Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ PITCH ❯ Day One ( Chapter 17 )

PITCH

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Light x L

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Part 17

 

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: I'm employed now, yay. :)  Hope you all are doing lovely.

I pine for my new phone. I wait and wait. And wait. (I hate waiting) And then I wait some more. For it will not be out until perhaps June. *struggles with the gimped splitting keys on current phone* And, dammit, I want the new model. I want the thing, and it will be my first of these things, and it will not be for a fashion statement. It will be so useful.

............they should rename it the 'iwant'.
        

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 17: (Day One)

"Do you think I should have worn a suit?" L asked dubiously, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible as they navigated the foreign hallways of a building that felt too large and too full of people.

Raito, being one of the suit-wearing multitude, was not one of L's favorite people at the moment.

Raito's eyes slid over him briefly. "What for? You're perfect."

L suspected the unseeing glance was merely to humor him, which he did not appreciate. He trailed after the brunet, feeling like a third wheel in a tire factory; a feat, he admitted to himself as he hid within Raito's shadow. It was both easy (people were inclined to look at Raito) and difficult (people were inclined to look at Raito - then they wondered who the hell he had trailing him like a lost puppy). Raito certainly did not lack for popularity here, and his ever-present smile both irritated L and made him stare in admiration at just how many people looked like they would walk on a bed of nails just to bask in its presence a little longer. It went without saying that L was on the receiving end of more suspicious and assessing stares than usual.

L retreated to the inner depths of his being, deciding that a readjustment was necessary.

There were more people than he'd anticipated, which made him twitch a little, and the extra attention could be unnerving, but he was looking at this all wrong. This was a chance to observe Raito in his natural element. It was a valuable learning experience, and the opportunity might never again present itself.

He nodded to himself and settled into a more relaxed gait, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Now would also be a great time to practice a pleasant expression. True, the ones he was seeing everywhere around him looked fake, but they seemed to be the norm, and what everyone was comfortable with...

The first smile he adopted startled a woman into nearly spilling her coffee.

He quickly discarded that one. Raito had even turned back to him to see what the problem was, but luckily his blank face fell back into place before then and he merely shrugged.

I need to be more careful.

The second smile was marginally more successful than the first, but instead of looking like a homicidal maniac, he apparently looked a bit demented, judging by the way people were shying around them.

Again, Raito looked back at him, but there was nothing to see.

Strike two?

L thought harder about what he wanted his expression to convey. There were things that made him happy that he could use as inspiration, but it was likely to come off strangely if he, for instance, pondered the glories of sweets while he looked around. People might take him to be a cannibal this time.

...still...

He didn't have a lot of inspiration.

He couldn't afford to waste one.

This time it was a young man carrying a briefcase that suddenly shrieked and flattened against the wall.

Oops.

And then Raito had him by the arm and was dragging him out of the main hallway and into the alcove of a doorway.

"What are you doing?" the brunet hissed. He looked perplexed.

"Me? Why would I be doing something?"

Raito gave him a look.

It was hard to quantify or describe that look, but it was one that amply informed him of a distinct lack of patience. In any case, it wasn't the sort of thing he wanted aimed at him for too long.

"I was... practicing..." L said reluctantly, suddenly finding the wall on the other side of Raito to be of great interest.

Raito stared at him with that dissecting gaze, and his expression gradually shifted to one more along the lines of pity and grudging responsibility. "Sometimes I forget..." he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms with a sigh. "All right, show me."

L really did not want to.

He said as much.

"Humor me," Raito replied.

L sighed.

"In order," the brunet added, "so I can place the reactions."

L glared at him a little. Bastard. He wasn't trying to startle people. "I thought we were going to be late?" he said, trying to redirect his companion's focus.

"Only as late as you make us."

Ugh.

Ok, here goes. Smile one.

Raito's mouth twitched at the corner, but he basically kept a straight face.

Smile two.

Raito raised a brow. He was beginning to look amused.

Smile three.

Then, after a long moment of flagging patience.... "Raito, get up off of the floor, there is no need to laugh that hard," L said with annoyance.

"I'm...sorry..." Raito gasped, trying to compose himself and failing miserably. He was shaking with silent laughter and had slid down into a crouch, leaning against the wall for support.

"Raito!" L hissed under his breath rather helplessly. "People are looking!"

Appearances being as important as they were, Raito made a greater effort to pull himself together. It lasted for all of 5 seconds, then looking at L's face set him off again.

L wondered if kicking him would help him be less amused.

He supposed it was a good thing that not everyone was looking into the alcove as they passed.

Raito waved him closer, as if he had something to say, positively beaming with mirth. L scowled at him, but complied.

As soon as he was within reach, Raito pulled him down by the neck of his sweater and kissed him. Not a lingering kiss, but a hard press of lips which L could feel were curved into a smile. Raito's eyes were shining as he let L pull back. "There is absolutely no one like you," he said in a gleeful voice.

"Thank you, I think," L said dryly.

"It's a compliment. It is," Raito insisted at the resounding look of skepticism that came in response, though he was still laughing. "I could probably spend my entire life being surprised by the things you do."

"Proposing already, Yagami-kun?" L said drolly. "I'm flattered."

"So you'd agree to monogamy that easily?" Raito teased, suddenly a lot more serious. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

L refused to let himself blush. And he succeeded, he was pretty sure. "You're the one that has a problem with that, not me."

Raito put a finger to L's lips. "Keep talking that way, and we'll be a lot longer to our destination, Lawliet." His voice had dropped down into the tones reserved for the sex voice, and his eyes had that predatory look in them.

"It's true, though," L maintained, not willing to cede the point.

"Do you desire that from me?" Raito asked, rising to his feet.

L took a step back as Raito stepped forward, his gaze oddly focused all of a sudden. "Ah..." He sort of didn't like admitting it again just now, for some reason.

"Even after all you've seen?" Ratio pressed, backing him up into the other wall step by step.

"Er..." L said eloquently. He didn't want to appear to be completely all right with all of the other stuff, because he wasn't... but...

"Tell me, Lawliet," Raito said, closing in on him, never losing that lazy, captivatingly fixed look. He drew closer still, until L lost sight of him and could do nothing but breathe in the scent of him as lips hovered mere breaths away from his own. "I want to hear you say it."

L couldn't think when the brunet had him cornered like this. His body certainly didn't understand who was the boss of it, and it was not Raito. "I-I don't want to say it again, you've heard it enough already."

Raito's lips brushed his, pulled gently at his, until L's mind was spiraling out of his control, and his body was thrumming.

"Tell me, Lawliet," Raito demanded again in a slow, husky voice that made him positively ache.

It was bad enough that the brunet could do this to him, but the setting left much to be desired.

"I've always wanted monogamy," L forced himself to say. He couldn't stand much more sexual tension, and definitely not if he needed to have half a brain to work with later. "But especially with you."

"Good," Raito practically purred, sinking into his mouth like it was water to drink in during the dead of summer.

L wondered faintly if Raito was this unconcerned about misconduct in the workplace, or if he cared that little when pursuing other flights of fancy.

Several scattered moments later, a faint buzzing caught their attention and Raito pulled back with a curse as he answered his phone.

The brunet's eyes closed as he chased the evidence of arousal from his face, expression, and demeanor. It took him a moment, lasting the course of several very curt responses before he resembled the cool, calculating businessman once more. He kept his eyes from L when they did open, and L was reminded of the time Raito had taken the call from Misa where he had done the very same thing. It was like he had to shut L out in order to play the parts he'd already committed to playing.

Do I really have that much of an effect on him? That looking at me might compromise the  careful control over his exterior?

It seemed a wild and ridiculous notion.

And yet.... there was no other reason for Raito to avoid looking at him.

"Alright, I can be there in approximately 20 minutes. Will that suffice?"

Raito stared into the alcove, not really looking at it at all, his attention affixed to the phone he held to his ear. "Mmhmm." Pause. "I need to introduce the new detective to a few key players before sitting in." Pause. "Yes, that's right." A short laugh. "Yeah, see you in 20."

He snapped his phone shut. "What impeccable timing," he said dourly.

"Well," L said. "You are expected to work while you're at work, are you not?"

"Don't tempt me to answer that the way I'd like to." Raito said with a flicker of weighty, slanted eyes, before he breathed a dramatic sigh. "Which might involve strapping you to a bed, spread-eagle, for the next several hours...."

"I hope you aren't implying that such a thing is a possibility I should be looking forward to in the future?"

L wasn't sure what he would make of such a thing. His heart had skipped in a manner that could be taken for interest or anxiety at the notion. He was pretty sure it was anxiety. Unfortunately, he had the sneaking suspicion that even were he to be staunchly against it, the brunet would find some way past his defenses. That smile was a force to be reckoned with, as was the voice and... well... the whole package, really. So, in a word, L was doomed.

"You'd love it," Raito assured him dismissively. "I could see black leather being very becoming on your pale skin."

"No way."

For a moment, Raito stopped looking so distracted with the work-related matters they were about to attend. He turned to L with a smile. "Are you saying you would refuse me?"

L crossed his arms. "Aren't I allowed to?"

"No." A strange gleam sparkled in the brunet's dark amber eyes. "Though I'd wager I could make you see reason. I can be... very persuasive..."

As if I needed more evidence of that, L scoffed mentally. "A subject we'll have to discuss at a later time. You now have 17 and a half minutes to do whatever it was you just agreed to do in 20."

"Slave master," Raito muttered. "Very well, you'll enjoy this, getting to meet a bunch of happy new faces," the brunet said with a flair of sarcastic levity. "But don't let anyone fool you - they're all cut-throats." He graced L with a baleful glance. "Oh, and please don't try to smile. It'll be better for everyone involved."

Jerk, L thought. "Maybe I'll strap you to the bed," he grumbled at Raito's back.

"I'd probably enjoy it too much for it to be a proper revenge," the brunet tossed over his shoulder with a smirk in his voice.

Damn it all, L thought. He's probably right.

---

Once again, L was trailing Raito through the halls.

Hands in his pockets, and forbidden smiles, he wondered what expression he should try to make.

'Blank face' just wasn't good in social situations. He needed an alternative.

Staring at Raito's back, he unconsciously started emulating the brunet's posture. In doing so, L realized how atrocious his own could be if he let it get out of hand. Which he usually did. Because really, who was watching him when he was at work in front of his beloved computer at home?

He squared his shoulders, reducing his near perpetual slouch, and decided on 'pensive' as the look to attempt. Aloof and pensive. Yes, as Raito might have looked, were he pondering something. A look that requested others leave him alone so he might concentrate on the most critical items of consequence.

I am untouchable... he thought, getting into the role of playing Raito.

A lone wolf.

A predator.

But somehow you think I will not hurt you, innocent onlookers. You are wrong. But for now, you are safe as I have the weight of the world on my mind...

Oh look, he was getting a different response from people this time. They were still staring but now it was with something more like interest or even...

L almost ran into Raito as the brunet suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Lawliet."

"Yes, Raito?"

"Whatever face you are making now, you are absolutely forbidden to make it ever." He paused, then added, "Unless you are with me, in private."

L frowned. "But it was meeting with much more success than the previous--"

Raito sent him a glare over his shoulder that was quite emphatic. "EVER," he emphasized under his breath, then set off at a brisk pace.

Just to be sure, L tested his newest expression out one more time, and was now pretty sure that the sort of attention it attracted bordered on sexual. Which meant (haha) the brunet was actually jealous.

That put a smile on his face - a real one - and it allowed him to pass through the rest of the walk without further mishap.

---

Those people of note, to whom Raito had to introduce him, were typically cordial as well as unsavory. It was a viscous combination that left L hoping that it would all be over sooner rather than later.

Raito in his element was quite a spectacle to behold, however, and that did mollify L to a great extent. But L's social aversion was kicking up somewhat fiercely and he was in danger of smiling in a manner that hailed back to the beginnings of such facial expressions - the baring of teeth. It was a nervous reaction, not entirely meant to be antagonistic. It was more of an I-am-harmless-please-leave-me-the-hell-alone display than a threat display.

L tried to look stoic. Tried very hard, as he stood beside Raito in the stuffy office that belonged to a woman of import that he just could not remember the name or title of for the life of him, nevermind the plaque on her desk that he couldn't be bothered to read. She was an older woman, by perhaps 15 years. Maybe more, if his suspicion regarding her appetite for facial reconstruction was at all founded. He didn't like her. She had a sharky sort of demeanor and she was both off-putting and solicitous.

"So," she drawled in the manner of a successful seductress, "tell me a little about yourself, L?"

See the slight misalignment near the bridge of her nose? It spoke of the unskilled hand of a Rhinoplastic surgeon. Not that it was entirely noticeable - it was perhaps unfair to say the surgeon was unskilled, or new to the profession, or possibly hung over, merely for the slight imperfection that gave the procedure away.

"Hmn. Does he not speak?" the woman in the severely cut skirt suit turned to Raito and asked with an arching brow.

Raito turned to L as if appraisingly, and gave him a once over. "It's that dedication that decided me on him," he said in a resolved, apologetic voice, acting out the part and shaking his head as if bemused. "However, it does make for bad impressions."

L jumped as Raito thwacked him lightly on the chest with the back of his hand, jolting him out of his distracted thoughts.

"Try to put your other cases aside for the moment," Raito said chidingly, implying that he, the great detective, had been hard at work puzzling out some intricacies while remaining idle as opposed to pondering the vast amounts of money this woman had likely been funding some private practice with.

"My apologies," L said, catching himself before he nearly attempted a smile. He tried for stoic. "It's a habit I've not quite broken."

The woman in the suit looked him over speculatively as she sat on the edge of her desk. L thought the skirt seemed much too short for professional attire, certainly so as she seated herself. "So dedicated..." she mused aloud.

L did not really know how to handle her extended stare, so...

...he pretended she was a lizard and managed to seem nonplussed. Not to say she was unattractive or reptilian, but lizards could go for long amounts of time without blinking, just as she seemed to be doing... and such trivia wasn't really important, lizards were just the first innocuous creature that came to mind. Boy, was this awkward.

She made a show of uncrossing and re-crossing her legs, watching him for a reaction. "And so undistractable..."

L focused on lizards, and not on this curious and disturbing display of.... well, whatever it was Raito was typically doing to him. Only, coming from another person it had an entirely different effect.

"He's more like a machine than something human," Raito said off-handedly. "A good pick for our organization, I would say."

If the brunet was bothered by all of this, he was hiding it well. He seemed completely at ease as the older woman put a pen to her lips and scanned L, obviously, from head to toe. "Or is he not just a great challenge?" she said, her hazel eyes shifting to Raito.

Raito smiled enigmatically. L could feel irritation boiling beneath the surface now. Hidden. Secretive. He refrained from a proper, spoken answer, which L wondered at, but the woman did not seem overly concerned with Raito and did not wait for a response.

"You'll be in the office not infrequently, won't you L?"

L had no earthly idea. "Perhaps," he said.

"Why don't you stop by the next time you're in? I'm sure we could find much to talk about."

Dear god, he would avoid that like the plague. She looked like she wanted to rip his clothes off. Maybe he should try slouching again. Trying to look respectable was not giving him the sort of feedback he wanted to deal with. "If my schedule allows it," he said, trying to close off the invitation without being rude or committing a faux pas that Raito would later berate him for. Anyway, it seemed the sort of answer the brunet might give were he in the same position.

"You have to eat, don't you?" she said, sliding off of the desk and walking over to him. "Surely they'll let you have time enough for lunch? Otherwise... you might just waste away," she trailed, pressing her fingers around his arm as if demonstrating how he was nothing but skin and bones. "And then where would they be?"

"We'll ensure that he's fed," Raito said, humor lacing his voice, though it must have been with effort. He had all the presence of a crackling storm cloud, nearly raising the hair on L's arms, but on the outside, he was perfectly poised. "But for now I must steal him away again. You know how these deadlines can just cut the fun right out of everything."

The woman turned her attention to Raito and smiled this time, moving over to pat his cheek condescendingly, but her voice was warm. "Aren't you just as precious as always? And yet you never find the time to call."

"Amane does like to keep me busy."

"Doesn't he just," she laughed. "And his darling little daughter? How is she treating you?"

"With as much adoration and animosity as is befitting her station."

"She isn't right for you anyway," the older woman responded to the brunet's reference to Misa as an ex. Her hand lingered upon Raito's face. It was irritating to L and he wanted to smack it away, especially as it flirted with tracing Raito's sensual lower lip. "Ito-san is a much more appropriate lapdog."

"Perhaps she'll grow fond of him one of these days."

L felt like a storm was brewing in his own head. He'd dearly love to see Raito do something to remove the hand from his person, or move the entire intruder from his personal space. Or, at the least, not seem like he'd at one point maybe slept with this woman. As it was, L was getting perilously close to doing something about this himself instead of silently grinding his teeth.

"Well then," Raito said, consulting his watch, though the action masked his eyes flicking to L. "It seems that we are out of time." He took the woman's hand in his, clasping it for a moment before the gesture was disengaged. "Please call me if the status of our current project changes. The Chairman expects everything to go smoothly, not that that's possible without intervention."

"Smart boy," the hazel-eyed woman said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "You'll be the first to know when the difficulties begin their rampage."

She showed them out of her office. "It's been a pleasure," she said, her gaze following L out the door.

"How do you survive working here?" L asked Raito as soon as they were out of range. He felt thoroughly harried at being the focus of such undivided, questionable attention.

"Practice," the brunet said simply, refusing to elaborate.

L silently chewed on that as they walked. But silence did not last long.

"Raito!" a voice hailed from across the hall.

L just couldn't even wait to see what this next exchange was going to have in store. Was L thinking of fleeing the country altogether, just so he'd never be expected to set foot in this place ever again? .......yes.

With bowed head, resignation, and a sidelong glance, L watched a tall, dark-haired man stride up to Raito with a faint smile lurking about his lips. His hair was long, nearly reaching his shoulders, and was almost shaggy - in an artful, sophisticated sort of way - with bangs that fell across his brown eyes.

As he caught up to Raito, L realized that the man was actually a touch shorter than the brunet, though he looked infinitely taller at a distance.

"Mikami," Raito greeted him like a friend. "What brings you here on your day off?"

"Loose ends," Mikami said with a smile, his eyes quick and bright behind designer frames. He, too, was wearing a suit and it looked as if it was a hideously expensive one at that.

L took an instant disliking to him. He probably would never admit that it was largely due to the fact that the two of them seemed to really get along. Still... he supposed it was good if Raito liked at least one of his coworkers. Maybe.

"You're catching me at a loss for time," Raito said ruefully. "I have a meeting in..." he glanced at his watch. "...less than five minutes."

"Well, when you are less at a loss, I'd love to hear how Tanaka's case unfolded. For you having spent so much time on it, it certainly wrapped up quickly at the end."

"Of course." Raito excused them with a brandishing of his watch and a quick wave. They resumed their quick pace down the hall.

"Asshole," Raito muttered once they were out of ear-shot, startling L.

"Wait," L said in confusion, "I thought you liked him?"

"Hell, no," Raito snarled. "That opportunistic little bastard's been coasting off of my hard work for a while now." 

"How so?"

Raito glanced at L briefly as they continued their fast walk, lowering his voice as he explained. "The Chairman often feels the need to call me off of personal projects in order to do things for him. I could handle it all, but some of the bloodsuckers here like to grab up what I've been working on, and finish it off while I am otherwise detained."

"To meet deadlines?" L asked.

"No. It's just to make themselves look good. And, simply because they can. There is no rule against it, per se, but most of them have the grace to know their place at least some of the time. Mikami is the worst offender. I swear he just loves to piss me off."

Sounds like Aiber and myself, L thought. He wondered if he should be concerned in any fashion over the brunet's annoyingly attractive coworker.

"All right, I really do have to get into that meeting immediately," Raito said. "Follow this hall and on the left, just before you come to the end, is a half-kitchen where you can get some coffee. I'll be done as soon as I can."

"Okay."

L watched Raito take the rightmost branch of the forking hallway. The brunet made such a striking figure as he strode purposely down the hall, his lean form utterly at home in the pompous atmosphere of his labyrinthine workplace.

L turned and headed for the kitchen, not wishing to have too many witnesses to his distant gaze as he watched and pondered the well-known brunet. One or two gawkers was about the limit of what he could stand on that matter. Person number three hadn't yet noticed the object of his attention, but looked as if they were about to ask if he needed directions. Best to beat a hasty retreat.

He prayed that there would be no one occupying the kitchen when he came to it.

He'd probably had more social contact in the last few weeks than in his entire life, and it was wearing him thin. After this, he'd be quite relieved to return to the quiet grind of constant work. Away from public places... away from the constant sea of unfamiliar faces...

At the moment, it was actually difficult to remember the feeling of solitude and crushing seclusion that had begun his mad experiments which had ultimately led him here, to this place. At the moment, he was fairly certain he missed it.

To his chagrin, the seemingly quiet kitchen was not as unoccupied as it had appeared before he rounded the corner. The low murmur of female voices ceased as proximity brought their owners into audible range, and himself into visual range.

He sort of froze, unable to do more than inwardly cringe as they all stared at him. Objectivity and the pioneering spirit he'd had not long ago when Raito had been with him had fled.

Which led to the horrifying thought that his ability to deal with this place, and the people within it, actually hinged on the brunet's presence. Utterly horrifying.

One by one, they all seemed prodded into motion, muttering to each other as they eyed him, and filed out of the kitchen with their styrofoam cups of coffee. He stepped aside apologetically, merely trying to be polite and not block the exit, but that earned him even stranger looks from the four office workers.

Oh, his head was starting to hurt.

The tribe of women, having exited the stage, gave him free reign over the kitchen and returned his ability to breathe instead of holding it in.

God, you'd think I would have this down by now.

But wasn't that being too hard on himself? For the most part, his interactions had been almost exclusively with Raito... how much practice had he had with others?

Aiber didn't count.

Ugh. L rubbed a hand over his face and took a chair at the small table the half-kitchen provided. Who else could he count? Scattered non-dealings with Misa? Hell, he'd unintentionally seen her practically naked, but he couldn't say they'd ever really conversed. Mother and Father Yagami? The sister?

Bad memories, all of them.

So what did this mean? Were Raito and Watari the only people in this world he could speak to without gnawing his own eyeballs out with anxiety? And Raito.... it was ridiculous that he should have that ranking when his very presence could be so nerve-wracking and unpredictable. Not to mention other things....

Footsteps closed in on the kitchen, and L decided to pick up his cell phone in order to distract himself while he waited for Raito, as well offer an excuse as to why he would be avoiding talking to any lost souls that came here in search of coffee. It was well known that one should not bother people who looked busy, right?

Hard-soled shoes clicked quietly on the glossy kitchen floor as the office worker entered and rummaged around in the cabinets.

Probably a man, judging by the sound of the shoes, L thought absently as he reviewed his recent messages; the office worker made clunking noises with the coffee pot as he took out the carafe and poured a cup. L did sort of hope it was not that Mikami guy. Seeing as they had sort of met, the likelihood that he would be disturbed, despite his preoccupation with his phone, was exponentially greater than it would have been with anyone else. Plus, the guy made him nervous with his designer eyeglasses, his confident air, and his secretive smiles. What would I even say to him?

L shook his head slightly, dispelling the thought, and typing out an email. I mean, what are the odds? he thought.

An arm in his peripheral vision, setting down a cup of coffee on the table, startled him.

Oh god, they aren't going to sit here--?
 
"What are the odds of meeting you here?" a familiar voice said with what passed for pleasantry, as well as a hint of amusement. "Coffee?" they offered, sliding the cup in front of him.

L's eyes reluctantly followed the hand up the arm... to the shoulder... and eventually to the face that belonged to the voice's owner. It really wasn't even necessary in order to identify the speaker. "Indeed...." he said, fighting the urge to stand and thus keep them from looking down on him like that. "What are the odds..."

"So, do you work here now or something?"

"That is, as of yet, undetermined," L said. "And you?"

Aiber smiled as L lost his internal battle and got to his feet. The chair screeched awfully upon the floor as it scraped back. "I'm not at liberty to say," Aiber stated breezily. "Though I can foresee us running into each other more frequently in the near future."

"I don't think so."

Aiber put his own coffee down on the table, giving him a slanted look. "I disagree." He cut a menacing figure as he tilted his head back and viewed L speculatively. "And I believe now is just one example of many that is going to prove my point."

L was rather stuck on the fact that Aiber was not only alive, well, and as pushy as usual, but that he was.... walking around freely. "Does Raito know that you are here?"

Aiber scowled and strode suddenly towards L, quickly backing him against the wall of the tiny kitchen. He slammed his open palm alongside L's head, making him jump. "You think that little prick has any control over me?" he sneered.

L steeled himself and glared back at the ice blue eyes that were glinting vindictively less than a foot away. "Well, seeing as the last time I saw you, you were being taken into custody, I wondered."

"A temporary inconvenience," the stronger man said darkly. "And what of you? Still under his sway when he treats you so indifferently? Did you enjoy the other night as much as I did, I wonder?" He sneered. "Or afterwards, did he give you a softer touch?"

Mocking. His voice was dripping with it, his eyes were flashing with it and brimmed with discontent that he looked like he wanted to take out on someone. He leaned in closer, staring down into L's face with his extra height. L blanched as a rough hand gripped his chin. "And all it did was make me more resolute."

L gripped that hand and tried to pry it off. The angle at which his head was then promptly tilted made removing it exceedingly difficult.

Aiber drifted closer, making L's heart hammer in his chest. Trapped... He was pinioned in place and, despite his wariness, he was once again finding himself in a very difficult situation. Iced-blue eyes were leveled at him with intensity.

"I haven't forgotten the feel of you against me," Aiber murmured.

L shuddered as his words evoked images he didn't want to recall, of this same situation only with darkness and the smell of concrete and his own helplessness as Aiber had plied him with his own uncertainty... As Aiber had exploited and took advantage of his indecision, and wrapped a noose around his neck... As Aiber had pursued him with whispered words such as the ones he'd just uttered... And as Aiber's body had pressed wrongfully up against his own with visceral desire.

"I'm well on my way in trying to forget it," L ground out, fighting off another shudder. "Let go of me."

"I won't let you forget," Aiber said darkly. The man's blond, wavy hair was falling forward as he leaned in to L's captive face.

L didn't have anywhere to go, his head was tilted at such a harsh angle that he had to stand up nearly on tiptoe to alleviate the strain, and the wall at his back was probably the only thing that allowed him to keep his balance.

"I asked after you," L said quickly, hoping to distract Aiber from closing the distance between them, and possibly give himself an opportunity to get out of this choke-hold. "I did my best to ensure that you would be ok--"

"I'll make my mark so deep upon you that you can never forget."

L flinched. Once again, the blond man wasn't listening, and his disturbing words were chasing chills down L's spine. "Let go of me right now." L struggled harder as that violating mouth orbited his, skimming it lightly as if drawing out the inevitable. That horrid shaking was starting up in his limbs again.

"Aiber!" He would use violence again if he had to. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Hurt me all you like," Aiber said, licking L's mouth.

The slick transgression slithered through him, crumbling the final bastion of his self-restraint.

L grabbed the man's immovable arm with both hands, using the appendage as a fulcrum so that he could swing a well-placed kick at Aiber's midsection.

For a moment, he thought Aiber had anticipated him in time - the blond's hand had started to drop - but then he felt the solid connection of his leg against flesh and heard the sound of impact as it left Aiber's throat in a growl. Then he was falling, completely unsupported as the larger detective buckled over.

Shit, this is going to hurt, he thought in the instant before he hit the ground.

Fwoosh! The air left his lungs as if it had been sucked out, even though he had broken his fall as best he could. He'd managed not to hit his head, but he felt dazed. "Ughhh..." he coughed.

"Not one of your better ideas," Aiber said, hauling L up into a sitting position by the collar of his sweatshirt with one hand, the other held protectively over his drop-kicked stomach.

"If you would just listen to reason--" L's head swam, cutting his flow of words short. "Dammit..."

In the next moment, Aiber's mouth covered his, questing, probing. Opportunistic bastard! L thought angrily as he fought the defiling, invasive exploitation, pushing at broad shoulders. Thank god I didn't hit my head and get a concussion - he'd probably do the gallant thing and freaking rape me.

L was gearing up to give Aiber that swift kick in the nuts that he owed him from the last time when Aiber pulled back.

"What are you thinking?!" L hissed, a little shaken up and slightly out of breath. When had the man gone insane, he demanded to know. Just when exactly?! "We're in a corporate break room, for god's sake!"

"Would it make a difference if it were somewhere else?"

"Yes--!" L started to say with exasperation, then realized Aiber meant 'Would you let me have my way if it were somewhere else?'. "I mean, NO," he corrected quickly, "It wouldn't change the fact that I am not doing this with you. Ever."

"You aren't making me feel inclined to give you a choice, with that attitude."

Aiber straightened from his crouch and pulled L to his feet.

"And you're making me feel inclined to really hurt you," L ground out, resenting the ever-present hand on the collar of his shirt.

"I can take anything you've got," Aiber said, returning his hard gaze and pushing him against the wall again at arm's length. "And I will. It's all I was thinking about in there. That and making Yagami's life a living hell."

"I won't let you do that," L warned.

"How are you planning on stopping me?" Aiber laughed. "You're not taking the only-option-you-have very seriously."

"I'm not letting you have sex with me," L said indignantly. "There's no way."

"You almost did the last time," Aiber said, searching his face like there was some other truth buried there. "Don't deny it."

L's mouth compressed in a thin line. He wasn't even sure himself what might have happened then, if Raito had not shown up when he had - awful experience that that had ended up being. For once, Aiber sort of had a point, but it wasn't one he needed to hear aloud nor dwell upon. L knew he hadn't been thinking logically then... and he'd since been shown the folly of such action.

"I felt you giving in to me, L."

Aiber's hand brushed his face, just the backs of his fingers. The touch rolled L's stomach and his eyes twisted shut. He couldn't stand situations like these... And with Aiber's persistence, he was really going to have to damage him to put an end to it. It was different from when he was simply angry and was lashing out.

"I want that again," Aiber spoke in a covetous whisper, filled with stilted desire.

L retreated further into himself.  Too many stimuli, too much confusion. Too many whirring thoughts for him not to start picking them apart, analyzing them in the face of things that he did not feel able to deal with. That hand caressed his face, and Aiber's voice was low in his ear, accompaniments to the blackness before his eyes. "For years now, I've wanted inside of you and you've kept me out. You've kept everyone out. Why make an exception for him?" Lips brushed skin. "How do you know what's right for you without trying out a few things?"

It was the same thought that had been drifting, undefined, in the back of L's head for a while now.

'Why Raito?' Of all people, why him? Was it coincidence? An accident? Was it only with Raito that he would feel so strongly? Or was he so unversed in the nature of these things that he didn't know that such feelings of intensity were normal and that they might be had with anyone?
 
It was a disturbing thought.

But...

But...

"Give up on this, Aiber. You're making an enemy of me."

"You were considering it just now," the blond man accused him.

L scowled at him. "I always consider things before dismissing them outright. If you knew me at all, you'd know that. Raito would know that, and therein lies the difference between you two."

Aiber pushed away from him with a disgusted look on his face. "No, the difference is that you gave him the chance to know you."

____________________________________________________________

TBC

A/N: Looking back on previous chapters, I see that FF has killed some of my formatting. Like... my little set of 3 dashes that separate p.o.v. shifts, and other things that were previously showing up just fine are now GONE. I can't make my own lines? I *have* to do page break lines?? How annoying! Why can't we authors have a little leeway? Why are so many things forbidden??? ((And why, oh why, does your site have an issue with italics? What makes it smash them into adjoining words, and why must I fix it *again*?!))

Yes, I'm sitting here, wasting an author's note on complaining. I hate doing things twice, especially when time is limited.

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A/N2: ANYWAY. The indecision on where to break the chapter, my beta having exams, and me finishing an exam and then starting a new job..... all conspired to make a late update. This is why you are thrilled, that once again I made a liar out of myself when I expected a quick update. Boo. On the plus side, since I was also sitting on the fence about finishing this fic in this chapter, with just a bit more that followed this, I ended up opting for tossing it into a new chapter and found a bit more to add before the end of the fic, including pr0nz.

((THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS: sometimes they spark off ideas. XD Or at the least, it lets me know when people are crying for more XXX, so that I don't just end the fic where I was going to, leaving them hanging.))

Speaking of the end...I don't know. I'm not sure that it could be wrapped up by chapter 18, because, well, chapter 18 is mostly written (and beta'd WOO!). Usually I can see scenes and stuff in my head and I write towards those eventual moments, and when I get stuck is usually when I can't see future happenings.

Ah, but let me cease rambling and get this thing posted.

Maybe if I am on the ball I can finish out ch18 today. 0.o