A/N - You can look at this as a proper chapter but it's really an attempt to get the Muses working. Please pardon the excessive dialogue and directional cues; I'm trying to finish a screenplay and I'm writing in movie mode. Also, the term Intermission is not an indicator that this story is half-done. I would not torture you for another 35 chapters! XD
Intermission
L glanced at the clock on the wall the next morning. 8:15 AM. Light was seldom late.
L left his suite and headed for Light's room on the way to the kitchen. He wouldn't be surprised if Light hadn't stayed at the house last night and had chosen to room in Winchester itself. He seemed fond of finding his own territory after their interactions went sour.
However, Light's phone continued to indicate that it was in his bedroom and it hadn't moved for over 12 hours.
L hadn't allowed himself to watch for Light's return like an anxious housewife; Light was an intelligent adult and was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.
L also did not allow himself the luxury of thinking that he was in any way innocent regarding Light's departure. This was exactly the outcome he had predicted, but there wasn't any other way to avoid it. L couldn't just come right out and say who he was; his secret protected his reputation as well as his connections to his other personae.
He had to give the information to Light a little at a time to sate his curiosity but it appeared that he had angered his volatile companion yet again.
There was no answer to his knock on Light's door, so L picked the lock and opened the door quietly. The bed was still made, the phone lying exposed on the covers in an unexpectedly dark room. Unsure why he had actually invaded Light's space so soon after a fight, he pulled the door shut.
What if he had been in there?
L shook off his apprehensions and continued back down the hall. There was still a slight possibility that Light was in the kitchen, entertaining himself with far more interesting diversions than more of L's drudgery.
Instead, he only found Near, who spared him a glance between fitting pieces of another puzzle together.
"He didn't come down." Near said, his eyes back on his work. "He hasn't been, lately."
L shifted to lean against the counter, debating getting any tea or coffee for himself.
"Have you thought about it?" Near asked while picking up a blank puzzle piece and studying it. His query was a likely reference to their less-than-amiable conversation last Friday.
"I have." L stepped away from the counter, unwilling to be questioned when he could be doing something in the meantime. He poured himself a pot of hot water and fished in the cupboard for some tea leaves. "I don't know the proper approach to take with him anymore."
"You have to change something," Near took another piece of the puzzle and tried forcibly to make it fit with the one he had, only bending the edges of both pieces and making the paper separate. "Because neither of you are accomplishing anything right now."
"I know that." L didn't have the energy to be offended at advice given by someone a decade younger than him. Near's demeanor made his approach far less offensive than others' lectures had been.
Near dropped the second abused piece that he had picked up, and it hit the tabletop with a soft tick.
"You're trying to change him," he picked up a new piece, seemingly identical to all the others, "when it's you that has to change."
The pieces fit perfectly, and Near passed them to L without looking away from the table. L spared the pieces a glance; the new one looked especially nice next to the warped piece's frayed edges. He wondered which of them signified himself.
"He gets along better with everyone else." L smirked, an unusual expression for him. "I don't need to be his friend and his employer."
"I know it's hard." Near said softly, ignoring the torn piece that looked forlorn sitting on the edge of the table.
L set down the pieces that Near had given him and left with the pot of tea.
The sound of the exterior door opening woke Light from his doze. Yawning, he stood up and stretched to work out the kinks in his spine from his uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
He pushed the wheeled chair back under the desk with one foot and finger-combed his hair before the person made it into the main office. It was bad enough that he was still wearing the clothes he had worn yesterday; the least he could do was look like he had planned to be here. He bent over the keyboard and typed a random string of letters, which woke the monitor out of its sleep state and made him look vaguely productive given that his spreadsheets from last night were still up.
"Light?" Roger's surprised address made him turn around.
Light greeted him and went back to studying the screen while looking thoughtful.
"Ryuzaki has you working in here today too?"
"Not really. I'm doing some work on a side project of mine before we start anything." Roger checked his watch and Light belatedly checked the computer's time; it was after 9 o'clock. Oops. "We're starting later today."
"I don't try to follow his schedule anymore." Roger smiled sheepishly and vanished into another room in the back. His voice carried out the door. "I'll be doing some maintenance back here in case Matt wonders why I'm in his space."
"I'll tell him if I see him." Light grimaced and logged off before heading out of the building.
He didn't want to be here when Matt arrived for work in another hour or so. Too much awkwardness in too little time; he didn't feel like trying to play the right role in all of his relationships. He just wanted everyone out of his face until he figured out… whatever the hell he was doing here.
The sound of Matt's voice ended whatever fantasies he had entertained of escaping unnoticed. What was Matt doing awake so early?
Light smiled to cover up his chagrin and looked up from his contemplation of the rain-dampened lawn. Matt was fighting to light a cigarette in the humid air as he walked toward Light and his office.
"Salutations," he said, using Matt's greeting in an effort to be lighthearted and encourage Matt to forget their last weighty conversation. "You're here early."
"Didn't sleep well. I figured I'd get an early start." Matt eyed Light's outfit as he replied and Light cursed soundly in his head.
"So did I. I just decided to start last night."
"Are you skipping work today?" Matt stopped a little ways from Light and blew a smoke ring with his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
Light stopped in his tracks, surprising himself by actually considering it. "Hardly. I'm just taking my time getting started."
"You argued again yesterday, right?" There was no need to ask to whom Matt referred.
"Of course. I'm starting to think that's normal for us."
Matt's eyes grew distant as he stared off over Light's head. "Mello and I fought a lot when we were young too." He rolled his shoulders suddenly in mock-horror as his eyes refocused. "Not that there's any comparison. L's just an ass."
Light shushed him and looked around. "Don't say that name. I want to see how long he carries out this charade."
As if to mock him, Light noticed a curtain drop back into place in one of the distant house's many windows. Given its position, it was likely Ryuzaki's room.
"I think I've been spotted."
Matt glanced back at the house, the smoke forming a crescent around his head as he turned. "Probably. He's been asking around as to where you were."
"He's lost without my phone to track me, isn't he?" Light scoffed. "It's his leash, just like his watchdog Aiber is his eyes when he's not around."
Despite his flippant tone, Light was actually surprised that Ryuzaki was looking for him so soon. Then again, Light was a monetary investment and their last conversation had gone badly; he probably just wanted to ensure that his goods hadn't wandered off.
Matt snickered and Light turned to look at him, hoping his sarcasm would go unremarked upon.
"You have no idea, Light." Matt bit down on his cigarette and started walking toward the office. "You give Ryuzaki entirely too much credit. He probably has your room and all your clothes bugged."
Light's expression withered and he unconsciously stared down at his coat, as if the trackers would be stuck where he could see them.
"I'm kidding about your clothes." Matt smiled humorlessly over his shoulder. "But not about his paranoia." He nodded for Light to join him. "Most of us are like that, though. You will be too if you stay here."
Light glanced at the house, debating for a moment, before turning and following Matt. He had noticed Matt didn't retract his comment that Light's room was under surveillance.
"What'll it be? Movies or games?" Matt dropped his cigarette in an urn outside the office door. "Surely you've earned some vacation time by now."
"There's been no mention of my earning anything other than money."
"Well, you should have it." Matt's expression grew unexpectedly wintry when he ascended the steps ahead of Light. "Blow him off. You deserve a break." He turned away to open the door.
"I'm not sure I want one. A break, I mean." That would just be more down time between useful lessons, more time wasted in pursuits that got him nowhere.
"Then do it to put him in his place. Don't let him make all the decisions."
"He's my employer." Light winced; it sounded almost like he was defending Ryuzaki's right to be a tyrannical bastard. "He hired me to—"
"And you're not expendable." Matt jerked the door open with unnecessary force and nearly elbowed Light in the face given his lower position on the stairs. Light stepped back before Matt accidentally broke his nose.
"Take a day off, Light." Matt wasn't looking at him when he ducked inside, but his emphatic tone was clear, almost like an order.
Light took a final look at the house to make sure Ryuzaki hadn't materialized before stepping into Matt's workspace. Maybe one of his tenuous connections was worth salvaging.
A/N – Hopefully that will get updates going again. I've been distracted by my anthropological research of the college experience. :D Thank you everyone who sent encouraging PMs and reviewed, and please forgive me for being mute in response. Talking is not my strong suit.
EDIT - This chapter broke the dam! My beta has the next chapter already. Whew!