I love seeing new people get into Monster Hunter, because so many of them are going from "do I really have to kill them? I feel bad, monsters deserve to live :(" to "okay these are clearly invasive species and we're doing the ecology good" to "BITCH, it is now my life mission to genocide your entire population" in the span of like. Four hunts.
Death metal at 2AM does not cover up the sounds of throwing up.
The tower was quiet. Everyone had gone home. Everyone was asleep. Everyone except one. Watari had gone out for the evening. After dealing with the world’s greatest detective all day, even he needed a break. So, he had gone out for wine and a cigar just to even himself out. However, there was one thing Watari didn’t know. That world’s greatest detective made the mistake of going out into the world…and came home with a tickle in his throat…and a turn in his stomach.
L was on his knees in front of his toilet, resting his head on the seat, his head spinning. The last thing he needed was to be getting sick. But no one needed to know he was getting sick. Certainly not the one who lived on the floor beneath him. He just wanted to get some sleep. A solid twelve hours would cure him, but apparently, he wasn’t going to get that lucky. He needed to cover up the sounds of him violently retching, so he did the only thing he could think of. Nothing quite like a blast of metal to cover that up. Although, it wasn’t exactly helping the one underneath him.
Pound, pound, pound!
“RYUZAKI, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!” a shrill voice screeched from L’s door.
L could hardly stand, let alone answer the door. Please…Please just leave. I don’t want you catching this. But L knew he needed care. He needed someone to take care of him. He couldn’t even get himself up, let alone answer the door. But he tried. He struggled, but he tried. Very slowly and very carefully, he steadied himself on the bathroom sink. Only to let another round of throwing up into that very bathroom sink. He killed the music and started shuffling toward the door. L was lucky his knees hadn’t buckled out, but he leaned against the wall and opened the door to find a very angry, semi sleep deprived Misa on the other side with her arms crossed and rage in her eyes.
“You called for me, Misa?” L’s voice was hoarse, tired. He wanted nothing more than to go back to bed. But unfortunately, he had company.
Although, the moment Misa got a good look at L, her rage quelled. The hatred in her eyes softened. And her hands clutched her chest, “Oh…Ryuzaki, sweetie, you feel ok?”
“No,” L groaned, “I feel like I’m dying. If I do, tell Light it’s his fault and his chances of being Kira went up eighty percent. At least. Maybe eighty-five, if I’m doing the math right.”
“Don’t worry about Kira right now,” Misa took L’s hands, holding him steadier than the sink did, “Was that what the music was all about?”
“What do you mean?” L wondered, “I can’t just play music at two o’clock in the morning for no reason? They’ve always said geniuses have certain eccentricities. Maybe that’s just one of mine.”
“No, babe,” Misa shook her head, “Your eccentricities come from something else. And when they come from you, they stop being eccentricities and start becoming symptoms. Come on. Let’s get you back to bed. You think I don’t know when someone’s trying to cover up the fact that they’re throwing up? If we were in a public bathroom stall, you’d be dropping your keys right now. Over and over and over again.”
“How would you know that?”
“Ryuzaki, sweetheart,” Misa awed, “I’m a model. I think you forget that sometimes. You think I’m not going to know when someone’s trying to throw up their lunch before it has a chance to hit their stomach? Come on.”
“Valid argument,” L leaned on Misa and started heading back to bed, “In all honesty, I think the worst of it is over.”
“I’m sure,” Misa didn’t buy it. Not for a single second. But she brought L back to bed and got him all tucked in, “There. Get some sleep. I’ll take care of everything else.”
“Yes,” L rolled his eyes. And immediately regretted it, already having a wave of nausea knock him over again, “Because just who I want taking care of me when I’m at my most vulnerable is the second Kira.”
“Can we put that away for now?” Misa scoffed, “Right now, I’m not worried about the investigation. I’m worried about you. Now, you’re going to shut up and get better and I’m going to take care of you. Got it?”
L collapsed into his bed, too exhausted to fight with Misa, “I don’t have much choice, do I? It’s not like Watari’s here. It’s not like anyone else is going to do it.”
“That’s better,” Misa kissed L’s forehead. His too warm for Misa’s liking forehead, “I’m going to go find you some medicine, ok? And probably a thermometer. Do you have any Vasoline?”
“What the hell would you need Vasoline for?” L started to get a little anxious.
“For the thermometer,” Misa pointed out, “How else are we supposed to do it?”
“Orally,” L glared her down.
“Fine,” Misa whined, “You really do take all the fun out of this, don’t you?”
“Misa…” L blinked a couple times in disbelief, “Where? In what fucking universe is any of this fun?”
“I’ll go get you some medicine,” Misa brushed him off, “I’ll be right back, ok?”
And off she went to forage for supplies. And yet, L nestled down into his bed, oddly comfortable. She’s going to be a colossal pain in the ass, isn’t she? Just let me sleep. I don’t need you taking care of me. I don’t need anyone taking care of me. I just need to sleep. If I sleep this off, I’ll be better by morning and we can continue as usual. But no. Please, Misa. I need you to take care of me.
“Here, sweetie,” Misa sat at the edge of L’s bed and punched two tablets out of the blister pack for him along with a glass of water, “Take these.”
“What are these?” L still didn’t totally trust it, but he also didn’t have any other options.
“Cold medicine,” Misa told him, pushing his hair out of his face, not expecting him to be so sweaty, “It’s going to help you feel better. Just…Take them.”
“How do I know this isn’t poison?” L asked.
“I’m not trying to poison you, Ryuzaki,” Misa held her face in her hands, “Look, if I were Kira right now, I don’t think I’d choose poisoning you as my method of killing.”
“You don’t know that,” L threw the tablets in his mouth anyway. Worst case scenario, they’d kill him. Best case scenario, they’d cure him. Either way, he wouldn’t be sick anymore, “Did you know some types of poison can come back in a tox report as a heart attack? Or causing some kind of cardiac event?”
“Even when you’re sick,” Misa teased him, “You’re still you, aren’t you?”
“Who else would I be?” L wondered.
“Yep,” Misa kissed his forehead before putting a cool washcloth on for him, “You’re still you. That’s good to know. Get some sleep, sweetheart. Ok?”
“Ok…” Finally, she’s making sense.
“Unless,” Misa smirked a bit, “You wanted to be awake for your sponge bath?”
L’s stomach dropped to the floor, “What?”
“I need to get your fever to break somehow,” Misa pointed out, “And that’s going to be the quickest way to do it.”
“No,” L put his foot down, “You’re not bathing me.”
“Don’t be such a baby, Ryuzaki,” Misa had already warmed up some water and had it sitting by L’s bed. She wrung out her washcloth and draped it over the side of her water bowl, “I promise I’ll be gentle.”
“Misa…” L started to panic, “Really. You don’t need to go that far.”
“Yes, I do.” Misa started peeling L’s shirt off, “Trust me, honey. It’ll be alright. I got you.”
“Do you?” L was already too weak to fight back. Not that he really wanted to. Instead, he caved completely. And the second that washcloth hit his back, his whole body shivered.
“Are you ok?” Misa worried, “That wasn’t just a cold chill, was it? Or worse, I didn’t burn you, did I? I was pretty sure the water wasn’t too hot.”
“No,” L laid his head in Misa’s shoulder, his body relaxing on hers, “No…It’s ok. I’m just…I’m ok.”
“Good,” Misa cradled him gently, moving down to the waistband of his pajama pants, “Are we still good?”
“Mmhm,” L didn’t have a single ounce of fight left in him. He just melted in Misa’s arms, letting her delicately handle him in every way she could. And he wasn’t sure why, but something about this felt safe. He knew Misa was who she was. He knew what she had done, aware of it or not. And yet, of all people, he felt safe in her arms. She had no ill intent. She wasn’t going to do anything out of line. She truly just wanted him taken care of. And it warmed him inside like nothing else.
When Misa finished up, L fell back to the bed with a towel draped around him and his clothes still on the floor. And his eyes only grew heavier with each passing second. He just wanted to go to sleep. Misa turned on some music…something much softer than what woke her up that night…and she got L redressed in something clean. She checked his temperature one more time and smiled at the decreasing number. That’s good.
“Hey, Ryu…” Misa looked down at L and he had already fallen asleep. Something about his flushed face looked almost angelic. And she couldn’t help but feel something deep in her heart. She gave L one last kiss and left him alone. Good night, Ryuzaki. Let’s hope you’re feeling better in the morning.
What are your thoughts on the Bertrand Bell theories that Travis is actually playing a changeling/imposter and it isn't the real Betrand Bell? I wasn't sure at first but digging into it, Bertrand Bell should be around 90 or older looking at the timeline...sure they may not have stuck to his original age but feels like a bit of an inconsistency to me. It's early days though so I'm excited to see how it plays out either way.
I hadn't seen anything about it haha, I just assumed with him being two levels above everyone that he's temporary either way. Either he really is Bell and he's leaving soon or worse, or he's a changeling miniboss or something, idk. But I actually love that theory so much, thank you for bringing it to me.
I spent WAY longer on this than anyone should, but here is my mood board inspired by part one of A Song of Ash & Sky, an ongoing Nimulot fic by @allgirlsareprincesses. It was fun trying to capture the themes/motifs w/primarily nature-based imagery. Consider this a small token of appreciation for something that helped make my year more bearable. Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays, everyone! ❤❤❤
