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"Watari…"
The older man turned as Light approached him, L, as usual, trailing along. Watari's heart clenched at seeing L like this- it wasn't right, what Beyond had done, and he only wished that he could have kept L safer, done something about Beyond.
He had thought that prison was impenetrable- he had been assured it was one of the safest in the country and that was why he had chosen to put Beyond there. He had obviously misunderstood Beyond's thirst for revenge, though, and now L was paying for his grievous miscalculation.
He was thankful for Light, though. If it wasn't for him and his persistence in searching for L, he would most likely have never been found. And even if he had, L would have remained locked up in that room, as no one would have dared to go near him.
Not even Watari had dared to without his tranquilizer gun, and that in itself had nearly broken Watari's heart.
But it was good to see L walking around, out of the cell, even if it hurt him to see L in his altered state.
He was simply thankful that L didn't show any hostility towards him- he hadn't been sure if he could take it if L had done so, after all the years of taking care of him.
And L's heirs… he had told them a year ago that L had gone missing, and that Light was the new L. Mello had been upset, but Near... well, Near was, and always had been, more complicated. Watari was certain that he was upset over the loss of L, but Near was rather like L in the fact that he chose to keep his emotions hidden under the surface. Rather than expressing what he felt openly, he had simply asked if Light was up to the job- if he was worthy of taking over L's title and honoring the letter.
He had explained Light's fervor in finding L, and that seemed to calm Mello somewhat and appease Near. If this Light was doing all they could to retrieve their idol, then they approved.
Although… Watari's heart sank at the thought of having to explain L's alterations and state of mind to his successors. That… was not a conversation he was looking forwards to.
He looked to L, seeing the wolfish detective examining him from behind Light with curiosity in his yellow eyes, seeing the alterations and thought of all the explaining he would have to do- but that was a thought for later. Think of that later, deal with L now.
"Yes, Light?" Watari said politely, seeing the young man fidget somewhat before him. L looked at Watari curiously, rising his nose to sniff in Watari's general area. Light, however, didn't notice this, seeing as L was situated behind him.
"I… ah… I was curious if there were any bathtubs of the sort in the building. My room only has a shower, so…" Light trailed off, shrugging sheepishly. "L needs a bath, and-" he cut himself off as he realized that L wasn't doing anything in regards to Watari.
Brows furrowing, he turned around, glancing at L speculatively and only then saw the former detective regarding Watari with curiosity, and if he read it right, confusion. "What…?" Light murmured, before burying his forehead in his hand. "I don't understand you sometimes, L. You attempt to kill the Task Force, Misa, and myself, then not kill Misa-I still haven't figured that one out- and now, you don't do anything to him… Fuck you, B, for putting me through this, dammit."
"If I may, sir," Watari interjected, making Light look up, frustration evident in his eyes. "It may be because he recognizes me subconsciously."
Light raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would he remember you and not me?"
"Because I've been with him for much longer than you have, Light. I took him in when he was but six years old, and have been with him constantly since that time. He has only known the Task Force for a little over a year- less, if you take away the time he was in Beyond's hands."
Light nodded speculatively as Watari finished, glancing back at L. "You…may be right," Light admitted. It made sense, certainly. In a way, Light was relieved; he didn't know how much more he could stand from L's claws and teeth- and right on that note, his chest and arm gave a vicious throb as the thought called attention back to them, and he almost cursed.
"Anyway, Watari," Light sighed. "Is there a bath around? I can't, in good conscience, leave L like he is," and gestured to L's bloodstained clothes and hair. "He's filthy, and keeps trying to lick the blood off. He may be somewhat of a carnivore, but he's still human, and it's wrong to let him ingest human blood. Speaking of which," Light continued, "we need to figure out what he'll eat. I'm sure he won't go for sugar anymore…"
Watari listened carefully to what Light said, making mental notes of what he needed to do. "I can contact some people and get some food options here, Light. We can take care of that then. As for a bath…" Watari stroked his mustache contemplatively. "He didn't install any baths in his room simply because he did to believe he would have time for such a luxury- he never has, in fact."
As it turned out, Watari was more than willing to let Light use his own bath for the purpose of washing L. It was a large bathtub, quite luxurious and perfect for relaxing in- no doubt one of Watari's hobbies when he had some free time on his hands. He was also kind enough to offer to switch rooms with Light, so that he wouldn't have to wash L and then attempt to get a wet L back to their room. Light gratefully accepted the offer, and Watari went off to find new bedcovers to put on his bed and start moving L and Light's clothes to his room.
As such, the switch and use of the bathtub suited Light's purpose perfectly, and he walked in, towels and shampoo in hand, L following closely behind him. Light set the things down on the floor next to the tub and turned, locking the door behind him before turning to L, who was perusing the new surroundings carefully, ears perked up in interest.
Light shook his head as he put his hands on his hips and gazed at L, not sure how he should proceed. He let his eyes travel down the length of the detective's body, taking in the rips and tears of the bloodstained clothes.
It seemed wrong to just approach L and start stripping him- and Light admitted, he didn't know how L would respond to that. Deciding to just get on with it and be done with it, Light unthinkingly gestured for L to come to him, before realizing that L wouldn't understand.
But Light was shocked as L blinked once before gliding over to stand in front of him, standing silently and waiting.
Light's mind whirled as he processed this new turn of events, thinking back to what B had said-
…able to understand and complete simple tasks- anything I ask, he does.
A wave of excitement grew in Light as he realized what this could mean. I f he could get L to start understanding simple commands, then it would be so much easier to get L what he wanted him to do.
But right after thinking that, an equal amount of guilt rose up to build in Light's stomach. What he was planning- it was almost the same as training L, like some sort of… of… pet.
With a sense of horrified guilt, Light realized that his thought process regarding L's behavior had almost been the same as B's way of thinking. What the hell was he doing, thinking of fucking training L?! He was no pet to be taught tricks and to stay! Remorse filled him as he stared at L, unable to hold the yellow-black gaze.
L gave a small whine, no doubt sensing Light's distress, and flattened his ears. Light shook the thought off and sighed, gazing at L with some sadness.
This situation was all fucked up, and he was sick of it. He wanted L, goddamn it, not this animal-like mockery of him. But he immediately felt bad as soon as he thought that- this was L, for all intents and purposes, and it would do no good comparing this L to the old one, when it wasn't L's fault this had happened in the first place.
L's whine brought his attention back to the figure in front of him, and shaking his head, Light returned his attention back to the task at hand.
Clean L, and then he could begin plans to go back to the warehouse and get the blueprints for the microchip. Right. The sooner he got this done with, the sooner he could focus on fixing L.
Nodding to himself, Light stood up straighter and gestured for L to come closer, squishing the small pang of guilt as he did so. He would regard this as a necessary evil; if he could get L to listen to him better with small commands such as this, then he would do so.
Still, he couldn't help but be pleased when L, still looking a bit unsure, nonetheless stepped closer until he was about a foot away from Light.
Light nodded. "Good." He then reached out, L stiffening but still not moving.
Tentatively, Light grasped ahold of the bottom of the ripped shirt with both hands and pulled upwards, L's eyes opening almost comically wide as the shirt slid up slowly, until it reached just under his chin. It got a bit stuck, but with a hard jerk, Light was able to get the shirt up and over L's torso, although L growled irritably when it twisted his ears painfully.
Light ignored this, running his eyes over L's bared chest, eyes narrowing as he saw the numerous scars that littered his chest. Almost disbelievingly, he reached out to run his hand over a long one that trailed over L's ribs, starting right under his pectoral muscle and running down his vertebrochondral ribs, the last three ribs of the torso. It was jagged and thick, almost as if it had been made by claw marks…
Another two scars, matching the thick one that had caught Light's attention, ran parallel to it and in the middle of the three scars, a small, raised bump of a scar rose, almost as if…
A sudden shock of realization hit Light, and anger, hot and swift, surged through him. The circular scar looked to be the same wound that occurred when an intravenous IV had been harshly torn out- no doubt by a terrified, furious L. He must have clawed an IV out of his chest at one time, hurting himself in the process.
Light's eyes narrowed to angry slits as his eyes ran over the rest of L's torso, assessing and cataloguing the damage. The parallel marks were the worst ones, and the rest were clean lines, as if they had been caused by a knife.
It was no doubts Beyond's doing, either as an intent to torture or "train" L. The thought only made him furious, and unknowingly, his hand pressed harder against the long-healed scar, causing L to whine and his ears twitch in
uncertainty at the anger emanating off of Light.
Shaking his head, Light let sis hands drop from L's torso and turned away, bringing his hand to his head and closing his eyes, attempting to calm himself down and dispel the hot anger that ran through him at the sight of L's scars. He should not have had to suffer through this- L didn't deserve to end up like this, not after all the good he had done.
A small nudge to his shoulder made him look back, seeing L staring at him uncertainly, face right next to his shoulder. He must have nudged him with his nose, and the owlish behavior only made Light sigh and shake his head. "I'm truly sorry this happened, L," Light told him, turning to face the wolfish detective once more. L wouldn't understand him, but that was alright.
L only cocked his head at Light's words, and Light smiled bitterly. It was sad, seeing how far L had fallen from he ingenious detective he had used to be. Nevertheless, he shook his head, dispelling the useless thoughts. It would do him no good at this moment.
Speculatively, he eyed the half-naked detective standing patiently, wondering how to get the pants off of L without it becoming awkward. L obviously couldn't do it himself- the claws that adorned his hands were of no use in completing more delicate tasks such as unbuttoning and unzipping pants, and Light highly doubted that L would understand what Light was trying to get him to do should he gesture for the detective to take the black pants off.
There really was only one option.
But I've done more intimate things than this with L in the past day, Light thought, bracing himself. Taking off L's pants shouldn't be too bad, in comparison.
He gestured for L to stay put as the detective stiffened when Light reached his hands out, intending on completing the task ahead of him. Trying again, he slowly stretched out his hands, L watching him cautiously as Light's hands came to rest on his slender waist, trying to get L used to the touch.
Light was relieved when no negative moments came from L at the contact, and cautiously, Light slid his hands down until they rested on the waistband of the black, ripped pants. His hands smoothed over ridges of scar tissue on the way down, threatening to incite his anger at L's treatment once more, but he ignored it and focused on what he was doing, although the feeling of L's smooth, surprisingly soft skin was distracting, nearly diverting his attention.
L's torso and navel area was shockingly hairless, which Light found surprising, given that his DNA had been bonded with a wolf's, an exceedingly hairy animal. The expanse of L's upper torso was bare of any hair, exposing pale skin littered with scars that had faded to silvery ridges over time.
Flicking his eyes up, Light saw no sign of anything other than watchful wariness in L's yellow eyes, so he took this as a good sign and swiftly unbuttoned L's pants, closing his eyes and turning away as he caught a glimpse of surprisingly curly, coarse black pubic hair. Still not looking, he quickly unzipped the pants and started to tug them down, but his eyes flew open as his fingers brushed against something soft and warm and definitely not hair. The contact and knowing what, exactly, he was touching caused him to freeze in shock.
L didn't react other than to set out a small yelp of surprise at the contact, and Light surmised it was because wolves were not as touchy about having their genital areas touched as humans. However, it was only done as a means of identification or submissive/dominance posturing or during mating seasons for the animals, and as Light was doing none of these, it must have come as somewhat of a shock for L.
Light averted his eyes once more and with a few hard tugs, finished the task, the pants finally pooling to the ground at L's oddly-shaped feet. Gently, he lifted first one, and then the other foot, tugging the ripped pants off and tossing them to the side.
Then, for the first time, he turned and looked at the now fully-naked L, attempting to ignore the fact that it was L that was standing naked in front of him, and instead, trying to see if there were any wounds he had gotten. There were some red lines running over his thighs and a couple over his chest, but they were not deep nor bleeding. L had not clawed himself badly; it seemed as if he had had enough presence of mind not to hurt himself overly much while clawing the restraints off.
Sighing, Light nodded to himself, turning away to the tub. "Alright. Water, soap… I can do this," he muttered. It would be awkward, having to wash his friend like this, but it was necessary.
He reached out and turned the water on, adjusting the knobs until warm water flowed from the tap. Looking around, he located a bar of soap and a bristle-brush, and set them to the side for easy access, along with a bottle of
shampoo.
He felt a nudge from his shoulder and turned his head to see L eyeing the water warily, ears flattening back and his face twisting in a grimace. Confused, Light turned off the water since the tub was almost full and turned back to L, crossing his arms.
"What now?" Light questioned, and L just looked at the water, to Light, and to the water once more before backing off, yellow eyes wide.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, don't tell me you're afraid of water," Light mumbled, uncrossing his arms and taking a step towards L. The detective immediately took a step backwards, letting out a distressed-sounding snarl and narrowing his eyes at Light.
He stopped, looking at L, really taking him in. Everything about his tense, taut body screamed his fear, and his ears were flattened back, fear glinting in his yellow eyes. Confused, Light thought back to the year before, when L hadn't been taken by Beyond. He had heard the water in their shower running more than once while they were forced to share a room, and the fact that L was usually clean was a testament to the fact that L did indeed, take showers.
So why the fear now? L hadn't been afraid of water before…
Beyond.
Clarity hit Light suddenly, and he let out a groan laced with anger. That bastard, Beyond. He had probably done something to L involving water to make him fear it. Waterboarding or simulated drowning, perhaps? It was probably a fear tactic to make L obey him- but whatever it was, it had left L with a fear of water, which was something he didn't want to deal with right now.
He was going to kill the psycho, really, he was.
"Look, L," Light said, and one of L's ears flicked up in response to hearing the familiar letter. Light stepped to the tub of water and dipped a hand in it, L's yellow eyes watching his hand with a mixture of fear and fascination. "It's not going to hurt you, L." He swirled his hand around, dipping his whole arm into it before pulling it out to show L that nothing had happened.
"See? It's fine," Light said reassuringly, before standing up and holding his wet arm out to L. "Come here, and see for yourself."
L's ears perked up at the 'come here,' and still eyeing the bathtub distrustfully, he still came forwards, and when he was within range, Light quickly leaned forwards and wiped the water from his arm over L's face.
The detective let out a howl and jumped backwards in an attempt to get away from the feared substance, wiping frantically with the pads of his hands in a futile attempt to wipe away the water. Light only watched, and after a moment his patience was rewarded.
L calmed when he realized nothing was happening, and he brought his hands away from his face and looked around, blinking down at his wet hands. Tentatively, he raised a hand up and licked at the droplet of water streaking down his hand, cocking his head to the side as nothing bad happened.
Light smiled reassuringly and gestured for L to come over to him. "See, L? You're fine. You can trust me, L."
L glanced once more at the tub of water before going over to Light, more confidently this time. Gently and slowly, Light reached out and grasped ahold of L's clawed hand, marveling at the roughness of skin. Distracted momentarily, Light turned the hand over, trailing his fingers over the palm of L's hand and marveling at what he found. It seemed as of L had slight pads on his hands, the skin thicker and rougher than normal skin, almost like the pads that canines and felines had on the bottom of their feet. While not as thick and discolored as an animal's, the pads were still most likely very tough, and Light doubted that many things could hurt L's hands- or feet, since he assumed L had the same pads on the bottom of his feet.
He looked at L's hand for a moment more before turning it over once more gently tugging on it to force L to take a step closer to him.
L was so close to him, Light could feel the heat radiating off of L, and smell the slightly coppery scent that L had about him from the dried blood on his body and hair. It relit the warm tingles in his stomach, but Light ignored them and still grasping L's hand, stretched it out towards the water, tugging more firmly when L tried to resist.
He forced the hand down into the water, and although L let out a distressed whine as his hand drew near the water, Light continued to force it down until L's hand and the water made contact.
L froze as his hand touched the water, head tilting back and ears flattened right against this skull, breathing heavily and eyes wide and dilated in fear. Light felt a little twinge of guilt, but immediately quashed it. He needed L to trust him and get over his fear of the water if he was to progress into actually getting L cleaned up, and the only way to do that was to get L comfortable with the water, even if he reacted like this.
Still, it bothered him to see L reacting like this, so he reached out with his free hand to gently run his hand over L's blood crusted hair, grimacing a bit as little flecks of blood stuck to his hand. But it seemed to calm L down somewhat, as he untensed slightly and hi breathing grew steadier, which Light took as a good sign and continued his petting motions. "See? You're fine, L. Calm down, huh?" Light said soothingly, and eventually, L's ear relaxed, coming back up and he wiggled his fingers slightly, as if testing the water.
His head came forwards and tilted down to regard the water curiously, eyes watching the ripples that formed with his fingers' movements. Light sighed in relief as L relaxed fully, dipping his hand more in the water experimentally, flicking it around a few times.
Light smiled and stopped petting L's head, bringing his hand down to flick at the water, getting some on L. He snorted, shaking his head, black spikes whipping from side to side as he did so.
Chuckling slightly, Light released L's hand and straightened, smiling. L had time to glance up at him before Light scooped him up and dropped him into the water, L yelping in shocked surprise as his body hit the water. It wasn't deep enough to completely submerge L, and Light hadn't tossed him in, so there wasn't too big of a splash, although Light did get a bit wet.
L froze, looking down at the water he was sitting in, hair wet and slicked down, ears soggy and drooping. He bent his head down to shake some of the water out of his hair, and Light recoiled as some of it got onto him. "Ugh! L!" He shook his head and glared at L, who was tilting his head to the side, trying to get water out of his ear.
His head was tilted away from Light, allowing him to see something that had gone previously unseen. Starting at L's hairline, a thick stripe of black fur ran down the middle of L's back, ending at the base of his spine, where L's bushy, coarse black tail protruded. Curious, Light reached out and ran a finger down the line of hair, provoking a little shiver from L and causing his spine to arch and a low, pleased growl to rumble from his chest.
It was the same texture as L's tail- coarse and thick, sticking up slightly. Curious at the reaction his action had provoked, Light did it again, running his fingers over the fur, sown L's back. His tail waved slightly in the water- not a wag, but a pleased motion, nonetheless. Light smiled, amused.
L seemed to have forgotten about his fear of water, and taking advantage of the fact, he reached out to grab the bar of soap and bristle brush, wetting both of them by dipping them in the water. He lathered up the brush and set the soap off to the side, then slowly reached out and ran the bristles gently over L's skin.
He froze at the contact, whipping his head around to eye Light and the brush curiously and then reached out to nudge at the rush experimentally before huffing and turning back around. Taking this as acquiescence, Light ran the brush over L's skin, scrubbing the blood and filth off of the skin as gently as he could.
The water grew filthy as he worked, and he had to re-lather the brush up a few more times, but he finally had all of L washed. The genital area had been slightly awkward to wash, as he had to use his hands and soap, as the bristle brush was too harsh to use over the sensitive area, but L didn't react to the contact, luckily. As Light had suspected before, wolves didn't regard the touching of the genital areas as anything intimate, because they were used for posturing and mating reasons. L didn't possess any of the awkwardness that a human did about the contact, because for him, it was nothing to be awkward over.
Light was thankful for small favors.
With much relief, he set aside the soap and brush, picking up the shampoo and pouring a glob into his hand, eyeing the mass of black hair and two ears with some indecision. He had to make sure not to get any water or shampoo in L's ears, as it would no doubt be very painful and uncomfortable. He'd just have to be very careful- but Light was glad that L had shown no aversion to his hair being touched before.
He rubbed his hands together, smearing the shampoo over his hands before setting them gently on top of L's head, starting to scrub them into L's wet hair with circular scrubbing motions. L leaned his head back, eyes closed and a relaxed expression on his face. L's ears were flattened back to prevent any substance form getting into them, and they blended with his hair. With his eyes closed and ears not noticeable, Light could almost pretend that L was back to normal, and not an animal in mind.
The atmosphere was relaxed, and Light continued washing L's hair, enjoying the feel of the silky strands in his fingers. The soapy foam soon turned red, but Light continued scrubbing, gently rubbing some of the foam on the outside of L's ears, rubbing it in the pad of his index finger.
It was with some reluctance that Light proclaimed L's hair clean. He cleaned off his hands in the water, and then reached over to the sink to grab a cup, turning the tap on low and filling the cup, rinsing the suds from L's hair. He popped the plug on the tub at the same time, allowing it to drain so that he could rinse L's body off. It took a while to clean all the dirty water and soap off of L's body, but he eventually did get all of it off, and he gestured for L to stay and stepped back, surveying his handiwork pleasedly.
No more blood was on L, and he looked clean and freshly washed- and smelt better as well. Nodding to himself, Light grabbed a few towels and set one on the ground, gesturing for L to step onto it.
L rose up from the tub and stepped onto the towel, dripping wet, with droplets streaking down his face. Frowning, L flicked an ear once before lowering his head, hunching over, and raising his tail.
Light was confused for a split second before he realized what L was about to do. "No! L! Don't-!" was all Light had time to say before L shook, water flying from his body and onto the surrounding surfaces- and Light.
He looked up as the torrent of water abated, seeing L standing there, regarding him calmly. He looked down at his pants- the front was splattered with water, and sighing, he looked up at L. "See what you've done? Idiot," L said, with no real vehemence.
Well, he had to get changed anyway…
Shaking his head, Light grabbed a towel, going over to L and starting to towel him off. L didn't resist, and Light was gladdened to think that perhaps it was because L was coming to trust him more-it was a nice thought, and Light let a small smile tug at his lips as he rubbed the towel down L's spine, drying the black strip of fur off.
L was letting out little growling sounds as Light did this, his tail waving from side to side and tilting his body side to side in an effort to get Light to rub the towel where he wanted it. Light quirked an eyebrow at this, and rubbed harder, L's volume increasing.
It was almost… cute, in a way, although the presence of L's deadly claws served as a constant reminder that L was still a force to be reckoned with.
Light carefully rubbed L's ears, toweling off his head, and then stepped back, surveying L. His body was clean, although his hair and fur was still slightly damp, spiking up in little tufts. L snorted and gave a little shake, laying the damp fur to rest, and then looked to Light, waiting.
He took off his own pants and toweled himself off, then threw the dirty clothes and towel in the hamper, and L's ripped clothes in the trash. They were both naked, but Light figured that it really didn't matter- L didn't care if they wore clothes or not- it might actually be more natural for L. Deciding not to bother with it, Light shrugged and opened the door, L perking up as it came open.
"Alright, L. Come on," Light said, gesturing for him to come, and L gratefully swept through the door, pausing once he got t the middle of the room to look back at Light.
While he was washing L, Watari must have come- the sheets were changed and the bedcovers turned down and the closet was open, L and Light's clothes hanging up. He felt a bit bad for having to switch rooms with Watari, but assured himself that it would be easier to deal with L this way. The bed was king-sized, Light noted, although it didn't matter- L would most likely choose to sleep on the floor, anyways.
"L," Light called, and the detective turned to him, watching him curiously. "We're going to bed- I don't know what you're going to do," Light mused, "but I suppose you can sleep on the floor, or do whatever- it doesn't matter to me."
L's eyes remained on him as Light went and crawled onto the bed, snuggling into the bedcovers, sighing in relief- the soft bed felt good to relax into, soothing his tired muscles- it had been a long day, and his fights with L hadn't helped his body any- his whole body had started to ache, and his wounds started to throb again.
L was still standing in the middle of the room, his eyes flicking around the room, and figuring that L would figure something out, Light reached out to turn the lamp off, enveloping the room in darkness. He nestled down into the sheets, letting out ta deep breath as he pressed his head down into the soft pillow.
He turned over, closing his eyes, and was just drifting off to sleep when the sound of nearly-silent padding reached his ears. He frowned in the dark, listening to the sound of L walking around, hearing it come closer.
Suddenly, the bed dipped, shaking a bit, and then Light felt the press of a warm body against his back, and coarse fur brushing against his cheek.
Confused, Light sat up and turned the lamp on, blinking as he saw L. He had come onto the bed and curled up, his back to Light's own and the back of his head brushing Light's. L's head perked up as the Light came on, and he looked up over his shoulder, regarding Light intently.
And then, Light realized- wolves often slept together, curled up against each other in the wild, and L was just following his instincts- sleeping next to Light, who was part of his pack. Knowing what L was doing now, Light sat, eyeing L. He was curled up in a ball, tail resting over his legs, and hands resting flat on the bed in front of his face. His tail flicked once, before he leaned up and licked Light's nose, then pulled back with a small, wolfish grin on his face, showcasing his canines.
Light stared at L, blinking in shock, before tentatively smiled back, reaching out to run his hand gently through L's hair. L dipped his head once, then he rested his head back down and curled up tighter, tail tightening around
his legs and he closed his eyes, huffing once.
Light looked at for a second more before closing she eyes and shaking his head. "Goodnight, L," Light said quietly, turning off the lamp and laying down once more, feeling somehow safe and content with L curled up next to him, breathing softly.
Edited version uploaded 4/7/13
