"Dark?"
Something stirred in his head. What? came the grouchy reply.
"Why is your name Dark Mousy?"
The kaitou was more awake now. Daisuke could feel him sit up mentally. What do you mean?
"Well, I guess I can understand the 'Dark' part, but 'Mousy'?"
With a flash of light, Dark's image materialized next to Daisuke. "Ah...you could say it's something of an inside joke."
"With who?"
A pause. "...A few hosts ago, Krad made a comment about us being like a game of 'cat and mouse'...something of a pet name, I guess..." The thief shifted uncomfortably.
Daisuke was surprised. "So you're saying that 'Mousy' is Krad's nickname for you?"
"Do we have to talk about this?"
"Yes." The boy was very stubborn once he got a notion in his head.
"What's so interesting about it? So I have a weird name. I don't know why they decided to name me Dark, either, and I haven't wondered about it in three centuries." Ooh, defensive.
"I just find it odd that you kept a name given to you by the psychotic blond whose favorite pastime is trying to kill us."
"Well, things were...different, back then." He'd better get Daisuke off this line of thinking. They were nearing a rather uncomfortable topic.
"What do you mean?"
"Doesn't matter, anyway, not anymore." So it used to matter? Hm. Daisuke would have to ask about it when Dark wasn't being so tight-lipped.
"…Mousy is not exactly the manliest of names."
Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly the one on top in that relationship, Dark thought. Out loud he said, "Krad's a weird guy. The name stuck somehow."
There was a blessed silence, and Dark thought Daisuke might be finished interrogating him. He was about to slip off to take a nap, when his host spoke again.
"Dark, why can't you fly like Krad?"
Sweatdrop. "Gawd, what is with you today, Daisuke? None of my other hosts were this curious."
"I was sort of wondering why you have to use With. Krad has his own wings. You don't. You're supposed to be two sides to the same coin, right?"
A bitter laugh. "Something like that, yeah."
"…well?"
"I used to have wings."
"What happened to them?"
Daisuke wasn't going to back off, he could see that. And there was no real reason to lie, except that it was humiliating to remember that he had let his guard down like that. He sighed. "Over a century ago, I made a stupid mistake, and Krad sliced my wings off."
Daisuke's eyes went wide. His jaw dropped. "Oh my god…I'm so sor—"
"Don't," Dark cut him off. "It was a long time ago. Even for me."
"…I knew he was twisted, b-but….he crippled you for eternity…I…I'm so sorry…"
"So, anyway, your ancestors used some of their own magic, and created With."
"I'm sorry."
"Quit apologizing. My wings'll heal. Slowly, sure, but I think in a few more decades, I'll be fine again," he said cheerfully, hoping this would reassure his distraught host. He wasn't lying, but he also didn't think he'd be around in another few decades. Dark sighed internally. Crippled…crippled an eternal being to the ground…Gravity. Better than any chains.
"Oh." Daisuke brightened. "I'm glad."
"Yeah."
"Dark?"
He almost sighed, but then he noticed the softer quality to his tamer's voice. He decided to cut back on the sarcasm. "Hmm?"
"When I have a son…we'll still be friends, right?"
"So now you're going all philosophical on me?"
"Be straightforward for once and answer me," Daisuke snapped.
The kaitou nearly winced. He'd said the wrong thing. Should've been more careful…you want honesty? You'll get it.
"…It'll be…hard…" Dark turned away from him, toying with one of the locks of violet hair that hung down his face.
"What do you mean?"
"It'll be hard…" Dark repeated, "to see you grow…change…have a family…"
When you never can, Daisuke thought, unknowingly thinking the same thing as the kaitou. "I'm sorry for asking…"
"No!" Dark swerved, facing the redhead again. "I mean, don't think that I won't be glad to see you. I will. It's just—"
"I understand, Dark," he interjected. "Really." Then he smiled, one that could have lit up the room, to ensure that the thief understood what he meant.
A silence settled over the pair for a few minutes, simply comfortable in each other's presence.
"Ne, Dark?" There was something lighthearted in the other's voice, as if trying to make up for the somber mood of before.
"Yeah."
Daisuke tugged on one of Dark's longer locks of hair. "You and Krad have really, really weird haircuts."
"Should I feel insulted…?"
"Like a blind, arthritic, scissor-happy barber on speed, to tell the truth."
"You're just jealous because you don't have random locks of gravity defying hair all in your face."
"And purple? Who has purple hair? That doesn't occur in nature!"
A grin. "Neither do purple eyes. Or red eyes, for that matter," Dark retorted.
"Pfft!"
-
A/N: Abrupt ending, I know. I've always wondered about why no one wonders about the "mousy" part of Dark's name. Heh...I hope you enjoyed it! Yeah, those were hints of Krad x Dark there…It's my personal theory that the manga hints at a long-past relationship between them, and that's part of the reason that they hate each other. What! It's perfectly plausible!