Matt arrived at Wammy's after Mello yet before Near, when both Matt and Mello were around nine. Since most of the rooms for kids in their age group were full, Roger placed Matt in Mello's room, much to the blond's irritation as he enjoyed having a room all to himself. He was even more annoyed by the fact that Matt sobbed every single night since the day he arrived, this series of nightly crying persisting for a week. Eventually, Mello got sick of it and just forced himself to be friends with Matt in order to get him to stop crying since clearly being lonely wasn't helping him get over his sadness. With time, he started to appreciate his friendship with Matt, a lot.
Mello would oversleep a lot. Similarly to L, he would go days without sleeping, studying, playing sports, doing scholarly activities, all to better himself, to earn 'being the best.' After three to five days with no sleep, he would crash and fall asleep for a whole day. Sometimes, he'd fall asleep at his desk, so Matt would pick him up and carry him to his bed to make sure he'd at least be able to rest on a comfortable surface.
Matt and Mello would often talk about their silliest dreams together. It would be a weekend activity for them to sneak out of their dorm room and head onto the rooftop. Mello would bring a chocolate bar; Matt would bring his Gameboy (later as a teen, his pack of cigarettes). Once, Mello said he sometimes wanted a cat, and Matt would playfully say that, when they're older, they'll both leave this hellhole and live in some shitty condo together with two cats. At that, Mells would smile, but then he'd shake his head and point out that they'd be horrible at taking care of pets, since they could barely take care of themselves.
Matt is more attentive than he lets on. Whenever Mello wrote something for him (a draft for a story idea, a birthday card, even just a little angry note saying "I'm still mad at you for taking a bite of my chocolate, don't talk to me" while giving him the silent treatment), Matt would keep it. He liked the feeling of being special enough to warrant having notes written for him, about him, and with him in mind. Before the House, he'd always been neglected and invisible, so having a best friend and roommate like Mello meant a lot to him. He cherished any writing the blond handed him, keeping all the notes in a little box under his bed.
Mello was the one who developed feelings for Matt first. Like, way before Matt! Whenever he would look at Matt, he'd feel steadied, like as if things can actually be simple for a change, as if he can just be himself, a kid. However, he quickly felt this disturbing feeling for liking Matt, since they were both boys and Mello hadn't yet come to terms with his sexuality, so he pushed his feelings for his best friend aside. He shut them off, but he knew that deep down, he still felt that little twist in his heart each time Matt laughed or smiled sweetly at him. Matt didn't develop feelings until much later, and by then he knew that even if Mello felt the same, he'd never admit it. So, Matt stayed quiet, since he'd prefer still having Mello around than having to confront him and potentially risk losing him forever.
(This isn't really a Wammy's-specific hc, but a general one) I see Mello as having grown up in England even before being placed in the House, though I do see him as being both German (his dad's side) and Russian (his mom's), since the last name Keehl is typically German whilst Mihael can be considered of Russian origins (and let's all bfr, it's not hard to believe he's at least part Eastern-European). Meanwhile, I always saw Matt as Canadian (he doesn't have a British accent, more of a Canadian one (totally not saying this because I'm Canadian btw)), but the last name Jeevas, according to my research, is rooted in both South Asian (specifically, Sanskrit) and Latin-American (most notably, Mexican) origins. Hence, I hc Matt as having a Canadian mother and either a South Asian or Latino father (or half-half)!
Matt did everything to keep Mello happy. Whenever Mello was happy and/or in a good mood, he'd be more relaxed and open, and when he was more open, he behaved more lovingly towards Matt, agreeing to play video games with him (despite the fact that he hated playing video games with Matt because he always lost), taking him out for hangouts masked as running errands at the corner store for Roger, agreeing to let Matt sleep in his bed whenever it was a stormy night or just one of those days, etc... and Matt wanted so much to be loved like that, always. So even if he knew Mello would sometimes be in the wrong during an argument or whenever he vented about his frustrations, he still took the blond's side regardless of what was right and wrong to say as a friend. At a certain point, he'd become too dependent on Mello's mood (and overall presence).
Mello dyes and cuts Matt's hair. It all started when, the night of his tenth birthday, Matt felt like he needed a change. After all, he was hitting the double digits, so new year new him, right? He ended up dying his hair a really bright red, and it looked ridiculous. The next time he thought about dying his hair, Mello took it upon himself to do it, since according to him, Matt would probably end up frying all his hair off if he did it himself.
𑣲𝄞 credits for the first divider! @STARZ_CC4life on Pinterest <33
𑣲𝄞 I may post more of this type of content in the future. Also, if you have any other headcanons, share them with me, I’d love to hear about them!!!!!
