thenightmarebyyourside - Tumblr blog

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

Kaito stiffened at that first gleam of water, only to relax as a pool came into view. It had been an instinctive reaction, really, a fight or flight response ( that leaned more towards flight in this case ) to…not the pool nor even the water itself, but rather what might be hiding beneath its depths.

It’s a ridiculous fear. Kaito knew that.

He couldn’t even remember what had caused it in the first place, all those many years ago. An accident, perhaps. His child self could’ve easily slipped and–

Kaito shook his head. This wasn’t the time for any self-analysis, and he lifted his gaze, away from the incredibly realistic water ( had he expected anything less of Spider, though? ) and back up to the assassin.

“You know, I’m kind of starting to think that you’re just showing off now,” he grinned, teased, more for pushing away any remaining unease in himself than anything else. “Not that I mind. You’re great at what you do and this is a rare opportunity to get a closer look at your illusions without worrying that you’re going to use them to, like, trap me or something.”

He’s teasing, again. It’s been a very, very long time since Spider’s used his illusions against him like that, after all.

“So, no real burden on you to keep them up, I’m pretty much the only one who’s going to see them, you’ll keep me from getting hurt or traumatized…” Kaito counted off on his fingers. “Aaand I’ll have thirty minutes to see through them all. Sounds good to me. I’m fine to start whenever you are.”

Showing off? Perhaps. But since the opportunity to use his illusions became available, why not show off? Besides, even when he works as an illusionist, he never lets himself ‘cheat’ with magic. A shame, because it felt pretty good, but security does tend to be a better choice.

“Well, then...” he hummed, absently moving a hand again as the ground changed one more time, resembling metal plates that formed a cross with the magician in the center, “We’ll start with another simple one.”

A swift clench of a fist, and the plates rose up, forming a box. Maybe inspired by the comment about making a trap, maybe not, but it seemed like a convenient way to keep Kaito from seeing anything new just yet. And should be about the same level as ‘no ground’ to get past. Maybe slightly more difficult, since gravity gives the truth away as to whether there’s nothing below, whereas a wall is mostly personal convincing. Still, he didn’t need more than a second to prep the rest of this ‘game’.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

Kaito blinked, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. That was…a little bit surprising. He knew Spider was kinder than he actually let on, but it wasn’t often that the assassin decided to show it – there were some instances, of course, that Kaito could remember ( and he did so fondly ) but they were rarer than he’d like.

“Aww, I knew you cared~”

It wasn’t going to stop Kaito from teasing, just a little bit.

“Really, though, thanks. I appreciate it. It would kind of suck if I ended up walking straight off a roof or something. Not the kind of way I’d prefer to go.” He let out a little laugh. “I’ll let you know if something freaks me out too much. …Well, you’ll probably notice, too. So, how’s thirty minutes for the time limit sound? Too much? Too little? How long can you keep your illusions up?”

...Well. He was... mostly just covering all his bases, in giving as much fair warning as he could. Since it’d be easy to think something might have worse consequences later, it seemed simpler to get across that this is intended to be safe.

And better to get the intent across now than wait to see if something did go wrong to try and convince him after the fact.

Anyway...

“You’re the only one who’s going to be experiencing the illusions, for the most part, so I can keep them up as long as necessary. How much or how little time would depend on how many there are, on what scale, and how easy I’d think they are to identify as at least being out of place.”

A nod to the (lack of) ground. “This is more meant to play on fears. You can’t see the bottom, it’s a sharp drop off from the visible ground... a mental hurdle than a realistic illusion. It’s easy to identify as fake, even if it’s hard to take a chance and walk out over it.” A casual wave, and the void evaporated... but instead of the ground being back, the two were standing just above a built in swimming pool, with two shadows shifting slightly ‘below’ the water.

“...In the right place, this would be much more difficult to point out at fake. Might take... ten minutes?”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

Kaito hummed in thought, taking an experimental step forward and off of his footing. It was a strange sensation, to feel the ground beneath him even when there appeared to be nothing there, but now that he was prepared for it, it was much less off putting. Still strange, yes, but not something he was going to lose his balance over again. At least, not anytime soon.

…He hoped.

“So, basically… I need to figure out what’s an illusion and what’s not?” It seemed simple enough in theory. Considering how incredible Spider’s illusions were in reality, however, it would be far from simple. A challenge indeed. “That could be interesting. How about putting a time-limit on it, too? If I can’t figure it out before time is up, it’ll be your win.”

The visible ground fell away once Kaito stepped off of it, leaving the two standing solely on the illusory void. Which the assassin shifted his weight on, crossing his arms as he confirmed what the other would be doing.

“I suppose there can be a time limit, if you’d prefer. And  if you get too overwhelmed trying to separate reality from illusion in general, you can give up and I’ll cancel what I’m doing at the time. I’ll keep it simple to start with, though, so it shouldn’t be too bad.” And he’d like to keep reality questioning within the context of this ‘game’, so he may cut it off if there were stress for any reason in general.

...Which Spider like to say he could avoid, but he knows himself too well to trust that nothing could happen. ...Though one thing he can control.

“I’ll also try and make sure you won’t get hurt if you were to fail. Like walking into something dangerous, or showing something potentially traumatic.”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

“Hey, give me a break, I told you I’m rusty. Not to mention I haven’t experienced your illusions in ages either and I didn’t exactly expect the ground to drop out under me,” he snorted, releasing Spider once he felt a little more steady on his feet, made easier by the ground ‘returning’ beneath them.

It earned the assassin a little smile of gratitude.

A smile which was soon replaced with a look of curiosity and intrigue tinged with a hint of excitement. A challenge. Was Spider challenging him? Oh, this was going to be fun, Kaito could feel it already.

“That sounds really tempting. What game are we talking about here? And what rules are there?” He had an idea, of course, but jumping to conclusions never went well for anyone, and if he had the opportunity to attempt to beat Spider, he was going to give every word out of the other man’s mouth the utmost attention.

Well, points for enthusiasm. Even when it’s misguided enough to earn a small chuckle from the assassin. He’d liken it more to solving a puzzle, with the only direct challenge being that he’s making the puzzle the other needs to solve. But then again, puzzles are games, too, so it works.

“To put it more bluntly: Since I can ‘cheat’ at most games with my illusions, I’m curious if you can ‘win’ against them.” Spider gestured to the rest of the area, expanding the emptiness that surrounded their only visible footing, then took a silent step back to stand ‘on’ nothing.

“It’s not something I can add rules to, though it might be considered dull if you just closed your eyes to ignore them.”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

The illusion startled Kaito, caught him off guard, and he felt himself momentarily stumble at the loss of balance that came with the ground seemingly ‘disappearing’ beneath his feet. He reached out, instinctively, to grab hold of Spider’s arm, to steady himself.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you do this,” he laughed, grinned, surprised but not alarmed. “Guess you really haven’t gotten as rusty as I thought.”

Indigo eyes glanced upwards.

“I mean, it’d be a real challenge to play tag if you did this, but not impossible. Kind of interesting, even. Though if you have another game you’d prefer to play, I’m all ears.”

Spider didn’t quite expect the other to completely stumble - or at least, not onto him - so the taunting pose dropped in order to brace himself. ...The reaction afterward wasn’t an expected one, either. However, also not as surprising as it could have been, considering the thief’s attitude towards him most of the time.

Still kept some of his smugness, despite suddenly being a handhold. Whether he should feel proud about the compliment or say Kaito’s too easy to impress remained undecided. (Leaning towards the latter, though the former might be him feeling tempted to show off more.) Regardless, enough ground ‘came back’ to offer stable footing directly beneath them.

“Hmm... If you’re already falling over with just this, I doubt you’d do well with anything that’s supposed to be competitive. And as fun as the idea of a one-sided game sounds, it’s never been as fun in practice, in my experience.” Ignore that his ‘experience’ wasn’t actually with more innocent games.

“Unless you’d just like to try to beat me at my own game, so to speak.”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

That made him arch a brow, surprise briefly flashing across his face, before a smirk spread across his lips. A flicker of excitement settled in his chest.

“Is that a challenge?” Kaito asked, head tilting to the side in a seemingly innocent manner. “Because I’d be more than happy to prove you wrong if you’d like~ I might be rusty, but I’d still be able to beat you. Besides– you haven’t been too active in a while either, right?”

“Only publicly. Unlike some criminals, I can’t afford to let my skills get rusty.”

A tease, sure, but also true. There’s no true rest for the wicked and all that nonsense. Really, if he were completely honest, more than not being in the mood, the problem is more that he wouldn’t be able to play the game right.

...Which is best demonstrated with a deliberate raising of his free hand to give a snap - with the ground around them appearing to vanish into an empty void. (A perfectly safe ‘void’, the only real leap that’d need to be taken being the mental one to deal with such an illusion.)

“It’d hardly be a challenge if I’m not interested in playing along with the normal rules of the game. Me taking it seriously tends to ruin how people play, for some reason...”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

“That’d eliminate at least half of my current friends, though.” He’s exaggerating. There’s only, like, a handful of his friends that’d be willing to stab him. “And it does keep me on my toes, y’know?”

Kaito grins, releases Spider from his hold and takes a step back ( he’s not entirely willing to get all the way out of the assassin’s personal space bubble quite yet, though ). “That ‘nap’ might’ve made me a little rusty, though, so I should probably work on getting my skills back up to par before finding myself any more friends. …Want to join me in a game of tag across the city?”

The assassin simply hummed as Kaito let go. Still didn’t seem like the smartest idea to him, for many reasons... But it isn’t really his choice either, so.

As for the offer...

“No... I’m not in the mood for something like that quite yet.” As he said that, he took advantage of being freed to place a hand on his hip, with a smirk to match. “If I joined you now, I might take it too seriously, and it’d be boring if it got too difficult for you.”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

“True,” he laughs, not at all deterred by Spider’s unwillingness to return the embrace. To be honest, Kaito would be more concerned if he did decide to hug him back.

“But it’s been a long time since you’ve tried to kill me–” Even before that long nap. “–so I guess, now, it’s more like…I’ve missed a pretty grumpy friend rather than an assassin?”

...True, he hasn’t exactly been interested in killing the thief for a while now. Even before being ‘fired’ from the job requiring him to. But the situation at that time was... different. And, to him, being thought of as a friend is a bit much.

“You need better friend criteria than just ‘hasn’t tried to kill me recently’. Possibly with exclusions for people willing to stab you with weapons in the first place.” For all the gentle rejection of that particular term, though, he’s still not pushing the other off yet. No real force behind the words.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

themoonlightthief​:

And that’s all Kaito needs to pounce, arms looping tight around the assassin with a laugh tinged with delight and relief. Not because he’s not about to get killed ( which is a nice bonus, by the way ) but rather because he’s allowed to hug and touch someone again.

He…might be feeling a little touch starved.

“Is it weird that I’ve missed you?”

“A little. Missing an assassin in general would be weird, I’d think.”

An extra bonus of giving the assassin warning before an embrace is that he’s more accepting of it, without too much tensing up. Might not be returning the hold, but still.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

Yep, definitely seeing signs he might regret this. "...Not at the moment, since you've been good enough to give me some warning."

thenightmarebyyourside: The grin makes him very aware that giving attention is going to be something he might regret, but hey. This Spider has been a little bored (and shared the ‘long nap’ sentiment), so there’s a wave back. 

That grin spreads wider at the returned wave, excitement overriding any sense of caution there might have been ( or should have been ). He takes a step closer.

“Would you kill me if I hugged you right now?”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

It’s so nice to not have to worry about doing something special on certain days.  Perks of being a less-than-social assassin who travels between various countries at leisure.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

See, some people can be so inconsiderate. He’s sure it makes people appreciate that some criminals can stick to one target and keep extraneous attacks to a minimum. …Or at least keep it subtle.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

See, some people can be so inconsiderate. He’s sure it makes people appreciate that some criminals can stick to one target and keep extraneous attacks to a minimum. ...Or at least keep it subtle.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

“I wonder if the police get tired of getting called around everywhere.” Pretty sure sirens go by multiple times every day. Or at least it’s rare if nothing happens.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

kaivoleur‌:

     “ But it’s like — Chekhov’s gun, kind of. If it’s supposedly perfect, then of course people are gonna want to test it out! ” Kaito seems very convinced of this logical step. His eyes are practically glittering. “ It’s like yelling about an unsolvable puzzle and being surprised when people clamor to try and solve it. ”

“...Granted, if their system were truly infallible, the smarter decision would be to not talk it up and just let would-be thieves get caught and put away. It’d be better to deal with the potential nuisance of dealing with smaller thieves more often rather than get the attention of someone who decides to take such things as a challenge...”

Some strategy about making something seem easy to get working better at defense than making it clear it’s well guarded or such. Of course if someone decided to rise to the ‘challenge’ they’d be more difficult to handle than those who’d go for a seemingly easy target.

“However... you do realize that all it takes is just one of those ‘puzzles’ to actually stump you to ruin everything. You’d still need to know when not to attempt to actually be smart at dealing with that challenge.”

[thenightmarebyyourside]

kaivoleur‌:

@thenightmarebyyourside​ / NICE!!

     “ I’m just saying, if they really didn’t want me to take a peek, they wouldn’t be claiming to have an infallible security system. ”

“I believe people brag about security systems to discourage thieves from making any attempts.” Though, granted, he supposes it could seem like a challenge to some people.

[thenightmarebyyourside]

the door opens with a tiny creeak, and closes just as not-quite-softly. too sleepy to be stealthy, Kaito doesn't so much throw himself as he just kind of lets himself flop on Gunter with a happy (if somewhat drowsy) hello. don't think you're getting through his triumphant return without a proper greeting!

...He’d normally be more concerned at hearing someone coming in without warning, but with how easy this particular intruder was to identify, the illusionist barely gave Kaito a glance until being flopped upon. Though, Gunter wasn’t going to entirely ignore him...

Sigh. Might as well give a soft head pat as his own greeting. ( Just ignore the faint smile that showed up. ) “Well, doesn’t someone look tired... I think you need to flop onto a bed, instead of me.”