Work Text:
It was a rainy afternoon. Poe spent his time in the small hotel room that belonged to him since the guild had been defeated. It wasn't particularly luxurious, at least not compared to his rooms on Moby Dick, but still more than he needed.
He was sitting at a small table, placed under the window with the cream-colored curtains, working on his newest book. A mystery novel, as he promised to write for Ranpo.
A smile crept across his lips at the thought of his good friend from the detective agency. He jumped into work almost immediately and his pen scraped over the sheet - in swift order. Yes, this would certainly become a masterpiece.
Immersed in his work he forgot the time and when he looked up the next, interrupted by a violent knock at the door, night had already fallen.
He got up from his uncomfortable wooden chair. Uncomfortable simply to avoid falling asleep on the freshly written manuscripts and accidentally smearing the ink. Wondering who the late visitor might be, he opened the door and gazed in wonder at the face of...
"Ranpo? What are you doing here?", he asked, letting his idol into the room.
Ranpo crossed his arms at the back of his neck and, obviously worn out, dropped onto Poe's bed. His shoes were covered with mud, which now not only contaminated the floor, but also the blossom-white sheets. But Poe was not one to make a fuss about it.
" Did you... did you have a tough day, Ranpo-kun?"
Ranpo grumbled something incomprehensible before he sat up swinging and asked with forced enthusiasm: "How is your new book progressing? Can I have a look at it yet?"
Poe was somewhat startled when he discovered the first signs of a bruise around his friend's right eye. Also, it looked as if his nose had been bleeding until recently. "Ranpo, what happened? Has something went wrong with your last case?"
Ranpo at first just turned his back to him, then grumbled: "Nothing happened! What about your book?"
Poe didn't believe him. If only because Ranpo didn't grin as usual, didn't nibble at any sweets and... because he didn't want to look at him.
"Please tell me Ranpo-kun. Maybe... Maybe I can help?"
"I told you it's nothing", Ranpo complained, clearly annoyed.
That was enough for Poe. Actually, it wasn't his style at all, but he could no longer watch and be fooled. "So why are you here? Why aren't you looking at me? Why the black eye? Talk to me, Ranpo-kun!" A little quieter and less insistent he added: "I'm worried..."
Once again Ranpo wavered, as if he didn't care what the guild member behind him said.
"Okay," and with that, Poe grabbed the younger one by the collar and pulled him closer to himself, just inches away. "Tell me! And no lies this time."
For a moment Ranpo stubbornly stared into his eyes, his lips slightly pushed forward as if pouting. Then he gave up with a sigh and fought his way free from Poe's iron grip. "All right, all right! I'll tell you what happened!"
He stayed silent for a while, dropped back onto Poe's bed. He' d have to ask for new bedding before he could sleep in it again. Unless he wanted to look like he'd spent the night in a hogstack.
"I... I messed up," Ranpo finally said, his voice merely an unsteady whisper. Poe hardly heard him.
"You? How? What happened?"
Ranpo nervously played with the hem of his poncho. "Everything went well, I had solved the case and caught the culprit, but then... He hit me in the face and when I woke up, he was already up and gone. And I don't know where he could be now!"
"What about your ability? Haven't you tried to use it?" Poe asked astonished. He knew - thanks to a private conversation with the detectives' fearsome doctor - that Ranpo's ability was not really an ability, but that didn't make the gift any less real. And most of all impressive.
"I... can't."
Poe gave him a questioning glance. He didn't quite understand what Ranpo meant by that. Why couldn't he?
"I lost my glasses when that guy punched me. The glasses the President gave me! Without them, I can't use my ability!"
Now Poe understood. Even if the problem was nonexistent in reality, because Ranpo didn't need those glasses to use his ability. But at least in Ranpo's mind, it was a real issue. One that scared him, because it seemed to be unsolvable. The famous needle in the haystack.
"Ranpo-kun..." Poe sought for words momentarily. "We'll look for them tomorrow, okay? It's late. Get some rest. You can have the bed if you want."
Ranpo was reluctant, but then nodded in exhaustion. His tiredness was obvious. "Yes... thank you, Poe!" he mumbled. It wasn't long before he had made himself comfortable and had fallen asleep. The next day the world would surely look different again and everything would turn out fine.