A/N: A word on my characterization (slightly in repetition of what I said in the previous chapter's author's note) – I realize that my characters are somewhat OC. That, I feel, is mostly due to the change of genre: as I've moved from thriller to humor and mystery to romance, most characters have gone from Deadly Serious to Deadly Snarky. Most of DN's main characters are canonically proud, driven and extremely convinced of their own righteousness, and I tried to stay faithful to that, at least to the extent I could. Alas, even so, you will see L having outbursts and Light having actual, not faked, feelings. One of the themes of this story is that despite their god complexes and their clash-of-the-titans war against each other, they're still both human.
Also, I'm feeling very conflicted about calling L the "older man", although that's obviously what he is in relation to Light. It's just that so much time has passed since I first wrote this story that I'm now older than L, and his 25 suddenly feels very young to me. :D Oh dear.
Time for Light's point of view!
Chapter 2
Forget it!
XXX
"Will you stop being so angry?"
L dashed past him with a pile of books, shuttling across the room as far as the chain would allow with Light seated in the middle of it, on the edge of their bed.
"I am not angry at Light-kun."
Another dash. This time it left a delicate lavender scent behind, so the clothes on his arms were probably freshly laundered.
"So annoyed then. Either way, it's really not like you to be climbing the walls like this..."
L stopped mid-dash, glaring at him with all the hostility the usually expressionless and emotionless detective could muster. "Annoyed? This is your fault, Kira-kun! Because of you, I had decided I was not going at all, and because of you, I now have to make all the preparations in just a few hours!"
"Watari seemed to be aware that you were going to leave tonight," Light reminded him mildly. He filed away the information that apparently, now that L knew he was Kira for sure, the detective switched to that name when he was mad at him. The younger man wasn't sure how to interpret that: did it imply that L viewed them as two different persons? Or was it an attempt to get back at him, an attempt to remind Light that L knew his secret, even though he couldn't do anything with it?
L scowled. "It is impossible to surprise that man."
Indeed, Light had to admit; after winning his father to their side, they had gone to the closest thing to a father that L had. L had asked the man to book them a flight for the next day. The elderly man had merely given them a polite nod and replied, "Your flight departs tonight at 8:30 PM. As a matter of fact, I was starting to worry whether you'd make it."
Light had stared at the man, once again stunned that someone actually knew L so well that he could foresee the eccentric man's requests and fulfill them even before the detective had thought of them. L, who was more used to this, had just given a weak smile and asked if there was a ticket for Light, too.
"Naturally, Ryuzaki," Watari had answered before excusing himself – to pack what he hadn't already packed for L, or what L wasn't going to pack himself. As it turned out, Watari could have easily stuffed the detective in the car, driven him to the airport, handed him his ticket, fake passport and luggage and herded him to the plane at five minutes' notice, and L would have still been perfectly set to stay in England for several weeks and miss nothing.
"What are you fussing about, anyway? Watari has packed everything for you," Light asked dryly. He himself had already packed most of what little he had brought to the Tower (though the sudden departure had left him floundering for a moment as well), and his father was on his way to get whatever he was missing from home. Now he was sitting on their bed, looking over his list to make sure he had everything. Everything except for a passport, to be exact – he had never been outside Japan, after all. That was, however, apparently the last thing L would worry about. Watari would get him one, the detective had said offhandedly, flapping his hand in a dismissing manner as if to say that whether or not Light cleared the security was the least of his worries.
In fact, the detective was probably hoping that he'd miss the flight, Light mused darkly, and resolved to check the fake passport very carefully as soon as he got it.
"Presents, Kira-kun!" L's long, bony arms flailed up in the air. "We are going to an orphanage full of children who consider me a brother or a godfather! I have presents for some of them – but not all, and certainly not a single one wrapped and completely ready."
"We have almost a week before Christmas," Light tried to assure him, getting up and catching the detective's wrists in his hands. "We can shop there. I don't have presents either, and I'm going as a guest to a new place, so it's extremely important to pick the right kind of presents, right? So take a deep breath, count to ten, whatever, just calm down. I have literally never seen you this agitated, and considering that you've been under a constant threat of dying since we met, seen people working for you die, and discovered that there are notebooks that can kill, that's saying a lot."
"I know!" L hissed. "But Kira-kun doesn't know those kids, they will eat me alive if I don't have a present for each of them! Very slowly and possibly with chocolate dressing! And besides," L muttered, his sudden anger fading just as soon as it had flared, "I had hoped I could buy their presents here in Japan... It's not every year that I have the chance to do that."
They were quiet for a short moment, L breathing in slow and measured breaths through his nose as though to calm himself down, Light fighting a grin that threatened to surface at the confession at the end of L's unexpected flood of words.
"You can do that next year," Light said softly. "After all, you're going to spend most of your time here with me."
L stiffened and seemed to finally take notice of the tan fingers circled around his thin wrists. The detective gave a half-hearted, almost experimental tug to get out of his grip, lowering his gaze and hiding his eyes behind his hair. Light didn't let go, and L stopped, hesitant, as though weighing the pros and cons of starting a fight over this. They both knew that L could easily break Light's hold; at the same time, they both knew that if he did so and sufficiently angered Light in the process, the younger man had means to kill either L or Watari.
Of course, Light hoped that L knew he wouldn't murder someone in cold blood for something that insignificant, but he also felt secure in his assumption that L wouldn't risk his or Watari's lives for something this small, either. He counted on it, actually, because in the end his hold over L rested on two names that he could just barely fit on the very small piece of Death Note he had hidden in his wrist watch. If he had to play even one of those two cards, he would lose, for whichever card he played, L would be forever lost to him after that. Kira might win, but Light would end up alone again.
Slowly, he started to loosen his grip.
"Ryuzaki," came a voice from their door along with a polite knock. "Yagami-san has returned with Yagami-kun's bag. I also have a bag full of presents for you."
L hastily untangled himself from Light's hands, likely completely missing that Light had just been about to let him go, and turned to face the door. "Come in, please," he replied quietly. Light bit his lip and cursed himself for acting a moment too late; this would have been the perfect opportunity to be lenient to L, to demonstrate that his intentions were not wholly ill.
Watari entered the room, followed by Chief Yagami (who seemed to take great amusement in the sight of his respected co-worker so evidently disheveled and bewildered at having to pack up so quickly, as opposed to Light, who looked like he had not only packed everything days ago but had also had the time to catalogue the contents of his luggage, iron his shirt and smooth down his hair), both carrying bags. Watari offered his bag to L, saying, "The wrapped presents are for you, Ryuzaki – and for Light-san. There are cards. The unwrapped ones are for the kids."
L wrinkled his nose. Light firmly told himself that it did not look adorable. L was a grown man, damn it, and grown men were not adorable. "I have to wrap your presents?"
"They are from you, Ryuzaki," the elderly man said, a touch of reproach and more than just a touch of mirth in his voice. "I knew you would have no time to get them anything, but I have heard you mutter things like 'Matt would like this' and 'This looks just like Kyle' for months. I have had plenty of time to purchase all of it for you."
Well, at least this time even L appeared stunned. In fact, he had to be absolutely dumbstruck, because his mouth actually fell open. After closing it, opening it again, and repeating the same once more in a remarkable imitation of a fish on dry land, L finally managed a weak, "Pardon?"
Watari graced the young man with a small, soft smile and seemed to fight the urge to lift his hand and ruffle the world's three top detectives' hair affectionately. "You single-handedly picked every single one of the orphans a present, I purchased them, and now I'm giving them to you along with the joy of wrapping them in papers, merely because I know how much you enjoy it."
The last part made a touch of pink settle on L's cheeks – Light watched, fascinated, as the detective lowered his head, muttering something about the cruelty only old men could muster. Apparently wrapping presents wasn't one of L's many talents.
"See? I told you it would be alright," Light smirked, doing what Watari hadn't: ruffling L's already messy hair.
"Shut up, Light-kun," the detective mumbled, peering into the bag to see what he had "gotten" for the kids. The use of Light's own name, however, betrayed to the younger man that he was, for the moment, forgiven.
XXX
The journey to the airport was uneventful (although they had to turn back at first, because L had forgotten his laptop, the one and only thing Watari had left to his care – apparently there was a very good reason for the man to still stick with the eccentric, childlike detective). The battle against bureaucracy was quick and painless, as were Mr Yagami's goodbyes to his son and co-worker. Watari assured them that he would follow them shortly to spend Christmas at home as well, and soon the twosome found themselves shoved through the security check, sans the chain, which they had deemed better to put in their luggage, and they were finally alone.
Light was still snickering at the forgotten laptop as they took their carry-on baggage and went to find a café in the terminal to get some coffee and cake for L. "Three best detectives alive," he chuckled, delighted at L's blunder and his obvious embarrassment after it. "How are you still alive?"
L's entire body was stiff and his movements were jerky despite the semi-slouch as he walked ahead of Light, avoiding looking him in the face. Light thought he even heard a grumpy little "Hmph!", and it made him grin even wider.
"Are you sure you can make it to the UK without Watari?" he asked, mock-worried. "Shall we ask one of the counters for some scotch tape and tape your head to your shoulders so you can't forget it anywhere on the way? Perhaps write my number on your forehead, so if anyone finds it, they can immediately call me?"
L had picked them a café, chosen an isolated table in the corner, and was currently glaring at Light through his bangs. "Perhaps Light-kun is right," he snapped, "and I should wait for Watari, as my current companion is not possessed of observational skills developed enough to take notice if I should happen to drop my head somewhere."
"The stupid laptop was your responsibility," Light argued as he took a seat. L dumped his carry-on bag in his lap almost immediately, which really shouldn't have surprised Light at all.
"Light-kun might have said something when he noticed that I did not have it with me upon entering the car!"
"It's your laptop! It's practically glued to your fingers! I would have been less surprised if you had actually managed to leave your head instead!"
There was that ridiculous little hmph again, and L turned his tense back on him and started for the counter. "As though Light-kun cares whether I have a head or not!" he retorted over his shoulder, venomously and quite childishly. "Light-kun would do well to look after my bag while I buy some cake; otherwise I might forget it at the counter."
And because Light actually kind of did care whether L had a head or not, he just shook his head with a smile and called after him, "Bring me a latte, would you? Double, skimmed milk!"
He was half-expecting it, but he still had to roll his eyes when L returned with not one but two whole pieces of cheesecake, one tiny espresso with a mountain of sugar slowly turning brown in the middle of it, and not a single latte, skimmed or otherwise.
"My sincerest apologies," was L's august response to his question, "I appear to have forgotten. Light-kun will have to procure his over-priced concoction himself."
Watari had booked them tickets for first class – figures, Light thought dryly, trying to imagine L sitting in his peculiar way in the middle of tourists and regular business men – so they had plenty of space, as it turned out there were no other first class passengers on this particular flight. This meant that L couldn't prevent Light from getting a window seat no matter what he did, because there were just too many available. The detective couldn't possibly occupy them all; in a fit of childishness he tried anyway, and managed to cover three – one with his carry-on bag, one with Light's, and one with his own skinny backside. After a moment's consideration, he stuck his foot through the gap between the wall and the seat in front of him, leaving his heel on the armrest of the unoccupied seat, effectively preventing Light from taking that one, either. That still left Light with ample room to choose from.
The flight passed easily, with L tapping away on his laptop, headphones rebelliously on his ears, and Light staring idly at the movies that they were showing during the flight. Above India Light started to droop, and somewhere above Germany even L's eyes started showing signs of unwillingness to stay open.
Light was half asleep when they clambered out of the plane, through the security check, waited for their baggage, and finally dragged themselves into a black car waiting for them outside. L woke up several times from his daze when he banged his head against the window, and once when Light's head fell against his shoulder.
It was a very early morning – or a very late night – when they finally reached their destination. L half dragged, half carried Light to the house and up the stairs; feeling his way through the dark corridors, going straight to the familiar room to which he still knew the way by heart, even when practically sleepwalking. Drawing back the covers, L flopped the younger man carelessly on the bed, removed his shoes, stuffed his feet roughly under the blankets, and crawled next to him with his brilliant mind completely blank, for once. Light had fallen back to sleep the moment his body had touched the mattress, and L followed him to the Dreamland in the middle of pulling the blankets over their bodies. Out like a light, was his last coherent thought, and it was a sign of how tired he was that he actually found the pun a little funny.
XXX
At some point, later that night, Light thought he could hear hushed voices discussing next to him.
"Is it him? Can you see?"
"I don't know, he's completely under the blanket, I can't see his face..."
"Well, lift the blanket, idiot!"
"Why would it be anyone else? Who else would sleep in L's bed?"
"Someone does..." And Light felt little fingers prodding him.
"Shut up, Near! And quit poking the Unknown Sleeping Object, Matt, and make sure that's L!"
"You do that, Mels, I wanna live to die of lung cancer."
"That's sick -"
The warm body next to Light's moved slightly and slurred, "... You have started smoking, Matt?"
Three gasps. "It is him!" said one.
"It's L!" said the other.
"No I haven't!" denied the third.
"L, we missed you!" Light groaned as the mattress dipped and something hit his side.
"Yeah, we were afraid that you wouldn't come home this Christmas! Roger said you hadn't answered him even though Matt and I blackmailed you -"
"That's right! And our threat wasn't empty, know that! We did kidnap your Panda – but it was so cute we had to set it free, it kept staring at us with those accusing eyes -"
"Right, and so we kidnapped Near instead like we said we would -"
"You did? I didn't know I was being held hostage. You should have told me, I would have devised a genius plan to contact L and escape."
"Shut up, Near! But anyways, because you came, we're returning Near to you, like we promised, and we decided to come along -"
"Yeah, because we couldn't hold ourselves hostage, but we know you like us too so it would have been a good way to blackmail you, so we're now returning ourselves as well -"
"...I don't think he's listening..."
L's body stirred again, like he had woken up for the second time. "Yes I am... I was not asleep... at all! What were we talking about?"
"... You were asleep."
"I'm tired," L whined. "You know how I hate flying... Let me sleep, for once. I will hear everything about your conspiracies tomorrow..."
"... You mean later today..."
"L, can we please sleep here too? Please?"
"You're doing it wrong! L, I'm blackmailing you to let us sleep here! Otherwise we'll babble on until you're fully awake -"
"... I think he fell asleep again, Mello."
"Damn it! That USO guy must have given him sleeping pills..."
"Well, he didn't say no. That must mean we can stay."
Light let out a long groan from the bottom of his heart and drew the blankets over his head as he felt the annoying voices – well, their bodies, more likely – clamber to the bed, crawl under the blankets and drape themselves snugly around L, casually kicking him out of the way. Finally they settled down and apparently fell asleep; Light pondered about it for a moment, then dismissed them as crazy nightmares and went back to sleep.
