Title: It Isn't (It Is)
Universe: Death Note
Characters: L/Near
Rating: PG (for vaguely implied chan)

Happy Birthday, Rabbit and Near!
Love,
Nishi and L

~*~*~

It's not love.

Not that he has any experience with that sort of thing, but he's sure he would know if that's what it was. Of course, love isn't something he can look up in a textbook and diagnose, the way one might for a cold or a heart attack-- not that loving Near would compare to a heart attack, or at least, L doesn't think it would. The point is, he wouldn't know, because it's not love.

No, what L feels when he watches the boy plop down in the middle of the room amidst the huge stacks of presents, and what he feels when Near looks up at him with wide, dark eyes, that isn't love.

It's...

Well, L isn't sure what it is, just like he's not sure what makes him want to smile down at Near and ruffle his hair. And he isn't sure why he does both of those things, or why he crouches down to watch over Near's shoulder while the boy tears the paper off one of the gift boxes.

So maybe...

L tips his head to one side, stares at Near, and thinks maybe he should stop thinking so much. Because even if it's not love, he likes it.

Whatever it is.