Flash Fictions *Multiple Fandoms*

Midnight (Death Note) *L/OC*

Fandom: Death Note.
Pairing: L. Lawliet/OC (Gee Shidou).
Side story to "I Know, You Know".

I'd only gone to fetch a drink, but I could distinctly hear typing coming from the main room and I stopped. Surely, surely he couldn't still be up working... But nope, there he was. Still keying away determinedly. Who even knew what he was typing? We didn't have all that much evidence on Kira to go on.

"You really should take a break, y'know," I said, as I moved up behind the armchair that he was sitting in. I still didn't know how he could crouch like that and balance the laptop so expertly on top of his knees. I'd have probably fallen over and broken the laptop by now.

"I'd much rather use the time to work," L replied in his usual toneless fashion, his fingers never slowing.

Of course he would. I crossed my arms as I leant over the back of the chair, leaning against his shoulders and resting my chin on top of one arm. He still didn't stop typing. I never would have gotten away with doing things like this a few years ago, but time had made him a little more cooperative. I'd found that asking was the best policy. If you didn't try, you didn't get.

"Is this alright?" I asked obligingly.

"It's fine," he said in the same tone.

I watched through wisps of his dark hair as the little time display in the corner of the laptop screen flicked over to all zeroes. Midnight wouldn't be classed as particularly late by most people's standards and I normally wouldn't have been hassling him about it, had he not already been working for the last thirty-six consecutive hours without stopping. Still, the keys continued their metronome. Tap, tap, tap.

"You know I'm just going to keep bugging you until you stop, don't you?" I told him.

"You can try all you like."

"You guys really have the strangest relationship..."

I hadn't realised Matsuda had followed me into the room, but I'd gotten better at not jumping at little things. I could see him now just out of the corner of my eye line. "Tell me about it," I agreed instinctively, the words falling out of my mouth before I could stop them.

L did stop typing then, his body tensing up somewhat. I immediately regretted it. We had a pretty good thing going here - way better than I'd ever expected I could have with him. I just needed to stop admitting that I still wanted more. He either hadn't realised that or he pretended not to, unwilling to give me anything else. I found myself freezing up too, now with not even the tapping of the keyboard to focus on.

Matsuda just laughed, breaking the tension somewhat, and moved back out of my peripheral vision again. My eyes flicked back to the laptop as the time changed to one minute past midnight. L started typing again without another word, like he was working at the same pace of the clock. I stayed where I was until five minutes past, carefully, unconsciously matching my breathing rate to his, before I gave in and straightened up.

"Just don't overdo yourself," I said into his hair, as I moved away.

Like so many times before, L didn't respond. I repressed a sigh as I decided to just head to bed myself. Some things never changed.