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Tale of Two Death Notes	By : wordbombs Category: Death Note > Yaoi-Male/Male > L/Light Views: 1511 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Was Death Note a porno? No? Then I don't own it. And I don't profit from my non-ownership.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, Light would have been a very bad prisoner. So bad. And so needing of being punished by the prison warden L.

Light paused outside the hotel, staring up at the large building as it reached into the sky beckoning vulgarly to all with its neon lights glistening outside. There was no refinement to the building, only excess. Looking at it hurt Light's eyes, but he continued to stare. Inside this building lay the answer to the problem that had haunted him for half a year now, and he couldn't find any relief in the thought. He wondered if he should feel jealous. All he felt was cold from the ride over, and a small ting of worry that his hair must look appalling from the ride over. But really, he should feel jealous. He should feel a righteous anger that L had beaten him. He was Light Yagami, second to no one.

But no, if L really had cracked the Notebook in 36 hours, then he deserved every ounce of praise Light had heard heaped onto the man since he'd starting working with the police. Light had to respect that, even if it was begrudgingly.

Light just felt empty, tired, and ready for answers. All the tension he'd been carrying around for the past sixth months was gone, leaving his muscles too lose and ready to give out on Light at any moment.

"Come here kid. You look like shit." Light blinked in surprise, and turned to Mello who was watching him with an amused smile and offering his arm.

"You know, I do believe I am older than you." Light muttered darkly, brushing past the blond into the hotel. Mello followed, chuckling and pulling out another candy bar.

"Being a kid has nothing to do with age, Doctor. You may be a few years older, but I've got a solid decade of real living on you. You've got innocence tattooed on your forehead. When's the last time you stood up for you? Did something for Light that wasn't pre-scripted by Mom and Pops, or society?" Light frowned and wracked his brain for an appropriate response. He wasn't used to taking shit for his actions. His actions were in were in line with society's and his parents expectations, there was nothing wrong with that. Besides, his dad had been a little peeved that he went into research instead of direct investigation. Although, it didn't matter seeing as Light still contributed more to his father's department during his off hours than full-time members.

"That I follow my parent's guidance and the expectations of others bothers you? Are you insinuating that I should be wearing leather and eating too much chocolate so that eventually I'll get too fat for the leather and develop diabetes so I can't eat the chocolate?" Light grumbled out the insult as they hit the elevator, feeling overly prickly. The blond man seemed to have a knack for finding and hitting all of his sore spots.

"I'm implying that you let yourself get caught up in your own press, kid. You feel like you owe other's something because you're some genius and it's your duty to change the world. It happened to L too, ya know. All the expectations of genius, all the pressure of the world. He forgot that he's still human, and still deserves to have fun and just fuck around for a while. Forgot that he deserved to get what he wants out of life and that being a genius doesn't mean you owe the world shit. He also forgot that genius or not, sometimes we all fail. It was really bad, the first time he failed. I'm just hoping it won't be as bad for you. You need to chill." He glanced sideways at Light, who was fuming. Who the hell did Mello think he was? He didn't know Light! Just because he happened to be completely fucking right…

Light just leaned up against the cool elevator wall and let himself relax against it, dropping any pretense of pride he'd had left. He'd been beaten. Finally. By a letter that he'd hated for as long as he'd been in the police force. He was still brilliant, but that just made his ass kickings all the much grander in nature. Mello was right. Mello was completely fucking right and it infuriated Light to a degree he hadn't known he was capable of being pissed. He also wasn't expecting the wave of relief that hit him as he realized what failure meant. He was free to fail, nothing bad had happened. The world hadn't stopped spinning, and his parents weren't crying over what a disappointment he was. But still, the blonde hadn't needed to point it out.

"Fuck you." Mello laughed.

"Gladly." And then a soft, chocolate flavored mouth covered his. Light froze for a moment, eyes snapping open before a leather covered hand ran gentle fingers under his throat and tipped his head up and Light was lost. This felt good. He opened his mouth to the demanded invitation from Mello and moaned gently as the taller man pressed him harder against the elevator wall, hand moving from Light's throat down to Light's hip, pulling their cores into each other's. Fuck, Light thought as Mello expertly guided their kiss. Why was that the only word he could ever seem to come up with around the blond? And why on earth was he letting it take on a completely different context in the middle of a public elev- Light's thoughts trailed off as Mello lightly kissed down his jaw and gently ended on his Adam's apple.

"See?" Mello whispered breathily into his ear. "That is what you deny yourself because you think Daddy won't like it. The same way you deny yourself the freedom to be wrong, because society wouldn't like it. For a smart guy, you get really caught up in defining yourself by other's expectations. Light..." he softly whispered Light's name into his ear and Light shivered slightly. "Learn to lighten the fuck up."

And then they were kissing again and it was wild and passionate and the exact kind of kissing Light had always wanted, but never allowed himself because…Because why? All Light could focus on was Mello's tongue, and Mello's hand, and Mello's hard chest pressed against his and fucking right it felt to be giving in to the blond man in the middle of an elevator on the way to see the other man who had solidly kicked his ass at what was supposed to be his greatest victory. Light could feel himself getting harder, and he moaned as Mello's thigh pressed between his own. Light had never liked the taste of chocolate much before, but now he was beginning to think that it was addicting.

The elevator dinged.

"Now…go play nice with L. Then come play nice with me." Mello pressed one more kiss on Light's lips before casually exiting the elevator as though they hadn't just been playing tonsil hockey like teenagers.

Fuck. And in Light meant that in the best way possible.

L stared at the door as the two men walked through it. Mello offered him a casual wave and headed immediately to the bar. Well that was normal enough.

Light however, did not look normal. He looked flushed and his lips were red. L frowned at that. Perhaps he bit them when he was nervous…? But a giveaway trait like that would have been thrown away long ago by the immaculate doctor who handled his public persona like a well oiled machine. It was unusual.

"Please take a seat Dr. Yagami, I believe we have much to discuss." Light merely nodded and casually sat down across from L. L noted that he seemed to be decidedly less tense that when he had first met the man, or even when he'd seen him in this room last. Was it because he thought he'd been beaten? Or was something else going on? L glanced back at Mello who was eyeing the doctor over his glass of whiskey. L didn't like the slightly predatory glaze over Mello's chocolate eyes.

"Let's just get this over with L, I have matters to attend to and I'm sure you're busy packing up to leave Japan now that you're finished with the case." L frowned. This was not going how he had expected. He had estimated an eighty-three percent chance that the young doctor would come in yelling about L stealing the notebook, and demanding to see his evidence, or some other likewise reaction. But this calm, no, this resignation? He hadn't been expecting it. It put L off.

"Fine then. Though you will probably not be pleased to hear it, I had an associate of mine take the Death Note from your facility late this afternoon. Though Mello was under the supervision of your assistant Tzuki, he was still able to discern your safe's password and pass it along to another one of my associates. She then brought it here, where upon inspection I discovered what I believed to be the nature of the Death Note's power source. I would like you to see it as well." Light just nodded and waited expectantly. Where was the passion, L wondered? This was the man's job for the last six months and he just sat there quietly as though viewing a mildly entertaining presentation.

"I'm excited to see it. Now, please." The snapped out remark bit at L. Where on earth did the man have to be that was more important than this?

"I'm sorry Doctor, did I interrupt something critical with my discovery? Perhaps Dr. Yagami had a date? Or perhaps the Doctor is just being pouty that I have ascertained more about the Death Note in 2 hours with it in my presence than he has in six months." L controlled the amount of pouting he put into his words, but he was seriously put out. Some part of him had delighted in the thought of giving the man before him this piece of information, sure that even though L hadn't completely solved the Death Note (yet), Light would still be over the moon once he'd calmed down at L taking the Death Note from him without asking.

Light glanced at Mello. Why, why had he glanced at Mello?

"Yes, actually, I do have a date." Again, the brunet's eyes flicked to Mello, and L was sure he saw a glance pass between the two. "Look, L, you've beaten me. I'm aware of that. There is no need to drag it out. I'm interested in your solution, but I'm really strung out here okay? I'm pissed, I'm livid at you actually. You had no right to come into this investigation, especially at the bequest of foreign nations, but you did. You did, and you beat within a manner of hours. So forgive me if I'm not feeling charitable towards you or any grand revelations at the moment. So get the fuck on with it."

…He had a date?

"Fine. I would like you to touch the Death Note." L pulled out the notebook, sliding it across the coffee table. "But first, I would like to admit that I may have been over-exaggerating when I said I had found the power source for the Death Note. I'm afraid that my initial conclusions were slightly off-base. However, I have made, as you scientific types like to say, a breakthrough." L could feel Mello's questioning stare in the back of his head. Yes, he was admitting he was wrong!, L wanted to shout at the blond. Don't act like it had never happened before. Oh no, the last time he had been wrong the tenacious blond had made it admit it for months. Sometimes he still made him face how wrong he had been. Every time they headed home to England actually and visited that damn graveyard and Mello just glanced at him and said the same thing "You did your best, L. That's all he wanted." But L pushed away the negative thoughts in favor of focusing on the young man before him who looked confused and a bit hopeful.

"You didn't solve it?" The hopeful note in his voice bothered L for some reason. Was he really that comforted by L's failure?

"Not entirely, no. But still, you must touch the Death Note before we move on." Mello walked forward and casually sat down on the arm of Light's chair.

"May I touch it as well? Secrets harm a workplace, you know. They're a leading cause of office tension and social anxiety." Not a day went by that L didn't regret sending Mello off to university for a PhD in psychology. Not a single day.

"Yes, fine, both of you touch it. Watari has already done so, so he can view the full extent of all of our interactions from his room." Mello shrugged and slid off his leather riding gloves, gently brushing the irregular surface of the Death Note from his perch next to Light. L noticed the way Light's amber eyes followed Mello's movements and felt a sharp, undefined flash of anger. What exactly had happened between the two of them on the ride over? The last L had heard, Light had wanted to literally tear the balls off of Mello, and that had suited L find. Mello was too much of a player to be left alone with Light, especially if Wedy's assessment of the reserved brunet was right. Especially because L wanted the brunet to himself.

"Holy fuck balls. That is some break through." Mello's eyes were now focused on Ryuk, and the Shinigami actually waved at him. Mello waved back. Light stared at Mello's reaction, and then reached forward.

"The hell?" Light's voice yelped out a second later, as he threw himself back into the plush lilac velvet embrace of his chair, away from the Shinigami who was now grinning mischievously at the terrified man.

"Like I said, I've reached a break through." Crystal clear brown eyes turned to him, and narrowed in anger, the scientist was obviously pissed.

"Yah, you could say that."

Light's head hurt, he decided as he left L's suite at 2 in the morning. It hurt a lot. Hours of questioning the absolutely bizarre creature had set his entire research findings spinning and he didn't want to think of the consequences just yet.

Fuck L, Light decided. Fuck him for making things more difficult after saying that he'd solved everything. The detective wasn't even worth a letter. No, he was maybe a fraction at best. Something completely nonsensical and annoying like 17/239. Light smirked to himself. Ah, that would suit the obnoxious detective just fine. But still, Light needed to figure out how best to handle the Shinigami's presence and exactly what it meant. And the significance of this 'realm' of his that had 'portals' to the human world. Perhaps they were wormholes from the other side of the universe? Or were the meeting points that connected two dimensions, on one side the world he loved and the other a perverse mirror?

"Stop thinking about it." Light turned to the blond who had followed him out of L's sitting area and into the small hallway that stood before the suite.

"I couldn't if I wanted to. A freaking extra-dimensional being has been following me around for six months, while I was trying to prove that there was even such a thing as an extra dimension! And who knows what else this could mean for science? I mean, he implied pretty heavily that he used to be human- some sort of evolved state? I need to consult with the Head of the Biology department, but he says the Notebook freaks him out…" Light's speech was interrupted by the blond pressing him into the wall and kissing him. It wasn't innocent, but it far from the wild passion they had had before. Instead, the kiss was firm, understanding but insistent. Light melted under it.

"Forget it for now. It's late, and the Head of the Bio department is in bed. You should be too, but it's up to you who you want to go there with." Light met eyes with Mello, and felt his breath catch slightly. Gods, but he was attracted to the man. Everything about him was wrong, his gender, his leather, his constant taste of chocolate. But Light had already been wrong once that night, or at least so he had thought. And it hadn't been that bad. A bit of a relief, actually. Light leaned in, and met the blonds' mouth half-way, letting himself be pulled into the stairwell adjacent to the elevator as they kissed. Then he was being pulled down a flight of stairs and led into the hallway directly below L's, and pulled into a similarly expansive suite. And then he was being dragged into a bedroom, and they were still kissing and Light felt free and Light felt alive, and god what was Mello doing with his hand?

Light let himself be pressed down into an expansive bed, covered in red satin sheets, and Mello laid on top of him, their groins meeting in a rough embrace as they continued to kiss.

He gasped as Mello began undoing the buttons on his shirt and kissing at the exposed skin of his collarbone. The blond chuckled throatily above Light and straddled him, removing Light's shirt as he sat up. He started back again on Light's fully exposed chest, and Light arched his back to the meet the hot mouth that was making his nerve endings explode like New Year's fireworks.

"So tell me exactly, Doctor…" Light loved the way the blond said Doctor. Maybe he could make him scream it later. "Am I your first? Or just the first you're actually going to enjoy." Light just pressed his hips up into Mello's and heard a loan groan in response.

"I'm not a virgin, nor a saint Mello. Now stop talking." Light reached up and grabbed the perfectly defined jaw line above him, cupping it in his face as he pulled Mello into a long, lingering kiss.

And those were the last words spoken that night except for names screamed in ecstasy.

L walked into Watari's room after Light and Mello's departure, carrying a tray filled with the man's dinner. The smell of pepper covered tuna tickled his nose unpleasantly, and the side of cauliflower looked like a deformed fungus. How on earth did normal people eat these things? L mused once again, as he often did, that one of these days his metabolism was going to give out, and he'd be forced to eat such things without the constant interruptions of cakes and caramels. It was a day L dreaded with a passion, even more so than retirement.

"Thank you L." Watari smiled from his bed, quietly closing the laptop that he used to remain L's constant companion by monitoring him through their camera system. L pushed down the familiar chocking rise of guilt as he moved forward and adjusted the blankets that had become askew around motionless legs, before settling dinner down in front of his old caregiver.

"You know it's my pleasure Watari." Watari smiled down at L and L had to look away. Even a year later, he still couldn't look the man in the eye. L felt a small rush of self-hatred, and pushed that aside too. Now was not the time to be wallowing in his issues.

"I apologize for you having to stay up so late. I did not know that Light would ask so many questions of the Shinigami." Watari waved his apology away.

"I enjoyed it. I would like to meet the young man, he takes after my line of thinkers after all. I couldn't have interviewed the Shinigami better myself. His ideas on extra-dimensional time space are fascinating." L controlled his wince at hearing Watari's desire to meet Light. Of course the man would want to meet Light, the two shared the same passion for complicated equations and theories that L had always found boring compared to crime solving. But he didn't want Light to see Watari, to see the living reminder of his last failure…No, L would not think about this now.

"Perhaps on his next visit, old friend. For now, eat then sleep." Watari nodded and went to work on the tuna. L turned and walked out, headed to his own room. Ryuk appeared to still be stuffing himself on apple pie and was loudly proclaiming to no one how much he loved the human realm.

L entered his own room and sat down on his bed, staring out at the painting covered wall, letting his mind finally bring up the images he pressed down so hard during the rest of the day.

He had been so sure of himself, that time. So sure that he could take down the serial killer with his wits and delicate string of bluffs.

And it had left Watari crippled and Near…

L pushed the white haired young man out of his mind and lay down on the bed. His thoughts instead turned the young man that had occupied his sitting room not twenty minutes ago. Light Yagami.

L felt a small shiver run down his spine, completely different from the kind Ryuk inspired in him.

He had been incredible to watch. Lightening fast deductions as he talked to Ryuk went over L's head without the proper background in physics. The man had scribbled down complex equations while debating the moral philosophy of the Death Note with Ryuk. It had been fascinating.

L felt a pang of annoyance as he remembered that he wasn't the only one who had appeared to be fascinated. Mello had watched the young doctor with a slight smirk, interjecting his own questions at the Shinigami during Light's pauses. And though L hated to admit it, Mello had been more useful than he had during the ensuing conversation. Though he didn't often feel the need to act like it, Mello was not only brilliant- but exceptionally educated and had an ability to peer into the depths of humanity that eluded even L. The blond had bulleted out questions on the Death Note's power over the human psyche, questioning Ryuk's stance on the object as being almost sentient, and had actually thrown Light and L for a loop by being able to go toe to toe with the impressive creature without so much as batting an eye. L wondered- Mello did know that Ryuk could kill him, yes?

But then again, even that probably wouldn't shake the blond.

L turned his mind away from Mello and Light and focused on the Death Note that he was now technically the owner of.

If he followed through on his directions from the FBI, he should pack up bring the Death Note to Interpol. He had assessed that the artifact was in fact, completely legitimate and did have the power to take a human life as reported. He had also brought the object under his own custody, and as the 'owner' of it, now had more claim to it than Yagami.

But L didn't want to take the Death Note from the young man just yet. His research fascinated L almost as much as the young man himself. L had no problem admitting that his own discovery of the Shinigami would lend as much credibility as needed for Light to be recognized in his research of extra-dimensional space time, and that was something he wanted to give the brunet. If only he could figure out how to politely tell Interpol that he had decided it was within mankind's best interests to use the notebook for science instead of military power…

L's cell phone went off. He hated cell phones, but kept one because in his line of work he should always be accessible.

"Hello?...Yes, yes I see." L put the phone down.

Shit.

Mello's phone went off, and he was hit with the sore desire to throw it right the fuck across the room. No, L, Mello's sleepy time is now, he thought lazily. The phone went off again. Dammit to hell and back, Mello thought getting up. Swearing vicious things against his employer in his mind if this was a call to buy cake, Mello answered the phone.

"What the fuck do you want L?" Mello glanced into the mirror next to his bed and noticed exactly how well-fucked he looked. He glanced over at his bed, where Light was sleeping soundly. Maybe he should go for round two now that he was up…

"Get here immediately." Fuck you, Mello responded in his mind.

"Fuck you." Mello had a fucking PhD in psychology, and a master's in philosophy. He knew how bad it was to repress your feelings. So he was always open in his discourse.

"Within the past twenty-four hours, approximately 200 of the world's leading criminals and murderers have dropped dead from heart attacks. This includes highly prolific dictators- men who ran entire countries Mello. Get here immediately." Mello stared at his phone in disbelief.

"Well…shit."

"Exactly. I'll be calling up Dr. Yagami shortly, I have no doubt he won't exactly be thrilled with this development so you should prepare yourself to collect him." Mello glanced at his bed and the beautiful curve of Light's back that was showing through a tangle of sheets.

"No need, he's asleep in my bed. We'll be up in 20 to an hour depending on morning wood." Mello clicked the phone shut.

He loved being honest.

He put the phone back on its place on his dresser and slid back into bed next to Light.

"Hey sleeping beauty, time to wake up." Light rolled over, flipped him off, and rolled right on back to his starting point.

Mello grinned. He knew how to pick them. But really, they did need to get going…

"No, seriously. L called. Looks like your Death Note has been fucked with. People are dying, up we go." Light just stared at him.

"That's impossible, L is now the owner. Only one to touch it since the last guy. The Shinigami said as much." Oh, well look who had deductive skills when he first woke up.

"Huh…true, which probably means there's another notebook floating around there somewhere. Which then makes it my job, as the handsome assistant to the world's best detective, to find it and stop whoever's using it. Now get up, princess." Light grumbled softly and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Precious.

"Do you always wake up your lovers with crime updates and overall shitty news? Along with horribly inappropriate nicknames? Or am I just special?" Mello grinned and pressed Light down onto the bed, trapping him in-between toned arms and looking down into his face, blonde hair brushing against the auburn locks on Light's forehead.

"So now you're my lover, huh? It's only been one night." Light placed his hands on Mello's naked hips, gently rubbing his thumb in circles over the taught skin before pulling him down on top of the older man's growing erection. Mello gave out a soft hiss. Oh, yes. This little physicist could definitively grow on him.

"You tell me." Light wrapped an arm around Mello's neck and Mello let him lead the kiss, soft and exploratory with a tinge of the fiery passion that had devoured the pair the night before. Light pulled away and began exploring down Mello's neck, and hit a perfect spot behind Mello's ear, earning a moan from the blond, before Mello decided to retaliate by pulling away and beginning a descent down Light's perfectly toned chest.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are one sexy fuck, Doctor?" Light gave out a small whimper and Mello reveled in the power mere words had over the other man's arousal. Just wait, Mello thought, and then the young doctor would see what Mello's mouth could really do.

"Surprisingly no. The Japanese are not often so forward." Mello chuckled and kissed down a flat stomach, gently licking down the small line of hair that led to Light's happy place.

"Well, luckily for you, I am very forward." Before Mello lowered his mouth, he thought for a brief moment that L was going to be really pissed at how late they were. This was a big fucking deal. They should really get there immediately.

Oh well, can't please everyone.

L heard the line disconnect and resisted the urge to throw the phone across the room. He needed cake and he needed it now.

He slowly got to his feet and trudged out barefoot into the small kitchen that was included in his suite. Pulling open the cold stainless door, he observed the large amount of various sweets Watari had ordered in the day before. The man was a godsend. L vaguely noted that Ryuk no longer seemed to be present, but pushed it aside. The weird creature was probably spying on Light and Mello and whatever they were doing to wake up, if his openly lecherous statements before were anything to go by.

Light and Mello.

L slammed the door shut after retrieving a ridiculously large strawberry cake, covered in a thick strawberry icing that was covered in the most exquisitely cut strawberry flowers, crystallized by sugar. It was masterpiece- carefully crafted by an artisan of the highest skill and obviously very expensive. L set into it with only his fork, not bothering with slices and plates. Screw the niceties.

L hunched forward more, toes rubbing together anxiously. It made sense, they made sense, and that's what bothered him the most. Light and Mello were both young, much younger than L. And they both had that same willful passion that guided them through life. …And they were both far more attractive than L.

Though Mello had always been a beautiful child, he'd grown up into a dangerously sexy man. Wiry muscles had grown into strong tone as he'd gotten taller than even L, and his penchant for leather and fur only served to showcase more that he was sex on legs.

After all, even L had been tempted after he'd returned from his three-year jaunt into academia looking every bit the part of the international genius playboy he portrayed himself as.

L pushed that drunken mistake out of his head, and instead focused on Light. He barely knew the man, so why was he so bothered to find out he was with someone else?

Especially someone who was so much more Light's own equal?

L shook his head. It really wasn't like him to dwell on such things. He was used to merely finding someone he found attractive enough for a night or week or month, however long he needed a warm body next to him, and then just getting to business.

He couldn't measure up to Light, who was just flat-out beautiful, or Mello, who was just flat-out sexy, but he was attractive enough and more than witty enough so that company of a nighttime nature had never been a problem to procure.

But nighttime company was more than L wanted from the beautiful scientist. The moment he'd seen the other man, he'd wanted to devour him. Those flashing eyes, the adorable optimism with which he viewed the world, that amazing ass…

L wanted him, badly. He wanted to discover every thought lurking underneath those auburn locks, and…he wanted Light to want him too.

L paused at the moment of clarity. Dammit, he hated getting self-analytical.

But he couldn't deny it, now that he had thought it. He wanted to see Light look at him with desire, instead of bemusement or the mixture of outright anger and tinge of jealousy the physicist usually looked at him with. He wanted Light's approval, affection, and adoration.

L shoved another large bite of cake in his mouth. The cake was delicious. Watari had really gone out of his way to find an amazing source of sweets in town- usually cakes were either beautiful or delicious, rarely was the cake both and so perfectly and exactly calibrated to his preference for strawberry. L wished he could appreciate it, instead of just using it to take away the sharp pain in his stomach.

No, he couldn't afford to sulk. He had a case to solve, and precious few clues to get started on. Knowing the murder weapon helped, but it was almost more intimidating that way. L had no place to start- how did you track down someone writing in a notebook?

He would begin by checking heart attack deaths of criminals, going down to the lowest denominator of local- worldwide. Odds are, there would be a few test deaths that could track down the general location of the perpetrator and L could smoke him out using intimidation tactics.

Unless of course, the person had had foresight and made sure even his test victims were in completely different locations than his…

There were just too many variables. Ryuk's notebook had rules written in it, would the other notebook as well? Or had the attached Shinigami explained the purpose of the morbid artifact?

Had the user discovered the Death Note's ability to kill using methods other than a heart attack? Would L have to begin investigating every death of any wrong doer? Would all deaths become suspect?

Perhaps Light would be able to discern a way to use the Death Note's unique energy signature to track down the location of the other notebook. Or would they have different properties?

L stared at his cake, and realized he was halfway through it, and no better off than when he started. He needed vodka. It was a rare instance that L abandoned sweets for more adult comforts, so far he had only done it twice before. The first had been during the same case that had crippled Watari and…killed Near. He flinched inwardly at the thought. The white haired youth still haunted his dreams. Another reason L loved being an insomniac.

He had been strung out during that case, and completely unable to pin down the killer, not to mention having difficulty keeping Near and Mello from killing each other. Though the rivalry had been one sided for most of their youth, something about Mello's return had unsettled L's youngest heir and they'd gone at it since Mello had stomped back into headquarters wrapped in leather, 5 inches taller, 25 lbs heavier, and infinitely more sexy.

So one night, after a particularly grueling day, Mello had snuck into L's room and suggested they go get 'completely fucked up'. And L, as frustrated as he had been, had agreed much to Mello's and his own surprise.

And 'fucked up' they had gotten. L had drunken whatever Mello pressed into his hand, and the blond had been very creative when ordering. The night had ended with the two of them stumbling into the hotel laughing and collapsing on the hotel's couch in a tangle of legs and arms, devouring each other as messily as they could.

L vaguely recalled Near walking in on them, and calmly telling them they should get a room. Mello had laughed and lewdly asked the boy if wanted to join in.

That was all L remembered before waking up the next morning, covered in sweat and regret, amongst other things.

According to Mello, they hadn't slept together. L had trusted the blond on that, and had insisted they act as though nothing had happened.

They hadn't had time for things to become awkward, however, because after that Near had come up with a plan to trap the killer. And L, feeling the pressure of the police and his own failing team, had agreed in spite of the tugging sensation in his gut that said something was going to go wrong with the white-haired youth's plan.

L shook himself from his reverie. Near was gone, Mello was busy sexing L's scientist, and L…L had a case to solve.

He pulled out his cell phone, and began to make calls. And then he poured a drink.

Light was in no position to be getting ready to go to the world's greatest detective sitting room and calmly aiding in a case of this magnitude. He was too busy contemplating the last several hours that had been spent in the company of a blond with a biting laugh and perfect lips.

Oh fuck, what had he done?

Light liked Mello, he did. The man was funny, brilliant, and hot.

But Light wasn't the kind to fall into bed without so much as dinner. He really wasn't the sort to fall into bed at all. Light knew he was good-looking, exceptionally so, so he didn't want for admirers. But he did want for quality company, which is why his 'experience' so far tallied in the very low single digits, all female despite the fact that Light had known his own preferences in bed partners since early junior high.

And then there was the fact that Light didn't exactly want to reveal his sexuality to his aging father whose blinding pride of Light had only two dark spots- his choice to become a physicist, and the fact that he hadn't yet settled in with a beautiful young girl and started a family of his own. Light really had no desire to ever have the "Dad, I'm gay" conversation. At all. It was easier to just blame the second complaint on the first, and claim work kept him too busy from finding a wife.

He heard Mello turn off the shower, and then Mello himself entered, a towel hung low on his hips, blond hair turned bronze with water.

"Shower's open. You ah…probably want to clean up." He sent Light a smirk, and began rummaging for clothes in the large drawers of his bedroom's oak dresser. Light rolled out of the comfy satin sheets and headed for the healing water, hoping if he made it hot enough it could take away the ache that was developing in his backside.

He returned his shower and was surprised to see a new outfit in his size laid out on the bed. The khaki pants were of the same designer brand as the ones that had lain crumpled on the floor earlier, abandoned carelessly in the pursuit of pleasure. The shirt was also of designer quality, a deep wine red color. His own shoes were laid out next to the bed, and Light spied socks and boxer briefs as well.

"Where in the hell…?" Mello emerged from the sitting room; carrying a tray laden with two steaming mugs of black coffee, rice, natto and tamagoyaki.

"I had it ordered in. The hotel has a boutique, and I have money. Don't worry about it." Light just shook his head. This was not a cheap outfit, and to buy it at a ridiculous hour in the morning? It must have cost an insane amount, no matter the effect the gesture was having on Light's fluttering stomach.

"Do you learn your moves from movies Mello? Or are you really just this good?" Mello laughed, a harsh bark of a sound. Light thought it suited him.

"I just thought you'd appreciate clean clothes. I didn't know providing you with pants was a way to get into them later on." The smirk the other man wore spoke otherwise, Light thought.

"You're ridiculous." Mello just ignored him and began digging into his breakfast, indicating with his hand that Light should do the same. Light noticed that Mello while Light was now comfortable dressed in his own uniform of well fitting khaki's and a dress shirt, Mello had abandoned his leather and was now wearing low riding sweat pants and a white shirt that clung to his muscled frame. It was, like everything else about the blond, sexy.

"Thank you. You really didn't need to go this far." Light murmured out the awkwardly worded thank you, not used to being grateful or indebted to anyone. Mello just waved his hand again.

"Whatever." Well…then. The blond suddenly looked up, eyes skimming over Light, evaluating him. Light had the feeling he wasn't going to like what came out of the man's mouth next.

"Light, have you ever been involved in a really ridiculously mind fuck of an investigation before? The kind where you lose yourself because you're too busy plotting out what the other person is going to do? And you're scared shitless at the amount of people are dying because you're not doing your job?" Light shook his head. He wasn't sure where the blond was going, but it made his stomach twist unpleasantly.

"I didn't think so. Just…prepare yourself. When we go in, it is going to be the start of something completely new. L is going to be different. I am going to be different. 200 people have died, and that's just the first wave. Who knows how many are going to die before this is done, and you need to prepare yourself because L is going to drag you into it without a care for your health or your mental state." Mello finished his speech by casually sipping the rest of his miso soup down and standing up.

"Let's roll, kid." Light ignored the nickname and followed Mello back up to L's suite, actually feeling slightly anxious. What exactly did Mello mean by different? He'd worked plenty of tough cases, and the only difference he'd noticed in his father's men had been a more vicious nature regarding their coffee supply.

Light and Mello entered the now-familiar suite and Light was surprised to see that it was empty, missing it's owner crouched in his unusual way on the couch or chairs.

"L? Where are you hiding?" Mello's voice rang out in the empty suite, and the man himself dropped casually down on the damask silk couch, casually sprawled out.

L entered, holding up a finger to warn the two of them to not interrupt as he spoke rapidly in a harsh language onto the phone. Light couldn't identify what it was, but it sounded…African? He'd heard L was gifted with tongues, but to see it was impressive. Light wondered how many languages he spoke.

Mello just shrugged at his employer's dismissal, and pulled a laptop out from under the couch, booting it up. He indicated silently for Light to come join him, and Light acquiesced, settling himself down properly on the couch.

Mello began rapidly typing into a program that Light couldn't understand for the sheer fact that it wasn't in a language he couldn't read. It was…Russian? It was beginning to look like Light was well out-classed by the two, at least linguistically, and he was beginning to feel uncomfortably insecure in what exactly he was doing here. Light looked up as L snapped his phone shut.

"Dr. Yagami, I have several inquiries about the Death Note, please try your best to answer them. You research indicates an unusual wave pattern given off by the notebook. Would it be possible to locate a Death Note using this information?" Light started a bit at the sharp tone.

"Ah, no. Theoretically, it might be possible through ray tracing, but that's a stretch. The notebook's waves don't travel very far beyond itself- an unusual irregularity that has become a key focus in our studies. This might change when the Notebook is used for killing, but seeing as that is a variable we haven't tested…" L nodded his understanding and sat down in a chair. Light wondered why he sat like that, was it comfortable? Light would have to try it when he was alone. Because really, it didn't look comfortable but then why else would he..?

"Can you think of any other usual property about the Death Note that might make it locatable?" Light wracked his brain.

"Not…not at the moment. There might be some incongruities to capitalize on, but off the top of my head, I can't imagine something that would work on a global scale." L nodded as though he had expected Light to be useless, and merely glanced at Mello.

"Well?" Light blinked at the simple question, and then started as Mello actually answered.

"Nothing so far. It looks like it was an even sweep worldwide. I'm running a basic analysis to determine the perimeters of the kills- so far it looks like they merely went for those that caused the most damage worldwide. Serial killers, cult leaders- emphasis on those that encourage suicide, leaders of well known terrorist cells, handful of dictators that ran extremely oppressive regimes, all included in the hit. Notably absent are polarizing figures from democratic and republic countries." L nodded and sat down with a sigh.

"They're good, we can't profile based on this. Odds are, it'll be taken as a benevolent act of God by the religious, because no one knows of the existence of the Death Note. Get the USA on the line, we'll need their approval to take the existence of the Death Note before Interpol and eventually the world, before whoever is behind this can establish themselves as a god-like figure." Mello shook his head.

"I'll get the USA, but you know as well as I that the public isn't going to take kindly to the idea of a Death Note." L frowned and his eyes flickered up to Light's face, black eyes meeting auburn. Light tensed for some reason, as those eyes bore into him, staring past any façade he could put up. Piercing him with the same intensity that L pierced his cases, and Light understood what Mello meant by different. This, this was L. The detective, the genius, the powerhouse of intellect the destroyed criminals. Light felt intimidated, unused to being in the presence of someone who could rival his own intellect. L was a dangerous man, and despite his idiosyncrasies and sometimes flat-out childlike behavior, Light should always remember exactly who he was dealing with when he spoke with the detective.

"That's why we have our dear Doctor here. Dr. Yagami, you will of course acquiesce to being the public face to present the Death Note? It cannot be Mello or I due to the fact that according to any all databases, we do not exist. But you are articulate, good looking, and extremely well-known. Besides, you've always wanted to be known for your research on the Death Note, yes?" Though his L's last statement was as flat as the rest, Light felt as though the detective was teasing him in a way, chiding him for his need to be admired. Fuck you L, Light thought grumpily. Then he remembered L could kill him. With. A. Notebook. Dammit. Even though Light wasn't sure what being the 'public face' of the Death Note meant, he had to agree. Besides…he had always wanted a Nobel.

"Of course I will." L nodded and turned back to Mello.

"Guesses on next victims? Motivation?" Mello frowned, and turned back to his program.

"More criminals- kill the bad guys first; establish the presence of whatever the public's going to take this as. Who they kill next depends entirely on who owns the Death Note. We haven't ruled out this being from some government or large group of people. As a matter of fact, I'm leaning towards that theory at the moment." L merely tossed Mello a chocolate bar, pulled from who knows where, which the blond unwrapped almost unconsciously and took a large bite out of before continuing. Light wished someone would throw him coffee. He then considered how that would end, most likely on his pants, and reconsidered. But seriously, someone should at least offer him coffee. The one cup Mello had given him was not enough for the hour.

"The deaths we've seen occur today were premeditated. So far, we see that from the time of death was all within one hour- meaning they occurred as they were written down. The large scale of the deaths indicates that the list of those to die was compiled beforehand, which isn't an easy thing to do. Psychologically, planning to kill over 200 people on your first go is a bitch. It should have broken anyone who tried it alone. But, within a group to dissolve the guilt, it's easier to plan out such things and circle jerk yourself into thinking it's for the greater good." L nodded and Light wondered if he was ever like this in his own element. He'd been told at times that it could be intimidating to watch him work. Light now understood how that could be. Watching the two piece together conjectures out of nothing was…intimidating. Exhilirating. Arousing. Well, that last thought was mostly directed towards the blond in easily removable sweatpants, but still.

"I agree. I also believe we have hit a wall, and will have to wait on various nations' cooperation before we can continue. I have already called in our usual team, so that is taken care of." L paused, pressing a finger to his mouth, eyes on the ceiling as if counting out what thought he was on.

"Dr. Yagami, would you be so kind as to analyze Ryuk? We may be able to track the other Death Note through something irregular about the Shinigami, and you are our resident science genius. Not to mention Ryuk finds you…more tolerable than other humans." Light arched an eyebrow at the pause. Ryuk found him…tolerable? Well, that was gross.

"That is fucking sick if you're implying what I think you're implying L. Although I find it interesting that Shinigami retain sexual desires…" Mello had a knack for verbalizing the most disturbing thoughts, Light thought idly.

"Yes, well, we must use our advantages with the creature, no matter how distasteful they are."

Gross.

"L, I'm not sure how I feel about using anybody's feelings, even Ryuk's, for my own gain. It's very dishonest." And that was true, Light thought. He was against using his charm beyond a friendly attitude to gain favors. The fact that Ryuk terrified him was completely irrelevant. Really.

"Fine, Mello? He thought you were hot enough." There was a dark undercurrent to L's words that Light wondered at. Was L mad at Mello for some reason? Mello, for his part, looked unimpressed.

"I'm not seducing anything that can't seduce me back. House rule." Light laughed at that, and the blond grinned at him through still wet bangs.

L just pouted.

"Fine. But Dr. Yagami will still talk to the Death God. Now, I have work to do. Mello, keep working. Dr. Yagami…" L's eyes trailed down Light's form, and Light suppressed another shudder. Why did the detective insist on doing that? Looking at him with those horribly analytical eyes, as though picking apart Light fault by fault?

"Go to bed, you look like shit." And with that the detective left them.
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Tale of Two Death Notes