When Light got the new slaves' profiles, he was bored with all of them until he got to the bottom of the pile.

Twenty-two years old, with wild, black hair and round, wide piercing grey eyes and pale skin. The doctor could not get his accurate height because of a curve in his spine, but they assume he is five foot eight. He was gorgeous.

Two things did make the young king frown. One, this was not an updated file. The examination was given four years ago. There was not much information about his old master, aside from a note that he was sold to Beyond. That caused Light to freeze. He heard the rumors about Beyond and had seen his slaves once the man got tired of them. That man was a cruel and disgusting master, and Light wished that he could do something with the man. Laws protecting slaves, however, were subpar, to say the least. Light was doing his best to change that, but he needed support. Unfortunately, masters did not want to let go of the right that they had to disregard someone as a human first and property second. Anything that came short of killing a slave was fine in the eyes of the law.

The second was the words mentality deficient. Looking at his eyes through the picture, Light could tell that he was intelligent. Call it intuition, intelligence recognizing intelligence. So, Light looked through the short file again, thoroughly looking for an IQ score or a diagnosis that justified the use of those words. His IQ was 189, according to the file, so it was not that. Light's eyebrows furrowed when he found what might be the reason- autism.

Light knew very little about the disorder, but according to the file, it caused the slave not to make eye contact, speak in a monotone, have stereotyped behaviors (rocking), and have sensory issues. The record did not go in-depth about any of it (Light would love to know the sensory issues the slave had). Still, with how unsatisfactory the rest of the file was, Light could not say that he was surprised.

That was okay, though, Light thought with a smile as he asked his butler to give him as many modern books on autism that he could and asked if he could get Light an updated file on the slave.

Light smiled to himself. L Lawliet would be his.

…

L pulled and tugged on the cuffs attaching him to the wall, grunting at the effort. His wrists hurt, blood trickling down his forearms. He was physically exhausted; little food and sleep tend to do that. And the bastards that had him now seemed to think that he could survive on a slice of bread and a few hours of sleep.

No, they were not idiots (well, the one outside his cell might be). They just wanted to torture him. Thought all they could do was slap him around and neglect him, and L was not scared of that. He had been through too much at the hands of Beyond to even care about what those men could do to him. Which was not much; they were not his masters.

"Shut up in there, whore!" The man outside his cell shouted, banging on the bars with a metal pipe. L cringed at the sound. He hated loud noise. The sound of metal on metal was a real torture for L. Unfortunately, the Idiot found that out on day three and delighted in making L squirm.

"I need to go to the bathroom," L said in his monotone. It was not a lie but also not the reason he was pulling on his restraints. Mostly, he was doing it because it annoyed the hell out of the Idiot for whatever reason. L was not sure why it annoyed the Idiot so much. It was not like he could escape.

"You just went."

Yeah, over five hours ago, L thought bitterly. Claiming that he just went was a favorite of the Idiot's, so he did not have to do anything.

"Please," L said through gritted teeth. He hated having to beg for his most basic needs to be met, but sometimes he had to swallow his hatred of it and beg. He was getting desperate here.

"Hold it," the Idiot ordered, banging on the bars again, causing L to jump again. He saw an evil gleam in the Idiot's eyes, and he tensed in preparation to hear another bang, but the Idiot ran the pipe along the bars like a prisoner with a cup. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to L. He whimpered and turned his head away from the shrinking noise. L tugged on the restraints, wishing that he would cover his ears. Tears burned in his eyes, and he started to rock back and forth to try, and self soothe. L breathed in and out slowly. He would rather not freak out in front of the Idiot.

"Please stop," L begged, unable to take much more of the noise on top of being painfully hungry and thirsty and his painfully full bladder.

With one more harsh bang that caused L to jump and make a quiet noise of distress, the Idiot stopped. L breathed a sigh of relief, but could not stop rocking, not that he cared. The Idiot could not punish him like Beyond did.

"Crazy whore," the Idiot hissed.

He was not crazy, L wanted to say but kept his mouth shut. L squirmed, trying to get into a mostly comfortable position so that he was not putting too much pressure on his bladder. L looked up at the large metal cuffs and glared. What was the fucking point of having them on him in the first place? He was in a cell, and yes, L realized that he was small, but he was nowhere near small enough to fit through the bars. Plus, there was always someone on watch. Even if he did find a way to get out of the cell and past the guard, he would eventually be identified as a slave as soon as someone looked up his name, and he would be returned to Beyond. Why would he ever want to go back to Beyond? He would rather be sold off and hope for the best. The cuffs were pointless. If anything, it put more work on the Idiot and Friend because there was a toilet in the cell. If they uncuffed him, he would be able to take care of his own business and not bother them. Well, not bother them unless he chose to, of course. L was not going to be here long. He might as well be a brat as long as he could.

Another hour passed, and L was shifting every few seconds, not to annoy the Idiot this time, but because he physically could not stop. His bladder fucking hurt and his body was screaming at him to just let go. It would not be the first time he wet himself like a toddler, and it would make the pain stop. L was almost tempted, but he could not.

"Please," L said, the plea escaping without his permission. The Idiot looked toward him. Might as well continue, "please take me to the bathroom. It hurts," L added a breathiness to his voice that made Beyond go crazy and do whatever L wanted him to do (within reason), "please."

"Beg to someone else, Chit," the Idiot sneered.

Bastard, L thought in his head, and he was very tempted to say it. It would sure be worth the backhand he would receive.

Fifteen minutes later, L simply could not hold it anymore, and his body won out as a tiny bit of urine escaped his body. L groaned and bit his lip, trying to hold on a little bit longer, not wanting to embarrass himself any further. He couldn't; it hurt too much. L gasped as a strong stream left him, and there was no more holding back, and L could not help but sigh in relief.

"What are you doing in there," the Idiot asked, looking at L. His eyes almost instantly flew to the growing wet patch under L, "are you pissing yourself."

"It's your fault," L said, not bothering to care that he was wetting himself in front of his jailer, "I told you I had to go."

The Idiot opened the cell door and lifted L up by the front of his tattered shirt. L hissed in pain as his arms were forced behind him and his shoulders and wrists protested the violent movement. L was suddenly jerked to the left, and he collapsed as a sharp pain exposed on his right cheek, but that is not what caused L to scream. His already abused left wrist snapped under the immense pressure of falling and the inability to move. The pain was sharp like a knife had been pierced through his wrist. Luckily his right seemed fine (maybe just a few more cuts to the skin.)

"What the hell is going on?" the Friend shouted, rushing down the stairs at L's scream.

"He pissed himself," the Idiot said as the Friend stepped into the cell. The Idiot stepped aside as the Friend crotched down and helped L sit up, "then he tells me it's my fault."

"Told him I had to go," L said, gritting his teeth against the pain in his wrist. L was not looking at either of the other men, but at a spot on the far wall of the cell.

"You should have taken better care of him," the Friend shouted at the Idiot, "no one wants to buy damaged goods," the Friend pointed at L's red cheek (which still burned).

"Plus, Kira is interested in him," the Friend said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Why would Kira be interested in him?" the Idiot questioned. The whore was a freak. He was too skinny, too pale, he cannot even stand straight. Not to mention how he acts, the way he sits most times, his monotone voice, and the way he does not look at someone but through them. He was just creepy.

"Who knows," the Friend said just as L said, "Kira."

L had heard about Kira a little bit from Beyond, but he had a rule that whores should not know about politics rule, so L did not know much about him. All he knew was that he took over after Lord Soichiro died and punished criminals harshly. L shivered. He also heard a rumor from Beyond that he punished his slaves just as harshly.

"Yes, chit," the Friend smiled, "you might be the property of the Lord. Let's get you cleaned up before tomorrow, though."

L did not protest as they uncuffed him and handed him new clothes.

…

L was surprisingly easy to find when Light got to the auction. He had shown a few minutes late so that he would be able to see the only slave that he was interested in right as he walked in. Light hung back for a moment to observe L. He noticed that L would tense at every loud noise, and every once in a while, he would look up at the ceiling and look nervous and squint at the lights. Every time L and the people pulling on the chains attached to him would stop, L would rub his foot on his pant leg or rub his bare feet together. L was hunched over a lot, and his knees were bent with his head down, making him look much shorter than the projected five foot eight. Light noticed that L had a dark bruise on his cheek, going down his chin. He could tell from here that it was swollen. There was also something wrong with his left wrist, though Light could not tell what or if there was something wrong. Maybe it was just the shadows.

Light confidently strode over to L, people moving aside when they saw their King. Light smirked.

"Hello," Light greeted the jailers handling L. L looked up at the man who greeted the other men. He was tall with long, light brown hair, bangs swept to the left side. He had brown eyes that were round with a gleam in them. What that gleam meant, L did not know.

"My Lord," the Friend said, bowing along with the Idiot. L hesitated before doing the same. So, this was Kira, Lord Light. L had to admit, he was not expecting someone so young and handsome (yes, L could at least think that his possible new master was handsome) was Kira.

Light's eyes traveled to L, who looked down at once. Light smiled at the shy slave and hooked a finger under his chin to lift his head. His eyes did not meet Light's, but he did not mind.

"Don't shy away from me, Sweetie," Light whispered gently through his words did not seem to have an effect on the slave, who was still looking down at the floor with his eyes. His eyes looked distant like he was trying to block the rest of the world out. Light did not like it. He wanted the slave to look at him, see him, not be so scared that he tries to leave reality.

The King rested his fingertips on L's bruised cheek. The slave hissed quietly and flinched away from the pain. Light frowned, wondering what happened to the poor slave. The bruise looked new, and the slave had been with the jailers for a week. If he had a bruise before then, it should be mostly healed by now. So, one of the jailers did this to him.

"Who did this to you?" Light asked, taking his fingers away from the slave's face, not wanting to cause any more pain to L.

L did not answer the King verbally, but he did look to his side, looking at the Idiot. Light smirked, gracefully turning to the man then dutifully backhanding the man. The Idiot staggered back and grasped his jaw. L looked between the Idiot and Light with wide eyes, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Light backhanded the Idiot. Light looked angry, but not at L, which was surprising in of itself to L. Light was angry at the Idiot on L's behalf because the Idiot hurt him. What the hell?

"You had no right to touch him," Light said to justify his actions in a calm voice, though there was an edge of anger.

Light looked back at L and saw red smudges on his wrists when the cuff moved with the jailer. Light had to breathe in and out slowly to keep his anger in check, but the thought of killing the jailers did cross his mind.

"Give me the key to the cuffs," Light demanded, holding his hand out expectantly. As soon as the key was in his hand, he uncuffed the slave. L sighed in relief. The cuffs were hurting his wrist, especially his left wrist. The pressure was unbearable. L held his left hand to his chest, covering it with his right hand, trying to ease the pain.

"Give me your hand," Light ordered gently, holding his hand palm up. L looked at Light with untrusting eyes. Was Light going to hurt him? L was unsure if he could handle much more pain without breaking down and having a full-blown meltdown.

"I will not hurt you, Sweetie," Light promised with a kind smile.

L was doubtful that Light would keep that promise in the long run, but L would rather not be hurt any further, and the fear of that happening made him place his left hand in Light's waiting hand.

Light cooed when he saw the severely swollen, bruised, and red limb. It looked painful, and Light could not imagine having cuffs on that wrist. 'How isn't he in the very least complaining about the pain?" Light thought, looking back at the slave, who was also looking at his wrist. Light could not tell what L was thinking, but the way the corners of his mouth and eyes pinched told Light that he was in pain. They were going to visit his doctor as soon as Light got him to the castle. But first-

"10,000,000 yen," Light offered, smirking at the jailers' wide eyes, "you may collect from my treasurer before we leave."

"Come, Sweetie," Light said, grabbing L's mostly uninjured hand, and walking away from the jailers. Light smiled, L was officially his,

…

"I will take you to my doctor when we get home," Light told L, looking at his slave. He was sat across from Light, knees to his chest. He was hiding his left wrist between his knees and chest, and his right arm was on top of his knees to further hide his hand. Light was concerned. He did not want his slave afraid of him. But L was Beyond's slave, so Light should not be surprised by the fear and hiding an injury.

L simply nodded at the words. He did not like doctors, but he knew that his new master would want him healed as quickly as possible. No one wants damaged goods.

"I might get you into some new clothes first, though," Light changed the subject, smiling. He wanted to see his slave without clothes on, and he wanted to check for further injuries. Currently, L was wearing a plain, white tunic and black canvas pants. Both were incredibly baggy on L. They were peasant clothes, Light thought in disgust. His L deserved to wear the finest of clothes.

"What should I put you in, Darling?" Light asked, prompting L to talk. He had not heard L's voice yet. All he did was nod his head or, once when Light suggested that they let the doctors at the auction look at his wrist, shook his head.

L risked a glance at the man across from him, looking for what his real intentions could be in getting him new clothes and asking his opinion. There was no way that his new master just wanted to be nice. He just wanted to see L nude, maybe use him before they go to the doctor. Whatever, as long as he got clothes that did not make him want to tear his skin off (much like what he was wearing now) and got his wrist fixed, L did not care if Light used him before. That was his purpose in life, wasn't it?

"No opinions?" Light asked, frowning as he recognized the appraisal in L's eyes. His slave was analyzing, trying to pick truth from lie, trying to learn his true intentions. Unfortunately for L, it was a lot of brainpower wasted, Light would not lie to him, and he would make his intentions clear. If Light said he wanted L's opinion on what he wore, Light wanted his opinion. That might be a hard lesson for L to learn, though. Patience, Light thought to himself.

"Whatever pleases," L said in response. It was an ingrained response to things like this. Whatever pleases, the master will please the slave. "I will wear whatever you want me too, Master."

There it was, Light thought. The file was right. L did speak in a monotone, which made it hard to tell if he was telling the truth or what his true emotions were. His voice was somewhere between deep and high-pitch and had an almost calming aspect. Light could listen to L's voice all day.

"Oh, hush, Sweetie," Light smiled at L for his efforts, though Light knew part of it was fake, "you may wear what you wish. You must understand that you are the property of the Lord now. I could buy you many things."

L bit his lip, already tired of this conversation. Beyond never spoke to him much unless to order him around, so he had not had to make small talk in years. Not that he was very good at it, to begin with. It was annoying and pointless.

"Whatever pleases," L said once again, this time quieter, hoping that would make his new master stop talking. Or at least stop talking and expecting an answer back, he quite enjoyed listening to Light's voice.

Light regarded his slave a moment before going on about what they would do once they were home. It was obvious that L did not want to talk anymore, and Light was not going to force it.

…

Light called his doctor as soon as he was back at the castle and explained that L possibly had a broken wrist, and he wanted a basic medical done on his slave. All they did was run a blood test to make sure L did not have any sexually transmitted diseases. No physical to make sure that he was healthy and Light knew that L was not. His ivory skin tone that was in the picture was now sickly pale. L was several pounds underweight, more than likely from lack of food. When Light helped L take off his disgusting clothes to replace them (a comfortable green sweater and a pair of black sweatpants, both Light's), Light could see his ribs. Even his collarbones and hip bones were protruding. L was malnourished, and Light knew it and hated it. He had dark bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. Don't get Light wrong, L was still exquisite, but Light wanted L to be healthy like he was in the picture.

Once they got to the doctor, he introduced himself as Dr. Yamamoto and said that they would first take the x-ray for his wrist, so L sat down in his normal position and hesitantly stuck his hand in the machine. Light told the doctor everything that he wanted to check, and from what L could tell, it would be a basic check-up. But it still made L nervous, so he unconsciously lifted his thumb to his mouth to nibble at his nail.

A second later, Light placed his hand on L's shoulder, smiling when L did not jump like he did all the other times that Light touched him. "Hey, don't be scared, Sweetie. We're not going to hurt you, okay."

L simply nodded, not fully believing him, but taking comfort in the sweet words.

Thankfully, Light was right, and they did not do anything to hurt L. The doctor just took his temperature, checked his ears, eyes, throat, heart, and lungs. Now, the doctor was putting the soft liner around his wrist and explaining that L would have to wear the cast for eight weeks before reassessing to see if he would need a brace.

"Sounds good," Light said after Dr. Yamamoto explained, knowing that L would not say anything.

The doctor also prescribed pain medicine that L would need.

"He can take this twice a day, morning and evening after he eats," the doctor explained, handing the bottle to Light, "as I said, I would recommend that he eats five smaller meals a day until he can handle eating three larger meals."

Light thanked the doctor for his time, and L waved as they exited the room.

"Are you hungry, L?" Light asked, already knowing the answer.

L nodded quickly, trying not to show too much enthusiasm. Food could be taken away if he got too excited, "yes, master, I am very hungry."

Light smiled down at L, "the servants should have dinner prepared by now," Light took L's hand in his, "let's go."

Light walked L to the large dining room. L's eyes widened, looking around and trying to take everything in of the new, strange, yet beautiful place. It was slightly overwhelming.

Sensing that his slave might be getting overloaded by everything, Light squeezed L's hand tightly and assuringly.

"'s big," L commented, looking up at the tall ceilings. Thankfully he did not seem bothered by them as he was at the auction.

Light smiled, "you are at the royal palace."

"I suppose that's true," L said, looking back down at the floor now that he was done assessing the room.

"Let's go eat," Light said, taking a few steps before stopping. L, not expecting Light to stop, stumbled when he did. L opened his mouth to apologize. He did not mean to walk ahead of his master, but he was so damn hungry. When he looked at Light's face, though, his mouth snapped closed. His master did not look angry. He was smiling. What was he smiling at?

"I'd like very much to feed you," Light said as he began walking again.

"T-to feed me?" L asked, cocking his head to the left.
There were those eyes again, Light thought. L's eyes were assessing him again, trying to figure out what Light wanted in exchange. Light decided to ignore the untrusting eyes for now, but he was going to have to do something about it soon. Light wanted his slave to trust him. Unfortunately, L did not seem like the type of slave to trust easily. Perhaps laying all his cards on the table- rules, punishments- would make L feel more at ease.

That was for tomorrow, Light thought. He was hungry and tired and knew that L was as well, and very much wanted to show L something.

"Yes," Light said to answer L's question, "come sit with me."

L nodded but hesitantly complied, especially when he realized that Light wanted him to sit in his lap, not beside him. Now, L was sitting on Light's lap, straddling him and L tried not to blush at that fact.

"Here you go, Darling," Light said, placing a piece of strawberry next to L's lips. L hummed as the sweet taste coated his tongue. Light smiled at his slave's delight at the simple fruit. They would need to get more strawberries if L liked them so much.

L supposed that the meal was not horrible like this, if not weird. But he would rather be fed good food in a strange way than go days without eating. So, if this kept his master happy and there was a meal involved, L was not going to complain. As the doctor predicted, it did not take long for L to become full, and, after Light helped him take his pill, he sat back in Light arms until Light was done.

It did not take long for the pain meds to hit him and make him feel much more tired, not that he was not already exhausted. L's head dropped before he jerked himself awake and rubbed at his eyes with his uninjured hand. Light, for whatever still had not used him yet, and he could not fall asleep until that happened. Master would not like that.

"Shh," Light cooed, guiding his slave's head to his shoulder so he could rest. L needed rest, and Light would much rather have to carry a sleeping L to their room than have him fight his sleep. L hummed and did not try to fight his master. He had to admit, it was kind of nice being in Light's arms. Beyond never held him, no one really did except when he was a small child. He missed the simple human contact. One that did not evolve sex, though L knew that it was going that way.

Light patted L's back and ran his hand through the slave's hair. By time Light was done with his meal, L was nearly asleep.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Light whispered in L's ear, causing him to lift his head to look at Light. Light stroked L's left cheek, and to L's horror, he leaned into the touch. L would blame it on the pain meds later.

Light smiled at his slave's reaction to his touch, "we need to go to our room. Can you walk or do you need me to carry you?"

L had to admit, at least to himself, that Light carrying him sounded nice. L was not too sure if he could walk right now, but he nodded his head and said (slurred), "yeah, I can walk."

Light hummed at the answer and said, "I don't think so, Sweetie," as he effortlessly stood with L in his arms. L gasped and could not find it in him to protest as his head went back to rest on Light's shoulder. He did not care anymore. He was too damned sleepy.

"Poor thing," Light said as they entered their room, "I think it is definitely time for bed."

L nodded, not bothering to ask about sex. He was sure if his body could handle that, and he did not want to run the risk of being punished for falling asleep.

Instead of his master lying on the bed, he sat down on a chair with L back in his lap. L made a hum of confusion, forcing his heavy to open.

"Shh," Light hushed as he began to rock, "close your eyes, Darling."

L was shocked when he realized that they were sitting in a rocking chair—a big plush one, but a rocking chair nonetheless. The rocking felt amazing, honestly better than L rocking himself. Why does Light have this, L could not help but think. Does he know? That was a possibility, masters get slave's medical records in a file, but why would Light want to encourage this? Beyond would punish him for these behaviors, claiming that he did not want a crazy slave. But Light… Light was helping him do this. Why?

L could not think about that anymore when suddenly a weight was placed on top of him. He was surrounded by a deep, comforting pressure that made him melt. It took L much longer than it should have to realize that Light put a blanket on him. But if it was just a blanket, why was it so heavy?

"Hush, Darling," Light whispered, rocking a bit faster, "go to sleep."

L hummed in agreement and willed his mind to shut up. He could wonder about all the things he was thinking of tomorrow. Right now, Master wanted him to sleep.

So that is what he did.

Chap