aefenglom | video; u/n l.yagami

Entry tags:

death note: l lawliet

video; u/n l.yagami

Do you have more questions than answers? In this world, we all do, but we can help. Linden and I wanted to let everyone know that we've recently created Tailor and Yagami Investigations so that we can lend a hand in solving some of your everyday questions.

[The video feed flickers on to show two men standing side by side. Both men are smartly dressed, but it's Light who makes the opening speech. Behind them, in the background, stand two desks, two shelves of books, and a black marble scrying basin with silver veins.

The second man looks better-kept than those who know him may be accustomed to seeing him, though nowhere near as polished as the first. His mop of dark hair is combed and smoothed neatly back, his suit is pressed and all of the buttons are aligned and in their proper holes. Though he has an overall wan and listless bearing, there's an intense focus to his eyes that's a little bit uncomfortable, even only on camera.]

Our rates are competitive, and so is our attitude. If something precious goes missing, we can guarantee that we didn't put it in the backroom of the Particularly Good Finders' storefront prior to its reported absence.

[Implying that their competition cannot say the same.]

If you're interested, you can find us at 74 Neblen Way, Suite 4 or contact either of us directly.

(ooc |If you have a preference for Light or L, let us know. Otherwise, either or both may reply. The link for the business can be found here)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There's no one here to diagnose it, but rates of anxiety are high, here. Your business wouldn't be lacking.

[L, who views substances as ways to push his mind and body a little further when will has given out, is certainly keen on the prospect himself.]

That being said... there are other popular potions. Is there any reason you chose to work on this one, specifically?

[He moves from the table and into the kitchen proper, to better observe Light's process.]

That's not surprising. There's a lot of reasons to be anxious here.

[ Even Light, lucky as he's been, can clearly see why people would be apprehensive about this world. He isn't happy with the switch either, and there are many who've had it worse. ]

This potion works well for a lot of my purposes. At this level, it's not very dangerous, even if I mess up. I also think it's something that will sell well for the same reasons you pointed out.

[ As usual, Light moves with assurance and confidence. ]

I also promised somebody that I'd handle their calming potion from now on.

[There's an easy proximity between them, and not merely because of their bond. This started back when they were working on the case, and especially when they'd been handcuffed together. Sharing space, leaning over each other's coffee cups and keyboards to get a better look at something, animated words blending into amalgamated sentences and conclusions in unison.

It comes naturally, in other words, for L to stand close, nearly with his chin resting on Light's shoulder as he peers at the ingredients.]

You did promise. I'm sure he's appreciative, considering that even your current iteration is likely superior to his own efforts.

[ Familiarity breeds comfort. Light doesn't feel self-conscious to have L standing so close, nor is he nervous about being observed. Even before the handcuffs, Light found himself on the receiving end of cameras set up around his house, knowing full well that a task force was on the other end, watching his every move. ]

At the very least, it shouldn't make it worse. I don't have as much time to give toward alchemy as I do my other studies, but I'm making progress.

[ Thus why he's willing to try practical applications, if at a low level. ]

You're back late. Was it a long day at the orphanage?

[ It isn't uncommon for L to be late, not really. He's working two jobs now, after all. ]

Don't be modest. "Progress" isn't a word you use the way most others do.

[As an overachieving academic, of course, but also as Kira. It's L's smug secret, sitting in his chest like a caged bird. Even if no one can see it, it's still some kind of vindictive trophy, and as far as his dealings with Light Yagami are concerned in Aefenglom? He's found that it is actually enough for him.

He half-nods, half-shrugs.]

I just have time in the late afternoon and evening for several tutoring appointments. Some days it's based on need, and some days it's based on promise. Since they're all at a disadvantage... I'm not sure whether it's better to focus on those who are the furthest behind, or the ones who have the best shot at a successful life if they can be allowed to get ahead.

Your perspective is of interest to me. Your parents sent you to cram school, recognizing your talent early, but was it in the cards for your sister?

Edited 2021-04-07 16:08 (UTC)

[ L's right, of course. While it may be going slow by Light's standards, but that's still a fair speed for most. It would go faster still if he could focus on it entirely, but he'd like to master some of the other magics before moving onto alchemy with more concentration. ]

Cram school was my choice. Sayu didn't show the same kind of interest, but she had me help her with homework pretty often.

[ Light chuckles as he grinds the ingredients together. ]

I wouldn't call it cram school so much as a little sister using her big brother. She might take it more seriously when she gets older, but she's at the age where idols and fashion are more important.

Maybe you can use the same kind of system with your classes. Obviously, having them help each other isn't going to be as effective as having your help, but if you can teach the brightest and have them tutor the kids further behind, you're giving them as good of a chance as you can. Even you can't be everywhere all at once.

No, it's a good suggestion.

[He's quick to agree.]

Some of them can certainly help the younger students, or the slower ones in the same class. Especially if it meant their chores were lessened so they could still have the same amount of free time. Even though I'm not employed as a teacher there anymore I'm sure someone would hear out the suggestion.

[One of the reasons L had left his full-time post had been due to the odd space he occupied in the professional sphere that wasn't custom-made for his oddities and talents. In a more mundane position, among more mundane people without a handler to buffer him, L ironically falls short. The insult of being treated as one of the children by many of his adult staff members had grown too grievous.]

It might make my role a bit less essential, freeing me up for helping you test your new project's results.

[If nothing can go too wrong with this mild potion, he's game. He's created, and ingested, far worse on his own.]

I can make enough for two.

[ If L can rest assured on much, it's that Light trusts it well enough if he's willing to drink from it himself. While he's willing to push his limits in places, it wouldn't be in something he ingests himself.

He can't know the magic being worked into the potion is off. His calculations and ingredients are correct and during any other month, the potion would be perfect, if mild. As Light spoons a bit into a small bowel and holds it out to L for testing, it really isn't with any nefarious plans in mind. The fact he adds a little to his own bowl proves as much. ]

Then, a toast to having a second person willing to test your potions.

[It seems to surprise L that Light would offer a dual test, but he’s in no position to reject the extra assurance. He accepts the bowl, raising it as to a comrade.]

To not drinking alone.

[A pastime L’s friendlier with than he wishes. He raises the bowl to his lips, sipping it with his typical delicacy.]

Lavender gives it a sweet finish.

[He wonders, idly, if Light added it with him in mind, just as he always idly wonders if he’s been poisoned in some untraceable way by his clever rival.]

[ The liquid is smooth and easy to swallow. As something he plans to sell, Light took the extra time to worry about tastes and ease of drink. It's more likely to be profitable if it doesn't leave a bitter taste. ]

The lavender can be customized. Potions don't need to have bad tastes, and it just happens that the guy I made a promise to has a very sweet tooth.

[ But, nothing's happening. Light didn't go into the experience particularly stressed, but he can feel no change at all. Frowning, he looks back to the original mixing bowl which now stands almost empty.

It hasn't kicked in yet. Magic flows to their stomach and through their blood, but the effects haven't started. It leaves him confused. Something should have worked. ]

Do you feel anything?

[L furrows his brow. He doesn't doubt that he's had more experience than Light with knocking back potions for various reasons, so he does have some context.]

There are factors... dosage, body mass, potency of the ingredients. They can all affect how quickly a potion works. If you intended to make it weaker, it wouldn't be instantaneous.

[A pause, after a few more moments.]

That being said... you might have erred on the side of too diluted, especially considering my tolerance is probably higher than yours.

It wasn't so weak that it should have a delay.

[ Shouldn't be being the key factor, especially for someone who didn't often take potions. He was willing to assume maybe L's tolerance played a bigger role than he accounted for, but Light's? ]

It shouldn't have been, anyway. I'll have to go over the recipe. Maybe one of the ingredients wasn't right.

[ As someone not prone to being wrong and failing, he frowns at the bowl, as if it had betrayed him. ]

If it's all right, I'll increase the potency next time.

[L cants his head, watching Light's disappointment; it's almost a quiet rage.]

Hey...

[Softly chiding.]

This branch of magic is simultaneously precise and volatile. Famously so. Even if you did everything perfectly... a stale ingredient or a supplying apothecary's off-day could influence the result. Just increase the potency, but... keep the lavender, if you would.

You're right. I outsourced the ingredients.

[ Maybe he should start growing his own ingredients. It would take more time, but if he was planning to sell them, the time would be rewarded with money. ]

I'll need to get more ingredients. I'll try a different supplier.

[ And, as L pointed out, he can increase the potency. ]

I've made smaller potions before, and they've worked. This should have just been a step up.

In practice, this usually gets me because I'm rather impatient for it... but I understand that reducing the heat and simmering longer is a decent way to concentrate more ingredients into a potion of the same size. If you're concerned about expense, it's not the most cost-effective way to make a potion, but... there's value in a reputation for efficacy.

[No one wants watered-down potions; it's just sense.]

If you're interested in growing your own ingredients, I'm sure Myr would have some suggestions for getting started. A green thumb comes with the antlers, for fauns.

Having a spot would be useful. You're right about quality being important. A bad product only works in the beginning. A reputation pays for itself.

[ As for Myr... Light hesitates, wondering if he should be honest or hold back. In the end, he decides on honesty. ]

Linden, I'm sure you've noticed that Myr doesn't come over much. Since you have a place set up for him, I assume he did before I came. Since he knows I was a suspect in the Kira case back home, and he's this close to you, he's not going to be too fond of me.

[ Surely it's something that is acknowledged, if quietly. ]

[L's surprised, noticeably, by Light's candor. He's never spoken about it this frankly before.

In turn, perhaps his own candor should surprise him more than it does.]

Myr has other Bonded. I'm not the nucleus of his world, and I don't ask or expect to be. He worries for my safety, but... he knows that when I was in danger at Alder's meeting, you came to my aid.

[L reaches for the mortar and pestle, brushing a fingertip along the inside, rolling some of the dried herbs leftover against his palm.]

He'd help you with a garden. I've no doubt.

He probably would, if asked. Myr is the kind of person who seems willing to help out when asked. That's not the same thing as wanting to.

[ Light's wording had been off, at least compared to the usual way he was able to smooth things over, but a part of him decided it was just the assurance that it was something the three of them already knew. ]

Even if you're not his nucleus, you're both very close. One of his first impressions of me is the assumption I was trying to kill you. You're able to be close to me with that assumption, but he isn't. I can find books about gardening in the library.

Light...

[L sets aside the mortar and pestle, turning his back toward the counter to lean against it.]

No one said you had to be close. You want to grow the freshest ingredients; you won't be sabotaged or disrespected. Besides...

[A pause. His breath hitches as his feet lift from the floor and he sits on the counter, letting his legs dangle.]

Myr knows that I'm wrong, sometimes. He has as much proof of your guilt as I did, then. Therefore... he has no reason to hate you, as I have no reason to hate you.

I don't know him well enough to know if he hates me, but I'm sure he has better things he'd want to do with his time than teach me.

[ Most of his impressions of Myr are through L, and there's only so much of an impression you can form through the eyes of someone else.

Magic mingles with ingredients; it wasn't supposed to be so unreliable. Light was meant to be in control and instead, the concoction has taken some portion of control from him. ]

I don't know if he thinks I'm going to try and kill you here. It's not easy for other people to understand it wasn't about murder for either of us. It was about victory and fulfilling our sense of justice.

[ The words spill from his mouth like acid, burning a hole in the perfectly crafted alibi Light worked so tirelessly to create. Never would he admit such a thing out loud to the very man who'd been his greatest opponent. ]

There's no Death Note here, and I can't even stop the criminals that our normal justice system would have stopped. It's frustrating.

[ Too slowly, the words echo in his ears. There was no other way to spin his statements, no carefully crafted story that can explain why he worded things in quite that way if he wasn't Kira.

Confession. Confessed. Light Yagami just confessed to L. The shock hits him like a wave of emotion so strong that he's unsure of what he feels first. Disbelief and a sense of shock cut into his very bones. There's nothing L can do here, he isn't a wanted man. Still, there was such a carefully constructed story that allows the balance to stay between them. While L knows Light to be Kira, this is different.

This is an admission.

His mind should be racing. Planning. Trying to decide how to work this, if it can be worked at all. Instead, eyes wide, he looks to the bowl, as if expecting it to have answers. Of course, it doesn't. There is no other answer.

Light Yagami is Kira. ]

[At first, it doesn't sound so different from what Light might say at any other point in time. Then, it sounds jarring; it sounds daring.

It sounds insane; it sounds impossible. L's eyes widen as he doubts what he just heard, has to replay, and double-check, and question and reexamine.

He feels elation first. Then faintness, then anger, then something else in the pit of his stomach that tightens and aches and pulls at him.]

...I know.

[His voice is tense and quiet. He hates that he has to say it out loud; he hates that this had to be said, he hates what it might change now that it's out, and how did it come out? What is this potion, really?]

I've always known.

[He reaches out, grasping hard and desperate, a human handcuff closing around Light's wrist. Don't leave. Don't run. He's pulling Light closer as the words run through his mind like a skipping record, in his shock.]

Someday we're both going to die because we met each other, but... not here.

[The qualifier, "here", is the treaty, and binding. His breath quickens and he shifts forward, closes the gap between them in haste, leans in for a kiss as hungry as it is strange.

Here.

That's why I'm keeping you, here.]

Edited 2021-04-08 03:27 (UTC)

[ It's not L's pleas that freeze Light in place, but the mere shock of what he's said. L's reply trickles into his ears and for once, is slow to be comprehended. Of course, L knew. He knew, and Light denied, and that's how the status quo worked. Now, he has a confession, an explanation of how he saw their game, a game that would end in the death of one of them.

However, the shock isn't only in reaction to his words, but in L's response. There's no celebration, no 'gotcha', no relief. With this confession, Light loses something. He can deny saying the words if asked. He will deny saying the words if asked. No one will believe Light walked up to him and confessed to being Kira. Still, admission hangs in the air.

Anger sets in next. Kira isn't a reason for shame. Kira was making the world a better place. Once Light was able to move forward with his plans, there'd be no wars, no murder, no rape, no abuse; nothing. With the confession potion still bursting through his veins, a part of him wants to snap at the look of victory he plans on seeing in L's face. 'Why can't you see the good I'm doing?!''You should be smart enough to see that the system we have isn't working, but I can fix it!' 'Even knowing I'm Kira, that doesn't make me wrong'.

The look doesn't come. Instead, a vice-like grip is on his wrist, and L's asking Light not to be upset. Though his exact words aren't a perfect match, the desperation speaks for itself. Light's confession to being Kira is met with reassurance and an off-handed promise that nothing here has to change.

It doesn't, not on a logical level. Here, there's nothing Light can do. His confession as Kira also revealed the truth about his frustration with the fact. Here, L has no reason to chase, and Light has no reason to fight back. They could go back to what it was, only they can't. The 'secret' is in the open now, a confession so large and deep that it could literally lead to Light's death in their world.

Today, L is the master of surprise. Before Light's able to have any kind of outward reaction, he's chest to chest with L as lips press against his. At first, there's no response. Even with his usual processing speed, there's too much shock and surprise, too much emotion, and too many feelings for him to catch up.

The return kiss finally comes. It isn't soft, gentle, or cooing. Instead, he presses with the same heat as he receives, a hand immediately going into the back of L's hair and cupping his head. It doesn't force his face in place, and L can pull back if he'd like, but the hold doesn't encourage it. Maybe this will be his answer for now. If asked, maybe Light can play it off as buying himself time, but it wouldn't hold up. It isn't the first time L has forced Light to act entirely on emotion, a rarity for someone normally so cool and calculated. Still, he focuses on the kiss, on joined lips, and while it doesn't fully replace speech, it'll work for now.

After? He'd handle after later. ]

[What they had is what L clings to as he emulates tar, thick and dark and clinging. He doesn't want to lose it and he doesn't want to forfeit it; he doesn't want to relinquish and then only wander through dreams for snatches of what he had.

He wants to take, and smother, and extinguish now, in one glorious burst, if he has to lose all of this, or any of this. One more memory to add to the dreams, in case Light shoves him away, takes his leave, annuls them and leaves L lacking an entire half.

He begins to cling harder, and finds he doesn't have to. Light's actually returning the kiss, lips moving and pressing against his own with a hand against the skull he will later hold in another way entirely. He pulls twin handfuls of Light's shirt toward him, wanting to feel crushing heat and pressure between them as he takes more from the kiss, opening his mouth, tracing the edge of Light's lower lip with his tongue.]

[ This new world necessitates a new relationship. Without the Death Note that served as a catalyst for their meeting, the tension and deadly rivalry was left in the past.

But it wasn't. Perhaps Light lacks a reason to kill L and now serves to benefit more from his cooperation, but a part of them will always be rivals no matter what other characteristics can be used to describe their relationship. Too used to winning, neither is willing to give up that mantel, though it's hidden by their need to work more as a team here in a world where 'Kira' is a largely unknown name.

It only serves to add a heat beneath the kiss, a kiss that feels better than it should for a man that normally feels no emotion when kissing someone else. It isn't desire in the purest, more lustful sense, but it's desire all the same. Light can feel the heat that forms in his stomach and radiates to his limbs, a pleasant sensation that feeds something even while causing his hunger to grow.

And that's dangerous. One moment, his lips are locked in with L's as if it's their shared breath, but the next he's pulling back. He's losing control, and lost control is dangerous. Even here, especially with L. Already, whatever was in the potion has taken some semblance of control from him. When he looks at L, feeling those heavy seconds that it takes him to collect his thoughts, there's more want in his eyes than disgust. They're darkened, and his slightly kiss-swollen lips remain parted.

Light was always happy he didn't feel lust like other men. Lust is a controller. If he'd been normal in that way, Misa might be running Kira now. The presence, the want, the need: they're not welcomed feelings. They're even twisting his thoughts, telling him a kiss might go a long way to help control L, to assure L stays on his side when he's so lacking of allies in this world. Hurriedly, he quietens the voice. ]

You won't remember when we go back.

[ The confession. Can they even approach the kiss without getting past that? ]

[On his own, L would not have broken the kiss. On his own, L would have taken it further, taking and taking and taking until there was nothing left except the urge to collapse and sleep and continue to cling. It's up to Light, in the end, and he's able to draw away even as L leans after him, some haunting spirit magnetically drawn by a compulsion too powerful to die with his body.

Because, that's what's going to happen, in their world. Before the day they were both taken from has even ended, L will draw his last breath.

We can blame the potion... that's the safety net, the mask to save both of their faces. But L doesn't want to; he's high on the truth, fairly giddy with it, and the threat and chaos only make him feel more alive. In many ways, only Light could possibly do this to him, this coveted thing that he chases and obsesses over and died for.

The color is high and bright on L's typically ashen cheekbones. He withdraws his arms, curling them closer to his core when Light draws back. The truth hangs between them like a banner; they have chemistry, proven when it was only hinted at before when they rigidly adhered to the propriety the case demanded even as they were never more than six feet apart.

He raises a hand to pass across the dampness at his lips, fingertips brushing brushing them dry. So cool, so collected; not undone at all.]

When we go back...

[I'll die, in your arms. And then you'll die like a dog.]

It won't matter, in the end, of course.

[You are never going back, Light Yagami.]

It's very liberating to realize that certain things don't matter...

[A hint, but a teasing one. It's likely that if Light leaned in for another kiss, L would rebuff it just to make a nasty little point.

He whispers his next words.]

Veritas liberabit vos.

[How might the magic of this world translate "the truth will set you free?"]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject