#also beyond birthday near & mello are discussed but not actually in this

[quicktimeeventfull]

Marrow: Lawlight Succession AU

1.7K words Read here or on AO3 Light has some concerns and some capitulations regarding his marriage to L, one of the incomprehensibly rich children of the media mogul who employs him. or A Tom-coded Light and a Shiv-coded L have a very one-sided conversation about how Light ought to earn his keep. Content notes: Unevenly toxic relationships, generally horrific family dynamics, L wears a black turtleneck. There are no major spoilers for Succession and I feel this will probably (?) make sense without having watched it.

So it’s 10:15 on a Wednesday. L has pulled me into a frigid conference room in the head office of his father’s company, where I work and he interlopes, and I am once again coming to the realization that I have married an insane person who has my absolute worst interests at heart.

Or, well. I should qualify that. L is batshit, but in a good way, a way that whets us both. L is brilliant and scintillating and incredibly hot if you’re into exotic marsupials, which clearly I am. The problem with marrying L, however, is you also marry into the entire Wammy clan, who treat each other the way grizzly bears treat those balls of meat zookeepers toss into their cages for enrichment.

L on his own is the love of my life. My heartbeat, my soul. L combined with his family is a gangrenous wound and right now he’s jabbing me back against the drywall with two knuckles, talking so fast I can barely understand him. I don’t think he realizes he’s doing it. The knuckles against my sternum, I mean, although frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t know about the talking either. He is wearing a black turtleneck to indicate that he isn’t stuffy and constrained like his siblings, and also possibly because it’s about fifty degrees in here; if I exercise mindful meditation and listen below my husband’s lunatic ramblings I can hear the rush of the air conditioner merging with the click-click-click of our ergonomically diffused fluorescents.

He’s better than this. But I understand. Bone-deep, I do.

“Beyond knows exactly what he’s fucking doing,” he’s saying. “He’s whispering to Quillsh behind my back. I know he is.” Calling his father by his first name is L’s new thing. It is, I think, meant to convey a sense of disaffection. It does not. “I — we — you and I — need to get some leverage, and this would work. It’s the right move. Sakura TV is where the power is, and you know Quillsh. He’ll follow the scent of that anywhere it goes.”

My skull is pressed right up against the dove-grey drywall. It hurts if I think about it, so I don’t. He’s looking at me, technically, but not really. I could be anyone right now. His eyes are fixed on mine, black and endless, but I know they aren’t seeing anything at all. He is for some reason wearing my cologne, which is Hermés H24 — cary sage, narcissus and rosewood. I have no idea why he’s done that, but either way he’s wreathed in my scent, which is eerie now, the echo of me as chosen by him. He must have left home not too long ago because it still smells close to how it does straight from the bottle.

“L,” I tell him, trying to restore some normality to the situation, “I am not going to fuck Demegawa.”

Knuckle still pressed into my bone, he looks at me like I’ve lost it. “I never said you should fuck Demegawa.”

“You did,” I tell him. “L. You said, ‘I think Demegawa is interested in you, and it would be nice if you showed him a good time.’”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you should fuck him,” L says, although it clearly does. He does, at least, stop poking me in the ribs, although he unfolds his fingers and presses his palm flat against my chest instead so I’m still pressed against the wall, a situation I might find arousing if he weren’t trying to convince me to have sex with the morally repulsive head of the morally repulsive Sakura TV so he can fuck over his morally repulsive twin brother. “Jesus, Light.”

He’s probably right about Beyond trying to destroy him, actually. The Wammy siblings always have about six concurrent games of full-contact chess going at any given moment. This does not mean I’m going to let him whore me out to rectify the matter.

“What else could it possibly mean?” I say.

“Well, just a good time. You’re attractive. You’re tall.” We are the same height. “You’ve got nice hair. I’m not taking about sex, Light. God. I was just suggesting — you could take him out for dinner, let him look at you, maybe —“ He takes his hand away from me so he can make what is clearly a handjob motion.

“L. Jesus. I’m not going to jerk Demegawa off for you.”

He has the gall to look indignant. “I didn’t say you should!” His fingers are still wrapped around an invisible cock.

I make the same shape with my own hand. “What is this, then, L? What do you want me to do? You want me to, what, take him out to Coney Island and get him a corn dog? Buy tickets to an idol concert and shake one of those sticks around?” I jerk my hand up and down, like he’d been doing.

He stares at me, then takes a step back and throws his hands up, eyes still fixed on the space I occupy.

“God! Can’t you just — this isn’t for me, you know. It’s for both of us. It’s for you more than me, actually.” This is a ludicrous statement, but I don’t get a chance to question it because he’s already pacing, flinging his hand towards the door. “And Beyond isn’t even the worst of it, you know. Near is closing in, too — he’s got some sort of deal with that awful man Quillsh is seeing, and Mello’s been quiet for way too long. If we don’t get a handle on this, Light, I’m fucked. He’ll cut me out and then where will we be?”

We will, I think, continue to be millionaires with a penthouse in Tribeca but I do take his point.

He is nothing but his father’s wealth, his father’s empire, everything he owns inherited and unearned. Chip away at that and you cut right into his skin. Whereas I simply have a realistic understanding of money, which is to say: it opens every door in the world, and I would like as much of it as possible.

He is walking the room, not waiting for an answer. He is looking at the tasteful grey walls because he already knows what I’m going to say. This is what money does, for him and for me. It buys you nice clothes and Michelin food but more importantly it makes you untouchable. It makes you safe, forever and always. You never need to worry about what other people think because at the end of the day they’ll dance for whatever scraps you throw. I am aware of this but he is not. He is so careless with his power. He knows, I think, that he is my single weakness, the one person who can take this all away, but he knows this the way a master knows his dog must be leashed.

I don’t mind this because I adore him and I don’t intend to leave. All the same, I read the prenup and I was not favoured.

Listen: that’s true love, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. An engagement ring is all well and good but I didn’t feel like I was his until we sat down with a lawyer each to squabble about how much flesh we’d carve off each other’s ribs if the whole thing went slantwise. Love, real love, love between adults, that’s all about deciding on the conditions you can impose and the conditions you can bear.

And don’t you want to know? In your heart of hearts, you know there are rules of engagement. Isn’t it better to understand the exact parameters, the consequences for wandering too far out of line? Each morning I look at my husband, who does not care for me — I know this — who has become bored of me, who keeps me around the way adults keep stuffed animals from their childhoods to pull out when they’re unwell, this ragged familiar thing that can’t ever leave, and I ask myself if it’s worth it. I can smell the bodies of other men on him, hotel soap on his skin when he promised he was out for business, and I know that once he wakes he will ask me to preform for him a million humiliating acts then expect me to thank him for the privilege of his attention and the lips he shares with strangers. God, he was sick for me once but now he gives me so little. It’s love because that’s what the contract said but it’s a thin sort of love. I look at his hair spread out on the sheets and his eyes tremoring in his sleep and I decide whether or not I can stand what my life has become.

And yes, obviously. I can. I’m still here. I’ve weighed the options, clear-eyed, and here I am. He makes me nauseous and he makes me insane but I still love every single piece of gristle on his bones.

“Look,” I tell him. “I have a meeting.” I don’t. “I would really, really love to stay and discuss why I should give Demegawa a handjob because Beyond made you said, but I absolutely have to go. You should eat something, okay? Maybe drink some water? Pull together some chairs and take a nap?” He’s opening his mouth to argue, so I’m backing out of the room as I talk; I’m opening the door with one hand and stepping out. “I’ll call you later, alright? Or we can meet back at the apartment. I’m thinking of ordering Thai. Okay. Bye, L. Great talk. Let me know if you think of anyone else for me to suck off.”

I shut the door before he can protest, then stalk off back to my office. I will, I think, call my assistant when I’m there; I’ll need her to research the sorts of places Demegawa likes to go for dinner. I’m not going to touch him, but yeah, sure, I can let him look. I am L’s. I am L’s, always. He feeds me and he buys me beautiful things and I belong only and forever to him. So, sure, I’ll do this, why not. I’m not ashamed of my worth.

[my-one-true-l]

Hi Asraella!  it was a long summer evening, I missed DN, so I decided to read LABB for the first time. I kind of liked it, I mean Naomi and B are great characters, and the story was intriguing, and there is even a little bit of L...also I loved all those quirky names and surnames of the victims! However, when I finished reading I had so many questions concerning the plot. Is Mello writing it from beyond the grave? How did he find out about the case? Is he a reliable narrator? My questions are: Did you like LABB? Have you written any analysis of it or stories around it? I'm interested in your opinion.

PS I send it here, not via ask box because, as always, my ask is too long to be accepted. I already wrote to you about negative traits' of L, and if you want you can use my name if you publish my message. Take care!

Hi!!! I really love talking to you about this stuff. Your submissions remind me of how much I loved Death Note when I first watched and read it and wanted to delve into every bit of spin off material I could get my hands on!

I have such a love/hate relationship with LABB! Lol! The plot discrepancies between Another Note and Death Note proper drive me insane and honestly, I don’t love the way Naomi is portrayed (I know that is a super unpopular opinion, but she just didn’t match what I thought she would be like), but I love Beyond Birthday and the crime he orchestrates to get L. I will gladly take all the plot holes and flaws if I get BB as a character! 😊

It’s been a while since I read it and these are just my thoughts, but I personally don’t think Mello is a reliable narrator in any sense of the word. From what Mello writes, he’s putting this story down as a record of the events of the LABB case so someone someday could read it (presumably Near), so I don’t think it’s from beyond the grave. He says L told him this story the one time he ever saw L (which again…from DN canon we are under the impression that the kids never met L in person, which I don’t buy at all but that’s a whole other post, so if what Mello says is true, this is such a flex on Near lol and could very well be a lie).

To answer your questions, yes. I did like it a lot. However, I have not written an analysis on it, at least not one that was for Tumblr. I tore that story apart when I was writing my DN AU though lol. When I first joined the fandom I had a small group of friends and we all would analyze and discuss it at length, but it was nothing that ever became a post. As for writing stories around it, what happens in LABB is a rather significant part of my L wins AU series, but that aspect of my universe focuses around L and B’s relationship and how things came to be rather than the actual murders. I do have a fic that centers on B after he leaves Wammy’s, but I still have to edit and post it.

I’m happy to keep talking about this if you have specific things in mind you want to discuss! Take care!

[13eyond13]

Well, that's the thing, he established a contrast between L and all the other characters, even though he said he could never have created the other characters either, and only said of L that he didn't feel real for him. That's why it never sat well for me, despite it being a good opinion at first glance.

And I agree. I read some similar things about both Near and Mello in the How to read while checking for that information. I'm not too surprised either about what you say about Platinum End, though I have not read it myself. I don't rely much on them either to form my opinion besides what's in the text, I agree it seems like the best choice all things considering. Like the Ryuzaki thing having to do with L and R sounding similar, I see that, but prefer to roll with Another Note here. It works wonderfully with it being Beyond Birthday's real name (I was this 👌 close to start rambling about identity again but goodness what a wonderful messy thing L has going on there). And still the washing machine bugged me, I couldn't help it. I thought for the longest time it was some kind of absurd joke headcanon popular in the DN fandom and I liked it a lot more as such xD

I don't like to dismiss completely File no. 15 though! I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion (pseudo ☕), but I love that L visits museums and likes art, and that he enjoys going to the park at times, and maybe I'm biased due to my background, but I adore and find so thought inspiring that he finished the demonstration in his first case with "Q.E.D."! The message is long again (with the new limitless asks it's easy to get carried away), but I wanted to add some positive things. I didn't mean to sound so bitter and negative in the other messages, sorry about that.

May I ask what are some of your own unpopular opinions? You don't have to reply, of course.

Oh, I didn't know the asks became limitless recently 😆 No worries, you didn't sound bitter! I tend to like being a bit critical or negative as a way of analyzing or attempting to discuss stuff honestly as well, and that's bound to happen in unpopular opinion sharing. I think it's valid to still be bothered by those things in the HTR13. I was just explaining how much I prioritize it or let it affect my feelings personally when it comes to my own interpretations of things.

Oh man, I haven't thought about my own unpopular opinions in a long time! But I think I made a list of them once in an ask I received way back in the day... I'll copy some here and then add some others, too.

I hope I don't offend anyone with these opinions, I'm not saying these are objectively true or anything but my own subjective takes, but

Some Unpopular Opinions:

-I think Misa is a worse person than Light and would rather hang out with him and be friends with him than with her. This is mostly because of how differently he acted upon losing his memories whereas she stayed almost exactly the same.

-I strongly prefer the manga to the anime because I think it's better written, more consistent, funnier, prettier, and more in-depth with all the characters and themes. I love stuff about the anime like the music, but I don't think the changes the anime made to L such as seemingly giving him regretful emotions before his death and little flashbacks to his past were automatically improvements on his manga self. I think he was far more original and complex as a character without that other stuff added in

-I LOVE LIGHT YAGAMI and can’t comprehend not loving him because he’s such a good character. Roasting him is always fun, but just straight up hating on him with no sense of humour about it is boring to me

-L is probably my all-time fave character but at the same time I think he can get a bit boring after a while if he isn’t fleshed out more in shippy fanfics and things. I love it when people give him a backstory and an interesting life in fics that go in-depth, because otherwise he can be left too much of a question mark

-Lawlight is both my favourite ship and also something I find a little overrated in the fandom at times. I think it's a really entertaining ship as an uncertain one full of tension and mind-games, but when it comes to actually putting them into a secure and loving relationship I end up getting easily bored by it

-sometimes I think Wammy's is overrated in the fandom compared to the other interesting characters and stuff in the series as well. I would love to see a little more exploration of the task force and SPK and mafia and such instead

-I think Higuchi was actually pretty nice to Misa on their date and the only thing that was awkward was that he lunged at her a little in the car when he got excited, lol

-I love Kiyomi and think it’s so silly to hate on her just because she killed Mello, he kidnapped her and made her strip at gunpoint first. I also think she gets blamed more harshly for things the guys also do sometimes, both by the characters in the story and by fans

-I don't believe Matsuda is as much of a pure cinnamon roll as some people seem to think, but he's more interesting with that darker side included in his characterization too

-I LOVE NEAR and think he’s so funny, and one of the most three-dimensional characters in the manga

-I think it was a good story choice that L died when he did and that he wasn't the final one in the warehouse showdown (though if I had only watched the anime that probably wouldn't be the case)

-I like that the story says that all the characters go to MU no matter what they do. I don't see it as just an edgy nihilistic thing which we should pretend isn't part of the story due to being too depressing to think about. In my opinion it's important to include it because it forces the audience to draw their own conclusions about the actions we see onscreen, and who we choose to sympathize with or condemn. If there was some sort of afterlife consequences based on the characters' morality it would easily become way too weirdly preachy or annoyingly nonsensical for me. And I respect how permanent the character deaths are because it would weaken the dramatic stakes and lessen the tension a lot if characters could arbitrarily come back from the dead

[artificial-ascension]

I see stuff for "what would the Wammys kids be like as parents" but never "what would the Wammys kids parents be like" so here.

Wammys Kids Parents HCs

Mello

Mello's parents were in an arranged marriage because of the mafia families they were in

They actually really liked each other so they didn't mind the arranged marriage

They were actually in an arranged marriage because they were the oldest kids of two of the most powerful mafias in Russia and the leaders of those mobs wanted to join forces and did that by marrying their kids to each other

Mello's uncle didn't like how things were being run and broke the mafia in two and went to war with his brother (Mello's dad)

When Mello's parents realized they were going to have a kid they moved to England and put his aunt (on his Mother's side) in charge

Mello's parents kept him a secret to keep him safe

Mello has his dad's eyes and hair and his mother's complexion

He had both of their intelligence

Both of them were really smart and hella chaotic just like Mello

They cared for him as much as they could without look suspicious to their neighbors

When Mello was 4 they got found out by their rival mafia and were killed

Mello wondered off and ended up at Wammys house afterward

Mello's status as the heir to a massive mafia empire was how he rose to power in LA

Matt

Matt's mom got pregnant when she was 17

Her boyfriend left when he found out she was pregnant

She gave Matt away to her boyfriend's cousin because she didn't have the time or money to care for him because of college

Matt's named after his dad

His dad's cousin was super rich and had his own wife and tree bratty kids who didn't like Matt at all

The kids hated him so much they convinced their dad to get rid of Matt and they abandoned him in Winchester because he had family there

Matt's dad's cousin only took him in to look better than his ass of a cousin

Matt is the spitting image of his mother but has his dad's hair color

Matt's parents are still alive so technically he isn't an orphan

He has abandonment issues and separation anxiety from getting trown out so much though

His mom actually married and had some kids once she graduated and had a good job

She lowkey feels guilty for giving Matt away sometimes

Matt's dad is a hippy who lives in the back of his van and plays video games while coding for money

Matt probably has a fuck ton of half siblings from his dad being a man whore but it's not like he'll ever meet them

A

A's dad was an English sailor and his mom was a Spanish lighthouse keeper

They met in Spain and fell in love and went back to England to get married

His mom worked as a lighthouse keeper in Cornwall while his dad worked as a sailor

They had tree kids, A's older brother, A and A's little sister

A and his siblings spent most of their time with their mom but their dad spent all his time off from work with them

A's dad was very thinly built and honestly he looked like the basic anxious sad boy A with brown messy hair and freckles

Of course he was a sailor so he was actually pretty strong and hella brave

A's mom had dark skin, black curly hair and brown eyes with a much sturdier build

She was really sweet but was lowkey terrifying if you got on her bad side

A would be a perfect mix of both of them if he wasn't albino, but really aside from his lack of pigmentation he has a good mix of their facial features

A's dad taught A and his brother how to sail and took them on short sailing trips with him

He was going to take A's little sister when she was old enough but he died before he could

A's dad died at sea and only died because he stayed on the ship to make sure his whole crew got off when the ship sunk

A's mom taught him how to garden, fish, cook, camp, hunt and really live off the land in general

She died falling from her lighthouse in a bad storm

The fact that both A's parents died trying to help people inspired him to try and save people too

Which led to him trying to take up the position of L so he could solve cases and help people, which ultimately also led to his death

His brother became a Royal Navey admiral and his sister became a marine biologist later in life with A and their parents as their driving factors so at least that's nice

Beyond Birthday

B's parents were in a shinigami cult and technically B's dad is the shinigami Armona Justin Beyondormason but B never found out until his shinigami dad yoinked him out of Mu to tell him he's part shinigami and he forgot to tell him while he was alive (he didn't forget he just kept putting off until B fucking died) so we will discuss his leagal male guardian who died

B's parents owned a huge farm in Japan and taught B how to take care of animals and how to garden

A's mom had a personal garden of herbs and fruits and she used to teach B how to use herbal medicine and how to properly spice foods and most importantly how to make jam

B and his parents looked similar when he was little but he stopped looking like them when he got older

They all had slim builds, dark hair and pale skin and the only thing different was the eyes

B had shinigami eyes obviously and because he was part shinigami you could actually tell he had they eyes by looking at them

B could also turn them off (but he only acquired that skill later in life) and when he did his actual eye color was a dark brownish red

His eyes were also really wide like but not L wide just a bit less wide but still kinda weird

B's dad knew he wasn't B's real dad but he still tookcare of him and taught him things

B was homeschooled because 1. They wanted to indoctrinate him into their shinigami cult when he was young and 2. They didn't want the other kids or teachers commenting on his eyes

His dad was kinda boring and there wasn't anything cool about him, he was super average but he was good at farming and business I guess. Anyway if he had actually been B's dad I feel like B would also be really boring but more like the kind of boring of an abandoned building in the woods but there's nothing there and nothing cool or spooky happens

B's mom was way cooler, she taught B a bunch of old Japanese folk tales and legends and other cultural stuff. She also gave him plenty of history lessons about Japan and the surrounding area, really B just got educated on the entire history or Japan and it's culture and it fed his deep love and obsession with anime and manga when he was older

His mom's grandmother actually dressed up like a man Mulan style to fight in WW2 so he comes from a family of Japanese patriots so what would you expect

His mom taught him to defend himself too and she probably should have taught her husband because he died in a mugging

B's mom died in a freak train accident and B almost died but his shinigami ancestry have him a super human healing speed and endurance so he survived just barely

L

L's mom was a prostitute who got pregnant by one of her customers

She died of tuberculosis when L was six months old

She looked a lot like L with wild black hair, pale skin, no meat on her bones and wide, grey, eyes

L's dad was just some rich guy cheating on his wife and L looked nothing like him

L's mom lived with her brother above his bakery and L continued to love there until he was 6 and his uncle tried to kill him after getting drunk

Near

Near got put on the staircase of Wammys house in a basket when he was little so no one knew his parents

Near's parents were really weird hermits that owned a toy store and yes all their stuff was definitely cursed

They were both very quiet but they were actually pretty nice they just acted very strange

The both of them were black and Near dose have their body types and facial features and just like A, he looks a lot like both of them he just lacks pigmentation because he's albino

Unlike A he does have his parents grey eyes because Near doesn't have ocular albinism

They decided to leave Near on the door step of Wammys House because...?

They just did

For some reason they decided on an orphanage way away, it was probably some weird choice they made because I don't the the fog told them but hey they inadvertently caused the death of a mass murderer 18 years later

Near's parents are still alive and living in their little store and Near actually tracks them down after a bit and hangs out with them and buys their toys

Near's parents also have two more kids and Near likes to hang out with them and help you younger siblings in their classes

[my-one-true-l]

Wammy boys with an autistic S/O who is WAY into musicals. Like, that's their special interest kind of way into. I mean like the first of all sing the songs but the also have Opinions about who were the best actors in certain roles and they squirrel away their money to go and see musicals. Like, they'll see Phantom of the Opera, for instance, but they have to see it in every country and language its preformed in. All of them.

Hello Dear Anon! Let me give it a try!!!

L

He loves the way musicals make his partner so happy. It’s one of the few things that bring a toothy smile to his face.

Finds them singing the songs endearing. (He really loves their voice as well)

Watches the musicals with them. He wants to have a footing in what they are talking about when they are excited about it. It’s important to his Love, so it’s important to him.

Tells them to save their money for other things because he will fly them to any musical they want anywhere in the world as often as they like. (and he will go with them of course and stay in the swankiest hotels).

(BTW-I HC Phantom would be one of L’s favorite musicals.)

Mello

Actually loves getting his hands on the scripts and pouring over them, getting a feel for what it was like in its unperformed source.

Gets into character discussions and also likes to share his thoughts on different actors and their interpretations of the characters.

Uses any resource he has, including mafia contacts, to get them the best seats at the performances they attend.

Near

Will take one weekend a month and take his partner to whatever musical they want to see anywhere in the world.

When his Love talks about their favorite scenes, Near has made figurines of the characters so they can reenact them or make up new ones together.

Has bought them the soundtracks in as many languages as he could find. They have started gaining a nice collection.

Matt

Never thought he would into musicals, but it makes him happy to see his partner happy.

Buys them tickets to see Phantom in France for his partner’s birthday. If he had the money, he would take them to every musical they wanted to see in every country in the world. Maybe one day he will be able to do so.

Loves to watch videos of musicals with his partner. He knows it’s not the real thing, but it’s something they can do together and he has no problem singing along with his SO.

Beyond Birthday

Has learned all the songs to every musical. He will definitely take on characters and sing with his love.

He thinks he would make a better actor than most of the ones that are in the musicals and is validated when his SO tells them they think he would be good to. (Like saying he would make a way better phantom than even their favorite actor that played him.)

Gives them as much money as he can to see as many musicals as possible. It may take a lifetime, but he wants them to see everything they want in every language and in ever country.

Since this is one of his partner’s special interests, this has become one of his favorite hobbies and the two of them bond over so many of their favorite songs/scenes

[my-one-true-l]

Wammy boys headcanon idea. How they would react to an s/o trying to involve themselves in their work

Hello Dear Anon! I hope you’re doing ok 🖤

He’s not having it. He doesn’t want them anywhere near his work. If he wanted them involved, he would have asked them to assist on the case, which he didn’t.

He wants them to be safe and one of the least safe things he can think of is them becoming involved in his work. It’s dangerous. He has safeguards to protect them, but noting is foolproof. He can’t be distracted by worrying for their safety any more than he already does. It’s bad enough he worries about them when they’re not involved.

However, he doesn’t mind discussing his cases with them a little bit. He trusts them and knows that they won’t talk about it with anyone else.

Mello

Since he’s no longer part of the Mafia, he’s been much more willing to let someone share his life and that includes his work, but only in some regards.

He lets them do surveillance for him. They’re pretty good at it and it’s nice for Matt to have someone to switch off with. They also don’t get as bored as quickly when spying for hours.

They’re pretty stealthy and they want to do a bit more close up spying for him, but Mello draws the line there. He likes them being part of his work, but not if they’re going to be a constant worry for him.

He has every confidence that if they had to, they would be able to defend themselves, but why risk it?

Near

Prefers that his Love stick to other types of work. He wants them to pursue what they love to do.

He doesn’t want to have to worry about them. He wants them to be somewhere he knows that they are safe.

On the rare occasion that they try to insert themselves into his cases, he tells them that their input isn’t necessary.

Sometimes this hurts their feelings, but he always reminds them that their company is why he likes them around and not to have them work for him.

Matt

He doesn’t mind their input or sharing details of his work with them. He likes having someone else to talk things through with.

He trusts them enough to know that they won’t tell anyone about what they work on.

He worries about their safety a little, but how dangerous can surveillance be?

He wouldn’t mind if the two of them working together became a regular thing.

Beyond Birthday (I HC that prior to LABB, he actually does take cases and that’s where he gets his money, he just isn’t licensed.)

Nope, just no. He doesn’t want them involved in his “detective” work. He wants them to know as little as possible actually.

Regardless of what he’s doing, he wants them to be safe. He takes whatever cases will pay the bills and he never knows what he’s getting into, which is fine for him, but not if it could endanger his Love.

If his S/O is persistent, he gets angry. He doesn’t mean to, but how many times does he have to tell them no?