[private]

[curtainwizard]

This might be the mansion, or it might not.

The corridors are there. The rooms are there, all acting as they should. The kitchens are still there and functioning (for now, Light interjects darkly to himself). And yet the people

Comments

[firstpuzzle]

[Near isn't floating when he appears, or at least, not any more than he can help. His feet will never touch the ground unless he becomes human again. Like Light, he's more isolated than he would care to admit. He tips his head and twirls his hair.]

Hello, Light. Hello, Periwinkle.

[curtainwizard]

[There's a pause as Light looks up, rather slowly, as if his head's too heavy. His sketchbook's on the dresser, within arm's reach, and his hands are folded around his knees. The casual dress - no shoes, shirt untucked, hair rumpled - isn't entirely atypical for the way he is in private. It would astonish any non-omnipotent observers, though.

Only one person's had the privilege of seeing Light's room before - someone not a universe away from Near, as it happens. The room's dingy, dark, and poorly appointed, just as it's always been. Just as Light's felt all along - sometimes hidden deeper than other times, but always there.]

It is him, then. I wondered.

How did you get in here, Near?

[While he's not pleased about the intrusion, he isn't wholly displeased to see Near, either; he sounds low and depressed.]

[firstpuzzle]

There is no place I cannot go. You know this.

You are wondering, I think, whether this is real, or if it is a figment of your imagination.

[curtainwizard]

Wouldn't - well, I won't ask whether you would.

[His voice is rusty; he's barely used it in months. It's beneath him to whisper to the cat, or to himself - though perhaps he's murmured doubts to his reflection, now and then.]

Do you blame me?