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todays bird
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"

if i look back, i am lost
official daine visual archive
Today's Document

blake kathryn
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#extradirty

Janaina Medeiros
Stranger Things
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Mike Driver

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣

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Sade Olutola

titsay

seen from Malaysia
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@provenfalse
To this he compels himself to listen carefully, as Light’s prone to leave glinting hints of useful information amongst a sandstorm of useless filler. Calls his attention even more because this is personal, as their conversations tend to get only for darker purposes; guilt, persuasion or sex.
Light isn’t trying to guilt him, and lest the kitchen tile become littered with ceramic and liquid all over again, this isn’t a hateful coaxing towards sex.
It’s not entirely persuasive either.
I’m selfish?
You hypocritical little shit.
Yet he stays quiet, letting the younger of the two list off details like he’s reading a checklist before making a sale which he hopes to gain the only profit.
It’s insulting.
“Is this a business arrangement?” L finally scoffs, in the way only he can -- with a huff through his nose, a sardonic lift to his lips, but his tone still smooth. He’s not so childish as to give away his own indignance. “Where is the contract I’m expected to sign? Surely you’ve printed one out by now.”
That their relationship will always be different from this point forward is fair. That L will continue his investigative duties is accurate as well. But the tone of this, the judgmental air Light’s exuding about something he’s taking mutual part in, is enough for L to leave him to it, alone.
But he stays calm.
Sips his coffee and cracks two knuckles of his free hand.
Says, after a swallow, and while only now leveling Light in a narrowed glare, “You really are terrible at this.”
He supposes he’s earned that jab, considering his own comment regarding appearances prior. Thus he lets it pass, busying himself instead with an irritating flapping at his wrists. Two buttons are meant to cuff more tightly, and he wonders how anyone bears the restriction around such a flexible limb and a strong pulse. Leaves the fastenings alone, then, because he’d rather deal with the sporadic scrape of fabric than a vice-like bind.
Eyes return to Light -- or, shift to the coffee maker and then back again -- when says something about normal. Which might not be meant as a compliment, but L takes it as such; at times, he goes to great lengths to seem abnormal. Catches people off-guard if he’s the ‘weird’ one, lets him get a glimpse of how they react to the less than ordinary.
Something he hasn’t told Light out loud, but he’d be surprised if this hasn’t already been figured out to some extent or another.
Finely divided attention lets him know that there’s enough coffee to start with, so he steps from the counter to the collection of mugs in the corner. Pours what he can, stirring sugar (and then more sugar) in before turning to face Light properly, taking a sip before he replies.
“Oh?” One sip is invigorating, warm and sweet and giving him a much-needed jumpstart. “Do tell.”
He assumes Light is trying to rattle him with this mention of a ‘ mistake. ‘
He sincerely hopes he’s right.
Suffering is the long wait between each drip, dark eyes watching, forlorn, to judge right when there’s enough coffee for a single cup. Still, he’s paying attention, ignoring Light’s comment about the shirt and court because it’s still fully unbuttoned, hasn’t been ironed yet and looks strange on him (he can tell without the help of a mirror simply for how strange it feels).
“Something I’ve already deduced,” he does reply to the admission of avoidance. “Am I so frightening that you felt it necessary to stay away from your own home all this time?”
Not the point and they know it, and he’s still so tired, and desperate for coffee -- but he’d be lying if he said this wasn’t fun.
“Might I remind you, if I may -- you did say you wanted to talk about this in the morning.”
A discussion that might be going more smoothly if he dropped the condescension, but he reasons it’s too early for that kind of self-awareness.
Upon Light’s exit, he sprawls across the bed, turning his face once more towards Lilian, but moreso to the door. He listens: the click of an opening, what he thinks is a gruff sigh, and finally a slam. At this he can’t help but smile, even when the kitten starts, timid with ears perked high.
“Shall we go?” he asks her. “Or should we...”
It’s so comfortable here, particularly now that he’s stretched out. Of course the sheets are of a high thread count, pillows perfectly plump without causing a crick in the neck. He could stay here, weightless on a cloud.
Or he could reap his rewards.
Lilian’s ahead of him, now off the bed and scampering out of the room. Whether due to lack of caffeine or because he’d like to drag this out, L’s slow to cross the hallway into the laundry room where he has a stack of but a few pairs of jeans. Pulls one on, grabbing a shirt that’s hanging above -- not his, it turns out, all full of buttons that he doesn’t care to fasten. But it’s long-sleeved and serves its purpose to warm his arms, even if the collar lends an annoying chafe around his throat.
Now he ambles into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed and with a stilted gait, but alight with a pleasant demeanor.
“No shower, no cologne, no morning shave... My, you would have been a mess at the office today, wouldn’t you?” With hopeful eyes he glances towards the coffee maker, just beginning to brew.
Damn.
Leans his hip against the counter to wait, for if he seats himself there may be no getting back up.
“I borrowed this,” he says as an aside, lifting one arm from where it’s been hanging at his hip. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Meaning: I don’t care if you do.
“So then, no work today after all?”
Caffeine would be nice right about now, his eyes cracking open once more as the bed jolts with Light’s scrambling. The most unfortunate part of getting a full night’s rest, he’s discovering, is that there’s no pot of coffee already prepared (already half-gone, but prepared) at this time of morning.
“Is it?” His voice is all ho-hum, as if he might know the answer but prefers not to say. Truthfully, he’s simply still waking, not as quick as Light to shake himself free of the woozy heaviness of his head, eyelids, limbs.
With a scritch at Lilian’s ears, he rolls onto his other side, doing his best to prop himself on an elbow as he watches Light from behind. (Keenly aware he’s still naked when the chilled air is free to waft along his collarbone as the comforter slips down his torso.)
“I can’t seem to recall -- have you ever been late to work before, Light?” Still in a singsong, blatant in all its teasing, because they’re both well aware he hasn’t.
Morning gifts him with a kitten curled next to his face (not new) and a lean arm draped over his frame (very new). Warmer than when he drifted off, because Light's much closer at his back. He almost regrets opening his eyes, fearful that the more wakeful he becomes, the less real this scene will be.
But it's very real, decorated with a blueish glow from the window. The sun's about ready to rise, slow in its decision much like L himself. He thinks of Light, unstirred behind him. Doesn't recall him setting an alarm.
"You're going to be late," he says, quiet, along a lazy breath and a flex of his wrist before his eyes close again. Unsure if he was loud enough to hear, uncaring if he wasn't, and unwilling to wake Light further if he's still asleep.
Did it matter whether she was human or not? Wasn’t her conscious supposed to be uncannily astute? Isn’t that behind the theory of predicting disasters before they happen? It’s not that they’re predicted, it’s that they sense what is invisible to a human.
Damn. I must be tired.
To gruel this much over the lost innocence of a cat is bizarre, even for him. He’s tired, and maybe all these “rules” he has set truly won’t matter the moment his head hits the pillow, lifting him off to some faraway dreamland.
So, he slips under the plush comforter, shaking the chill running up his spine from the cold. Pulling his pillow down, he props himself up on his elbow, wondering whether L will actually sleep now that they’ve been engaged in discussion for so long.
“… well, good night.” Because while he’s interested in the other, his need to sleep takes over, pulling his eyes to a peaceful close.
He’s unsure what he was expecting out of this invitation. Perhaps another, more brief foray. Certainly not an argument over where a kitten might sleep, but it was a battle he won without much effort. Perhaps he wasn’t expecting anything at all.
So when Light wishes him a good night, with a hint of finality, why does it feel... empty, somehow?
“Goodnight,” he replies, settling in deeper beneath the comforter and turning to face Lilian, stroking her cheek with one set of fingers to make sure she stays put. (She won’t, not throughout the whole night, but she’s here while it’s important.)
She purrs in small tufts of air against his face and he wonders how something can receive affection so simply, eagerly, willingly.
It takes longer for him than it does Light, but sleep does eventually come.
He’s been so, so tired...
“The couch can be her be—” he begins to say, but by then Lilian has leapt upon his bed and no doubt claimed it as her throne. Although Light can tell that L is willing to make compromises and negotiate for this to work, Light’s not fine with the way it’s being phrased.
Am I seriously competing with a cat?
“Do you think she, uhm…” he pointedly opens a drawer at his nightstand, pulling out a pair of silk boxers and slipping them on, “saw anything?”
Light must be tired, or feigning more innocence than is necessary. Or, perhaps, he’s never had a pet -- or a lover, if he’s to be believed.
“A little late to have stagefright now. I think even if she did, any emotional scarring will be minimal,” he says. Matter-of-fact, but absolutely teasing.
Follows it up after a pause with, “She’s not human, Light. It’s fine.”
He’s without a strip of clothing and doesn’t ask for a spare pair of anything; steps to his designated side and slips in beneath the covers, sitting upright enough to lift Lilian and set her on the edge.
“There. All yours,” he tells Light once the middle of the bed’s been cleared.
“Stop that.” Not sure why these quips make him so defensive, he turns his back and busies his hands with taking off his watch and resting it on the nightstand. When L brings up sleeping with a third, Light spins slowly around, crossing his arms before his chest, waiting. L’s voice trails off into nothing, prompting a shake of Light’s head.
“She’ll get her fur all over the bed. I’ll go to work smelling like cat. Smelling like y—” Biting down on his lower lip, Light’s stare rolls to the corners of his eyes, glancing down to the doorframe, where a little creature pads on in.
“Now that she has a name, can’t she have her own bed? What if I… break her?”
This is a scene he watches patiently, one hand lifting to idly rub at the side of his neck as Lilian makes her entrance in the middle of Light’s admonishments.
“She certainly can,” he agrees easily. “But seeing as we’re without a cat bed to place in here tonight, that will have to wait until tomorrow. I can assure you, however, that she won’t shed everywhere and she’s smart enough to move out of the way, so you won’t break her. Most likely, she’ll be sleeping on my side anyway.”
Proven otherwise when Lilian mews before hopping up to sit in right in the middle of the bed, looking between them expectantly.
“--I’ll keep her with me. I promise.”
“It’s your fault they’re down there. Please,” it’s both the best and worst retort, having few wits about him to actually reason anything out. He isn’t looking to beat L in anything right now — a rare feeling, quite comfortable with his current winnings — and without realizing it, accepts his help in keeping balance.
“Yes, thank you.”
Now that L is standing, Light notices (with some shock) that he’s looking up at a man glistening with an impossibly attractive aura.
“You look awful.”
Leading him toward the bedroom, leaving all their belongings behind, he lets go of L’s hand in order to remove his briefcase from the typically unused side of the bed.
“I get the window side. And if you snore, you’re sleeping with Lilian. Those are my rules.”
That glint of curiosity stays alight in his eyes, the corners of his mouth faintly upturning when Light makes some comment about his appearance. “Again: Terrible with romantics.”
Something he’ll keep reminding him of, but this time it’s more amusing than the last.
He follows along, and isn’t surprised to hear these rules. Of course Light would have rules in place -- his spontaneity could only last so long. But one comment is enough for L to emit a low “hmm” in rebuttal.
“Does that mean you will not be allowing Lilian to sleep in here with us? I’m afraid that could be problematic. She’s accustomed to sleeping with me every night, you see...”
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