daffodils- L / Light (minific)
Short bit based on my five smile headcanons, aka an excuse for FRIDAY NIGHT FLUFF FIC that turned over into Sunday :) (apologies @zenthisoror you didn’t ask for this, or maybe you did, idk). Four smile headcanons set in canon verse +1 set in ‘ghosts in the machine’ verse, which I suspect I will always revisit to situate my fluff/trash (haha, basically what I constructed it for)
i. corners turned up
Light Yagami is dangerously intelligent, that much is certain. L surveys him from across the table in the secluded corner of the restaurant. He passes him photographs, strategically marked (and he passes the test).
“It looks to me like he could have dictated these notes, actually, because they contain a hidden taunt to L,” Light’s expression is measured in its challenge. L keeps his eyes on the edge of Light’s mouth (all the tells are often there). His lips twitch at the edges when he speaks. L wonders for a moment what expression threatens to burst forth at the seams.
“If you take the first word of every line, they form a sentence, or rather, a question. Because the order that makes the most sense would be ‘L do you know, gods of death love apples?”
Ah, but you are eager to impress, Yagami-kun. L produces the fourth photograph, and measures his reaction with sharp eyes. There’s confusion, (brief as lightning), and then a layered disappointment with a polite setback.
“I think I’m correct in deducing you decided there were only three notes, Yagami-kun, and therefore could not infer that there was a fourth one.”
“Gee, you’re right. I didn’t think of that.” Light rolls back in his seat and turns up the corners of his mouth, a movement so obviously practised that L almost laughs (he’s always hated seeing that face on his suspects, sees it so often it should be made illegal).
L still wonders at the hidden smile, its dangerous nature tugging gently at the corners of Light Yagami’s thin reddened lips (he thinks he would do terrible things to see it, if only once).
ii. sugar lips
Light drums his fingers on the table, trying to keep focus through a stifled yawn. If they can just match a few more deaths to the recent upturn in Yotsuba, it will make their case all the stronger. Light suspects there might be a way to predict Kira’s next moves from the most recent deaths. It would be easier if they had more inside information, but for the time being, what they have is enough to go on.
He just wishes he had Ryuazki’s endurance. Light turns his scrutiny to L for half a moment, thinking it unfair that this strange, wiry creature housed such a brilliant mind, that the world of law enforcement was his to command. Jealousy is a unfamiliar and ugly friend.
“Watari,” L’s drawl cuts through his reverie, “Can you bring up a tray of sweets and the usual assembly of newspapers?”
“Of course.” the intercom replies. Like clockwork, Watari rolls out a silver platter with confections, and places a stack of papers to his left. Light begins flipping through the copies, cross-referencing them with the online information, L places two delicately in front of him, then attends to his pastries.
His eyes widen as spidery fingers select an eclair with a dusting of sugar. L eats obscenely, and Light, tries, and fails, to keep his mildly horrified fascination away. He’s so...extreme in everything he does. It’s so strange.
“Light-kun, will you pass me the newspaper, finance section once more.” L rolls his tongue over the top of his finger and smiles, eyes fluttering with momentary distraction and his lips still white with powdered sugar. Light stares a moment, suddenly aware of the softness of L’s lips at a distance.
“Light-kun?”
“Sorry,” He passes over the paper, “It looked like you enjoyed that.”
“Would you like one?”
“No thanks -- it’s a little too late for pastries.”
“Ah. My apologies, Light-kun, would you like to retire? I can work in our room upstairs if it suits you?” L’s eyes are wide, almost honest, the barest trace of the sugar smile on his lips. Light relents, and smiles weakly back.
“I think I’d like that.”
iii. this is justice
L is sharp, L is innocent-eyes and guilty tongue, L is a soldier of fortune who will take any and all opportunities to win. Light doesn’t bother to hide his disdain for the man any more, but he wraps his admiration up in a veil of it.
Admittedly, he wouldn’t have thought of the drama L staged to save Matsuda. And though he hates to admit it to himself-- L’s adamant focus on finding out how Kira kills is exactly what the investigation needs right now. In terms of the long game... if a few more people are killed, it’s nothing compared to us not catching Kira or being set back in the investigation.
Light hates thinking this way. He tries to tell himself that makes him better, but an angry part of himself knows it makes him weaker. For all of the insights he brings to the table in the investigation, there’s a kind of disaffected satisfaction in solving the case that L has which Light simply does not. In that way, L is able to measure off possibilities more quickly, more effectively than Light does
And in the endgame, that’s exactly what he’s doing.
“Yagami-kun, sorry to bring this up again, but...I’m just going to straight out ask.”
“What?”
“Do you remember how to kill?”
As much as Light believes in his innocence as much as he believes in the goodness in people, L gives him flawless logic, and he’s never been able to argue with that. He rakes his eyes over the detective before setting the plan in action, and accepts, just slightly I might have been Kira. But that’s not important now.
“Thank you Yagami-kun. I feel ninety-nine percent confident now. We will create a situation where Higuchi won’t pass on the power, and have him demonstrate how he kills.”
Light listens slowly to L’s staged drama, his mastery of lies. It’s worth the ninety-nine percent-- even without L’s expertise, Light is certain the plan will work. It’ll all be over soon. And then? the nasty part of his mind wonders, Will Kira’s power pass to L? Would that really be a good thing? He pushes the thought to the back of his mind. Besides, L has the task force, and himself, to answer to. Perhaps we’ll be able to work together again.
“Thank you, Ryuzaki. I’m glad to know this ends tonight.”
L’s face rearranges itself into a grim smile, that sparkles up to the grey-black of his eyes. For a moment, he looks fully and completely alive, and the look half-terrifies, half-fascinates Light. “Thank you, Light-kun. I think that you’re wrong, but I do appreciate the sentiment.”
iv. winner take all
The thump of L’s heart is fever-pitch, the high of the case singing in his veins. He and Light take the steps two at a time, and it feels natural, feels strange to be fully in tune with another person for the first time in his life.
L wonders if their paths will cross again (and darkly remembers how completely enthralling it was to be at odds with Light’s Kira, a beautiful and lethal duet). No matter, there’s the current plan to be executed (with its own lethal precision.)
“I didn’t know you could also operate a helicopter, Ryuzaki.” Light since losing has powers has a kind of softness to him, that L can’t help but curl up into.
“You don’t need a license for this. You can pretty much figure it out with intuition. You could do it too, Light-kun.” He offers Light a grim smile, but Light is all focus, looking ahead to their destination. It’s impressive, really. His demeanour only cracks when Higuchi pulls the gun on himself (as he’s not aware how truly impressive Watari’s sharpshooting is).
Then comes the notebook. L’s thoughts run a mile a minute when he realizes how much power this piece of evidence could hold (if Shinigami exist, what can’t it do), but Light is too eager and snatches the black-bound book from L’s finger tips.
No.
Light screams, long and awful as the notebook leaves L’s fingertips. L sees a thousand expressions flash over Light’s face, but just before he turns, there, the smile that threatened to crack open Light’s face when they’d first spoken flickers out.
L thinks it’s the most honest expression he’s ever seen Light Yagami make (certainly the most strangely compelling).
I see you. (have you won?)
v. you play the game (as well as I do)
The Liloueet case is only the third major case Light takes on as K, and already the Qnetwork’s output has more than tripled with their combined efforts. L hasn’t said anything yet, but Light can tell he’s impressed by the way , by the way he’ll occasionally let Light take the reins in order to rest for a moment.
Light loves the way the black scars under L’s eyes are growing paler by the day. They’re headquartered in a safe house L bought at the tip of Chile some number of years ago, about a hundred miles from the human trafficking ring they’re investigating. The case is just about tied up, there’s simply the administrative matters to attend to.
“Light, I’m putting through a call to the Russian government, I’d like you to handle the one to the American government.”
“Hey, my Russian is almost as good as yours.”
“Yes, but you’re more astute at subtle threats, so I need your English in this case.”
“Oh, I thought you said it wouldn’t be in our interests to make waves, even if the President was involved.”
“Perhaps so; but a certain someone reminded me that it wouldn’t be... just to let this one slide. Besides, we might be able to use it to our advantage if we want to look into the Alsatz Case.”
“That’s classified.”
“It won’t be for us, soon, if K plays our cards right.”
Light catches L’s eye from across the room, where a smirk is playing on L’s thin lips. Though Light knows his own face is a mirror, he wants very much to drop the phone and kiss the arrogance off his partner’s lips.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
