I know, my similes and idioms are all over the shop... I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry.
Enjoy!
Ironically, it was the light that irritated Light's eyes to open. He woke groggily, his head swimming with the scent of something woodsy and sweet. He stretched, groaning softly. Early morning was streaming in through the bay window, gleaming off every surface in the break-room. -Wait. The break-room?
Light lifted his head up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. He felt it crust in his corneas. His mouth formed an O. And then he said, "O fuck."
He was snowed under with cushions, but the problem was, he wasn't the only one underwater. Ryuzaki was sprawled beside him, spread over Light's arm. The arm that happened to be manacled at the wrist. Their legs were tangled, and Light's head had been crooked under Ryuzaki's jaw, where his hairline met his pale throat. Light's fingers were curled into Ryuzaki's clavicle. Ohh but it got worse. Ryuzaki's elbow was trapped under Light's hip-bone.
they were wrapped around each other
WHAT
Light's instinct was to swallow his imminent panic. His heartbeat seemed to be bubbling up his throat - no, scratch that. His heartbeat was jammed in his throat; he made a strangled hissing noise to dislodge the pain and free his voice. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god
He couldn't move without waking Ryuzaki up. At the moment he was sleeping soundly. Light wasn't exactly sure what the time was; he had no idea if his father and the rest of the team were about to burst in on them. But judging from the light outside, it had to be early enough. Ryuzaki breathed so softly he looked like he wasn't breathing at all. But the hollow of his chest rose and fell gently. Even in his slumber, he held a finger to his mouth. Like a security blanket. His face was turned away from Light, so Light just had a face full of hair, and the biting edge of Ryuzaki's jawline. Ryuzaki had a freckle on his jaw, right where the bone veered upwards to connect to his ear. Light fought the crazy urge to touch it.
He had to move. He was getting more uncomfortable by the second. Ryuzaki had to be in pain, the way his elbow was bent. Light was pretty sure elbows weren't meant to bend that way.
"Oh fuck," he muttered, trying to lean on his imprisoned arm which was nigh on impossible to do so. Trying to ignore how warm Ryuzaki felt against him, ignoring the feeling of his slender legs thrown in with his, trying to get a grip on his mental self (and physical - none of any of that, thank you very much), he gently shook Ryuzaki's shoulder. There was an awful lot of trying going on, his brain wagered. And a lot of ignoring.
Ryuzaki appeared to be a light sleeper. Light didn't know whether this was fortunate, or unfortunate. He stirred, nudging his head along sofa, nuzzling further into his cupped hand. Light cringed and tried again.
"Ryuzaki." he urged quietly, pressing into his shoulder again.
Light saw a set of eyelashes open blearily, then as Ryuzaki turned his head, saw the eyes they belonged to widen in alarm.
"We seem to have gotten ourselves into a predicament." he said quickly before Ryuzaki could panic, thinking that panic was a likely reaction.
L looked up at Light, his hair in a sleepy halo around his face. He immediately absorbed their situation; his stunned gaze seeking out every place they were touching. So he basically just looked down the length of his body.
"...Oh dear." he whispered, almost to himself. Ryuzaki immediately started some furious fidgeting, kicking his legs out to free them from the mess of cushions. In doing so he leaned back, applying painful pressure onto Light's arm. His foot struck Light's shin.
"Ow! Ryuzaki stop!"
Ryuzaki thankfully froze. But Light could feel his pulse hammering through to the back of his shirt. Felt it echo into his pinned arm.
"Just stay still, okay? Now I can't move until you lift up." Light tugged on his buried arm for emphasis. "So just lean forward."
Ryuzaki slowly did as he was told, leaning his torso forward so that Light could raise his deadened arm up over his head, the chain dangling with it. Light pulled his arm back to his side, wincing, and the chain lay across Ryuzaki's stomach. He sighed in relief, then swiveled to budge his hip off of Ryuzaki's and pulled his legs away to instead lay flat on the sofa.
"Light-kun...Ouch."
"Oh god, sorry." Light lifted his weight up so Ryuzaki could retrieve his arm back. As he did so, his fingers whipped into Light's shirt and accidentally hooked the material upwards. L's glacial fingertips grazed Light's back, and he reflexively arched it in surprise. He collapsed back down and the seat cushions jittered. They lay side by side in momentary silence. They breathed a little too heavily.
Ryuzaki cleared his throat. Light felt his back tingle where L had touched him.
"Light-kun, how..?"
"I don't know." he answered. "We must have fallen asleep and...collided."
"Ah. I see."
"But I mean, I...I don't know."
"Right."
"Ryuzaki...If, if it's okay. Can we never speak of this?"
Ryuzaki sat up. His knees drew up. He was like a turtle withdrawing into his frosty shell, intent on putting as much distance between them as possible.
"Agreed, Light-kun." Ryuzaki stood, his back to him. "We should prepare for today."
Light tried not to feel offended. It was becoming difficult, as Ryuzaki dragged forward to the door without waiting for him to catch up; the cuff snagged on Light's skin and he hissed in pain. Light glowered but followed. It wasn't like he meant to fall asleep on Ryuzaki. It was Ryuzaki who stayed up late working, kept them working on the sofa. He felt stupid and embarrassed and annoyed. Because he'd blushed. Panicked. Enjoyed...
Enjoyed it? The more he tried to deny it, argue against it, the more it rang true in his ear. A shrill ringing. His body prickled with pleasure to have felt L's warmth against the fine hairs on his skin. And Ryuzaki hadn't reacted, except to freeze and to get away. Still, Light supposed that was normality for a high-functioning sociopath with a mind that picked people apart like puzzles. L didn't flutter about with feelings.
Neither should you. So stop sulking and get your head together. Get over it. Get to work. You have a case to solve. Today's the day you catch Kira.
Light straightened his shirt and pulled himself together. His fingers uncurled; his knuckles sang.
For the first time, L was as on edge as Light was. Although he contained it better. And with more style. He fed his anxiety with cake, and Watari had brought him a small Christmas sleigh-box, filled with individually wrapped vanilla-chocolate panda bears that melted like summer on his tongue. Select few were filled with a strawberry clotted cream, so that when you bit the bear in half, it oozed and whipped around your tastebuds, sharpening the thick flavour with a spark of spontaneity. Each time L struck lucky with one, a garbled moan of satisfaction and delight crawled out of his airways. (Sometimes it sprouted wings and veered off into Light's direction and shivered down his spine).
The sugary spiderweb L tangled himself in caught his nerves, drained his frigid body of stiffness and twanged the invisible knots from his shoulders. Plus it looked pretty in the rain. Tasted good too, and he licked sugar off his nose. L felt more relaxed now, significantly more so than he had this morning. This morning if L had heard someone whisper behind him, he would have drop kicked them into oblivion.
He'd spent the night with Light-kun. He'd woken up with Light-kun pressed into him. Kira could have killed him in the night, strangled him with the chain. It wouldn't be too hard to appear like an accident. But instead he'd woken, from a surprisingly peaceful night's sleep, to coffee-coloured eyes peering sleepily at him. He'd been completely vulnerable. Defences down; open to attack. As simple as the enemy's gate is down.
And as simple as that, Kira could have won.
Instantly L's dislike of physical contact had come springing up all over his body; his hackles raised; each of his cells becoming a warning signal for the next one along. Issue: Warning! Warning! Proximity alert! Initiate maximum defence mode!
He attempted to rid his mind and body of all memory of it, but the feeling of Light's body still clung to him like a bear hug. The rustle of his slept-in-clothes still whispered in his ear. No matter how fast he turned his head. L stuffed in another mouthful of cream cake and ran a finger down the computer monitor, gawking out of his peripheral vision. Light-kun was flexing his fingers at his keyboard, his knee bouncing up and down like a space hopper. He'd been very fidgety as of late.
L thought back to last night, it had been an accident. But far too many accidents were occurring where Light was concerned... L found his brain whirring backwards a week and a half, to when Light had kissed him. L had an excellent memory, but this was one of the occasions where he wished the memory could have dimmed slightly. The hot anger Light had transmogrified into a fantastical lust, his vengeful mouth demanding repentance for L's accusations. Light-kun's skin that was softer than cotton candy...Fingers with a burning grip that had clenched L's hair so tightly, his body had winced and weakened. L didn't think there was ever a time when he'd felt as needed as he had in that moment...In the millions of cases he'd been hired for. Nothing came close.
A sudden shift of movement burst his mind free from his conflicting reverie, and he awoke to a blur of Light rolling towards him. He was wearing a black tee today (instead of the usual shirt and occasional tie) and the transition made him startlingly look his age. He was just a seventeen year old...
A seventeen year old killer.
"Hey Ryuzaki," the killer called, and swiveled on his chair..right and left...right and left.. "D'you think I could make that cake tomorrow? The one for my mum? Dad said she's taking a trip to Osaka soon and I'd like her to get it before she leaves. Kind of a festive, going away sort of thing."
L blinked. A worry started to gnaw at his insides. Baking a cake would mean more isolated time with Light-kun...And previous experience dictated that to be a bad thing. But he couldn't exactly not monitor Light. They had cameras in the kitchens, but there were a lot of nook-and-crannies hidden in the brickwork, not to mention the cutlery and kitchenware...And power tools. Somehow L didn't think it would be the best idea to leave Light-kun alone with a drawer full of knives.
Light was sneaky. And Kira was sneaky. With a spoonful of cunning smiles and a second helping of ego.
"Ryuzaki?" Light-kun stared at him, and a fawn hand stretched out to steal a panda. Black made Light-kun's complexion look paler.
Sneaky.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Yagami-kun."
Fingers flew out to catch the tiny chocolate bear. Light stopped throwing it. He seemed to register the re-use of his last name and took an instant disliking to it.
"What do you mean?"
L fixed him with crisp, beady eyes. "I don't think we should take time away from the case, Yagami-kun. Kira doesn't rest simply because it's the holiday season."
Now it was Light's turn to grow cold. "That's not what you said last night." (His lips twitched, inwardly grimacing at his choice of words).
"I've re-evaluated my decision. I've decided no."
"So you're going back on your word. After you suggested the idea in the first place."
"Yagami-kun, I never gave you my word."
"You said 'That's settled then.'"
Irritation bit into L's voice. "Well, now it is unsettled." And then as Light drew closer, his irritation grew fangs.
"Ryuzaki you were perfectly fine with taking an hour out of the investigation yesterday. You were being nice, offering me an opportunity to do something for my family. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?"
The fangs grew softer at Light's tone of voice. He sounded almost hurt, and disappointed. L hesitated. He wanted to blow the hair out of Light's eyes. Annoyance dissipated and something else kindled in its stead. Something that wanted to nuzzle the hurt from Light's words.
he's too close, murmured the back of his mind. The KILLER'S TOO CLOSE
L let out a hiss like a space storm. He jerked back, thumb to his lip. "After further consideration I decided against the idea, Yagami-kun. That's all there is to say."
Light frowned and scoffed. He scooted away-
and then immediately scooted back, grabbing a handful of panda bears and cramming them in his mouth. Spiteful offence in his eyes, petulance curling his features.
L supposed this was intended to be a fuck you in L's own language. How very Kira-like of you Li-
A tongue flicked out. "Mmmmm," Light rubbed it in. A strawberry headed bear poked out of Light's mouth, and L's fingers flashed out, plucking it from between his lips. He gobbled it down, as quick as a wink. His white fingertips pressed against his own mouth, a smile of victory peeking up at the corners. L's irritation vanished. The strawberry ones were so good.
Light was looking at L like he'd just turned into a hippopotamus. Wearing ballet shoes.
"The strawberry ones are mine." L explained soberly, swallowing saliva that tasted blissfully of chocolate-coated strawberry and vanilla...and something minty. His eyes fell on a discarded mug by Light's computer. Peppermint tea.
Oh.
He ignored the look on Light's face. A look that wanted to close the quivering distance between them, and smother L's tastebuds with the encapsulating flavour of cocoa-vanilla currently coursing through his.
"My deepest apologies." He sounded snarky but his eyes flickered to L's lips.
The worry started up again, nibbling and then grinding at L's stomach. L suddenly wanted out of this moment. Anything to get out of this moment.
"You can make the cake." he said quickly. "One hour, tomorrow."
Light's face lit up.
"Really?"
"Really, Light-kun. But the rest of the team shall be working. I'll inform them. And we work late today, all day."
Light raised his hands in surrender. "You got it."
"But no more bears, Light-kun."
Light grinned, distinctly reminiscent of a wolf. L bit down a shudder.
Light nodded at the change of honorific. "That's better." And he rolled away back to his computer.
L breathed a sigh of relief, his thumb trailing its worn path to his chin. He worried his lip with his thumbnail. He was going to need a lot more sweets to get through the day.
Sorry for short chapter, I'm trying to get a wad of these out soon. Please review if you liked it! They make for happy rushi, and that makes for more chapters! Neat system, huh?
(and yes that was an Ender's Game reference in there, heh heh heh)