Work Text:
In the 28 years Poe has been alive, there has always been one thing that’s certain. A stable variable, something that never changes.
It’s always his fault.
It doesn’t matter if it was a murder he made nothing to do with, if the glass shattering had nothing to do with him, or if he was even near a problem at all.
It’s always his fault.
I mean, you can’t blame him. It’s something he’s been told most of his life. Little mistakes become life threatening matters for him fast, it’s like the panic button in his brain replaced the button of common sense in his brain.
He’s just a mess.
Or, that’s what he thinks.
There are actual words and conditions that explain this phenomenon, Poe’s had them all listed to him at least nine or ten times.
It’s stupid of him to really think this is his fault.
At the very least, it shouldn’t be his first assumption.
It’s definitely not his fault that Ranpo is upset, it has nothing to do with him.
Ranpo even said that, called that out to him while Poe rushed home, hopping on the first train he saw and hiding in the back, tugging on his hair to try and keep himself from crying.
It’s when the train stops that he realizes that Karl is missing.
And then Poe feels even more pathetic for not realizing his best friend and emotional support animal had abandoned him.
He bit his lip, holding his jacket a little bit closer and continuing to rush home.
It’s his fault Karl disappeared, anyway.
He must’ve done something seriously wrong to the raccoon, given him a bath too many times, not fed him enough, not gotten the food he likes.
… Karl must hate him. That’s understandable.
Poe eventually got home, hurriedly unlocking the room and closing it behind him, leaving him in a dark apartment.
Alone.
At last…
Poe hid in his tiny bathroom and provided to have a meltdown.
Pulling out his hair, screaming, crying.
Ripping up papers, god awful drafts that no one would never want to see.
Hitting his head on the wall, definitely annoying the neighbors, but oh well.
It lasted for at least an hour, everything felt overwhelming, and everything felt upsetting.
But by the end of it, Poe ended up sitting in the empty bathtub, clothes on and still staring at the shower head.
He felt empty, devoid of any emotion, and his throat hurt from screaming.
There was a knock at the door, though Poe couldn’t bring himself to get up and answer it.
He wasn’t quite presentable enough to do that, either…
He had thrown off his two jackets, which were now left disheveled on the floor, leaving him in his button up and vest. His bangs kept sticking to his eyes while he was crying, so he put them up with a headband, his bangs just about soaked with tears. His eyes were red, puffy. His entire face was probably red, actually.
Either way, he was not going to answer the door.
The door unlocked though, and Poe felt like he was about to become the victim of a murder case.
… Maybe he deserved that.
“Poe? Are you home?” Called out a familiar voice.
It’s Ranpo’s. This was bad.
Quickly, he closed the shower curtains, and decided that the best course of action was to turn on the shower with him still in it.
Clothes and all.
So he did.
Cold water poured down his face and clothes, it was ice cold from the fact that he didn’t warm up the water beforehand.
Just anything to keep Ranpo from seeing him like this.
The door opened anyways, and Poe found himself holding his breath, and from behind the curtain, Karl peeked his head out into the shower at Poe, soaked to the bone with ice cold water.
Poe couldn’t help but smile and shake his hands.
“Karl!” He exclaimed, using his foot to turn off the shower and pull the raccoon in, holding his to his chest and rocking back and forth.
Moments afterwards, Ranpo pulled back the shower curtains, looking down at Poe with a slight smile.
… He was cute. His glasses her on top of his head, likely having just used them to figure out where Poe’s spare apartment key was. His hat had been discarded, he probably just dropped it on the floor the moment he came in like usual.
Ranpo let out a laugh, “Did you seriously turn on the shower just to avoid talking to me?”
Poe glanced to the side, petting Karl, “... Maybe.”
Ranpo got to his knees, ruffling Poe’s hair haphazardly. He didn’t seem to be bothered by Poe's disheveled state, the torn up papers on the ground, or really any of the mess in the bathroom.
… It was a little embarrassing now that Poe thought of it.
“Are you okay?” Ranpo asked, “You left in a hurry, without Karl nonetheless, I got worried.”
“I’m… Fine,” Poe managed to mumbled out, his voice had gotten much quieter, and he couldn’t seem to increase his volume.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to.
“... You know, me being upset wasn’t your fault, Poe,” Ranpo explained.
So he already knew why Poe rushed off so fast. He probably knows why the bathroom is a mess, too.
As to be expected from one of the best detectives.
He probably thought Poe was even more of an embarrassment, then. He probably doesn’t even want to be friends anymore.
Why would anyone want to be friends with Poe?
“You need to stop blaming yourself for that sort of thing, honestly. It had nothing to do with you, Kunikida-san just got mad at me, so I was mad at him. You weren’t even there,” Ranpo continued.
“I could’ve at least noticed you were mad…” Poe replied softly, looking off to the side.
“I don’t expect you to do that,” He replied, lowering his voice, “I know you have a hard time with social cues, I do too. You not noticing is just fine, I didn’t want to make a big deal of it anyway. It was just a little thing, it had nothing to do with you, and it wasn’t your fault.”
Karl began to start purring almost in Poe’s arms as he looked back up at Ranpo, who smiled back at him, his normal cheerful and happy demeanor returning.
“Let’s get you changed. And also, next time don’t shower in your clothes, stupid.”
Ranpo holds out a hand and helps Poe out of the bathtub, Ranpo then quickly leaves to get Poe some new clothes.
Poe smiles happily.
Ranpo is too kind to him.