Disclaimer: I don't claim to own them – that's painful enough. Please don't sue me.
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ParaSomnia
AnOtic
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It was a relatively uncomfortable morning, as the night before Raito had successfully convinced him yet again that it was necessary to sleep in an actual bed for the night. Ryuuzaki himself was rather impartial to beds – they symbolized a kind of surrender of one's waking hours that didn't sit very well with him. He liked to think that he had more of a control over such lethargy; he found himself comparable to the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who could command his own sleeping pattern as efficiently as his Grande Armée.
Well, except for Russia. His battle tactics there were about the equivalent of Ryuuzaki voluntarily dropping into a coma for a few months, just to see what it would be like.
No, the world-renowned detective, the legendary L, preferred the odd doze in a chair before a monitor over willingly handing over his precious cognizant liberty. Besides, there was something about lying down and stretching out that was completely beyond his comfort zone. Even though he curled up best he could and tucked in his knees customarily, he never quite felt right when he rose from the traditional eight-hour sleep in a flat bed with accessorized pillows and bedclothes. Despite the illogicality, it seemed he got a better night's sleep through power napping at chosen intervals.
Such a fact had not bypassed the young genius, and he had not ruled out the possibility of sleeping disorders. However, he honestly hadn't applied much concern, because it was never a problem. He normally slept where he was, in the clothes his was in, and roused himself when he saw fit; but for the past month every habitual aspect of his life was affected by the chains that cuffed Yagami Raito to him 24/7. He'd been forced to make some changes, and some sacrifices.
It was nothing in his hunt for Kira.
Despite the usual stiffness and irritation that came with big ugly beds, Ryuuzaki was quite sore on this morning. After attempting to sit up, he quickly changed his mind and fell back again on the cursed pillows.
"Are you alright?"
Ah. Raito.
Ryuuzaki turned only his head to look at his friend. It was obviously a difficult thing to forget that they were both attached at the wrist, though Ryuuzaki had managed to let the other slip his mind entirely on this morning. He'd been too concerned with his own discomfort. In fact, this small occurrence had already happened several times, where he'd momentarily become distracted and Raito's sudden presence unexpectedly drew his attention. Every time, he couldn't help but wonder silently, 'Kira or Raito?' when his eyes settled on the guy's face.
"I'm quite fine," he said politely, refusing to betray any of his inner thoughts to the young man.
Raito nodded, a bit awkwardly, and quickly stared up at the ceiling. He kept his focus there as his next question was worded, almost suspiciously. "Did you sleep well? Have any weird dreams?"
"No," Ryuuzaki responded honestly. "But I think I had a terrible night."
The other merely nodded again, and the detective watched him curiously. "That's no good," came the delayed reply.
"Raito… did I say anything in my sleep?"
The other shook his head quickly, adamantly, like a child. "No, I don't remember. I was asleep the whole time."
Normally, Raito was quite the actor. He could lie through his teeth about anything, he could convince a true scientist that the sun really did revolve around the Earth; this, however, was quite unimpressive, and quite unlike himself. Ryuuzaki frowned, but he lay back and let it as it was. It seemed something of an uncomfortable issue for the other boy, but overall unimportant. He stared at the ceiling, and let his mind wander again about beds and what truly despicable creations they were. They really just encouraged people with the idea that they needed a heavy sleeping ritual, that they couldn't have absolute power over such things even if they tried.
Raito cleared his throat loudly, and his voice cut in again. "I think I'm going to go brush my teeth," he said.
Ryuuzaki rolled his tongue around his mouth, and his lip curled at the taste of it. He nodded in agreement, and the two manoeuvred their way out of the bed. When the detective stood and felt the cold air hit his chest and back, he looked down to find himself shirtless. He blinked, and his gaze turned to the handcuff around his wrist. He followed the chain as it drooped to the floor between the boys, and watched it run through the sleeve of a tangled up white t-shirt.
Raito cleared his throat again awkwardly.
"I guess you must have felt a little hot last night, ne?"
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"Indeed, I must have," Ryuuzaki responded slowly.
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They nodded to each other, agreeing over nothing, and the ensuing silence followed them to the restroom. It hovered over their heads and acutely amplified the scrubbing sounds of bristle on teeth, of the constant streaming of tap water. There was something awkward about it that Ryuuzaki couldn't quite pinpoint. He expected at any moment for Raito to announce that he had witnessed something odd in the night, or had had particularly troubling dreams.
But Raito said nothing. He stared, almost determinedly, at his reflection, his eyes hard as they challenged their own mirror images.
Perhaps it was the strange intensity in Raito's expression that caused Ryuuzaki to watch too closely, or wonder too far in his own mind. His eyes followed the lighter haired boy as he dropped his facecloth to the counter, as he nodded to the detective and shuffled around him. Then he opened his pants and began peeing without a word of presage, and Ryuuzaki awkwardly caught his eyes following this, too.
There was a strange shout and a noisy scramble as he forced his eyes to cast themselves in a more proper direction – namely, the wall.
"Ryuuga? Ryuuzaki? Are you alright?" That same awkwardness was in his tone; Raito seemed embarrassed about something – other than the fact that he was plainly out in the open. It probably didn't help that the chain between them had caught and pulled the guy's hand while he was doing his business.
"What are you doing?" Ryuuzaki asked him, his own voice coming out dazed and disoriented. His wide eyes stared into the corner where he'd flung himself. He was squatting, and the untimely situation found his thumb forced right up under his top lip.
Normally, they were very polite about being in such close quarters ceaselessly. They'd grown accustomed, at least Ryuuzaki had, to a cultured manner of addressing these things with civility and courtesy – most of all, with warning.
"Uhh…" The normally eloquent Raito seemed at a loss for words. Ryuuzaki wasn't about to look over and check up on him; the guy's pants were still undone. He hadn't heard his zipper go back up yet.
"Missing badly." The zipper sounded here, as did a heavy sigh from Raito. "You can turn around now."
Ryuuzaki did so with a wrinkled nose. There was a disgusting smell on the floor. He remained squatting in his corner, and leaned back against the wall to observe the… spill. Even this much motion again jerked Raito forward by the hands, both of which were also covered in urine, and he obviously avoided touching anything whatsoever.
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"Sorry about the mess," his face was flushed darkly.
Ryuuzaki just nodded, and rose to turn the tap for him.
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After the commotion in the bathroom, they went back to a mutual silence. Neither spoke while Raito humbly cleaned the floor, nor while they dressed themselves. The lighter haired boy made a point of nodding significantly to Ryuuzaki before turning away to change his boxers. It was safe to say that neither of the young men was prepared to venture into a shower together on this particular morning.
The rest of the foreday passed without consequence. Ryuuzaki quietly scanned through Yotsuba company history and made quick work of a package of strawberry Hello Panda. Meanwhile, Raito was doing some of his own research. He sat to Ryuuzaki's side with a laptop. He pulled the computer back with him so the other wouldn't notice as he browsed through a webpage on parasomniac activity.
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"We're not sleeping in a bed tonight," Ryuuzaki announced plainly.
It was approximately midnight, and the two had been working silently all day. The others came in and out, making some distracting noise – especially Matsuda – but for the most part did not bother either of the young tensai. Misa was out all day shooting a scene for the upcoming Nishinaka movie, and thus was too tired to fawn over Raito for very long. She was asleep by now, her darkened room displayed on the top monitor.
Raito looked up at him with his normal, dark eyes. The strange attitude of that morning seemed to have disappeared, and in its place was the regular old Raito. He nodded in agreement, and wordlessly went back to the screen on his lap.
"So…" Ryuuzaki watched him for a moment, trying to choose his words. In his pause, the college boy raised his gaze again, expectantly. "So, you're okay with that?"
He shrugged. "You didn't sleep well last night, did you? We haven't gotten much farther in the Yotsuba case for a couple days, and we can't afford to have sleep deprivation on our team. I think we should do as you normally do tonight, and see if that helps you any." His eyes held Ryuuzaki's, almost challengingly.
But the detective could only nod a head of tousled black hair. "That's true," he admitted slowly.
He left it at that, and turned his attention to the computer screen before him. He slid his thumbnail along the space where his central incisor teeth met one another, trying to will himself to forget Raito's strange behaviour. There were more important things to spend brain power on.
Like the Kira case.
The Yotsuba group was involved in quite the number of different industries. They'd recently bought into another company, whose president had opposed Yotsuba investment and suspiciously died a couple weeks ago. There was a vehicle accident, a driving under influence case.
It wasn't long until the previous night had at last caught up with him. Ryuuzaki fell asleep before a Yotsuba promotional website, curled in a fetal position as was the usual. He found it quite peaceful and comfortable, and as soon as he let his eyes fall he could tell it was a good rest that he needed. He decided that this would be a long nap; surely even l'Empereur Napoleon allowed himself one those every now and then.
He was oddly aware of himself shifting through the stages of sleep, and it seemed he had only just hit the fourth level, the most deep and difficult to wake from, when he was violently jerked into reality again. Ryuuzaki heard someone curse loudly and his face was cracked against something hard. Then a heavy, oddly shaped weight fell on him, flailing for a moment before gaining a proper footing on his lap and becoming still there.
'I'm never going to get some undisturbed shut eye as long as I'm handcuffed to this idiot.'
Before he even opened his eyes, which he hesitated to do because it would mean officially awakening, Ryuuzaki knew it was Raito. He could smell the other boy. He found himself inhaling the sweet scent deeply and froze, holding the breath in his chest. There was something terribly familiar about that smell – not just that it was Raito, the guy he'd been chained to the last several weeks. It was some subconscious memory that was being dragged out. The smell was in Raito's light brown hair, and it reminded him of grabbing a handful of those mahogany locks and taking a good sniff. But when in his life had Ryuuzaki ever done that? No, he connected it to some familiar feeling, though he didn't have a chance to figure it out.
"Ryuuzaki, are you alright?"
The raven-haired young man at last opened his eyes and let out his breath, blinking against the blue glow of the computer screen behind his friend. It was highlighting the boy's hair, almost tauntingly. Raito was looking to him with wide, apologetic eyes. He was indeed sprawled over Ryuuzaki's lap; his knees pinned either side of the paler boy beneath him, effectively straddling the raven-haired tensai.
"Did you trip over me?" Ryuuzaki asked in a mumble. He was drawn up and his shoulders had risen near to his ears in his surprise. He remained tense as he watched the boy on top of him search for words, his mouth opening and staying that way quietly before words found their way out.
"I…" Raito closed his mouth again and shook his head. "N-no, I… I fell."
"You fell," the detective repeated, unconvinced.
The one on his lap nodded this time, teeth trapping his lower lip. "You, uh, rolled over when I got up, and the chain… yeah, I fell."
"That's really lame coming from you, Raito-kun," Ryuuzaki stated blatantly.
He laughed, though it came out more like a cough. He rubbed the back of his head in a shamed gesture. "You took me by surprise, Ryuuzaki… you just kind of pulled me, and I thought you were sleeping."
"I was sleeping."
Raito frowned. He quickly pushed himself away from Ryuuzaki, stood with his hands in his pockets. "Yes. Well, I'm sorry for the interruption, then."
But why was that so cold?
Ryuuzaki could only nod, for just the idea of Raito being cold to him made him quite unable to smile. He tried to relax his position, since the weight was gone, but couldn't find the right place now. He leaned his head back and listened to the sound of Raito shuffling behind his chair. He heard the other sit down. He pursed his lips and followed the soft clacking noises of nimble fingers on a keyboard. Raito was working this late.
Ryuuzaki sighed, and wondered if it was at all possible to give up a part of his genius – even just a small, tiny part – in exchange for some social skills.
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The rest of the night went painstakingly slow; Ryuuzaki could barely sleep and Raito was researching until morning. Both were baggy-eyed, as was commonplace for the raven-haired tensai, and all around dishevelled by the time Raito's father and the others arrived. After a small, periodically interrupted nap, Raito was short with anything that breathed and stuck grumpily to his laptop.
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"We're sleeping in a bed tonight," Ryuuzaki announced plainly that evening.
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A/N: Okay, it might not be total crack, if you look at it upsidedown, shut your eyes, and shove a finger as far as it'll go up your nose. Also, I'm sorry about calling him Ryuuzaki… I just didn't like the way L worked here. I haven't read a lot of Death Note fanfiction, honestly… I figured there wasn't much that could be better than the actual thing… XD That's why I thought this would be a oneshot, but mybye it'll just be a twoshot. There's not much more comin' out of my brain for this one… I think I'm just going to cut to the explanation in the next. XD No more dancing around it!
THUSLY, expect another chapter if you don't all tell me to take it down immediately because it's a complete shame to the Death Note fandom. That means R&R, PLOX! Your opinion matters way too unhealthily much to me!
Less-than-three!
AO