HEY-O!!! 'TIS THE PSYCHOOOOOOOOO! 'Sup guys? 'Kay so here is the next development in IYWMD. Just a heads up though: this chapter got freakishly long, but I suppose it'll make a good present for whoever is still reading this... Sorry. >.< I'll try to update ASAHP. (That stands for as soon as humanly possible) So yeah. catch y'all on the flip side.
Yours crazily!
ThePsychO
Oh PS: You guys reeeeeaaaally need to read Noblesse if you haven't already. It's a manga found online only. It's pretty much amazing! (ooh, oh oh oh.) Totally PM me if you wanna know how to read it. XD M'kay bye!
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It was the second meeting with the detectives as a group that Elizabeth finally had enough of being cut off. Huffing slightly, she rolled over onto her back and glared at the white ceiling.
Screw it.
Tossing her headphones on her bed, she stalked to the door of her bedroom, intending to throw it open and stalk out in the middle of the bemused Task Force with a flourish.
It was then she shamefully remembered L's words should she reveal her presence.
"Do not let the Task Force know of your existence, or if you do, in some act of stupidity, you have no idea I'm L. Understand?"
Elizabeth groaned and threw her head back. Curse her obedience. And now we wait...again. She supposed she'd call someone.
Booting up her laptop, she sat leaned up against her door with the computer perched on her flat knees. She could always chat with Mello, although she doubted he'd appreciate her interrupting whatever it was he was doing. Probably studying. The fifteen year old was freakin' obsessed. No, better to let him call her.
Of course, being roommates with Mello, Matt wasn't an option either. That just leaves...
As she waited for her call to be answered she gazed out of her window and listened to L's muffled conversation with the detectives.
"...Can do that?"
"Of course; nothing is impossible, and if we chose to show the tape after seven..."
"...Results are only 73% conclusive...can't be rash..."
Suddenly a different voice sounded much closer.
"Elizabeth, you called?" Elizabeth smiled happily at her friend.
"Yeah, L's doing another case and he's being really secretive about it. So I figured I'd entertain myself." The snowy white head in the screen tipped slightly to the side.
"You're hardly entertaining yourself, if I'm talking to you." Although no smile was shown on his lips, Elizabeth could see in Near's misty grey eyes that he enjoyed the friendly banter.
"I guess... So what're you doing?"
"At the moment, I am stacking dice." Elizabeth managed to nod seriously.
For a moment.
Biting her lip, she grinned widely. Elizabeth missed this. How easy it was to talk to Near. She still remembered how they first met.
A young Elizabeth rounded yet another corner, and came to yet another hallway with still more rooms. All looking exactly the same as the corridor she had just exited. Choking back a sob, she resumed her fruitless search for L, stalking forward with a feigned confidence.
Coming to another intersection of equally identical proportions.
This orphanage is too confusing! She fussed, tugging on her hair nervously. Where are all the other kids? She'd only been wandering for a second, and then all of a sudden she was alone. With not the faintest idea of how to return to the only person she truly trusted.
She randomly chose a direction, veering right, and saw the end of the hallway. A dead end. Elizabeth heaved a shaky sigh and was about to turn back when she saw one difference from the other hallways.
One of the doors was open.
She crept forward slowly, straining to hear for signs of life in the room. No sounds came from the room until she neared the doorway, and there she heard the distinct sound of falling dominoes.
"He-hello?" She called a little desperately around the frame.
The dominoes had stopped clanking together by then, and only silence surrounded her.
Thinking she'd just imagined it (it seemed an appropriate time to be going insane), she turned to head away, shoulders hunched.
Until a clear voice rang out from the otherwise silent room.
"Enter."
Elizabeth started, and then swiftly threw open the door and scrambled inside. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.
A boy, a few years older than her, sat in the middle of multiple piles of different colored dominos, all evidence of the sound she'd heard earlier. The boy himself had snow-white hair, and almost completely black eyes, his irises were so dark. She knew it wasn't a trick of the light, even though he hadn't even glanced at her yet. He was also, strangely, wearing all white clothing that closely resembled pajamas. But this wasn't what stopped her in her shock.
The boy had a split lip, and blood had dribbled down his porcelain skin and dried, it seemed.
'Almost as if he didn't care enough to tend to the wound at all.' she thought sadly.
"Are you going to come in?" His voice startled her out of her reverie, and she surged forward a few steps, and hesitantly, slowly, lowered herself onto the floor next to him. Although he sat with one leg propped in front of him, and the other folded underneath him, she could help but sit in her customary crisscross way.
They both sat in a slightly awkward silence, with Elizabeth shifting slightly every so often, and the mysterious boy next to her just staring at the domino he was playing with, flipping it around his fingers with surprising dexterity. She noticed offhandedly that it had four dots on each side.
"So... what's your name, anyway?" She asked nervously, fussing with her hair distractedly.
He barely glanced up at her, but his fingers slowed their furious pace.
"Near." he finally said, albeit very quietly.
"Near." Elizabeth nodded. "I'm Elizabeth. You can call me Lizzy if you want. But not Beth. I don't like the name Beth. I guess if you want, there's always Liz, too..." She cut off abruptly, realizing she'd started rambling. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I get talkative when I'm uncomfortable."
Near's brow furrowed ever so slightly, the minuscule smile he'd been wearing disappeared.
"I... make you uncomfortable?"
"No! Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all." Elizabeth backtracked quickly. "I'm just... not used to meeting new people."
Near's face resumed his expressionless persona. "Of course."
"So," began Elizabeth, "where are all the other kids?"
"They are celebrating Thanksgiving."
"And you aren't? Why don't we go and eat with them?"
Near reached his hand slowly to touch his split lip. "No. I think I will stay here."
Elizabeth's eyes widened a fraction and she leaned forward slightly. "Doesn't it hurt?"
Near's eyes flickered up to her and stayed locked on hers as if to say 'what do you think?'
She hopped up onto her feet and teetered for a moment before rushing off into the room's adjoining bathroom. The sound of running water and rummaging filled the room, and Near turned his head slightly towards the bathroom when the door swung open again.
"Here," she said, thrusting a damp towel in front of him. "You need to clean yourself up."
When Near didn't make a move to take the towel, Elizabeth sighed exaggeratedly and knelt down in front of him. as she dabbed carefully at his face, Near held himself perfectly still and kept his deep grey eyes locked on hers. When she'd finished wiping the blood from his chin she sat back and smiled toothily at him.
"All better."
"Elizabeth?" A new voice resounded from the hallway. Elizabeth whipped her head around at the sound of the new voice.
"L!" She hopped to her feet excitedly, dropping the soiled towel on the white carpet. She hurried to the door, but halted short of the frame, a hand on the knob.
Near still sat completely still, honestly a little shell-shocked. He didn't move even as she made her way back into the room, and knelt in front of him again. She waited, staring until he raised his eyes to hers. When he did, her smile was brighter than any of the few sunrises he'd had the pleasure of setting eyes on.
"Bye, Near."
...
My favorite chapter yet. I'm at 99 votes totally so far, and I'm so excited for when I hit 100!!! Whoever reviews or votes gets virtual Near plushies!!! :D Love you all!
Stay crazy,
ThePsychO