A/N: Written for the Green Room challenge #4

Thanks to Scorp for help on this story!

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Shinigami Games

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"Light, this game is too hard!" Ryuk whined, dropping the controller on the floor and throwing his claws up in the air as the moon crashed into the Earth and the screen blanked out yet again. You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? Flashed on the screen, and Ryuk comically covered his fanged teeth with his claws. It would have been hilariously ironic, if Light was in the mood to be amused by such things.

Light glared up from his college textbook. He'd thought maybe a one-player video game would be a good way to keep the Shinigami quiet while he studied, but it looked like choosing a game as complicated as Majora's Mask had backfired. "Ryuk," Light said, keeping his voice even, "do you want me to put Mario Kart in for you?"

"But I like this one, it's fun," Ryuk replied, floating over to hover over Light's shoulder. "They even have these cute little dogs that follow you around, and if you run in a circle, they all keep following you in a circle."

"No wonder you keep running out of time," Light muttered, closing his textbook. He was used to the Shinigami invading his personal space, staring at him, and talking constantly. Not that he really minded the chatter, it was nice to have someone to talk to most of the time, but sometimes Light just needed a break.

"Hey, Light, why didn't you try running around in circles when you found out I had to follow you around everywhere?" Ryuk asked, twirling around in a circle. "Or what if they changed the Death Note rules, and the humans had to follow the Shinigami instead of the other way around?"

Light shuddered at the thought. If he ever had to follow Ryuk around, the Shinigami was certain to 'accidentally' forget that humans couldn't phase through buildings. The thought was mildly horrifying.

Then Light straightened his hair and stood up. "I have far more important things to do with my time," he told Ryuk. And it was true. He had college, helping his father recover from his stay in the hospital, judging criminals with the Death Note while avoiding L, and next week he would start working part time on the investigation team. As fun as Ryuk could be, Light couldn't afford to spend too much time entertaining him.

Ryuk snickered. "Oh, yeah, like killing criminals." Then Ryuk's expression changed, becoming more serious and ominous. "Hey, that reminds me, if you play the game through for me, maybe I'll remember an important rule about the Death Note."

Light turned, his hand on the door almost ready to exit the room. Ryuk seemed to be getting more and more manipulative with each passing day. It was almost as if the Shinigami was learning it from someone. Clearly he was not learning it from Light, who always considered himself to be a paragon of virtue. Light sighed, and walked over to pick up the video game controller. "Tch. Stupid Shinigami."

It was kind of fun to play the game with Ryuk's commentary, and Light found he was enjoying himself after a while. He and Ryuk had slightly different ideas of what constituted a "fun" game, but despite whining slightly when he wouldn't run around with the Zora mask and let the dogs follow him, Ryuk seemed pretty happy.

Two hours later, Light had finished the game. "There, now you've seen it. I need to go check on my father." Light felt a slight surge of guilt. His father would likely be disappointed if he knew his straight-A son was spending potential study time playing video games with a Shinigami. He wasn't certain which his father would find more disappointing - that he was wasting study time playing video games, or that he hung out with a giant bug-eyed, winged monster and killed people. Which reminded him: "Oh, and Ryuk, I think there's a rule of the Death Note you need to conveniently remember."

"What? You're too serious all the time. Besides, you didn't answer the questions yet, so you're not finished."

Light felt his eyebrow twitch. "What questions?"

Ryuk drifted closer. "Those kids at the end that asked for a mask."

"That's not a part of the game, Ryuk. The questions are for the character, not the player."

"Hey, do you think you're like skull kid? The Death Note always brings misfortune to people too."

Light rolled his eyes. He would consider it ridiculous to think he was cursed because of the Death Note, or that he couldn't handle its power. "You already told me that, and no, obviously there's no comparison since Kira only does what's good for the world."

"But he just wanted someone to talk to," Ryuk persisted. "Doesn't that sound familiar?"

Light scoffed at the comparison. It wasn't as if he kept Ryuk around for the company. "I have lots of friends, Ryuk."

"Yeah, but you never talk to them."

"I'm too busy most of the time. And I do talk to them. Last week I even had lunch with Kiyomi." Light sat down on his bed and glared up at Ryuk who was still cackling at him. Fine. Maybe he'd humor Ryuk if it meant getting information about using the Death Note. "Which question did you want to ask?"

"What makes you happy, Light?"

Light thought for a minute. He had told the Shinigami he 'was happier than he'd ever been' just a few days ago. And he'd meant it. His life had been so boring before he had Shinigami and creepy detectives following him around. They both claimed they would kill him some day, but that was only if he lost. And in the meantime at least he wasn't bored. "The Death Note," Light answered. "And if a certain Shinigami was more cooperative, I'd be even happier."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Ryuk whined. "Being entertained makes me happy. And you're my favorite human. It's almost a shame I'll have to kill you in the end. But don't worry; I'll always remember you as one of my favorites."

Light laughed off the last comment. It was a good reminder of why keeping Ryuk happy was so important. Still, he was sure he'd be able to negotiate his way out of anything by bargaining with apples or video games. "You won't kill me, Ryuk," Light said, plopping back onto his bed. "Who'd give you apples and entertain you if I was dead?" He glanced over at the Shinigami and glared. "Speaking of apples, I know a certain Shinigami who won't be getting any unless he tells me more information about the Death Note."

"Uh, but you didn't answer all the questions."

"Of course I did, Ryuk. I even told you before: "Being Kira makes me happy, and I make other people happy since I kill criminals."

Ryuk laughed uproariously.

"What?"

"Well, I guess that's entertaining enough to count."

Light ignored Ryuk's rudeness and stared at him expectantly.

"Err, yeah, let's see." Ryuk scratched his head. "Uh, okay, I know! You know, the Shinigami eyes work slightly differently for humans."

Light propped himself up with one arm. "I already told you, I'm not making the trade." The last thing he wanted was to get entirely useless information. After entertaining Ryuk for several hours, he knew he deserved something important.

Ryuk jumped up onto the ceiling. "Yeah, I know, but I thought maybe you'd like to know, that a human with the Shinigami eyes can't see their own lifespan, or the lifespan of anyone who owns a Death Note."

Light sucked in a breath. That meant…if someone had the Shinigami eyes…they could find him just by looking at him. And if L ever found someone who had made the eye trade… He rolled over and angrily glared at Ryuk. "Mind telling me why you never mentioned this before?"

Ryuk comically shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, there's so many rules I can't remember every one of them all the time. Besides, you said you weren't interested in making the trade."

Light let out an angry huff of air. "I'm not." He paused, considering the implications of the information. It wasn't a big deal, unless there were a lot of other Death Note users around. "How many other Shinigami have notebooks down here?"

"It's not my job to keep track of the other Shinigami. Give me a break! And who said you were entitled to more answers anyway?"

Light narrowed his eyes at the Shinigami. Yes, Ryuk was definitely more manipulative than when he'd first arrived. It was probably time for an apple ban. Then he could bribe the rest of the answers out of Ryuk later.