themoonlightthief:

My muse has been missing for several days. Send “Where were you?!?” For mine to suddenly show up at your muse’s doorstep, in rough shape.

Kaito flinched, just barely managing to stop himself from taking a step back, his gaze shamefully, guiltily, darting off to the side and towards the ground. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. He knew there would be questions – of course there would be – but he’d hoped against hope and prayed that his other self would, at the very least…

…He wasn’t quite sure how to finish that. And, in all honesty, it didn’t really matter at the moment anyway, did it?

Swallowing thickly, he opened his mouth, then closed it again, hesitating, before glancing back up towards the thief again. And the expression that met Kaito only made the guilt and utter selfloathing grow to the point that he felt like he might just throw up.

“Ah, I…”

A thin, weary smile curved at the corners of his lips and a bloody hand selfconsciously tugged the equally bloody and dirty sleeve down his other arm and Kaito chuckled, quietly, tired indigo eyes flickering away once more.

“I went to buy chocolate and got lost on the way home…?”

…Very believable there, Kaito. Yes. Unless a sudden trip to Switzerland had occurred or similar, the thief highly doubted a chocolate shopping urge caused this, if the body language didn’t already say enough. A flash of what looked like a mix of disappointment and hurt flashed across his face, because did he really not even trust his other self enough to tell him the truth?

…But Kid wasn’t going to comment on it. Not right now. The magician already felt the need to lie – again – to avoid saying what troubled him. And really, pushing meant taking a risk. The other might break down and tell the truth… or asking further might push him away. But not saying anything about it might just make the situation worse… While he didn’t like seeing his other self like this… he also didn’t like those possibilities too much, either.

So he let out a silent sigh, worry and possibly the small bit of anger and fear that had sprung up at seeing his counterpart like that, after what’s been going on, softened and fell away slightly. And he looked back up at the other. Then stepped forward to put his arms around the magician, careful not to squeeze, though not caring if his own outfit might get a bit dirty.

“…Try not to get lost too often, okay? I’m sure it can’t just be me…”

Worried, wondering what’s wrong, wanting to help… The thief just shook his head though, pulling back a little and giving Kaito a gentle smile.

“You… we should probably clean you up. Wouldn’t want to leave you standing like this.”

A pause. Then.

“…Welcome back.”