Author's note: Hey you guys, thank you all for your support and reviews- I doubt I'll be doing that set number of reviews thing again; it didn't feel very fair to all of you regular reviewers. You guys are too sweet. Still, reviews are what drive me to write- hence the weekend update. You'll see another on Monday, unless a massive influx of reviews provokes me to write earlier. Love you all- hope you enjoy this chapter!
"L!"
He had only been upstairs for fifteen minutes.
"L, sweetheart-"
Sweetheart. It was then that L knew someone must've come over. He exhaled a frustrated breath, sat down his homework, and stood to walk out of the door. As he did, he looked in the mirror- he looked pale, tired, and wan. A little puffy from crying, too. He pinched at his cheeks and his dark circles in a last ditch attempt to make himself look a little less horrendous.
"L, come down here!"
Her voice was still girly and full of false humor, but L could detect the sharp edge lurking beneath. There would be problems if he didn't come down and entertain. He took one last look at himself, straightened his rumpled white shirt, and tried to arrange his face into some reasonably pleasant expression.
As he walked down the stairs, he heard his mother chatting flirtatiously. He assumed it was with their new neighbor, Mikami. L didn't particularly mind- perhaps a man would distract her. Though, Mikami did look vaguely familiar- L thought he might have seen him somewhere before. Perhaps on the golf channel? The man did play professionally, after all.
L turned to walk down the remainder of the stairs, and in doing so, had a much better- or rather, worse- view of the dynamics between his mother and the neighbor.
She was leaning in, tossing her head back to laugh uproariously at everything the man said. Most likely to draw attention to her cleavage, which, it seemed she'd enhanced even further with an eye-popping push up bra. It seemed that today her silicone inserts were not enough.
As for the golfer, he was also laughing, but very, very uncomfortably. He recoiled at every blatant attempt to stroke his hand or bicep, and seemed to be politely looking for an out.
Filled with incredible shame, L stepped off of the last stair onto the carpets he'd just cleaned last night.
Mikami turned to L, his forced, dingy smile suddenly brightening. Had L been walking any faster, he might have stumbled. The man clearly bleached his teeth liberally.
"Hey, L, it's good to see you again so soon- I was just telling your mom that I'm cooking dinner tonight. Would you all like to come?"
L did not want to deal with people, not even a little bit, but his mother was skewering him with a look that promised trouble if he didn't go along. Oh well. He was at least pleased that he wouldn't have to cook.
"Ah, sure- we'd love to." He looked at his mother, who was attempting to surreptitiously adjust her tits for maximum impact. He then immediately made eye contact with Mikami and smiled in a desperate, embarrassed attempt to prevent him from noticing any more of her desperate behavior.
"Should we bring anything? Drinks, or a side dish?"
L knew he would have to cook it with his mother breathing over his shoulder, harassing him for making a less than perfect dish- she'd want to pass it off as her own in order to appear domestic, so, of course, anything less than perfect would be unacceptable. But at that moment, L would have done anything to get that man out of their house. He wasn't sure what his mother would do next, and he was too tired and emotionally drained to deal with the shame her behavior would surely incite.
As Mikami began to reply, L's phone buzzed once against his thigh, a reminder of the tiny space of sanity Light had brought into his life. L ran his fingers over the outline of his phone through his pocket, but didn't take it out. He'd answer after he was allowed to go back upstairs.
"Actually, you guys can come right on over; I'd love to have your help in the kitchen."
Mikami smiled, friendly and cheerful.
L wanted to cry- he had several hours of homework to do and someone to talk to. The last thing he wanted to do was be stuck in the kitchen with this man who was not Light and who did not know him at all, forced to make inane and completely useless conversation.
A cold arm draped itself over L's slim shoulders, and manicured nails tapped lightly against his arm.
"L and I would absolutely love to help you in the kitchen- I cook rather frequently, you know." She paused to look up at Mikami through heavily made up eyelashes. She then tacked on a quick "and L, L has a lot to learn. So yes, we'd love to. We'll be there in five minutes or so!"
He looked at L, smiled again, and nodded at his mother. "Alright," he said, already heading out of the door, "I look forward to it!"
The moment Mikami left, L's mother let out a girlish squeal and fled upstairs, presumably to find a more "appropriate" outfit.
More than likely, that would involve a very, very tiny dress.
L let out a groan.
Why his mother was incapable of seeing how horrific her behavior was, he'd never know. He certainly wouldn't be asking any time soon- he knew exactly what he'd get for his troubles.
Pain. Pain and stress and heartache.
So he wouldn't be asking.
He sat on the couch and waited for her to come back down. He could hear the urgent clattering of powder brushes and the rustling of clothing. The overpowering whirr of her hairdryer covered all noise for the three minutes after that.
And then she came back downstairs.
He'd been incorrect in his assumption that she would wear a dress, but not about the length of whatever she'd wear- she descended the stairs in a pair of micro mini shorts that would have frightened Daisy Duke, and an absurdly tight white tee shirt. It was long sleeve.
L presumed that she thought the sleeve length made the lack of covering elsewhere appropriate.
It most certainly did not.
He craned to look up behind her from his position on the couch, trying to find his mother's shadow. She was nowhere to be found.
"Where is Sayu? Isn't she coming?"
His mother waved a hand in a careless sort of gesture that she probably thought elegant.
"She's napping; we'll bring her something back. She's had a ton of homework these past few days- she needs her rest."
L suppressed the urge to blow up at her- what about his homework? What about his needs? He hadn't had restful sleep in over a year.
He chided himself with a reminder not to be selfish. His mother's concerns lay elsewhere, and he recognized the need to just accept that. Whining or complaining about it would only cause him more pain.
He nodded, gave a meek "okay", and then proceeded out the screen door and across the lawn separating their house from the neighbor's.
As he walked across the lawn, he quickly pulled out his phone and opened Light's message.
I'm having some sort of gastro cuisine for dinner- it should be really interesting. What are you having? Hopefully something good- although it saddens me that it falls on you to cook all of the time, I'm glad to know you'll at least be eating delicious food. I have no doubt that you are as talented in the cooking department as you are everywhere else. xx
L typed out a quick reply:
Actually, we're eating at the neighbor's- the new tenant has offered to cook for us. My mother has already brought her tits out once to try and seduce him, so I'm trying to prepare for more humiliation here. Oh well- at least the food should be delicious.
He'd crossed through the lawn at this point, and found himself in front of the door. He looked behind him and found his mother traversing across the lawn slowly, seemingly held back by her ridiculous shoe choice.
L closed his eyes again.
Just lovely.
He waited for her to shuffle onto the porch beside him before ringing the doorbell.
Dinner would be an interesting affair.