Title: Taste
Author: Hikaru Relume Kudou
Rating: K+
Genre: General, Humour
Chapter: One shot
Synopsis: Shounen ai, Raito and L. A conversation between the two over breakfast. 'I happen to like them that way. Is my taste bothering you?'
DISCLAIMER: Standard disclaimers apply.

Author's Notes: First Death Note fic, so forgive me for any mistake or OOC-ness. Turned out to be longer than I had expected. And, should there be a fic that resembles this particular one, my humblest apologies; It is purely coincidental.

Dedicated to my sister, who introduced me to Death Note the manga.

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"In matters of taste there is no dispute" Latin proverb

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Given, any person who had never met L in the flesh would personify him to be contrary to what he actually was; The public probably imagined L to be a tall, middle-aged man, presumably bearded and moustached, and neatly dressed with a deerstalker perched proudly on his head and a cape billowing behind him, reminiscent of the common portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. And maybe, just maybe, a pair of spectacles to give an intelligent look.

As it turned out, L was too much of an oddball that if he were to walk down a street, nobody would have thought that he was gifted in the art of detection, much less entertaining the idea of associating him with the mysterious, anonymous detective L.

In the end, Yagami Raito concluded that L's intelligence and ingenuity came at a heavy price.

"Yagami-kun."

Raito looked up from the newspaper he was reading. It was only the two of them seated opposite to each other at the table. Raito had decided to catch up with the outside world whilst L opted for another cup of coffee.

Out of the force of habit, L started stacking up sugar cubes. "You really like fitting clothes, don't you?"

Raito goggled at him speechlessly, then at his own long-sleeved olive-coloured shirt, then back at his companion. After a while, "Excuse me?"

"I noticed that your taste is inclined towards fitting garments," repeated L placidly, "although you often wear coats and jackets over them."

Raito frowned. "I happen to like them that way. Is my taste bothering you?"

To Raito's dismay, L chose not to answer. The latter merely raised a sugar cube, as if offering Raito.

Raito shook his head in refusal, so L happily popped it into his mouth.

"You do have a death wish, don't you?" said Raito suddenly.

L stared at him quizzically, the spoon still held in between his pale lips tightly. "What do you mean by that?"

Raito gestured at the cup, "You're having that caffeine-laden, sugar-brimming coffee after your first cup with…what, six sugar cubes? I lost count. Not forgetting last night; You finished three packets of sweets."

L laid his eyes on half-full cup of coffee. "So?"

Raito wore a stern look. "All that sugar doesn't seem to scare you."

L shook his head.

"How long have you been doing it, this eating habit of yours?" Raito asked, half-curiously.

"Ever since I could remember," admitted L.

"So you never think of your health in the future?"

L paused briefly. "No. There's no need for me to."

"You do know that your current diet is a one-way ticket to many forms of serious diseases."

"I do, of course."

"Why aren't you changing your lifestyle?"

L tilted his head. "In what ways does it need changing?"

"Well, for starters…" Raito fingered his chin. The newspaper was still open, but now was laid forgotten. "You don't exercise, do you?" Raito recalled their tennis match from before. True, L was a formidable opponent in the sport, but other than that time, Raito could not recall L's exerting himself in the name of exercise.

"No. I don't think I have to. I don't have time for such."

"Then how the hell did you manage to stay so thin even with physical inactivity? It sounds unreasonable if you tell me that all your calorie only goes to your brain." Raito narrowed his eyes. "You don't know how many girls would kill for that secret."

"Really, Yagami-kun…your language is quite, how shall I put it…disturbing. Disturbing, but still interesting. Of death wishes and killings…" L left his sentence incomplete. He stirred his drink, but his eyes were fixated on Raito.

Raito's eyebrow twitched in displeasure. "You're doing it again, identifying me as Kira. How many times I've told you that I'm not him! I said those words in a manner of speaking, not literally! I thought you'd have some linguistic prowess to understand me…"

"Yagami-kun, no need to be agitated…" His sugar cube tower swayed once with the sudden motion of the table.

"I have every right to!"

The sugar cubes rattled slightly but refused to give way, much to L's relief. "Yes, yes…I don't want to start a new day with an argument with you."

Raito folded his arms stubbornly. "Then why the remark about how I dress?"

"Oh, that? I see…so you're angry because of that." L waved his spoon casually. "It's nothing. I noticed that it's the current trend, that's all. A trend that, I expect, I will never pick up."

Raito eyed L's long-sleeved, loose white shirt. Come to think of it, L had always looked the same – the drab, plain shirt and faded denims, the unruly mass of keratin otherwise known as L's hair, and those ghostly eyes...Raito wondered exactly how many pairs of identical white shirts did L have in his wardrobe.

Despite the baggy outfit, Raito knew that L had a slender form. The shirt was, at times, rather translucent and diaphanous, allowing Raito a few hints as to the hidden contours underneath the material.

Raito wrinkled his face. "A trend's a trend. You don't have to follow it…You're good enough as you are."

L smiled peculiarly. "Why, Yagami-kun, I didn't know you cared for me that much."

Immediately Raito's eyes snapped wide open as blood rushed to his face. He slammed his palm on the table. "What the hell did you mean by that?" The newspaper fell to the floor, but Raito made no move to reclaim it. It really was forgotten to the point of being neglected.

Although his seven-storey sugar cube tower collapsed unceremoniously due to the impact, L seemed unfazed by the sudden show of anger. "Nothing offensive, I assure you. Here, have some chocolates." L handed him a random chocolate bar. Said random chocolate bar also happened to be half-eaten.

Raito glared at the item coldly. "And you expect me to finish your leftovers?"

L retrieved the bar and inspected it. "I wonder what got into me, I didn't notice…And that was my last one. I'll have to ask Watari to restock."

"…Liar," accused Raito, knowing that L would not be L if he were to overlook a trivial matter as a half-eaten chocolate bar.

L sighed in defeat. "Like I said, I don't want to argue. We sound like a husband and wife in an argument."

Raito felt his face heating up at L's simile. Dismissing it as anger, "What the heck is up with those husband-wife-argument references? Did you knock your head against something,, Ryuuzaki? It sounds like you're courting me!"

Awkward silence filled in as they stared at each other, Raito in exasperation whilst L merely blankly.

L sighed, heavier this time. "I'm sorry. I'll let you have my sweets if we just forget about it." He slid a new packet on the table towards Raito.

Raito thought that L did not sound sorry, but he decided to drop the matter altogether. With a sour face, he reached for a candy. Returning to the topic of sugar, "Honestly, I've never seen so much sweet things on one table. Beats a candy shop, you know? A dentist is going to squirm in horror if he sees this."

"Quoting you, 'I happen to like them that way'," replied L.

"In any case, I bet there's nothing sweeter than all these sugar and candies put together."

L's face showed an expression of contemplation. "You would lose your money. At least for now, I can think of one." He licked his lips as he stared at the ceiling.

Raito felt challenged. "You lie."

"I do not. Perhaps, one day, you'll…taste it for yourself."

Raito was confused. There was something cryptic and, at the same time, fishy about L's manner of saying it. As L proceeded to lick some sugar crumbs off his thumb and then his lower lips rather suggestively, Raito found himself gazing on, somewhat allured…

…and all of a sudden, a naughty thought struck him.

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That night, when they were alone again, Raito leaned closer to L just so he could verify L's statement earlier on. When everything else faded away in Raito distant memory, replaced by possibly the sweetest, most intoxicating thing he had ever savoured, he admitted that L was right.

When he voiced it out, L's lips curved into a mischievous smile. "I'm always right. And, Yagami-kun? Answering your question about how I view your taste…I have to say that I find your…taste very satisfying; fitting clothes, kisses and all."

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