B smirked as he peeked his head around the corner of a long corridor, eyeing the old wooden door at the very end with his piercing ruby-red eyes. The door that led up to the attic of Wammy's House, and it's single hidden inhabitant that sowed away in the cold place like a haunting ghost.

Not many kids in the orphanage knew about B's "ghost", in fact it was only him who knew. Well, him and A, but B never payed much mind to the other boy. Watari told B that he was special, so he got to know things other children didn't. He liked being special, he liked attention; though from how he'd usually act one wouldn't think of him as a kid who liked the spotlight. He was a bit withdrawn, not really being able to relate to other kids… But he knew he could relate to his ghost. His ghost always understood him, strangely. B knew he was a complicated eight-year-old, even stumping the 'know-it-all' adults like Roger who worked in Wammy's, so he was a bit amazed at the feat. And in return, B could understand his ghost.

"Law-li." he called down the hall in a sing-song voice, knowing the hiding form in the attic would hear him. "Law-li-pop."

Today he felt like playing a game. And he wanted to play with Lawli.

The door creaked open carefully, sending an echo down the wide open halls. A messy raven haired head poked out, nearly completely covering the pale narrow face of a small boy. His eyes were large and owl-like, their dark pits holding nothing but a blackness so deep one could almost lose themselves in it. That and a strange wisdom, a knowing, an intellect far beyond what any nine-year-old should posses. Then, the boy stepped fully out, and B snickered as he ducked behind the wall before he could be spotted.

Lawliet stood just outside the door of his "room", aka the attic, and stared down the hall at the corner of an adjacent hallway. His eyes were blank as always, he wore a basic set of clothing consisting of baggy blue jeans and a white long sleeved shirt at least two sizes too big, his position slouching a bit giving him the appearance of an elderly man with back problems. Blinking, he tilted his head slightly, keeping one hand on his door and bringing the other up close to his mouth, nibbling on his thumbnail in thought.

What was B calling him for? And hadn't Watari specifically told him not to use the name "Lawli"?

Though L liked when B used that name for him, just the same as he'd refer to B as Beyond. No one called him by his actual name, not even Watari. It was nice to be reminded that he was actually a person, a human being, even though he knew very well that he shouldn't allow anyone to use his name for two reasons. One being that it was dangerous, if anyone got a hold of the name Lawliet there could be trouble; and the second was that it interfered with B's training. The second L wasn't too worried about. B wasn't an idiot, he would do well in training regardless.

Besides, B was special.

B was L's friend. His only friend.

Curiosity got the better of him and he made his way down the hall to the corner. Poking his head around, he saw nothing too unusual about the area… Except for one thing. One tiny detail that immediately caught the boy's attention.

Along the middle of the floor, set in a zigzag line across the carpet, was a trail of lollipops. Strawberry lollipops, L's favorite.

… B had done this, surely.

The tantalizing treats beckoned L nearly as much as strawberry shortcake. L liked sugary, sweet things. He liked them quite a lot. Probably more than he should. But what was B doing with this trail…?

Some sort of trap?

B wouldn't do anything rash; though L knew that he liked his little games. Him and B were very alike; for one they both looked very similar, almost like long lost brothers, their major difference being their eyes. Secondly they both favored strawberry-flavored things, though B wasn't as much of a sugar addict as L, preferring things such as jam or such over cake. Third was the aspect of games. Both made a game out of nearly everything, from the smallest thing such as who could successfully beg Watari to get more sweets to larger things like L's "secret" job that B occasionally helped with – the job of a worldwide famous detective. It was part of B's training to help, but it was extremely secret. Extremely, extremely secret.

L carefully picked up the seventh lollipop in the line, suspecting that if any were tainted it was probably the first few, then examining it closely. It didn't seem to have been toyed with… And even if it had, the worse thing it could possibly do was send L into a very deep, almost coma-like sleep for a while. So, taking a chance, he unwrapped the candy and popped it into his mouth.

He continued down the strawberry trail, occasionally stopping to pick up another lollipop and hide it in his pocket for later. Surely Watari would come by and clean the trail up later, so L would take whatever sweets he could get at the moment. Perhaps if he was lucky he could get back to the attic with his stash before Watari checked him. Watari had set a daily sugar limit for L that he didn't quite like obeying.

Rounding a few corners, he finally came to a spot where the trail veered off into a room, door mostly closed, only slightly ajar. L knew it to be the dining hall of the orphanage, probably empty at this time of day. Suspicious, L decided to abandon the sugary path and take an alternate route, coming to another entrance to the dining hall. He poked his head around the corner of this wider, door-less entrance to see none other than his look-alike successor, B, standing near the end of the long wooden table.

"Hi Lawli!" B greeted, his cheerful voice slightly muffled by the lollipop he had stuck in his mouth. He didn't bother to even glance at L as he entered, carefully walking over to B and putting his thumb to his upper lip as he followed the younger boy's gaze. He was staring up at the top of the door, which the lollipop trail had led to, but more specifically to the bucket that was held up above it, balancing on the edge of the slightly ajar door.

L blinked at the simplistic setup, a bit disappointed at the sheer un-creativity and easy failure of it. He thought B would've come up with something a bit better than… This. "I don't think it worked, Beyond."

At that exact moment, the door cracked as it was opened fully. The bucket teetered, then fell onto the unsuspecting victim, covering said person in thick red goop that smelled of sweet fruit.

L blinked in a slight shock at the calm strawberry jam covered Watari, and couldn't help but let his childish side take over as he giggled at the sight. B gave a triumphant grin before bursting out into laughter as well.

"I think it worked perfectly!"