Log II: Food or Mate?
L was relieved when he heard the voices of his companions calling out his name. He yelled back at them, just to make sure they wouldn't get lost again. "I'm here!"
The half-naked man glanced back and forth between his captive and the voices' direction, apparently confused by what was happening.
L smirked at him. Now that his companions had arrived, he wasn't that scared of the strange man before him anymore.
Yes, L had thought of several possibilities that could happen if he tried to escape only to fail. The worst possible scenario that he thought would happen was the man would hit or kick him mercilessly and then take him back to his tribe for food stock without a second thought. But that wouldn't become a problem this time, for he was sure the team would reach him in time before that happen.
Bracing himself, L smiled at the man sweetly.
"Well…" He shifted his position a little, forcing more distance between them. The act had gone unnoticed by the man who was stunned by his smile. He waited for the right time, and then…
"Goodbye now!"
The pale-skinned man kicked his captor hard in the gut, making the brunet stumble backwards with a pained cry. The first step of his plan had gone well. But the second step of his plan, running away after the man fell, had failed from the moment he kicked his captor.
From all the bad possibilities that L could think of, he had never expected this one. To fall together with the man. Or more precisely, fall directly on top of the man.
The slightly tanned man hadn't released his grip on L's arm even when he fell, and that made L fell directly on top of him. Their faces were only inches apart, and so they could practically feel each other's warm breath on their faces.
Both of them stared at each other with wide eyes. One was shocked by the sudden fall, while the other was shocked from the sudden change in plans and blushed furiously from the close proximity.
L quickly climbed off of the other man as soon as he had his senses back, just in time before his companions found him. His cheeks still felt hot from the embarrassment. He was glad he made it in time, or they would have seen him in one of his most embarrassing moments.
"L!" His companions finally appeared, running towards him. L had never felt happier to see their faces.
But it seemed that L's happiness was short-lived. As soon as he tried to get away, the strange man quickly pulled him back.
Mello, Matt, Aiber, Wedy, and even Near stopped in their tracks and gaped at the sight in front of them.
There, separated by several feet from his team, L was once again pulled to the man's chest. He was sitting up, half-kneeled this time. The stranger had gripped both of L's arms and held him tightly in place, much to L's horror.
The young scientist looked at his companions with a pleading look. "Help me!"
Mello glared at the stranger, giving him one of his most evil looks. "Let him go, bastard!"
L frowned at the blond boy. "Language, Mello." He managed to scold Mello even in his current condition. "And please don't bother trying to speak with him. He can't understand our words."
The team glanced at each other confusedly, and then turned back to L. "Then how?" they asked, successfully making L more frustrated.
"Please-Just-Try-Something!" he commanded them again, now with a threatening glare.
Wedy was the one who took action. She took her gun from her waistband and quickly directed it at L's captor, only to have the rest of the team objecting her actions.
"Stop! What if your bullet hits L instead of the man?" Aiber cautioned her.
"The chance for that to happen is low! Don't worry, will you?" Wedy replied.
"But still, the chance is there…" Matt told her, an unusual hesitation in his voice, apparently fearing for his mentor's safety as well.
The next chide was from Mello. "If you shoot L, I will make sure that the rest of your life will be a living hell!" Mello threatened her, and the blonde woman knew that the threat from that boy was real.
Wedy then glared at Near, irritated, wanting to know if the boy wanted to add in his two cents.
Near just shrugged. "They have told you everything that I wanted to tell you."
"Okay, okay! I won't shoot him!" Wedy cried, frustrated. She returned the gun to its place and backed away. "So what will you do now?"
Meanwhile, the primitive man was watching their exchange in silence. A sad look was settled on his visage. L noticed it when he stole a glance at him to find a chance to escape again. The sight made him forget about his plan momentarily.
L was surprised when his captor suddenly looked at him and smiled sadly. Why did he smile like that to me? He wondered in confusion.
The brunet suddenly stood up, pulling L with him by his wrist. The sudden action took all of them by surprise. But what made them more surprised was the next act.
The man walked towards them, pulling the bewildered L with him. L's companions watched curiously as both men came closer. The brunet stopped and pulled L forward so the young scientist was placed in front of him.
"L!" Mello cried out as the strange man released his grip on L's wrist. He was the first who ran towards L, followed by Matt. Near hesitated at first, but then he too joined the run towards their mentor.
The boys tackled L to the ground, hugging him tightly.
The young scientist ignored his students and gazed at the wild man, still confused with what just happened. He…he released me so easily? So he did not plan to take me to his tribe as food after all...
The brunet met L's gaze with his caramel eyes, smiling at him dolefully. He then began to walk away from them.
"Wait!" The pale-skinned man, upon seeing the man leaving, found himself calling after him before he realized it, surprising all of his companions and even himself. Apparently the sad smile had affected him more than he thought.
The brunet, who had stopped and turned back upon hearing L's voice, was looking at him with a stupefied look. His companions were also staring at him with questioning faces.
L pushed the boys from him, standing up. "I want to thank him properly for saving me from the tiger," he informed the team.
All of them nodded, confused of what L meant by 'thanking him properly'. They watched worriedly as the head of their expedition team walked toward the strange man.
L stopped before the man, hesitant of his next act. "Umm…I know that you can't understand my words, but I hope you could understand that I'm really appreciating your help. Thank you," he spoke softly, smiling awkwardly at the brunet. He held out his right hand, intending to shake hands with the man.
The man was eyeing his hand questioningly at first. But then the man beamed back at him.
The man's smile was so wide, it made him look like an innocent little kid, so L just watched without suspicion when the man took his hand. That's why, he wasn't prepared when the man suddenly pulled his hand, and much to his shock, caught him in a tight embrace.
L let out a surprise yelp and instinctively pushed the strange man off of him. He glared at the man before him and almost walked away, when he noticed the kicked puppy look on the brunet's face.
The look had made L feel guilty, although he believed that he wasn't wrong for pushing the man who had attacked his personal space. But still, he felt the need to apologize to the brunet.
L looked directly into the man's eyes and forced himself to smile again. "I'm sorry that I have been rude to you. I hope you are not angry with me," he spoke to the man softly, although he knew well enough that the brunet couldn't understand his words.
But judging by how the wild man's face suddenly lit up, apparently he could understand that L had apologized to him. The raven-haired man sighed softly and looked around to avoid the man's eyes which were looking at him with such an innocent shine in them. He just couldn't stop thinking of how the wild man that had scared away the tiger could be as cute as a puppy.
Now that the tension had ceased, L started to take note of his surroundings. He had noticed that the location that they were currently in was a wide, grassy space surrounded by trees.
L turned to face his team. "This place is a suitable location for our staying." he commented.
The team looked around with wide eyes, surprised that none of them had realized it earlier. The tension had apparently dulled their mind.
"Wow! You're right, L!" Mello exclaimed.
Aiber sighed in relief. "Finally."
"I'm really happy that our long search has ended. I can't wait to go back and rest my exhausted body!" Wedy added in happily. Her comfortable and luxurious tent was already on her mind.
L frowned at her. "Who said we would rest after we return to Watari. We need to move all of our belongings to this place before dark. You may rest after we finish the task," he stated firmly, much to the blonde's dismay.
"I'm just a woman, you know? I'm not as strong as you, guys!" Wedy protested, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
L looked at her thoughtfully. "Well, if that's the case, you may wait for us here."
Wedy almost agreed to L, before he continued, "But please be careful of wild animals and primitive tribes. We have known from our experience today that this island has both of their kind."
Wedy gulped, paling suddenly. "I…I think I'm still strong enough to come with you, so please don't worry about me."
All of the events that they had experienced today were rolling in her mind like a thriller movie. She was glad that the main star of the 'thriller movie' was L, not her, even though she could tell that the other star of the movie was an attractive near-naked young man.
Speaking of the wild man, Wedy suddenly remembered something. She looked at the half-naked man behind L, realizing that the man still hadn't left them.
"Umm, L. What will you do with him?" Wedy asked the young scientist, pointing at the man behind him.
L glanced at his back, meeting the man's questioning look. He sighed softly. "Let's just leave him here." He then walked toward his companions. "Come on. We need to return now." He tried hard to ignore the brunet's gaze on him.
The young scientist then walked away from the place quietly, followed by the other members. He fought back the urge to glance back at the brunet. He was sure the kicked puppy look was already back on the man's face again now, and no, he did not want to become a victim of the guilty feeling that was caused by that look again.
The next day, the expedition team had decided to laze around at their campsite for the rest of the day. They had moved all of their belongings to the new location by themselves on the previous night.
Without help from the crewmen, the task was really draining their energy as they also had to go back and forth between the beach and the new location several times to take all of their belongings.
It was at a time like that when Near was glad that he didn't bring his toys with him and Wedy realized that she had brought too many useless items.
All of them agreed to call this day off to ease their tired minds and bodies, with or without L's agreement.
Of course, L didn't think the same and had objected his companions' idea of staying at first, but with all of his teammates united to object to him, there was nothing he could do.
So, the poor scientist had spent his morning sullenly in his tent alone, glaring at every person who entered his tent. The only one person who he didn't glare at was Watari, as the old man was bringing in his sweet treats for him.
L spent his time in the tent making a documentation of their current expedition. He wrote down all the things he had studied about the island from two days ago: the time needed to travel from England to this island, the beach, the part of the forest that they had explored, the weather, and also the plants and the animals that they had met with the previous day.
The pale scientist ha also drawn sketches of several things beside the explanations, copying the rough sketches that were made by him and his companions.
After L had finished all the sketches, he decided to start writing about the primitive man. Actually, it was annoying to him to remember about that strange man, since his memory of the brunet was related to that 'traumatizing event', but as a scientist, he needed to make documentations of his discovery. L forced himself to dismiss the uncomfortable feeling that had evoked in the process of remembering the details of the incident.
L had just finished writing down the man's physical description as having slightly tanned skin, brown hair, and caramel-colored eyes, skip the attractive part, when someone entered his tent. At first he didn't look up, expecting the person who had entered his tent to be one of his companions. He waited for that person to speak or come to him, but when the person didn't do anything, he started to feel uncomfortable.
"What is it?" he asked, turning back to see the invader.
His eyes widened upon seeing the invader who was standing in front of his tent's entrance. It was the man from the previous day, or, to be more up to date, the object of his current documentation!
The strange man was beaming sweetly at him, much to L's bewilderment. He also noticed that the man was clutching a flower, which he identified as a sunflower.
L couldn't help but freeze in his chair when the man walked toward him, holding out said flower to him. He guessed the man had picked the flower for him, and couldn't help but feel slightly confused at the idea. But he took it anyway to show that he appreciated the gift.
The scientist forced himself to smile back at the young man, despite his confusion.
"Thank you," L spoke hesitantly. He had assumed based on their previous encounter that the man was sharp enough to at least understand what he had meant from the tone of his voice and the expression on his face while speaking.
Speaking of the man, the young scientist suddenly remembered that he had never heard the brunet speak besides the growling and the 'huh hauh'. He started to wonder what kind of tribe the man was from.
"…Thank you?"
L's eyed widened upon hearing the man speaking. "Eh? You just copied my words!"
The brunet just stared back at him innocently.
L sighed. All right. I will attempt once more.
"Hello." L started his test.
"Hello."
"Good day."
"Good day."
The man had copied his words like a parrot, amusing L greatly. Okay, time for the next test!
"Flower." L pointed at the gift from the wild man which was still clutched in his hands.
The subject of his test followed his example, pointing at the flower. "Flauwer."
L shook his head. "Flowwwerrr," he repeated the word slowly this time.
"…Flowwwerrr?" the man spelled the word in the same pace as L. His face lit up upon seeing L smile and nod.
"L," the scientist pointed at himself. "You?" he pointed at the brunette.
"L," the strange man pointed at L, then at himself. "You?"
L shook his head again. He pointed at the flower. "Flower." He spelled the name again patiently, and then pointed at himself, "L." After that he pointed at the wild man, waiting for him to process his meaning.
The man seemed to think, but then he smiled at the scientist. "Rrraaaito," he spelled it with too much growling, making it hard for the young scientist to catch the name.
"Light?" L asked hesitantly since he wasn't sure if he had heard it right.
The man seemed to think again. "Light…Light?" he spelled the word like testing it on his tongue.
"Oh, sorry. Not your name?" L asked him again softly, a bit scared if he had insulted the brunet with the wrong spelling of his name.
The man suddenly smiled widely at the raven-haired scientist and pointed at himself. "Light!"
L was taken aback by the action. "You like that name? Light?"
The brunet just smiled widely and repeated the word. "Light!"
It's not my business if he wants his name to be Light, L thought, slightly amused by the name choice.
Suddenly the entrance of L's tent was opened. Both of the men in the tent turned their head to the entrance's direction in surprise.
There, standing in front of the entrance, were the three youngest members of the expedition team. Shock was fully written in their face upon discovering the wild man from the previous day was in L's tent.
Near was the one that asked first. "L…what is he doing in your tent?"
"I have no idea. It was surprising for me as well when he suddenly showed up in my tent," L answered him honestly.
Mello glared at the invader. "Then why you didn't kick him out of your tent?"
L just shrugged. "I'm trying to teach him. Look." He then glanced at the wild man and waved his hand to get his attention.
The man who was now named Light turned to look at the young scientist. He saw the other man point at the flower and understood what he wanted him to do.
"Flower," he pronounced the word correctly.
After that L pointed at himself, and the man spelled his name. And when L's point finger was pointed at him, the man spelled his own name. "Light."
"See?" L told the boys, smiling slightly.
"His name is Light?" Matt asked with amused tone.
L tilted his head to a side, frowning. "I am not the one who chose that name."
"May I try to teach him too?" the redheaded boy asked excitedly.
"Yes, you may."
"Great!" The boy then walked toward Light.
The wild man just stared at him confusedly.
Matt gave him a friendly smile. "Matt!" he used his thumb to point at himself.
Light pointed at the boy and repeated his name, "Matt!"
"Wow! He just said my name!" Matt exclaimed excitedly.
Near decided to join Matt. He approached the brunet. "Near," he introduced himself in an impassive tone.
"Nia!" Light pronounced his name wrongly.
Mello and Matt laughed hard upon hearing the name.
"Ha ha ha! Nia! It's sound so girly!" Mello mocked the albino boy. "I think I can become good friends with him!" Near just glared at him.
"Try to spell your name slowly so he can hear it well," L told Near.
Near hesitated at first, but then he decided to just try it. "Neaaar," he did as L's suggestion.
"Neaaar," the brunette spelled his name correctly this time, making the boy relieved.
"Okay! Now it's my turn!" Mello exclaimed, pushing Near to his side. He then pointed at himself using thumb. "Mello!" he said cheerfully.
Light looked at him, smiling back. "Mellow."
The expression on Mello's face when he heard the man calling him 'Mellow' was hilarious. Matt fell to ground, clutching his stomach while laughing hard like a madman. Even L was having a hard time trying to hold back the chuckle that threatened to escape from his lips.
Near snickered at the blond boy. "I think it's a suitable name for you," he said mockingly, glad he could have the chance for revenge.
Mello glared at them. "Matt, if you don't stop laughing now, I swear you'll be sorry!"
Matt ceased his laughter instantly.
"And you, albino brat, don't tell me you have forgotten your own name!"
Near stopped snickering and glared back at him. "Call me that and I will call you 'Mellow'," he threatened back.
L sighed. He decided that it was the time to stop the glaring contest between Near and Mello. "Mello, just try it again slowly."
Mello growled. "Fine."
He then turned to look back at Light. "Spell it wrong again and you'll be sorry." Light merely stared back innocently.
"Mel-lo! Mell-llo!" Mello spelled his name twice, just to make sure the man could hear it right.
Light frowned at the boy, perhaps irritated by the boy's rudeness. But he said it anyway. "Mello."
"Good!" Mello nodded at him.
After the whole introduction had ended, L remembered something.
"You boys still have not told me your reason of coming to my tent," L reminded the boys. "Do you have something to tell me?"
"Ah! You're right!" Mello exclaimed, remembering their main reason for coming into L's tent. "We just want to tell you that Watari wants someone to help him preparing lunch!"
"What about Aiber and Wedy?"
"Sleeping," Near answered him.
"And the three of you?"
Matt shrugged. "Watari told us that he'd rather have you than have three of us helping him."
L rolled his eyes. He didn't know if he should be flattered or insulted by that comment.
He put the sunflower that he had been clutching all this time to his desk and closed his notebook. "Fine. I will go to help him as well as inform him about Light."
"May I ask you something before you go, L?" Near suddenly asked him.
L turned his head to look at the albino. "Sure. What do you want to ask me?"
Near pointed at the sunflower on his desk. "Where did you get that flower? As far as I know, you never left your tent this morning."
L glanced back at the flower. "Ah. Light gave it to me," he answered impassively.
The three boys seemed to be surprised by the information. They looked back and forth between the two men in front of them. Silence enveloped the tent momentarily.
"What is it?" L asked them in a slightly confused tone, starting to feel uncomfortable. He didn't notice that Light had shuffled closer to him, feeling threatened by their stares.
Matt looked at Light, and then at L. Both men were staring at the three boys confusedly. He smirked internally. Teasing L would be fun.
"Do you know, L?" the red-headed boy asked L, smiling knowingly. "Maybe he likes you…as his mate."
The statement had resulted in him got a flying book directed at his face.