A/N:
Little drabbly one shot for you guys~! Set during the Wammy era. Inspired by Sirilu's cute comic on dA called "DN: Prodigy Puzzling." Link's in my profile, if you wanna take a look... Anyway, this story's got a bit of fluff in it, if you squint. Enjoy, and drop me a review! :D

"A good puzzle, it's a fair thing.
Nobody is lying. It's very clear,
and the problem depends just on you."

- Erno Rubik

Pale fingers delicately pushed a white puzzle piece into place as gunmetal eyes scanned the area for the remaining pieces. He spied one under his foot and picked it up carefully, taking only half a second to determine where it would fit before placing it in the proper slot. A pile of unfinished puzzles was on one side of him, and the finished ones were stacked on another.

It was just a quiet afternoon at Wammy's house. But Near, like anyone who resided there, knew that things never stayed this way for very long.

Not with a blonde bombshell stalking the premises and just waiting for the best time to explode; this was roughly about every ten minutes.

The door of the study room dramatically flew open and hit the wall with a loud thud.

Speak of the devil and the devil comes, or so they say.

"Are you kidding me?" a voice exclaimed rather loudly. "How come you're here whenever I need to be here, huh?"

Near didn't even need to look up to know that he was the one being addressed.

"I wouldn't know, Mello. But I think the right question would be; why do you still come here if you know that I occupy the room during this particular time?"

"It's my study time. Get out!"

"I believe I was here first."

Near already anticipated what would happen next, and he was right; there was the sound of a body flopping into a nearby armchair, followed by a distinctive crinkling of foil and a crunch—chocolate, as always. The albino grinned to himself; he would be lying if he said that he didn't take even a bit of pleasure in aggravating the older boy. It was like this every single day.

"This is the study room and not the playroom, you little brat," Mello retorted irritably. "Do your little puzzle somewhere else."

Near remained unmoving.

Soon, he felt Mello lean down close to him to pear over his shoulder, and it was suddenly much too warm in the room.

"Why do you always do that, anyway? Solving blank puzzles…"

Near could almost see the blonde's nose crinkling slightly as he asked this.

"Puzzles give me insight," he replied wearily, a bit tired of this question.

"Oh? Insight to what?"

"Certain things."

Mello took a piece in his hand and gazed at it with disdain before setting it down in its proper place next to its ivory brethren.

"But it's blank."

"No," Near murmured. "At first sight, it seems like it's pointless… But it really isn't. I can see what I want, and how to put things into place so I may achieve it." To emphasize this, the click of another piece resonated in the room.

Mello was sitting next to him now. Looking thoughtful, he grabbed a box that contained an unfinished jigsaw puzzle from beside Near and began to solve it.

A few moments later (longer than it would have taken Near), Mello stood, took a Sharpie from the nearest study table, and scribbled on the white surface of his completed product.

Near, who had been pretending to be busy with his own puzzle but was actually observing his companion, saw the capital "L" drawn on the top left corner of the otherwise blank puzzle.

Mello was looking proudly at it too, and then as if someone snapped him out of a trance, he shook his head slightly. Then he looked around, and when his eyes landed on Near, a light blush coated his face. Near felt a little thrill run down his spine at the sight of it, but it didn't show on the outside. Mello seemed annoyed with his own body's responses betraying him and pushed his puzzle towards the other boy.

"Ugh, I can't believe I wasted my time on this! We have midterms tomorrow!" he spat. He stood up hastily and made to leave. "You're just a little freak. What's so special about your stupid puzzles, anyway? I still don't know what you see in them! Things you want and how to achieve them, my foot. They. Are. Blank!"

The door slammed shut, and Near was alone again.

The boy quietly rose, picked up the Sharpie that lay discarded on the floor, then returned to his own puzzle and slowly began drawing on it.

"…Really? I suppose it's all a matter of perspective."

When he was done, Near looked at his handiwork, his lips giving way to a faint smile.

"I don't think they're blank at all..."

On the puzzle, Mello smiled back.