AN: A new drabble! And just in time for Father's Day. I do not own Death Note.
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They entered the grounds of The Wammy's House in the early hours of the third Sunday of June. It was still quite dark out, and the stars shone brightly with the absence of city lights. Taking care to be quiet, two men slipped from their car and made their way into rooms that had already been prepared for them. After a cup of tea, they fell gratefully into their beds.
By the time the sun shone on Wammy's House, rumors had already begun to circulate. A car had arrived mysteriously in the night. Two men had gotten out of the car, and unconfirmed accounts reported that one man was far older than the other. The second man was rumored to walk while stooped. Excitement ran high as a school full of genius minds came to the conclusion that the person whose title they were competing for was here. In groups of twos and threes, or one by one, they came and went from Roger's office.
"They seem to know that we are here, L," Watari remarked over his morning cup of tea.
L sat with his knees drawn up to his chest. He sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped. But I don't have any plans to see any of them, Watari. I hope no one is expecting a meeting."
"I'm sure that will be fine, L," Watari hastened to assure the detective.
L bit his thumb anxiously. "I didn't come here for them," he went on. "I just wanted to rest a bit."
"You're under no obligation to see anyone," Watari soothed.
"People have been coming and going from Roger's office all day," L fretted, oblivious to Watari's sentiments. "They know I'm here; they want to see me, I know it!"
"L, please. You needn't see anyone. Just rest. It's been a trying couple of months."
"Yes," L muttered, taking a sip of his tea. "Yes. I don't have to see anyone. I don't want to."
"That's fine," Watari repeated.
By the end of the day, L had calmed down. He had not seen anyone besides Watari. He had relaxed. He had read. He had taken a nap just because he felt like it. He felt nearly rejuvenated. Watari entered L's sitting room with a smile and a tray of cakes.
"Feeling better, are we?" the older man inquired.
"Yes, thank you," L smiled.
"Will you be ready to leave by tonight, then?"
"Oh, I should think so," L confirmed. "A day's rest should be enough for me. To be honest, this inactivity is already starting to wear."
Watari smiled. L couldn't sit still, not when there were cases to solve. He shook his head a tad ruefully. Really, the boy worked too hard.
There was a knock at the door. L almost stiffened.
"Who is it?" Watari asked.
"Roger."
Watari cut his eyes to L's. The younger man nodded. "Come in," Watari invited. Roger walked in, almost obscured by something that he was carrying.
"I just thought I should deliver these before you left," he said. He put down his bundle on the table by the cakes and tea things. "Safe trip, you two." And he was gone.
Watari examined a couple of the objects before settling back in his seat. "I think these are all for you, L," he remarked.
L leaned forward and picked up a few pieces of paper from the enormous pile that Roger had brought in. He looked through them without comment. Put them aside. Rifled through a few more. They all seemed to contain the same content. Some of them were printed, some were handwritten, or drawn with crayon, or painted. But the message was the same. L put them down.
"Come, Watari," he said, standing. "It's high time we were quit of this place."
Watari stood. "Are you sure you don't want to take these with you?" he asked. L was already at the door. He didn't look back as he waited for his partner to join him.
"Leave them."
After they departed, Roger went into L's room to clean away the tea things. He sighed as he saw that L had left without taking the items he had delivered. Roger left with the tea tray and returned with a garbage bag. One by one, he picked up the pieces of paper L had left behind and placed them inside. 'Happy Father's Day' they read.