October
"This is yours," Light tossed L his cell phone. They were currently walking to their first classes, and about to head in different directions.
"So that's where it went," L pretended to be unconcerned. Truthfully he had known that Light had taken the device, but didn't say anything because he wanted to see what Light would do with it.
L snapped the flip phone open.
"You changed the screen saver," he looked up at Light for clarification.
Instead of the default picture L had never bothered to change, his screen saver was now a picture of Light.
"Mine is a picture of you." L noticed that Light was walking slightly closer to him now, and figured it was so he could admire his handy work. "We're matching now."
"Where was your shirt when you took this?" L raised an eyebrow.
"It was hot," Light shrugged with a strange gleam in his eyes.
L had never been comfortable exposing himself no matter how hot the room he was in was. Yet, Light was more confident about his body than he was. Still, normal for Light was getting more and more abnormal each day. Not that he could judge.
"Alright," L smiled.
"Yeah," Light's eye met the floor, he looked crestfallen.
"Are you okay?" L asked.
"I'm fine," Light stated in an unconvincing voice. "I'll see you later."
"Okay," L watched Light walked away from him.
Did I do something wrong? He wondered.
L usually arrived at his last class five minutes before the period started. He used this time to look over the annotations he had made in his book the night before, and think up a few points to add to the discussion. His remarks in defense of Misa on the first day of class had started him on a habit of nitpicking what idea his classmates brought to the table. His teacher never stopped him, and L was fairly certain that most of his classmates didn't take what he said to heart.
"Can I borrow your phone?" Misa interrupted him from trying to decipher his own handwriting.
"Why?" He didn't look up at her as he asked this.
"Because I'm going to text in class," to Misa this was a no brainer.
"Your phone is more advanced than mine," he reminded her. "Mine will take you five minutes to send one message."
"You underestimate my texting abilities," she giggled.
"Use your own phone."
"Raito blocked my number," she explained.
"Why?"
"Because I text him during class," this Misa also considered obvious.
"If you use mine he's only going to block my number as well," L reasoned. "Why don't you pay attention today?"
"He's not going to block you," she seemed certain of this.
"Why not?"
"Because it's you," she said as if this was a descriptive answer. "Please can I use it? It's not like you're going to."
"Fine," he relented, handing her the device.
"Love you!" She sang, pocketing the phone and walking to her desk.
Class started a few seconds later. L couldn't help keeping one eye on Misa, wanting to witness her 'texting abilities.' She waited until their teacher started the reading discussion before opening the phone. L watched as her eyes widened and she pressed her hand over her mouth to cover a giggle.
Screen saver, he realized.
Misa's gaze jerked to him. He shrugged off her questioning look, and pretended that his full attention was on the class discussion. Light could explain the picture to her later.
"That was a joke, L," Light was pretending to be annoyed.
"Really?" L teased with a serious expression. "It wasn't a very good one."
"Your friendship is funny to watch," Mello said from L's computer screen.
L spent every Saturday letting his younger brother fill him in on everything that he was missing back in England. Usually Light gave them privacy for this. However, after dedicating the morning to the exhausting task of trying to complete a group project with Misa, L didn't think it was fair to kick his roommate out.
"Speaking of B," L opened a new tab on his laptop and typed in the link he had saved.
Fuck off L.
A wide smile spread across L's face as he read Beyond's reply to the comment he had left on his brother's blog.
Use a comma next time.
He typed back.
"What are you laughing at?" Light asked, from across the room.
"My own wit," L told him flatly.
"Figures," Mello rolled his eyes.
"I know right," Light chimed in.
"Now I know how Light-kun feels when he says Misa and I gang up on him," L deadpanned.
"Good for you," Light retorted. "Karma."
"That doesn't mean I'm going to be nicer," L added.
"Of course it doesn't," Light muttered.
"How did your biology test go?" L directed his attention to Mello.
"Ninety-eight point five," Mello said through clenched teeth.
"I take Near scored a perfect," L understood his adopted brother's reaction.
"Does he ever get something different?" Mello was close to his version of moping (the only difference between this and how any ordinary person would mope being that Mello tended to replaced disappointment with anger).
"Didn't he get Cs in Physical Education last year?" L remembered.
"His semester grade was an A." No one was sure how Mello got a hold of Near's report cards each quarter. "I think he hypnotized the coach."
"That explains where Beyond's watch went," L hummed.
"Please tell me that one was a joke," Light said from where he was sitting on his bed.
"You shouldn't take everything we say so seriously, Light-kun," L informed him from his perch on their desk chair. "Mello is the one who resorts to voodoo."
"There's a difference between hypnosis and voodoo," Mello spoke up.
"I never said their wasn't," L said before either Mello or Light could go into what the difference was.
"And you know that my voodoo kit was confiscated," Mello did his version of a huff (which was also slightly more angry that the average).
"Sorry, I didn't realize it was still a sore subject," L apologized. "But I know you made more dolls out of Beyond's pajamas."
"He didn't wear them," was Mello's excuse. "Besides, I only made a voodoo doll of Near, and it's not like it worked."
"You should have learned that from when Beyond sticking pins in a tiny version of me only amounted in him accidentally pricking himself," L told him.
"Your family is so messed up," L heard Light mutter.
"Thank you," L said to him.
"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit," Light's voice was dry
"Yet it's still under the classification," L dully shot back.
"He wasn't being sarcastic," Mello put in.
"Yes," L drawled. "We're all so very messed up that we find those words a compliment."
"Okay then," Light chuckled.
"Don't mock me," L made his voice dark.
"I didn't mean to," Light drew out these words in confusion.
"I know," L beamed.
"Your friendship just became more messed up then our family," Mello informed them.
"Oh, it's been for a while." L heard Light murmur this but didn't understand the undertone in his voice.
L was tired but he did not want to go to sleep.
Sleep meant dreams and dreams meant nightmares. He had been diagnosed with chronic night-terrors at the age of seven. After going down the bumpy path of treatment and medication, L had learned other ways to cope.
Well, maybe refusing to rest in the name of avoiding his agony wasn't the best definition of coping. L had never been a healthy person. The back problems he had gained from his posture, diabetes is diet would soon cause, and the lack of victim D his anemic complexion displayed proved this more than his sleep schedule could.
"Are you just going to stare at your computer all night?" Light's voice derailed his train of thought.
"Yes," L answered honestly.
Light gave him the 'are you serious' look.
"Go to sleep," he all but ordered.
"No thank you," L raised his gaze to meet Light's. "I'll turn off my computer. The light won't keep you up."
"That's not what I meant," Light was staring at him.
"Are you mad at me?" L knew that his lack of social skills made reading people harder than he'd like it to be, but over the past few months Light had become the exception. Right now he knew something was different about his friend, but he couldn't tell what.
"No," Light's expression transitioned through confusion before he covered this with a smile. "Why would I be?"
"You seemed upset the other day," L remembered. "After you gave me back my phone."
"Maybe I'm worried that my roommate is going to make himself sick from sleep deprivation," Light sat down next to L on his bed.
"You're changing the subject," L observed.
"Technically, you changed it first," Light pointed out. "If you sleep tonight I'll stop badgering you."
"I don't see why it bothers you so much," L muttered.
"You bother me," Light leaned closer to him.
"I've bothered you since we first met," L reminded the both of them. "It's my past-time."
"I think we've already discussed me being your entertainment," Light was smirking.
"Yes, we had that conversation a few days ago," L remembered.
"And I already told you my opinion," Light was leaning incredibly close to him now.
"You seemed tired," L informed him.
"What?"
"You can't even sit up straight," he continued. "I'll pretend to sleep if you do the same."
"Okay," Light looked slightly dazed. "Yeah, good plan."
"You're sure everything is alright?" L recognized the expression on his friend's face.
"Everything is fine," Light assured him numbly. "It's like you said, I'm just tired."
L decided to except this answer for the time being.
"Goodnight, Light-kun," he said.
"Sweet dreams, L."
"Not likely," L muttered to himself.
"What was that?" Light had heard him speak.
"Nothing, Light-kun." L mustered a fake smile. "Nothing."
Thanks to Callicanios, Wizard-Party-Forever, and Corliss Kat for the reviews!