(Brief continuation)
"Other arm, please," L says quietly, reaching for the limb as Light allows it. He holds it under the biceps and bats water from his eyelashes as he runs a sponge over the wet skin, the chain clinking against the tile floor.
"We're gonna have to cut your hair soon," he remarks absently as he brushes the dripping strands away to reach the scapulae.
No reply from Light, who remains quiet and passively allows L to wash his shoulders and back, and when the bony wrists reach for his hands, they stop suddenly.
Before L can gasp at the conclusion he's reached, he finds himself whipped around with a resonant chime of the metal bind and pressed hard against the wall.
"Not Rem," comes Light's voice against the curve of his ear, "Ryuk."
The powder under Light's nails is still there.
It isn't an explosive.
L kicks Light away and instantly has him with his hands behind his back.
This is becoming dangerous.
Water still running, L leads Light out of the shower and back into the room, where he holds him down and binds him immediately.
He returns with a thin wooden pick and a sterile bag and climbs over the struggling form, bending across the wet abdomen to reach for the left hand.
"Please stop moving so much," he says uselessly as he forces the digits pronate and proceeds to sweep under the nails with the pick, "you'll make it hurt more."
"I'll kill you, Ryuuzaki,"
It comes pure and simple, and L continues undistracted,
"You can't, Light-kun."
Light grits his teeth. His chest is still soapy and the mattress is entirely damp beneath him, and L thinks he'll catch a cold if this goes on, so when he finishes collecting the caked powder, he returns with a towel to dry him off.
This is good, he thinks as he runs the cloth over Light's abdomen and waist, Light may know where the third notebook is.
Better still, if the powder really is part of the third book, then L might be able to use it, himself, without questioning Light at all. This, of course, is far preferable, because L understands that Light would love nothing more than to get his hands on the book before L does.
At least part of Light does.
Find it before I do.
The duality is almost heartbreaking, L thinks as he dabs at Light's hair and forehead, Lord only knows what a chaotic mess the boy has become.
"L got Kira. He must have."
Somewhere in England, two teenage boys lean over a thick volume dimly lit by the iridescent glow of a halogen desk lamp.
"Try to focus on the project. It's due in two days."
"D…don't talk down to me…!"
They've each figured out—individually—that L had assigned them this project.
And even though he's away in Japan working on the Kira case, he's undoubtedly going to review their work—
Because it's important.
Because this is important.
Because this is happening at a crucial time.
And that's why—
And that's why they absolutely have to show nothing less than the superior standard of which they are each capable, and why they must, for once, put aside the competition that has dictated their lives to date.To be continued…