Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.
I do own the cover art for this fic, and you can see more of my insect photography at DeviantArt under username: Zanganito. :)
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A/N: This is a sequel of sorts to Fiend, but you don't need to read that fic to understand this story.
One-sided B/L
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There were things that L liked: chocolate-covered strawberries, solving cases quietly at the computer as everyone else slept, and wriggling his bare toes under a warm blanket as Quillsh Wammy brought him a mug of sweetened hot cocoa.
There were things that L did not like: shoes, mud, oatmeal, and the look on Roger's face when he told L that he ought to spend some of his time tutoring the other students.
Roger was not like Quillsh. There was something harder and colder about the man. He worked at the orphanage because it was his job, not because he liked it. He was more difficult to manipulate than Quillsh, and had no love or devotion for L, but rather a grudging respect. The feeling was mutual.
But Quillsh wasn't here now; he was at Interpol representing L during his current case. L hated when Quillsh was gone. He had to run his own errands, and stop working to find his own sweets and take them to his room.
Roger steepled his lined hands in front of himself on the desk and started talking about the virtues and benefits of working closely with peers and tutoring. There were back-ups, if anything ever were to happen to L, and it would be a good thing if he would spend time teaching them and working with them. Beyond's name in particular came up. L remembered seeing Beyond before. The student was pale with messy black hair, a nearly unnatural mirror image of L. It was vaguely disturbing.
Roger went on and seemed determined to find someone to harness Beyond's creative outlets, and thought L would be better suited than himself. The request was accompanied by a large glass jar of amber colored honey, because, like L, Roger was not above bribing to get his way.
L wasn't one to beat around the bush. "You don't want to spend time with him, so you want me to do it instead?"
L picked the jar up and studied it. "Roger, normally a colony of healthy Apis melifera produce a surplus of 20-45 Kilos of honey a year. I think you should at least give me that much honey for tutoring Beyond." He paused to think. "And sweets. Mr. Wammy will be gone for the next two weeks, so I expect that you will have a cart of deserts delivered to my room once a day while I'm tutoring Beyond. That's a fair exchange, don't you think?"
Roger muttered something under his breath about 'Wammy's House for the criminally inclined', but agreed to L's terms.
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Beyond stared at him with a hungry, predatory gaze, his eyes flicking back and forth, following L's every movement. L shifted back and forth on the chair in front of his computer desk. B sat on the floor.
L paused and stared back at him, lifting a finger to his lips.
Beyond mirrored the gesture.
It would be almost creepy, fascinating, if L actually gave a damn. But Beyond was nothing more than a Roger-mandated exercise in teaching, one that L was certain was doomed to be abysmally unproductive.
"So," he began, breaking the silence that had stretched between them for nearly twenty minutes. "What do you intend to study for your year end science project?"
Beyond's lips curled back in a smile that was nearly a snarl, revealing sharp white teeth. "Bees," he said, adding a breathy huff of a laugh as an afterthought. "Afterall, we want to impress Roger, don't we…L Lawliet?"
L sucked in a breath, his attention caught at last. "How do you know that name?"
B's grin widened, and he continued to stare at L. "It's a secret." He paused. "I'm special, Lawli, just like you."