i wont br participating for the rest of this week but i thought itd be nice to submit what i had for day one
happy lawlight week, everyone!
Day One - Constellations / Connections
The sky was dark, dimly lit by the scattered stars overhead, light climbing up the building from the jammed headlights at its base, windows of the neighboring architecture brimming with a faint glow.
The rooftop was silent, the echoes of car horns barely audible, and the distant call of birds in the sky seemed to tune out naturally. If you listened hard enough, your brain may conjure up a faint sound of delicate music playing in the background, like the scene of a movie.
His footsteps halted their soft booming across the linoleum as he stopped in his tracks upon arriving outside, the moon directly over his head, a view of nothing but the sky surrounded him. He spotted another man, seated awkwardly on the cement of the gambrel below his feet.
He stood there for a moment, watching him look up to the sky, and after the passing of a few brief heartbeats, he spoke.
“Ryuzaki?” He called, breaking the calming silence that had illuminated the atmosphere.
Ryuzaki had given him no response, he didn’t even twitch, and the look in his large, black eyes hadn’t shifted expression in the sudden sound.
He drew himself closer to him, sticking his head in his line of sight.
The man had his thumb tucked between his lips, his other hand gripping one of his knees.
“Hello, Light.” He said, the tone of his voice placid and unmoved. He turned his head to look in front of him, gaze dropping to the ground.
Light was aware he was out here, that’s why he had brought him a cup of hot chocolate, but he knew better than to ask why, ever so aware that the question would be bat back at him.
“I brought you a cup of hot chocolate.” He said, carefully sitting down next to him and placing the warm styrofoam cup on the ground.
Ryuzaki grabbed the cup and analyzed it, smelling it, before taking a sip.
“What, do you think I spiked it?” Light asked, half jokingly.
Light narrowed his eyes, brushing off the comment he knew would come and delicately changed the subject. “What were you looking at?”
“What were you looking at? Just now, when I came out here? You seemed pretty absorbed in it.”
Ryuzaki shifted his position slightly, seemingly about to begin preaching, but his face had shown no intention of replying at all.
“The stars, they’re fascinating to look at, I hadn’t expected to see so many out tonight.” A sentence was a healthy midpoint.
“Ah, that makes sense.” Light echoed after him, glancing upward at the navy blue welkin beyond. “I didn’t know you liked the stars.”
“There’s a lot of things about me that you don’t know about. Actually, I’m quite familiar with many of their constellations.”
“I never would have thought that. Tell me about them.”
Ryuzaki eyed him suspiciously, but had no leverage to make any accusations. He moved the hand that was locked on his lips to his knee, the other one barely grasping his cup as if it were unclean. “There isn’t any I find myself fond of. Constellations, I mean. They just look appealing, and isn’t any I’d like to talk about, in particular.”
The corner of Light’s lips raised slightly. “Are you afraid it’ll give me classified information about you?” He taunted, his voice lowered to a whisper.
“No, I’m just unfamiliar with my likes and dislikes, that’s all.”
Once again, a silence fell, and it was just the two of them, by themselves in the dark, only able to see each other by the means of what was above and below them.
Both men stared overhead, peering at the sky that so generously consumed them.
Light’s eyes averted to Ryuzaki, examining his pale features that gingerly adorned his face. Gaze softening, L stared back, neither of them uttering anything.
Formerly, when their eyes met, their stares were brimming with uncertainty, agony, and resentment. Now, they were almost empty, aside from a slight tinge of acknowledgement that had strangely comforted them.
Moments had passed before Light dared to open his mouth again, not wanting the atmosphere to transition and make the serene, civil moment awkward.
"When you said you're unfamiliar with your likes and dislikes," He began, his gaze hardening and looking away to the ground below them. "I think I understand that."
"What?" L responded, his stare still burning into Light, his tone solemn and empty, as it usually was, but his muscles almost tensing as a reply.
"You know, when you don't know a lot about yourself, and don't even know what your favorite color is."
L nodded, and he could feel him relax again, but not giving a response.
Light didn't understand why he was telling him this, the man whose eyes were empty, hair a mess, and face a constant void, who held things as if they were soiled, and sat in a constant unusual position that was almost uncomfortable to look at.
"Do you ever get bored?" Light asked.
L's gaze finally lifted, and his eyes drifted off to a random location, but voice filled with an odd expression of understanding. "Often."