Work Text:
Poe sits at one of the empty desks at the agency, revising a couple plot holes or the times he gave a little too clear of a hint in his latest novel, after Ranpo had pointed it out for him- just what he needed before the final submission to get it published.
Usually he went home after his and Ranpos meetings, as the agency was a busy place, both for the reasons that: people who came for help often crowded in like a murder of headless crows, the police dropping off cases and explaining said cases in detail that was unnecessary as it was already in the files but Poe assumes they might just want be extra thorough, and just Ranpo‘s coworkers in general being quite the distracting bundle of characters.
But, it was a slow day for once. Many of the agency’s employees went off for lunch, certain few worked on cases outside of the office, leaving only a select few in the building.
Those few being the President, Ranpo, and Yosano-san. so, after a few pleas from Ranpo, he decided to do the revision there instead. Partly because of how quiet it was, partly from Ranpo’s affromentioned pleads, mostly as he had a hard time saying no(to Ranpo, if it were anyone else he’d most likely already be out the door on his way home with Karl and not in the hands of Ranpo’s younger co-workers).
Poe focused, writing the few changes in he’d been shown from Ranpo, a few pieces of dialogue he thought he could improve upon, and so forth. He eventually tunned into what the Doctor and Detective were currently debating instead of listening to them as a blabber of background noise.
„Really? Not even one person comes to mind?“ Yosano-San inquired, a mischievous tilt to her voice slowly building, even in the moderately short sentence she had spoken, „Nope!“ Ranpo had immediately responded, a smug smile even in his tone of voice, as the P in his response resembled the sound of popping gum. Poe was curious on what could possibly be the debate now, as the two had quite the betting strike that usually ended in near fist fights, unlike the other bets the doctor made with her other colleagues ending in more petty disagreements then anything.
Perhaps it was their sibling like relationship? He would not know for sure-
„Poe-San,“ oh no, why was he now being involved? „Yes, Yosano-san?“ Poe looked up from his writing to the Doctor, and said the Doctor in question had asked for his attention in such a tone that left him wondering just what he was going to be paying for in repairs to the ADA‘s office or to maybe finally invest in some form of therapy.
Yosano-san‘s smile was more of threatening grin than anything, but Poe tried to ignore it in favor of being polite, as he still felt bad for nearly murdering her as well as he had developed a healthy fear of the woman who knew how to weld chainsaw and could most definitely lethally hurt him with no consequences-
„have you ever kissed someone?“
…
… Huh?
Poe wasn‘t quite sure what the point of this question was… but by how Ranpo and Yosano-san leaned in, he was sure it was some kind of bet they were holding, or at the very least a debate of some nature. For exactly what? He couldn't be sure, he was not Ranpo after all.
It could be the amount of people they were betting he’s kissed, if he’s ever kissed anyone(a little hurtful as he was 28), his sexuality if the two were to be so bold to wonder(which: they most definitely were), but what Poe did know for sure was that it is a slightly embarrassing question no matter what they were hoping for.
„pardon?“ Poe asked in return, hoping for more information as to figure out what they exactly looking for. Yosano-san stood from her chair at her desk and strolled over to the author, plonking into a chair closer to him, even though her previous sitting arrangement wasn‘t far from his temporary writing area, „just curious about your love life Poe-san!“ Yosano-san explained, although Poe was very much set on the idea there was more to the inquiry, „or just your dating experience in general,“ Yosano-san continued, leaning into the chair, resting her head against her palm. She was calm, most likely wanting him to be at ease, she was also still a little teasing about it but he was sure said tease was not directed at himself… Ranpo maybe? That would be quite the odd thing to be teased about when it was directed towards him….
„or if you didn‘t want to get into the specifics,“ Yosano-san drew out, that smirk still very apparent on her features, „the nitty gritty, how many?“ the ever bold women questioned, her other hand pointed a ever so slightly accusing hand in his direction,
At least he knew what exactly they wanted from him now…
Now. Poe more or less didn‘t want a part of… whatever this disaster was going to be any longer then he had to be, in order to avoid whatever fallout was bound to occur, so he was going to be truthful to a fault to get it over with. His rival could tell if he was lying anyways and he was sure the detective would tell Yosano-san he was lying the moment it left his lips.
„I’m not sure, I never bothered to count,“ Poe answered, the words coming not from a place of overthinking a response for once, once again showing he being reluctant to be apart of whatever his answer was going to cause. Almost apathetic.
He gently tapped the stub end of his pen against his chin, as if the action would help him remember his many previous flings, „if I had to guess the exact amount…“ Poe looked to his manuscript, moving the pen from his chin and tapping it against a empty edge of the page, „83? Give or take,“ Poe waved a free hand, to act like he were to throw away the already unimportant relations.
Now, a quick Explanation to this amount was simple: he did not like his first venture to college. At least not for what the college offered to him.
despite Poe having good grades in his higher education, he would admit that when he was in school he did not find enjoyment pf being a student. Mainly as his adoptive father wanted him to follow a specific path on life, and Poe did not want to…
so he fooled about as one of the many ways to spite the bastard.
He of course mellowed out once he was forced out, mainly due to his adoptive father refusing to pay for the rest of his schooling, and by Poe‘s own „mean strike“ as one could call it.
He did only having a few more short relationships before he poured himself into writing, when he had gone to a different school for architecture, joining the military for a brief time, detective work, and then his 6 year long revenge.
„Oooooo,“ Yosano-san awed in a surprised tone, causing Poe to look back at the women, who still had that sharp smile about her but spared a quick glance to Ranpo. Who had gone oddly… still?
Frozen?
Stiff?.. yes, Stiff at Poe‘s honest answer…
Oh! Was Ranpo once again surprised by him!? Edgar Allen Poe, Surprising the greatest detective?? Ah, what a lovely thing to surprise his dear detective with such a simple and slightly embarrassing thing!
The warm feeling bubbled inside his chest originally at the notion he had surprised the other once more but as Ranpo creaked an eye open to take a quick look at Poe he had become a little warmer, inside the ADA office was actually a bit cold to be in once you’ve stayed in one place long enough, so the warm feeling could only be the embarrassing amount of built up affection he had for Ranpo, more specifically at the detectives very pretty emerald green eye.
„Really?“ Ranpo asked, his voice… kinda strained? Gosh these two are being weirder then normal, especially at Ranpo possibly losing a bet about anything against anyone! but he decided to answer his rival instead of the strange stream of odd behavior,
„Yes, I had quite the shameful ‚spiteful strike’ in my first college, specifically against the one paying for it,“ Poe felt his cheeks flare up slightly in a not so nice warm feeling, one he knew as his shame at merely speaking of his past actions,“ so I decided to make myself what one would call a „player“ as a way to ruin my possible connections I could‘ve grown in the profession he had wanted me to go into,“ Poe tapped his pen faster on the page as to rid of his building nerves, „it worked out in the end, although, even after I haven’t had any long relationships,“ Poe smiled with something a little self deprecating, halting his nervous tic and setting the writing tool down beside the page,
„ I’m not the best at romance to be frank, most of, if not all of my past relationships weren’t serious enough to be called partners,“ Poe gently clasped his hands together and looked upon them after the confessions.
For all of his Victorian era flair, a time many have romanticized, he was not as near romantically inclined as one would believe. He would even go as far as to admit it’s a reason most of his stories do not have any romantic subplots, he was good at weaving what people could be like in a romantic relationship on a surface level, he knew it made people do crazy things: romantic or otherwise. But he did not know the ins and outs of it.
Romance in general has always been a curious topic for him but he’s also just never bothered learning more of it, afterall, he had his goals to accomplish. But after the fall of the guild and his now healthy rivalry with Ranpo, he had much more time for the thing known as romantic involvement….
But soon after Ranpo and him started getting along he’s come to find he was already romantically involved….
in the one sided sense.
He had fallen in love with Ranpo, and he’s sure the detective already knows it, Poe was not exactly… subtle. He also has always thought that it would be pointless to hide, again, Ranpo was amazing at detecting lies and Poe was good at lying when it came to people who were not his favorite rival.
In conclusion, Ranpo knows, and it hasn‘t changed anything in their dynamic. Which was to be expected, as stated before, Poe's feelings are one sided
He’s known that from the moment he realized he had fallen in the first place, Poe has come to terms with it easily and is fine with that, and Poe has continued on their rivalry as normal as Ranpo hadn’t seemed undeterred by his feelings.
Anyways, he's now a little concerned, cause his rival seems a little more… he still can‘t describe it as anything but a bit tense. Which has been unusual for the overall lax man, but Yosano-san looked absolutely delighted at the detective's odd behavior this entire time, so perhaps it hasn‘t been caused by a health issue at the very least?
Ranpo seems to pause once more, again odd, he was not one for hesitations. After a moment he then quickly grabbed his glasses, presumably activating Ultra Deduction, „No way, are you seriously..“ Yosano-san still looked unsettlingly happy at whatever was happening for Ranpo to hurriedly use his ability, „shut it,“ Ranpo practically grounded out from clenched teeth-
„Akkio, I need a moment with Poe-kun, tell Prez I’ll be back in a while,“ Ranpo speaks quicker than Poe's used to. only getting this way when he’s worked up, either by being impatient, boredom, and or it being an emergency situation.
For an odd reason, it felt like the latter.
Ranpo is suddenly up from his spot at his desk after his statement and dragging Poe down a hall within minutes. Yosano-san’s cackling in response is the only sound that comes from her, which leaves him to slowly feel the build up of dread as Poe is dragged down the hall, but by how fast they leave it’s already filled in with the silence in the near people barren building, excluding the sound of their departure by the steps of their shoes.
For some reason they end up in what Poe assumes is an unused office space, or a storage space by how many random assortment of boxes there is, but that might be the boxes of paper work that a certain bandaged man had been hiding from a rather idealistic man that both happened to work at the agency.
“Is something wrong Ranpo dear?” Poe couldn’t help but ask once his hand was no longer gripped, the nickname slipping out before he could stop it. Poe felt even more concern once the other started pacing across the small space, the closest version of frantic from Ranpo that you’d get in a non-combative environment, once he’s asked his question the detective has whipped his head over in his direction. Poe was scared the man had given himself whiplash at the sudden motion.
Poe was starting to regret letting Kenji-kun and Kyouka-Chan take Karl for a walk with how nervous he’s starting to feel-
Ranpo sped walked up to Poe, standing a little close to what Poe’s used to, even in Ranpo standard invasion of personal space. The closeness in which the shorter was nearly stepping on point’s of Poe’s shoes.
Ranpo adjusted his glasses slightly, and then opened them his eyes.
Not like a blink and their shut, they stayed open, looking into Poe’s one peaking eye deeply as if searching for something important in it.
Poe felt a sliver of shame as a part of him enjoyed the closeness between them, but he knew the sudden colonization of Poe’s space was because Ranpo was trying to figure something out. though, Poe was not entirely sure what was stumping Ranpo to make him need to get this close-
“ah-!” Poe startles, this somehow being the only time he‘s flinched since the start of his rivals perplexing behavior, Ranpo had brought an arm up and moved his mauve bangs out of the way of his face, as if his hand was a hair band.
Which now meant the entire top half of his face was suddenly exposed. Poe was immensely grateful they were in a secluded space, He didn’t mind to much that much that it was Ranpo who was seeing his face.. but,
“Ranpo dear, please give me a warning next time you decide to move my hair,” Poe knew himself well enough to know that if Ranpo had asked in the first place he would’ve said yes, that goes for the future too… he needs to be better at saying no to Ranpo…
But the detective hadn‘t responded, in fact, all he got as a response was Ranpo’s eyes widening by a fraction and a quiet exhale of air….
Had he surprised his dear twice today!?
What a gift! Was it actually his birthday? Poe knows it’s not, but it’s also still a fair question!
…he still felt worried,
Poe put a gentle hand on Ranpo’s, the one in his hair, tenderly stroking the man’s knuckles, “are you alright Ranpo dear?” He inquired, internally cursing himself for using the nickname for the third time in a row, but it actually seemed to be what the detective needed. As the man looked as if he’d blinked out of whatever thought process he was going through.
Ranpo bit the side of his cheek, his eyes weren’t closed, but now they quickly blinked as they searched Poe’s face for something. Almost squinting.
“You're in love with me,” Ranpo stated quietly, which felt weirdly….. hesitant? For a second time today? perhaps.
But Poe just nods, as this is common knowledge, he wanted to ensure his rival was doing fine over his own emotional well being, “Yes, but are you okay? You’ve been acting odd-“ “Me!?” Ranpo’s cheeks were suddenly very pink and with a panicked expression for whatever reason,
“I’m odd today?!” Ranpo rasped, Poe raised a brow, “yes, you took me to this space, paced for about 10 minutes without a whisper coming from you, which is odd as you nearly never do such an action, and then stared at my face with your glasses on for more than 5 minutes in complete silence,” Poe listed factually, and then took both his hands cup the others face, “are you truly okay Dear? Your face makes it look as if you are too faint,” Poe asked again, more worried when Ranpo's entire face became a blazing red the moment Poe initiated the contact-
“Why aren’t you acknowledging I just said you were in love with me, Ed?” Ranpo questioned hastily, the hand not in his hair flaying about to punctuate a point, Poe’s face scrunched up in more confusion, “did you not already know this?…” Poe inquired, his voice quietly trailing off,
Ranpo shook his head side to side, quick enough to get the messge across that he was very much unaware of something as silly as Poe’s emotions but slow enough to still keep Poe’s hands around-
“Oh, apologies,” Poe muttered as he realized he was still holding Ranpo's face and that his affections were in fact not noticed by his rival until this very moment, “I was under the impression that you already knew,” Poe flushed, feeling embarrassed that his assumption was not correct, and how long he had assumed, and the fact he had unconsciously indulged in a more affectionate action by holding Ranpo’s face….
oh dear, now he had no idea what to do, Poe fiddled with his hands to once again calm himself against a wave of nerves.
Ranpo’s expression was familiar to Poe, it felt almost nostalgic, it was similar to when he had first spoken of his wealth to the other but instead of becoming pale as a sheet he was as red as rose.
Poe did not realize that the mere thought of his romantic affairs would send Ranpo into such a… fluster—!
Ranpo once more took a sudden action, moving his hand from Poe’s hair to his pockets and turning away, Poe’s hair immediately falling with the force of gravity but most likely took a more disheveled look as he felt only quarter of it was covered by the familiar sensation of hair, his eyes still adjusting to the light from the fluorescents in the office space.
Poe had a part of him that was inclined to fix his hair, but decided Ranpo was more important in the moment, especially as the man had gotten unusually quiet… again.
This was starting to unsettle Poe! It was not regular Ranpo behavior.
…
Poe decided to do something a little… bold, as one would say. he grabbed one of Ranpo’s hands out of the other's pocket, and held it with both hands, the man left his hand limp in Poe’s hold, “Ranpo, what is wrong? Are you upset I hadn’t been clear about…” Poe was hesitant to talk about it blatantly, he could agree it was true but to give it a name out loud was more than a little shameful in his opinion,“my affections?” Poe decided, he’d usually call the feeling that more often than not in his head so it felt the most appropriate, at the admission Ranpo’s hand held his own two back in a strong grip, like when the man had dragged him into the unused room.
“No! it’s not that, it’s just-” Ranpo started but surprisingly, he stopped, as if he had to think over his words mid-sentence.
His voice was what Poe would call shaky, unsure.
it was something that Poe did not often associate with his dear rival, uncertainties.
Ranpo was a very confident, intelligent, and sure kind of individual. Especially to his profession, even on a day to day basis, So this… bout of hesitation was incredibly confusing to see from his dear.
Ranpo slowly turned to face Poe again, his face not as red as before for a fraction of time-
but it quickly changed once he took in Poe’s appearance, Ranpo grabbed his hat and hid it over his face like a mask, Poe’s face scrunched in confusion at action. It was like Ranpo was trying to hide…,“Dear, do I need to get the Doctor-“ Poe began, but was quickly shut up by Ranpo’s response-“NOPE!! NAH! EVERYTHING IS FINE!” Ranpo rushed out, basically a yell, but because of the detectives hat it was muffled to being only a little louder volume then Ranpo’s regular speaking voice.
“Dear, I don’t mean to be impatient, but you still haven’t specified what was wrong, and we have been in here for nearly 20 minutes now,” Poe asked after a moment or two, trying to not sound exasperated and fond as he felt, still gently fiddling with his rivals hand.
Ranpo seemingly took a deep breath from behind his hat, as if it was a respirator, and was about to sit it on his head like normal but once he turned to face Poe he- “Nope I can’t do this-“ “Ranpo!-“ Ranpo practically yanked the apparel over Poe’s head, and shifted it over the author's eyes and tilted over his nose, Poe moved a hand away to shift the hat out of his eyes but was stopped with a gentle tug away…
“Ranpo,” Poe spoke,
“yep?” Ranpo responded quickly,
“is there a reason for this?” He inquired,
“a reason for what?” Ranpo replied without a stop in rhythm, something he hadn’t had until way before the conversation with Yosano-san, “a reason you decided to assault me with your cap?” Poe stated with a raised brow he knew the other couldn't see but also knew Ranpo knew he had risen one.
“Hmmmmmmm-“ Ranpo was… stalling? For what????, “Ranpo,” Poe stated sternly, clearly exhausted at what felt like a forever evolving riddle,“fine!…” Ranpo nearly shouted…
Poe heard as the detective took a deep breath. felt as who he assumes as Ranpo grabbing his hands almost tenderly, reminiscent to when Poe had first grabbed the man’s hand when the other had been turned away from him, the action now being reversed onto him.
The detective felt closer then before, he felt as Ranpo sucked in a breath, oddly close to his face-
Oh.
OH GODS-
The kiss to his mouth was fleeting and quick, could barely be called a touch and more of flick, as the other shoved his face into the crook of Poe’s neck.
Oh, he felt like he was too faint at any moment.
Poe took a deep breath and let go of Ranpo’s hands, the one who made him feel as though he were about to succumb to heat stroke was about to move away in response to Poe letting go before settling when the author held the other in a embrace, Poe rested his head on Ranpo’s hair.
After a couple minutes (10, he counted the seconds), Ranpo spoke up, “you have no clue how humiliating this realization is.” His voice hushed, and still sounding a small bit flustered, a near whisper.
“Sorry Dear,” Poe apologized, his smile sounding in a tone of his voice that shown a light on his amusement of the situation, Ranpo only scoffed loudly and then hugged Poe back.
Hm… Poe will consider this a win against his Rival! One he thinks might even top the moment he beats his dear in a competition of their shared intellectual prowess..
Yes, a win indeed.