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    ❛❛   if that was what you were aiming for ,   yes .   you appear to be a quick learner ,  votre majesté .   ❜❜     the  title ,   though  more  for  effect   &   play  than  not ,   sounds  completely  voided  of  ill  -  intent .   instead ,   a  clawed  hand  reaches  inside  dress  shirt  pocket   &   retrieves  an  assortment  of  wrapped  treats .

   ❛❛   oh ,   but i’ve learnt that referring to another as a  “commoner” can heavily upset them .   you may want to be careful in the future ,   lest you wish to procure a trick instead .❜❜

“Eh? Is it upsetting to commoners to be referred to as what they are?” This is NOT how you earn social points, Goro Akechi.

He thinks for a moment, procuring a trick instead does seem rather tiresome.

📚  Dortin steps out with a huge bowl he prepared. Or you know, considering his short size, the salad bowl does appear very huge at least. Either way, it is filled to the top with various candies. Offering a timid smile, he’s holding the bowl out to the prince.

“Oh, that sounds good to me at least. Please, go ahead and pick a few.”

Oh, what a nice fellow.

Goro looks at the selection of treats in the bowl and very carefully and deliberately picks two (2) of them upon being told he could have a few.

Along with her red riding hood costume, Haruka was carrying a plastic pumpkin shaped bucket filled with a variety of candy. Mostly mini chocolate bars, but she also had an assortment of… ‘trick treats’, as she called them. Though to be honest, it was just really sour candy.

There’s a big grin on the girl’s face as she hands him one of the ‘trick treats’ from the bucket of candy. She would have given him a chocolate bar, but she didn’t appreciate that ‘commoner’ comment.

“Aha, why thank you.”

Goro offers a pleasant smile to the girl offering him a treat as he accepts it. He seems to have been successful in joining the festivities.

And so, in his success--and because she’s smiling at him almost expectantly and it would probably be rude to just walk away--he carefully unwraps the candy and places it in his mouth.

...

His expression only sours for a split moment before the polite smile is back on his face covering his suffering.

Ah, a prince- a fellow noble if she wasn’t a witch at the time filled with the other to be a trickster for a little while. She bowed back in response, heritage kicking in a bit.

“It is, m'lord. I do not have any candy on me, but if you want to accompany me, we may go collect some together.”

Oh, good, someone sensible already.

The false-prince smiles as the girl bows before him.

Ah.

He doesn’t like these - never likes the slithering wrongness of the hearts of those who hurt others, but there’s something worse about the ones who hurt because they’ve been hurt themselves. It’s easier, when all they want is power or money or the thrill of seeing someone in pain; then he can make sure they can never hurt anyone again, and feel good that they’re gone. This type of person - a yawning abyss hiding behind a smile, a murderer in pain - tears him in two, between the urges to help and to stop from hurting.

Cole hasn’t decided on a course of action - confront him? watch him? stop him? - when the source of the conflict walks into their shared kitchen and forces a decision himself. (It’s good that he doesn’t come back here often; the realization that Goro Akechi is someone he has been assigned to live next to would keep him away, if not.) He’ll have to answer, now, and he neither knows the trick of feeling one thing while your face says another nor knows why he would want to use it.

“Is it nice because I’m a source of information when you’re floundering, or someone you think will dance to your tune if you pretend at friendship? Do you say it without meaning it, because the prodigy detective whose face you wear is polite to everyone? Can you tell why you’re lying this time, Goro Akechi? Are you lying, or are you just not telling the truth?”

It’s a shock.

The words that greet him cause his smile to drop. At first he blinks, as if caught off guard by something out of the blue and potentially off-base--a genuine reaction that still holds up the innocent veneer. 

But then the questions become more pointed. More informative.

This man didn’t guess--isn’t just paranoid.

He should know nothing about the teenager. His name, maybe, but certainly not his profession or anything beyond that.

For a moment, Goro’s frozen. His thoughts race to determine how to respond to this complete stranger. Play it off as if he’s spouting nonsense? Walk away without a word?

Both are tempting--the latter even more so--but he knows they wouldn’t get him very far. No one else is here to witness the scene, either.

He makes a mental note to look into the procedure on moving.

Head resting comfortably on his hand, sitting outside, he’d watch quietly — apparently not at all concerned about how staring, let alone eaves-dropping, is usually considered rude. Some young man was asking around about the area, surely another newcomer. Both the questions and their corresponding answers were all pretty much useless, if you’d ask him, but who was he to judge? Well.

Their ostensible enthusiasm for getting to know the city was, while perhaps charming for some, revolting for him. He’s worn the exhausting entrepreneur smile countless times before, but that didn’t make it any less awful to see. Always gave a cold, rather than likeable impression.

— then again, Clive wasn’t sure what scenario would be more abhorrent. If it’d be genuine eagerness, a genuine interest, looking forward to the “opportunity” of being hurled, kidnapped into a new strange area —- that’s just as horrible, if not worse. A facade at least made logical sense. Hell, he daresay even hope that to be the case; it’d be pitiful otherwise.

Unlike the friendly stranger, Clive’s expression remained indifferent; he saw no point in copying after, and even if he did, it was too late to act as if he cared anyway.

… huh.

You’d expect they’d take an actual break to think a bit to themselves whilst getting some coffee, not ask someone (especially a random stranger,) to accompany them. “Hm,” he’d fill the silence with, keeping the same disinterested tone. “If you got a place in mind, I suppose.”

There wasn’t much else to do, so he might as well. Besides, should he regret it later on, he could easily excuse himself out anytime.

“Oh, wonderful. It turns out that I’ve stumbled upon quite a few options.”

He keeps up the friendly smile even as his response is a bit of a flat joke given how many coffee shops he’d been told about in the past few hours.

This man seems interesting.

Just by how dully he’d been watching Goro’s actions, the detective can guess that either he is quite perceptive and observant--only someone with attention to nuances would kill boredom by witnessing that much of the same thing--or just completely out of it. His reaction to the invitation for coffee ruled out the second possibility quite quickly.

It means he might know something interesting. Or at least have some interesting thoughts.

But, oh well.

The Detective Prince decided to dress up as an... actual prince before eating an ascension candy. Complete with tiny crown. This is a mistake.

Goro knows this, but he doesn’t pay it much mind. In fact, as he plays nice with anyone willing to speak to him in the area, he pretends to not even notice.

He just carries on. Asking people about the area, about their favorite sights, popular restaurants, or any spots they particularly enjoy throughout the city. He cheerfully explains that he’s a new arrival and that he’s eager to experience more of the city. He even occasionally talks about writing a blog back home and his interest in trying to pick it back up while here, asking for peoples names if they’re willing to share so he can credit them for whatever wonderful places they point out.

Some agree to it, some don’t. It doesn’t actually matter to Goro. He’s keeping a log of those willing to give their names, mostly to see who he can follow-up with, but it isn’t concrete data for anything as it stands.

This goes on for a good hour or two, but his façade doesn’t slip for even a second. It’s seamless. Flowing. He makes no genuine connection with a single one of the people he’s spoken to, but they all walk away thinking he’s pleasant and charming regardless.

From someone observing, it might look exhausting.

And after another moment, the area seems to empty out. Goro looks up from writing a quick note to find only that man left.

So, he approaches.

“Are you a fan of coffee? Perhaps you would join me for a cup?”

He’s been walking around for a while now, and he’s not entirely sure which ward he’s in at the moment. He hasn’t gotten their themes completely memorized, yet.

Most of the information he’s gotten has also been superficial at best. Goro is already tired of this game.

“Ah... Excuse me.” He turns to a young man who seems to be around his age and smiles, “Do you know of any good cafes around here by chance?” 

Thus, he decided that he has to take a more subtle approach.

He has to blend in. He has to find out what he can through fellow “residents.”

He decided to start with one of those that he lives with.

Luckily, one is in the kitchen as he peaks in.

“Oh. H-hello.” He smiles and offers a small wave. “I apologize for appearing so suddenly... but I was curious who my apartment mates were. It’s nice to meet you.”

This palace was more expansive and detailed than he was expecting. If this Condo was designated as a safe room, which seemed to be how this specific place wanted to function, then he’d take it to give himself a chance to gain his bearings.

He finds his “room” and quickly searches it for any dangers. Nothing out of the ordinary. It even contained some of his belongings.

That’s a problem for the future.

Right now he has to figure out his next steps.

He’d learned a few things on his ride over here.

First, this place was large. He could see large buildings in the distance during the drive, and the city seemed to stretch far past the large hole in the ground in all directions. The pamphlet that sat next to him called the city Spirale and explained that there were four wards to the city and that there were “side effects” to leaving.

Second, there were no anchor points, of sorts, that he could see. Nothing resembled Tokyo in any concrete way. As it stands, he has no idea what this palace could even possibly be based out of.

Third, Akira Kurusu, codename Joker, is here. Goro only spotted him briefly outside of the car window as they drove past, but the other teen was unmistakable. He’d been walking somewhere, casually, as if it was a familiar route in a familiar place. Were they stuck here together? Were the others here? The Phantom Thief must have been trying to keep whatever cover he had. Perhaps he knows more about what’s going on, as loathe as Goro is to consider it.

And fourth, the most concerning realization of the bunch: there’s no Metanav on his phone. Well, this isn’t his phone, really. His phone is missing. But the palace owner provided him with a new one that was distinctly missing the door to the exit.

He sits on the bed and sighs in annoyance, considering his options.

There aren’t many.

He’s grateful, at least, that there’s a contacts list provided in gifted device. He starts typing.

To: Kurusu Akira Kurusu-kun? Would you have some time to meet?

He’ll keep it brief in case the service is being monitored, which he suspects it is. Once they’re face to face he’ll ask what the other knows.

Burgundy eyes narrow as he faces the giant hole in the ground before him.

This was clearly the Metaverse, but it wasn’t a palace he remembers entering. It wasn’t one he’d ever seen before, either. Was it an accident? Or just another annoying phenomenon? 

Either way, he wasn’t seen as a threat, yet. He could feel the presence of Loki in the back of his mind, but his school uniform remained the appearance he stood in. Similarly, and almost more concerning, he was missing his phone and weapons, too. Oh well.

It only took a moment for the detective to survey his surroundings from there. Others stood on the platform and they were surrounded by what seemed like roads--highways, even.

A car stops in front of him and a Shadow ushers him into it.

Yeah. Sure. 

you know what... as the fellow teens say.... yolo

hewwo hewwo!!!