Things froze. It was comical, almost. As if some great being had pressed a pause button on their little scene. The King's hand was too close to Light's face. Light's eyes were closed and tears streamed down his face. The thing that was Takada held L tightly, boredom and disappointment on its face. The Shinigami that held Light let out a soft chuckle. The thing that had created L's afterlife looked extremely upset.
Slowly, as if it were not his choice, the King withdrew his hand. L hadn't realized he wasn't breathing until that very moment.
"Well?" the King asked.
"I think you should just do it," the thing shrugged.
L stopped breathing.
"But we made a deal," the King said. He was confused. He sounded just like every other miserable Shinigami L had encountered, which, to be fair, was not a particularly large amount.
"Your kind and their deals," the thing muttered. "What good is ultimate power if you don't use it?"
"You have a place ready for them?" the King asked.
"No. I thought he'd loose. He is terrible. The five days was a kindness."
"So…"
"Stop talking about us like we aren't here," Light said. He sounded quiet and lost and scared and like he was trying to hide it. L was amazed he had his voice. He had yet to find his.
"Apologies," the thing said sarcastically.
"Let us go," L said.
"No. I don't trust either of you," the thing said.
"We have to put them somewhere," the King said.
"Fine. Give me two minutes," the thing said and vanished.
It was an extremely awkward two minutes. The King kept trying to talk to them and the Shinigami holding him was muttering in his ear and L and Takada were staring at him. His heart was pounding in his ears and he couldn't hear a thing. He thought he was going to burst. Victory hadn't yet started to stream through his veins. They had won. He felt like shit.
The thing that looked like his father came back with a pop. There were bags under its eyes.
"Done. Give them to me. I'll take them," it said.
"I don't trust you," Light said.
No one listened to him. Takada released L. The Shinigami holding him dropped his arms and gave him a little push.
"Too bad, Light. We could have had some real fun," it muttered in his ear.
Before he could answer, the thing had taken them both. The last thing Light saw of the Shinigami world was Ryuk's wide, grinning mouth.
The new place, the in between place, was not perfect. It was a grand house, like L preferred, decorated with spare, modern furniture he preferred. He thought it was slightly too warm. L was wrapping his hands in his shirt, so it must have been slightly too cold for him. Outside was grey. He wasn't sure who that was for. He hoped the weather would change, just for some sort of variation if they were to be stuck there forever. It smelled vaguely sweet. Light had always hated sweets.
"This isn't a reward. Your punishment is each other. You can't leave and no one can come to find you. The food is safe to eat, the water is safe to drink. There are books and games and you can play tennis. The house is big. You're both clever. I'm sure you'll keep adding to it. But if either of you try ANYTHING, I will see to it that you are sent straight back to Mu. I truly hope I never see either of you again," the thing said in one quick breath and vanished.
He and L were left looking at each other.
The new place was too cold. The furniture was incredibly uncomfortable looking. The light was both to bright and too dim and it would no doubt drive him made at some point. At least it smelled vaguely of cookies. At least Light was there.
He took the initiative. He reached for Light and held him. The other man shook slightly in his grasp. It was a lot. He had admitted he was wrong. L didn't know if that had ever happened before. He smiled wryly as it hit him that hell should have frozen over and they should be very cold indeed. He kept the thought to himself. He would tease Light about it when he didn't look so pale.
"We won," Light muttered to his shoulder.
"We did," L said. He was still smiling.
Light started to laugh. It was closer to the laugh he had had years ago when they were chained, when he couldn't remember. L felt like crying. Instead, he laughed. They were grasping each other as if nothing else mattered. He supposed it didn't.
"I'm hungry," Light said when they were done.
"Let us go exploring, then," L said.
They set off through the house, L pinching Light's sleeve, Light swinging his arms so that he brushed his thigh with each step.
The kitchen was large and stocked with what Light would later term their second favorites. Light sank to the floor, bag of plain potato chips in hand, smile on his face. L joined him, a cup of some American brand of pudding that was only okay, clutched in his hand.
It took a while for Light to regain his old beauty. The hunger of Mu never left his eyes, but L supposed that was only to be expected. He and Light debated and played chess or tennis and ate and slept curled in each other's arms each night. It was stupidly sentimental, even if their kisses never lost their sharpness.
Somedays, he hated L with every fiber of his being. Somedays, he smiled to himself as he thought of L's death, adding embellishments where he saw fit. Somedays, they fought so hard it was a good thing they were both already dead. Somedays, L won. Somedays, Light did. Somedays he thought they both lost and were just left bleeding and bruised and resentful. Somedays, a sandstorm of the kind that roared through Mu shook their windows and he felt terror rising in his throat. L could tell, but he kept quiet about it. He sat next to him in bed, reading aloud or coming up with puzzles for him to solve. When it was bad, he just held him, or a part of him, or just pressed a leg or his bony spine against him. He was a bit like a cat. Somedays, Light felt guilt well up in his heart over. L could tell. He did not keep quiet. It usually ended with blood and/or sex.
Somedays were perfect. Somedays he wondered how he had gone so long without L. Somedays they didn't talk. Somedays they didn't stop talking. He wondered how they had gotten there. He wondered why they never said the word "love" about each other, but knew he wouldn't be the first to break that unwritten rule. It was another game, perhaps, and he didn't like losing.
It was one of those days they weren't talking. They had found a new room filled with books written in language neither had known. L was pouring over something nearly as thick was he was thin. His face was half an inch from the page. Light looked at him with a sort of soft fondness he found out he now possessed in matters dealing with the odd, crow-like man he was now stuck with forever. He let out a soft chuckle.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Light-kun was laughing. Something must be funny. Did you translate that one already?"
"No. Its just…I'm not bored. I don't think I've ever gone this long without feeling so bored I wanted to…"
"Become God of a new world and kill thousands of people?"
"No. And don't-"
There was a kiss with barely any venom in it.
"I am not bored either, Light-kun."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The end! Thanks to all my readers and to everyone who commented, followed, or favorited. I've been wanting to write about these two for a while. I've always really enjoyed their dynamic and also really enjoyed stories where they were both kinda assholes. Especially Light. I love him best, but he is a terrible person who does not deserve nice things. Anyway. It took some turns I didn't anticipate and it a bit longer than originally intended, but I, at least, and pretty satisfied with it. I hope you guys all enjoyed it thoroughly.