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[stalking_horse]

[And somewhere in the jungle, there is a wandering detective in a drab tan suit, currently following something that might be a path, and might be a game trail, but should at least go somewhere sooner or later. His current mission: See if there's signs of other human life!
He may have been wandering off the beaten path for a while now.]

[While he can do quite a bit if he finds tracks in the trail itself ... wilderness tracking is not his strong suit; city boy is a city boy.]

[Besides that, he's weathering it rather well, if coping via resigned indignation.]

[Disturb/flag down/attempt to stalk/get tracked, stumbled across, or found?]

Comments

[stalking_horse]

...........

[Score another moment of being very good at ending up the bad guy, somehow.]

[Getting people that could actually keep up with him to hate him was getting to be the kind of habit he really needed to figure out how to avoid.]

[Deep breath. Hands in pockets.]

Look, if there's something you're not willing to tell me? Tell me that you can't talk about that. I'm sure you're clever enough to get the point across even if there's other people around. Just don't blatantly lie to me and expect me to ignore it.

...

[And you know, against all better judgment, there's a moment of curiosity.]

What do you expect from me?

[17-going-on-8.livejournal.com]

Maybe if there was something to SAY! [Because even saying he couldn't say was too much. It gave too much away.]

What should I expect from you? I don't KNOW you. You chase Kid and you've got good deductive skills. But you've also proven to not always judge accurately. You blew off Hattori because you thought his hot blooded nature would make him a bad detective.

I can deduce. Maybe I'm even a prodigy. Who knows! But if you can't even accurately judge a straight forward guy like Hattori, how can you be so sure as to accuse me and scold me for things when I've TOLD you I don't know anything and told you why it makes no sense for me to know!

[They were low blows. After all, Hakuba wasn't necessarily wrong. But he didn't know what he was getting into. He didn't have a clue at all. And honestly, Hakuba's situation was too similar to his own. Oh sure, he ran off without the police on his own plenty of times.]

[But it was so much different when you couldn't always trust that the safety net of the police is there when you DO need it. And they couldn't guarantee they'd have it in this case at all.]

[stalking_horse]

[. . . . He really should've seen that coming/known better than to prod at someone that was already agitated and angry.]

[The way Conan's acting and as much of a volcano as he just uncorked? You don't get someone that angry by poking at a nerve they claim isn't there if they're telling the truth about it.]

[...And he's not sure there's much he can do right now without just stirring up the hornet's nest more.]

Fine then. One more question. Should I actually keep going on to the inn? I've already run into Kaito, and he ditched me back in the jungle going the wrong way, and I'm not about to barge in where I'm truly not wanted. I'm sure there's other shelter around here somewhere.

[And still that ruffled something-he's-not-quite-saying-yet grump...]

[17-going-on-8.livejournal.com]

...

You're the one who wants the child to be more than he is.

I can avoid you if I want. Kaito-niichan certainly can. I'm sure we can get along well if you stopped accusing me of things for no reason. [And then he's gonna turn and start walking.] And it's not like I do much at the inn besides sleep anyway.

[Ergo, yes, go to the inn, but he's gonna be grumpy at you too.]

[stalking_horse]

[There's a minute or so lag where he's debating how much of a target sign he's wearing if he goes, versus his dismal lack of wilderness survival skills.]

[Something howling a little too close gets him walking; he's dealt with the social target sign, a few psychological bruises heal faster than literal bitemarks.]

[There's just one quiet comment while he's trudging along behind, phrased quite calmly and absently; he doesn't really care if he gets an answer at all, and isn't honestly expecting much of one.]

If you don't know anything, why blow up over needling you about needing to hide things?

[17-going-on-8.livejournal.com]

[There was an obvious twitch in his shoulders and he's shoving his hands into his pockets and not looking back. It's a good three minutes before he answers.]

...what I do, for those I care about, is make them feel better. Because Shinichi-niichan is unable to solve his case, people worry and become sad.

I hear so many questions that I want to answer, but I can't. Because in the end, what I do know, amounts to nothing.

[Because what was the use of knowledge if he couldn't use it? He couldn't tell Ran anything because it would put her in danger. And even then, she'd still worry.]

But they know I can't. So they don't dig into the wound and twist the knife. [Or thought he couldn't, at any rate.]

You know when he figures it out this is going to be looked back on and...

[stalking_horse]

[...And as much as he's still sure Conan knows something, there is now that nice guilt trip reminder that he's just gotten into a fairly vicious argument with an eight year old.]

[An eight year old that's probably eyeball deep in not only dangerous situations, but something way more serious than anything Saguru'd gotten into, giving people around him gray hairs or not.]

[And kind of lost the argument, but that's besides the point.]

[Somewhere along the way, there's a very quiet mumble from back behind.]

...Sorry.