Arc Three: Utter Insanity

Chapter 10: Behave, Everyone

Light practically skipped back to the house from the mailbox, hugging the letter he had gotten tightly, a huge grin on his face. His parents were coming to visit! He hadn't been able to go home over the summer, hence his stay at Wammy's, but his parents were coming here to visit him instead! It was a good day; it was a wonderful, joyous, fabulous…

Light suddenly stopped, watching Mello scramble up a tree in the side yard effortlessly, helping Matt up behind him. After Matt had stopped being so nervous, and stopped staying in the same room as Light at all times, he and Mello had actually become good friends. But that wasn't why Light had stopped walking.

His parents. Here, in a house full of vampires. What was he thinking?! This was a disaster waiting to happen, if the incident with Matt was any indication. He could imagine the result now. His poor parents might die of shock, or be scared enough to demand that he come home with them anyway. Then he would be forced to share a room with some circus freak. And really, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't want to leave.

Wammy's had been a godsend when he had nowhere else to go. The people there had terrified him, completely freaked him out, made him laugh, become his friends… And despite the fact that none of them save Matt were actually human, he liked it here too much to want to leave now.

He saw L sitting up on the roof, the vampire reading some book or another from the library. He glanced up, as if sensing he was being looked at, and smiled when he saw Light. Jumping lightly off the roof, he landed gracefully crouched in the front yard and ran over to the teen.

"What's going on, Light? You're standing in the middle of the driveway." he asked.

Light glanced at the book in his hands. "Demon in my View? Seriously, L, why do you read all of these vampire books?"

L gave him a strange look. "I am a vampire. Not to mention, I think it's funny to see how wrong they get everything." he said. "Now, don't change the subject. What's that?"

Vampire-quick fingers snatched the letter from Light's loose grasp before he could protest. L read quickly, raising an eyebrow when he reached the end. "Your parents want to come here?" he asked, handing the letter back to Light.

"I know…" Light groaned. "Them, here, in this house full of lunatic vampires…"

"You know that we would never harm your parents!" L protested, misinterpreting the groan. "Any of your family would be as safe here as you and Matt are!"

"But Matt and I also know your secret. My parents don't. As seeing as your secret-keeping hasn't gone too well under these last two circumstances…" Light said. "I don't want my parents terrified out of their wits, or dragging me off home in a panic."

"You don't want to go home?" L asked, suddenly more serious.

Light scoffed. "Hell no! It's much more interesting here, and I'd just have to come back for college again in five weeks."

L grinned broadly. "If you want your parents to visit, I can make it happen. You forget, I'm practically in charge around here. I'll make sure nothing stupid happens." He turned, making to dash back towards the house, then looked back. "I'm glad you like it here." Then he was gone, running towards the house, yelling something to Mello and Matt on the way in.

Light watched him go, interested. What was L planning? Unless he intended to find a way to hide everyone's true nature…

xXx

About three hours later, Aisha came to find him in his room. She hovered in the doorway for a moment until he looked up, then said, "L wants you downstairs."

Wondering what the other could possibly be planning, he followed Aisha down the stairs, into the big living room where it looked as though the entire house was gathered.

"Everyone," L was saying, smiling as he saw Light and Aisha enter the room. "I have big news." Interested murmurs greeted this statement, and L continued, "Light's parents are coming to visit him in a few days, and while they are here, we must maintain absolute secrecy. Light himself might be fine with what we are, but we have no idea if his parents are the same. Therefore, for the time that they are here, no one is to behave in any way that could potentially give away our true natures. Understood?"

A general grumble of reluctant consent filled the room. L nodded, hopping off the chair he'd been standing on and coming over to Light. "See? Easy."

Light blinked. "And everyone will abide by that?"

"Well, according to your letter, your parents intend to stay at an inn in Winchester, and not here, overnight. So we still have the nighttime to behave as we normally would. That will have to be enough. It's only a few days, after all."

Light nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, L. You don't know how important this is to me."

"I talked to Watari, and he said that it would be wrong to cut you off from your human life just because you are staying with us." L said. "It's not fair to you or your family."

Light grinned. "You're amazing, really. You act like a dork sometimes, but you're really a good person."

L reached for his hand, lifting it and kissing his wrist. "I'm glad you think so, Light." he said. Both knew that what would have been a gesture of romance or affection from anyone else was really neither when it came to them. It was a symbol of the trust between them; Light acknowledging L for what he was and expressing that he didn't care. He trusted the vampire enough to let him near his wrist like that.

Near wandered over, and L picked him up, asking cheerfully, "Want to play Risk, Near?"

Near nodded enthusiastically, and Light groaned. Risk took hours, if not days, and with vampires who didn't need to stop for sleep, it proved to be a grueling trial for a poor human. He had tried to play with them once, and found himself asleep on Russia at three in the morning. When he finally woke, he had found that they had just continued playing, taking over all of Light's territories and setting the pieces on his head when they needed to move through Russia. Never again.

He excused himself to go to his room, and L chuckled, walking with Near to go find the board game. Oh, was Light in for it these next couple of days. They weren't allowed to do anything that could potentially reveal what they were, but that didn't stop him from attempting to embarrass Light in front of his parents. And he had some excellent ideas. He laughed to himself. This was going to be fun.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Oh, yes. Yes it is. :D