Yagami Light (夜神月) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
worldcleansing) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
aefenglom2021-04-04 11:32 pm
worldcleansing) wrote in aefenglom2021-04-04 11:32 pm
Entry tags:
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)
[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)
no subject
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.]
no subject
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?
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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.
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[ 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.
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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.
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[ 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.
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[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.
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[ 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. ]
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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.
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[ 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.
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[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.
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[ 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. ]
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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.]
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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. ]
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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.]
no subject
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? ]
no subject
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
[ In a way, it feels like a loss, and L knows Light doesn't deal with loss very well. It isn't his fault, though he does blame his own stupidity for the potion. If only he'd allowed L to drink it alone. Something meant to be so weak and mild should have been safe.
In spite of the heavy feeling drooping over his shoulders, there's something light about being able to just say it. The games and riddles are fun, but he's always hiding. Even before Kira, he was hiding. Light keeps talking, though it's difficult to say if it's due to the potion or the truth finally being revealed. ]
Don't you hate it, too?
[ His voice grows louder as he steps closer to L, though he isn't going in for a kiss. ]
Solving a few cases, making money using our brains on puzzles that a kid could solve. We have all of this power, and we're not making a dent on this world.
no subject
[He shrugs one shoulder, canting his head as Light draws closer, as if to position his mouth more invitingly for another. Needed, it might not be... but L doubts that his acquirement of such skills he possesses won't be useless in the game ahead, the new terms, the cunning distractions they can provide each other with.]
I hate being bored, Light. What we do in this place to pay the bills is of no consequence to me. Challenges are my passion, and as long as I have one to apply myself to in my free time, I'm content. If the challenge is the thus-far inaccessible one of "making a dent" on this world, well... I suppose my work is cut out for me.
[Work remains, because here, he isn't dead, and doesn't need to be. There are actually a handful of people who would miss him terribly if he simply ceased to exist, and another couldn't slip unnoticed into his place, speak with his voice, use his name for clout and craft.]
You're not a child, so... the way you talk about "hate" amuses me. It's very flexible, when the terms are clearly outlined. Just a sign that something needs to change. You can do a lot with it; it's a kind of passion, after all.
no subject
[ L's right; the enforces are right. They do what they can, but their abilities are limited. It's no different than the cops back in Japan, before Kira came onto the scene. Light really does respect his father and his colleagues, but the current system was so very limited, and it's no different here. No, in many ways, it's worse.
But, that isn't the real topic here. The real topic here is the fact that the well-known secret can't be classified as a secret in any way, not anymore. ]
Hating something isn't a sign of immaturity. Like you said, it's a form of passion, and we don't lose our passion just because we get older.
[ But again, this isn't the root of what's happened tonight. ]
Either way, the system here isn't set up to punish anything that might've been a crime at home. The Death Note didn't follow me; you'd know if it had.
[ Light wishes it had. ]
But I don't think it matters, not to you. Punishment isn't as important as the puzzle itself, is it? Or, are you hoping for revenge for what's happened before?
no subject
[L's eyes settle on the knot in Light's tie, as if thinking about tightening it around his throat. Gradually, his gaze scans back up to the man's face. It's wonderful to look at; though it hasn't changed in any material way, it's as though a mask has been removed.
He might be asked not to call Light Yagami Kira, but they both know that it's his name. It's a trophy L will wear in the corner of his mouth, a smirk always tugging to be seen before he bites it back to spare Light's pride.]
If you consider being here, Bonded to me and solving smaller puzzles, a punishment, then yes... it's the sentence. It's the revenge I consider appropriate, and proportionate. If you don't think that's so bad, well... it would make two of us.
no subject
Admittedly, Light always expected L to know for sure, and only beyond any real kind of doubt, as he won. This is... not a victory, not for Light. ]
I don't plan on keeping it small.
[ It's not a warning. Even in this, Light's unable to not speak to L as some kind of equal, even while being entirely certain it's he who is in the right. ]
I plan on solving the bigger mystery.
[ He would have left it at only that, but it's not like the potion disappears so quickly. ]
But I find what we have here better than my life was before Kira. I hate boredom, too.
no subject
A chapter may have closed, but it was a cliffhanger ending, and the next chapter is only a page away. A kind of eager anticipation is alive in L; how much of it is because the memory of bruising pressure between their mouths is so clear and fresh?]
Your confidence has always been remarkable. Admirable, even.
[You think you'll be the one to crack the code? Not like you're the first one to try.]
I understand that you have a life back home that you want to return to... and a killing spree...
[In just a few short years, you'll be as dead as I am. Would you believe me if I told you, I wonder?]
...but in the meantime, you can accept this alternative to boredom, can't you?
[As if you have a choice; I won't be helping you get back to that notebook, Kira Yagami.]
no subject
I have a world to save.
[ Killing is the method, not the intention. If he could simply erase even intent from the world, that would be his first choice, but Light chooses to work with the tools he was given. So far, while there have been hiccups, it's been working the way he wants.
Would L have bothered to even try and stop him if it wasn't such a unique mystery? The very thing that makes it so effective also drew his greatest obstacle. ]
It depends on what you mean by 'accept', and what you plan to do now.
[ While it will feel odd with the secret out in the open, Light doesn't dislike the freedom. He can speak openly, freely, honestly. For most of his life, he hadn't cared. In his game with L, he hadn't cared. With L, here, there's something else, something more equal and almost as stimulating, it's felt a bit like a wall. ]
If you can keep this between us, and only us, I don't plan to move out or switch jobs. You've always known. You offered to let me move in with you knowing. But it's something only the two of us can know.
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[Said wryly, not quite with bald sarcasm. They're the words of a man who knows how the story ends, at the very least Light's part in it. Light won't save the world any more than L will survive his brush with the Shinigami Rem; even if his method was the correct one, he will meet his end at the hands of one who is, hilariously, Bonded to both of them.
It's probably no coincidence that Light feels as though there's a wall. In truth, there are many, unyielding, maintained with great care by both L and Near to preserve the delicate status quo. This was a bombshell; it is not necessarily the end of things in Aefenglom, as they know it, but it will require coordination and commitment behind the scenes to keep it intact.]
I've told you what I want, already. Spreading around news of your deeds actively works against that... if you were punished or imprisoned, I could lose access to you. Even if there were no consequences of that nature, there would be social and professional ones. You're a criminal and a murderer, obviously... and the extent of my association with you suggests that I'm quite mad.
[Not spoken like hyperbole or a joke. L himself has not ruled out the possibility, though he is already thinking of ways he can perhaps keep Myr from reaching that conclusion any more than he may have, already. It would be best if Near and Mello didn't, as well, but L suspects that ship may have sailed. In any case, mad or not, they haven't interfered yet, at least not in a compromising way.]
Fortunately, I'm also selfish. As long as I want to live and work with you more than I want to destroy your reputation... all will be well for both of us, I suppose.
[Light's comfortable existence here, in other words, is reliant on how successful he is at being L's live-in entertainment. Unspoken before, that's out in the open now, too.]
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