Shorter prompt this time around. But really, every chapter is short compared to day twenty. I'll continue updating into the wee hours. I want to get to the twenty-third before I get to sleep. After all, what would this fic be without the Christmas chapter posted on Christmas? That would be madness, I say. Pure madness. Thanks for the feedback I've been receiving! Keep it coming. :)

Oh, this one was actually going to have four holidays on the same day, but...I cut one. XD It would've made for an insanely long chapter title, and it wasn't all that important of a holiday (another frivolous food one). Don't worry, it wasn't even a cool food like macaroni and cheese or pizza. It won't be missed.

I don't own Death Note.

December 21
Look at the Bright Side Day, Flashlight Day, and Hamburger Day


Yet again, Light had been dragged into the limousine while the outside temperature was well below freezing. He could do little but allow himself to be forced inside of the vehicle by the detective, else he would have to face the man's mysterious Hulk-like strength. Perhaps he was exaggerating, but L was certainly stronger than he looked. Well, he may have been a twig which would mean any form of strength would be a surprise, but still. Light preferred to not suffer through any unnecessary bruising.

For the first time he'd known the man, L was actually properly dressed for the cold. Well, perhaps he had over-done it a little this time around… He had on an enormous fluffy black coat, his three scarves, thick mittens, a gray fur trapper hat (what hair that was visible poked out every which way from under it), and his winter boots. Light had to admit, he was impressed.

The detective pulled a warm fleece blanket around his body. Neither had said much to each other after the tiresome series of games had ended and, as far as Light knew, L had not slept. Normally, this fact wouldn't be that significant. L was known to go days at a time without a wink of sleep. Yet now he almost felt…guilt? This was especially strange, seeing as Light couldn't change what the man had dreams about and that he still was plotting his demise. As soon as the month was over, he'd have every opportunity in the word...

Glancing over, he noticed L was now studying him with his dark eyes.

"We are currently en route to Sonic. It is a popular drive-in restaurant from America where we will complete holiday one of three for today."

Light blinked. "Drive-in restaurant…?"

"Yes. You stay in your car and order from there. They bring food to the car. It's not complicated, Light-kun."

"So I'm assuming we are getting the hamburgers from there?"

Nodding, L drew his blanket tighter around his body. Honestly, how cold could he get in a heated limousine? The detective kept his gaze upon the passing buildings outside shortly afterward. It seemed like an eternity before they actually arrived at the restaurant. All sorts of neon lights adorned the place, cars pulled into individual slots. Menu panels separated each vehicle and servers darted out to give customers their food through open car windows, desperate to get back inside of the main building. Some benches were out as well, but unoccupied and covered in a thick blanket of snow and ice.

But where were they going to fit a limousine, of all things?

Somehow, one slot at the very end was unoccupied, thus allowing them to pull in and not disturb the flow of traffic. Not that many were brave enough to go out in the freezing winter weather, though.

L put his blanket to the side, going up to the speaker in the front to speak to Watari. His finger rested on the button to begin communications, but he paused to turn around and face Light.

"What would Light-kun like to drink? They have soft drinks, water, coffee…"

"Just…water would be fine."

"Very well." He then pressed the button, speaking into the receiver. "Other than my usual order, we are also here for two hamburgers and one bottle of water."

"Is that all, Ryuuzaki-san?" the elderly gentleman inquired.

"Yes, that's all. Thank you."

The two merely sat in silence once more until their food arrived twenty minutes later. Light was quite confused, as he'd thought it was a fast food restaurant…until he saw their order being carried by three servers. Not one, but three. L unknowingly licked his lips in anticipation which made Light wonder…what was his "usual" order? Once the servers were close enough, the detective quickly rolled down his window and received the bags upon bags of god knows what. Upon the last bag making its way inside, they looked to him expectantly.

"Oh, yes. Your pay. Please go to the driver's window. He will cover the cost."

And the tinted window was rolled up in their faces. They stared dumbly a moment before noticing that the driver's window was indeed down and proceeded to shuffle over.

Light peered inside one of the bags and all he could see were perhaps each flavor of sundae the establishment had to offer. The next had seven different kinds of milkshakes. The one after that contained more slices of pie than he cared to count. There were still five other bags.

"Ah, here are the burgers," L stated, setting the bag off to his right. "Here is your bottle of water, Light-kun."

Sighing, he took the thing and removed the cap to take a quick drink. "Ryuuzaki, correct me if I'm wrong, but…did you just order one of everything off of the dessert menu?"

"…perhaps I did."

"And that's your…usual?"

"Well…yes."

He really couldn't think of anything else to say to that, but the thought of all that sugar was certainly making him nauseous. Light drank more of his water to distract himself.

It was then that the limousine began to back up and leave the fast-food place. Light looked to L in mild confusion, though the man had already started on a chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream cone. He found himself having to tear his gaze away from the cone, momentarily distracted.

"Ryuuzaki, where are we going?"

L licked up the side of the chocolate shell again. Damn, why was that so distracting? "Patience, Light-kun. We'll be there in a mere ten minutes."

Two sundaes, a slice of pie, and a slushie later the limousine had finally come to a halt. Peering out the windows, Light noticed they were right outside the city park. It was practically uninhabited. Just as he was about to turn around and face L once more, all of the lights suddenly turned off simultaneously. He froze in surprise, primarily because he couldn't see a damned thing. Something warm was placed over his hand in the darkness.

"There is your hamburger, Light-kun. I have never had one myself, so – "

"You've never eaten a hamburger?" Granted, Light was a self-admitted health-nut, but…to have never eaten a hamburger? Did he live under a rock, or did his diet really exclude anything that wasn't a dessert item or fruit?

"I do believe I just said that."

Shaking his head in the dark, though pointless in the dark may have been seen by the detective's freaky night-vision anyway, Light began to remove the wrapper from his burger to begin eating it. Every now and then, when he got an inexplicable urge to eat something unhealthy, it always ended up being hamburgers. He wasn't quite sure why, but greasy fast-food beef patties had their appeal on occasion…

He heard another foil burger wrapper get opened in the car with some hesitation. Light slowed his own chewing to listen in. Minutes passed and the crinkling of foil was not heard again. He had to smile to himself in amusement. Rather than taking a bite and crumpling the wrapper closed in disgust, L was eating real food. Or rather, as close to real food as he was going to get.

Light had roughly one or two bites left of his hamburger when the detective's voice rang out in the dark. He was stopped mid-bite.

"Light-kun…"

He didn't like the sound of that. "Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

"The burger, despite my initial dislike for it, turned out to be considerably delicious… However, seeing as though my body has not ingested those kinds of fats and that much protein in one sitting my stomach is very displeased with me. It's very disappointing, really, because of how many desserts that I still have left…"

"And you're telling me this why…?" He went ahead and took another bite from the remains of his meal.

"I think it would be best for me to lie down, and Light-kun's lap would more than likely make a suitable pillow so perhaps – "

Light found himself nearly choking on the burger that had tried to go down his throat. The mass ended up traveling down to his stomach a few short seconds later. His voice came to him very quickly.

"Somehow I don't think that's a very good idea."

Despite the lack of light, he was almost certain L had a slight pout. "Light-kun agreed that he is my friend last night, and one English song in particular claimed that when one friend is not feeling particularly well, the other will offer their support and – "

"I get it already!"

"So does that mean you'll allow me to use your lap as a pillow?"

Damn it. He was forced into a corner. By refusing him, his answer from the previous night would be taken as a lie. He drew in a large breath and released it. Oh, how he would regret this decision.

"…fine."

It was but a fraction of a second later when he found that the detective's head was already resting on his lap. His body stiffened at the contact. One of Light's hands had been resting close to where L rested his head. His burger had been whittled down quite a bit and both hands were no longer necessary to hold up the thing. He felt some of L's shaggy hair brush against his fingers, nearly making him want to shiver. The strands were unbelievably soft and he suddenly felt the urge to reach over and –

He shook his head of the thought at once. There was no way he was going to start petting L.

Not even if his hair was softer than a baby rabbit.

Nope.

"Light-kun, you are feeling rather stiff. Has the burger bothered you as well?"

The closeness of L's voice nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"No, no, of course not…"

"Very well. Now, onto phase two."

Phase two?

Reaching down somewhere, L pulled out some sort of object. With a soft click, a beam of light suddenly was directed toward the front of the limousine. Ah, yes. The flashlight. One of the detective's hands cast a shadow in the light…and turned into a duck shadow-puppet. He raised an eyebrow at the display.

"Light-kun," the detective suddenly said, 'speaking' through the duck shadow, "I am in great need of stomach ache medicine and a nice cup of lavender tea. Therefore, I will swiftly proceed to phase three so that we may return to the building. Do you wish to protest?"

It almost sounded too good to be true.

"No, it's perfectly fine. Go right ahead."

"In that case, I have a 'bright side' to share with Light-kun," the duck 'said.'

Wait, why was he still looking at that ridiculous shadow when L was right under his nose? He quickly shifted his gaze downward though L was still focused on his puppet.

"Go on."

"Consider this: you haven't had to be in Misa's company for a full twenty-one days."

A silence filled the limousine as the piece of information settled into Light's mind. True, he was slightly worried that it was obvious to L that he for the most part loathed the super model…and yet, he couldn't help smile at the realization.

Perhaps he could learn to enjoy the next ten days. After all, it was ten more days that he would be Misa-free…