No words needed [L x Reader] • Death Note

Chapter 48 | scary

L's sleep schedule has gotten a lot better since he'd met you. Mainly because you were clingy and made him come to bed with you so you could cuddle, but also because you introduced him to the wonderful world of weighted blankets and sleep masks. He was still a pretty shut sleeper, but was definitely better than he was before.

By now he was used to having you kick him in your sleep, and waking up to his arm numb because he'd managed to get it wedged under you at some point. And yet despite you both being reckless sleepers, you managed to improve his sleep schedule a bit.

Tonight you'd dragged his workaholic ass to he'd again, and since it was one of those days where it was warm in the day but cold at night you'd managed to get tangled in a pile of blankets together. He wasn't afraid to admit we was often the little spoon, liking the reassurance of having your arms around him. And tonight was no different as you'd fallen asleep facing each other but shifted in your sleep and now found himself with your arms holding his back up to your chest and your head nuzzled into his neck.

Feeling something touching him, he began to stir awake. At first he assumed it was you, but when he realised you were behind him and not in front of him he figured it was someone else coming to wake you both up in the morning. But when he opened his eyes expecting to have to adjust to the morning sun, it was still pitch black.

"Hm..?" He muttered, half asleep.

In the darkness he could make out a figure, a small one. One of the kids.

He reached down to the side of the bed and switched on the night light that he'd had as a kid and had never left the power socket it was plugged into. The dim light was enough to see what was going on, but not enough to wake you who still slept beside him.

It was Rosie, she looked upset.

"Ro-" he began, before suddenly realising he was talking.

He still wasn't quite ready to talk to a new person yet, the words caught up in the throat mid sentence as usual.

Instead he reached a hand out for her, allowing her to take it so she could pull herself onto the bed. She sat next to him, looking down at him.

'Scary' she signed.

Scary? What was she scared of?

'Bad dream?' L signed back.

She took a second to remember what the gestures meant, and nodded when she realised.

He expected a bad dream. He had a lot of nightmares when he was a freshly orphaned kid too.

'I had bad dreams too, when I was little' L signed back.

Again she paused to decode the gestures, and fill in the gaps where she didn't know a few words.

'Stay here?' She signed.

L looked over at you, who was still asleep and figured you wouldn't really mind. You always teased him for being parental anyway, you clearly found it sweet. Slightly shifting over to make room, L let her get under the blankets.

He'd had to do this a few times, back when the boys were fresh into the orphanage and still not used to it. Funny enough, the first one to ask him to stay was Mello. The one who always acted so tough and fearless has a soft side to him, and L was the first to see it a few years ago.

Rosie snuggled up to him, needing some kind of comfort. L gently ran his fingers through her hair to relax her in hopes she'd fall back asleep. He was actually rather surprised she was willing to come to him for help.

Usually it took fresh orphans quite a while to trust people again, at least from what he'd seen and experienced himself. But Rosie seemed to warm up to him rather fast. He figured it was because they were both mute, and she saw him as someone who was like her but still successful. Like hope that she could grow up and be like L even with her lack of speech.

L didn't mind though, after being orphaned himself he knew that in times like this, kids need support. They need a trusted adult to help them through the times they aren't even old enough process yet. That's what Watari did for him, and it helped him get through a lot. And despite his fears of not being a good mentor at the start, he promised himself to help his successors in the same way. And now, Rosie was part of that group he'd help.

Call it a paternal instinct, or the experience of knowing exactly what she was going through, but he just wanted her to be ok.

In the month or so she'd been here, she'd settled in rather decently. But he could tell there was a part of her that was still scared and confused, as any child in her position would be. He just wanted to make sure she didn't have to go through the same things he did. He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.

Still half asleep, and slowly drifting off again he felt you shift slightly behind him and readjust your grip on him to pull him in closer. That always made him happy, even in your sleep you just wanted to be near him. Rosie leaned on his arm, hoping that being close to an adult she trusted would help her fall asleep again and protect her from the scary nightmares.

She alway used to crawl into her parents bed when she was scared, and you and L were he closet thing she had to that right now.

Just as L was about to slowly drift back to sleep again, he felt Rosie shift and heard her breath hitch anxiously as if she were trying to stay calm and steady her breathing.

"...L?"

He immediately snapped out of his drift to sleep and looked down at Rosie.

Did she just speak?

"...yeah?" He replied, a little shaky. Not used to talking to a new person at ALL.

And not to mention shocked to hear the child voice for the first time.

"T-thank you" she whispered, fear in her voice.

She was clearly really pushing herself to say that. It was a big step for her and she probably wouldn't be able to repeat that for a while now until she came down from her anxiety spike.

L was quiet a moment. He wasn't used to talking to her at all, and wasn't really ready to speak to a new person yet. But he could tell she needed it, and he felt bad if she decided to try and push herself and he didn't.

"Y-you're welcome... you'll b-be ok..." he replied, stammering his words.

She smiled through the darkness and rested her head against his chest. L smiled too, feeling rather honoured she trusted him enough to try and talk for the first time in ages.

He remembered everything you'd repeated right him. Don't push yourself, don't hurt yourself, don't force yourself. You were always looking out for him and his well-being, you'd really helped him know when he was pushing himself too hard. He wanted to pass that message onto Rosie.

"D-don't push yourself ok?" L muttered.

"...ok" she replied, slowly falling asleep again now she felt safe.

He could hardly believe it, he'd just talked to Rosie. Rosie had talked to him. She managed to talk way quicker than he could at her age, it just went to show that the extra support she was getting from you and L really made a difference.

He was the first mute kid at wammys, he had support, but not much as no one really knew now to deal with it yet. But with his experience and your extra support, the fact the boys and Linda were able to make friends with her as well, she was improving faster.

Support really matters to kids in need. He was just glad he could provide it to someone whose going through what he did.

You're going to flip your shit when you hear about this in the morning.