FanFic100

[evandar]

Title: Bedside Manner
Author: Evandar (yamievandar / hikarievandar)
Rating: R (for swearing)
Fandom: Death Note
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters herein, and I am not making any profit from this story.
FanFic100 Prompt: 21 Friends
Word Count: 701 words
Warnings: Spoilers for Mello's burnination and Matt's existence. There's also some bad language.
Summary: Near goes to visit Mello after the confrontation between the Mafia and the NPA.
Notes: The plot bunny for this hit me at two in the morning and demanded to be written immediately.

Matt opened the door to his tiny apartment and blinked. The person in the hall was the last person on earth that he had been expecting: it was Near.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he burst out. Near didn’t bother answering him, and instead brushed past him. Matt peered into the corridor again, looking for bodyguards or police officers or the Four fucking Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but there was no one. The sound of a door opening in the apartment made him abandon his station, actually slamming the door shut in his panic, and race after Near before…

Too late. He had already opened the door to the master bedroom.

“Woah!” Matt yelped. “Uh, Near? It’s really nice that you’ve come round and all, but I don’t think he’ll want to see you. And besides, he’s asleep, and you know how injured people need to rest.”

“I’m awake,” Mello’s voice rasped from within the darkened room. “Get out Near.”

Again Near ignored them both, and again Matt found himself brushed aside as Near slipped past him and into the room.

“Rude little bastard,” Matt muttered.

“What do you want?” Mello hissed as Near approached his bed. He felt so damn helpless lying there, unable to do anything to stop the small, pale boy from approaching him. He didn’t want Near to see, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop him from looking.

“I wanted to see you,” Near told him. His voice was quiet, and Mello could see that his eyes were fixed on the disfigured, burned side of Mello’s face. Mello felt his cheeks redden – at least one of them did; did his blush show through the healing burns? – and he closed his eyes in shame. Only Near could make him feel like he was three inches tall.

“You’re such a fool at times Mello,” Near murmured, sitting himself down on the edge of the bed. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Mello ground out. “I don’t need you to give me a smug lecture.”

Near reached out a hand and gently brushed Mello’s fringe away from his forehead. “I won’t then.”

“Why are you really here?” Mello demanded.

“I was worried,” Near said simply. “Don’t worry: I won’t tell anyone where you are or that Matt’s involved.”

There was a snort of amusement from the doorway and the click of a lighter before the smell of cigarette smoke that already filled the apartment got even stronger.

“As if none of your SPK buddies couldn’t have followed you here,” Matt said. “Get real Near.”

“They could,” Near admitted, “but they didn’t, and that’s the important part, right?”

Matt suddenly got the urge to start looking for those Horsemen again. Near seriously thought that his people wouldn’t try to track him? Ah, wait. It was Near. He would, undoubtedly have already thought of that and taken several precautions against being followed up to, and including, intimidation, because despite Near’s height – or lack thereof – and slightly childish features, there was something about him that was mildly terrifying.

And it would be just like him to freak out his own team of FBI and CIA and whatever  bloody organisation they came from people just so that he could come and visit someone who didn’t really like him very much.

“I never hated you Mello,” Near said eventually. “I actually rather admire you and the way that you work for what you want.”

“It’s a bit late,” Mello snapped.

Near nodded, and stood. He moved slowly, carefully, trying as hard as he possibly could not to jar the mattress and Mello’s wounds. He walked to the door, ignoring Matt as he approached the door. Matt moved out of the way, preferring to move willingly rather than to be brushed aside yet again.

“Near,” Mello called. Near stopped, turning to look over his shoulder at the prone boy, still mostly hidden in the gloom. “Thanks.”

Near nodded. “Thank you, Mello,” he replied. “Get well soon.”

Matt wondered if he should start putting up ‘Wanted’ signs for those sodding Horsemen around the neighbourhood. They should have arrived by now…

Neither of them ever saw Near again.

 

Comments

[killing-kurare.livejournal.com]

I liked that scene. I liked Matt (that horsemen joke was funny ^^), I liked the conversation and the way Mello and Near interacted, and I really really liked the overall feel of the fic.
Perfectly done, as always <3