The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito smiled at her and crossed to her.

“This looks amazing and don’t worry about us anymore tonight, Baaya-chan. I think we can handle ourselves for at least a little while. So go enjoy your show. I heard tonight’s episode was one you didn’t want to miss anything of” He leaned towards her just a bit and whispered just loud enough for Hakuba to hear. “and besides I think you deserve a break taking care of him all the time.” He winked at her.

The detective blushed, both from the compliment on the cake, and for the comment about his need for care. It was true enough that Baaya did much for him; without her, he would be missing much of whatever emotional stability he had. But while he appreciated his governess, Hakuba was quite convinced that he could take care of himself, thank you.

Nevertheless, rubbing the back of his neck, he didn’t complain as Baaya chuckled, reaching to squeeze Kaito’s shoulder with a smile.

“I think you might be right, Kuroba-kun,” she said, voice warm like sun-baked leather. “You’ll take care of him for me, then, won’t you?”

Hakuba grimaced. “Baaya…” 

But it only made her laugh again. "Gordon Ramsay is waiting, Young Master! I’ll check on you later.“ The old woman gave Kaito a wink and made for the door. 

Catching Up With Fate

kuroba-k:

Kaito on the other hand did not have that much trouble with this part, because Hakuba tried to be as scientific as possible. He only reminded the detective once in a while that it didn’t matter if it wasn’t standardised unless he asked for it and gave him the standarised scale to pick from.

Oops, well there he messed something up in his head. A slightly embarassed face looked back at Hakuba, when he smirked about the Judo question. Finally grinning back a little askew he explained:

“I’m sorry. I thought I remember that you’ve said something like that because Sherlock did so as well. I must have confused it with something else. I haven’t read any of the books for years either and I’ve never read all of them…” He truly wondered where his brain pulled that one out, usually his memory was very accurate. But it hadn’t hurt anyone and he still got the answers he wanted and scribbled them down.

Noticing the little hesitation, he pretended not to and smiled slightly at the KID comment. “As I said I suppose KID would actually pay attention to that. I can imagine he’d be the only criminal to scold you for being so unreasonable and chase after him instead of resting.” Chuckling, because he would indeed just do that. Let Hakuba catch up with him to give him an earful for neglecting his health and doing stupid and dangerous stunts.

“There’s one thing left for me to ask and then I’d like to get over to the hands on part. I would like to know how you currently live. Is it small or big and do you have any stairs you have to take to get home? Is anyone living with you and are they capable and available of helping you when you need help?”

image

“I tried to box in high school. In England,” Hakuba said off-handedly, rubbing the side of his face as he, too, attempted to figure out where judo might have come from. He could have said something about that in school. He did like to talk about Sherlock Holmes a lot, after all… even more so when he was younger. “But I’ve never been good at fighting, just… full-body tackling criminals… aha. Ahem.”

He internalized the comment about KID, taking it as a warning from the physical therapist himself, whom he was STILL convinced was the thief, even after all these years. Would Kaito really do that to him during a heist? Somehow, Hakuba couldn’t put it past him. With a derisive snort, he turned to the matter at hand and hesitated yet again.

“Ah… living arrangements…” Hakuba ran a hand over his injured leg again. “I have a little apartment in Tokyo, not too far from the police station. There are stairs, but there’s also an elevator, fortunately. I may be moving back to Ekoda, though… to my father’s home. It’s all sort of in the air at the moment, though. You see, ah…" 

Deep breath, slow release.

"I’ve… well, the boy that I rescued– Miyu’s son? He’s living with me, now. Or will be, soon. Paperwork is still going through on that end, and his aunt has him for part of the time while I’m getting things worked out. He’s, ah, a four year-old, so he’s…” Hakuba lifted his hand to scratch at his neck again, nervously. “Not exactly the most helpful, though he tries. If I manage to arrange things with my father, though, I may be able to convince Baaya to fly out to stay with us…" 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

He shrugged, smiled just a bit more, and pressed his shoulder against his. “What can I say, she kissed me at birth.”

Hakuba laughed again, relieved that Kaito seemed to be in better spirits, and rolled his eyes. “God, of course…” he said, teasing still as they reached the room. There, Baaya waited for them, cake set out on the wet bar counter, two pieces already cut. 

“It’s about time,” she said, arching a brow at the pair. “How you can stomach so many sweets with so little actual dinner, I don’t know, but…”  Baaya sighed, waving her hands dismissively. “You’re nearly too old for me to tell you what to do anymore, Young Master, so do as you like, I suppose." 

"Oh, Baaya…" 

"Well come on, then, get your cake so I can get back to Kitchen Nightmares.” 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito felt the bump and looked up to him. “You have nothing to apologize for. I … I tried to make light of a situation that was way to sensitive. All you did was put me in my place. As for making a muck? Aren’t I the king of that?” He smiled lightly at the end.

“Actually, I rather thought that you were the king of pulling things out of your ass and making them work out for you, anyway.” Hakuba stayed close despite his jab, hoping that his tone would convey the teasing he’d meant it to. “I mean, after all, we’re supposed to be enemies but we’re soon to be drinking wine and eating chocolate cake that, yes, I made especially for the evening, thank you very much Baaya for spoiling my well-guarded secret." 

He sighed, but the little smile that had come to his face stayed. 

"Lady luck seems to be smiling upon you once more, Kuroba-kun, if I’m permitted to say so." 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito winced. He couldn’t really help that. It was the way he dealt with his nerves. He was just trying to bring light to the situation.

“Sorry …I just…”
He shifted his hand to the neck of the bottle and refrained from moving it anywhere else by tucking it close to his chest. Over exaggerated yes but somehow necessary with the detectives words. He began to walk down the hall subdued and quiet. 

Hakuba sighed, shoulders sagging again. He hadn’t meant to make him feel bad, but it was difficult not to lash out so critically when he was embarrassed. Frowning, he hurried to catch up to him and made sure to bump into his shoulder, little frown on his face, but eyes hopeful.

“Ah, I’m… sorry,” he said after a moment. “Like I said earlier, I’ve just been making a muck of everything all evening… well, month, really. Forgive me?" 

A History of Perfect Mistakes

japansfamousdetective:

As he stood and turned away to find the medicine, she watched him a moment. It was both a look of admiration and… unsurity? Was he feeling a awkward about this as well? That thought actually made her feel a little better and she smiled softly at his back before standing and reaching for the robe. 

She didn’t know why but she always felt like Hakuba was too cool or sophisticated to be bothered by such things. She always thought he was something she, as a detective, ought to inspire to be more like in demeanor. It definitely seemed more preferable then her own off putting sort of manor. But this shared awkwardness seemed to sort of put them on the same level some how.

As he chanced a glance at her he’d find she wasn’t paying attention and was just in the process of sliding the robe on. A chance to look while she was lost in thought.

Of course his speaking up seemed to interrupt that thinking, her head turning to look at him as the robe closed up and her hands moved for the belt. She’d been expecting some sort of conversation about the night previous but his worry for her wasn’t how she imagined the start of it. Then again she hadn’t really been sure how it would start.

“No, Hakuba-kun. In fact, from what I remember, you did everything in your power to make sure you didn’t hurt me.” There was a shy but fond smile on her face at that. “It was… Well, I don’t think I ever thought about how my first time would be, but I’m certain if I had it would have been something like that.”

Hakuba gulped at that, then let out a quiet, relieved sigh as his smile returned, lop-sided and pleased under rosy cheeks. “I’m… quite glad to hear that, actually,” he said, and laughed at himself as he pulled away from the closet to approach her. 

“Though, this sort of opens up a whole lot of, ah, questions as to what to do now… at least we got that out of the way.” The comment came with another embarrassed flush, holding his hand out to offer the pills to her. “Not that, ah, I was… I mean, it’s not something to simply ‘get out of the way,’ by any means, but I mean, it’s… well, the… ice… broken… so you see, the… ah…”

So much for that calm, cool, collected facade. Oops. 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito felt the laugh bubble and he had to work really hard to not let it out. “Which part? The one where I hoped you’d offer your bed or me asking you if you were alright?” He smirked. The detective just made it so easy for him to tease the crap out of him. 

Hakuba pushed himself away, though he hadn’t meant to be quite so forceful about it, and adjusted his suit jacket with a pout. “The former,” he said, once more cursing his fair english complexion. “One moment you’re talking about tabling emotionally complicated discussions, the next you’re joking about sleeping in my bed?” 

The detective shook his head, running a hand down the side of his face and over the side of his neck in a desperate attempt to dispel his nerves. “Baaya is bringing us cake. You… you stop that. A-and be… be careful with that wine. I swear to god if you drop it, I’ll be forced to lick it off of the floor.”

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito had felt him stumble into him. Tossing the wine up into the air he spun quickly and caught the detective, turned him into his chest and caught the wine as it came down in a matter of seconds. If he was honest he would have let the wine hit the floor. He didn’t care about that he was worried for Hakuba in his arms. 

“Are you alright?” He asked concerned and a little smug just to hide his frantic heart.

It took several seconds for the detective to start breathing again, and when he did, it came out as a shaky gasp. He glanced up at Kaito,  whom he had his arms wrapped TIGHTLY around, then pulled back in embarrassment to look for the wine.

“Y-yes, I’m… I’m fine,” Hakuba said, both relieved and mortified as he looked away, attempting to straighten up on his own two feet. As if he hadn’t just been so incredibly clumsy and ridiculous and… god. “Pardon, what… what were you saying?”

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

“A guest room, Hakuba, and here I was hoping that you’d invite me to share your bed.” Kaito purred and grinned at him. The wine on resting on the tip of his finger from the cork.

“Ah– what?!"Hakuba stuttered, mind blanking at what he HOPED was a tease, but stumbled and tripped, anyway, right over his own feet. And into Kaito. Which mortified him for several reasons all at once: the lack of grace on his part, the sudden physical contact, the fact that the expensive wine bottle was in such a precarious position, and that they were all headed for the hard marble floor. 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

He continued to smile as he walked down the hall. The wine was teetering on the very tip of his finger by the edge of the base.

“I’m willing to drink but not a lot. I still have to be able to make it back home tonight.” He laughed and watched the bottle. 

Watching the wine bottle made Hakuba nervous, but he did his best not to comment, simply grimacing every time it wobbled dangerously. If anyone could get away with that sort of handling, it was Kaito, but even so… 

“Ah, well, once we open it, we’re going to have to enjoy every drop… it is a seven hundred dollar bottle of wine, you know… and whether that means I take the lion’s share – which I would not be averse to – or you stay in a guest room, we simply cannot let it go to waste."