They had all been working with each other for little over a month now, still getting used to each other but slowly learning one another's habits. Matsuda now brought L coffee with a little box of sugar cubes, along with getting the rest of the team breakfast - Matsuda usually got cinnamon pretzel sticks for himself. L was used to Matsuda's antics and didn't get so annoyed at the younger man; oh no, he just simply ignored Matsuda in most cases. Everyone adjusted to hearing Aizawa berate Matsuda for something, to Mogi shuffling around quietly, to hearing the Chief and L talk with each other.
If there was one thing everyone got used to, however, it was working late.
Most days, work ended around nine. Aizawa would be the first to leave, since he was more of a family man than a workaholic; it had nothing to do with the fact that his wife called him and said he better be home if he wanted anything from her, of course. Then, it would be either Mogi or Souchirou, but more often than not Mogi. Although they weren't sure if Mogi had a family to go home to or not, no one really said anything when he left. He was the hardest worker of all of them, silently doing his tasks without complaint. Souchirou had a family, yes, but he was used to working long shifts since he was the superintendent. Matsuda, however, was always the last to leave.
Since he had no family to return home to, it was fine with Matsuda if he stayed at work late. When it was just L and Matsuda, things were quieter. Both would do their own things, and only when the words started to blur together did Matsuda finally excuse himself and return to his apartment. Usually, L had a cup of coffee with him to drink whenever he could feel exhaustion creeping in. But of course some cups become empty, and it really was a great inconvience to get up and refill just to get some coffee. L could ask Matsuda, but the other man beat him to it.
"Ne, Ryuuzaki-san, I'm going to get more coffee. Do you need?" he asked, sliding his chair out and standing up, coffee cup in hand. Wordlessly, L handed over his cup. Matsuda left the room and returned minutes later, steam rising from the cups. He set one in front of L, along with the box of sugar cubes, and then snagged a couple from the box. Dropping it into his own cup, Matsuda blushed when L looked at him curiously.
"You always stay up so late, and I'm assuming it's the sugar, so..." Matsuda explained, attempting to hide his blush as he drank the coffee. Expecting the brunet to spit out the coffee in disgust, for not many could stomach something so sweet, L was surprised when Matsuda continued to drink. Blinking his eyes, Matsuda grinned. "Ah! It does wake you up!"
And as L slowly turned away to add sugar to his own coffee, he felt a new respect for Matsuda Tarou.