Matagot 2- The Dancing Cat Inn
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.
Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.
Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.
Credit goes to my beta, TsumeLover666 for an excellent job, and a swift return!
Dedicated to my first reviewers! (italics anonymous reviewers)
thitewiger
Violet Velvetine
Great Aunt Florence
love lawliet
Amorpheous
TheQueen-of-CandyLand
FacelessIdol
anabel sinclair
Hi!
Voice
Le.Moldeh
Translucent Darkness
just a rambling romantic
I feel I really must apologise that I haven't been replying to your reviews- I've just been rather overwhelmed with all my Grade Twelve stuff, so I've had troubles updating all my stories etc..
Which includes replying to my reviewers. Also- to my anonymous reviewers- if you leave an e-mail, I will then be better able to respond to any questions, as some of them I couldn't answer on the main story without giving certain things away.
Here's chapter two, hoping you all enjoy! I'll try to type chapter 3 as quickly as possible (in between Biology, Chemistry, Christian Studies, English and Maths B assignments... --;)
The two young men came to a stop at the front of a tall brick building, not shabby in appearance, but not in the most opulent of surroundings either. It had a sign hanging from a wrought iron framework bar which that featured a white cat on its hind legs that wore black boots and a large hat with an even larger feather. Above this somewhat eye-catching picture were the words: 'The Inn of the Dancing Cat' in neat, easy to read black lettering.
L walked rather briskly through the door and up to the bar, where a man with a neatly trimmed blonde beard was wiping a glass with a white cloth, which he set down when L reached the counter.
"And what would you be needing, sir?"
L gestured to Light. "A room for the night for both myself and my companion."
The barkeep looked in L's gestured direction. "Your master you mean." L nodded the affirmative. "I do have a room, but it'll cost your master a silver piece and five coppers."
"Why so much?" L asked, extracting six coppers from the small purse the older man had given him earlier and handing them to the other, who took the coins with no fuss, stowing them in a purse on his belt, handing L a brass key in return.
Light shot L a suspicious look, which the barkeep thankfully didn't seem to notice.
"The Duke of Felrawthy's entourage is returning from an audience with the King. Much of the accommodation is taken this night by the outriders and unneeded servants. That's your key and the room ought to be the only one with the door still open."
L nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you."
As they began to ascend the stairs, Light hissed, "Why did he accept the six coppers? Wasn't it a silver and five coppers he wanted?"
"I gave him what he wanted."
Light raised a brow. "No you didn't, you gave him all coppers." he insisted.
"I am aware of that Light."
"You just said-"
"That I gave him what he wanted. If he wasn't satisfied, would he have given me the key?" L reasoned.
"Well I suppose not, but-"
"Then what is wrong?" L asked, turning the key with a click and smoothly pushing the wooden door open.
"I know what I saw." Light said stubbornly.
"I am certain that you do." L said, staring at him pensively.
--
Light frowned, staring at the food in front of him on the table. L had left only a little while ago, handing him the purse before he'd left.
What was niggling at him was the reason why L had told him to stay out of the inn's common room and that "If you must drink, have it brought up to the rooms."
Light had, of course, disobeyed, for no other reason than that he bristled at being told what to do by a youth who was obviously no older than he, and made actively defiant by the attitude L had, it was so, so… well it was one of the few things that had gotten under his skin.
Light stabbed irritably at a potato, continuing to eat, determined not to think about L.
Though, in all seriousness, what on Earth was that comment L had made earlier that evening? And why in God's holy name had Light been holding his breath? By God, he'd half expected the darker haired male to kiss him or some such stupid thing!
He shook his head, resolutely continuing with his meal. Once he finished, he decided to be reckless and try some of the house ale. He'd never tried alcohol, and was curious to see why so many people appeared to enjoy it with such great gusto.
The drink arrived with a young barmaid, amber in the flickering light from the candles and lanterns set about the room. Light eyed it briefly before tipping half the stuff down his throat.
The innocent-seeming liquid burned as it went down and Light began to cough and splutter furiously.
"First time drinking?" came a voice behind Light, softly laced with amusement, accompanied by a swift clapping on the back.
Light nodded (once he'd recovered) and said, "Thank you, er…"
"Mika. I'm the Duke's advisor, just passing through." the handsome man with mid-shoulder length straight black hair said, sitting beside Light and gesturing for one of the barmaids to bring him a drink, paying the required amount when it arrived.
More cautiously this time, Light took a small sip, finding the passage of the ale down his throat much easier this time, and a warm glow beginning in his stomach.
"If you're the Duke's advisor, why are you travelling ahead without him? Oughtn't you be with him?" Light asked presently. There was… something about this man. Something in his manner that both put him at ease and at the same time set his hair standing on end.
"Ah, you've heard about the audience then? Rumors spread quickly around here. The Duke is very ill and cannot leave his manor. The King accepts this, and allowed the Duke to send his brother in his place." Mika explained, sipping at his own drink.
"Still if that is-" Light gave a hiccup as he noticed he appeared to have finished, gesturing for a refill. "-the case, wouldn't you stay with him?"
"His Grace had an errand he needed me to perform that he could trust to no other."
"Ah." Light said, nodding.
They sat drinking for several more hours, with Light becoming steadily drunk, Mika asking him several questions as they went.
"Are you travelling with someone?" Mika asked casually.
"Oh yes, of- hic! - course."
"That oddly pale man with black hair?"
"The one that looks like a racoon?"
Mika gave a chuckle. "Well, I suppose he did rather resemble a raccoon now that I think on it." he said, taking another drink from his tankard.
The young brunette went to mimic this action only to discover the contents of his tankard missing.
"Where'd it all go?! That's the third time it's disappeared!"
"Can we have another refill over here please?" called Mika to a barmaid, paying the coppers.
"You didn't – hic! - need to."
"Not a problem." Mika smiled genially.
"Thank you then Mika!" he exclaimed happily. "Oh, the raccoon man! That's right, he's-"
"I believe you've had quite enough Light." came a sharp-toned male voice, as a pale hand shot out to stop said teen from taking another swig of ale.
"Aw, but-"
"No 'buts' Light. Come now, up to bed."
"Couldn't I at least finish this 'n?" pleaded the drunken Light in a slurred voice.
L released Light's hand, instead taking the tankard from Light and drinking it down in one gulp himself.
"There. It's finished. Now Light, you are completely drunk, so-"
"But you drank it! And I'm not drunk." Light protested indignantly. "Oh!" he exclaimed, thunking his fist awkwardly into his hand. "That's where it was all going! You were drinking it while I wasn't looking weren't you!" he announced triumphantly, narrowing his eyes in a cunning smile. "You thought I wouldn't notice! Well y'didn't get away wi' it! I-"
Light had stood to poke L in the chest, only, before he could accomplish that action, the room spun and he collapsed.
Despite his slender stature, the accused L caught him easily, rolling his eyes somewhat as he slid Light's arm across his neck, placing his own around Light's waist to support him.
"I caught y'." mumbled Light, looking blearily up at L.
"I believe I did the catching in this case, Light. Now, bed and I do not wish for you to argue."
Light pouted. "Fi-ine. G'night, Mika!" he said mournfully, waving to the three spinning men with black hair still sitting at the bar. Why were they doing that? Didn't they know they were making him dizzy?
"Goodnight, Light." one of them replied, and they nodded cordially at L with a smirk, tipping the last of their drinks down as though in a toast before sliding from the stool and leaving with a whispered word in L's direction.
L shot him a hard look before being pulled back to the rather more immediate problem of a thoroughly drunk Light.
"Come on." he grunted, hauling the near deadweight across his shoulders up the stairs, ignoring the tentative offers of assistance from several other patrons of the taproom, shoving the door to their room with his elbow on the off chance Light had perhaps left it unlocked.
Predictably…
"Light, you really ought to have locked this before you went off drinking." L chastised him, dragging the younger teen bodily over to the bed, unceremoniously lifting him and dropping him onto the bed.
"M'sorry."
L looked at Light in surprise. An apology? This was new. Though they'd only been companions of a sort for perhaps two days (or three by this hour, he rather suspected) he knew Light well enough to know that this was not a common occurrence from Light.
"When you are drunk you are much more amiable." he noted aloud. "And polite." he added with wry amusement, pulling the patchwork blanket up and tucking it around the other male's shoulders, kneeling beside the bed.
"Am I really that –hic! - bad? M'sorry."
"You do not need to apologise Light." he assured said teen.
Light's eyes suddenly focused and his eyes narrowed as he leaned up slightly to stare at L's face.
"You're really pretty y'know." he announced, clumsily leaning to press a kiss to L. The inhibiting effects of alcohol caused him to miss the older male's lips, instead gently touching his cheek, much to L's surprise, before slumping back down and closing his eyes.
L's eyes widened considerably, either in horror or just plain wonder as he put a hand to the place he'd just been kissed. 'Light is an affectionate drunk.' he thought in a somewhat stunned fashion, staring at the unconscious teen on the bed. 'One would never have guessed.' he thought, an odd feeling of fondness welling up in him.
His face changed abruptly, morphing from the habitual blank mask into a frown. 'What on earth is…? Why did I-' he wondered, before cutting off that train of thought ruthlessly. 'No matter, he ought to be quite safe now.' he thought, firmly guiding himself down a more practical avenue so as not to dwell on thoughts best ignored. 'If I lock the window and the door when I leave he ought to be fine.' he thought, eyeing the room, looking for something particular.
His dark eyes found what they were searching for, lighting upon the thin strips of silver, almost imperceptible unless one was looking for it as he was, lining the frames of the window and the door. 'Perfect. As I would have expected.' he thought. It would be enough. He would only be gone an hour or two more, he'd only returned to check on Light- a good idea if the parting comment he'd received from this 'Mika' was any indicator.
"Mika indeed." he scoffed quietly as he locked the window and slipped out the door, locking it behind him.
--
Light woke up with his head aching as though fit to burst, the pale moonlight spilling into the room barely enough to see by.
He sat up, groaning softly as the movement jarred his head. "L?" he called softly.
He vaguely remembered being taken back upstairs to the room, L supporting him, but L appeared to have disappeared yet again.
"Damn he's good at that." Light cursed quietly, slumping back onto the pillow.
Judging from the amount of darkness still about it would still be several hours 'till morning. Light sighed, about to try and fall back asleep when he noticed a silhouette move.
"Who's there?" he asked with some trepidation.
There was no audible reply, but whatever it was it moved again- towards the bed this time.
"Show yourself!"
The shadowy creature paused beside the bed, before Light got the shock of his life when a cat leapt up onto the bed, mewing softly. Not just any cat either, but one with familiar black-marked white fur.
Light breathed a sigh of relief.
"How did you get in here, hm?" Light asked it softly, stretching out a hand to the animal. It stared at him before slinking up to sniff at his hand, nose cold as its whiskers tickled his hand. Light gave a small smile. "I haven't any food at present." he informed it.
The cat paused, looking up at him with a somewhat reproachful-seeming look, before it walked up to Light, padding around in a circle briefly before kneading the blanket beside him for a short time, curling into a ball against him.
"Well I'm glad one of us seems to be able to sleep." Light groused good-naturedly, smiling as he softly stroked its fur. As before, the only response from it was to fluff its fur up somewhat, tail somewhat resembling a bottlebrush in shock, though it did not move.
With the reassuring warmth beside him, and the sensation of the soft fur beneath his fingers, Light soon slipped back into slumber.
--
The cat mewed softly once Light was breathing deeply in the even rhythms of slumber before it marked the human gently, rubbing its head against his shoulder, as though to show that the human was under the protection of the animal before it uncurled, sure now that the young man slept.
It padded quickly over to the shadows by the door, pawing the brass key that had been hidden there out from the hiding place in a mouse-hole that only a cat or something similar in size could reach almost as though to make sure a larger human hand wouldn't be able to pick it up from inside the room.
Nodding once in an oddly humanlike gesture of seeming satisfaction it returned to its position against the warmth of Light's body, eyes bright as they scanned the darkness, tail swishing.
--
Light's eyes stung him awake, registering the agonising brightness of early sunlight pouring through the curtain-less window.
He growled, though even that noise hurt, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillow.
"Good morning Light." greeted L's voice.
"Go 'way." said teen mumbled.
"So eloquent this morning. Need I remind you that the headache I imagine you're currently experiencing is entirely your own fault?" L inquired with sincere seeming curiosity.
Light groaned. "Leave me alone L."
The pillow was tugged from Light's grasp, and the teen turned his aching head towards L, eyes bleary and tired.
L stared at Light, thumbnail of one hand between his lips, pillow in the other hand. "You don't look good." he said bluntly, eyes taking in the evidence of the younger male's experiment with drinking.
"You're not the picture of health either, L. Though, you do look as though you're better rested. Did you actually sleep I wonder?"
L froze as he seemed to think back before he answered stiffly, in a voice that implied he was shocked. "I did get an hour's nap!"
"An hour? And you're not tired?"
L, however, ignored Light, frowning worriedly, not seeming to care that he had lost the calm atmosphere he normally exuded.
"I wasn't supposed to sleep, let alone that long, what with all those things surrounding us; that was an utterly foolish mistake, an accident that must never occur again…"
"What things surrounding us? What do you mean?" Light asked sharply, ignoring the stabbing in his head.
"It is not a matter for you to be concerned about at present."
"As stupid and naïve as you appear to think I am, L…" Light started hotly, fully prepared for an argument, before his head saw fit to remind him of the reason that this was not a good idea, the stabbing at his brain suddenly increasing almost unbearably. "Oh God this hurts!" he exclaimed, clutching at his head, pulling the blankets back over his head.
L moved forward, faint concern on his catlike features. "That shouldn't be so painful…" he muttered. "No other I've seen has experienced such pain from their first time drinking, even if they got as drunk as you did…" He sat on the bed just in front of where Light was balled up.
Gently he pulled the blanket from Light's head, tugging his hands from his face and tilting it up towards him.
He tilted Light's face this way, then that, careful not to jar the poor boy's head too much, studying Light's pain filled eyes with his own sleep-deprived ones.
All of a sudden he took Light's face between his palms and moved his face closer.
"L?" Light asked somewhat fearfully. "What are you doing?"
The dark-haired man ignored him, moving closer and closer still. Light slammed his eyes shut, waiting for something…
He felt L's cool skin against his forehead, and he opened his eyes tentatively, staring into the dark-rimmed eyes so close to his own.
"Your eyes! There's- there's a rim of some colour there now." Light said in surprise, not moving away as he'd originally intended.
"Hm. I'm no expert, but I believe you do seem to be rather warm." L remarked critically, pulling back, ignoring Light's discovery. "Perhaps you're sickening for something." he mused, frowning.
"I feel fine- except for the headache." protested Light.
"I do not think it wise to tempt fate. You are going to stay in bed, and we will travel on in several days hence."
L moved away finally, and was standing and moving toward the door when Light decided to ask him something that was niggling at him.
"By the way, L…"
"What is it, Light?"
"Had you noticed that we appear to have a cat following us?"
"A cat? You don't say." L said in a disinterested tone, pausing with his back to Light.
Light nodded, and then winced at the searing pain that stabbed into his head at that simplest of movements. "I thought it was the farmers', you know, from the barn we slept at, because that was where I first saw it, but then it showed up here, and I was certain you'd locked the door you see, so I thought that you might have let it in…"
"So- your point?" L cut him off abruptly, doing something that Light couldn't quite see from his vantage point on the bed.
Light narrowed his eyes, suspicion beginning to creep into his head.
'For the crime of being a shape shifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead.'
"L…"
"What?"
"Why are you acting so strange toward me? Did I do something last night? I was only asking a simple question, and you seem suddenly very reluctant to stay near me."
"I am not acting strange Light. And if you must know, you did do something last night."
Light was shocked, distracted from his original question by this revelation. He hadn't expected L to actually say he'd done something, for, although his memory of the night before was hazy, he didn't really remember doing anything that would cause…
He closed his eyes, both in dread and against the light (the built-up intensity seemed to be making the ache worse).
"What did… I do?" he asked stiffly.
L turned back to him, face as impassive as ever, though if Light had looked, he would have seen the glint of mischief in their dark depths.
"I believe you said I was… what was it now…?" he said, tapping his finger against his lower lip in mock thoughtfulness.
"Annoying?" Light said hopefully.
"Pretty. And then you-"
'As if that wasn't bad enough.' Light thought, wincing inwardly.
L looked at him sidelong, a small but definite smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Oh you were thoroughly drunk Light. But-" he said almost thoughtfully. "I was quite flattered, I'll admit, when you kissed me."
Light's jaw dropped. "I did what?!"
L gave a polite smile.
"I didn't…"
"You did."
"Oh my God, L- I didn't mean-"
L held up a hand, gentle smile on his face at the guilt laced in the younger male's voice. "I know Light." he said simply. "I am not kidding myself thinking that you would have done that were you sober, and, after all…"
Light narrowed his eyes. "L…?"
The gentle smile turned to a wickedly mischievous grin. "You missed- you only kissed my cheek."
"L…" Light said in a shaking voice, fist clenched under the cover.
"What?" said male asked innocently.
"If I wasn't quite sure that my head were to explode if I moved, I would kill you." he said in a calmly murderous tone that L had not suspected the young village boy could produce.
"Why?" came the answer, honest puzzlement on L's face, as though he didn't understand why Light didn't get the joke.
Light gave him a look. "You really are socially inept aren't you?"
L tilted his head to the side. "I'm afraid I fail to grasp your meaning Light. I did have a lack of interaction with other children my age, but I do not see-"
Light scowled, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm going to quit while I'm behind." he said, lying back down carefully.
L shrugged. "As you wish." he said placidly, picking up Light's pillow and tucking it under his head with surprising gentleness. "I will be going out for a while. It would be advisable that you do not move.
With that he locked the window and pulled the door shut behind him, effectively locking Light in.
Light sent a glare at the door, before retreating back under his blankets.
--
When L returned, it was to find Light had taken a turn for the worse. He was shaking as though cold, even though he was nested among what seemed to be all the blankets in the room. He wrinkled his nose at the odd change in Light's scent.
"Light?" L asked, inwardly surprised at the genuine worry welling up inside him at the glazed dullness of Light's topaz eyes as he laid his wrist against the younger's forehead.
His temperature appeared to have soared in the brief time L had been gone, and the odd feeling of worry intensified. No one should be that hot. It simply wasn't healthy, no matter what you were.
"L…?" came the hoarse reply. "I think… I might be sick."
"A highly intelligent observation Light." L replied brusquely.
Swiftly he hurried over to the packages he'd bought, rummaging through one of the paper-bound packages, pulling out a bound weight of willow bark.
"I will be back momentarily." he told the younger male, making his way to the kitchens.
--
Once he arrived there, he asked the woman he took to be the head cook, (a brown-haired matronly-appearing woman) to make a strong brew of tea using the willow bark, owing to the fact that he was completely clueless when it came to most cooking.
"Is someone unwell?" she asked, without apparent concern as she set the kettle on the fire to boil.
"Yes." L said abruptly.
"Your master?" she asked nonchalantly.
Coming from most people, this statement could merely have referred to the lie he'd allowed the inhabitants to assume upon entering the inn that Light was some form of noble, and L his servant, however there was something in her tone that implied to him that that was not what she meant.
He raised suddenly sharp eyes to the woman. "…Perhaps."
She stared him in the eyes as she smiled. "No matter how fine your clothes and boots, you cannot hide what you are." she said softly.
"Madam?" he asked cautiously.
The water suddenly started to bubble, spilling over onto the hot coals. She hooked it down, putting the bark into the kettle, putting the lid on tightly.
"You can take it up to your room. Steep it for five minutes and keep a cold compress on his head. Your master's not sick- he's been poisoned." she said. "But then- you knew that didn't you."
L picked up the kettle, turning his back out of necessity for a brief moment. When he turned back to ask her exactly what she meant, and how she knew that he knew Light was not the victim of sickness, but that woman with the brown hair had disappeared and he just caught sight of a brown tail disappearing around the corner.
--
Light had not improved. It was well into the evening and any food L had managed to coax into him had merely come back up.
L had completely given up on that venture, just making the younger male drink water, and copious amounts of the willow bark tea.
"Am I dying?" Light croaked, eyes no longer dull, but abnormally bright with fever.
"No." L said curtly, holding the cool cloth he had just wrung out onto Light's forehead with some distaste at the heat still emanating from his forehead. "You're just very sick." he told Light.
"But people in the village- when they got sick they died." fretted Light.
"They were too afraid of me to ask for assistance." snapped L.
"But…"
"Trust me. I will not allow you to die. That would be a poor repayment, no? Now, it is time for your tea again Light. Can you hold this here yourself for a minute please?"
Light reached a sweaty, still shaking hand to hold the cloth in place as L poured a cup of the willow bark tea.
"Can I have honey in it? That stuff tastes horrible." complained the sick teen.
"It would be better you didn't." L said reluctantly. He knew just how horrible tea of any sort tasted without the sweetness of honey, and indeed had one hell of a sweet tooth. "It could be too much on your stomach, given plain bread couldn't seem to stay down."
"I suppose." groused Light, allowing L to help him sit up enough to drink as L took away the cloth. "You're going to get sick now too. I'm sorry." Light said in a surprisingly lucid voice, sipping more tea.
"I won't Light. I do not get sick easily."
"Can you find the cat?" Light asked suddenly, lucidity gone.
"What?"
"That black and white cat I told you about before. Can you find him for me?"
L sighed, standing and taking the empty teacup with him. "Why?"
"Because it's soft and warm and cuddly. It even helped me to sleep once." Light informed him, sounding especially childish.
A faint smile curved L's lips as he stared intently at Light. "Cuddly, hm?"
Light nodded hopefully.
"If you hold that cold compress to your head and promise not to move, I'll do my best."
"Oh thank you, L!" Light exclaimed happily, smiling radiantly at L.
L shook his head, still faintly smiling. 'He is far gone in the fever for him to be acting in such a childish manner. Soon, I do not think he will be lucid enough to notice what's going on around him.' he thought deeply. 'And it will be dark soon. Perhaps, with the shadows…'
--
Light was certain it was just a product of his fevered brain. What else could explain what he appeared to be witnessing?
As he looked at the shadows, incomprehensibly, he saw a humanoid shape which, initially, he thought must be L, but then that shape twisted and changed and, all of a sudden, it wasn't- it couldn't be, it had too much hair-fur? , and its ears were pointed and on top of its head, and then it was a cat, only it wasn't, it was far too big, but then it shrank and it was.
His head swam and the room spun.
The last thing he remembered was a tiny weight on his chest and a cold nose on his forehead before he sank into unconsciousness.
Chapter two: Done!
Chapter three: Still being typed.
Incidentally, I'm also going to be working on a Yu-Gi-Oh/Death Note crossover, it's something I don't think anyone's done before, so yeah. Interesting? Check my polls to tell me which stories you want to see added first.
Smile! :D
Ireina