild¿ Says:
mmmkay
thx man
ttyl

[The Chaotic Neutral] Says:
cya


Matt closed out the window with a small laugh and turned around back to his food. Mello did the same, yawning as he did. “So how much does that guy know?”

“Hm? Almost nothing,” Matt nibbled on the remaining end of his hash brown, gazing at t he wall opposite. “Don’t even know my name. He just knows my age, that I like video games, I’m British, and that I’m gay.”

“Huh. Anything about me?”

“Just knows that you’re blonde and hot.”

Mello snorted derisively and pulled back the bun of his sandwich, an eyebrow raised. “I’m not hot.” The expression on his face looked as though he was trying not to smile. “They ALWAYS put a shit-ton of mayo on these…”

“Mel…” Matt turned around to face the blonde, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t we just have this discussion? You’re a blue-eyed blonde, you’ve got the most amazingly pretty face, and you’ve got a body that’s both feminine AND sexy as all hell.” He moved himself so he was on the couch and kissed the other on the neck. “You’re gorgeous.”

Mello blushed, and took a bite of his sandwich. “Blimey, you’re a biased kiss-ass,” He grinned, and swallowed. “Can’t say I blame you though, eh?”

“Not at all,” Matt gave the blonde a grin and dug into his own sandwich. “I’m supposed to be biased. You’re amazing, Mel, don’t forget that.”

“I’ll try to remember.” Mello grinned, blushing, and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “Promise… heh…”

They were quiet for the remainder of the meal; Mello was the first to speak once they’d finished. “Okay. Cleanup time. Get ready to say goodbye to a few of your games.”

Matt moaned and buried his face in his hands, “Nooo. Please, not my games. I need those. C’mon, Mel.”

“Nope, we’re getting rid of at least a couple, Matt. And maybe the larger consoles. They’ll only be in the way.” Mello stood up, pulling Matt with him. “Come on, let’s go.”

Matt groaned again. “Lemme finish up in the bathroom first… geez…” He sighed, wriggling out of Mello’s grip to duck into the bathroom, where he pulled a shirt on, picked up his dirty clothes, and switched off the lights. Once in his room, he dumped the clothes into a mounting pile and collapsed on the floor with another sigh, pulling a box of video games towards him. “This is gay. Oh, by the way, you have to clean under MY bed this time.”

“What?!” Mello looked scandalized, “Hell no!” He began digging in Matt’s closet, pulling clothes off their hangers.

“C’mon. I did yours.” Matt said dangerously, raising an eyebrow and flipping through the titles of games. “Okay… gonna throw away all the games I’ve beaten so far.”

“If you’ve beaten all of the games you’ve got for one console, we’re getting rid of the console.” Mello kicked Matt’s closet open just a little bit more, the pile of clothes spilling out was keeping the door propped open slipped and began to tumble out of the closet. “Oshit.” He took a step back to avoid the avalanche of clothes, then looked at Matt. “Why don’t you believe in hanging up your clothes?”

“…Um…” Matt looked up from reading the back of Metal Gear Solid: 2, “…I dunno… it’s just… easier, I think… I dunno.” He shrugged, then tossed the game to the side. “What are you gonna do with my clothes?”

“Sort them,” Mello was on all fours, pulling Matt’s clothes from the very darkest depths of his closet. “Jesus, Matt… don’t you ever get tired of stripes?”

Matt was tempted to throw an empty game case at him. “No!” He had started to pile his games, the ‘beaten games’ pile was much larger than the ‘not yet beaten’ one. “I love stripes…”

“You’ve got a lot of just black t-shirts, too. Few band shirts… is this Rush sweatshirt the only one you’ve got?”

“The only hoodie?” Matt threw an empty case into a new pile he was going to deem ‘garbage’. “No, I’ve got one for the band Genesis, too.”

“I hate them.”

“Oh, you’re just jealous that I have a better taste in music than you do.”

“Matt, all you listen to is American classic rock.”

Matt gave the blonde a thumbs-up, grinning. “That’s the only way to go, baby. The little time I spent in America was enough to get me hooked.” He chuckled, then tossed an empty case into the pile. “All you listen to is your alternative indie shit.”

“I like my alternative indie shit.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your favorite band?”

Mello clicked his tongue, squinting his eyes and looking up at the ceiling. “The Bravery. I like Wolf Parade and Gallows, too.”

Matt snorted with derisive laughter. “Wow. Just wow.” Laughing still, he shook his head, pushing aside a small pile of games and sighing. After a moment’s silence, he cleared his throat and muttered, “I like Wolf Parade, too.”

Mello threw a rolled up sock at him.

---

Three hours later and Matt was nearly crying.

“Buh-but I don’t WANT to get rid of my Playstation!” Touching the black box with fond eyes, looking imploringly up at the blonde. Mello was all the air of an angry mother or teacher, folding his arms across his chest and looking down at Matt, who was sitting on his bed.

“Matt. You can keep all of your handheld games.”

“That’s not what you said!” Matt wailed, hugging the box towards him. “You said I might have to get rid of the bigger ones!”

“I changed my mind. Find all of your handheld game stuff- and that’s it.”

“No.”

“Hm?”

“No… I don’t want to.”

“Then you’re gonna live in that same pair of clothes for the rest of your life.”

“…But… Meeeel,” Matt whined, tugging the other’s sleeve. “What am I gonna do when I get bored?”

“Play your Gameboy or some shit, I dunno. You’ll still have your laptop- get a fuckin’ computer game. Calm down, Matt.” Mello leaned forward, putting one hand on the bed on either side of Matt, tilting his head towards the other. “You’ll survive.”

Matt recoiled from the other in horror. “I. Will. Not.” He growled, sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend and moving backwards on the bed, holding his Playstation to him like it was a child.

“Yes, you will.”

“…No.”

“I’ll buy you a PSP if you get rid of your Playstation.”

“…You’re sick.” Matt growled, pushing his Playstation into the blonde’s arms and sighing resignedly, scooting back into his bed and folding his arms over his chest. Mello cracked a smirk, then set the Playstation on top of the ‘sell’ pile.

“You’ll be thanking me when you don’t have to carry all of that shit around.” Mello said with a shrug, tossing a plain black t-shirt into the ‘sell’ pile as well. “Okay. We’re nearly done.”

Matt glanced next to him- a black suitcase, identical to Mello’s, was almost jam-packed with clothes and several games.

“This is so gay.” He mumbled, curling his knees up to his chest and glaring at the blonde over them. “I mean, seriously. They were like, my friends.”

“Get over it, you pansy.” Mello grumbled, shutting the bag and sitting down on the bed next to Matt. His room was utterly empty- which was depressing in every sense of the word.

“Bite me.” Matt said gloomily, looking at the floor over his knees.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me because you have an unhealthy obsession. Look, the more bigger consoles you get rid of, the more handheld games you can get.” Mello inveigled, tilting his head at Matt and raising an imploring eyebrow. “Get it?”

“…” Matt sighed, and nodded, releasing his knees and sitting cross-legged, scowling. “Yeah, okay…”

“There ya go.” Mello ruffled Matt’s hair fondly, grinning. Matt sighed, hanging his head, and nodded again. “Aw, how long are you gonna pout for?”

Matt didn’t know, honestly. So he shrugged one shoulder listlessly, gazing at his
Playstation across the room. The poor thing… it was going to be so alone and so scared without him. Sighing, he pulled his goggles up over his eyes and ducked to gather his scattered Gameboy games from the floor.

“Okay… I’ll wait until you’re done pouting.” Mello yawned, stood up, then brushed past Matt and headed for the door. “Gonna go eat lunch. Let me know when you’re done.”

“Fine.” Matt muttered, scooping a couple games into his hands and moving them to the suitcase. Gazing down at the bare floor, he sighed, and shut the suitcase, following Mello out the door. “I’d better have that PSP by the time we leave, dammit…”