I am a horrible, horrible person, I know. I honestly have no excuse for not updating, except that I really just couldn't get this chapter to work. I'm still not exactly satisfied with it, but I figured I should post anyway, since it's been almost a month. And yeah, I know Light is ooc and all that, but he's in looooove! :) Give the guy some slack. Anyway, the next chapter WILL come soon! It's already halfway done. Yeah. Go read, or, if you're like me, go back a chapter to try and remember what the story's about XD

DISCLAIMER: As far as I know, I am neither Obha or Obata-sensei, so no, I don't own Death Note. But things change.

L rustled his papers once again, aware of the intense gaze trained on him. God, that boy made him feel uncomfortable. It was like those sepia eyes of his melted down all of his defenses…

He shuddered as coughs wracked his frame, tearing at his throat. Ugh, how did he manage to get sick? He never got sick. How did normal people stand feeling this horrible so often?

"Ryuzaki?" Light's voice was slightly concerned as he turned to face the detective. "Are you sure you don't need anything?"

L shrugged, grimacing at his raw throat. It would probably be best to minimize talking, but the auburn-haired teen was having none of that. "As I am taking medication, Light-kun, I believe I will be fine. This illness should go away in a couple of days."

Light frowned, going into what L liked to call his 'mother mode'. He hadn't known such a part of Light's personality existed until the accident. To tell the truth, he found Light's admonitions hilarious. "That's true, but for the medicines to work, you have to let your body heal naturally too," he reminded the older man in a patronizing tone. "You'll get better much faster if you sleep."

The raven-haired detective sighed but obeyed, closing his laptop gently. "Very well." He paused, looking at the apparently concerned boy. "Good night, Light-kun."

Light blinked, unsure of how to respond to such a natural thing to say. "Good…goodnight?" He managed to stammer before turning away to hide the heat rising in his cheeks. Why was he blushing at such a perfectly normal statement? It could be just because this was the first time Ryuzaki had said anything of the like to him. But something told him it was more to do with the day's peculiar events.

Reassuring himself that Ryuzaki's eyes were not on him, he pulled his shirt over his head, closing his eyes for a few blissful moments. He leaned back against the semi-cool wall, resting his head on it. Ever since the imprisonment, things had become so confusing. Especially him. He directed a glare in the detective's general directions, making sure that the man was asleep first. It wouldn't do any good to raise his Kira suspicions now.

Letting his feet slip slowly out from under him, he sank down to the floor, putting his head to his knees. The darkness was soothing to his tired eyes, and he let his restless mind wander as he sat there.

That man… filled his thoughts every minute of the day. It wasn't just because they were always together, or even because he had to take care of the man. There was just something special about Ryuzaki.

His intelligence was obvious. Ryuzaki was the only person Light had ever met with whom he could hold an interesting conversation. Also, his complete and utter lack of social graces made him surprisingly easy to get along with. Well, in a way. It was easy to understand Ryuzaki, because he didn't joke. However, he didn't have the politeness to keep his often rude comments to himself. It was childish really, the way he was completely unaware of how one was supposed to behave in public. That's just part of his charm, I guess, Light thought, then shot up. Wait, what did I just think? Charm? That's like saying a hippo has grace! I need sleep. Or medication. With that, Light quietly began to knock his head against the wall in a futile attempt to dislodge a few brain cells, hopefully the ones that had caused those irrational thoughts.

----

L watched in amusement through half-lidded eyes as Light continued to beat himself up over whatever he had been thinking. Light was so cute when he was in denial.

Wait, what on earth did he just think? L knew he was gay. It frankly had never mattered to him, as there was no one on the planet who he could possibly be attracted to. Except this boy. But that wasn't possible. Light-kun was a suspect. No. He couldn't. And yet, he was.

If the surprising turn of the day's events was anything to go by, then he was definitely attracted to the irritable teen. Of course, that made it all the more difficult to be chained to him. It wasn't so much the proximity as L's long-suppressed sexuality finally rearing its ugly head at the most inopportune of times. Yes, L thought, there was definitely a problem with this arrangement.

He gave an almost inaudible sigh as he felt the bed shift slightly, still not giving any signs that he was awake. Soon, a warm body lay beside him, not asleep yet. He allowed his lips to twitch upwards, and "unconsciously" snuggled closer.

----

Light sighed and allowed himself to melt into the warm figure pressed against his back. It was nice, at times like these, to just forget about Kira, forget about everything except for… L. Well, of course he couldn't forget L; the man was right next to him. But Light had the feeling that he would be thinking about the insomniac even if they weren't sleeping in the same bed. Or in his case, thinking.

Why did he let the man get to him like this? He should keep his emotions behind a blank façade as he always did, but somehow he found himself unable to. What is this?

He's the only person I've ever met who's as smart as me, maybe even smarter, he reasoned. But that doesn't explain these feelings. Sort of… tingling, everywhere, when he looks at me. All the signs pointed to the obvious. Light had read enough of his sister's romance novels to know that this was a symptom of love. But of course, if there was one thing Light excelled at, it was denial. If it was even anything, which it isn't, it would be physical attraction. Not that he's good looking or anything, just the strangeness of it all. That's it.

And so, Light did what he did best. Deep down, he knew that he was just fooling himself. But this case was going to get them killed anyway, so as long as he kept it buried until one of them died, he was good, right? He looked down and over his shoulder to the quietly breathing detective. Hm, he's much less creepy with his eyes closed. Almost… cute. Had he been fully conscious, he would have berated himself for thinking that. Keeping with the denial thing, you know. As it was, he smiled slightly and shifted so he was facing the detective, closing his eyes as soon as his head hit the pillow.

----

L opened his eyes, free to move about now. Or he would have been, if it weren't for the man currently spooning him, which was most likely unintentional on Light's part. There was that 1% chance, though…

Hmm. 1% wasn't nearly enough, but he was L. He had tried things with worse percentages than that and come out unscathed. Anything with an over zero percent success rate was game for him. And he couldn't stand waiting any longer.

That was it then. He would finally know for sure, one way or the other. A few hours, though, to give Light some time to get good and sleepy. The younger man would never say something like that if he were awake. And so, L waited.

----

It took only an hour for Light to enter the deepest level of sleep, but it seemed to take years to the bored detective. He had taken to running through scenarios in his head, which is what he usually did when catching criminals. Fitting, I suppose, he thought, considering he's Kira.

He looked up when he noticed the change in Light's breathing. The room was completely dark, except for the flashing red numbers on the alarm clock. 1:57. He smiled wryly, knowing that on a normal night he would not even be thinking of sleeping right now. But for his plan to work…

He lay down carefully, assuming the most natural position he could, and closed his eyes. Slowing his breathing, he waited several seconds, then coughed very loudly, the noise tearing at his already sore throat.

Light's eyes shot open at the sound. He shook L gently, unsure of whether to wake him. "Ryuzaki? Are you okay?"

L blinked his eyes. "I think I shall be fine, Light-kun—" He broke off as another round of coughs sounded through the room. "On second thought, perhaps a glass of water would be helpful."

Light, relieved that he could help, reached over to his bedside table. "Here, Ryuzaki, there's some left in my glass." He felt with one hand for L's hand, then pressed the glass carefully into the other man's palm. L went very quiet for a moment.

"You want me… to drink out of your glass?"

"Well, yes," Light said, sounding puzzled. "You need water, don't you?"

"Yes, but… the glass you drank out of?"

"YES, Ryuzaki. I've been here for months, you know I have no germs that you don't by now!"

Light obviously did not understand the significance of this, but hey, L would take what he could. He was worried now, though, that Light was too awake for his plan to work. "Light-kun? Are you tired?"

Light sighed. "Of course I am." Sensing what L was about to suggest, he added, "but I'm not going to sleep while you can't."

L smiled to himself. Light certainly sounded tired. "Very well then, Light-kun. What shall we do to keep ourselves entertained?"

"I don't know. You're the one who wants to stay up in the first place."

L's eyes sparkled with a combination of mischief and excitement. "Light-kun, why don't we play a game?"

O.o There's a lot of sighing in this story. I just realized that. And yes, the Truth chapter is next. -Can't wait-
It's really sad when you're excited about a new chapter of your own story.