justonetruth | Directed at [Blackenedtantei]

Conan shrugged. "You'll figure it out, I'm sure, why I have every right to use it."

"Ah, that's because you don't understand," Conan said, spreading his arms wide. "You see, this is my element," he added, and snapped his fingers, the butterflies all turning a bright gold and being in far greater number, illuminating the room quite well, even if it's more like candlelight lighting than from lightbulbs. "The insanity, the games of people's lives and mind, even the fact what the Mansion IS. Surely you've figured out that I'm not a normal ten year old by now, but you have no clue beyond that as to who or even what I am."

"And yet...I know plenty about you, Shin-chan~!"

Ah. Just like Vermouth then. Back to the games they'd played when he was younger. Shinichi's eyes became lazily half-lidded, a smirk it's taking place on his face. A snake's poker face.

"For knowing plenty about me, you've yet to say anything relevant beyond my name... or indeed, anything you couldn't have gotten from talking to my dear thief."

Conan's smirk grew. And suddenly everything became quiet and the words Conan spoke were magnified along with the text itself running in the air around him.

"And nothing said in Red is a lie. Kudo Shinichi, son of Kudo Yuusaku, mystery writer, and Yukiko, actress. Yukiko was an apprentice to Kuroba Toichi, where she met Sharon Vineyard who is really Chris Vineyard who is Vermouth who never ages. Born May 4th, but I'm willing to bet you often forget your own birthday. Not all that fond of sweets," he said and proceeded to list blood type, when his first real growth spurt occurred and basically any physical attribute that would be present even with different life experiences

"I don't forget my own birthday," corrected Shinichi with a purr, sounding amused as he idly corrected Conan. "I simply never celebrate it. And I'm not fond of most things. They just bore me so."

A slight pause, and the amusement in his tone grew as pieces fell into place. Close to him, and with every right...? Hah. Almost too simple.

"Since this place seems to have different laws of time, expanded laws of the universe seem to follow. So I wouldn't sound too smug, Shinichi-kun."

A gamble. But then, that was the truly thrilling place to balance, where boredom fell away and the knife-edge of intellect took it's place.

"Really? Ah well, some information is expected to change," Conan said with a shrug. "But that's just the information that isn't VALUABLE for you to know I know. After all, that would make things boring."

There wasn't a single flinch or flicker. Just a tilt of the head as he gave him an amused look. "'Shinichi-kun?' Giving me your name, Shin-chan?" After all, it was no fun if he just GUESSED. He had to trap him, get him to admit it or provide evidence.

"Not to you," he purred. "As I said. One person only."

A small widening of his smirk. "And if you happened to be in a divulgatory mood, what sorts of information would you be divulging?" He knew everything he wanted to know; not perhaps all he needed, but enough. About his thief, and about people.

Which wasn't a lie. After all, the 'proper way' would have been 'san' or some other honorific that denoted age since he WAS the older of the two. And really, it was up to this Shinichi to figure that out.

Conan chuckled. "It's no fun to just straight up tell you!" He said. He paused. "...but I do know something I just bet you're dying to know."

"Then englighten me as to the proper form of address," said Shinichi. No guarantee he'd use that form of address, of course. "You can hardly blame me for chosing the one that befits your small stature."

"No you don't," said Shinichi in a confident purr. And Shinichi wasn't lying, either. There was nothing he would die to know. Knowledge was ephemeral and changeable. Death was forever.

Conan shook his head. "Really now...Eodgawa Conan is the name," he said. "When this body was born, that was the name given to it. So might as well use it."

"Oh, but I do," Conan said. Of course, he didn't mean literal death, and he just bit back the comments to go on about it. He usually did with his opponents, but this was a different one. "Because I know who Kaito trusts. And I can assure you, he doesn't trust me. He might even hate me."

"As false names go, I don't commend your choices. Far too literary, tantei-kun."

"I know enough about who he trusts." Enough to find them. A name was all he needed. "But that's very interesting to hear." He smirked wider, leaning back against the counter behind him in a casual stance. "What could you have done to make him hate you in such a short time?"

"The horrible literary false name would be if I told you to call me Dante, but then Beatrice would probably smack me the next time I see her. Especially with everything going as it is," Conan said with a shrug, neither confirming, nor denying the accusation.

"You won't get far with that name," Conan said. "Especially when they already know that's a way to be tracked. Though I suppose I should have the message delivered. They should be able to hear it well enough," Conan said, looking at a butterfly. "Go on then, do that." he said, waving it away.

He looked at Shinichi and shrugged. "Again, where's the fun in TELLING you. Surely you can figure it out."

"And now you claim the Inferno... really now, boya, it's a little above your station, don't you think?"

So the butterflies were a form of contact, revealers of truths, and a handy lightsource....and probably the reason he'd been found here. "I'll get far enough," he said without much reaction. He was practiced in not reacting to prods at his emotions... except in one area.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed, just a tad, his posture more rigidly dangerous than lazily relaxed. "If you're implying any harm to my thief, you'll shortly wish you'd never, ever told me so."

"Actually, it's perfect for my station, but that's another story that I don't plan to tell here. You'd have to play the game for that," Conan said with a wry grin.

"And if you can't kill them?" Conan asked. "Or rather...if you even manage it, what if they don't stay dead?"

Conan didn't show any outward notice, but he noted the shift. "Hoh~?" He said, looking curious now. "And what would you do? For all you know, I've already flayed him alive and fend him to a swarm of cockroaches. Or locked him away in an airtight room to suffocate. Or forced enough candy down his throat to make his stomach explode," he said, with a far too innocent voice and expression on his face.

Of course, it was all to get more of a reaction because it was quite a curious reaction indeed.

"Game?" Shinichi's question was idle, but with an edge of curiousity to it.

"Who said," Shinichi purred, "That I'd kill them?" He hadn't killed Chikage, had he? But there was certainly some punishment to be doled out for being someone the thief would go to over him. "You know there's much worse things I could do than that."

He stiffened further, one hand curling slowly into a tight fist to stop himself from attacking the child indiscriminately. "If you had, you wouldn't be here trying to elicit informaiton from me," he managed to say without much emotion to his voice, though a low growl threatened to spill through his words. Nobody threatened his thief. Nobody hurt Kaito except him.

"...heh," Conan said and grinned. "A mystery. One that even a great detective would have a hard time solving," he said. "And one that's got a bit something...extra to it for the players beyond just that."

Conan paused, looking dumbfounded for a moment. And then...he laughed. A loud, boisterous laugh, with definite tones of insanity in it. "True, true! There are much worse things than death. For the one who knows that tearing someone up into little pieces is a mercy kill for his opponent, it's a concept I'm familiar with. Especially when I am considered no better."

Conan's laughter died down into a snigger. "Oh, that's a stupid thought. Assuming too much there. Maybe I just like to see what broke him? Or maybe I just want to fuck with your head. All of them are completely valid conclusions. After all, it's the sort of thing you enjoy, isn't it, Shinichi-chan~? Or even...well, you did miss the riddle, so I suppose I can't fault you for that."

"Hmmmn."

Absinthe made a low triumphant noise in the back of his throat. "You're just as bad," he sneered, "as me. In your own precious way. Though I doubt even you wouldn't delight in--" He stopped, and smirked. "I'll let you guess what I delight in."

"If you keep on messing with me, there is going to be an accident. I don't care what steps you take, what riddles you make. They all pale in comparison to the fact that my thief is away from my grasp." Shinichi had leant forwards as he spoke, fisted palm now flat against the coutertop, shoulders trembling with an intense frustration and anger.

"I'm afraid the body is a bit too young to get any sort of pleasure from that," Conan said casually. Said mostly to confirm if it WAS that or something else. He wouldn't have been surprised either way, all things considered. And it really WAS a problem of hormones just not being there. "I get all the psychology stuff from other games. I have so many pieces to do whatever I delight in, after all~! Both here and back home." He sounded just like a kid who was happy with a toy.

Oh, extremely possessive indeed. "An accident, you say?" He said and walked over, jumping onto the countertop, staring at Shinichi at the same eye level, a wide, dangerous smirk on his face. "Too bad you don't scare me. You have no means to stop me from claiming what I wish. I could decide he's MY thief and steal him away from you and I'd just enjoy watching your pitiful attempts to take him back~!" He said, his voice practically sing song and totally deranged, but there was a coolness that suggested it wasn't complete idiocy that made him say such things. Though it was plain as day that Conan didn't seem to feel threatened.

But considering who he played with, he had to be an EXPERT to hide whenever he was the slightest bit threatened.

Absinthe chuckled lowly, amused. "Not that." He gave Conan a considering look, then smirked, quietly confident. "You know, I don't think you'll guess." It was so unexpected a thing for him to delight in, after all. And he was quietly amused that a slip of his own tongue was turning to his advantage.

Absinthe stared at him in quiet, furious anger, glaring at the child. "If you ever attempt that, I'll see that you regret living." And then, to drive the threat home, though he was guessing as to how harsh his point would be driven, "I call Vermouth mother. Do you really think you can take what's mine and not suffer for it?"

"Ah, so it's something different? Good, good, it'd be sad to hear a Kudo Shinichi was just run of the mill," Conan said with an amused chuckle.

And at that, Conan looked shocked and horrified. "Vermouth....? You call...t-that woman...that woman...heh..."

Though he only held it for a few seconds before he couldn't keep a straight face and started laughing. "Vermouth?! Really? I took down the Black Organization a year ago," he said, shaking his head. "Besides that, I already deduced you were close to Vermouth. Thank you for clarifying how." Oh, he did think Vermouth was still a threatening woman. He never did catch her, since she was part of the reason he was able to get things done, but just as he never showed fear for the witches who reminded him so greatly of Vermouth, he wasn't going to show fear for her protege.

His grin didn't leave. Oh, he knew he was getting to Shinichi and that was part of the point. "So, really, I think you'll have a hard time getting me to regret living. If anything, it tempts me to take Kaito just to see what you'll do."

"Mmn. My delight is rather rare."

"You could have gathered as much from talking to Kaito," said Shinichi with mild surprise inserted into his tone. He smirked. "And since when did I say that I had not taken out the Black Organisation?"

Shinichi closed his eyes and tilted his head back, inhaling deeply. "Stop baiting me," he said with his eyes still closed, then opened them slowly to stare coldly at Conan.

"Oh, now you're just teasing me," he practically cooed.

"He said you were part of the Black Organization. It's enough to figure something out as she often has an interest in Kudo Shinichi," Conan said with a shrug. "And it's not as impressive from a turncoat agent. Is that why you said you don't have their backing to Kaito?"

Conan's grin just grew wider. "But you make it so easy. And who said it was a lie? Wouldn't be the first time I had an unhealthy relationship with people I like. Hurt them and scared them and broke them...and then fixed them up to do it all. Over. Again. It's quite addictive after a while," he said, a purr in his own voice this time.

"Of course."

"Turncoat?" Shinichi purred. "I was much more than that." They hunted me for near on a year before I destroyed them, he remembered with amusement. He and Kaito, fleeing from their grasp and jousting lethally on occasion with the dark group. All for the thief, because Shinichi refused to give him up.

"Greedy," said Shinichi lightly. There was something... reprehensible about what Conan suggested, serving only to highlight the fear and panic Kaito had shown before him earlier. The way he'd bolted at the first opportunity.

"I suppose I was begging for it," Conan said with a long suffering sigh.

"A turncoat is a turncoat. Biggest difference is I started from scratch when you were in the middle of them all. A lot easier to get information that way and since 'Kudo Shinichi' can do it from the outside usually, it's only obvious you can do it from the inside. The question is...why~? Perhaps mother dearest asked you to? But I doubt that," Conan said, leaning close with a wide grin. "There's something more with you."

"Extremely so, but I am a witch. It's only natural for me," Conan said and paused. "Hmmm, now that's an interesting look in your eyes," he said, leaning closer, standing on his toes to get a better look.

"I haven't heard begging yet from you."

"You know there is," said Shinichi with a smirk. "Can you figure me out, I wonder?" He was truly curious to know if Conan would see past 'evil' to find the glimmer of good in his eyes, the part which protected the thief. "Mother lost her hold on me a long time ago."

Shinichi raised a silent eyeborw the internal masks already falling shut again. Now Conan had ceased baiting him, it was very easy to return to detetched boredom.

"And you never will." Up to him if he took that as a challenge.

Conan stared, a piercing look as he looked into his eyes. "Did she now..." He murmured.

Then he smiled mysteriously and moved back flat on his feet. "I am an expert on figuring people out. That's how I ended up like this. You're a very interesting one, you know, if a bit dull compared to her, but...interesting nonetheless."

"I wonder." Vague interest in the implied challenge, put to the side for now. His thief was more important than making another scream.

"Dull?" murmured Absinthe, amused. "That's a new one. But then, insulting me would only prove to insult yourself at the same time, wouldn't it?"

"Well, you certainly won't get it the normal ways," Conan said with a shrug. He was getting quite used to torture by this point.

"One, I never said you were right about being a 'Shinichi.' Second, even if you were, that sort of thing is stupid to say. One being that from the 'normal Shinichi,' we'd both be quite different. Two being the fact that Shinichi is pretty dull in himself for what I consider 'interesting," Conan said, with a tilt of his head and a mysterious smile.

"But you...oh, I know that look. You were a tiny big disgusted in what I was describing, weren't you? That wouldn't be such a surprise from 'Shinichi,' but for the Absinthe Shinichi that Kaito supposedly knows...that is interesting."

Absinthe just smirked, amused. If he wanted to, he was quite sure he could.

"I have no knowledge of what's 'normal'--" and yes, there was a slight sneer to that word, "--And really, do you think I need confirmaiton to know that a guess is as close to the truth as what matters?"

"It's just part of my charm, I suppose," purred Absinthe, not answering the jab in any way that was revealing; except of cours,e that he'd carefully avoided having a reaction to the jab itself.

Conan didn't seem the least bit doubtful about his own tolerance.

"A straight forward kind of guy whose pretty easy to figure out if you watch for just a little while. It probably wouldn't even take a week to understand him," Conan said with a shrug. "And you could be wrong. That's why confirmation is good, or else multiple truths exist."

Conan raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "But I suppose it depends what is confirmation to a person. So, does that mean I'm might. Does little Absinthe-kun actually have a conscience buried under all of that?"

Directed at [Blackenedtantei]

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