Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ PITCH ❯ Parental Units ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

PITCH

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Light x L

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Part 7

L is a reclusive detective who takes his job seriously. Too seriously, in fact. Once he takes note of how neglected and stagnant his life truly is, he decides to make some changes. Challenges arise through an unanticipated meeting. AU

A/N: Hope you all love this one for its dinner awkwardness! ;)

Disclaimer: (See part 1 for full disclaimer.)

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Pitch: (def.)

A substance commonly utilized to bind materials in construction... Tar pitch appears solid, and can be shattered with a hard impact, but it is actually fluid. Pitch flows at room temperature, but extremely slowly. To attain maximum fluidity, to be used, it must be exposed to heat.

Minds are like pitch. To reveal their full potential, they must be exposed to environs that apply stress. They must be challenged.

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Part 7: (Parental Units)

Social aversion was like a bomb exploding in L's face as Raito parked the car and L stared at the residence in horror. You could say that it was full blown panic and leave it at that.

"Where are we?" L asked in his best attempt at a level voice. Either he was about to be murdered, or he was about to wish he were being murdered if his suspicions were correct.

"My parents'."

L's fingers gripped the edges of his seat. "Why?"

Raito spared him a pitying look. "To have dinner."

L glared back. "I meant why am I here? I didn't sign up for this!"

Raito smiled a smile that was not entirely reassuring and looked like he just might harbor some hidden amusement at L's expense. "You'll be fine. I'll make it up to you later."

"That is," Raito added, leaning over to L's side and trapping him with his voice and eyes, "if you'll let me, Lawliet."

Damn it. Resisting the brunette never failed to prove difficult when he was feeling persuasive.

Elegant fingers tilted his face upwards as Raito brushed a tantalizing kiss across his lips. Soft lips, warm and lingering, imparted a sense of urgency with their slow caresses. Lips parted his and slick heat slid within his mouth, filling it with the taste of the brunette - the taste of desire. It burned through him before he found the strength to break the circuit of something too penetrating to be called a kiss. "Raito," he choked out. Have some decency! "Stop, your parents--"

"Might look out the window at any moment?" Raito interrupted. "Hmn, that would be a problem. Are we going inside then, or do you require further convincing?" His innocent smile was at odds with the hand smoothing up L's thigh.

"Inside," L gulped, trying to dislodge the hand as it continued its creeping ascent.

"I'd love to hear you say that in another context," Raito whispered in his ear, squeezing L's thigh and making him gasp.

L fought him off and fought to calm his body so he could leave the car, aware of the brunette's smirking gaze upon him. What sort of inhuman being was Raito that he positively oozed sex no matter what he did? It was indecent and it wasn't fair. L got out of the car before he wondered too fully if he was referring to that strange talent or the fact that they were not in a place where it could be acted upon.

The house might well have been the famous Amityville house for all the cold chills it gave him.

He decided to rally himself mentally for the few dozen steps it took to reach the front door. Maybe Raito had realized he'd come off as a deranged sociopath, what with his stalker tendencies, and was trying to show a bit of normalcy by inviting L to have dinner and observe him in a family setting. Speaking of which, he wondered what Raito had told them. He doubted that he had been introduced as 'the guy I met at a bar' or 'the guy I just slept with and was molesting in the car not five minutes ago.'

L grimaced. At least he was not wearing his typical attire. The pants, yes; those were his usual because Raito had insisted that in changing those in front of him, L would only be making them grievously late.

That Raito had insisted by murmuring directly in his ear, his hands covering L's and either stopping them from undoing the button or encouraging him to drag them off (it was hard to tell) made it obvious why they were going to be late. As it was, changing his long-sleeved white shirt with the black button-down shirt he now wore was a lesson in feeling naked while still being mostly clothed.

He had less than a second to brace himself before Raito opened the door.

"Oh look, dear, Raito brought a friend home!" an older woman with short, dark brown hair twittered excitedly, "Isn't that nice?"

Raito's father, a man with stern features and black hair shot through with silver at the temples, eyed L with an unfriendly, appraising look as if he wanted to ask what sort of friend.

This look continued through the introductions, through dinner and on into dessert.

Oddly enough, Raito chose to introduce him simply as L. The mother and father introduced themselves as such, Sachiko and the Chief of Police, respectively. It was not a good sign that Raito's father had given his rather intimidating title as opposed to his actual name.

Dinner was a subdued affair, full of cutlery clinking against ceramic dinner plates, and quiet attempts at conversation. Primarily, these came from Raito and his mother. L kept as quiet and inoffensive as possible while Raito's father honed, sharpened, and leveled that Look at him.

Being scrutinized in such a hostile manner did nothing for L's appetite. He methodically cut up food, ate some of it, not being aware of what it actually was, and prayed that he had not been thrust into the middle of a family feud. He did not know Raito's preferences, if he regularly got involved with men, or if he liked women as well, but... was it possible that he had brought L here merely for the purpose of becoming a segue into such a controversial topic? Dear god, I hope not. But the suspicion on the father's face, and his seeming disapproval of L, certainly pointed to an impending blowup over sexual orientation, be it of the brunette's design or not.

The Look culminated in a twisting of the elder Yagami's mouth until, finally, he spoke the words. "What sort of friend, Raito?" He glared at his son in challenge.

"Please, dear, not at the table," Raito's mother said under her breath.

Raito did not look fazed in the least. He was serving L some rice pudding, which L did not have the appetite for, and said, matter of factly, "I'm sleeping with him."

Raito's father gaped, L gaped, and the entire room fell silent until Raito's mother said, "Oh. Well... that's nice, isn't it?"

This did nothing to dissipate the bone-cracking tension in the room.

Raito sighed in annoyance and handed L his bowl. L took it, convinced that human combustion sounded like a grand idea. He was so beyond mortified, his mind felt like it was caving in on itself. He avoided looking at either of the parents, and wondered if Raito secretly had it in for him. Did he bring me here to torture me on purpose or is he that blasé about such things?

Raito heaved a sigh. "It's not like he's in politics," he said finally.

Raito's father blinked. "He's not in..." he repeated, then turned to L. "You're not in politics?" he demanded.

"N-no, sir."

The smile that burst forth on the elder man's face was near beatific. "Well then, that is another matter altogether!"

L was scared. Insanity obviously ran in the family.

"Now if only my son were to see the error of his ways... Try to rub off on him, L." The Police Chief paused. "What is it you do for a living?"

"Ah... detective work," L said haltingly. He didn't like everyone to know, but he couldn't think of a believable alternative.

"Hmn." Raito's father nodded in approval. "Good, upstanding profession. Do you smoke?"

"No, sir."

This had to be one of the strangest interrogations L had ever experienced.

"Excellent! You might let that rub off on him as well. By the way, you can just call me Soichiro."

"Do you drink, dear?" Raito's mother asked.

"Occasionally--"

"Sachiko, there is nothing wrong with a little alcohol," Raito's father admonished his wife in a lecturing tone. "Leave the boy alone."

Insane, L thought. They were all perfectly insane. No wonder the brunette was demented. L glanced at Raito to see him hiding an amused smirk as their eyes met.

"In fact, why don't I open that bottle of red American wine?"

L turned back to the older man, cringing at the thought of losing even one iota of brain function potential while in this madhouse. He felt he should break the silence, but was there even a polite was to abstain?

"No thank you father, I don't drink wine," Raito declined.

L surreptitiously shot him a cockeyed look. Or maybe it was Raito that made his family crazy? The brunette obviously did drink wine, L had seen him do it the other night.

"Worthless son," the elder Yagami male muttered dismissively. L caught the mirth in Raito's eyes before they lowered and the brunette took a sip of water. "How about you, L?" the man turned to him hopefully.

"I'm fine," he started, awkwardly rolling out his refusal while hoping not to make a bad impression that would cause a resurgence in that awful look he'd endured most of the meal.

"Don't hold back on my account," Raito said, leisurely sealing his fate.

"It's settled then," Raito's father said happily, jumping up to fetch the bottle.

"Raito, you shouldn't pressure your friend to drink if he doesn't want to," Sachiko admonished primly. To L she said, "You don't have to if you don't want to, dear."

"No, no, that's quite all right, Yagami-san." L secretly wondered what Raito's motive was. It seemed the mother knew him better than the father, at any rate. Interesting. Was it woman's intuition that made her more perceptive than the Chief of Police? It was either quite impressive or quite unnerving.

"Well, if you're sure."

"Sure of what?" Raito's father asked, as he returned with the uncorked bottle and two glasses.

"Sure that he might well help you finish that bottle, if you are so inclined, father," Raito said smoothly. "He's had a rough day."

L made a futile attempt to kick Raito under the table. It was hard to accomplish, since the brunette was sitting on his left.

"I hope you weren't part of that, Raito," Sachiko hummed under her breath.

Well, yes, actually, L wanted to say, he was not just part, but the whole of my misfortune lately. Did you know he enjoys not-dinners as a special brand of foreplay? He follows that up by inadvertently displaying evidence of being quite the tenacious stalker. You should be proud.

Raito said, "Well, he is a bit aggravated with me for dropping by unannounced."

Yes, to my house that you inexplicably know the location of!

"Oh dear, that is a bit of a glare you have there," Sachiko said to L with a bit of a giggle. "You weren't working, I hope?"

"I was, actually."

"Well here, son, try this on for size and it will make all of that just float away," Soichiro put the full glass of red in front of him.

Hopefully not taking my brain with it.

L could feel the brunette's intense eyes on him as he hefted the glass to his lips and took an experimental sip. They burned along his exposed skin as he took another.

Not bad. He said as much, and Soichiro beamed. "I told you it was good! Drink up, drink up!"

"Raito," the brunette's mother sought her son's attention. L caught the tail end of predatory eyes moving from him and adjusting to something more mundane as he focused on her. "Your sister wanted to know when we are celebrating your birthday so she can come home from university."

"Sayu," Raito muttered with a sigh. "Why would she ask that? She comes home practically every weekend anyway."

"It's not every day her big brother turns 24."

L barely avoided choking on the wine. 24?! This scandalously charismatic demon in angel's clothing is younger than me?

Raito's exasperation turned into a smug little smile as he surveyed L. "Ah, so you are older."

What are you? L thought, not for the first time.

Raito winked at him.

L pointedly turned back to his wine.

Maybe if he were exceedingly drunk, this would not seem so outlandish. Then again, maybe he should just take a moment to collect his thoughts. He finished the glass of wine and dutifully drank part of a second before asking Sachiko if he might use their restroom. It was probably the only room that would guarantee a brief respite. He thanked her and stood, surprised at the rubber-like quality of his legs. Either that wine packed a punch or the glasses looked deceptively smaller than they actually were.

With concentrated effort, he kept most of the wobble out of his walk until he reached the hall. Sighing, he leaned against the wall and wondered how in the hell he had gotten himself in this situation. The conversation at the table felt like a crossfire. It was exhausting.

Picking himself up, he continued to the bathroom and flicked on the light. Now he could support a wall in safety. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back on it. Five minutes? He probably couldn't take more than that.

"Hiding, Lawliet?" A gilded voice said softly, not a dozen moments later, to the sound of an opening door.

Annoyance. Butterflies. "I might have been using the restroom, you know." It was strange, but he was sure now that Raito had not only refrained from using his full name this evening, but had not referred to him as L either, though he had instructed his parents to do so. Was he aware of the ways in which L's full name could be used to twist him up? Or did he somehow know that he alone called L by that name and wanted to keep it that way?

"It was unlikely," Raito said dismissively, sounding closer. "And you would have locked the door."

"What is your excuse for coming back here?" He heard the soft footfalls approaching. His pulse kept double time.

The feel of a warm body drew close and the intoxicating scent of the brunette filled his senses.

"I wish I could ravish you," Raito spoke conspiratorially against his lips, suddenly pressing him against the wall. L's eyes flickered open as Raito's leg slid between his thighs and Raito's mouth cut off the noise that tried to escape his drunken lips.

Hot, wet, dizzying.

Disorientation swam over him and he felt like a butterfly pinned to a mounting board, stunned and helpless to free itself.

It was too wrong to be doing this, here of all places, Raito's parents waiting in the other room. He tried to turn his head to break the kiss, but the brunette's hands cupped his face and held him still. He felt his body temperature rise and his face flush against his will.

He couldn't withstand this sort of thing.

He couldn't bear up against such raw, carnal fervor.

His body reacted as powerfully as the night before, shaking with the effort of standing when that mouth was devouring his. An articulate hand had trailed down to his hip, tracing the curve of flesh and bone and deviating to stroke the soft skin of his belly. His muscles twitched beneath those fingertips, anticipating and craving that touch... he wanted them to drift lower, to alight upon the fire they'd set.

Anything.

Anything but this torturous building of sensation. Instead of trying to push the brunette away, he was now just grasping weakly at Raito's arms.

Raito's hips moved gently against his, as he bent to explore the column of L's neck.

An accidental motion? Oh, but the feel of it. The feel of it. It was sparking within him and all he wanted was its repeat. "Rai...to," he groaned as teeth nipped his neck and hips rolled once more against his. His face flushed even more as he realized it was not only himself that lay hard and firm between them.

"So inconvenient," Raito uttered, face buried in L's neck and hair. "I want you so badly..." His hand toyed with the waistband of L's jeans. "Can I?" he breathed, his fingers slipping lower, teasing.

L shook his head back and forth.

Not here...

No, he corrected himself. I shouldn't be doing this anywhere with...

"Would you hate me, Lawliet?" Raito asked in a silky tone, those clever fingers making contact with his aching flesh, barely touching, inciting an even stronger need for sensation. Oh god. Need was nearly blinding in its intensity and dangerously close to overwhelming rational thought. "Stop," he choked out, mortified at the begging and raw tone in his voice. "I can't..."

Cool fingertips burned his flesh with their sinful caresses, a whispering mouth plied the skin of his throat with a trail of promised pleasures as Raito's lean body caged his.

"Does your sense of morality inhibit you, or is it something else?"

"Not here, please."

"And if I bring you somewhere else?"

"..." It was so hard to think. But he did not want to succumb to this, to have it written across his body and mind, and have to show that face to others right after. Would they be able to see it? Would they guess? They had already been too long.

"Answer me, Lawliet," Raito murmured, his voice rich and heady. "I'm not a patient man. Can I have you at my leisure or shall we continue here?"

L was not used to this level of physical desire. He was not accustomed to having anything roll his mind like this. Half-formed thoughts flitted through his head, such as vague self-warnings about not knowing this individual, the follies of putting himself too at the mercy of him, or even the propensity the brunette had for avoiding revealing much of himself at all. Above even that was the way Raito could back him into these tight little spaces, offering him choices that were anything but. How could it really be considered a choice when there was only one viable option?

"Raito..." his voice caught on the rest of the words, so foreign was the sound of his own thready voice, forcing him to start again. "Don't do this... here... I don't want..." I don't want you to. I don't want you to stop. I don't want anyone to know about this, to see me like this.

"Say yes, and we'll leave right now."

I don't think I should be alone with you.

L's head dipped in what could be considered assent. Raito was too convincing. He was too skilled at pulling L into his pace and directing his every move, and to what purpose? Was it all benign? Could it be simple attraction, or where there darker things at work? Raito was more than the surface he presented, but what lurked behind that polished exterior?

A soft knocking at the door surprised them both. "L, dear, are you still in there?" It was Raito's mother. "Are you ok? Do you need anything? I would've asked Raito, but he seems to have disappeared on me."

L froze, and his befuddled mind could not come up with a single thing to diffuse the situation. This is what he had been afraid of.

The handle actually started to turn.

Panic.

Suddenly, L found himself being peeled off the wall and forced to his knees in front of the toilet. Raito's hands were a firm, unrelenting pressure on his shoulders, bearing down on him through his confused flailing. "Come in, mother," Raito greeted from over his shoulder, as she was doing just that. "L isn't feeling very well," Raito said, smoothing a gentle hand over L's back that served to keep him bent over the porcelain bowl. "Could you get me something for his stomach?"

It registered then. How convenient that any evidence of arousal they may have shown was hidden in L's forced crouch and Raito's turned body.

"Of course, Raito," his mother said. "I was wondering what made you come back here, though..."

"Oh, it was just to grab something off of my bookshelf that I thought L might find of interest. The door was ajar when I was passing back by."

His bookshelf? Did Raito retain a room here, even though he had his own place to live?

"If it was the food, L, I'm so terribly sorry," she fretted in apology.

L shook his head, and she excused herself to go get some medicine.

The second she was gone, Raito dropped down and said, "Wait here," in a hushed voice, before vanishing as well.

L supposed it was to grab a book to fill in for the one he had most certainly not gone to get in the first place, and would need in order to back up his fabrication. Part of L wanted to see him get caught in the lie by having his mother return first. Another part wished to see Raito make it back first. He wasn't sure if that part was concerned with merely keeping his dignity as intact as possible, or whether he was a little grateful that Raito had decided to keep their indiscretions hidden. The brunette hadn't seemed to mind being mind-blowingly blunt and open about it earlier... is it possible he's doing this out of consideration for me?

The door swung open half-way and L cringed, sure it would be Sachiko, but it was merely the devilish and unpredictable brunette, book in hand. He walked the book over to a small white table behind L and set it down, then returned to his side, crouching down next to him. "You look charming when you're terrified," Raito whispered in his ear engagingly, making L's stomach do flip-flops.

Who says that? he thought in another flash of conflicting emotions, whipping his eyes to the brunette's face.

Raito was smiling darkly. He reached a hand up to touch L's face possessively, brushing his thumb across L's cheek. "Soon, you'll be all mine." Damning lips branded L's own, claiming them with a chaste but lingering kiss. It tasted of sin and corruption and inescapable desire that would blacken any purity he had within him.

L turned away, his mind teeming and chaotic.

It was a bad idea to be alone with him, wasn't it? And that is where this would lead, after this farce of sickness had been played out and they took their leave. He couldn't trust himself to be level-headed, to question Raito as he should, to be able to maintain the physical distance that would allow him to be objective.

"Raito," Sachiko said, reappearing. "Have him take this. Here is some water."

L took the medicine like an obedient little child, two pairs of similarly colored eyes resting on him - one, concerned, one overly and intently watchful.

"Are you sure it wasn't the food?" the brunette's mother asked again.

L looked up at her, trying not to see Raito too clearly out of the corner of his eye, and assured her that dinner had been delicious and entirely not at fault. He added that it was probably stress-related and was nothing to worry about.

She smiled at him, and he could see the echo of resemblance it bore to her son's, though it was a thousand times more benign. "You're too sweet, dear." She watched him consideringly as Raito helped him too his feet. "Don't let my boy take advantage of that, he is a bit of a spoiled thing."

Again with the eerily intuitive statements, L thought with a chill.

"Mother, in your eyes, I've never grown past the age of 7."

She hummed in disagreement but didn't bother to address that statement. L wondered if that would count as a win on her end, that she didn't feel the need to refute such a counter-statement and let it lie there. The slight scowl on the brunette's arrogantly beautiful face seemed to confirm it.

It was actually kind of amazing to see Raito interacting in this sort of way, that when in his family home, he could actually seem like a normal person, instead of the untouchable and flawless being L had come to know. Raito didn't always have everything under his control... it was just an artfully constructed mirage.

They followed Sachiko down the hall, a few paces behind.

"Whatever thought is circulating in that head of yours, Lawliet, I can assure you it is not accurate."

"I don't know, I think it may be." And what a relief. Having evidence of normalcy, any little scrap of it at all, calmed some of the frantic fluttering that kept shooting off in his chest. Maybe this family visit was more valuable than he'd originally surmised. If he could keep in mind that Raito was merely human, like he was, and not some archangel of debauchery, it would serve to keep him more grounded and less likely to flounder helplessly in the brunette's presence.

Raito caught his hand and turned L to face him. "Do you, now?" he said in a honeyed tone, gazing at him with bared eyes.

L held his stare, reminding himself of what he'd discovered. Raito was not invincible. He was not undeniable. He was just like anyone else. Well, not like just anyone... but certainly no more than an equal. An equal, he told himself staunchly.

Oh, but then why did he feel uncertainty licking at the edges of that surety, crumbling the edges away in rapidly advancing waves? What quality was it in those brandy-colored eyes that eroded his confidence as soon as he'd gained it, telling him that no matter what he saw, this was still the reality of things between them? What was it about them that caught his breath in his throat and sped his heart to a breakneck pace?

"It occurs to me that you may have second thoughts once we leave here."

L shook his head wordlessly, damning himself for losing his nerve this quickly. But where was that elusive evidence of humanity he'd just been privy to? How now was it buried so deeply, as if it wasn't there at all?

Raito's hand around his wrist was like a shackle, so firm, and yet the fingers were a loose bond. Loose, but effective.

"If it would ease your mind, we could go to your place instead of mine," Raito said, somehow guessing at L's reluctance. "Though," he continued, drawing closer, "I can't guarantee someone won't hear you cry out."

L's face burned and he turned away. "You certainly have a high opinion of yourself," he muttered faintly.

"Not without reason," the brunette countered silkily, catching his chin and forcing their eyes to meet in a clash of wills and anticipation. L fought the hold and cursed mentally as that peculiar, captivating smile spread across Raito's sensual lips, and that horrid fluttering sensation started up in his stomach again. "And I warn you, Lawliet, I fully intend to hear every sound your voice is capable of. It's up to you whether you mind an audience."

The audacity. Every word that dripped from his mouth was coated so thickly with unabashed lust and seductive confidence that it should have been laughable. But it wasn't. Somehow it was just anything but laughable, and pulled from him every feeling he'd been trying to avoid or deny and making him feel guilty over it. Dirty.

A gentle kiss upon his lips sealed in those feelings, intensifying them and drawing them out. "Be a good boy and play sick for Mother and Father," Raito whispered in darkly amused tones.

Lie to save face, the brunette was nearly saying. Lie, and hate it, and thank me for the lie I crafted just for you.

L was not as skilled with acting, and the fear of being seen through was a valid one, so he did resent Raito for putting him in such a position. But worse was knowing that he was being puppeted, and going along with it.

How much of it had to do with his intoxicated system? Was it the liberal application of wine he could fault for the way things were going, his lack of control and his weak defenses against the brunette on all accounts? Could he fault alcohol for the sad state of his mind? Could he?

Would that be too obvious a scapegoat, when he wasn't sure that was the root of the problem anyway? But Raito seemed to harbor a fondness for plying him with alcohol before playing with his strings. Did intoxication make him more predictable and easier to control?

"Oh, there you are, dears," Raito's mother called out from the kitchen as she heard her husband inquire as to how L was feeling. "If you'd like, I can send you home with some bread pudding - I made it the other night."

"All right," Raito called back, though L would have declined any additional food. He loved bread pudding, but his stomach was tied in so many knots, he was becoming quite confident that he might never eat again. "I think you'll like it," Raito said casually, a normal-person smile on his face as he spoke quietly. L wondered if it was for the benefit of his father who was watching them right now and the mother that may poke her head out of the kitchen at any moment. It was distinctly unnerving if he thought of it that way, but why else would he display such sudden changes in behavior? It couldn't possibly be because he knew he was granting L a reprieve from his dark intensity...

L was playing his part, arms tucked up against his chest as if warding off chills, and his posture a touch sloppy. He noted Raito's father's eyes drift to Raito's arm which was draped loosely around L's back and the hand that rested on his hip. He did not revert to the Look, but there was a bit of discomfort in his eyes.

"I'll be right back," Raito said, tapping L's hip lightly before vanishing into the kitchen.

"L," Soichiro said, calling him back. L took a moment to focus on seeming at ease by scrunching up his face in woe-begotten torment, then letting it smooth out again before turning around.

"Yes?"

The older man insisted he have a seat, and sipped from his glass of wine for a few minutes (letting L squirm) before speaking further. "Tell me, have you known my son long?"

"No, sir, not long." L hadn't meant to revert back to the ever formal 'sir', but this time Soichiro did not correct him. It seemed that this was the sort of serious questioning that befitted a Police Chief and not an amiable father figure. L figured he'd chosen the address by instinct.

"L, you seem like a nice young man. Bright, if a little quiet."

L nodded slowly, not really sure what response was required.

"But I must admit, it seems odd to me that you were unaware of my son's age or birthday, yet you have, according to him, already consented to... deeper relations with him. Being the bright young man that you are, do you see it as an acceptable course of action with someone you hardly know?"

L unobtrusively chewed the inside of his lip. If he wasn't mistaken, he was currently on the receiving end of a parental relationship talk. But how strange to be advised by the other person's parent, and they calling their own child a stranger. "I'm not really sure what to say," L said when nothing better came to mind. "It was not exactly a planned happening..."

The Police Chief leaned back in his chair. "That doesn't surprise me. My son can be quite the charismatic fellow when he wants to be. Tell me, where did you meet him?"

Oh, no. Honesty or dishonesty? He had no idea if he should disclose the details of their meeting. Raito, come back out here, please, before I screw something up! That was a novel idea, though, wasn't it? That he perceived the two of them as having something that could be screwed up? Didn't that only mean that in some way he wanted this strange and nerve-wracking interaction that they shared?

"Ah... Well..." L fought off the urge to fidget and the overwhelming urge to begin chewing on his thumb. Raito showed no signs of returning. "It was in a bar we both happen to live by--"

Raito's father interrupted him. "So, you have been to his home?"

"Yes, he has, Father, and we'll be going there shortly," Raito responded, laying hands upon L's shoulders and squeezing them. Whether it was to be comforting, a device by which to allow him to quit answering, or a sign that he had already said too much, L didn't know.

Soichiro's eyes narrowed, though it was barely perceptible. "I wasn't finished speaking to your friend."

"I apologize for cutting it short, but we really must be going."

L couldn't see the brunette's face, but his tone had a fine edge under the pleasantry. He did not sound sorry in the least. L shrunk into his chair as the father's face tightened, only a little relieved that the expression was aimed at the person behind him. What was this hidden strife between the two?

"Raito, I will not be undermined in my own house," he warned.

Ok, and now L wanted to hide. Tension was rising and he could feel it as well in the brunette's hands upon him.

"Of course not, Father, that would be the furthest from my intent."

Overly polite... It seemed that was Raito's way of baiting his father, for it really couldn't be said that he was being disrespectful. Tone could be argued against quite easily.

"If that's true, why don't you say goodbye to your mother before you go?"

"Oh, but I already have. All that was left was collecting your new friend."

"Sachiko," Raito's father called out.

"Yes, dear?" she called back.

"Would you mind sending Raito off with some leftovers? It seems he neglected to consider any."

"Oh, of course. Raito, come here a moment and show me what you'd like."

The whole of this conversation, aside from Soichiro's part, was hidden from view, but L was almost certain he heard Raito emit a sub-vocal growl before releasing him and stalking back into the kitchen.

His son having been cleanly disposed of, for the time being anyway, Soichiro settled his sights back upon L. L shifted in his seat, toes curling anxiously in the secrecy of his shoes.

"I'm telling you this because I like you, L. Be careful with him. He does not always make the best decisions and can fall in with the wrong crowds. I would hate to see you fall into the same ways, or suffer for his whims."

Again, L nodded, quite at a loss for what he could possibly say.

Soichiro smiled grimly and stood. "Well, it was good meeting you." He offered a hand, which L rose to shake. It seemed an abrupt ending to the continued conversation but then L realized he felt a murderous glare manifesting behind him. Raito must have finished the business with the leftovers in record time.

"Well then," Sachiko said brightly, "we really must do this again."

L peeked up at the mother and son, and noted that Raito's face was a cordial mask, not letting slip any of his previous feelings. He even smiled at his mother and gave her a one-armed hug while balancing a bag of Tupperware containers in the other.

They all gradually moved towards the front door, Sachiko taking L's hand and telling him it was lovely to meet him.

The undercurrent between Raito and his father had not diminished. It was covered up behind fake faces, but still remained, roiling under the surface. It was a palpable thing. L was certain that Raito's mother had to have noticed it, but she acted as if she were unaware.

The first thing Raito did when they opened the front door was to get a cigarette into his hands and light it up. L could see this now as a dig at his father, who apparently disapproved of such behavior. Oh, and it worked - it set a small muscle to jumping in his jaw.

"Give me a hug, Raito," Sachiko said, stepping out on the stoop to receive it. In a quiet voice that L could barely catch, she said, "Don't antagonize your father, honey. Mind his blood pressure."

"Mind his drinking," he whispered back in subtle challenge before stepping away.

"Don't blame me if you get cancer," Soichiro said gruffly.

Raito took a long pull off of his cigarette, closing his eyes as if savoring it extraordinarily before exhaling. "If that happens, I'm sure my health coverage will take care of it quite splendidly, but thank you for your concern."

The Police Chief grunted and stopped just short of stomping back into the house. It was somewhat more dignified as exits went, but no less filled with aggravation.

Sachiko smacked Raito in the shoulder.

"Goodnight, dear," she said to L, then followed her husband inside.

When the door clicked shut, Raito took another drag off of his cigarette and unleashed the smoke in a steady stream up towards the starry sky. "I do believe I was just snubbed by my own mother," he said dryly. Face still upturned, he rolled his eyes down to survey L. "You look to be in one piece. Didn't I tell you that you would be fine?" The slight night breeze was rifling through the brunette's hair in an annoyingly appealing way.

"If general lack of dismemberment constitutes being fine, I suppose you are right."

"Here, hold these." Raito pushed the bag of Tupperware into L's hands and started towards the car.

"You could say please, I wouldn't mind."

"I suppose I wouldn't mind letting you walk back," Raito tossed back, as he opened the driver side door.

L felt his mouth twist in a frown at the brunette's brusque manner. He stopped in front of the car. "Fine by me," he said coolly.

Raito locked eyes with him from the driver's seat. The silence may have been due to him trying and discarding several possible replies before saying, "Get in," with a sigh.

L leveled him with a deadpan look. "Are you sure? I rather enjoyed the idea of walking."

Raito heaved another sigh and swung himself out of the car seat, walking around the still-open door, and taking the burden of leftovers out of L's hands. "Things didn't go exactly as I'd expected. I'm sorry."

That was an interesting way of apologizing without really taking ownership. L crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"It's at least a 50 minute walk to my place, longer to yours," Raito added as if by showing L he was being foolish was the best way to be forgiven without actually apologizing properly.

They stared at each other over the hood of the car. L with an even less forgiving look, and Raito with narrowing eyes.

"You can be quite difficult when you want to be," the brunette observed. "It seems you may rival the stubbornness I am said to possess." He put the leftovers on the hood, stretched with his entire body, like a cat, and sat down. "Should we camp out here then? I don't think they'll mind. They seem to like you to an obnoxious degree."

L considered heading out on foot, but he wasn't really in the mood for it, or making his point to such a degree. He sat down on the other side of the hood. "Well, that's an improvement over your father's initial reaction which was, I believe, to gut me."

"Ah," Raito sighed and lay back on the windshield. "He means well, I suppose."

The nearly golden coloring the brunette typically possessed was sapped away by the night and replaced with the cool blue tones and contrast of the moonlight. His eyes looked black as he stared up at L with an aura of unhurried grace. Something about him looked intolerably inviting as he lay there, his skin like pale marble, as perfect as the shape of his aristocratic features, as compelling as the darker hue of his full lips.

"Don't be angry with me, Lawliet."

"..." L realized he wasn't so much anymore. Something about the atmosphere and the change in his companion made it hard to be.

"Come here?" Raito asked softly.

They regarded each other for a few moments, but finally L relented and shifted over a few feet, right next to the brunette who was still watching him with luminous, moonshot eyes. He didn't resist the gentle pull on the front of his shirt that guided him down to Raito's waiting lips.

He shivered slightly as the wind picked up and played with the back of his hair, and he kissed the brunette back with the tentative technique of one not used to being given the lead. Not being cornered in his own mouth, he was free to explore the brunette's. Smooth, silken heat welcomed him in with subtle pressure and the gentle caresses of a skilled tongue.

Warmth pooled in his groin as Raito grew slightly more bold, fractionally more assertive, then became passive again in turns. It was intoxicating in a way with which he was unfamiliar, slowly melting him down, almost without him noticing. It was so soft and warm against the slight chill in the night air. It felt kind of right when Raito's cool hand traced up the bare skin of his stomach, eliciting a hushed noise from the back of his throat. It was warming rapidly against his body heat, and making his muscles jump underneath it with small eddies of deepening pleasure.

"Lawliet," Raito said in a husky voice that tingled through him, "Let me drive you back?" He paused to recapture L's mouth more insistently before continuing. "I'm sorry you had to kneel on the bathroom floor... I have a large bath at my place, you're welcome to use it while I find some clean clothes for you to borrow."

L nodded. How could he not, when Raito kept hooking him in so expertly? He wondered if the brunette really intended for him to use a large bathtub by himself, or if he might be thinking of sharing it.

The thought of continuing this slow exploration of each other amid slick, scented bubbles, with nothing but water barring the meeting of their skin... it flushed desire through him so thoroughly that it shocked him, and left his body aching. He should be ashamed at wanting to consummate this attraction yet again, at wanting to feel the brunette in his arms and between his thighs, ashamed at the vivid images flashing before his eyes, and the way that they affected him.

"Lawliet, don't look at me like that." Raito's voice had dropped even lower than before, and was more raw than L had ever heard it.

L blinked rapidly, not realizing he had been staring into those eyes as his thoughts went out of control. "Sorry, I--"

Raito silenced him by putting to fingertips against his lips, his eyes swimming with lust. "No, don't speak, either." Raito's fingers trailed his chin and jaw, traced down his chest, followed by Raito's eyes. "Get in the car, and just wait for me a moment."

---

Lawliet, thankfully, did as instructed, which gave Raito some time to calm down the raging heat in his body. He tapped a cigarette out of its pack with shaky hands and tried to focus on anything but his desperate need to ravage that pale body.

He took out his lighter, the one the dark-haired insomniac had returned to him so early this morning, and lit the slender white stick.

He must have been unaware of how freely his thoughts showed on his face.

Lawliet did not strike him as the type to naturally wield seduction, but he certainly had - pulling him in with every minute shift of that increasingly wanton expression. And the immediate apology, in a tone too swollen with desire for him to bear hearing any more of it...

God, everything about you...

Everything about the reclusive genius set his blood afire and made this insatiable lust rear its head. He'd tasted Lawliet in full, felt the scorching embrace him as he was enveloped in that tight body... less than a day had passed before he'd needed more.

He couldn't help what had happened in the bathroom tonight. It had been unplanned, just like now.

He loved to tease and goad the other man, to pull reluctant consent from him, but it was when he stopped fighting and opened up... his passion was enough to pull Raito under, thoroughly and completely.

Raito glanced down at his cigarette and realized that it was burned down nearly a third of the way, and he had yet take a single puff. He flicked the ridiculously long section of ash off of it and brought it to his lips.

He only had a few minutes to calm this desire to a manageable level. It would be best if he did not try to have his way with Lawliet in the front seat of his car, right in front of his parent's house. Really, it would.

Best to think of something that was the antithesis to sex. The direct polar opposite....

Like Misa.

He took a moment to construct a mental image of her, blonde hair, too blue eyes, makeup, strange clothing, her insistent, sing-song voice. It was harder to accomplish than it sounded, her hair kept shortening and turning black and her eyes would darken into an enigmatic gaze rimmed with kohl-like sleepless circles. He didn't lose it past that, but figured the exercise was losing its purpose and abandoned it.

Why had he never felt this intensely infatuated with anyone else?

And why did the thought of Lawliet slipping through his fingers make him want to claw at the walls, and do ridiculous things like follow him home, just in case he never turned up in the usual places again?

He'd never done anything like that before. It was always other people hanging off of his every word and following him around. Lawliet was not entirely immune, but it felt like a great accomplishment to hold his attention, and Raito certainly ceded more ground to keep him engaged.

Lawliet was sometimes like a wild animal - easily spooked. He'd taken a chance in bringing him here, but had counted on a family environment to make him seem more 'normal' than his misstep with the coasters had made him out to be. And in some ways it was successful, in other ways... not as much.

His eyes narrowed as he wondered once more what his father had been telling Lawliet in his absence, and it galled him that he had been forced back into the kitchen to allow even more words to be spoken. His parents were supposed to stay in their role and do what he needed of them, not sabotage what he had been working towards!

Maybe he should have told his father that he knew Lawliet from work, at least then his father would not be picking favorites and trying to warn his quarry away from him, as he must have been doing. Still, the glare of hatred his father had been honing throughout dinner would have been hard for anyone to endure, let alone someone like Lawliet who was no social cynosure. It would have been cruel to make him endure that further than he already had.

Raito lit up one more cigarette and pulled out the fancy business card he now carried in his pocket.

He took a long pull off of the cigarette, gathering smoke into his lungs and holding it there as he thumbed over the tactile, glossy ink. The card itself was rather simple, but of a fine quality cotton blend paper stock. Expensive. Raito released the smoke and wondered once more if the diminutive amount of information on the card was a sign of humility or conceit. He was inclined to think the latter, based on his own, personal impressions. It was just a single initial on the card, and a number.

He flipped the card over, smiling at the penciled in information he'd defiled the back of the card with.

A. wasn't the most informative person he'd ever had in his hire, but he certainly did know the information Raito was looking for. He also seemed to know Lawliet personally, which Raito found to be of great interest indeed.

____________________________________________________________< /font>

TBC

A/N: Next chap, next week :)

Thank you for reviewing!