Give Me Back My Broken Night, My Mirrored Room My Secret Life

[dead_black_eyes]

Characters: L Lawliet and Zenjirou Kasai
Location: Death City's jail
Rating: PG?
Time: Jan. 3rd, early morning
Description: Though L hasn't outed himself as L, or even as a detective, pyromania is fascinating to him. He can't resist the intrigue that comes with visiting an incarcerated fire-starter and asking just a few questions.

Comments

[firebrands]

The Death City jail wasn't all that bad. Dark, yes, and generally uncomfortable as all prisons tended to be, but on the whole Kasai had been in worse. They'd sent him to cool down for a week - just a week - and after that, they'd mentioned, he'd probably wind up with a good amount of community service. Given the extent of the damage, it was kind of a surprise to him, but he supposed there were more important crimes to acknowledge ... which frankly irritated him.

Still, it meant he could get away with more, and this was a mild reprieve. Plus there was nothing left for him to hide anymore. Asshole, arsonist, unrepentant bastard with a penchant for burning ... hell, he might even be able to get a partner out of it. Someone else who didn't think this place was such a nice city or get along with the government that had entirely accidentally dragged them all here. And with a positive opinion on fire. Those types were fairly rare

[dead_black_eyes]

"No one you know, so don't bother trying to place me," L said in his quiet, clipped monotone as he ran his dark eyes unapologetically over the burned man's form. He was never discreet about staring, and he was satisfied with Kasai's credibility as an arsonist.

Where Kasai was formidable, and believable in the role he was currently living, L was not. He lacked the snappy elegance of a film noir sleuth, as well as the classic poise of Sherlock Holmes. He didn't seem to be a detective or an interrogator, so much as a hollow-eyed youth with ill-fitting clothes, bony, languid, and immaterial.

He had a way of using that to his advantage, though. To all appearances, he was just a curious civilian, interested in the motives of a firestarter. And for all intents and purposes, that was essentially L's role in Death City.

"I'm Rue Ryuzaki. You start fires," he said casually. "I want to know why."

[firebrands]

Kasai didn't respond immediately. He gave the kid a long, wary look, trying to figure out just what kind of motives might be at hand here. Curiosity was one, sure, but only really dedicated people actually went to meet the criminals they wanted to know more about. It would have been more convenient to wait for him to get out and ask him over the network. Which meant that this kid was either unconcerned with potential danger, or was used to this sort of thing. Either one had its pros and cons. He could be a Watch member or some sort of law enforcement from his own world, but Kasai had rarely seen anyone working for the police who looked like this - or who was so absolutely straightforward about things. It just didn't seem likely

[dead_black_eyes]

No matter how thoroughly he tried to hide it, "really dedicated" described L very accurately. It was to the point where he was still hung up on a case that had been closed, but that he had physically left before that point. He had a lot of mental energy that wasn't being put to use, in Death City, and he was starting to seek out opportunities. Even if there wasn't much of a puzzle element, to a fire whose starter had already been caught and imprisoned, there was a familiar element to it. While L had a difficult time relating to humans, there was a certain type of human that he was used to, that he gravitated towards and almost felt at home speaking to. Usually, they couldn't match him in intelligence. But he had personally caught so many, predicted their movements and their actions, that having a violent criminal so close created something of a rush. Did it approach the euphoric levels of the Kira investigation? Not quite... but if it was as close as he could come, then he wanted it