It was well past midday by the time Naomi appeared in the doorway of the living room, groggy and sore.  In truth, she could have gone right on sleeping, but her aching jaw and empty stomach had eventually driven her from her bed.  One hot shower and a change into comfy clothes later, Naomi was ready to find out if her midnight encounter had yielded anything useful to the case.

L was on the couch, hunched over with his knees to his chest and his long toes curled over the couch cushion.  Before him were several documents and he was examining them closely, one by one.  He held one up in his left hand, the top corner pinched between his thumb and index finger.  He speed read down the page before holding up another in the same manner with his right hand, mumbling incoherently to himself as he read.

"Hi," Naomi said as she entered the living room.  She still felt the moving sensation of having just stepped off of an amusement park ride.

L his feet, lowering the pages and looking at her with questioning eyes.

"Oh, hi," he said, seemingly surprised that she was up.  "How are you feeling?"  He set the papers down on the coffee table.

Naomi put a hand gently to the side of her still swollen face.  "Sore... but better."

L nodded slowly.  "That's good."

His eyes followed her as she sat down next to him, crossing her legs.  Biting one thumb, he leaned in to inspect her beaten face.  Splotchy red and purple bruises surrounded the swollen area on the lower left side where the two white steri strips held shut the little gash beneath them.

L studied her injuries closely, his head tilting one way and then the other.  His other arm hung down by his feet like a monkey.  Naomi couldn't help but think of Curious George as she looked sideways at him, once again very aware of the proximity of his face to hers.

"Mhmm..." L grumbled, learning back into his own personal space again.  He sighed and folded his arms atop his knees, looking at her through sleep-deprived eyes.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he said.  His voice was low and sincere.  "I have to say I do feel somewhat responsible."

Naomi shook her head.  "L, I've been hurt before.  It comes with the job."  She shrugged, then added with a slight smile, "But, thank you."

L nodded.  "Mm... yes, well, in any case..."  He looked away and began biting his thumb again.  He hugged his knees to his chest with his other arm and added quietly,  "You're a valuable agent and I'd hate to lose you.  I will try to be more careful."

The cadence of L's voice was plain and monotone but something about the soft seriousness with which he spoke gave away that he meant every word.

Naomi offered him a reassuring smile.  "Thanks, L.  I appreciate that.  But really- it's ok.  I'm ok."

L nodded again and squirmed a bit, all at once seeming very uncomfortable with the exchange of feelings.  He tipped his head toward the kitchen and changed the subject, the end of his thumb still between his teeth.

"Watari went and got some things for you to eat before he went to bed."

"Oh, that was nice of him!  Actually I-"

A sharp pain suddenly sparked along Naomi's jawline.  She stopped speaking and quickly put a hand to her face.

"Ahh, ow..."

L looked at her again and rested both of his hands on his knees.  "Are you sure you should be up?" he asked slowly.

Naomi looked toward the kitchen, her hand still resting on her cheek.  She spoke as best as she could, her words a little distorted as she tried to keep her teeth together.

"Well, I should probably try to eat something..."  Then she added, looking back at L, "And I do want to hear what you've been up to."  She gestured toward the piles of papers and folders.

L looked back at the documents.  "Yes, well, if you're sure you're up to it, I can fill you in on my deductions."

Naomi reassured him that she was in fact up for discussing the case and moved to the kitchen to find something soft enough for her fractured jaw to handle.  Upon inspection of the cupboards and refrigerator, Naomi was thankful to discover that Watari had supplied her well.  After a few minutes, she returned to the couch, a bowl of applesauce in hand.

"Okay, you do the talking," she said, nodding towards L.  She settled herself on the couch, facing him with her back against the armrest and her knees up.  Her ensemble of a zip-up hoodie and leggings with warm, fuzzy socks certainly did not scream "strong and professional secret agent to the world's greatest detective" but, nonetheless, Naomi was ready to get down to business.

"Alright, well..." L began, plucking a single sheet of paper from one of the stacks before him.  "These are reports on everyone who has worked for the Paris P.D. over the last five years.  I am going through them to see if our suspect is among them."

"You think he was actually a policeman... not just disguised as one?"

L nodded.  "It would appear that way.  Someone on the inside would have the easiest access to the police reports."

"Couldn't he just remove his file from the system then?" Naomi questioned.  "If he knew L was on the case, he could have done that already."

"Yes, I'd thought of that, too," L replied.  He pointed to another stack of papers.  "That's why I have these.  They are the tax documents for everyone who filed income under the Police Department within the last five years.  I am comparing the personnel files with the tax documents to see if there are any discrepancies."

Naomi nodded.  That made sense.

"So..."  She spooned some applesauce into and continued talking.  "The markings?  On the floor.  What about them?"

She suddenly realized that she was sitting with her knees up and talking with full.  She looked down into her bowl of applesauce and stirred it slowly.  "Oh my god, I'm turning into L..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing.  The markings?"

"Ah, yes.  Well, I am about 85% sure that they are from a tripod... no, more like 90%.  The measurements match perfectly and it's not uncommon for a killer to photograph his victims."

Naomi nodded again.  She herself had worked cases under such circumstances.

"What about the hair product?  And the... the bodies?" 

Naomi still wasn't too pleased with L's digging up the victims without the families' consent.  "But what's done is done," she thought to herself.

"Oh, umm..."  L rose from his crouched position and, with one bare foot still on the couch, he stepped onto the coffee table and stretched his long arm out to reach a paper on the other side.  He handed it to Naomi, his feet remaining on the couch and table.

Naomi took the paper and laughed a little. "You look like you're playing The Floor is Lava."

L placed a hand on his knee and looked directly at her.  "The what is what?"

"It's a game where you can't touch the floor."

L's face suggested that was the dumbest game he'd ever heard of.

Naomi rolled her eyes.  "Didn't you ever play dumb games as a kid?  Oh, nevermind."  She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand and turned her attention to the paper L had handed her.

It was a printed email with the results of the lab tests ran on the victims' hair.  Sure enough, they all contained the same substance: a rose-scented fragrance oil.

L, back in his frog stance on the couch, gestured toward the paper.  "That's what the marks were from.  The oil got on the bottom of the tripod somehow."

Naomi nodded.  She was trying not to talk too much.  But this case was slowly coming together.  It was one that she would certainly be relieved to close. 

She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again, the dull ache in her head reminding her that she also had a concussion.  She reached over to set the paper back down on the coffee table and began rubbing her forehead.

"You need your pain killers," L observed.

Naomi just nodded, her eyes closed and her fingers resting on the bridge of her nose.  "Where are they?"  She opened her eyes and started to sit up.

L waved a hand toward her.  "Watari put them in the kitchen.  I'm going in there anyway.  I'm starving."

Before Naomi could object, he stood up on the couch and stepped over onto the cushion of the adjoining armchair.  He placed his foot on the back of the chair and, hands pocketed, he held his balance as the chair tipped over onto its back.  From there, his long legs took one big leap into the kitchen.

He turned his head back to Naomi, who was looking at him over the back of the couch, her face scrunched in bewilderment.

"The floor is lava," he said simply.

Naomi's face brightened with the realization and she dropped her head backwards, rolling her eyes and grinning as much as her sore face would allow her.

A smile tugged at the corners of L's mouth as he turned back into the kitchen.  He returned shortly with two little round, white pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other.  A chocolate cake doughnut was held in his mouth.  He outstretched both arms toward Naomi.

"It said to take two every 4 to 6 hours," he said, his words barely coherent around the doughnut.

"Thanks, L."  Naomi took the medication from his upturned palm and placed them in .  She accepted the glass of water and made herself drink the whole thing.  L stood watching her, one hand pocketed and the other delicately holding the doughnut, which was already half eaten.

He took the glass from her when she was done and set it on the end table next to the empty applesauce bowl.

"I don't think I'm going to be very useful right now," Naomi said slowly.  Her voice was all of a sudden very groggy and the merry-go-round had started up again.  This whole scenario was already getting old.  "I'm sorry."

"It's understandable," L commented.  "Why don't you just rest here?  I can be very quiet."

Naomi nodded.  The stairs leading up to her bedroom may as well have been Mount Everest with how dizzy she was feeling.

"Just for a bit," she agreed.

L shoved the rest of the doughnut in his mouth and reached over to another chair to retrieve a throw blanket.  He stepped forward and held it out to Naomi.

Naomi smiled as she took the blanket.  He was being so nice.

"Thanks, I'm sure it will wear off soon."  She wrapped the soft throw around herself and snuggled down to lay on her side.

The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was L hopping up into one of the chairs to resume his document comparisons.

But she didn't fall asleep right away.  She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was reluctant to recognize.  But it was there.  A warm, fluttery feeling that Naomi hadn't felt in a long time.

She didn't quite know what to make of it.

It was at the same time an overwhelming and subtle awareness.  Overwhelming because it came as such a surprise.  But subtle in that it wasn't fireworks or even butterflies... more like just one little butterfly.  And Naomi couldn't decide in her hazy state of mind how she felt about its presence.

All she knew for sure was that, despite the dizziness and the pain, she was perfectly content.  Right here and right now.

With him.

At length, Naomi decided to tuck it all away for later contemplation.  She drifted off sleepily to the familiar sound of soft, rustling papers and the careful clink of a china cup containing far more sugar than coffee.