Author's Note: For those of you who missed the warning in the summary, in the first chapter, and also the content of the first chapter, this story contains yaoi. For the rest of you, thanks for reading the first chapter, reviewing it, and convincing me that this idea needed further development. Thank you to the people who reviewed this story after my computer, with the chapter below in its beginning stages, crashed and did to my files what Mikami does to criminals. At any rate, please enjoy the story.

Koala

Part One: Quillsh In Queensland

"I didn't have words back then, you know." He tipped his pale face towards the ceiling, the soft silver light from the moon and the fluorescent lights from nearby skyscrapers giving him an otherworldly look. The detective looked pensive.

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that," Light said carefully. It was a complicated game they were playing… one that involved Light not being tricked by a stupid joke about koalas. Light wondered if what they were doing counted as role-play.

Ryuuzaki turned his black eyes to the teen, and snuggled closer. "I did not know how to speak, Light. I had no words. So it will be hard to describe to you, because what I knew was not easily communicated. Feelings and emotions without names because I did not know names." He broke their eye contact to bury his nose into Light's neck.

Smiling, Light stroked his lover's black hair. "That makes sense, Ryuuzaki. Even so, I want you to explain your upbringing." Although Light knew that whatever Ryuuzaki told him would be false, and Ryuuzaki knew that Light knew this, it was a chance for them to pretend that they were sharing something more than their bodies. It was a chance for them to pretend they trusted each other.

"This story will take a long time to tell, and the investigation is important, you know," the detective told him, raising his head to peer at Light's face. Ryuuzaki seemed to be deciding something, so Light waited, turning his expression to one of boredom. To his triumph, Light saw a flicker of petulance cross Ryuuzaki's face, followed by a few, reluctant words. "I can tell you the first part tonight."

Light smirked, and propped himself up on his elbows. Ryuuzaki slid off his side and dragged most of the covers with him as he curled up into his usual crouch. Light moved some pillows behind him and leaned against the headboard.

"Tell me a story, Ryuuzaki," Light said in his whiniest voice, just to irk the detective.

There was a brief, clinking rattle of the chain that connected them as Light felt his left arm pulled wide, and then a pillow sailed into his face.

"Only if you don't interrupt," came the flat response. There was a pause, and then, "Once upon a time—"

Light snorted.

"I told you to not interrupt."

Light shook his head as if to say he hadn't said anything, which, technically, he hadn't.

The detective stared him straight in the eyes, as if daring him to make a comment. "Once upon a time…."

((0))

Simplicity.

He stayed low and crawled beneath the stalks of green. Then he saw one he liked. He sniffed it, and decided it was good.

He dug into the ground at its base, and after a moment, tugged it free. The wind whistled through the tall stalks, and he froze, straining his senses for signs of predators. No. Nothing. He was safe.

He dragged the stalk to the edge of the green field, crouching and using both feet and one hand to move over the ground. The other hand held the food. He froze again at the edge of the forest, checking for bad things, and then scampered to the nearest tree.

Once above the ground, sitting on a wide branch, he felt calm. Safe. He held the stalk in front of himself, and plucked the leaves off it methodically, starting at the top and working his way to the bottom, near the roots. The thin leaves fell to the forest floor slowly.

He put both hands on the tip of the stalk, and bent it until it broke, a small snap echoing under the foliage above him. He went still. Danger? Something noticed him? No. He was safe.

He stuck the broken end of the stalk into his mouth, and chewed on it, relishing the sweet taste. He sucked out the inside, and then broke the stalk again to get at another spot.

((0))

"You don't want to suck a stick right now, do you?" Light teased wickedly. He moved his hands to the elastic waistband of his pants suggestively, and was immediately swatted on the head by a grouchy Ryuuzaki.

"No interruptions."

((0))

When the light started to go away, he had finished. The base of the tree was littered with green leaves and broken, chewed-up bits of sugarcane. He climbed up higher into the canopy, and then used the crossed branches and leaning trunks to make his way across the forest.

He reached an old tree surrounded by younger, leafier trees. Home. He crawled down the trunk towards his favorite perch, where a wide branch intersected with the trunk and left a nice spot to lean against.

It was nearly completely dark, and until he woke, the only light would be the tiny spots in the wide, black sky. From his spot on the tree, he could see the sky only when the wind shivered through the leaves. Another koala clambered close to him, and he recognized her as a sister. He gave a little plaintive moan, and then curled up next to her to sleep.

But sleep would not come. It was full dark, and all of the other koalas were fast asleep. He peered up through the dark, sliding leaves, and loosened his little body from his hunched position. Careful as to not wake the rest of the family, he climbed up the trunk of the tree until he neared the top.

The shining dots in the sky were scattered about in the familiar summer pattern. He stared up, wondering if the lights were reflected in his wide, black eyes. The deep midnight blue of the sky seemed almost purple where clumps of light distorted the air and faded into a black towards the places devoid of bright lights. He stood, eyes lifted to the sky, face jutting just above the darkened canopy, mesmerized.

It was hard to breathe. His chest ached. He did not have the knowledge to understand that he was captivated by its beauty.

It was, he knew, what separated him from the others. He was simply not like them. He had never been like them, but recently it was more than the way his fingers curled or the lack of gray fur. Lately he had begun to know things. He caught the brief glare of a streaking light before it vanished into nothing.

Lately he had learned things that he knew the others did not understand. Certainly all koalas were capable of looking up at the sky at night.

But only he looked up in awe.

By the time the sky was faintly turning gray, he was slowly climbing down to the branch where he usually slept.

((0))

Days passed in their usual fashion, one after another and unrecognizable from the next. And although nothing had changed, or perhaps because nothing had changed, he began to feel a strange restlessness. Each dawn found him already awake, eyes tearing from watching the sun peer over the horizon, or moving through the treetops with eyes wary of snakes. When the midday heat descended, he was running through the stalks of sugarcane, or stepping tentatively into small streams and ponds. At dusk, he obediently returned to the tree, but he climbed high enough to poke his head out of the dense foliage and watch the stars. A question was forming inside him, one that required some kind of answer, but he knew nothing of questions, only of the existence of the present and the simple life of the koala. He wandered aimlessly throughout his mind and the world during the days and nights, searching without knowing what he was searching for, or even that he was searching. There were no words to capture his wayward ideas, no firm concepts to cage his vague abstractions.

He was growing more and more distant from his family, but none seemed to notice. It was not in their nature to notice the actions of others. Sometimes, while watching the glowing stars in the fading light, he would count their differences. The most obvious was how he looked: all pale and nearly devoid of fur, larger and longer-limbed.

He tilted his head until it thumped into a heavy branch next to him. No, the most obvious was how he thought. Even right now, all of the other koalas were sleeping after a slow day of clambering laboriously after eucalyptus leaves. And only he was awake, trying to remember when he had begun questioning whether he belonged here, and then trying to discover with his mental vocabulary of images and vague emotions what "questioning" and "belonging" actually meant.

He remembered the time he had been in the field of green stalks, when they were turning to a brownish-yellow, and he had heard something. His mind had screamed that he was about to be attacked, a predator was on the way, and he had run as fast as possible out of the field and into the safety of a nearby tree. But then, because he was possessed with qualities unlike any other koala, he had hidden, and watched.

There had been creatures out there, tall and covered in patches of brightly-colored and strangely-textured fur. They had made strange noises to each other, calling out with tongues and lips contorting around odd syllables. Some of their heads had been shaped strangely, but others had had hair, just like he did, on the tops of their heads. Their limbs had been shaped into the same hands and nearly the same feet as him. It had been strange that they had brown feet without toes, but it had seemed a tiny difference when he compared himself to the koalas.

He had felt the strangest feeling then, that only later he could call a yearning, to go out among them, to leave the tree behind. But he had been too wary, and an uncertain future had worried him. What about his family? What about food? He would not be deprived of his sugarcane, and with that thought had left the forest's edge, contenting himself later with mimicking the voices of the tall creatures when he was alone at the river, his sounds safely drowned out by the rushing of the water.

The sun had completely disappeared by the time he wound his way out of his mental wanderings and memory. The stars were twinkling, and he focused for a while on finding the ones that moved in slow, straight lines across the blue-black sky.

((0))

The heat of the day came across him as he waded into a stream, delighting in the feeling of the water swirling around his legs and the funny squish when his feet sank deeper into the mud than he expected. He splashed the top of the water with his palms, and then ran out of it, letting noise bubble up from his throat. He jumped into the stream, making as large a splash as possible as he slapped the water with his feet, and then ran out again.

A bird suddenly flew out of a tree, startled by something, and he froze, one foot in the water and the other out. He strained his ears and opened his eyes wide, keeping perfectly still. What was out there? Should he run? Should he go into the water, or back out?

His ears caught sound, something moving along the bank of the stream, and he bolted to a tree, throwing his arms and legs around it as he climbed up to a branch that would be safe from the crocodiles. He stayed close to the trunk, and peered around it so he could watch the creature that was approaching.

There were two of them, he realized with a start as they burst from around a leafy frond on the water's edge. And rather than reptiles, they were the same creatures he had seen so long ago, on the edges of the sugarcane field. Abruptly he felt a strange twisting in his stomach, and before he could help himself, an odd whimper escaped from his throat.

The pair stopped, and he immediately cut off the noise, afraid. What if they were predators, and were going to eat him?

The creatures babbled to each other, and the bigger one, with the deeper voice, probably a male, shook his head. The female behind him made a happy sound, then a let out a sudden, short yelp. She stretched out a pale arm, pointing to the riverbank, where muddy footprints were slowly fading.

In his tree, he shrank down to as small a size as possible. Were they going to follow his trail? Was he going to get eaten? He felt his heart pounding, beating wildly within his tiny chest. It was so loud that he was sure they were going to hear it, and would not have to rely on their sense of smell.

The creatures made their strange noises again, and then slowly began following the wet footprints leading to his tree. His eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. His tree seemed ridiculously solitary, so he climbed up higher, sticking to the back of the tree so they couldn't see him.

They reached the base of the tree, and then began walking in a circle around it. There was no help for him. They were going to find him. They looked just as capable as he was of climbing a tree, and he had no way of getting away, and he was frightened, and they were probably going to eat him, and his arms were trembling as he held onto the trunk of the tree, and—

There was a shout from below, and he knew he had been spotted. He opened his mouth and wailed, trying to climb higher into the tree, but the branches were too small and the tree was built wrong. He felt hot streaks of water leaking from his eyes and he cried louder, hoping that someone—not the koala-eaters—would hear him, and help him.

"Uuuaaaaaahhhhhhhggghhhh! Uuwwwaaaaaa!" He gasped in more air, choking on his own sobs as he buried his face into the bark. "Haaaaaaauuhhhhaaaaa!"

He wasn't sure how long it took for him to realize that they weren't coming up the tree. But it was certainly a long time before he cried himself out, and then, sniffling, looked down. The two creatures had moved off a short ways, spread something onto the dirt by the riverbank, and appeared to be eating.

But they were not eating him. In fact, they seemed to be completely uninterested in eating him. He released his grip a little on the tree, and climbed down a short ways, curiosity getting the best of him.

The male eyed him as he crawled out on a branch above them, and then quickly looked away. So. They were still watching him, but didn't want to appear so. He proceeded carefully, observing their meal.

None of their food looked like anything he had ever eaten. The creatures continued to make noises at each other, but quietly. He inspected them closely, and realized that perhaps their lack of toes kept them from climbing.

Both creatures were obviously the same type he had come across before, though they both seemed much more pale and at the same time more red than the ones he had encountered before. Instead of brightly-colored patches of fur, they had dull, sand-colored ones that did not extend beyond their elbows or their knees. He peered closer, and then realized that it was not fur at all, but some kind of shell. The creatures were more like turtles. Turtles did not eat koalas.

He watched them eat, crouch in his branch, chewing on a finger absently. Their teeth seemed to be no sharper than his, which meant they were probably not koala-eaters. He felt his heart thud strangely, coinciding with the bizarre desire to join the two turtle-creatures. He hesitated, and whined softly through his teeth.

Both creatures turned to look at him, scaring him back towards the trunk of the tree. They looked away quickly, and went back to their meal.

He stayed where he was, and pondered the situation as deeply as he could. He was afraid to go near them, but at the same time, he was suddenly afraid to leave them. He wanted to go to them, because, it seemed that, somehow… he was probably a turtle-creature too. He just didn't have a shell. Perhaps underneath their sandy shells, they looked just like him.

The moment he imagined himself with a second skin, his future was decided. He half-climbed and half-jumped down to the base of the tree, and then cautiously came forward, staying on all four legs for balance.

This time only one of the turtle-creatures turned to look at him, the female one. Her eyes were bright blue, and underneath the tan shell on her head was a knot of hair the same golden-brown as the sugarcane in winter. Her face was making the same shape his did when he was happy to see his reflection in the water. She opened her mouth, and instead of a snarl, or a hiss to keep him away, the gentle, cooing syllables of her voice seemed to draw him closer. She held out a hand, slowly, non-threateningly.

He drew closer, breathing coming in short, shallow inhalations and pulse ticking rapidly, until he could reach out and touch her hand. How it matched his own….

He sniffed her hand, keeping a few inches away, and then leaned back onto his haunches. He looked behind her, trying to match the weird smells with the things she had been putting in her hands.

Her voice caught his attention and coaxed him forward again, making him feel warm and wanted. He hesitated, and then crawled up next to her hand and uncertainly touched it with a single finger.

He drew back quickly, eyes watching hers for any expression. She didn't move. He glanced at the male, and then relaxed when he realized that neither of the turtle-people were moving. Neither were trying to catch him.

His breath came easier when he realized that they posed no threat to him. Perhaps, like him, they liked koalas. He moved on all fours to the edge of the flat material they had put on the ground, and poked at it. It didn't move either.

He looked at the two koala-friendly-turtle-people, and crinkled his face when he realized how closely they were watching him. The male's voice came out quietly, and he looked at the other koala-turtle, tilting his head to the side. The large male laughed softly, and then his hand disappeared into a pouch on his side.

Maybe this was not a male? Only mother-koalas had pouches….

He turned his gaze to the one he had assumed to be female, and then his stomach gurgled unhappily, coinciding with a twinge of hunger running through it. He decided that he wanted to try their food. He climbed onto their soft-flat thing, and towards the meal spread before them, deciding that if they did not want him to eat their food, they would not have let him come this close.

Both the koala-turtles made noises of surprise as he picked up the large, funny-smelling, white block. It had weird holes in it, and was oddly squishy but at the same time oddly firm. He sat down, knees tucked under his chin, and put the block to his mouth and bit it.

"Bllleeeeeccchhhhhggggg." Whatever that white thing was, it did not taste very good at all. But his stomach twisted and growled at him, so he dropped the bad-tasting block and picked up something else. It was orange and shaped like his little finger. He put it into his mouth, and was startled by the crunching noise when he bit through it. "Aahhaaa! Haaa!" He sprayed bits of the orange thing when he yelped, but that was okay because he was not very interested in eating the thing. There were more orange things, but they did not taste as good as he wanted. It was better than the white block, but…

By this time the koala-turtles were laughing quietly, so he decided to laugh too, spitting more crunched-up orange flakes into the air. It seemed like they liked what he was doing, so he picked up another thing, a shiny little thing that looked like something fun to eat. As he put it towards his mouth, the large male grabbed it from him.

He skittered away in sudden fear. He had done something wrong, and now the bigger male was going to hurt him. He backed towards the tree, but the koala-turtles didn't try to follow him. Instead, they held out more shiny food, and then carefully started peeling them, making nice noises with their mouths as they did so. The shiny part came off, revealing a small, brown piece.

He blinked. Then he understood. They were showing him which part was the eating part.

He scampered back over and plopped down between them, and plucked the brown piece out of the larger one's hand with two careful fingers.

The brown food hit his tongue and his eyes lit up. It was wonderful! It was like his sugarcane, but even better! He moved next to the pile of sparkly, shiny treats, and began pulling off their shells, putting the sweet morsels into his mouth and making happy, laughing noises. In a matter of moments, he had eaten them all.

He looked at the faces of the two koala-turtles, and whined at them while mashing the remains of the shells between his hand and the thing they were all sitting on. The female said something back in with her strange syllables, shaking her head and pushing out her lower lip. He looked back at the larger koala-turtle, who once again put a hand into his pouch, withdrawing it with a slightly different kind of shiny food.

He grabbed at it, climbing onto the koala-turtle's leg to get it faster. He sat in the koala-turtle's lap while he peeled the food and put it into his mouth. This one was chewy and red, but tasted very good. He reached into the pouch to get some more.

The koala-turtles made noises at each other while he sat and devoured the snacks. Each one was a different color, and each tasted slightly different. But all of them were very sweet, and therefore very reassuring to his palate and very good. After he had taken them all from the pouch and eaten them, he began poking at the koala-turtle, and found another pouch. He dug out its contents, but was unimpressed by the squarish and smooth black thing that folded open and shut. He noticed it had a pouch on it too, but inside the pouch was only very thin leafy-looking things. He took some out, and then put them back in. He dug through the koala-turtle's pouch again, and found a large black thing that was hard like a rock. On one side were several squishy pieces that made noises when he pushed on them. He giggled as he pushed them, delighted at the small tones that rang forth, until the koala-turtle gently took it from his grasp. He went on to search the koala-turtle for other interesting items.

After investigating the few other objects in the pouches, he moved on to the other koala-turtle, discovering that she also had pouches and they were filled with different stuff. There was a thin piece of wood with a squishy pink end, and something with very flat, very square leaves bound together by a shiny curl along one edge. She continued to make noises, and he suddenly stopped, listening, one hand still in the pouch on the side of her hip.

One koala-turtle spoke, and then the other made noises in return. He watched them, controlled by a strange impulse he didn't quite understand. He sensed something, some kind of system, a pattern, a ritual of sorts in the way they made noises to each other….

All of a sudden, he felt as if he had another pair of eyes, and that they were opening to show him a new world. Something inside him seemed to click into place, and he watched the male koala-turtle carefully as he produced the oddly shaped sounds. He turned to look up at the other koala-turtle as she answered, and then watched the first speaker again. The koala-turtles were communicating. There was a certain ring, a rising and falling of tone in their noises, which was a signal. The voices of the koala turtles rose slightly, curled in a strange way, and that meant the other koala-turtle was supposed to respond. This voice pattern was joined by a certain facial feature as well, a sort of crinkling of the forehead which he found to be quite amusing.

He waited until the female koala-turtle gave the proper intonation, and then he joined the conversation as best he knew how.

"Amana bubuu techeche euuuuuuullllll?" he said, looking at the male koala-turtle while imitating the facial expression and tilting his head slightly to one side.

For a moment, both of the koala-turtles were startled. They relaxed, but were quiet, and thus he knew he had done it wrong somehow. He looked back and forth between their faces, his eyes wide, feeling an unbidden flutter in his chest. Perhaps he wasn't listening carefully enough, and he needed to be better at imitating their voices. He looked down at his feet, and then removed his hand from the female's pouch and curled onto his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs. A small whine originated from his throat, but he kept his mouth shut, smothering it.

The arms of the koala-turtle wrapped around him gently, and rather than being frightened, he found himself liking the feeling. She took a breath, a deeper one than normal as her face moved closer to his bushy black hair, and he interpreted this to be a signal that she was going to speak. He closed his eyes so he could hear better.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of you," she whispered, the slight wind of her breath soothing against his little ear. He had no idea what the combinations of syllables meant or what she wished to convey to him, but he wanted to show her at least that he was trying.

He opened his mouth, and tried his best to get the words out right. "Dunnt wree. Weult kelab yoo." he said as quietly as possible, mimicking her individual syllables and breathy tone of voice.

"Yes," she said, tightening her grip on him. He stayed prone for a moment, relaxing in her arms, and then wriggled free as the other koala-turtle started making interesting noises. They still liked him, so it was okay. But he did not want to do it wrong again, so he listened carefully.

"We should get going…" the koala-turtle started, and continued making combinations of sounds, finishing up with, "…we put him?" He crawled into the male-koala-turtle's lap, and poked at his face with a finger.

"Weeputim?" he said, and then, just because he thought he was starting to like the feel of using sounds, he added, "Ueeell?" He pressed his finger into the koala-turtle's cheek and giggled. Laughter sounded behind him, and it was the female koala-turtle. He perceived that they were both feeling the same thing—the good sensation that makes koala-turtles laugh. He laughed some more, the sound burbling out of him as he watched her.

"I guess he likes you," she said, her voice punctuated by laughs.

"Eeelikesssuuuu," he repeated, laughing with her. She laughed harder, and this, he knew, was good. They were not being quiet anymore, but there was something more to it. It was difficult for him to understand exactly what it was; he had an instinctive feeling of wanting to be with them, of not wanting to be without them, of sensing something strong yet intangible (and therefore impossible to express, even to himself) between them.

"Alright then," the male said, and then poked him on the shoulder. He made a sudden squeak, eliciting a laugh from both his new companions, and decided to squeak again. The older koala-turtle looked him directly in the eyes, and he found that he couldn't look away. This, too, was a form of communication. He became motionless, all of his attention focused on the older koala-turtle. He had never been looked at in quite this way before by a koala. "Wammy," the koala-turtle said while putting a hand to his chest. "Wammy," he said again, pairing the word with the movement.

"Wammmeee!" he cried, slapping his palm to his own chest in perfect, if overly enthusiastic, mimicry. They liked it when he imitated them, and he liked it too because it was fun and he liked it when they liked it.

The older koala-turtle moved his head from side to side as if trying to convey a specific meaning with the gesture, and then repeated the word, grabbing the younger one's hand and moving it to the proper location. He repeated it again, patting his chest with the tiny, pale palm.

For a moment, he was caught up in the new game, this one slightly more complicated than the last. He was supposed to not simply mimic, but….

It hit him quite suddenly, leaving him quite unable to draw a breath for a moment. If he had opened a pair of metaphorical eyes earlier, then this was the full light of dawn breaking over him so that even when his eyelids closed over his bright, gray eyes, he still saw the overwhelming orange of the sun. He suddenly made a connection that he was certain no other koala had ever made, leapt into this strange new world belonging to the koala-turtles, because he understood that this was, abruptly, not a game. And that this…thing… the koala-turtle had presented to him was a concept and a relationship that would become the new focus of his world. This particular set of sounds, this word, this meant the koala-turtle, this represented him, this was… a name. "Wammy." He poked Wammy in the cheek. "Wammy."

Once this was accepted, he felt freer. He was lighter somehow, and filled with a strange desire to know. He turned to look at the other koala-turtle. She was not-Wammy. "Ueelll?" he asked, hoping she would give him a response.

"Katrin," she said, putting her hand to her chest. "Kat…rin," she repeated slowly.

"Kaat…rin. Katrin." He smiled, and then climbed out of Wammy's lap and picked up the shells of the sweet things he had devoured earlier. "Ull?"

The look that was exchanged between the two koala-turtles did not escape him unnoticed, though he did not know what it meant. "Candy," said Katrin.

"Candee." He turned to Wammy, and clambered into his lap again, pushing his face right in front of the older koala-turtle. "Wammy?"

"Er, I don't have any more candy," Wammy said, patting the head of black hair.

He didn't understand, and now that he knew he was supposed to, it irritated him. "Ueell," he said angrily, before remembering proper speaking-tone. "Ehhll?"

"No candy," Wammy said, moving his head from side to side as he had done earlier.

"No candy?" came the query. "No? Ull?" He wanted to know what "no" signified.

"He's a little parrot," Katrin said softly, and he turned to look at her as she laughed a little.

"Heezalittulparrut?" he asked, confused by so many syllables. He had the impression they were not speaking to him anymore, and this was upsetting.

"Let's get back to the house," Wammy said, looking only at Katrin. They were not including him! And he felt like he wanted to yell or cry, maybe at the same time.

"Wammy!" he yelled suddenly, and then threw his arms around the koala-turtle as if he were a tree. He buried his face in the soft shell covering Wammy's chest and curled his fingers into it around Wammy's sides.

"I don't think he likes being ignored," Katrin said quietly, her tone bringing to his mind images of the nights he spent watching the stars while the other koalas slept. But the tone and complicated pattern of syllables meant that her voice was directed at Wammy.

"We're not ignoring him," Wammy's deep voice rumbled against his forehead. "How are we ignoring him?"

"Ell." He responded to the question intonation of Wammy's voice, hoping that they would talk to him again.

Both koala-turtles were silent, but he heard the shuffling sound of movement from behind him where Katrin was seated. He turned his face only, and looked over at Katrin as she moved closer and then pressed a hand to him.

"El?" she asked, her voice as soothing as it had been when she had first coaxed him from the safety of the forest.

He turned to her, intent on complaining and conveying his wish to be included in the conversation. "Wammy," he started resolutely, indicating the koala-turtle with a slight thump of his head. He then directed his eyes directly at Katrin. "Katrin." Then, with a sudden loss for words (though really that was to be expected), he relinquished his grip on Wammy so he could press a hand firmly to his own chest. "Uell?" he asked, feeling anxious as he watched her face and waited for an answer.

She did not hesitate. She place her own hand on him, and gave him the first thing that ever belonged only to him. "El."

((0))

Light was quiet, wondering what the detective meant by giving him a story that involved L's name. The captive teen knew quite well that Ryuuzaki considered him his first and foremost Kira suspect, despite all the trouble Light had gone through to prove his innocence. Did the story mean that Ryuuzaki was finally giving up his ridiculous theory that Light was or had ever been Kira? He knew that, in the end, the story and their late-night recreations had nothing to do with Kira, that it was all made-up and had no importance other than what their emotions and imaginations gave it. Ryuuzaki was never giving out his real name, not that Light wanted it, and certainly not in the context of such a bizarre and unbelievable story.

But still… the temptation was there. To ask Ryuuzaki if L was his real name. To know, once and for all, the most important secret of the world's greatest detective. But at the same time, he knew that Ryuuzaki had paused in the telling of the story, that even now he was waiting, waiting for Light to ask that very question, since he had so very delicately tempted him with the story.

But Light was not Kira. He would never shame himself by asking Ryuuzaki for a name. If Ryuuzaki wished to be called Ryuuzaki, even by someone he was as intimate with as Light, even during their most intimate moments, then that was Ryuuzaki's desire. Personally, Light would find it uncomfortable if Ryuuzaki ever whispered a name other than "Light" when they were together, but the detective was obviously odd, and obviously enjoyed very kinky things such as handcuffs and disturbing connections with animals….

"Aren't you going to continue the story?" Light asked, desperate to rein in his teenage, testosterone-driven mind.

The detective shook his fluffy head of hair slowly, the bright reflections of light in his eyes crossing from one side of his pupils to the other and back. "That is enough for tonight. You look tired, Light."

Light insisted that this was certainly not the case. He did so by pulling the chain linking them together, capturing Ryuuzaki's hand, and drawing the man closer. Though instead of snuggling up next to Light's side, the man who had more in common with koalas than human beings climbed directly on top of Light and proceeded to wrap his limbs around Light as if he were a tree.

Light sucked in a deep breath, with effort. The bulk of Ryuuzaki's weight, although it wasn't much for a grown man, was centered on his lungs. "Ryuuzaki," he coughed.

Ryuuzaki's face took on a rather mischievous glint, one that Light had quickly learned since the fateful day he had been introduced to Larrikin. "What is this, Light? Already panting and I have barely touched you." His statement was coupled with a droll lilt to his usual monotone, indicating that Ryuuzaki was merely amused at his "observation" that Light was helpless under the detective's slightest touch, as well as lacking physical stamina.

Knowing that "you're on my lungs" was a pathetic excuse in Ryuuzaki's arrogant eyes, Light countered by tightening his own arms around the detective and rolling them both across the bed, throwing the sheets into confusion and resulting in a gratifying reversal of positions. Light stared down at the detective's surprised face, smirking as the man attempted to draw a deeper breath and found it quite difficult indeed.

"Quaint," Ryuuzaki gasped, his voice dripping a sarcastic venom.

"Very," agreed Light, dipping his head towards the detective and gracing him with a quick kiss. Ryuuzaki's lips parted gently and his chest heaved suddenly, giving the teenager the impression that the detective suddenly needed him like he needed air. This metaphor sat quite well with Light, who leaned down to the man underneath him again, pressing their bodies together so he could trail a gentle stream of kisses across the man's jaw and down his throat.

Ryuuzaki responded by lurching his head forward and biting Light's ear.

"Ow!" Light cried, pulling back suddenly. He focused dangerous eyes on his lover, finding a petulantly triumphant expression sprawled across the detective's face. "That hurt!" he accused, pulling an arm out from under Ryuuzaki to rub at his injured ear. Truly, sometimes the detective was more animal than man.

"You were suffocating me," came the reply. Light was certain that even Watari would be hard-pressed to hear the subtle smirk in Ryuuzaki's voice, and was also certain that Ryuuzaki knew this and knew that his captive lover would catch it instantly. Light gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and decided that this time, he would take advantage of Ryuuzaki's habit of not looking away at precisely the moment Light wanted to meet his eyes.

"No, this would be suffocating you," Light said malevolently, snatching pillow and crushing it onto the ill-tempered Ryuuzaki's face. He held it there for a few moments while the detective thrashed about uselessly underneath him, and then released it when he realized what kind of reaction Ryuuzaki's thrashing was producing in him.

Undoubtedly Ryuuzaki had noticed as well, because when the pillow was removed, the detective raised his eyebrows. "Now I'm certain that you are Kira, because attempting to kill me obviously turns you on."

Light simply gaped at the audacity of the statement. That Ryuuzaki would bring in references to Kira….

"That's okay," Ryuuzaki continued, his eyes darkening and his voice lowering very slightly to become the detective's version of a growl, "because I am L, the world's greatest detective, and, in the end, I will be on top." With the last word, Ryuuzaki thrust Light violently around, switching their positions so that his words rang true and the sheets were twisted around them so tightly that it was nearly impossible for either to move.

Light cursed the luck that seemed to follow Ryuuzaki everywhere and desert Light at every turn as he found his arms pinned securely to his sides and Ryuuzaki's weight bearing down on him. Before he could form a counterattack, Ryuuzaki's lips descended on his neck, causing his warm, sweet breath to pool along the mattress aside hot, wet kisses. Light tried to struggle, to get free and give the detective a taste of his own medicine, but found that he could only move if he used his entire body to do so, which only elicited moans from both of them and a certain dizziness in Light's brain. Ryuuzaki continued pressing their hips together, developing a rhythm in time with their breathing and Light's soft, wordless cries. In hardly any time at all, Light had found himself truly panting for breath and utterly helpless underneath the world's greatest detective. It irritated him as much as it elated him.

"Ryuu… zaki…" he gasped out as his lover slid a hand underneath the elastic of his pants. "I can't… move…." Light felt a shiver run through him as Ryuuzaki's hand began toying with the tie at the front of his pants, felt a tremble sweep through his body as Ryuuzaki began delicately untying it... "Let my arms free!" Light yelled suddenly, jerking as Ryuuzaki pressed his hand further southward firmly.

"Only if you don't interrupt."

((0))

Thanks for reading, and please review! Comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome. Even if you're only question is what ((0)) is supposed to represent, but fails at doing so...

Please stay tuned for the next chapter!

-Tobi Tortue