Sybil took a long drink of her root beer, smiling. However, the smile faded upon feeling a sharp pain in her swollen cheek.
"Ouch! Hey! I told you, Taylor, I'm fine! It's okay!" Her older brother still kept the cold icepack to her cheek.
"Have you looked in a mirror?"
"I've dealt with bullet wounds. I'll be-"
"Bullet wounds?! Maybe I should give you a black eye to match the cheek Taylor gave you!" Troy exclaimed as he dropped his suitcase with a loud thud.
"Relax, Pudgy. That was a long time ago. I'm into defusing bombs now."
"Bombs?! God damn it, Sybil! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Taylor sighed as the two bickered back and forth.
He kept the icepack to her cheek, trying to reduce the swelling.
"Settle down, you two. Hey, Troy? You mind getting her something to eat? You're the only one of the two of us that can cook and Sybil obviously needs to relax." Troy blinked and then nodded.
"I can do that. Just as long as she promises not to get herself killed." The entire room went silent at the subject.
"I can't promise anything. However, I can promise that I'll try my best." Troy shot her a glare, which soon softened.
"I guess that's the best I'm going to get out of you. Alright."
"Thank you for understanding, Troy." The darker eyed twin smiled softly at his little sister before he disappeared into the kitchen.
Soon after, Socks jumped up onto the couch and laid himself down in Sybil's lap. She ran her fingers through his soft orange fur, smiling as she did so.
The cat began to purr and Sybil yawned.
"It seems as though my lack of sleep is finally catching up with me, Taylor. I'm probably going to fall asleep before I get to eat anything." The twenty five year old man smiled softly upon seeing her nodding and half asleep.
"Hey. Don't fall asleep yet. You know how Troy gets. He hates it when all his hard work goes to waste."
"Yeah."
***
She was curled up comfortably under her blanket as she laid on her bed. However, Sybil wasn't asleep.
She had woken up nearly half an hour earlier and was currently staring at the digital clock on her bedside table.
Two thirty.
Sybil frowned at the cursed clock.
That was only six hours asleep. However, that was something she should be grateful for. That was her longest sleeping break yet.
The twenty three year old woman stood up and stretched her arms, soon feeling the soft fur of Socks brush up against her legs.
"I'll get you some food in a minute, Socks. First, let me take a shower and get dressed." The cat meowed its reply, obviously not happy with her response.
Sybil sighed, but entered her bathroom to take her shower. She stripped the silvery blue nightdress from her body and stepped into the awaiting shower.
The hot water ran over her naked body and she smiled. At least, until the words of yesterday got to her.
He was really out of prison. Jerrod Corvax was really out of prison. The murderer of her mother. Sybil's father.
This was going to bother her for a long time unless she started to focus on the real task at hand for a change. Kira was what was important. Not the past.
The young woman turned off the taps and stepped out of her shower. Soon afterwards, Sybil was dressed in a green long sleeved shirt with a black t shirt over top. On the bust of the t shirt was a blue rose. The young woman also wore a pair of worn blue jeans with obvious holes in the knees.
After getting dressed, Sybil quickly placed her cap, backwards, on her head. Then, she left her bedroom and entered the kitchen with Socks following close behind.
She smiled brightly and followed the cat's usual feeding routine before grabbing a bottle of root beer and popping off the lid. She took a sip of the pop before opening up the refrigerator again to look for something to eat.
However, she was interrupted upon hearing her front door open.
Sybil grabbed her nearby pocketknife, which always sat on the green counter, and flicked it open. She closed her eyes briefly, to listen to the sound of the footsteps. Then, she put away the knife and placed it back on the counter.
"Hello, Ryuuzaki." The footsteps stopped just in front of the light of the window.
L's face was easily visible in the moonlight.
"You have extreme hearing to be able to tell that it was me." He told her softly.
She grinned as she reopened the refrigerator, grabbing a chocolate cake. She pulled it out and handed it to her friend while she grabbed two forks.
"You're the only person I know that never wears socks." The cat meowed as L took the cake from her hands.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Anyway, let's head to my office. That way we can share that cake you've got." He was silent, but he immediately began to make his way towards her office.
The female detective was quietly following him, absentmindedly rubbing her swollen cheek. L caught this movement from the corner of his eye. Yet, he didn't say anything. At least, not until the two of them were safely in the room with the office door locked behind them to keep from being intruded upon.
He sat down on the floor and Sybil sat down in front of him, cross legged.
"Your cheek is still swollen." She blinked and rubbed her cheek again, wincing with the slight sting.
"Yeah. Tay-Tay hit me pretty hard. Although, I know I deserved it." She then grabbed a slice of the chocolate cake.
L followed suit with his fork.
"Tay-Tay?" Sybil shot him a grin.
"Hey, don't mock me. It's a nickname." She paused.
"However, it is pretty stupid. I know that."
"Hmm. Actually, I believe otherwise. Nicknames can be quite comforting in this type of situation. In fact, if you wish, you may give me a nickname." This caught the female detective completely off guard.
Her green eyes searched his own onyx ones, but she came up empty.
What was going through that man's head?
"Nah. That won't be necessary. I'll just call you Ryuuzaki. It suits you. Unless you have any objections?"
"No."
"You're lying. You want me to give you a nickname." He glanced up from the cake and locked his eyes with Sybil's.
Almost immediately, he got lost in them.
They had a depth to them. Many secrets and many emotions. So many emotions, in fact, that he could never tell how she was feeling unless she told him herself.
This young woman intrigued L to a never ending extent. He wanted to crack her almost as much as he wanted to crack this case. He wanted to discover who she was almost as much as he wanted to discover Kira's identity.
"You stare at me a lot, you know that?" L refocused, catching Sybil's still smiling face.
The swollen cheek she had, however, was what was now capturing most of his attention.
Self consciously, the red headed young woman touched her hand to it.
"What? Does it look that bad?"
"It could be worse." Sybil frowned.
"Yeah. Anyway, back on topic. You want me to give you a nickname."
"Perhaps."
"Why? Is it because I'm you're very first friend, or is it deeper than that?"
"What do you suspect?" He replied calmly.
Sybil stared at him before sighing.
"A nickname is a sign of affection. For you to be requesting one, it means that in your past, you haven't felt much affection. That means-" She tensed and looked away.
"- that means that you were either abandoned at a young age, or your parents are deceased." He continued to stare.
"You are indeed as intelligent as I thought. You live up to your title well."
"Thanks, Ryuu." He smiled inwardly at the nickname.
Yet, her previous actions were still high on his mind.
Did that mean-?
"Judging by your hesitance during your explanation, it seems that you too have suffered a similar past."
"Wrong." Sybil looked back to him, a small smile etched across her face.
"I'll tell you everything, Ryuu. However, first give me some time. It is my past that causes me to change so drastically after all. Besides, although I was able to predict that you were an orphan, that doesn't mean that I know all that much about you."
"Of course. Take as long as you like." She stopped smiling and then bowed her head so that her black cap covered her eyes.
The young woman was like this for a few moments before she raised it with the smile returned.
"Thank you for your patience. Now, can we turn to a more serious subject? Kira." L smirked and then stuck another forkful of cake into his mouth.
"Of course."