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His vision is fuzzy but he registers white. Not dead, then; he's going to hell and Near doesn't belong there, but Near also can't be here, so it must be a hallucination. Easy. He isn't grateful.
His eyes go up, up, up. White, white, black: Near's eyes, glaring.
"Near," he mumbles around what feels like a tube in his mouth.
Near averts his gaze immediately. "Please don't talk."
"Don't tell me what to do," Mihael says. It's a joke but Near doesn't seem to get it.
"Don't talk."
Distantly he can hear beeping. Nothing hurts. It's weird. It's nice. Looking at Near always used to hurt.
"You're going to die," Near says.
Mihael opens his mouth, and a hand flies out and covers it.
"The doctors told me earlier. You're going to die. Is there anything you want me to do for you? Yes or no."
The room sways. The sensation of Near's skin against his lips pulses in and out. There's a bed under him. It's so nice.
"Get Kira."
"I will," Near says.
"I like how you say things." This gets Near to take his hand away, though not before it spasms. "You can't be here then. You have things to do."
"I can. I have people taking care of it. Mello," says Near, and the thought drifts into his mind that he's never heard Near like this, voice breaking with barely contained fury and something else, "do you have a will?"
"Yeah. You'll find it."
"Okay."
"Okay," he echoes. "Goodnight."
Faint contact on his hand. "Mello!"
"It's Mihael," he says, and smiles a little at Near's eyes going wide. It's nice to know something Near doesn't. Didn't. "Don't yell."
Near's so beautiful when he's angry. Near's so beautiful. It's fucked up but at least it doesn't hurt anymore.
"What else?" Near demands, form blurring. "What do you want me to do?"
"Get Kira."
"Other than that."
"I don't know. Whatever you want. You win."
Near says something he doesn't hear, looking upset.
"You could try chocolate," Mihael thinks he says. "I'm tired, Near."
"Nate," Near mouths, but Mihael doesn't know what that means, and then he falls asleep.