Peaceful, it was a good sensation. Good but, unfortunately, uncommon to the detective and he found himself wishing for there to be more of this sensation in his life. He wished that he could find such serenity more often, but alas, it only came to him at times like this, laying on the spring grass of the cherry tree hill at the orphanage, his head resting on his lover's thigh as he read a book while L relaxed in his company. No words were needed to be enjoying the other's company as they sat there on that hill, resting in their down time from work and studies.
L smiled and opened his eyes, glancing up at Beyond and the cherry blossoms canopy that were swaying gently in the soft, cool afternoon breeze. His lover didn't seem to notice his gaze, simply continuing to scan his eyes across the page before turning to the next one, focus not wavering from the text across the page. L smiled fondly and read the title that was scripted across the blank, hardback, olive green cover of the book in his lover's hands, white letters reading "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland." He gave a soft laugh at this, knowing that Beyond had a bit of a thing for the more childish side of fiction, able to put the Akuzakin Chacha manga up as his favorite book series in a split second, hesitation absent from his mind. In L's opinion, it was a rather childish tale. He didn't dislike it but he found it less than entertaining, reading about a girl that traipses about in a phantasmal dreamland that was full of odd animals operating on a system of chaotic order while said animals ask her to quote poems and stories that she cannot properly quote.
It was a childish tale that L knew Beyond had labelled his favorite story from the "great literary works" from the famous authors that got a reputation for being geniuses when it came to the trade of piecing together words to tell fantastic stories that will last for as long as the parchment they are printed upon will survive. Then again, it made sense in a way that Beyond was attracted to the tale. When L reasoned, he found it logical that his lover was pleased by a tale of a world where only the mad can go; he was mad in a sense himself. He was sane, but he wasn't a striking example of sanity. He's probably fancy himself mad but with his sanity still intact.
"How many times have you read that, B?" L inquired up at the younger of the two, pulling him from his little daze that was induced by the tale of Wonderland. He smiled sheepishly and asked him to repeat his question, not having heard the entire thing properly, having been so lost in the book. The crimson eyed teen hadn't even bothered shutting it, simply holding it open on top of the thigh that L's head wasn't on, pinkie and thumb keeping the pages displayed to his view, a full page of words on the left page (labeled 98) and a large image of a body-less cat that was grinning as a king and queen argued with a man wearing cards for clothes (labelled 99) with a small paragraph of words below it.
"How many times have I read it?" The younger echoed his lover's inquiry in the form of a murmur as he bit his lip and thought, unable to remember an exact number of times. "I honestly couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, babe. It's my favorite book, of course I've read it enough times to have lost count long ago." L simply rolled his eyes and laid on his side, getting more comfortable before continuing to chat with his companion.
"Where's Near, he tends to follow you around a lot, doesn't he?" His question was just one that occurred to him randomly when he remembered that they were alone on this hill. Usually when he'd get some down time, he'd find Beyond and shoo off Near so the pair could spend some time alone, but Near hadn't been with B today. It was rather odd.
"He's around here somewhere, but I haven't the slightest clue as to where he is at this particular moment," he replied back, not seeming to be very concerned by the absence of the young boy. Near had taken to Beyond's shadow and the raven haired man seemed to enjoy the boy's presence, most of the time at least. Beyond has... trouble... with being around others since his past didn't really leave him being inclined to trusting others or even wanting to be around them, but for some reason, he rather seemed to enjoy having Near around. When L thought on it long enough, he usually came to the conclusion that it was Near's young age that made Beyond not worried about being around him; most eighteen year olds wouldn't worry about being near a six year old boy that seemed to actually like them. A and C both agreed that Beyond probably enjoyed the idea that the boy liked him; Near was quiet, patient, and calm, traits that are rather easy on the nerves, which helped make Beyond less likely to shoo him away at every chance.
"So, then it's just you and me, then? I rather like that idea. This... This is nice. I could get used to these kind of days. Too bad that I have to work so much.. down time is becoming scarce as of late," L thought aloud and B smiled down at him. The younger leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to L's kips before leaning back against the trunk of the beautifully blossoming cherry tree, feeling the gentle breeze and soothing rays of sunlight.
"I know what you mean, babe. What I wouldn't give to spend the rest of my life sitting right here with you and a book," Beyond breathed out and L gave an amused breath and shut his eyes, enjoying the peace of the moment and beautiful day. It didn't take Beyond to start reading again as L laid there with him.
