Hello again loyal fans! I guess I lied about more frequent updates. T.T;; It's not going to get any better for a while, so sorry. Probably around Thanksgiving things will start to speed up. On a happier note, the election is finally over! No more campaign ads! Whooo! Not dragging politics into this, but at least I can turn on my TV safely again.
Anyway, read read read! =3 The second paragraph of italics is a dream flashback, just so you know.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk… See you later, Light."

The demonic, scratchy voice sent chills up Light's spine. He could not see the source of the noise, but he knew that if he could just remember, then everything would make sense.

A book. There was a book. He had gotten rid of the book. Why? He was innocent. Not Kira. He had never been Kira. So why did the demon haunt his sleep?

"No…" L blinked open his large, expressionless eyes and peered at the teen sleeping next to him. "…no, I'm not Kira… leave me… alone… you monster… no… no, I hate… apples… I've always hated apples… go away…"

The boy was twitching fitfully in his sleep, his normally perfectly carved face twisted into a grimace as he continued to whimper. "…won't kill… monster… not Kira…" His murmurings grew more and more jumbled, until they stopped altogether. Assuming Light's nightmare had ended, the detective closed his eyes again and tried to get comfortable in his position on his back. He hated sleeping like this.

He had almost drifted off when he heard a faint whisper.

"Ryuzaki…"

He strained his ears to hear the murmured words. "Make it stop, Ryuzaki… make Kira leave… Ryuzaki… hold me… I don't want to die…"

The auburn haired boy lapsed back into a fitful sleep, twisting the bedsheets around his body. L frowned and pulled the blankets back towards him. Light fumbled in his sleep, missing the warmth of the comforter. His search brought his hands to L's arm, which he curled around, nuzzling his cheek into the hollow between L's shoulder and neck. "Hnnn…warm… no more Kira…"

L smiled a little at the boy curled up beside him. The teen radiated warmth and peace, and L found himself drifting off as well.

----

Light blinked several times to clear his head. The light hit his eyes painfully after the dark of his pillow. He groggily flopped his face back into it, then immediately shot up, wide awake, at what his head touched. He stared down at the detective sleeping peacefully below him, neck red from where Light's cheek had been pressed against it. He thought in horror back on the previous night, wondering what on earth could have made him seek comfort from L of all people.

He remembered a nightmare. The same one he had every night, that he could never remember by morning. But he felt that this time, it had been different. The nightmare had ended well.

Red eyes advanced on him from the darkness, glowing in a shadowed face. He knelt desperately, hiding his face from the terrible creature. "K-kira…" The sinister being loomed over him, as always, and he felt its hands on his throat. Blackness overcame his eyes, and then— a light, bluish and soothing, washing over his tortured body, healing it. The killer backed away, its limbs disintegrating on contact with the light. He looked up, and saw two familiar eyes. "Light-kun."

L had saved him. L had stopped the nightmare. He gazed at the sleeping man with newfound wonder. How could someone as insensitive and uncaring as him dispel the darkness and fear that came with his sleep?

Shaking his head, he crawled off the bed so as not to disturb L, and walked to the bathroom.

----

Once L heard the shower running, he opened his eyes. He had felt the boy stiffen when he woke up, realizing what he had grabbed onto in the night. A small whimper had escaped his lips as he relived the nightmare, but then his body had relaxed and his grip on L's arm had loosened.

He lay there, not willing to wake up yet, listening to the water drumming on the tile in the other room. Had he really banished Light's nightmare? He didn't know how he had done it, as he had never cared what others dreamed about before. But it seemed that by simply touching Light-kun, he had calmed the teen. Sighing, he took out his laptop and flipped open the screen, resuming the night's work.

Light emerged from the bathroom, towel around his skinny hips, and did a double take when he saw L, awake, already typing away.

"Ryuzaki!"

L looked up, seemingly unconcerned with Light's state of undress. It's like I thought, he really is asexual, Light mused, before shaking his head. "How many times have I told you not to sit like that?"

L's eyes grew wide in fake innocence. "Sit like what, Light-kun? This is how I always sit."

Light eyed the slumped shoulders and extended neck. That couldn't be healthy. "Ryuzaki…" he began rummaging for a pair of socks. "That's why the doctors straightened out your spine! Do you want it to heal like that?"

He turned back towards the bed, only to find L staring at him placidly.

"…Never mind."

Aaaagh... I started this series with Light's english name and now I'm really regretting it... I can't change it in the middle either. Never going to do that again.