The Little Things Give You Away

By AishiExcel

Don't own anything. Half credit goes to Nikkiacat.

Rare as it is, I happen to have some spare time with the laptop today, so I'll be gracing you with a REALLY FAST UPDATE. But don't get used to it. Because this Sunday… I MOVE IN TO MY DORM. ZOMG I'm losing my mind. But anyways. I promise that the long chapters of dialogue won't last forever and this plot is actually gong to GO somewhere, I just have to get past all this. Also, I was originally going to write this chapter very differently, but I realized I was developing the characters too much, too fast and it was no good to reveal all their secrets just yet. So instead of being nice, L's going to be an ass. You'll see what I mean XD.

Light's realization hit him a bit like an atom bomb and he didn't know WHAT to think. He had at least five possible reasons why Ryuzaki COULD live at the hospital, but none of them seemed plausible. What could he do? Confront the doctor-in-disguise with what he'd just found out, or try to steer the conversation that way?

Ryuzaki seemed to realize they were headed for dangerous ground, because he abruptly changed the subject. "Did Light-kun have any friends growing up?"

It almost made Light angry. This shadowy-eyed man could ask any personal question he wanted about Light, but he was evasive as hell when it came to answering about himself, and he wouldn't voluntarily give up a shred of information. It was the worst kind of hypocrisy.

"I thought we said enough about me," Light said pleasantly. "We were discussing you, friend."

"I'm not interesting," Ryuzaki said flatly, and pressed onwards. "Light seems like he was popular as a child."

"It's not of any interest," Light snapped, and all the irritation that had been building up tonight threatened to show through his carefully built façade. "I don't really want to talk about myself."

"Then there's no use in a conversation," Ryuzaki murmured. He looked at the TV, which was now thankfully not blaring about mating wildebeests. Instead, some b-list actress sobbed as the girl she portrayed found out she was adopted.

Light stood up, taking every ounce of composure not to fling over the coffee table. "You're infuriating!" he snapped.

Ryuzaki shrugged. "If that's the case, Light-kun shouldn't be friends with me."

Light stood there, seething for a minute, and was almost prepared to announce that he had no desire to.

Two things stopped him. The first was the daunting question at the back of his mind: Why does Ryuzaki live at the hospital?

The second was the way Ryuzaki's eyes looked like dark smudges of shadow against his pale, pale, face. They were… almost haunted.

Light mentally recited a meditation mantra and sat back down. "You live at the hospital, don't you, Ryuzaki?"

The scrawny boy nodded, making a vague noise.

Light cleared his throat. He needed to change the subject. "I don't feel well," he muttered.

Ryuzaki instantly looked up, fully alert and aware. It was as though someone had flipped on a switch. "Oh? What would be the problem?"

He immediately moved forwards and pressed a hand against Light's forehead, engrossed in finding the boy's temperature.

His other hand felt for Light's heart and the teen star blushed a little. Ryuzaki's hands were large and warm. Where were these thoughts coming from? Was it strange that he noticed that?

"Light-kun's temperature does seem slightly elevated… and his heart rate did increase just now…"

His body was betraying him! Light was only warm because of the blush that had just hit his cheeks, and his heart rate had sped up because his idiotic mind had to notice meaningless facts about Ryuzaki's hands like how surprisingly soft they were.

"It's not that," light hurriedly said, pulling away from the false doctor. "I just meant that I was tired." He'd only said he didn't feel well to distract both of them from the tension in the air.

Ryuzaki peered at Light with those horribly unnerving eyes. "Are you sure that's the only symptom?"

"You're all business when it comes to health, aren't you?" Light joked, going to take a swig of coffee and then realizing that his mug was empty. "And I'm positive."

Ryuzaki nodded repeatedly. "I see."

"Would you like more coffee?" Light asked as he stood up and collected the dishes from the table. His guest didn't make so much as an effort to help.

"No thank you."

Light piled all the cups in the sink and rinsed them. He had a maid to do hardcore cleaning every other week, but he was capable of the basics like putting his dishes in the dishwasher and making up his bed. It was simply the rest he couldn't handle- vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing the bathroom, etc. He piled the cups in the dishwasher and turned it on.

When he got back into the living room, his guest was fidgeting around nervously, inspecting Light's DVD collection.

"Bored?" Light asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes," Ryuzaki said flatly. (How impolite!)

Light realized that since the doctor had been here, they'd only sat in the living room and chatted. (Well, battled was more like it.) His proper host autopilot was kicking in again.

"I guess you haven't seen the rest of the place," Light offered. "Want the grand tour?"

Ryuzaki shrugged and made an 'after you' motion with his hands.

Light led him down the hallway. "Well, on the right is the bathroom if you need it… Here's my room, and here's the guest room… Back there in the living room is a way to the balcony, and in here is the … I guess you could call it the studio. I keep my books and computer in here."

Ryuzaki made a beeline for the bookcase. "Light is fond of reading, I see."

The teen tsar shrugged a little. "When I have time."

"There's quite a range here. Anne Rice… Niccolo Machiavelli… Arthur Conan Doyle… Isaac Asimov and Clive Barker?"

"That's just part of it," the teen star said with a laugh. "I should take the time someday to arrange them by author and title, but right now they're just jumbled around."

The sometimes-doctor looked around the room. "This is a very nice room, and it isn't even Light's bedroom. Given the choice, I'd sleep somewhere like this, surrounded by books."

Light was having another of those moments of temporary insanity. An idea kept nagging at him, and he couldn't dismiss it even though he knew it was clearly insane.

Pushing it to the back of his thoughts, he went over and picked out a book. "You should read this one- 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveler', by Italo Calvino. It's fantastic, it plays with literary devices and stories-within-a-story and second person narration…"

Ryuzaki wasn't looking at the book in Light's hand. He was staring, as if hypnotized, at Light's face.

Light lost his train of thought and stumbled over his words. "You could… um, borrow… um…"

Ryuzaki's eyes wouldn't leave Light's. "I would like that," he murmured.

Damn it, Light's idea was now dancing in front of his face, begging to be carried out. He couldn't take it, so he blurted it out.

"You know, Ryuzaki," he exclaimed, "I never know when I could get sick!"

The dark-eyed boy looked at him strangely and the 18-year-old realized he was making no sense. He quickly continued.

"I don't actually have a doctor of my own. Whenever I get sick I usually just go to wherever I'm closest to at the moment. But… it would be much easier if I had a doctor of my own, that I can just call when something's up."

Ryuzaki tilted his head and looked blankly at Light.

"It'd be even easier if I could just go home and get medical treatment," Light continued, "that way when I was bedridden, I wouldn't have to try to get to a doctor's office."

Ryuzaki's eyes widened more then they already were. "If Light-kun is-"

"If you want," Light murmured, "you could stay in this room. With all my books. I mean- this is just up to you. But it sure would be convenient to have my own personal Doctor L here. And, anyways, L doesn't need to stay at the hospital, right? He can just work cases over the phone."

Ryuzaki was stunned silent for a full minute. Actually stunned. Light could get to like shocking the pale boy.

Finally, he managed to get the words out, in a small, carefully flat voice that barely restrained emotion. 'Yes. I would like that, Light-kun."

Wooooow! He finally did it! I've been building up to that for the last three chapters and now I finally got it out! Next chapter there will be lots more storyline progressing and Mello will finally get some development XD I had SO much trouble with this chapter that it's not even funny, and I don't even know why.  But I managed to get it out. I hope I don't start getting blocked!

In personal news… hmm… I saw The Dark knight recently, and it was AMAZING. That, and I went to a CARNIVAL! To anyone who doesn't know me, I'm pretty much OBSESSED with carnivals. Any time I get to go to one I get uber happy, and I got to go with my boyfriend and see friends I haven't seen in MONTHS since school ended, so it was a good day. Anyways! Review por favor! Love you all!