This story will probably be finished before I post the two endings for Cruel and Unusual. This is because they both occupy the same manga-time and gods forbid the plotlines should get tied together, especially since there are now three instead of two XD

I'd like to thank the people that have posted reviews without logging in – I can't reply to you directly, but I really appreciate your comments :) And thanks to everyone else that's reviewed as well, it's great to know people are enjoying it. Or even if you think something could be better, constructive criticism is always welcome, plot ideas, anything, there's always room for improvement :)

The quote in the text – it says it's a quote – is from The Ancient Mariner by Coleridge.

SPOILERS: Up to episode 25 anime/58 manga.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note or its characters, I kidnapped them and have them in my basement where I subject them to various unspeakable tortures including bondage, denial of writing privileges and forced consumption of wholesome food XD

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The world was ending. Fire fell from the sky in molten scoops, seas burned up and humanity trembled. Or rather, that portion of humanity that consisted of a dark-eyed overly-slender genius detective trembled. There didn't seem to be a lot of other people around, strangely enough. Where was the screaming, the pointless praying, the vain attempts to save material possessions that didn't matter now? And more to the point, where was Raito?

L hurried through the deserted, earthquake-torn streets, watching buildings topple, searching for his friend (lover?). He turned occasionally, glancing behind him.

"Because he knows a fearful fiend," he quoted aloud to himself, breathless from running, "Doth close behind him tread..."

"Lawliet," the voice was so close, the figure stepping out from a trash-strewn alley.

L pulled up short, nearly running into the man. And that was something he really didn't want to do.

"Raito?" he said, questioning, knowing the answer was no.

"Do you really think so?" Kira smiled, the evil sardonic smile that L had seen a shadow of on Raito's lips before he was confined. Before he changed.

"Kira," L said, hopelessly, and the word fell between them like a royal flush on a gaming table, except that L knew he held no cards here.

"L, you're a nuisance," Kira said, carmine eyes flashing somewhere between annoyance and amusement. Much like Raito's did at times. "You're a pain in the neck. An irritation. A spoke in my wheel and a ghost in my machine."

"Glad to hear it, Kira-sama," L said with as much sarcasm as he could muster through the pain of seeing Raito, his Raito, subsumed into the demon.

"Do you really think you can turn me into your lapdog?" Kira took a step closer and L resisted the urge to back away. "Do you think, when I regain my power, that I won't kill you for what you're doing? Chaining me – using me – "

"That's not what I'm doing," L said. "Raito knows it. Maybe you don't. I suppose a creature of death doesn't know much about love."

"Love?" Kira burst out laughing, loud, maniacal laughter that harmonised with the crumple of falling stone around them. "What the hell do you know about love, Lawliet? The only thing you love is your own twisted idea of justice. Which translates into doing exactly what you like and making everyone else accept it. Come to think of it – " he paused, smiling, "we're a lot alike, aren't we?"

"We are nothing alike, Kira!" L said. "You're a murderer. And I – "

"You're a fool," Kira hissed. "You think you can play with me to satisfy your sexual curiosity. You think because you have me at your mercy that I won't remember every touch, every advantage you take of me, and make you pay for it in pain!"

"This is nonsense!" L snapped. "I would never – "

"But you do, Lawliet!" Kira growled, leaning nearer. "You lie and you cheat and you take what you want without caring for anybody but your own sick, greedy self!"

L stared into the eyes of the fiend, red and merciless. He wanted to run.

"There's nowhere to go," Kira laughed, a low humorless chuckle. "Nowhere to run to, Lawliet, nowhere to hide. I thought I'd keep you – own you as my pet. But now I see you're too much of a liability."

"You can't deal with someone who's your equal," L spat. "You're afraid of me, Kira."

"Don't seek to humiliate me any further," Kira said, a look of spoiled anger on his face, almost a pout. "I have your death all packaged up and very soon now I'll deliver it to you. Wrapped up in red paper, Lawliet, sealed with a kiss."

They glared at each other amongst the wreckage, man and monster. L sighed. Stared into the eyes of what used to be his friend. Why was he even angry? What good did it do?

"You're right," he admitted. "I lie. I lie to everyone. I lie to hide myself, to keep myself safe from people who'd see the real person I am and think I was more of a freak than they already do. I lie to get what I want. To make my opponents think I'm no threat to them. To win. Damn, sometimes I just lie because I don't know any other way to be."

"Or because you enjoy it, Lawliet," the demon nodded, thoughtfully. "It's a challenge, isn't it? To be believed when you're spouting the most outrageous untruths – we both know what a pleasure that can be."

"Yes," L said, simply.

"Did you think I wouldn't see through you?" Kira mused. "When you told me to take advantage of Misa – to lie to her – did you think I wouldn't know that was exactly what you did to me? Telling me I was your first friend, when it was obvious a man like you would never make friends with your suspect."

"I knew you didn't believe me," L said, taking a step forward, his hands lifting to rest on the shoulders of the fiend in friend's shape. "It was a game. You played it the same way I did. You're the only person I've ever met that sees me, that understands me. We're the same. Misfits that don't belong anywhere except with each other."

"Are you going to get romantic with me now?" Kira sneered, but L could see the alarm in his eyes.

"That's how I am with you, Raito," L said. "Inasmuch as I know how. If you're asking if I love you, then yes, I do. Enough to let you kill me if that's what you need to do."

"You're lying," Kira hissed, trying to pull away, held by the detective's hands.

"No," said L. "There really is no point in my lying to you, because you're the only one that knows me. The only one that belongs to me. And the only one that needs me as much as I need you. Only you."

He pressed his lips to the monster's, ignoring the taste of death, kissing ruthlessly, eyes open and meeting Kira's shocked stare as the structures around them continued to fall, huge blocks of stone falling, thudding into the broken earth.

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"Wake up, L, for God's sake, there's someone at the door!"

L opened his eyes, confused as the thumping of toppling masonry continued. Then he realised.

"There's someone at the door, Raito," he mumbled.

"Yes, that's what I've been telling you!" the boy rolled his eyes. "When you sleep, you sleep like the dead, don't you!"

Unfortunate turn of phrase, L thought, reaching for his pants, fastening them as they hurried out of the room.

"How did we get chained together again?" he asked, before Raito could open the door.

"I did it," Raito said. "You fell asleep while I was getting dressed – I thought I'd leave you. You looked tired."

"I'm not surprised," L muttered.

Raito laughed and opened the door, revealing Matsuda with a smile on his face. The smile intensified as he took in L's half-naked appearance.

"Do you want something, Matsuda-san?" Raito asked after a few moments of silence. "Or did you just stop by to check out my boyfriend?"

"Uh, no!" Matsuda squeaked, blushing furiously. "I would never – Ryuuzaki, those clothes you wear don't do you any favors! Who would have known that under all that – "

"Matsuda?" L said, gently.

"They're wondering why you're late," Matsuda recalled his mission. "The Chief's getting concerned, Yagami-kun, he thinks you might be ill or something."

"Tell them we slept in," L said. "We had a late night. Going out as Yagami-san advised us to do."

"Um, yes," said Matsuda, still ogling. "Ryuuzaki, did you ever think about getting a piercing?"

"You might get one you didn't expect, if you don't put your eyes back in their sockets!" Raito snapped, out of patience.

"Two per cent increase," L muttered, earning a black look from his beloved who banged the door shut on Matsuda's aggrieved face.

"Now what?" Raito demanded, storming back into the bedroom. "I'm Kira because I don't like other men leering at my lover?"

"Jealousy is an immature reaction to such a situation, Raito," L remarked, rummaging in the closet for clean clothes. "This, combined with your inappropriate rage – "

"Are you saying you don't get jealous, Ryuuzaki?" Raito interrupted. "If Matsuda was eye-fucking my naked body, it wouldn't trouble you at all?"

"Of course not, Raito," L said, pulling on a t-shirt over the body in dispute. "I hope I would trust Raito-kun not to engage in intimate relations with any other person. So there is nothing for me to be jealous about."

Raito muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "bullshit," but refrained from making any further comment.

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"You went where?" Yagami Souchiro demanded.

"Um – clubbing," Raito said.

"That wasn't what I had in mind!" Souchiro shook his head. "I suggested you get out, go for a walk, play some wholesome sports or something! Not go on a – on a date chained together with someone who looks like an extra from Night of the Living Dead!"

"That's harsh, Yagami-san," L muttered.

"Well, nothing personal, Ryuuzaki – " Souchiro began.

"There's nothing wrong with Ryuuzaki's looks!" Raito interrupted. "He's interestingly gothic."

"Interesting?" Souchiro glared at his son. "What about Misa? What about your girlfriend? You should be interested in her! Why didn't you ask her out on this night of debauchery?"

"Um, I don't like her?" Raito said.

"Then you should tell her so and not keep leading her on!" Souchiro declared.

"Yagami-san, do you want to deal with Amane-san, spurned, in close proximity to us all?" L asked.

Souchiro paused. Thought about it.

"I see your point, Ryuuzaki," he admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that it's not appropriate for you to be taking my son – um, going out with my son – "

"It was my idea, Dad," Raito said, with a smile. "Ryuuzaki wasn't even very keen on the idea. He would have preferred a quiet night in."

Souchiro visibly paled and his eyes shifted from one to the other of them, obviously considering the possible ramifications of a quiet night in.

"Very well," he said at last. "But no more nightclubs. And Raito, get a decent night's sleep tonight, you look terrible!" he turned to L. "And as for you, young man, I'll be having a word with Watari about your behaviour!"

"At least he didn't say you looked terrible," Raito murmured comfortingly as the two geniuses took their seats.

"That's because he thinks I always do, Raito," L smiled and got to work.

As the morning wore on, the detective was finding it increasingly more difficult to keep his mind on the Yotsuba corporation. He was more intrigued by Raito's anomalous behaviour. The boy seemed to be making a point of asking L's opinion on things he would normally just have done for himself. And when morning coffee came, Raito jumped up and fetched L's for him, adding just the right amount of cream and sugar before presenting it to the detective.

"Thank you, Raito-kun," L said. "That's very kind of you."

"I hope it's how you like it, Ryuuzaki," Raito said.

"It's perfect, Raito-kun," L said. "But normally you don't – "

The Red Hot Chili Peppers suddenly broke the silence.

"Your phone," Raito said, unnecessarily.

L answered it, watching Raito as he took the call, the boy obviously trying to follow the English conversation. Frowning as he watched L smile at his caller. More jealousy?

"Tell him to stop buggering about and give it back to you," L finished his call. "Tell him I said so. Hmm? Yes – soon, I hope. No, he's in the wind. But we have a lead on the other one. Yes, that one. Mhm, we can do that. Yes, I promise. Bye bye."

L raised an eyebrow at Raito, amused by the boy's expression, torn between curiosity and politeness.

"Something wrong, Raito-kun?"

"You have English friends too, Ryuuzaki," Raito said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do, Raito," L agreed.

"Close friends," Raito suggested.

"Very," L said, then took pity on his lover's frustration. "He's thirteen, Raito, he's too young for me."

"That's even too young for me," Raito smiled. "Is he a relative, then?"

"Don't fish, Raito," L reproved. "I'll tell you later."

"RAITOOO!!"

"Oh shit," Raito had time to mutter before he was enveloped in blonde and white lace.

"Misa-Misa has missed her Raito!" the girl exclaimed. "He's always busy with the pervert!"

"Ryuuzaki's not a pervert, Misa!" Raito said, then caught L's eye and had to turn away, stifling a grin.

L reached for his phone.

"Misa-Misa will stay and keep poor lonely Raito company!" Misa declared. "He needs someone to talk to!"

"I have someone to talk to, Misa!" Raito said.

"And kiss!" Misa added, flinging her arms round Raito's neck and pressing her lips to his.

"Fmff!" Raito tried and failed to disentangle himself. Managed to push her off as she was distracted by Watari's arrival.

"Ryuuzaki will get fat!" she said disapprovingly, staring at the tray of sweets and ice cream that was placed in front of the detective.

"I told you, Amane-san – " L began.

"Yes, Misa knows!" Misa interrupted. "You use your brain a lot, you don't put weight on! But Misa uses her brain to realise that nothing stops diabetes!"

"Amane-san is a very intelligent woman," L said, picking up a dish of chocolate ice cream. "She is truly a suitable partner for Raito-kun."

"Urk?" the hapless other half of the proposed partnership commented.

"Misa is glad that Ryuuzaki realises this," Misa said smugly. "Misa does not need to chain Raito to her in order to enjoy his company."

"Misa, that's rude!" Raito protested, anything more he wanted to say smothered by another fervent liplock.

L shrugged. Dug his spoon into his ice cream. Looked regretfully at the dollop of chocolatey goodness. Kissed it goodbye. And flicked.

"AAAAAAGHHH!" Misa spun around, staring at the detective in disbelief, clutching at the back of her neck. "It's COLD! What IS IT!"

"Amane-san, I'm sorry!" L exclaimed. "It's ice cream!"

"What?" Misa's face contorted. "You threw ICE CREAM at me!"

"He can't help it, Misa," Raito said hurriedly. "When he gets too excited by sweets, he bursts out in random spastic movements!"

"I become unco-ordinated, Amane-san," L agreed. "And my spoon jerked and propelled chocolate ice cream onto your nice white dress, which it is now running down the back of."

"YOU FREAK!" Misa yelled. "I have a photoshoot in half an hour! I have to go change, Raito, I'll see you later!"

She fled the room. Raito stared across at L, who gave him the most innocent look he could manage. The boy turned back to his monitor. Started typing.

L smiled and made himself look as though he was working. He needed to think. What to do about – then noticed he had mail. Opened it.

You possessive bitch!

L grinned across at his beloved and replied.

Yes, but I'm your possessive bitch.

Raito burst into laughter, and shook his head. Then got on with his work again. L watched him for a few minutes, admiring him. Wondered what he was going to do about his beautiful polymath. A plan was developing in his mind but he wasn't sure. Was he? Raito... or Justice. And was it even justice when the boy obviously had no idea what he'd done? Well, it was the only plan he had so he might as well get it underway and see how things went.

He reached for the sugarbowl, piling the cubes out onto the desk. Raito glanced his way for a moment but he was used to L's eccentric ways with the sugar and soon resumed concentration on his screen. Only to start in surprise as a sugar cube landed on the pile of folders in front of him.

L smiled at the boy who was giving him a questioning look. Waited for him to turn away, shrugging. Then pinched another cube between thumb and forefinger. And flicked.

Raito swept both sugarcubes off his files without turning round. L raised an eyebrow at that. His lover was certainly getting used to the detective's peculiarities. No temper tantrum, no hiss of irritation, a definite improvement. He flicked another cube.

Raito sighed at this, moved to push the offending lump of sugar away, then stared at it. Fished around down the back of his paperwork for the other two. Grabbed at a fourth as it landed badly, nearly rolling off to the floor.

L watched as the boy turned the cubes over, reading the penned letters on them. So far, he had V, O, L and Y. L flipped him a U. Raito grinned and started sorting, forming the word YOU and adding the second O and E to his L and V as they came flying over. LOVE. He turned to L with a smile that was so breathtakingly beautiful that the detective blinked. No wonder they called him Light, L thought. Then remembered his dream and made a decision. There was nothing he wouldn't do to stop his lover sinking back into the darkness.

L tossed the sugarcube inscribed with I across the room, Raito plucking it out of the air one-handed. He looked at it then grinned and put it in his mouth.

L smiled back. Raito wanted to eat him. Well, that could be arranged.

"I need more coffee," the detective said, getting up off his chair.

"Already?" Raito said. "So much caffeine."

"Raito-kun knows what a late night I had," L gave his lover a lustful glance. "I hardly got any sleep at all – "

"Yes, okay," Raito got up hurriedly and followed L to the kitchen. Went across to the counter and was reaching for the coffee jug when L grabbed him and spun him around.

"What? Ryuuzaki – not here – " Raito exclaimed, then moaned as L's lips claimed his, the detective's impressive oral skills changing his lover's protests to soft mewls of pleasure, which L found a lot more agreeable. He reached down, fingers unfastening the button of Raito's pants, had his hand inside before the boy could complain about it.

Raito tossed his hair back, groaning as L's hand encircled him, demanding compliance. L took advantage of his movement to bend and run his tongue over the boy's throat, dipping down to the hollow between neck and shoulder, his lips sucking, teeth grazing the delicate skin.

"Mmm," Raito sighed, his hands sliding around the detective's waist, pulling him closer. L resisted, grabbed the boy's zipper and pulled it down, pushed his pants and boxers down in one movement, following them with his own.

"Ryuu – " Raito murmured, "Naked – not here!"

"Yes, here," L said, pushing the boy to his knees.

"No – " Raito said, then gave in, bending forward to run his tongue over L's by now raging erection.

L gasped and bucked his hips toward Raito, feeling the boy's mouth encircle him, the warm wetness moving on him wickedly. He reached down and twined his fingers in Raito's hair, tugging on it, encouraging him to take more of his engorged cock into his mouth, deep into his throat. Sighed in pleasure as Raito's tongue went to work on him, teasing with soft laps at his glans, his frenulum, each time he pulled back.

"Up," the detective commanded, his voice not quite steady, dragging the boy to his feet, then lifting him onto the kitchen counter, pressing between his thighs, pushing him back. A jar toppled, teabags strewing.

L dragged off Raito's shoes and pants. He reached for the fridge door, pulled out a jar of something that looked suitably oleaginous, twisted off the lid and dipped his fingers in, his other hand holding Raito in place although the boy didn't seem in any hurry to move. L stared at his lover, taking in his flushed face, glazed, half-lidded eyes and decided Raito must have been as much in need of this as he was himself.

He thrust two fingers into the boy and was rewarded by a moan and an intense golden glance of lust.

"Yes, Ryuu," Raito murmured. "Fuck me in the kitchen..."

"Everywhere, Raito!" L declared, passionately, pulling the boy toward him.

Raito cried out as he was dragged from the counter, wrapping his legs hastily around L as the detective impaled him, his cock sliding fully into the boy making him writhe and whimper.

L clasped his lover in his arms, carried him a few steps until Raito's back was against the wall.

"Oh God, L!" Raito exclaimed. "Yes! More!"

"Undo... your shirt," L gasped, sliding his hands lower down his lover's body, gripping his firm ass, waiting impatiently as Raito fumbled with his buttons, wishing they were in their own bedroom so he could just rip it off.

"Done," Raito gasped and L clasped his hips tightly, driving himself deep into his lover's tight, damp hotness, making the boy moan loudly and dig his fingers into L's shoulders hard enough to bruise.

"So big – my L – " Raito groaned, then practically screamed as L shifted slightly, his cock brushing against the boy's pleasure centre, making him shiver and twist against the wall.

"Take me, take me!" he cried out. "Do me, L, don't stop, harder!"

L gave a low moan of lust, his own arousal made all the more intense by seeing his lover so abandoned and needy. He wrapped his arms around Raito and pumped his dick into the boy, gone beyond the point of return, sheer pleasure sweeping over him in irresistible waves as his seed spurted deep into his lover's body, Raito responding with a cry of ecstasy as he shuddered to his own climax, spraying his own chest and stomach with love juice, calling out L's name as he came.

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L sighed and let the boy sink to the floor.

"Oh L – " Raito murmured, wrapping his arms around the detective, "You are so – you're amazing. God, and strong too, I wouldn't have thought you could have... what's that smell?"

"Smells like – dinner," L said.

"Where's it coming from?" Raito glanced over to the kitchen counter, his eyes widening in disbelief then just as suddenly narrowing in anger. "L, did you use fucking mayonnaise as lube?"

"What other kind of mayonnaise would I have used, Raito?"

"This is no time for your bizarre sense of humor! I'm going to smell like fucking Cesar salad all damn day long now!"

"I don't mind, Raito," L soothed him.

"I damn well mind!" Raito snapped. "What were you thinking!"

"Raito-kun must have realised by now that when I'm in the mood, my thinking skills are severely limited," L said.

"Fuck!" Raito said.

"Would Raito-kun like me to clean it off him somehow?" L offered.

"No, just leave it," Raito said. "Nobody's going to be near enough to smell it anyway."

"How about if I clean this up?" L said, leaning forward to lick up the cum that was running down Raito's body.

The boy sighed and leaned back against the wall, his hands coming up to stroke the thick mass of L's hair, running his fingers through it lovingly.

"We should get dressed, Ryuu," he murmured after a few moments, sounding rather reluctant.

"I suppose so," L agreed, bending down to pick up their pants from the floor.

"And we should make some coffee," Raito said as he refastened his shirt. "That's what we came in here for."

"Not what I came in here for, Raito," L said, splashing some cold water on his face from the tap in the hopes of looking less flushed and sweaty. He reached for the mayonnaise jar and put the lid back on, opened the fridge –

"What the hell are you doing?" Raito said, snatching the jar. "You don't use kitchen condiments for sex and then leave them for other people to eat! How hygienic is that?"

"Um – not very?" L suggested.

"Not at all!" Raito said firmly, throwing the jar into the trash. "Now let's get back to work before someone comes looking for us!"

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Back in the investigation room, Raito settled back in front of his monitor, no longer asking for L's input. He was altogether much quieter than usual and frowned at nothing from time to time. Obviously something was wrong and it hadn't been cured by the quickie in the kitchen. How was L supposed to concentrate when Raito looked miserable like this?

"I need the bathroom," the detective said.

"No wonder after all that coffee," Raito got up from his chair.

Out in the corridor, L didn't head for the restrooms.

"Let's go up on the roof, Raito," he said instead.

"The roof?"

"Yes. It's quiet."

"What about the case?" Raito said.

"Just for a few minutes," L said.

Raito shrugged and followed his lover.

A sharp autumn wind blew around them, cold and bitter. L shivered, then sighed as Raito's arms went around him.

"Warm," the detective murmured.

"I want to always keep you warm, Ryuu," Raito said, pressing his lips to L's, pulling him closer, his tongue seeking entry to the detective's mouth. L wrapped his arms around the boy, closing his eyes, lost in sensation, heat, wetness, touch.

At last they separated and looked at each other breathlessly. Then Raito pulled away with a sigh.

"Is something wrong, Raito?" L asked, looking at the line of his mouth, the half-lidded eyes, Raito not too happy about something.

"No."

"I noticed you were being particularly kind to me this morning."

"Was I?"

"Waiting on me hand and foot. And asking me about things you already knew the answers to."

Raito shrugged.

"Did you think I needed reassurance?" L asked. "After last night?"

"Might've crossed my mind," Raito mumbled. "But you have your own ways of reasserting yourself, don't you."

"Raito, there is no need for anyone to feel uncomfortable here," L said. "We both know who is the alpha in our relationship."

"You like it best how we did it in the kitchen," Raito said.

"Raito-kun knows I will let him do whatever he wants," L said. "I think I proved that to him last night. Six times."

"But what you like – "

"Yes," L agreed. "What we did in the kitchen. Except I would normally hope for a more prolonged event."

Raito was silent and L reached out, taking his lover by the shoulders, turning him, noting that the boy had blushed crimson.

"I really don't know," Raito muttered almost inaudibly, "What you must think of me."

"Nothing bad," L said. "Doesn't it seem a good thing to you that we suit each other?"

Raito looked up at that, a flash of something like guilt in his eyes. "You know."

"I know you like it when I'm seme," L said. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but last night – it seemed that perhaps you were trying to prove something to yourself."

"You encouraged me!" Raito snapped.

"Yes, I did," L said, pulling the young man closer, into his arms. "I could see you wanted it. And I was curious. I've always associated the act with pain and humiliation. I was glad to have my opinion changed."

"It's not what I expected, Ryuuzaki," Raito murmured, tense in the detective's embrace. "When I thought of us together."

"You thought every night would be like last night?"

"If I was with anybody else, it probably would." Raito sighed. "It's you – you make me feel – "

"Submissive?" L suggested, when it seemed Raito couldn't or didn't want to finish his sentence.

"I suppose so," Raito's voice was dangerously close to sulky.

"Raito-kun's speculations about being with someone else could be true," L mused. "But it occurs to me that he has never given himself to anyone else. So perhaps the feelings I engender in him are what he truly seeks."

"L – last night I wanted to know. I had to know. What it would be like."

"And what conclusions did you come to, Raito?"

"It was good," Raito said, looking up at L through his eyelashes. "It was incredible. But, um, it wasn't quite as good."

"Exactly how I felt about it," L hugged Raito closer to him, stroked his back gently. "Perhaps Raito-kun is having some difficulties with sexual stereotypes?"

"Hm."

"But there is no reason why we have to be like anybody else in this way, is there?" L went on. "Since neither of us is like anybody else in any other way."

"I suppose we're not," Raito said. "But you, Ryuuzaki, you like control, don't you? Everything you do is about control. Changing other people's lives, manipulating them and so on."

"You'd be surprised, Raito," L said. "Controlling everything around you isn't as attractive as you might think. I've been L for a long time now. Since I was very young. Probably too young to choose for myself."

"If you didn't do this, Ryuuzaki," Raito took L's hand. "What would you like to do?"

"I don't know. Paint, maybe."

"Paint?"

"Yes."

"Um – " Raito looked puzzled. "Do you know how?"

"Raito, I wouldn't suggest I do something I have no experience with!"

"Uh, no, I suppose not," Raito said. "But you don't have anything to do it with, do you?"

"Not here, no," L said.

"That's a pity," Raito said, looking slightly crestfallen.

L burst out laughing. "Raito, you are so vain!"

"No I'm not!" the boy protested, then reluctantly joined in the laughter. "Well, maybe I am, a little bit."

"A little bit?" L clutched himself in laughter pangs.

"Bastard," Raito said, smiling.

"I could draw you," L offered. "I have all kinds of pencils."

"Would you like to?" Raito's face was almost shy.

"More than anything," L said, pulling his lover close again. "But I'm not very good with clothing, so I'd have to do you naked."

"Do me?" Raito said. "I thought you were going to draw me?"

"Both," said L.

"Yes," Raito murmured, leaning in for a kiss. L closed his eyes and lost himself in his lover's lips, the closeness of his body, the whimpers that came from his mouth as the detective deepened the kiss, tongues meeting and caressing.

"Raito," L murmured, as they paused for breath. "Raito, what a mess this is."

"What's that, Ryuu-chan?"

"You. Me. L and Kira," the detective explained a little incoherently. "I don't want to lose you."

Raito looked into his lover's eyes. "I don't want to be lost, L."

"It's my birthday soon," L said.

"When?" Raito looked alarmed.

"The thirty-first."

"What – Halloween?"

"Yes."

"It suits you," Raito teased.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Raito," L said.

"But how am I going to buy you a gift with this chain on?"

"I'm sure you can give me a birthday treat without buying anything."

"Sex?" Raito asked. "Well, of course, but we do that anyway – "

"Bondage sex." L said.

"..."