The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

He pouted and took the other hand and stood. “Don’t worry about it.” 

He glanced down at the bottle then to Hakuba. Shaking his head slightly he turned back to the detective and smiled. “Just how much have you drank?”

Hakuba looked at the bottle, just a tad flush from the alcohol and from the sudden guilt, reaching over to lift it up. “Not enough, that’s for certain,” he said, moving to pour himself a little more. There… was only about a quarter of it left, though, so he hesitated. “Where is your glass?”

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

The thief leaped into the air and yelped. He tumbled over him and sprawled half on the couch and Hakuba and the other half on the floor. Glaring up at the detective he whined sounding very much like a small child.  ”AW, You made me miss the ending!”

All that Hakuba could do for several moments was laugh, petting one of Kaito’s legs while he brought the wine glass back to his lips. “You’re just so cute. I couldn’t resist.” He drained his glass, then glanced back to the screen, smirking triumphantly. “We can rewind it, though. Come here." 

He offered a hand to help him up. 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

As the movie continued and started nearing its end Kaito began inching forward towards the edge of the couch and nearly ended up sitting in Hakuba’s lap. Biting his lip he kept from making any noise or cheering. 

All while Hakuba continued to drain the bottle of wine. He didn’t mind the closeness at all, and found himself looking at Kaito more often than the television. The reactions amused him so; he was already coming up with a list of films to show him in the future. It was so difficult to find a good movie-watching companion… 

Suddenly, he couldn’t resist the temptation to slide his hand down to poke Kaito in the side, just curious to see what his reaction would be, though he did try. The built-up anticipation just begged to be prodded, no matter how Hakuba looked at it. So, carefully holding his wine out of the way, he did just that. A simple, gentle poke. 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

“Huh, oh No thank you.” He answered and kissed him lightly. He was back to watching the movie and jumping slightly when the car flipped. He made a slightly protest then a squeak when the car caught fire and blew up. 

The kiss was so easily given and easily received; Hakuba didn’t even quite know what to think about it. Were things supposed to be this simple? Even after all of the drama earlier, it just seemed so normal. Baffled, the blond poured himself more wine, content to be drinking it himself they were supposed be sharing it. 

Really, it was too good to waste, and it had to be enjoyed then. Which he did, lazily rubbing his thumb over Kaito’s shoulder while the movie went on. Since he’d already seen it, his thoughts continued to drift over everything, leaving him wondering, again, just how they’d gotten to this point when just two weeks earlier, they’d been yelling at each other in Kaito’s kitchen.

Odd, so odd, how things turn out. But then Kuroba had given him the monocle, and, in turn, that much-needed closure. But… hm. He drank more, thoughtfully, and wondered.  

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito felt himself smile like a stupid giddy school girl and tucked in himself with his own slice.

The beginning of the movie, at least at a certain scene almost ended in him loosing his cake. He just barely managed to set it down before burying in close to Hakuba his face hiding into his neck and arms wrapped around him. They had to pause it briefly so he could come out from behind as the movie continued he remain wear his was occasionally moving away to take large bites out of his cake.

Right now he was tense and focus on Jack’s escaped he barely noticed pressing against the other and taking his hand into his. Whispering ‘come on, come on’ over and over again under his breath.

Hakuba did feel bad about the piranhas, as he’d expected, but had no problem at all with the turn of events. His arms remained open, welcoming, and he found that it was so much easier to hold him than he ever expected it to be. It’d been so long since he’d done anything like this with someone. Thoughts of those days hurt, but watching Kaito’s reactions to the film eased the pain of bad memories, and soon he was only thinking about the present.

It helped that he continued to drink the wine, too, finishing the glass over time and reaching for the bottle for more. The alcohol soothed him, eased those anxieties out like a steam press on cloth. He relaxed. The wine was good, the cake was good, the film was good, and his boyfriend… Hakuba stole another glance down at him, smirking in appreciation… was more than he’d ever hoped for. 

He squeezed his hand, leaning his head on him, and glanced at the screen again. It was charming that Kaito was so into it. Irresistibly cute. 

“More wine?” he murmured into his hair. 

The Meaning of the Monocle

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He tilted his head in confusion but replied eager. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s watch it.”

Although something tugged at the detective with guilt, Hakuba did as requested and got it set up. “I’ll warn you ahead of time,” he said, glancing over to Kaito while biting his lip. “But I hope it’ll be worth it. It’s all about, well, stealing as I previously mentioned, and magic. It’s one of my favorites in this genre." 

Almost giddy, he adjusted his position on the couch again to get comfortable, then tucked into his slice of chocolate cake which, somehow, went very well with the particular selection of wine. What better way to spend the evening? Dinner be damned, dessert forever!

The Meaning of the Monocle

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“The door will always be open at anytime.” He smiled and chased away the demons. “The drinks will be free. The owner won’t mind." 

He laughed and finished off the wine in his glasses. Setting it down on the table he leaned back against the back of it and sighed content with life at the moment.

Chuckling, Hakuba gave him a look, then nodded, leaning back into the corner of the couch. "That’s very generous of him. I’ll definitely have to drop by when I can. Perhaps challenge him to a round or two of cards or…” He laughed again, shaking his head. 

“God I can just see that ending in disaster. Perhaps I ought to save my pride and change topics, hm? I was thinking we could watch a heist film. I’ve one in mind, even… I think you’ll like it, though it is American…" 

Carefully balancing the plate of cake on his knee, Hakuba leaned forward to take the remote in his hand, turning on the TV and flipping through the digital movie catalog. "Actually, you might have seen it, given the subject matter… Now You See Me is the title.” A pause.

“…there is a brief scene with… well, it may be a little frightening, but I can skip over that part. If you’re interested." 

The Meaning of the Monocle

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Kaito watched him then looked to the ground and smiled sadly. “He never would. That was Jii, eternally loyal. He was in fact very much involved in my moonlighting because of that …. “

He fell silent again. The image of Jii’s broken body flashed painfully in front of his face. He shook he head and took another long swallow of wine. “I inherited the Blue Parrot after he passed.” 

“…does that mean that I can still come to visit?” Hakuba asked, tilting his head with a lopsided smile. It didn’t surprise him that Jii had been involved with the KID stuff. After all, no one that good at cards and sleight of hand was completely innocent of trickery. Always beating him. Dammit. The detective missed him very much.

He took another sip of wine. “You don’t have to give me drinks if you insist, but the atmosphere was quite nice." 

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

“Sounds great.” He chirped and crossed to where the plates were. Performing a balancing act he moved them and him self to the couch. Once the plates were settled on the table he sat.

Kaito stared into the wine for a moment before taking a long pull. It was good far better than anything he could have bought. He sighed and felt the tears pool behind his eyes.

“It was Jii. He picked it out. There was a note underneath the bottle saying: ‘Kai-bocsama, this wine is for you and the person who you find in this life that you can’t live with out. I hope you can find your happiness. Forever Loyal, Jii.’.” He said softly lost in the memories. Turning he looked back up to Hakuba. “Relationship aside, even if we remained as friends this bottle still applies. I hope you don’t mind the forwardness of it.”

Hakuba resisted the urge to call Kaito out for being a showoff with the plates, and instead just brought his glass to the couch, carefully pulling himself up onto it in one corner, legs and all. With one hand against the arm, he braced himself enough to fold his legs under him, knees out, and settled, watching his companion, letting him finish before leaning forward to take one of the plates. 

“No, not at all,” he said after a moment, voice quiet in respect for the man. “I’m touched… both that you consider me that way, and by your relationship with him. I only knew him as a patron, really, but he was a good man. Billiards, cards…” The detective sighed, looking down at the glass in his hand. “The occasional drink despite being underage…" 

His gaze went back to Kaito and he smiled. It was sad, but there was still plenty of warmth behind it. "I liked him quite a bit.” A pause. “And if he was involved with your moonlighting, he never betrayed you to me, despite my nosing around. Not even once.”

The Meaning of the Monocle

smokebombsandmirrors:

Kaito smiled and took up his glass as well.

“To mutual feelings.” He said and tapped the glasses musically. 

Ah, it was finally time to sample the wine. Hakuba gave a nod to his – aha! – new boyfriend, and brought the glass to his lips for a small taste. And it was as he expected… wonderful. He closed his eyes and drank deeply, just for this one pull, and took the glass from his lips afterward to give a very, very satisfied sigh.

“Good god…” Hakuba nearly commented that it was worth every cent, but he hadn’t paid for it. Neither had Kuroba, technically, but Jii…

Jii.

The detective looked down at his glass, smirk a little sadder at the thought.

“You picked a very good wine, Kuroba-kun. Very good. Shall we take the rest, and the cake, to the couch?"