justonetruth | Mission Improbable.

Mission Improbable.

This particular Shinichi prides himself on stealth. Discreet appearances and exits, undetectable surveillance, shadowing -- there is little about stalking he doesn't know (note: this isn't necessarily a good thing). There's just one thing.

He's not Shinichi any more.

The lack of height is in many ways a plus. Who is going to suspect a seven-year-old of following them? That's if he can avoid truant officers of course. The rest of it, however--

It needs work. And that is precisely what Conan is doing.

It's night. You might be in the library when you hear a strange noise. Have the feeling you're being watched in the kitchen. See something shift just on the edge of your vision as you make your way down the corridors to bed.

Whatever you're doing, you're not alone.

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And this Conan slips easily out of reach. He'll have to try harder. Oh, great. There's a stupid version of me trying to figure me out. Joy.

Conan takes his hand back, beaming. His counterpart's reaction just confirmed that there is a difference there, one that he is anxious to keep hidden. Surprisingly, however, Conan doesn't demand an explanation or challenge his counterpart with his discovery. He's used to secrets. "I'm going to keep practicing."

The beam the other him gives isn't very comforting, and is returned by a flat, unimpressed look. "You do that," he said. "I might even tell you when it's actually starting to work."

This Conan's sarcasm detector seems to be switched off.

"Really? I mean--" He coughs, then abruptly shrugs, assuming an air of boredom. "If you've got nothing better to do."

And this one is only realising that fact. And is proceeding to pound his head onto the imaginary wood wall in his mind in the hopes of beating some sense into it.

"Argh..." A sigh. It couldn't be that much worse than teaching the Shounen Tantei, could it? "Fine. But remember - you're supposed to not get noticed. I'll tell you when I think you're actually getting it."

And proceeds to walk off in a random direction.

Can't be worse than teaching the shounen tantei. Conan's already picked up on the need to mask his enthusiasm, evidenced by the way he only nods in response to his counterpart's announcement.

He finds himself a quiet hiding place in the shadows, letting his counterpart get ahead of him as he pulls himself into a seated position. Its not strictly necessary; Shinichi's been doing this particular meditative exercise for years. But Conan's body isn't accustomed to it, and taking up the sitting position helps him focus -- and focus he does. It doesn't take long to slip into the right pattern; breathing carefully controlled, senses hyper-aware, at one with the surrounding corridors. Preparation done, Conan takes up the challenge again.

Conan's off and quite a way away before the other starts moving after him again, but he can still hear him. Immdediately, he slipps into an adjoining corridor. He can still hear footsteps and breathing, however, so obviously the Mansion hasn't seperated them. He's not sure whether to be pleased or not.

The fact that his counterpart shifts corridors almost as soon as he starts trailing him is a good indication that Conan isn't there yet. He sighs, coming to a halt. Shinichi's almost entirely noiseless, the years of training allow him to move gracefully and stealthily, while his control over his body allows him to reduce even his breathing. The monk that taught the Kudous was able even to slow his heartbeat; Conan ... is he going to have to start all over again?

The memory of his Dad's survival training makes him wince, and he resolves to try again. He concentrates on becoming aware of, taking control of, then carefully reducing his breathing before picking up the trail again.

Ah, but there are two problems in all of that. The first is that so many of the reflexes have been lost. The second is that, shrunken or not, this 'Conan' is a vampire. He can still hear his breathing, it's only a bit quieter than before. Nothing compared to the footsteps, though. 'Almost' noiseless isn't quite enough.

...Even if it were actually noiseless. In response, he goes into a room. Closes the door.

There are many problems, yes. But in the world this Conan is from, the bounds of reality do not really seem to apply to superheroes.

Doors, however, do.

"Hey, no fair!"

And likewise sometimes to this Conan's. There are, after all, vampires. And who knows what else.

He bites back a laugh at the exclamation. The room he's in - and he'd concentrated on it before opening the door - is a biggish one. Plenty of places to hide, and he makes his way through in the open, towards the door at the other end.

(ooc: So... what is yours actually capable of? *slightly lost on that bit*)

The door behind him creaks, seemingly swinging open of its own accord. Conan waits a few minutes before slipping inside, even though he knows his counterpart will know what he's doing -- its part of practice after all. If he were actually following someone, he'd have to do it ... hey, maybe his counterpart can give him marks out of ten for the entrance!

The wealth of hiding places is very much appreciated, Conan feeling spoiled for choice. This isn't a room he's seen before, and he's grateful that he thought to fit a night vision option to his glasses. He opts to stay low, taking advantage of the shadow as he works on closing the gap between himself and his counterpart.

((Dynamic!Shin's abilities are based on those of Robin III in the DC comics world, and since Robin has canonically managed to sneak up on metas/superhumans with enhanced senses on a regular basis, that's the logic (if logic is the right word here) about Shinichi's stalking skills. Conan -- well. Doesn't have all Shinichi's advantages. Ran, incidentally, is Kryptonian but doesn't know it.))

Conan heard the creak, and rolled his eyes. Something had to have caused the door to open, since the Mansion doens't usually have that many indoor winds. Casually went through the door opposite the one he'd come in by, exiting into another hall. He can hear faint sounds behind him, but doesn't wait - it's not his job to make sure the one after him's keeping up, after all.

(Ah, that helps. Kind of - I don't know the Batman verse so well. But I'll try to keep all that in mind ^^)

The pace his counterpart is setting is going a long way to keeping Conan's interest up -- he's never one to turn down a challenge and this is definitely a challenge.

And now they're in familiar ground again. Conan recognises the hall, knows that there isn't going to be any cover, so lingers in the shadows of the hall, waiting for his counterpart to turn a corner or into another room.

This is the most fun he's had in ages.

He lets his mind wander slightly as he heads towards the stairs down, thinking about how much harmless fun he could get out of the situation. He's been around Kuroba for a while, so he's picked up a couple of things - such as the thief's more practical sense of humour.

There's nothing in that smile as he walks along to suggest any of this, though.

Stairs! Conan brightens. He's not had a chance to use his jump-line in ages. Perhaps this is it?

But no -- he's not sure he wants to share his toys with this particular counterpart yet, and the mission he's set for himself tonight is more about the practicing than the results. He sets off after his counterpart, pressed against the wall, ready to duck into a doorway if he looks like turning around.

Oh, yes. And not just any stairs - the lobby stairs. Conan heads down with a spring in his step, looks out over the balcony for a minute. Waits a while to make sure his counterpart is close by...

And jumps up onto the railings and down to the lobby floor, landing softly and not wasting a single movement. Stands back up, and starts moving onward.

...

...

...

... okay, that definitely calls for the jump-line.

...and Conan's trying to not laugh as he hears the small sounds of the jump-line being taken out. He heads over to one of the chairs while they're still going, in order to have a look see at some of the reading material the Mansion's seen fit to provide them with.

(lmao)

By the time his counterpart is done his examination of the bookcase, Conan has got himself to one of the armchairs and is grinning widely -- he's forgotten that he was trying to be undetectable and is instead trying to think of ways to get this new, awesome Conan to play with him.

"That was cool."

In the middle of perusing one of the magazines, he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," he said, dryly. And headed off to the set of rooms to be found behind the staircase.

Conan scrambled out of the chair and jogged after him, having abandoned stealth for the moment. "Can you jump up as well?"

The vampire stopped, turned around slowly, eyebrows risen. "Depends on what you mean by 'jump'." His tone is rather dry. Dry, but amused. "And weren't you supposed to not be making me notice you?"

"Well what would you call it?" Conan is unrepentant.

"I'm taking a break."

"I'd call it 'jumping'. Why - what'd you call it?"

"Well, if that's what you want to do, don't let me stop you."

And after that, he carries on going. Not, might he add, jumping. Quite notably just walking casually down the corridor towards one of the doors, destination kept in mind.

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