16: Verbal Spar

Conan yelped (in a very dignified manner) as he was scooped up just outside of the Mouri Detective Agency. He kicked and struggled, but was unable to do anything to his captor who held him by the back of his shirt in the same manner that Kogoro, the baka-tantei, frequently employed. "Oi, oi! Put me down!" He shouted as he was carted away.

"Stop struggling tantei-kun." Said a familiar voice. Conan did as he was told, but only out of shock. "KID!?" He was set down on the pavement and turned to see… Hattori Heiji. The voice didn't match the face. "Nah! Ahou! I'm Hattori Heiji!" He struck a pose that was just what one would expect from the detective of the west.

Conan was not impressed, "why are you here KID?" 'Heiji' looked appropriately offended before proudly declaring in a perfect imitation of Conan's long time friend, "I came 'cause I was bored, 'n' yer the only proper opponent when i' comes ta wit, Ku- ah… Conan-kun. So… can we hang out?"

Casting a considering eye over the disguised thief, Conan exhaled sharply. He had been kind of tired of acting like a kid recently. "I doubt that's really why you're here, but I'm not talking to you while you look like… that." 'Heiji' grinned in a most un-Heiji like way. "So you will keep me company!" He chirped, cheerfully, vanishing in a flash of smoke. "Just for today", Conan mumbled as the smoke cleared. In Hattori Heiji's place was a person whose appearance was unremarkable. KID had the appearance of either a rather feminine boy or a rather masculine girl. Seeming to read his thoughts, KID grinned, "ever since I made that mistake with Masumi Sera-san, I have found this disguise to work brilliantly for any amount of mischief."

Conan rolled his eyes, "I bet. What did you have in mind?" KID smirked, "a word game! It will be a conversation of any topic and the only requirement is to use the largest or strangest words you know. The person who looses is the one who didn't know the most words." Conan smirked competitively, "ah… I see, there's no way I can tone down my intelligence this way. Sounds like fun. I accept your terms. Let us commence, but I hope this doesn't mark me as a quisling."

KID clapped his hands and laughed, leading him down the sidewalk, "of course not! Spare me the trenchant attitude!" Conan grinned, "only as long as you comply to the same decorum, though I doubt someone as obstreperous as yourself could even acquiesce for long." The magician put a hand over his heart in mock pain, "I would never rebuff your postulations however, I consider myself more as a empyreal thaumaturge!" Conan's eyebrow twitched, "you often implement legerdemain exploits, yet I would never classify them as preternatural for a magician of your proficiency." KID pouted dramatically, "you're incontestably a duffer when determining the vocations of artists outside of your own métier."

Conan frowned, "cease your saturnine pretenses! I infer the same conclusion has been drawn in Nakamor-keibu's case?" KID snorted, "far from it, Nakamori-keibu is irascible and far too fond of his imprecations. At least he refrains form circumlocution… tantei-san occasionally bloviates about the merits of deductive reasoning." Conan eyed the disguised magician speculatively, "it sounds as though your personalities are invidious." KID bit his lip, "no… he believes I maunder and it vexes him."

Conan laughed, "it is apparent we both possess recondite knowledge of vocabulary! I'm sure it aids you with your euphuisms." KID looked bewildered, "you mean my heist notices?" Conan nodded, "still, I tire of this fustian expression. Why are you really here KID?"

The magician looked sheepish, "I…" he chuckled, "when your mood turns tenebrous I, as a magician, consider it an exigency." Conan glared at him, making KID shift positions in embarrassment. "In other words, you want to keep me in a good mood." Conan asked in dry disbelief. KID grinned, "yep! I am an entertainer at heart, really I want everyone to enjoy themselves." The thief nodded sagely, "I also have to keep my detectives in the best condition." "So you're plying psychiatrist now?"

KID's expression smoothed into nothing, "you and I both have identities to protect, it's a tall order and I figured that talking to someone with a similar situation would help even if we were only talking nonsense." His smirk returned in full force, "so then, see ya round Shinichi."

Conan watched as the moonlight magician stepped behind a tree and seemed to simply vanish. "Thanks." Conan said, looking up at the sky with a smile. "I had fun." As he turned to leave a thought struck him, "wait! Who won the game?"