Teasing You

Disclaimer: Seriously, if I owned Death Note, I wouldn't waste my time writing fanfiction. I do not own it. Never will.

The first day chained to L wasn't even over, and yet Light felt as if the roof of the multi-storey building they currently resided in had crashed and buried him beneath it.

"No way in hell", was all he managed to say, crossing his arms in front of his chest. After they had finished working – and apparently L deemed it essential to do so every night until at least 2 a.m. – the quirky detective had led his primary suspect to a room on one of the highest floors, getting there by taking the elevator. The room itself was neat; it maybe seemed a little cold and impersonal because of the lack of furniture that exceeded the most necessary objects, but that was exactly how Light preferred it to be, free of any useless junk.

No, what bothered him sure wasn't the thrift furnishing but the only double bed in sight.

L didn't even look his way when he replied. "I'm sorry that you don't share my tastes concerning interior design, but I'm afraid you'll have to cope with the terrible carpet for the duration of your stay, Yagami-kun. I feel obliged to tell you, however, that it was Watari who chose this one so that I am not to blame…"

"It's not the carpet I'm complaining about!", Japan's number one student interrupted, immediately regretting that he let his anger show for the glimpse of an eye. He coulnd't allow to let his perfect mask of politeness and composure slip if he intended to win L's idiotic game.

"Would you care to enlighten me then?", the crazy-haired imbecile probed with feigned ignorance, every syllable a hidden taunt in Lights' ears.

"I don't see another bed around here and I certainly won't share one with you." It was the most normal thing to say in this kind of situation, so why did it feel as if he had just admitted a huge defeat?

"I can't see any problem with that. Certainly, we could push a second bed next to this one, but the reach of the chain isn't particularly vast and won't allow you to sleep comfortably."

Light had just opened his mouth to ask him why he spoke in the singular form, when he added: "You'll mostly have the bed to yourself anyway since I usually keep working on the laptop throughout the night."

Was that freak trying to pull his leg? "You don't mean to make me believe that you function without any sleep, do you?" Although, judging from the dark smudges under his eyes it wasn't impossible.

"Not entirely. I powernap in between and sometimes lay down for an hour or two", L explained while moving over to a chest of drawers in front of an enormous glass front that allowed you a magnificent view of the brightly illuminated city of Tokyo. At this late hour, the lights in the countless skyscrapers shone in a breathtaking way – if Light had had the nerve to watch them this night.

"And how often does this so-called 'sometimes' occur?" The sole thought of sleeping in the same bed, under the same sheets as this scarecrow gave him the creeps.

"Why, does being this close to a person of the same gender make you feel uncomfortable?" L turned, a stack of fresh clothes in his hand, scrutinizing him from underneath his bangs.

That's it! Once I'm no longer a Kira suspect, I will push him down a pair of stairs, watching him from the top. That sure will be fun!

"Is it because you aren't used to such close contact?"

Maybe throw him out of a window, just to make sure.

"Or is it because you fear that this experience might make you question your sexuality, Yagami-kun?"

On second thought, hiding all his candy might be a more effective way to torture and kill him.

When L opened the door that directly connected their sleeping room with the bathroom, his murderous imagination came to a halt and he finally noticed that he still owed him a reply in order to not look like an embarrassed teenager. "Don't worry, Ryuzaki, I used to be the most popular guy among girls in both middle and high school. I doubt that something like my sexuality would ever give me sleepless nights", Light claimed self-confident. Though he supposed tht what he just said was poorly phrased, regarding the context...

"Albeit I am glad to hear that, it would be nice if you took off your clothes now."

Taken aback he just stared at his new room mate in utter shock. He must have misheard, right? Even though L operated in a most unconventional manner, he would never make a move on him, or would he? What if Misa was right, and he really did have a perverted disposition!

"I'd like to take a shower now", L elaborated as if he had read Lights worst fears, ponting towards the general direction of the luxurious shower cabin in one corner of the spacious room.

What probably took him so long to fully register his words was the fact that he seemingly wasn't sexually harrassed. Or that L actually did shower on a regular basis, despite his unkempt exterior. But what mostly took him by surprise was that he obviously expected them to shower together.

"Sleeping in the same bed is one thing, but you can't force me to shower with you", he told him calmly. "That is too much of an invasion of my privacy."

The pale man shrugged carelessly. "From what I've heard it's no different from men taking a shower together after visiting the swimming pool. But if it bothers you that much, we can take turns."

"Of course we will! It's completely out of the question that I'd ever..." The rest of his rant came out as an incoherent mass as his counterpart suddenly started to pull his plain shirt over his head, not even waiting for Light to finish.

"In that case allow me to go in first", the skinny detective asked as Light hurriedly turned around before he was subjected to more of the pale skin underneath. To his extreme embarrassment, he could feel a blush slowly creeping into his cheeks and he was all the more glad he had turned away in time, before the man who had never heard of privacy could notice the slightly colored skin and tease him shamelessly because of it.

He just wasn't used to this kind of situation. Normally he was always the superior one, always the one in charge, but now that someone mocked him so overtly, he felt like a foolish child back in nursery school that is made fun of by other kids. L's obliviousness to modesty failed to make things easier on him.

When the sound of running water could be heard, Light heaved a sigh of relief and sneaked a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure L was already in the cabin before turning back around and casually leaning against the bathroom's wall. He grumpily glowered at the chain connecting him with the insane insomniac as if it was all the blinking metal's fault. At least the damn thing was long enough to let them take their showers separately.

This whole confinement would turn out to be like hell, that much was sure. But Light wouldn't give in, oh no, he would prove to L that he wasn't and never had been Kira and he would endure the endless accusations of being a mass murderer as well as his annoying quirks.

Hopefully he wouldn't snap one day and strangle L with the very chaing that bound them...it would be hard to explain such an incidence to the investigation team, even with his extraordinary skills to coax others into believing every word he said.

"Would you be so kind to reach me a towel?", an indifferent voice that was almost drowned out by the water pleaded.

With another long-suffering sigh, Light grabbed one of the prepared white bath towels to fling it over the edge of the shower, when he noticed for the first time that the way the room's light was angled, it shone right through the thin shower curtain and allowed him to see the rough outlines of L's body. No details, of course not, just a slightly blurred shadow, but it was enough to see that he in fact looked malnourished despite eating his weight in sugar every day and that his usually spiky hair that stuck out to all sides seemed to be plastered to his forehead.

As if turned to stone, Light breathlessly watched as the shadow angled his neck so that the steaming water poured right over L's face; and for the blink of an eye Light imagined how he might have closed his black eyes, long dark lashes casting shadows over the white skin that might be flushed from the heat.

A soft tingle ran up his spine – at the thought of how a grown male could be so disgustingly thin, of course!

"Yagami-kun?", the voice reminded him of the here and now, snapping Light out of his daydream...wait, when did he decide to call this fleeting thought a daydream?

This would be even harder than initially believed.