Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. This is a non-profit fan work.
Break the Haughty - Chapter XI
L kneaded Light's hair until it was white and stiff with foam. Then his hands slowly ventured deeper, dancing along Light's neck in small circles until he reached the shoulder blades. While he warily pressed and rubbed the young man's skin, he noticed the tension in his muscles that just wouldn't yield to his endeavour. There was also a very subtle tremble of the rigidly motionless body.
"Are you cold?" asked L.
"Huh? No, no. It's fine."
"If you're cold, we should get you back into bed."
"Oh. Right. Yes. Maybe I should go back to bed now."
L picked up the showerhead again and washed away the foam and the fresh, hardly coagulated blood on Light's wet body. Then he helped him standing up and rinsed the legs and feet before Light stepped out of the tub in a strenuous effort.
"I think I can walk by myself this time." said Light and stumbled away from L towards the bathroom door. He still felt very weak and his legs were indeed not very reliable. On top of that, his open wound hurt terribly. But he didn't want to be touched by L again right now. The slow but determined way L's fingers had wandered across his back had reminded him of Haro's fondling of his chest, making him relive that unwanted memory of hurt and humiliation.
"Don't you want to dry yourself off first?" asked L.
Light leaned against the door frame to prevent his legs from giving way.
"Well, maybe the hair." he said, half turning around towards L to receive a towel. But L seemed to have a different idea. Before Light could fend him off, L had slung a large bath towel around his shoulders, as if hugging him from behind. Light immediately froze until a powerful shot of adrenalin rushed through his system. He had to strain forcing himself to gloss over the terror he felt and not let it show on his face. He was not entirely sure if it worked, because he was facing away from the mirror, but L did not look him into the eyes anyway. He was busy rubbing him dry, careful to spare the loin region, but thorough everywhere else. Light felt his heart pounding against his ribcage and his flight instincts sending him the urge to break free from L's clasp and flee from the room. But with adamant self-control he concentrated on calming his breath so L wouldn't notice and said:
"Haha, you are very thorough, Ryuga. I think I'm dry now."
"Can you stand on just one foot?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I can dry your feet then, too, so you won't leave wet foot prints on the carpet."
"Oh. I don't think so. Can I please just go back to bed?"
L looked up at him with enigmatic dark eyes. He nodded calmly.
"Very well." he said. "I'll open the door for you."
Without touching him again, L opened the bathroom door and followed him to the bed, where he handed him another, smaller towel.
"Your wound is bleeding again. You should use this to prevent it from staining the bed sheets this time."
In silence, Light received the towel and wrapped it around his waist. L folded back the fresh covers for Light to easier slide into bed. Then he tucked him in.
"I'll leave now." L said promptly. "Are you OK being by yourself?"
"Yeah, sure." Light replied, hoping the detective would leave already.
"I'll be back in a couple of hours."
The door clicked shut and Light was alone.
to be continued...
Author's note: I hope you got to see a little more of what Light thinks and feels in this chapter. The next chapter will focus more on Light and his thoughts, plans and feelings, since he is alone now.
Seishirou Hitsugaya
Thank you very much for your review.
If you were hoping for a romantic story, I'm afraid you will be disappointed.
The relationship between Light and L will be rather dark, especially if I decide for them to become sexually involved.