I'm going to pretend that L actually met the children of Wammy's House in person – it's just to depressing otherwise. I'm also giving him, Matt, Mello, and Near a more brotherly relationship. Mello and Near's 'lifelong competition' is now more of a sibling rivalry than an 'imma point a gun at you and be a tsundere but also a deadly mafia leader trying to undermine you at the same time' thing.
L woke up suddenly with a start, a feeling of panic in his chest. This was made apparent immediately. There was a mass of black satin in his face, cutting off his air. He tapped the shoulder of the small, somewhat-identified creature asleep on his face. "Mello," he said, voice muffled. "Mello, you're cutting off my oxygen."
The mass only snuggled tighter on his face, making a sound somewhere between a snore and a 'no'. L sighed, and instantly regretted it. He was practically suffocating under the weight of the eight-year old crushing his face. "Mello, get off." when the boy still didn't do anything, L grabbed his arm and flipped him off the side of the bed.
"Ow!" the boy let out a surprisingly feminine shriek as he fell on the ground. "L, that hurt!" he complained, rubbing his head.
"You were suffocating me," L said, trying to sit up, but found that he couldn't. He lifted his head to see a dark-haired boy in red flannel pajamas lying across his chest, snoring pleasantly. He lifted his head a bit more, and saw a small white bundle curled up on his left leg. He snorted. "I got back from Japan not twenty-four hours ago, and you're already invading my personal space. I'll give you this, you never manage to disappoint." he flicked the dark-haired boy sharply on the forehead and jerked his leg.
The dark hair boy sat up with a squeak, banging his head on the inclining roof above L's bed. The white-haired boy raised his head, blinking large grey eyes blearily.
"Good morning. Get out," L said, smiling pleasantly.
"Nice to see you too," Matt grumbled, crawling out of the bed, making a point to climb over L's stomach. Near scrambled out over L's legs and landed with a thump on the ground next to Matt and Mello. L sat up and stretched, bumping his head on the slanted roof.
"I don't see why people spend millions hiring assassins to off you," Near said bluntly. "They could just give Mello a chocolate bar and have him sit on your face for a few minutes." Mello grabbed a lock of the younger boy's snowy white hair and gave it a sharp tug. "Ouch!"
"When did you get here?" L asked, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up, hunched to avoid hitting his head on the roof.
"Last night," Mello said, lying on the ground. L stepped over him on his way to the wardrobe propped against the wall. "We wanted to say hi, but you were already asleep!"
Matt sighed dramatically. "The one time we don't want you to get some rest, and you do. Oh, the irony."
"And who's idea was it to crawl into my bed?" L asked, pulling a plain white, long-sleeved tee over his bare torso.
"You looked cold," Mello said.
L scoffed. "Sure," he said, kicking him lightly as he headed for the door. "I'm going to go now."
xxx
The moment L entered the dining hall, he was tackled by a group of children. "L!"
He smiled, ruffling the heads of the children, pinching some of their cheeks and even pecking a few of them on the foreheads, listening to the excited babble. "Hey, Linda! Oh, hi, Xavier! No, Katie, I did not gain fifty pounds – do I look fat to you? Rue, stop pulling my hair. Oh, ew, Pete, that's gross!"
Watari waded through the sea of children, picking L out by the shoulder. "Now, now, children," he smiled kindly. "L just got back last night – let's give him some space, all right?"
L shot Watari a grateful look as he sat down at a random seat and grabbed a plate of pancakes. The other children all grabbed their plates and moved to sit near him. L smiled lightly as one child dumped syrup on his pancakes, another sprayed whipped cream, and a third dumped strawberries. "Ah, thank you," he carefully cut out a piece of the pancake (really, it was more like a cake, now), and took a bite, chewing slowly, grinning to himself. I love keeping them in suspense.
"Come on, L!" Mello cried as he finally swallowed the bite. "Just tell us! You caught Kira, didn't you?" the whole room was charged with enough tension that L felt like he was sitting in the middle of an electrical storm.
L cut out another piece of the pancake. "Yes."
The room exploded with cheers. Linda and Frank high-fived, and Catherine shouted wildly, pumping her arms. Henry pulled Asha into a tight hug, and Jojo burst into tears. L laughed as he was showered with questions about Kira.
Across the room, Roger chuckled. "They sure do love him."
Watari smiled, taking a sip of tea. "How could they not?"
I'm going to make L and the kids a bit more British, because they freaking live in the UK and the animanga/movies/drama/games/novels did not do that justice. Also, before you say I'm being stereotypical and rude and blah blah blah, my British friend and proof-reader is the one giving me all my English ammo, so F-from-change-the-WorLd off.