Hi, guys! Sorry for the waiting, I must admit that the main reason I'm not updating this fic sooner is laziness. Once again, I'm sorry!
Many thanks to Translucent Darkness, double-black, and htotheizzo for reviewing the first chapter! Without your reviews I won't have the spirit to update this fic! And for all of you who put my story on story alert but didn't leave a review, I also want to thank you. Thank you, all of you!
Okay, just go to the story!
Chapter II: Food or Mate?
L felt a little relieved when he heard the voices of his companions calling his name over and over. He quickly yelled 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 voice's direction, apparently confused by what had been happening.
L smirked at him. Now that his reinforcement had come, he didn't scare anymore to the strange man before him.
Yes, L had thought of several possibilities, what would happen if he tried to escape and failed. The worst possible scene that he thought would happen was the man would hit or kick him mercilessly and then took him back to his tribe for food stock without second thought. But that wouldn't become a problem this time, he was sure the team could 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, made him stumbled backward with a pained cry. The first step of his plan had gone well. But the second step of his plan, run away after the man fall, had failed from the start.
From all the bad possibilities that L could think of, he had never expected this one, worse possibility. Fall together with the man. Or more precisely, fall directly on top of the man.
The slightly tan-skinned man hadn't released his grip on L's arm even when he fell, and that had made the raven-haired man fell directly on top of him. Their faces were only two inches apart, and so practically they could feel each other's warm breath on their face.
Both of them stared each other with wide eyes. One was shocked by the sudden fall, while the other was shocked and blushed furiously by the closeness.
L quickly climbed off of the other man as soon as his sense was 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 see him in one of his most embarrassing moments.
"L!!" his companions finally appeared, running toward him. L never felt happier than this time for seeing their faces.
But it seemed that L's happiness was short-lived. As soon as he tried to stand up, 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 for about twenty feet from his team, L was once again being pulled to the man's chest, who had already sat up, half kneeled, this time. The stranger had gripped both of his arms and held him tightly in place, much to his horror.
The young scientist looked at his companions with 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 still 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 made L more frustrated.
"Please-Just-Try-Something!" he told them once again, now with threatening glare.
Wedy was the one who took the next action. She took her gun from her waistband and quickly directed it at L's captor, only to have the rest of the team united to object her.
"Stop! How if your bullet hit L instead of that man?!" Aiber yelled at her.
"The chance for that to happen is low! Don't worry, will you?!" Wedy yelled back at him.
"But still, the chance is there…," Matt told her with unusual hesitation in his voice, apparently fearing for his mentor's safety as well.
The next attack was from Mello. "If you shot L, I will make sure that the rest of your life will be a living hell!" Mello threatened her, and the blond woman knew that the threat from that boy was real.
Wedy then glared at Near irritatingly, wanted to know if the boy also want to say something to her.
Near just shrugged. "They have told you everything that I wanted to tell you."
"I know! I know! I won't shot him!" Wedy cried frustratingly. She returned the gun to it place and backed away. "So, what will you do now, guys?"
Meanwhile, the primitive man was just watching their exchange in silent. A sad look was on his face. L just realized 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 brunette suddenly stood up, pulled 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 toward them, pulling the bewildered L with him. They just watched curiously as both men walked closer and closer. The brunette then stopped after they were just about five feet apart, pulling 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 that ran toward L, followed by Matt. Neat hesitated at first, but then he finally joined the other boys ran toward their mentor.
The boys tackled L to the ground, hugging him tightly.
The young scientist was only looking at the wild man with bewildered look, still confused of what just happened. 'He…he just released me easily? So, he didn't plan to take me to his tribe as food after all...'
The brunette met L's gaze with his caramel eyes, smiling at him sadly. He then started to walk away from them.
"Wait!" The pale-skinned man, upon seeing the man leaving, found himself called after him before he realized it, surprised all of his companions and even himself. Apparently the sad smile had affected him more than he thought.
The brunette, who had stopped and turned back upon hearing his voice, was looking at him with surprised look. His companions were also staring at him with questioning looks.
L pushed the boys from him, trying to stand up. "I want to thank him properly for saving me from the tiger," he told the team, not waiting for them to ask first.
All of them just nodded, confused of what L meant with 'thank him properly'. They just watched worriedly as the head of their expedition team walked toward the strange man.
L stopped before the man, hesitated 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 brunette. He held out his right hand, intended to shake hand with the man.
The man was eyeing his hand questioningly at first. But then the man smiled back at him.
The man's smile was so wide, made him seemed 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, catch 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 brunette's face.
The look had made L felt guilty, although he believed that he wasn't wrong for pushing the man that had attacked his personal space. But still, he felt the need to apologize to him, and he cursed himself for the weakness.
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 brunette 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 just sighed softly and looked around to avoid the man's eyes that 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 so cute like a puppy.
Now that the tension had ceased, L started to take notice of his surrounding. He just noticed that the location that they were currently in was surrounded by trees and had wide space. His eyes suddenly widened upon realizing it.
L turned to face his team. "Do you this place is a suitable location for our staying?" he asked them.
The team looked around with wide eyes, surprised that none of them realized it earlier. The tension apparently had dulled their mind.
"Wow! You're right, L!" Mello exclaimed.
Aiber just sighed in relieve. "Finally."
"I'm really happy that our long search has ended. I can't wait to go back and resting my exhausted body!" Wedy added in happily. Her comfortable and luxurious tent was already on her mind.
L frowned at her. "Who said we will rest after we go back to Watari's place. 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 blond woman'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 had known from our experience today that this island has both of their kind."
The blond woman gulped, paled suddenly. "I…I think I'm still strong enough to come with you, so please don't worry about me" she told him with a hint of fear on her usually confident voice. All of the bad 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 almost-naked young man.
Speaking of the wild man, Wedy suddenly remembered something. She looked at the half-naked man behind L, realized 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 brunette's gaze on him.
The young scientist then walked away from that place quietly, followed by the other members. He fought back the urge to glance back at the brunette. He was sure the kicked puppy look had already back on the man's face again now, and no, he didn't want to become a victim of the guilty feeling that was caused by that look again.
The next day, after the long and tiring day, the expedition team had decided to just stay at their place the whole day. They had moved all of their belongings to the new location by themselves on the previous day. Without help from the crewmen, the task was really draining their energy since they also had to went back and forth between the beach and the new location three times to take all of their belongings. It was at a time like that, Near was glad that he didn't bring his toys with him and Wedy was realizing that she had brought too many useless items.
So, 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 companion's idea of staying at first, but with all of his team united to object him, there's nothing he could do. So, the poor scientist had spent his morning sullenly in his tent alone, glared at every person that entering his tent. The only one person that he didn't glare at was Watari, since the old man was bringing his sweet treats for him.
L spent his time in the tent making documentation of their newest expedition. He wrote all things that 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 on the previous day. The pale-skinned scientist also had draw sketches of several things beside the explanations, copying the rough sketches that were made by him and his companions. He had spent almost two hours doing that.
After the young scientist had finished the all the sketches, he decided to start writing about the primitive man. Actually it was annoying to him for remembering about that strange man, since his memory of that man was related to that 'traumatizing event', but as a scientist he needed to make documentation of his discovery. He forced himself to dismiss the uncomfortable feeling that evoked in the process and kept remembering the details of that man.
L had just finished writing 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 back, expecting the person that had entered his tent was one of his companions. He waited for that person to speak or come to him, but when the person didn't speak or 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 smiling sweetly at him, much to his bewilderment. He also had noticed that the man was bringing a flower with him, which he could identify as sunflower.
L couldn't help but froze in his chair when the man walked toward him, held out the flower to him. He guessed the man had picked the flower for him, and couldn't help but felt 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 brunette 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 have copied my words!"
The brunette just stared back at him innocently.
He sighed. 'Okay, I will try again.'
"Hello," L started his test.
"Hello."
"Good day."
"Good day."
The man had copied his words like a parrot, amusing him greatly. 'Okay, time for the next test!'
"Flower," L pointed at the gift from the wild man that was still on his clutch.
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 smiled and nodded.
"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 mean.
The man seemed to think, but then he smiled at the scientist. "Rrraaaito," he spelled it with too much growl, 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 brunette 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 brunette just smiled widely and repeated the word. "Light!"
'It's not my business if he want 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, was 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 don't know. It was also surprising me when he suddenly showed 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 looked at the wild man and waved his hand to get his attention.
The man that now named Light turned to look at the young scientist. He saw the other man pointed at the flower and understood what he had wanted him to do. "Flower," he spelled 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. "It's not me who chose that name."
"May I try to teach him too?" the red-headed 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 spelled his name, "Matt!"
"Wow! He just spelled my name!" Matt exclaimed happily.
Near then decided to join Matt. He approached the man with loincloth. "Near," he introduced himself with impassive tone.
"Nia!" Light spelled his name wrongly, with innocent expression.
Mello and Matt laughed hard upon hearing the wrong-spelled 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 slightly 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 mad man. Even L was having a hard time trying to hold back the chuckle that threatened to escape 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 to revenge him.
Mello glared at them evilly. "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." The poor man just looking back at him 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, maybe irritated by the boy's rudeness. But he spelled it anyway. "Mello."
"Good!" Mello nodded to him, snickering.
After the whole introduction had ended, L suddenly remembered something.
"I just remember that you still don't tell 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, suddenly remembered of their main reason coming to L's tent. "We just want to tell you that Watari wants someone to help him preparing lunch!"
"What about 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 the time to his desk and closed his book. "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 boy. "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 leave your tent since 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 was enveloping the tent momentarily.
"What is it?" L asked them with a slightly confused tone, starting to feel uncomfortable. He didn't notice that Light had shuffled closer to him, felt threatened by their stares.
Matt looked at Light, and then at L. Both men were staring at them 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.
TBC
Ha ha ha, do you like the turn of event in this fic? I really enjoyed writing this crack fic! Maybe after I finish this fic (if I still have the spirit until the end…), I will start my other multi-chapter crack fic!
My next update will be the third chapter of 'Let Me Be Your Hand'. But if I can muster enough spirit, I will finish my long-forgotten fic , 'The Disaster in Theatre', first. Suzu-chan, a reviewer who had left an anonymous review for my other fic, 'Let Me Be Your Hand', had mentioned about 'the theatre mini game' and the 'crazed-but-friendly spy', two keys that had reminded me of this long-forgotten and unfinished crack fic that was written during a boring class about two years ago. (I don't know if you read this or not, but I will say it anyway: Thank you, suzu-chan! Actually I want to reply your review directly, but you didn't provide me with a link to reply. So please wait, I will reply your review on the next chapter of 'Let Me Be Your Hand'!)
Please leave a review if you like this story and want this story to be continued! Reviews will make me happy and motivate me to continue my fics!