Treasure [Klance/Leith]

15

Keith quietly stared down at the case file in his lap as he rested in the hospital room with Kouki listening to music in the bed next to his. Two guards were stationed outside of the room for security reasons and Keith never felt more like a caged animal in his life as he had an internal conflict over whether or not he should try to get up and walk or not. He slid his hand down the rough surface of the folder slowly, thinking back to when he was passed out from blood loss. He had reached out for Lance in the same way he had reached out for Abby before she nearly killed herself because of him; he was seeking comfort in Lance...but why?

Keith tilted his head back onto the pillow and blew out a loud puff of air obnoxiously. "I hate sitting in here, it gives me too much time to think." He grumbled.

"You sound like an old man Mr. Kogane." Kouki stated from where he sat, quietly writing in his notebook. His brown eyes were fixated on his loopy cursive letters as he wrote a story in boredom like he normally did.

Keith turned his head over to the child in annoyance, "Just wait until you're my age; you'll want nothing more than to be with other people. And why are you even still here? You were cleared to leave." Keith was slightly confused by how the child chose to stay in the room rather than leave and breathe fresh air rather than the smell of hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol that gave Keith migraines.

Kouki slowly glanced up to Keith, taking an ear bud out to hear him better, "Well...I have nothing to go back to." Kouki stated in a quiet voice instantly making Keith's heart ache. Then the boy looked back at his notebook, "And anyways, it would be pretty lonely in here if you didn't have me wouldn't it?"

Keith smiled slightly as he slowly turned himself over onto his side, careful of the stitches on his stomach from being stabbed. He stared at the despondent boy across from him and took in a deep breath, "You know what, you remind me of my sister. You both have the blonde hair and smartass personality."

"That was a swear." Kouki glanced up and tapped his pencil down onto the paper, further proving Keith's point. "And you remind me of an older idiot brother." He stated simply.

"I was a champ at clue you know, not any idiot could win that game." Keith sounded defensive as he frowned deeply at the Asian child looking at him.

With a dumbfounded expression, Kouki cocked his head to the side and spoke bluntly, "Clue? Any idiot can win that game. Mr. McClain and I played it while you were sleeping and he won."

Keith felt as if his ego had been stabbed repeatedly as he listened to Kouki describe how the game went. Lance had guessed correctly each game within the first three minutes and managed to snag a nurses number in the process. This made Keith want to roll over and sulk in a corner for the rest of the day as he contemplated his life choices. "Well he probably just cheated." Keith mumbled as he turned over to face the ceiling quietly.

He wished that the boy would've just left it at that but instead he decided to start a new conversation with the detective sitting across from him. "So Mr. kogane, I have been thinking back to when I witnessed Pyxis break in. I can't remember much except for a certain action she did...it was peculiar in a way..." Kouki's voice trailed off as he touched his chin slowly, his eyes hard as he stared down at his notebook, "I'm not too sure what it was for but she did touch above her torso a lot, but I couldn't see where at however since I was hiding beneath my bed."

Keith's interest was grabbed by the odd words slithering out of Kouki's mouth like a snake, "thank you, it may not be a lot to you but it does help the investigation slightly. It means that Pyxis subconsciously touches something on her body as a habit whether it be an ear or a shoulder; it limits down the search slightly."

"Mr. Kogane, since I gave you a clue...can you tell me something?" Kouki's brown eyes slowly fixated on Keith from across the room, he seemed curious and frightened.