(Untitled)

[theotherknight]

Muscles shaking - lactic acid buildup - steps slower than they should be... blood dried on his cheek from a shallow cut, stinging every time he winces from other pains. He supresses a hiss between his teeth as he steps slightly wrong on his ankle - mild sprain - and catches himself on a wall with his free hand, the other tucked against his chest -

Comments

[deaduction]

Infirmary, you say?

The last time Shinichi dropped by the dining room, a box of lightbulbs had been placed unobtrusively between the eclairs and the cheeseboard. The ghost had taken it as a hint.

Currently he was replacing the lightbulbs he'd blown in the medical room while helping his counterpart and talking with Ran. The task required him to be solid, so the ghost was clearly visible as he balanced on a chair, still in his funerary suit.

[theotherknight]

It takes Hakuba far too long to actually reach the medical room, and when he does, his entrance is more of a stumble, uninjured hand gripping the doorknob in a white-knuckled grip.

He coughs weakly once or twice, breathing heavy before he actually looks up to survey the room. He doesn't register Kudo in his first sweep, but does at a second glance, sagging a little as he recognises the detective.

It's not 1412, and really, that's all that matters at the moment.

"Kudo-san." Voice tired, footsteps dragging as he half-stumbles over to the nearest table, counter, whatever, sagging against it in pure exhaustion.

[deaduction]

The lightbulb flickers with Shinichi's surprise, but the ghost has enough energy that that is all they do. Hakuba -- and from his exhaustion and the way he moves, jerky and sore, the ghost has a fairly good idea of which Hakuba and what he's been doing.

"Hakuba," he says returning the greeting as he jumps down from the chair. "Tag, was it? What do you need?"

[theotherknight]

"Excellent deduction," he manages, tone wry under the exhaustion, gaze flicking to Kudo, then falling quiet as he forces his brain to think about what medical supplies he needs.

"Painkillers. Wrist and ankle brace... bandages. Lots of bandages." The words come out choppy and broken down to the bare essentials. He makes the attempt to straighten up, catches his wrist on the counter and subsides with a hiss of pain.

[deaduction]

If Hakuba can still manage irony, then he can't be that bad. The ghost was already heading towards the bandages, just where he'd found them for his counterpart, and he remembered where Ran had placed the painkillers, collecting those too.

He deposited both items on the table, glancing at Hakuba. "Sure you don't want to add a chair to that list?"

[theotherknight]

Hakuba could be worse than he is now and still manage irony. He's been nearly dead once, and would have if he'd not been muffled by the breathing equipment. He's used to 1412's games and really, he's had worse.

"In a moment," he replies, though he has no intention of sitting. There was a long, shallow score along his right thigh, and he would rather not sit on it. He's too used to hiding the worst of his injuries from concerned officers who would pull him off the task force if they knew just how much 1412 injures him. The painkillers catch his attention, and he reaches for them, the ease of which he opens them one-handed speaking of his practice of situations like this.

[deaduction]

Haibara is dead and practically exudes irony. Of course, she is something of a special case -- a case that Shinichi is not keen to see repeated despite how much he wants company sometimes. He makes no comment as Hakuba reaches for the painkillers, though if he'd had any doubts about which version of the detective was that alone would have settled it.

After a few minutes of sifting through cupboards and boxes, the ghost finds the last of Hakuba's requested supplies and brings them back to the table.

[theotherknight]

The wrist-brace is first, after the painkillers have been dry-swallowed, and it is only after he has nudged his sleeve up and out of the way, and is fixing the brace in place that he remembers to thank the ghost.

"My thanks," he says, looking up from his arm. "I apologise if I interrupted you."

The thanks is genuine, but it also serves as a wedge to direct the ghost away from enquiring just how severe his injuries are - some of them, he plans on treating out of the room and away from prying eyes.

[deaduction]

Hakuba might have intended it as a wedge. The ghost took it as invitation.

"I was doing anything important -- well, terribly important. I suppose it'd be a different matter if all the lights in here had blown." He collected his box, shifting the chair to the next light. "This place has terrible wiring."

[theotherknight]

He raises an eyebrow slightly, some of the pain clouding his mind already slipping away now that his wrist is properly supported. "The lights blew?" he queried. "What caused that?"

[deaduction]

"Poor wiring," Shinichi suggested casually. "Fluctuating electrical drain. Who really knows?" He set about unscrewing the dead lightbulb still in place, not worrying about turning the lights off -- it's not like he's got to worry about electrocution. "Are you good at it or does he like you?"

[theotherknight]

The brush-off of an answer didn't irritate him, and he didn't push further - his responses to comments like that were skewed from long association with 1412. The question makes him pause, fingers stilling. After a moment, he answers quietly, amusement in his voice.

"Both."

Chased across rooftops, getting pinned by his coat and thinking that it was really It this time - and 1412 pins him down and traces lines in his back with a knife while he struggles not to scream. Chasing the thief for once, almost too easily firing after him, falling into his natural role of hound after a wily fox.

[deaduction]

Hakuba's reply was unexpected, and Shinichi glanced back at him. He had that feeling he was missing something -- not an uncommon feeling for the ghost, to tell the truth -- but what it was eluded him.

"How does that even work?" he asked. "There's no rooftops here."

[theotherknight]

"It doesn't have to be a rooftop. As long as there's room to run..." He shrugs, and winces as his neck protests. Hakuba continues speaking voice bland, as if he's explaining the facts of a case.

"I think he likes me, in some perverse way, because I've managed to stop him before."

Because I keep coming back.

"He still killed them, eventually. But it was the longest he's been without an assassination."

Assassination, not murder. And nothing said about the five policeman who died as well.

He falls quiet, focusing on slowly working his injured arm out of his shirt sleeve, so he can bandage the multiple scores along his upper arm, 1412's favourite target when playing.

[deaduction]

Shinichi's stopped working on the lightbulb to watch Hakuba, and it's only when the detective starts on his bandages that he remembers that he's got a job to do, finishing the lightbulb he's currently replacing. "Who does he kill generally?"

[theotherknight]

"Anyone he's contracted for... Which means anyone with the kind of enemies who can afford 1412." Hakuba gestures slightly with a hand. "We suspect there's a banking system set up for payments, but our efforts in finding it have been... less than sucessful."