A/N: First fan fiction. I had a lot of fun writing this actually. I hope that it brings joy to read, and that whoever reads it is intrigued.

Warnings: Boy love, unpleasant images, language, a lot of formal speaking, probably some out of character characters, but I tried to keep them true to themselves as best I could.

Pairings: Light/L, Mello/Matt, Mello/Near, Near/Matt, some other small ones

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter one: My Little Bird, Suffer Me a Drowning

Dear Mr. Whammy,

I'm very glad to tell you that I was intrigued by your offer. I only have to apologize that word of my ennui had to reach you as it did. It is something I should have taken into my own hands when it began.

Despite my distasteful behavior, I will announce my arrival at your place of business in no more than a three days time.

Lord, Light Yagami

The letter had been sent and received two days ago, and the young lord was still traveling. The coach moved slowly, and Misa's company was no more inviting than the rats and disease that he left behind at his own estate. His people were suffering there, and he really couldn't make himself care much.

The young fair man sat with his hand folded under his chin, twirling much too old ale in a much too cheap chalice. He didn't want it, nor did his bride. He had married her because she was lovely. She sang at court as women were supposed to, and she had kept quiet for the first few months

Her presence has since become slightly more than a complete nuisance. She hung on him irritatingly, batted her lashes like a whore, and wore enough perfume to bathe a small nation. He was pretty well sick of her. And she spoke of such unimportant things, court duties, and the hardships of staying pretty and thin. It seemed like such a dreadfully boring life. Not that Light knew or cared.

"Why are we going out so far into the kingdom?" She wondered, her voice causing him to wince. She was somewhat preoccupied wondering about her hair in a way that women like her so did.

"Because I'm am bored to the point of tears," he said quite easily though coldly, as though he were talking to something so far below him that he could squash it to dust. She either didn't notice or didn't care. She had the power that she wanted, and his love was her obsession. It gave her something to work for, a reason to live.

"That's all fine and all, but we have been going for so long, with so little time to rest in between. I'm exhausted."

Light frowned deeply. "Exhausted? Why not go walk with the horses in the coming hours? Then you may appreciate the cabin here that has been provided." He was in a sour mood. She was quiet after that.

The landscape passed by as it grew past mid day. When the hours of two or three went by sprawling farms and green hills became paved. The trails were more traveled, they were muddy, and they smelled disgustingly of wet earth and excrement from the horses and animals that were herded to the over grazed fields on the edges of the town.

The town itself was filled to the brim with decay. There were prostitutes on almost every corner, wearing cakey makeup with their hair slick with rotten sweet oils. In the streets lay the rotting corpses of the dead, and the children still played in the muck and grime, despite the odor and the disease. As they went on there came the plagued areas. Children were dead there in murky puddles.

Light looked out on it all with vague thoughts of pride. His own lands were in much better shape. Their lord either had to be very cruel, or three times as bored with life as he was.

The carriage stopped at a store. The store was rotting at the foundations and wooden like all the rest. It had been painted, but the paint was chipping and hideous, and a most unappealing shade of dull pink. The door had a hand painted sign, displaying their 'kurently clowsed' status. Light was amazed at the sheer stupidity of people.

He waited for the footman to open his door and slid out, glaring daggers at the man for nudging his shoe. He said nothing and passed to the door, knocking on the splintery wood with a sense of accomplishment when a nearby man looked over at his startled, taking in the sight of his immaculate clothing.

Naturally, for Light the door opened and at the doorway was a very old man. He was gray all over; face lined with more years then should be humanly possible in this age of winter upon man. He was dressed like and upper middle class man and the inside of his shop smelled of freshly renewed sweet oils. He walked in and shut the door firmly, hoping that Misa wouldn't feel invited by all the nice things and the smell.

"Mr. Whammy I presume?" Light asked, carefully removing his hat so that his rich and well taken care of tawny hair was in full sight.

The gray wobbling man nodded and stepped back and let Light see fully all of the nice things. There were shelves and shelves of candles and bathing items, all appeared to not be for sale though. However there were oddities about, stone statues with glaring eyes, odd mechanical devices, and a slew of other fantastic oddities. Light felt terribly cramped.

The store was very small, and very full.

"Yes, well, you mentioned some odd item that I may like?"

"Mr. Yagami, you may want to reconsider," Mr. Whammy said, carefully taking the young lord's elbow in his shaking vein ridden hand and lead him past the counter where his business was conducted, to a room where the smells of the village outside, and the gloom seemed to die away.

In the corner burned fragrant incense that made Light dizzy with the sudden need to sneeze. The room was wooden floored, not well taken care of, but clean. The walls were the same pink as the outside. The room was mostly bear with the exception of a small red head, dressed in warm clothes, with dark lenses over his eyes.

He worked at something that required his full attention, so Light paid him no mind, assuming that should they meet that between the two of them it would happen somehow.

"I've no interest in reconsidering. So give me whatever animal or toy you have to offer. I've seen them all, and if this offer of your is as intriguing as your letter said, you may be paid handsomely."

Mr. Whammy sighed and shook his head, gripping his chest for a moment as though he were ailing. "I'll take no money from you Lord Yagami. But, I do require one thing. Once you lay eyes on it, it is yours, and you may never return it here, no matter how unsatisfied. If you agree, I'll offer you what I have promised. You may still rethink this decision."

The red head turned then, lifting the lenses from his bright green eyes. "You're giving it to him?" he wondered aloud. He had some kind of accent that Light couldn't place. The boy seemed healthy too, and only about seventeen. That was an age that Light detested.

The boy smirked and stood. He was a tall and willowy thing, and pale like a lord, though dirty like a street rat. He smiled. His teeth were well taken care of and white.

Light narrowed his eyes. There was something wrong with these people. There was something very wrong. The smile turned less childish a moment later, and the feeling hit Light twice as hard.

"Well, I've heard of the horrid plight of the good Lord Yagami. I've heard of how his boredom has driven him to the neglect of his people, and how he searches all over to sate it while even here the streets are plagued with rats and the corpses of the diseased dead. Yes, and of how you kill those that don't amuse you properly," the red head said, smiling deadly.

"Yes, rat, and if this thing of your grandfather's doesn't suit me, you'll follow him."

The boy met the challenge, stepping closer a tad and standing on the balls of his feet to almost meet the lord's eyes. "That won't be a problem, you'll be more than satisfied."

Light pushed the boy and gave an indignant huff. He brushed off his fine clothes as though the young man had some lingering effect of filth and decay on him. But he didn't. Nothing about this place held the decay of the world outside the walls, and that fact was concerning.

"Matt that's enough," Mr. Whammy said. He didn't seem to mind the rudeness of the little snot. Light was annoyed at this, but he made no comment, since it shut the young man up. "Now, Lord Yagami, I'm giving you my last offer to end this now. You'll no longer be in this depressive state of boredom, but what you get may be worse."

"Stop stalling. I came here for something, and I want it." Light was getting very annoyed. That was a dangerous mood for him to be in. "You'll do well to give it to me."

Mr. Whammy seemed mildly concerned, for a moment there was a flash of...pity that crossed his features. Appalled by this, Light turned his eyes away and looked at the young red head. His back was to Light and Mr. Whammy again, he was hunched over, tinkering sounds coming from him. He was an inventor? Light was somewhat amazed by that revelation.

"Yes, Lord Yagami. I will fetch it for you and be right back." Mr. Whammy left the room as quickly as he could, hobbling on his old legs. Light waited, tapping his left foot eagerly. He was excited. This place seemed odd enough to provide him with some amount of entertainment, even if only for a few hours. He wondered though, what could this old man have that the man with everything in the world would possibly want?

His question wasn't answered for almost ten minutes. Then the drape from the store was opened and Mr. Whammy came in, hanging onto an arm. The creature that came in with him was a sickly looking thing. His eyes were huge, but not innocent, his skin was white, but not like snow, like sickness. His body was bone thin and his hair was black like dry ink. He was far more stable than the man that lead him, but the man seemed to be keeping him up. "This is what I promised."

The young man let go of the elder and stood as straight as a back that damaged would allow. He was stooped, but still very tall. Looking at him, he was actually rather androgynous, and the more that Light observed him, the more attractive he became. "A man?"

Mr. Whammy's eyes gleamed. The man left him and walked towards Matt and knelt down beside him.

"Matt, I'm going with this lord. You take care of yourself." This thing spoke quietly. Oddly, Light found that he almost couldn't think of it as a person, since the very beginning the man had been referred to as 'it' and that was very much what he became. 'It' was hardly a human creature at all.

"L... I hope that this make you happy." After that they spoke quietly, so quietly in fact, that they weren't even really talking at all, just looking at each other, speaking in their minds and with their eyes. They parted with an odd statement on its part.

"A hunter's arrow is his kiss." It sounded like a warning, one that, from the look on his face, Matt had heard countless times, and had yet to head. After that he went to Light's side and waited to be taken away.

"What you have to offer me... is a man?"

"Not just any man. He was once among our Lord and King's concubines, one of his favorites."

"Then why is he here?"

It answered this question, looking at Light with his huge eyes twinkling and smiling slyly. "The exact same reason that I'm going with you now: that's the fun part." The way he spoke was enigmatic. He was clearly of a foreign origin, but his accent was almost lost by now.

Light was intrigued, very much so. "So, I just take you with me. No payments, no questions?"

"No payment, no questions," Mr. Whammy reiterated, nodding slightly, moving to pull back the drape over the doorway. "You may leave quietly, but remember, you could have prevented what you're doing."

Light looked at L. This was certainly ominous. But he was desperate enough to take the chance. "What are we talking here then, Mr. Whammy? Is he the coming of the end of the world, plagued, a witch?"

"He could possibly be all three," Matt said, snickering, standing, and moving close to L. "But then, anyone could be, given the wrong time, and conditions of birth." Light looked at him skeptically, as though he were the creature that he would have to carry with him for three days.

"I'll take my chances."

Light took its elbow and lead it out the door and through the shop. He was out into the streets that were lined with ugliness and death. The old building he had walked out of seemed like a palace. Light carefully evaded a disgusting mud puddle, floating with unpleasant things that smelt worse than they looked.

The carriage was where he had left it, right out front, footman waiting at his open door, and his wife staring idly out the widow, with a dainty hand tapping against her cheek. He stepped in, holding the footman's hand. L followed him without assistance, slapping away the hand of the footman and pulling himself in.

He fit in the grand carriage well, like some elegant thing that was made for the grandeur of the world he had been taken out of and thrust back into.

"So tell me, L, what is it that you did to get thrown from the King's favor?"

"Oh, my, my, Lord Yagami, if I just told you that it would ruin all the fun promised to you." L pulled the door closed and looked out the window, one large well formed hand holding back the satin curtains. He was somewhere else in the world, Light realized. This thing, whatever it was that L was, wasn't exactly human, at least, not a normal human.

The reeking lands gave way to the rolling green hills and fields. As the three day journey wore on, L appeared to get sicker, weaker. He insisted he was fine, his voice was still strong, his motions were still with purpose, but his skin was paler, his body looked hungrier.

Finally, on the last leg of their journey, after Misa had been talking for several hours about nothing that Light cared about, he addressed L with the intention of actually having a real conversation. At least until the stench of his lands came to him, sickness not nearly as thick as where he had been, and death not nearly as rampant. It still lent a smell.

"What was it that you said to Matt before you left?"

"Hm, Matt is somewhat foolish. He was taken in by Watari when his parents passed away. Matt grew up among all the oddities, and he became interested in science and mechanics. Unfortunately for him, he fell in love with another orphan. A hunter." L was wistful. Light was quite aware that L knew that Light wanted conversation, otherwise he wouldn't have spoken three words on the subject.

"But he doesn't know just how dangerous it is to love someone who loves someone else, especially a man who kills for a living. That hunter's arrows are his kisses, I've always told him that."

The smell came to Light. It was like an aphrodisiac after the place he had been. The water ran clearer in his lands, the corpses in the streets were at least a hundred less, the children didn't make jungle gyms of dead dogs. "Your lands, I presume," said L, tapping the metal of the coach. "That's good. I need rest in a bed, I'll feel better after that I hope."

That wasn't right. L hadn't slept a wink on the trip and looked no worse for wear besides whatever malady he was suffering leeching his colour and making his slouch more obvious. But his eyes were not tired, despite the bags under them. That was damage from not sleeping, not damage from the need to.

"Yes, I think you'll find my estate to your liking."

"No doubt, Light."

Light felt his mouth twitch. Up until then the man had addressed him properly and respectfully. Oddly, he found that he wasn't sure he minded. Should they meet over a bed sheet in time (which was Light's intention from the start) he would rather hear his own name, as opposed to his title.

"You said that Matt was in love with a hunter. Does that mean that he isn't attracted to the fairer sex?" Light asked, watching the houses and streets over L's right shoulder. "And this doesn't bother you at all."

L looked amused. His wide mouth was turned slightly at the corners, his huge eyes alight with a fire that Light was beginning to get somewhat familiar with. "Of course not. I was after all a bed warmer for the most powerful man in the country."

That wasn't exactly what Light had meant, but he would take it anyway. He clearly wasn't bothered by the idea of same sex relationships, something that surprised Light a little, seeing how most concubines were forced into the slavery.

When the carriage was stopped and husband and wife were helped out, followed by a stumbling slave, they were at a tower. The thing was a redbrick terror, fortified by nothing, for it feared nothing. Stables offered the smell of horses and the familiar scent of hay. The courtyard was overgrown and uncared for, wild with life's splendor and crawling with insects and small animals.

L was quite happy with the state of things. Even the ivy that crawled into the windows and around the foundation, weakening it in places. It was a place that when all died, would be a haven to nature. It was already a mess, there wasn't much to it in reality.

Up a stone staircase and through a wooden door, with carving from a master craftsman who should have never made it out of apprenticeship, the three went. They traveled halls made of chilly stone, passed alcoves where slaves slept on pallets of hay, and up to the rooms.

The bed that L was given was lumpy, but it was a bed. The walls were all the colour of slate, and the room was totally freezing. The floor was stone, the window had no protection from the elements. There were no books, no vanity. It was like a cell, though there was a somewhat comfortable bed, and a small table where meals were to be given. L wasn't displeased, minimal living comforts were his forte.

Light was happy to be back. He was disappointed in his new object. The young man didn't seem very extraordinary. He had to hand it to him though, he didn't get tired of looking at him. He was intriguing looking. But other than that, there seemed to be very little going for him. He couldn't read or write. But he did, however, speak beautifully. He was intrigued by what he was hiding. He felt like having L there may lead to one big game. For him, that was enough to keep the man, but he was nonetheless disappointed that he offered no immediate relief.

He went to bed that night with Misa on the other side of the bed, wondering how much more comfortable he'd be with a dark eyed young man with him. He didn't imagine that he'd be much happier that way.

Light slept that night, with his wife curled up on the other side of the bed. Her eyes open, mouth set in a grim line, fingers moving over a pendent. She listened to Light breath. She listened to his heartbeat. She felt his movements in the bed. The jerk of the sheets left her longing for his touch. At night Misa rarely smiled. And that night she was too busy thinking about the thing that had entered her tower, supposedly the thing that would lift the desperate feeling in Light that drove him to ignore her, to stare for hours at nothing, and to neglect his people.

What could some pale monstrous man offer him that she, his wife, and most beautiful woman in his court, could not offer him?

Neither the sleeping Light, nor the waking and ailing Misa knew that in the night there was a shadow moving along the walls. They didn't know what Light had brought back with him. They could have never known. One thing was for sure though, Light was about to get the excitement that he wanted.

A/N: There you have it. I hope that it is taken well. I love feed back, though I will not beg.