And all I loved, you loved as well }Ranpoe{

('°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

"I think, I might never be able to love." He thought to himself, carefully setting the pen-tip onto the paper.
Words and ink drops filled the open page as his hand slid across it. "What do you think Karl?" He turned to his beloved Raccoon who only cooed at him, before repositioning himself for a nap. Edgar sighed and turned to the window, watching the rain drops hit the glass softly in a melodic way. The fresh brewed cup of coffee filled the room with it's lightly caramelized smell and the flickering of the white coloured candles on the table next to him created the perfect atmosphere any author could wish for.

Hours passed when suddenly a knock on the door snapped the author out of his trace. Karl perked his head up, waiting for any movement of his owner, before jumping off of his spot on the table and running towards the door excited. Edgar followed the raccoon who started scratching the bottom of the door, opening it and meeting two green orbs starring at him. "Finally!", Ranpo groaned as he entered the house, taking his shoes off and making his way to his usual spot (as well stopping by the kitchen to get cookies).

Edgar approached the shorter man as he tried to reach a box filled with all different kind of cookies by climbing on the counter, and decided to give him a hand asking, "You appear to be in a bad mood, what happened?" "Nothing really, just a stupid case and a lot of really stupid police officer. The rain didn't help either." Ranpo mumbled, munching on the cookies as he sat down on the couch. Poe hummed something like a "continue" or "I'm listening", while picking up Karl and joining the younger detective, who had started rambling about his day, as well as the case.

"And then they even made me point out every little detail they could think of! Can you belive that? If I were to be their boss, I would've fired them a long time ago!" Ranpo complained, waving his arms around dramatically in frustration before grabbing another cookie and looking back at Poe. "Have you finished your new manuscript?" "No, not yet. It might be finished tomorrow or the day after, if I am in the right mood for writing multiple pages." Edgar answered, taking a cookie from the box as well.
Ranpo didn't really mind if Poe took any of his snacks anymore - of course only if he still got most of them- and sometimes even offered them on his own, which only happened when no one was looking or no one but themselves were there.

Karl chittered as he pawed Poe's hand, reaching for the other half of the cookie and snapping the detective out of his thoughts. meanwhile, the younger detective had turned on the television and put on some old mystery movie he would solve within the first 5 mins anyway. Leaning back against the couch, Edgar thought about the next plottwist for his current novel, taking mental notes as the sound of the rain and television slowly muffled out. The only thing his mind registered in the moment before completely spacing out, was the body warmth of Ranpo leaning against him, his head resting on his left shoulder, and the slow swooshing tail of Karl against his tibia.

"Ranpo?" Edgar asked, recieving no answer. The detective must have fallen asleep during the movie, which was nothing unusual, Poe would do so as well after finding the culprit and having an eventful or stressful day. He didn't bother moving, the weight on his shoulder was welcoming and he didn't feel like he had to worry about what would happen once the younger detective woke up. "Perhaps... Perhaps I will find love someday," Edgar whispered to himself, the purring of his furry friend and the sleep-mumbling of Ranpo left him feeling pleased and tranquil in some way. It felt natural. "Poe" Ranpo muttered and Poe immediately stopped breathing. - Had he been awake the whole time? Did he.. Did he listen to him? -
"...Y-yes?"

Silence.

Silence followed for what felt like hours. Ranpo continued mumbling, speaking nonsense, confirming that he was still asleep by the time Edgar talked to himself and the author let out the breath he didn't know he was still holding in. One part of him had hoped, Ranpo heard him and confronted him, saying that he would find someone, perhaps his soulmate, someday while the other part of him was relived that Ranpo was still in a deep slumber and didn't hear his -in his opinion - 'embarrassing' thoughts.

"A romantic novel, where both people fit together like a puzzle, what do you think Karl?" the raccoon just blinked at him with his black button like eyes and titled his head. Edgar chuckled but froze as Ranpo suddenly questioned what personality the characters would have. He shrugged, making eye contact with the other who decided to open his usually closed eyes. "I don't know yet, perhaps when I sketch the designs out I will find some traits that will make them unique."
"what about the height difference?"
"One of them would probably be shorter than the other"
"and what about..." and so on.
Ranpo continued to ask questions about the characters and Poe would answer them, putting small pieces together for their perfect design until both ran out of ideas.

"A short protagonist, who is very smart and appears to be full of energy everytime they appear. They work as a private detective but nobody knows what their real identity is. Their Partner, Tall and akward. Yet somehow, they know exactly what to say and can keep the other under control when no one else can. As well a private detective and the partner of the protagonist." Poe muttered to himself, writing the ideas down on his phone. "The characters are familiar don't you think? Is the protagonist in love?" Ranpo asked, leaning over Edgar's shoulder to take a look at the messy notes. "If you want them to be. With who though?" Ranpo leaned back for a moment, a small grin spread across his face. "Eachother! Make the protagonist pin for their partner, make it obvious but not too much. Give little hints like the other spending a lot of time at the others place, doing something they wouldn't do with others, etc." "That's very specific of you, Ranpo" Poe smiled and Ranpo returned the favour. "I'm just speaking from experience. Perhaps someday the Partner will realise that they're in love with them." Edgar muttered a "mabye", Before jotting the ideas down and re-reading the bullet points.
...The characters did appear very familiar, he was not sure were he had seen or heard about them before, but before he could ask Ranpo or think any further, a hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him from the couch. "Let's go out and get ice cream! The storm is over and I'm craving something sweet other than cookies and hard candy." Ranpo smiled as he dragged the writer to the front door. "Of course Ranpo-kun" Edgar smiled back softly, mabye he was already in love and perhaps he has already found his soulmate and partn-
Wait,
"Ranpo, when you said that perhaps the partner will realise the feeling of the protagonist, did you mean-" "You caught on finally!" Ranpo cheered cutting him off. Hands on hips and leaning forward, Almost touching Poe's face with his own he grinned. "For someone who is almost as intelligent as me, you can be very dense, but that doesn't matter. I love you anyway." before leaning forward. The few centimetres that were separating them dissapeared.
His eyes winded as a blush spread across his face.
His brain didn't process what happend for seconds, before the sudden realization hit him. A dumbfounded smile spread on his face as he chuckled to himself.
"I love you too, Ranpo."

og: 16/6/20
edited: 29/10/20
edited 2nd: 22/11/22