October
Instead of waking up at six in the morning to the agonizing sound of his alarm clock, Raito found himself drifting into consciousness to something soft repeatedly hitting his face. It was only when his mind was awake enough to realize that this was not normal that he began to get annoyed.
"L," he groaned, not yet opening his eyes. "What the hell are you doing?"
When L did not respond, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. This first thing that Raito saw was that his bed was covered in crumpled up tissues. His line of vision shot to his roommate in time to watch him throw another tissue.
"What is wrong with you?" Raito wasn't sure if he should laugh of shout. He sprang out of his bed in disgust.
"They're not used," L informed him.
Raito let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto his bed. His eyes darted to his clock. The suspicions that it was earlier than two in the morning he had harbored upon waking were confirmed.
"Why, pray tell, are you throwing unused tissues at me at this ungodly hour?" Raito asked in the most unamused voice he could muster.
"I'm bored." To L this seemed a just excuse.
Raito threw his pillow at L's face.
Out of a sympathy that he rarely displayed, L allowed Raito to sleep for the rest of the night. When his alarm did go off, Raito was surprised to find that L was still in bed. To his disappointment, L was awake.
"Have you just been staring at the ceiling for the past four hours?" Raito asked as he pulled himself out of bed and walked to his closet.
"I've been thinking," L drawled.
"About?" Raito asked over his shoulder.
"None of your business."
"Fine, don't tell me," Raito said smugly. "I'll just assume it was something dirty about me."
"Can you picture me thinking something dirty?" L deadpanned.
"Not really," Raito realized. "Wait…now I am and it's really disturbing."
"Exactly," L said triumphantly.
"I'm going to the showers," Raito told him. "Are you still ignoring hygiene?"
"The eyes of others more than hygiene," L muttered.
"Okay then," Raito decided not to push him to say anymore.
Showering in the morning helped wake Raito up. He learned that this was especially helpful after nights where L decided to wake him up. After the cool water revived him, Raito dressed and brushed his hair in the bathroom. He figured that by the time he was done L would be ready for the day. This was why Raito didn't knock on the door before opening it.
"Can we just eat at the cafeteria today—" Raito stopped in mid sentence when his eyes fell on a practically naked L.
"Close the door!" L exclaimed, flinging the blanket that had been sitting on his bed over himself.
"Sorry!" Panicking at L's reaction, Raito frantically pushed the door shut. Only after it slammed did he realize it would have been smarter for him to have left L alone in the room.
L visibly relaxed once the door was closed. Suddenly feeling less self conscious, L let the blanket fall to the floor. Raito gaped. He knew that it would have been better for him to avert his eyes, but he couldn't help it. Even after living together for months, Raito had never seen L without a shirt on before (and certainly had not without pants).
Judging from the way his clothes hung off of his frame, Raito had expected L to be nothing but skin and bones. To his surprise, L's arms and torso were remarkably toned for someone who never went to the gym. His calfs made Raito suddenly understand why that was once considered the most attractive part of the body. The baggy jeans that L wore prevented Raito from realizing how long his roommate's legs were.
And what they lead up to…
"Light-kun is staring," L's voice broke through his thoughts.
"No I'm not," he stammered.
"Yes, you are," L argued, bending to pick up his shirt from his bed (where he must have flung it earlier) and giving Raito an even better view.
"Not staring," he spun around so that his back was now to L.
"Right," L muttered.
Raito waited until L was done changing before turning back around.
"Ready for breakfast?" L asked as if nothing had happened.
"Yeah," Raito mustered nonchalantness.
They walked in silence, and Raito tried to sort out his thoughts without letting them show on his face. He was attracted to L. Since they had become friends Raito had acknowledged that L was cute. The screen saver on his phone was proof of that. Yet, he had never thought that he himself would be affected by it.
The only reason he teased—and even flirted—with L was because he had thought there was no attraction between them. On the rare occasion that he thought of L in a relationship, he had always assumed that L would fine some guy who couldn't get past his adorable face and nature. He hadn't once considered that he himself was that guy.
Did it really take seeing the boy without his clothes on for him to realize that he wanted him? How pathetic was that!
Maybe this was just his hormones. After all, seeing any attractive guy without clothes on was bound to get him a little excited, right? If he really was attracted to L, wouldn't he have realized it before?
Then again, there was that warm feeling that he got in his chest whenever he remembered how L had defended him back in the first week of school. Originally, Raito had passed that off as just being grateful. Then there was his compulsion to touch L's hair…
"Light-kun is very quiet, right now," L observed.
"Just thinking," Raito told him.
"What about?" L wondered.
"None of your business," Raito mimicked the voice L had made earlier that morning.
"Very funny," L's tone didn't say so. "Then I suppose I should assume it was something dirty about me."
More than you know, Raito thought.
"Do you want to get dinner tonight?" He asked out loud.
"We get dinner every night," L pointed out.
"Just checking," he nervously covered.
"How was your day?" Raito asked after the two of them slid into opposite booths at a fast food restaurant.
"Light-kun was with me for half of my day," L dryly pointed out.
"I'm just making conversation," Raito said back.
"I don't like small talk," L stated.
"I'll keep that in mind," Raito leaned his head on his hand, his eyes fixed on L's.
"Why are you smiling like that?" L asked.
"Like what?" Raito's grin widened.
"Like you're up to something," L answered.
"Oh." This wasn't exactly the impression he was going for. "Maybe I am up to something."
"Should I be worried?" L raised an eyebrow.
"Only if you want to be," Raito winked.
L looked at him without blinking. Raito gazed back, making his eyes as soft as he could.
"Are you ready to order?" Their staring contest was broken by a waiter approaching their table.
"Yeah," Raito pulled his eyes away from L's. He hadn't been ready, but and ordered the first thing that he saw on the menu. L wanted ice cream, and Raito didn't prevent him from choosing this over a real meal.
"You can't have any," L informed Raito after the waiter left.
"Fine, fine," Raito raised his hands in surrender. "I'll just take some candy from your stash."
L's eyes narrowed.
"Kidding," Raito quickly added, understanding that this was a threat L took seriously.
"Our waiter is attractive," L said with little emotion. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I guess I didn't notice," Raito shrugged. "My attention was elsewhere."
"You mean on the menu?" L asked with a hint of sarcasm. "Because you just ordered the spiciest dish they serve."
"Really?" Raito felt thoroughly stupid. "Why didn't you stop me?"
"I wanted to watch you eat it," L admitted.
"Nice to know you consider me entertainment." He deadpan this, but followed it with a sly smirk. "If you wanted me to entertain you, you should have just said something."
"You wouldn't have ordered if I told you to," L objected.
"That's not what I meant," Raito muttered under his breath.
"You're acting odd today," L complained.
"Maybe something changed with in me," Raito hinted.
"Please don't start singing Defying Gravity," L sighed. "I heard enough of that song when Mello first came out."
"Mello listens to show tunes?" Raito could not picture this.
"He went through a faze," L explained. "But you're avoiding my original question. Is this because of what happened yesterday."
"What?" Raito was too busy thinking about what happened that morning.
"Of course you already forgot," L rolled his eyes.
"No," Raito said quickly. "It's not about that guy giving me his number."
"What then?" L sounded exasperated.
Instead of answering, Raito leaned over the table and tucked a strand of L's tempting hair behind his ear.
"You're acting very odd today," L decided, crossing his arms.
Raito sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.
Thank you to Callicanios and Corliss Kat for the reviews!
Corliss, this fanfic being fangirl was as subconscious as In Person being Cinderella. Come to think of it, maybe I should have made this one have a fairytale basis. Then again, the funny thing with In Person was that it wasn't on purpose. Either this one is Fangirl (which is definitely a step up) or there is still a fairytale parallel that I haven't noticed. Props to anyone who can spot it.