As always, reviews are lovely. A shortish prompt today and the two are still going at it, but for how much longer? Stick around and we'll see. :)

Note: A fritter, if you didn't know, is any kind of food that is covered in batter and deep-fried.

I don't own Death Note.

December 2
National Fritters Day

"Come on, Light-kun. I'm hungry." The dark-haired man tugged at the chain.

Light swore under his breath, still trying to button-up his shirt. If he was going to go out someplace, he was going to be dressed nicely, at the very least. L could wear whatever he pleased and have his hair as wild as possible. Had that man even heard of a comb?

He had scarcely two minutes before L had really become forceful. By the time they had reached the elevator, however, he gave up. There was no way he'd manage to get L back to the bedroom so he could get a jacket. Maybe that was L's plan all along…freezing him to death. Come to think of it, was L wearing anything to keep him warm?

As they made their way to the limousine, L suddenly stopped. Confused, Light looked back. He was shivering madly and…had no coat on. Of course. He could even hear his teeth begin to chatter.

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Um…i-it se-eems…I forgot a, ah, coat-t," he said between shivers.

"Then maybe you should go back to-"

Frowning at the even mention of it, L immediately grabbed Light's arm and rocketed toward the limousine. The chain, now removed for the outing, wouldn't be there to help him control the younger man. The door had already been opened by Watari and was jumped through with such speed that Light feared they'd end up hitting the other side of the vehicle and crack their skulls open. Luckily, they hit a mound of soft blankets. He looked up, spotting him at once.

"Ahhhh. Better." L had already snuggled into a soft blanket covered in little yellow stars. All that was visible were his half-closed eyes and nose.

Light sighed, reluctantly grabbing for a blanket covered in polka dots. After all, he wouldn't stoop so low as to choose the one with pink kittens and hearts. Well…not until he got cold enough. Maybe.

As soon as they'd gotten a table, L had taken off his shoes. No, they weren't even really shoes. They were those flimsy flip-flops that had a fine layer of dust from disuse. The detective began brushing bits of ice out of his hair. The two men sat in a booth tucked away in a corner, chosen by Ryuuzaki. Ever vigilant, his eyes swept over the restaurant from where they sat. Light sighed.

"Is it really all that necessary?"

Blinking, L turned his head to face him. "But of course. The day I stop observing is the day that I'll die. See those two women sitting over there? In the red dress and in a grey suit?" He tilted his head in their general direction.

"Yes, yes. What about them? They're talking and drinking wine."

L shifted slightly, seeming to make himself more comfortable. "Oh, they're doing a drug deal. Perhaps cocaine. They moved the item very swiftly, so I can't make definite deductions currently."

Light furrowed his eyebrows, turning to look at the pair with his peripherals once more. If L had managed to catch sight of a single slide of the hand in such a crowded, chatty restaurant…

"Really, I'm surprised you're not as observant, Light-kun," he said nonchalantly. The man's pale hands started to toy with a sugar packet. "I do hope our waitress or waiter arrives soon…I can't properly consume this without any tea."

"How are you working on the case if we're always doing these holidays, Ryuuzaki?" Surely, the man was waiting for him to slip up, just once… Just like the two women seated a ways away, he felt a twinge of anxiety about those large, dark eyes.

"Oh, you know. On and off."

Before Light could get a word in, a waitress stepped over to their table, note pad at the ready. Her eyes flickered to him first, the menu was going to pass from her hand to his, and –

"Excuse me, miss." L said out of the blue. "Could I tell you our order right now? It's a birthday surprise for my friend here, you see."

That son of a –

"Ohhh," she said in realization. A small smile came to her face as she leaned over to L. He whispered something discreetly in her ear, Light fuming the whole time. Light Yagami…did not…enjoy surprises. Especially birthday ones (today wasn't even his birthday, for Christ's sake). It was an invitation to be humiliated! Oh, L was definitely just trying to torture him…

"I'll be right back with your drinks, sirs!" With that, the women bounded off to the kitchen. Light continued to glare.

L looked back with innocence. "It's your own fault that you never check the calendar, else you would be fully aware of what we're getting."

This was going to be a long…long December.

Light stared at his plate in horror. Nowhere else could have the detective chosen something so vile, so disgusting…

"Light-kun? Are you going to eat your tempura or not? It would be a shame to waste it."

After L had drank perhaps upwards of a dozen cups of tea with incomprehensible amounts of sugar in each cup, they had finally brought out his torment. Deep-fried food. He shuddered in revulsion. But, that man just continued to stare with that sincere look on his face.

"What, pray tell, was today's holiday, Ryuuzaki?" he said lowly.

L brought his thumb to his lip. "Hmm…Fritters. Yes, that's it. Tempura was the closest thing to fritters around, so…"

"And why is it that you didn't order this?" He'd have to calm himself somehow… Light wanted L to have no reason to still think he was Kira. Not a reason in the world.

At that point, L began to stare at Light's tempura. It was more than a look of contemplation, oh yes. It was as if he thought some supreme being would sprout forth and give him an answer. Light began rapping his fingers on the wood of the table.

Then, quick as a rabbit, L's chopsticks pulled off a piece of tempura and popped it in his mouth. Frowning at the taste, he downed his cup of tea and went back to work at his ice cream sundae. Light stared down at the fried mass of "food" with a grimace on his face.

For the next three hours, Light would spend the majority of his evening in the bathroom retching into a toilet. Oh, at this moment he wanted that damned detective dead more than ever before. A cold, moist towel was brought to his forehead.

"Well, Light-kun, there's no need to worry," he said, sopping up the other man's sweat. "We don't have to eat fried food again until the twenty-first."

Light let out a groan and resumed giving his offerings to the toilet.