Catch-All for March

[spoilsfun]

Characters: Conan Edogawa and Anyone
Date: Throughout March
Location: Multiple
Situation: Multiple
Warnings/Rating: Probably None



1. Water District (During 4th Wall)
Conan was determined to spend as much time as possible with Ran while she was still here. As such, he finds himself taking her on a tour of the high points of the different districts. Today they were exploring Water.


2. Not 221B (After 4th Wall)
Conan spent much of the month in a foul mood. To have Ran here, for just two weeks. To be able to speak to her, even if it wasn't with his own face and voice. And then to have her leave just as suddenly.

Takagi had vanished too. And Vermouth (although that was actually a relief). He was alone here again.

Conan spends much of the month buried in his books and ignoring his roommates as much as he could.

2. The streets of Central
When he finally becomes too restless to spend any more time inside, Conan takes advantage of the improving weather by finding an open space in central to practice his soccer technique. He kicks a soccerball around patches of grass in parks or practices his kicking technique bouncing and catching the ball off vacant buildings.

3. KPD
Conan can also be found often at the KPD, seeking out projects to work on as a distraction.

4. Feel free to add your own

Comments

1!

[redorchid]

Ran is loving the Water District. It reminds her of the pictures she's seen of Venice with all the canals, and she's probably had to stop at every fountain along the way to admire it. She seems to have gotten used to the kedan for the most part at this point, nearly at ease unless someone with blue skin or three nostrils catches her eye.

Mostly, though, she's relaxed - even almost happy as they pause a moment on the edge of a fountain to rest. Glancing at Conan out of the corner of her eye, the corner of her mouth goes up in a mischievous smirk, and her hand darts through the water's surface, sending a small splash in his direction.

[spoilsfun]

Conan had been mostly just following Ran around, letting her take the lead in what to see. For one thing, she had much more interest in the fountains than he did.

He'd been doing his best to avoid standing too close to the water, seeing as he had spent several weeks sick only a month or two before, partly due to a fall into the river.

But when Ran splashes him he splutters and falls in.

[redorchid]

Ran is having no luck lately. With a yelp, immediately she's fishing him back out, having him out and on the ground again in a moment.

"C-Conan-kun, I'm sorry, I didn't mean- Are you okay?"

He's wet and dripping everywhere.

[spoilsfun]

He was completely soaked. It wasn't nearly warm enough for that to be anywhere comfortable. Conan quickly squirms out of his jacket and tries to wring some of the water out if ut.

"I'm okay, Ran-neechan. I wasn't expecting that!"

[redorchid]

Fortunately an elderly kedan woman has seen all of this and trots forward with a heavy blanket that should be absorbent. Ran takes it with full gratitude, draping it over the boy in front of her and trying to vigorously rub the wetness out of his hair and down his arms. It's definitely too cold for him to be wet like this.

Mentally she's giving herself an earful.

[spoilsfun]

He squirms under the blanket trying to get his face uncovered.

"Wait, Ran-neechan! I can do this myself."

[redorchid]

"Mou, no, it's my fault." The words are firm - though at least she does uncover his face, tucking the blanket up so that it just drapes over the crown of his head like a hood. She doesn't stop drying him off, though. "Just hold still a minute."

She finishes with his arms and moves to his shoulders and chest - only to discover a hard lump under his clothes that's unexpected enough to make her pause in her vigorous drying. She nudges it underneath the cloth, pushing it lightly against his breastbone. "Ne - what's that?"

Still drying him, but a little slower now.

[spoilsfun]

He hesitates a moment, but pulls on the chain to bring out a ring,sized for an adult with a dark blue stone mounted in the center.

"Someone explained soul gems to you, right?"

[redorchid]

She pauses to look (leaving the blanket draped around him). "Someone said something about jewelry, now that you mention it, but they didn't explain what it was, and I didn't think to ask at the time."

She reaches out to take it briefly from his fingers, turning it around to admire it, minding the chain still around his neck. "It's pretty. What is it for?"

[spoilsfun]

"They call them soul gems. All of the people who arrive here have one. I still don't understand everything about them, but if we take them off, we get sick. People here say you can even die if you're separated from it too long."

[redorchid]

Her hands still abruptly. "What?"

This may not have been his best choice of words.

[spoilsfun]

He comes to a belated realization on how that sounded.

"Ah, not that I've tested any of that! Lots of people warned me not to take it off when I arrived."

Thinking about testing it wasn't the same as actually doing it.

[redorchid]

It's far more about the fact that it even could happen that's foremost on Ran's mind. The fact that his life could depend on something so tiny, fragile, and easily lost is terrifying.

She doesn't answer immediately, pale.

[spoilsfun]

"Ran-neechan? What's wrong?"

[redorchid]

Does he really understand? The question makes her wonder.

Conan is smart. Smarter, really, than a seven year old ever should be.

He's never completely seemed to understand danger, though. At least not for himself. He'll throw himself into things without any regard for his own safety. Does he really understand the consequences?

Is it better for him to understand them, or not?

"You need to protect this." Her fingers slip under his chin, making sure his eyes meet hers. "No matter what. Promise me."

[spoilsfun]

He frowns slightly as she touches his chin and tries to pull back a little. But then he relaxes as their eyes meet.

"I was going to be careful anyway. But I promise."

[redorchid]

She nods and lets her hand fall. It's not much, but like so many things in this place, there's not much she can do. All she can do is keep him safe - and stress to him to keep himself safe as much as possible.

Her eyes linger on the ring, frowning faintly. "If you're supposed to wear it all the time, why did they make it too big?"

[spoilsfun]

"I don't really know. But that's why I keep it like this."

He suspected, but that wasn't the same as knowing. And that was a suspicion he preferred not to say.

[redorchid]

The answer seems to satisfy her well enough - or if it doesn't, she doesn't say any more about it. She's resumed drying him off, but her movements are distracted now and a little distant.

Suddenly, softly: "What does it mean if I don't have one?"

[spoilsfun]

He is silent for a moment.

"I don't know for sure. But I've been listening to the kedan. They act like a large group of people arriving has happened before. And hasn't lasted for long."

[redorchid]

Her heart squeezes suddenly. "What do you mean, 'hasn't lasted long?'"

[spoilsfun]

"I don't know for sure. But have you seen the way they're acting? The merchants are trying to get as much money out of all the new arrivals as they can. I don't think they would be acting like this unless they were expecting the new revenue source to go away."

[redorchid]

Since she doesn't know how they were reacting before her arrival, she has no baseline for comparison. She'll have to trust him on that.

Her heart squeezes again, fiercer. "And the others who came when I did... they don't have soul gems either. Right?"

[spoilsfun]

"I don't know for sure, but I haven't seen any of them with one."

[redorchid]

Maybe there's no direct proof, but somehow she's certain of it: She isn't meant to be here. As much as she isn't liking the idea of a soul gem, not one means the this world hasn't claimed her. If all the people who arrive here have one and she should be sick without one on her, that means she shouldn't be here - shouldn't ever have been here. Without one, she's ephemeral, liable to blow away.

If that's true, she'll have to leave him.

She gazes back at him for long moments, emotions chasing over her face.

"I'm not supposed to be here," she murmurs at last. "I never was."

[spoilsfun]

"Don't say it that way, Ran-neechan. Even if you can't stay here, that doesn't mean you're not supposed to be here."

He would never regret being able to see her, even if it was only for a short time.

[redorchid]

But that's from his perspective. From hers, she'll have to leave him - leave him with people she only just met and trust that they'll take care of him, leave without knowing what happens to him and if he'll be okay. It feels like abandoning him, and the worst part is that she doesn't have any choice. It feels like she's just gotten teased with this, only to have it all yanked away again.

Her thumb grazes his cheek and falls away, her eyes suddenly blurry with tears.

[spoilsfun]

He panics a little. He never knew what to do when Ran was crying.

[redorchid]

She can't do this. She's scaring him, and she can't do that. Tears won't change the situation. They'll probably only make him feel like he has something to be scared about in turn, and she doesn't want to do that. She can't be selfish.

She swipes at her eyes with the backs of her fingers, trying to dry them. "Mm, sorry... I'm okay."

[spoilsfun]

"Are you sure?"

He hated it when Ran cried and he couldn't do anything.

[redorchid]

She does her best to pull up a smile, though her eyes keep welling. She wipes at them again, though it doesn't completely help. "I guess... I don't like the idea. Leaving Conan-kun here alone. Not having you come back too. But there's not much to do about that, ne?"

[spoilsfun]

"I'll make it back there some day. I just can't go with you right now." He forces a smile. "And I'm not alone here. There are people who take care of me, right? They won't let me get hurt."

Whether he liked it or not.

[redorchid]

"'M glad," she says softly. And she is. She's glad he has the people he has. They'll be good to him - or in the case of one of them, as good to him as can be managed.

But it's still not her. Nothing changes that. And nothing changes that she's being forcibly separated from someone she loves again.

Her fingers reach out again, smoothing the hair over his ear. She's still trying to smile. "You need to come back. Promise?"

[spoilsfun]

His expression firms into determination.

"I promise. No matter what it takes, I'll come back to you some day."

[redorchid]

Those words and their strange intimacy, with that expression... Ran's eyes widen a little at the familiarity of it, fingers faltering in his hair.

2!

[peridiot]

Peridot's just walking around, minding her own business, when she sees the Conan kicking something in a park.

"What are you doing?" she asks, but it doesn't sound as arrogant and judgmental as she usually does. She's legitimately curious.

[spoilsfun]

He bounces the ball off the top of his knee, catches it with the flat of his foot as it falls behind him, and kicks it back up to balance it on top of his head with repeated small bounces.'

"Soccer."

[peridiot]

Oh. So this is the 'soccer' he'd been talking about.

"An interesting display of skill," she says, trying to sound academic and not at all excited (and partially failing). "Is this one of those 'sports' you spoke of?"

[spoilsfun]

"Mmm." He keeps bouncing the ball on top of his head as he talks, using small movements to keep it under control. "This particular sport is very popular where I live."