Work Text:
Since moving in with L, Light had noticed a few things. First, L was generally an excellent roommate. He was clean, meticulously so, which was appreciated. Light had roomed with one person before L, and one person only, and that boy had left things such a mess that Light had thought he was going to go crazy. He'd actually sworn off having a roommate, but he'd seen L's room before they moved in together and he appeared to be the only person as insane about keeping his space clean as Light was.
Second, L could not cook to save his life, which you'd think would be an inconvenience, but the man knew he didn't know how to cook and stayed out of the kitchen. This left Light the room to commandeer the kitchen without worrying about being bothered, and L, he found, would eat anything if it was sweet enough.
Really, there was only one downside, and that was the fact that L got bored unbelievably easily. This would be fine if it weren't for the fact that, when he got bored (which was often), his favourite pastime was to bother Light, which made studying or, really, getting anything done, remarkably difficult.
"Light."
Light ignored him, typing an equation into his calculator.
"Liiiight."
Light's jaw clenched, but that was the only indication he gave that he had heard him. He had been forced to get very good at ignoring L when he got like this, and it had practically become second nature. He made another note on his worksheet, jotted down another answer, and was nearly done with the assignment before there was a creak and a sigh as L got up from the bed. Soft, nearly silent footsteps padded towards him, and then a weight settled onto his back.
"Light," L said, chin resting on his shoulder.
Light exhaled softly, begrudgingly setting his pen down, "What."
"That one's wrong," L said, dodging the question with characteristic ease as he tapped one of the questions.
"What? No it's not," Light replied, peering down at the one he'd indicated. His boyfriend's weight was warm on his back, his breath warm on his cheek and smelling like candy. It was awfully distracting.
"It is. You didn't carry the seven properly," L tapped it again, more insistently, and Light scowled. He was right, damn him.
He begrudgingly erased it and started over. L didn't move, just shifted so his cheek rested on Light's shoulder. When they started dating, Light was amazed by how clingy he was. Not all the time, of course; when L was on a proper case, it was a battle to even get him to sleep in the same bed, but at times like this, when he had nothing to do, it was as if L was velcroed to him. Which was fine, generally, except when he was trying to work.
"Okay, what do you want?" Light slammed his pencil down, perhaps a little harder than necessary, and swivelled in the chair to look at him. L took being shaken off in stride, chewing on his thumbnail and staring at him with an unreadable expression.
"What do I want?" he repeated.
"Yes," Light sighed, exasperated, "I need to get homework done because, unlike yours, my education actually matters so I would appreciate it if we could handle whatever's wrong quickly so I can get back to work."
L hummed softly, more of a vibration in the back of his throat than a noise, glancing away. Not for the first time, Light wished he could genuinely get mad at him. Maybe seeing Light actually angry would indicate that when he said things like this, he meant it, but unfortunately, he just couldn't bring himself to do so. Not when L was…well, L. It was easy to get irritated at him, but hard to get genuinely mad at him. He was too good. An ass, sure, and insensitive and rude, but undeniably good.
L failed to reply and, as the silence stretched longer, Light clicked his tongue and shook his head, "I'm going to keep working. Let me know when you have an answer."
No sooner had he picked up his pencil than L was lying on his back again. Light closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, before speaking with carefully crafted patience, "L?"
"Hm?"
"What do you want?"
"I'm bored," L replied, and he was smiling, the damn bastard; Light could hear it in his voice.
"Go do a puzzle or something then," Light replied, "I'm busy."
L didn't reply for a long moment and, as he made no indication he was going to take Light up on his suggestion, Light again turned the chair around, exasperated, and in seconds L had sat down in his lap, resting his head underneath Light's chin. Light froze, then pinched the bridge of his nose. Screw what he'd said about L being hard to be mad at; this was pissing him the hell off.
"Okay, okay. Give me five minutes. Let me finish this assignment, and then I will take a break. Sound good?"
You pushy bastard, he added silently.
L hummed again, tapping his thumb against his lower lip. Light waited with thinly veiled impatience until finally, blessedly, he nodded and stood, "Alright."
"Thank you," Light said, perhaps a little more forcefully than he needed to.
He was able to finish the worksheet in peace, thankfully, and had hardly stood up and stretched before L had attached himself to Light's side again.
"I'm hungry," he said, staring at him.
"When I agreed to date you, I never guessed you would be this needy," Light replied with an amused huff of air that almost counted as a laugh.
"I'm full of surprises," L shrugged, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Yes, you are," Light replied, and the vehemence in his voice made L huff a soft laugh. Shaking his head, he put an arm around L's waist and pressed a quick kiss to his temple before releasing him, "Alright, what do you want?"
L trailed him to the kitchen like the world's most annoying puppy, "Pancakes."
"Just pancakes?" Light asked, rummaging through the cabinets for the ingredients.
"With strawberries and whipped cream," L added, "And syrup, of course."
"Of course," Light replied with a smirk, "I meant, do you want chocolate chips or anything in them?"
"Oh. No," L replied, with a voice that implied that should have been obvious.
"Naturally," Light muttered, shaking his head, "You're really strange. Has anyone told you that?"
"Once or twice," L replied with what counted as a smile for him, just the slightest uptick of the corners of his lips.
Soon the apartment was filled with the savoury-sweet smell of frying batter and the sound of butter sizzling in the pan. L slouched against the countertop, crunching away at a cookie he'd gotten from heaven knew where. Light eyed it as he flipped a pancake and shook his head with a small huff.
"Did you want some?" L asked, "Sorry, I just finished it."
"I can't believe I am actively making you food and you are eating cookies," Light said.
"Watari never let me do this," L replied, as if that was any sort of explanation, "Snack right before eating, I mean."
"Good for him," Light muttered, returning his attention to the food, "I should take notes."
"You wouldn't," L said, coming over to once again drape himself over Light's back (Light had figured out quickly that this was one of his boyfriend's favourite places to be).
"And why not?" Light asked, the challenge clear in his voice.
"Because you love me too much," L replied, matter-of-fact, "And it makes you weak."
And damn the man, but he was right. Not that Light would ever really admit it to himself, and certainly not out loud. He wasn't sure how it had happened, or when, but some time between meeting L and now, L had wrapped him around his little finger. If L asked, Light would do anything for him. It was a strange feeling, loving someone that much. He'd never thought a relationship like that would ever be for him, but despite the fact that L was annoying and pushy and, often, quite rude, Light would never want to live in a world without him.
Choosing to stay silent instead of picking a fight to preserve his dignity, Light pushed the last pancake onto a plate. He'd had plenty of practice at this point with doing things with L glued to his back, and soon he had the pancakes topped with syrup, whipped cream, and copious amounts of chopped strawberries. L finally peeled himself off of Light to take the plate.
"Eat at the table; the last thing I want is you getting syrup all over our couch," Light ordered as he handed it off.
"I would never do that," L replied, but he did indeed sit down at the table. Light considered going back to his room to finish his work, but if he did so, L would finish his food and come bug him again within minutes. He pulled out a chair instead, sitting down across from his boyfriend.
He studied him in the silence, finger tapping an idle rhythm on the table. L paid him no mind, too focused on his food, and Light took the opportunity to study the lines of his face, travelling over his delicate cheekbones, the way his bottom lip was scabbed over from him biting at it. Sunset sunlight filtered in from the glass doors leading out onto their balcony, casting a warm pink and orange glow across his skin and making his hair shine. He was beautiful, Light thought, not for the first time. The thud of his heart in his chest was suddenly so loud it was a wonder L couldn't hear it.
"Usually I'm the one who won't stop staring. This is new," L commented, so casually and without looking up that it took Light a minute to notice he was talking to him.
Light looked away quickly, scoffing, "You need a shower. You're hair's disgusting."
"Help me wash it when I'm done eating?" L asked, spearing a strawberry and putting it in his mouth.
Light nibbled at the inside of his lip, "L, I really should get more homework done today."
"Please?" L said, more insistently. His expression was pleading, all big black eyes and a hopeful slant to his mouth, and damn Light, but he couldn't bring himself to say no.
"Alright," he finally said, "You do the dishes while I get one more assignment done, and then I will run a bath and I can wash your hair."
L looked satisfied by that. Well, his expression was as unreadable as always, but the next forkful of pancake he held up to Light, offering it to him, so Light had to assume he agreed. Light accepted the offering before standing, "I'm going to get a head start on that, then."
Luckily, L let him leave. In their room, all was quiet save the clock ticking away on the wall and, eventually, the sound of dishes being done filtering down the hall. The pencil scratching along the paper was a soothing cadence, and Light quickly fell into a rhythm. Midterms were coming up and he was swamped with assignments, so there couldn't possibly have been a more inconvenient time for L to be in between cases. Lately, it seemed all his time had been spent trying to sneak in assignments whenever L left him alone for longer than ten minutes.
It wasn't all bad, though, he supposed. It was a unique thing, to be trusted, and L's trust in him was implicit in how willing he was to turn to Light when he needed something. It was inconvenient as hell, more often than not, but nice all the same.
"Almost done?"
Light startled; he hadn't heard L come in. Not for the first time, he was amazed by how quietly the guy could move when he wanted to.
"Yeah," Light replied, "Just give me two minutes."
"Alright. I'll go start the bath."
Light nodded in acknowledgement. He finished the last few questions hurriedly before snapping a picture, submitting it, and making his way to the bathroom. L had already stripped down to his boxers, sitting on the edge of the tub and making ripples with his fingertips. He'd set up his fan on the toilet seat, angling it so the breeze would dry the condensation and steam from his skin. He glanced up when he entered and tilted his head.
"You're doing this in that?" he asked.
Light looked down at his outfit—blue jeans and a plain t-shirt—and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah? It should be fine as long as you don't plan on splashing me."
L just shrugged, "No whining to me if your jeans get wet."
"Just get in the water."
And L laughed, the bastard, or at least he let out a puff of air that counted as a laugh for him as he stepped out of his boxers and into the water, legs drawn to his chest. He rested his chin on his knees, giving Light an expectant look, and Light was reminded not for the first time of a cat waiting for attention. He went to sit down on the edge of the tub, but hesitated. After a moment of silent deliberation, he reluctantly stepped out of his jeans.
"Not a word," he said as he sat down by L's head.
"I wasn't going to say anything," L replied, but the small smile on his face betrayed him.
"Head back," Light said, grabbing a cup they kept on the side of the tub exactly for situations like this. His voice was embarrassingly gentle.
L complied, eyes falling closed as Light worked warm water into his hair. The breeze from the fan chilled Light's hands where beads of water coalesced, dripping down his wrists and back into the bath. Slowly, L relaxed under his fingers, limbs going loose and slack. By the time Light had taken some shampoo and began to massage it into the wet strands of hair, it looked like it was taking all his effort just to keep his head up.
Light bent to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, and L's eyes fluttered open curiously.
"Don't fall asleep. I don't think I can finish washing your hair while keeping you from drowning yourself," Light said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"I won't," L replied, forcing his eyes to stay open with apparent effort, if the way they kept trying to droop shut was any indication.
As it was, his head drooped sideways onto Light's knee. Light grimaced, pushing his head up, leaving water and suds behind.
"Come on," he said reproachfully.
"Aren't you glad you took your jeans off?" L murmured, unapologetic.
Light shook his head with a mix of fondness and exasperation and hurried to finish rinsing the suds from his hair, forgoing conditioner for the sake of not having his boyfriend fall asleep in the tub. Once the last bubbles had slithered from L's hair, Light reached over, let the water drain out and flipped on the shower head. The steady spray washed the bubbles off his body as the water drained away, until the bath was empty and L sat in the tub looking remarkably like a drowned animal.
L shivered when Light turned the water off, drawing closer to himself, "Cold."
"That's because you're soaking wet with no clothes on. Come here," Light reached for the towel and clothes L had set out on the counter, helping him dry off and step into sleeping pants. L didn't need his help; he could have dressed himself perfectly fine on his own, but there was something appealingly soft and domestic about helping his boyfriend dry his hair and get ready for bed. L wasn't going to sleep yet, of course, but this was about the time of night he liked to put his pyjamas on and choose his activity for the night, usually one that had him up into the early hours of the morning.
Tonight, it was a movie, and despite Light's protest, L dragged him to their bed to watch it with him. Before Light knew it, L's laptop was on Light's thighs, his boyfriend tucked into his side with the blanket pulled up to his chin.
"I haven't eaten dinner yet, you know," Light said, a weak protest considering that it had only taken seconds to get used to his boyfriend's warmth against his side, the softness of the bed, and he could feel exhaustion from a day spent going to classes and studying catching up with him.
"Go eat dinner then," L said. He knew just as well as Light did that he wouldn't.
"No, it's fine. I'll eat once the movie's done," Light replied. L nodded in acknowledgement, damp hair brushing Light's chin, tickling slightly.
Light glanced down at him. L's eyes were intent on the screen, watching the opening credits unfold on some old animated movie Light had never seen before. His still-wet hair clung to his skin in places, and Light reached out a hand to brush some from his forehead.
"L," Light said softly.
L glanced up and, as he did so, Light hooked a finger under his chin, guiding their mouths together for a kiss. L's hand went to the fabric of his shirt, forcing Light to stay close (as if Light would ever leave), and he shifted to a better angle as he returned the kiss. The movie continued in the background, music rising and falling as they kissed slowly. Light cradled L's face in his hands, L's arms sliding around his waist, and he was so warm. Light inhaled a shuddering breath, lips slipping away to trail kisses along his jaw, over his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, each touch feather-light, the barest whisper of contact.
Light could feel L's heart beating in his chest, the tempo thudding in his own ears. When Light pulled back, L's cheeks were flushed the slightest pink, eyes flicking quickly over Light's face as if searching for something.
"What?" Light asked.
L blinked, then shook his head, leaning forward to bury his face in Light's chest, "Nothing."
"Hm," Light returned his attention to the movie, waiting. He figured he had about five minutes before L finished whatever thought he'd been having and voiced it; in the meantime, he took advantage of the quiet to watch the characters dance across the screen.
"Thank you."
"Hm?"
Light glanced away from the screen, meeting L's eye curiously.
"Thanks. For dinner, and for the bath. I do know you have a lot of homework to do," L said, quiet, "I appreciate it."
"Oh," It was Light's turn to blush this time. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away, embarrassed all of a sudden for reasons he couldn't name, "Yeah. No worries."
He couldn't bring himself to look at L, feeling the blush creep down his neck and only serving to make the embarrassment sharper. He was suddenly far too hot, "Damn you, L."
Then, to his surprise, L smiled. Not a small half-smile, but a full-blown smile, and the smile turned into a giggle, the giggle to a chuckle, and then he was laughing. His shoulders shook, doubling over as the laughter filled the room. Something akin to awe lit in Light's chest, a curl of wonder. He didn't realise his mouth had fallen open until L glanced at him and his laughter redoubled. Light snapped his mouth shut, but found himself smiling as well. It was rare for L to really smile, even more rare for him to laugh, and Light didn't even think he would need one whole hand to count the times he'd laughed like this. The sound was real, genuine, and so full of life it made Light's heart ache with love.
"You're funny. I love you," L gasped, wiping tears from his eyes as he finally calmed down.
"Shut up!" Light groaned, falling back into the pillows and throwing an arm over his eyes, if only to cover up how his heart was still racing. L giggled a few times before falling silent. The bed shifted, and then L's weight was on top of him, a hand peeling the arm away, expression soft. Their mouths connected gently, Light's hands falling to L's waist. Propped up on his elbows, cradling Light's face, L kissed him, not with any real force, but with intention, affection in every new press of lips.
Light sighed softly, pulling him as close as he could and then trying to pull him even closer until their bodies were flush against each other. L's mouth ticked up in another one of his little smiles; Light could feel it against his. One last kiss, and then L pulled back, resting his chin in his hands. His legs were kicking slowly in the air, and Light couldn't help but huff a laugh. Beside their legs, the computer had been kicked shut, probably on purpose, but Light chose to believe it was an accident.
"Okay," Light said through a heavy exhale, shifting L off of him and fixing the blankets around them, "I was going to do more homework tonight, but I don't think I have it in me anymore."
"Am I that captivating, Light?" L teased.
"You're that annoyingly persistent," Light shot back. Never in a million years would he admit L was right.
L yawned, shifting deeper into the pillows, apparently deciding this argument was beneath him. Light mimicked him, settling down so they were eye level, "That's it? You're just going to bed now? It's not even nine."
"Are you complaining about me going to bed at a reasonable hour? Because that was the plan, but if it upsets you so much, I can stay up for a few more hours," L said, going to sit up.
"No!" Light said, catching him by the waist and tugging him back down, "No. It's fine."
L didn't say "that's what I thought", but it was implicit in his expression. Anyone who said L wasn't expressive just clearly had not known him long enough. He was, in fact, very expressive, and usually used said expressions to be a bitch.
"Just come here," Light grumbled, holding up an arm to let him in.
Looking quite pleased with himself, L shifted closer to him, arm around Light to keep him there, "Good night, Light."
"Mm, night," Light yawned, throwing an arm over L's waist and tucking his other arm under his head. He wasn't sure how long it took L to fall asleep, but he did know that when he woke the next morning, his boyfriend was still there, still in the same spot, breath soft with sleep, and it was comforting to know that he'd been there all through the night.