Mysteries abound... ((Open RP, L, Great Hall))

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L had seen many things in his time here at Hogwarts. Many things he was sure he'd never see...some things he'd like to unsee.

He'd seen Kusuriyuri walking with an injury on his back. That had startled him. He almost stopped him but figured the peddler was going to get attention. He wondered if he should check in on him since it'd been a couple of days. He hadn't seen Kusuriyuri laying around in the halls (not that he'd really checked or anything, but he had wandered the halls...not making sure. He didn't like the peddler, but A respected him, so...).

He'd seen Mello stomping around, looking pissed at the world, but that was nothing new.

He went to the Great Hall, ordering a cheesecake with strawberries, and thought, crouching on one of the benches.

Maybe he should owl Near? Their relationship, while uneasy, was at least almost comfortable in it's familiarity. Or maybe he should owl Light? They were supposed to play tennis, not that it was a good time of year to play, but he had heard of the Room of Requirement. Maybe he should owl Mello, just for the intellectual stimulation of arguing with the blond? Maybe he should owl A and see about watching cartoons or some simple pleasure?

Or, he could enjoy his cheesecake.

Comments

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A had, as Kurama had suggested, taken to carrying seeds of various thorny plants. He was on his way to the Room of Requirement to practice with them when he spotted L, and realized he hadn't spoken to him yet about this new menace.

Quietly, he sat near him on the bench, not wishing to be a disturbance.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L passed over a plate of cheesecake. "Here, darling." No, why would he ask if A wanted it? And, since it wasn't unusual for A just to sit next to him without saying anything, he said, "I was thinking about you."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"You, you were?" A's smile was only a little hesitant, despite his anxiety. "It is nice to be thought of. Well, nice for you to think of me, or another friend to think of me." He shivered a little; there was someone he didn't want thinking of him.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L felt the shiver through the bench (why on earth would he wear shoes if he didn't have to?). "Yes," he said, ignoring it for now, to see if A would bring it up. "I was thinking it'd been a while since we spent time together."

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

His smile grew more confident. "I like it, like spending time with you. Soon it will be spring, and I will need to spend a lot of time in the garden. Will you keep me company while I work? I will grow sweet fruits," he teased gently.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L turned and smiled at A. "I'd like that," he said. "You know just how to tempt me," he teased back.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I like to make good things to eat, both growing them and cooking them. In a few months the cherries will bloom, and then have fruit. And there will be peaches, and pears, and blackberries, and other good things."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L pressed his thumb to the corner of his mouth. "And strawberries," he said with a grin.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"Of course strawberries," A agreed. "The first plant I had was the strawberry plant you gave me. It made it easy to cook for the 'battle', because I already had thought of things to make with strawberries."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

"Really?" L asked. "For River? Is she fond of them?" he teased.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A blushed and laughed softly. "I am sure she does like them, but you know that is not why. And now I can look for recipes to make with her."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L's smile turned soft. A was showing a lot of progress. "I am rather dreadful in the kitchen, aren't I?" he said. He much preferred to eat, and the long periods of standing didn't appeal to him.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"I forgive you," A said with a giggle. "It is fun to surprise you with a cake, or cookies. So that is just as good."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L pressed his hand to his chest. "Ah! I'm so relieved! My life has meaning again!"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"There will be treats always to give your life meaning. And even if you never ate a sweet thing again, you are very meaningful."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L's face was a perfect mask of shock. "Take that back!" he stammered. "N...never eat sweets again!"

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

A laughed again, grinning. "You would still be very important. But I will make sure you always have sweets to eat."

[forlornexultant.livejournal.com]

The Great Hall was unlike anything I had known. Not at the House Absolute, nor at the country houses where I had sojourned, nor yet on Tzadkiel's ship had I feasted in such a rustic open space, with its long tables like those of a monial's refectory.

It was a space pleasantly devoid of intrigue, if also innocent of the kinds of adornment to which I had once been accustomed. Or so I thought; but then, I had not yet become attuned to the currents of intrigue that did flow through this castle.

There was an endless supply of food, if one cared for it, and this was a luxury of which I intended to avail myself. A slight slender young optimate (no, not an optimate; I reminded myself, these people were also innocent of rank) was consuming with pleasure a delicious-looking soft cake. "What is that?" I asked him, curious.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L relaxed again, smiling at A, his thumb pressed to the corner of his mouth. "Okay, then." he said. "And, how have you been?" he asked.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

L looked up. "Cheesecake, with strawberries," he said, completely surprised that someone wouldn't know something so important. "Have you not had it?" he asked, though the answer was obvious.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

That brought all of A's fear and worry crashing down, and he shivered again and wrapped his arms around himself. "Oh, oh, there's, there is, there's a new applicant, and he..."

[forlornexultant.livejournal.com]

I shook my head. "Strawberries I know. Cheesecake I do not. Is it almost entirely cheese?" Its texture, as he forked it, suggested it had been mixed with some binding and mollifying agent; not a simple round of cheese, but a melange. "I have learned, from an armored man, about cheeseburgers." I still did not know that man's name. "Now I learn of cheesecake ... this world is astonishingly inventive with its cheeses."

I gazed at the cheesecake, my appetite no doubt discernible.

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

"Darling?" L said, concern forefront in his mind. He wrapped his arm around A. "I'm sorry, darling. I didn't mean to upset you. Tell me, if you want, or don't if you don't."

[pre-l.livejournal.com]

"It is made from a soft cheese called cream cheese that has been blended with powdered sugar, vanilla and a few other things and then placed on a graham cracker crust." He summoned over a house elf and asked for another cake. He's not terribly big on sharing. "It is a very different kind of cheese from cheeseburger cheese." He waved with his fork at the seat across from him.

[i-am-an-hero.livejournal.com]

"You didn't, oh, you didn't..." A looked scandalized at the idea that it might have been L who'd upset him. "It, Kurama said, said his name is Karasu. He, oh, oh, I think he wants to hurt me." Another shiver. "He touched my face. Mello was there."