Ello, all. So... I guess I have a habit of doing weird LLight oneshots. This story is a bit odd, and like the other, it goes through the entire series, basically, each section is a different significant plot point. If you're confused by anything at the end, please don't hesitate to ask.
Don't own L or Light, if I did... well, they'd be doing a different kind of dance together. A much more... physical... passionate... naked dance.
D4nc3
L sometimes mused that his relationship with Light Yagami was nothing more than an elaborate dance.
The words, 'I am L' were the first chords of a melodic symphony that never stopped playing. From then on, every move either of them made, every action, every sentence, was nothing more than a step in their intricate waltz. With L leading, of course.
--
The detective proposed the next step, and Light followed. They were sitting at a cafe table together, talking, getting to know each other, both of them utterly relaxed to the naked eye. It was such a lie. They both knew what the other was doing, testing each other's strengths and weaknesses. This is when they established the music to follow, a fast paced and complicated tempo with beautiful undertones of deceit. It was the most challenging thing either of them had done in a while, to sit at that table and lie to the other with a smile on their face. L loved it.
--
When L suggested a tennis match, he had expected the next battle of wits to take place through the verbal banter between the serves. He hadn't expected Light to be so good that neither of them had the time or energy to talk while they were on the courts.
But he soon realized, this was so much better. Their dance, which, until now had only existed in L's mind, now existed in real life. Granted, their game wasn't as beautiful, but it was still simultaneous patterned movement affected by each other's actions, and it was the most physical thing they'd done together.
L wasn't sure how the dance changed when the younger boy won. It wasn't as if control suddenly switched, or there was a drastic shift in power. But now, it seemed to the detective that he never really had been leading in the strictest sense.
--
One day, things seemed different. L was already on edge because of the appearance of the second Kira, and his dance with the younger boy had been growing increasingly confusing and, above all, aggressive. The task force didn't notice anything wrong, but L did. The stakes were getting so much higher, and instinctively, he knew why. Light was dancing with another partner. And now, coincidentally, so was Kira.
When he met Misa Amane, his suspicions were confirmed. Light was effortlessly dancing with the both of them at the same time, but what simultaneously made the detective feel both smug and uneasy was the difference. When Light moved with Misa, it was simple, almost boring really, but Misa followed, completely spellbound. When, on the other hand, Light looked to L, they were dancing again, without speaking, without moving, and with more dedication, more creativity and more passion than he had ever elicited before.
--
But for some reason, when he saw that overenthusiastic, bubby blonde, he almost felt the music... stop. The detective couldn't name why, but Light looked at him as if he was desperately fighting back a smirk.
Seconds later though, that smirk was gone, their waltz continued, but L had taken special care to eliminate the boy's other partner. They were completely focused on each other again, just he way it was supposed to be, and the moves were getting more drastic.
--
And then, the most incredible thing happened. Light stopped the music. With such a dramatic gesture that it seemed he was refusing to continue until he got his second partner back. When he was in confinement, they couldn't dance. There were no more split second touches or prolonged looks. They couldn't even argue properly because Light didn't... fight back right. It irritated L to no end. He had just lost a perfect partner.
--
It got stranger. One day, without warning, Light changed. And the music changed with him. It was no longer fast and hard and near violent, it was cooperative, calm and genuine, everything he knew the boy wasn't. Or... hadn't been.
After Light had been released, L almost wished he'd turn the music back the way it was. The new steps were so much slower and more subtle, the detective almost lost the rhythm once or twice, and he had a sneaking suspicion that it was nothing more than a diversionary tactic, or a way to lull him in to a false sense of security. But soon after, L realized the change wasn't just in the music and the movements, it was in Light's eyes and intentions. Where once, the subconscious Light would wrap an arm around the detective's back to feel for a concealed blade or barb, never before had he done it for no other reason than he needed the support.
L's irritation and curiosity slowly gave way to delight.
--
His delight grew tenfold when they got to engage in another live dance. A much more violent one. Admittedly, getting punched in the face wasn't quite the first step he anticipated, but it certainly did set things off with a bang.
The last dance wasn't nearly so exciting; a tennis match happens on opposite sides of a court, a fistfight is all skin and heat and shouting and it was fascinating because who knew Light could even show that kind of emotion, getting so down and dirty?
There were brief moments when they were almost pressed together and L could see the fire in the boy's eyes, burning clear and bright and completely honest in their hatred in a way they'd never admitted before. And now, for the first time, Light was human. A furious, normal, albeit exceedingly attractive, human boy.
After the fight, their dynamic changed again, regaining some of the lost passion and speed, but still noticeably lacking the initial venom. This was a completely different kind of tension.
--
Well. It was, anyway. But then they captured the Yotsuba Kira together, and that tension found it's way back. L didn't know exactly what happened, but he knew the exact look in Light's eyes. Fire was burning again, but it wasn't clear, and it wasn't honest. The one similarity it shared with the past Light was the shine.
But this wasn't the exact same Light as before he changed the tempo. In fact, this seemed to be yet another different tempo, they must have gone through a dozen already. The boy was no longer a monster behind a beautiful veil, or a child in a cage, and he wasn't... quite human, but... he was Kira. That much L knew, even if some mortal weakness or emotion had crept in. And... it had crept in. He knew it.
--
A long time later, L was standing on a freezing roof top, drops of rain soaking his clothes and matting his hair to his forehead. The dance was almost done then.
"Ryuzaki?"
He looked over to the man who had joined him, who was currently shielding his face from the wind-driven rain. Their eyes met and Light paused.
"... You're going to get sick if you stay out here, come on, there's still a lot of work to do." His partner took a step back, nodding to the door, the entrance to shelter, to warmth, to...
Well. He had no delusions about what else lay beyond that door. At least, for him anyway.
L didn't move. Instead, he outstretched his own hand, eyes fixed to Light's in a silent invitation. There was just this one thing he wanted to try before he went through that door...
The younger man blinked, not quite red eyes flickering between the detective's hand and his eyes, both of them waiting.
A moment later, Light walked to him and laid his hand in L's, the warmth of the brunette's hand soon absorbed by the cold of the other's. The older man put his other hand to the small of his partner's back, fingertips resting in the crease of his curved spine. Almost simultaneously, Light brought his hand up to the pale man's shoulder, their bodies closer than they had been since their fight. Their almost dance.
They both waited for a moment before L took a decisive step forward and Light decided to follow, just like the detective knew he would.
Because really, they both wanted just one last dance.