My awesomely awesome fashion statement of a wrapped up hand and I are BAAAACK! Yep, bone bruise, soft tissue damage, and all, now that the AP test is over, I'm determined to type another chapter. Oh yeah, the vote came back with L on top, pun definitely intended.

L sat serenely in the coffee shop. He and Light had discovered it about a week earlier on one of their walks together through the campus. The shop was tucked out of the way, between two shady oaks that had tables under them so that if one wished, one could sit under the trees on a nice day and enjoy the weather while eating. L had, on this day, elected to sit inside, as it was getting rather hot out, and he preferred the the air conditioned store to the sweltering heat outside.

He and Light had now known each other for about a month. L had found that month very enjoyable. Never before had he had a companion to spend time with. He was sure Light had other friends, but he seemed to enjoy spending time with him as well. L's laptop, as usual, was opened in front of him and he was typing in between sips of his extremely sugar-laced tea and bites of his little coffee cake. The book was progressing at a nice clip. He was used to the secondary character's presence now, and found that she was adding to the story. It was fun to write for two characters instead of one.

And on top of the fun he was having writing the two characters, he was having just as much fun watching the relationship between them develop. Their bond, it seemed, was becoming stronger. They had progressed from acquaintances to friends, to, it seemed, a pair that was always together. Rather like the development of his and Light's relationship, although they certainly were not together as often as his characters were. He wondered, not for the first time, if the book was beginning to become a little more than just fiction. With the exception on the second character's gender (which he had forced into being female, mind you), she was eerily similar to Light.

Speaking of Light, he was due to arrive soon. They had agreed to meet here at 9:30 this Saturday morning, which gave him exactly 2 minutes 47 seconds to arrive on time. L had already ordered him his usual coffee, which Light kept far more bitter than L could ever stomach. It was sitting on the other side of table, directly across from him, steaming, also waiting for Light's arrival.

The bell to the door dinged as someone opened it, and L turned his head, expecting Light. Sadly, it was just Misa. She had probably been stalking Light again and had figured out that they had planned to meet here. Sure enough, her eyes lit up when she saw L. Typical. L was bait for Light, as far as she was concerned. She took a seat at a table not far from theirs. L studiously ignored her and returned to typing. When the bell dinged a second time, he didn't even bother looking up. Light had arrived with 32 seconds to spare.

Light sat across from L and took a sip of his coffee. L didn't bother to close his laptop. He had told Light not to look at it while he was typing, and Light had obeyed. He had not tried to peek a single time. L trusted him.

"Ohayo, Ryuuzaki," Light said. He tended to return to his native tongue in the mornings, before he really felt like dealing with the English language.

"Ohayo, Raito-kun," L replied in turn. "I hope the coffee is to you taste?" L knew full well it was.

"Hai. Arigato, Ryuuzaki." Light replied, taking another sip. Then he effortlessly slid back into the English he had to use with everyone else. "Misa's over there. She hasn't ambushed us yet."

"I predict she will be over here in less than 23 seconds. And the fact that Raito-kun continues to avoid Amane-san, who is, according to other males, hot, brings me to another fact."

"Ryuuzaki, do not-"

"Sixty-two percent chance that Raito-kun is gay."

Before Light could reply, Misa wandered over, exactly 23 seconds after L had said she would. L was correct, again.

"Light, I need an escort to a dance later tonight. Would you go with me?" L was curious as to how Light would respond.

"Sorry, Misa, I can't. Ryuuzaki and I have plans. We're going to be going to the zoo." Light lied as easily as he coasted through his classes.

Misa looked perturbed. "So you're choosing him over me?"

"I can't just blow off plans with someone, Misa. Maybe another time." As easy as that, Misa was happy again.

"Okay, Light! And remember! I get to have your first born!" She flounced out of the restaurant.

"Raito-kun will have to let me know how his first born turns out. I hope his child will inherit its father's intelligence."

Light shot L a dirty look. "Fat chance Misa will have my first born, or any of my children. I happen to think intelligence matters. Anyway, you up for the zoo later? I don't really want to lie to Misa...ok, that was a lie. I think she'll probably have one of the girls from her gaggle check up on us to see if we actually go. Plus, it could be fun."

L was a little surprised. It was always him that initiated and set up their outings. Maybe Light was finally accepting the fact that Ryuuzaki wouldn't always be willing to suggest something to do. "Of course I would like to go to the zoo with Raito-kun. Perhaps we could educate the public about the animals better than the zookeepers can."

Light smiled at that. "We can if you want, Ryuuzaki. How about we leave at two? Are you going to wear shoes?"

"Do I ever wear shoes, Raito-kun?" Light hadn't thought so, but it was worth a try.

SSS

Light waited patiently at the gates to the campus for Ryuuzaki and his limo to arrive. This was quite a switch. Usually Ryuuzaki was waiting for him. The sleek, black limo pulled up and Ryuuzaki opened the door from the inside to allow Light in. Light settled himself comfortably on his seat. He had learned a lot more about the enigmatic man over the last month, just as he said he would. He knew that Ryuuzaki was an insomniac who almost never slept for more than a half hour a night, if at all. He knew that he loved the library on the campus more than any other place. And he knew that he was always typing away on his laptop.

Light had been genuinely curious as to what Ryuuzaki was always doing on there, but he had asked Light not to broach the subject again, and to promise not to look at the screen while he was doing whatever it was that he did. Light would respect his wishes.

Light was resisting the urge to nod off. He hadn't slept well last night, because L hadn't slept last night. L just loved to barge into Light's room in the early hours of the morning when he wanted to discuss something. At least he had had some coffee, which was helping.

They pulled up to the zoo and hopped out of the limo, attracting some stares. A usual occurrence when you hung out with Ryuuzaki. Moving through the throngs of people, they made their way to the front gate. Light noticed that Ryuuzaki hung very close to him. He didn't like crowds. They paid, and were soon moving through the gate into the zoo.

"Well, Ryuuzaki, where do you want to go first?"

"I'd rather like to see the parrots. They are interesting to watch, as they are intelligent creatures."

"Sure. Um, Ryuuzaki...is that...Misa?" Light spotted her through the crowd.

"Raito-kun is correct. That is indeed Amane-san. He was also correct in his assumptions that she would check up on us, albeit her method was different than expected."

Light groaned. Wonderful. All he needed was Misa stalking him and Ryuuzaki through the zoo. Going anywhere with Ryuuzaki was enough without her too. "She didn't even attempt a disguise. At least she's keeping her distance."

"Yes, she probably assumes that Raito-kun has not spotted her."

Light almost sighed, but decided to try to make the best of the situation. "Ok, Ryuuzaki, we'll go to the parrots. They have a walk-in aviary. We'll probably be able to interact with them."

L seemed to enjoy that prospect. With Misa tailing them, they made their way to the parrots. There, they were able to handle the birds after sanitizing their hands. The umbrella cockatoo was the sweetest, but the sun conure had some serious personality. It was such a clown. Light briefly considered getting a bird, but dismissed the idea until later. He didn't have the necessary time to devote to one.

The entire time, Misa lurked outside the aviary. Oh yeah. Subtle. Because no one would notice a person standing suspiciously outside the bird aviary glancing in regularly but not actually approaching. THAT wasn't odd at all.

After the parrots, Light and Ryuuzaki hit up the cheetahs, elephants, and gorillas. During all this, Misa disappeared. "Ryuuzaki...where's Misa?"

Ryuuzaki glanced at him. "Raito-kun wants to find Misa? Maybe I should lower my percentages..."

Light looked at him sharply. "Ryuuzaki, once a day is too many times. Don't push it. I haven't hit you in a week. I'm just wondering were she is. She was practically on top of us until just now..."

A crowd of people was gathering around the chimpanzee exhibit. Curious, Light wandered over. And sighed. He didn't know why it happened. He didn't know HOW it happened. But, sure enough, Misa was in the chimpanzee exhibit. He groaned when she spotted him.

"Light! LIGHT! Get me out of here, Light!!" People were starting to look around for who she was talking to. "LIGHT! Person with the tan jacket and red tie! HELP!" Now their attention was settled on him. Ryuuzaki looked mildly amused. A zookeeper appeared and started barking orders at the people closest to him. Light used the opportunity to slip away. Ryuuzaki followed after him.

"How the hell do you end up accidentally in the chimpanzee exhibit? And who the heck shouts at someone to get you out who obviously can't do a thing?"

"Apparently Amane-san, Raito-kun. She is...not as bright as you."

"Or you, Ryuuzaki. Anyway, where are we?" Light read the signs and found that they were close to an exhibit he'd rather like to see. Thanks to Misa's current adventure, it was deserted around the exhibit. Looks like she could be useful, sometimes.

Inside, a panda was serenely eating bamboo. It was cute. Glancing at Ryuuzaki, he found that the raven-haired man was enthralled with the panda. It WAS rare to see one. This zoo had to have gotten special permission from the Chinese government. Grinning, he noticed the similarities between Ryuuzaki and the panda, especially the black under the eyes.

Ryuuzaki turned to meet his gaze, a small smile pulling at his lips. Their eyes met, and Light smiled.

"Raito-kun is my only friend." Ryuuzaki surprised him by saying. "I'm glad I met him in the library. It appears I have to thank Amane-san for something."

Light, startled, said, " I'm glad I met you, too, Ryuuzaki. We both have to thank Misa." Ryuuzaki began to move towards Light. He looked as if he wanted to do something, but, as usual, Misa ruined the moment.

"Liiight, why didn't you help me?" She whined, coming up on them. "Those chimpanzees could have eaten me!"

"Highly unlikely, Amane-san. Chimpanzees are mostly vegetarian. They will scavenge meat, but I doubt they would eat you."

Misa glared at him. Apparently giving him the silent treatment, she ignored him completely and waited for Light to speak.

"Ryuuzaki's right. They wouldn't have eaten you. And there was nothing I could do. I couldn't very well go in there, too. That would have only achieved both of us being stuck in there." Smirking, he asked a question she wouldn't be able to answer. "Why are you here, anyway? What happened to the dance?"

"I, uh, well, um... it was...canceled! It was canceled, and I wanted to see the...elephants!" Misa spluttered. "I was just going there now. Would you like to come with me?" Misa was a horrible liar.

"We've already been. You should still go and see them, if you came all the way out here just for that. Maybe we'll run into you again later."

Misa couldn't argue. She walked off, looking a bit miffed. Oh well. She was the stalker that had fallen into the chimpanzee habitat. Her own fault.

Ryuuzaki was still gazing at the panda, obviously deep in thought. "Ryuuzaki?" Light asked. He jerked out of his trance.

"Amane-san is gone? We should go see the rest of the animals, then." They left, heading toward the zebras.

After seeing all the animals, they headed back to the limo. They had successfully dodged Misa for the rest of the visit, and had no idea if she had left or stayed. The sun was getting lower in the sky. It was about seven, judging from its position in the sky. Light couldn't believe he'd spent five hours in the zoo. It had to have something to do with his company.

Grinning, he waited until they were settled into the limo, then pulled out his surprise for Ryuuzaki. He had bought it at the gift shop while he wasn't looking.

"Surprise, Ryuuzaki!" Light handed him a stuffed panda bear.

Ryuuzaki regarded it, then smiled. "It's very cute, Raito-kun. Thank you." Ryuuzaki settled it gently in his lap, then, as usual, pulled out his laptop and began to type. Light smiled and settled back in the seat, content.

They stopped at the coffee shop on the way back to Light's dorm to grab a bite to eat. Afterwards, they swept into his dorm and Light changed out of his clothes into what he slept in while Ryuuzaki was around. No sleeping in boxers after that first incident.

Ryuuzaki, surprisingly, yawned and shut his laptop, settling on to the floor. Light stopped him. "Ryuuzaki, you've been sleeping here a lot lately. Why don't you just sleep on the other side of the bed? It'll be more comfortable for you."

"If Raito-kun is sure." Ryuuzaki slipped onto the other side of the bed with his panda, pulling the covers around him and, for once, immediately drifted off. Tonight, it was Light who couldn't sleep.

With Ryuuzaki breathing softly beside him, it was impossible not to keep wondering just what he had felt for Ryuuzaki today, when they were watching the panda. When Ryuuzaki had come close to him, he had waited in anticipation to see what he would do. Now, it seemed he would never know.

Finally, after a lot of tossing and turning, he drifted off. He dreamt of pandas and Ryuuzaki.

Still longer! I'm enjoying doing this story. Sorry if the slight time skip bothered anyone. It just helped me progress their relationship a bit further, especially since it wasn't immediately, and still has yet to be, defined as romantic. Ahh, the parrots. I have a weakness for U2's and my co-writer is a silly, sweet, sun conure. So, question for this chapter : Favorite song? Mine's a tie between Mad World and I Want Candy (the version by Bow Wow Wow).