Time of Transition

[giftsofglory]

He made no move to return Mello to his room when morning came. In fact, a good week later there was still no move being made to that extent, and on that morning, when Mello woke it was to the now usual configuration of Sephiroth being wound around him, pinning his hands. This time, however, the act was accompanied by the silver haired man actually being asleep still.

Not to say they hadn't been spending all their time together, but Mello hadn't had the chance to see him asleep until then, him holding out for the blond to sleep and then rising before he could.

Comments

[gunsandchocolate]

"--what?" Mello paused, only pulling at his wrists slightly, suddenly confused. He turned to look for the exit of the cave that hadn't existed before.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

It was there, soft sunlight streaming in. "Go on."

[gunsandchocolate]

Maybe he should have kept fighting. But he was sicking of hitting brick walls and so he let go, turning away suddenly to move toward the light and stepping out into the sun. Even if it wasn't real. It felt like sunlight, for the first time in months. Mello looked around, wide-eyed.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

It was a garden, a rather normal garden behind a rather normal house, a bit overgrown from lack of care.

[gunsandchocolate]

He was momentarily stunned by the sight of trees and flowers, the scent of fresh air. Still, he was aware of the fact it wasn't real--

And yet he was willing to push that aside for now. It was beautiful. Mello wandered closer, lips parted in awe. He'd never realized he gave a damn about flowers or trees or grass. But he hadn't seen any in so long...

Finally remembering Sephiroth, he turned to look over his shoulder for him, suspicious.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

It was just a fence. A normal fence to go with his normal yard in fact.

[gunsandchocolate]

So Mello looked a little further, glaring around suspiciously, but when he couldn't find Sephiroth, he moved toward the house again, opening the door to peek inside curiously. Just the illusion of being outside was making him forget his anger and frustration, childlike wonder relaxing him slightly. It shouldn't have been this amazing. But he'd been denied a lot of things for a long while.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

Inside was not suddenly different, the same theme, a normal house, in this case a normal kitchen.

[gunsandchocolate]

Interested, but suspicious, he kept exploring, looking around the kitchen and then past it. This time, he wasn't trying to imagine new things to materialize. He wanted to see what was already here.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

It was an almost painfully normal house, little nicknacks placed around decoratively.

[gunsandchocolate]

Confused, Mello continued to search for some point to all this, going upstairs and into the bedroom.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

There was a soft mrew from the cat that has been asleep on the bed, white fur contracting the green eyes that cracked open. The feline didn't bother to get up.

[gunsandchocolate]

The cat surprised him. And, unexpectedly, make his heart leap with an emotion suddenly close to happiness, the closest he'd been in ages. Mello smiled, stepping closer and stretching a hand out to offer it to the animal. He'd momentarily forgotten the cat wasn't real, too pleased to see it.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

He leaned up a little, rubbing his kitty face against his fingers, purring.

[gunsandchocolate]

This cat looked nothing like the red Abyssinian he had at home, but Mello didn't care all that much right now. Sitting down on the bed, he took the nuzzling and purring as a positive sign and drew the animal into his lap, petting the soft fur with a vague smile.

Curiously, he tried to imagine it a different color, more of a reddish brown like his own cat, wanting to see if he could mold details of his surroundings. The gun, having been forgotten about, had vanished into the nothingness it had come from.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

The feline stubbornly stayed the same, lolling out in his lap and flicking his tail a bit. He could tell what Mello was trying to do, but that would ruin the concept.

[gunsandchocolate]

Strange. Mello dismissed it though, too fascinated by the soft fur. He scooted further into the middle of the bed so he could lay down, curled up around the cat and still petting him dutifully, murmuring pointless things about how he reminded Mello of his kitty back home. He wondered where Sephiroth had gotten to but found he didn't care. Good riddance. This was more interesting then fighting endlessly with no result, and he felt suddenly relaxed.

It wasn't long before he actually fell asleep with the cat in his arms, tired from the strain of figuring this whole mind-world thing out.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

It was days, a few weeks actually, and there was the normal things in the news, things that Mello hadn't known while he was away, and the neighborhood seemed quiet, peaceful, though occasionally a loud neighbor or car would be heard.

[gunsandchocolate]

When Mello stirred and woke up, it was Monday-- to him, at least. Monday, and he woke to an empty bed, curled up around his cat and still fully clothed. He sat up, stretched, and blinked down sleepily, remembering he'd come home late last night and hadn't bothered changing before crawling into bed. Nakago must not have wanted to wake him in the morning when he left for work, he figured, getting out of bed to shower and get dressed, turning on the television as he did so just to have the background noise. He didn't like silence very much. It made him uncomfortable, especially when he was alone.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

The problem with having the TV on for noise meant sometimes there was news. "-from the recent layoffs. The former employee was reported to have gone back into the building to 'get his things' and in a show of aggression not seen locally for years, proceeded to shoot his coworkers. There are six confirmed wounded, and three verified dead, one being the CEO of the company, Gi Nakago. Gi was considered one of the most brilliant minds in business in recent years, so there is no doubt that this tragedy will be felt for quite some time in the business world. The other two dead are Anne Rosfelt, and Meralyn Jones, who worked on the same floor and died managing to pin the attacker, stopping any further deaths before the police were able to intervene. May the families of the fallen be in all our prayers tonight, and there will be updates as to the condition of the other six later this evening. In other news..."

[gunsandchocolate]

Mello had been taking his shirt off when he paused at the mention of Nakago's name on the television, pausing and turning to look at the screen while suddenly a deafening silence pounded in his ears, drowning out everything but the words coming from the reporter.

There were pictures on the screen, each titled with a name. Each dead. Words across the bottom of the TV sending out condolences to loved ones.

Mello just stared, ears ringing. That... couldn't be right. It was simply impossible. Definitely impossible. The reporter was talking about something else but Mello wasn't listening, staring at the screen still without seeing anything on it. He walked across the room and reached for his phone mechanically, dialing the familiar preset and listening to the phone ring, ring, ring, go to voicemail. He hung up and tried again. And again. In all the years he'd known Nakago, even if the man had been in an important meeting, he had never missed a call from him without either calling back immediately or messaging him a reason.

Frantic, Mello just kept calling, realizing at some point that he'd slumped to his knees in the middle of the floor.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

The cat hopped down off the bed, stretching before crawling into Mello's lap with a soft mrew of question, rubbing his head against his chest.

[gunsandchocolate]

No one picked up, and the ringing suddenly cut off. When he called back once more, it went straight to voicemail, and Mello realized someone had turned Nakago's phone off. Something Nakago never did. Mello's own cell phone dropped from his hand and he stared at the floor blankly, heart pounding in his temples, completely at a loss.

Mail (he had been convinced by now that this really was his own cat after all) crawled into his lap and Mello's gaze shifted to the animal dispassionately. He shoved Mail away roughly, not hard enough to really hurt but enough to say he was unwelcome.

[giftsofglory.livejournal.com]

He made another mrew and batted at the phone, looking up at him as his tail flicked back and forth.

[gunsandchocolate]

Mello stood suddenly, snatching up the phone and grabbing his car keys off the dresser as well, pausing only to stuff his wallet in his pocket before he was outside and on his motorcycle.

He needed to see for himself. With his badge, even if he wasn't the detective on the case itself, he would be allowed into any blocked off areas. He needed to see for himself right now.