A/N: For Teowli, who won first place over this summer's fanart contest. The pairing was L and Sayu, something I've always wanted to take a crack at but have never had the courage to before now. Ratings for underage infatuation, potential smuttiness later on, and other rampant deviance. Probably, most definitely, AU.
Whimsy
L is not sure when he stopped being objective and started being biased in her favor, but there has been an irrevocable shift in their relationship, resulting in this… well, whatever this is. What's left of L's conscience – the small, feeble, bleating part of his inner psych, the last of his morality that hasn't been snuffed out entirely (oh the things I've seenhearddone, during my time as the World's Greatest Detective) – tells him that they should stop; that they are on the threshold of ruin and what lies in store is only misery and woe and possible legality issues. No matter how you spin it it's a mess for both parties involved and he's really doing her a disservice by indulging in such behavior. He's supposed to be the responsible one, and he is but he isn't, and she's just as whimsical as he.
L finds her charming.
Sayu is cheery and loud and astonishingly brilliant, although perhaps her parents don't realize it. But L has acknowledged her intelligence long before, back when the screening of the Yagami Household was to produce a possible suspect. (Of course, this endeavor has long since been abandoned, although he still operates under it as a pretense. It could only be Light, after all, has always been Light.) But Sayu is smart, incredibly so; her problem is that she's mostly lazy and unmotivated, a not altogether surprising development as she's spent the entire duration of her childhood being outclassed and overshadowed by the one who came first - the Golden Child, Light.
But L realizes it. He appreciates it, appreciates her; finds her engaging and endlessly fascinating. Everything about Sayu is inviting, magnetic – could L do anything but fall hopelessly in love with her? She's small and compact and full of colossal vitality. She's going to grow into a beautiful woman, a woman with an enviable ability, the ability to ensnare. She's not unlike Light in that respect, although her ability to entice is perhaps even greater than her brother's, given the difference in disposition and gender. L had made sure to jot that particular detail down earlier in the game, back when he was still exploring other possible avenues for suspects, before Light became his prime target. But L does not worry what the future has in store for Sayu – maliciousness just isn't in her, he decides; the potential for destruction simply isn't evident there, the way that it is with Light.
Her lips are feather-light against his jawline; inquisitive and inexperienced. It should reinforce the depravity of the situation, remind L that this is little more than a child he's doing this with (but then again, with all his candy and sweets and stubbornness, is L really more than a child himself?) He should be ashamed. He isn't. This is all Sayu's doing, after all; it's her hands tugging at the strands of his limp, unwashed hair, her body pressed flush against his own. How is that she can be so tentative and so insistent all at once? L's own body is working in overdrive – he's acutely aware of the thundering of his heartbeat, the tiny little hairs prickling up on the back of his neck, the gooseflesh on his arms and legs. He's hyper-aware of everything.
He's hanging on by a thread here. The urge to give into sensation and instinct is so great – the desperation to revert to primal, basic need has never been so prominent in him before. Evolution is a strange and terrible thing, he thinks, right as he's about to give into oblivion.
The knock on the door pierces the otherwise quiet of the room, which previously had only been punctuated by tiny sighs and labored breath. L, usually so reserved, lazy on the best of days, leaps back away from Sayu as though stung. She seems confused at first, and then amused, as L reassumes his usual gargoyalan stance just before Light pokes his head into the room. He does not try to mask his disgust.
"Ryuuzaki," Light asks contemptuously. "I understand that you need to interview my family. I do not, however, understand the need to interview my sister repeatedly, and with the door closed."
L blinks owlishly at him. "Have I not spent many hours in your company, Light-kun, oftentimes behind closed doors?" He offers in his usual deadpan. In the background, Sayu shrugs helplessly, the first touches of a smirk tugging at the edge of her lovely mouth. "Did you ever think, for even a moment, that you weren't being critically scrutinized whilst spending time with me?"
Light looks disgruntled. "Well, no, but…"
"Light!" Sayu admonishes, one hand seizing Ryuuzaki by the shoulder in order to propel herself forward. Her face is now within inches of Light's own, who leans back warily in order to survey his sister more fully. "Ryuuzaki isn't doing anything creepy or perverted, okay?"
Light glances at the placement of Sayu's hand on L's shoulder, and the wrinkles between his brows increase. Sayu heaves a dramatic sigh before throwing herself backwards on the comforter with flourish.
"I think," Sayu declares loudly, "that Light is just jealous because he's not the center of attention for once!"
Light actually flushes a little at that, L notes with quiet surprise. A faint blush, right across the bridge of his nose; a slight discoloration, barely discernable otherwise. But the greatest detective in the world doesn't miss it; no, never.
L cocks his head to one side. "Interrogation often requires a certain degree of privacy," he says in that same offhand voice of his. "I understand your brotherly concern, but as you can see, your sense of duty is sorely misguided here. Percentage of being Kira is up to 5.7% now. It shall rise to a significantly higher level if I drop dead within the next 45 seconds."
Sayu giggles, but Light looks downright mutinous. "You're always spouting percentages at me, and yet you're interviewing her," he says incredulously, before turning on his heel.
"6.5% now, Light-kun."
Light slams the door on his way out.