[Silence takes the place of an immediate response; there's something to be said for someone who is starkly against Mello's idea who would attempt to understand the situation regardless of their own views. It's respectable, and if Mello's head were in the right place at the moment, he would be able to acknowledge as much.]
[But it isn't. So he doesn't.]
[Instead he shakes his head, aware that the motion falls on useless eyes.]
I'll take care of it my own way.
[Stubborn thing that he is.]
[Because dead things have always remained dead, and life has been restored to someone who was long-gone by the time Mello found himself wandering in that forest that existed within a dream that wasn't a dream at all. L's arm is near-stiff beneath his hand, and he thinks that if he doesn't let go, Mello might die along with him.]
[So he does, but he can't tear his eyes away. He won't.]
[The question catches him off-guard. For all of his life after he went off on his own, Mello has been forced to hide any connection to L, play the part of an enemy against the title in order to infiltrate a criminal organization. He's had to hold his tongue at those L would see put in prison had he still been alive spit curses at the title, the unseen force that would see them all jailed if they took their activities too far.]
[But that was then, and this is now. A life left behind. A life born anew.]
[My idol. The only fucking person in this world I've ever cared about. An inspiration. A legacy. Something that turned my soul black when it disappeared.]
[But all that comes out is — ]
He's a father to me.
[The words escape his lips before he considers the gravity behind them.]
no subject
[But it isn't. So he doesn't.]
[Instead he shakes his head, aware that the motion falls on useless eyes.]
I'll take care of it my own way.
[Stubborn thing that he is.]
[Because dead things have always remained dead, and life has been restored to someone who was long-gone by the time Mello found himself wandering in that forest that existed within a dream that wasn't a dream at all. L's arm is near-stiff beneath his hand, and he thinks that if he doesn't let go, Mello might die along with him.]
[So he does, but he can't tear his eyes away. He won't.]
[The question catches him off-guard. For all of his life after he went off on his own, Mello has been forced to hide any connection to L, play the part of an enemy against the title in order to infiltrate a criminal organization. He's had to hold his tongue at those L would see put in prison had he still been alive spit curses at the title, the unseen force that would see them all jailed if they took their activities too far.]
[But that was then, and this is now. A life left behind. A life born anew.]
[My idol. The only fucking person in this world I've ever cared about. An inspiration. A legacy. Something that turned my soul black when it disappeared.]
[But all that comes out is — ]
He's a father to me.
[The words escape his lips before he considers the gravity behind them.]
And my responsibility.