Written for the 2017 Meronia Secret Christmas Exchange. The prompt was Near suffering from a chronic illness (which I decided to be arthritis in the knees) and Mello taking care of him/making him feel better. This is my first time writing these two as a romantic couple, so I'm a little nervous...
I should mention that I know little to nothing about arthritis or how to treat it, so if I got something wrong (or right, who knows?), feel free to let me know (& maybe correct me if I was way off).
Also, this is a Domestic!AU where everyone lived/Kira never happened/whatever's the happiest scenario you can think of.
Anyway, enjoy!
Aches & Pain (Relief)
"Near, please tell me you haven't been in that position all day." Said albino's partner kicked the door closed behind him with the heel of his boot before stomping into the center of their work area, which was a hodgepodge of wires, cables, monitors, keyboards, hard-drives, and various sorts of toys and cards.
"No, Mello, I haven't," the pale young man crouching on the floor replied tonelessly, not looking up from the computer he was staring at. "I have switched seating positions numerous times, along with standing up to use the restroom and to prepare myself lunch and dinner." He finally glanced up at the blonde standing over him. "I missed you."
Mello's gaze softened considerably as he sat down next to his younger companion and ruffled his white fluffy hair.
"I missed you too, Sheep." Near leaned into the touch and gave a small sigh of contentment which didn't go unnoticed. It made Mello wish he didn't have to ask his next question. "Did you do your exercises?"
Near stiffened a little under his touch for a split-second but quickly relaxed.
"Yes."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
A sigh as Mello slipped his cell-phone out of his pocket and turned it on, revealing a live camera-feed of the room the two were currently sitting in.
"The cameras say otherwise." Near pulled away from the gentle touches and glared at him. "Don't worry, they only record five minutes at a time, and then the footage is immediately erased."
"You don't trust me to take care of myself?"
"Only because I lo—care about you," Even though Near was rather pissed at him, he still found it slightly adorable that Mello still had trouble saying the 'L' word after all this time. "And you left me no choice anyway, since from what I've seen you seem to be almost incapable of taking care of yourself."
"Excuse me for wanting to avoid things that are painful and interfere with my work."
"Jesus Christ," Mello pinched the bridge of his nose. "Near, it takes fifteen minutes tops, and you can still look at your case files while you do it. Also, it wouldn't be painful if you did them every day like you're supposed to instead of whenever I make you." When he realized that a pout was all he was going to get in response, he wrapped an arm around his former rival and pulled him back to his side. "Look, would it make you feel better if I did them with you?"
"That would be complete waste of time, Mello. Your knees are just fine." Near didn't immediately push him away, so that was a good sign.
"They could always be a little better. Contrary to what you may believe, I actually don't get as much exercise as I should."
"It makes no difference to me whether or not we do the exercises together," Near sighed, twirling a strand of his hair around his fingers. "It just...hurts."
"I know it does, but it'll get easier once we start doing them, I swear."
"Don't make promises when you can't control the outcome."
"Whatever," Mello yawned and stood up, glancing at his watch. "It's late, and I know you haven't slept in over forty-eight hours." Another half-hearted glare was sent his way, causing the blonde to roll his eyes. "I'll turn them off now then take them down tomorrow." He took out his cell-phone and turned off the cameras before offering his hand to the other. "Happy?"
Near only nodded once and took the hand as he started to stand up, grimacing in pain as he straightened his knees. Mello knew it was bad when he felt an arm wrap around his torso as his partner leaned against him for support, but said nothing as they made their way to the shared bedroom. Once there, Near let go of him and shuffled towards the bathroom.
"I'm taking a shower."
"Want me to join you? I could make the pain go away." Mello's voice only carried a mild hint of sultriness.
"Not tonight." And with that, the door was closed behind him.
A few minutes later, Mello's heart stopped as he heard a faint thump followed by an audible moan of pain that was clearly being held back. He ran into the bathroom and yanked open the shower-stall door. Inside, Near sat naked with his legs straightened out under the rush of warm water, his knees swollen and an angry red. He was biting his fist hard enough to draw blood as tears spilled from eyes that had been clenched shut, but shot open at Mello's intrusion.
"Shit!" he hissed, kneeling down to help his lover. "Hospital?"
"No," Near seethed, "Just get me the-"
He didn't need to finish his sentence as Mello immediately went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the prescribed painkillers.
"Two or three?"
"Five!"
"Three it is." He handed him the pills which Near swallowed dry. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"
Near nodded, openly weeping now and turning away from the older male. Mello frowned and quickly stripped his remaining clothes before getting into the shower as well, sitting next to the younger and putting his arms around him. Near let himself be pulled into the embrace, burying his face into the other's shoulder and crying himself out.
"It hurts, Mello…It hurts so much…"
"Shh…I know, Near, I know…" Mello soothed, stroking his arms in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "Just focus on me, okay? Focus on what I'm doing." He cupped his hands under the stream of water and carefully poured it on Near's head. After repeating this process until he deemed Near's hair sufficiently dampened, he squeezed a dollop of shampoo into his palm and began massaging it into the other boy's scalp. "Feel this, Near. Doesn't this feel good?"
"Mm…" A small noise of confirmation.
"Just think about this, Near. Not your legs, not anything else, just this; this and my voice. Can you do that?"
"…yes." The pain relievers were starting to take effect as Near slowly started to relax under Mello's ministrations.
"Good boy."
Once his hair was rinsed, conditioned, and then rinsed again, Mello helped Near out of the shower and into his PJs before tucking him into bed.
"Mello…" Near murmured.
"I'll be with you in a sec, Sheep, just gotta take a quick shower."
"'kay…" True to his word, Mello was snuggled under the covers with Near not five minutes later. "Love you, Mello…"
"Love you too, Near…"
"…Thirteen…fourteen…and fifteen...Okay, you're good." Near slumped into the chair for the last time with a sigh, making Mello grin. "I know you didn't move around much before, but standing up and sitting down shouldn't be that much of a chore for you."
"Only because I've had to do ten squats and fifteen leg-stretches before this."
"That's still not much." Mello ruffled the other's hair. "You know, you've been so good with your exercises the past couple weeks…I think you deserve a reward."
"Yeah?" Near noticeably perked up.
"How about a bubble bath together? I'll wash your hair, give you a leg massage, among…other things."
Near grinned back at him.
"Sounds good."