L was supposed to have been dead for years when Light ran into him. He looked the same as ever – messy hair, dark eyes, maybe a little thinner. He straightened unconsciously as he saw Light, and for a moment Light could almost hug him. Then it passes and he simply says, "L."
"Light."
"Well."
They stared at each other.
"How have you been?"
"All right." He looked completely unsurprised to see Light again. "You?"
"All right."
"You're not dead."
"Evidently." He didn't elaborate. Clearly he had been pulling strings through Near. It would explain a lot. "You look tired."
"You don't look so good yourself."
"No," he admitted. They watched each other a little more. "How's Misa?" he finally offered.
Light looked away.
"Ah."
"I had to," he said quietly. He glanced back at L. "And Watari?"
L raised his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry."
"I suppose you had to do that, too."
Light was shaking his head. "Not if it was recently."
"It doesn't matter," L said, emotionless as ever. "Whether you did it directly or not. It's all the same."
Light couldn't quite meet his eyes. It was the first time in years that he had experienced a little give in his arrogance. "You should come inside," he found himself saying now. "It's cold."
L said nothing
"Come on," he said, and turned to go. He was bluffing; he would have turned right back if he hadn't heard L's footsteps fall into place behind him.
Light's apartment was like a warm blanket after outside. It was one of the coldest winters they'd had in years. He put the fire on and made coffee.
L kicked off his soaking shoes and drew his knees up on the couch. When Light brought him his coffee with a separate cup of sugar cubes, he just stared at it for a while without touching it.
"Do you think I'd poison you?"
His amusement seemed to prompt L to stir in a few sugar cubes. His hand looked raw and was shaking slightly.
"Want a blanket?"
"No." He sucked on a sugar cube while he waited for the coffee to cool.
"Are you hungry? I've got candy."
"Since when?"
Since I started missing you, Light thought, getting up quickly in case L could read it in his face. He brought L one of the large chocolate bars he used to eat and put it down in front of him.
L's eyes flicked over it suspiciously and then back at Light.
"Again, not poisoned."
L pulled back the foil and bit into the bar. He closed his eyes for a moment as he chewed. It looked like it had been a while since he ate. He really had lost a lot of weight.
His eyes were practically drooping by the time he had finished. The warmth and the sugar put him at greater ease than he'd felt in months.
Light was watching him, eyes narrow with amusement. "You can sleep here, you know. I won't hurt you."
"No, thank you." He took another sip of coffee.
"At least give me your shoes, then. I'll put them in the dryer."
L made no move to stop him. When Light returned, he had the Death Note held ostensibly in his hand. L stiffened.
"Relax," Light said casually. He dropped it on the coffee table in front of L.
L fingered it, finally picked it up, turned slowly to the most recent pages, read a few others. Then he looked at Light, who was watching him.
"Where's the Shinigami?"
He shrugged. "He doesn't dog me 24/7." Leaning back, he casually called Ryuk's name.
"What I miss?" Ryuk said, by way of greeting. "Oh, hey, L."
L looked at him steadily. "I'm going to burn this," he said, showing him the Note.
Ryuk looked at Light, who looked indifferent.
Ryuk shrugged, turning back to L. "Good for you."
"What will happen?"
"I'll use my other ones," he chuckled.
"For Light's benefit, you mean?"
"Nah. Light's getting boring. And some people are getting tetchy about it. I don't think I'll drop Death Notes down here any more."
L looked suspicious. Surely it couldn't be that easy? "Will you kill me for burning them?"
"Nah. But don't you want to- "
"No. I don't."
"OK," he huffed. "Just trying to be nice."
L turned back to Light, who was looking strangely bored. "You get fed up of this, Light?"
He shrugged.
"Or did you get your hands on another one?"
"No." He appeared to be genuine, but L had no way of knowing.
He burnt the Note.
"You won't be able to prove anything now," Light told him.
"I know." He poked at the fire.
"Don't you care?"
"Not any more."
Ryuk left them. The Note smelt pleasant as it burnt. L closed his eyes. He half expected the younger man to shove his face into the fire.
When it was done, having the weight of it all off his shoulders made him want to sleep more than ever. He inched back from the fire as his eyes went heavy.
Light got up wordlessly, and then he was tucking something warm around L's shoulders.
"You're shivering," he said quietly, holding the blanket closed. He kneeled there a moment too long, pressing his mouth against L's hair.
L leaned back warily and met his eyes. "What are you doing?"
Light just looked amused all over again. "You can't read me 100% of the time, can you?" He tugged L's knees out of the way and kissed him. Sensing the give in his legs, he eased them gently all the way down. Just as he thought he could feel the tension gradually leaving the other man's body, hands were on his shoulders, stopping him.
"I'm tired, Light."
Light opened his eyes, nodded slowly. "Is that a no? Or a later?"
"It's a no."
"Are you sure?"
L actually glared at him. "I'm sure."
Light moved away.
"So that's what you meant by sleeping here." He was watching the Note burn morosely.
Light gave him a considered look. "No," he said finally. "You can sleep here. You should sleep here. You look exhausted."
The wind howled outside, as if in agreement. L drew his legs back up under the blanket, hugging them broodingly.
"Want another coffee, then?"
By the time he had made it, L had moved back to the sofa with the blanket and curled up on his side. He didn't move again for the rest of the night.
Judging by the light, it appeared to L to be very early morning. He was still on Light's couch. Light was asleep at the other end, legs pressed against his own. He must have been very deeply asleep, for Light had straightened his legs out so that their limbs curled together like snakes.
I could leave now, L thought, but the thought drifted away as quickly as it had come. He was too late; Light was sitting up.
"Morning," the younger man murmured, drawing his legs back.
L eyed him warily. "Don't you have a bed?"
"Why, want to see it?"
L laughed despite himself. "I said no, Light."
"I know," he said, unphased. He shifted positions and rested his head on L's chest, ignoring how he stiffened.
"You're crushing me," L said quickly.
"Girl," he said, but then he sighed and shifted them around again, so that L's head was on his own chest. He began to rub his back, running his fingers up and down his spine.
L shivered. "Don't."
"OK." He began to massage his hair instead, lazily, the way he would a dog.
L rolled his eyes, let it go. He was too tired.
"I suppose congratulations are in order," Light said thoughtfully.
"Not really," L answered. "I didn't exactly win. You forfeited."
"Hm. I suppose."
No longer caring, L drew up his knees more comfortably and slept curled under Light's throat.
When he woke again, it was with a senseless kind of urgency he couldn't understand. Then he remembered, relaxed a little. Light was blinking up at him in confusion, features soft with sleep.
"I have to go," L blurted, and freed himself.
He found his sneakers in the dryer and was putting them on when Light came after him.
"L?" He looked like a little kid.
"It's OK, Light. You got away with it." He was bitter now, he couldn't help it. "You can get on with your life."
Light just stared at him. L had turned to go when he made a sort of noise in his throat and caught hold of his wrist. "You care about me." He said quietly, not as a question.
"You don't know anything about me, Light."
"Don't leave," he pleaded. He was still holding onto his wrist.
L couldn't look at him. "Why don't you… get back to normal. And then give me a call. If you still want to." He tugged his arm free.
Light let him. "You mean it?"
"Why not."
Light wasn't quite able to tell if he was being serious or not. But then L's huge eyes met his own, for the first time since the night before.
"OK?"
"OK."
L took a step away from him, and then another, and then he was gone.