Everything L knew about the nature of love he based on observation, books, scientific research, and psychological studies. No opportunity for friendship ever occurred in his childhood, let alone for romance, so when he got squeamish watching his favorite suspect Light Yagami sleep peacefully beside him, he thought his little cold had become the flu.
L, at the moment, was not sleeping.
Thought this in itself was not unusual, something aside from work and insomnia was keeping awake.
There was a thunderstorm.
L knew it was silly to be afraid of thunder and lightning. Logic told him they were forces of nature completely incapable of causing harm to him while he was safe inside, perched on a pillow with his laptop. Unfortunately, reason could not keep him from jumping at the crackling sounds outside. He distracted himself with his laptop, mostly in vain, until a huge burst of noise came and suddenly his screen went black. L had forgotten to recharge his battery, and unluckily the storm had brought on a blackout. Without the soft bluish glow of the computer, L was left in pure black. The absence of sight slowly sunk in. The only source remaining were the violent chains of lightning that struck every so often. L no longer felt secure within the room's walls. The darkness ripped away visual proof of safety, and terror was writhing inside him. He needed a diversion, preferably in the form of something sugary and covered with sprinkles-however, in order to obtain anything of the sort, he would need to move closer to the dreaded window and also wake up Light.
Normally L would not even considering annoying Light a significant problem-sure he'd been nice the other day, but all things considered he didn't care too much if he pissed him off. The problem was that if he roused Light and the teenager sensed him worrying, it could cause long-term problems as far as revealing his one, stupid weakness.
A roar of thunder sounded, coming from a closer location this time. L had no choice.
"Light-kun,"
He poked Light's shoulder.
Nothing happened.
"Light!" he repeated, a little louder.
"Mmm…what?"
"Get up."
Light shook his bangs out of his face and rose sleepily.
"Why? It's not morning yet."
"I need cake." L explained, already feeling a little less freaked now that Light's voice intertwined with the thunder.
"You must be joking."
"Come on,"
L pulled on the chain binding them together. Light reluctantly complied, sliding off the mattress and following L. Crossing the kitchen, L felt an absurd urge to grab Light's nearby hand. He controlled it just barely, clenching his fists to resist the waves of fright and the mysterious new feeling of his stomach inverting.
"If you slept like a normal person you wouldn't get cravings this late at night." Light sighed.
They made it to the kitchen. Light flicked the light-switch, not realizing the electricity was not of use at the moment.
"There's a blackout." L informed him.
"Well how are you going to find your cake in the dark?"
"I'll manage."
L couldn't see Light rolling his eyes. He wandered over to the refrigerator at the other side of the room.
"I hope you're at least going to share with me for making me go through all this trouble." Light joked.
A brilliant light suddenly flashed by them. L had completely forgotten about the kitchen window. Thunder engulfed his ears, and overcome by it all, he rushed into Light and clung desperately to his waist.
"Ryuzaki! What the hell?"
L barely comprehended, shaking violently. Light opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and instead put his arms around L's shoulders.
"What are you so freaked out about? It's just a storm. It'll end soon."
The tone of Light's voice was gentle.
"I hate thunder." L said, the words muffled from his head being pressed against Light's chest.
"Yeah, well, it's just a bunch of noise. Don't be so weird about it."
L loosened up slightly at Light's words.
"Better?"
L wrapped his arms around Light shyly, closing his eyes, at peace. Light's heart forgot how to work for a second.
"Um…Ryuzaki?"
All calm left his voice.
"I never knew people were so warm. It feels nice." L said, half to himself.
Light patted L awkwardly on the head.
"Er, yeah…"
Light was torn between shoving L away and yanking him closer. L sensed he was doing a crazy thing, but the same part of him that gave birth to his stomach gymnastics told him he was happy.
"I apologize, Light-kun. I act strange when this happens.
L's brain regained control and he felt his arms empty themselves of Light. In the dark he could not see the deep blush covering the other boy's face.
"It's okay."
Without words they returned to bed, but not to sleep. Light closed his eyes, but his mind never settled down. L's trembles were still running down his arms it seemed, the soft black hair was still against his hand…this could not be happening.
L was no longer naïve to what he felt for Light, but the full knowledge of it was even more of a problem. How was it possible that he felt totally safe only in the arms of the man who was most likely Kira?