Tiredly yawning Light sleepily opened his eyes. The brunette released a sleepy smile as he heard birds outside the window, tiny rays of golden sunlight spilled into the room. His morning drowsiness was interrupted at the thought of what transpired the night prior. 'Is he still here?' Whipping his head back to look over his shoulder he noticed the raven was no where to be found. A little disappointed Light sighed. 'It's not like we're a couple, just a whimsical wish to wake up next to someone for once.'
The door creaked open as Beyond emerged from behind it, holding a tray of presumably breakfast. "Oh. You're up. Well, that ruins the surprise in a way." He shrugged while nudging the door fully open with his shoulder and brought the platter over to Light. "Either way. You still weren't expecting it."
Light smiled at the plate of over easy eggs, perfectly crisped bacon and a sliced piece of toast with some sort of fruit spread on it. Accompanied by a cup of coffee, a small bowl of fruit and a Post-It note saying 'good morning.' Light sighed out before timidly questioning. "Hey, Beyond?"
Grabbing some clean clothing from the dresser opposing the bed, the raven seemed to freeze momentarily before responding. "Hmm? Is something wrong, I can make you something different." His voice carried a nervous air to it as Beyond was careful to avoid looking at Light.
Chuckling softly the brunette shook his head as the raven turned to him. "No. Nothing at all. It's just…" Amber eyes departed the plate at met a seemingly worried scarlet gaze. "How the hell am I supposed to not romanticize you when you do cute stuff like this? At this point, I'm starting to think you're all talk, I think you're a teddy bear with a mean bark."
A crooked, relieved smirk rested on Beyond's lips as the grip on the clean shirt in his grasp seemed to loosen. "Maybe. Might be why people tend to walk all over me in relationships. The kitchen is the only place I can control."
Feeling mildly guilted for bringing it up, Light sighed and muttered out. "Idiots. Threw a good guy out. I'd kill to have a boyfriend like…" Freezing instantly Light's complexion flushed deeply, darting his eyes up to the raven; whose eyes seemed to plead with the brunette to continue. In panic, Light shoveled an egg into his mouth with a cheeky smile.
When it was obvious the stage wasn't going to budge on his previous unfinished statement, Beyond ruffled the back of his hair. "Right. Well. Any thoughts on what you wanted to do on your last day of freedom? Salon du Chocolat starts today." The raven shrugged and pulled his shirt over his head. "If you like chocolate."
Light audibly gulped the egg down as he attempted not to gawk at the lean muscle display in front of him. "U-uh huh, y-yeah! Th-that s-sounds great!" Light could feel his face brightening in color as he stammered through his sentence. 'Get a grip! It was just one kiss! It's not like he likes you!'
Flashing a disarming smile before pulling the clean shirt over his head, Beyond chuckled, "That settles it then." Nodding in agreement, the brunette attempted to hide his blushing face behind his chestnut bangs.
"What's so special about this festival?" Light scented the air and smiled at the sweetness that carried on the chilled breeze. "Other than being divine." He followed Beyond through a large crowd, keeps close to him, while still expertly dodging people.
Beyond tucked his hands into his pockets and shrugged, rather than dodging people, it seemed the crowd nearly parted for him. "I honestly couldn't tell you the whole backstory, or even why it started, other than Paris being a culinary Capitol. But, sometimes hundreds chocolatiers come from all over the world and well, show off what they got. Anywhere from delicious treats, artwork and even fashion inspired by chocolate." Shifting a sideways glance at the excitable brunette, Beyond smirked when Light was near plastered to a case full of macaroons, completely distracted from his previous inquiry.
The raven smirked and spoke to the baker in fluent French. The pastry chef excitably gathered a large box full of different colored cookies. And handed two spare cookies to the two. Light blinked several times before taking the treat with an appreciative smile and a small courteous bow. The chef split his in half, smelled it and then sampled it. Raising an eyebrow, he reached into his coat pocket and handed the man a card before turning and leaving with he box.
Struggling to keep up, the brunette took a final glance at the baker who seemed elated at the small piece of paper handed to him, Light gasped out as he was attempting to keep pace. "What did you just do?"
Beyond eyed the box before sighing out. "We're going to need a better way to carry everything. I'm not a very good pack mule. We just got here and I'm already buying things."
In a moment of frustration, Light grabbed Beyond's hand. "Hey! What did you give him?" Light instantly realized he had grabbed his hand when his gaze landed on tiniest of blushes on Beyond's cheeks as the raven bit his bottom lip. 'Oh. My. God. That is cute!'
Clearing his throat the raven responded. "A business card. His pastries are very good and could go for a high mark up in the restaurant, and I figured it would bring him some business. I like supporting local businesses."
-x-
Mello sucked a sharp inhale in as Light grabbed onto Beyond's hand. The shouting the brunette did had attracted the blonde's attention. "No. No. No! How?! I told him to stay objective! Apparently, I should have been telling Light as well! I'm going to go break this up!" A gruff growl came from the malcontented prep chef.
Matt quickly grabbed onto Mello's shirt tail. "Hang on. This… might be good! I know you've noticed how unhappy Chef has been. That same dark cloud doesn't seem to be looming around him today."
The blonde stared blankly at his partner before speaking flatly. "You're kidding right?" Glancing over his shoulder to the other couple Mello bit his bottom lip before quietly arguing with Matt. "That's not fair!" He received a harsh glare, even though he wore orange goggles, Mello could feel its intensity. "That's not fair to Light, I mean. It isn't fair to dangle a career in front of him like that! What sick fucking deal is Beyond trading?! Date me and you can stay?! Or! Oh! Sleep with me and you can stay working in the kitchen?!"
A deep hauntingly familiar voice called to the duo. "Mihael!" Mello froze at his true name. Only three people knew that information, aside from his family, two of which were in his line of sight. "I take offense to that string of theories."
Mello turned in what felt like slow motion. 'No, please no, anyone but…' As his spin completed he could feel the pit of his stomach drop at the view of a haunched, yet tense, figure. 'L…' The raven stared daggers through the prep chef. 'Of all the people to hear me speak illy of chef like that… fuck, I might be fired.'
The monotoned, yet somehow angry tone resumed. "How irresponsible do you think me? Do you think if I thought Beyond a threat to Light I wouldn't have gave him your address to retrieve the stage's belongings? Do you further presume that I would allow Beyond to jeopardize his position in MY kitchen? He may be training Light, but Mr. Yagami is part of my staff if he accepts at the end of his staging. I have full intention of offering him a position either here in Paris or in our branch in Tokyo." Stormy eyes narrowed and seemed to pierce Mello's soul. "Do you think that my brother and I are from poor upbringing?"
Matt quickly tore his eyes to the pavement beneath his feet as Mello puffed his cheeks in frustration before joining his gaze to the ground. "Sorry, L."
"Light being here solves many of my problems. It contents Beyond slightly and it gives my restaurant a renewed reputation. As of late, Chef has been chasing stage after stage out of the kitchen, normally in tears. If I can just tame him a bit, we will start receiving more applicants. I've recently spoken with Chef Ramsey, he's willing to help us fill the roster of extra employment, so that here is more than a single day of rest for staff members. However, we both reached the same conclusion. Chef BB needs to mellow out a bit. Applicants are afraid of working for him, nonetheless with him. I have also been in touch with Beyond himself. We spoke into the early hours of the morning. He also agrees to allow another chef into the restaurant, but they have to be as good as him. Someone who is willing to follow recipes, not create their own distasteful platters." L gave Mello a knowing smirk. "Between Beyond, Aiden and Near, we won't be seeing Miss Olivia for much longer."
Mello drew in a deep sigh of relief as he lifted his sapphire eyes to the other couple who seemed blissfully unaware of the scene they had caused. Mello sighed discontentedly. "It's still wrong."
L sighed quietly. "It would be, if Light wouldn't have earned it. If there's one thing I can respect about Chef BB; he always puts the restaurant first. And, a little unfair on my part, I purposely made sure that Light's resume was in the stack that went to him for final approval. Initially, Beyond had dismissed all of them, it wasn't until minor pestering on my part to force him to choose a stage who needed the most work, one who had the least experience, so his mark would be stronger on a young chef. I didn't anticipate them to get along as well as they initially did, the chemistry between them has been organic; a lucky stroke on my end, really. Light seemed like the type to not quit easily, especially coming all the way from Japan. I knew the Beyond wouldn't be able to bully him easily. In the beginning, I just wanted Light to distract Beyond while I hired staff… I did not anticipate them to… well." L tipped his hand in the direction of the aforementioned couple who seemed the be stealing glances of each other.
