Because of my Death Note marathon and Birthday Party-ing it up (not my birthday, though), I have gotten even farther behind. XD Oh well. Hopefully this chapter will make all forgiven? I made it super-special and stuff. Don't worry, Christmas is going to be exciting.
But there is one section below where there's a number of different languages, but it's all the same phrase. If you happen to be fluent in one of those and you see a mistake in translation, please feel free to let me know so I can correct it! I just used Google translator. XD So, for instance, I'd like it to be something along the lines of "Line three which is blah-blah should be Blah blah blah blah..."
This time around, I was listening to Storytime from the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack. Well, that one in particular from that CD. I adore Elfman, and this soundtrack fit the mood of the chapter (for the most part) very well indeed.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
I don't own Death Note.
December 24
Eggnog Day and Christmas Eve
The over-all atmosphere was…different, to say the least.
Upon waking that morning, Light could feel the change. It was almost like those mornings when you knew, even before leaving the house, that it was destined to be a rainy day. But was the change surprising? In retrospect, no, not really. Up until Wednesday he hadn't been kissed (on the cheek) by the world's most famous detective, nor had he practically been cuddling the traumatized man. Months ago (which seemed like an eternity now) he hadn't really been told of this being in the job description of a task force member. Would he still have joined had he known what was in store? In all honesty, Light couldn't rightly answer that one (other than with 42). Did he regret getting involved with the case to get closer to L? Initially, "closer" meant he would actually see the man's face and somehow find out his name to get it written in his Death Note, thus removing his greatest impediment. Now, though…was he too close?
He agreed with L that they were friends.
Was that true? Had he just said that to appease the owl-eyed man, to deflect more nosy questions? Sadly, Light found that his dedication to academics had left him with not quite that active of a social life. He'd never had quite a "best friend" that tagged along all of the time, shared secrets with him, or just did things in general with. His nights were spent with text books instead of at movies.
Stretching as he did so, Light managed to sit up in bed. He wearily looked around for the detective, following the chain with his eyes…and found that he was cuffed to the bed, all alone in the bedroom. That in itself was particularly odd because L rarely, if not never, let him out of his sight or a chain's length away. Light was without L in a bedroom, left to his own devices. Privacy. The word sounded beautiful.
However…there was one thing he felt that was especially necessary before L waltzed back in. He had to get to the internet to check something of the utmost importance. L's laptop was never going to happen… Not only did that thing require a password (that changed daily) and a fingerprint scan to unlock it, but also specially added voice recognition and an eye scan. And, as he'd overheard, if any one of the methods were failed three times, the computer would immediately wipe itself of all data. L made sure there would be absolutely no way for his valuable information to fall into the wrong hands.
So, that left Light's own cell phone. He could access the internet but…his speed on it would be painfully slow and there was a good chance that his father would want to strangle him for it. Light was mercifully still on his family's cell phone plan, which meant he evaded paying for service, but if he were to use the internet on his phone which wasn't covered on their plan he'd more than likely be quartered. Still, if he spent, say, five minutes it surely wouldn't hurt.
After using the all-powerful search engine known as Google, Light clicked on the number one result of his search: "How To Find True Friends (8 Qualities of a Good Friend)." Taking a deep breath he read on.
1. A good friend is honest.
Well…L seemed to be for the most part a source of truth. Granted, the man didn't talk about his findings that pointed towards Light being Kira or anything like that, but he was one to stick to facts otherwise. If something smelled positively nasty and he wanted no part in it, he most certainly made sure to inform Light. And, most recently, he told him about his own upbringing.
Light had to shake his head, having quickly lost himself in contemplation over the twenty-third. The day where L finally acted like a human being.
But…that was just one sign. There were still more. He wasn't convinced, not just yet.
2. A good friend is fun, unique, and interesting.
"Unique" was certainly a good way to put it. No one sat on a chair like L did, held a cell phone so strangely, ate exclusively sweets and fruits, never slept, went barefoot as often as possible, hunched their backs constantly, and wore practically the same clothes every single day while being the opposite of a bum (in other words, filthy stinking rich). Interesting? Once again, well qualified. The man played all kinds of instruments, more than likely knew far too many languages, was well versed in Shakespeare, had a deep understanding of philosophy, could pick out the smallest of details and analyze them, fought on par with box-office martial arts fighters, had enormous black eyes that constantly scrutinized anything and everything, and…okay, he needed to stop.
Fun? Well, that he was a little more reluctant to look into. Fun people, to Light at least, possessed a sort of aura that exuded happiness and were over-all pleasant people. L was no longer quite the scourge of the earth in his eyes, but he didn't really…exude. But they had gone to the circus…and managed to listen to a free classical music performance while eating ice cream…and played board games…and –
God damn it!
Hesitantly, he scrolled down to number three.
3. A good friend is attentive and adaptable.
Ha, if there was anything L was the most skilled at, it was paying attention. To everything. He was almost scared shitless one morning when L commented that he noticed how Light brushed his hair with forty-five strokes that morning opposed to his usual fifty. Yes, L definitely did not lack attentiveness.
Wait, why was he still agreeing with these things? Frowning, he moved on to the next one, not bothering with three's second component.
4. A good friend is supportive of you and your goals.
Light found that he started chuckling to himself right off the bat. Supportive of his goals? Oh, that certainly couldn't be farther from the truth. He finally felt some relief. If L truly was a "good friend" as classified by the website, then the world would've been in the palm of his hand already.
5. A good friend is a friend you can trust.
Hmmm… Well, it was best to probably stick with the specific characteristics they had listed. Did L try to steal his girlfriend? Nope. There had to be something seriously wrong with him if he did… Anyway. He wasn't trying to steal Light's "job," seeing as though L was his employer of sorts. He doubted L wanted to steal his personality, however that was supposed to work. Did L gossip? Ha. That was a funny sight to imagine. Did L try to damage his reputation? Now he was getting somewhere! If accusing him of being Kira every five seconds wasn't damaging to Light's reputation, he didn't know what was. Did L stick up for him when he was in trouble? Light scratched the back of his head, unable to find any facts to agree or disagree that were all that significant. Most of the time, it was usually him dragging L out of situations…
6. A good friend makes it clear they care about you.
…moving on.
7. A good friend sticks with you in good times and bad.
It was debatable that the chain kind of prevented L from not being around. Though he did willingly go to Light's house.
And stayed out in the freezing cold in the middle of a forest with him.
And snuck into the concert hall with ice cream.
And decorated a Christmas tree. And went through the trials of a grocery store.
And –
Oh god. Stop it. He had to stop that train of thought. Immediately. Was this thing even still helping him at the slightest?
8. A good friend accepts you for who you are, even when you're being a butthead.
Light banged his head against the wall behind the bed.
"Fuck."
Thunk.
"Fuck."
Thunk.
"Fuck."
Th-
"Hey, Light!" came the rumbling voice of Ryuk from the ceiling.
Light couldn't help but let out a yelp in surprise. The Shinigami chuckled.
Why the hell did you scare me like that!
He didn't want to risk speaking, even when he was seemingly alone with Ryuk.
"I thought it would be fun…and it was. Say, why were you banging your head just then? I heard it kills human's brain cells…"
I just came to a sudden, crushing realization. But surely you should know what it is by now, seeing as though my life is merely your own personal soap opera which you hardly feel a need to save me from.
The auburn-haired man sent a glare to Ryuk, which proved to be incredibly ineffective.
"Hmmm, no. I don't. Go ahead and tell me, will you?"
Light rested his face in his hands, still processing his information.
I think…I'm actually friends with L.
There was absolute silence…and then the death god burst into guffaws. Light's face stayed firmly planted in his hands, not making any effort to make Ryuk cease. It'd only be useless.
And then the door opened. Light peered through his fingers, spotting L in the doorway. The detective eyed him curiously.
"Are you quite all right, Light-kun?"
The younger man straightened back up, hands resting on his lap. "Yep. Totally and completely fine."
"That's good. We have to start our preparations for Christmas and Santa's arrival, you know."
"Wait…what? Did you just say 'Santa's arrival?'"
"Yes."
"You…do know that he doesn't exist, right?"
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Just checking to make sure you're not in elementary school, is all."
Light looked at the items on the kitchen table with some skepticism. "I fail to see how this relates to today…at all."
"Nonsense, Light-kun. It's common for many cultures on the day proceeding Christmas to opt for meals which they don't have to make themselves, thus ordering out."
"But…pizza? You don't even like pizza!"
Though the detective had his back facing him as he began opening the steaming cardboard boxes, he could just hear the smirk in his voice.
"That's why I ordered cinnamon sticks with frosting dip instead."
Joy. He had a greasy pizza all to himself. Swallowing rather hard, he peered into the contents of the main box and…it was a veggie pizza. He blinked a few times, believing that it was surely an illusion. It had to be covered in sardines, beef, bacon, anything. Not that he wanted those things, but…L ordered a veggie pizza?
It turned out to be not such a horrid breakfast experience after all.
"Listen very carefully, Light-kun."
"I'm listening."
"There is no room for error."
"…okay."
"If we make the slightest mistake, all of our efforts will be wasted."
"I understand that already…"
"One milligram can – "
"Ryuuzaki."
"Yes, Light-kun?"
"Can we get on with this, already? It's reindeer food."
"Very well, then."
With that, L pulled onto the counter a good-sized brown paper bag and dumped out its contents. There were several plastic containers of green and red glitter as well as a couple dozen oatmeal packets. He carefully began to sort them out, the oatmeal in one pile and the different colored glitter containers stacked upon each other. Light seemed to be eying the glitter strangely.
"Is there something the matter, Light-kun?" he inquired, not even looking up.
How did he even…? Never mind. This shouldn't surprise him anymore.
"Why glitter? Isn't that made of things like…plastic…and glass?" Hardly edible, he thought.
"Interesting." L pulled out a large purple mixing bowl from a cabinet close-by. He set it on the table. "It sounds as though you're concerned for the well-being of Santa's reindeer…"
Oh, wait. He was right.
Damn.
"Then why are we making it in the first place if it's for nonexistent reindeer, as you just pointed out?" He crossed his arms.
L merely shrugged. "It's fun."
Light blinked…and then blinked once more. L was doing something pointless and illogical for the sake of fun? Was the world going to come to an end?
A container of green glitter was popped open by the detective. "Light-kun, please pour the packets of oatmeal into the bowl. If there does happen to be a Santa visit tonight, Kira or not, this should atone for some of your sins from this year. I repeat, some."
Sighing, the younger man began to comply. He ripped open packet after packet of oatmeal, pouring each into the enormous bowl. No matter how hard he tried, though, a little cloud of oatmeal dust was beginning to form. He waited for the thing to settle somewhat before continuing. L continued to pour the different sorts of glitter into measuring cups. Apparently, the ratio of glitter to oatmeal was practically a science. The detective crouched down to better examine how much he had gathered.
So just as the cloud had dissipated Light brought another opened packet to pour into the bowl. However, L had finished scrutinizing the cups of glitter and brought the red over to add to the oatmeal. The two hands brushed against each other for only an instant, but it did not go unnoticed. Light quickly moved his own hand away in surprise. Why had it felt so…jolting? If he'd been sleepy before, he was now completely aware and awake. L glanced at him curiously while finishing adding the red, going to grab the green afterward.
It wasn't but a few minutes later that the reindeer food was finally mixed and ready for "consumption." Though barely noticeable, it had seemed as if the two men had been especially careful when adding the last couple packets and green glitter, but…
Bowl under an arm, L started toward the door. Light's end of the chain was tugged on with quite a bit of force, causing the younger man to stumble after him. Even when he took the time to close the door behind them, L just kept on chugging along, causing Light to continue to be nearly dragged. That is, until they reached the elevator. A pallid finger pressed the button for the rooftop level.
Rubbing his sore wrist, Light looked to him strangely. "You know we both don't have a coat on, right?"
"I have been able to deduct that, yes."
"And it's freezing outside?"
"Again, yes."
He could only sigh lightly. L could be a stubborn ass if he really wanted to be. Since they were already on the upper part of the building, the trip only lasted seconds. An icy blast of wind invaded the elevator as soon as the doors pulled open. Neither could help but to shiver. Snow was falling from the sky in large fluffy flakes.
A frown settled on L's face. He was staring at the blanket that covered the roof, only inches away from the entryway of the elevator.
"Light-kun…"
"Yes?"
"…it seems I have forgotten some shoes."
Light's gaze immediately shifted to the other man's feet. Sure enough, they were bare and shoeless. How was this not surprising?
"I guess we'll need to go back to – "
"No. We will attend to the task at hand and only upon completion will we return."
"Even if you lose three toes?"
Then L padded off into the snow. His movements were noticeably stiff; it was clear that the sheer cold on his skin was maddening. But nevertheless, he continued on and began sprinkling handfuls of the reindeer food all over the snow on the roof. Even with snow-laden clouds overhead, the glitter sparkled on the white of the fallen snow.
Sighing, Light joined the detective out on the roof once the chain became rather taut. He, luckily, had enough sense to have worn shoes. It was probably not the best of ideas to have that particular pair get snow all over them, but he preferred it over frostbite. He found himself staring at some of the odd mixture sprinkled about though something pressed against his arm pulled him out of it.
L stood only a foot or so away with the giant purple bowl. Only about a fourth of the original contents remained. His giant eyes were focused on him once more, though Light found himself not quite recoiling at the sudden gaze.
"I almost didn't allow you to partake in this. I apologize, Light-kun. You may use the rest." The bowl was pressed lightly against his arm again.
Light merely mumbled an "It's fine" before taking the thing himself. He scattered some of the remains here and there where L hadn't gotten to, but found that some of the accursed glitter failed to come off of his hands. Both were peppered with green and red sparkles…and they smelled like oatmeal. Lovely. Whatever was left in the bowl got poured out near where he stood directly afterward. He turned around, looking for L.
Standing absolutely still and facing away was the detective. His head seemed to be tilted back somewhat, and his back was…straightened a bit? Light had to blink a few times to assure himself that snowflakes hadn't gotten stuck in his eyelashes. Wordlessly, the younger man began to walk toward and around the motionless detective to find out the reason for his peculiar behavior. All that could be heard was the soft crunch of snow beneath his shoes.
Light stopped in his tracks at once, only able to stare. L still remained completely still, but his eyelids had come to a close as his head was tilted toward the sky. Snowflakes had landed here and there on his windswept black hair and his dark eyelashes, having not yet melted. However, his mouth was open and tongue sticking right out. He was catching snowflakes. Every now and then a flake would drift down to the man's tongue and it would remain white and sparkling for only a short moment before melting into a tiny little puddle. The cold had made a faint pink blush rise on the detective's pale face. L looked absolutely serene and…
Beautiful.
Wait…beautiful?
He shook his head a bit in hopes that his thoughts would actually start to make sense. Where the hell had that come from? This was L, the sleep-deprived bastard that wanted him behind bars and/or dead. The cold was just getting to him, that was it… He began walking back towards the waiting elevator with the empty bowl in his hands. Light felt a tug on the chain, having pulled the detective out of his reverie, and then...a soft thud? He turned around to find L on his hands and knees on the ground. His large black eyes peered up to look at Light.
"It seems that I have fallen…" His eyebrows furrowed together, as if trying to focus on something. "Hm…it seems that I have lost some feeling in my feet."
Great.
"And what are you getting at, exactly?"
"Well, seeing as though I can't necessarily walk with numb feet," he said, pushing himself into a sitting position, "I suppose I need to be carried back to the room."
Light just stared.
"…what? I'm not that heavy, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Another long pause. L frowned.
"Light-kun, I don't have cooties."
The younger man sighed. "Fine, you big baby."
"I am no such thing. I am merely…slightly frozen."
Already at his side, Light began to get a proper hold on the man in order to lift him up. "Says the one who always has his thumb to his mouth."
"By doing so, my deductive reasoning skills are able to –" L gripped onto Light's clothes, having not quite braced himself for the sudden lift. "…increase by a large percentage."
"Whatever. Let's get back inside, dork."
Another frown. "I am most certainly not a male whale's genitals, either."
A look of confusion and horror passed over Light's face. "What?"
"That's what a dork is, Light-kun. It seems the Japanese education system is failing."
Light sighed. "Whatever. Could you push the buttons, please? My hands are full."
"But of course."
"Ahhhh. Much better." L wiggled his still icy toes a bit in the warm bucket of water. "I owe you one, Light-kun."
The younger man raised an eyebrow, standing still instead of sitting on the couch. "And what would 'one' be?"
"Hmmm…" He rested his head against the back of the couch. "I don't know right now. I'll let you know when I decide what that is. You have my laptop, yes?"
"Yeah, it's right here." Light took the thing out from under his arm and held it out to the detective's waiting hands. He finally sat down, suddenly very appreciative of the inside's warmth.
After going through the countless security measures of his laptop, L was finally able to get it unlocked and gain access to the internet. Light didn't really bother to peer over to see where he was going exactly, instead staring at the Christmas tree in the corner. Amazingly, all of those mittens had somehow kept all of their candy…
"Here we are; the Santa Radar." He situated the laptop so that Light could view the screen as well.
Tearing his gaze away from the tree, he soon found himself staring at a screen with the Earth upon it and a slowly moving, red blinking dot. Apparently the thing was somewhere in Europe… Or rather, Santa Claus was in Europe. Perhaps he wouldn't get a headache if he just went along with things.
"I will be keeping my laptop on this particular page for the remainder of the day so that we may keep a continual eye on Santa's whereabouts. So, when he's getting close, like perhaps China or Korea, we will retreat to the bedroom."
"…okay."
"And, the laptop is locked from doing anything else. Only I can access its files or travel to other websites, making hacking and stealing information futile."
Crossing his legs, Light gave him a strange look. "Even if I wanted to, how could I go about stealing information from your laptop when you're always within a few feet from me?"
"Oh, I wasn't talking about you, Light-kun," he explained swiftly.
"Then who?"
"Ninjas."
Because that made sense.
"Well, or spies. I doubt anyone other than you and the task force knows of my present location, but I can never be too careful." L then procured from some place a stack of sheets of paper and a tape dispenser. "Now, before we proceed to begin watching Christmas movies and drinking eggnog, as it is customary to do on Christmas Eve, there is one last order of business which we must attend to."
The roof. Again. L stared out at the snowy ground outside of the elevator with trepidation. There was still glitter that they'd scattered (along with the oatmeal) everywhere. His large black eyes shifted back up to Light.
"Could you possibly tape this next to the elevator entrance? I don't really care to go out into the snow again…" He scrunched his nose slightly at the thought.
Light rolled his eyes. "I suppose so."
"Excellent. Here you are." He held out a certain sheet and the dispenser. The paper was almost completely covered in writing.
As he stepped out into the crunchy snow, Light began to read through it…and found that the majority of it he absolutely couldn't read. Not that it was illegible…but rather, it wasn't in just one language. It was in twelve. He could only manage two of them, English and Japanese. Though, it was clear each of them said the same exact thing.
Santa, please follow these arrows to our Christmas tree.
サンタは、クリスマスツリーにこれらの矢印に従ってください。
Veuillez suivre ces flèches pour trouver notre sapin de Noël.
Santa, folgen Sie bitte diese Pfeile, um unseren Weihnachtsbaum.
Santa, por favor, siga estas flechas para nuestro árbol de Navidad.
Santa, por favor, siga estas setas para nossa árvore de Natal.
Санта, выполните эти стрелки, чтобы наши елки.
Σάντα, ακολουθήστε αυτά τα βέλη για το χριστουγεννιάτικο δέντρο μας.
Babbo Natale, si prega di seguire queste frecce al nostro albero di Natale.
Santa, postupujte prosím podle těchto šipek na náš vánoční stromeček.
聖誕老人，請遵循這些箭頭聖誕樹。
산타는 우리의 크리스마스 트리에 해당 화살표를 따르십시오.
And, they were all in L's handwriting. Light nearly balked at what he was looking at. Somehow, he was able to tape the thing to the outside and walk back into the elevator. L seemed to not notice his surprise and merely went to work at taping more of his instruction sheets on their way back to the room. One was placed right beside the elevator buttons, a little arrow pointing to their floor number. There were perhaps fifteen of the things in all.
The duo finally plopped onto the couch for the final time, or so Light hoped. L immediately set down his tape and pulled out his cell phone and held down a number on his speed dial. Light stretched, deciding to watch the still-falling snow outside. There were so many windows in the living room that it gave a spectacular view of the city, especially as it was starting to grow dark. The sun was falling below the horizon once more, already fatigued from its short time in the sky.
"Hello, Watari. We're ready." A pause. "Excellent. The door is unlocked."
The phone was flipped close and went back into his pocket. Before he even got the chance to inquire what they'd been talking about, the older gentleman had already pushed into the room a wheeled cart. L peered over the back of the couch, eyes slightly widening. He was getting eager for it, whatever it was.
Watari came to a stop with the cart on L's side. There was a large coffee pot of sorts sitting on a heating pad along with two festive mugs. Beside it sat a platter of cookies, a glass of milk, and three DVD cases.
"Our eggnog has arrived, Light-kun."
"Eggnog?" If there was anything other than hamburgers that was positively the least healthy thing on the planet that he could stomach and enjoy…it was eggnog. He could feel his mouth watering.
"That is what I said." The two mugs were quickly filled by the elderly gentleman. L thanked him and handed a mug to Light. "There is plenty more, if you care for a refill. Watari, before you leave, could you pop Elf into the DVD player? It would be greatly appreciated."
After inhaling the sweet smell of his eggnog, Light looked to the detective curiously. "Elf? What's that?"
L took a sip of his own mug. "Ah. It's an American film with the actor Will Ferrell. Buddy, the protagonist in the film, was a human raised as an elf in the North Pole who goes to modern civilization in search of his true identity. It's entertaining."
Nodding a bit at the information, Light went to work at his warm eggnog.
After Light had consumed at least five mugs of eggnog later, L was beginning to realize how grave of a mistake he had made. Granted, Light was still nineteen. He'd turn twenty in a mere two months, so drinking alcoholic eggnog wasn't all that serious. It wasn't as if the stuff could get you drunk easily…unless you were positively addicted to the rich holiday drink. That L hadn't counted on. He'd only had one himself, which mean his deductive reasoning skills were still in the ninety percent range, but Light…
It was clear that Light had never touched alcohol before. And, he happened to be a very…touchy-feely drunk. The detective wasn't really sure what to make of this. Elf hadn't even ended yet and here Light was, fairly intoxicated.
The cookies and milk had been placed off to the side near the tree for Santa, out of their reach. He suspected that they had a very good chance of being knocked over, if Light continued on like this…
Instead of there being a good foot or two between the two sitting men, there was practically no space separating them. L was right up against the side of the couch, so he had no place to go. Light currently had his head on his shoulder and he'd determined that hugging the detective seemed like a perfectly good idea.
"Ryuuzakiiiii…I wan more nogg," he mumbled into L's bony shoulder.
"Light-kun, I hardly think that's a good idea. Be quiet, will you? I want to hear the end of the movie."
"But Ryuuzakiiiiiii… It's yummy. Pleaseeeeee…?"
Though he knew he'd regret it later, L glanced down at the drunk man clinging to him. Oh, god. He had the puppy-dog eyes. He immediately looked away to escape the dangerous gaze. Even after drinking too much alcohol, Light could still be a manipulative little bastard.
Light clung even tighter to L. "Hey…wanna make a deal?"
That was somehow very, very frightening.
"What do you mean by that, Light? Also, please refrain from being so loud. I'm still trying to watch this." He still refused to look back at Light.
"Pshhhh." Oh, god…was he nuzzling him now? "I'll give you something awesome if you gimme more nogg."
"Define 'something awesome.'"
"Aw, but that ruins the surprise."
L was faced with two options.
One: Refuse Light's pleas. He was still in the realm of suspicion, and while under the influence…the idea of a surprise gift was very sketchy. Moreover, he wasn't so sure if an even more drunk Light sounded that appealing. If Light was at the point of fondling him now…
Two: Accept, and give Light just a little bit more of the eggnog. He didn't have anything on his person that seemed to be threatening… But, most of all, L couldn't help that he had an enormous curious streak. What would Light do, exactly? The possibilities were almost endless.
He glanced at the impatient younger man out of the corner of his eyes. Sure enough, his brown eyes were still wide and pleading…and he had started to pet his hair. God damn it. He was making this too difficult. The detective still tried to weigh his options, even though the feel of Light's hand moving across his scalp was absolutely heavenly…
He shook himself from his thoughts. If anything, he'd always been one to take risks in investigations. This was still an investigation. The risks seemed very minimal, so…
"Very well, Light-kun. I'll give you a little but more, but please…don't ask me again, all right?"
"Woohoo! I love nog…"
"I know you do."
Somehow he managed to pry his arms from Light's hold. He proceeded to reach for the younger man's mug and begun filling it with the last bit of the warm liquid from the pot. Steam still rose from the surface even after the length of time they'd spent watching the movie. He turned from the cart to hand the mug over to the eager auburn-haired man…
…and felt something warm assault his lips at once. However, as soon as he'd become aware of the sensation, it had left. Grinning, Light downed his sixth mug of alcoholic eggnog.
L's eyes, still wide in shock, could only stare forward at the television screen. Even though Light had clearly been drunk, he had kissed him briefly on the lips.
The Kira investigation wasn't going to be so simple anymore…