Insomnia Club Meeting?

[deductiongeek]

Who: Conan and Anyone
What: Insomnia
Where: Kitchen
When: Catfish Day 3, very late

It was late, well after midnight. And sleep was not happening tonight. 

Conan had dragged himself out of bed and made his way to the kitchen where he claimed one of the tables. He sits there, clutching at the strongest cup of coffee he could make, and stares moodily out the window. 

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin's mind was churning with thoughts and ideas, and sleep wasn't going to happen for him, either. He rolls out of his bunk and makes his way to the kitchen, where he finds Conan staring out of the window and slugging down some strong coffee.

"Hey, Conan, couldn't you sleep?"

[deductiongeek]

"Not really," he says. "I tried, but then I thought that I might as well just get up."

After dreams like that, he didn't think that sleep would be coming any time soon.

[so_dark_a_road]

"No use wasting time tossing and turning and not managing to sleep. Same for me. So, how come you couldn't sleep? Are you worried about something?"

Because that moody look certainly suggested it.

[deductiongeek]

"Just some bad dreams. It isn't anything important."

Rather, it was important to him. But it definitely wasn't anything he wanted to talk about.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Important enough to roust you out of bed and bring you out here for some caffeine." Coffee is a mood-altering substance. Specifically, a mood-elevator.

But he understood if Conan didn't want to talk about his dreams.

Besides, he was about to get himself a cup of the evil brew. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee too. Are you hungry? Should I grab anything else from the fridge?"

[deductiongeek]

"I just didn't feel like sleeping anymore," he mutters moodily. Not that he could. Nothing like Gin appearing in a nightmare to remove all desire to sleep.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Okay, then I'll hang around if you want company. I don't feel like sleeping either."

Curufin goes to get himself a coffee and a sandwich, since Conan doesn't seem hungry. He comes and sits back down and sips the coffee to start with.

"Want to talk about anything at all? I'm up for it, if you are."

[deductiongeek]

Conan concentrates on his coffee as Curufin gets his own.

"I don't mind company," he says as he returns. "But I don't really know what to talk about."

I love those Conan icons. He looks so blasé about everything; it's hilarious!

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin gulps his coffee down, in order to get the full effect as quickly as possible.

"Talk about anything at all that's interesting to you. Your life, your thoughts. Do you have any ideas about why the VoidTrecker chose you?"

I have so many icons of him making "so done with everything" expressions

[deductiongeek]

And of course Curufin happened upon one of the topics that had been keeping him up at night. How had the VoidTrecker known to take him? Why? And how did it known his real name?

Worse, he didn't really have a good reason to tell anyone on why it had taken him, and then issued his ticket with a different name than what he gave people.

"I think it made a mistake," he says aloud.

It's such a marvelous face. XD

[so_dark_a_road]

Mysterious are the ways of the VoidTrecker Express!

"A mistake? How would it be a mistake to collect anybody as resourceful as you are?"

[deductiongeek]

"Because my name wasn't on the ticket. I think they were trying to get my cousin."

This was still the best explanation he'd come up with that didn't involve explaining the part about living under a false name and being ten years younger than he should be.

[so_dark_a_road]

"The name on the ticket isn't your own? It's your cousin's name?" Maybe not so surprising. If all that the inspectors had said was the truth, then this experience is nested in the clutches of a vast bureaucracy. And bureaucracies make mistakes. "So, is Conan your name, or your cousin's name?"

Conan is such a clever young man.

[deductiongeek]

"Mmm, he's well known as a high school detective at home. My name is Conan."

Conan was absolutely lying. About everything. And he was probably going to regret this some day, especially if the inspectors ever came back.

[so_dark_a_road]

"What's his name, then? And what happens when the VoidTrecker has to identify you? -- it uses your cousin's name?"

Whoa, the inspectors! Hopefully they never turn up again.

[deductiongeek]

"Shinichi Kudo. And the inspectors used his name and age when they were here." Conan makes a face. "They looked confused, but I didn't think it was a good idea to correct them."

Half truths and lies.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Very odd. So they think you're him. How old is he?"

Half truths and lies have their uses!

[deductiongeek]

"Seventeen." Conan pauses a moment. "They looked confused."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Hmm, it seems they know enough about human beings to know that a seventeen-year-old would be taller than you are." He smiles at Conan. "No wonder they were confused. But they believed you were Shinichi, because your ticket said you were?"

[deductiongeek]

"They asked me to confirm it, but they accepted it."

He makes a face.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to claim that I wasn't supposed to be here."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Indeed not! We don't know what the inspectors would do if they thought someone was here unauthorized. They seem very much the bureaucratic type, and you never know how such types might act when they think something is not as it should be. They might toss you off the train into the Void, for all we know."

He makes a face too. He doesn't want anything to happen to Conan.

"So I guess you're Shinichi for the duration."

[deductiongeek]

"When the inspectors are here, at least."

Conan was not happy about this. But it was the best strategy he'd been able to cobble together. And if one of them did arrive on the train? At least any risk should only fall on himself.

Although resigning himself to essentially living with a target on himself for the foreseeable future was a major contributor to his increased nightmares and bad mood.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Yes. If the inspectors come back, I'll be sure to call you Shinichi if we're both in their presence."

Curufin could see that Conan wasn't happy and that he was still reluctant to talk about it. He must have his reasons, though Curufin will always be willing to listen, should Conan be ready to talk in the future.

"Damn, I need a refill already. You want more coffee?" he asks, standing up.

[deductiongeek]

"Mmm, I could use some more." Conan passes his cup over, thinking as he does. He was tempted to just leave at that. But should he?

Would knowing that much be enough to put anyone in danger if one of them arrived here?

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin takes Conan's cup and his own and goes to pour more coffee. He comes back and hands Conan his refill, and then he sits down and takes a sip of his own. "Mmm, that was what I needed."

And then he smiles at Conan and waits for him to say something.