[It's probably a testament to the fact that Mello likes Chris that he takes the display of exasperation not with irritation but a slight twitch of his mouth, finding it almost funny for its exaggeration.]
That's what the scarf is for, Chris. She probably has my name already, but it's useless if she hasn't seen my entire face.
[Mello shoves his hands inside the pockets of his jacket, shrugging lightly as he does so.]
It doesn't really matter if she kills me while we're here. [A lie; one he's been telling himself since he learned that people here don't stay dead; one he's been telling himself since he woke up on Hope's altar after Bianca slit his throat.] Hope will bring me back. My concern is if she obtains that information and manages to get back to where we came from with it and kill me there, before I can finish what I've started. I can't allow that.
[Not that he can't allow for being killed - he can't allow for the timing of it to be off. He's planned that Kira will use his name and his face in order to kill him, but it has to happen at the exact right time, not a moment sooner.]
[Chris sits back up straight with great mental effort, mostly so he can resume watching Mello's reaction as he talks, and furrows his eyebrows a little both in thought and at Mello's words themselves. Nothing about the issue of getting killed back home really stands out to him, but he knows from experience--and he knows Mello does too--that dying here isn't so simple, even if you come back.
But most pressingly--]
So your great plan to keep her from seeing your face is to wear a scarf.
[There's got to be a better way to go about this. But as for the other topic, Chris hesitates a moment.]
Can uh... Can that even happen? Is she from like, exactly the same time as you?
[Because Chris has wondered--and he knows his friends have too--what would happen when they go back, if they even do go back, especially considering they're all from different times. How would things be altered? Would they create parallel timelines? It's crazy science-fiction stuff, but after everything he's seen at home and here it's nowhere near as crazy as it seems like it should be.]
A plan doesn't have to be elegant, Chris - it just has to be effective. Wearing a scarf will get the job done.
[He'd prefer sunglasses, but so far, no replacements have turned up in any of the shops.]
I don't know. And I don't think so - the Misa Amane I observed before I was brought here was even stupider than the one here - that, or she's an incredible actress. [Mello expresses how much credibility he lends that possibility with a roll of his eyes.] She mentioned things that I've done, but only up to a certain point. [She told the people here that he'd kidnapped Sayu Yagami and worked with the Mafia, for example, but nothing about the fact that her disgusting murderer boyfriend had managed to wipe out the Mafia, and almost managed to capture Mello, too - facts that Mello is almost a hundred percent certain Misa wouldn't hesitate to brag about.] I'd estimate she's approximately two and a half months earlier in time than me.
Yeah, until there's a gust of wind or a monster grabs it or something.
[Totally not practical, dude.]
Okay, then uh... You might be good. On the whole screwing stuff up for you back home thing. I mean, if she's from earlier than you but you're still here, you're not uh... From exactly the same timeline then, right? I mean, unless no one remembers anything when they get back home or something.
[He's just going to ignore thinking about any of that too much, but still.]
[That he won't remember. It's what he's heard from some of the others here, and it's something that chafes at him, in the back of his mind. If he were returned to the moment from which he was taken, Mello would still be fine with dying for his chosen cause. His friend Matt, though ... his death is an unintended piece of collateral damage, one that Mello regrets deeply and wants to nullify. He just knows it may not be within his power to do so.]
I dunno if that's most likely or not at this point.
[And he's not sure if he wants it to be. But either way--]
But if she doesn't remember anything from here you're safe anyway, and if she does but you're from different uh... Universes, I guess, then you're still good.
I have to be prepared for all scenarios. Which you'll find is a concept discussed in that book. [He points to the copy of The Prince.] "One must be a a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten off wolves."
[It takes an enormous amount of self-restraint for Chris to be able to avoid rolling his eyes.]
You're not prepared for all scenarios, though. I mean, even just not being super pedantic and ignoring like, the chance that something super ridiculous could happen that you're obviously not even considering, you're preparing for the worst scenario. So just call it that.
[He would've just let the whole topic go, but the lecturing tone of the quote irritated him too much.]
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That's what the scarf is for, Chris. She probably has my name already, but it's useless if she hasn't seen my entire face.
[Mello shoves his hands inside the pockets of his jacket, shrugging lightly as he does so.]
It doesn't really matter if she kills me while we're here. [A lie; one he's been telling himself since he learned that people here don't stay dead; one he's been telling himself since he woke up on Hope's altar after Bianca slit his throat.] Hope will bring me back. My concern is if she obtains that information and manages to get back to where we came from with it and kill me there, before I can finish what I've started. I can't allow that.
[Not that he can't allow for being killed - he can't allow for the timing of it to be off. He's planned that Kira will use his name and his face in order to kill him, but it has to happen at the exact right time, not a moment sooner.]
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But most pressingly--]
So your great plan to keep her from seeing your face is to wear a scarf.
[There's got to be a better way to go about this. But as for the other topic, Chris hesitates a moment.]
Can uh... Can that even happen? Is she from like, exactly the same time as you?
[Because Chris has wondered--and he knows his friends have too--what would happen when they go back, if they even do go back, especially considering they're all from different times. How would things be altered? Would they create parallel timelines? It's crazy science-fiction stuff, but after everything he's seen at home and here it's nowhere near as crazy as it seems like it should be.]
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[He'd prefer sunglasses, but so far, no replacements have turned up in any of the shops.]
I don't know. And I don't think so - the Misa Amane I observed before I was brought here was even stupider than the one here - that, or she's an incredible actress. [Mello expresses how much credibility he lends that possibility with a roll of his eyes.] She mentioned things that I've done, but only up to a certain point. [She told the people here that he'd kidnapped Sayu Yagami and worked with the Mafia, for example, but nothing about the fact that her disgusting murderer boyfriend had managed to wipe out the Mafia, and almost managed to capture Mello, too - facts that Mello is almost a hundred percent certain Misa wouldn't hesitate to brag about.] I'd estimate she's approximately two and a half months earlier in time than me.
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[Totally not practical, dude.]
Okay, then uh... You might be good. On the whole screwing stuff up for you back home thing. I mean, if she's from earlier than you but you're still here, you're not uh... From exactly the same timeline then, right? I mean, unless no one remembers anything when they get back home or something.
[He's just going to ignore thinking about any of that too much, but still.]
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[That he won't remember. It's what he's heard from some of the others here, and it's something that chafes at him, in the back of his mind. If he were returned to the moment from which he was taken, Mello would still be fine with dying for his chosen cause. His friend Matt, though ... his death is an unintended piece of collateral damage, one that Mello regrets deeply and wants to nullify. He just knows it may not be within his power to do so.]
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[And he's not sure if he wants it to be. But either way--]
But if she doesn't remember anything from here you're safe anyway, and if she does but you're from different uh... Universes, I guess, then you're still good.
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I have to be prepared for all scenarios. Which you'll find is a concept discussed in that book. [He points to the copy of The Prince.] "One must be a a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten off wolves."
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You're not prepared for all scenarios, though. I mean, even just not being super pedantic and ignoring like, the chance that something super ridiculous could happen that you're obviously not even considering, you're preparing for the worst scenario. So just call it that.
[He would've just let the whole topic go, but the lecturing tone of the quote irritated him too much.]