"Kindly cease arguing with me, Yagami-kun," L ground out petulantly, flat on his back and glaring bullets at the ceiling. They'd fallen into a peculiar little routine, and the ceaseless banter appeared to be wearing on his nerves. He'd even elected to sleep tonight, laying on top of the covers in their shared bed. Light, on the other hand, was enjoying every minute of it.

"I'm not arguing, L," he said sweetly, intentionally avoiding use of the pseudonym, "I'm debating. If I'm here because you value my intellect, then I should be able to tell you when I think you're wrong."

"I think," replied L vaguely, "that you simply enjoy defying everything that I say for the sake of it."

"That's not true at all. I find your opinions fascinating, I just don't think they're right. We argue in order to persuade those holding differing opinions to conform to our own."

"Or to annoy them…"

Light put on his best innocent face, propping an elbow up on his pillow. Their room wasn't particularly dark, and he could see L's sallow eyes clearly. "I thought you liked debating with me. It's not like we can really talk to anyone else."

That might have been true… as much as he tried not to think about it, the only human being L could talk to without having to carefully select his words was Yagami Light. They were simply on another level than the people around them. "Debate over intelligent questions I enjoy, Yagami-kun. But simply arguing for the sake of it is counterproductive and time-consuming."

Light shrugged. "One could argue that debate itself is counterproductive. By sorting out your beliefs and putting them into words, you'll only become more solid in them and thereby less likely to understand the other person's point of view. But it's entertaining."

L finally shot him a look. "That is only true for inherently closed-minded and stubborn individuals. If you go into a debate only with the intention of proving the others false, you are only going to frustrate yourself."

"But the point of the debate is to, if not prove your opponent wrong, then to prove yourself correct to a higher degree."

L snorted. "I cannot find it surprising in the least that you feel that way. Consciously debating a topic provides one with an understanding of views and beliefs other than his own. It stimulates the mind and increases knowledge over a given subject and readies participants for any similar debates or arguments in the future." He rattled it off like a textbook entry, and Light found himself thinking that, if arguing could open the mind and be so relaxing as all that, then L certainly hadn't done enough of it in his lifetime.

"I don't think people generally work that way. When a person debates, disagrees or points out the illogic in another person's statements, it only forces that other person to further defend and become entrenched in their original argument. It only serves to drive the two perspectives further apart."

"Good debaters know when they've lost and learn from their mistakes." L raised an eyebrow in his direction, sensing that that one wouldn't go over well. Yagami Light did not admit defeat.

Light, predictably, proved his point. "All people are set in their ways. Even if they do admit that the other person was right, simply coming to that conclusion in an argument isn't enough to change the opinion that they started out with. That just adds deception to the table, and both parties walk away uncomfortable."

"I think most great debaters would agree that the goal of debate is not to win, Yagami-kun," L said, fighting for control over a yawn. "In the end, the conclusion of the debate barely matters at all. The debate itself encourages open-mindedness and improves the relationship between both members by hearing, if not understanding, the other person's point of view."

"If the conclusion doesn't matter, then the debate becomes even more pointless and counterproductive."

"You're right, in a sense. The act of arguing something out rarely changes anything."

Light took the moment to stare as L's eyes closed against his pale skin. "Then what is your point?"

"I do not have a point, Yagami-kun. You are the one who started this exchange."

Light continued to stare wide-eyed as L's breath evened out slowly. Eventually he rolled over and pulled the blanket up beneath his chin, somehow feeling as if he'd been incredibly duped.

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The word debate itself derives from the Latin word "Debatum" which means to reach an agreement. Which, I'm inclined to think, these two will probably never do. :)

Also, I suppose it's worth noting that most of this is taking place during the memory-less chain arc-- because the chain was cool, and Light's so much more fun to screw with when he's all big-eyed and only as evil as any other teenaged kid.