Hadriel IC Contact

[solvethepuzzle]

"This is Near. I assume you know what to at this point."
Text | Voice | Video
(Good luck ever getting video from him. But if you want to . . .)

Comments

audio. (backdated)

[torrefied]

[The call comes much later in the day after Mello's dramatic exit - it's nearly dark, in fact, only the last glimpses of twilight illuminating the city. Mello sounds tired, even hesitant. Everything is different now, and he's uncertain whether this is even a remotely good idea.]

Can you come outside?

[And he pauses for a moment, then decides to add, quietly:]

Please.

audio. (backdated)

[solvethepuzzle]

[He's not surprised that the call turns out to be from Mello; there aren't many that would call him. What surprises him more that it's come so soon. He isn't sure what exactly he would have expected from the tone, so there's at least nothing unexpected from that.

[It has to be too early for Mello to have recovered properly. For him to try and turn this around and manipulate or harm him with it. Doesn't it? Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, that this is happening at all at least intrigues him. He should investigate the matter, but keep himself on alert.

[After a moment:] Alright.

[He hangs up after that, goes through all the necessary steps of preparing to go out. Which means putting on the shoes, his coat, and tucking his knife up the coat's sleeve. He does not believe he will need the weapon in regard to Mello; it's just part of leaving the house anymore.

[Quietly, he undoes the security measures, and puts them all back in place once he's out.]

action.

[torrefied]

[Part of Mello wonders if this is maybe the biggest mistake he's ever made in his long and varied history of making mistakes. It isn't his habit to return to a place once he's so suddenly and violently left it behind. And he thought he knew Near, just as Near knows him; they've always been too close, despite the wide gulf that separates them. For all that distance, Near is still the one person who knows Mello best, and Mello thought he knew Near well too - he was sure of it.

He doesn't though. The earlier revelation proved that, and if he doesn't know Near as well as he thought, Mello also cannot predict what his actions will be. Mello doesn't know if Near will ignore his call, refuse to meet him, refuse to let him back in - hell, maybe he'll even come out of the front door swinging at him. Anything, he supposes, is possible at this point. Mello just doesn't know.

He's surprised at how relieved he feels when Near both answers his call and agrees to his request.

The wait between when Near hangs up and the front door opens feels like a stretch into infinity. Mello has parked himself on the front steps, his back against the handrail, one knee bent. His gloves are off, and he chews nervously on the nail of his index finger. The hood of his jacket is pulled up over his head - unnecessarily, perhaps, given his location, but it makes him feel better to sit underneath it, as if that piece of fabric can protect him from the disaster he feels has been raining down on him since he started putting the pieces together to make a picture that he should have seen years ago.

Mello doesn't bother looking up when Near walks through the door; he knows the unmistakable cadence of his footsteps well enough by now. He hesitates for a moment before speaking, quashing the impulse to get up and get running before the next wave of disaster can catch up with him. He wraps his arms around himself and takes in a deep breath.]

What do you want from me?

[For once, there's no hostility - it's an honest, uncomplicated question.]

action.

[solvethepuzzle]

[Ignoring the message or delaying -- but not denying -- the meeting had occurred to him. This is an entirely new situation and he's not at all sure that he's worked out how to handle it yet. He could have waited until he'd had more time to think. But here he is.

[Near's collar is about as necessary as Mello's hood at this point in time. No one -- save for their mystery visitor a few weeks ago -- knows they live here. Keeping their faces hidden while on the stoop of their own house is probably ridiculous. But taking precautions is deeply ingrained. Once one leaves the shelter of four walls, steps must be taken to preserve safety.

[He's never seen Mello curl up like that. Whether it's an act, a new habit or simply one Mello hadn't dared show him before, he can't be sure. Regardless, it's an obvious expression of vulnerability, pulling himself inward to protect himself. It isn't out of any sense of fairness or reciprocity that Near crouches on the porch while Mello gathers himself. He just feels like it, left leg tucked to his chest as has been his habit almost since he can remember.

[That the question comes out with no hostility is remarkable; it's the kind of thing that Mello would normally scoff or hiss in his direction, less a question than a demand. And it's anything but uncomplicated. They're raised to be dishonest creatures, to hold no stock in personal bonds. Make allies, not friends. Replying to this would be easier if Mello had continued to be ignorant of the fact that there is a personal factor involved for Near.

[But he isn't anymore. And that's why it's being asked in the first place. What does he want? And does he dare say so?

[In his normal tone, no defensive hint in his voice:] What is it you think I want? [No, it's not an answer. He can't be certain this isn't a trap of some kind, or if Mello won't use this later even if it isn't. Mello has ample motive for wanting to use the truth against him and Near would be an idiot not to consider the possibility. He'd deliberately let his guard down this morning. Now, it's back up.]

[torrefied]

[Mello isn't, for once, thinking of how to use this situation to his advantage - at the current moment, he is only concerned with uncovering answers. Evasiveness is a way of life for them, so it's not really a surprise that Near chooses to answer with another question. Mello laughs very quietly, a weak, despairing sound, the sound of someone who has come face to face with the absurd and in his overwhelm has no other response at his disposal.]

Don't you think that if I had even the slightest clue, I wouldn't be sitting here asking you that?

[He sighs deeply, dropping his head forward into his hand. The all-too-familiar headache that seems to spring up behind his eyes when dealing with Near is back again.]

Why tell me this? Why now? It isn't a new development.

[He doesn't phrase it as a question, because he has seen those clues - the photograph, for example. He'd considered that maybe Near had developed feelings - a feeling, at the very least - in light of his death back on their home world, but if that were true, the photograph was a piece of evidence that didn't fit the pattern. So he'd discarded the idea, concluding instead that this had been true for some time, that Near had thought more highly of him than Mello had ever guessed - probably at least as far back as Near's own departure from the House, or else he wouldn't have taken the effort to collect Mello's photograph. Maybe for as long as they've known each other.]

I don't understand what it is that you want me to do with this information.

[solvethepuzzle]

[They've both been taught how to read people, how to use them, and regard it as acceptable behaviour if it advances the goal. Anyone halfway intelligent -- and therefore, even the lesser Wammy's children -- should not have missed that they need to be wary of it happening from any of the others. It had been a competition with a clear goal. Out of the dozens of children, only one could be chosen to succeed L. Schoolmates were more often than not opponents, using their learned tactics to defeat rivals. At the lower ranks, with no real chance, the stakes had been lower, perhaps.

[But Mello and Near had been singled out by L himself, cream of the genius crop. If one could take the other down, they could win the most important game of them all. And perpetually second-place Mello? Of course he would do whatever he could. And if he gets ahold of the right information, Mello is very dangerous.

[It is, perhaps ironically, one of the reasons that Near likes him.

[Whether or not Mello still wants to win almost doesn't matter. Near is hardly ignorant of all the pain and frustration he's caused his rival over the years while seeming impervious to reciprocation. Is it so unnatural to believe that, given the chance, Mello would take advantage of a revealed weakness to finally hurt him back?]

You could have been seeking confirmation of a theory.

[He winds a finger into his hair, doesn't bother to comment on the statement that his sentiment isn't a new development. It's correct and they both know it; there is no need to restate the obvious. What he does need to think about is how to respond to all of this.

[Does he say why? Does he tell Mello that he can do whatever he wishes with the information? Which answer is going to settle them into something more stable? So often, if he expresses a wish or an opinion, Mello takes the opposing side just to be contrary. At the same time, the whole air of this conversation is different than any other they've had in their lives.

[And perhaps, Near doesn't want to have to waste time repeatedly talking Mello down from ledges.] You've developed a pattern of regarding your life too lightly as of late.

[The words could be taken clinically. They're certainly stated that way. But given all other recent clues, he thinks Mello might catch on to their real meaning.]

[torrefied]

[Near is right to be wary of what Mello may do with this information - he has, in the past, taken targeted action against him with the intent to harm. When Mello finally got his hands on the Death Note, he chose to have it tested by taking out most of the SPK - an effective test, and one that subtracted some of Near's resources in a way Mello hadn't been able to touch before. Maybe if Mello were still trying to win the race in reaching Kira first - if he thought he could still win - he would use what he's learned as a weapon against Near. But he isn't, and he doesn't; all Mello can think of now is how to reorder his world now that it has so thoroughly come crashing down around his ears. He chews on his fingernail for a moment as he takes in Near's answer and considers what they mean.]

How lately are we talking about, Near - Sharon? Bianca? Or before that?

[The fact that Near doesn't see eye to eye with Mello as far as methods are concerned isn't news. But the fact that he might actually care about the fact that Mello's methods are destructive is.]

[solvethepuzzle]

[And if Near had been the petty, vengeful sort, Mello's testing of the Death Note could very easily have been a fatal misstep. Near had been on the line with the Japanese Task Force at that moment, still had Mello's photograph. While he hadn't quite settled on the fake L himself being Kira just yet, he'd at least known that whatever information he gave the task force would reach him. He could have sent them a copy of the photo, and Mello may well have wound up dead in the later raid on his hideout. Kira would have had all he needed, and an easy way for Mello's death to be explained. It could have been all neat and tidy for everyone.

[The loss of resources had been bothersome, but taking Mello out of the game would have been a bad strategic move, even subtracting the more sentimental reasoning.]

Your most recent statements appear to indicate that you don't believe it matters whether you live or die. [It's not quite an answer. Before he'd gotten ahold of Mello's final document at home, he wouldn't have thought Mello would plan to die. Risk or even resign himself to injury, yes. Not die. That was too much like quitting.]

[torrefied]

That's what you think?

[Mello's hand drops to the rosary he wears around his neck, fingers folding tightly around the beads. He shakes his head.]

You're wrong.

[It very much matters whether he lives or dies. The difference is that Mello believes that what's important is that he dies - specifically, as a way of keeping Near alive and in the game. There's a difference between simply giving up and making a calculated sacrifice.]

[solvethepuzzle]

[For people like them, the words "you're wrong" should sting. But Near feels nothing of the sort.

[A vague attempt at imitation:] "Don't worry, I won't make the same mistake the next time I'm dead." [They've parroted each other before, but the last time had been lighter, a moment of them actually getting on well.] Quite a cavalier statement, for how badly it had affected you. Do you plan on making dying a habit?

[A calculated sacrifice to help someone he didn't like, constantly strove to defeat. Someone Mello had made an extra point to say he would not work with. None of that had added up; Near had absolutely no reason to believe Mello would do such a thing.]

[torrefied]

Twice hardly counts as a habit.

[It was a stupid, childish thing to say; Mello knew it almost immediately after the words left his mouth, and they sound even worse being repeated by Near. Mello rolls one of the beads of his rosary between his thumb and finger.]

Why are you so concerned about what's already happened? It's in the past.

[For Near, at least, Mello's real death is in the past. And the surprising nature of his maneuver had been part of why he'd decided on it, because no one - not Near, not Halle, not even Kira - would expect that he'd do such a thing. That's why it would prove to be so effective.]

[solvethepuzzle]

"Next time" implies there will be more. [There may very well be, given the nature of this place. That hardly means that Near approves.

[Mello is right that what's in the past, what's back home shouldn't concern him. There isn't anything that can be done about it, and therefore the event should be discarded as extraneous. That's what happens with most illogical things for Near; he tosses them away. But matters with Mello have never solely been about pure logic. How else to explain why he'd taken up the habit of eating chocolate? It won't bring Mello back and someone with a memory like his does not need an outside reminder. He does it anyway.]

And is it still eluding you that I dislike it when you die? I would think you've managed to put that much together today.

[torrefied]

For me, there will be.

[Just the one, if Mello has his way. Dying is unpleasant, and he has no intention of making a repeat performance while here, though he does acknowledge that it's a possibility.

The rest of what Near says is oddly painful for Mello to hear: I dislike it when you die means I want you to stay alive, which implies, on some level - and especially given the context of what Near said in the dream - I like you. Mello shifts on the stairs, turning toward Near, tucking one leg under the other, now looking directly at him from underneath the hood of his jacket.]

No. I get that, and I think I understand why. I just wish you'd said something sooner. It might have made a difference.

[solvethepuzzle]

I know. [He doesn't need to be reminded of this, but there's no exasperation in his tone that the re-statement of a fact would normally engender.

[He could look away when Mello turns to face him; it wouldn't be unusual, given how rarely he looks at anyone directly. But he doesn't. Only his eyes are visible, expression still flat, even if there might be the slightest hint of sombreness underneath. His finger still winds through his hair, a habit even older than his signature crouch.]

Made a difference here, or a difference at home? [He'd left a clue to it at home, though he truly had expected Mello to take it as a taunt instead. Earlier than that, there had been a much clearer expression of at least respect -- the agreement to share L's name, without even a second thought. But that had gone ignored as well. And then shot down explicitly the next time they'd met in person, years later.]

[torrefied]

Either. Both, maybe. I don't know.

[Definitely at home. Maybe he would have made different choices. Maybe if Near had been more expressive about working together, Mello would never have left the House. Mello can see the trail of hints stretching back over the years now, in retrospect, but at the time they'd been issued, he'd been completely clueless.]

Tell me something - did you really want to work together, or were you just agreeing to go along with what Roger said?

[solvethepuzzle]

[He'd wondered, occasionally, if he'd mishandled the situation at home. And that same feeling had come back much more powerfully when Sorrow had been revived. Near has done many unpleasant things in his life but has regret for only two events: killing Mai, and not collaborating properly with Mello.]

Before he posited it, I hadn't considered it a legitimate possibility. [He has no shame admitting this much. The idea they'd all been raised with is that only one could succeed L. That had simply been their upbringing and he had accepted that. The idea that they could be a team had been a revelation and one he'd very much liked for multiple reasons.] But I would not have agreed to share something so important with someone whose ability did not meet my standard.

[torrefied]

[Being asked to share the title didn't feel like the honor Near makes it out to be - at the time, it felt like a consolation prize. Teamwork wasn't encouraged at the House - it was competition that was fostered among the children there. Mello was certain that if he'd accepted the scenario that Roger proposed, it wouldn't have been a true partnership, because they weren't equals - Near had always bested him. But that opinion had been formed outside of the context that Mello now has, that Near likes and respects him, and has for quite some time.]

I didn't know that's how you felt about it.

[He didn't know Near felt anything at all, in fact - not a difficult position to understand, perhaps, particularly in light of Near's harsh words about losing.]

[solvethepuzzle]

[Near hadn't been at the top of the class due to any competitive nature on his part. Not that he's without a desire to win, but he'd just done his assignments as they'd been asked and he happened to wind up in first place. Every time. He's just that good. Mello had been the only one who could keep up, and that had impressed him.]

I was unaware that the fact that I have standards is so shocking.

[No, it's not a difficult position to understand; Near gives off every impression of not feeling anything at all. It's inaccurate, but not grievously so. He feels little and not enough to allow it to influence his decision-making when he does experience emotion.

[His cold proclamation about losing . . . he has since revised his opinion on L's final result. Even this is out of logic and not sentimentality. "If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle . . . you're just a loser." He'd come to learn that while L had indeed lost the game, he hadn't failed to solve the puzzle. Their mentor would have had a chillier reception if Near had still felt the same as he had the day they'd learned of his death.]

[torrefied]

No, it's not that - just the opposite, actually. The surprise is that you considered me as meeting your standards.

[If his voiced opinions that day about someone who was unable to win being just a loser were, as Mello thought, evidence of his estimation for anyone who wasn't number one, it's no surprise that Mello assumed that he was included in that group. What use, then, is partnering with just a loser? Not a partnership at all. Mello's gaze drops to the edge of the topmost stair as he runs his thumb along it, pressing a deep groove into his skin.]

I know you said you've been other people before, Near, but I don't think you understand what it's like to be someone else in relation to you.

[Namely, someone like Mello - someone who has always existed in Near's shadow.]

[solvethepuzzle]

The meaning of my acceptance clearly didn't sink in back then. [But really, what had he been supposed to do? Be effusive? That isn't him.

[And there would have been a lot of benefit in partnering with Mello. Near is the best at what he does, but his skills are in a very narrow range. Mello isn't quite as good, but he's more versatile, connects and relates to people more effectively. Thinks of alternate strategies that can throw an opponent off-balance.]

No, I admit I've never been placed in that kind of position. [Even the closest personal relationship one of his other selves had been involved with hadn't been a competition, a rivalry. He still isn't certain exactly how to describe it.]

[torrefied]

You didn't sound like you meant it.

[Mello frowns at his thumb, recalling the memory of that day and how he felt.]

You sounded like you didn't care.

[Which wasn't unusual - that's how Near typically sounded whenever he spoke. Bored. Unaffected.]

I don't think you realize what it's like to be on the outside looking in at you.

[solvethepuzzle]

I realize that lack of inflection can make intent ambiguous. [That's why detailed analysis is necessary. And there is an underlying expectation that Mello is someone who can puzzle out his true meaning if he tries with a clear head. Because he's smart enough.

[He won't waste time here with obvious bullshit like "I wouldn't have said it if I hadn't meant it." They lie all the time, a fact so basic that it doesn't even need to be said.] What would you have me do? That's the way I talk. It is uninitentional. [Save on rare occasions, he doesn't school his voice into blandness. It's just how it is.]

[torrefied]

You could have said something - else, I don't know, something to indicate that you wanted me to stay.

[Mello shrugs, a halfway-helpless gesture in place of the words he doesn't have to offer.]

It doesn't matter, [he lies,] it's in the past.

[solvethepuzzle]

Would you have listened to me? [Mello has long been prone to objecting to what he says on principle, seeing criticism and commands when they are not there.] I left you free to make your own choice. [And never took back that agreement to work together, even after Mello had gone and had so many of his investigators murdered.]

[torrefied]

Maybe.

[Near going out of his way to ask Mello not to leave would have been an anomaly, and at the very least, it would have given Mello a reason to pause and consider the influencing factors. And it's not that it's not important, but what he said is true - what happened is in the past, and there's no changing what's already happened. What's more important now is what they do with this new understanding. Mello pushes the hood of his jacket back from his head and levels a thoughtful stare on Near.]

You didn't really answer me, earlier. I understand that you don't want me to die, and I've told you that I don't plan on it happening again while I'm here. But if I'm sent back, there's a very strong chance I won't remember anything here, and there won't be anything I can do to change the course I've already set into motion.

[And that bothers him more than he'd like to admit. Matt will still be killed helping him, and there's nothing Mello can do to change that.]