[Near seems pleased by the video - or at least as pleased as he ever appears. He preferred the scar on Mello. It made him look more dangerous. More serious. Those who live through defeat learn from it. Near respects those who lose and come back stronger, even as he's dismissive of those who fail because they didn't already know what they should have.

Not everyone could forge through losses the way Mello did, and this is why the blond is better than others.

The naga holds up one hand, briefly glancing over the back of it.]

I'm sure the scales don't help.

[The hand is lowered. Near has never been vain, so the insults about his appearance are taken as part of the other man's greeting.]

This place exists outside our time and isn't limited by it. For me, a decade has passed since your death - and as far as I know I'm still alive. I don't recall dying.