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[oftheletter]

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[All private messages to L/Near can be left here.]

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[oftheletter]

[It's going to be tough to get used to it in short bursts. Still, he has nothing against clinging to Mello's arm and shoulder and taking a few experimental steps.

It feels wrong. He keeps thinking his feet will twist and his legs will bow underneath him back into his usual tail. It will happen eventually, but expecting it isn't making the trek any easier.

Walking is such a lame method of travel.

Moving takes enough focus that he isn't able to quip anything back at the blond. One step at a time - he has to do this while he can.]

[onamissile]

[And he can feel the mild form of trepidation as though it were his own, and Mello knows that it's not his own. They're just walking. That's all.]

[His instinct is to take a larger step, but he doesn't. Urge Near to try harder, faster. When have either of them ever been weak? Isn't that the reason they've bonded? Isn't that the reason Mello has chosen to do this? So N could be less incapacitated? Somehow, he truly believes it'll serve a greater purpose.]

That all you got?

[He nudges against the shorter man. Man; Near has aged, hasn't he? Well past what Mello would have ever lived even if Kira weren't the one to take him down. He keeps his own body steady: a figure to use as support. M's always been impatient.]

[oftheletter]

[When has Near ever been physically weak? Always. He's learned to live with it and it's not really something that can be used against him as a point of insult. He's lived as long as he has while spending the vast majority of his time on the floor - or in his personal little workspace he'd had made.

He avoids rolling his eyes when Mello eggs him on, but it's a close call.]

You'll know if I give up.

[That's the answer he gives in lieu of a sigh. His grip on the other man tightens to let him know he's still willing to continue.]

You make a poor caregiver, but I appreciate the effort.

[onamissile]

[No, Mello has never had to care for anything in his life aside from himself; that's one thing they can agree on, at least. But — ]

Well, you haven't fallen.

[The only way he knows how to say you're doing well enough.]

Think you can let me go? Don't overcompensate. If you can't, say you can't.

[oftheletter]

I appreciate you setting the bar so low.

[Though given the way Near had felt at the start that bar might not actually be as low as it could be. His grip tightens slightly as the idea of walking on his own is brought up. It feels like such an impossible task at the moment.

But he's already on his feet, isn't he? Letting go of Mello to move on his own... it's only the literal next step forward. It's nothing he shouldn't be able to accomplish.]

...Not yet. Let me psych myself up for it.

[He does know his own limits.]

[onamissile]

[A scrunch of pale brows: of course Mello notices his Bonded's reaction when he suggests he might let go. Feels it, maybe. Does Near...get nervous? The idea of laughable, but that's very much what his reaction insinuated.]

[In the end: people are people, Mello supposes. No matter which front they attempt to present to the world. God knows he's been on the edge of his seat a hundred times before, even when he's gone for the impossible.]

All right.

[After all, why rush it? The goal here is to show that the charm, in fact, is effective for more than a moment or two. Though — ]

The worst that'll happen is you'll fall, [he comments dismissively, using his free hand to wipe a blonde strand from his eye.] Not like I can't catch you.

[oftheletter]

[If he falls, especially if it's because his tail has grown out again, it wouldn't be the first time. Near had fallen onto his belly many times while trying to learn to move in a manner that wouldn't weird out the other mirrorbound. If it was just the other townspeople, a naga crawling around on the ground might be perfectly acceptable. Though perhaps not for someone selling toys.]

It should be easy for you, yes. [Even as slight as Mello is.] I'm unfortunately very light. Not a lot of muscle mass.

[And the tail itself won't need support. If he doesn't lose all feeling in it the way he did with his legs momentarily, it should provide immediate support of its own.]

... How long does it take you to recharge the necklace?