Feel You Near

6. Nearest and Dearest

Aware that Rester didn't have anything in particular he wanted to talk to Mello about, Mello asked if he needed to take a message for Near.
"No," Rester said, so Mello shrugged and cut the connection, swivelling his chair--Near's chair--around. Near was standing in the door opening of his room.

He didn't say anything, until Mello broke the silence and said, "He must think I'm beating you."

Near smiled, and went back into his room. Mello followed and climbed onto the bed too after he pulled off his boots.

"We have an hour before Temple wakes up?"

Near nodded and sat up on his knees to push Mello's coat off his shoulders. Mello shook it off completely and pulled Near to him.

"Have you slept?" Near asked.

Mello shook his head and said, "You want to question Hall's daughter."

"Why?"

"Works with small children, there's only two cases of abuse of neglect on record, but she was out of a job for three months. About seventeen years ago. It's possible she got better at covering her tracks after that."

"Hall is covering for her," Near said.

"Likely." Mello reached for one of Near's hands, and pushed it into his own hair. He liked Near playing with it.

"She's vacationing in Tenerife now. We can get her here by tonight."

"You do that. I'll be back by tonight too."

"You can sleep here, and be there when I question her."

Mello thought on it, bit his lower lip, looked at Near and nodded in agreement. He could send one of the police men Near had around to get his stuff in the youth hostel. Rogers would do, and Matt knew how to contact him wherever he was.

This wouldn't be as dangerous as the Kira case, not remotely, but it was a lot more personal. And although L had spoilt them by leaving them the Kira case as the first serious crime they had ever dealt with, no case where people suffered and were murdered was trivial. He looked at the door, made sure it was closed, and then kissed Near, slowly, deeply, until he felt him relax in his arms.

He dropped his gloves and pushed Near's pyjama shirt up, and Near straddled his thighs, put his arms around Mello's neck, and kissed him while caressing his hair.

Near's skin was so unbelievably soft Mello's hands started to shiver, but he got a grip when he felt Near grow hard against his belly. He thought it wouldn't take them too long to both get off, surely they would manage before Temple came to wake Near. Mello slipped on hand into the back of Near's pants, and pushed the other between them, gently stroking Near over the fabric.

"Good?" Mello whispered, pulling away from Near's mouth.

Near nodded, breath hot on Mello's neck. He sat up on his knees so Mello could push his pants down, and waited when Mello got up on his knees too and said, "Let me get this."

Mello opened his fly and pushed the leather pants down, and his boxers too. He reached for Near, but Near was looking at his cock, and scrambled back when Mello tried to touch him. He bumped into the headboard of the bed and collapsed. For a moment Mello wondered, but it couldn't possibly be that he was scarily big or anything. His was larger than Near's, but not by that much. He pulled his boxers up again, and with difficulty, worked his erection back into the leather. By the time he had closed his fly, his arousal had subsided. Near's taking fright at the sight of him wasn't exactly sexy.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Near had turned his face away, and when Mello slowly crept up to him, he saw that Near's eyes were closed and that his breathing was shallow. He was also sweating hard for someone who hadn't had sex.

"Near?"

Near turned his head, and opened his eyes. "I don't know," he said. He pulled up his pants to cover his own wilted erection, and then started twirling his hair.

Mello got up, put his hands behind his neck, and paced the room. Some sort of PTSD, even if Near couldn't recall what had happened... Mello didn't know what to do, and stared out of the window to the street below.

"Mello, I'm sorry."

"I'm not," Mello said, and turned from the window to Near, who was still on the bed. Mello didn't want to make him feel worse than he already did.

"You don't have to stay," Near said. He sounded defeated. Mello had never heard him like that, and it broke his heart.

"You're kicking me out?"

Near shook his head, and Mello got back onto the bed with him. "You, er...don't have to see it, don't have to touch it, I--don't have to use it. You can stand it if I touch you, right?"

Near nodded, and sidled up to Mello's side again. Mello hugged him, making sure that no part of Near came into contact with his groin. Lying down next to him, he kissed him and caressed his neck and back and chest until Near was hard again. Mello put his hand into Near's pants and stroked him until he came, gasping against Mello's neck, shaking hands grasping Mello's shirt. Mello wiped his hand on the sheet, and kissed Near's hands until he calmed down.

"What about you?" Near whispered.

Mello shrugged. "I'm fine. If you react like that every time I get a hard-on for you, I'll go impotent anyway. It's enough, Near."

Near didn't look satisfied, but Mello turned around and stripped off his leather pants, since he couldn't sleep in them. He got in under the covers, and said, "Go have a shower, wake me up when you have Susie Hall."

Near kissed Mello's burned shoulder, and then his mouth again, and got out of the bed. Mello watched him get a new set of clothes and enter the bathroom. He turned around molding the pillow to fit his head better, tried not to think about how this getting nearer to Near was not working out as planned, and was asleep before Near came out of the bathroom.

Four hours later, Near woke him up.

"Got Susie?" Mello yawned.

"And the suspect," Near said.

Suddenly wide awake, Mello said, "Where is he?"

"I'm pretty sure he set up camp in the pipes of the old water cleaning plant years ago. We're waiting for the blueprints now."

"I'll get in," Mello said, and reached for his clothes. Physically going after suspects was something he could do with much more ease than Near.

"I'm thinking of flushing him out."

Mello wondered for a moment if Near was joking. "They won't let you do that."

It wasn't just that 'the suspect'--Near's uncle, but Mello was all right with Near not wanting to be reminded of that more than was necessary--would almost certainly drown, but it would destroy evidence.

"Depends," Near said.

Mello grinned. "Are you going to tell me what you're thinking?"

"After I question Susie Hall."
---
TBC