[Log] Will You Lend a Caring Hand? (Kurenai and L)

[crimsonkure]

What: Helping someone in need
Who: Kurenai, L
When:Late Thursday/Early Friday
Where: Corner of North St, Kurenai's house
Rating: PG-13 (?)
Open/Closed To: L

Comments

[luke7lawliet]

"Of course I can," L said briskly, beginning to type rapidly. "It's just a simple matter of hacking... cross-referencing.." he trailed off, intent on his work. Glancing over the pages of information that popped up, he quickly memorized the telephone numbers. "Perfect. I can call him on his cell phone, now," L said, looking like a child who had scored a point in a game. "And, thank you again, for taking care of the mirrors... I know that it doesn't make a lot of sense, to anyone else, but it is nice of you to try to understand from my point of view. And... I really will try not to wake you up until morning." Clearly having no intention of going to bed, L continued to type and find information about the clinics in the area, scanning all the John Does and narrowing the list down to nine candidates. Two were "deceased." That did not bode well. Nervously, L reached for nonexistent sugar cubes and cried out slightly when his hand closed on thin air. Taking a deep breath, he elected to chew his fingertip instead.

"Is there anything else I should know about?" he called, as Kurenai started to leave. "Other people? Mirrors you might have forgotten to mention? Other animals around the house?"

[crimsonkure]

Watching him, unsure of how to respond, Kurenai paused in the doorway and listened as L listed off his accomplishments. She was somewhat amazed at his skill and how quickly he could work, noticing the little ticks as he reached for something that wasn't there. Her eyebrows raising slightly Kurenai moved back towards him carefully so as not to startle him. "Do you need anything else before I go to bed? Coffee, water, soda, a snack, a blanket?" She was starting to think she shouldn't go to bed just in case he actually did need her even though he said he would try not to wake her until morning. She didn't want him to end up driving himself over the edge waiting for her to awaken, nor did she want him to accidentally startle Aang.

"There are no other animals in the room, and I can't think of any other mirrors although you should know some of the windows are semi-reflective." She glanced down at her nails, picking at them nervously as she waited on his answer.

[luke7lawliet]

Curling his shoulders defensively as Kurenai approached, but relaxing when he noticed her carefully measured pace, L tilted his head to the side. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes," he decided, in answer to each of the things she suggested. They were all the sorts of things that he never thought of on his own, that Watari always provided and slipped seamlessly into his life.

"So, no animals... no mirrors..." he stood and went towards the windows, deliberately closing the drapes. "And... no other people?"

[crimsonkure]

Making sure she stayed far enough away from L to not upset him, she made a mental note of his responses. Kurenai was amused to hear him answer 'yes' to each request, but figured it was probably for the best to just get it all. She hoped soon she would simply be able to anticipate these things.

After going and grabbing him a small bottle of water, a bottle of Pepsi, a blanket, as well as all of the remaining cookies and some brownies. She also grabbed a mug of coffee, brewed fresh, and the bowl of sugar cubes since she had no idea how he took it but assumed sweet.

"No other animals, the only other mirrors are in my make-up bag and pocketbook, and there is one other person living here. His name is Aang, he's around seventeen and a college student. Appa is his dog."

[luke7lawliet]

L was able to think more clearly when people respected his boundaries, and he deeply appreciated that Kurenai was the cautious type in that capacity. When she returned with a variety of snacks, drinks, and a soft blanket, he nodded to express his gratitude and promptly began to arrange the things around him while continuing to tap at the computer. Another of the John Does had become "deceased"; he actually took a handful of sugar cubes and popped several in his mouth, chewing quickly and using his oral fixation as an outlet for the storm of worry and fear that gripped him from the inside and had no hope of coming out, in a healthy way.

"Aang?" L repeated. "Will he be surprised or upset, if he finds that you have offered me a place in your home for the time being?"

[crimsonkure]

Kurenai respected other people's boundaries well because she expected the same in return and was already finding similarities between L's apparent bounds and her own. Regardless, she would continue to tread lightly and make certain he was truly comfortable, since she didn't want him to get upset or run off. She could envision the type of trouble that might come of that and it bothered her greatly. It wasn't her place to worry, but she had made it a priority because she needed that outlet. Much as she hated admitting it to herself she enjoyed dealing with puzzles, it was like an obsession.

"Aang might be surprised, but he won't be upset." Kurenai laughed softly. "He's living here as a boarder, it's my right at the house owner to offer rooms to whoever I like."

[luke7lawliet]

"If you rent rooms, shouldn't you be charging me money or services to stay here? It's only fair... one makes one," L said, the last three words almost to himself rather than Kurenai. "Watari is always frank with me. I know that my mind works differently from others. I also know that people usually don't treat me as kindly as you have for this long. I really like the kindness... but I want to be treated like another boarder. This credit card works with ATMs. I can get money and pay for my room, fairly, and then I will feel much better. As it is... I wonder if I really can trust someone, as kind as you... giving me so much time and care and asking nothing at all in return..." he munched a cookie, staring hard at the remaining six John Does at the clinic.

[crimsonkure]

"Considering that we don't know how long you'll be staying here in light of whether or not we find Watari I didn't want to discuss money right off the bat." Kurenai smoothly explained. "If you do end up staying then I can give you a deal similar to what I've offered Aang. For right now, consider this my part in helping your search, and so long as things remain alright we can call it even." She didn't want him to think she was treating him differently when honestly she just wasn't willing to take money from someone who might need it.

[luke7lawliet]

"If you say so..." L said, his face showing a trace of the wonderment he felt at knowing that some people... really were that kind. "That sounds good, then. We'll discuss finances when the time is appropriate. After all, Watari could be at one of these clinics. I might be overestimating because I want it to be so, but I think that the chances are at least seventy percent. It turns out that doctor has a journal he used to post something of a premature public health notice, so I've contacted him that way. We'll see if he responds before I resort to invading his privacy and calling his personal cell phone."

[crimsonkure]

"I do say so, and no arguments." Kurenai saw the wonder on his face and felt as if she truly was doing something good. It was a nice feeling, actually, and one she hadn't felt in quite a while. "I'm sure he could be at one of those clinics, definitely. It is true that when we want something we tend to hope for it harder, but that's not a bad thing. I'm sure Doctor Isshin will respond, he's usually very good about that. Honestly his clinic is sometimes better than the actual hospital, and he's very patient." She spoke from personal experience, having relied up Dr. Kurosaki more than once thanks to how discreet and accessible he was.

[luke7lawliet]

L nodded obediently, the firm tone of Kurenai's voice what he needed, in a lot of ways. It meant that someone was in control and someone knew what they were doing. When L was on his territory and in his element, he could be as commanding and intimidating as a charismatic alpha-male detective needed to be, but when he was separated from his domain, he needed someone "who knew best" around. Because, while L knew everything there was to know about being an international detective, sometimes being human was the greatest struggle of all.

"You think that Dr. Isshin will? I hope he does quickly," L said, hugging his knees to his chest. It made him feel better to know that things were going somewhere, at the very least. "Wait, he's very 'patient?' I thought you said he was a..." L said, biting his fingernail. "It takes a patient doctor to help patients with great patience," he said softly to himself, and that seemed to resolve the issue that had snagged him momentarily.

[crimsonkure]

Kurenai sat back and watched as L seemed to work through his dilemma, finding the process fascinating. She could see more clearly now why it was L was so determined to get his Watari back, and figured at least now she knew to talk to him carefully and make sure to use simple words and phrases so as not to accidentally confuse him. She was quite sure that he was a savant, and she had worked a lot with child savants before she changed her major which would possibly mean she'd be able to serve as a liaison between him and the force if a situation came up where his skills proved the only means to solve things.

"Dr. Isshin has helped me out on a number of occasions, and he had never once failed me." Kurenai gave L a comforting smile, attempting to push aside those nagging desires to mother him. He was an adult, he didn't need a mother. "That's right, he's very good at dealing with people like myself who tend to want answers immediately." Shaking her head again Kurenai began to play with her hair. "He'll come through for you, if the man he mentioned on his journal is Watari I'm sure he'll be able to tell you."

[luke7lawliet]

"Do you know... that I would rather Watari be playing a cruel joke on me, than to have that man be Watari?" L said quietly, continuing to chew his finger. "The message to everyone from Dr. Isshin did not sound encouraging... and the elderly are not so lucky, often, when they get sick. Watari has taken care of himself, but he is old... and even if we were to both live to the ends of our natural lives, he would die before me. I've always hoped it won't be like that, because I don't know what I'd do if he..." L noticed that he'd torn his finger open while he'd been chewing it, and began to suck it instead, a bit of blood smearing at the corner of his mouth.

[crimsonkure]

"Nobody wants a loved one to be sick, but if he is he'll be getting the best care possible." Kurenai was concerned about how L would react if it did turn out that his caretaker was the sick man. "There is a chance that what that man at Isshin's clinic has is the same thing as what Chairman Aizen has, and nobody has brought up the possibility that the Chairman is that sick. There's nothing gained by over-thinking this or being negative." Kurenai saw the blood and paused, wondering if he'd want a bandage. "Do you need a band-aid?"

[luke7lawliet]

L laughed, a nervous sound that he clearly didn't make often. "A loved one? Like, me and Watari? Two boys in love... that's really very silly, it's not like that. Besides, he's much older than me, by forty years at least." He regained his solemnity swiftly, almost as if a light switch had been flipped, when Kurenai started talking about the Chairman's disease. L had heard something about it, and had fleetingly considered that Watari might have been sick as well, but disease was something the germaphobic detective feared a great deal.

When Kurenai asked if he wanted a band-aid, he nodded and held his finger out. His tooth had punctured it neatly, but it wasn't bleeding profusely.

[crimsonkure]

Kurenai was amused when L assumed she meant loved one in a romantic sense. "I more meant parental love, Ryuzaki. It is possible for someone to love you in a non-romantic sense, where they worry over you and look out for your well-being." She saw how solemn he became instantaneously, and realized that she had hit upon something he probably hadn't considered. She had been there when the Chairman got sick, and it wasn't pretty.

When L held out his hand she reached past him to the top draw and pulled out a first aid kit. Quickly bandaging the small puncture for him she decided to leave the kit out just in case.