[L knows full well that he is asking to be tortured long and slowly by inquiring about a span of years that sounds like nothing short of a disaster. His dichotomous personality also feels like one at the moment; a combination of Mello's passion and Near's stoicism, he's caught between the extremes of stalking from the table to knock someone else's coffee vindictively to the floor, or else shutting down completely.
When opposing forces exert equal pressure on a body, it remains in place. L merely continues to tear his napkin into neat strips, organized and orderly destruction as Mello speaks of things he never would have allowed to happen if he'd lived. Every time Mello reflects on a mistake he can see a red marker behind his eyes, circling and striking with vicious motions.
Not ready, neither of them were ready...]
Yes... that all sounds right. Given the way the pieces were set... it's a very natural way for it to all play out.
[The words sound dead and wooden. It's still sinking in.]
I would have hoped that the two of you could have survived. You're not saying it outright, but "unexpected outside influences" tend not to last long. Given my own experiences with Kira's unknowns... my impression is that you didn't make it.
[His mistakes, circled in glaring red on L's mental template, can't have helped matters, but L doesn't say so aloud. He made his own, after all; neither of them survived this case, and performing a drawn-out postmortem at this point isn't going to help either of them and might breed resentment at worst.]
Speaking of unknowns... if anyone else involved with this case shows up, it would benefit us to work together, Mello. We're harder to kill as monsters, but it's still possible for us to die.
[He notably doesn't assume an alliance, leaving that decision in Mello's hands. He's pretty sure that the young man will agree and see the wisdom in it, but if it's the headstrong Mello's own choice and he feels like he actually has some say in the matter, he's far more likely to dedicate himself fully to a cause.]
no subject
When opposing forces exert equal pressure on a body, it remains in place. L merely continues to tear his napkin into neat strips, organized and orderly destruction as Mello speaks of things he never would have allowed to happen if he'd lived. Every time Mello reflects on a mistake he can see a red marker behind his eyes, circling and striking with vicious motions.
Not ready, neither of them were ready...]
Yes... that all sounds right. Given the way the pieces were set... it's a very natural way for it to all play out.
[The words sound dead and wooden. It's still sinking in.]
I would have hoped that the two of you could have survived. You're not saying it outright, but "unexpected outside influences" tend not to last long. Given my own experiences with Kira's unknowns... my impression is that you didn't make it.
[His mistakes, circled in glaring red on L's mental template, can't have helped matters, but L doesn't say so aloud. He made his own, after all; neither of them survived this case, and performing a drawn-out postmortem at this point isn't going to help either of them and might breed resentment at worst.]
Speaking of unknowns... if anyone else involved with this case shows up, it would benefit us to work together, Mello. We're harder to kill as monsters, but it's still possible for us to die.
[He notably doesn't assume an alliance, leaving that decision in Mello's hands. He's pretty sure that the young man will agree and see the wisdom in it, but if it's the headstrong Mello's own choice and he feels like he actually has some say in the matter, he's far more likely to dedicate himself fully to a cause.]