Quality Time
Conan stared.
Hakuba blinked.
Conan stared.
Hakuba shifted in his seat.
Conan stared.
Hakuba developed a twitch.
And Conan stared.
Finally, Hakuba decided that enough was enough. "Look, I don't know what you want from me," he told the child. "I have never been good with children—"
"What a coincidence." Conan growled. "Neither have I."
Hakuba blinked, taken aback. What was that supposed to mean? He decided on ignoring the comment. "It is not my fault we are here. Nor was it my idea."
His response was an untranslatable growl. However, he had been telling the truth. Stupid magicians and their stupid ideas. What sort of reason is "bonding time" for shoving two persons in a room? But then, no one had ever been able to fathom Kuroba or his motives. He did know, however, that he didn't want to bond with this odd child, and he was pretty convinced the other wanted nothing to do with him.
So with nothing else to do, he stood up and headed towards the door with murder on his mind.
"Where are you going?" Conan sounded suspicious.
"I am going to improvise. Suddenly and violently and all over Kuroba-kun."
There was a startling chuckle. "Can I help?"
"Be my guest." He stepped aside to let Conan through the door first, then shut it behind them. As they headed out in search of a doomed magician, Hakuba reflected that maybe "quality time" was all right after all. You just had to know what to do.
There is very little interaction between these two in the series. In fact, I think they only meet once, during the fake tv-show-thing on the island. However, I think Conan would be resentful for being resented, and Hakuba just doesn't seem like a kid-person. Anyhow, I like 'em like this.
Anyone who caught the Simon Green allusion gets virtual cookies.
This was supposed to go up with my other update; oops. Many many thanks to those who reviewed!