'Stupid Matt and his stupid video games… Who is supposed to keep me entertained if his face is glued to some dumb new game?' The blond stormed down the halls of the orphanage, Wammy's House, moody and slightly defeated after having been kicked out of Matt's room by the video game playing jerk. He passed his own room, not in the mood for doing the civil thing and taking a moment to "calm down" as it would be advised for someone with his temper to do. Mello passed Near's room, that know-it-all twit was likely sitting in the floor playing with his damn robots. Only thing he was good for was to kick around.
Mello froze, grinning widely as it dawned on him, that was exactly what he needed. He turned on his heels, making his way back to Near's bedroom door, leaning against it and listening, listening for any sign that Near might have some kind of rare company. Silence met him and he turned the knob, striding on in as if it was his room, shutting the door behind him, locking it for good measure. The small child was easy to find, all stark white from head to toe, hair just as white as his clothes. Near didn't even look up at him at first and Mello could feel his eye twitch. He was right, damn baby was lying on the floor playing with robots and building a tower out of dice. Mello didn't waste his breath speaking to him to get his attention, just walked over and grabbed him by that feather-soft white hair, yanking his head back so that those onyx eyes were locked in on his own blue eyes. "Hey there you damn baby." He grinned maliciously at the younger boy who starred up at him with a complete lack of interest, no emotion on that porcelain doll-face of his.
"Mello is in the wrong room it would seem." He spoke in that typical monotone-Near voice that drove Mello up a fucking wall.
"No. Sorry, this is exactly where I meant to end up. Matt is being a fucking loser again so I figured, 'Why not kick around my favourite little twit?'" Mello laughed, pulling a chocolate bar out of his coat pocket, snapping a piece of it off with his teeth. He examined Near's face for any sign of emotion.. Still nothing. "Don't have anything to say Near?" The blond sneered, pulling back on Near's hair a little harder.
"Is there anything I could say at this point that would make you leave me alone? The answer is no, as usual, so why bother? You won't get a reaction out of me, Mello. You are just like any other bully, if you never get a reaction you will eventually leave me alone." Near reached up to grasp a few strands of soft, white hair, gently curling them around his finger. This only served to make Mello even angrier and it was no surprise when he threw Near down onto his back and straddled him, punching his shoulder hard, only once before getting a hold of himself. He sat there, fist clenched over his head as if to strike Near again. It never happened. Mello lowered his fist slowly, knowing Near had gotten the best of him yet again, managing to further infuriate him with little more than a few monotonous words.
Mello stood abruptly, wanting to be anywhere but under the scrutiny of those cold, calculating eyes. "You're getting off easy today you little bastard. Don't think I'll go easy on you ever again though." He gave Near a half-hearted kick before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind himself. This time he retired to his own room, painted in a mid-tone grey (as dark as roger would allow), and threw himself onto his soft bed, staring up at the ceiling in frustration. Mello took the silent moment to ponder why he let himself be bothered by that big-headed twit of a "child prodigy." The boy was always one step ahead of him so it seemed, it had to be that.
'You won't get a reaction out of me, Mello' Near had said that and it had been true.. This time. Those were dangerous words, Near hadn't realized that, or maybe he had, either way it was a challenge. Mello never backed down from a challenge and definitely not one from his know-it-all rival.
Once Mello had left the room and a second door had been slammed, signaling he had returned to his own room, Near gingerly pulled himself up into a sitting position, touching his shoulder to see how it felt after being struck by Mello. It stung, not too badly, it would bruise, but that was the extent of the damage. He wondered what had set Mello off like that so suddenly, it was a given that Mello would hurt him eventually when he showed up in one of his moods but it typically took more than a few words to get him to that point. Near sighed, looking at the partially destroyed tower of dice beside him, knocked over by his own foot when Mello threw him onto his back, or perhaps when he yanked him up by his hair. It didn't really matter and he wasn't inclined to rebuild it so the dice went back to safety of their box. The robots were moved to Near's bed, one held tightly as he laid down, the others standing guard around him.
It was late when Near woke up, stirred out of a restless sleep by the sound of a shower being turned on. He sat up, looking around the dark room for nothing in particular before turning his bed-side lamp on and moving to scoot his small body off the bed. No point in remaining in bed, he was awake now and would remain that way until the noise of the shower stopped. Near stretched, a small yawn escaping him as he did so. "Isn't that cute." Mello's voice stopped him from getting up, startling him just slightly. What was Mello doing in his room this late and why hadn't Near noticed him? The albino looked back at the older boy quickly, he was standing in the corner of the room, watching Near with the same malicious grin from before. It sent chills down Near's spine but he refused to squirm under the discomforting gaze. He wouldn't let Mello see how much it bothered him.
"What exactly is Mello doing here so late? This isn't your bedroom.. you know that, right?" It was difficult not to sound annoyed with the way Mello was acting, sneaking into his room this time of night was unnerving behavior at best.
"I'm not an idiot, Near." Mello spat, glaring at the small boy sitting on the bed. "I couldn't sleep, kept thinking about our.. Unfinished business." It wasn't a complete lie, but there was no way Mello would admit to the alternative 'I couldn't stop thinking about you.' The look Mello was giving Near was downright predatory. He looked like he could pounce at any moment and devour the smaller male. It would have struck fear into the heart of any of the dimmer students at Wammy's House, but if did so to Near he didn't show it.
"I see. So Mello came to hurt me again did he?" Near looked tired and bored, voice flat as was typical of the albino. The most reaction he had, if it could be called that, was to rub the sleep from his eyes in preparation to have a truly restless night. Perhaps it was that which made Mello so irritated with him. He just let it happen, didn't even try to fight him off, not even when he drug him out of bed and tossed him over to where the elaborate dice tower had been built earlier. Robots were strewn about the room by the sudden motion and Near landed awkwardly on his back, catching himself with a now carpet-burned elbow. "You said I couldn't get a reaction out of you, Near, but I won't give up so easily. I'll break you out of that lifeless doll-mask you keep up so dearly if it's the last thing I do, understand that, princess?" Mello's voice was dripping with bitterness and anger when he spat out the pet-name "princess" which only seemed to slip when Mello was at his worst.
Near could only stare up at the threatening figure which loomed over him, threatening to do whatever it took to pry a reaction out of him. As terrifying as that should have been for someone his size and as defenseless as he was, Near couldn't will himself to feel scared and he wondered if it was this which stirred up such unrivaled anger in Mello. Perhaps his lack of fear set the older boy off, so used to being able to run anyone off, make anyone tremble for fear of being harmed. Near did not fear this, if Mello felt the need to harm him it must be for good reason.
So he resigned himself to this. "Mello. Hit me if you have to." Near muttered, looking up coolly at the blond male standing over him so dominantly.
Those seven words were all it took to set Mello off again and Near was jerked off the floor by his shirt and thrown against the wall were he slouched back to the ground slowly, mostly unfazed. "Is that all Mel-" The albino's words were cut short, Mello had went down with him, pounced, and had his hands around that pale throat, making speech impossible. "I don't have to do anything, Near. Don't act like you understand this, I'm not someone you can unravel and find a pattern in. I'm not a damn puzzle you twit!" Mello was doing that angry-crying thing he did when he felt defeated, his tears falling onto Near's cheeks. "You can't understand me.. You can't, okay?" Mello shouted, letting go of Near's bruised neck, leaning back to sit on his heels over the smaller male's chest.
"That.. Was uncalled for. I shouldn't have choked you.. Near.." Was that resentment in Mello's voice? No, he couldn't actually be sorry, he was never sorry. It was unheard of. Plus, he was still sitting there, watching him with some unreadable expression.
It was more likely he would just hit him again, right? "Mello..?" Near tried, unsure if he should try to talk him down or not. He hesitated, closing his eyes for a moment, gathering his strength and usual calmness.
"Shut up."
Near waited with his eyes screwed shut, expecting another painful blow to his shoulder or chest but what came was much less expected.
A kiss. Was that what that was? Near wasn't sure. Mello's lips on his? A taste of chocolate lingered even after Mello pulled away and left the room, faster than a summer storm, not so much as a word on what had just happened.
Near hesitantly touched his lips, finally opening his eyes, sitting up slowly and staring at the door. Mello had kissed him.