tampered | Open Log~

Open Log~

When; July 4, early evening
Rating; PG?
Characters; L

dubia_lux, Yagami Light

onetruejustice, Dietrich von Lohengrin

evilsincebirth and anyone else who would like to meet them in a cafe~
Summary; After their conversation in L's latest journal entry, the two friends/enemies head out for cake.
Log;

Making his way to the cafe L had invited him to, Light had enough shrewdness to leave the pieces of his Note at home, in case the other had been planning a trap. Their conversation had been bizarre enough, but then again, Light supposed that it was all quite common, especially when it came to L.

Now that he knew Light was Kira, the rules of their game had changed - which was exactly what Light wanted. With the detective's focus on Light himself, he had to make sure that Mikami and Misa did his work for him. It would take some time to explain the plan to them, but he would do it tonight. L had suspected that Light would kill in the City, and that was something Light fully intended on letting L continue to believe that.

Pushing the door to the cafe open, he stepped in, looking out for a familiar raccoon-eyed man.

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L sat, or crouched rather, at the back table, as usual, and was already munching on a donut held delicately in his fingertips.

Spotting him, Light crossed over to L and took a seat opposite him, his expression neutral. "Been here long?"

L smiled and lowered the donut from his mouth as Light approached. If he noticed Dietrich's presence, he did not let it show.

"No, Light-kun. Only about ten minutes, maybe twelve."

Mein Herr had left for a time, probably to arrange matters with Panzer Magier, but it left Dietrich with nothing to do but lie to Radu about his superior's location and idle around with his little group of friends.

He sat in his usual spot in Cafe Juliet, drinking black coffee while reading an advanced psysics book. The fourth in a row he devoured to compare those theories with those updated or forgotten from his time line. Light's arrival made him pause his actions, brow eyes peering above the volume to follow his motions and see if the other man spotted him or not.

Well, well. I wonder what is our illustrious costumer doing here?

Light's gaze absently flicked to where he met Dietrich's, and a second was all he needed to register the advanced physics book that the other young man had been reading. Odd, that Dietrich would be here, but then again, this was a free City.

With the slightest nod of acknowledgment, Light looked back to L for a moment before gesturing for a waitress.

"Hm, you live near here, then?" That was probably the only explanation for him to be so prompt. Ordering black coffee when the waitress came, he flipped through the menu idly and placed an order for a bowl of mixed fruit as well.

L dodged the trap in Light's question.

"Light-kun, you can travel swiftly in the City by thinking of your destination. Has nobody taught you this?"

The young detective bit down on his thumbnail.

Hm, at least he was back to his old self, though Light didn't know whether he should even be relieved at this change. Maybe a moody L - though infinitely more annoying - was better. Or maybe not.

"Of course," Light responded casually, watching as the waitress returned and filled his teacup with steaming black coffee. "I prefer a take a little walk before I reach any destination, however."

Looking back at L lazily, he asked. "Would you like some coffee as well?"

"Yes, coffee would be nice."

L looked at Light, studying him. "You seem troubled. Donut?"

He pushed a donut across the table.

Light looked back at him for a moment, wondering if L knew what he was thinking. Then again, the other most probably did. His rival was the only one who knew his thoughts and predicted his movements - most of them, at least - and for a brief moment, his gaze was distant, unreadable.

"I'm fine." It was a testament to Light's distraction that he took the offered donut - he didn't normally like sugary confectionery like that - and took a bite of it. He paused for a moment, chewing and swallowing before he finally spoke, glancing up at him. "Why did you ask me out for cake?"

Just reading himself and ignoring everything was boring for Dietrich; he stretched and hid a yawn. Isaak had pointed out his lack of attention span in despite of being a natural born prodigy. Dietrich had been raised to follow his whims to entertain himself out the perpetual boredom that usually filled his life.

He shut his book and set it next to the others and rose. They would be returned to the library after he was done memorizing them. Leaving the table, he walked straight to Light and greeted the man with a smile.

"Good evening, Light. I'm interrupting something?"

L was about to answer "to keep up appearances" when Dietrich approached and saved him from having to answer any more questions regarding their hidden agenda.

L did not say anything but he piled some sugar cubes into a coffee cup and lifted the cup to Dietrich.

Looking up when Dietrich came over, Light simply shook his head and smiled, looking away from L. Hm, it seemed like he decided to join in, after all. Was the Marionettenspieler curious?

Well, Light supposed that it was fine; knowing L, the detective probably wouldn't reveal anything of vital importance about Kira to someone who was perpetually a stranger.

"Evening, Dietrich, and no, you're not interrupting anything." He gestured expansively to the free seat and smiled when L offered the other man a cup of coffee wordlessly. "Join us?"

Dietrich gave a nod and a casual wave, glancing at the raccoon-eyed man with Light.

"Your friend doesn't mind? I was trying to amuse myself with light reading but I am in mood for conversation."

Light reading? From what Light had seen emblazoned on the cover of those books, that sure as hell was not light reading for an average person. He'd looked rather absorbed in that book, too, which clearly showed that Dietrich had known its content very well.

Which only meant - especially at his age - that the Puppetmaster was some kind of genius. That, of course, did not particularly surprise Light, considering the number of times they'd spoken and interacted.

"Of course not; do make yourself comfortable." He responded cordially. "Dietrich, meet my friend Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki, this is Dietrich, a friend of mine I made in the City."

L pressed his thumb to his lips and looked Dietrich over, taking the other man in in a single eyeful.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dietrich."

He pushed the sugar-loaded coffee towards the stranger.

"What were you reading?"

"Likewise, Ryuzaki" Dietrich smiled, offering a slight bow. "You must be..." he paused, eyebrows knitting in fake effort to remember the name. "He's the friend you have been speaking about, Light?" He stared at the coffee and uttered a quiet 'Thanks.'

The Puppetmaster sat down next to Light in a perfectly straight posture before and glancing at his pile of books. "Physics, mostly with a history book and one about a study of classic literature. There's much of that knowledge lost or modified from my timeline, so I feel like trying to catch up and bring that information with me when I return."

Taking a sip of his own coffee as Dietrich sat himself down neatly beside him, Light nodded. "Yes, we have quite a bit of history."

Physics and literature, hm? An intriguing mix. He supposed it didn't hurt to have variety from time to time. Deciding to stay quiet for the time being, Light took another bite of his donut. One observed the most things by listening, after all.

L seemed interested.

"Oh? Physics? That is a very complicated field, Mr. Dietrich."

He wrapped his fingers delicately around another donut and started eating.

"Maybe for some," Dietrich muttered, shrugging off and turned to Light. Enough about him, it was time to push the costumer's buttons in front of the so called personal enemy. "Why are you so serious? Did you awoke in the wrong side of the bed?" he prodded, frowning before signaling a waitress to approach.

"Black Coffee and a bowl with apples, please," he requested. "I want to share them."

Light managed to keep from giving Dietrich a withering glare. He had a sneaking little suspicion as to what the puppetmaster was doing, and really, that was annoying.

"That guess may have a possibility of coming true if I had managed to get to bed in the first place."

Apples, was it all the bastard ever ate?

Taking another sip of his coffee, he paused for a moment to remark. "And I'll have a few ham and cheese sandwiches. Do you want anything, Ryuzaki?"

"Ah, sweetened tea, please," said L, wiggling his toes. "And three slices of cheesecake. And some more donuts?"

The waitress walked away with a huff.

L pressed his thumb to his lips.

"Are you two sleeping together, then?" the question was asked without humor.

"You might be dead, but you'll still get tired. Don't do dangerous things," Dietrich suggested in a nagging voice before relaxing his shoulders, reclining on his seat.

Ryuzaki's question didn't bother Dietrich in the slightest, he glanced at him lazily. "As of present? No. We only slept together once when Light had a cold and couldn't stop bitching about his dire situation."

That wasn't what he mean, but good enough.

"Are you?"

When L asked that question, Light stared back at him blankly. What? "What?"

Sleeping with Dietrich? Where did he even get that from? With a noncommittal grunt of something resembling general assent to the other brunet's nagging, Light refilled his own cup of coffee as the waitress came to set down their orders. He was pretty much used to Dietrich's occasional spouts of motherly advice, and had learnt to take such things with a generally agreeable air to prevent him from becoming a little more childishly snippish with his remarks.

It wasn't that Light couldn't handle them - he could handle Dietrich pretty well most of the time, when he isn't deliberately being annoying - but he was a little too caught up in his own plans to want to engage in another bout of verbal judo with the man.

At Dietrich's latter words, Light was about to protest when he realized that what he said was probably true. "I wasn't bitching about my 'dire' situation. I was bitching because you spilled apple ice cream on the sheets."

...What was it with people and their interest in his fucking sex life lately?

L forked some cake into his mouth and mulled over Dietrich's question.

"Are we what? Sleeping together? Saaaa....No, not anymore."

He reached for more coffee. He was referring to the time he and Light had spent handcuffed to one another. They had managed with separate beds and the slack of chain on the floor between them. Somehow, he failed to elaborate on this point.

“I can’t blame you. He really has bad sleeping habits. He kicks too much. It’s uncomfortable to curl and rest when I am worried about my psychical welfare. Maybe his subconscious is troubled.”

Nodding sagely at L’s answer and offering his own wise input, Dietrich picked up one apple and offered it to Light. “Mmm… Apple, Litch?” He smiled at him, sweetly, with his angelic features at the most saccharine. “You should eat more fruits and improve your bad health. I never heard a dead person getting sick before.”

They said counting to ten worked, but then again, Light was about to call them - whoever 'they' were - idiots in the first degree, because it sure as hell didn't curb the desire to not do potential violence to both of his current companions.

It sure as hell wasn't accidental that they'd neglected to say that, for Dietrich's case, the man had as good as waltzed over and parked himself in Light's bed for reasons that are still relatively unknown to him. Maybe he liked electric blankets; then again, Light really wasn't going to go there. As for L, the extenuating circumstances were damn well thought of by the man himself, and it definitely wasn't Light's fault either, suspicion of being
Kira notwithstanding.

Resisting the urge to kick Dietrich, Light gave him an extremely withering glare this time in response for that annoyingly sweet expression he seemed to always use when he was planning something that would be hazardous to Light's mental health. Plucking the apple from him, Light set it down on the table, determined to show Dietrich that though he may hate apples, the damned puppetmaster did not win this round!

"My health is just fine; I'm not sick now, am I?"

L thought about Dietrich's words.

"Yes, you may be right. He did wake me up often with his flailing."

Guilty conscience, L thought. Definitely. Though he did not voice this.

When Light took the apple, Dietrich’s expression alit in victory: his lips curled in a grin and his eyes narrowed in amusement. Then, he turned to L and offered one to him, a round green apple instead of red. “Do you prefer green or red apples, Ryuzaki?”

He assented, picking his coffee with his free hand. “He truly does. It may be anxiety.”

In response to Dietrich's reaction, Light narrowed his eyes at him before picking up his own sandwich, that amused look grating terribly on his nerves.

Ignoring the fact that L was offered a green apple, Light responded acidly. "I kick because I'm highly annoyed. Also, let's get this clear. Nothing was taken off or inserted in either scenario, despite insinuations."

L snacked on a cherry and waved the apple away.

"No, thank you."

Then he glanced towards Light. "Ah, Light-kun...I do not believe I ever insinuated such. You must have a guilty mind. Is there something you'd like to tell me, maybe?"

A mischievous glint flickered momentarily in L's dark eyes, then his expression became unreadable again.

He inclined his head at L's declination and bit down the apple himself.

“Aww, Light doesn’t love us, Ryuzaki.” The Puppetmaster pouted at the annoyed source of his restless sleeping. Crushed, really. But his face changed remarkably when the infamous ‘justice crusader’ gave the blatant sex remark, Dietrich turned at Light and graced him with a sincere puzzled expression. Unlike L, he didn’t speak a word.

He was going to bet that Light likely found his silence more annoying than when he spoke.

L smiled at Dietrich and Light. Though it may have appeared that he was grinning in amusement at his own off-colored humor, he was in fact grinning at Dietrich.

The other man had pouted then altered his expression suddenly at L's words only to turn and fix Light with a look of comic surprise and quiet disapproval. That was an understandable response but what pleased L was a certain intention behind it.

Dietrich did not say a word. L knew Light well enough to know that silence here would likely aggravate the brunet more than speech would. Apparently Dietrich knew this too.

This gave L some important clues: Dietrich and Light were together more than the detective had originally hypothesized. They were together enough to know each other's habits. It also meant Dietrich was a thinker, calculating how to best respond to a situation before making an actual move.

L smiled and cast his dark gaze towards Light.

Most unimpressed at the display, Light looked back at L, his expression unreadable. The rules of their game have changed, and with that, Light knew that L would be on the prowl, seeking out clues, predicting his movements.

Light damn well was not going to give L that much. Taking another sip of his coffee, expertly hiding the curve of his lips. "Mm, of course not." He glanced at L over the rim of his cup. "What else is there to say?"

He didn't miss the glint in the other man's eyes, or Dietrich's expressions - the puppetmaster was a true prodigy in the art of playacting, and this time, he refused to rise to the bait.

His pride would not allow him to.

Meeting L's eyes steadily, wondering what the detective would think of the dynamics between himself and Dietrich - already able to know what L would guess; they thought along the same wavelength, after all.

"On the other hand, is there something you wish to say, Ryuzaki?"

Ah well, sometimes you lose. Dietrich shrugged off Light's pride, even if his reaction was boring to a degree. He smiled at L's direction but he did not try to read the other man. Light had requested him to stay out his personal feud, so it would be a waste of time and effort in prying.

He continued eating his apple, savoring the rich flavor without messing his chin.

"I have nothing to say, Light-kun," said L. He glanced down at his plate and his brow furrowed.

"Ah...Who ate my donuts?"

Glancing over at Dietrich, who seemed to take his lack of reaction rather well, Light frowned a little, looking back at L.

Rather, at his question.

"You did."

L wiggled his toes and reached for the rest of his cake. He munched on it speculatively, without saying anything.

Dietrich finished his apple and stared at the silent companions, rolling his eyes at the lack of word exchange. He decided to be the social one this time.

"Ryuzaki, tell me, what do you do for living?" Dietrich asked. "Light told me he's an investigator. Do you work with him or were you a classmate from school?"

L shrugged his bony shoulders. "We were classmates at the same University, Mr. Dietrich, that is the truth."

Well...it was.

Ah, yes, Light remembered the 'classmates' part. Glancing over at him when he neglected to mention that he was L, the brunet supposed that he shouldn't be too surprised. Ryuzaki guarded his secret jealously, and normally hated going around telling people that he was L, the most brilliant detectives in the world.

The brilliant detective that Light had outwitted once and would make damn sure that he would again.

"We were both supposed to give the opening speech at the University," Light remarked to Dietrich, making a note to tell the puppetmaster who Ryuzaki really was later. "He and I were the only ones who had perfect scores on the entrance exams." He shrugged a little at that before taking another bite out of his donut.

Dietrich nodded and picked up a supple, red apple. He was making sure he would never let slip around Ryuzaki what Light had told him about him. "I envy you for finding a peer, Light. I never attended to any academy and was given private lessons." He took a bite of the fruit and swallowed portion of it. "It was rather lonely."

L watched the brunets' eyes carefully. Yes. There was indeed something between the two.

He continued with his cake, observing the other men. At this point he had nothing to contribute to the conversation.

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