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L sat cross-legged on his bed, looking down at the objectively very appealing chocolate mousse cake on a silver tray in front of him. Watari had brought it to him about 10 minutes ago and he still hadn’t dug in, the fork weighing heavy in his hand. Light would have probably asked if that was some kind of record for him. If he were here.
There was nothing on the cake to indicate that it was L’s birthday-- only Watari knew the exact date and of course, his caretaker wouldn’t take the chance of parading an obvious birthday cake through the halls of Kira HQ and giving that protected information away. Light was still here in the tower, out of the handcuffs as of three days ago, and more than that had changed for Light but L wasn’t sure how. He’d felt the change like a barometric shift, like ozone in the air after a lightning strike.
Unfortunately, both the Task Force and the courts trusted L’s gut feelings far less than real evidence. Which, currently, he had none of. He only had cake and not the appetite to eat it.
This was a disaster.
L sighed and put the fork down, crawling over to his nightstand to take out the long pair of handcuffs that had, until recently, bound him to Light. His fingers itched to grab the phone as well and call Light, even or especially because he knew the man was sleeping. L had never felt strange about spending a birthday alone before, but then L hadn’t had anyone but Watari before this one.
He looked between the cake and the cuffs a few times before stuffing the cuffs back in the nightstand, hunching in on himself like a perched gargoyle. I’m not going to do it. Not going to call him.
Light’s eyes flew open as he heard his cell-phone go off, and he groaned and turned over to glance at the caller ID. Caller unknown. It’s L.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, groggily answering, “Ryuzaki, it’s 2 am. This better be an emergency.”
“Oh, sorry to wake you up, Light-kun.” L didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. “It is an emergency. I need you to come to my room right away. Please hurry.”
“But what happ--” Light blinked as he heard a dial tone, holding the phone away from his ear with a sigh. “Nevermind.”
L answered the door before Light even had to knock, he’d been glued to the surveillance on his laptop.
“I came as soon as I could. What happened?” Light was barefoot and still in his pajamas, eyes wide as he looked past L into the room.
“Please come in, this is very serious.” L stepped aside to let Light come in and closed the door behind him.
Light gave him a look of alarm. “Is everyone ok? My father--”
“It seems I’ve lost my appetite for cake.” L pressed a finger against his lip as he stared mournfully at the untouched chocolate cake on his bed.
Light let out a sigh of relief but immediately switched to anger. “What?! Ryuzaki, THAT is not an emergency! You shouldn’t scare people like that!”
L shifted onto one foot, scratching his ankle with the other. “I suppose you don’t understand how disconcerting this is for me. This has never happened before.”
Light closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. Quietly, “Ryuzaki…” He opened his eyes and tried not to imagine picking up that cake and smashing it on L’s head. “What exactly do you expect me to do about it?”
L smiled slightly, climbing onto the bed to crouch by the cake. “If Light-kun ate it with me, I think my appetite might return.” He stated this as if it were the obvious and logical solution to a very pressing problem. “Unfortunately there is only one fork but we’ve gotten used to sharing things haven’t we? So it should be no issue.”
“If I eat a couple of bites, will you let me go back to bed?” It was probably easier to just do what L wanted than to protest. Not like eating a little cake was so awful.
L picked up the fork and held it out. “Of course.”
Light gave L a suspicious look but tentatively took the fork and sat beside him on the bed. The cake looked really delicious--- raspberries and strawberries dotted the chocolate icing and the top was dusted with white chocolate shavings. “Alright, here goes.” He stabbed the fork into the cake and brought a bite to his lips, unable to keep from making a soft sound of approval. “Mmmm.” He swallowed it with a nod. “Wow, it’s really good. Even better than Watari’s usual cakes.” Light didn’t have the greatest sweet-tooth but chocolate was his weakness. “Here, you try some now.” He tried to hand the fork to L but the detective shook his head.
“Still not there yet. Keep going.”
Light shrugged and ate another bite and then another, until there was a sizable hole in the cake and crumbs dotted his shirt. But as he lifted one last bite, he smiled and brought it to L’s lips instead. “Come on, you have to be wanting some by now. It’s really special. Just trust me.”
L was wanting some; he’d been wanting some since Light’s second bite but had been enjoying seeing Light enjoying it more. “Trust you?” He stared at Light a moment before slowly opening his mouth and permitting the forkful of cake inside. His lips closed around the fork, eyes fluttering shut as the sweet, creamy icing spread across his tongue. Watari had really outdone himself this year, it was one of the best cakes he’d ever had. Or was it because of… him.
Light laughed softly, retracting the fork from L’s mouth and leaning back on his elbow. He’d forgotten how comfortable it could be with L sometimes, when they weren’t snarking at each other or at each other’s throats. He dangled the fork from his fingers in front of L, urging him to take it. “There, problem solved. Have some more.”
L looked at the fork and then at the cake, saying softly, “I would like to trust Light-kun again.” But he is Kira.
Light hesitated and felt something tighten in his chest when L took his hand, dug the fork into the cake, and ate the bite. L’s eyes burned into him, and there was a strange openness Light hadn’t seen before. A question unasked, painted on L’s wide pupils. A chance.
L shifted closer to Light, “And again…” He squeezed Light’s hand until the fork was dropped, moving Light’s finger into the icing instead to lick it off. Softer, “....and again,” repeating the action. His appetite had returned but it wasn’t for cake, had never been about cake.
“Ryuzaki?” Light’s eyes widened in surprise, breath coming fast as L moved nearly nose-to-nose, his finger still embedded in L’s mouth. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not tonight, not ever. This was how people slipped up, caught feelings...shit. As soon as he pulled his finger from L’s mouth, L closed the distance between them, sticky sweet lips pressing to his and sending a shiver down through his guts. He needed to jerk away but he grabbed at L’s shirt, needed to run from this room but only pulled L’s body closer against his. He should be yelling at the invasion but instead opened his mouth wider, letting L taste Kira as he’d never tasted Light-kun. He should be thinking of his next moves to take L out, but as the cake was shoved off the bed, forgotten, all he could think was how hungry he was.