Title: A Paparazzi Love Story
Disclaimer: Should read DeathNote by Tsugumi Ohba (writer) and Takeshi Obata (artist) before reading this drabble.
Rating: PG-13 for adult conversations and sexually suggestive material
Chapter Twenty-Six: I Refuse to be the Bride!
Higuchi had confessed to being Kira. And although, his mind had not retained any knowledge of how he killed or who he had killed, the conversations recorded by L and his team from the bug in Higuchi's car was holding up with the Interpol Interrogators. They were content and deemed the evidence as conclusive. L, on the other hand, was certain Higuchi had never been Kira 1 or Kira 2, and yet he couldn't bring himself to care.
Watari's words kept repeating over and over in his mind. Is he Kira now? If he became Kira again, what would you do? I'd still love him. L knew this fact would never change. It was not a mathematical variable that was dependent on something Light did or became. It was simply because the younger man was who he was, for better or for worse. The old adage being the perfect sentiment for what he was about to do, however cliché it seemed.
L walked into headquarters looking for one person and one person only. Various team members continued to congratulate him and offer up various praises, but none were the person he sought. After finally struggling free of Matsuda's embrace, which surprisingly enough, was tough to do without experiencing guilt over how he might hurt the man's tender feelings. L shook his head in dismay to find that he actually cared about the immature officer enough to not want to do so.
Where was Light, dammit? If he had to experience emotions and feelings, was it too much to ask to be with the one person who could appreciate how difficult it was for him!
Finally! He found Light in the bedroom they had shared for around five months now. He was still curled up on the bed, sound asleep, with Yuki sprawled protectively next to him. She made soft hisses as the cautious detective came closer, convinced that he was a threat. L slid on the bed slowly, using a gentle, coaxing tone, or at least he hoped it was, to woo the tiny grey furball now fully awake, alert with back arched and spitting maniacally.
"Don't wake him up you little feline antichrist!" L entreated. Even though he managed to keep his calm, soothing voice level, he couldn't keep his frustration from seeping into his admonishment. "He needs to rest!"
And Light did need to rest. He and L had been up all night working. The boy had had a ton of questions about Kira 3 and the detective had felt the quickest way to get Light up to speed on things was to allow him to help. The memory of last night, while one of L's most treasured now that it was over, had been emotionally draining and especially painful for Light, who without the DeathNote's influence, had been brutalized when confronted by his Kira behavior and its effects.
The two of them had worked tirelessly on the evidence first, compiling and assembling it before working out a system that would allow them to keep Light and Misa's identities out of it. As they had worked, L interrogated Light as they went through portions of the evidence, trying to probe his mind and understand his reasoning. With each new revelation he offered, L returned the favor, giving him personal tidbits and insights into his own thoughts and life. Their bittersweet push-and-reveal, tag-you're-it conversation dictated the pace of things and getting caught up in each others' lives had come naturally after all the time they had spent together. Although, as the sun came up, Light finally withered under the strain, emotionally and physically, and had fallen asleep on the floor beside the last bit of documentation needed to complete the Kira case.
Before he had slipped out of headquarters as Eraldo Coil, L had carried Light to bed leaving him uncuffed and unbarred from leaving the room. He had wondered briefly how angry the younger man would be to know that L showed his face a lot when using his other two aliases and if he would come back to another destructive spree. He had never thought anything of the danger, and tried not to do so, even though sporadically all through the morning Light's irate look had flitted in and out of his mind. As he thought about this distressing protective side of Light, L leaned over to brush some hair off the younger man's forehead.
Yuki, who had not deserted her protective stance, struck. She lashed out, claws unsheathed, at L's hand, drawing blood. Her hissing and spitting drowned out by the pained yelp the surprised, now impatient detective made. Picking up the menacing beastie by the nape of her neck, he carried her into the bathroom and dropped her into the shower. Defensive and ready for a fight, she watched L's every move, but nothing could have prepared her for the soaking she received. The cold water drenched her entire body before she could let out one wail. "No more, Yuki! Behave or you'll get another dunking." And with that warning, even though L felt ridiculous for thinking the kitten could understand what he was saying, he turned to grab himself a towel only to come face-to-face with a very amused, snickering Light.
"I see you two are finally learning to get along," he laughingly commented.
One wet kitten and one wet detective simply glared. Light put up his hands in surrender as he walked towards his lover and kitten wearing identical scowls. Grabbing two towels he dropped one on top of L's head before scooping up Yuki in the other. Gently drying her off, he placed her on the floor. She looked up at him pitifully.
"Oh, I'm sure you deserved it. Quit acting the martyr!" Light gently scolded her as he walked over to L, who instead of toweling off had simply pulled the towel around his shoulders to keep the water from dripping on his neck.
"Here, silly," Light said motherly. "Let's get you dried off too." He pulled the towel back up over L's wet mane of hair and gently massaged his scalp dry.
"You sound just like Yuki when I dried her off," Light mentioned bemusedly, enjoying the rumbling L made low in his throat every time Light's hands gently kneaded his head and neck and then shoulders.
"I hope you aren't implying that I remind you of Yuki," L mumbled, the towel muffling his complaint and making him sound very childish.
"More like Yuki reminds me of you," Light laughingly replied, knowing that wasn't much better in L's mind.
"Hrumph!" L retorted. And something else, that was no doubt more whining, but since the towel still covered L's head, Light couldn't hear exactly what it was and just ignored the other man in favor of trying to make him purr again.
As soon as Light's hands slipped under the lanky male's shirt and began working their magic on his abdomen, then splaying across his back, and dancing along his spine; Yuki was long forgotten. "This needs to come off, L," Light directed, pulling the wet shirt off. The two men closed the distance between them and L tugged the towel free and tried to let it drop to the floor.
"L, not on the floor, hang it up," Light demanded, grabbing the towel mid-fall and twisting away from the other man to hang it up.
The older man encircled Light's waist with his arms and pulled the other roughly against him. "No you don't, Light! You shouldn't turn your back on me," L purred secretively in Light's ear.
"L," the younger man chastised half-heartedly before he let himself be dragged out of the bathroom. Entangled limbs and legs carried the two stumbling towards the bed. Each one pawed at the other desperately seeking skin-on-skin contact, leaving a path of clothing in their wake. Their lips met and melded in an intensely forward kiss, each one battling the other for entrance into eager mouths. Neither registered their location, until bodies crashed, foreheads knocked and simultaneous curses littered the air as they bounced onto the bed awkwardly.
"Shit, that hurt, L!"
"You need me to kiss it better?" The older man teasingly offered before letting out a pleased moan as his hands slid down Light's thighs, removing the last barrier between having his lover naked and squirming under him.
"Gah, how do you always end on top?!" Light bit out, already giving into his baser instincts. His legs willingly parted to make room for L's heated body. His hands buried in L's hair as the other man smiled up at him impishly.
"Are you complaining?" L asked seductively, slowing down his movements in hopes of driving his partner over the edge. The low keening noise Light couldn't keep from making was the only signal L needed. He quickly put his gifted hands and mouth to better use and left the talking for later. Much later.
Needless to say, Yuki, found herself huddled under the bed for the second time in her short time living with these men, tightly curled in a ball and in the farthest corner from where the action was. And didn't dare venture out until hours later.
A cell phone rang, they ignored it. Every thirty minutes or so, someone would knock on the door, but they didn't answer. L's brand new laptop beeped, already rigged for connection anywhere in the world, they shut it in the closet. Eventually, everyone got the hint and left them alone.
Some time much later, Light sprawled against L, who lay on his back, arm bent and propping his head up on the pillow, wondered aloud, "Do you think we should let them know we're still alive?"
"Nope, your yells about an hour ago probably did that," L said smugly, smiling widely at the memory.
"Oh God, I'm not going to be able to show my face to any of them again!" Light flushed bright red at the thought of his father out there somewhere knowing what he had been doing for most of the day.
"Hmmm, your face is fine, it's your neck that you should be worried about," L pointed out mercilessly. "Just wear a turtleneck."
Light rolled his eyes at L's insensitive remarks, knowing he wasn't meaning to be so; he just didn't have the same hang-ups the rest of society lived by. "So are we going out there?"
"I'm not," L said sleepily. "I'm taking a nap and you should too."
"You never sleep!" Light said, startled by the detective's suggestion.
"I do, Light-kun, or I'd be dead," L simply replied. "I just rarely do when working on a case, but the Kira case is over and I'm tired. Besides, aren't you tired too?"
"Mhmmm, yes," Light murmured, now that L's thumb was rubbing circles on his forehead and his fingers softly rested on the side of his face.
"What about us?" Light asked suddenly, very awake now that his thoughts had decided to run away with him. "What am I suppose to do now?"
"You stay with me," L answered. He looked down at the younger man beginning to panic. "Light-kun, where would you go? Did you think I would give you up after everything I have gone through to make certain we could be together?"
Not really feeling comforted by the detective's words, Light bit back the sarcastic retort that wanted to flow off his tongue and tried to be diplomatic. "Eventually, L, don't you think you will get bored with me? No one stays together forever."
"Really?"
"Do you know what the divorce rate is? It alone would make anyone wary of ever getting in a relationship!" Light ranted irrationally.
"So Light-kun wants to get married?" L asked, laughing internally at how naively young Light was acting at the moment.
"Oh right, that'd be a joke! Both of us dressed in white linen suits. Well, I could pull white off. You would need to wear charcoal. White would wash you out even more. The ceremony would take place on an isolated beach with only a few people present. Black roses in our lapels."
"Black Roses?"
"They're rare and I look good in black and so do you." Light explained, completely forgetting not to take himself seriously as he got caught up in his imaginings.
Rare indeed. L adored this new facet of Light. Evidently, he had thought about his wedding day in detail. He really was too much of a romantic to be left to deal with the cynicism of the world on his own.
"We face the preacher or justice of the peace or whoever. He begins with 'Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband' and then I have to explain how I don't even know your real name. And there goes our happily ever after," Light finished tonelessly, not noticing L hugging him close and putting something on his wrist.
He did, however, hear the click and cringed subconsciously. Not the handcuffs again. He peeked at his wrist when he realized it couldn't be the chain, not feeling the usual heaviness that accompanied it. A platinum coated diver's watch, or that's what it appeared to be, had been snapped onto his arm. It didn't have a clasp for removal.
"You needn't worry Light-kun, I'm not ever letting you out of my sight," L explained. "This watch is triggered by my fingerprints and mine alone. Only I can remove it from your wrist. Also, it has a tracking device in it. I suggest you not go very far without me."
"That's rich, what kind of sick proposal is that, L?" Light raved, examining the watch with an equal mix of interest and loathing. "You make me sound like a possession not a person."
"It's true that I cannot let you go because of who you used to be, but don't you think it's more than that…. Do I really need to spell it out for you, Light?" L confided, his heart racing wildly over his unusually forthcoming self.
Light's mouth fell open. He gaped at the flushing detective, now avoiding his gaze. "Spell out what, L?"
The look in L's eyes burned right through Light, torching his insides and making his skin prickle. It was full of promise and made Light feel like hiding, he felt weak and unsure under such intense scrutiny.
"I can give you everything you can possibly think to ask for Light, even your happily ever after, since all it takes is knowing my real name?"
Light still just stared, dumbstruck, and truthfully a little terrified by what L might say next.
"Let's see if I can get this one right. The officiate would say: 'Do you take this man, L Lawliet for you lawfully wedded husband?' And you would say…, Light-kun?" L asked hesitantly, nervous since the other man had not spoken in a minute and a half and it wasn't like him.
"L Lawliet?" Light whispered the name reverently. "It's a nice name and suits you. I have always liked calling you L best."
"I noticed, but you still haven't answered my question, Light," L prompted, interrupting Light repeating his name over and over again under his breath as though he had just learned how to talk.
"Huh?" Light came out his daze and goofily grinned at the other man, staring rather pointedly at him but not without a hint of amusement too.
"Oh, I suppose you'll do," Light muttered embarrassingly.
"Good, I would hate to think my bride would leave me at the altar," L teased, knowing this comment would rile Light up and would work as payback for the agonizing wait he had just put him through.
"What do you mean? I refuse to be the bride," Light fumed as predicted.
"Hm, well you already agreed to it. You said you'd be the one wearing white and referring to me as husband. I'm the one with the stable job. And you do have natural motherly instincts. And…."
Light had no doubts whatsoever that L could have continued, but he found that kissing the detective was an effective way to shut him up whenever he did get in a talkative mood. So he proceeded to do so, with haste, before any more of his dignity could be ruined.
A/N: Hey Mikado? This one's for you, just like I promised! Epilogue comes next... and that's all.