Author's Note: A little longer than the other chapters, but I finally got around to the story again.
Just in case anyone is confused, this is an alternate take on Death Note, where Light had worked with L on a case just prior to him finding the notebook. Since they're already acquainted, he's being a little more careful on when he wants to use it.
Okay, action!
Light settles on his bed, comfortably (and stylishly) dressed in a green cashmere sweater and slacks, to prepare for his study-thon on all of next semester's material. It's better for him to study for all of his classes now, while he has the time. After all, he may find himself busy with the task of managing the new world in the next few months. His meeting with Ryuzaki and Misa this weekend will get him one step closer to the inevitable. He will have your name, L. You may not tell him this weekend, but he will give you ample opportunity. He just needs a bear, mace, and a Segway.
They can get caught in the rain, too, or some other cliché scenario. So many options...
What if they get chased by a bear in the rain?
The quiet sound of Ryuk clicking on the keyboard, sprinkled with a few subdued chuckles, resonate throughout the room. The house is calm, and Light's future is looking bright. Slowly, Light leans back to get more comfortable, pulling a thick textbook onto his abdomen. The cover reads: The Art and Science of Philanthropy, and before the young man has a chance to begin loathing himself for taking the class, his eyes drift closed.
Light can see himself standing, his hair divine, wearing clothes uniquely tailored for him alone. Any person who looks upon him, their god, is immediately filled with a gratitude that's unmatched to any other they've felt before. Tears travel down their cheeks as they silently fall to the ground, for they have no words to compliment the happiness they feel, but they're also crying because of the heart wrenching sadness of knowing that, once their god is out of their sight, they will never be able to replicate it.
All too soon, Light feels someone shaking his arm, tearing him from his dreams of success and grandeur. Though, one doesn't need to call them dreams if they're nearly reality, so correction: Light was sleeping while subconsciously thinking about the future.
"Light-kun, wake up now," a familiar voice calls while tugging on the student's sleeve.
His eyes snap open completely, knowing that there is absolutely no reason for him to be hearing this voice in his room. "R-Ryuzaki?" Hearing the uneven tone of his own voice, Light immediately takes a calming breath and pulls his arm away from the rumpled detective. He clears his throat as he sits up and emits a very official, but elegant air about himself.
"Ryuzaki, can I help you? And may I ask what you're doing in my room at this hour?" He asks politely while taking a subtle scan of his room for Ryuk. Strangely, the shinigami is nowhere to be found, but it seems as if he figured out how to turn off the computer. Light feels a small brush of pride in his chest. He assumes it's akin to the feeling of teaching your dog to fetch, or tricking Sayu into thinking she has school on Sunday. The detective drops his head into the genius' field of vision, a semi-irritated look ironed on his face.
"I would tell you, Light-kun, if you would pay attention," he replies before itching one foot with the other.
Light smiles pleasantly and wonders where Ryuzaki gets off being mad at him, when he so rudely dropped by. "Sorry about that," a laugh, "I'm all ears now. Is it something about your salesman case? Did you need me for something?" He guesses.
Ryuzaki pulls a thumb to his mouth, and Light notices how soaked the older man is. His shirt clings to him slightly, the water making the cloth transparent. He sees how the detective makes no move to get his dripping hair out of his eyes.
A thought strikes him.
"Is it raining outside?" He asks, looking toward the window. With this luck, he might be able to get L's name today!
Wait, wait no. They'd have to get caught in the rain together, dry each other off in some abandoned house, assuming they'd be able to find one, and through some sort of tomfoolery, L will trust Light enough to tell him his name. It's an interesting plan on its own, but not exactly thought-out. Oh well, he'll have to consider that plan out for the moment. At least he knows the dry season is over.
Light manages to snap out of it enough to see L pulling his shirt off in front of his open closet, "Ryuzaki! I really don't appreciate you using my clothes without asking," he informs the detective irritably.
Ryuzaki grumbles in return, "Well I tried my hand at conversation with you, but you weren't paying attention." He pulls on a pale blue sweater. Frowning at the tightness of the sleeves and collar, L pulls at them until Light hears stitches popping.
"H-hey, Ryuzaki! My clothes are really expensive, don't ruin them like that!" He yells. Getting up, Light crosses the room and digs in the closet. "You need to take a bath, or you'll catch a cold. Why didn't you just grab a shirt?"
Looking half-drenched and completely uncomfortable, L tries to put his hands in his wet pockets. "I was cold, and the sweater was the first thing I saw. I didn't feel like looking in your closet to find something that fit my style, Light-kun. I just want my clothes dry."
Light sighs, "Well we don't have a dryer here, remember? They consume too much energy. If you want your clothes dry, you'll have to call your butler. You still need to take a bath, by the way."
L chews on his other thumb, the first one being low on nail, and makes a 'tch' sound. "I didn't realize Light-kun was so uncreative. He should know that a hair dryer will suffice, and no, I don't need a bath, thank you," he answers while analyzing Light's bookshelf.
The younger man stares for a moment, slightly lost at the suggestion. "You want to dry your clothes with a hair dryer," he blinks.
"Yes."
His eyebrows pinch, "I…don't think that will work, Ryuzaki."
"If Light-kun has ever been snowed in a cabin with six women from a sorority, one of them being a murderer, he would know that this would work," L states simply, slowly walking out of his room to the bathroom.
Light blinks again, but makes no further argument. He makes his way back to the bed and moves the textbooks over to his desk.
The sounds of Ryuzaki rummaging through the bathroom cabinets for a hair dryer faintly bounce into Light's room. He realizes that he can't hear anyone else in the house, and checks the clock for the first time.
11:23 PM.
He feels a ball of anger forming when he sees how late Ryuzaki came to visit, but he banishes it to the small, black place in his heart that's never heard of the word forgiveness. He's going to handle this in a mature and collected manner, just like he handles everything else. This might even be important, if he walked all the way here in the rain. Ryuzaki might need him for something.
The detective walks back into the room, hair dryer in hand.
"I thought you were going to dry your clothes in the bathroom."
L picks up his shirt from the floor, "I was, but I can't talk to you from there, unless you want to sit in the bathroom with me. You're more than welcome," he glances at Light.
The student's face pinches for a moment, "Ah, no thanks- wait, Ryuzaki, you still haven't told me why you're here," he says sternly. "It's rude to wake up my family this late, you know. Why couldn't you call me?"
"I'll tell you in a moment, Light-kun," L sighs. "I would appreciate some coffee, thank you for offering."
Light wishes he hadn't thrown that stress ball out the window last summer. Ryuzaki's head looks like it would've been put to much better use. He sighs heavily as he heads toward the door.
L looks up from plugging in the hair dryer, "Oh, and I'd like some sugar too… and cake," he adds.
Hands clenching as he walks downstairs, Light battles with the desires to be passive aggressive and being a good host. Ryuzaki isn't being a very good guest, but that doesn't mean Light has to treat him the same way. In the same light, Ryuzaki isn't being a very good guest, so he shouldn't expect Light to jump to his every beck and call.
Decisions, decisions…
Light decides to make L his coffee, but leave out the cake. He should have brought his own anyway, if he figured he was going to want a snack while he was here.
Walking upstairs, he can hear the hum of the hair dryer from his room. By some miracle, L had been thoughtful enough to close the door before turning it on. Light opens his door, and quickly closes it again.
Click.
Damn it. He probably needs to stop habitually locking his door every time he closes it. Did Ryuzaki hear it? Will he hear it if Light tries to unlock it again? Light keeps a hard gaze on the cup of coffee, his hand still resting on the doorknob.
"Light-kun, why did you lock the door?"
Damn it. Just say it was an accident. Say it in the most casual, 'I don't lock my door all the time, and I don't have a notebook that murders people' way as possible. "Well," he laughs, casually looking to the detective, and stops short. "Ryuzaki, what on Earth are you doing?"
Sitting crouched in the middle of the floor, L is wearing nothing but Light's sweater and his boxers. One arm is wrapped around his legs while the other one is drying the clothes. "I am drying my clothes. I was ninety-nine percent sure you were aware of that, Light-kun," L replies, a puzzled look on his face.
"Well, yes," Light looks around the room for somewhere to place L's coffee, and dances past his clothes to put it on the desk. "I'm just wondering why you didn't grab any of my pants to wear, since you didn't mind with the sweater," he continues.
"Ah, excellent observation, Light-kun," L looks down to his bare legs and back to the college student. "It seems that I was so absorbed in getting my clothes dry, that I didn't think to completely clothe myself in the process. I apologize if my appearance is offensive to you," L says while stretching the sweater over his legs and curling his toes into it.
Light stares in horror as his sweater is permanently ruined, then notes that Ryuzaki shouldn't be allowed near anything he finds valuable ever again. "You're buying me a sweater on Sunday," he glares, sitting on his bed.
"Hmm," the detective hums thoughtfully, his mind elsewhere.
Light lifts his leg, but before he can kick Ryuzaki on his side and watch him squirm on the floor, his phone vibrates.
New Text Message: Amane Misa
LIGHT! It's all wet and gross out here! OPEN THE DOOR! XOXOX
Blinking in confusion, Light gets up and promptly heads downstairs. First it's Ryuzaki, now Misa is coming over. It's like they're having a sleepover, and no one told him about it. He sighs, but puts his boyfriend face on, hoping he can explain why Ryuzaki is half naked in his room.
Opening the door, he doesn't see Misa. He's actually not quite sure what he's looking at, since it's so dark and huge. He takes a small step back. His eyes travel upward, revealing the form of a grizzly bear standing on its hind legs.
Light screams as it roars and takes a swipe near his chest. Tearing his way up the stairs, he rips his door open and slams it closed again. He tries to lock it, but he can feel pressure from the knob on the other side, as if the bear is trying to shoulder its way into his room.
"Ryuzaki! Get up, there's a bear in here somehow!" he screams at the detective.
"No, Light. There's something much more important than that right now," Ryuzaki stands up and makes his way over to Light, staring at him intensely all the while. "In case this bear bests me in copiera, I need to tell you my name."
Light panics as he feels the door giving to the bear's force, "W-what?"
L takes a deep breath, "My name is LIGHT GIVE ME APPLES NOW I'M GONNA LOSE IT."
Light screams as he bolts upright in his bed, a cold sweat lightly dusting his forehead. He hastily scans the room for bears or L. Finding neither, he looks to Ryuk writhing on the floor. "What did you say?" he blinks.
"I SAID YOUR PHONE KEEPS SCREAMING AND I NEED APPLES," he allegedly repeats.
He breathes deeply, "Ah, um, okay. Let me change first." He makes a final glance at his door before getting up.
Bears in the rain are dangerous.
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