Chapter 6: Progress

Of course, leave it to Light to have contacts in television. As it appeared to L, Light had contacts practically all over the world specialising in everything under the sun. It would hardly surprise him if the little green men hypothetically residing beyond the earth's hemisphere knew and respected the name Yagami Light and were just waiting to do his bidding. He had to admit, there was something about him which could charm inanimate objects to his will. However, L had spent many long years learning to imitate the emotional potency generally exhibited by the underside of a shoe, and therefore remained mostly immune to the effects, managing to remain completely on his guard around his new housemate at all times. Even Light's careful consideration, his subtle undertaking of all the household chores L mindlessly neglected, and the utmost respect and courtesy Light always treated him with served merely to make him more attentive to his own behaviour, denying himself the luxury of letting his guard down. Light's plethora of contacts served as a reinforcement of how much the young man was still keeping concealed from him, and was a timely reminder not to trust him even an inch. Subtle research into whatever L could find out about Light's past reinforced this view that Light was categorically not as he chose to appear. Still, L could do little to prevent the little habits they were both slipping into through sharing the same relatively small living space.

"Did you sleep?" Light asked him as he appeared in the doorway, heading for the coffee pot which was almost incessantly on. L shook his head, and hopped up from his crouch on the sofa to follow Light into the kitchen. Seven hours of excruciating insomnia had made him hungry for something other than ringing silence, and Light observation had been added to his meagre list of hobbies over the past week and a half. On rising, Light's first question to his partner was always the same, after the look L had favoured him with on the first morning, when he had been short-sighted enough to add a poorly-placed 'well' on the end of his question.

"Is it always this bad?" Light asked as L settled himself at the table with yet another cup of coffee, poured out for him without instigation by Light. L blinked. It was unusual for Light to follow up on his first question with a continuation of the topic.

"Sometimes," L said evasively. The truth was he had not suffered from such an acute bout of insomnia for over six months, and he could feel his mental state beginning to deteriorate after almost four consecutive days with no more than an hour of sleep each day, most of it at his desk at work, much to his colleagues' disgust. He hated to think that he was so weak as to be feeling the effects of the plan he was, quite literally, executing daily, but he might have to concede that the mental effects of carrying out his contingency plan might be part of the cause of his chronic insomnia.

"Do you want my opinion?" Light asked. L blinked again, and peered at Light. This was unusual, too. Light would often ask for L's opinion on some matter or other, since L was incredibly reticent unless particularly interested in something, but for Light to ask before venturing his own opinion was unheard of.

"Speak," L replied. Although as Light was unaware of L's questionable extracurricular activities at this juncture, it was unlikely he could contribute anything useful, but in the interest of letting Light come to a conclusion which did not include L doing things behind his back, he allowed him room to suppose.

"It's obvious that you've been suffering insomnia for a number of years. The only items in this place you spend any real amount of money on are coffee and sugar, both stimulants to give you energy as a sleep substitute. The bed is the only piece of furniture which is good quality, selected for its increased comfort, probably in an attempt to raise the percentage of probability that you will receive a good night of rest. Your drugs cabinet lacks standard supplements such as cold medicine, bandages and paracetamol, but includes seven different brands of sleeping aids, all of which are opened but almost full, as if each in turn has been tried and discarded.

"As no human body can withstand long stretches without proper rest, and your attention span and alertness have decreased over the last couple of days, I can only surmise either that this is your usual state and that your behaviour prior to this point has been uncharacteristic, or that you are currently experiencing more severe insomnia than is usual even for you.

"Based on these deductions, I believe the cause of this to be either the stress of having another person in your personal zone for extended periods of time, or the lack of your usual sleeping facilities are causing your sleep deprivation."

"Do you want a cookie?" L asked boredly. "You've told me I can't sleep because I'm stressed and uncomfortable, it's no great leap of logic for a genius." In truth, he was greatly impressed with Light's staggering skills of observation.

"I also picked up on the change in your habits I could have no real way of knowing unless I was exceptionally observant," Light griped. "But if you would listen to me, I was going to suggest that you take the bed back, since I can sleep just as easily on the couch, and-"

"There's no need," L cut in. "You can keep the bed."

"Then I'm right," crowed Light. "You gave me the bedroom so that if I get up in the night for any reason you can observe my movements, and by confining me to a room with no communication devices or electrical appliances you are denying me the opportunity to contact anyone without you knowing. I admit, it is severely vexing that you do not have a desktop computer; when you go to work I have very limited methods of doing any of my own research."

"It's a necessary precaution," L muttered. His eyes were itching, and his mind felt as if it were padded with cotton wool, but sleep still refused to come for more than restless twenty minute slots, and that was if he was lucky. Still, Light had only accurately deduced one half of L's primary objective; additionally, the arrangement gave L the freedom to move without Light's knowledge, although he was scrupulously careful about what he did in his own home.

"Agreed, I do not wish to appear as if I have betrayed your trust, and I am therefore willing to submit to any methods you devise to satisfy you that it's not going to happen," Light nodded, not sounding offended at all about the mistrust L felt for him. "However, if your continued suspicions of me are causing your stress levels to put you out of action, I think it would be sensible for us to discuss a solution instead of waiting for you to drop dead on your feet."

"Is Light-kun concerned about my well-being?" L asked sarcastically. "Perhaps he was correct in his first assumption, and this is merely my usual state."

"No," Light shook his head. "You're still trying to work, but you're making mistakes due to your lack of concentration, so the desire is there, but the mental faculties are currently wanting. You left your phone at home yesterday, Ryuuzaki, leaving me free to look through your contact list and messages, which was incredibly careless for someone as cautious as you. Therefore, I am not concerned about you, but about our partnership. We cannot afford any mistakes, and I need you to be operating at full potential."

"I left my phone?" mumbled L absently, swivelling his head to scan the room for it. It was not critical, since he immediately wiped anything suspicious, but it was careless nonetheless, and gave him anxiety as to what else he might have left for L to pick up on.

"No, I was testing you," Light said smoothly. "If you were not alarmingly off your game, you would have instantly been aware of the falsehood, since I would be unlikely to tell you that I had been through your contacts of my own volition, and you ought to have been aware of the fact that your phone was with you."

"Light-kun is right," L grimaced. "That was an appalling lapse in judgement." He was shocked himself, truth be told, that he had fallen so easily into this rudimentary trap. Usually, when his judgement was this impaired, it made little difference to his outward demeanour since there was nobody to notice, but playing such a complicated game, it was painfully obvious, and it made him even more alarmed that his vulnerability had been exposed to the one person around whom he could not let his guard down.

"I am aware of that," Light frowned. "Therefore I am suggesting another compromise. You cannot sleep because you do not trust me and you are suffering from the loss of your highly comfortable bed. How often do you usually sleep?"

"About four or five hours, perhaps," L responded. Impaired or not, he had an inkling what Light's solution might be, and he was faintly impressed with its simplicity, although he would not have suggested it himself. He still had to wonder at Light's ulterior motives, though.

"Hmm, that might be problematic," Light pondered. "But I'm sure you are no stranger to boredom. Ryuuzaki, would you consider sleeping handcuffed to me? I am afraid it would impair your movements whilst I slept, since you could hardly keep the key within my reach, but it would mean you could both sleep in the bed and keep track of me, and I doubt even you would have any concern about my attacking you in your sleep or anything of that sort."

"Light-kun would be making a considerable sacrifice," L pointed out. Was the boy really thinking altruistically? But L couldn't really see any other fringe benefits for him, apart from perhaps the gaining of L's trust.

"If it's the only way, it's the only way," Light shrugged. "I don't mind if it means I have your brain back at full power. I can't do this by myself and we planned to make our first move in two days time. I need you thinking sharply when we move. Besides, I am hardly a stranger to handcuffs; it won't be a problem for me."

"Then I agree," L confirmed. If only his trust was at stake, there was little issue; he was too paranoid ever to trust Light further than he could throw a cake. Which was nowhere, since throwing perfectly delicious cake would be a shocking waste. The benefit of the arrangement was in letting Light think that he was beginning to trust him.

"The only problem is that I need considerably more sleep than you, so you might be required to sit still for a few hours when you wake up," Light explained.

"Light-kun is right, this is not an unusual occurrence for me," L nodded. "Fortunately I have a book collection to rival Light-kun's own." Besides, there was something strangely attractive in the idea of being able to watch the young man at his most innocent and vulnerable.

"So I've seen," Light smiled. "I'm glad; I would have missed my books, but you seem to own almost all the titles I had collected, and many more besides."

"Mmm," L agreed. His eyes were drooping closed, his mind and body more relaxed than they had been for days thanks to their new agreement. Against all expectation, there was something comforting in having another body next to his. He noticed Light frowning at him; his face looked oddly distorted.

"Perhaps we should test our new arrangement now?" he suggested. L thought he sounded slightly anxious. Maybe that was because his face was melting?

"Hmm?" he managed as the world slid sideways.

The last thing he heard was a heartfelt sigh, and the click of metal around his wrist.

Waking up to a ray of sunshine angling directly into his face, Lawliet's first thought was I'm waking up. That means I slept. Oh good.It was hardly the most intellectual thought process he had ever achieved, but it made him smile to himself in satisfaction in any case. For a genius, sleep seemed to be one of the few things he was unable to achieve, along with contentment and social pleasantries.

"I called your office," Light's voice drifted to his ears from the side. "They are now under the impression you are a homosexual, but I doubt you care that much."

L dragged himself into a sitting position and pushed his hair around on his head to allow for slight peripheral vision, resulting in most of it pointing skywards. From Light's smirk, he must look incredibly stupid.

"I am sure you could have come up with an explanation which did not cripple my social standing even further," L replied grouchily, although Light was correct; he didn't give a damn what anyone at the office thought. "What did you tell them? I may find it necessary to know in order to reinforce the alibi."

"I see your mind has recovered," Light said, sounding satisfied. "Incidentally, I can also tell this because in the thirty-one seconds you have been awake you have scanned the room for anything out of place, checked the location of all communication devices and observed that we are handcuffed together."

"Are you avoiding the question?" L asked acerbically. "Where is the key, by the way?"

"I left it on the table in the other room so that you could affirm that I have in fact been tied to you the entire time you slept," Light told him. "And I recorded the conversation so you can listen to it at will."

"Very forward-thinking of you," L murmured, "but effectively by using the telephone you have proven to me that you have left the room."

"I called before I dragged you in here," Light responded smoothly. "I guess I have no way of proving I took you in here straight after unless you want to use the lack of cricks in your neck as evidence."

"I will take your word for it," L decided. After all, he knew the Yagami boy to be scrupulously honest even if he was tricky with his words. "Shall we?"

"Of course," Light responded, laying aside his book and getting up, taking care not to jar the standard issue police handcuffs binding them together. "We might want to look into getting cuffs with a longer chain, though; this is fairly restrictive."

"Forgive me if my repertoire does not consist of long-chained cuffs," L deadpanned. "I rarely indulge in bondage." It was the same sarcastic humour which put his colleagues constantly on edge around him, but Light laughed delightedly as he followed him into the lounge, where L clicked the cuffs open. It was things like that, L considered, that made him believe that he might almost, despite everything, be capable of trusting Light; simply because they seemed to understand each other so well. Perhaps he was mistaken, and the past was the past. Perhaps he could afford to let himself become fond of Light, simply enjoy his company.

Immediately as the cuffs were released, Light strode over to the coffee pot and L drifted to the phone to play back the conversation between Light and the NPA secretary. By the end of the brief exchange, Lawliet was enjoying the sensation of abject humiliation which had until this moment been blissfully foreign to him. And he was no longer in any danger of trusting Light. Ever.

"Light-kun?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked innocently, placing a steaming mug of coffee and a plate of cake before him.

"It cannot have escaped your considerable skills of observation that I am an antisocial person who is unlikely to be popular at work."

"I had noticed something to that effect, yes."

"Then it would not be a very great leap of the imagination to suppose that a single day of absence from work might have gone unremarked upon if I were to fail to inform my superiors?"

"But..." Light looked perturbed. L picked up the expression and interpreted it as completely genuine, concluding that it had not crossed Light's mind to fail to report his absence. For a devious criminal mastermind, the boy was ridiculously straight-laced.

"I think it might have caused less of a stir than your message, at any rate," L continued dryly.

"It was the only logical explanation I could come up with for why I didn't know your name," Light defended, looking faintly guilty. "Technically, it's your fault, Lawliet."

Then it struck L that Light was not as innocent as he made out. His expression might show perfect innocence, but he was a scheming menace; he had called L's office because it was a golden opportunity for him to find out L's name without raising any suspicion. Except that L was the most paranoid person on the planet, and it took significantly less than was usual to make him suspicious. From L's mutinous expression, Light seemed to realise his game had been seen through.

"What makes you think that is my real name? I told you I work under a false name," L scowled.

"The look on your face," Light shrugged remorselessly. "And detectives don't use false names around the office, only on cases, Lawliet."

"Light-kun could have found out my name with considerable less damage to my career," snapped L irritably. "Not only do my colleagues now think I am a homosexual, but they think I hire rent-boys to whom I give a false name before proceeding to keep them up all night until I am too exhausted to work the next morning."

"To be fair that was Kiri-san's conclusion. I never suggested such a thing," Light defended, having the grace to wince a little as L put it so bluntly.

"You allowed her to think it," L snarled. "I may not care for my reputation, but it's not a habit you want to let people know about if you're a detective."

"On the contrary, it's spectacular timing," Light tried. "Something I learnt about leading people is that if they know that you are guilty of a small misdeed, they are less likely to consider your involvement in a larger one. For example a convicted petty thief is rarely accused of first degree murder. As such, if your colleagues believe you have a slightly shady indulgence, if any suspicion is ever raised of a mole within the police, you will be less likely to be suspected since you already have your vice."

"What Light-kun is saying may be true," L said reluctantly, "but it does not make me any happier to be in the centre of a completely falsified minor scandal."

"Well putting your sexual habits aside," said Light, who seemed to feel very little shame for his extreme faux pas, "since you're home it is an excellent opportunity for us to meet with the contact of mine who is organising the first stage for us."

"Matt again?" asked L, his interest immediately engaged at the prospect of meeting one of Light's associates, which would give him the opportunity to scratch even further into the the surface of Light's past. So far, what he knew was tantalising, enough for L to have severe suspicions, but entirely without context.

"Well Matt is the one who is making contact with my connection in television, so yes, we're seeing him," Light conceded, "but with regards to the men who are staking out the criminals we plan to target next, the man in charge of the operation is Mello."

"Mello?" L tasted the name for familiarity. "That wouldn't happen to be a blond-haired hermaphrodite with an anger management problem, would it?"

"You know him?" Light looked surprised.

"I let him off for minor drug use a few years ago," L admitted. "He told me he was working undercover to work his way into the upper ranks of the drug circle so he could take it over and run his own ring, but that when they were his men, they wouldn't be selling drugs, but taking out other drug circles because the police were too busy putting away small fry like him to do it themselves. That was after I had disarmed him and prevented him from beating me with his bare fists."

"So why did you let him go?" Light asked incredulously.

"Because I believed him," L stated simply. "I am remarkably good at detecting people's motives, and Mello's was to get to the top and do anything to get there, but there was something about him... perhaps his trust in me of all people, I am not sure. Nevertheless, my faith was not misplaced. He was the one who helped me crack the Tyler Ring six months ago."

"You do know that Mello is high up in the Mafia?" Light asked sceptically.

"I am aware of the fact, but I like to think of him as an agent of justice working undercover," L frowned thoughtfully, bringing his thumb to his lower lip. "He holds a contempt for the criminal element, even if he works with them, and he never works with anyone crazier than him. It's a good quality in a mob boss..."

"You're so crooked," Light laughed gleefully. "I had no idea we were so alike. You're not nearly as innocent as you like to think, Lawliet. That's high-level corruption!"

"It's good common sense," Lawliet contradicted. "Mello is a good person."

"Who breaks the law every day of his life," Light pointed out. "I barely needed to propose this partnership to you, Lawliet; you're already a private mirror of justice in your own right."

"I thought you just described it as high-class corruption," L sniped.

"From a police perspective, yes," Light agreed. "From an outside perspective, you are doing what the police as a body cannot, making subjective decisions to further the cause of justice. Only individuals such as ourselves are qualified to make such judgements, and our righteousness is reflected in the fact that we both judged the same man and found him worthy. You see? Our judgement is higher than the police. The police need us to make the decisions they cannot."

"I do recognise that our minds are apparently on the same wavelength," conceded L, "although I am not entirely sure how an individual such as Mello managed to meet with our approval."

"Because he is like us; he recognises who deserves to live and die and makes it happen. He does not answer to the law, but to seigi, to justice."

"And to you," L said shrewdly.

"Well, to be honest, he doesn't exactly answer to me, more accurately we occasionally work together," Light shrugged. "You might have noticed he's not the most submissive of men."

"But he's been working to track down the criminals whose profiles we prepared?" L asked.

"Yes," Light nodded. "Apparently he's been looking to off a few of them anyway, so it suited him to work with us on this. We're meeting him and Matt at ten."

"Together?" L asked sceptically.

"Oh? I forgot to tell you they're lovers," Light said offhandedly. L choked on his coffee.

"Any more incidental homosexual references, Light-kun, and I may begin to doubt your own preferences," L remarked slyly. Although that did explain Mello's fondness of leather pants. And it gave L a very good opening into Light's past. What he had not mentioned to Light was that the fact he was an excellent judge of motive meant that he was definitely on the scent of those which Light undoubtedly possessed. Meeting Mello would be the perfect confirmation, and the opportunity to put the last details of his plan into motion.

One thing L had learnt about Light; he had utmost confidence in himself to charm everybody to his will. Too much confidence.