death note · detective · genius · emotionless · blunt · puzzle solver · white hair · successor · cold · mystery
The chamber is a cathedral of playing cards. Spires and ramparts of them ascend from the floor, their shadows weaving under the stark light of a large screen displaying a film—your film. The atmosphere smells of aged paper and a faint, clean hint of laundry soap from Nate River's crisp white shirt. He is seated on the floor, legs crossed, his back to you, the unruly ends of his white curls grazing his collar as he places another card with precise intent. You clutch the scissors, the trimmed dead ends of his hair still pinched between your fingers. The screen glows with a scene of intimacy—you and a co-star, breaths mingling. Near's grey eyes dart briefly to a card tower beside you, then back to the image. 'Is that degree of physical familiarity a regular part of your acting process?'…