Current mood:	accomplished
Current music:	Do not enter into that room! Unspeakable danger lurks! I had Taco Bell for lunch
Entry tags:	series:the grey agency

[The Grey Agency] Down the Rabbit Hole
Title: The Grey Agency, chapter six: Down the Rabbit Hole
Author: Icka! M. Chif
Word Count: 1,500
Author's Note: Listening to The Shades of Grey Podcast brought some plunnies out to play.
Summary: This new world they seem to be involved in in scared him.
Previous Chapters

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"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."
-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

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"'Guru?" Kaito tentatively knocked on the door to what they were calling the library. Three and a half of the four walls were covered in giant polished wood bookshelves, Great Aunt Rose having been a rather eccentric book collector among other things. It lent the room an air of sophistication, which was probably why it was the former detective's favourite place to hide out.

Saguru made a vague 'enter' sound, so Kaito did, glancing at the pile of books stacked up on the table next to the sheet covered armchair. Psychology on the bottom of the stacks, mostly Freud and Jung, followed by Philosophy, starting at Aristotle and working it's way up through time and geography. At the very top rested a few slim books of Fairy Tales. In Saguru's hands was a thick tome of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales.

Kaito felt a stab of worry as he perused the subjects. Something heavy on Saguru's mind then. "'Guru?"

Saguru's head jerked up, like he hadn't been aware of Kaito's entering. "Ah, Kaito." He blinked, slipping a piece of paper into the book where he had been reading before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Apologies."

Kaito shook his head, walking closer. "Something up?"

"Just... an odd day. I did discover something new about the house however." Saguru gave him a slight mischievous smile. "Put your hand on the bookshelves." He instructed.

Kaito did so. As far as he knew, the shelves had once been organised according to subject, then author. Apparently one, or several, of the former temporary tenants had attempted to borrow books and put them away again, causing mass chaos and confusion. Saguru had taken on organising the book collection as a personal task.

"Now walk." Saguru instructed. "Look for a subject."

He did as instructed, fingers trailing along smooth wood as he passed by the shelves of books of all shapes, colours, sizes and descriptions. He walked, passing by hundreds of books, maybe more, the scope of the titles making his head hurt. "Stop." Saguru instructed. "See how far you've gotten."

He should have walked at least twice the length of the room, but when he looked around he had barely moved more than a shelf-length. "... That's a lot of books." He mused.

Saguru nodded, the sly smile never leaving his lips. At least this surprise about the house appeared to be a positive one. The blond held a hand out, silently requesting his company. Kaito smiled back, walking over and taking Saguru's hand, their fingers twining together. Saguru tugged Kaito down into his lap and for a moment Kaito protested. Okay, so he was smaller than Saguru, but he wasn't some -woman-, to sit in her husband's lap. Then saw the slight tension in Saguru's eyes and acquiesced, leaning against the blond's warm chest as he sat sideways in his lap. It wasn't so bad like this, he mused as Saguru wrapped his arms around Kaito. Comfortable.

Saguru obviously needed the reassurance at the moment, and the chair wasn't big enough for them to both sit side by side in it. "So how was your day?" Kaito asked as Saguru pressed his face against Kaito's neck. Kaito shivered slightly, in a good way, but unfortunately Saguru didn't take advantage of the proximity.

"A little girl asked me to help her find her cat when I left the house this morning." Saguru stated, his voice overly bland in the way he usually got when things were too far out of his comfort zone and he was trying to adapt the best he could. "It was a large tabby cat, reclining on a tree limb and smiling down at us. The little girl, Alice, politely thanked me for helping her as the cat climbed out of the tree and into her arms. They both vanished immediately afterwards."

"Off to her parent's house?" Kaito guessed.

"No. Into thin air. The last thing to disappear was the cat's smile."

"Ooh." -That- kind of vanished.

"After that, there was the dog with its hind-leg tangled in a fence. It seemed friendly, so I helped it get loose." Saguru's tone turned mystified. "I swear it -thanked- me before it ran off."

"At least it was polite." Kaito said optimistically. That was his Saguru, helping people and righting wrongs where ever he could.

Saguru made a thoughtful noise. "Then an old lady needed help crossing a street... the traffic was not stopping for her." Kaito just barely managed to muffle his chuckles. "So I helped her across. She thanked me as well, patting my cheek and saying 'I would Dine with Princes Someday'. And then she disappeared too."

"With a grin?"

"No... just... gone." Saguru shook his head slightly. "There may have been sparkles, but that might have been a trick of the light. I don't think she knew about Uncle Dorian or the whole Viscount thing either. But the thing is, I swear I've heard the phrasing before."

"And so you raided the library trying to find it?"

"No." Saguru said sincerely. "First I raided the library trying to discover if I'm going crazy."

"And?"

"And then a large orange orang-utan showed up with an armload of books under one arm as he looked through the shelves. He suggested I try reading the Brothers Grimm."

"Ah." Of course. A large orange orang-utan librarian. Made perfect sense.

"He was very polite." Saguru continued, sounding vaguely shell-shocked.

Kaito was sure he was. "So." He tilted his head towards Saguru, a silent invitation for slightly more than hugging should Saguru wish. "Did you find the quote?"

"In several stories actually." Saguru not-quite grimaced. “It was a blessing sometimes bestowed by Fairy Godmothers as a reward for tasks performed.”

”Ah.” Definitely way out of Saguru’s comfort zone then. Fairy Godmothers weren’t scientific logic. Neither were talking animals or Cheshire Cats. They weren’t precisely in Kaito’s comfort zone either, but he was getting more accustomed to them as of late, as long as he didn’t think about it too hard. He sighed. “It’s only going to get worse, you know.”

Saguru nodded. “I had gotten that impression.” He said quietly.

”If you want to get out… If you want to leave, now is the time.” Kaito continued, trying to keep his voice even despite the lump trying to form in his throat. “Before things get too deep and you can’t.”

He liked Saguru. Really really really liked Saguru. He didn’t like to use the word ‘love’, but he liked Saguru. He liked his company, he liked their conversations, he liked what they did both in and out of the bedroom, and he even had grown fond of the blond’s acerbic wit. Saguru was a grounding presence in his life when the normal outside reality and the possibilities growing inside his head collided and he did stuff he vaguely knew he shouldn’t be able to do.

He could function, if Saguru decided to run for the hills. But he’d probably lose a lot more of his ‘Kuroba Kaito’ self if Saguru did leave.

Saguru held him tighter, almost to the edge of pain. “No.” Saguru said resolutely and Kaito almost laughed. Saguru had spent too much time and effort getting Kaito into his arms, into his bed, to walk away now.

His detective nuzzled the side of his neck for a moment, just breathing him in for a moment before speaking. “Have you ever heard of the story of ‘Tam Lin’?”

Kaito thought about it for a moment. “Not off the top of my head.”

”Tam Lin’s lover was cursed by the Queen of the Fairies.” Saguru mumbled into his skin. “In order to get him back, she had to hold on to him while he changed into various forms, some friendly, some frightening. In a version I read when I was younger, he turned into fire at one point.”

”But she didn’t let go.”

”No.” Saguru agreed resolutely, holding him tighter. “She didn’t let go. Not until she had her lover back.”

Kaito nodded, twisting slightly to rest his head against Saguru’s shoulder, taking comfort in Saguru’s solid presence.

“I am only human.” Saguru said, his voice slightly unstable. “There are things that you can do which I can merely dream about. And to be honest, it –scares- me sometimes. But this world of yours does appear to abide by certain rules.”

”Rules that you can learn.” Kaito filled in. Saguru never stopped thinking.

”Protections.” Saguru agreed. This new world of Kaito’s, the strangeness, was only going to get worse and Kaito didn’t know if he could always protect Saguru from it. Not everything was going to be as benevolent as the fiery cat-fox spirit that watched them from the corners of the house. And while Kaito was apart of the strangeness, Saguru was not.

”’Guru?” Kaito murmured, turning his head towards his lover. “If things get too weird, or I stray too far-“

”I won’t let go.” Saguru vowed, his voice low and sincere as he held Kaito closer. “I promise.”

Kaito tightened his own grip on the blond, tucking his head under Saguru’s chin. ”Thank you.”

Kaito wouldn’t let go either.

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