Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor do I own a Death Note. I'm also not making any profit off this fic. Enjoy!
48 hours. That's how long it had been since L had chained himself to Light Yagami.
Those hours were spent with very little sleep. On occasion, L noted, Light would doze off at his desk chair, then awaken to guzzle coffee and continue with the case. In that time, L had gotten even less rest then his newfound roommate. He would stay at his desk, bare toes pressed down on his chair, one thumb in his mouth, pausing to eat ice cream, or drink caffeine, or to interact with his team, who were in and out of the office. But mostly, he was watching Light. He looked carefully for any signs that the probable killer might be finding some way to murder right under the detective's nose. So far L hadn't seen any proof of that.
Although, that didn't mean much.
What L did see proof of, was that Light was tired. L knew that the other man wouldn't admit this, not with the chain hanging from his arm, attaching him to his rival. But L could see the effects of exhaustion eating at Light.
Light's eyes had begun to droop, his usual perfect posture had slumped. There was a hesitation to his typing, he hit backspace more often, clearly making mistakes as he took notes on the endless streams of criminal death reports. Light had also begun to develop bags under his eyes to match L's, and his hand trembled, a clear sign of stress, or perhaps, guilt?
'Maybe,' L found himself thinking, 'I can use Lights sleep-deprived state to pick his brain. People are more susceptible to talking when they were tired after all. But they are also more prone to annoyance and violence. I'll have to be careful.'
L was about speak, when light beat him to it.
"You're staring at me." Light stated, with a paranoid flare to his voice. In a huff he closed several windows, opening a document on his computer and writing 'DEAD END.' next to a long report. He began pulling at his hair a bit.
"Yes." L agreed. "I am. I'm wondering how Light is still awake. It's been two days, after all. Are you avoiding sleep? Maybe you fear nightmares?"
"That's rich, coming from you." Light snapped. "I don't need you playing therapist, I just want to solve the case."
L did not respond. He kept his dark eyes on Light.
A moment of near silence went by. The only sound was the constant clicking of keys. Light's typing took on some anger. He tapped his foot on the floor, frustrated.
"Light," L began, "I have a thought experiment for you, if you would indulge me."
"I'm working." Light said back.
"Say," L went on, "That one day something happened, and you suddenly gained all the memories of a serial killer, would you-"
"Stop. I'm not in the mood." Light's words came from gritted teeth. He hunched over his computer, demolishing his cool demeanor he'd been keeping for the last two days. Light rubbed his temples in obvious pain. Maybe the screen's light was giving him a headache?
"Alright." L tried again. "I'll stop." When Light did not respond, the detective opted for a new method. "I think, Light, that keeping you in isolation may have disrupted your normal sleeping schedule. For that, I am sorry. I fear that if you don't sleep, your head will become cluttered, and you won't have much luck in finding leads."
"How about this, I'll sleep when you do." Light spat.
L mulled this over for a second then, he stood from his computer for the first time in hours. "Deal." He said.
"Wha-hey!" L pulled on the chain, walking from the room and forcing the sleep deprived boy to stumble from his chair.
"Come on, Light. Sleep awaits."
"But, I was working on a something," Light insisted, "Just a little bit more and-"
"Light, I am responsible for your wellbeing now, and if I let you keep going, you'll run yourself into the ground. I would feel infinitely guilty for that and, hey, what are you-"
Light had stopped listening, choosing instead to flump onto the ground, scowling as he pulled the chain down with him. This made L stumble to his knees. "I'm not going." Light huffed.
L pursed his lips, standing and trying to pull Light up. "You know, Kira is childish, and hates to lose." He began, "This only heightens the chance-"
"That YOU'RE Kira?" Light shot back. "I'm not going to bed, I'm going to keep researching."
"You're not going to keep researching, you're going to bed."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"NO!"
"Fine." L sat on the floor next to Light. "Then neither of us gets our way."
"Fine by me!" Light hissed the words.
The two boys faced away from each other, seated on the ground, arms crossed like petulant children. Both waiting for the other to give in.
Neither one did.
The hours ticked by. On occasion, one of the boys would test the chain, pulling either in the direction of the bedrooms, or the computers. This attempt was always met with the same result, feeling the chain yanked back by the other.
Night turned into morning at a snail's pace. The ground was cold and hard. But still they refused to move.
Finally, something changed. The lights flicked on, causing both the boys to flinch with the sudden brightness. Watari entered the room with two warm blankets.
He walked up to L, wrapping a blanket over the boy's shoulders. L accepted this without protest. Then Watari moved to light, who tensed as the blanket was draped around him.
"It's 5 in the morning," Watari began, "Both of you should shower, and have a nap. Breakfast is in the kitchen, and I'll be turning off the computers until the task force arrives at noon."
L sighed and stood. He didn't like being treated like a child, but he was well aware that sometimes he needed to be. He wasn't precisely good at taking care of himself, after all. "Thank you Watari."
Light sighed and stood as well, unsteady, as over the night, his legs had fallen asleep. L reached out a hand and balanced the boy, who had moved past cranky exhaustion, and into barely-able-function exhaustion. This would work in L's favor.
The detective led the potential serial killer down the hallway. The two skipped the shower, and the breakfast, much to Watari's disapproval, L imagined, and found their way to L's room.
The room was a mess. Clothes and towels were strewn about every which way, as if a tornado had moved in overnight. There was a desk with countless papers scattered on it. There were little lights and gizmos here and there, and old dishes piled up on his nightstand.
Perhaps he should have cleaned up before taking Light out of confinement. But that didn't matter much now, the detective was exhausted. Even if he didn't sleep, a rest from the case would be quite nice. Plus, if he could get Light to sleep, the investigation would go smoother.
L looked to Light. The maybe murderer had cuddled up into the warm blanket. His eyes were a soft glowing amber. He was leaning against a wall.
"Your room is a disaster area." Light muttered. "I expected that though."
"Figured you would." L yawned back.
It took minimal effort for L to pull light into the bed, which was a king sized one that had been expertly made, by Watari, L assumed. Light curled under the covers and promptly passed out, allowing the exhaustion of the last few months to finally pull him into a dreamless oblivion.
L breathed a sigh of relief. He was a bit worried that he was teaching Light bad habits. Could insomnia be learned?
L pulled an old book from his night stand, and started to read it. He knew that sleep would be nice, but he didn't expect it. Sleeping was unimaginably hard for him.
However, without meaning to, L did doze off.
He woke up around 3pm, tangled up in the twisted handcuffs, and a blanket cocoon. He face to face with Light.
"Good, you're finally up." He heard Light say. "You kick in your sleep."
L began to untangle himself. "Sorry. I'll work on that. Coffee?"
"Coffee." Light agreed.
With that, the two boys began another day.
A/N: So that was my first attempt to write L and Light. I needed something easy to start with, and I figured playing with their childish natures in a low key setting could be a simple start. I want to add more to this, but I'm not sure if i will. Please tell me what you thought, and if you have any tips on writing the two, leave them below. Thanks a bunch, and have a lovely day.