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…Well. He was… mostly just covering all his bases, in giving as much fair warning as he could. Since it’d be easy to think something might have worse consequences later, it seemed simpler to get across that this is intended to be safe.

And better to get the intent across now than wait to see if something did go wrong to try and convince him after the fact.

Anyway…

“You’re the only one who’s going to be experiencing the illusions, for the most part, so I can keep them up as long as necessary. How much or how little time would depend on how many there are, on what scale, and how easy I’d think they are to identify as at least being out of place.”

A nod to the (lack of) ground. “This is more meant to play on fears. You can’t see the bottom, it’s a sharp drop off from the visible ground… a mental hurdle than a realistic illusion. It’s easy to identify as fake, even if it’s hard to take a chance and walk out over it.” A casual wave, and the void evaporated… but instead of the ground being back, the two were standing just above a built in swimming pool, with two shadows shifting slightly ‘below’ the water.

“…In the right place, this would be much more difficult to point out at fake. Might take… ten minutes?”

Kaito stiffened at that first gleam of water, only to relax as a pool came into view. It had been an instinctive reaction, really, a fight or flight response ( that leaned more towards flight in this case ) to...not the pool nor even the water itself, but rather what might be hiding beneath its depths.

It’s a ridiculous fear. Kaito knew that.

He couldn’t even remember what had caused it in the first place, all those many years ago. An accident, perhaps. His child self could’ve easily slipped and--

Kaito shook his head. This wasn’t the time for any self-analysis, and he lifted his gaze, away from the incredibly realistic water ( had he expected anything less of Spider, though? ) and back up to the assassin.

“You know, I’m kind of starting to think that you’re just showing off now,” he grinned, teased, more for pushing away any remaining unease in himself than anything else. “Not that I mind. You’re great at what you do and this is a rare opportunity to get a closer look at your illusions without worrying that you’re going to use them to, like, trap me or something.”

He’s teasing, again. It’s been a very, very long time since Spider’s used his illusions against him like that, after all.

The visible ground fell away once Kaito stepped off of it, leaving the two standing solely on the illusory void. Which the assassin shifted his weight on, crossing his arms as he confirmed what the other would be doing.

“I suppose there can be a time limit, if you’d prefer. And  if you get too overwhelmed trying to separate reality from illusion in general, you can give up and I’ll cancel what I’m doing at the time. I’ll keep it simple to start with, though, so it shouldn’t be too bad.” And he’d like to keep reality questioning within the context of this ‘game’, so he may cut it off if there were stress for any reason in general.

…Which Spider like to say he could avoid, but he knows himself too well to trust that nothing could happen. …Though one thing he can control.

“I’ll also try and make sure you won’t get hurt if you were to fail. Like walking into something dangerous, or showing something potentially traumatic.”

Kaito blinked, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. That was...a little bit surprising. He knew Spider was kinder than he actually let on, but it wasn’t often that the assassin decided to show it -- there were some instances, of course, that Kaito could remember ( and he did so fondly ) but they were rarer than he’d like.

“Aww, I knew you cared~”

It wasn’t going to stop Kaito from teasing, just a little bit.

The thief was scrambling through the window before he even realized it, swiftly closing it and pressing up against the wall just beside it, breathing heavily and clutching a bleeding arm as he stared out into the night. Somewhere in the distance, there were the sounds of helicopters and police sirens.

Hearing about “her” brother, Dantè laughed softly. “Oh yeah, pain in the bum but they make life a little bit more adventurous.” He admitted that much rather surprised at himself. He’s on thin ice with his twin and the relationship with his eldest brother? That practically deteriorated to almost nothing.

At least his relationships with his last two brothers had improved over the years. Jafar actually happily spoke with him, brought him snacks whenever he had to work late; even kept him in the loop with Ash. Viper? Well, Viper is the baby so he’s going to always be a royal pain, though Dantè won’t deny he loves his antics. So long as they are not aimed at him, obviously.

Shifting his focus back onto “Keiko” he chuckled at the glance he noticed sent at his shirt. “My little brother is, funny enough, amazing on stage but off it? A complete klutz at times unless he’s in the kitchen baking.” He couldn’t help but laugh a little when he assured “her” that it happens.  Once they were on the floor and he followed, he sensed his familiars stalking in the shadows. Better safe than sorry, as the saying goes.

When “Keiko” motioned for him to go in first, he insisted that “she” enter first. “Old World manners and all.” And he wasn’t lying, given his age but that was for another night. 

“Ah, well...if you insist,” Kaito smiled, forcing away the brief flicker of unease in his eyes. He didn’t particularly want to have Danté at his back. Not out of any sense of malice or distrust of the other man, but rather because it made the thief feel vulnerable in a way that he’d much rather avoid if he could help it.

And with the strange presence he’d felt in the hallway that he couldn’t pinpoint, he felt even less inclined to go in before Danté.

...But Kaito wasn’t Kaito or Kid right now. He was Keiko and Keiko would happily step inside, flattered by the gentlemanly act, so that’s exactly what Kaito did.

Well, points for enthusiasm. Even when it’s misguided enough to earn a small chuckle from the assassin. He’d liken it more to solving a puzzle, with the only direct challenge being that he’s making the puzzle the other needs to solve. But then again, puzzles are games, too, so it works.

“To put it more bluntly: Since I can ‘cheat’ at most games with my illusions, I’m curious if you can ‘win’ against them.” Spider gestured to the rest of the area, expanding the emptiness that surrounded their only visible footing, then took a silent step back to stand ‘on’ nothing.

“It’s not something I can add rules to, though it might be considered dull if you just closed your eyes to ignore them.”

Kaito hummed in thought, taking an experimental step forward and off of his footing. It was a strange sensation, to feel the ground beneath him even when there appeared to be nothing there, but now that he was prepared for it, it was much less off putting. Still strange, yes, but not something he was going to lose his balance over again. At least, not anytime soon.

...He hoped.

“Lady Keiko.” He whispered “her” name on his tongue. It was close to a certain fox’s name but Dantè wasn’t going to say it. Best not to ruin the night while it was so young. At “Keiko’s” question the prince chuckled and assured her that he didn’t mind at all. “Oh just an ordinary business man and diplomat for a theater production company.” 

He didn’t lie about it, since there is no real to. Dantè did help run his family’s theater production company and he had to be a diplomat with certain people.

Whilst waiting for them to reach the floor, he asked Keiko the same question. “You mentioned a brother. Treasure him, Lady Keiko, even if he appears to be a royal pain in the bum.” He had a somber look but that was soon hidden as he encouraged “her” to go ahead and share her life story. Just a little longer and if he’s right, he’s got The Kid. If not, well no harm done and he got to spend a nice night with a young soul. 

Kaito let out an awed hum, ready to inquire further about Danté’s work in the theater production company ( which he was, actually, genuinely curious about ) but then the other man continued and, well... That somber look was more than enough to make him pause for a moment.

“...I do. Treasure him, that is. Even when he bothers me when I work. I’ve messed up more times than I can count thanks to him,” the disguised thief smiled, wryly yet warmly, at the thought of his ‘brother’ who was not so much of a brother as he was a detective determined to bring Kid to justice. For this disguise, though, Kaito had decided that a ‘brother’ would fit in nicely and, well, what the detective didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

“Ah, I work as a waitress, by the way. Which, if you think about it, would mean that I should know how to not spill coffee, but...” Kaito sent Danté’s stained shirt an embarrassed glance as the elevator came to a stop and opened up. “I’m afraid I’m as clumsy as they come.”

Spider didn’t quite expect the other to completely stumble - or at least, not onto him - so the taunting pose dropped in order to brace himself. …The reaction afterward wasn’t an expected one, either. However, also not as surprising as it could have been, considering the thief’s attitude towards him most of the time.

Still kept some of his smugness, despite suddenly being a handhold. Whether he should feel proud about the compliment or say Kaito’s too easy to impress remained undecided. (Leaning towards the latter, though the former might be him feeling tempted to show off more.) Regardless, enough ground ‘came back’ to offer stable footing directly beneath them.

“Hmm… If you’re already falling over with just this, I doubt you’d do well with anything that’s supposed to be competitive. And as fun as the idea of a one-sided game sounds, it’s never been as fun in practice, in my experience.” Ignore that his ‘experience’ wasn’t actually with more innocent games.

“Unless you’d just like to try to beat me at my own game, so to speak.”

“Hey, give me a break, I told you I’m rusty. Not to mention I haven’t experienced your illusions in ages either and I didn’t exactly expect the ground to drop out under me,” he snorted, releasing Spider once he felt a little more steady on his feet, made easier by the ground ‘returning’ beneath them.

It earned the assassin a little smile of gratitude.

A smile which was soon replaced with a look of curiosity and intrigue tinged with a hint of excitement. A challenge. Was Spider challenging him? Oh, this was going to be fun, Kaito could feel it already.

themoonlightthief​:

That made him arch a brow, surprise briefly flashing across his face, before a smirk spread across his lips. A flicker of excitement settled in his chest.

“Is that a challenge?” Kaito asked, head tilting to the side in a seemingly innocent manner. “Because I’d be more than happy to prove you wrong if you’d like~ I might be rusty, but I’d still be able to beat you. Besides– you haven’t been too active in a while either, right?”

“Only publicly. Unlike some criminals, I can’t afford to let my skills get rusty.”

A tease, sure, but also true. There’s no true rest for the wicked and all that nonsense. Really, if he were completely honest, more than not being in the mood, the problem is more that he wouldn’t be able to play the game right.

…Which is best demonstrated with a deliberate raising of his free hand to give a snap - with the ground around them appearing to vanish into an empty void. (A perfectly safe ‘void’, the only real leap that’d need to be taken being the mental one to deal with such an illusion.)

“It’d hardly be a challenge if I’m not interested in playing along with the normal rules of the game. Me taking it seriously tends to ruin how people play, for some reason…”

The illusion startled Kaito, caught him off guard, and he felt himself momentarily stumble at the loss of balance that came with the ground seemingly ‘disappearing’ beneath his feet. He reached out, instinctively, to grab hold of Spider’s arm, to steady himself.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you do this,” he laughed, grinned, surprised but not alarmed. “Guess you really haven’t gotten as rusty as I thought.”

Indigo eyes glanced upwards.

Oh this little imp had no idea what he is capable of, does he? Oh well, Dantè is happy to play along. “You may call me, Casanova, Milady.” He followed the young “lady” asking soon enough for their name as well. “Unless you prefer for me to call you, Milady throughout the evening~” That devilish smile was plain to see. 

Normally he’s not as carefree, but he had worked his ass off for those negotiations and he deserves a small night of fun. Better than him smoking back home. 

“Well, it is rather flattering to have you call me that...” A light laugh left the disguised thief’s lips, a hand coming up to cover his mouth to muffle it. “You may call me ‘Keiko’, if you’d like, though. But I’m not opposed to either, Casanova.”

What a fitting name for the other man. He certainly acted the part of one, didn’t he?

“You sure that be wise, Young Lady?” He asked. Had it been his younger twin and their brother, Dantè would have been livid. Mainly because of Ash getting his tail into trouble… Agreeing, as he can’t turn her offer away as well as thanking her and he’ll pay for the shirt to be dry cleaned, Dantè gave “her” hand a kiss. 

“I’m sure,” he giggled, even as he felt his face heat faintly behind his makeup at the touch of the other man’s lips against his hand. Pulling back, and offering the other a gentle smile, he motioned for Danté to follow. “You seem like a kind man. Now, this way, please... Ah, would you mind telling me your name?”

The assassin simply hummed as Kaito let go. Still didn’t seem like the smartest idea to him, for many reasons… But it isn’t really his choice either, so.

As for the offer…

“No… I’m not in the mood for something like that quite yet.” As he said that, he took advantage of being freed to place a hand on his hip, with a smirk to match. “If I joined you now, I might take it too seriously, and it’d be boring if it got too difficult for you.”

That made him arch a brow, surprise briefly flashing across his face, before a smirk spread across his lips. A flicker of excitement settled in his chest.

“That was bloody hot…” Dantè grit his teeth as he tried to assure the “woman” before him that it was an accident. “Club soda will do the trick and it’s fine. Not the first or last time someone will spill a drink on me.” At least it wasn’t wine this time. 

“You’re fine, Love. It happens.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, are you alright?” Voice pitched high and feminine, the disguised thief pulled a pink handkerchief from the pocket of his apron to hurriedly, seemingly nervously, dab at the large coffee stain on the other’s shirt.