Dedicated to yourparanoidbestfriend, just for being an awesome guy and a great author.

I love MattxNear and decided to write my own drabble about them. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever own Death Note.


Boing. Boing. Ding!

There was a sad, whistling tune, and little, pixely Mario died.

Near ground his teeth together. This game was impossible to beat. It had been in his playroom for only few days now, and he'd even been able to watch Matt play several times, trying to learn from him. But—god. Those goombas were just… evil.

GAME OVER. USE CONTINUE?
yes/no

Near grabbed a lock of his white hair in his fingers and started twirling. He was put out, he decided, but not quite ready to give up. He hit a button on the controller, selecting yes.

This game really shouldn't be that hard to him. After all, all it was was a bunch of pixels jumping around on a screen. He needed to learn the game, get his timing right, and develop a strategy. He did things like that every day, what with his line of work. But this was just so… so… frustrating.

He moved his fingers quickly so that Mario threw a turtle shell and jumped on a goomba almost simultaneously. Where was that yoshi…?

"Still on level twelve?" Matt's voice came from behind him, accompanied by a shrewd chuckle. Near refused to let his annoyance show on his face, not looking up from the screen; he wasn't about to give Matt the pleasure of knowing he was getting under Near's skin.

Under any other circumstances, Matt probably wouldn't be getting under his skin so much, but it annoyed him that Matt was such an expert at something he could barely survive.

Almost there. Jump-- damn. The stupid goomba had killed him again…

"Let me show you how it's done," Matt said, taking a seat beside Near. He reached up and pressed the reset button on their old-fashioned Super Nintendo.

Near frowned only briefly; he hadn't had a chance to save his game.

When the screen restarted, Matt grabbed the second player controller and shifted his weight, making himself comfortable. He selected Versus Mode on the screen, and the game started again.

Near hardly lasted a second before a pixely, fire creature that resembled a stegosaurus sent his little Mario to his premature death. He frowned as Matt laughed, and the second round began.

Near was quicker this time, flipping the dinosaur-creature over before it had a chance to do any damage. It wasn't long, however, before Matt's Luigi jumped on top of Mario, flattening him into a pancake. While not killing him, the move made Mario unable to walk, and a dinosaur-creature soon finished him off.

Near huffed. This match was futile—it was obvious who was going to win, over and over and over. He wasn't about to let himself get humiliated. He should walk away. But then, that would probably give Matt more immature satisfaction than if Near sat and let him continue beating his Mario.

There had to be a way to make Matt lose his cool.

Third round. Near flipped one—two—three dinosaur creatures quickly before they had a chance to harm him, and then looked up to stare at Matt.

After flipping two of his own creatures, Matt, responded, uncomfort clear in his voice. "What are you staring at, kid?" he asked, while not looking away from the television.

Near was unresponsive, glancing back at the screen. The three dinosaurs had flipped back over. Near flipped them again, paralyzing them briefly, and then he turned his body, kneeling as close to Matt as he could get.

Matt gave him a confused glance. Finally he was taking his eyes off of the screen.

And then Near, a tiny grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, leaned over and kissed Matt full on. It was chaste—just a kiss on the lips, but it was still crossing a boundary line. Near withdrew as quickly as he'd leaned over, leaving Matt dazed.

Seeing his chance, finally, Near moved his little Mario towards Matt's Luigi and jumped on top of him, flattening him down, and then moved out of the way as the dinosaur-creature walked up, and killed Luigi.

Satisfied, Near put down his controller, switched off the Super Nintendo, and pocketed his hands.

"Let's do this again sometime," he said, walking out of the room as Matt, still dazed, stared at the blank TV screen.


MattxNear has by far been one of the most satisfying couples to write, ever. I really hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please drop a review, they're very encouraging.

-Moony