It Was One Hundred Degrees As We Sat Beneath A Willow Tree

[originalprodigy]

Characters: L and Kenta
When: August 6, evening
Where: Juke's house
Rating: PG, to be safe? Can't think of anything that could happen. :p
Summary: Annoyed and maybe-a-little-worried, L told Kenta that he should go shopping to keep the naive young man from talking too much to Sasori. He also gave Kenta a long list of very specific types of junk food

Comments

[originalprodigy]

"You're welcome, of course," L said abruptly, not picking up on Kenta's uncertain response to his bizarre opening statement. In his mind, it had been a fully successful exchange. He'd said something, Kenta had said something back, and Kenta was still here, so things were going unusually well by L's standards.

L leaned forward slightly, somewhat resembling a vulture with hunched shoulders and a jutting, forward-postured neck that looked almost painful. Unlike Kenta, he had no problem dwelling on appearance. Though Kenta hardly looked like a Japanese idol, the likes of Misa Amane or Hideki Ryuuga, he was good-looking enough in an innocuous sort of way. He had a soft face and an expressive face, and a mouth that probably pouted and smiled easily. However, L's nature was such that his own needs were often foremost on his mind, and his impossibly round, staring eyes were riveted to the bag draped over one of Kenta's (surprisingly broad) shoulders.

"Yes, it's nice. What did you find?" he asked, his oddly soothing monotone lifting slightly to indicate an inquiry. The intonation, natural for most people, actually sounded forced.

[papipupepon]

Kenta valiently fought against a sudden, fierce desire to turn right back around and run all the way back to the tree. He was pretty sure he'd seen portrayals of the grim reaper that looked like that.

Instead, he pushed gently past Ryuzaki - secure in the idea that the man wasn't going to think to invite him in anytime soon - and set the sack on a nearby table, opening it. He began pulling the items out one at a time, all the while providing Ryuzaki with a running narative.

"The sugar cubes were easy enough, and the donuts are a bit stale but, really, how can you tell with donuts anyway? Skittles - tropical with some old American cartoon on the bag - strawberry pocky... they were all out of chocolate pocky, but then, that's always the first thing to run out anyway; I managed to track down a few chocolate Yan Yan if that's comparable. Marshmellows, I hope you don't mind that they're pink and white mixed - I don't even know what Petit Fours are, so I had no idea where to look for them and any cake that may have existed in this world are long gone now. I got the coffee, I hope you're not particular on brands, I just grabbed the one on a shelf low enough that I didn't have to climb, raw hazlenuts, and cherry licorice, which about as resilient as cockroaches, so those are probably okay..."

He trailed off for a moment and looked over his shoulder to Ryuzaki. "Strawberries are an obvious problem. I could ask around about seeds, but for an immidiate solution, the only real option is strawberry flavored things, and those just never taste as good. But!" He pulled out a shiny red fruit, holding it out to the other man, smiling. "Apples!"

[originalprodigy]

L's insubstantial, lanky frame yielded easily to being pushed past, even though he didn't actually step out of the way to make Kenta's entry easier. He followed after the shorter man, studying his gait, trailing him like a very curious shadow. He watched, chewing his finger thoughtfully, his eyes growing increasingly wider as Kenta actually produced the things he'd requested. His face lit up in a smile that was almost as unnerving as his typical ravenous stare. It was one thing for someone like Watari to procure food for his charge, but for a young man L had essentially just met to go through such trouble to get the details of unreasonably finicky requests as accurate as possible... well, that was special. That was deserving of gratitude and notice. Kenta passed the test.

Now to demonstrate that gratitude. Preferably in a manly, buddy-buddy way to show Kenta that he truly did consider him a pal. Still behind Kenta, L slapped him on the back. Much harder than was typical. In fact, it probably hurt; L's palm definitely stung.

[papipupepon]

"What the fu--" Kenta slammed forward across the table from the weight of the slap, stomach jamming into the sharp edge and expelling his breath forcefully from his lungs, head knocking into the wall. His vision swam.

Some days, Kenta was lucky if he breached 100 pounds.

Hands braced against the table, Kenta whirled around to stare incredulously at Ryuzaki, gasping. "If you don't like apples, just say so, you don't need to resort to violence, Ryuzaki-san."

[originalprodigy]

L blinked. That was weird. What happened to the hallmark male camaraderie a friendly slap on the back was supposed to evoke? Shuffling nervously from foot to foot, he chewed his thumb to oblivion and watched Kenta furtively.

"Violence...? No... no, I like apples," he said, looking profoundly confused. "Please don't antagonize me, I thought we were friends..."

[papipupepon]

Kenta blinked away the black spots from his vision. Huh. Black spots, like Haseo had said. Weird. "Antagonize?" Kenta repeated weakly. "O-of course we're friends Ryuzaki-san! I said as much didn't I??"

"They're good apples." He assured, holding one up to the light. "Picked them from my - uhm, well - the tree." Regarding Ryuzaki's hunched, frightened posture, the way he's mauling his thumb and shifting from foot to foot like he's on a boat at sea, Kenta tried to smile through the stabbing pain in his gut. "Is there some sort of stove around here? We've got the sugar, we could caramalize these."

Stubbornly, he straightened up, and even took a step forward, saying, "It's fine Ryuzaki-san, I'm not angry. Just... don't do that slapping thing anymore. Okay? I'm not built for it. And to be honest, neither are you."

[originalprodigy]

It seemed to occur to L, for the very first time, that he might have unintentionally injured Kenta. He didn't often have epiphanies like these, in fact, he was often accused of "lacking empathy", or would be, if he knew enough people. Instead of maintaining the protective, arm's length distance he had so far, he immediately invaded Kenta's personal space, pressing in closely and hovering as if worried that Kenta would get hurt again very soon. L tended to overcompensate, on the rare occasion that he realized the error of his ways. Granted, sometimes it was difficult to tell what he was overcompensating for...

"Juke has a stove," L was quick to reply, aware that they were living in the part of the city with electricity. Using his hip and elbow (he seemed reluctant to touch what he didn't have to with his hands), he started to nudge Kenta toward the kitchen. "I will remember that you do not like to be slapped on the back," he promised somberly. "Now that you mention it, you are unusually petite, even for a Japanese man."

[papipupepon]

"Thank you." Kenta said, bowing his head slightly as, crowded back against the table and feeling the press of Ryuzaki's chest against his own, he didn't have much more room to operate in. Being towered over like that was a bit daunting, but hardly a new experience for Kenta, so he persevered.

Amusedly, he allowed Ryuzaki to herd him toward another room, presumably the kitchen, making sure to swipe up the apples and a cute little pink box of sugar cubes from the table.

He laughed. "I did said I was built like my mother, didn't I? Sakura was always firmer, bulkier, like our dad. She used to sit on me to get me to do what she wanted."

[originalprodigy]

L was sure not to herd Kenta too quickly, allowing ample time for him to snatch up the things they needed to make caramelized apples. It was funny to see the two of them; Kenta standing upright and clearly amused despite the awkwardness, and L, oblivious to the awkwardness, bobbing along purposefully.

The kitchen, compared to Juke's lab, was almost disappointingly normal. The robotic butler wasn't around... L wondered if it was assisting Juke, since the man had seemed out of sorts lately where his arm was concerned. Not that any worry L had for the man could be called truly genuine; though he'd supposedly known the man before, meeting him had been like meeting him for the first time. For all intents and purposes, they had been strangers when L had arrived here.

L wanted to say something similar, regarding his spidery, long-limbed build and which of his parents were to blame. He would have, too, if he'd had the slightest idea where he'd gotten it. Instead, he nodded, always happy to listen on topics he wasn't qualified to speak of. He seemed confused, however, when Kenta mentioned his sister's way of getting what she wanted. "How could you do what she wanted if she was sitting on you?" he asked, clearly perplexed.

[papipupepon]

Kenta grinned craftily, setting the food on the counter and digging around for the necessary utensils, opening and reopening drawers and cabinets because he didn't know where anything was. "She didn't" He said, setting a pot on the stove and preparing to heat the sugar. "I'd always agree and then once she'd get off me, I'd run away."

[originalprodigy]

It took a moment, but the humor reached L, and he returned Kenta's smile with a less well-practiced one, but it was as genuine as L's smiles ever got. It seemed that Kenta could be manipulative and deceptive.

L wasn't really much help, in the kitchen. His eyes and his mind tended to meander freely, not seeing any point in doing the same thing someone else was if they were equally competent. Since he never cooked, he knew as little about the layout of the kitchen as Kenta did. While the other young man heated the sugar, L busied himself by grabbing a handful of sugar cubes and putting them in his mouth. The sound of the little white cubes being ground between his teeth were surprisingly loud.

"That is a good trick. But don't sit on me. It would be exceedingly awkward."

[papipupepon]

"Don't worry." Kenta said, wincing against the grating sound but doing his best to ignore it. He pulled out a smaller pot and a half melted bar of meiji chocolate from his pocket and set to melting that as well.

Caramal apples were always the best, and the process tended to keep the apples fresher longer, which in this heat, under these conditions, was a definate plus; but he'd always prefered his own with something a bit extra. A fine chocolate drizzle along the surface, right before it set, would be perfect.

"I won't. I can't think of anything I'd really want out of you anyway."

[originalprodigy]

L paused for a moment, the rhythmic crunching ceasing as he thought about something. "From what you just said, I can conclude that you're either too polite or too uncomfortable, asking me for things, or you feel I have nothing to offer you. I would not like you to think of me as a useless friend..." he watched the chocolate melt very intently.

Without an appropriate, or even inappropriate segue, L asked abruptly, "Are you good with girls, Kenta-kun?"

[papipupepon]

It wasn't so much that Kenta was afraid of asking anything of Ryuzaki, or even that he suspected that Ryuzaki could not be helpful, if he truly made an effort. Kenta felt that he'd perhaps chosen his words wrongly. It wasn't that he didn't want anything from Ryuzaki, it was that, at the moment, he had nothing really to wish for; he had food, water, company. (The three necessities of life.)

Rather, he didn't want anything from Ryuzaki that the man wasn't already willing to give him, sans coercement.

Stirring the sugar with his left hand, and the chocolate with the right, Kenta spared Ryuzaki a look over his shoulder, eyebrows raised and mouth turned slightly down. "I used to think I was." He said after a moment, turning back to the stove, "But now I'm not so sure."

[originalprodigy]

All things considered, L was not a good friend. He was an excellent detective, of course, and a savant supreme at various detail-oriented and meticulous tasks, but thinking of others, prioritizing interaction and caring about people were not inborn traits L possessed. He could probably be taught, but L was 25 years old and no one had ever tried to get him to understand. It was widely assumed (and accepted, due to his brilliance) that he could not.

Friendship for friendship's sake was a very new concept to him. No further comment was made, and Kenta's silence on the subject set more thoughts in motion than any answer might have, but conversations generally went wherever L steered them. Currently, the topic was girls.

"That's good enough for me," he said quickly, even though Kenta was far from confident and it showed. "I want to ask someone out, but the thing is, I've only seen her unconscious."

[papipupepon]

Honestly, Kenta was getting quite good at this not reacting thing. There were a lot of very strange people around here. And they said a lot of very strange things. But most of them seemed to find anything odd about their behavior and that, incidentally, made Kenta the strange one.

So he chose his words carefully, turning the flame on the chocolate to a small simmer and watching the sugar brown prettily in the pan.

"The, uhm, first step would be to actually talk to her." He said. "She's got to like you before she'll say yes to something like that, and the only way she's going to know about that is if the two of you converse. Find... a common interest or something."