Bloody hell. Well, if nothing else, this situation had taught Near one valuable lesson: never play chicken with Mello. He did his best to ignore the now partially nude Mello beside him, keeping his attention on the dice.

"I did warn you," he sighed, resolutely not lifting his gaze from the little cubes in front of him. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Mello without his vest on already, anyway. ...Or that he wanted to. But even if he did, he'd seen it already, so what would be the point? "I'm fine as I am," he continued. "But if you really must keep your shirt off, then maybe you should go find the thermostat and turn it up yourself." That sounded suitably uninterested, didn't it?

The truth was, Mello was only half-right. Near was not particularly comfortable being nude around other people, and slept without clothes on the understanding that people did not typically barge into his room while he was in bed. So, while he was not especially modest or shy, he was definitely unaccustomed to being unclothed around other people, and even more unaccustomed to other people being unclothed around him. The fact that it was Mello only made things even more bizarre-- Mello was probably the last person Near had thought would be wandering around half-dressed in his company. It was odd, to say the least, and what was even more odd was the fact that it seemed to make Near more vulnerable and uncomfortable than it did Mello... At least, so far as Near could tell without looking directly at him.

Which he wasn't. And didn't intend to. And wasn't going to. Absolutely not.