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“Ouch- could you please be a bit more careful?” Poe rubbed his elbow, eyebrows furrowing and nose scrunching. “I can’t see a thing, remember?”
“Ah. Right. I keep forgetting that, sorry- I’m just so confused.” Ranpo’s hands were once again on his own, guiding him. “Tanizaki said it was around here- somewhere- and it should be, but this street isn’t familiar at all…”
“Maybe if you removed the blindfold and let me see, we could search for whatever it is you’re looking for together?”
“No way, it’s supposed to be a surprise!”
“Ow- would you please be more careful then?” Poe winced. This time it was his foot that ached. “Or I’ll remove this stupid cloth myself!”
How he managed to get hurt when he and Ranpo were walking so painfully slowly was still beyond him.
“Fine, fine. Sorry.” Ranpo said. “I think I found it!”
“Please tell me it isn’t that far.”
“I never thought you were the impatient type of lover, Poe; but I guess I was wrong.” Ranpo suddenly stopped and made Poe turn around. “Careful. Stairs.”
“Edogawa Ranpo, the greatest detective in the whole world, was wrong about something?”
“I’m being kind enough to talk to you so you won’t be scared while having to walk blindfolded this long, and this is how you thank me; by using my own words against me.” Ranpo huffed, and Poe couldn’t help the small smile that touched his lips as he did so. “I hate you.”
“The feeling is mutual, don’t you worry about it.”
“The stairs end here. You’re in such a good mood today, aren’t you?” Poe’s breathing hitched when Ranpo leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “Should I be concerned?”
“Why don’t you use Super Deduction and then tell me, should you be?”
“You’ll regret saying that.”
“I don’t think I will.”
“I think I might have a bad influence on you.”
Poe ignored Ranpo’s last comment and chuckled. “How long has it been since our last date, really?”
“Forty-eight days, eight hours and twenty-five-ish seconds.” Ranpo intertwined their fingers and stopped walking.
“That long?” Poe asked.
“Too long.”
Ranpo’s lips were warm against his own. He blindly wrapped his arms around Ranpo’s waist and pulled his body closer to his own. When they pulled away, Ranpo rested his forehead against his and chuckled.
“We’re here by the way.”
“Already?” Poe moved his head around, as though he could actually see anything. It was worth it, Poe decided, when Ranpo laughed.
“The date is ruined.” Ranpo took his hands again, and they walked some more. “Getting here took more time than I’d thought.”
“Is it because you got lost, or is it because of how ridiculously slow we were walking?” Poe felt his curiosity grow when he heard the sound of a door opening.
“Both. But I suppose the latter? I had a little feeling I’d get lost.” Ranpo’s hands were on the blindfold now. “Anyway, it should still be okay I think.”
He removed the blindfold, and Poe blinked a few times to get used to the light. In front of him was a view of the city. He was about to turn and look behind him - the balcony they were on wasn’t one he recognized - but Ranpo placed his hands on his shoulders.
“No. Look.” He muttered.
“It’s…” Poe blinked, taking in the sight before him. He couldn’t really see much; the sky was much darker than it was before Poe wore the blindfold, but it was nice to be able to look at the city from somewhere so far up. “Beautiful.”
It almost felt like he was sitting on a cloud; the thought made Poe smile.
“I knew you’d like it!” Ranpo removed his hands from Poe’s shoulders and sat down. Legs hanging from the edge of the balcony, he patted the spot beside him.
“Where are we exactly?” Poe asked. He sat down beside him.
“I was hoping you’d ask!” Ranpo seemed to grow a head taller as he fixed his posture and re-positioned his hat. Poe chuckled at the sight. “This is a crime scene.”
“A crime scene?” Poe echoed, eyebrows raising as he glanced around him. “It doesn’t really look like a crime scene.”
“Tanizaki and I went here to investigate last week, and since this house isn’t used by anyone at the time being, I thought I’d take you here to show you the view.”
“I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve done for me so far.”
“Oh, stop complaining, will you?” Ranpo crossed his arms and ignored Poe when he muttered something that sounded like I’m not complaining, and continued. “Anyway, the old lady downstairs gave me the key because I was kind enough to keep her cat safe from the police’s stinky feet.”
“Did you plan this the moment you stepped foot into the house?”
“Not really. I planned this the moment I stepped foot on this balcony.”
“Ah.” Poe didn’t think he could say anything to that, and he stayed quiet.
“You were supposed to see the sunset actually, but we came here a little too late.”
“It’s okay.”
“And I wanted us to eat something, but then I got too caught up in thinking about what the perfect dinner would be that I ended up doing nothing.”
“I’m not surprised.” Poe stretched, cringing at the sound his bones made when they popped. “So stop whining. It’s fine.”
“The next surprise will be better.”
“Maybe.” Silence fell upon them, and Poe cleared his throat. “What was the case you and Tanizaki were working on?”
“It might have seemed like a suicide, but the poor lady was pushed from the balcony by her own brother.” Ranpo grinned then, the smile wide enough to split his face in half. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, and a shiver ran down Poe’s spine. “Maybe you could write something similar in one of your stories.”
“Maybe I should. How old was she?”
“She was around her thirties. Her brother is twenty-seven.”
“Interesting.”
“If you think that’s interesting, wait until you hear the reason he killed her too.” Ranpo snickered, and if Poe didn’t know him well, he would be concerned that he got so excited when it came to talking about a murderer.
As Ranpo went on about the man’s - pretty intelligent in Poe’s opinion - plan in such detail as though he was the murderer himself, Poe smiled, intertwining their fingers and letting Ranpo rest his head on his shoulder.
Their date wasn’t perfect, and very different from what he had expected, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It didn’t even matter, that he had stabbed his little toe and hit his head on things so many times that he had lost count.
All that mattered was that there was a brilliant young man sitting beside him, and that he loved him more than anyone in the whole world.
It was enough for Poe; to be this special to someone, to feel needed, and to feel loved.