Work Text:
“I’m gonna go get some water. But don’t worry, I’ll be back for dinner, honey!”
“Oh my god, shut up.” Mello swatted at Near as the younger boy wove his way out of the room, rolling over on the floor and absentmindedly rubbing the words imprinted on his wrist. Soulmates. What a stupid idea. Mello would have a very hard time believing that soulmates could even exist, except for the fact that he, like so many others, had been born with a sentence on his wrist with the last words his soulmate would ever say to him. I’ll be back for dinner, honey. A completely stupid, horrifying sentence, and one that Mello constantly got heckled over, especially by Near.
The teasing was probably made worse because Mello always overreacted so dramatically about his quote, but he couldn’t help bemoaning how stupid it was whenever he got the chance. He couldn’t imagine ever being called honey unironically. Also, his quote seemed to imply that he was going to be some sort of a house-husband to some random 1950s person who would call him honey. Honestly, the idea of that made him want to go shoot himself in the head right now, but there were still too many things to live for: like teasing Near and eating chocolate. Near, that lucky little boy, had two blank wrists and unless he was concealing his quote with makeup, he was one of the select few people who’d been born without a soulmate. Because of this, he felt all justified to tease Mello relentlessly without worrying about any repercussions. Most people didn’t say other people’s quotes jokingly just in case something were to happen, but Near felt like he was free to say it to his heart’s delight.
Of course, while the other kids in Wammy’s didn’t like to use Mello’s full quote, that didn’t stop them from unofficially nicknaming him ‘honey’ and calling him that at every possible opportunity. Sometimes, Mello wished that he’d kept his quote wrapped up under a bandage or bracelet, like most of society did. There was even a procedure to tattoo your quote away, but it was too late for him now. Even if he hid it or got rid of it, Mello was sure that Near was never going to let him live his quote down.
Speaking of which, here came the little albino, sauntering in the door with a glass of water held carefully in his hands. “Glad to see you’re still alive,” he remarked casually, sitting down again in the corner of the room and resuming work on a giant white puzzle. Just another one of the things he did that Mello didn’t see a point in.
“Always a surprise to realize that you aren’t my soulmate,” he replied, rolling his eyes and fiddling with the pencil he held in his hands. He’d been trying to draw, to hone some sort of talent other than his witty way with words, but the only thing that he could think of to draw was Near, so his page was still blank.
“You do know about one-sided soulmates, right, honey?” Near’s lip quirked as he glanced over at Mello. “It could happen.”
“Yeah, but not with you. You’re an obnoxious brat.” Mello stuck his tongue out at Near and returned his attention to his sketchbook. “And if you call me honey again, I’ll cut you.”
“Whatever you say, honey.” Near’s voice was lilting, his attention now totally returned to his puzzle, and Mello’s heart clenched at the casual dismissal.
Not that he was upset or anything. He just wanted Near to pay him the attention he deserved, that was all. Frustrated both with his drawing and with the intrusive thoughts, Mello shoved his notebook away from him and took a voracious bite out of the chocolate bar he had stored in his front pocket. The only thing dumber than the idea of soulmates was the idea of one-sided soulmates. But Near was always screwing around, so Mello wasn’t too worried about that being true for him. Besides, he would feel bad for any unlucky person who fell in love with such a brat.