Goodnight Moon

Chapter Title: 32 Flavors



Disclaimer: Death Note =/= mine. Volume 7 would have gone a liiittle bit differently.



Rating: PG 13



Pairing: L / Light



Warning(s): Contains spoilers for manga 1 - some-number-lower-than-7 but still including the Yotsuba arc, and however that relates to the anime. This chapter with slightly more slash!



Other: Yay! Another reviewer. Thank you, Riven!



Also, I'd been worrying that I'd have to change the title on ch. 2, Mind Games, since it isn't a song title. Thank you John Lennon, for making a song called Mind Games, and having it work! I'm sure you made it just for this slash fic. I'm grateful for your obvious prescience.



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A soft, persistent pressure against his mouth brought Light gradually back from the depths of his sleeping analysis. He drew his eyebrows together and made a faint noise of questioning annoyance-- he was sure he'd been on the right track in his investigation, and a few more minutes to think was all he needed to give himself and L a new direction to search in with Yotsuba corporation.



The pressure left, and Light relaxed again in satisfaction. Where had he been? Ah, yes, working on that program to compile the new information on the Kira murders...



Something wet and faintly ticklish brushed his lips, and Light stirred once more. "Mm...?" Annoyed, he reluctantly abandoned his subconscious program writing and slid his eyes open.



When he met a pair of dark orbs less than an inch from his own and realized what that irritating sensation must have been, the young genius let out a strangled noise and fell out of his chair to escape. As he looked up at Ryuuzaki with eyes still too shocked to be angry yet and his legs tangled on the cushion, Ryuuzaki merely peered at him with his infernally collected pitch-colored eyes.



Light's surprise lasted only a moment before a glare that should have caused Ryuuzaki to spontaneously combust took over his face and he sprang at the older man with intent to harm. Ryuuzaki dodged back a moment too late, and the two fell from Ryuuzaki's chair to grapple on the floor, each trying to get enough room to kick or punch the other.



"What-- the HELL-- was that, Ryuuzaki?!" Light shouted, managing to rip one of the bandages from the dark-haired man's cheek with his fist.



"Light-kun-- fell asleep," grunted Ryuuzaki, getting his foot between them and shoving Light off of himself before following instantly. Light rolled out from under him before he could be pinned, and scored a hit with a chain-wrapped fist to the side of Ryuuzaki's head.



"What's that got to do with anything?!" Light snapped, taking advantage of Ryuuzaki being momentarily stunned to hit him again. "You could have woken me up like a normal person!"



Licking blood from the corner of his mouth, Ryuuzaki shook his head to clear it and clipped Light's jaw with his heel. The younger man's head snapped back in a satisfying way, distracting him long enough for Ryuuzaki to kneel on his chest. Ryuuzaki leaned in closer, causing Light to focus on him with a frown. "...I wanted to see how Kira tastes," Ryuuzaki explained mildly. Fury glowed in Light's eyes, and Ryuuzaki almost smiled before the younger man shoved him off with sheer adrenaline and punched the famous detective in his jaw, neck and stomach in quick succession.



After that, the fight became too serious for words, each man intent on causing maximum damage to the other in a short period of time. For minutes, the only sounds in the room were those of flesh hitting hard into flesh, grunts of pain and exertion, and the rattle of the chain.



When the strength of the punches slackened, and the kicks began to lose force, the men finally collapsed to the floor to pant and recover. Carelessly wiping away blood and sweat from a torn lip with his wrist, Light looked across at Ryuuzaki with a certain lassitude. Seeing a similar look on the other man's face-- exhausted but with an edge of contentment-- Light couldn't help a smirk. The smirk grew, and in a moment Light was snickering uncontrollably in-between gasps for air.



Blinking at this, Ryuuzaki considered how the other looked laughing. After a moment, he let himself fall to his back, limbs sprawled carelessly as his chest rose sharply. He was aware of bruises building upon bruises covered in occasional cuts. "Light-kun... picks a strange time to laugh," he commented wearily, voice coming out almost lazily.



As his snickering wore down, Light mimicked Ryuuzaki's position without thought, head feeling heavier than it should. "I'm the strange one?" he asked wryly, unable to work up annoyance at the thought. "That's funny, Ryuuzaki. I'm not the one who curls up in terror whenever someone he doesn't know walks into the room," he drawled. Paranoia, constant tension, interrupted sleep and their eternal drive to catch Kira seemed to have faded after the cathartic fight, and Light felt it hard to keep track of his body. He stretched out slightly, and his feet brushed against Ryuuzaki's. Not feeling an immediate urge to move them, he opened an eye with effort and with yet more effort nudged one of Ryuuzaki's legs with one foot. "You're not sitting up."



"...Too much effort," Ryuuzaki admitted honestly, catching his breath at last.



"Isn't it harder to watch me that way...?" Light questioned sardonically.



"..." Ryuuzaki sighed. "Light-kun makes a good point... I'll review the tapes later..."



"Heh. So you can watch me kick your ass?" Light asked with a smirk, eyes closing again.



"...I believe we had a tie, due to our bodies being unable to keep up with us," Ryuuzaki corrected.



"Mm..." It took a few tries, but Light pulled himself into an upright position, drawing his feet away from Ryuuzaki's as an afterthought. He looked down on the detective musingly, taking in the obvious evidence of their fight. "Funny. You look like you lost," he observed.



Opening his eyes, Ryuuzaki resisted the urge to move for nearly four seconds before the vulnerable position became too much to bear and he struggled to sit up with a wince. "Light-kun does not look any more the winner," he pointed out.



Light arched an eyebrow smugly. "Oh, but I did win. Or do I look so bad you wouldn't want to kiss me again...?" he asked, tilting his head.



"..." Ryuuzaki merely stared at him, unable to think of a way to effectively argue that.



"You see. So I won-- because you look so horrible I'd never want to kiss you," Light replied easily. He stood, cataloguing his pains but considering them more than worth the fight. "Now, let's go--" He succeeded in walking another step before Ryuuzaki caught his ankle and sent him crashing to the floor with a curse. "What--?!" He narrowed his eyes when he realized he'd been effectively pinned by the detective, wrists held together above his head and legs held down by Ryuuzaki's kneeling weight.



"Light-kun said he does not use the emotions of people who care about him ," Ryuuzaki reiterated. He put his face just out of head-bashing range to give Light an intent stare. "Some weapons are dangerous to use."



That said, he moved off of Light abruptly and started walking, jerking at the chain connecting them.



Shaken, Light frowned at the imperious gesture and pulled his hand back, childishly unwilling to go along. "So you can kiss me while I'm asleep and then act righteous when I remind you that I hate you?"



Ryuuzaki paused, gazing back at Light. "Yagami-kun hates me... Would he miss me at all if I die?" He tilted his head. "Or would that only make his life easier?"



Sighing in an aggravated way, Light pulled himself wearily to his feet. "It wouldn't make my life easier. You're a valuable part of the team, Ryuuzaki, you know that. Without us the investigation team wouldn't go anywhere."



"But you still don't like me," Ryuuzaki pointed out blandly.



Light lifted his handcuffed wrist. "Do you blame me? In any case, Ryuuzaki, I strongly suspect no one but Watari and your parents actually likes you."



Though nothing definable changed, Light got the sudden impression that Ryuuzaki had become closed off and impossible to reach. He wondered if it was only the subject, or if his mention of Watari or the detective's parents were what had sent him back behind his walls.



He also realized, uncomfortably, that his own secure defenses had been down for several minutes. He'd been reacting rashly and emotionally, and hadn't been thinking out his actions. Disturbed, Light walked with Ryuuzaki to their room in silence.



At the suite, however, Light paused in the doorway with a faint frown. "...Ryuuzaki," he asked gravely.



The detective stopped, turning his head only slightly and not bothering to glance back at Light.



Accepting this as the encouragement to continue that it was, Light fixed Ryuuzaki with a stern look. "In the future, if you have an interest in someone and want to kiss them, don't justify it by telling that person that you're only doing it to see how a serial killer tastes."



Ryuuzaki's head jerked, dark eyes fixing on Light in surprise. "...Understood," he finally deadpanned.



Having successfully broken through the wall again, Light turned to close the door, hiding a pleased smirk.



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32 Flavors is by Ani DiFranco. Since I don't like that version, however, I'm going to promote Alana Davis instead. I listen to it and think of L, though one part makes me think Light instead.



Also, I'm sorry this one is shorter! But they've been making some progress and I want to skip a little time. My time's been scattered lately and I was stressing over something, but now I'll try to work on the fic more and make myself stop watching Dark Angel in my free time.