[A bit of both: it's taking Mello some effort to accept that any of this is real whether or not he feels alive in this place. Whether or not his stomach growls, or if his mind demands answers to things he shouldn't care about anymore.]
[He twitches a brow at the physical offering; what the hell is N thinking? Mello could view him as a monster, could attempt to cut him down for being a visage. But he, too, has something to prove, doesn't he?]
[They always have, in one way or another. So Mello will answer by drawing closer, tearing a glove off with his teeth before tucking it into his pocket. He doesn't reach out tentatively — he never would — and his mouth is a grim, straight line as he touches fingertips over the scales, the uneven things that were once Near's skin. He's no one to judge, though he would never let anyone feel over his scars.]
You always were a snake, [he comments. Half-teasing, half-dead serious. Eyes fixed on his rival's arm, he expects an attack at any moment. Because he's a paranoid thing. Because that's what he would do. And Mello is ready for it, if nothing else.]
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you've bonded with Yagami for gain. [What else would it be? He trusts Near more than he trusts L.]
And that you haven't forgotten that he killed me. Would've killed you too if he could have.
[He doesn't pretend that Near cares at all about L's death. The thing before him made that clear from the moment they were informed by Roger. Cold thing that he's always been.]
[Tell me there's a method to this. Tell me you haven't become a complete fucking idiot in the span of a decade.]
[As ungloved fingers tentatively and curiously explore the rise and fall of scales, the texture, the temperature. He tells himself that Near deserved this. Tells himself that this is the epitome of just desserts.]
[But Mello doesn't believe it. Not really.]
[N deserved this as much as he deserved his own scars, in the end.]
no subject
[He twitches a brow at the physical offering; what the hell is N thinking? Mello could view him as a monster, could attempt to cut him down for being a visage. But he, too, has something to prove, doesn't he?]
[They always have, in one way or another. So Mello will answer by drawing closer, tearing a glove off with his teeth before tucking it into his pocket. He doesn't reach out tentatively — he never would — and his mouth is a grim, straight line as he touches fingertips over the scales, the uneven things that were once Near's skin. He's no one to judge, though he would never let anyone feel over his scars.]
You always were a snake, [he comments. Half-teasing, half-dead serious. Eyes fixed on his rival's arm, he expects an attack at any moment. Because he's a paranoid thing. Because that's what he would do. And Mello is ready for it, if nothing else.]
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you've bonded with Yagami for gain. [What else would it be? He trusts Near more than he trusts L.]
And that you haven't forgotten that he killed me. Would've killed you too if he could have.
[He doesn't pretend that Near cares at all about L's death. The thing before him made that clear from the moment they were informed by Roger. Cold thing that he's always been.]
[Tell me there's a method to this. Tell me you haven't become a complete fucking idiot in the span of a decade.]
[As ungloved fingers tentatively and curiously explore the rise and fall of scales, the texture, the temperature. He tells himself that Near deserved this. Tells himself that this is the epitome of just desserts.]
[But Mello doesn't believe it. Not really.]
[N deserved this as much as he deserved his own scars, in the end.]