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Prompt: (Movie Quotes) Author's choice (Death Note), author's choice (L & B), "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger." (The Dark Knight)
L puts off the visit for years. He's got a good variety of excuses to hand for it too, from Watari's disapproval (which is true- the old man wants nothing to do with failures, and B was the most spectacular of all) to the asylum being so damned hard to schedule appointments with (partially true, but then again, he's L, with the White House on speed dial- he needs no-one's permission) and his general disinclination to visit the madman. Trauma and all, and those who don't know him understand.
It's a lie, of course- he's fascinated by B. He loves to pry at minds, L does, and a twisted gem like this is far too good to pass up. No, the reason he didn't visit beforehand was that he simply couldn't muster up the inclination to bother.
B worked it out within five minutes, of course, crows it at L when he finally shows his face. A grinning mouth asks if he was missed; a flat, thin-lipped one answers that he wasn't. Black eyes and red know he was, and B's grin grows until it tears at the scar tissue around his mouth.
He licks at the blood, howls in laughter.
"Must you do that?" L asks, too used to this behaviour to be at all disconcerted by it.
"I must, I must," B gives him his most demented look and points to his head. "The voices say I must,"
L raises a sardonic eyebrow. "Voices? That's not like you, Beyond. Far too cliche."
B shrugs, the look never slipping. "Maybe I've changed. Maybe I'm so mad I don't particularly care," the last word is dragged out- he knows how L dislikes such emphasis. Knows him far too well, really, but what harm can it do now?
"I doubt that." Is the curt reply.
"Doubt all you want. Personally, I'm of the opinion that whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger."
"Believe whatever you want, it won't make it any more true. You cracked at Whammy's, B, you failed- beyond that, there is no lower height to stoop."
"Leaving so soon?" B asks softly, knowing what the silence following his one-time mentor's statement means. There's a tinge of desperation- it's disappointing.
"Yes." L rises, hops off the rickety chair one of the guards dug out from somewhere.
"Are you coming back?"
"No."
L reaches the door, pauses, turns. B is staring at him, looking almost solemn in the moment before he starts to shriek like a hyena, laughing and careering his head into the bars.
L leaves, and does not look back.
L puts off the visit for years. He's got a good variety of excuses to hand for it too, from Watari's disapproval (which is true- the old man wants nothing to do with failures, and B was the most spectacular of all) to the asylum being so damned hard to schedule appointments with (partially true, but then again, he's L, with the White House on speed dial- he needs no-one's permission) and his general disinclination to visit the madman. Trauma and all, and those who don't know him understand.
It's a lie, of course- he's fascinated by B. He loves to pry at minds, L does, and a twisted gem like this is far too good to pass up. No, the reason he didn't visit beforehand was that he simply couldn't muster up the inclination to bother.
B worked it out within five minutes, of course, crows it at L when he finally shows his face. A grinning mouth asks if he was missed; a flat, thin-lipped one answers that he wasn't. Black eyes and red know he was, and B's grin grows until it tears at the scar tissue around his mouth.
He licks at the blood, howls in laughter.
"Must you do that?" L asks, too used to this behaviour to be at all disconcerted by it.
"I must, I must," B gives him his most demented look and points to his head. "The voices say I must,"
L raises a sardonic eyebrow. "Voices? That's not like you, Beyond. Far too cliche."
B shrugs, the look never slipping. "Maybe I've changed. Maybe I'm so mad I don't particularly care," the last word is dragged out- he knows how L dislikes such emphasis. Knows him far too well, really, but what harm can it do now?
"I doubt that." Is the curt reply.
"Doubt all you want. Personally, I'm of the opinion that whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger."
"Believe whatever you want, it won't make it any more true. You cracked at Whammy's, B, you failed- beyond that, there is no lower height to stoop."
"Leaving so soon?" B asks softly, knowing what the silence following his one-time mentor's statement means. There's a tinge of desperation- it's disappointing.
"Yes." L rises, hops off the rickety chair one of the guards dug out from somewhere.
"Are you coming back?"
"No."
L reaches the door, pauses, turns. B is staring at him, looking almost solemn in the moment before he starts to shriek like a hyena, laughing and careering his head into the bars.
L leaves, and does not look back.