In His Veins (Light x L)

Part 5

Matsuda hadn't left L alone, in fact he had still been leaning over the human man when Light entered the library a few hours later.
"You were delayed" L spoke as he continued to read the text in front of him, not casting a glance towards either vampire.
"Misa wanted to walk in the gardens and then she wanted to listen to music and then she decided she was hungry-"
Light froze at his own words, hungry. Misa had been hungry and of course they all knew what vampires considered food.
"Do not fear upsetting me, Light. I understand how the food chain works"
L was completely undisturbed by the mention of a vampire's meal, it didn't seem to affect the man at all knowing that his own kind were being used as food.
"What does bother me is that my kind are kept in cages instead of being hunted as nature intended, although it would be hypocritical for the human race to claim cruelty for such acts"
"You can't call him by his first name!" Matsuda let out in horror. Calling a prince by his first name to his face? Acting so informally to him?
"Shut up, Matsuda" Light groaned.
"Shutting up" the young vampire pouted.
Light moved to lean over the human, examining what he was reading, he was leaning close enough to see but not enough to touch.
Matsuda was fascinated by the actions of the two, he had never expected a prince to act so familiarly with a human slave and for the human to act in such a disrespectful way towards the prince.
"Actually I want to talk!" Matsuda let out, raising his voice. His voice shook but if it was okay for the human to do it then it should be fine for him, right?
"Shut up, Matsuda" came the human's voice and the young vampire slumped his shoulders in defeat, he wasn't going to win this one.

Light had eventually managed to dismiss Matsuda who had been hiding in the library after apparently being scolded by one of the older vampires.
Matsuda was part of the royal guard, an incredibly incompetent member it seemed and L couldn't help wondering as to how such a man had made it into the service in the first place.
He felt no reason to ask though as the information would be of no use to him anyway.
"What's this one?" Light asked, lifting one of the books from the disastrous mounting of books L had created beside him.
"A crime documentation of Jack the Ripper" L responded, not looking up from his desk. Light wanted to study, didn't he? Then why did he continue to attempt a conversation?
"The unsolved murder cases, huh?" Light let out, obviously taking some personal interest in the idea of human serial killers. Did vampires enjoy the idea that humans were also capable of killing? Did they feel as if it made vampires more justified in their actions since humans killed each other anyway? Or was it simply a fascination?
"The perpetrator was the royal physician" L let out.
"Then you solved the case? Can you prove it?" Light's voice had gotten a little louder here, from what L understood he believed that meant Light was excited by this information.
"I can't prove it, all people who were involved are long dead and without access to a time machine it'd be impossible to officially close the case"
"Then you don't know who did it?"
"I wouldn't have said it was the physician if I wasn't at least 89% certain"
Light laughed at L's response, of course the man honestly believed he was a genius. Well, according to the tests and the fact he was still alive he likely was but no one, not even a vampire, could truly be that sure of himself.
"I had the theory it was a woman"
"A common theory," L responded. "But it doesn't hold much merit, where there were women with motive there were not many women with access to surgical expertise which the Ripper displayed at this time" L explained.
L then let out a sigh and motioned for Light to sit beside him "Let's us not waste time with needless conversation, I find it tiring"
Light nodded, L clearly had no intention of listening to much of what Light had to say anyway.

The session went fairly smoothly, Light was able to pick up on a lot more of the topics with L as his study companion than he was with a vampire tutor.
L was strict in a way, he wouldn't let Light move the conversation away from their original topic and the human was sharply focussed on the books and could even quote the pages, word for word, when the text was completed.
Only on occasion had Light found himself distracted.
He couldn't help but notice how L's dark eyes seemed to light up at the mention of certain topics. Those cold eyes became warm for a moment, growing even wider than they already were, which Light hadn't thought possible.
L had some strange habits, he would often have his thumb to his lip but when he was in deep thought he would nibble at the thumb. He would also tilt his head ever so slightly, his greasy mop of black hair gently swaying with the movements of his head.
Light found himself focussing more on the little movements of L's head and the twitching of his eyes than he did on the studying until L broke him out of his thoughts.
"You've been staring" L would say in that ever smooth and emotionless tone, for a human he was incredibly difficult to read.
"I'm trying to figure you out"
"It'd be more productive to figure out the text you're reading" and with that L would end the conversation and continue reading one of the many texts he scanned through.