Near sat alone on his bed thinking furiously. He was surrounded by his comforting
teddy bears (he kept the robots on the floor…not fun to roll over onto in the
night). He held a solitary sheet of notebook paper and a pencil. He face scrunched
in concentration as he chewed on the eraser of the pencil in his fist. It was rare,
moments like these, but when the occurred they passed quickly and it was very
rare for him to think hard for any length of time. With a small gasp he scribbled a
few words onto the page and set it down, with a mixture of relief and
accomplishment on his face. It was only then that he noticed Mello in the doorway,
silently watching. He blinked when Near gave an angry "What do you want?" Near
did not like showing his only weakness to his competitor. Mello turned, ignoring
the remark, and set something on the dresser. He then disappeared as silently as
he had arrived. After a moment of shocked silence Near reached out and grabbed
the object. It was a small white box held closed with a black ribbon. Near turned it
over, searching for anything unusual, not that the parcel itself wasn't strange.
When he found nothing he shook the box slightly, producing a heavy rattle. After a
thorough inspection Near cautiously opened the box careful not to break the
ribbon. Inside was a slip of paper and a toy that near was familiar with but did
not, in fact actually own. It was a rubix cube. Near glanced at the new toy
questioningly before unfolding the note. It read, simply:
Happy Birthday Near.
